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He did it over the summer. Now, President Barack “Barry” Obama (as he called himself today when calling in to Governor Tim Kaine on WTOP radio, per Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post) is about to do it again: ruin a small business with his vacation plans. It’s horrible enough that he’s destroying all business with his nationalization of the health care, financial and energy industries. (One estimate shows that if all his plans go through, 71 percent of GDP will be under government control, per U.S. Representative Michelle Bachman, a Minnesota Republican.) But does he also have to destroy local small businesses while he’s enjoying himself on the beaches of Hawaii while the rest of us suffer from climate change on the freezing, snowy East Coast?

You may remember that when he summered in Marxist Martha’s Vineyard in August, he put a small air tour company out of work, and killed the business, since it relied on the short annual late summer tourist window for customers. But with the POTUS coming to town, security prohibited any local aircraft from going airborne. The same thing is happening in Hawaii, “Barry’s” Christmas (or does he prefer “holiday”?) vacation spot. According to KITV’s Web site, several local air tour businesses are going to get hurt, and hurt real bad.

From the article:

However, Pat Magie’s seaplane tours will be sunk by the restrictions.

“We can’t fly tourists. We can’t train. We’ve got an enforced two-week vacation without pay,” Magie said.

But Barry, family and friends will have a great ol’ time on our dime. Never mind the little people. That’s what we call a very Barry Christmas.

Clever little video from our friends at The Family Research Council. With apologies to Bing Crosby, Dean Martin and a host of others.

Let’em spend, let’em spend, let’em spend!

Rumors have been swirling since Election night that Governor-elect Bob McDonnell was seeking to entice a Senate Democrat to take an appointment in his administration, opening an opportunity for a Republican perhaps winning the resulting open Senate seat, thus ending Democrat control of the Senate, making that chamber 20-20. That would lead to power sharing, new committee make up and an entirely new political dynamic in Richmond.

Of course, adding to the intrigue are two state Senate special elections that will not take place until January 12 — the 37th district seat that Attorney General-elect Ken Cuccinelli will vacate and the 8th district, where newly elected Virginia Beach sheriff Ken Stolle will leave his seat.

At his press conference today announcing several new cabinet secretaries, the Governor-elect stated that he would complete his appointment of cabinet secretaries the first week of January. If that’s the case, then the appointments will be done prior to the January 12 special elections.

It would be very risky for the Governor to appoint a Democrat to his cabinet hoping to win the seat, and then potentially losing either the 8th or the 37th, leaving McDonnell and the Republicans right where they started. Risky, but not impossible of course.

So, does the one line Governor-elect McDonnell dropped today end the possibility of a change in the Senate? Or are there other administration opportunities that could be available? Just one of the more intriguing questions revolving around the new administration.

Stay tuned.

Annotations & Elucidations

Jesus’ Home Found?

Not much regarding state news today. So slow, in fact, that even Barack “Barry from D.C.” Obama had time to call in to WTOP radio to chat up Governor Tim Kaine. So we’ve loaded up, mostly, on what everyone is talking about: the health care bill — and the News Stand is loaded today, complete with news, analysis and commentary on health care, but other topics, too, including some thoughts on Christmas. In addition, Matt Friedeman, at Rightly Concerned Blog, takes a look at an archaeological find in Nazareth that could be a home in the village in which Jesus grew up! Pretty exciting news at any time, especially now, especially with all that is going on. 

One reason for the large News Stand is that it will take a break after today until January 4. So read up! Starting then, we’ll have all the news concerning the countdown to General Assembly session as well as the pending inauguration of the McDonnell-Bolling-Cuccinelli administration. Until then, we’ll continue to update the blog with comment and content throughout the Christmas season, with the expected breaks here and there to enjoy the Holy Season.

News:

Senator Newman to propose infanticide law change (BearingDrift.com)

McDonnell to announce Connaughton as transportation secretary (Washington Post Virginia Politics Blog)

Mark Warner Falls 31 Points Among Republicans And 43 Points Among Independents In One Year (NotLarrySabato.com)

‘Barry from D.C.’ calls WTOP to thank Va. Gov. Kaine (Washington Post Politics and Policy Blog)

National News:

Jesus’ Narareth home found? (Matt Friedeman/Rightly Concerned Blog)

Abortion could still roil the health bill (AP/GOPUSA.com)

Reid brags about deals cut for votes in Senate health bill (AP/GOPUSA.com)

Democrat’s special deals life blood of health care bill (AP/GOPUSA.com)

Senate gears for second critical health vote (AP/OneNewsNow.com)

Sunrise vote nudges health care bill forward (AP/GOPUSA.com)

Blacks say Obama notdoing enough for them (AP/GOPUSA.com)

Europe feels left out in cold on climate deal (AP/GOPUSA.com)

Analysis:

Concessions Democrat lawmakers won in health care bill (AP/GOPUSA.com)

Worst reporting of 2009 — who made the cut? (OneNewsNow.com)

Abortion — a ‘choice’ issue for Democrats (OneNewsNow.com)

Senator Nelson ‘betrayed’ pro-lifers back home (OneNewsNow.com)

Healthcare mandate: Get insured . . . or else (OneNewsNow.com)

Commentary:

Obamacare Hazardous to America’s Health (David Limbaugh/GOPUSA.com)

The ‘Science’ Mantra (Thomas Sowell/GOPUSA.com)

Al Gore and the Wizards of Climategate (Tom Borelli/GOPUSA.com)

A Cool Wind Braces theHot-Air Crowd (Debra Saunders/GOPUSA.com)

The Realities of Christmas Time (Richard Olivastro/GOPUSA.com)

‘Tis The Week Before Christmas (Henry Lamb/GOPUSA.com)

The War on Christmas — it’s a Commie thing (Matt Barber/OneNewsNow.com)

Away with the manger (Chuck Norris/Rightly Concerned Blog)

When All Else Fails, Accuse Opponents of Being Racists (Bobby Eberle/GOPUSA.com)

A Tasty Recipe for Conservative Victory (Bobby Eberle/GOPUSA.com)

Should GOP Adopt a Conservative Litmus Test (Bobby Eberle/GOPUSA.com)

Fast and pray until Christmas Day (Janet Porter/Rightly Concerned Blog)

Minister tells his flock to go steal (Matt Friedeman/Rightly Concerned Blog)

Sen. Gregg: ‘A government run by community organizers has taken over’ (Matt Friedeman/Rightly Concerned Blog)

Reid bought off votes with $1.2 billion in kickbacks (Elijah Friedeman/The Millennial Perspective, Rightly Concerned Blog)

How to stop the healthcare bill (Matt Friedeman/Rightly Concerned Blog)