Merry CHRISTmas messages, Happy Holydays to all, and have a Blessed New Year
Happy Holy-Days and Merry Christ’s-Mass America (and to all)
“In the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior. The Declaration of Independence laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity” – John Quincy Adams
Our Founders Were Forthright About Faith
By Mark Alexander · Thursday, December 22, 2011
Each year, our family observes with due respect and reverence six national days of recognition: Patriots Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Constitution Day, Veterans Day and Thanksgiving.
However, the most hallowed religious observance in our family, and the one with the most deeply rooted traditions, is Christmas. It is not a commercial feeding frenzy for us, but a quiet and reverent time of rest and celebration of the birth of Christ, punctuated by extended family festivities.
Unfortunately there is a perennial societal tension now associated with Christmas. If not for its dire implications for the future of Liberty, the seasonal contortions over “non-offensive greetings” would be humorous.
Our Founders, the framers of our Declaration of Independence and Constitution, had no such concerns about public expressions of faith, as none was warranted. Conversely, they were bold about promoting Christianity and speaking about their own faith.
“How many observe Christ’s birth-day! How few, his precepts! O! ’tis easier to keep Holidays than Commandments.” –Benjamin Franklin (1743)
Historian Peter Lillback, author of “Sacred Fire,” an exhaustive scholarly treatise on George Washington, notes that it is only in recent years, with the searchable digital publication of our Founders’ writings, that we get an accurate picture of their faith, and expression of same.
Lillback writes, “Washington referred to himself frequently using the words ‘ardent,’ ‘fervent,’ ‘pious,’ and ‘devout.’ There are over one hundred different prayers composed and written by Washington in his own hand. He described himself as one of the deepest men of faith of his day when he confessed to a clergyman, ‘No Man has a more perfect Reliance on the alwise, and powerful dispensations of the Supreme Being than I have nor thinks his aid more necessary.’ Although he never once used the word ‘Deist’ in his voluminous writings, he often mentioned religion, Christianity, and the Gospel. He spoke of Christ as ‘the divine Author of our blessed religion.’ He wrote of ‘the blessed religion revealed in the Word of God.’ He encouraged seekers to learn ‘the religion of Jesus Christ.’ He even said to his soldiers, ‘To the distinguished Character of Patriot, it should be our highest Glory to add the more distinguished Character of Christian.’”
Awesome post from our friends at STTPP, please click the link at the top of the post to keep reading; more on Washington and our Founders faith in Christ, a Mt Vernon Christmas, Reagan’s Presidential Christmas address to the nation, and his Radio Program on Christmas under Communism…
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From: campaign@rickperry.org
Dear Friend & Supporters,
As 2011 comes to a close, The Perry Family wants to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May 2012 be the best year yet for you and yours, and for this nation we love.
Have a blessed Christmas,
Federal Deficits (with and without the Iraq war) and Obama’s deficits, let’s get real, the real story – just look at the numbers
This is Part 2 of a 2 part commentary. If you missed Part 1, you can read it here.
Part 1 ended with the idea that It’s time to cut spending. The left blames the Iraq war for deficits, but that just doesn’t add up.
Obama and the left claim apocalypse will occur if you cut anything from the budget. Any time someone claims that immediate spending cuts will harm the economy -ignore them, laugh at them, mock them. You know why? Because spending never goes down. Never. Republicans, Democrats and the Press all deceive you when they use the word “cut.” When businesses cut expenses, spending declines. When people cut their bills, they spend less. But when government “cuts” spending, the total amount spent still rises, always. And the Press never explains this properly.
We here at the Tea Party Express are guided by our slogan of “Restore Liberty – Honor the Constitution” and our 6 basic principles:
- No more bailouts
- Reduce the size and intrusiveness of government
- Stop raising our taxes
- Repeal Obamacare
- Cease out-of-control spending
- Bring back American prosperity and jobs
Unemployment the real story; So called Payroll tax cut – Welfare State Scam/ a McGovern redux?; Federal workforce up, Public Unions-the Democrats small army and Money machine; Communists, Greece, a delusional lazy President, failed stimulus, and Spending- the Sequester farce
Unemployment Drops Amidst Worker Discouragement
Half of Unemployment Rate Decline Due to People Giving Up Job Search, Labor Data Show
(CNSNews.com) – Half of the 0.4 percent decline in the nation’s unemployment rate is due to people giving up hope of finding a job and leaving the labor force altogether in November, government data and CNSNews.com calculations show.
In the month of November, 315,000 people left the labor force altogether, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on Friday. The unemployment rate, reported today, has declined by 0.4 percent – from 9.0 in October to 8.6 percent in November.
However, had those 315,000 people not left the labor force, the unemployment rate would have been 8.8 percent – 0.2 percent higher than the officially-reported 8.6 percent rate for November.
The unemployment rate went down for two reasons: the economy created 120,000 jobs and 315,000 people left the labor force in November. If those who had left the labor force are added back into it and added to the ranks of the unemployed – because they do not have jobs – the small decline in the unemployment rate is cut in half – to 0.2 percent.
Other BLS data show the true jobless nature of the current economy. Despite the 120,000 jobs added in November, the overall population grew by 172,000, meaning that there are not enough jobs being created to keep up with population growth. Those 172,000 people went right into the ranks of those who are not in the labor force at all, a figure which rose to 86.6 million in November, up 487,000 during the month.
Secondly, the number of those who “want a job now,” according to the BLS, rose 192,000 in November, going from 6.4 to 6.55 million people in November.
Unemployment decreases, mostly because people are just giving up
The unemployment line is dwindling, but not for the reason we hoped…
FOX Business estimates the unemployment rate is closer to 18 percent when you factor in adults working part-time because they can’t get full-time jobs and college graduates who are working jobs below their skill levels.Further, FOX Business predicts we’ll be faced with this harsh reality for a while. To get the unemployment rate to 6 percent in the next three years, the country would need to add 13.1 million jobs. Safe to say, at the rate we’re going, it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.Merry Christmas, everyone!
“The Left lies” — Stephen Green
Trifecta looks at Obama’s decision to pander to the beneficiaries of the nanny state. Is Obama making a big mistake by turning his back on working and middle class Americans? Is this a huge electoral opportunity for the GOP? Find out.
Krauthammer – Obama’s “tax cut” a McGovern redux?
Calling the proposed Obama tax cut a “phony” job creator Krauthammer reminds us that McGovern tried to buy votes the same way by offering everyone $1,000 and was laughed out of town. McGovern lost in a landslide and that is exactly what is going to happen to Obama. The “tax holiday” went down in the senate 51-49 over disagreement in how to pay for it.
America the Lazy? Obama Accuses the US Of Being Lazy
“The man hasn’t had a private sector job in his life” — Allen Barton
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
And now for some additional perspective:
Federal Workforce Trend, 2001-2010
Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this chart shows the recent government-spending-fueled increase in federal employment. On net, since January 2008, federal employment has increased by 85,000 – counter to the movements of employment in state and local governments and in the private sector. In aggregate statistics such as the unemployment rate, this increase has obscured harsh private sector job losses.
Related Publications
- Did the Stimulus Create Jobs? Veronique de Rugy | Dec 11, 2009
- Did Stimulus Dollars Hire the Unemployed? Garett Jones, Daniel M. Rothschild | Aug 30, 2011
Federal Spending Without & With Sequester Cuts
Veronique de Rugy | Nov 07, 2011
And now for some more additional perspective:
Need an eye opening moment – here ya go:
Top All-Time Donors, 1989-2012 http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php
Who would have guessed that the American Unions contribute more than ten times more money to Democrats than Republicans? Of course most of this money should have been properly deposited in pension funds, but hey no problem – they know Obama will bail them out. (be sure to take a real special look at the “public unions” like AFSCME, the NEA, the SEIU; and ones like CWA who have very well known Communist ties!)
And one more thing: Some things never change (well, except ACORN’s new names)
ACORN and The Working Families Party: Another Connection Manhattan Conservative on September 25th, 2009
And finally back to the present:
As the leftist/union recall war continues to be waged upon him: Gov. Scott Walker: Collective Bargaining Rights for Public Employees Are Expensive Entitlements “…collective bargaining rights for public employees: they are not rights, they are expensive entitlements.” — Gov. Scott Walker
Obama union bud praises Communist China – says free market dead
Frequent White House visitor and SEIU past president Andy Stern opined in the Wall Street Journal praising communism as an economic model. This is the Team Obama advisory group revealed. Obama is on video saying he wants to make SEIU’s agenda America’s agenda.
And of course there’s the cop hating, reverse racist black nationalist, and avowed communist (former Obama admin official) Van Jones Calls on Occupiers to Block Major Ports. Once again McCarthy was right. This treasonous individual is promoting rebellion, insurrection, fostering the potential for civil war, and is the very definition of a domestic threat!
Now Van Jones may not really like this guy, cause you know he’s really pasty white, but he loves his boss, and of course loves their politics:
Fresh off the wire: VP Biden: The U.S. ‘Stands in Solidarity’ with Greece by Erika Johnsen Townhall.com – This week, the rest of the world’s banks and financial leaders are flocking to bring advice and relief to the debt-soaked eurozone to help them find a way out of their current fiscal mess and prevent widespread financial calamity. Monday morning, Vice President Biden told Greek political leaders that the United States government is “standing with you in solidarity” as Greece negotiates a second, massivebailout package from other eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund.
Do we really ‘stand in solidarity’ with a country that’s been run into the ground by self-declared socialists, refuses to adequately reform its profligate spending habits, and has tipped the entire eurozone into financial disaster? Greece has repeatedly refused to take the tough but necessary medicine, entrenched in their socialist ways by an entitled citizenry; even if we want to prevent the eurozone from failing, we should not be ‘standing in solidarity’ with them especially if it means gifting them even one penny. How ’bout no:
Biden, who traveled from Turkey, met with President Karolos Papoulias before starting talks with new Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and leaders of the main parties backing the country’s new coalition government.
“It is overwhelmingly in the interest of the United States that Greece work its way through this financial crisis and that it remain a strong and vital part of the European Union,” Biden said before beginning talks with Papademos.
Last week, the United States joined a coordinated effort by global central banks to provide relief to banks in the eurozone. …
“We are standing with you in solidarity as you meet some very difficult requirements from the IMF and European Union in this very difficult times,” Biden said.
“Difficult requirements”? I suppose Biden would see a sustainable, balanced national budget plan as a difficult requirement, since his boss’s administration seems to be modeling our own government after the Greek plan with alarming rapidity.
A few things on our (not so) fabulous NYS Senators: Schumer- Elitist, Arrogant, and Playing God; Gillibrand- Insider, STOCK act is a Crock act.
Chuck Schumer, A Political Elite? You bet, and an arrogant one at that!
Tea Party Debt Commission Shut Down by Chuck Schumer? (Click to Watch)
- DEMAND an apology from Senators Schumer and Alexander!
- And while your at it, also Reject Occupy Wall Street
Schumer, Architect of Democratic Message Wants Government to be God
Sunday’s Meet the Press was supposedly blessed with the appearance of Senator Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York. An article reporting on Schumer’s appearance described him as being the ‘primary architect of the Democratic message.’
When I read this description of Schumer, I reflected on some of the things I’ve heard Schumer say on various occasions and it all fit together.
During all of the proceedings leading up to the passage of Obamacare, I was watching a news conference where Schumer said that it was up to the government to decide what our inalienable rights will be.
In that interview, Schumer was referring to the Declaration of Independence that says,
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
If you look up inalienable rights in a variety of dictionaries, you will discover that they are rights that cannot be interchanged with others, transferred to other or repudiated by anyone except the party who extended the inalienable rights in the first place. In the Declaration of Independence, it clearly states that those inalienable rights were given to us by our Creator.
Anyone who claims that they will determine what our inalienable rights will be is placing themselves in the role of God, since the Declaration of Independence says that they were endowed upon us by our Creator. So according to Senator Schumer, the government is to take the role of God in determining what our inalienable rights will be
If you have been following the Democratic Party for the past few years, it becomes clearly evident that they are playing the role of God in everything they do. They’ve been taking away the rights of American citizens, especially Christian citizens, in virtually every area of life. Under the Democratic theocracy, we are no longer free to speak out for our religious beliefs and we are no longer allowed the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as originally given to us by our creator.
And this all ties in with the long term plan of the Democratic Party to make itself God in establishing a Marxist government of the elite, for the elite and by elite.
Insider Report from Newsmax.com
NY Senator Gillibrand’s ‘Stock Crock’ Assailed
Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s bill to end insider trading by members of Congress is so full of loopholes that it would do almost nothing to stop lawmakers and their families from profiting on stock deals.
A bill first proposed by New York Democratic Rep. Louise Slaughter, the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, languished for years without legislative action.
But then on Nov. 13, “60 Minutes” aired a report showing that members of Congress from both parties — including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi — had evidently profited from stock trades made on the basis of insider knowledge, a practice that is essentially legal for members of Congress.
In the days that followed, 61 House members stepped forward to co-sponsor the STOCK Act, and Sen. Gillibrand — who was appointed to fill Hillary Clinton’s seat in New York after she accepted the secretary of state post — led a group of nine senators in introducing a version of the STOCK Act in the Senate, the Buffalo News reported.
Under the Gillibrand proposal, members and employees of Congress would be prohibited from buying or selling securities or commodity futures based on inside knowledge.
But in an article headlined “Gillibrand’s Stock Crock,” the New York Post cited experts who point out that the act does not specifically bar lawmakers and their employees from sharing information with their spouses and family members, meaning they could pass on inside information that those family members could use to make trades.
Alan Ziobrowski, a real estate professor at Georgia State University, criticized a provision of the bill giving legislators 90 days to report trades.
“Stock trades need to be reported in real time,” he told the Post.
“After 90 days, these reports will simply end up in the bowels of Congress where they will probably be forgotten.”
The Post article goes on to disclose that Gillibrand’s husband, Jonathan, made more than 250 stock transactions in 2008 — when the mortgage crisis was at its height and Gillibrand was a member of the U.S. House. Those included investments in home-building stocks — he used options that allowed him to bet that their prices would go down so he could turn a profit.
Newt for President; Leadership Now. Surging and about time!
“America is at a crucial crossroads. It is not going to be enough to merely replace Barack Obama next year. We are in critical need of the innovative, forward-looking strategy and positive leadership that Gingrich has shown he is capable of providing.
“He did so with the Contract with America. He did it in bringing in the first Republican House in 40 years and by forging balanced budgets and even a surplus despite the political challenge of dealing with a Democratic President. A lot of candidates say they’re going to improve Washington. Newt Gingrich has actually done that, and in this race he offers the best shot of doing it again.”
JOIN NEWT TODAY “TO SAVE AMERICA”
Presidential Candidate Newt Gingrich Q & A from Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition
Added by Lisa Douglas Hudson Valley Patriot Moms
Newt Gingrich – Fighting 50 Years of Judicial Tyranny
Added by Lisa Douglas Hudson Valley Patriot Moms
Newt nails it!
Post added by Dr. Rich Swier:
What impresses me about Newt is his clear thinking and understanding of the issues facing America. He has spent decades researching how we…
Quotes of the day
11/28/2011 “The poll, conducted by Majority Opinion Research Sunday night, showed Gingrich leading the Republican field with 32 percent of support from those surveyed. Romney earned 23 percent, while Herman Cain rounded out the top three with 14 percent of… More…
Gingrich Wins CV Thanksgiving Straw Poll
by A total of 13,216 votes were cast.
[Note: CatholicVote.org is not endorsing any candidate at this time]
Thank you for participating!
Veterans (The Most Noble of American Patriots) Day 2011: A Tale of Two Marches
Alexander’s Essay – November 10, 2011
The Most Noble of American Patriots
Veterans Day 2011: A Tale of Two Marches
“War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse. A man who has nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety is a miserable creature who has no chance at being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.” –John Stuart Mill
Across our nation, there is a sharp division between two groups of Americans marching to very different drummers.
I am not referring to the current politics of disparity promoting class warfare between the 35 percent of statists (dependents who label themselves “99 Percenters“), and the other 65 percent who are hard-working and self-reliant American citizens. The former are busy fomenting socialist protests in urban centers across our nation while the latter are busy working and caring for their families and communities.
Rather, the division I note is made plain by the vivid contrast in character between two groups — those on the frontlines in defense of Liberty versus those who seek to subvert it.
On the right side of Liberty, we have American Patriots in uniform who, since the dawn of our great nation, have put their lives, fortunes and sacred honor on the line “to Support and Defend” the Liberty enshrined in our Constitution.
On the wrong side of history, we have Leftist cadres loyal to Barack Hussein Obama, who seek to supplant republican Liberty and its principle expression of free enterprise with socialist democracy. Although the so-called “99 Percenters” are marching to Obama’s beat, their protests are trivial compared to the endemic threat to Liberty posed by the rest of the Leftist hegemony in control of our central government.
Could the contrast be any starker?
The threat of Obama’s minions notwithstanding, I am greatly encouraged, especially on Veterans Day, by the fact that American Liberty is defended, first and foremost, by the current generation of Patriots within our Armed Services, and the plurality of citizens who support them. It is fitting that we would reverently honor those whom, for generations, have sought to defend Liberty.
Veterans Day began as Armistice Day, when on 11 November 1921, the remains of an unknown World War I American soldier were buried in Arlington National Cemetery, in recognition of WWI veterans and the official cessation of WWI hostilities “at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month” of 1918. President Warren Harding requested that “All … citizens … indulge in a period of silent thanks to God for these … valorous lives, and of supplication for His Divine mercy … on our beloved country.” Inscribed on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier are the words, “Here lies in honored glory an American soldier known but to God.”
In 1954, Congress was determined to additionally recognize the sacrifice of veterans before and since WWI, and those of future generations, and thereby proposed to recognize 11 November as Veterans Day. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, former Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in WWII, signed legislation establishing Veterans Day.
Insight into the sacrifice of our veterans and their families can be gained by noting that, since the American Revolution, tens of millions of Americans have served our nation with honor, and almost 1.2 million have died in defense of it. Another 1.4 million have been wounded, many gravely. The numbers, of course, offer no reckoning of the inestimable value of these Patriots’ lives or the anguish borne by their families, but we do know that their sacrifices defended a most precious gift — the gift of Liberty that we cherish to this day.
On previous Veterans Days, I have had the privilege of writing about great American Patriots who have profoundly influenced my life, including Roger Helle (USMC) and Roger Ingvalson (USAF). I have also profiled outstanding members of the current generation of uniformed Patriots such as Lee Miller (USA).
I am a humble descendant of generations of Patriots. My father, and his father before him, were Naval Aviators in WWII and WWI respectively. Our family lineage records veterans back to the American Revolution.
These men have heeded the call to serve others before self, and have sacrificed accordingly. And now, my eldest son has received his acceptance letter from the United States Naval Academy and is awaiting Air Force notification.
This personal backdrop, which has stewarded my full appreciation for veterans and the day we set aside to honor them, is a driving force behind The Patriot Post‘s mission of service to our nation and the military personnel who defend her.
Our mission is the antithesis of that pursued by the current commander in chief, as Obama demonstrated this week when his administration announced his rejection of a request to place a small prayer-adorned plaque adjacent to the World War II Memorial in Washington. This was not just any prayer, I might add, but President Franklin Roosevelt’s D-Day call to prayer on 6 June 1944, as 57,000 American and 75,000 British and Canadian troops made their way into bloody battle to establish five beachheads on the coast of Normandy.
Roosevelt proclaimed, “Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity. … Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister Nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace — a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil. Thy will be done, Almighty God. Amen.” (We invite you to read or listen to the full text of FDR’s prayer.)
The Department of Interior ruled that posting Roosevelt’s prayer would undermine the purpose of the memorial. According to DoI’s Bureau of Land Management Director, Robert Abbey, “Altering the memorial in this way … will necessarily dilute this elegant memorial’s central message and its ability to clearly convey that message to move, educate, and inspire its many visitors.” Abbey said the plaque would “intrude” on the memorial.
Rep. Bill Johnson (R-OH), who sponsored legislation to approve the plaque, said, “It is unconscionable that the Obama administration would stand in the way of honoring our nation’s distinguished World War II veterans. President Roosevelt’s prayer gave solace, comfort and strength to our nation and our brave warriors as we fought against tyranny and oppression.”
Unfortunately, Obama and his administration have a sordid history of intentional omission when it comes to the notion that Liberty is “endowed by our Creator,” and not some potentate or government. This is the fundamental basis for our Constitution’s Rule of Law as opposed to the rule of men.
This revelation came in the same week that Obama chastised Congress for reaffirming the 1956 Act of Congress that made “In God We Trust” our national motto, while he was busy issuing an official statement “to Muslims worldwide” celebrating Hajj and Eid al-Adha. (Perhaps Obama should consult a veteran member of Congress, one willing to speak the truth about Islamo-fascism.)
Of course, you must recall that Obama was inculcated with the teachings of Jeremiah Wright, the disciple of hate who officiated at Obama’s wedding and baptized his children. “‘God Bless America’? No, no, no, g-d d— America!” Wright raged in one of his frequent anti-American rants. “G-d d— America for treating our citizens as less than human! G-d d— America!”
At no time in generations has the contrast between those who support Liberty, and those who want to tear it down, been so striking.
Despite this contrast, America stands proud and free because our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coastguardsmen have stood bravely in harm’s way — now and for generations. For their steadfast devotion to duty, honor and country, we, the American People, offer our humble gratitude and heartfelt thanks.
On this Veterans Day, and every day of the year, may God bless our men and women in uniform, those who have served before them, and their families. “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:12-14)
As a final note, I received an email this morning similar to many we receive daily during our support campaigns. This message was from an aging and disabled Veteran: “Mr. Alexander, Just a note of thanks for all that your Patriot team does to promote Liberty. It does my heart good to know that there are those among the generations that follow mine, who are steadfast in their devotion to Liberty, and to sustaining it for the generations to come. Though I do what I can to promote The Patriot Post, please forgive my small donation. I would like to do more, but I am an old beat up Marine GySgt, and can barely make ends meet now. Semper Fi!” (Gunny, on this date, anniversary of the establishment of the Continental Marines in 1775, a special word of thanks to you, all our Naval Infantry brethren — Semper Fi indeed!)
Patriots, please, if you are active duty or reserve military, a student, or a citizen with limited income, allow us to provide The Patriot Post as a service to you.
Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus et Fidelis!
Libertas aut Mortis!
Mark Alexander
Publisher, The Patriot Post
Blacks file Class Action Racial Discrimination Suit Against Obama and Democrats; History of Democrat Racism; and more related commentary
Blacks file Class Action Racial Discrimination Suit Against Obama & Democrats
The 9-11 Black Attack on Democrats
September 14 2011
Seattle – Suing President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party for racism would be a joke if the Plaintiffs were anyone other than Rev. Wayne Perryman, a respected black minister and community activist. Perryman, an author, lecturer and a former newspaper publisher and radio talk show host who has received a multitude of honors and awards for his work and community service, was recently recognized by Chairman Benjamin Jealous of the NAACP for his latest research on racism and politics.
On September 11, 2011, Perryman brought together blacks from the West Coast and the East Coast to sign one of the most comprehensive legal briefs ever prepared for a racial discrimination lawsuit. The suit was to filed on September 12, 2011 in US District Court against President Barack Obama and the DNC. The plaintiffs, who refer to the defendants as the “Father of Racism,” allege that as an organization, the Democratic Party has consistently refused to apologize for the role they played in slavery, Jim Crow and for other subsequent racist practices from 1792 to 2011. Mrs. Frances P. Rice, the Chair of the National Black Republican Association is also one of the plaintiffs with Perryman in the class action lawsuit.
The case (No. C11-1503), cites the collective work of over 350 legal scholars and includes Congressional records, case law, research from our nation’s top history professors, racist statements from Democratic elected officials, citations from the Democrat’s National Platforms regarding their support of slavery, excepts of speeches from Senator Obama, individual testimonies from blacks who lived in the Jim Crow South and opinions from the NAACP.
Perryman said President Obama was named as a defendant not only because he is the official leader of the Democratic Party, but because of certain statements he made about his own party in his book, Dreams from My Father. In 2009, the President was asked to issue an apology to blacks on behalf of his party, but he refused. Unlike other reparations lawsuits, this lawsuit merely asks for a public apology, but no monetary damages.
PDF of the Lawsuit: http://blackquillandink.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/3-PDF-Civil-Lawsuit-No.-2.txt
Blacks, Whites & Racist Democrats
The Untold History of Race and Politics within the Democratic Party from 1792-2009 Why are most blacks in America Democrats?
You will have to answer that question yourself. After reading this book, you will understand that:
for over 150 years, blacks were victims of terrorist attacks by the Democrats and their Klan supporters, including lynching, beating, rapes and mutilations
On the issue of slavery, the Democrats literally gave their lives to expand it; the Republicans gave their lives to ban it.
Many believed the Democrats had a change of heart and fell in love with blacks. To the contrary, history reveals the democrats didn’t fall in love with black folks, they fell in love with the black vote knowing this would be their ticket into the white house.
History of Democrat Racism
All too easily, America has fallen into the posture of believing racism is solely the property of Republicans and Conservatives. The truth is much different. Few know, or acknowledge, the Republican Party’s efforts to bring about Civil Rights legislation. The first article below has the timeline of Civil Rights Legislation. Click the link, and if you are interested only in the modern-day Civil Rights Act of 1964, skipped down the list to that year.
How Republicans Thwarted Democrat’s Racist History
Martin Luther King a Republican?
The Democrat Party’s Long and Shameful History of Bigotry and Racism
Quote du jour Saturday, October 15, 2011
With their infernal racial set-asides, racial quotas, and race norming, liberals share many of the Klan’s premises. The Klan sees the world in terms of race and ethnicity. So do liberals! Indeed, liberals and white supremacists are the only people left in America who are neurotically obsessed with race. Conservatives champion a color-blind society. -Ann Coulter
Behar to Cain: GOP Hasn’t Been Black Friendly for Centuries
Arrogant White Liberal Tells Herman Cain How to Be Black
by Lloyd Marcus (Un-apologetic. Un-hyphenated, Black American)
Please forgive my lack of respect for my white liberal would-be slave massas and their traitorous black overseers. These people are evil and must be defeated. More
Turning the tables on the left’s ‘racism’ charges
Why does the left assign charges of racism for absolutely no reason? More
Obama’s Jobs Bill Threatens/Overrides/Ends State Sovereignty – Wake Up Governors!!; Obama Setting Trap for Republicans; ‘Class Warfare Has Never Created a Job’; AP Fact Checks Obama, Are the Rich Really Taxed Less – NO!
