We Can’t Wish Away Climate Change by Al Gore

Many of the authorities Gore quoted in his film have changed their stories. This is well written but would be more believable if he didn't have so much at stake financially and would practice what he preaches. Read the NYT Editorial here

'Mitch the knife' eyes 2012 run - Another Contender?

Is Indiana GOP Gov. Mitch Daniels in the running?

Excerpt: At 60, Daniels’s résumé is exhaustive: He’s a Princeton-educated former Senate chief of staff-turned political operative-turned think tank chief-turned Fortune 500 executive-turned White House budget director-turned two-term governor.

And since winning the governorship in 2004, he has practiced the sort of fiscal conservatism that he preached as “The Blade” during his tenure as President George W. Bush’s head of the Office of Management and Budget.

“Mitch is the real thing,” said Nancy Dorn, his deputy at OMB and now the head of General Electric Co.’s Washington office. “He’s a true fiscal conservative.”

He has cut spending, cut taxes, leased the state’s toll road to a private company for billions and expanded health insurance and prescription drug access in a market-friendly way. The result is an approval rating of 70 percent, according to one recent survey, placing him among the country’s most popular governors. Read full article here.

What Transparency Looks Like to the Obama White House

Read article here.

PRESIDENT'S PRIVATE SECTOR SURVEY ON COST CONTROL - Reagan Not Obama

I guess it didn't work. Somewhere in this short summary report, written in 1984, it mentions the possibility of Congressional interference. Really?

Excerpt: In the course of the search by our 36 Task Forces, chaired by 161 top executives from around the country and staffed by over 2,000 volunteers that they provided, we came up with 2,478 separate, distinct, and specific recommendations which are the basis for the carefully projected savings. For practical purposes, these savings, if fully implemented, could virtually eliminate the reported deficit by the 1990's versus an alternative deficit of $10.2 trillion in the decade of the 1990's if no action is taken.

Equally important, the 2,478 cost-cutting, revenue-enhancing recommendations we have made can be achieved without raising taxes, without weakening America's needed defense build-up, and without in any way harming necessary social welfare programs.

Read it here.

Daily Light - Sunday 2/28/2010

As usual the tsunami alerts by the news agencies and officials frightened the islands' inhabitants, even though the initial reports showed, that, close to Chile, the waves were only 7 feet high. It turned out that Hawaii received 5 1/2 foot waves that "discolored the water" according to MSNBC.It again shows that those that think they know about the Earth and climate are wrong and report only to create panic or a "good story, or in the case of politicians, to gain power over those that panic.

Was watching Huckabee last evening and he had talked to Shimon Peres who said most Iranians do not support their President and that the solution to the Iranian problem is from within. I'm just wondering what would happen if we flooded the airways around Iran with this message: "Your government is in the process of acquiring nuclear weapons and your President has vowed to use them against Israel and the Western world. Should this happen, the free world would have no alternative but to destroy Iran and its capability to wage war. We have no intention of letting it go this far. You peace loving Iranians must take heed and prevent your government from pursuing such folly. Time is running out. Now is the time for action." Might be worth a try!

Obama to Push Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill: If You Don't Like it Vote Us Out

After a health care summit that saw him hear how Americans don't want to pay for abortions and had Nancy Pelosi misleading attendees about abortion funding, President Barack Obama plans to push the pro-abortion health care bill. And he has a message for Americans who don't like it: vote us out. Read details of abortion coverage in the bill here.

Progressive Islam Protest - March 11, 2010 Tallahassee, FL

Video tries to link radical Islam to the Nazis but has some interesting links to CAIR. You decide its value. I find the infiltration of our educational and government systems troubling.

Powerless Against Palin

Excerpt: This has to be a sweet irony if you're Sarah Palin: Your enemies are screaming to the rafters that you can't be elected precisely because, in their heart of hearts and brain of brains, they know that you can. The New York Times' editorial board doth protest too much.

But even that is only one factor that explains, the ferocity, the hateful, the sheer derangement of the left's anti-Palin barrage and it's not the main factor, which is this: They are powerless to stop her. And they know it.

For Democrats, it is, literally, the Fear That Dare Note Speak Its Name, the fear that Sarah Palin could indeed be elected president and that there is nothing they can do about it.

Follow my impeccable logic here: While anything can happen between now and the first Tuesday of November, 2012, as the situation exists today (absent a swift and substantial rightward shift by Obama, a dramatic drop in the unemployment rate, the emergence of the Tea Parties as a viable third party, a decision by Obama not to run, or the sudden appearance of a deus ex machina) Barack Obama is a one-term president. If present trends continue, the next president will be a Republican. Mitt Romney, Scott Brown, your Aunt Petunia.

Or Sarah Palin. Whoever the Republicans nominate in 2012 becomes president in 2013. And that's the key word: "Republicans." Whoever the Republicans nominate.

Read full article here.

CNN Poll: Majority says government a threat to citizens' rights

Excerpt: Washington (CNN) – A majority of Americans think the federal government poses a threat to rights of Americans, according to a new national poll.

Fifty-six percent of people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Friday say they think the federal government's become so large and powerful that it poses an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens. Forty-four percent of those polled disagree. Read it here.

Daily Light - Friday 2/26/2010

A couple months ago I received a Facebook friend request from a childhood buddy who was part of a group that played basketball on a small court, my brother built for me, in back of our home in Bucyrus, Ohio. Bucyrus is a small town of about 13,000 people midway between Columbus to the south and Sandusky on Lake Erie to the north. It was a small industrialized community surrounded by fertile farmland and was a great place to grow up. Crime was low and parents were secure in letting their children roam in the woods, walk across town to the park and swimming pool or ride bikes to their favorite fishing holes outside of town. Except for the rationing required during WWII and local peace keeping, there was very little Government intrusion in our lives and we were free to live them as we wished (subject to parental approval). LOL.

My new Facebook friend made a trip back to Bucyrus recently to arrange for his upcoming book tour to promote "The Bucyrus That Was by Bill Elder". I'm looking forward to its release and am sure it will be a NYT best seller.

Watched two hours of the Obamacare summit yesterday and agree with The London Times article below.

London Times: Try to stay awake: the President has a healthcare Bill to pass

These Brits have a sense of humor and say things our press would never think of. This article is a must read summary of the Health Care Summit.

Excerpt: He listened with his chin raised and his eyes narrowed. He listened with his head resting quizzically in one hand. He listened while scribbling furiously in his notebook. Indeed, it was only when one of his own allies began to speak — the purple-suited Nancy Pelosi, famed for her left-wing politics and fondness for private jets — that Obama’s camera-talent abandoned him, and he allowed himself to be filmed with his middle finger creeping over his lips, as if urging Ms Pelosi to shut the hell up and take the next Gulfstream back to California. Read full article here.

The Census

Daily Light - Thursday 2/25/2010

Many years ago, while going through a divorce, I met a young lady who, seeing my depressed mood, led me to a two day seminar called "The Forum". That experience with a few of the follow-up workshops, helped to get me through those trying times. One thing I remember about the seminar is an exercise, which the Rev. Norman Vincent Peale would have called "The Power of Positive Thinking". I would drive into NYC from NJ and when I got to the Pulaski Skyway, I would envision a parking space opening up right there on Charles Street in the Village. More often than not, rather than the norm of circling the area for a half hour and finding a space blocks away, I would find that space opening up near my destination if not right in front. I became a believer.

Just finished a book on my new Kindle and noticed a book on my bookshelf that I had read a number of years ago. The book, which I am re-reading now, reminds me of that training long ago. It is called "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne. Channel the positive universe through you and you will succeed beyond all expectations.

