Appealing to Idealism - Is it Enough?

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A I just finished a press release relating to a new book that's coming out titled Appreciative Coaching: A Positive Process for Change. The book was written by a faculty member of Capella University. The book is based on recent developments in psychology and organizational structures that identified that people do better in higher education situations where they are motivated to focus on their own human ideals.

It's similar to the concept employed by JFK when he challenged people to go to the moon within 10 years and do for their country before they asked what their country could do for them. It was a good idea back then, however there was a backhanded insinuated promise in that message. The promise was that in doing for our country we would all benefit. However we've all seen that are country tends to take advantage of us when we do that. We've suffered from political scandal after scandal where presidents and their administrations and other politicians take advantage of Americans working towards those ideals.

President Bush challenged us to rise up against terrorism after the attacks on 9/11 and he subverted our idealism to fight back in order for him to push his own agenda, which was extremely flawed. So where do we go on our idealism has been hijacked, and how do we get motivated to fix things under those circumstances.

This (or “the following”) blog post was (or “is”) based on information provided by Blogitive. For more information, please visit Blogitive.com.

Are We Headed towards an Energy Crisis?

The cost of gases increased over three dollars a gallon in seven states across the country.  Gasoline inventories are at a 20 year low and demand for gasoline is increasing.  People are driving farther and the Bush in a strange and has done little to deal with a little mean energy crisis.

General Motors and Ford are both hemorrhaging with losses and none of the automakers are in a position financially to come up with an automobile that would truly decrease the consumption of gasoline.  Even the Toyota previous only pays lip service to the concept of energy savings as it touts mileage ratings that it doesn't actually get and use.

Memorial Day weekend is coming up in about three to four weeks and Americans are likely to hit the road.  I'm no exception I'll probably be hitting the road the week after of war held a weekend to go visit my family after the recent birth of a baby boy.  With the crisis in the Middle East and the war and the problems that Saudi Arabia is looking at with terrorism and turmoil in Venezuela, the United States is positioned in a perilous state as we only have 21 days of fuel in our pipeline.  If we suffered as a disruption in fuel there be chaos.

Here in Georgia just a little over a year ago we experienced gas shortages is one of the major pipelines that brings gasoline to the area broke.  But what happens if a much bigger supplier of gasoline or oil for that matter were to go off-line or break in a way that it impacted the entire country as opposed to just a few states.  The government seems ill-equipped to deal with such a scenario. 

U.S. gasoline inventories are at a 20-year low. The latest statistics released from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, an arm of the Energy Department, show gasoline inventories this week at 194 million barrels. That is just under 21 days of national use. EIA described that number as "well below the lower end of the average range." During the same week last year, inventories stood at 208 million barrels.

Gasoline demand has risen by 2.2 percent so far this year, according to the weekly data from the government.

Source: $3 Gas Spreads to 7 States, D.C.

Choosing Sides in the Republican Ranks

It's probably no surprise that the White House administration on all the backers of President Bush are starting to split out and take sides in the presidential primary campaign for 2008. President Bush's administration has been very divided over the last seven years and it's no surprise that the coalition that supported Bush is rapidly fracturing in the future presidential candidates.

It would appear that they are divvying up their forces and siding with John McCain and Mitt Romney. noticeably absent from the team choosing taking place, which probably hints at the likelihood that he will become a Vice Presidential candidate and not a Presidential candidate. I would guess that he would probably fit in well in John McCain administration but might not be such a good fit with Mitt Romney.

A Silver Lining on Rye

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We would like to take a minute to share word with our sponsors from the Monex deposit Co. (MDC).  They have a longtime sponsor of gridlock on rye and they recently provided an updated press release they like just call attention to our readers to show that they can provide a number of services for people that are interested in buying precious metals such as silver or gold or other forms of bullion.

They offer a convenient market and they worked to be one of America's best dealers in physical precious metals, as opposed to investing through a broker in the commodities market.  Silver has been going up over the last couple of months hitting some new highs as it reaches proximately $14 an ounce.  This isn't too surprising as gas has been going up at the same time.

Bibles and Trees at odds with each other?

Four to five hundred years ago the Gutenberg press was one of the most important inventions that literally has changed the world. It was used to print the Gutenberg Bible, which in essence created a tempest in a teapot for the religions of the world especially the Christian religion. Up until that time your average person did not and could not own a bible because Bibles had to be hand written typically by monks copying from one bible to the next. The invention of the press started to make it feasible initially for rich families and then for many families around the world to own their own Bible. This enabled people to study the 'Word of God' so they thought by themselves without the assistance of a Catholic priest to interpret the good juicy parts for them.

