Hillbilly wrote:Amazombie is currently 8/5 ... The Factor is 7/5

Just so happens there is a poker tournament tomorrow at my cities local establishment that has simulcast racing. A buddy of mine is dealing. I was thinking about going to play and slapping a few bucks down on The Factor in the 7th. May even have to play a trifecta for poops & giggles and give your horse some action.

I placed my wager on The Factor early, about four hours before the race and final odds moves. I really thought he'd go off at minimum even money. With the field scratching down to 5 horses, that sunk him to a 3-5 I had not predicted.

Sway Away is likely a horse to bet big on his next time out.....depending upon what kind of race and field he lands in. Sway Away had been off since June 2011 and as he came out of the gate he was rank and seemed to have forgotten what to do. If you can see a replay of the race, the jockey is fighting to keep his head straight. But when he got to the turn and switched leads, it was like, "oh yeah, NOW I remember what I'm here for" and took off like a rocket to almost catch The Factor. He ran a great race for his layoff. There's a betting angle to play a nice horse in his second race back after a layoff....which will be his next race.

I have a hunch Sway Away's connections are trying to set up for an appearance on Breeders Cup Day.

I did accomplish at least my goal of enough profit for a dinner. It was my only wager of the day.

Sumbitch, Cali. Suuuummmbitch

I didn't make it to the casino today but swear on my mamma's eyes I was planning to play the trifecta with those two and Amazombie.

If I would have made it and plunked down, say 50 bucks, I woulda won around $1150.

From time to time my wife & I go there and plop down a few bucks just for fun, We never win. The one time I had a winning gameplan I don't go. Figures.

You can call B.S. but I am not kiddin. When I layed my head down last night my plan was to go there today and play The Factor to win and also play that trifecta.

The dinner didn't turn out too well tonight either. The keynote speaker, Ms. Rossmiller, flew into Helena from Virginia today, then drove here to Great Falls immediately upon arriving. She kept struggling through her speech, then when about half way through she stopped talking then started swaying. A couple guys ran up and grabbed her before she fell. Speech over. Bless her heart, hope she's ok. I figure she is just exhausted or something and will be fine. Could have been worse places to collapse though. There was a bunch of doctors in the house. Two at my table alone.

Sumbitch, Cali. Suuuummmbitch

I didn't make it to the casino today but swear on my mamma's eyes I was planning to play the trifecta with those two and Amazombie.

If I would have made it and plunked down, say 50 bucks, I woulda won around $1150.

From time to time my wife & I go there and plop down a few bucks just for fun, We never win. The one time I had a winning gameplan I don't go. Figures.


My mother had a saying I always did not like.

"Money not wagered, always wins."


You would have had the trifecta straight to get the four digit payout.


I'm not that reckless......

I do hope that Rossmiller lady is OK.

Probably altitude and elevation issues.

Over the years, I got to meet or attend events with lots of different figures. I've had dinner at the same table with Mike Dewine, I've twice met Pete Dupont, attended dinners with President Bush (GHW variety), Secretary Cheney, Secretary Alexander (who I actually got to say "It's a pleasure to meet you Mister Secretary", whilst shaking hands with him), and the afore-mentioned Quayle. But it was this beer with Bob Taft that I will likely remember forever.

Certainly no oneupsmanship intended. As I approach 60, I'm too old for that kind of stuff.


I will note that I have an old press clipping pic with Bob Taft's father, me and Bob Dole.

I've mentioned before, but Nelson Rockefeller asked for one of the extra hamburgers in my bag in the back stage area of The GOP Convention in 1976. I was 19, and I had paid for them with my own money. He never offered any reimbursement after I handed it over. I was not HAPPY about that.

I sat in the room under the stage one night with Alf Landon, Barry Goldwater, Nelson Rockefeller, Bob Dole and some other old Republicans.

I was the last person to shake Ronald Reagan's hand as he strode to the podium to give his concession speech to Gerald Ford at that convention. I didn't expect to be in position to see him, but he was in place with Secret Service as I was in my monitoring position in some oddly offered title (at least as I thought at the age of 19) of "Assistant Chief Page."