Watching Glenn Beck describing The Kondratiev Wave effect of the free market and the disastrous effects of government trying to smooth out the highs and lows. The economy of the world must be left free to move up and down in cycles, self correction, without governments' intervention.

Waiting to see what kind of booby trap Obama has in store for Republicans as they confer on ObamaCare.

Panel Finds Rangel Broke House Rules With Caribbean Trip

A House panel has found that Rep. Charles B. Rangel of New York broke Congressional rules by failing to properly disclose financial details of a trip to the Caribbean, a House official said. Read article here.

Local SC Pol Changes Parties - Lists the Reasons Why He Is A Republican

I remember when people in Mass. were upset when a bus load of SEIU members showed up. People were afraid that violence was eminent until it was discovered that they were there to support Scott Brown. We can always hope that the tide is turning and that union members can see the harm to their jobs and to the USA that unwarranted demands by the union bosses foster. One of the major reasons our manufacturing base is vanishing is the excessive demands of unions. The question to ask is, do you want a good job with decent wages and benefits or do you want,on paper, great wages and Cadillac benefits, but no job?

If you read this article you will see Sanderson's reasoning behind the change.

Excerpt: Certainly, it has surprised some in our community that as a lifelong Democrat and a member of the United Steelworkers of America for 36 years, I decided to become a Republican.

I’ve talked to the membership in the local, and a good portion of the membership are coming with me, working to help get Republicans elected.

I don’t see a contradiction in my being a union member and a Republican, because the only party out there busting its hump for job creation is the Republican Party.

Why I am a Republican

ObamaCare at Ramming Speed - WSJ

The President took the 2,400 page Senate bill and added 16 pages and called it his bill. What is it about the 75% of Americans that don't like big government intruding on our healthcare that the President doesn't understand? The WSJ has its take here.

Excerpt: The larger political message of this new proposal is that Mr. Obama and Democrats have no intention of compromising on an incremental reform, or of listening to Republican, or any other, ideas on health care. They want what they want, and they're going to play by Chicago Rules and try to dragoon it into law on a narrow partisan vote via Congressional rules that have never been used for such a major change in national policy. If you want to know why Democratic Washington is "ungovernable," this is it. Read It Here

The Nanny State Light Bulb

Doctors Letter to President Obama

A great summary letter for tort reform. Read it here.

Daily Light - Wednesday 2/24/2010

We will be traveling to NJ next week to give my youngest daughter away to a great guy. Was listening to quite a few songs for the father/daughter dance and came up with a couple whose words brought a few tears to my eyes, but my daughter seems to want something a little less "sappy". She gave me a list of possibles she got from the DJ, so back to listening and selecting.

Was again listening to the CPAC speech by George Will and was breaking up. I never knew George had such a great sense of humor.

Hannity tonight is talking with the creators of the movie "Generation Zero". One thing said, that I have believed for a long time, is that we will not survive on a service economy alone. We need a strong manufacturing base to employ the millions of workers that enter the workforce each year. We must lessen the burden on domestic manufacturing by reducing taxes and regulations and allow them to defend themselves against aggressive unionism.

Obama's Budget Busting Illustration

High Cost of Tort Litigation

I recently read a notice of a settlement of a securities lawsuit, that I was a  member of by default.  This settlement cost the company $40 million of which the tort lawyers received $10 million and I was to receive 29 cents.  How much the defense lawyers got  was not disclosed. Needless to say, the multiple, multi-page notices I received over the period of a few years, the cost of the defense lawyers and thousands of hours of preparation by the company's employees, along with the $40 million settlement was borne by the company at the expense of its current shareholders and future research.  This was a pharmaceutical company that does much good, and was a violation of regulations that did not involve medical harm.  Needless to say, I did not claim the 29 cents - couldn't afford the stamp.

Excerpt:  America’s litigation-friendly legal system continues to impose a heavy burden on our economy. The annual direct cost of American tort litigation—excluding much securities litigation, punitive damages, and the multibillion-dollar settlement reached between the tobacco companies and the states in 1998—exceeds $250 billion, almost 2 percent of gross domestic product.[1] The indirect costs of excessive litigiousness (for example, the unnecessary tests and procedures characterizing the practice of “defensive” medicine, or the loss of the fruits of research never undertaken on account of the risk of abusive lawsuits) are probably much greater than the direct costs themselves.[2]

Of course, tort litigation does do some good, and it does deter some bad behavior. The problem is that it deters a lot of good behavior, too. Indeed, the legal system does such a poor job of distinguishing between good and bad behavior that the high cost of litigation is effectively a “tort tax” paid by every American. The share of America’s economy devoted to lawsuits is far higher than that of other developed nations such as Germany and Japan (see graph, left). Yet America is hardly safer as a result.

Of course, the growth in federal regulation and law has made it necessary for Trial Lawyers, Inc. to lobby Congress as well. Thanks to large contributions, both to the Democratic Party and to individual legislators, lawyers have not only blocked most federal efforts at tort reform but are also working to coax goodies from Congress that pad their bottom line. Such efforts include:

• Lengthening statutes of limitations in employment law to make it easier to file discrimination suits;[4]
• Spurring securities litigation by allowing suits to be filed against the vendors of corporations accused of fraud;[5]
• Cutting contingent-fee lawyers a tax break worth over a billion dollars;[6]
• Gutting arbitration contracts designed to encourage resolution of disputes that are too expensive to take to trial;[7] and
• Allowing state juries to override federal regulations.[8]

Read interesting article here.

DID THE BLEAT OF THE LAMB EXCITE THE LION? Re: Iran

Appeasement has its costs.

Excerpt: But why did the hardliners triumph? Richman argues that their victory was the predictable result of Obama's soft-line policy. In fact, this result was predicted by Bill Kristol. Though Kristol is probably no "expert" by Clinton's reckoning, he did say this in 2006:

One of the bad side effects of our looking weak and hesitant is that in the last year Ahmadinejad's been running around provoking everyone, behaving like a madman, thumbing his nose at the U.S. and the West -- and he pays no price. And if one were an opponent of Admadinejad in Iran -- not a dissident, but someone in government who is kind of a more cautious type, and you've been warning, "gee, this will get us in trouble" -- and [Admadinejad] gets in no trouble at all -- it's very bad for the internal dynamics in Iran. I think we have inadvertently helped to strengthen [hardliners] in Iran by not responding vigorously.

This seems like a better explanation of the rise of the hardliners than Clinton's which is, what, bad luck?

Read article here.

Novel School Plan Upheld - Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES—The city's Board of Education voted Tuesday to hand over some of its public schools to charter school operators and teachers groups, part of an unusual experiment to see whether outsiders will have better luck improving student achievement in the nation's second-largest school district.

Parents, teachers and activists attended a controversial Los Angeles board vote that had pit unions against charter school operators. But most of the 30 campuses, some with more than one school, were awarded to teachers and administrators employed by the school district. The board awarded four schools to charter groups, and two schools to a group led by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. The majority of the schools were awarded to teachers' groups. The board's vote was a blow to charter advocates and a boost to teachers in the city's divided education community.

At least they are moving beyond the "box". For the children's sake we all hope the experiment works. Read the full article here. Novel School Plan Upheld

Gov't Funds Go To Train Teens As 'Organizers'

Another example of the indoctrination of our youth by the Left through the use of taxpayer funds. Also, after the indoctrination is complete, jobs are readily available, again paid for by the taxpayers, to promote the "get out to vote" campaign for Democrats. Mao, Hitler, Lenin and all other despots knew the value of indoctrination of the young to create a belief system from the ground up. If we do not stop these programs, we will be doomed to Socialism or maybe something worse. Hopefully, Glenn Becks parting words at CPAC "Tomorrow will again be morning in America" will ring true.

