Monday, October 31, 2011

America should listen to Paul Ryan

Star Parker knows the real causes of poverty. It is not that the government is not doing enough to lift the poor. It is the disastrous policies of the liberal Democrats, and the willingness of the poor to remain a "kept" portion of society. Paul Ryan, a Jack Kemp style Republican, may be just the one to bring us back from the brink. May be not in 2012, but with his leadership in the House, we Republicans can gain back the trust that is so lacking in Congress today.

Excerpt:
Last week, one of the Republican Party’s young stars, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc), spoke at the Heritage Foundation and gave forth his vision of America and what we need to do today to restore our vitality.

Listening to Ryan, I’m reminded of the late, great Congressman Jack Kemp, for whom he once worked. He talks about America as an “opportunity” society, driven by the ideals of individual freedom, limited government, traditional values, and free enterprise.

To sum up his working hypotheses: These are the values that made America great. Our economic machine is sputtering today as result of departure from these values. Today’s task is to restore them and get America growing again, which will benefit everyone.

Ryan contrasts this individual-centered, bottom-up, principles driven vision, with the take on things of our current administration. They believe everything starts in Washington, and that they can design, create, and finance with taxpayers’ money, a prosperous, just America.

Economist/blogger Mark Perry recently published data in which he crunched numbers from the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, to show demographic differences between low income and high income households.

Breaking down average household incomes from the lowest fifth to the highest fifth, Perry shows with clarity that as household income increases, the incidence of marriage, more education, and more working individuals per household increases

Almost 80% of households with the highest average income include a married couple compared to 17% of households with the lowest average income. Sixty percent of highest average income households have earners with at least a bachelors degree, compared to 12 % of the lowest.

Those on the left who scream about income gaps choose to focus on the success of those at the top rather than the failures of those at the bottom.

They conveniently ignore that liberals are the ones who have pushed the moral relativism and welfare state dependence that has destroyed black families over the last 60 years. And it is these same liberals who fight to keep low income kids in failing public schools and fight efforts to get school choice.

Perhaps Chait is right that 60 years ago it was easier to move out of poverty. But 60 years ago the probability was much higher that a poor individual lived in a household with married parents, a work ethic, and traditional values.

Americans must recapture what made this the world’s greatest, most prosperous nation.

Paul Ryan is a man every American should be listening to. We need to get back to identifying and emulating success. Not empathizing with and subsidizing failure


Read full Star Parker article here.

Optical Illusion

Ineptocracy

Finally, a way to describe Obama and his voters.

Ineptocracy (in-ep-toc’-ra-cy) - a system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Friday, October 28, 2011

Heidi's Bar - Sub-Prime Mortgages And Derivatives Explained

Heidi is the proprietor of a bar in Detroit. 

She realizes that virtually all of her customers are unemployed alcoholics and, as such, can no longer afford to patronize her bar.

To solve this problem, she comes up with a new marketing plan that allows her customers to drink now, but pay later.

Heidi keeps track of the drinks consumed on a ledger (thereby granting the customers' loans).

Word gets around about Heidi's "drink now, pay later" marketing strategy and, as a result, increasing numbers of customers flood into Heidi's bar. Soon she has the largest sales volume for any bar in Detroit.

By providing her customers freedom from immediate payment demands, Heidi gets no resistance when, at regular intervals, she substantially increases her prices for wine and beer, the most consumed beverages.

Consequently, Heidi's gross sales volume increases massively.

A young and dynamic vice-president at the local bank recognizes that these customer debts constitute valuable future assets and increases Heidi's borrowing limit.

He sees no reason for any undue concern, since he has the debts of the unemployed alcoholics as collateral!!!

At the bank's corporate headquarters, expert traders figure a way to make huge commissions, and transform these customer loans into DRINK BONDS.

These "securities" then are bundled and traded on international securities markets.

Naive investors don't really understand that the securities being sold to them as "AAA Secured Bonds" really are debts of unemployed alcoholics. Nevertheless, the bond prices continuously climb!!!, and the securities soon become the hottest-selling items for some of the nation's leading brokerage houses.

One day, even though the bond prices still are climbing, a risk manager at the original local bank decides that the time has come to demand payment on the debts incurred by the drinkers at Heidi's bar. He so informs Heidi.

Heidi then demands payment from her alcoholic patrons, but being unemployed alcoholics they cannot pay back their drinking debts.

Since Heidi cannot fulfill her loan obligations she is forced into bankruptcy. The bar closes and Heidi's 11 employees lose their jobs.

Overnight, DRINK BOND prices drop by 90%.

The collapsed bond asset value destroys the bank's liquidity and prevents it from issuing new loans, thus freezing credit and economic activity in the community.

The suppliers of Heidi's bar had granted her generous payment extensions and had invested their firms' pension funds in the BOND securities.