“No pecuniary consideration is more urgent, than the regular redemption and discharge of the public debt: on none can delay be more injurious, or an economy of time more valuable.” –George Washington, Message to the House of Representatives, 1793
Obama Invokes George Washington in Debt Speech: He ‘Grappled’ With Taxes, Too. Um, Mr Obama, you have been an abject failure, and Washington would agree. Read the quote above and then please don’t ever disrespect George Washington again with your empty rhetoric!
What You’re Not Hearing About the New Jobs Bill: It Overrides State’s Rights
“a waiver of sovereign immunity”
Obama’s Jobs Bill Ends State Sovereignty – Wake Up Governors!!
Section 376 of Obama’s tax and spend “jobs” bill ends state sovereignty, turns our Republic into a dictatorship and destroys the foundation upon which our country was built. The fundamental transformation of America is almost complete.Read the bill. (Emphasis added)
“SEC. 376. FEDERAL AND STATE IMMUNITY.
(a) Abrogation of State Immunity- A State shall not be immune under the 11th Amendment to the Constitution from a suit brought in a Federal court of competent jurisdiction for a violation of this Act.
(b) Waiver of State Immunity-
(1) IN GENERAL-
(A) WAIVER- A State’s receipt or use of Federal financial assistance for any program or activity of a State shall constitute a waiver of sovereign immunity, under the 11th Amendment to the Constitution or otherwise, to a suit brought by an employee or applicant for employment of that program or activity under this Act for a remedy authorized under Section 375(c) of this Act.
(B) DEFINITION- In this paragraph, the term `program or activity’ has the meaning given the term in section 606 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d-4a).”
Here is the link to 42 USC 2000d-4a which defines “program or activity”:
“For the purposes of this subchapter, the term “program or activity” and the term “program” mean all of the operations of—
(1)
(A) a department, agency, special purpose district, or other instrumentality of a State or of a local government; or(B) the entity of such State or local government that distributes such assistance and each such department or agency (and each other State or local government entity) to which the assistance is extended, in the case of assistance to a State or local government;”
Also…
“any part of which is extended Federal financial assistance.”
The above is stated as an extension of the actual citation of the general section itself.
More from Section 376 (emphasis added):
“(2) EFFECTIVE DATE- With respect to a particular program or activity, paragraph (1) applies to conduct occurring on or after the day, after the date of enactment of this Act, on which a State first receives or uses Federal financial assistance for that program or activity.”
Wake up Governors!! Wake up America!! Tell Congress about Section 376 and why they must not pass this bill.
Obama’s tax and spend “jobs” bill is a stealth move to end state sovereignty and transform what made our nation the greatest country the world has ever known. If Obama’s bill passes, kiss freedom goodbye and say hello to tyranny.
Perhaps someone needs a refresher:
Schoen: Obama Setting Trap for Republicans
Tuesday, 20 Sep 2011 08:55 AM By David A. Patten
Democratic pollster and Fox News commentator Doug Schoen tells Newsmax that the tax-and-deficit plan President Barack Obama unveiled on Monday is intended to set a political trap for Republicans, rather than offering a viable legislative proposal to improve the economy.
“Obama is now just as concerned with politics as he is with substance,” Schoen says. “This is as much about the election next year as it is about balancing the budget and creating jobs this year.
“Class warfare and tax increases are all about setting up the Republicans for political attacks, not bipartisan cooperation — as the rhetoric in today’s speech made clear,” Schoen says…
Congressman Explains Why ‘Class Warfare Has Never Created a Job’
Business owner and Republican congressman John Fleming appeared on MSNBC Monday to explain why raising his own personal income tax — a measure encouraged by President Obama — would prove detrimental to his businesses and prevent him from continuing to create jobs.
Fleming, who warned his MSNBC host that “class warfare has never created a job,” clarified that while he might be better off financially than most, only a small fraction of his $6.3 million in earnings is left over after covering expenses and reinvesting in his businesses.
Fleming, who owns several Subway and UPS franchises, stated that additional taxes on net earnings would amount to “money taken out of capital for reinvestment for creating more jobs. … So the more you tap that down, the less jobs that are gonna be created.”
He Explains here: Being successful in business is a virtue, not a vice…
AP Fact Checks Obama: Are the Rich Really Taxed Less Than Secretaries?
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 7:16am by Billy Hallowell
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama makes it sound like there are millionaires all over America paying taxes at lower rates than their secretaries.
“Middle-class families shouldn’t pay higher taxes than millionaires and billionaires,” Obama said Monday. “That’s pretty straightforward. It’s hard to argue against that.”
The data tells a different story. On average, the wealthiest people in America pay a lot more taxes than the middle class or the poor, according to private and government data. They pay at a higher rate, and as a group, they contribute a much larger share of the overall taxes collected by the federal government…
With the president pushing the ‘Buffett Rule’ in his new $1.5 trillion deficit-reduction plan, new IRS data show millionaires are already paying taxes at a much higher rate than middle-class families.
Who Else Pays for Obama’s Deficit-Reduction Plan? | Obama’s Plan to Hit Rich … And Many More
Obama’s Plan Takes Aim at Military Retirement System
Related:
Obama’s Deficit Plan Tightens Medicare Squeeze
Rush: Obama’s ‘Buffett Tax’ Plan Has No Chance
Obama Tacks Back to the Left on Economy
Bachmann: Business Calls Obama Plan ‘Disaster”
Steve Forbes: Flat Tax is Best Economic Fix
IMF Warns: US, Europe Teeter on Brink of Recession
Low Interest Rates and Inflation Result in a Stealth Tax
Happy Constitution Day, Celebrating 224 years, week of 17th-23rd, and all the resources you need.
Great post, go here:
Constitution Day Sept 17 (224th Anniv. Week 9/17-9/23) “Adopt a School”, Resources, Webcasts…
9/11 – Never Forget – Never Quit – We Remain Free!
“We Will Never Forget” A day that will live in infamy indeed!
The face of evil- supported by an evil ideology- and an evil network- showed itself that day, and they may have struck us but they did not beat us. They took innocent lives, they maimed and injured and left scars, they knocked down our buildings, and they harmed our economy, but -
THEY DID NOT TAKE OUR FREEDOM, THEY CANNOT DIMINISH OUR LIBERTY, AND THEY WILL NEVER CRUSH OUR SPIRIT!
Over 3000 days now – since we lost over 3000 people – and no doubt we have shed over 3000 tears – said over 3000 prayers – and have stated our resolve over 3000 times in one way or another. On this 10th anniversary of that fateful day where we continue to face a monumental struggle of humankind, of good vs evil, let us remember all such things, and let us proclaim that this shall not be just a day of mourning and remembrance, but also a day of celebration in spite of those dark forces, and that those perished that day – and in the ensuing conflicts since – have not done so in vain. Yes, there is much to celebrate; the lives that were lived by those who perished, the survival of those who did not, the families and friends of survivors who have found strength from their loss and have done wonderful things for their communities through that strength, and the heroes – so many heroes – countless heroes. And yet there is one more thing to celebrate, as stated, our freedom; that they could not take away, that we continue to be a free people and a beacon of liberty for the world, and that though our lives may have been disrupted, they were not taken over, that we rightfully refuse to run for hills, and that we do not live in fear but rather with resolve and vigilance, that this thing shall be overcome, and goodness shall prevail.
May God justly bless each and every one of you, and may you please share in just a few of the 1000′s of tributes, memorials, and events being held -all in their own unique ways- from “sea to shining sea” this coming 9/11 weekend.
Find out how communities around the U.S. will be honoring the victims of the 9/11 attacks. More »
The National Anthem- 9/11/01
Also 
911 Memorial -St Pauls London- US Anthem, a tribute from our friends, our ally, Great Britain.
Watching our British cousins sing our national anthem in honor of the US and those who died on September 11th is a very humbling thing, indeed. Said one American Soldier, “Beautiful version of the National Anthem….The British are some of the classiest people on Earth. God Bless America! God Bless Great Britain!”
9 11 tribute LETS ROLL (“KEEPING FREEDOM ALIVE”) by Fred McLeod
9 11 – Tenth Anniversary Approaches
Family Security Matters announces a new video to commemorate the upcoming
anniversary of 9 11, and we invite readers to submit their own personal
opinions of 9 11…
How the Hijackers Changed American Culture
by David P. Goldman – In the 1960s, Americans thought they understood what they most feared; today they appear to fear most what they cannot understand…
Why It’s not Smart to Challenge Americans
by Michael Ledeen – Osama bin Laden believed that 9/11 would bring us down, but instead it took us to a war that defeated him…
Those Post-9/11 -isms and -ologies: A Look Back at a Decade
by Victor Davis Hanson – Most of us could no longer watch the tape of those jumping off the World Trade Center, calibrating in extremis whether it was worse to implode on the concrete or be incinerated in their offices…
Pajamas Media — Ten Years After 9/11
by Roger L Simon – The most cataclysmic public event of my life led inexorably to the founding of Pajamas Media and ultimately PJTV.
9/11 Special Coverage
All Day Sunday: Ten years later we remember. Join us for stirring stories and touching tributes. Plus, a look ahead as America rebuilds!
9/11 Remembered
Yahoo! joins communities across the U.S. in honoring the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11.
Communities across U.S. to honor 9/11 anniversary
By Chris Wilson | The Upshot – Wed, Aug 3, 2011
[ABOUT THE UPSHOT: The Upshot will host 9/11 content leading up to the 10-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the U.S. You can find the usual Upshot content in the other blogs on Yahoo! News
Remembering 9/11: We want to hear from you The Upshot
Yahoo! wants you to share how you've changed since the tragic events of Sept. 11.
For every story accepted a $10 donation will be made to the 911 memorial fund.
On Sept. 11, 2011, business as usual at Yahoo! will pause for a Digital Moment of Silence to honor those killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. At 8:46 a.m. ET, the moment the first plane crashed into the World Trade Center, normal service on the site will cease for one minute. During that time, Yahoo! will encourage visitors to reflect on the victims of the attack and to share their own stories about how 9/11 affected them. Visitors will also have the opportunity to donate to the National September 11 Memorial and Museum.
Communities across the country will also be honoring those who were lost in the tragedy. Below is a list of how some areas plan to remember the fallen. If your city, town, neighborhood, or civic group is planning to hold a ceremony or a moment of silence to honor the day, share it with us.
New York City: The 9/11 Memorial will officially open on Sept. 11 with a ceremony for victims’ families at Ground Zero. The Memorial will then open to the public on the next day for visitors who reserved passes in advance. On Sept. 10, Community Board 1 will hold Hands Across Lower Manhattan, an event on the West Side Waterfront.
Washington, D.C.: Those who died in the attack at the Pentagon will be honored at a ceremony of 700 people, including family members of the deceased and members of the military. It will take place at the Pentagon Memorial, which opened in 2008.
Shanksville, Pa.: A commemorative service to honor those who died on Flight 93 will take place at 9:30 a.m. ET on Sept. 11 at the Memorial Plaza. Musical tributes, wreath layings, and additional activities will continue throughout the afternoon.
Share your 9/11 memories with us on Twitter – #911remembered
9/11 Video
A memorial to 9/11′s youngest victims. This is a heartwrenching memorial yet must be watched for we must always remember and never forget!
AND THERE IS MUCH, MUCH MORE! PLEASE CONTINUE TO VIEW HERE:
9/11 – Never Forget – Never Quit – We Remain Free!
~ ~ ~ ALSO SEE OUR PAGE: ~~~
ALL GAVE SOME – SOME GAVE ALL -
AND “WE WILL NEVER FORGET”
~ ~ ~ AND ONE MORE PAGE ~~~
911 Tributes and Remembrance
~ ~ ~
- Support: Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, destroyed 911, click to visit
PICS OF THE DAY: Honoring Heroes, but Heart wrenching
August 25, 2011
‘Man’s Best Friend to the End’
Navy SEAL Jon Tumilson had a very close friend in his life – his dog, Hawkeye. Tumilson, a former San Diego resident, was killed August 6 in the Chinook helicopter crash that also claimed the lives of 29 other American servicemembers.
Tumilson’s funeral was on Friday in Rockford, Iowa at Rockford Senior High. Hawkeye was one of the 1,500 souls who attended. As you can see by the gut-wrenching photo, Hawkeye refused to leave his master’s side during the service.
Read the full story at homepost.kpbs.org
August 24, 2011
‘The Eagle Couldn’t Have Picked a Better Person’
Amateur photographer Frank Glick was on his way to work when he drove through Fort Snelling National Cemetery early one morning. He spotted a bald eagle through the mist, perched on a gravestone, and snapped shots with his aging but ever-present camera. Nice shot, he thought.
An acquaintance saw the photo and suggested that he see if the deceased soldier had any living relatives who might want it. Indeed, Maurice Ruch’s widow was alive and well and delighted to receive a copy of the eagle watching over her beloved husband.
ALERT: “U.S.” Day of Rage’ Being Orchestrated (neo-Marxist and other leftist allies); Threatening Communists Endorse Obama – Again!; The Left’s Anti-PC, Tea Party smear strategy, and related…
More on the Days of Rage Event
A poster that accurately shows what it is all about. Communism. Anarchism. The Progressives are behind this whole thing. Believe it.
Alert: Anyone Noticing the call for US Day of RAge on September 17th?
‘U.S. Day of Rage’ Being Orchestrated for ‘Worldwide Democracy’ (think pseudoanarchist, neo-Marxist, globalist)
We thought this would be happening, now didn’t we.
A movement is suddenly springing up from nowhere (ah-huh) to take on the free enterprise, “capitalist” system. In America, they are especially targeting Wall Street, a place still somewhat constitutionally sovereign to the U.S.A. and not thoroughly controlled yet by authoritarian global collectivism.
That is a Wall Street which has already been damaged by the Cloward-Piven orchestrated mortgage meltdown and stemming from that was assailed by the protorevolutionary Obama-Peloisi-Reid government, which brought boa constrictor regulation — by “reform” with loopholes wide enough to fit Brinks trucks for large and coordinated hedge fund manipulators, and which shielded a Securities & Exchange Commission gone dark from the kinds of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) inquiries that uncovered Bernie Madoff. Cloward-Piven government, indeed.
A “U.S. Day of Rage” is scheduled to start an “Occupy Wall Street” camp-out on “17/9/2011″ (which would denote orchestration by those who use the British means of writing dates). And as with the “Arab Spring,” much of the organizing is being done through social media, especially super-popular Facebook and Twitter.
Immediately upon clicking links, one finds it to be the America-targeting element of a worldwide movement, especially popular by the looks of it, in Old Europe. Again, that is no surprise to those who have looked into the updated mode of Marxist revolution stemming from the Gramsci and Trotsky schools and historically, even the days before Marx and Engels. Revolutionary proponents likes to hide behind the non-American ideal of democracy (as in permanent rule of the proletariat majority, forget about a republic) along with nebulous and mysterious anarchistic labelling.
From the U.S. Day of Rage “About” page:
Our Partners
The term “Day(s) of Rage” is the product of Chicago’s Weathermen, led by Obama workmate Bill Ayers and cohabitants.
This Day of Rage speaks of non-violence, yet plays up the violent terrorism of the current rioting proceeding in Great Britain.
This entry in GulagBound.com will be updated, so we may bring you the news immediately and fill it out as we go.
h/t: CFHeather
RELATED:
Communists Endorse Obama – Again!
An accurate little video.
Go here, for an overview of Barack Obama’s connections to the Communist Party USA.
Communist Party Amps up Rhetoric: “Prepare for War”
Ohio Communist Party leader Rick Nagin sets the tone in today’s Peoples …
The Bottom Line: Drama Obama: Are Obama’s Red Shirts Savaging American Taxpayers, and Credit Rating? Matthew Vadum, author of Subversion, Inc. visits The Bottom Line to talk about how Obama’s ‘red shirts’ are engaging in a variety of actions that hurt taxpayers and the voting process.
Drama Obama: Are Obama’s Red Shirts Savaging American Taxpayers, and Credit Rating?
“I don’t see why you shouldn’t have to present photo ID before participating in our nation’s sacred democratic processes” — James Poulos
Richard Chavez, brother of U.F.W. founder Cesar Chavez, died July 27 …
American Labor’s “Tet Offensive”
The Visceral Terror of a Tea Party Presidency: 10 Thoughts on the Coming Political Warfare of 2012
by David Swindle - It’s going to get real ugly real quick.
Dems’ Risky Tea Party Smear Strategy
Paul Kengor – Good luck, folks. Be careful what you wish for. More
The Left’s Very Anti-PC Strategy: Hate, Fear, Stereotype, and Treat Diversity as Evil
by Barry Rubin - How to rebut the cognitive dissonance of the left’s defense of President Obama’s failed policies and worldview.
A. BARTON HINKLE: Riot Act: The media demonizes the Tea Party while making excuses for the British rioters. “So far, none of those who called peaceful Tea Party activists terrorists have flung the same accusation at the British rioters who have inflicted genuine terror. Interesting.”
No Tea in England - Aaron Goldstein – The Left seems to prefer British rioters to American Tea Partiers. HMMM, WHY IS THAT?
CNN Pushes Palinization Of Tea Party Nation
August 15, 2011 – It’s all part of the administration’s — and by the Siamese twin-like connective tissue that binds them, the media’s — grand design to destroy the Tea Party via Palinization. More
Tea Party Derangement Syndrome: Whatever Happened to the New Tone? ”The left has to resort to calling the Tea Party names like Terrorists”–
The Credit Downgrade: Symptom of the Marxist Disease
Budget Numbers Back the Tea Party - By Quin Hillyer – Wherein I show that the Tea Party contentions about government spending are entirely accurate, and that it is they who are moderate while the libs are the radicals!
DNC chairwoman blames Tea Party ‘tyrants’
Flashback: Leahy on Obamacare’s Constitutionality?: ‘Nobody Questions’ Our Authority!
EXPOSE’- Barack Obama and Valerie Jarrett: Brought Together by Fickle Fate, or Something More? Who is Jarrett, her father Vernon, and Frank Marshall Davis?
The Jarrett Files
By Wlady Pleszczynski from the July/August 2011 issue
excerpt: That’s another way of saying they have only themselves to blame. But—what else could they expect? Had they ever stopped to think who our president has surrounded himself with? Three key Chicago people joined him in Washington. Now two of them are back in Chicago, while the third remains perhaps the least scrutinized power behind the throne in living memory. “Who is Valerie Jarrett?” Paul Kengor asks (p. 12). He’s the first who’d like to tell you more about her, but no one’s ever bothered to examine her closely. But what he has uncovered through his own digging and from a thorough reading of previous, scattered reporting, this key aide and mentor to our president has a very red diaper past and a business career that’s been utterly dependent on government connections at their seediest. (In other countries in other times such players were called thenomenklatura.) If our economy is going the way of Chicago public housing, her longtime bailiwick, it’s no accident (as people in those other countries would have put it). Meanwhile, those responsible for our economic condition end up doubling their earnings, as the system they run into the ground ends up paying them handsomely to rebuild it from scratch. “Nice work if you can get it” has never sounded nicer. More…
Barack Obama and Valerie Jarrett: Brought Together by Fickle Fate, or Something More?
Henry Wallace’s Progressive Party of the 1940s was nothing but a tool the Communist Party USA – and by extension, the Soviet Union.
Today’s Democratic Party is also heavily infiltrated by the now pro-Chinese Communist Party USA and their almost as equally extreme comrades from Democratic Socialists of America.
Here’s an interesting picture from the 1940s. Henry Wallace chatting with Chicago journalist and Progressive Party supporter Vernon Jarrett.
It turns out that around this time, Vernon Jarrett was a leader of the Chicago chapter of American Youth for Democracy – the youth wing of the Communist Party.
Chicago communist journalist Frank Marshall Davis was a national sponsor of American Youth for Democracy, as well as being a Progressive Party supporter.
Both Davis and Jarrett worked on the radical Chicago Defender newspaper and in 1948, both served on the publicity committee of the Citizens’ Committee to Aid Packing-House Workers.
Later that year, Frank Marshall Davis moved to Hawaii, where he met and mentored a young boy named Barack Obama.Vernon Jarrett stayed in Chicago, where he became a prominent columnist. Coincidentally he used this column in 2004 to urge black voters to vote in the 2004 Senate primaries for Barack Obama.
Vernon Jarrett, was also the father-in-law of a friend of the Obama family named Valerie Jarrett, who now serves as the president’s most trusted adviser in the White House.
Barack Obama and Valerie Jarrett
This program has been underway for a very long time folks.
Perry – Bachmann, we’re all in! and other 2012 updates
Video: Gov. Rick Perry’s Announcement Speech
My Heart Stirred: A Review of Rick Perry’s Speech
by Andrew Klavan - His ideas are right and the left’s are wrong — his ideas work and theirs don’t — his ideas tend toward freedom, theirs toward stagnation and collapse.
Gov. Rick Perry: America Needs New Leadership (Full Text of Announcement Speech)
by Gov. Rick Perry ”It’s time to get America working again.” The governor of Texas lays out his vision as he announces his run for president.
Video: Perry’s First Presidential Web Ad, ‘Time To Get America Working Again,’ Debuts
Learn More About Perry »
Press Release: Statement by Gov. Rick Perry
“Tim Pawlenty is a good friend and colleague who I have worked closely with over the years, including visiting our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. As a governor, Tim stuck to conservative principles despite leading a blue state like Minnesota. He and Mary are true patriots who are committed to our country, and ran an honorable campaign that reflected their integrity. Gov. Pawlenty’s common-sense conservative voice will remain prominent and influential as we work to beat President Obama in 2012 and get America working again.”
Read Full Article »
By Jonathan Martin, Politico
Rick Perry, on his first day of extended Iowa campaigning, foreshadowed his coming assault Monday against Mitt Romney and swiped back at the former Massachusetts governor and venture capitalist’s suggestion that others in the GOP race don’t understand the economy.
In back-to-back answers, Perry nodded at the difference between his economic record as Texas governor and Romney’s in Massachusetts and then drew a cultural contrast between his background as an Air Force pilot and family farmer and his opponent’s high finance pedigree.
“It’s being able to work with your legislature to get the right tax and regulatory and legal system in place — and we done that in Texas,” Perry said of how he created jobs in his decade-long tenure as governor.
Asked if Romney had done the same, Perry responded: “You just have to look at the record.”
Obama and the Perry Miracle August 14, 2011 By Jeffrey Folks - Liberals have let it be known that they intend to “kill” Romney — or any other GOP candidate who poses a threat to Obama in the 2012 election. The attack on Romney at the Iowa state fair by hecklers pretending to be ordinary retirees is prelude to what we can expect. Obama’s own team are hard at work as well. Recently, they’ve been trying to head off the challenge posed by Gov. Rick Perry, the most successful American governor in living memory. The knives came out even before Perry announced and David Axelrod arguedthat Perry’s record of job creation in Texas was not what it seemed. Axelrod is an a fools errand, and is a hypocrite no less for suggesting that oil & gas companies (who he has regularly demonized) should get credit not Perry! More telling however is the (liberal policies) California vs (conservative policies) Texas comparison, as well as the D.C. vs Texas comparison, read on…
Campaign Trail: Fear of Perry
by Roger Simon “With Rick Perry already leading Romney for the GOP nomination on Intrade before the Tex gov has formally declared, it’s no suprise the Obmanoids are already dusting out the anti-Rick talking points on the chat shows. Today the terminally-loyal David Axelrod appeared on Democratic Party poodle George Stephanopoulos’ The Bottom Line to downplay Perry’s success as a job creator. Credit for those jobs should go to the oil companies, said Axelrod (that being the same oil companies the Obama Admin wants to tax and curtail.)
Needless to say this should all be a compliment to Perry who appears to be generating so much fear from our vacationing president that he’s giving his subaltern a busy August. But here’s an interesting question for Axelrod’s laser-like mind. How come California has such an abysmal employment record when Apple is now a bigger and faster growing company than Exxon? Hard to fathom, huh? Maybe it does have something to do with how the states operate. Of course, what Axel-bubbe is presenting is just so much early campaign drivel. If he spent even a tenth of the time on improving the horrifying economic conditions of our country as he does on maintaining the power of a failed presidency, he might be doing something useful with his life.”
Why Rick Perry Gives Me Hope On Health Care
Campaign Crawlers
President Perry?
William Murchison | 8.15.11 @ 6:11AM
America is more than ready for this Texas governor. (Not like the other!)
Rick Perry Presidential Push Quietly Gains Steam
By Erin McPike and Scott Conroy
Another Texas Governor for President?
(You bet, and just because there may be similarities, doesn’t mean this one’s the same as the other)
August 11, 2011 by V2A - There’s a debate in Texas over whether or not Governor Rick Perry’s prayer rally before 30,000 worshippers in a football stadium last Saturday was conceived to help launch his presidential candidacy. But there’s little dispute about his prospects should he decide to enter the Republican field, as expected.
Most people here think he’ll win.
Perry’s appeal to Republicans is not hard to fathom. It has three distinct parts. The first, as the prayer rally demonstrates, is an overt religiosity that is sure to excite the social conservatives in the Republican base who feel neglected by the unrelenting focus on the economy. Perry casts the issue as a crisis of faith. “Lord,’’ he told the crowd, “we see discord at home. We see fear in the marketplace. We see anger in the halls of government and, as a nation, we have forgotten who made us, who protects us, who blesses us.’’ That message should resonate across the South and in states like Iowa, where religious conservatives dominate the party – Post Continues on www.boston.com
Rick Perry’s Christianity Is Good for America
By Ben Shapiro – It is profoundly right to request that God look kindly and benevolently on the United States of America.
Agnostics for Perry
Personally, I’m an agnostic, but I respect Perry for his faith: America was founded on religious tolerance, which some modern liberals tend to forget includes people who actually believe in God.
An Historic Event
Perry: ‘Global Warming a Phony Mess’
Rick Perry: Obama shutting down our legacy in space
Texas Governor Rick Perry sharply criticized the end of the space shuttle program yesterday, issuing the following statement: Read More
Ed Morrissey: CNN poll: Perry in 2nd place? (before he entered the race)
Bachmann Wins Iowa Straw Poll
Saturday, August 13, 2011, 06:54 PM
Political Hay
What Is a Republican President?
Jeffrey Lord | 8.16.11 @ 6:08AM
Bachmann’s conservative victory puts spotlight on question roiling the GOP.