Excerpt: Obama is using the public schools to recruit a private army of high-schoolers to "build on the movement that elected President Obama by empowering students across the country to help us bring about our agenda." We now know Obama's "agenda" is to move the U.S. into European-style socialism.

Obama's Internet outreach during his campaign, Obama for America, has been renamed Organizing for America (OFA) in order to recruit students to join a cult of Obama and become activists for his goals.

Geller discovered that the teacher of an 11th-grade government class in Massillon, Ohio, passed out the sign-up sheet, headed with Obama's "O" logo, asking students to become interns for Organizing for America.

These interns will get an intensive nine-week training course using comprehensive lesson plans. Assigned readings include Saul Alinsky's notorious "Rules for Radicals," "Stir It Up: Lessons From Community Organizing and Advocacy" by left-wing activist Rinku Sen, and parts of "Dreams From My Father" dealing with Obama's days as a Chicago community organizer.

Read the Investors Business Daily article here.

Received This in an Email Today from a Friend

Daily Light - Tuesday 2/23/2010

Had a great time at the neighbor's house this evening and the meatloaf was very, very good, but I have to go with my mom's. Wiped everyone out at pool which was very uncharacteristic, since I usually go home with maybe one win.

Finally listened to Glenn Beck's rousing CPAC talk and found it to be Reagan-est, informative and inspirational. My lovely wife wasn't a big fan of Glenns but this talk won her over. "Tomorrow will again be morning in America"

The Dems will be taking a big gamble if they try to pass Obamacare through the reconciliation process. If they do, I predict a huge backlash in November. Right now, I agree with the pundits that they may not even get the necessary Democrat votes in the House to pass the "modified Senate bill".

The Leader - Jim DeMint

Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina has been consistent in defending conservative principles since he has been in office. If you have to name anyone in Congress that has been a leader for the conservative cause, this quiet Senator from SC has to be at the top of the list.

Excerpt: Jim DeMint is actually doing what other Republicans talk about — staying true to conservative values and recruiting conservatives. From Chuck DeVore to Michael Williams to Pat Toomey to Marco Rubio, Jim DeMint is picking, funding, and supporting conservatives across the nation in stark contrast to other Republican leaders.

DeMint is not afraid to involve himself in a primary. And in Congress he is not afraid to pick tough fights and challenge his own party to do what is right. DeMint does not just talk the talk, but he unapologetically walks the walk.

The Leader

Interesting Video by Dallas Tea Party

Daily Light - Monday 2/22/2010

Was kidding the next door neighbor last evening that he owed us "the best meatloaf dinner ever" as promised about 7 years ago. Well, tonight's the night. Will tell you how it comes out tomorrow. Also I am now 2 quarters richer after my golf round Sunday with my wonderful wife. The day turned out to be a great one, sunny and in the 60's.

My neighbor's brother, a retired special needs teacher from NYC, is visiting for a few days and we had a lively discussion about the education system, teachers' unions and policies of the Obama administration. We agreed on the idea that many parents are absent when it comes to participating in their children's education and this is a major factor in the students' failure. He said he didn't understand the withdrawal of funding for the DC charter school program and said a program he was involved in, educating the worst of the worst in NYC, was unfunded due to understandably low graduation rates but politically damaging to the overall graduation stats for NYC. He defended teachers' unions, saying decent wages would not have been possible without them. We agreed to disagree on the detrimental effects of unions on our current education system.

Be Aware - New Submarine - A Threat to our Security

Climate scientists withdraw journal claims of rising sea levels

More bad science costing taxpayers billions of dollars throughout the world.

Announcing the formal retraction of the paper from the journal, Siddall said: "It's one of those things that happens. People make mistakes and mistakes happen in science." He said there were two separate technical mistakes in the paper, which were pointed out by other scientists after it was published. A formal retraction was required, rather than a correction, because the errors undermined the study's conclusion.

Read article here.

Today is The First Day of The Rest of Your Life Under The Credit CARD Act. Which Means, Get Ready For All Sorts of New Fees.

This is an interesting article on additional fees to be aware of, such as inactivity fees and low usage fees. It also looks at the usefulness of recent regulations of the banking industry.
Read article here.

The Failure of Anti-Money Laundering Laws

Another example of needless ineffective regulations infringing on our liberties, placing exorbitant costs on our citizens with little or no benefit for which the laws were enacted.

Daily Light - Sunday 2/21/2010

Today is a great day, worship with Dr. David Jeremiah in the morning, and golf with my wife Dottie in the afternoon. We play for quarters and I give her quite a few strokes. Have to adjust those strokes soon since, recently, she has been taking me to the cleaners.

Yesterday I posted the talk George Will gave at CPAC, a presentation that is full of humor, but seriously depicts the destruction of freedom and our Republic. You will not regret the time you take to listen to it.

As long as CPAC stays with the Conservative agenda espoused by the Tea Party movement and refrains from Obama bashing, we will have a chance to reverse the current liberal/progressive trend. The Tea Party is a grass roots movement that abhors centralized authority. Any attempt to organize it nationally will fail and split the Independent/Republican/Moderate Democrat/Conservative coalition that is threatening the status quo.

Lightbulb bill aimed at asserting state rights

Excerpt: In proposing that Arizona become the national epicenter of incandescent-lightbulb manufacturing, the Tucson Republican hopes to provoke a fight with Washington, D.C., over states' rights and interstate trade. Read it here.

For background see my posting The Light Bulb Drama

Questions mount over drop in illegal immigrant population

For some reason certain supporters of amnesty instead of deportation do not believe that making it harder to get jobs will reduce the illegal emigrant population. DUH!

Excerpt: Arizona has seen the sharpest decline in undocumented population of any state, losing 18 percent, or more than 100,000, of its illegal immigrants in 2008, according to a new government report.

Experts agree that the decrease in Arizona's undocumented immigrant population was fueled by the staggering loss of jobs the state experienced during the recession, and that to lesser extent immigration crackdowns also contributed to the decline. Read it here.

Glen Beck - Voted No. 1 Speaker at CPAC

ABOUT THE FAIRTAX

What is the FairTax plan?

The FairTax plan is a comprehensive proposal that replaces all federal income and payroll based taxes with an integrated approach including a progressive national retail sales tax, a prebate to ensure no American pays federal taxes on spending up to the poverty level, dollar-for-dollar federal revenue neutrality, and, through companion legislation, the repeal of the 16th Amendment.

The FairTax Act (HR 25, S 296) is nonpartisan legislation. It abolishes all federal personal and corporate income taxes, gift, estate, capital gains, alternative minimum, Social Security, Medicare, and self-employment taxes and replaces them with one simple, visible, federal retail sales tax administered primarily by existing state sales tax authorities.

The FairTax taxes us only on what we choose to spend on new goods or services, not on what we earn. The FairTax is a fair, efficient, transparent, and intelligent solution to the frustration and inequity of our current tax system.

The FairTax:

Enables workers to keep their entire paychecks
Enables retirees to keep their entire pensions
Refunds in advance the tax on purchases of basic necessities
Allows American products to compete fairly
Brings transparency and accountability to tax policy
Ensures Social Security and Medicare funding
Closes all loopholes and brings fairness to taxation
Abolishes the IRS
We offer a library of information throughout this Web site about the features and benefits of the FairTax plan. Please explore! ABOUT THE FAIRTAX

George Will At CPAC - Possibly the Best Speech I Have Ever Heard

Oink, oink Washington still dishing out the pork

"Everyone does it" - Then let's get rid of "everyone".