I uttered, "thank you Governor, pleasure to meet you."

(and then I had a dreadful thought that I might have sounded like a character in Mary Poppins)

As he firmly grabbed my hand and returned the firm shake, he said with a true twinkle in his eye, "you don't need to thank me......I lost. And I am no longer a Governor."

He might have added that he wanted and planned to come back and win over the age of 70. He didn't at that moment.



He just strode to the podium for his speech.



I had counted him out for the future in the moments after I was proud to have met him....long before he became a strong and vibrant United States President.

It matters not to me who the Republican Party nominates.

I support him or her with my $$ and my work for the November 2012 election.

Lots of good choices, and and as many flavors as Howard Johnson's ever had.....at least 28, and it was all good.

Lots of good choices

Personally I disagree. I like Ron Paul, who has no prayer of winning. But can't stand the other 3 candidates.

I was actually hoping for a brokered convention and a guy like, say, Paul Ryan, getting in late. But with his wins last night I now fear Romney has momentum and will win.

Don't get me wrong. Romney or any of the other two could fall, hit their head, and go half mentally handicapped and they'd still be a better president then what we have. But I still think there were better choices in the GOP that didn't enter the race.

Numerous Tea Party chapters claim IRS attempts to sabotage nonprofit status

By Perry Chiaramonte

Published February 28, 2012

Tea Party chapters around the nation are blasting the Internal Revenue Service after the federal agency sent them letters demanding information about their politics, contributors and even family members.

In letters sent from IRS offices in Cincinnati earlier this month, chapters including the Waco (Texas) Tea Party and the Ohio Liberty Council were asked to provide a list of donors, identify volunteers, financial support for and relationships with political candidates and parties, and even printed copies of their Facebook pages.

"Some of what they (the IRS) asked was reasonable, but there were some requests on there that were strange," Toby Marie Walker, president of the Waco Tea Party told FoxNews.com. "It makes you wonder if they do this to groups like ACORN or other left-leaning groups.”

The chapters that received requests were registering for nonprofit status as a 501(c)4 organizations. The classification mainly differs from 501(c)3 groups in that donors cannot deduct their contributions from their taxable income.

The tax code places fewer restrictions on 501(c)4 groups, allowing them to lobby in furtherance of their organizations' mission. They are also permitted to engage in political activity like endorsing candidates and donating money and time to specific campaigns, though it cannot be their primary activity.

The more tightly controlled, but more heavily subsidized 501(c)3 groups may not participate in specific campaigns at all.

Tea Party leaders say they were particularly offended by demands that they name donors and volunteers, which is required by law, but were also asked to list any political ambitions of board members or their relatives.

Colleen Owens, spokeswoman for the Richmond (Va.) Tea Party claims that her chapter had a similar letter sent to them just two weeks before they were to hold a local convention in which they were asked to provide nearly 500 pages in documents.

They were required to return the requested documents two days before the start of the convention.

"Most of these groups are not wealthy and they've had their applications for 501(c)4 status since 2010," Owens said. "We only had two weeks to gather everything. The timing was suspicious."

"When determining whether an organization is eligible for tax-exempt status, including 501(c)(4) social welfare organizations, all the facts and circumstances of that specific organization must be considered to determine whether it is eligible for tax-exempt status. To be tax-exempt as a social welfare organization, they must be primarily engaged in the promotion of social welfare," said a spokesman for the IRS.

"Career civil servants make all decisions on exemption applications in a fair, impartial manner and do so without regard to political party affiliation or ideology."

Experts contacted by FoxNews.com agreed the timing of the letters was problematic, though the information requests are not particularly sinister.

"These are standard inquiries," said Ellen Aprill, a professor who teaches tax law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. "If they (the Tea Party chapters) do nothing but campaign intervention, then they have to file as a 527 organization.”