Now today the Catholic Church has come a long way as in they offer catholic bibles to anyone, whereas a few hundred years ago they discouraged everyone from owning any type of bible. The world is changing again however, we are currently running out of trees and the planet is suffering from what might someday be determined to be a global meltdown. Christians are just starting to wake up to the fact that the planet their God gave them is being destroyed by their own hands and they're starting to vote to protect a green Earth.

Now this goes against the religious dogma of many centuries and preached that the land animals and everything on it were put here and created for man to use as he saw fit. Apparently man is it really fit to use the Earth all the time in any way he might choose. So that leaves the question of what will happen to Bibles. There are already Bibles online and audio Bibles and video Bibles too.

Will we see a day when religions not just Christian religions but Jewish and Islamic and Buddhist and many others determined that their religious beliefs should not be recorded on paper?

Might we see a day when trees are not destroyed so that a Bible can be thrown into a dresser drawer of a motel to be forgotten and ignored for decades?

Corzine Pays his Own Bills - That's Just Silly

Governor Corzine of New Jersey was recently in a very bad car accident. He's been in the hospital for several days trying to recuperate after undergoing several surgeries. He was not wearing a seatbelt when his car was involved in an accident where a different driver hit his vehicle and fled the scene.

He announced today that he is not going to utilize his state's insurance to pay for his medical bills, which is rather peculiar. Is he trying to say that he's above using the state insurance? Or that it's his fault that the state insurance should be taxed in such a way?

People do stupid things all the time in their insurance pays the bills. Is he trying to say that he's less stupid because he is rich enough to pay his own medical bills?

What if he passed away in that accident? Would his family have foregone the Funeral Insurance to pay for his burial or would they have saved taxpayers the expense of interring his body in the state capital in New Jersey?

this ploy really seems kind of silly when you think about it he should use the insurance and not make a big deal out of it. If he feels guilty for not wearing a seat belt and getting more injured that he might have been if he'd worn one that he should do something about that and deal with it directly as opposed to trying to decrease his fault by paying his own bill.

Spoils of War in the White House

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It will be interesting to see how the Republicans depart the White House in 2008. They obviously wanted to hold onto the White House longer however it doesn't look like it's in the cards for them right now to stay in power. Quite frankly their president has screwed up too much. As the administration starts to split it's akin to a divorce were both sides are to take some of the furniture leaving both sides the need to go buy more new furniture.

It wouldn't surprise me a bit if this particular administration literally took some furniture from the White House when they leave leave the Democrats without a seat to sit in. Our sponsor Powell furniture might be a little help in that regard and help get the Democrats back on an even keel with some new furniture and possibly some furniture that isn't bugged or wired or in some other way tainted by the bad luck and inexplicably poor decision-making skills that has plagued the Bush administration.

Energizing Your Base

Earth Day is coming up soon and the Democrats need to work on energizing their base. Fortunately for the Democrats they have something akin to a national holiday for just that purpose.

I'm sure when Earth Day comes you'll see some big celebrations and everybody will be out there trying to work up an energy boost with the latest and greatest cocktail of Energy Drink mixed with appropriate proportions of ginseng caffeine and other herbal supplements and vitamins.

I'm sure we will see a bunch of people in there all jazzed up and don't need to drive around in their big fancy SUVs because they have all is extra energy to go jogging and walking and running in writing and signed. now that the polar ice caps are melting will have all this excess natural water, but everybody's flocking towards energy drinks as opposed to water.

Are energy drinks the new water?

Maybe so but only until somebody figures out that they're bad for you or until somebody does proves that water is bad for you. Whichever way That argument goes it's sure to be debunked at some point in the future anyway so it doesn't really matter. So if you think energy drink helps you out go for it, at least to get the mental stimulation!

Bob Dole and his Pen

Do you recall that Bob Dole used carry around a pen in his hand?

He had a war wound from World War II and carried her out a pen partly so that people wouldn't mistakenly attempt to shake his hand I believe the one that was damaged in the war.

I voted for Bob Dole when he ran for president, and I even met him jogging once in South Florida. At the time he was in much better shape than I was Or at least he was more experienced a jogging and the humidity of South Florida.