Excerpt: Although they represent less than 2 percent of federal government spending each year, pork-barrel "earmarks" are the most visible tip of the iceberg when it come to selfish, wasteful, special-interest looting of the federal treasury to benefit congressional hometown pals.

It's thus interesting to note -- even as politicians of both parties flock in the election year to claim membership in the ranks of the responsible and the frugal -- that earmarks in 2009 added up to $15.9 billion, up from $15.6 billion in 2008, according to the group Taxpayers for Common Sense.

Oink, oink Washington still dishing out the pork

The U.S. Political Establishment Has Failed

This may be premature but we can hope. This is the most exciting outlook of the Tea Party revolution that I have heard. Go Tea Party and clean up our government.

Excerpt: America is on the verge of something unprecedented in history: the peaceful, constitutional replacement of our country's entire political establishment. This is what lies behind the decisions of so many elected officials, at every level, to step aside rather than fight for reelection. And it explains how the Tea Party movement can exert so much political leverage without nominating its own candidates or even without formally choosing its own leaders.

No other country in history has ever attempted to replace its establishments so smoothly and so peacefully -- and so cheerfully -- as we are doing right now. And it isn't likely that any other country ever will attempt something like this. How exhilarating to realize that 234 years after our revolution, the United States is still the most dynamic, forward-looking, optimistic place on Earth. Boy, what an exciting time to be an American. Read full article here.

Obama and ACORN - A Love Affair

Just When You Thought the HealthCare Bill was Dead

Excerpt: President Barack Obama is expected to publish his healthcare plan as early as Sunday or Monday, combining features of the two Democratic bills passed by the Senate and House of Representatives, congressional aides and healthcare advocates said on Friday.

Those agreements are likely to be combined as a privileged budget reconciliation bill, which only needs a simple 51-vote majority to pass the 100-member Senate instead of the 60-vote supermajority that has become routine in the Senate and gives Republicans power to block the healthcare bill. Obama to spell out new healthcare plan

Why go after Toyota?

Excerpt: Just follow the bouncing ball.

GM now stands for Government Motors, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Democrat Party. It serves no substantial purpose beyond converting taxpayer money into union money.

Democrats and unions go together like Democrats and corruption. Or unions and corruption. Unions provide legwork, volunteers, stuffed ballot boxes, and billions of dollars in campaign funds to Democrats. Democrats funnel billions in taxpayer money back to unions through earmarks and front groups like ACORN. Democrats also pass extremely union-friendly (aka anti-freedom, anti-business) laws, and fill bureaucracies with union-friendly people who generate and enforce union-friendly policies of all sorts. GM can convert more money to union money if it actually sells cars.

Toyota is the biggest automaker in the world, and currently runs a close second to GM as the biggest seller in the United States.

Toyota’s superior quality of vehicles is undisputed by any serious industry professional, and by most Americans. GM merits at best a ho-hum in quality. Chrysler stinks.

Many Americans reflexively revolted against GM when they became Government Motors.

Toyota has factories in 8 states with 35,000 employees. They are not unionized.

You see where this is going, right?

Did you hear about Toyota?

Shortchanging Our Students

Excerpt: There’s no mystery as to why today’s college seniors lack basic knowledge of American history and institutions. Previous ISI reports revealed that schools of higher learning aren’t teaching these principles. At some elite universities the seniors know less than the freshmen. The reports also show that Americans agree colleges should teach students about our shared history and civic principles.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the report concluded that additional civic knowledge increases a person’s belief in American ideals and institutions.

The ISI survey showed that, overall, “Sixty-three percent of Americans disagree that America corrupts otherwise good people, 61 percent of Americans disagree that America’s Founding documents are obsolete and 56 percent of Americans agree that prosperity depends upon entrepreneurs and free markets.”

It further found that people with greater civic knowledge are less likely to believe that America corrupts otherwise good people, less likely to believe that the Founding documents are irrelevant, and more likely to believe that the free enterprise system works.

Read article here.

Cutting the airborne laser degrades our superiority

Lack of funding for our space program causing the USA to hitchhike to the space station on Russian, Chinese or even Indian spacecraft, non-funding of the F-22, C-17 and Zumwalt class destroyers and now the airborne laser, which was just successfully tested this week, shows no commitment by the Obama administration to retain our superiority and ability to defend ourselves against future enemies.

Excerpt: The bottom line is simple: No other nation on earth capable of fielding the Airborne Laser, the F-22 and the other advanced weapons on the Obama administration's chopping block would willingly abandon them. That is especially true of those hostile to freedom, which will strive to acquire through purchase, theft and/or their own efforts similar capabilities to those we are giving up. We engage in such unilateral disarmament at our extreme peril - both to the forces who need to be second to none as they fight the nation's wars and to the rest of us whom they thereby seek to safeguard.

Read full article here.

Obama’s Weatherizing Program Costing Taxpayers $57,362 For Each Home

Read it here.

Will Obama Nationalize U.S. Pensions?

Excerpt: President Obama has proposed what one of our experts sees as the "first step in stealth nationalization and forced investment of our retirement benefits."

The bad news comes as part of a tax package said to be aimed at middle-income Americans that was revealed in Obama’s State of the Union speech, as reported by Business Week magazine.

Obama’s stealth proposal is billed by him as an "effort to increase retirement savings by requiring all businesses to offer automatic IRA accounts,”

"If you read it closely you will see the heart of the proposal is the requirement to keep 10 percent of the funds in U.S. Treasuries. At the stroke of a pen the president has found a way to bolster the declining demand for Treasuries. I believe forcing retirement plans into U.S. government control is the next step."

Read it here.

The Federal Reserve Conspiracy by Antony C. Sutton

There are many things about our Federal Government that are couched in secrecy, hidden from the public. One of the largest and most influential is the Federal Reserve system which has come under fire by some in Congress for its part in the banking bailout, money expansion, TARP programs meant to save the US economy. The Fed is a private monopoly created by Congress but beholden to no one. Recent attempts by some Congress members to have the Fed audited have fallen on deaf ears. This article is a review of a book written in 1995 by Sutton, reviewing the history behind the establishment of the Federal Reserve and the people behind it.

Excerpts: The Fed was created by bankers and their interests in order to create a money monopoly which enriched—and still enriches—an elite few and gives them complete control over the economic growth of the United States.

"The Federal Reserve is a private monopoly of money credit created by Congress under highly questionable circumstances which is beholden to the Chairman of the Board and whose decision cannot be changed by Government or anyone else.

“A free society under the rule of law? The United States has quietly become a hostage to a handful of international bankers. And just dare any Congressman challenge Fed authority!”

Read full review here.

The Top-10 Budget-Deficit Time Bombs

Spending has been out of control for a long time and it may be too late to prevent the bubble from bursting. This article lists the top 10 fiscal time bombs and the final derivative kicker. It is time to cut deeply into our government spending, both State and Federal, by addressing entitlements, eliminating government departments and employee unions, and freezing spending across the board.

Excerpt: There will be winners (people who owe money and own gold) and losers (people who keep their assets in the bank and stock market). Instant millionaires will be made overnight; old millionaires will be made penniless. Which group will you be in?

The Top-10 Budget-Deficit Time Bombs

Gov. Chris Christie (R, NJ) plants one right between the eyes.

“I’m trying to provide the leadership that’s necessary to say, ‘This is a new day, and we have to do it differently,’” Christie said. “If I can do that by cooperation, I’m happy to do that by cooperation, but at some point we have to get real.”