But Tom Zawistowski, of the Ohio Liberty Council, a Tea Party chapter, called questions about donors, volunteers and members' relatives "intelligence gathering."

"This has nothing to do with tax status," Zawistowski said. “It has to do with political affiliation. The questions are too close to home."

"It's very intimidating and people are scared," Owens said

But I still think there were better choices in the GOP that didn't enter the race.

I think this is what disappoints me most about where we find ourselves--the decent folks (of any party affiliation, or none) just don't have the stomach (or funds, perhaps) to go through all this crap.

Newt Gingrich said during one of the debates the the current climate of politics keeps good people from running cause they don't want to take the abuse. I think he is right.

Politics has always been tough. In the early days of our country politics led to everything from fist fights to pistol duels, so in perspective you could say it is not tougher than it used to be. But now, with 24 hour news, and every news outlet with an agenda to rip apart the opposition, people just no longer has secrets or skeletons in closets.

I think that is the reason a guy like, say, Mitch Daniels, did not run. He & his wife divorced, then got remarried. I think there was something there he didn't want to have to constantly talk about. Just the feeling I got about him, I might be wrong. But some people are definitely not running now because they don't want the constant abuse.

There is some young republicans that I absolutely love. Marco Rubio and Rand Paul to name two. But was not experienced enough to run this time out. We already see what happens when you elect and inexperienced senator. Not good. So I think the future of the GOP is bright. But definitely not exciting right now. For me anyway.

Republican lawmakers step up attacks on Obama administration over rising gas prices

By Mike Emanuel | FoxNews.com

2/29/12

As part of a week-long push, some leading Republicans continued blaming President Obama's policies for soaring gas prices.

"They seem determined to undertake policies that actually drive up the price of oil and gasoline because of their hope that we will somehow live in a world where only solar panels and wind turbines are necessary," Texas Sen. John Cornyn told Fox News.

On Tuesday, Energy Secretary Stephen Chu was on the hot seat, when Mississippi Republican Rep. Alan Nunnelee asked if the Department of Energy is actively trying to lower fuel costs.

"Is the overall goal to get our price of gasoline down?" Nunnelee asked.

"No, the overall goal is to decrease our dependency on oil, to build and strengthen our economy," Chu responded.

At the White House briefing, Fox News asked Press Secretary Jay Carney about Chu's comment.

"I'm not aware of that statement or the characterization that you give it," Carney said.

Chu first irritated many Republicans when he told the Wall Street Journal in 2008: "Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe."

The argument being, if Americans are forced to pay $8 or more per gallon, that would encourage the country to wean itself from fossil fuels.

However, that logic leaves Republicans like Sen. John Thune from South Dakota scratching their heads.

"When you are doubling, literally doubling the price per gallon of gasoline, how does that strengthen your economy?" Thune said.

After a White House lunch with the president, House Speaker John Boehner says he raised a familiar energy issue, the Obama administration's decision against approving the controversial Keystone oil pipeline.

"I did press the president on the Keystone pipeline," Boehner told reporters. "He said, 'Well, you're going to get part of it.' I just wish it was the part that would deliver oil out of Canada and North Dakota."

Some Democrats argue one possible answer to this gas price surge is increasing supply by releasing part of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

"If it's a strategic reserve, I don't know what is it being used for? We are unlikely to have a nuclear war with the Soviet Union," Democratic Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank said.

The U.S.S.R. may be gone, but there is a serious concern about a potential conflict with Iran. If that were to happen, some experts believe fuel prices would likely double in a matter of days.

Hillbilly wrote:Lots of good choices

Personally I disagree. I like Ron Paul, who has no prayer of winning. But can't stand the other 3 candidates.

I was actually hoping for a brokered convention and a guy like, say, Paul Ryan, getting in late. But with his wins last night I now fear Romney has momentum and will win.

Don't get me wrong. Romney or any of the other two could fall, hit their head, and go half mentally handicapped and they'd still be a better president then what we have. But I still think there were better choices in the GOP that didn't enter the race.

We just need to win the election.

This is not a time to split on perhaps worthy fine hairs.