They find they are now faced with having to write off her bad debt and with losing over 90% of the presumed value of the bonds.

Her wine supplier also claims bankruptcy, closing the doors on a family business that had endured for three generations, her beer supplier is taken over by a competitor, who immediately closes the local plant and lays off 150 workers.

Fortunately though, the bank, the brokerage houses and their respective executives are saved and bailed out by a multibillion dollar no-strings attached cash infusion from the government.

The funds required for this bailout are obtained by new taxes levied on employed, middle-class, nondrinkers who have never been in Heidi's bar.

NOW DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Profits Are for People

This is a great article by Walter Williams. In my younger days as a CPA, I audited a number of "not for profit" programs that were funded by the government and also a few charities. The one common thread was that few of the funds were used for the purpose for which they were intended. Administration was bloated and many of the jobs were no-shows, especially at the government funded programs. Kennedy's pet anti-poverty project on Manhattan's lower Eastside was one of the worst.

Excerpt:
Far more important than simple statistics about the magnitude of profits is the role played by profits, namely that of forcing producers to cater to the wants and desires of the common man.

When's the last time we've heard widespread complaints about our clothing stores, supermarkets, computer stores or appliance stores? We are far likelier to hear people complaining about services they receive from the post office, motor vehicle and police departments, boards of education and other government agencies. The fundamental difference between the areas of general satisfaction and dissatisfaction is the pursuit of profits is present in one and not the other.

The pursuit of profits forces producers to be attentive to the will of their customers, simply because the customer of, say, a supermarket can fire it on the spot by taking his business elsewhere. If a state motor vehicle department or post office provides unsatisfactory services, it's not so easy for dissatisfied customers to take action against it. If a private business had as many dissatisfied customers as our government schools have, it would have long ago been out of business.

Free market capitalism is unforgiving. Producers please customers, in a cost-minimizing fashion, and make a profit, or they face losses or go bankrupt. It's this market discipline that some businesses seek to avoid. That's why they descend upon Washington calling for crony capitalism -- government bailouts, subsidies and special privileges. They wish to reduce the power of consumers and stockholders, who hold little sympathy for blunders and will give them the ax on a moment's notice.

Read full CNS News article here.

Humor - My Daughter Is Moving Out

Last night my daughter walked into the living room and said "Dad, cancel
my allowance immediately, rent my room out, throw all my clothes out of
the window, take my TV, stereo, iPhone, iPod, and my laptop.

Please take all of my jewelry to the Salvation Army or Goodwill. Then
sell my new car.

Take my front door key away from me and throw me out of the house. Then
disown me and never talk to me again. And don't forget to write me out
of your will and leave my share to my sister."

Well, she didn't put it quite like that. What she actually said
was...'Dad, I have decided to work for Obama's re-election campaign.'

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Labor board stalls Boeing worker's complaint against union

What this all says is that the NLRB and the Obama Administration could not care less for the American worker. It is all about protecting the Democrat's union base.

Excerpt:
Earlier this year, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) overturned an important precedent that had protected the right of individual employees to seek union decertification elections in their workplaces. Under the NLRB's Dana Corporation decision, employees could petition for a secret ballot election within 45 days if a union won recognition using the card check system. That's the controversial procedure under which employees are asked to sign cards supporting unionization. The problem with card check is pressure: It's hard to say no when a burly unionist wants your signature. The Dana precedent gave workers a second chance that was both secret and safe.

In the Lamons Gasket Company case, decided on Aug. 26, the NLRB said it would no longer recognize the Dana requirement because it represented "a major change in Board law" that was "unwarranted." The decision was rushed through because the term of board chairman Wilma Liebman, who was appointed by President Obama, was about to expire. It should also be noted that the board acted despite the fact that board member Craig Becker, another Obama appointee, participated in the deliberations and vote despite having been an advocate for the labor side in the Dana decision.

In contrast to the NLRB's haste to decide Lamons Gasket before the end of Liebman's term, the board is now dragging its feet on another case bearing on the right of individual workers to decide for or against union representation. In September 2009, workers at a new Boeing plant in South Carolina voted 199-68 to decertify the International Association of Machinists (IAM). Then in March 2010, the IAM filed its unfair labor practice complaint against Boeing, seeking to force the company to shut down the South Carolina plant.

According to Boeing employee Dennis Murray, who filed a counter-claim against IAM on June 15, 2011, "the IAM unions are attempting to sabotage the jobs and work of the employees in North Charleston, SC, for the sole or primary reason that these employees rejected IAM representation and chose to work for Boeing without the interference of a labor organization."

Read full Washington Examiner report here.