Governor Christie tells legislature NJ is in financial crisis

Read full article here.

Global Warming Agency a Political Tool?

Global Warming Agency a Political Tool?

The Ripple Effects of Federal Action: A Case Study

Excerpt: You read that correctly. The federal government has decided that a computer model was enough to make a decision that impacts hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue and the livelihood of thousands of people. Good thing those models are never wrong, huh?

The fate of the herring and lobster industry may not be the most exciting subject, but they show how seemingly small decisions made by people who work for the federal government can have destructive effects upon the lives of thousands of people.

Call it “trickle-down” regulations.

Read the Hot Air article here.

Education: Too Important for a Government Monopoly

Excerpt: The government-school establishment has said the same thing for decades: Education is too important to leave to the competitive market. If we really want to help our kids, we must focus more resources on the government schools.

But despite this mantra, the focus is on something other than the kids. When The Washington Post asked George Parker, head of the Washington, D.C., teachers union, about the voucher program there, he said: "Parents are voting with their feet. ... As kids continue leaving the system, we will lose teachers. Our very survival depends on having kids in D.C. schools so we'll have teachers to represent."

How revealing is that?

To give the establishment its best shot, consider Head Start, which politicians view as sacred. The $166 billion program is 45 years old, so it's had time to prove itself. But guess what: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently found no difference in first-grade test results between kids who went through Head Start and similar kids who didn't. President Obama has repeatedly promised to "eliminate programs that don't work," but he wants to give Head Start a billion more dollars. The White House wouldn't explain this contradiction to me.

Read it here.

The Mount Vernon Statement - Join the Revolution

A defining statement for the Revolution to take back our Country and restore our freedoms and republic.

Sign up here.

CNN, Huffington Post Urge Violence Against Republicans

Excerpts: CNN and Huffington Post have each published op-eds this past week by regular contributors with headlines that explicitly call for Obama to use violent gangland tactics against his political opponents.

CNN and Huffington Post would be well-advised to retract the calls to violence and issue apologies to Republicans before Obama supporters are incited by their violent rhetoric and start going gangsta and break kneecaps of Republicans.

If they won’t do that of their own volition, then White House press secretary Robert Gibbs should shame them into doing so. Surely the Obama administration does not countenance violence against their domestic political opponents. Read article here.

More Waste of Taxpayers' Money - More Government

Global Warming Agency a Political Tool?

Trial lawyers to Obama: Don’t deal on tort reform in healthcare neogtiations

John Edwards is probably the most recognizable "trial lawyer" and you have heard recently how amoral a man he is. This is just a feeling, but it is my belief that the majority of trial lawyers that specialize in medical malpractice are not doing it to improve the quality of healthcare. They are in it for the MONEY and judges, who are lawyers themselves, in class action suits, make sure the lawyers get their FAIR share and then some. This article says that these lawyers are fearing what Obama will do in eliminating people’s rights when the real issue is safety in hospitals.

Excerpt: Weiner, who worked in the Clinton White House, said, “Why don’t we give a little on that and put some limit on [caps] and then get all of this national health insurance coverage for people and protect them with it? It’s not that much of a price. That’s part of the sausage-making that I think we could done that actually might have made a difference.”

If the RINO's accept something like this, we will be well on our way to socialized medicine. Read article here.

RI school superintendent fires entire staff at failing school

Finally a school superintendent that has the courage to stand up to the unions and try to help the children. This article tries to be fair to the teachers, but vividly points out what the priorities should be.

Excerpt: The teachers at the high school make $70,000-$78,000, as compared to a median income in the town of $22,000. This exemplifies a nationwide trend in which public sector workers make far more than their private-sector counterparts (with better benefits).

The school superintendent has responded to the union’s stubbornness by firing every teacher and administrator at the school.

This is a good argument for getting unions out of the public-employee business altogether. Not only does the marriage of unions and the public sector create too much of an impulse to expand bureaucracies, it twists the priorities away from public service and towards entitlement thinking. To their credit, most educators, law enforcement, and emergency response personnel successfully resist that impulse, but this jaw-dropping standoff in Rhode Island shows that it does exist. Read full article here.

The Antiager That Won a Nobel Prize

Excerpt: The real secret to keeping your body young may be the tips of your shoelaces. Or, really, tiny parts of your body that act like them. Just as those plastic nibs keep your shoelaces from fraying, tiny cellular tips called telomeres protect your DNA from fraying when cells divide. When they're tattered, they're much harder to use. That's what causes cells to stop dividing and growing and replenishing your body -- which means more aging for you.

Telomeres made headlines this fall when three American scientists won the Nobel Prize for discovering them and exploring their role in health and aging. It's prizeworthy stuff: Shortened telomeres contribute to heart disease, diabetes, reduced immunity, and possibly even brittle bones. In people over age 60, those with the shortest DNA tips have been shown to be three times more likely to die from heart disease and eight times more likely to die from an infectious disease than those with longer, "younger" telomeres. Shorter-than-usual telomeres have also been found in many cancers, including those of the pancreas, bone, prostate, bladder, lung, kidney, and head and neck. Read full article and lifestyle recommendations here.

Mediterranean diet index

Michigan Democrats - Payments to Childcare Union - Political Contributions

Attention day care providers. You may soon be paying union dues like they do in Michigan. If the Democrats can pay off the unions with your money there, what is to stop them in your state?

Schools face big budget holes as stimulus runs out

Obviously this was a big waste of stimulus money which was used to delay the inevitable rather than create real jobs. As you read this article, you will see obstructionism by unions that are again helping to destroy our economy by demanding benefits that cannot be paid for. Our education system is one of the costliest in the world with some of the worst results. It is not the teachers, it is the bureaucracy, its regulations and outdated methods that are leaving our children behind. It is time to equip all our schools with modern technology, lessen the influence of unions and challenge private enterprise to come up with a solution. As evidenced by the un-funding of charter schools in DC, the Government cannot and will not succeed. Only local control and private enterprise, spurred by the need for educated workers can solve this problem.

Read the article "Schools face big budget holes as stimulus runs out" here.

The Last Shuttle and the Rise of China

A little bit of China's history and a warning of things to come if we abandon space exploration.

Excerpt: The space shuttle's last nighttime flight was on February 8, 2010. As matters currently stand, the last flight of the space shuttle will be sometime later this year. The next American astronaut, assuming there is one, will have to use a Russian or Chinese rocket to reach space -- that is, if either nation is still willing and able to give him or her a ride.

Historically, the message we are sending is telling. In an age of China's rising power, we are ceding ground economically, militarily, morally, and philosophically. It is certainly ironic that this has come to pass.

Read about China's folly of yore and compare it to Obama's "space folly". Read it here.

NCPA Expert Applauds Murkowski's Action To Halt EPA Regulation

Excerpt: "Any regulation that the EPA passes mandating the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions would amount to the largest regulation of interstate commerce, quite possibly since laws mandating a minimum wage on workers was passed," Read article here.

Red wine and dark chocolate cancer killers

Excerpt: Red grapes and dark chocolate join blueberries, garlic, soy, and teas as ingredients that starve cancer while feeding bodies, Angiogenesis Foundation head William Li said at a prestigious TED Conference.
"We are rating foods based on their cancer-fighting qualities," Li said. "What we eat is really our chemotherapy three times a day."
The Massachusetts-based foundation is identifying foods containing chemicals that evidently choke-off blood supplies to tumors, starving them to death. Read it here.