For the record, Ron Paul is too old to win in November. So is Newt Gingrich.

I'm tired of Republicans offering old man unelectable candidates in elections our children need to have The Good Guys win.

Give me a good and vibrant and eloquent Republican of any flavor to go out and kick Barry Obama's arse to the curb to move this country forward.

Hillbilly wrote:Lots of good choices

Personally I disagree. I like Ron Paul, who has no prayer of winning. But can't stand the other 3 candidates.

I was actually hoping for a brokered convention and a guy like, say, Paul Ryan, getting in late. But with his wins last night I now fear Romney has momentum and will win.

Don't get me wrong. Romney or any of the other two could fall, hit their head, and go half mentally handicapped and they'd still be a better president then what we have. But I still think there were better choices in the GOP that didn't enter the race.

HB, I'm with you on this. Ron Paul is the only one I could vote for and he doesn't stand a snowball's chance in hell. The rest of the republican candidates are complete tools, and I won't be voting for any of them.

I might be voting for one of the alternative parties this year. Maybe America Elects or something like that. I don't even care who their candidate is (maybe Roemer, I've heard him talking some sense a time or 2?) Hard to support the same old same old, and it doesn't matter anyhow. Not even sure what state I'll be in when that rolls around.

I have a feeling Obama is going to win next time around because all the republican choices are so poor. Too bad they're not putting up a viable candidate.

But they are "The Good Guys"! Cali says so!

Cali sounds like the emcee of the Lincoln-Reagan Dinner last week. They had a straw poll and I did a write in instead of voting for one of the 4 candidates. When the emcee started reading the results and saw that 1 person did a write in for a brokered convention candidate he scolded the person. (me). Said we have to get behind whoever wins and defeat Obama blah blah blah.

The establishment republicans like Rove can continue forcing guys like Bush, McCain, and Romney on me but that doesn't mean I am going to support them. Sure, if it comes down to someone like them or an Obama/Pelosi/Barney type candidate then the choice is clear for me. I will vote for (R). Hell, I even donated some money to McCain, who I really did not like. But I am gonna continue to do my part to make the party put forth some true small government fiscal conservative candidates. People I can feel good about getting behind.

Those kind of candidates can win and win big. Hell, Reagan won re-election with 49 states. Tea Party candidates won in a landslide in 2010. They just need someone who can express their ideals clearly, intelligibly, and in a friendly manner that people can like and relate to.

Unlike "Uncle Grumpy" Santorum who scowls and barks at anyone he disagrees with. Or my man Ron Paul who has some great ideas but can't explain any of them in a short and intelligible manner.

I need some more great communicators.

Oh, and how about Newt Gingrich, how he did every thing he could to stay out of Vietnam, but now he is all for a strong defense and sending our young people to fight every battle all over the world. Not to mention screwin around on his former wife. I can't trust a guy like that.

I consider myself alot of things. I am an American. A fiscal conservative. A tea party patriot. A constitutionalist, and a libertarian. But I do not call myself a republican anymore. I don't give a rats hair patoot who Karl Rove or his ilk thinks I need to get behind. I'm gonna continue to call for better candidates with big ideas whenever I get the oppurtunity. Especially when I'm in the belly of the beast, like the fundraising dinner last week.

By the way, I started banging heads with them as soon as I got there. I ordered tix for my wife and I weeks in advance. When we get there we see two tables where you check in. We waited in line at table 1. When our turn came we were informed people who payed in advance needs to check in at table #2. I'm like, my goodness, a sign would have killed you? So we wait in line at table 2. When our turn comes they could not find my name on the list. I said, and rather loudly I must say, "I have to be in the wrong place. This fundraiser is being ran by the Obama administration! This must be a democratic dinner!" Then my wife gives them her name and asks if she is on the list, they find her name immediately, and there is my name right above hers... Then they wanted me to wait why they made me a name tag, I said, "I've waited out here long enough, I'm going to the bar. I haven't needed a drink this bad since Obama's state of the union!"