By a vote of 11-8 Michael Mukasey’s nomination for Attorney General has cleared the Judiciary Committee and is on its way to the floor of the Senate where head-counters on both sides say he has about 70 votes for confirmation.

Congratulations and thanks to Senators Feinstein and Schumer for crossing party lines to get this nomination to the full Senate.

Just a few pieces I found of interest. Thought you might too.

Thomas Sowell at NRO offers his perspective on two phrases we hear often:

Among the many mindless mantras of our time, “making a difference” and “giving back” irritate me like chalk screeching across a blackboard.

Many times over the past few years I have asked the question “why won’t the Republicans in Congress come out and challenge the Democrats on issues of importance?”
It seems David Limbaugh must have been wondering the same thing:

The Republicans’ timidity shows up on a wide array of issues, from Social Security to torture, where they’re on the defensive and apologetic, and they allow the liberals’ revisionist “facts” to become “conventional wisdom.”

I must admit, I thought by now Ron Paul would be out of the Presidential race. Guess I was wrong.

On Monday, a group of Paul supporters helped raised more than $4.07 million in one day — approaching what the campaign raised in the entire last quarter — through a Web site called ThisNovember5th.com, a reference to the day the British commemorate the thwarted bombing.

While I still do not find Mr. Paul a serious contender, I must say those numbers are impressive.

Tuesday could prove interesting on the floor of the House:

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) plans to take to the floor of the House Tuesday and introduce a privileged resolution to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney. The privilege approach allows him to circumvent Democratic leadership, which opposes voting on the measure.

He has every right to try but will it advance to something further? Doubt it.

A few weeks ago, Mrs. Greyhawk requested prayers for a family who was in real need:

We have a Specialist 4 John who was stationed at Ft. Bliss, Tx. in El Paso, Tx. and he was deployed to Iraq,injured and send to BAMC in San Antonio,Tx. he was in Med Hold and was going to be released soon back to his duty station and his wife Monalisa was driving up from Ft. Bliss where there three Children 9 year boy named Tyler, 5 year old girl named Ashley and 2 year old son named Logan.

Right outside Ozona, Tx. a truck hit them and from the nearest hospital they were life-flighted to Dallas, Tx. I am very sorry to say that the two year old Logan and the five year old Ashley were killed in the crash. Tyler is in Children’s Hospital at Dallas, Tx.

Sadly, a request for continued prayers came yesterday:

A wounded Iraq veteran and his wife have lost a third child from injuries the boy suffered in a car accident on the way to visit his father in the hospital.

Three weeks after his siblings died in an Oct. 13 accident on the gusty West Texas plains, 9-year-old Tyler Johnson died Saturday at Children’s Medical Center Dallas.

There is no way I could say I understand the pain of losing a child or grandchild. The grief must be overwhelming.

May the Johnson family know there are many who are keeping them in their thoughts and prayers.

This is indeed good news from Afghanistan.

Six years after the Taliban’s ouster, medical care in Afghanistan has improved such that nearly 90,000 children who would have died before age 5 in 2001 will survive this year, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Sunday.

Saddled for years with one of the world’s worst records on child health, Afghanistan has seen access to health care rise dramatically since the U.S.-led invasion.

Thousands of health clinics have been built across the country, and the Afghan government and aid agencies have trained tens of thousands of doctors, vaccinators and health volunteers who now reach into some of the country’s most remote areas.

Access to health care for Afghans has jumped from 8 percent of the population in the 1990s to close to 85 percent today, thanks in large part to efforts by USAID, the World Bank and the European Commission.

The under-5 child mortality rate in Afghanistan has declined from an estimated 257 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2001 to about 191 per 1,000 in 2006, a 25-percent drop, the Ministry of Public Health said, relying on a new study from Johns Hopkins University.

There is still a long way to go for the citizens in Afghanistan with regard to their health care system but if the statistics in this article are any indication, they are certainly moving in the right direction.

Check out how various Senators voted in relation to anti-pork amendments in 2007.

Today, the Club for Growth released its 2007 Senate RePORK Card, compiling a scorecard of all senators’ votes on fifteen anti-pork amendments throughout 2007. These amendments were offered by taxpayer heroes Senators Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Jim DeMint (R-SC).

“For all the talk about fiscal responsibility, it is clear that many senators are more interested in securing pet projects than living up to their campaign promises,” said Club for Growth President Pat Toomey. “Fortunately, taxpayers can look at the Club for Growth’s House and Senate RePORK Cards and hold their senators and representatives accountable for wasting taxpayer dollars on hippie museums and beaches.”

Some interesting numbers to consider:

Only three senators received a perfect score of 100% (and were present for a majority of the votes): Senators Tom Coburn (R-OK), Jim DeMint (R-SC), and Richard Burr (R-NC).

The only senator receiving a 0% was Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) who voted against all 10 anti-pork amendments he was present for.

The average Republican score was 59%; the average Democratic score was 12%.
The best scoring Democrat was Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) with an impressive 80%, tying with or scoring better than thirty-nine Republican senators.

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) scored a 53%; Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) scored a 7%, voting for only one amendment.

Only two amendments were successful. The most popular amendment was offered by Senator DeMint to bar the use of funds appropriated for spinach growers in the Iraq Supplemental Bill (Roll Call #123, 03/29/07); it passed 97-0. The other amendment was offered by Senator Coburn to eliminate $1 million for a museum dedicated to the Woodstock Festival (Roll Call #377, 10/18/07); it passed 52-42.

If you would like to see how your senator voted, there is a complete list available at the above link.

We need Senator’s to continue to introduce legislation such as these anti pork bills or we will all be working additional months each year before our paycheck is actually belongs to us and not the government.