- Michael Barone: Bachmann Shows Why She’s the Straw Poll Favorite
- Terence Jeffrey: Translating Newsweek: Why the Left Fears Bachmann
Has Michele Bachmann Become Mitt Romney’s Main Rival?- ‘President Bachmann’ Promises To Build Border Fence
From 2009: Michele Bachmann Stands With the Tea Party – There is no doubting Michele Bachmann’s commitment to “Tea Party” values!
Out: Tim Pawlenty Quits GOP Presidential Race
One door closes, another opens. We agree this could be the better result of his efforts: Pawlenty for Senate
August 15, 2011 – An excellent opportunity for the Republican Party: nominate Tim Pawlenty to run in the 2012 Senate race against Amy Klobuchar More
Watch: Is Palin Definitely Out of the 2012 Race?
Palin’s pick: ‘Anybody but Obama,’ … maybe even me
The Undefeated Sarah Palin: The Politics of Palin’s Personality
“They’re dead right in that clip,why aren’t they, about the root cause of the whole Palin maddness being the failure of the establishment– Republicans and Democrats?” — James Poulos
The Undefeated: Does the New Palin Documentary Mean She’s Running for President?
“I don’t make films that are like PBS documentaries.” -
- Stephen K. Bannon, Director of ‘The Undefeated’
Allen West: Ron Paul ‘Not the Kind of Guy You Need to Be Sitting at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave’
Aug 11, 2011
Gingrich Blasts Debt Super Committee
Aug 11, 2011
Republican Rivals Make Closing Arguments in Iowa
The Growing Republican 10th Amendment Debate
August 13, 2011 – The federalism issue may seem like a sideshow, but in fact it is the key to solving the sickness of our national government More
Poll: Romney narrowly leads Obama in a head-to-head race – TheDC
Homeland Security Chair Seeks Probe into Administration-Sanctioned Bin Laden Movie; Classified leaks (and hypocrisy); Fine line between “the free press” and (collusion) and “state run media”; FAVORS: Sony Hosted Obama Fundraiser, Releasing Bin Laden Movie Before Election!
A fine line between “the free press” and (collusion) and “state run media”
GOP Rep Calls for Pentagon Probe Over Cooperation With Hollywood Movie About bin Laden Raid
Twist #1: The Pentagon confirmed it‘s giving mission information to the film’s screenwriter Mark Boal and director Kathryn Bigelow. Except why, wondered New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, would “an administration that has tried to throw more people in jail for leaking classified information than the Bush administration” now be so accommodating?
Twist #2: Why is the Pentagon helping Bigelow and Boal when, Fox reported, a Department of Defense-sanctioned Army adviser pulled out at the last minute from work on The Hurt Locker after learning of several scenes the DOD hadn’t authorized? (Could be important to note that President Bush, not Obama, was in office when The Hurt Locker was being made.)
Twist #3: The new movie’s planned release date is October 12, 2012. Just a few short weeks prior to the presidential election. Dowd ”The White House is also counting on the Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal big-screen version of the killing of Bin Laden to counter Obama’s growing reputation as ineffectual.”
Homeland Security Chairman Seeks Probe into Administration-Sanctioned Bin Laden Movie
By Joshua Rhett Miller Published August 10, 2011 | FoxNews.com
In a letter to the inspectors general of the Defense Department and CIA, U.S. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., wrote that the administration’s first duty in declassifying material is to provide full reporting to Congress and the American people to build public trust through transparency of government. “In contrast, this alleged collaboration belies a desire of transparency in favor of a cinematographic view of history,” King wrote.
The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee is calling for an investigation into the Obama administration’s granting of high-level access to filmmakers re-creating the U.S. special operation forces mission that killed Usama bin Laden.
In a letter to the inspectors general of the Defense Department and CIA, U.S. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., wrote that the administration’s first duty in declassifying material is to provide full reporting to Congress and the American people to build public trust through transparency of government.
“In contrast, this alleged collaboration belies a desire of transparency in favor of a cinematographic view of history,” King wrote in the Aug. 9 letter.
Dowd added that the pair had gotten “top-level access” to the mission and the projected October 2012 release date is “perfectly timed to give a home-stretch boost to a campaign that has grown tougher.”
“Our upcoming film project about the decade long pursuit of Bin Laden has been in the works for many years and integrates the collective efforts of three administrations,” a public relations representative for the film and Mark Boal said in a statement. “This was an American triumph, both heroic, and non-partisan and there is no basis to suggest that our film will represent this enormous victory otherwise.”
The Pentagon confirmed Wednesday that it is cooperating with the project.
“This film project is only in the script development phase, and DoD is providing assistance with script research, which is something we commonly do for established filmmakers,” Pentagon spokesman Col. Dave Lapan said. “Until there is a script to review, and a request for equipment or other DoD support, there is no formal agreement for DoD support.”
A CIA spokeswoman said the agency’s goal is an “accurate portrayal” of its mission.
“As part of our public outreach, this agency — like others in our government — has over the years engaged with writers, documentary filmmakers, movie and TV producers and others in the entertainment industry,” Marie Harf said. “Our goal is an accurate portrayal of the men and women of the CIA, their vital mission and the commitment to public service that defines them.”
However, Fox News has learned that when the Pentagon cooperated with Bigelow on “The Hurt Locker,” a Department of Defense-sanctioned Army adviser pulled out at the last minute because Bigelow added several scenes that had not been authorized, breaking the production assistance agreement.
Among the additional scenes not approved by the Pentagon were one in which a U.S.-armored Humvee with an American flag on it drove into a Palestinian refugee camp in Jordan to film “angry reaction” of the crowd. The directors also added scenes that showed U.S. military personnel abusing detainees.
King said he questioned whether military officials and the CIA will be able to screen the film before its release, whether the filmmakers access to CIA agents could blow their covers and how many tactics, techniques and agency methods could have been compromised.
Leaks of classified information regarding the bin Laden mission have already resulted in the arrests of Pakistanis who were believed by local authorities to have assisted the CIA with the May 1 raid, King noted.
Participation by the administration in making such a film is “bound to increase such leaks,” King’s letter continued.
But White Press Secretary Jay Carney characterized concerns that the U.S. is giving away its secrets or endangering its operations as “ridiculous.”
“We do not discuss classified information,” Carney told reporters on Wednesday. “I would hope that as we face a continued threat from terrorism, the House Committee on Homeland Security would have more important topics to discuss.”
Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, a retired Army Reserve officer who served in Afghanistan from 2003 to 2004, said the “hugely bad idea” could potentially reveal classified material or specific techniques used to kill the Al Qaeda leader.
“It appears to me to be a political stunt,” Shaffer told FoxNews.com. “This is not going to benefit the SEALs. They have gotten all the benefits they need, thank you very much.
Shaffer also questioned the timing of the film’s release.
“The History Channel and the Military Channel do a great job in re-creations,” he told FoxNews.com. “So, the question is: Why this and not other relevant elements of the war? This is an anomaly. And who benefits from this? Does the SEAL team benefit? Does the Department of Defense? The only thing you need to ask yourself is, ‘Who benefits by the release in October?’”
Peter King Questions White House About Bin Laden Blockbuster
By Reid Pillifant 12:12pm
Peter King is not excited about the Hollywood version of the Seal Team Six mission that killed Osama bin Laden.
The full letter:
August 9, 2011
The Honorable Gordon S. Heddell
Inspector General
Department of Defense
400 Army Navy Drive
Arlington, VA 22202-4704
The Honorable David Buckley
Inspector General
Central Intelligence Agency
Washington, DC 20505
Dear Inspectors General Heddell and Buckley:
I write to express concern regarding ongoing leaks of classified information regarding sensitive military operations. As reported in a New York Times column on August 6, 2011, Administration officials may have provided filmmakers with details of the raid that successfully killed Usama bin Laden (UBL). According to that report, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. and movie director Kathryn Bigelow received “top-level access to the most classified mission in history” to produce a movie about the raid, due for release in October 2012. Reportedly, a Hollywood filmmaker also attended a CIA ceremony in honor of the team that carried out the raid.
The Administration’s first duty in declassifying material is to provide full reporting to Congress and the American people, in an effort to build public trust through transparency of government. In contrast, this alleged collaboration belies a desire of transparency in favor of a cinematographic view of history.
Special Operations Command’s Admiral Eric Olson stated that the May 1st raid “was successful because nobody talked about it before, and if we want to preserve this capability nobody better talk about it after,” and that his operators’ “15 minutes of fame lasted about 14 minutes too long. They want to get back in the shadows.” Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Michael Mullen stated that “It is time to stop talking,” as “We have gotten to a point where we are close to jeopardizing the precision capability that we have, and we can’t afford to do that. This fight isn’t over.” Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates stated that “Too many people in too many places are talking too much about this operation, and when so much detail is available it makes that both more difficult and riskier” for such missions in the future.
Leaks of classified information regarding the bin Laden raid have already resulted, according to a June 15, 2011 article in the Washington Post, in the arrests of Pakistanis who were believed by local authorities to have assisted the CIA with the May 1st raid. Further participation by JSOC and the Agency in making a film about the raid is bound to increase such leaks, and undermine these organizations’ hard-won reputations as “quiet professionals” − reputations important for their continued operational success. And, the success of these organizations is vital to our continued homeland security.
Therefore, I request an investigation and classified briefing regarding this matter from the Defense Department’s and CIA’s Inspectors General, including but not limited to the following:
• What consultations, if any, occurred between members of the Executive Office of the President, and Department of Defense and/or CIA officials, regarding the advisability of providing Hollywood executives with access to covert military operators and clandestine CIA officers to discuss the UBL raid?
• Will a copy of this film be submitted to the military and CIA for pre-publication review, to determine if special operations tactics, techniques and procedures, or Agency intelligence sources and methods, would be revealed by its release?
• How was the attendance of filmmakers at a meeting with special operators and Agency officers at CIA Headquarters balanced against those officers’ duties to maintain their covers? How will cover concerns be addressed going forward?
• What steps did the Administration take to ensure that no special operations tactics, techniques, and procedures were compromised during those meetings?
• To the extent possible to determine, how many human intelligence sources and how many Agency intelligence methods have been compromised due to leaks about the May 1st raid? What effects have these compromises had on the CIA’s collection capabilities? Will Agency participation in a film about the bin Laden raid add to or exacerbate the effects of these compromises?
If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Matthew McCabe, Senior Counsel for the Committee on Homeland Security, at (202) 226-8417. Thank you for your time and consideration of this request.
Sincerely,
PETER T. KING
Chairman Homeland Security Committee
The Curious Case of the Osama-Obama Movie: Hollywood — But Not Politics — As Usual
”But the non-litigious Pentagon simply maintains a policy of subsequent non-cooperation with offenders. Everyone knows that, and that’s the deal. Which brings us to the Bigelow-Boal film The Hurt Locker. According to knowledgable sources in the American military, during the filming of The Hurt Locker Ms. Bigelow violated her agreement with the Pentagon”…“There is so much more about this whole affair that is so dispiriting; we who work in the popular culture should remember we are stewards, custodians, who must be ever mindful of the power of what we do to influence events. The higher reaches of Sony, a foreign entity, might be less sensitive to this obligation that comes with the privilege of working in our industry. But those who run the company on a day-to-day basis, up to and including the chairman, know better. It may be good business to take advantage of the willingness of an administration obsessed by re-election to bend rules and use influence in an unseemly way.
But it is very poor citizenship.”
Rep. Peter King requests investigation of ‘administration-sanctioned’ bin Laden film- TheDC
Carol A. Taber – No surer sign of Obama’s pathologically sick egocentrism can be found than this. More
Obama Involved in Photo Flap of Killed U.S. Troops
Pentagon did not know White House photographer would be present when bodies of U.S. troops returned
White House Photo of Ceremony for U.S. Troops Killed in Afghanistan Sparks Controversy
PHOTO OUTRAGE: White House Violates Wishes of SEALS’ Families
2012 Outlook: Supreme Court Is One Vote Short of Tyranny!
Supreme Court One Vote Short of Tyranny
By Quin Hillyer on 8.15.11 @ 12:25PM
On July 7, I first wrote against an Obama administration attempt to interfere in an execution in Texas, and then on July 12 I really railed against it. This was the case of the vicious rapist/murderer trying to get his conviction overturned on the absurd grounds that he should have been afforded the chance to secure representation from the Mexican Embassy. Well, yesterday at The American Thinker, Lester Jackson did a superb job delving further into this case and explaining just how close we are to the disastrous situation in which judges might start imposing laws that don’t even exist.
[D]issenting Justices Breyer, Ginsburg, Sotomayor and Kagan carried judicial activism to new heights by advocating a stay of execution on the basis of an imaginary law. They thereby revealed themselves to be so desperate to save barbaric murderers that they unashamedly and brazenly sought to apply un-enacted legislation introduced on June 14 by one senator, Patrick Leahy, with not a single cosponsor and by no representative at all. They had to know that this was not going to pass, because it had never been seriously considered in over seven years — even when those least unlikely to vote for it controlled both houses of Congress and the presidency.
Read Jackson’s whole piece. Good stuff.
Government at the Abyss: Progressivism and the Nation’s departure from adherence to the Constitution; from Wilson to Obama.
There is a direct correlation between America’s downward spiral and the nation’s departure from adherence to the U.S. Constitution. During the first hundred years, America experienced growth and prosperity never before imagined by people who never knew what freedom was. It was a rough-and-tumble century; not everyone prospered. Many people were victimized by profit-hungry capitalists. The answer to this inequity, according to some of the 19th century philosophers, was government management of the affairs of people and their business activities. Proponents of these ideas claimed the name “progressives.”
Progressives prevailed at the dawn of the 20th century when Woodrow Wilson won the presidency, guided by master progressive Edward Mandell House. With few notable exceptions, progressives have dominated government since the Wilson era.
The single most apparent characteristic of progressive influence is a complete disregard for the U.S. Constitution. The founders designed the government of the United States to share and balance sovereign power between the states and the new federal government. The new Senate was chosen by state legislatures to ensure that the states would have a decisive voice in the federal government. No legislation could become law, nor could any treaty be ratified, nor could any Supreme Court justice or Cabinet-level official be appointed, without approval of the states. This state-held power in the new federal government held the new government in check for the first century.
So effective was this check and balance, progressives were not able to advance their agenda. So they launched a well-calculated campaign to amend the Constitution to prohibit the states from any participation at all in the federal government. The 17th Amendment achieved this result by denying state legislatures the constitutional right to elect their senators.
Originally, the Constitution required all taxes to by levied “…uniformly throughout the United States.” The 16th Amendment changed that and allowed the progressive income tax. The Constitution gave Congress alone the authority to coin money “… and set the value thereof.” Progressives did not like this limitation, so they contrived the Federal Reserve, and now Congress has virtually no say in the coinage of money or the value thereof.
These are just a few of the departures from the Constitution caused by progressives. One of the most consequential departures from the Constitution came at the hands of the Supreme Court in the 1954 Berman vs. Parker decision, which re-interpreted the term “public use” in the Fifth Amendment to mean “public benefit.” Six of the judges were appointed by Progressive in Chief Franklin Roosevelt. Since this decision, the federal government has joined state and local governments in erasing the notion that private property is sacred in the United States.
The idea that governments, not private owners, should control the use of land gained great momentum in 1976, when the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements, meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, declared:
Land… cannot be treated as an ordinary asset, controlled by individuals and subject to the pressures and inefficiencies of the market. Private land ownership is also a principal instrument of accumulation and concentration of wealth and therefore contributes to social injustice…. Public control of land is therefore indispensable….
Both William K. Reilly, future administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and Carla A. Hills, future U.S. trade representative who negotiated the World Trade Organization, signed this document for the United States.
Five years later, in 1981, the city of Detroit took 1,500 privately owned homes, not for public use, but for what the city said was a public benefit: the construction of a new General Motors plant.
Six years later, in 1987, the World Commission on Environment and Development declared that development should be “sustainable,” defined to be:
…development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
The Commission’s final report, “Our Common Future,” declared that in order for development to be “sustainable,” government must manage development to ensure that it is socially equitable, and environmentally safe. The key words here are “government must manage.”
Five years later, in 1992, the U.N. Conference on Environment and Development produced Agenda 21, signed by 179 nations, including the United States. This document spells out in 40 chapters of very specific recommendations just how government must manage development to ensure that it is socially equitable and environmentally safe.
From the Henry Altemus edition of John Bunyan’s *Pilgrim’s Progress,* USA public domainNeither private property rights, nor the U.S. Constitution is given any respect in Agenda 21. Nevertheless, since the creation by execution order of the President’s Council on Sustainable Development in 1993, the federal government, and state and local governments, have been focused on implementing the policy recommendations contained in Agenda 21, disguised as “Smart Growth,” implemented at the local level through “Comprehensive Land Use Plans.”
Freedom cannot survive government management. The U.S. Constitution designed a government managed by the people; Progressives have disregarded the Constitution and fundamentally transformed government – to manage the people.
Since the post-war peak of American productivity in the 1950s, the U.S. Constitution, and consequently, individual freedom, have been consistently and deliberately eroded by the progressive influence in society, and especially in government. The tidal wave of progressivism that washed over Washington in 2008 drowned the nation in debt, in its search for “social equity” and “environmental safety.”
It should now be abundantly clear that without the U.S. Constitution, and the freedom from government management it guarantees, the American experiment in self-government stands at the edge of a cliff, about to fall into the abyss of history.
~ ~ ~
Henry Lamb is the author of “The Rise of Global Governance,” Chairman of Sovereignty International , and founder of the Environmental Conservation Organization (ECO) and Freedom21, Inc.
Polling an unhappy Nation, Tea Party has only righteous wind; Blame and bla bla; Action steps; It’s spending stupid, and debt too!; Obamacare, Regulatory policies, credit ratings; President is a national train wreck; Oh God can’t it be Nov 2012 tomorrow; Left’s inHumanity, Evil Benevolence, Class warfare; Moral decay and Freedom betrayed, sexing up kids, and they’s even corrupt Sesame Street!
or 
Poll: Just 17% of Americans Believe the Government Has the Consent of the Governed
NATION’S DIRECTION TAKES TURN FOR WORSEIt’s not just the stock markets. The marketplace of public opinion also is turning thumbs down on the debt-ceiling deal, according to a new McClatchy-Marist Poll. The poll found that Americans think the deal is bad for the country, bad for members of Congress who voted for it and bad for the poor, the middle class and the elderly. Americans think that the only ones whom the deal treated fairly were the wealthy and corporations.
By 47-43 percent, voters said they thought the deal was bad for the country. Democrats were the only ones who thought it was good for the country, by 56-34 percent. Independents thought it was bad for the country by 49-40, and Republicans by 63-31.
At the same time, voters said by 79-14 percent that the debt debate left them less confident in Washington.
Dick Armey: Tea Party’s Aims Misunderstood
FREEDOM WORKS pdfs - Download Strategy Memo / Download Talking Points /
Download Pledges
We are proud to announce Contract from America and FreedomWorks are launching our own Tea Party Debt Commission! During the next several months we will be holding grassroots activist hearings around the country and developing a budget that, at a minimum, cuts $9 trillion and balances the budget. In preparation for those discussions, we are asking for your input. What are your spending cut priorities? What tough choices would you be willing to make? Please click through and help us get started.
Citizens’ Open Letter to Congress on Spending and Debt
The Heritage Foundation wants to add your name to an open letter to Congress, expressing Americans’ deep concerns about the threat of spending and debt. It will arrive as lawmakers debate whether to continue on the current course or instead bring spending under control. The letter will be made available to all 535 members of Congress (435 Representatives and 100 Senators). Please add your name!
Is Obama to Blame For Lack of Economic Recovery? We feel like economic recovery has stalled with housing values still dropping like a stone and unemployment sky high. But we want to know what you think! PersonalLiberty.com, America’s #1 news site for independent-minded individuals is conducting an urgent economic poll… With President Barack Obama in office for two years now… we want to know if you think he is most to blame for the lack of economic recovery. The results will be available after you vote so you’ll know exactly what people just like you think.
Vote Now!
Democrats Playing Blame Game?
Sen. Paul reacts to Tea Party attacks
Just Who, Exactly, Is Delusional? »
Isn’t it remarkable how the left is railing on and on about how the Tea Party members of Congress held the debt-ceiling talks hostage by demanding that there be no tax hikes? They have even referred to them as terrorists and suicide bombers, malcontents who ignored the heartfelt pleas of that paragon of unity, Barack Obama, to tone down the rhetoric after the Tucson shootings. More »
A Poor Standard »
I must admit, as appalling as I find most of what the Democrats pass off as political rhetoric, I do enjoy when they start repeating talking points in perfect unison. Witness, if you will, the aftermath of Standard & Poor’s decision to downgrade America’s credit rating from AAA to AA+. Liberals immediately blamed the fiscal fail on the Tea Party in specific and the GOP in general. More »
Media Dwells On Tea Party Terrorism, Continues To Ignore Real Far Left Terrorism In America - By Tom Tillison With rampant charges of terrorism within the tea party continuing to be overplayed by the media over the debt ceiling fiasco and more sure to come with the historic downgrading of the U.S. Credit Rating last night by S&P, it seems to be a good time to remind folks of REAL terrorism from the Far Left that’s being completely ignored by the media. As uncovered by Glenn Beck and reported on ‘The Blaze’, far left radical Stephen Lerner discussed efforts to…
Dumping on the Tea Party
by Tom Blumer - The “Tea Party Downgrade” slander cannot stand.
Harry Reid shows his hand in super committee picks (Baucus is Ok, but Patty Murray and John Kerry, 2 radical liberals, oh my. Murray who also holds a powerful party position will be the co-chair and no doubt cracking her whip on Baucus rendering his moderate sensibilities mute, while Kerry of course will continue to bomb the innocent women and chiuldren of the Tea Party.)
August 10, 2011 – Super committee will be a political sideshow. More
Gandhi, The Tea Party and the Future of America
They no longer ignore the Tea Party.
Wasn’t the founding kind of like a Jihad and stuff?Automatic Debt-Ceiling Hike A Perversion Of Constitution
By Betsy McCaughey- August 4, 2011
The U.S. Constitution is the biggest casualty in the debt-ceiling deal cobbled together this week. Generally, presidents ask Congress for a debt-ceiling hike once or twice a year, but President Obama said he wanted to avoid another debt controversy before the 2012 election. He pressed for a hike double or triple the normal duration to carry the administration through 2012.
GOP Readies for Renewed Battle Against ‘ObamaCare’
Conservatives prepare for next phase of health care battle, fueled by concern that analysts understated law’s cost (by $50 billion !)
The Continuing Injustice of Obamacare Waivers
Clay Hegar – It may be hard to keep track of with the round-the-clock news cycle, but the continuing injustice of waivers to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act deserves careful scrutiny by the American citizenry. More
Another Perspective
S&P’s Regulatory Policies
John Berlau & Matthew Melchiorre| 8.8.11 @ 6:10AM
It should be easier now for advocates of limited government to keep the focus on restoring economic growth.
Don’t Shoot the Downgrade Messenger
by Paul Hsieh
Attacking S&P for the U.S. credit downgrade is like criticizing your doctor for diagnosing your cancer.
Brief - Monday, August 8, 2011
National Review: “The Obama administration and congressional Democrats are betting their political futures on the hope that the American electorate is ignorant and forgetful, and hence the memo has gone out to functionaries hither and yon, from David Axelrod to John Kerry: This is to be called the ‘tea-party downgrade.’ That this is said with straight faces bespeaks either an unshakable contempt for the mind of the American voter or an as-yet unplumbed capacity for Democratic self-delusion.”
Selwyn Duke – America’s credit rating isn’t the only thing Barack Obama has downgraded. The White House, the Constitution, human life, foreign policy and race relations — and America herself have suffered downgrades. More
Loose Canons
The Obama Downgrade
Jed Babbin| 8.8.11 @ 6:09AM
Meanwhile, Republicans had better prepare to downgrade the Supercommittee.
Senator DeMint Goes After ‘Anti-Business’ White House, Defends Tea Party
“I can’t imagine a more anti-business president than the one we’ve got right now.”
Read More » (crony capitalism the closest he gets to being business friendly)
Among the Intellectualoids
The Left Has No Humanity
Aaron Goldstein| 8.9.11 @ 6:07AM
Liberals love to promote humanism. Then why aren’t they treating Tea Partiers like humans?
The Evil of Benevolence
by Herbert London - Trillions of dollars have been spent on poverty programs, so why are the poor no better off?
The Bitter Fruit of Insolvency
Congratulations, Class Warriors
Related: Of reading interest -
by Michael Ledeen
Michael Ledeen takes a fresh look at Tocqueville’s insights into our national psyche and asks whether Americans’ national character, which Tocqueville believed to be wholly admirable, has fallen into moral decay and religious indifference.
by Michael Ledeen
With the skill of a born storyteller, Michael Ledeen weaves together key moments in the fall of communism. His insider’s knowledge of the interplay of complex personalities and Byzantine strategies makes a compelling narrative, one enlivened by his wry wit and flair for the dramatic.
In this call to embrace the worldwide democratic revolution, the author argues that global democracy should be the centerpiece of U.S. strategy.
OPINION: U.S. Feeds the World, While Russia and China Criticize Our Debt
Speaking of Russia, An American Politburo - This must change, preferably today, but of course as of Nov 2012 it is a must!
As for 2012, a few updates:
THURSDAY AT 9PM ET!
Bret Baier will host the first Iowa presidential debate.
Video: Maybe the Best Political Ad of the Season
John Fund: Perry Could Topple Romney in GOP Race
Reports: Perry to Make Presidential Intentions Known Saturday
Pawlenty Managing Expectations
A Wisconsin lesson for 2012: Unions Spent $35 M to Defeat Walker, and failed!
Hope-n-change’s 2012 Strategy: Get Personal and ‘Kill’ the GOP Nominee
- POLITICO:Obama Plan: Destroy Romney.
Obama: James Buchanan 2.0
Comparing Obama to Carter may be unfair to Carter.George Soros, the Obama Justice Department and the 2012 Presidential Election
What do these three have to do with each other? Lots.
Swinging Redder
Larry Thornberry| 8.9.11 @ 6:08AM – Swing state Florida grows ever redder — bad news for the two top Democrats on next year’s ballot.
Why People Are Rioting – a Statement From the British Socialist Workers PartyThe Trotskyites of the British Socialist Workers Party have been stirring up trouble in the UK for decades. Their Marxist counterparts played a big role in recent events in the Middle East and now the S.W.P. wants to do the same in once great Britain.