Regardless as I look back speculate that if Bob Dole unelected president and be out President Clinton we might have avoided some of the problems that we've had over the last few presidencies. We would have probably never heard about Monica Lewinsky. It's possible that a President Dole would have responded differently in the late 90s and also would have been more on top of things in 2001 possibly treating the threats expressed by Al Qaeda more seriously in preventing 9/11.


I was thinking about all this today as a result of a pen I received from a business colleague. Hadn't seen in a while but the pen reminded me to reach out and contact them and see other are doing in ketchup on business. That made me speculate what would happen if Bob Dole had carried around a number of promotional pens on them and said 'vote for me!'

Then every person that would have met him and so shaken his hand would've been given the pen and maybe he might've picked up a few more votes, such could have been the power of custom pens.

Avoiding Gridlock - Summer Move

As I am looking to move to North Carolina, I wanted to share with you a resource that could be beneficial for other people looking to relocate to North Carolina. The resource is listwise.com and they provide very useful information on many different areas of real estate which includes categories such as Cary NC Real Estate and other locales throughout the North Carolina region.

We have a lot of searching and looking left to do and of course the key will be to avoid the gridlock!

Pork Barrel Spending Suppressants - For Politicians

It would seem that time and time again politicians have eyes that are much bigger than their stomachs. They want their pork and they want with icing on top and they want it with the cherry soda on the side. It's very unlikely that our politicians and heard of the concept of appetites suppressants such as ionamin , but maybe that's the type of thing we need for our politicians. An appetite suppressant that they have to take when they go to Washington. I'm not referring to the fancy dinners that they've gotten in trouble for recently excepting freebies and not having to pick up the tip at expensive restaurants. I'm talking about appetite suppressant for spending.

I'm happy that Democrats are holding President Bush to the fire with the spending bill lately, but it would appear that they are loading the bill up with pork which will give him play and excuses other than Iraq deadlines to veto the bill. I am not for the time lines that Democrats are proposing, I am however very much for keeping President Bush in check because I don't think he's doing a good job. Of course he's promised to veto the bill and I don't doubt him and his sincerity. As a president he has one of the largest pork barrel appetites the country's ever seen, and in that alone it's actually somewhat surprising that he promised to veto this bill.

Is Bush Asking to Get Impeached?

It bothers me to no end, that George Bush is attempting to hire a war czar to sub for him in his role as Commander in Chief.  If he were any good at being President, it would be like the number one NFL draft pick, putting an ad in the paper to higher high school quarterback to sub for him throughout the entire NFL season.

But in reality President Bush isn't any good at being President, and he still trying to hire a high school quarterback to run the entire US military, US intelligence network, the Pentagon and who knows what else.  This is got to be the craziest, scariest thing I've heard from the Bush administration yet.

On the surface, it might seem like a poor attempt to lay blame for the failures of the war a scapegoat now that Donald Rumsfeld is gone.  But it also seems like an extremely dangerous move to concentrate that much power into an unelected on congressionally confirmed person.  President Bush was elected to have his finger hovering over the button, not for him to hire a lackey to let their finger hover over the button.

I think he should be impeached just for thinking about it!

Now fortunately the first four generals that the Bush Administration has offered the job to have turned it down cold.  Apparently they can tell a turkey when they see one.  Bush doesn't need to throw more generals at the problem, he needs to come up with a political solution to coexist with the military strategy.  Currently he doesn't have a political solution and he churns through military strategies like a three-year-old at the fair trying to win a grab bag.

All in all this concept sounds like one of those crazy ideas that comes out a group of people that are working in a silo.  He's not getting good outside opinions, and the brainstorming taking place inside some sort of RFI shielding network gone bad is is yielding nothing but static.  This is just a bad idea all the way around.

Republican Spending is Out of Control - It is Time to Take the Credit Cards Away from them

Personally, I am not in favor of a rapid departure from Iraq.  I have a number of reasons for this view in that belief, but it has nothing to do with supporting President Bush however.  I think he's completely ineffective and incapable of leading us to either a victory in Iraq or even a safe, secure and peaceful withdrawal from Iraq.

But the truth is Republicans have been on a mad spending spree for seven years and the country just can't afford it anymore.  It's time that we take away the credit cards from the Republicans, fire them, and bring in a new batch of politicians required to take a budgeting 101 course before they pass any legislation.