Rise of the Republican Reformers

As a native Ohioan, I am quite honestly disturbed at the reception Kasich is getting from its citizens. I guess, since Ohio is heavily industrialized and unions have made substantial inroads, any attempt to control unions will be frowned upon, even when the facts are on the Governors side and the actions taken were necessary.

Excerpt:
Republicans searching for a positive governing message that doesn’t rely exclusively on opposing President Obama need look no further than Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and his landslide reelection on Saturday. Jindal’s ambitious government reforms in a state with a reputation for corruption has made him one of the most popular governors in the country, leading to across-the-board Republican dominance in the Pelican State.

Jindal won 66 percent of the vote in an all-party ballot, facing only nominal Democratic opposition. His coattails extended the length of the Louisiana ballot: Democrats didn’t even field candidates in four of the seven statewide races. Where they did, the Republican won more than two-thirds of the vote.

The GOP also won its first-ever elected majorities in the state Legislature on Saturday. (Republicans took control of both chambers in the last year, thanks to party-switchers and special elections.) Republicans netted two state House seats and could gain as many as four state Senate seats if all the upcoming runoffs go their way.

It’s unusual for an executive to win so convincingly after spending four years taking on entrenched interests. Calling for change and making controversial decisions rarely leads to such popularity. In fact, shaking things up often leads to political trouble, as Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker found out upon unveiling an ambitious budget this year.

But Jindal shattered the conventional wisdom, changing nearly every aspect of Louisiana governance in his first term—and he’s reaping the rewards. His bold agenda tightened the state’s notoriously lax ethics rules, streamlined its inefficient government, provided competition for New Orleans’ failing public schools, and cut spending while simultaneously improving services during the tumultuous, post-Hurricane Katrina period, as profiled in a National Review feature story by Jim Geraghty.

Jindal is hardly a lone wolf. He’s a crest in a wave of Republican governors proving that tough reforms may cause short-term pain but lead to long-term political gain. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is enjoying his highest approval ratings of his term after averting his state’s near bankruptcy by cutting entitlements and taking influential public-sector unions head on. In the latest Quinnipiac poll, 58 percent of Garden State voters approve of his job performance, 15 points higher than President Obama’s rating in this solidly Democratic state.

The leader of this pack is Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels who, like Christie, saw his popularity dip in the wake of controversial decisions. He privatized state services, such as the Indiana Toll Road—initially a wildly unpopular move—and ended collective bargaining with public unions to close the state’s sizable deficit. He eventually rebounded to win a second term comfortably and maintains that popularity today. Even Scott Walker, who was a national target for Democrats and unions, is seeing his numbers inch upward in Wisconsin, despite state Democrats’ efforts to recall him from office.

There is one glaring exception to the trend: Ohio Gov. John Kasich, whose law curbing public workers’ collective bargaining, among other budgetary changes, has run into a buzz saw of opposition. A clear majority (57 percent of Ohioans) wants to repeal it, according to a new Quinnipiac poll, and Kasich has one of the lowest gubernatorial approval ratings in the country. Kasich’s experience has struck fear in the hearts of Republican political operatives and reflects the policy timidity on the Republican presidential stage.

Read full National Journal article here.

Cartoon: Democrats Are Tool For Wall Street Mob

Monday, October 24, 2011

Forbes: The Red State in Your Future

Forbes tends to be more on the conservative side, but we can only hope this article is an accurate predictor of the gradual slide to the right. Common sense would say it is true, but Chicago style politics and the "dead man" vote could negate any advances the Republican expect to gain.

Excerpt:
Voters around the country are concluding it’s better to be red than dead—applying a whole meaning to an old phrase. If you do not currently live in a red state, there’s a good chance you will be in the near future. Either you will flee to a red state or a red state will come to you—because voters fed up with blue-state fiscal irresponsibility will elect candidates who promise to pass red-state policies.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), 25 state legislatures are controlled by Republicans and 16 by Democrats, with eight split (i.e., each party controlling one house). There are 29 Republican governors and 20 Democrats, with one independent. And there are 20 states where Republicans control both the legislature and governor’s mansion vs. 11 Democratic, with 18 split (one party controls the governor’s office and the other the legislature).

And though we are a year away from the 2012 election, generic Republican vs. Democratic polls have given Republicans the edge for more than a year. If that pattern holds—and if blue-state leaders refuse to learn from their policy mistakes, just like their true-blue leader in the White House—it likely means there will be even more red states in 2013.

One reason for that shift is that red states are taking fiscal responsibility while many blue states aren’t—and it shows.

Many fed-up citizens in those blue states are leaving. But others have decided that if anyone is going to leave, it’s those big-spending politicians who brought on the fiscal disaster. It’s a lesson blue-state politicians better learn: It’s better to be red than dead.