Unless British authorities start vigorously countering the S.W.P. and other Marxist and anarchist groups, the event events of the last few days will increase in both frequency and severity…
Six Strange Things I Saw at San Francisco’s First SlutWalk
by Zombie - The newest pseudo-feminist fad is a sad spectacle of contradictions and confusion.
Hollywood Mogul Katzenberg Rails Against Tea Party’s ‘Extremism’ (OH yea, what about Hollywood extremism you dope!)
Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez Go Nude … For Art (already at 17 and 18 years old!)
Pop Tarts – Using Young Girls to Market Adult Fashion Borders on Pedophilia, Former Model Says (10 year old supermodels, WTF!)
Toddlers & Tiaras: TLC - showcases the competitive world of child pageants, toddlers take the stage wearing makeup, spray tans and fake hair to be judged on beauty, personality and costumes, follows families on their quest for sparkly crowns, big titles and lots of cash.
And then this - and you thought we were pissed off already!
Rainbow Connection? Online Push Under Way for Bert and Ernie to Get Married on ‘Sesame Street’
An online push is under way to pressure the producers of “Sesame Street” into having Bert and Ernie get married.
More than 900 people have signed a petition about the pair of platonic puppets on Change.org as of early Wednesday.
“We are not asking that Sesame Street do anything crude or disrespectful,” the petition reads. “It can be done in a tasteful way. Let us teach tolerance of those that are different.” The sexuality of Bert and Ernie — perhaps the kid show’s most popular characters — has long been debated since the roommates sleep in the same room and constantly bicker.
The petition also asks that “Sesame Street” producers consider adding a transgender character to the show, which premiered in 1969 on Public Broadcasting Service. The online campaign also has a companion Facebook page that has attracted as least 350 supporters as of Wednesday.
In a statement to FoxNews.com, the non-profit Sesame Workshop said the pair are simply “best friends.” “They were created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves,” the statement read.
Wisconsin GOP Holds on to Senate Majority in Contentious Recall Election; Massive big labor effort at national level and $10′s of millions to oust them fails, Walker and his effective policies supported, hopefully will reverberate across the country!
Wis. Repubs Hold on to Senate Majority in Contentious Recall Election
“…a massive effort to oust them from power could reverberate across the country.”
The recall elections for the six Republicans, including incumbent Alberta Darling, above, aimed to punish them for voting for Gov. Scott Walker’s budget measures, which included restrictions on public employees’ collective bargaining. Early Wednesday, Walker issued a statement saying, “It’s clear the voters also want us to work together to grow jobs and improve our state.” (AP Photo)
FULL STORY
Breaking: What the GOP Victory in Wisconsin Means (this is a great day for the state and a great day for the entire nation!)
With six Republican state Senators facing recall elections in Wisconsin, the Democrats needed only three to take control of the state’s Senate. That control would not have been sufficient to overturn Gov. Walker’s government union benefit reforms, but would have become become a symbol of resurgent union power. Union/Democrat victory in Wisconsin would have become a basis for mounting recalls against Republicans in Ohio, Indiana and perhaps elsewhere. The perpetual campaign would have become truly perpetual, with recalls popping everywhere the unions thought they had any chance of winning.
But the Democrats failed. Of the six seats up for grabs, they only captured two, and despite the massive money backing the Democrats, the GOP holds the state Senate. And one of those two recall races that the Democrats won involved a GOP incumbent who had become mired in personal scandal, so the Democratic victory there doesn’t say much at all about the reforms that are at the center of the recall effort. The four GOP victories speak volumes.
The fact is, the Democrats and unions poured $30 million into the recall and made it a national effort. Their failure, in the heart of Big Labor country, is one more sign that the era of big labor unions dictating policy to state and local government is over. If they can’t win in Wisconsin with a focused effort, just where can they win? With Massachusetts and other blue states also reforming government union benefits packages? And the right-to-work states outpacing the union states in economic growth? And with Big Labor’s president occupying the White House?
The GOP holding onto the Wisconsin Senate is a major blow to Big Labor, maybe their biggest setback in a generation. The big unions will not go quietly, but go they will, eventually.
Related pre-election result articles: Democracy Shrugged in Wisconsin Slugfest by Gary Larson – “Their agenda thwarted by voters in one election, they [progressives and the left] were not to be stopped from forcing a new election. In banana republics, forcing new elections because a powerful cabal didn’t like the outcome of a recent election is hardly viewed as democratic.” “Public Union Power versus The Public Interest.” Founding Father James Madison envisioned “factions” in his brilliant Federalist Paper #10. Just as we see in Wisconsin, and theirs is a bare-knuckled attack to wrest power from ordinary people by a special interest bullying its way to retain power over the state’s purse strings. (It’s really all about money, isn’t it?) Funded by millions of special interest money and using unions to generate turnout, they may be able to overturn the voters’ decision to give control of the Legislature to Republicans. Steven Greenhut, author of a paperback with a long-as-sin title, “Plunder: How Public Employee Unions Are Raiding Treasuries, Controlling Our Lives and Bankrupting the Nation , calls public union leaders “the new robber barons.”
Forgive us for the rant, but an idiot is an idiot, and enough is enough!
First some background:
A report showed up on yahoo a coule days ago The Tea Party: 10 Facts You May Not Know regarding polling released from of all sources, the NY Times. This may shock some of you liberal idiots, but listen up anyways. Here’s a few important things:
40 percent of respondents held an “unfavorable” view of the Tea Party. (Wow, that means 60% either are us, like us, agree with us, or at least “don’t hate us” as so many useful idiots would have you otherwise believe!)
Before the words “Tea Party movement” became mainstream, many tried to portray the Tea Party as a predominantly white, conservative religious block. However, the Tea Party has proven to be far more complex than that.
* Although people from the South and West make up most of the Tea Party, 28 percent are from the Midwest and 27 percent are from the East, as reported in a USA Today poll. (The point here, though the useful idiots apparently won’t make it themselves, is that the Tea Party is strong even in liberal blue states, ie. Calif, NY, Illinois, for example)
* Hispanics, Asian Americans and African Americans make up one-fourth of the Tea Party. (Oh my god, but we’re racists, how can that be? Can there really be that many Uncle Tom’s in America, ask Lloyd Marcus, he’ll explain that’s what the leftists (the real racists) would have you believe, and it’s pure B.S.!)
* As much as 46 percent of Tea Party members polled in August 2010 by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, had not heard, did not consider themself a member of, or did not have an opinion about the conservative Christian movement sometimes known as the religious right.” (Well blow me down, at least 1/2 the movement aren’t just a bunch of zealots after all!)
* According to a CBS News poll, 37 percent of Tea Party members are college graduates compared to 25 percent of Americans overall. (Should be the headline on every liberal rag in America, We’re not dumb after all!)
* Members of the Tea Party have a “higher-than-average” household income with 56 percent making more than $50,000 per year. (and do you entitlement mind(less) libs know what that means? We work hard, and We pay a crap load of taxes, taxes being redistributed to you and/or your entitlement takers!)
* Supporters of the Tea Party tend to be 45 years of age or older. (We are more experienced, wiser, and probably any one of us that is 45 yrs+ would make a better President than the failing dope we have now!)
* Men may make up more of the Tea Party than women. Yes but, the women in the movement are strong, and have equal footing, and more and more are getting involved. The men of the movemement welcome this, appreciate the importance of our founding mothers as well as our founding fathers, and are not a bunch of mysogynists like for example the dispicable lib Bill Maher. He and other idiots like him who deride us in the most offensive dishonest ways, every chance he gets, are examples of living breathing human garbage to put in mildly!
* Fox News is the political and current events information source for 66 percent of Tea Party supporters. (That may be, but proper wording would be “main source” not the only source, and then consider the other 34%. Point is that we are more well rounded and informed than given credit for, we are not shills for Fox but do appreciate that they do try and live up to their “Fair and Balanced” mantra, after all as one network they are the only counterweight to several others, and when it comes to the others – ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, CNN, ect., there is no doubt as to their bias and that they are the shills, shills for every leftist cause in America and beyond!)
And now for the idiot files:
The 3 amigos, not quite. The 3 idiots, yeh that’s it: Obama and -
Bernanke, Geithner Leading Us Into Fiscal Armageddon
The U.S. is approaching a fiscal Armageddon and those in Washington — specifically Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke — don’t understand what to do about it, world renowned investor Jim Rogers tells Newsmax.TV. America is likely to default, “This decade absolutely, probably sooner than this decade,” he said, adding, “these guys are really, really out of it, they don’t understand what’s happening and we’re all paying the price and it’s going to get worse.” FULL STORY
Jim Rogers had particularly strong words for Ben Bernanke and Tim Geithner. “Mr. Bernanke has been wrong for 400 weeks in a row now,” he said. “He’s never been right about anything.” And Geithner should never have gotten the job of Treasury Secretary. In his previous position as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Rogers said Geithner was in charge of overseeing those that the government ended up bailing out, adding, “everything he’s ever done has been wrong.” (Getty Images)
Democratic Party downgrade (Idiots vs. Not. Sorry but you’ve certainly asked for it)
American Thinker - The Tea Party gets it. The Democratic Party doesn’t. More
Remember when Bush came under fire for he and his AG’s house cleaning at the DOJ, even after Clinton’s before him was so much more severe, and now too, Obama and Holder is much more severe, yet where’s the outrage from all the useful idiots?
Reviewing the Resumes: The Politicized Hiring of Eric Holder’s DOJ - by J. Christian Adams - America should be appalled at the overwhelmingly politicized backgrounds of Eric Holder’s hires in the Department of Justice Voting Section. (This is the second in a series of articles about the Civil Rights Division’s hiring practices since President Obama took office. All sixteen new hires to the Voting Section have far-left resumes — which were only released following a PJM lawsuit. Read the first article here.)
Obama: Time for an Apology (and that goes for the human gaffe machine Biden too) (But will they, No cause they’re idiots) by Roger Kimball - The president should admit he was wrong about what needed to be done to fix the U.S. economy.
More at the Tatler: “The King of Excuses“
DC Puzzler: Who Will Be on Super Committee? (probably more idiots?)
What if the Debt Downgrade Wasn’t Enough? (Well we already know the Keynesians are idiots, but that would make kind of like, super- hyper- idiots, wouldn’t it?) see also: The Keynesian Fraud
How Stupid is Obama? (uh, iodiotic?)
J.R. Dunn – He easily impresses crowds and onlookers so long as the questions don’t get too detailed. But he can’t turn any of this into action. Everyhing he touches, without exception, falls to pieces. More
Barack Obama: Not Lincoln After All (you silly idiots!)
by Matt Patterson - How silly do those pundits look who compared Obama to Honest Abe after he was elected?
CBO Underestimated ObamaCare’s Cost By As Much As $50 Billion Per Year / Report: Obamacare Hides $50B in Annual Costs (Oh boy, somebody’s an idiot!)
Government Using Waivers As Pacifiers (maybe we should supply all these petulent child-like idiots with a real pacifier. they can all shove them in their mouths and shut up) - First they initiate policies that traumatize their subjects then they pacify them with waivers. More
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner Will Not Step Down
(You guessed it, cause he’s an idiot!)
John Kerry: ‘This Is the Tea Party Downgrade’ “Without question.” (Yeh, without question – you are one of the bigger idiots out there Mr Kerry!) Please enjoy this, we sure did: Marco Rubio Rails on Debt Crisis Hypocrisy for 14:02 (And John Kerry Doesn’t Like It)
by Belladonna Rogers - PJAdvice columnist Belladonna Rogers offers a survival plan.
Insults, Stupid Arguments, and Lies (and of course, idiots!)
by Andrew Klavan - The failure of leftism is a trauma so great it has yet to be accepted. And here are the coping devices.
Big Government’s Big Spending Has Boosted Inflation and Killed 3.5 Million Jobs (QE is for idiots and Bernake has surely become one)
Unintended consequences of quantitative easing. More
The Demons in the Democrats’ Mirror (Demons are idiots, and by God, apparently so too are all the Democrats!)
The dirty little secret that most who hire in the business world will reluctantly share. More
President Obama Again Refuses to Accept any Responsibility, Offers No Deficit Reduction Plan (hmm, could it be because, wait for it; he’s and idiot?)
by Bryan Preston - Present. Barely. Plus: ‘It tanked while he talked.”
Compromise for Dummies: ‘Balanced Compromises’ Are Neither (a must read, Hoven is no idiot, the Obama administration on the other hand…) by Randall Hoven – The hidden trick in all liberal analyses of the budget is to assume that a stimulus-level of spending is required from here out. More
The Growth Agenda and Its Enemies (Gee, any idiot can figure this out!)
by Iain Murray - What can the government do to promote real job growth? Quite simply, get out of the way!
Poll: Just 17% of Americans Believe the Government Has the Consent of the Governed (Apparently 17% of Americans are idiots! Or maybe they are just not paying attention and are ill informed, right Mr Obama?)
Times Op-Ed: America Held Hostage by ‘an Extremist Republican Party’ (these are the Times of Idiots!)
by Ron Radosh - Two weekend op-eds exemplify the delusions of the left and the insights of conservatives.
see also: The New York Times Is Officially Bankrupt by Ed Driscoll - Its financial coffers aren’t yet empty, but the culture that pervades its newsroom is utterly exhausted.
Scarborough: ‘Terminally Stupid Ideologues’ Should ‘Stop Using the Tea Party as a Piñata’ – They (the idiot ideologues) cannot even think for themselves.
Obama‘s Union Buddy Trumka Says Tea Party Is Actually Trying to Destroy America’s Government and That Is Super Hard for the President to Deal With (awww. This coming from 1- a known thug, 2- a known communist collaborater 3- a union that has done more to destroy the American auto industry, among other things, than probably anything else has. You’ve got to be kidding, what an idiot!)
The Boondoggle Express (Obama and Brown, not shovel ready Idiots in California)
The largest construction boondoggle in recorded human history has just doubled in cost, and not a shovel’s worth of earth has been excavated yet. More
Who Made Nearly a $1 Billion Bet on U.S. Debt Downgrade? (more than just an idiot! George Soros is a underhanded, greedy, bloodsucking leech, a cancer on America, a danger to our economic health, and we even think quite frankly he is evil) – Someone gamed the futures market and will make off with a bundle. It’s what he does.More
Michael Moore advises Obama to arrest S&P CEO (Moore you are one big fat-headed idiot!)
Moore offers a fast and furious response to the credit downgrade. More
Angry Tea Partiers Confront McCain on ‘Hobbit’ Comments at Town Hall (well you know he can be an “idiot”)
“You are so out of touch, dude.”
Recall Day in Wisconsin (Because idiots who abandon their duties, run off and hide in hotels, and well – you know the story; They think they should be in charge!) Today is the day when Wisconsin voters decide whether to go backward or forward. Gov. Scott Walker isn’t on the ballot, but the fate of his reforms surely is. Tabitha Hale: When Governor Scott Walker and the Republican legislature were elected, the state of Wisconsin was over $3.8 billion in debt. The people of Wisconsin elected them to fix the problem. They elected them to create jobs. That is exactly what they did. Last month, half of the jobs created in the United States were created in the state of Wisconsin. Half. Think about the magnitude of that. While the U.S. has maintained an unemployment of over 9% since the beginning of President Obama’s term, Wisconsin has, in just 6 months, balanced the budget, created tens of thousands of jobs, and made a rapid turnaround that Washington seems to think is impossible. Recalling the Republican state senators would undo that. It would re-empower the very unions who are driving many states, not just Wisconsin, to the brink of bankruptcy. It would undo the reforms that have helped bring Wisconsin’s economy back.
Watch George Will Confronts MSNBC Analyst for Comparing Tea Party to Terrorists
“You do know that 95 House Democrats voted against raising the debt ceiling…” (it doesn’t matter if he knows, cause he’s an idiot!)
Do You Want Al Sharpton to Have His Own MSNBC Show? Black Journalists Don’t (uh, that may have something to do with the fact that even they think he’s an idiot!)
“He has a history as an activist.”
The whole Gunwalker scandal – What a bunch of idiots!
Gunwalker: Drug Enforcement Agency Admits Involvement by Bob Owens - This marks the first admission of knowledge from an agency besides the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
also see: Gunwalker: It Must Have Been Eric Holder … Or higher. An informed examination of the facts leaves no other answer. AND Gunwalker: One Step Closer to the Oval Office.
You Must Abort or We’ll Take You to Court (Cultural, Moral – Idiots!) – by Zombie - Even from my pro-choice perspective, San Francisco’s attempt to essentially banish any counseling center which doesn’t encourage or perform abortions is simply beyond belief.
Religious Organizations Object to New Government Birth Control Requirements (there’s a triple idiocy in this one) – (1) They defied the bishops to support President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul. Now Catholic hospitals are dismayed the law may force them to cover birth control free of charge to their employees. A provision in the law expanded preventive health-care benefits for women, and the (2) the Obama Administration said last week that must include birth control with no copays. Forget the wishes of taxpayers and conscience clauses be damned. (3) Related: Planned Parenthood celebrates new rule with Bollywood-style dance.
Militant Environmentalists Call for Executions and ‘Decisive Ecological Warfare’ (Idiots, to say the least!)
“If it were up to me, all the people associated with the Gulf oil spill…would be executed.”
Van Jones and Co. Unveil ‘Contract for the American Dream’ (he meant to say “communist dream”, but that’s Ok we know he’s an idiot. More importantly, he’s also a traitor and wants to destroy America as we know it!)
‘Bulls**t!’: Al Gore Comes ‘Unhinged’ During Climate Change Speech (do we really even need to say it?)
Did Barney Frank Pass Gas Live on MSNBC? You Decide (quite frankly sir we do not give a damn, but we do that Frank is certainly one of the biggest “idiots” in our Congress!)
Watch: It Continues: S&P Now Downgrades Fannie and Freddie (Another group of government subidized idiots! This is long overdue and their useful idiots Frank, Dodd, and others can’t cover it up anymore.)
Bailed Out Insurance Giant Sues Bailed Out Bank: AIG Seek Litigation Against Bank of America (where this is no question that both these groups are idiots, there is the question of when will someone sue the more than deserving AIG?)
Rapper Kanye West: ‘People Look at Me Like I’m…Hitler’ (sorry buddy but your just one among many idiots in todays raunchy radical Hollywood wasteland!)
“One day the light will shine through and one day people will understand everything I ever did.” Read More »
‘Unprecedented’ Rioting Has Stretched U.K. Police to Extent Never Seen Before (it’s so unfortunate, after all these decades, our now ally England – still has alot of Idiots!)
“This is the uprising of the working class. We’re redistributing the wealth.”
Devastated Parents: Chinese Gov’t Running Infant Abduction Racket for Profit and Population Control (the Chinese Maoist’s are idiots! More importantly though they are a threat to the concept of individual liberty, a threat to our security, our economy, are not our friends, and their useful idiots here in our own government are selling out to them on a daily basis!) “They are like organized criminals.” Read More »
The next 3 peices: All Idiots - as a matter of fact let’s just save ourselves from having to say idiot millions more times – every Islamist on the face of the planet is an idiot !!!
Idiots: Turkish Democracy Crumbles as World Cheers ‘Democratization’ by Okan Altiparmak - Generals, civic leaders, writers, and journalists have been imprisoned since the government’s July 2007 landslide islamist election victory.
Iran Commander: We Have Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (as tempting as it is to call the Iranians the sick twisted insane psychotic Idiots that they are, the bigger idiots right now are the rest of the world sitting idly by!)
We only have ourselves to blame as it is now certain that the Jihadists in Tehran will have nuclear bombs with the delivery system to target any country on the planet. (and by the way, do enough of you know about what an EMP is?) {Oh God help us if he wtill will!} More
Alright we’ve had a lot of fun with that segment, couldn’t help it, but before we go – how about a few things that aren’t idiotic -
TWEET OF THE DAY: “If the Tea Party is to blame for the downgrade, the doctor is to blame for your lung cancer.”
DeMint: Placing Blame on Tea Party ‘Pitiful’
Rick Santelli Fired Up: ‘If It Wasn’t for the Tea Party We’d Be Rated Triple-B’
Vacation Liberty School Teaches Kids About America’s Faith, Politics & Founding Values
What happens when vacation Bible school, a U.S. history course and a Tea Party rally collide? Read More »
Bachmann’s Political Touch Turns Doubter Into Fan. (Because she is Not an idiot! Hey Newsweek and the 1000 readers you have left, are you listening?) Rasmussen: Bachmann Leads Iowa Caucuses
Watch‘You’ve Damaged Your Own Race’: Philly Mayor Blasts Teens, Flash Mobs
“Pull your pants up and buy a belt ’cause no one wants to see your underwear…”
Michigan Removes 30,000 College Students From Food Stamp Program
- Get a part-time job…
Allen West Slams Geithner: ‘When You Open That Refrigerator Door the Lights Don’t Come On’
“He should move on and we should have someone else.“
We welcome you with open arms. Please man, run circles around boy Obama, and get him out of there:
Rick Perry to Announce Presidential Plans This Saturday -
the Texas governor will remove any doubt about his White House intentions. Read More »
Inspired By Glenn,
Texas BBQ Restaurant Gives Free Daily Lunch to the Needy
“All honor, praise and glory go to Jesus Christ our savior.”
Updated: Mourning in America: Navy Seals down, tragic, but we must press on – Let their loss not be in vain!
For Those Who Want to Help Navy SEAL Widows and Orphans
AMAZING Interview with Deceased SEAL’s Family
The Navy SEALS who died aboard a downed helicopter in Afghanistan came to the special forces from far-flung corners of the country, some motivated by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. They were intensely patriotic and talented young men with a love of physical challenges and a passion for the high-risk job they chose.
Thirty Americans — 22 of them SEALS — and eight Afghans were killed Saturday when a rocket-propelled grenade fired by a Taliban insurgent downed their Chinook helicopter en route to a combat mission. All but two of the SEALs were from SEAL Team 6, the unit that killed Osama bin Laden, although military officials said none of the crash victims was on that mission in Pakistan against the al-Qaida leader.
The Pentagon has not yet identified the victims of the crash, but family members and friends have spoken to The Associated Press and other media outlets about them.
Here are some of the fallen, please click through to read the full stories of these fine men:
Matthew Mason, Jason Workman, Jon Tumilson, Brian Bill, Spc. Spencer Duncan, Chief Warrant Officer Bryan Nichols, Specialist Alexander Bennett, Sgt. Patrick Hamburger, Michael Strange, John Brown, Aaron Carson Vaughn, Robert James Reeves, Jonas Kelsall, Kraig Vickers, Chris Campbell.
Remains of troops come home shrouded in secrecy
Aug 9, 2011 – WASHINGTON (AP) The bodies of troops killed in the deadliest incident of the Afghan war came home Tuesday traveling in death much the same way they did in life shrouded in secrecy. Two C-17 aircraft carrying the remains of 30 killed in a weekend helicopter crash arrived at an air base east of Washington, the Pentagon said.
“I want to tell the world that he was an amazing man.”
‘Granny, don’t worry about me. I’m not afraid…”
SEALs Community Mourns Tremendous Loss
“I felt like I was melting.”
SEALs Died in Hunt for Afghan Taliban Leader
Today, the country mourns the deaths of the American troops who gave their lives on August 6 in a helicopter crash in the Wardack province in Afghanistan, as well as many others who have also given the ultimate sacrifice.
As this tragic event once again reminds us, U.S. troops serving overseas do so at great risk and when they fall on the field of battle, their loved ones need and deserve our unyielding support.
At Dover Air Force Base and at Centers around the world, we are taking action to make sure that, during the difficult days ahead, the families of our troops are given support, comfort and resources through our Families of the Fallen Support program.
For the families of all those who have lost their lives in service to our country — today is a day for us to take extra time to reflect on what these great Americans committed to do and the sacrifices they have endured for us. Please join us in taking a moment to appreciate their sacrifice.
Thank you for your compassion in this difficult time,
Sloan Gibson, President and CEO, USO
Principles of Federalism: Repeal the 17th Amendment and Restore the Founders’ Design. We are a very specific and unique Constitutional Republic, not a progressives democracy!
Ramifications of Repealing the 17th Amendment
Engage, Volume 12, Issue 2 – July 29, 2011
Todd J. Zywicki, <!––>Ilya Somin<!––>
The 17th Amendment, ratified in 1913, replaced the election of U.S. senators by state legislators with the current system of direct election by the people. In this article, Professors Todd Zywicki and Ilya Somin of George Mason University School of Law debate whether repealing the 17th Amendment would restore the principles of federalism to the constitutional system by increasing state power, or whether repeal would have little if any effect on the respective powers of the federal government and the states.
Ramifications of Repealing the 17th Amendment
August 2011
Federalism & Separation of Powers
Ramifications of Repealing the 17th Amendment
An Exchange Between Todd Zywicki and Ilya Somin
Repeal the 17th Amendment and Restore the Founders’ Design
by Todd Zywicki*
The election of United States senators was an essential part of the Founders’ original design for the Constitution. Ratified in 1913, the Seventeenth Amendment replaced the election of U.S. senators by state legislators with the current system of direct election by the people. By securing the Seventeenth Amendment’s ratification, progressives dealt a blow to the Framers’ vision of the Constitution from which we have yet to recover.
Would repealing the Seventeenth Amendment be a panacea for America’s constitutional ills? No, of course not. Our constitutional culture has become too intellectually shallow and corrupted by decades of structural protections destroyed by expediency and special interests to believe that any single change could restore the constitutional culture.
But could reinstating the Founders’ design for the Senate provide a marginal step toward restoring constitutional government and deepening citizen understanding about the Constitution? I believe it could.
The Constitution did not create a direct democracy; it established a constitutional republic. Its goal was to preserve liberty, not to maximize popular sovereignty. To this end, the Framers provided that the power of various political actors would derive from different sources. While House members were to be elected directly by the people, the president would be elected by the Electoral College. The people would have no direct influence on the selection of judges, who would be nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate to serve for life or “during good behavior.” And senators would be elected by state legislatures.
Empowering state legislatures to elect senators was considered both good politics and good constitutional design. At the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, the proposal was ratified with minimal discussion and recognized as the approach “most congenial” to public opinion. Direct election was proposed by Pennsylvania’s James Wilson but defeated ten-to-one in a straw poll. More important than public opinion, however, was that limitations on direct popular sovereignty are an important aspect of a constitutional republic’s superiority to a direct democracy. As Madison observes in Federalist 51, “A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.”