If we don't do this our deficit is going to skyrocket in ways that we can even conceive of today.  As it is, we are all going to need to tighten up our belt buckles and save a few extra bucks and be a little bit more frugal in our spending.  Things are getting too out of control with afluenza, consumerism, credit, sub prime predators, oil prices and inflation.

We have to pick ourselves up by the bootstraps and start fixing this thing from the bottom to the top.  I came across a great article this evening, well it's almost morning now, that offers 101 ways to save one dollar a week.  There's a great list here of a number of different things that you can do to save money each and every week throughout the year.  You're going to need it, as a people we are all going to need it, and the example we set should help set the tone for our elected politicians to find 101 ways to save $1 billion every week.  That's only $365 billion a year and it's not enough to bring down our deficit to a balanced budget again, but it's a start and it's a step in the right direction.

Newt Must Be Sick over the Republican Squandered Advantage

 If there's anybody that is probably more disgusted with the way President Bush and his administration have led the country over the last seven years, it's probably Newt Gingrich.  He was a significant part of a Republican reform and new wave of politics in the early 90s that gave control of Congress back to the Republicans after 30 years of Democrat domination.

Newt was effective and he delivered results regardless of whether or not you agree with his politics.  He scored a number of points for the Republican team and gave him a huge lead an advantage over Democrats.  There's nothing that starting players hate to see more than their benchwarmers like President Bush not only spoiled lead but turned that lead into an almost inevitable loss.

The former speaker recently spoke out against embattled Attorney General Gonzalez with the following quotes.

“This is the most mishandled, artificial, self-created mess that I can remember in the years, in the years I’ve been active in public life,” Mr. Gingrich said on “Fox News Sunday.”

“You know, the buck has to stop somewhere, and I’m assuming it’s the attorney general and his immediate team,” he said. Asked whether Mr. Gonzales should resign, Mr. Gingrich replied, “I cannot imagine how he is going to be effective for the rest of this administration.”

Source: Gingrich Faults Gonzales for Attorneys ‘Mess’ - New York Times

You can almost feel Newt Gingrich's pain and disgust as he looks from the outside in on a job poorly done.  For a man that got things done effectively, there's probably nothing more compelling and his consideration of whether or not to run for President than the absolute mess Republicans have recently made over the American landscape.

Could a Power Nap Save the Free World?

During the Kennedy administration, the world almost came to the brink of disaster.  The Cuban missile crisis has the potential to escalate into a fully nuclear World War III.  Many years after the fact it was learned that President Kennedy was suffering from many physical ailments and was essentially pepped up a number of different medications and pain killers.

The job of the president is not an easy job and it is full of stress I'm sure.  I have no doubt that many presidents goes through several sleepless nights every month possibly every week.  Back during the Cuban missile crisis, Kennedy was under huge amount of stress, he was medicated, and he was probably suffering from lack of sleep if not sleep deprivation.

Now President Bush has many failings, but he always publicly states that he works on going to bed early.  This is probably a good thing from the perspective that is least in the morning he is as clearheaded as he going to be.

However, it is also very important for people that work extremely full days and many hours to reset their minds and clear their thoughts and give their bodies a complete break from the stresses of the day.  In many cultures the concept of a siesta has been widely accepted in part to relieve people from the stresses of the heat of the day.

A Power Nap is not a siesta.  It is a short and concentrated body and mind resting where your brain and body can fully relax and recharge so that you can be prepared to make clear decisions and work efficiently, optimally and productively for the rest of the day and well into the evening if required.

Sleepless nights will not make for good decisions.  But taking a power nap in a regular and scheduled manner, can help your body be prepared to act when action is called for in help your mind think when thinking is called for.  All Presidents wair power ties these days, as a symbol as well as a style.  It might be much more effective if they began to engage in the process of using power naps to focus their attention and their energies in a way that enables them to channel the powers of their office and possibly save the free world.

Fighting for a Nickname

Its not easy in popular culture to compete against slang and the evolution of the English language.  Sometimes that evolution improves on the original and sometimes it goes in the gutter.

One of my good friends has had the nickname of Skeet for many years, growing up in the South where Skeet was often a nickname associated with children, sometimes a short version and friendly reference to Mosquito or Muskeeters or skeeters or just plain skeet.

Skeet has been fighting to retain the pleasant and historical skeet definition despite several attempts by pop culture to change it.  A couple different comedians and a rap song or two have come about and rhymed the word into a reference that has nothing to do with children or language that is usually used around children.