Read full Forbes article here.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Occupy Wall Street - Obama's Achilles Heel

We are finally getting to the point where we can understand what President Obama meant by “Change We Can Believe In”.

We have had many hints while watching his agenda roll out:

Government takeover and redistribution of two thirds of the American automobile industry.

Government takeover of health care, 1/6th of our economy.

Control of our banking system through onerous regulations.

Hindering our quest for energy independence by controlling energy resources through regulation;

Crippling of our economy through uncontrolled spending and crony capitalism.

Now, through his campaign of “Class Warfare” and support of the Occupy Wall Street crowd, he has shown his true colors for all to see. Many will try to say Obama is an opportunist trying to cash in on the unrest shown by those picketing Wall Street and many other cities throughout the world. But no, the facts are otherwise and date back to his former employment and ties to SEIU and Acorn.

Andrew Stern, then President of SEIU, visited the White House more than two dozen times the first two years of Obama’s term.

Former Obama White House political director, Patrick Gaspard, was a former VP of SEIU’s Local 1199 in New York. He is now Executive Director of the Democratic National Committee focusing on Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign.

In 2010, Stephen Lerner, an SEIU executive had two private meetings in the White House. Subjects of the meetings have not been disclosed. On March 19, 2011, Lerner spoke at Pace University at the Left Forum and spoke about bringing down the banking system.

Quote from Lerner’s speech: “There are actually extraordinary things we could do right now to start to destabilize the folks that are in power and start to rebuild a movement.

For example, 10% of homeowners are underwater, right? Their home, they are paying more for it then its worth. 10% of those people are in strategic default, meaning they are refusing to pay but they are staying in their home. That's totally spontaneous. They figured out it takes a year to kick me out of my home because foreclosure is backed up.

If you could double that number, you would, you could put banks at the edge of insolvency again.

We have an entire economy that is built on debt and banks. So the question would be, what would happen if we organized homeowners in mass to do a mortgage strike? If we get half a million people to agree, it would literally cause a new financial crisis for the banks, not for us. We would be doing quite well. We wouldn't be paying anything.

The second thing is there is a whole question in Europe about students’ rates in debt structure. What would happen if students said we are not going to pay? It’s a trillion dollars. Think about republicans screaming about debt, a trillion dollars in student debt.”

By his own words, Lerner has been front and center in planning “Occupy Wall Street” demonstrations throughout the United States, and the picketing of banking executives’ families and homes. It is difficult to believe that Obama and his campaign staff had no prior knowledge of Lerner’s plans.

A recent poll reported in the WSJ showed a large majority of the protesters have a “deep commitment to left-wing policies” and “opposition to free-market capitalism”. 31% of them would support violence to achieve their objectives.

This is not just a rally for people to voice their frustrations about the economic downturn and the lack of jobs. It is an organized attempt to collapse our capitalistic system and replace it with the redistribution of wealth and socialism.

President Obama and the Democratic leaders in Congress have expressed support for these demonstrations, and, with his campaign theme of “Class Warfare” that is helping to fuel the unrest, he now shows his intent. His “Change We Can Believe In” is the destruction of capitalism and the American way of life.

David Light
Pawleys Island, SC

What Progressivism Looks Like

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Power Plants To Be Closed By EPA Regulations

Obama promised that the cost of energy would necessarily skyrocket.  The EPA, in doing his bidding, is taking a giant step forward in reaching his goal.   As a side effect, he will be bankrupting the coal industry.  Why anyone in Pennsylvania and West Virginia would ever vote for him is beyond my comprehension.



Tuesday, October 18, 2011

SEIU's Stephen Lerner Leaks Plan to Terrorize Corporate Executives

Occupy Wall Street - Destroy Capitalism - Stephen Lerner of SEIU?

SPEAKER: Stephen Lerner. Speaker at the Left Forum 2011 "Towards a Politics of Solidarity" Pace University March 19, 2011

Speaker Bio: Stephen Lerner is the architect of the SEIU's groundbreaking Justice for Janitors campaign.  He led the union's banking and finance campaign and has partnered with unions and groups in Europe, South American and elsewhere in campaigns to hold financial institutions accountable. As director of the union's private equity project, he launched a long campaign to expose the over-leveraged feeding frenzy of private equity firms during the boom years that led to the ensuing economic disaster.

TRANSCRIPT:

It feels to me after a long time of being on defense that something is starting to turn in the world and we just have to decide if we are on defense or offense

Maybe there is a different way to look at some of theses questions  it’s hard for me to think about any part of organizing without thinking what just happened with this economic crisis and what it means

I don't know how to have a discussion about labor and community if we don't first say what do we need to do at this time in history what is the strategy that gives us some chance of winning because I spent my life time as a union organizer justice for janitors a lot of things
It seems we are at a moment where the world is going to get much much worse or much much better

Unions are almost dead we cannot survive doing what we do but the simple fact of the matter is community organizations are almost dead also and if you think about what we need to do it may give us some direction which is essentially what the folks that are in charge - the big banks and everything - what they want is stability

Every time there is a crisis in the world they say, well, the markets are stable.
What's changed in America is the economy doing well has nothing to do with the rest of us

They figured out that they don't need us to be rich they can do very well in a global market without us so what does this have to do with community and labor organizing more.