Election of senators by state legislatures was a cornerstone of two of the most important “auxiliary precautions”: federalism and the separation of powers. Absent some direct grant of federal influence to state governments, the state governments would be in peril of being “swallowed up,” to use George Mason’s phrase. Even arch-centralizer Hamilton recognized that this institutional protection was necessary to safeguard state autonomy. In addition, the Senate was seen as a means of linking the state governments together with the federal one. Senators’ constituents would be state legislators rather than the people, and through their senators the states could influence federal legislation or even propose constitutional amendments under Article V of the Constitution.
The Seventeenth Amendment ended all that, bringing about the master-servant relationship between the federal and state governments that the original constitutional design sought to prevent. Before the Seventeenth Amendment, the now-widespread Washington practice of commandeering the states for federal ends—through such actions as “unfunded mandates,” laws requiring states to implement voter-registration policies that enable fraud (such as the “Motor Voter” law signed by Bill Clinton), and the provisions of Obamacare that override state policy decisions—would have been unthinkable. Instead, senators today act all but identically to House members, treating federalism as a matter of political expediency rather than constitutional principle.
There is no indication that the supporters of the Seventeenth Amendment understood that they were destroying federalism. But they failed to recognize a fundamental principle of constitutional design: that in order for constraints to bind, it is necessary for politicians to have personal incentives to respect them. “Ambition,” Madison insisted in Federalist 51, “must be made to counteract ambition. The interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the place.”
Under the original arrangement, senators had strong incentives to protect federalism. They recognized that their reelection depended on pleasing state legislators who preferred that power be kept close to home. Whereas House members were considered representatives of the people, senators were considered ambassadors of their state governments to the federal government and, like national ambassadors to foreign countries, were subject to instruction by the parties they represented (although not to recall if they refused to follow instructions). And they tended to act accordingly, ceding to the national government only the power necessary to perform its enumerated functions, such as fighting wars and building interstate infrastructure. Moreover, when the federal government expanded to address a crisis (such as war), it quickly retreated to its intended modest level after the crisis had passed. Today, as historian Robert Higgs has observed, federal expansion creates a “ratchet effect.”
Just as important as its role in securing federalism, the Senate as originally conceived was essential to the system of separation of powers. Bicameralism—the division of the legislature into two houses elected by different constituencies—was designed to frustrate special-interest factions. Madison noted in Federalist 62 that basing the House and Senate on different constituent foundations would provide an “additional impediment . . . against improper acts of legislation” by requiring the concurrence of a majority of the people with a majority of the state governments before a law could be enacted. By resting both houses of Congress on the same constituency base—the people—the Seventeenth Amendment substantially watered down bicameralism as a check on interest-group rent-seeking, laying the foundation for the modern special-interest state.
Finally, the Framers hoped that indirect election of senators would elevate the quality of the Senate, making it a sort of American version of the House of Lords, by bringing to public service men of supreme accomplishment in business, law, and military affairs. There is some evidence that the indirectly-elected Senate was more accessible to non-career politicians than is today’s version. And research by law professor Vikram Amar has found that during the nineteenth century, accomplished senators such as Webster and Calhoun frequently rotated out of the Senate and into the executive branch or the private sector, with an understanding among state legislators—and, notably, the senator selected to fill the seat—that they could return to service if they wished to do so or were needed. Foes of the Seventeenth Amendment argued at the time that its enactment would spawn a deterioration in the body’s quality. Whether the modern titans of the Senate such as Trent Lott, Bill Frist, Harry Reid, and the late Ted Kennedy are superior to Webster, Clay, and Calhoun is to some extent a matter of taste. But it is likely that reinstating the original mode of selection would change the type of individuals selected—and it is not implausible to think that the change would be positive.
Criticisms of Repealing the Seventeenth Amendment
Critics of repealing the Seventeenth Amendment raise several concerns. But those criticisms are either misguided or overstated.
Establishment media and liberal politicians have mocked calls for repeal of the Seventeenth Amendment as anti-democratic. To be sure, indirect election would be less democratic than direct election, but this is beside the point. The Framers understood what today’s self-interested sloganeers of democracy do not: What matters is not whether a given method of selecting governmental officials is more or less democratic, but whether it will safeguard the constitutional functions bestowed upon each branch and conduce to their competent execution. Notably, those who purport to be most shocked by the anti-democratic implications of repealing the Seventeenth Amendment are also the most vociferous in denouncing democratic election of judges, implicitly recognizing that democracy is simply a means to constitutional government, not an end in itself.
Moreover, certain of the Senate’s duties—such as its role as a type of jury to hear impeachment proceedings—make sense only if it is somewhat insulated from the public’s passions of the moment, as was well demonstrated by the farcical Senate trial of Bill Clinton. The decision to abandon the Senate’s original composition as an indirectly-elected body necessitates a redesign of impeachment proceedings, at least for partisan impeachments, reallocating that authority from the Senate to some less political institution.
Critics of repeal have also contended that election of senators by state legislatures was, and would be today, unusually prone to corruption and bribery. But research by historian C. H. Hoebeke found that of the 1,180 Senate elections between 1789 and 1909, in only fifteen cases was fraud credibly alleged, and in only seven was it actually found—approximately one-half of one percent. Nor does anyone but the most oblivious person believe that elections today are free of corruption, bribery, and the quasi-bribery of modern political fundraising and lobbying. Even in the progressive era it was not believed that direct election of senators would be a panacea to prevent corruption, and there is no evidence that politics became cleaner or less corrupt once direct election of Senators was adopted. Among the Seventeenth Amendment’s staunchest supporters were urban political machines (hardly advocates of clean government), which understood that direct election would boost their control of the Senate as they drove and bribed their followers to the polls.
Others argue that repealing the Seventeenth Amendment would make little material change in restoring the original constitutional structure. Perhaps. And, indeed, as during the era before the Seventeenth Amendment, many states would probably adopt either de facto direct election of senators, in which legislatures essentially agree to ratify the popular vote, or attenuated forms of it, such as primaries or conventions to select party nominees from whom the legislatures choose. Although adopting popular methods for selecting nominees or senators would substantially reduce the value of indirect election of senators on restoring the constitutional system, my intuition is that even an entirely formalistic process might reinstitute some degree of accountability of senators to state legislators and to restore the public’s understanding of the difference between a direct democracy and a democratic constitutional republic.
Contrasting Seventeenth Amendment Repeal to Other Proposals
Others argue that in light of the predicted ineffectiveness of the Seventeenth Amendment, defenders of constitutional government instead should focus on other reforms that prove more effective in practice. Two proposals are particularly noteworthy. First, it is argued that many of the goals of repealing the Seventeenth Amendment could be achieved by judicial enforcement of the Tenth Amendment and/or the Commerce Clause as limits on the federal government. Second, Randy Barnett has proposed a “federalism amendment,” which would permit the states by a three-fourths vote to nullify a law enacted by the national government.
I agree that both of these proposals would reinforce federalism and would be positive developments in improving our constitutional structure. So let me stress that I have no objection to those proposals.
But they are incomplete substitutes for the role envisioned by the Framers for a state-appointed U.S. Senate.
First, although those proposals would help to reinforce federalism, they would do little to buttress the second, equally-important purpose of the original Senate: to create a robust form of bicameral legislature with the end of frustrating special interest influence over politics.
Second, the Tenth Amendment and the federalism amendment would not substitute for many of the other institutional roles of the original Senate, such as the Senate’s role in judicial confirmation proceedings. Senators more attuned to state interests might change the confirmation process for federal judges (and thereby the nomination process as well) toward the selection of judges that are more aware of federalism and other structural constitutional issues.
Third, state legislatures would be able to affirmatively propose amendments to the federal constitution via their influence over the Senate. Other than arguably the Twenty-First Amendment repealing Prohibition, none of the constitutional amendments adopted since the founding era (the Bill of Rights and Eleventh Amendment) constrain or limit the federal government’s powers, although many of them limit states’ powers. This should not be surprising: since the adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment, the Article V amendment process is biased toward the adoption of amendments that increase the power of the federal government relative to the states. Absent a new convention, states are limited to the passive role of ratifying or rejecting proposals generated by the House and Senate by two-thirds vote, thereby requiring members of Congress to voluntarily reduce their own power. In light of the ability of Congress to exercise agenda control to block amendments that limit their power, it is entirely unsurprising that proposals such as a balanced budget amendment, term limits, and other popular proposals remain permanently bottled up—as will, inevitably, the federalism amendment.
Fourth, with respect to the protection of federalism, both the Tenth Amendment and the federalism amendment place ex post limits on the exercise of national power rather than ex ante. The authority of state legislatures to compose one branch of the legislative process empowers the states to have their views heard as an organic part of the logrolling and negotiations that go into legislation, rather than having simply an after-the-fact ability to raise constitutional challenges to particular provisions. Moreover, there is a huge gulf between the ability of states to influence legislation through the informal process of political compromise on one hand and those that are so egregious as to fail constitutional muster under the Tenth Amendment or to trigger the cumbersome process of a federalism amendment. Allowing the states to exercise influence over the development of legislation should tend to influence the organic influence of state interests in the legislative process.
During the nineteenth century the Supreme Court had a very modest role and jurisprudence in enforcing federalism limits on the national government. Instead, to the extent that Marshall and his successors ventured into federalism issues, it tended to be to knock aside state interference with national power. Why the Court was more concerned with strengthening national power under the Constitution was obvious: because of the role of the state legislatures in electing the Senate, the national government rarely sought to legislate to the full extent of the outer reaches of its constitutional power. Legislation that stretched the reach of the Commerce Clause simply was not enacted in the first place; thus it was rarely necessary for the Court to define the constitutional limits on the federal government.
Reading the debates of the Founding era, it is evident that the authors of The Federalist Papers and others believed that election of the Senate by state legislatures would be both a necessary and sufficient condition for preserving federalism and limiting the federal government. Anti-Federalist George Mason endorsed the composition of the Senate, expressing his fear that “the national Legislature [would] swallow up the legislatures of the States. The protection from this occurrence,” he continued, would “be the securing to the state legislatures the choice of the senators of the United States.” Anti-Federalist John Dickinson also noted that the election of the Senate by state legislatures would “produce that collision between the different authorities which should be wished for in order to check each other.” And it seemed to perform exactly that function for the century-plus that it was in existence.
But the role of the original Senate in enforcing federalism and bicameralism points to a corollary challenge: to the extent that those remain constitutional ends, what is to be done in light of the fact that the Seventeenth Amendment eliminates the proposed constitutional means for achieving those goals? There is no indication that the framers of the Seventeenth Amendment intended to renounce the constitutional principles of federalism and bicameralism when they modified the process for selecting Senators.
In that case it does point to the need to develop new constitutional means for securing the ends of limited and divided government. In the absence of repealing the Seventeenth Amendment, therefore, renewed judicial enforcement of federalism limits as well as proposals such as the federalism amendment are reasonable and salutary efforts to recreate the means of constitutional government that the Seventeenth Amendment secured so well for over a century.
…………………………………………………………….
* George Mason University Foundation Professor of Law, George Mason University School of Law. Substantial portions of this article previously appeared in the November 15, 2010 issue of National Review, available at http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/252825/repeal-seventeenth-amendment-todd-zywicki.
Endnotes
1 Todd Zywicki, On the “True Story of the History of the Seventeenth Amendment and Federalism,” posting to the Volokh Conspiracy (Nov. 15, 2010), http://volokh.com/2010/11/15/on-the-true-story-of-the-history-of-the-seventeenth-amendment-and-federalism/.
2 Randy E. Barnett, The Case for a Federalism Amendment, Wall St. J., Apr. 23, 2009, at A17, available at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124044199838345461.html.
Engage: Volume 12, Issue 2
Why Repealing the 17th Amendment Won’t Curb Federal Power
by Ilya Somin**
Some conservatives and libertarians believe that the 1913 adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment—which requires that senators be elected by popular vote, rather than by state legislatures—was a great mistake that led to a vast expansion of federal power. They argue that repealing the amendment would be a major step toward reigning in federal overreach.1 In 2010, the call for repeal was taken up by many activists associated with the Tea Party Movement.
Repeal advocates such as Gene Healy of the Cato Institute assert that the Amendment “has done untold damage to federalism and limited government.”
The assumption underlying such claims is that senators elected by state legislatures would be more interested in protecting state autonomy than senators elected by voters, and therefore more committed to limiting federal power.
Unfortunately, repeal of the Seventeenth Amendment is unlikely to have the effect that advocates hope for. This is so for two reasons. The Amendment actually had little if any effect on the scope of federal power because most senators would have been popularly elected even without it. Moreover, there is no reason to expect senators elected by state legislatures to be more opposed to federal power than popularly-elected senators.
I. Nearly All Senators Would be Elected by Popular Vote Even Without the Seventeenth Amendment.
As Professor Todd Zywicki (a leading academic critic of the Amendment) showed in a 1997 article, by 1908 twenty-eight of the then forty-six states already had laws that mandated popular election of senators.
Nine other states required the legislature to take account of popular votes, though they stopped short of taking away all legislative discretion.5
Given the strong political trend toward popular election of senators at the state level, it is likely that all but a handful of states would have enacted popular election within a few years after 1913 even without the federal constitutional amendment. It is debatable whether any states would have held out against popular election to the present day. Even if one or two had done so, the likely effect on policy outcomes would probably have been minimal. The presence of two or four legislatively-selected senators in a chamber with 100 members would have done little to change the general trend of legislation.
If the amendment were repealed today, popular election would almost certainly remain in the vast majority of states. As Todd Zywicki recognizes, “Democracy is popular.”
In theory, popular election could potentially be blocked if the amendment repealing the Seventeenth included a ban on state legislation designed to ensure that senators are chosen by popular vote. It would be difficult, but perhaps not impossible, to draft an amendment that could effectively preclude all the different devices state legislatures could use to promote popular election of senators.
But an amendment of that type would face even more daunting political odds than a straightforward repeal of the Seventeenth. In addition to the extraordinary uphill struggle that any amendment effort faces, such a preclusive amendment could be portrayed as infringing on state autonomy, as well as undermining democracy. And even an amendment banning the use of popular vote devices for selecting senators could not prevent state legislators from promising to choose whatever candidate for the Senate had the greatest amount of popular support, as demonstrated, for example, by public opinion polls. In many states, there might be substantial political pressure for state legislators to make such pledges.
II. Senators Chosen By State Legislators Would not Want to Limit Federal Power More than Popularly-Elected Senators Do.
Even if a constitutional amendment could effectively eliminate popular election of senators and replace it with selection by state legislatures, it is far from clear that federal power would contract. The claim that senators chosen by state legislatures would act to curb the feds relies on the assumption that state governments oppose federal power. Professor Todd Zywicki argues that, before the Seventeenth Amendment, “senators had strong incentives to protect federalism [because] [t]hey recognized that their reelection depended on pleasing state legislators who preferred that power be kept close to home.”
Whatever was the case before 1913, under modern conditions senators chosen by state legislatures often have strong incentives to support expanded federal power. Those incentives arise precisely because senators’ reelection depends on “pleasing state legislators.” The state legislators in question are often heavily dependent on federal subsidies and regulations. They are unlikely to do anything to overturn the federal trough at which they themselves regularly feed.
State governments routinely lobby for grants of federal money. In recent years, state dependence on federal funding has increased enormously, as a result of the fiscal crisis some states have found themselves in during the present recession. In 2009, federal grants-in-aid accounted for 24.2% of all state government revenue, up greatly from 19.8% in 2007. 10
State governments are anxious to get as much federal grant money as possible. This reality is unlikely to change if the Seventeenth Amendment were repealed and legislative selection of senators reinstated. To the contrary, senators chosen by state legislators would face even stronger incentives to lobby for additional federal grants than popularly-elected senators do. The political survival of the former would be completely at the mercy of the very state governments that benefit from federal grants. 11
State governments also often support federal regulations and spending programs that reduce competition between state governments and benefit interest groups that have influence at the state level.11 States compete with each other for businesses and taxpayers. Like any other competitors, they often prefer to establish a cartel that will minimize competition and enable them to collect higher “profits” in the form of increased tax revenue.12
Here too, senators chosen by state legislators would have strong incentives to lobby for expanded federal power whenever such is in the interest of the state governments they represent.
If senators were chosen by state governments rather than by voters, the composition of federal spending and regulation might indeed change. More federal money would flow to state governments and those interest groups that have influence over them. We could potentially see more federal grants to small, local interest groups, such as those that lobbied for the notorious “bridge to nowhere” in Alaska.13 There would also be more regulations benefiting state officials and associated private interests. On the other hand, the federal government might become less solicitous of interest groups that do not have much leverage at the state level.
Repeal of the Seventeenth Amendment could potentially lead to reduced federal spending if the Supreme Court began to enforce constitutional limits on federal grants to state governments.14
If Congress could not hand out money to the states or could only do so for a very narrow range of purposes, then state governments would have more reason to oppose federal spending. Increased federal spending and taxes would then make it more difficult for the states to raise tax revenue for themselves.
But so long as Congress has the power to give the states handouts for virtually any purpose, senators chosen by state legislators are unlikely to oppose federal power any more than current senators do. At this point, there is little prospect that the Court will crack down on federal grants to state governments in the foreseeable future. In Sabri v. United States, a 2004 decision, the justices unanimously ruled that even grants with conditions that have very tenuous links to any federal interests are constitutional.15 In the key 1987 case of South Dakota v. Dole, the Supreme Court reiterated the rule that the Spending Clause of the Constitution gives Congress the power to give grants to the states so long as they promote the “general welfare” and emphasized that courts should “defer substantially to the judgment of Congress” in determining whether any particular grant program actually advances the general welfare or not.16 Although I and some other academic commentators have criticized this deferential policy,17 there is little chance that it will change in the near term. Both conservative and liberal justices seem to accept the status quo.
Conclusion
The Seventeenth Amendment is not necessarily beneficial. I am not convinced that any great harm would result from repealing it. Indeed, a straight-up repeal of the amendment would probably have little effect of any kind, since popular election of senators would persist in most states even if it were no longer constitutionally mandated. Even a more aggressive repeal amendment that outlawed popular election might not make the political system any worse than it is today.
But advocates of federalism and political decentralization have little if anything to gain from pursuing repeal. Even if they somehow succeed, such efforts are unlikely to result in any meaningful new constraints on federal power.
Perhaps an effort to repeal the Seventeenth Amendment could help rein in federal power by galvanizing support for political decentralization more generally. In that event, it might still be worth undertaking. But any such effect seems unlikely. Repeal of the Seventeenth Amendment is not a cause likely to attract much political support outside of a hard core of conservative and libertarian activists. If the Tea Party movement or other conservatives choose to make repeal a major focus of their political efforts, the attempt could even backfire. Associating federalism with an “anti-democratic” amendment could help turn moderate public opinion against federalism more generally.
Those who believe that repeal of the Seventeenth Amendment is the key to a revival of federalism in the United States are barking up the wrong tree. They would do well to invest their limited political resources elsewhere.
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** Associate Professor of Law, George Mason University School of Law.
Endnotes
1 See, e.g., Todd Zywicki, Repeal the Seventeenth Amendment, Nat’l Rev., Nov. 15, 2010, available http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/252825/repeal-seventeenth-amendment-todd-zywicki?page=1; Gene Healy, Repeal the 17th Amendment? Wash. Examiner, June 8, 2010, available at http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=11876.
2 See, e.g., Aaron Blake, Tea Party Pushes 17th Amendment to the Forefront, Hill, May 3, 2010, available at http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/house-races/95705-tea-party-pushes-17th-amendment-to-the-forefront?page=1#comments.
3 Healy, supra note 1.
4 Todd Zywicki, Beyond the Shell and Husk of History: The History of the 17th Amendment and Its Implications for Current Reform Proposals, 45 Cleve. St. L. Rev. 165, 192 (1997).
5 Id.
6 Quoted in Healy, supra note 1.
7See Zywicki, supra note 4, at 191-93 (describing several of them).
8 Zywicki, Repeal Seventeenth Amendment, supra note 1.
9 See John McGinnis & Ilya Somin, Federalism vs. States’ Rights: A Defense of Judicial Review in a Federal System, 99 Nw. U. L. Rev. 89, 117-18 (2004).
10 Figures calculated from Council of Economic Advisers, Economic Report of the President, Tbl. B-83 (2011), available at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/eop/2011/xls/ERP-2011-table83.xls.
11 See generally Michael S. Greve, Compacts, Cartels, and Congressional Consent, 68 Mo. L. Rev. 285, 333-340 (2003) (showing how states can lobby for federal intervention that reduces interstate competition).
12 See Geoffrey Brennan & James M. Buchanan, The Power to Tax: Analytical Foundations of a Fiscal Constitution 182-83 (1980); id. at 333-40; Ilya Somin, Closing the Pandora’s Box of Federalism: The Case for Judicial Restriction of Federal Subsidies to State Governments, 90 Geo. L.J. 461, 470-71 (2002).
13 This $398 million bridge project would have benefited only a tiny handful of people. It was finally abandoned after it became a national scandal and symbol of wasteful federal spending benefiting local interest groups. See Steven Quinn, Alaska Abandons Controversial Ketchikan Bridge Project, Seattle Times, Sept. 22, 2007, available at
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003897011_webbridge22.html.
14 For a defense of such judicial intervention, see Ilya Somin, Closing the Pandora’s Box of Federalism: The Case for Judicial Restriction of Federal Subsidies to State Governments, 90 Geo. L.J. 461 (2002); and John Eastman, The Spending Power , 4 Chap. L. Rev. 1 (2001).
15 Sabri v. United States, 541 U.S. 600 (2004) (upholding federal grant to state governments conditioned on allowing prosecution of state officials for taking bribes even if the bribery in question had no connection any federal project).
16 South Dakota v. Dole, 483 U.S. 203, 207 (1987).
17 See Somin, Pandora’s Box, supra note 14; Eastman, supra note 14; Lynn Baker, The Spending Power and the Federalist Revival, 4 Chap. L. Rev. 195 (2001).
Engage: Volume 12, Issue 2
Look: current Fed expenditures as % of GDP, a record mess; What a spending solution would look like; Hooray! National Debt now tops 100% of US GDP; and Senator Coburn – 9,000,000,000,000 Ways to Balance the Budget!
Open your eyes. Beyond 19% of GDP Laffers Curve kicks in. Read to find out why and how.
What A Spending Solution Would Look Like
Here’s a look at what we have, it can get better, or it can get worse!
ALSO:
Hooray! National Debt tops 100% of US GDP!
August 4, 2011 – A singular achievement by our president now that the latest Debt hike is now in place. More
This is a letter that Conservative-Republican Oklahoma Senator Dr. Tom Coburn sent to all of his Senate colleagues on the 27th, and we encourage you to Share this with your own Congressman and Senator, as well as everyone you know. You may or may not wish to send it along with our emphasis added.
July 27, 2011
9,000,000,000,000
Ways to Balance the Budget
Dear Colleague,
Nearly everyone in Washington agrees we must reduce the deficit, but few offer any specifics as to how to do it. Last week, I released a report, BACK IN BLACK, outlining thousands of detailed budget options within every federal department and nearly every major program that, if taken together, would result in savings of more than $9 trillion over the next decade.
I do not expect anyone to agree with everything recommended in this report, but I expect everyone will find things with which they agree. With negotiations stalemated, I wanted to bring your attention to some very simple commonsense ideas I believe most of us—and most Americans—regardless of party or ideology could support that would save at least $355 billion.
End Unemployment Payments to Millionaires
Savings: $186 million over ten years
Nearly 3,000 households with incomes of $1 million or more were paid a total of $18.6 million in unemployment insurance benefits in 2008. Those earning $1 million a year do not need and should not qualify for unemployment compensation.
Stop Payments to Dead People
Savings: Over $1 billion over ten years.
Washington sent over $1 billion to more than 250,000 deceased individuals over the past decade. The federal government paid for dead people’s prescriptions and wheelchairs, subsidized their farms, helped pay their rent, and even chipped in for their heating and air conditioning bills. Some of these payments were fraud, some were incompetence, and some were intentionally required by law. Congress should end payments to the dead and federal agencies should ensure beneficiaries and participants of government payments are, in fact, alive.
Eliminate Duplication
Savings: At least $50 billion over ten years
In March, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report examining just 34 missions of the federal government and identified hundreds of duplicative and overlapping programs costing more than $215 billion a year. These included 47 separate job training programs, 88 economic development programs, 82 teacher quality programs, and 56 financial literacy programs. “Reducing or eliminating duplication, overlap, or fragmentation could potentially save billions of taxpayer dollars annually and help agencies provide more efficient and effective services,” GAO concluded. Another independent study identified at least 180 economic development programs within more than a dozen different agencies costing taxpayers about $17.9 billion annually. Duplication within the federal bureaucracy should be consolidated.
Eliminate Sweet Heart Deals for Government Contractors
Savings: At least $2 billion over ten years
The federal government pays over $500 billion annually to contractors. In 2009, $170 billion worth of contracts were awarded without competition. Competitive bidding for government contracts helps ensure the highest-quality services for the lowest cost, while no-bid contracts waste billions of dollars with little apparent benefit to anyone other than contractors. No bid contracts should be eliminated.
Collect Unpaid Taxes Owed by Federal Employees
Savings: $1 billion over ten years
Nearly 100,000 civilian federal employees were delinquent on their federal income taxes in 2008. These federal employees owe a total of $962 million in unpaid federal income taxes. The IRS should collect these overdue taxes.
We’ll take this a step further – It should be a condition of their employment and grounds for termination, and no collective bargaining privilege or other public union contract clause should be able to mitigate that!
Reduce Congress’ Spending on Itself
Savings: $3.82 billion over ten years
Since 2001, Congress has boosted its own budget by 55 percent. At the same time, the average American wage increased by only 23 percent. In real dollars, the budget of the House and Senate has grown by more than $1 billion over the last decade. Congress must lead by example and do more with less. Congress’ spending on itself should be reduced by at least 15 percent.
Stop Overpaying Drug Companies
Savings: $480 million over ten years
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) overpays pharmaceutical companies nearly a million dollars a week. According to the Government Accountability Office, drug companies were overpaid $3.9 million in a single month! HRSA should be required to routinely monitor prices to ensure taxpayers are not being overcharged and take immediate corrective action to recoup any excess payments.
Reduce Unnecessary Government Printing
Savings: $4.9 billion over ten years
Federal agencies – excluding the Department of Defense – spend nearly $1.3 billion a year on routine office printing. A third of this printing is unnecessary, according to an independent analysis. Agencies should put an end to this wasteful habit and administrative accounts of each department should be reduced accordingly.