Happy Birthday President Washington and Civility Today

Excerpt: Suddenly I spied a spare little book edited and commented upon by Richard Bookhiser called Rules of Civility, The 110 Precepts That Guided Our First President In War And Peace. This 90 page hardback book sported the price of only $4.00 so I picked it up.

I took it home and spent the few minutes it took to read the Rules that were said to have governed the life of George Washington and found myself wondering what the heck happened to civility in this country? What happened to the etiquette that, once upon a time, governed civil society?

Washington was the best of both worlds in a revolutionary leader. He was able to lead a rebellion as well as govern the new country after the rebellion succeeded, as Mr. Brookhiser points out in his forward. It was once remarked by a European diplomat's wife that Washington had, "perfect good breeding and a correct knowledge of even the etiquette of a court.” High praise, indeed, from a haughty European in the days when they were so sure the United States of America were doomed to ignominious failure.

Read the full article with a sample of George's rules for polite social discourse and comportment here.

Whole Health Site for Health Conscious People

Membership is free and the information is extensive.

RealAge - Live Life to the Fullest

Harold Ford Wants to be NY's Senator, but Hasn't Paid NY Taxes

Why is it that NY Democrats go outside to get candidates to run for Federal office? First Hillary and now Ford, a possible tax cheat. Having paid NY taxes for many years although living in NJ, I have a problem with this, why don't NY Democrats.

Excerpt: Ford claims to have moved to New York three years ago, and says paying "New York taxes" makes him a New Yorker. But his spokeswoman confirms to Gawker that he's never filed a New York tax return — meaning that he's never paid New York's income tax, despite keeping an office and a residence in New York City as a vice chairman of Merrill Lynch since 2007.

Flashback - A Great Reminder

Ignore the Voters at Your Peril

This article shows the extent of corporate influence on both the Democrat and Republican leadership. Some may take the money but still listen to the people, but "we the people" have been at a great disadvantage. Now, with the aid of the internet, "we the people" are no longer ignorant or silent, and these leaders can ignore us but only at their own peril.

Excerpt: One would think that election was the end of Obamacare. But on the heals of Brown’s win—in a campaign in which he ran specifically against the Obamacare healthcare bill—some Democrats continued to promise passage of a healthcare reform bill. And President Barack Obama signaled he wasn’t ready to drop it.

Democrats have threatened to use reconciliation to pass a healthcare bill—a process that would subvert the traditions of Congress but allow them to pass it without a Senate supermajority—despite the fact that 53.8 percent of the population opposes it.

So the message that Brown’s win in Massachusetts sent to Democrats wasn’t received. There has to be a reason, and there is. Just follow the money; because that’s the only thing the elected class cares about. Well, money and power; but with money comes the power.

Excerpt: In other words, Washington is controlled by corporatocracy. That’s why the legislative deals are done in secret, behind closed doors. They don’t want you to know that.

With such vast sums of money exchanging hands in Washington D.C., is it any wonder the elected class have grown arrogant and unresponsive to the needs of their constituents? They’re convinced they can spend any amount of money, steal any freedom, impose any onerous regulation or create yet another bloated bureaucracy and you will like it. If not, they have enough dough in their pockets to pay for enough glitzy television advertisements to convince you that whatever they are up to is for your own good.

But their constituents today aren’t the constituents of yesterday. The electorate is becoming more informed, and many who sat silently on the sidelines grumbling about what was going on in Washington are becoming more vocal. They are even marching on Washington to express themselves.

Still, the elected class tries to ignore the increasingly vocal constituency. But while corporatists, lobbyists, lawyers and PACs feed the campaign coffers, it’s the voters who pull the levers in the voting booths.

So here’s a warning to the elected class: Ignore us at your peril. What Drives the Elected Class? Money!"

Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians for 2009

Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released its 2009 list of Washington's "Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians."

Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians for 2009

A Little Narcissistic Humor

We Are the World II

Left's Huffington Post - Starting to Respect Palin?

Excerpt: Addressing the Tea Party, Sarah Palin wrote three notes on her hand: "Energy, Taxes, Lift American Spirits." Why? She already had notes in front of her on the podium. Surely she could remember three simple themes. Why write notes on her hand?

Here's my take on why: she knew that they would be visible when she gave the speech. And she knew that she would be made fun of -- as so stupid that she needs to write notes on her hand. And that's one of her most effective tactics -- to be made fun of. It's an integral part of her strategy of standing in for hardworking, Middle Americans, derided by the condescending, know-it-all liberal elites. Sarah Palin Plays Chess

Liz Chaney on Terrorism - This Lady has a Future in Politics

What I Saw at the Tea Party Convention

The Tea Party movement is not a Republican movement, it is a movement to restore freedom and Constitutional government here in the good ole USA. This article in the WSJ by Glenn Reynolds helps define what the movement is all about.

Excerpt: It's easy to see why. A recent Investor's Business Daily/TIPP poll found that three-fourths of independent voters have a favorable opinion of the tea party. This enthusiasm, however, does not translate into an embrace of establishment Republicanism. One of the less-noted aspects of Mrs. Palin's speech was her endorsement of primary challenges for incumbent Republicans, something that is already underway. Tea partiers I talked to hope to replace a lot of entrenched time-servers and to throw a scare into others.

2009 was the year of taking it to the streets, 2010 is the year of taking it to the polls. With ordinary Americans setting out to reclaim the political process, it's likely to be a bumpy ride for incumbents of both parties. I suspect the Founding Fathers would approve. Read the WSJ article here.

Out of Chalk - The Coming Public Teacher's Pension Revolution

Excerpt: All of this points to the reality that the NEA and AFT find themselves increasingly on the defensive as taxpayers, actuaries, school reformers and even legislators agree that traditional teachers' compensation packages are neither fiscally tenable nor effective in improving student learning.

Ultimately, it is the high costs that are forcing states and school districts to reconsider the bargains they have struck with teachers and the unions that represent them. By 2003-04, states spent $50 billion on teacher benefits, a near three-fold increase over the amount spent 16 years ago, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

Read full article here.

Closing The New Frontier by Charles Krauthammer

The Russians may be new at capitalism but they know how it works. When you have a monopoly, you charge monopoly prices. Within months, Russia will have a monopoly on rides into space. By the end of this year, there will be no shuttle, no U.S. manned space program, no way for us to get into space. We're not talking about Mars or the moon here. We're talking about low-Earth orbit, which the U.S. has dominated for nearly half a century and from which it is now retiring with nary a whimper.

Our absence from low-Earth orbit was meant to last a few years, the interval between the retirement of the fatally fragile space shuttle and its replacement with the Constellation program (Ares booster, Orion capsule, Altair lunar lander) to take astronauts more cheaply and safely back to space.

But the Obama 2011 budget kills Constellation. Instead, we shall have nothing. For the first time since John Glenn flew in 1962, the U.S. will have no access of its own for humans into space -- and no prospect of getting there in the foreseeable future.

Obama's NASA budget perfectly captures the difference in spirit between Kennedy's liberalism and Obama's. Kennedy's was an expansive, bold, outward-looking summons. Obama's is a constricted inward-looking call to retreat.

Fifty years ago, Kennedy opened the New Frontier. Obama has just shut it. Closing The New Frontier

A Conservative Argument Against Same Sex Marriage

As a believer in traditional marriage, the idea of same sex marriage is anathema to me. This article is an interesting discussion of the history and rational and the alternative that Washington State has enacted by vote of its citizens.

Excerpt: And although different cultures have at times embraced and acknowledged homosexual relationships, especially in the Classical world, there has never been any suggestion that those relationships can or should be a “marriage.”