We need to figure out in a much more through direct action more concrete way how we are really trying to disrupt and create uncertainty for capital for how corporations operate

The thing about a boom and bust economy is it is actually incredibly fragile.

There are actually extraordinary things we could do right now to start to destabilize the folks that are in power and start to rebuild a movement.

For example, 10% of homeowners are underwater right their home they are paying more for it then its worth 10% of those people are in strategic default, meaning they are refusing to pay but they are staying in their home that's totally spontaneous they figured out it takes a year to kick me out of my home because foreclosure is backed up

If you could double that number you would  you could put banks at the edge of insolvency again.

Students have a trillion dollar debt

We have an entire economy that is built on debt and banks so the question would be what would happen if we organized homeowners in mass to do a mortgage strike if we get half a million people to agree  it would literally cause a new finical crisis for the banks not for us we would be doing quite well  we wouldn't be paying anything.

Government is being strangled by debt

The four things we could do that could really upset wall street

One is if city and state and other  government entities demanded to renegotiate their debt
and you might say why would the banks ever do it  - because city and counties could say we won’t do business with you in the future if you won’t renegotiate the debt now

So we could leverage the power we have of government and say two things  we won’t do business with you JP Morgan Chase anymore unless you do two things: you reduce the price of our interest  and second you rewrite the mortgages for everybody in the communities

We could make them do that

The second thing is there is a whole question in Europe about students’ rates in debt structure. What would happen if students said we are not going to pay.  It’s a trillion dollars. Think about republicans screaming about debt a trillion dollars in student debt

There is a third thing we can think about what if public employee unions instead of just being on the defensive  put on the collective bargaining table when they negotiate they say we demand as a condition of negotiation that the government renegotiate - it’s crazy that you’re paying too much interest to your buddies the bankers it’s a strike issue  - we will strike unless you force the banks to renegotiate/

Then if you add on top of that if we really thought about moving the kind of disruption in Madison but moving that to Wall Street and moving that to other cities around the country

We basically said you stole seventeen trillion dollars - you've improvised us and we are going to make it impossible for you to operate

Labor can’t lead this right now so if labor can’t lead but we are a critical part of it  we do have money we have millions of members who are furious

But I don't think this kind of movement can happen unless community groups and other activists take the lead.
If we really believe that we are in a transformative stage of  what's happening in capitalism

Then we need to confront this in a serious way and develop really ability to put a boot in the wheel  then we have to think not about labor and community alliances  we have to think about how together we are building something that really has the capacity to disrupt how the system operates

We need to think about a whole new way of thinking about this not as a partnership but building something new.

We have to think much more creatively. The key thing... What does the other side fear the most - they fear disruption. They fear uncertainty. Every article about Europe says in they rioted in Greece the markets went down
The folks that control this country care about one thing how the stock market goes what the bond market does how the bonuses goes. We have a very simple strategy:
  • How do we bring down the stock market
  • How do we bring down their bonuses
  • How do we interfere with there ability to be rich

And that means we have to politically isolate them, economically isolate them  and disrupt them

It’s not all theory i’ll do a pitch.

So a bunch of us around the country think who would be a really good company to hate we decided that would be JP Morgan Chase  and so we are going to roll out over the next couple of months what would hopefully be an exciting campaign about JP Morgan Chase that is really about challenge the power of Wall Street.
And so what we are looking at  is the first week in May can we get enough people together starting now to really have an week of action in New York I don't want to give any details because I don't know if there are any police agents in the room.

The goal would be that we will roll out of New York the first week of May. We will connect three ideas
  • that we are not broke there is plenty of money
  • they have the money  - we need to get it back
  • and that they are using Bloomberg and other people in government as the vehicle to try and  destroy us

And so we need to take on those folks at the same time

and that we will start here we are going to look at a week of civil disobedience - direct action all over the city
then roll into the JP Morgan shareholder meeting which they moved out of New York because I guess they were afraid because of Columbus.
There is going to be a ten state mobilization it try and shut down that meeting and then looking at bank shareholder meetings around the country  and try and create some moments like Madison except where we are on offense instead of defense

Where we have brave and heroic battles challenging the power of the giant corporations. We hope to inspire a much bigger movement about redistributing wealth and power in the country and that labor can’t do itself that community groups can’t do themselves but maybe we can work something new and different that can be brave enough  and daring and nimble enough to do that kind of thing.




Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/seiu-union-plan-to-destroy-jpmorgan#ixzz1bAEeyHZ5

Wall Street to Dems: What's Up Barack?

The article quotes a poll that shows that 54% of the American people support the Occupy Wall Street protests. It is hard to believe that any informed, anti-socialist, anti-communist, freedom loving citizen could support this unruly, ill-mannered, anti-capitalist, anti-American movement. If these demonstrations grow, we will have become Greece, and our economic leadership in the world will cease.

Excerpt:
After the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sent a recent email urging supporters to sign a petition backing the wave of Occupy Wall Street protests, phones at the party committee started ringing.

Banking executives personally called the offices of DCCC Chairman Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) and DCCC Finance Chairman Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.) last week demanding answers, three financial services lobbyists told POLITICO.

“They were livid,” said one Democratic lobbyist with banking clients.

The execs asked the lawmakers: “What are you doing? Do you even understand some of the things that they’ve called for?” said another lobbyist with financial services clients who is a former Democratic Senate aide.

Democrats’ friends on Wall Street have a message for them: you can’t have it both ways.

President Barack Obama and other top Democrats are parroting the anti-corporate rhetoric running through the Occupy Wall Street protests, trying to tap into the movement’s energy but keep the protesters at arms’ length.

But many bankers aren’t buying the distinction. And some financial services lobbyists and industry insiders say the liberal line will make swing givers think twice before opening their checkbooks this year.

“Most Wall Street guys, they feel like they’re going to be burned in effigy,” said Anthony Scaramucci, managing partner of SkyBridge Capital, who gave to Obama in 2008 but is now fundraising for Mitt Romney. Some moderate donors, who have given to both parties, “fled from Obama in his support of the Wall Street protests,” he said.

Read full POLITICO article here.

Amazon Signs Up Authors, Writing Publishers Out of Deal

For all of you budding writers out there, this could be the wave of the future. I myself am an avid book reader, most of which are now purchased and read on my Kindle. The electronic age is upon us and shifting into second gear.

Excerpt:
Amazon.com has taught readers that they do not need bookstores. Now it is encouraging writers to cast aside their publishers.

Amazon will publish 122 books this fall in an array of genres, in both physical and e-book form. It is a striking acceleration of the retailer’s fledging publishing program that will place Amazon squarely in competition with the New York houses that are also its most prominent suppliers.

Publishers say Amazon is aggressively wooing some of their top authors. And the company is gnawing away at the services that publishers, critics and agents used to provide.

Several large publishers declined to speak on the record about Amazon’s efforts. “Publishers are terrified and don’t know what to do,” said Dennis Loy Johnson of Melville House, who is known for speaking his mind.

“Everyone’s afraid of Amazon,” said Richard Curtis, a longtime agent who is also an e-book publisher. “If you’re a bookstore, Amazon has been in competition with you for some time. If you’re a publisher, one day you wake up and Amazon is competing with you too. And if you’re an agent, Amazon may be stealing your lunch because it is offering authors the opportunity to publish directly and cut you out.

Read full NY Times article here.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Newt: Media Needs To Blame Politicians Like Dodd & Frank For "Heart Of Sickness" Not Wall Street

Obama pulls plug on part of health overhaul law

Piece by piece it will be sent to the trash bin.

Excerpt:
The Obama administration Friday pulled the plug on a major program in the president's signature health overhaul law - a long-term care insurance plan dogged from the beginning by doubts over its financial solvency.

Targeted by congressional Republicans for repeal, the program became the first casualty in the political and policy wars over the health care law. It had been expected to launch in 2013.

"This is a victory for the American taxpayer and future generations," said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., spearheading opposition in the Senate. "The administration is finally admitting (the long-term care plan) is unsustainable and cannot be implemented."

Proponents, including many groups that fought to pass the health care law, have vowed a vigorous effort to rescue the program, insisting that Congress gave the administration broad authority to make changes. Long-term care includes not only nursing homes, but such services as home health aides for disabled people.

Known as CLASS, the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports program was a long-standing priority of the late Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.

Read full AP article here.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Stalin On America's Freedoms And Greatness

“America is like a healthy body and its resistance is threefold: its patriotism, its morality and its spiritual life. If we can undermine these three areas, America will collapse from within.”

Joseph Stalin

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Hank Williams Jr. KEEP THE CHANGE

Evidently FOX & Friends pulled a boo boo.

Obituary for Common Sense

An Obituary You Really Must Read, printed in the London Times - Interesting and sadly rather true.

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense , who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
- Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
- Why the early bird gets the worm;
- Life isn't always fair;
- and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement..

Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;
I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I'm A Victim

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

Mormons: Christians Or A Cult?