We’ll again take this a step futher – If bills introduced first had to go through a Constitutional authority test, many would be averted, and if bills allowed were required to be reasonable in size and scope, we would avoid 2000+ page bills like Obamacare that Congresspersons cannot even fully read or understand!
Eliminate Unnecessary Printing of Congressional Documents
Savings: $312.2 million
In the digital age, printed copies of Congressional reports and other documents are as likely to grace a landfill as a bookshelf. In 2010, nearly $100 million was allocated for Congressional Printing and Binding account. A representative of the Government Printing Office (GPO) recently testified, “70 percent of the GPO’s funds are used to digitize legislation, schedules and other federal records, while 30 percent is used to print hard copies.” Reducing the Congressional Printing account by 30 percent would put an end to the wasteful practice of printing and distributing congressional documents that are almost immediately thrown away. The documents would still be available online and users could decide whether or not to print hard copies.
Get Rid of Unneeded Federal Properties
Savings: $15 billion over ten years
The federal government has over 63,000 buildings that are underutilized and not utilized at all. This number has increased by more than 12,000 from only two years ago. It costs over $1.2 billion every year to operate these properties. The federal government should dispose of all excess properties within five years. According to the Obama Administration, at least $15 billion could be saved if the federal government gets rid of its unneeded properties.
This should go beyond just building and include land. The federal government has seized 100′s of thousands of acres of land especially out west and in doing so is preventing the development of natural resources, inhibiting our goal of energy independence, an economic boost, and job creation. (see also below)
End Subsidy for Ethanol Blending
Savings: $2 billion one time savings
Ethanol producers reap the benefits of a vast array of government assistance, including tax credits, grants, loans, loan guarantees, federally-directed markets, and a federal minimum usage mandate. The Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit provides a 45-cent-per-gallon federal tax credit to producers who blend ethanol with gasoline. Ethanol-blended fuel is nearly a third less efficient than gasoline, has contributed to the increased price of corn, and can cause engine damage. Ethanol subsidies are outdated, duplicative, and have failed to meet the intended goals of greater energy independence with a cleaner fuel alternative. The ethanol tax credit should be eliminated immediately.
Reduce the Number of Limousines Owned by the Government
Savings: $115.5 million over ten years
In the past two years, the federal government’s limousine fleet has grown by 73 percent. The federal government had 238 limos in 2008 and that number reached 412 last year. The number of limos owned by the federal government should be reduced to its previous level.
Reduce Federal Vehicle Fleet
Savings: $5.6 billion over ten years
Federal agencies own or lease over 662,000 cars, vans, sport-utility vehicles, trucks, buses and other vehicles. Since 2006, the federal vehicle fleet has grown by five percent and the cost of maintaining and servicing those vehicles has grown over 25 percent, to $4.6 billion. These vehicles consume about a million gallons of fuel per day. The General Services Administration will purchase more than 100 more vehicles this year. Instead, the number of vehicles in the federal fleet should be reduced by at least 20 percent.
Reduce Junkets and Unnecessary Travel
Savings: $43.3 billion over ten years
The federal government spends $15 billion on travel every year. All travel that is not mission-critical should be ended.
Consider that Secretary of State Clinton was recently in Africa on official business and as she’s returning, the 1st Lady and her entourage are going over for, oh let’s say quasi-official business. Where we would assert that the 1st Lady’s trip could have been scrapped altogether, at least it could have been coordinated to be done in conjunction with the State Dept.’s trip.
Reduce Advertising by the Federal Government
Savings: $5.6 billion over ten years
The federal government spent almost $1 billion on advertising last year. While some advertising may be needed, much of it is wasteful and unnecessary and this amount should be cut in half.
Take for example the millions of dollars in advertising the census during the super bowl!
Limit the Amount Spent to Host Government Conferences
Savings: $1 billion over ten years
The federal government spent at least $2 billion on conferences between 2000 and 2006. Some conferences may provide important venues for exchanging ideas or providing training. Others appear to be little more than government funded vacations at beachside resorts and other exotic destinations. Traveling to meetings and hosting conferences are, in large part, no longer necessary with the availability of teleconferencing. Total spending on conferences should not exceed $100 million annually and conferences should only be held when other options are not feasible.
In addition there is the issue of the United Nations. Where we outright detest the U.N. as nothing more than a modern day cabal of despots who take advantage of the U.S. as it’s number one funding source, while consistenly voting against our interests, we advocate that it should be dis-banded. Short of that, funding should at least be curtailed, and the over payments due back to us should not be forgiven as they were earlier this year!
Use Better Measure of Inflation to Determine Increases in Benefit Payments
Savings: Approximately $180 billion over ten years
Many government benefits are automatically increased for inflation every year, based on the consumer price index (CPI). For more than 15 years, many budget experts have agreed the current CPI mechanism outpaces actual inflationary growth, causing the cost of government programs to rise rapidly. The Bureau of Labor Statistics developed a more accurate measure of inflation, known as Chained CPI, which over the last ten years has grown at a slightly slower rate than the current measure for CPI. Congress should adopt the recommendation of the President’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform to transition to Chained-CPI government wide to ensure this automatic spending increase is as accurate as possible to avoid uncontrolled automatic spending increases in federal programs.
Eliminate Hollywood Liaisons
Savings: $34.4 million over ten years
Many federal agencies have offices and programs to assist Hollywood movie producers and television execs, often with the goal of ensuring a positive portrayal of the federal government. The agencies have at least 14 employees costing $1.2 million. These should be eliminated.
Hollywood subsidies should also be eliminated. Should Hollywood think it requires subsidies, they can go to their own millionaires such as Matt Damon. In light of his recent rhetoric, we’re sure he would agree.
Stop Purchasing Excess Land
Savings: $4.1 billion over ten years
The federal government has spent more than $430 million to purchase additional land since the start of the recent recession and more than $2.3 billion over the past decade. At the same time, the Department of the Interior maintenance backlog on public lands has surged to as high as $19.9 billion, resulting in serious risk to visitors and deteriorating conditions of important national treasures. The National Mall, for example, has been so neglected it has been called a national disgrace. Until the federal government can afford to take care of the land it already owns, it should be prohibited from purchasing additional land.
End Payments for Coal Cleanup When Projects Have Been Certified as Being Completed
Savings: $1.23 billion over ten years
The federal government continues to send funds intended for the cleanup up abandoned coal mines to several states and tribes that have already been certified as completing their work. The funds are unrestricted and have essentially become slush funds. These dollars should be used only for their intended purpose and directed to states with abandoned sites, with excess amounts should be returned.
Suspend the Automatic Pay Raise for Members of Congress
Savings: $6 million over three years
Members of Congress typically receive an automatic pay raise every year. Congress voted to freeze the salary of its member for the past two years at $174,000. The pay for members of Congress should be frozen for at least three more years.
Here’s one we’ll take a big step further – Elected officials should receive no benefits after leaving office. They should be fairly compensated while serving and that is it. Furthermore, so long as benefits beyond service do exist – any official convicted of corruption, or any official who resigns to avoid conviction of corruption - should be stripped of said benefits! Example Rep Weiner will receive approximately $1million in benefits over his lifetime since leaving office.
Get the Department of Defense Out of Education and the Grocery Store Business
Savings: $19 billion over ten years
The Department of Defense currently operates hundreds of grocery stores and dozens of elementary schools in the United States. These grocery stores are in the same communities that have Wal-Mart, Costco, Safeway, and other choices for military personnel. Instead of paying our soldiers more money and allowing them to choose where to shop, we subsidize thousands of federal employees to work in grocery stores around the country. Similarly, the Department of Defense employs thousands of teachers in a unique school district called the Department of Defense Education Activity. Under the Pentagon’s management, taxpayers are spending more than $50,000 per student enrolled in these schools. The Pentagon should shut down its education bureaucracy, send much of this money to bolster local public schools, and return the rest for debt reduction.
Again taking this a step further, Federal government should be out of the public education business altogether, short of nothing more than cabinet level oversite of state education systems to ensure compliance with the US Constitution. No child left behind, race to the top, and the whole of the D.O.E. bureaucracy, is both un-constitutional and costing us billions!
Terminate HHS’s Community Economic Development Program
Savings: $38 million over ten years.
The mission of the Community Economic Development program (CED) duplicates 180 other government development programs, has a very low success rate, and does not fit within the mission or expertise of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). According to HHS’s most recent report to the Congress, only one out of five funded projects within the CED program were successful. Due to its lack of success, duplicative nature, and inappropriate placement within HHS, CED should be eliminated.
While on the subject of HHS, Obamacare should be repealed and replaced with economically viable and constitutionally legitimate health care reforms that will not cost untold billions as Obamacare at present will!
End Federal Subsidies to Wealthy Doctors and Hospitals for Health Information Technology
Savings: $15.6 billion over ten years.
The federal government mandates and subsidizes the use health information technology (IT) for doctors and hospitals, despite scant evidence doing so will lower costs. Taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize the purchase of health IT by doctors and hospitals.
Stop Medicare Payments for Uncovered Services
Savings: $1.97 billion over ten years.
Medicare currently only pays for medically necessary chiropractic services, but a HHS Inspector General report found the program improperly spent $178 million on chiropractic services in 2006. Implementing and enforcing current policies, along with more careful reviews of documentation, could save taxpayers nearly $2 billion over a decade.
The federal Medicaid system must also be reformed whereby state grants may not be used to fund anything but emergency care and basic wellness care. States allowing lavish benefits, unnecessary care, and a lack of means testing should be required to fund such themselves, ie. New York.
Similarly, the federal food stamp program rules must be curtailed. Spending and reliance on food stamps is at an all time high, and that is not soley because of the economic downturn. The fed is providing blocks of money to the states with the caveat that should the state fail to distribute all monies, the grant will be reduced in the coming cycle. This compells some states to disregard means testing and give out more benefits than individuals actually need. Again see New York.
This list is just a handful of the savings options contained within BACK IN BLACK. I would encourage you to review the thousands of other recommendations. I would also be interested in hearing other debt reduction ideas you might have.
(Take for example the need to downsize and streamline federal goverment overall. We are at an all time high as to the number of employees, the number of salaries over 100k, and the the level of overall wages/salaries/benefits as compared to the private sector in apples for apples comparisons of job sets. To this end, public sector unions must be substantially curtailed, or in our view – outright eliminated!
Another example not covered above is the need to significantly reduce foreign aid, and in a number of instances it should be eliminated as well.)
Sincerely,
Tom A. Coburn, M.D.
U.S. Senator
Unions news: Wisconsin’s Economic Miracle; Big Labor-The Real Hostage Takers; Problem with Public Sector Unions; Malfeasance and Corruption; Government agencies bias; Media bias; Public Education issues and failures; Alerts-Card Check-Teachers protesting Reforms; and more
Hey, Who Wants to Talk About Wisconsin’s Economic Miracle?
by Gary Wickert – The reform of collective bargaining saved the state overnight.
ALSO SEE: Smart Girl Summit: Lessons from Wisconsin, Taking on Public Sector Unions And Winning
Big Labor: The Real Hostage Takers
The Problem with Public Sector Unions - A video primer from Encounter Books: More…
Post hoc or propter hoc? Public union malfeasance meets academic pusillanimity
by Roger Kimball
Liberal Fundraising Groups Raise $10 Million for Obama, Democrats
Labor unions AFSCME and SEIU are among the contributors.
Obama Labor Dept. Official Quits Over Accusations of Steering Work to Friends
Thursday, 28 Jul 2011 01:56 PM
Labor Official Resigns Amid Corruption Probe WASHINGTON — An assistant secretary at the Department of Labor has resigned after an internal investigation found that he improperly steered federal contracts to friends and former colleagues.
A report by the agency’s inspector general says Raymond Jefferson used his position as head of the Veterans Employment and Training Service to pressure or intimidate other employees to make the awards.Jefferson left his post on Tuesday. He was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2009.The report says Jefferson helped one friend get hired as a subcontractor for about $700,000. That was twice as much as other firms were paid for similar work.The Labor Department says it has taken steps to restrict the contracting authority of officials at the agency.
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Amazing the unions just don’t get it – we won’t be buying IKEA!
IKEA Workers Vote to Unionize While Union Claims IKEA Working Conditions Like ‘Developing Nation’
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July 2011 issue of The National Right To Work Committee Newsletter now available
The July 2011 issue of The National Right To Work Committee Newsletter is available for download July 2011 Newletter in an Adobe pdf format for your convenience to read and share. It is the Committee’s official newsletter publication that provides an excellent monthly overview of the battle against forced unionism.
July 2011 issue (pdf)
Headlines:
Obama NLRB Unveils New ‘Card-Check’ Scheme — President’s Handpicked Bureaucrats Ignore 2010 Election Results
Boeing Workers Battle Big Labor, Obama NLRB — Right to Work Offers Legislative as Well as Legal Assistance
‘Systematically Biased’ Against Schoolchildren — Stanford Professor Lambastes Monopolistic Teacher Unionism
House Narrowly Okays Union-Only PLAs — Handful of Big Labor-Appeasing Republicans Make the Difference
Right to Work State Economies Grow Faster — Private-Sector Employees and Employers Alike Reap Major Benefits
Forced-Unionism Issue Looms Large For 2012 — Right to Work Committee Begins Lobbying Presidential Hopefuls
- National Right To Work Committee FaceBook
- National Right to Work Legal Defense and Education Foundation, Inc.
- Sign-Up For NRTWC’s Free Once-a-Day Update Summaries
- The National Institute for Labor Relations Research
The National Right To Work Committee
Big Labor wants more, damn the taxpayers.
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We do not agree with the US Chamber of Commerce on everything (ie. they’re wrong on some illegal immigration views), BUT they are right on card check and we certainly SUPPORT this effort!
It was only a matter of time.
With the 2012 elections around the corner and Big Labor’s top priority, Card Check, dead on arrival in the 112th Congress, it was only a matter of time before the administration took drastic measures on behalf of the unions.But even we were surprised by how far recent proposals from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and Department of Labor (DOL) went. Meant to appease labor in advance of the 2012 elections — and as a way to boost union membership (at an all time low), these are the largest hand-outs that the administration has pursued to date.The DOL issued a proposed rule that would vastly expand reporting obligations for employers under the so-called “persuader” regulations, making it virtually impossible for companies to obtain the legal advice they need to safely exercise their statutory rights to express their views during union organizing campaigns. Send comments on the DOL proposal now.The NLRB’s new proposal would significantly shorten the time employers have to speak with their employees about union representation, potentially shortening the entire election process to just 10 days from current median of 38 days. Send comments on the NLRB’s proposal rejecting their attempt at shortening the union election process to benefit union bosses.
Comments for both of these recent proposals are due on August 22nd. Given the urgent deadline for comments, and extremely important nature of these rule changes, we cannot afford to miss this opportunity for action.Send comments to the NLRB and DOL now.America doesn’t need unelected bureaucracies to play favorites with special interests — especially when it comes at the expense of our job creators. What our employers need is a fair playing field that allows them to grow, prosper and create good-paying American jobs.When Big Labor failed to pass its top priorities through legislation, they turned to the administration to enact their agenda through regulatory fiat.It’s not only bad for American employers and damaging to our economy – it’s bad politics.We will continue to keep you updated on these policies as well as similar regulatory overreach. In the meantime, it’s up to the business community to weigh-in on current proposals and ensure our opinion is counted.Rules to speed up union elections and to prevent employers from seeking advice are more than misguided – they’re unfair. Send your comments now.
Sincerely,
Bill Miller – Senior Vice President and National Political Director
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
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Related: (and why is it related? because we want to remind you that the rampant voter fraud going on in our country is by those individuals and groups all connected to each other by formal association as well as leftist ideology, ie. NAACP, ACORN, and all the Big Labor such as SEIU, ect ect.):
Mississippi NAACP leader sent to prison for 10 counts of voter fraud…
Also Related:
6th Graders Try to Explain Debt Debacle…End up Bashing Boehner & Tea Party
Comments: FormerLib (Lefty or just bad parents+Bias Media+Leftist Unions+Leftist politics = misinformed, dumb, bias, one track minded kids and radicals in the making)Anyone who ever doubted that public schools have become leftist indoctrination factories ought to see this. It’s rampant. My wife is a teacher and has to hide the fact that she‘s a conservative Christian because she’s seen what happens to others who have ‘come out’. The public school system is a joke- they graduate with most of them not being able to spell or compose a coherent sentence, perform simple math, or have the slightest clue as to how our government was established to operate. It’s a travesty. .Also- That girl shouldn’t make fun of the way ANYBODY looks….Not meaning to be nasty to the children but she kind of got the ugly gene in that family, and I’m sure she doesn’t want to be made fun of. But that’s the liberal double standard at work though isn’t it? Between the MSM and the Schools, we can here it now (OK for the girls to say what they) but as soon as tables are turned and they are picked on – there will be cries of, and hell to pay for, Bullying!
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Dear Education Reformer:
This weekend, special interest groups will converge on our nation’s capital for a protest against education reform in America.Yes, you read that right: a protest against education reform.It’s a shocking concept…opposing education reform, even as American children are being outpaced by kids in 35 other countries, as big-city schools…called “dropout factories” even by the mainstream media…continue to fail a generation of children, and as three quarters of high school seniors can’t identify the purpose of the U.S. House of Representatives!American education is in crisis.Meanwhile, 50 unions—led by the National Education Association—are lining up to celebrate this unacceptable status quo and to lay the groundwork for a full-scale repeal of the reforms we’ve championed for the last decade.
Furthermore, the NEA is planning to collect an additional $20—on top of their already-sky-high dues—from each and every public school teacher among their ranks, for the sole purpose of funding political campaigns and lobbying. They’re doing this even as public opinion surveys show that a plurality of teachers support private school choice!
Make no mistake: these special interest groups oppose school vouchers, oppose public charter schools, oppose giving parents more freedom to home school their children, oppose merit pay for teachers, and even oppose allowing state leaders to close schools that fail our children year after year.These special interests file lawsuits to remove children from the private schools of their parents’ choice, and even to overturn vouchers for children with special needs.Now, they’re taking to the streets and promising to say anything, do anything, and spend anything to prevent reform where it’s needed and repeal it where it exists, like in Ohio and Wisconsin.Let’s stand up to these special interests today.
These groups estimate 10,000 protesters at their rally.Let’s get 20,000 Americans to sign our brand-new “Citizen’s Pledge to Support School Choice,” a declaration of parents, students, elected officials, education activists, and teachers who believe that we must put parents back in charge of their children’s education.It’s a pledge to support school vouchers, support education tax credits, support public charter schools and support protecting the rights of parents.
As a “thank you” for confidentially signing our “Citizen’s Pledge to Support School Choice” today, we’ll send you a “School Choice Works” bumper sticker. It’s completely free.Stand with us and tell the truth about school choice and education reform.
Thank you in advance.
Sincerely,
John Schilling – Chief Operating Officer
American Federation for Children
PS: Please tell your friends about the pledge on Facebook and Twitter. Here’s the direct link: www.FederationForChildren.org/Pledge
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The ongoing Debt debate: Tea Party triumph- No tax hikes- discussion now about Smaller Government; Boehner and Co. the only ones doing their jobs; Democrats remain Extreme; President still doesn’t lead; Red states leading Recovery – Blue states Not, the MSM still a disgrace, and more…
WALL STREET JOURNAL: A Tea Party Triumph: The debt deal is a rare bipartisan victory for the forces of smaller government. Well, it’s an incremental triumph at best. But, you know, we got in this mess via a series of incremental triumphs for the forces of larger government, so . . .
Extremism and the Democratic PartyJames M. Thunder| 8.1.11 @ 6:08AMExtremism in the defense of big government is a vice. $2.4 Trillion and the Progressives Say No
Who Has More Debt? Red States or Blue States?
by Roger Kimball - Suddenly the familiar election map takes on a new meaning.
Great Debt Standoff - Media coverage of debt crisis tilted?
‘Significant Progress’ in Debt Talks
- GOP leaders and WH make ‘significant progress’ on deal to avoid government default that would raise the nation’s debt limit by about $2.4 trillion and require Congress to vote on a balanced budget amendment.
Fight Tests Leadership of Obama, Boehner
‘They sure as hell didn’t call him a leader’
July 30, 2011 – Behind his back and not for attribution, Prominent Democrats on the hill are saying awful things about Obama More
An alternate default; inflation
July 30, 2011- Paying back our creditors with devalued, inflationary currency is just as bad as not paying them at all. More
A Further Perspective - Steve Wynn Is Right
Iain Murray| 7.29.11 @ 6:08AM
Too much government is killing the economy.
Presiding over the downgrade of our political system
Ethel C. Fenig – In the heat of the moment, when President Barack Obama (D) still can’t get his way, he petulantly finally revealed his true feelings about democracy in America and its necessary give and take.
Apple Now Has More Cash Than the U.S. Government
That’s because Apple collects more money than it spends, while the U.S. government does not.
Late Attempt at Debt-Limit Deal to Avert Default
The White House and Republican congressional leaders made significant progress toward a deal to avert a potentially catastrophic first-ever government default threatened for early next week, according to officials familiar with the talks.
Under a plan negotiated late Saturday night, the nation’s debt limit would rise in two steps by about $2.4 trillion and spending would be cut by a slightly larger amount, the officials said. The first stage — about $1 trillion — would take place immediately and the second later in the year.
Congress would be required to vote on a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, but none of the debt limit increase would be contingent on its approval. The officials who described the talks did so on condition of anonymity, citing their sensitive nature.
President Barack Obama is seeking legislation to raise the government’s $14.3 trillion debt limit by enough to tide the Treasury over until after the 2012 elections. He has threatened to veto any legislation that would allow a recurrence of the current crisis next year but has agreed to Republican demands that deficits be cut — without tax increases — in exchange for additional U.S. borrowing authority.
Without a compromise in place by Tuesday, administration officials say the Treasury will run out of funds to pay all the nation’s bills. The subsequent default could prove catastrophic for the U.S. economy by causing interest rates to rise and financial markets to sink, sending shockwaves around the world, they say…
Reid Bill Going Nowhere in Senate
Reid Strikes Back
July 30, 2011 – Trying to give Obama what he needs to continue his spending of over a quarter of our GNP. More
Listen Up, Mr. President!
Small business from across the country sound off on what they need from the president and lawmakers to help get the economy growing.
Two Thumbs Down - Greta – One Democratic senator explains why he opposes both Reid, Boehner debt plans
Palin Skewers Obama: ‘It’s the Spending, Stupid … the President Does Not Know What He’s Doing’
SHOWDOWN: Rubio Torches Kerry on Senate Floor
Pelosi Goes Nuclear in House; Calls Boehner Darth Vader
Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi lost her composure during a long rant on the House Floor …
Obama Faces Grumbling on the Left
By Corey Dade, NPRPresident Obama may have lost a direct hand in the debt-limit negotiations, but some of his liberal base is still seething at …
Saturday:
Back to Square One on Debt Solution?
House GOP backs Speaker Boehner’s debt ceiling plan, passing it without Democratic support, but it is quickly put on ice by Senate Dems as Majority Leader Reid tries to advance his own plan.
VIDEO: Boehner Tells Dems, ‘Put Something on the Table’
- VIDEO: President Urges Compromise, offers none!
- Obama’s Job Approval Sinks
- Debt Worries Plague Troops
- You Decide: Would You Vote to Support a Balanced Budget Amendment to …
- You Decide: Should Raising the Debt Ceiling Be Tied to a Balanced Budget?
Senate Votes to Table House Debt Bill Without Even Debating on its Merits
Senate will draft a counter-plan.
Can a Bipartisan Agreement be Reached on Debt Ceiling? Rep Thaddeus McCotter
Mack’s ‘Penny Plan’ to Balance the Budget
Angry Boehner to Senate and Administration: ‘Put Something on the Table’ - July 29, 2011 at 7:33pm by Tiffany Gabbay
Speaking on the House floor just moments after House Republicans passed a newly revised debt bill, House Speaker John Boehner scolded the Senate and the Obama administration for criticizing his House bill after allegedly showing their ineptitude in being able to put their own bill on the table.
The Speaker brazenly demanded, “it is time for the administration and time for our colleagues across aisle – put something on the table – tell us where you are!”
The Speaker said that he has now presented not one but two different bills to cut spending by trillions of dollars over the next decade with a view toward raising the debt ceiling.
The Speaker admitted that while not perfect, his bill does not contain any tax revenues and “reflects an honest and sincere effort to end this crisis by sending a bill over to the Senate that at one time was agreed to by the bipartisan leadership of the United States Senate.”
Boehner was applauded after noting that he has worked tirelessly from beginning of his session to avoid a situation such as this and that he told Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner that Republicans would not raise the debt ceiling without serious changes to the way the government spends taxpayers’ money. Watch the House Speaker tell the Senate and Obama administration to “put something on the table”:
Speaker Boehner, Please Stop Saying ‘How High?’
Speaker Boehner: please stop trying to draft any further legislation. Just change two words in the Cut Cap and Balance bill and re-send it to the Senate. More
Ho hum. Boehner’s third version of debt ceiling bill passes the House
It’s hard to get worked up over the supposed drama of the close vote in the House. They pass yet another plan but Senate poised to kill it again before it even gets there!
The Boehner Plan is the Best Deal for the Country That Our Divided Government Can Deliver
Howard J. Warner – Conservatives have managed to change the discussion in Washington, thankfully. No longer is there any talk of tax increases. More
Tea Party Crashes Washington DC’s Spending Orgy
By Kevin Jackson - For Obama, the Tea Party fits in Washington like nuns at a swingers’ convention. The fiscal orgy at Club Fed just can’t continue unless the Tea Party gets the hell out. Unfortunately for Obama, we just won’t leave. How could we? We can’t afford to refuel our corporate jets.
So in order to give the Tea Party the “change we need,” Obama is pulling out all the stops. He continues his War on Productivity against the “rich.” Like the preacher said to the congregation, “I have good news and bad news. The good news is we have the money for the new building. The bad news is it’s out there in your pockets.”
more…
The Old Deal
Bruce Walker – The left loves to speak of “New,” but as Obama’s teleprompter-driven debt ceiling addresses to the nation reveal, the left is sterile, tired, and dull. More
The Donkey Pins the Tail on Itself
by Dan Miller - The Dem position on spending simply cannot end well for them. (Update: Boehner bill passes House, And the Next Move Is…?)
The Numbers That Show How Bad the Economy Really Is Business
“the economy expanded only 1.3 percent in the April-June period”
Another Home Depot Co-Founder Blasts Obama: ‘Unpresidential’ & ‘Willfully Dividing Us’
“…he is behaving in a way designed, in my opinion, to divide us…”
WatchFox Host Varney on Soros: ‘I Do Not Like Billionaire Socialists Who Hate America and Try to Make Money Out of Our Ruin’
After Soros’ currency speculation ruined the Thais lives.