Now I am not easily offended by any language.  I hear and read language for what it is a symbology of a meaning that people are trying to convey.  The slang adoptation of this word does not offend me, however I can definitely understand my friend Skeet's attempts to hold back the tide.

Over the years many names and words have changed from their orginal meaning to slang, or derogatory words, even curse words.  All these shifts are usually the product of a change in the symbology where one portion of the culture is working to segment out another portion of the culture.  This code language occurs on the streets, it occurs in schools, it occurs in the military, in government and in board rooms.  Sometimes its derived from acronyms and sometimes its derived from trademarks.

I am not concerned if we will be able to halt the encroachment of attempts to re-define skeet, however I will gladly help.  In an effort to support Skeet in her quest, I'm providing this article to detail her journey in summary and provide a link to the background surrounding her nickname. 

Warning - I wouldn't recommend a search for the slang definition if you are at work.  :)

War on Drugs takes Back Seat to War in Iraq and War on Terror

In the absence of real wars for several years politicians have made many good causes into a war.  The result is that we have become numb to the concept of what a real war actually entails, and when a real war comes along we are unable to prioritize those areas that were described as wars in the past.  Now however, the war on drugs and the war on terror and the war in Iraq are starting to merge.

Just like in wars past dating back to the Civil War may be farther, many veterans of the Iraq war and the war on terror are returning home addicted to painkillers and sometimes other drugs.  One of the areas of the Walter Reed scandal that did not receive enough attention is the number of troops coming home addicted to drugs, not getting the proper medical attention they need and in despair, and stoic individualism, or in rebellion against the lack of treatment they are received and they are turning to drugs as an escape.

I absolutely do not want to downplay the difficulties that are returning veterans are experiencing are going through.  However I do want to point out as I can one of our sponsors that can help.  They are not federally backed, however we have all learned that we cannot rely on the federal government to take care of our needs and unfortunately that means the needs of our troops.  The federal government was not there to take care of our troops after World War I, the federal government did not adequately take care of our troops after the Vietnam war, the federal government stalled and dragged its feet after the Persian Gulf war of the early 90s, and the federal government is failing our troops today.

That doesn't absolve the rest of us from stepping in and helping where we can.  Our sponsor, the Stone hawk Rehabilitation Center, provides drug rehab treatment in the Michigan area.  They offer a 58,000 square-foot facility on a lake stocked for fishing and in a semi-residential area 5 miles from downtown Battle Creek Michigan.

The facility is geared and directed towards healing both the mind and body in a holistic level focusing on nutrition, good health and relaxation.  For families or friends of veterans that are suffering from addiction or for anyone suffering from addiction, we recommend that you seek help and don't wait for the federal government to act.  Just because the federal government has failed our troops does not mean that we should.  After all we the people sent our troops to war, we may or may not have agreed with the act but we are all responsible and our responsibility extends to the troops that served for us.

Opportunists in the Wings - Can Dodd or Biden Capitalize on Mistakes by the big Money Candidates?

This first-quarter democrats have seen an unparalleled level of success in raising funds for the presidential campaign.  The success of Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton have established a new bar for fundraising in both the Democratic Party and in the Republican Party.

Raising the most money early on in a campaign for the primaries is no surer sign of success however as has been demonstrated by many candidates in the past.  Senator Joseph Biden and Senator Christopher Dodd both raised what used to be considered a respectable $3-4 million in funds.  They currently do not have enough to compete with the big fundraisers unless those fundraisers make a mistake.

If Clinton or Obama's message fall short or if they have a dramatic slip up, of the Howard Dean campaign, both by then and Dodd are poised to slip in and possibly assume from running position.  Former Senator John Edwards is also in a good position to move into the water to slot as well.  He raised approximately $14 million and is in third for fundraising, which means he could be a target to surpass or he could be primed for the top slot himself if a mistake is made.

Uniquely enough, Clinton and Edwards have more presidential campaign experience than the others in this lineup.  Senator Biden and Senator Dodd both have Senatorial campaign experience, but that pales in comparison to the type of attention that a presidential campaign can bring.  Comparatively speaking Senator Brock Obama has the least amount of experience of the entire group and yet depending on how you count the money he's either in the first or the second slot for fundraising.