Some concern has been expressed about the Mormon religion; is it a religion or a cult?

If you are interested in learning more about the Mormon faith, there is a short book, "What Do Mormons Believe? by Rex E. Lee" that affirms their belief in Jesus Christ as our one true savior and explains the teachings of their prophet, Joseph Smith. Mormon's are Christians and not a cult.

Overrated - Great Weekly Standard Article About Obama!

A rather lengthy article, but very telling, about Obama's failure to consolidate his political power and govern for all the people.

Excerpt:
For a success, Barack Obama is a very bad politician, the worst politician to win the presidency by an electoral landslide, to never lose a major election, or to rise to the presidency from a state legislature in little more than four years. He has gone from sterling campaigner to put-upon leader; from the new FDR to the next Jimmy Carter; from being the orator who could hold millions spellbound to the man who moves no one at all. The man who promised everything is delivering nothing. Journalists who wept when he won the election now grind their teeth in despair. Maureen Dowd admits he isn’t the one for whom even he had been waiting. The gap between sizzle and steak never seemed so large or alarming, and inquiring minds want to know what went wrong.

Did the prince (assuming he was one) turn into a frog? Did he use all his luck up in winning his office? Did he, once in power, see his governing skills fade away? The answers to these things are no, yes, and no. The record suggests that he was never a prince (merely a fantasy); that his luck went away once his free ride had ended; and that he had few political, that is, governing, skills to begin with, a fact that is now more than clear. In three areas at least, he appears to be lacking. Let us walk back and see what they are.

Read full Weekly Standard article here.

FAR LEFT (SEIU/ACORN ?) Advertises on Craig’s List for Paid Activists to Fight Wall Street

If there was any question that Obama and his thugs are behind this mob, then this should allay any doubts.

Excerpt:
We all knew this was happening. We just didn’t think they’d be so open about it.

In case you had any doubt that these Wall Street protests were being manufactured by the far left, there’s this–

The pro-Obama Working Families Party of New York, a group that shares the same address as the SEIU and ACORN in New York, posted this advertisement on Craig’s list. They are looking for energetic progressives to help them to fight to hold Wall Street accountable. And the pay is $350-$650 a week depending on the responsibility and length of time of staff.





Go to Gateway Pundit here.

Keith Olbermann Reads The Statement Released By The Wall Street Protesters - Obama's 2012 Campaign?

It is interesting to hear what this is all about. The only problem is that anyone with a coherent idea could not be found at the protest. Most of what is in the "statement" is meaningless babble, with only a few points that are, in my mind, appropriate.

One of my pet peeves is that corporate executive compensation in no way relates to their contribution to the stockholders and contract buyouts to get rid of non-performing execs are far too generous.

This "statement" appears to be a condemnation of capitalism and support of socialism and the Obama redistribution agenda to be used as the basis for his 2012 campaign.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

SunPower: Twice As Bad As Solyndra, Twice As Bad For Obama

In this we see the total disregard for the American taxpayer and Chicago cronyism at it worst by the Obama administration. In the private sector, if these loans were given, the bankers would be fired and many brought up on charges. The only reason this is not happening is that, thanks to Obama and his cronies, the taxpayers are on the hook and not the banks.

Our countries only possible salvation is to remove these crooks from office as soon as possible.

Excerpt:
How did a failing California solar company, buffeted by short sellers and shareholder lawsuits, receive a $1.2 billion federal loan guarantee for a photovoltaic electricity ranch project—three weeks after it announced it was building new manufacturing plant in Mexicali, Mexico, to build the panels for the project.

The company, SunPower (SPWR-NASDAQ), now carries $820 million in debt, an amount $20 million greater than its market capitalization. If SunPower was a bank, the feds would shut it down. Instead, it received a lifeline twice the size of the money sent down the Solyndra drain.

According to the statement, Dennis V. Arriola, the company's chief financial officer said the new credit line will improve the company's ability to operate.

“However, the challenging market conditions continue to impact our global residential and commercial business. As a result, we will revise our 2011 revenue and earnings outlook on our third-quarter earnings conference call to be held on Nov. 3,” he said.

As much as Arriola's negative guidance shook up the markets, it also reflects a lesson learned.

In addition to all its other challenges, the company and its officers are defendants in a federal shareholder lawsuit, whose plaintiffs include, the Austin (Texas) Police Retirement System, the Arkansas Teachers Retirement System and a number of institutional investors for an alleged scheme to deceive the investing public by making false statements contrary to nonpublic information known to the insiders.

The allegations cover the period between April 17, 2008, to Nov. 16, 2009, the day the company announced that it had discovered unsubstantiated accounting entries to its operations in the Philippines, which led to the significant restating of the company's financials.