Tradition does not make justice and majority opinion should not decide minority rights. Without a doubt, much of the opposition to gay marriage springs from unreasonable and ignorant bias. But by demanding the complete redefinition of the core social institution of our culture, those who insist on same sex marriage as the only acceptable form of recognition for same sex relationships are creating unnecessary and even reluctant opponents. A politically crucial component of the public’s concern about same sex marriage is their well-justified discomfort with social engineering.

Government can and always has regulated the terms of marriage, but its basic definition did not originate in a statute. Legislatures did not create marriage out of their imaginations. Marriage has been a heterosexual institution throughout history. Attempting to modify it in such a radical way stretches the bounds of government power beyond previously understood limits and calls into question any notion of limited government power. Read it here.

Ten Small-Scale Reforms for Pre-Existing Conditions

Why can't we try something like this before we let Government take over 1/6th of our economy and force us into socialized medicine?

Most proposals for dealing with the problems of pre-existing conditions would completely divorce health insurance premiums from expected health care costs, requiring health plans to enroll individuals regardless of their health status. Yet a policy of trying to force health plans to take enrollees they do not want risks jeopardizing the quality of care they receive.
Instead of suppressing the price system, following are 10 ways of dealing with this problem that make greater use of it. In a reformed health care system, the chronically ill - along with their doctors, employers and insurers - should find lower-cost, higher-quality, more-accessible care in their economic self-interest.

Read the 10 detailed proposals here.

Obama's Owned -- You Can Bank On It by Ann Coulter

Ann makes a good case against the AIG bailout and subsequent payments to Obama's contributors.

Excerpt: As Peter Schweizer describes in his magnificent book "Architects of Ruin," the Democrats have been bailing out investment houses from their bad bets since the Clinton administration. The bankers got all the profits when their risky bonds were paying -- and then gave massive donations to their Democratic benefactors. But once the bets went bad, it was the taxpayers' problem.

Heavily leveraged securities packages put together by Goldman Sachs and others were the HIV virus that killed the American economy. And the reason investment firms piled leverage on leverage on leverage was that they knew the government would bail them out if their house of cards collapsed.

On one hand, Goldman put together toxic securities packages for their clients, but on the other hand, Goldman knew the mortgage securities being sold on the market were crap, so they also took out lots of insurance with AIG on crappy products being traded on the market.

The problem was that Goldman and AIG, among many others, knew they wouldn't lose. Twenty years of Democratic bailouts have led them to understand that when their bets go bad, the taxpayer will save them.

Read full article here.

Waterboarding Video

Minister Joe Wright Before the Kansas Senate

Thought you might enjoy this interesting prayer given in Kansas at the opening session of their Senate. It seems prayer still upsets some people.. When Minister Joe Wright was asked to open the new session of the Kansas Senate, everyone was expecting the usual generalities, but this is what they heard:

Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done.

We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.

We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.

We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare..

We have killed our unborn and called it choice.

We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.

We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem....

We have abused power and called it politics.

We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition.

We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.

We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free.
Amen!


The response was immediate. A number of legislators walked out during the prayer in protest. In 6 short weeks, Central Christian Church, where Rev. Wright is pastor, logged more than
5,000 phone calls with only 47 of those calls responding negatively. The church is now receiving
international requests for copies of this prayer from India , Africa and Korea .

Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on his radio program, 'The Rest of the Story,'and
received a larger response to this program than any other he has ever aired.

With the Lord's help, may this prayer sweep over our nation and wholeheartedly become our
desire so that we again can be called 'one nation under God.'

Party of 'No'...and Proud

What the president and the majority of Democrats refuse to believe is that relinquishing core values is not good leadership either.

It's time for conservatives to embrace their refusal to bend on basic beliefs. And it's time for liberals to understand that a refusal to accommodate is not simply to impede ideologically, but rather to stand firm fundamentally.

Here are the "no" answers conservatives need to continue upholding:

No, I do not want to pay more in taxes for inefficient, bureaucratic, behemoth agencies and legislation.

No, I do not want my hard-earned money going to people who cannot or will not work as hard as I do. If I want to help those people, I'll do so voluntarily.

No, I will not support a budget in which we are spending more than we are collecting.

No, I do not approve of selecting certain companies to bail out when they have financial troubles. No business is too big to fail.

No, I do not want to diminish the power of business and industry by stifling their productivity and job-creating capabilities by taxing the very entities upon which the majority of Americans rely. Not all of us can earn six figures while sitting comfortably in a congressional chamber three days a week.

No, I do not want government regulating something as vague as "climate change," or any other highly disputed natural occurrence.

No, I do not want us to curb our natural resource exploration for the sake of the environmentalist lobbies. We need to find and utilize more reserves of oil, coal, and natural gas.

No, I do not want the government telling me how or where to educate my child.

No, I do not want the government involved in my personal health care. I can take care of myself. And I will take care of family and friends who need health assistance.

No, I do not support killing fetuses, regardless of their stage of development. If we are not allowed life, then liberty and the pursuit of happiness are meaningless.

No, I do not support the destruction of fetuses for scientific research, no matter how important a potential discovery may be.

No, I do not want illegal aliens absorbing resources and influencing legislation designed for American citizens. Everyone is welcome in our home; just come in the front door.

No, I do not want dictatorships to possess nuclear weapons.

No, I do not want terrorists tried in American courtrooms with the rights of American citizens.

No, I do not want al-Queda, Osama bin Laden, the Taliban, or other actual or potential terrorist organizations to strike American citizens, American soil, or American allies ever again. Therefore, they need to be killed as quickly as possible. Read the full American Thinker article here.

GOP Senator Readies 'Bombs' for Favored Candidates

But the first-term Republican from South Carolina is undeniably engaged in the serious business of trying to anoint a few princes, particularly in the medieval kingdom known as the United States Senate.

The principal vehicle for DeMint in this endeavor is the Senate Conservatives Fund, an Alexandria, Va.-based political action committee he founded. The fund has already disbursed $1.4 million in the 2010 election cycle, according to its Web site and the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan campaign spending watchdog.
Read full article here.

The Cold War Is History

This article makes a great rational for the USA to withdraw much of its military support from Europe and force them into defending themselves. We can not and should not subsidize their defense so that they can fund their runaway social programs.

Excerpt: Some Europeans acknowledge the obvious, that NATO discourages the Europeans from doing more. Vassilis Kaskarelis, the Greek Ambassador to the U.S., told the Washington Times: "They don't have the capabilities, because in the last 50 years, the U.S. offered an umbrella in terms of military, security and stability." So "You had the phenomenon [in which] most of the successful European economies -- countries like France, Germany, the Scandinavians -- channeled all the funds they had on social issues, health care, pensions, you name it."

Read full article here.

Obama Says Bipartisanship, But What He Wants Is GOP Surrender

CBS may be "getting it". This article exposing Obama's "bipartisanship" meeting for what it is, may be their first attempt to slow the loss of viewers caused by their horrendous one sided coverage of the political landscape.

Excerpt: Mr. Obama said he "won't hesitate to embrace a good idea from my friends in the minority party." But he wants his way. He wants his energy policy enacted along with his jobs bill, his financial regulatory reform and his health care plan.

And if the opposition continues to block his objectives, he said he "won't hesitate to condemn what I consider to be obstinacy that's rooted not in substantive disagreement but in political expedience."

When a sitting president calls for bipartisanship by the opposition – he really means surrender. And if they block his proposals, its "obstinacy" and not political views they hold as strongly as he holds his. Read CBS article here.