So now we have to sit back and wait and see if Clinton and Obama have the stamina to finish the race.  They may have sprinted well out of the gates, but do they have the endurance to run a campaign for almost 2 years?  If they don't, will one of the other candidates draft behind them waiting for the opportunity to pull ahead?

similar to the self implosion

Bush v Clinton on Keeping Notes of Transgressions

Elephants may have a long memory, but the Bush Administration is learning this week that computer memory is longer and more accurate. They have been embarassed on several occasions this last month with the scandal de jour as they attempted to tell the country that there was nothing political behind the firings of 8 US attornies only to have emails displayed on the nightly news showing that the firings in part were political.

The Clinton Administration was notorious for not taking notes let alone emails. They did not want to have any incriminating evidence for Congress to subpoena. Maybe that is the result of a President and his wife running the White House as attornies as opposed to a President running the White House from the mistaken belief that they have a mandate and a calling from God. God must have forgotten to permanently delete those emails . . ..

Correction- Obama came in Second raising $20m

We incorrectly cited that John Edwards came in second place for the Democrats in fund raising from raising $14 million.  He  did raise $14 million but came in third to Senator Obama who raised $20 million.  Hillary clinton raised $26 million. 

Note that is a total of $60 million in the first quarter alone for Democrats, plus Hillary added $10 million more from her Senate campaign.  That's a party record for Democrats even though Hillary may have come up a little short of her own goals set out publicly early on.

Romney-Giuliani wedding Bells ringing?

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When an unlikely couple ties the knot, we sometimes have to search and think hard to figure out or find unique wedding favor ideas.  Our Sponsor The Knot Wedding Shop provides just this type of service according to their recent release and we might call upon them to find a favor for a likely pair from the NorthEast that could seek to tie the knot next summer, Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani.

If we follow the money as of fundraising for the first quarter, it would indicate that our Republican ticket will lineup to include Romney and Giuliani.  It's unsure who would actually be on the top of that ticket as Giuliani appears to have the popularity while Romney has the money.  If the election of 2000 tells us anything, it tells us that money is more important than popularity.  George Bush outspent Al Gore in 2000, and Al Gore was more popular in 2000 but George Bush still became president.

This suggests to me that Romney will probably emerge on top the Giuliani is a potential CEO like Vice President following in the footsteps of Dick Cheney.

Will the Mormon Church buy Republicans the White House

 Mitt Romney provided exceptionally positive fundraising results in the first quarter of 2007.  He brought in $24 million coming just short of Hillary Clinton who has the support of Bill Clinton and notorious fundraising champion and very popular ex-president.

"Gov. Romney has done this without being a household name, without being way up in the polls," said Ronald C. Kaufman, a lobbyist who is one of the former governor's key fundraisers. "I think it is testimony to how strong he is as a candidate."

Source: Presidential Contenders Set New Fundraising Records - washingtonpost.com

This raises the question is Mitt Romney really that popular with Republicans?
If you listen to the Christian Coalition is the worst thing since un-sliced bread.  However this white bread as a church with a big bank account and many very active church members that get out and vote.  Not only that but they definitely support their own members.

Mitt Romney may have certain level of popularity with Republicans, but it is without doubt that he will bring in not only the Mormon vote but the Mormon dollar.

Disclaimer:  I attended the Mormon church for three weeks while I was in Basic Training during the first Persian Gulf War.  I do not consider myself a Mormon today, nor do I have any issue with the Mormon Church.  I do not believe in religion as an institution that serves society well on the whole.

Will Clinton's Cash Cow Competitors?

 Hillary Clinton started to deliver on her fundraising goals.  She has amassed $36 million so far including $10 million from her Senate funds.  She raised $26 million in the first quarter of 2007 with her closest competitor, John Edwards bringing in about 14 million.

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton raised $26 million in the first quarter, shattering party records while only just meeting the expectations she's created as a prodigious fundraiser.

The New York senator added $10 million more left over from her Senate account, bringing her total to $36 million, her campaign announced yesterday.

Source: Bloomberg.com: Politics

After Clinton's announcement, Republicans were quick to jump on the bandwagon and brag about their own fundraising capabilities.  Mitt Romney brought in $23 million just shy of Hillary's 26.  And Rudy Giuliani brought in 15 million, which is slightly more than Edwards 14.

Clinton may have raised a lot of money, but the Republicans are not running for the hills yet by a long shot.  Furthermore it hasn't been disclosed how much money she had to spend to bring in that amount of money and fundraising.  Sure those thousand dollar a plate dinners are profitable, however there are expenses involved.