Regulations Rising
A step in the right direction, but falling far short; Debt Deal’s Threat to our Security; A deal not a solution; Tea Party ‘Terrorists’ Remarks; United we stand, divided we fall; Crackhead accounting; No objective journalism; the only adult in the room; and much more
A ‘Spit in the Ocean’ — But It’s a Start
Budget experts hail the $2.5T deal as a step in the right direction, but say it falls far short of the drastic action needed to address America’s massive debt problem as Harry Reid brings the bill to the Senate floor for a vote.
HIGH NOON: Senate Sets Debt Vote
Senate is expected to approve bipartisan debt package just hours before the midnight deadline, sending the plan to Obama’s desk for a signature to avoid what would be first-ever U.S. default.
- Follow the Debt Drama, Play by Play
- Giffords Met by Loud Cheers on Return to House | U.S. Debt Clock
- BOLTON: Debt Deal’s Threat to Security
- YOU DECIDE: Would You Vote for Deficit-Reduction Plan? | R.I. City Files for Bankruptcy After No Pension Agreement
- Debt Doldrums
- KT McFarland: Cuts to Defense — President Obama and Congress, Be Careful What …
- Christian Whiton: 4 Ways Debt Deal Betrays Conservatives and Short-Changes …
- Amb. John Bolton: The Debt Deal and the Threat to America’s National Security
Bachmann: I’m Voting No on Debt Bill 2012 candidate on proposed debt deal, spending cuts- Sen. Mike Lee Republican reaction to debt deal
Biden Criticized for Tea Party ‘Terrorists’ Remark
Disputed reports say Tea Partiers were compared to ‘terrorists’ during VP’s meeting with House Dems
Divided House Passes Debt-Limit Deal, Senate to Vote Tuesday
The U.S. House passed a measure on Monday to increase the country’s debt ceiling by a vote of 269 to 161 and sent it to the Senate for final congressional approval. The Senate is expected to vote on Tuesday — the day that the Treasury Department has said it will not be able to borrow more funds to pay all of the nation’s bills. The vote, however, showed the fractured nature of the debate, with defections on both sides of the aisle.
FULL STORY
- WH Adviser: ‘Super Committee’ Might Tap Wealthy
- Obama’s Base Says He Caved to Tea Party
- Limbaugh: Debt Deal Means More Taxes
- Debt Deal Unlikely to Boost Investor Confidence
- Geithner Uncertain If US Credit Rating Jeopardized
- Paul Ryan: Deal Shows Congress Culture Shift
- Conservatives Warn 2012 Field on Debt Deal
- Graham: Deal Doesn’t Cut Spending Nearly Enough
- West: GOP Achieved 75 Percent of Goals on Deal
- Gingrich: Tea Party Forced Obama to Blink
- Bachmann: ‘Still Spending Money We Don’t Have’
- Trump: Debt Process ‘Great Embarrassment’
Cognitive Dissonance by W. James Antle, III
The clashing and contradictory narratives driving the debt ceiling debate. (Read)
Official Washington’s Crackhead Accounting
by Matthew Vadum
by Tom Blumer Washington, with Democrats leading the charge, assumes we can withstand at least 18 more months of business as usual. Prognosis: Doubtful.
Kirk W. Kelsen
Government spending relentlessly and automatically continues, no matter what’s going on.
Peter Wilson
Most frightening is the thought that Obama might actually believe that his infographic is an accurate portrayal of our financial situation More
The Dirty Little Secret of Economics
Christopher Chantrill
How economics got seduced into gaming the economy instead of growing it. More
Tough Love
Bill Markin
It’s called an intervention, and its time has come. More
August 2, 2011
Not even the fig leaf of objective journalism. More
Robert Oscar Lopez
The Democrats don’t know what they want, don’t know what I want, and aren’t clear on how the government has worked, works now, or ought to work. More
James Hirsen: Hollywood Bucks Pour Into Liberal Campaign Groups
The ongoing Debt crisis: CCandB still best option; Stop and cut spending!; War gimmicks and cutting defense-NO WAY; Boehner’s plans still better than Reid’s and Obama-What plan?; My gosh, enough spin, enough bulls–t; Obama FAIL, breaking, broke; What would our Founders do?; and The case for Tax changes, Contrarian views, and Compromise?
One plan, two plans, three plans, four,
They’re junk, that’s enough, we can’t take any more.
Time for all to do what’s valiant,
Go back and pass “Cut Cap and Balance” !
Rep. Allen West: I Will Support Boehner’s Debt Plan and Here’s Why
Rep. Ryan Explains: Reid Plan Relies on ‘War Gimmick’
“What did we do? We actually put it on paper, scored, and passed it,” he said. “So what we have here is if these $1.8 trillion in cuts don’t materialize then the debt limit does not go up. So we have the leverage of making sure that if the president wants his debt limit increased through the election — which is his big issue — then you have to have these cuts passed into law first. If they are not passed into law, then he doesn’t get the debt limit increase.”
House GOP Sets Vote on Debt Bill
House Republicans are pressing ahead with a vote on a newly modified plan to stave off an unprecedented government default, despite threat of White House veto.
- How Far Is WH Willing to Go in Debt Debate? (not nearly far enough!)
- Obama Leaves Economy Hanging
- Jay Carney Spins Why Obama Debt Plan Hidden
- Reid: No Senate Democrat Will Vote for House Plan (and no Republican will vote for yours!)
- Obama’s Phony ROI – Sage Works CEO Brian Hamilton and economist Peter Morici discuss how much revenue the government could really take in if it raised taxes…
- GOP Debt Plan Faces Close Vote in Congress
- Thompson: GOP Achieved What It Wanted
- Biggest Day in Boehner’s Political Career?
- Tea Party Activists Target Boehner
- The Hill: 39 Republicans Hold Key to Boehner Plan
- Rand Paul: Can’t vote for Boehner, Reid bills
- Perry Calls Fears of Default Overblown
- Dow Plunges Nearly 200 Points on Debt Fears
-
Dow Plunge Bolsters Prospects for Boehner’s Debt Deal
- Tide Turning in Debt Negotiations?
- What Downgrade Day Will Look Like
- Taxpayer Calculator: Debt Limit
-
Because You Asked Can America tax its way out of debt?
Polls: Obama’s Popularity Plunging in 2012 ‘Battleground’ States
The common wisdom that the debt crisis is helping President Barack Obama’s re-election prospects is wrong. Obama is polling worse in key swing states like Ohio and Michigan than he is in national surveys, according to a series of new “battleground state” polls. Especially when pitted against GOP candidate Mitt Romney, Obama comes out losing states that are essential in any electoral math adding up to a presidential victory… FULL STORY
RNC Ad Depicts Dismal 2017 If Obama Re-elected
Kessler: Debt Fiasco Reveals “Pretend” President
Trump: Obama (amateur) Is ‘Now Totally Lost’
Rasmussen: Lawmakers Out for Selves, Not Country
What’s Wrong With Government Spending? (Today, almost everything!)
Democrats Need to Learn That When It Comes to Fiscal Issues, There …
Talking Points – Why a debt deal can’t get done by Bill O’Reilly
The reason the debt deal can’t get done is because of pressure on both President Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner. Last Thursday, we went over the Tea Party objections to any debt compromise, and some of you were angry with that analysis (see more below). But as Charles Krauthammer reiterated Tuesday night, the Tea Party can be a problem when compromise becomes necessary.
President Obama has the same kind of problem from the far left. The insidious MoveOn organization is actually threatening any Democrat who doesn’t toe the far-left line, that is raise taxes and President Obama is also being intimidated by the far left:
(still “dumb as soap” spewing scare tactic lines of B.S.) REP. NANCY PELOSI, D-CALIF., why still? MINORITY LEADER: They want to destroy food safety, clean air, clean water, the Department of Education. They want to destroy your rights. They do not like government.
(and what do you expect from a, not “I”, but rather an outward “socialist”)SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, I-VT.: There are millions of Americans who are deeply disappointed in the president, who cannot believe how weak he has been for whatever reason in negotiating with Republicans, and there is deep disappointment.(END VIDEO CLIP)
There may be deep disappointment in the less than American world of Bernie Sanders, but nearly two-thirds of the American public, according to the polls — two-thirds — want President Obama to get a deal done.
And the president’s image is taking an enormous hit. Not only are his poll numbers falling along with the Dow, but the National Journal reports that states like Ohio, Michigan, Iowa and New Hampshire, all won by Obama last time around, are now turning.
There are just 14 battleground states where the next presidential vote is really up for grabs, and most of those states are now leaning against Barack Obama. In fact, Mr. Rove predicts Republicans will win Indiana, Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio and Florida, and then will need just one more battleground state to defeat the president.
So if he’s correct, Barack Obama’s future in the White House is shaky to say the least. The president must know that, so he must walk away from the far left, just as Speaker Boehner has got to achieve compromises from the far right.
Independent Americans will decide the next presidential election, not MoveOn, not the Tea Party, and the independents want the debt chaos to stop. In the end, it is Mr. Obama who has the most to lose if compromise is not reached. Unless he wants to move on from the Oval Office, he’d better get a deal done.
Krauthammer on debt
BILL O’REILLY, HOST: In the “Impact” segment tonight: As I mentioned earlier this week, I am not going to get caught up in the “he said, she said” of the debt debate. Things are changing every 10 seconds, a very disturbing situation, as you know. Today, Fox News White House correspondent Ed Henry challenged White House spokesman Jay Carney.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ED HENRY, FOX NEWS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: What was the point of giving a prime-time address to the nation without an Obama plan and say neither of these other plans can work? Where is his plan?
JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I understand the idea that there is not an Obama plan is like…
HENRY: There is not one on paper. (CROSSTALK)
CARNEY: …that is point No. 1 on the talking points issued by the Republican Party. I get it. OK.
HENRY: No, no, no. This is not a talking point. No, no. Show us the plan. It’s not a talking point. That’s unfair.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O’REILLY: Joining us now from Washington with his take on the political madness, Charles Krauthammer. So, let’s look ahead here. I mean, you saw Ed Henry, the new guy at the White House for us. He asked a valid question. I mean, President Obama goes on nationwide TV prime-time, disturbs some people out of their slumber, and he doesn’t have any plan. I was just saying to myself: Is this as absurd as it seems? Is it? Is it “The Twilight Zone”?
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think the Obama administration, just that Jay Carney remark tells you how detached from reality they are. Here is Henry asking a perfectly logical question. You ask for time on national TV, you do that when you are launching an invasion or the Cuban missile crisis and then what do you do? You give a campaign speech and you don’t offer a plan. And Carney’s response is, “Oh, that’s a political attack. It’s a talking point.” It’s a logical question. The president has portrayed himself as the grown-up in the room and all these children are squabbling. He summons the members — the leaders of Congress to the White House on the tantrum he gave on Friday night, very imperiously as if he is the only one who’s acting in the national interest. Yet through all of this, through months and months of argument and debate and counter-argument, no plan. He doesn’t have a plan.
O’REILLY: Well, what do you think is going to happen in the next couple of days? Because we have about a week to go before the deadline of the debt ceiling, and I figure something is going to happen. That’s what all these pinheads say.
KRAUTHAMMER: Something has got to happen because otherwise we are going to go over a cliff. That is, it may not be August the 2nd. It could be August the 5th. At some point when you have a government that is borrowing 40 cents on every dollar it spends, if you withdraw the credit card, all hell breaks loose. It’s not going to be a default. I mean, we are going to be paying our creditors, no question about that. Everybody understands that. But it means we are going to have to have a lot of triage inside the country as to who gets what. Something is going to happen. I have been agitating for weeks in my column, on “Special Report,” for the Republicans to offer and pass a plan in the House.
(of course we must chime in here to point out that the House has repeatedly passed plans, maybe not specifically Krauthammer’s plan, but they have never the less passed the Ryan plan, the CC&B plan, and continue at the Democrats behest to rework more plans, and as for the Senate they have passed none, while President Obama’s is at worst non-existent, or at best is unknown!)
O’REILLY: They can’t. They can’t pass it. It seems that Boehner is being criticized.
KRAUTHAMMER: I’m not sure if they can.
O’REILLY: It’s close.
KRAUTHAMMER: He is getting criticism. I think this is a life or death decision by the Republicans. I think it would be catastrophic if Republicans were not to go with the Boehner plan at this point.
KRAUTHAMMER: If you are a conservative, you know that we’re overspending. We’re going into debt. The government is expanding at an alarming rate. It’s destroying everything around us. How do you stop it? The only way to stop it in our constitutional system is if you control the White House and the Congress. You cannot governor from one house of the Congress. You can’t even govern from one branch. All the Republicans and conservatives control now is half a branch. Under our system, you have got to have it all. That can only happen if you persuade the country next year in the election that we need smaller, more constitutional government. The case is strong. Obama is weak. The economy’s on the rocks.
It is often forgotten that the main reason the Constitutional Convention met in 1787 was to resolve a financial crisis—one more serious even than ours of today. More than any other single objective, the United States Constitution was designed to provide long-term institutional solutions to the young nation’s fiscal woes. In this article, author Michael McConnell examines how Alexander Hamilton dealt with the financial problems of his time including how he used a properly funded national debt to be a national blessing.
A properly funded national debt, Hamilton wrote, “if not excessive, will be to us a national blessing.”
The Government Should Spend Less Money
Tax Hikes Now and (Maybe) Spending Cuts in the Future (NO WAY!)
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What Would |
Spending Cuts Aren’t That Hard to Find
Some Taxpayers Already Pay More Than Their Fair Share!
The Long-Term Debt Problem Is a Health Care Entitlement Problem
Source: American Enterprise Institute
It is increasingly clear that Keynesian stimulus has failed to get the economy where it needs to be. So what exactly needs to be done in a post-stimulus world? More…
After the Fall: Saving Capitalism from Wall Street—and Washington
Source: Encounter Books
Since the rumblings of the economic crisis began in 2007, Americans have suffered four years of fear, recession, and stagnation. The culprit is not free markets, but Washington policy. America can’t recover until its citizens understand these policy failures—a
(Though we would point out that as it relates to the Tea Party looking to extreme, it is the left in this country that’s as extreme as it gets, so how worried should they really be? Regardless, O’Reilly’s points here are well taken. As to his National sales tax idea, it has a lot of merit, however it would need to be done with serious controls and limits in place, so set in stone that they could not be violated. Having both a NST and Income Tax, the risk would otherwise be too great for that to also spin out of control down the road, and for it to become as abusive as things are now from D.C.)
O’Reilly July 22nd: I Could Sort Out Debt Crisis ‘In a Day’ (1% National Sales Tax)
But he said the tea party hasn’t quite got it right, either, and needs to slow down. “I warned the tea party last night ‘If you’re looked upon by Americans as being as extreme like the far left is, you’re going to evaporate too. You’ve got to be reasonable here.’”
He said he wants the tea party to succeed, saying it is “absolutely necessary for this country,” but added, “If the tea party is deemed to be unreasonable and independent-minded Americans say, ‘you know what, we’re scared of them,’ then the whole thing may collapse.”
O’Reilly said he believes the debt crisis is real and politicians on both sides have to work out a deal on the debt ceiling. “People have got to stop and step back, because what we’re talking about here is a massive economic hit if these people continue to botch it in Washington.
“Some people don’t believe that — but some people didn’t believe this tsunami was coming either.”
Raise Taxes on the Poor?
Yes. A flat tax could help solve the debt crisis.
A ‘Debt Limit’ Compromise
Thus, although there is constant pressure on both sides of the aisle to cut defense spending, it seems that the current four percent of gross domestic product spent on defense is too low for a nation that faces dire threats around the world. An expenditure cut could easily lead to dangerous confrontations, requiring the nation to ramp up its military strength at great cost and in a desperate hurry.
At the same time, the present inefficiencies in defense spending need prompt correction. The proper function of the defense establishment is to defend the United States. It is not to raise labor costs, which it does by allowing civilian employees to join unions or by insisting that defense contractors meet various affirmative action quotas. Price and quality of service are the only two factors that should determine how the Department of Defense spends its money. Thus cutting the budget on the civilian side might in fact lead to more efficient military operations.
Unfortunately, by treating defense spending as a black box we are likely to continue along our present reckless path by cutting in the wrong places, no matter how the present budget crisis is resolved. On this issue, it is really up to the Democrats to confess their error on an entrenched set of employment and procurement policies that have been the bane of all labor markets, both public and private.
A similar drill is surely required for dealing with the far larger sums that are devoted to entitlement programs. These programs have, by common consent, grown beyond sustainable levels. Once again, a good place to start is by reforming inefficient labor policies that, for example, allow the unionization of hospital workers and other health care providers—positions that are explicitly protected in the misnamed Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
What in principle is the proper size of the federal government?
Beyond improving labor policies, the needed cuts must penetrate entitlements at their core. This awkward job cannot be done by confining the cuts to those who have yet to receive program benefits. The only form of immediate relief will come when some current recipients are forced to bear a larger portion of their own costs—itself a challenge that will generate a new set of deep divisions that may not break cleanly along party lines.
In grappling with these various government programs, we should not first ask how they should be to be funded—we should ask instead: what is the proper size of these programs? On this issue, it is clear that neither the Democrats nor the Republicans have kept faith with the key principle of sound government, which is the presumption that dollars used for ordinary goods and services go a lot further when the money is left in private hands.
The appalling waste of both the Bush and especially the Obama stimulus programs was based on the fatal Keynesian presumption that it makes sense for the government to make expenditures that everyone would deem wasteful, even farcical, if undertaken by private parties. It makes no sense for any private firm to hire workers first to dig holes and then to refill them. It makes no more sense to tax private firms an amount that allows government employees to undertake those same useless acts.
Protectionism is an equally foolish economic policy. The “Buy American” legislation that the Obama Administration built into its stimulus program represents a short-sighted policy that denies American consumers and firms that use of low priced goods and services from abroad that could make matters better at home. Equally pernicious are the mindless government regulations of private enterprise, which could be cut as an overdue cost saving measure.
The Republicans are on solid ground by insisting that shrinkage in the size of government is the key to any sustainable policy. But what is the best way to achieve the goal of smaller government? Start with the simple proposition that government can pay for its expenditures in three and only three ways. It can raise taxes; it can borrow money, which can be paid back only with taxes raised at some future time; or it can print more currency, at which point the rapid inflation cheapens the currency and thus works as an implicit tax on anyone who holds American dollars or any creditor (including creditors of the United States) whose debt is denominated in dollars.
Government can pay for its expenditures in only three ways, and all three forms of funding rely on either explicit or implicit taxes.
All three forms of government funding necessarily rely on either explicit or implicit taxes. The differences between these funding methods are all second order effects. If the size of government is not cut from its current unsustainable levels, it will not matter much whether the government defaults on its obligations today or two years down the road. Either way, government bankruptcy will create massive dislocations in both the economic and the political sphere.
On this view, Republican strategy to rail against all new taxes is a misguided negotiation position. The Republicans should break ranks with Grover Norquist’s tax advocacy group, Americans for Tax Reform, whose “no new taxes” pledge has been taken by many members of Congress.
The object of this pledge is to use the control on taxes to limit the size of government. So far, so good. But the means that Norquist champions are deficient for two reasons. First, the “no new taxes” pledge is too weak. Second, looking at only overall tax levels ignores the striking differences between various forms of taxation.
It is consistent with the pledge, for example, to raise the debt limit by letting the treasury borrow new money. Ultimately, those new obligations have to be paid off with either tax revenues or cheaper dollars, so that a “no new taxes” pledge that only addresses current taxes contains obvious loopholes.
The implications of this proposition are clear. First, Republicans should treat all three forms of government financing as functional equivalents, and thus push for that deal which, subject to the caveats raised above, works the greatest cut in total expenditures. Following this reasoning, it is better to cut expenditures by $5 trillion over the next decade and raise taxes by $1 trillion over that same period, than it is to cut expenditures by only $3 trillion, without any current tax increase.
On the second point, the Republicans should not only worry about the size of the total tax bill, but also its incidence. One point in the Norquist program is to “net out” tax increases in one area against tax reductions in another. Yet in principle this approach is far too crude, because it ignores the impact that any tax has on the overall economic position of the country. Thus if we cut out a real tax loophole (e.g. accelerated depreciation that systematically exceeds actual economic losses), and lower overall rates, both of these moves independently make sense, so that their combined effect is of course positive. But if we were to raise general tax levels in order to generate yet another unwarranted tax preference, the combination of the two moves is worse than allowing either of them separately. Looking at net effect ignores these allocative differences in changes in the tax law.
The Republicans should break ranks with Grover Norquist’s tax advocacy group, Americans for Tax Reform, and its “no new taxes” pledge.
That same point plays out in connection with the level of tax progressivity. The Democrats always equate tax fairness with steeper progressivity on the ground that the diminishing marginal utility of wealth makes it desirable to impose the taxes on the wealthiest individuals—those few who earn at least $250,000 per year.
If that one consideration were dominant, it would quickly lead to an equal incomes policy, regardless of differences in individual productivity and earnings. Clearly, even Democrats shrink away from that position, because at some point high tax rates will dull individual effort, which in turn will reduce tax revenues.
But how much progressivity is too much? Today, most Democrats set it higher than the current rates, which is way too high. Indeed, on this issue, my firm long-term conviction has been that a flat tax outperforms any system of progressive taxation for three reasons.
First, the flat tax is far easier to administer than any progressive system, which then has to decide what dollars of income are taxable to what persons in what period. Second, a flat tax produces the better incentives for higher output, which in turn translates into greater opportunities for all, given the higher rates of economic growth. And third, the flat tax cuts against the strong incentive for the bulk of the public, who currently pays no income taxes, to push for income tax increases on “the rich” in order to gain benefits for themselves.
These gains will lead to higher levels of growth, which in all likelihood will swamp the short-term distributional gains that entrance defenders of progressivity. Yet note that the “no new taxes” pledge is indifferent on the form of taxation so long as the various changes net out on some static model
The Republicans need to keep these fundamental truths in mind. Toward that end they should accept some tax increases, but fight hard to tie those increases to a flattening of the tax rates and to the largest possible increase in spending cuts. Starting from this framework, a tax deal should be possible with the Democrats, notwithstanding the philosophical gulf between the two parties. The current trajectory of taxation, regulation, deficits, and expenditures is unsustainable. With a bit of shrewd bargaining, the United States could take the first step in a long journey toward a return to fiscal and economic sanity. No general default will make that task any easier.
Richard A. Epstein, the Peter and Kirsten Bedford Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, is the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law, New York University Law School, and a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago. His areas of expertise include constitutional law, intellectual property, and property rights. His most recent books are The Case against the (grossly misnamed) Employee Free Choice Act (Hoover Press, 2009) and Supreme Neglect: How to Revive the Constitutional Protection for Private Property (Oxford Press, 2008).
Letters to the editor
OK, Raise Taxes–But Raise Them on Democrats
A better idea than what Richard Epstein proposes in his essay would be for the Republicans to propose tax hikes and eliminate deductions and credits that mainly hit Democrat areas and see how that goes over. For instance, the GOP could propose levying a hefty excise tax on all things related to the entertainment industry. The Republicans could also propose getting rid of special tax considerations for Hollywood. There are many other areas to consider, as well. Democrats like taxes, so the Republicans should make them pay them. Once the howls of fake outrage are over then the serious discussion on taxation and spending can begin. Its easy to be a liberal when you spend other peoples money. But when it comes out your pocketbook–not so much.
–Robert Olemberg
2nd Amendment News: Sen. Tester et al warning Obama admin on U.N. Arms treaty; Fast and Furious, Gunwalker, Zetas scandals
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Sen. Tester leads Senate in warning Obama: U.N. Arms treaty Must NOT infringe on gun rights
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| A gunrunning sting gone fatally wrong - The Washington Post They came from all over the country, agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, brought here in a bold new effort to shut down the flow of U.S. guns to Mexican drug cartels. It was called Operation Fast and Furious, after a popular movie about street car racing. But from the beginning, much of the fury was inside the agency itself. Read More | Read Other News |
From Others: (Remember, a common theme, insedious cover for more gun control)
Fast and Furious: “The Perfect Storm of Idiocy”
John Hayward – A shocking new staff report from Issa and Grassley… Read More
ATF Accused in Congressional Report of ‘Arming’ Cartel for ‘War’
ATF Accused in Congressional Report of ‘Arming’ Cartel for ‘War’ Through Operation Fast and Furious
Feds Silent on How Convicted Felons Bought Guns in ‘Operation Fast and Furious’
House Committee Hearing on Justice Dept.’s Operation ‘Fast and Furious’
Worse Than Gunwalker? State Dept. Allegedly Sold Guns to Zetas
by Bob Owens It’s a stunning allegation that makes the other gunrunning scandals look like child’s play.
The Assault Weapons Ban: How Silly Was It? (Part Two)
by Bob Owens We know it failed, they know it failed. So what could possibly give the Obama admin and gun-control advocates the confidence to push for it again? (Read Part One of this series here.)
Yet Again, MSM Repeats the ’90 Percent Lie’
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, discusses the Justice Department’s latest rule on reporting sales of certain semi-automatic weapons to federal authorities, as related to Operation Fast & Furious and changing gun laws.
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AN ARMED MAN IS A CITIZEN, AN UNARMED MAN IS A SUBJECT
In 1929 the Soviet Union established gun control. Between 1929 and 1953 20 million political dissidents were exterminated.
Red Alert! Obama’s Executive Order Changes Gun ‘Laws’ – Video
Newt Gingrich for Pres 2012
Santorum for President 2012
Revolution 2010
- Tell Your Representatives in Albany to Stop the RGGI Cap and Trade Tax!
- The 10 States That Give the Most Money and Benefits to Their Residents, a/k/a the 10 Most Socialist States; Ready for the shocker – NY is #4 (state and local Tax burden – NY is #2)
- Demand Gov Cuomo to Stop Illegals from Receiving Benefits Meant for NY Residents / Demand Pres Obama Support Unemployed NY Workers Over Illegals – Stop Violating your Oath with Defacto Amnesty / NYC-Bloomberg’s Criminal Amnesty! / In-State Tuition for Illegals in NY Costing Big- New Report / more…
- There’s a new site online: “NY Demands Mandate Relief” Check it out-Take Action Today!