School Choice - Economics 101

The Bankrupt PIGS of Europe

Progressives in Europe are killing their economies in the same way they are here in the USA. As in Europe, unskilled and under-educated immigrants, are straining our underlying safety nets while not contributing to the tax base. Unions have destroyed our manufacturing base and created huge entitlements that are bankrupting the states. Is it too late to overcome the hurdles and save our economy? The Congress, both Democrat and Republican, do not have the will to take the steps necessary. We have allowed our leaders to promise the world to everyone and corrections are going to hurt. We need leaders that will do the right thing, cut federal and local spending, eliminate redundant and un-Constitutional programs and Departments and not worry about re-election. Only then will we be able to see the proverbial "light at the end of the tunnel".

Excerpt: They are called the PIGS—Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Spain. What they have in common is that all are facing deficits and debts that could bring on national defaults and break up the European Union.

What brought the PIGS to the edge of the abyss?

All are neo-socialist states that provide welfare for poor people, generous unemployment, universal health care, early retirement and comfortable pensions. Most consume 40 percent to 50 percent of their gross domestic product annually, a crushing burden on the private sector.

For 30 years, the fertility rate of Europe has been below the 2.1 children per woman necessary to replace a population. In Russia and Ukraine, a million people disappear yearly. In Western Europe, the passing of the native-born goes on quietly, as Third World peoples come to fill the empty spaces left by the aborted and unconceived.

These newcomers have neither the education nor skills of the Europeans. Hence, they earn less and contribute less in taxes, but consume more per capita in social benefits.

The West is approaching a crisis of solvency and of democracy. We shall see if democracy, which grew popular lavishing benefits upon all, is strong enough to start clawing them away. Or will democracy try to keep piling the burden on the producers until they rebel or depart?
CNSNews.com
The Bankrupt PIGS of Europe

Nelson to support filibuster on Becker

Even though Nelson is trying to save his job in Nebraska, his help on this issue is greatly appreciated. Becker's appointment to the NLRB would be disastrous to business in the US.

“Mr. Becker’s previous statements strongly indicate that he would take an aggressive personal agenda to the NLRB, and that he would pursue a personal agenda there, rather than that of the Administration,” said Senator Nelson. “This is of great concern, considering that the Board’s main responsibility is to resolve labor disputes with an even and impartial hand. In addition, the nominee’s statements fly in the face of Nebraska’s Right to Work laws, which have been credited in part with our excellent business climate that has attracted employers and many good jobs to Nebraska. Considering these matters, I will oppose the upcoming cloture motion and the nomination.” Nelson to support filibuster on Becker

Public-sector unions bleed taxpayers

Excerpt: Barack Obama is probably the most union-friendly president since Lyndon Johnson. He has obviously been unable to stop the decline of private-sector unionism. But he is doing his best to increase the power -- and dues income -- of public-sector unions.
One-third of last year's $787 billion stimulus package was aid to state and local governments -- an obvious attempt to bolster public-sector unions. And a successful one: While the private sector has lost 7 million jobs, the number of public-sector jobs has risen. The number of federal government jobs has been increasing by 10,000 a month, and the percentage of federal employees earning over $100,000 has jumped to 19 percent during the recession.
Obama and his party are acting in collusion with unions that contributed something like $400,000,000 to Democrats in the 2008 campaign cycle. Public-sector unionism tends to be a self-perpetuating machine that extracts money from taxpayers and then puts it on a conveyor belt to the Democratic party. Read Michael Barone article here.

Iran anniversary 'punch' will stun West: Khamenei

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday that Iran is set to deliver a "punch" that will stun world powers during this week's 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution.
"The Iranian nation, with its unity and God's grace, will punch the arrogance (Western powers) on the 22nd of Bahman (February 11) in a way that will leave them stunned," Khamenei, who is also Iran's commander-in-chief, told a gathering of air force personnel. Read it here.

Did You Feel the Earth Move?

Excerpt: Republicans, having painted themselves into a corner as "liberal-light," cannot provide the libertarian (again, small "l") responses that will appeal to the return-to-basic-principles political philosophy that seems to resonate with today's electorate. Those ideas will find their source in the Tea Party movement, which will strongly influence the Republicans in the midterm elections, and in the general election in 2012.

So, the days of the Democrat versus the Republican are over. No more "liberal" versus "liberal-light." The labels may stay the same, but the true battles in the future will be Progressive versus libertarian. It will be a fight that will last for a generation at least, but when you look at the faces at Tea Parties, there are enough younger activists to ensure that they have the shock troops they need to fight the Progressive command-and-control mentality.

Read full article here.

Obama: “never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity”

When I heard of Obama's invitation to the Republicans to meet under the lights of CSPAN to discuss the healthcare legislation, I smelled a rat. Checked in on Rush and Roger's Rules and found that I am not alone.

Excerpts from Roger's column: Kesler cites a story in The New York Times in which Republican Senator Mitch McConnell says terrific, let’s do, and let’s start “by shelving the current health spending bill.”

Whoa, hold on there pardner! When we say “bipartisan,” we don’t mean, you know, “bipartisan.” We mean that you can come over to our ranch and play with us for the afternoon. You just sidle up here and put your John Hancock on the dotted line and we’ll say that this piece of Democratic legislation is a bipartisan document. The American people will see how post-partisan we are because we’re going to televise your acquiescence in our bill and let you say that it’s yours, too. See how it works?

Read full article here.

An Overlooked Lesson from the Off-Year Elections

The only way to regain our standing in science and mathematics and to break the cycle of poverty and dependence is to educate our children. Education under the auspices of the federal government and its dependence on tenured unionized teachers has failed and needs to be scrapped and rebuilt from the ground up. Vouchers and charter schools are a good start.

The state of our education system was also a factor in recent elections as set forth in this article.

First, most Americans grasp that a government takeover of health care would work about as well as the current monopoly over elementary and secondary education-which has an 18 percent public approval rating, the lowest since 1981 according to one recent survey.

Second, voters want a little less talk and a lot more action when it comes to accessing high-quality education for their children. Elected officials and candidates of all political persuasions had better be prepared to offer voters meaningful education options instead of empty promises about programs funded with more dollars than sense.

Read the full article here.

How Obama got Keynes wrong

Obama has stated that he is using solid Keynesian theories to rectify our economy and create jobs. But one economist says the administration has gotten Keynes only half right. Allan Meltzer of Carnegie Mellon is one of the most influential monetarists of the past 50 years. He has served in the Department of the Treasury under President Kennedy and on the Council of Economic Advisors during the Reagan Administration. He also authored the book, Keynes's Monetary Theory: A Different Interpretation.

If Keynes were alive today, what would he think of President Obama's fiscal policies?

He would roll over in his grave if he could see the things being done in his name. Keynes was opposed to large structural deficits. He thought that they chilled rather than stimulated the economy. It's true that we're stuck with large deficits now. The goal should be to reduce them, not to take on new spending that makes them worse.

Today, deficits are getting bigger and bigger with no plan to significantly lower them. Keynes understood what the current administration doesn't understand that the proper policy in a democracy recognizes that today's increase in debt must be paid in the future.

Read article here.

Random Fiscal Factoid: Alt Universe U.S.? By Paul Kedrosky ·

Out of curiosity, what do you think the U.S. deficit would look like today if annual federal fiscal expenditures had grown at 4% since 2000, rather than at almost 8% compounded? Answer follows:

In short, if U.S. expenditures had grown at the rate of inflation the country would have run a surplus as recently as 2008. Yes, yes, I know, who knows what revenues would look like in this scenario, and all else being equal, etc., but it's still an interesting thought experiment.