- New York’s Green Menace; NY ClimAid; RGGI; Communists and Terrorists-Van Jones-Apollo Aliance-Jeff Jones-other Leftist radicals-OWS; Agenda 21 in NY and “B” Corporations legislation; NYSERDA and Climategate 2.0
- Why does Chuck hate NY?; Is Schumer Ignorant Of The Constitution; and his protege’ Gillibrand – a big spender, her NTU tab!
- ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION CONTINUES TO BE BOTH A NYS AND A LOCAL PROBLEM: Updated, and now pro-illegal Gov Cuomo pulling Secure Communities program.
- Celebrating Constitution Day, and recognizing collectivist idiocy.
- NYC Stunner: GOP Turner Wins NY9 House Special and related news
- Outrageous Obama Agenda(21) affecting NY. Astorino and Westchester County fighting back!
- 9/11 – Never Forget – Never Quit – We Remain Free!
- Personal and Economic Freedom in the 50 States – New York Last, Again!
- Erie Co Exec Collins fought the Federal Gov and Won! Good for him, even better for us…
- States Where People Pay the Most (And Least) in Taxes: NJ highest, NY 2nd highest, AK Lowest, TX 6th lowest!
- 911 News (and the Bloomberg Outrage) Take action today.
NO “Sharia”
- Muslim Brotherhood Bad? Meet Egypt’s Other Islamist Party!; Arab Spring FAIL; Obama policies FAIL; Declaring Victory in Iraq, But Iran Filling Vacuum?; Iran still pursuing Nukes and no matter, Sanctions still failing; And a few more things related…
- Iran and the Cartels; the foiled Iranian assassination plot; An act of war and a Collision Course; Iranian Sponsored Terrorism; Obama’s failing policy; Arab Spring’ Part of Iranian Plot; Gadaffi’s Yellowcake-Iran’s Nuke program; and more…
- Victory Could Be Ours, If Only We Want It – The real war, are the evil regimes in Iran and Syria, needing one good push to go over; A few more things – Israel ,Gaza, Syria; Jihadi book promoting murdering civilians; Egypt disaster; US defense cuts wrong and dangerous, and more
- Special: See Who Is Pushing Caliphate/Sharia in America Right Now; Multiculturalism,racist Fail,Kill Your Teacher and Student Rage; OUTRAGE: Radical Cleric calls for Murder of ‘Every Zionist in Egypt’ Lived and Lectured in America and at a local Islamic elementary school!
- Iran’s Secret War, Pakistan is NOT a U.S. Ally; Why Do We Allow Pakistan and Iran to Murder Americans?; Islam’s Forced Conversions Apostasy and Death, and more…
- Breaking – Another Terrorist Traitor, this one Now Dead. Goodbye and goodriddens: Yemen Says U.S. born Al Qaeda boss Anwar al-Awlaki
- Breaking: Another traitor in the midst, Massachusetts Muslim Man arrested in ‘step-by-step’ al Qaeda plot to blow up Capitol, Pentagon
- Stand with Israel, Watch Netanyahu Slams U.N. as ‘Theater of the Absurd’, Palestinian Statehood Bid-Hypocrisy-and much worse, and DURBAN watch continued.
- Stop Shariah Law in USA: American Laws for American Courts: the Sharia Lobby; the slippery slope; must watch, what you may not know, and Islam Not protected under constitution; Jihadist calls, universal Caliphate, Sabotaging Western Economy, infiltration, multiculturism, honor killings, and much more
- STAND WITH ISRAEL, Oppose the U.N., Palestinian terror statehood, Durban III, Obama policy FAIL, and more related news
- IRAN WATCH: Nuke watch, EMP awareness, backing Terror, proxy wars, U.N., plotting Israels demise, Columbia U, and more…
- UN FAIL; Obama FAIL; Gingrich right, Paul way wrong; the Dangers of a weak US President; Political correct Bs, Muslim Bros infiltration, Arab spring lessons, Multiculturalism FAIL, and more..
- Syria updates: Revolting Jihadists, WMD’s, Assad, Iron fist, Bloodbaths, Strategic Implications, Snubbing Democracy, other players, more…
- Egypt updates, Muslim Brotherhood, Arab Spring, Israeli relations, Christian persecution, Islamic takeover-Not Revolution, Terrorism, New front, and more…
- Roundup: Afghanistan, Taliban, Assassinations, Media war, Barbarism; Iraq (U.S. Leaves=Israel destroyed), Al-Qaida remains, beware a Trojan horse, Islamic Turkey (Erdoğan), attacking Kurds, and more…
American Thinker
- 'Thank You, Warren.' 'No, Thank You, Mr. President!'
- Georgia Ballot Challenge: Obama Walks On By
- Why America Hates Its Politicians So Much
- Heads Up, America: Time to Take Back Our Kids
- Saving Private Fido
- Israel and the US Perspectives on Iran at Odds
- Green Lebensraum: The Nazi Roots of Sustainable Development
- Wealth Transfer on the March: 'Reforming' the Lifeline Program
- Let's Be Fair about Taxation
- Why, Precisely, is America so Great?
The Blaze
- ‘Under the Microscope’: New Web Series Reveals ‘Stunning Close-Ups’
- Alaska Lawmakers Ask Fed to Take Over Central Park to Point Out Hypocrisy
- NLRB Wants to Force Companies to Turn Over Employee Contact Info
- ‘U.S.S. Obamaboat’: Congressional Candidate’s Bizarre Ad Paints Obama as Captain of Slave Ship
- Obama: ‘We’re not Successful Just by Ourselves’
- Children Among 74 Dead in 2 Days of Syrian Violence
- ‘Obama Fanatic’ Threatens to Fill AZ Sheriff Joe Arpaio With a ‘Thousand Bullet Holes,’ Deputy Chief Interviewed
- Get a Load of all These Programs the Feds Are Unofficially Funding This Year
- 16 Scientists Have a Message for Elected Officials on Global Warming: ‘Drastic Action’ Unnecessary
- Meet the 105-Pound, Female Middle Schooler Who Is a Record-Holding Powerlifter
AFP National
- Lame Duck One-Stop Shop
- Gov. Perdue's Decision to Retire Reflects Bad Policies, Has Implications Beyond the Governor’s Office
- Americans for Prosperity Hosts Watch Parties, Responds to State of the Union Address
- A message from AFP President Tim Phillips
- Obama Forgets: State of the Union Pictures
- Obama Forgets: State of the Union Live Stream
- AFP Leads Conservative Coalition in Support of CBO Budget "Scoring" Reform
- Fact Checking President Obama: Unprecedented Cronyism AFP Releases Solyndra Documentation
- Pawns Ad Documentation
- Obama Forgets...But We Remember!
Legal Insurrection
- Sarah Palin: “this ridiculous opposition dump on Newt was nothing short of Stalin-esque re-writing of history”
- Power to the tiny blogger people!
- “If this is what the conservative movement has become, then count me out”
- Lying about Reagan to get Romney elected
- My winter break.
- Managing our (space) decline
- It is worth getting angry about
- Smashing your success
- Jacksonville Republican Debate
- Pre-debate irreparable split
Gun Owners of America
- Rep. Gosar Continues to Press for Holder's Resignation
- Bad News: Federal Court Supports Illegal Obama Multiple Sales Regs
- Senate Moves on Bill to "Muzzle the Web"
- Rep. Gosar Increases Pressure on Holder
- Rep. Gosar Increases Pressure on Holder
- ATF Allows Flow of Guns Into Mexico
- Anti-gun Judicial Nominee is Back!
- Rep. Walsh to UN: No Gun Control Treaties
- Concealed Carry Reciprocity Bill Passes House
- Concealed Carry Reciprocity Bill Passes House
NRA ILA
- D.C. City Council Public Hearing Concerning Firearms Amendment Act of 2011!
- Virginia: Senate Passes Emergency Powers Legislation, Senate Committee Forced to Re-Vote on Gun Bills
- South Dakota: House Judiciary Committee to Hear Employee Protection Legislation on Monday, January 30!
- Outrage of the Week: Politician Attacks Sheriff’s Support of Self-Defense
- “A Significant Indictment” of DOJ’s “Integrity”
- Act Now to Stop Obama/Holder Gun Registration Scheme
- Maine: Firearm-Related Bills Expected to be Heard on Monday
- Bills to Watch Out For as Hawaii Legislature Picks up Steam
JBS Advocacy
- January 25, 2012: Help End Eminent Domain Abuses
- January 23, 2012: Stop Enemy Expatriation Act That Strips Citizenship
- January 16, 2012: No Bailout for the Post Office
- December 7, 2011: Support Limited Federal Control of American Waters
- December 8, 2011: Support Regulatory Reform with REINS Act
- December 1, 2011: Support Reining in Pro-union NLRB
- Updated January 24, 2012: Stop Indefinite Detention of U.S. Citizens Without Due Process
- November 22, 2011: Stop Internet Censorship Bill
- December 27, 2011: Support Teens Working on Farms; Stop DOL Overregulation
- November 14, 2011: Stop Extensive Federal Land Grab
A.F.Branco Painting
Libertarian-Republican
- Romney on Israel and the Middle East: Peace through Strength
- Romney wins three ways, with an assist from Santorum
- Graziano could face 40 to 80 years prison sentence for Synagogue bombings
- Ayn Rand Atlas Society to Republican Mitt Romney: Stop apologizing for your Wealth
- There are congressional races in Fla. too
- It's official! Gene is for Mitt
- Two Bloggers to be executed in Iran for criticizing the government
- Bawney to Marry!
- Ultra-Leftist/Islamist Rep. Keith Ellison wants to restore taxpayer funding of PBS for West Bank occupants
- Burka-clad Robbery gang terrorizes northern England town
Patriot Updates
- Son of a Glitch: Error Could Derail Tax Deal
- United Nations Lifts Iraq Nuclear Weapons Sanctions
- Congress' Job Approval Rating Worst in Gallup History
- 'Stuxnet virus set back Iran’s nuclear program by 2 years'
- Reid threatens to keep Congress into next year
- Senate Dems unveil $1.1T spending bill
- Attacks From Right Take Toll on Obama's Tax Plan
- Battle Over Obamacare Repeal is Essentially a Debate About Liberty
- Obama: Unemployment Benefits are "Biggest Boost" to Economy
- Government Greed is Not Good
C.F.I.F.
- Verizon and Wisconsin: Big Losses for Big Labor, Victories for Everyone Else
- Obama Administration Undermines Federalism to Prop Up Faltering Unions
- Liberals, Big Labor Bring Athens to America
- Gaddafi, Wisconsin Unions Suffering from Martyr Complex
- Big Labor, Obama Administration Shift Strategies to Impose Their Agenda
- While Members Suffer, Unions Waste Millions on Political Campaigns
- Why We’re Boiling Over: Federal Salaries Now Twice That of Private Sector
- New Obama Administration Rule Greases Union Wheels, But Runs Over Taxpayers
- Working for The Man: Federal Employment Spike Exacerbates Dependency on the State
- Waxmanism, the New McCarthyism
Vision to America
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Renewing American Leadership
To Renew America
- Many Thousands Left Behind
- The Religious Left’s Photo-Op Martyrdom
- The Hand of God
- Global Warming Propaganda and the Biblical Worldview
- RESURGENT
- Whom Would Jesus Indebt?
- Religious Free Exercise Applies to Politicians, Too
- The Housing Boom and Bust
- 5 Reasons The Pro-Life Movement Is Winning
- The Continuing Vitality of America’s Birth Certificate
Faith and Freedom
- New Survey On Marriage In Washington
- The Problem With The Secular Progressive Movement
- New "Sex Development" Film Being Previewed In Schools Now
- Hearings, Votes And Confessions
- Activists Attempt To Co-Opt MLK--Again
- Recent Actions Regarding Marriage In WA State
- A State Of Moral Vertigo
- Gov. Gregoire: "Agenda Was Set Aside"
- Domestic Partners Seek To Hide Their Names From The Public
- MLK, Ken Hutcherson And The Battle To Defend Marriage
Culture Campaign
- School Supt.: Christian Student Ignorant, Anti-gay
- Obama Says Girls Need Abortion Rights for Equality
- IL Abortion Clinics Passed without Inspections
- The Pope, and Obama's War on Christianity
- Indiana Endorses Teenage Sexually Deviant Behavior
- Porn Industry May Leave LA Over 'Safe Sex' Regs
- Jesus' Name Unconstitutional in Public: Supreme Court
- Graphic Pro-life Super Bowl Ad Commercials to Air
- Atheists Sue to Stop Lord's Prayer in Delaware
- Unsafe Illinois Abortion Clinic Closes Permanently
- School Sexualization Standards by NEA, Abortionists
- Supremes Teach Obama Religious Liberty; Church Wins
- Pastors Booted from NYC Schools, then Arrested
- Tenn. Struggles for Freedom of Religion - Bullying
- Top Presidential Candidates Affirm Marriage
Flickr Photos
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CFIF
- Obama’s IRS Return Shows His Tax Hypocrisy, Current Debate Shows Urgent Need for Corporate Tax Reform
- Five Laughable Moments from the State of the Union
- Puff! The Tragic Dragonless Leadership
- L.A. Unified’s School Lunch Crusade Leaves Bad Taste for Kids, Taxpayers
- Will the Tea Party End in 2012?
- Obama Plays Politics with America's Energy Future
- The Next President’s Agenda
- Poll: By 2-to-1, Americans Fear Second Obama Term
- Supreme Court Saves Religious Liberty from Obama
- Is Mitt Romney the Second Coming of John Kerry?
Family Security Matters
- * VIDEOS * TODAY’S HOT PICKS *1. VIDEO: NASCAR Team Throws Support Behind Israel2. VIDEO: National Park Service Under Fire for Helping 'Occupy' - Megyn Kelly assesses the legality of Occupy protesters camping out on federal land 3. VIDEO: Liberal Hate: High School Teacher Refuses to Accept MLK Award from Paul Ryan4. VIDEO: British Muslim Annoyed at Terror Bust, Intends to Conti […]
- The New York Times Collaborates with Hamas Front Group to Suppress the TruthThe Hamas-supporting advocacy group, CAIR, is using a factual documentary on Islamism to attempt to remove the NYPD police chief from office, and the New York Times is helping it.
- Beastweek vs. Wilders: No ContestAnother empty diatribe against Geert Wilders comes from the Daily Beast/Newsweek, but instead of challenging the man and his views, it only whines and moans.
- Haditha Was ExploitedThe killings at Haditha in November 2005 were blown up by opponents of the Iraq invasion, and helped to introduce restrictive and life-threatening rules of engagement.
- Democracy Can Have a Dark UnderbellyDemocracy is fragile and will not bloom everywhere in today's world. It is also so easily undermined by those who do not really uphold the principles of Western Liberal Democracy.
- How a CIA Officer and Author Came to be IndictedJohn Kiriakou, a CIA Senior Operations Officer and an author, is facing charges of revealing the identities of active CIA officers. When Philip Agee wrote of active CIA men, some got killed...
- CAIR Announces Yet Another U.S. Muslim Brotherhood CoalitionAs if there were not enough Muslim Brotherhood front groups in America, a new coalition has been formed in New York to smear and attack the NYPD police chief, Ray Kelly.
- If You Want ’Smaller Government’...Over the past 50 years in America, people have come to believe that all we have to do is pass new laws which increase the cost of our government and 'someone else will pay for it'.
- Quote of the Day - January 27, 2012Encouraging a responsible dissent from the Liberal orthodoxy…
- U.S. Lawmaker: "Deadly, Violent Illegal Aliens Deserve No Favors"After a Haitian criminal migrant failed to be deported, he went on to kill three American citizens. His case was revealed in a Congressional report, released this week.
IBD Editorials
- Yet Another Obama-Favored Green Company Goes Bankrupt
- Obama Tosses Left A Bone With Anti-Bank Witch Hunt
- The $1.2 Tril Gap: Obama's Subpar Recovery Continues
- Democrats Vs. Republicans: Who's The Most Greedy?
- Latino Flip Might Tip Florida To Democrats
- Obama Promises More Of The Unaffordable Same
- The Voter Intensity Gap Doesn't Favor Obama
- Obama's Tax Hikes Would Hurt Economic Growth
- Blocking Keystone XL Is Bad For Canada, Too
- Pelosi Accusing Newt Is Pot Calling Kettle Black
WSJ-Politics and Policy
- Florida's Seniors Take Center Stage
- Tax Rule Opens Rich Vein for Debate
- Santorum's Main Backer Plans to Keep on Funding
- Unfriendly Fire Slows Gingrich
- Rubio, Hotly Wooed, Plays It Cool
- Obama Brings Message to Michigan
- Giving Romney a Run for His Money
- Novelty in North Carolina; After Giffords
- What You Can Learn From Mitt's Tax Return
- Strassel: Mitt Keeps Missing the Message
WSJ – Opinion
- Christie to the 1%: Please Occupy New Jersey
- Stephen Moore: The Most Important Non-Presidential Election of the Decade
- Noonan: The GOP Takes a Wild Ride
- 'Lawfare' Loses Big
- The 1.7% Year
- Professor Gingrich's Ethics
- What Pepsi Can Learn From McDonald's
- John White: A Medal of Honor for George Washington
- Notable & Quotable
- Five Best Books: Susan J. Matt
M.I.’s Public Sector Inc
- Obama's State of the 'Unions'
- Those pesky low rates of return
- A surefire sign that your public safety contracts are out of control
- Draining the pension swamp in the Bayou
- AEI Event on collective bargaining and pensions
- It's not just state and local pensions that are rich
- LA schools break the law
- California's high-speed rail project dogged by cronyism
- Little state that's still trying
- Pension pains in the prarie state add to deficit debacle
NewsMax Inside cover
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NewsMax Politics
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Dick Morris
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NRO
National Review Online
- Tech: How 'Siri' Will Lead to Higher Cellphone Bills
- Video: Joe Biden Uses Indian Accent in New Hampshire
- Meet the 17-Year-Old Who Only Eats Chicken Nuggets
- Navy SEALs Rescue Kidnapped American; 9 Terrorists Dead
- Romney Releases His 2010 Tax Return
- Game On: EU Bans Iran Oil Imports
- SOTU Preview: Obama to Explain his Economic 'Blueprint' - Again
- Romney to Release his 2010 Tax Returns
- AP: Romney Has Up To $32 Million Offshore
- 'Fast & Furious' Official to Plead the Fifth
NRO Uncommon Knowledge Podcasts
- Obamacare & the Supreme Court with Richard Epstein & John Yoo
- WWII with Andrew Roberts
- The U.S. Economy with Peter Thiel
- Europe with James Delingpole
- Journalism with Gerard Baker & Andrew Ferguson
- The Constitution with Paul Rahe
- Political Culture with Thomas Sowell
- Larry Arnn and Our Founding Documents
- Paul Ryan on Health Care
NRO Campaign Spot
- Obama Laments That We're 'Consumed by Personal Ambition'
- Mitt Corleone?
- Grim Poll Numbers for GOP, Awful Ones for Gingrich
- The Grand Finale Florida Debate?
- Remember When This Primary Was Boring & Predictable?
- Obama's Favorite Companies Hitting Hard Times, Again and Again
- Republicans Start Lining Up for Giffords' Seat
- Scratch One Democratic Governor, One House Member in North Carolina
- We Have Time for Two, Maybe Three More Florida Surges
- If It Ain't Brokered, Don't Fix It!
Politico2012
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Race4 2012
- Poll Watch: Mason-Dixon Virginia 2012 Presidential Survey
- Poll Watch: Mason-Dixon Virginia 2012 Senatorial Survey
- Poll Watch: Mason-Dixon Florida 2012 Senatorial Survey
- New RNC Ad: “Bad Timing”
- On the Ground at Mitt Romney’s Orlando Event
- Video: Santorum on Mandates 1994
- Poll Watch: American Research Group Arizona 2012 Republican Primary Survey
- New Gingrich Campaign Ad: “What Kind of Man”
- Gov Fortuño (R-PR), Former US Rep Shaw (R-FL) Endorse Romney
- Mitt Romney vs. Health Care: “Why RomneyCare Makes Mitt the BEST Nominee to Face Obama”
TheHill-Campaign feed
- Rivals turn Romney’s strength against him
- Mystery: What Nancy Pelosi has on Newt
- Rubio gets off the 2012 bench
- Romney hopes tax disclosure ends issue
- Dems fear union cash drain in Wisconsin
- Gingrich victory upends GOP race
- Sunday show preview: GOP presidential race moves on to Florida
- Doubts creep in as an awkward Mitt Romney tries not to lose the GOP nod
- Gingrich lashes out at media in debate
- President leapfrogs rivals to Florida
NCPA Daily Digest
- Rating Housing Affordability
- Some Possible Consequences of a U.S. Government Default
- Medical Loss Ratios
- Why the United States Will Never Build the iPhone
- If Health Spending Is Increasing Slower, Why Are Premiums Rising Faster?
- This Is America's Moment, If Washington Doesn't Blow It
- Lessons from Medicare's Demonstration Projects
- Who Should Have Access to Student Records?
NCPA Publications
- Private Policing Options for the Poor
- The Jitney Potential: Transportation for the Poor
- What to Do about Drug Shortages
- Paying for Pet Projects at the Pump
- Infrastructure Funding: Taking the Wrong Path
- Increasing the Supply of Affordable Child Care
- Health Exchange Subsidies Will Reduce Employer Health Plans
- The Doctor’s Out. Where’s the Nurse?
Michael Reagan
- Media Treats Gingrich Differently Than John Edwards
- Obama Chafes at High Court's Authority
- Republicans Should Run Against the Numbers, Not Each Other
- Americans Want GOP to Offer Solutions, Not Cat Fights
- Newt Has it Right About Value of Good, Hard Work
- Frank Will Not Be Missed
- Paterno’s Lame Response to Penn State Scandal
- Far Too Early to Write Off Herman Cain
- Cain Smears Will Make Good People Avoid Politics
- Supporters of Competing GOP Tax Plans Must Unite
Young America’s Foundation
- La Reina YAF Tours the Reagan Ranch
- Is Your Student Government President Supporting the Obama Administration?
- Your Next Campus Initiative: Celebrate Ronald Reagan's Birthday
- Who’s on Our Side? A Spotlight on Ridiculous University Pay Inflation
- The Student Response to the State of the Union
- Our Veterans Fought, Yet Some Universities Won’t Give Them (Course) Credit
- YAF Student Exposes Youth Conference Call with the White House
- Meyer on WSAU: Considering YMI, 'Summer Jobs+' is a Joke
- The Blaze: 2012 and the Youth Misery Index
- The Fix: Conservative Professor Fired for Politically Incorrect Joke
YAF’s Audio Podcasts
- Florida Senator, Marco Rubio
- Joseph Phllips, Race in America Today
- Governor Mike Huckabee, Leadership in a Strong America
- Rabbi Daniel Lapin, There are No Poor People in America
- Kate Obenshain, Congressman Anthony Weiner
- Governor Sarah Palin
- Vice President Dick Cheney
- Governor Bobby Jindal, Leadership and Crisis
- Senator Mike Lee, Looking Ahead: How Conservatives and the Tea Parties Can Work to Limit the Size of Government
- Newt Gingrich (2010), Real Change: Ideas to Increase Freedom and Reform Government
YAF’s Video podcasts
- Rabbi Daniel Lapin, There Are No Poor People in America
- Cathy McMorris Rodgers: The Fight for Freedom: One Congresswoman's Perspective
- Robert Spencer: A Clarion Call to Counter the Stealth Jihad
- Herman Cain, Countering Racial Preferences
- Steve Moore, Saving Our Country with Free Market Ideas
- Dr. Paul Kengor, Why Communism is Bad: What You're Not Learning in School
- Mark Clarke: Ghost from Liberalism's Future: Lessons from Britain
- President Ronald Reagan, I love the 4th of July
- Dave Bossie, Advancing Conservative Ideas in Film and the Supreme Court
- Nonie Darwish, Now They Call Me Infidel: Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel, and The War on Terror
Project Vote Smart’s : U.S. Keyvotes
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President Calvin Coolidge
Support Our Troops
Standing For Those, Who Stood For Us.
The Greecing of America
An Inconvenient Tax
Indoctrinate U – then, “The Weathermen”
Indoctrinate University – today
The Cartel -public ed in trouble
Never forget who are true friends are…
New Zeal
- New Zeal Blog Has Moved
- The Funny Side of World Economic Chaos
- "Act One" of the Egytian Revolution
- Glenn Predicts His Plans Will Make Left "Crap Their Pants"
- Beck Ties Things Together and Hints at Future Plans
- Iraqi Communists Generating Unrest to Ensure American Forces Quit Country
- Watcher’s Council Nominations: Low Budget Edition
- Benjamin Barber - Gadaffi Shill Works With Obama Founded "Think Tank"
- Allen West on Government Shutdown
- Beck on Debt, Unions, Socialists, Frances Fox Piven, Israel, Van Jones.....
- "Thousands of Dead Bodies"
- Cuban Unionist Tours U.S. - Offers International Communist Labor Federation Support
Gulag Bound
- Tantrum on the Tarmac
- Glenn Beck’s Staff Threatened by Soros Operatives
- Obama: A Very Angry Outsider is Coming for You in November – PE
- Presidential Eligibility: Sovereign Voters Should have Standing as Electors – PE
- Obama and his Syndicate: Some Good (Obama Eligibility Hearing) and some Chillingly Bad News
- Orly Taitz Briefs The Post & Email on Ballot Challenge Hearing – PE
- Many Factors Poised to Influence the Presidential Race
- Mitt Romney’s Mentor, his Father, a Fan of Saul Alinsky
- Courtroom Details of Obama’s 1/26 Eligibility Hearing, Georgia – PE
- Default Judgment Against Obama Discussed: Today’s Eligibility Hearing in Georgia
- Russia Today Hires WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange – Will the Kremlin Be Pleased?
- Russia Today Gloats About Assange Signing
National Center PPR Blog-Amy Ridenour
- See the National Center's Tom Borelli on Fox News on Friday Afternoon
- Project 21’s Borelli on Fox News “Power Panel” This Sunday Afternoon
- Steven Crowder Joins Hannity’s “Great American Panel”
- Steven Crowder on "Red Eye" — Overnight Tonight
- Project 21’s Stacy Swimp to Interview South Carolina Attorney General Tonight — Listen Live
- More Project 21 Reaction to Obama’s State of the Union Address
- Fighting Senseless Sin Taxes in Maryland: "There's good reason for lower taxes on smokeless tobacco"
- Pepsi Settles Invented Discrimination Claim
- Deneen Borelli on Fox News Sunday Afternoon
- Project 21’s Hollis has an Old Commentary on a New Movie