There are a number of lawsuits filed in California courts relating to the same period alleging gross mismanagement, breach of fiduciary responsibility, unjust enrichment and abuse of control.

The first of the lawsuits was filed Nov. 18, 2009, and they have yet to be resolved.

It is a fair question to ask how a company with such serious charges lodged against its management team could receive a $1.2 billion loan guarantee from the taxpayers, so it could built a new manufacturing plant in Mexico to build the solar panels it will install at a photovoltaic ranch that will create a total of 15 permanent jobs.

Read full Human Events article here.

Monday, October 10, 2011

SPIN METER: Obama disconnects rhetoric, reality

It is surprising to see the AP, usually a staunch supporter of Obama, tell it like it really is. Perhaps his lack of concern for all of the American people and his constant "blame everyone else" style of governing, is wearing a little thin with some in the press.

Excerpt:
Obama’s sales pitch for his jobs bill, there are two versions of reality: The one in his speeches and the one actually unfolding in Washington. When Obama accuses Republicans of standing in the way of his nearly $450 billion plan, he ignores the fact that his own party has struggled to unite behind the proposal. And when the president says Republicans haven’t explained what they oppose in the plan, he skips over the fact that Republicans who control the House actually have done that in detail.

And when he calls on Congress to "pass this bill now," he slides past the point that Democrats control the Senate and were never prepared to move immediately, given other priorities. Senators are expected to vote Tuesday on opening debate on the bill, a month after the president unveiled it with a call for its immediate passage.

To be sure, Obama is not the only one engaging in rhetorical excesses. But he is the president, and as such, his constant remarks on the bill draw the most attention and scrutiny.

The disconnect between what Obama says about his jobs bill and what stands as the political reality flow from his broader aim: to rally the public behind his cause and get Congress to act, or, if not, to pin blame on Republicans.

He is waging a campaign, one in which nuance and context and competing responses don't always fit in if they don't help make the case.

Read full AP article here.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Right To Bear Arms - Our Nations Security Guarantee

Could this be the reason those in the UN are so intent to establish gun control throughout the USA?  Is this another issue that the liberals and Obama have entirely wrong?  Is this attempt intentional or just naivety on the part of Obama? 

After the Japanese decimated our fleet in Pearl Harbor Dec 7, 1941,they could have sent their troop ships and carriers directly to California to finish what they started.

The prediction from our Chief of Staff was we would not be able to stop a massive invasion until they reached the Mississippi River.

Remember, we had a 2 million man army and war ships…... all fighting the Germans.

So, why did they not invade?

After the war, the remaining Japanese generals and admirals were asked that question.

Their answer…...

They knew that almost every home had guns and the Americans knew how to use them..

The world's largest army.... America 's hunters!

I had never thought about this....

A blogger added up the deer license sales in just a handful of states and

Arrived at a striking conclusion:


There were over 600,000 hunters this season in the state of Wisconsin ..

Allow me to restate that number.

Over the last several months, Wisconsin 's hunters became the eighth largest army in the world.

More men under arms than in Iran ..

More than in France and Germany combined.

These men deployed to the woods of a single American state to hunt with firearms, and no one was killed.

That number pales in comparison to the 750,000 who hunted the woods of Pennsylvania and Michigan 's 700,000 hunters, all of whom have now returned home.

Toss in a quarter million hunters in West Virginia and it literally establishes the fact that the hunters of those four states alone would comprise the largest army in the world.

The point?

America will forever be safe from foreign invasion with that kind of home-grown firepower.

Hunting -- it's not just a way to fill the freezer. It's a matter of national security.

That's why all enemies, foreign and domestic, want to see us disarmed.


Food for thought when next we consider gun control.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

The National Budget Simplified

I love it when complex things are simplified so that we can all understand.

Check this out in less than 60 seconds.
• United States Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000
• Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000
• New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000
• National debt: $14,271,000,000,000
• Recent budget cut: $ 38,500,000,000


Now, remove 8 zeros and pretend it's a household budget.

• Annual family income: $21,700
• Money the family spent: $38,200
• New debt on the credit card: $16,500
• Outstanding balance on credit card: $142,710
• Total budget cuts: $385

Sorta brings the issue "home" doesn't it?

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

House Republicans Request Special Counsel to Probe Holder on 'Fast and Furious'

Why was the letter sent to President Obama to request that the Justice Dept. appoint a special counsel since Congress has that authority to appoint one? It seems to me that the Republicans are being very timid and foolish to think that Obama would go along with their request. Sounds like posturing to me.

Excerpt:
House Republicans are calling for a special counsel to determine whether Attorney General Eric Holder misled Congress during his testimony to the House Judiciary Committee on Operation Fast and Furious, Fox News has learned.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, was sending a letter to President Obama on Tuesday arguing that Holder cannot investigate himself, and requesting the president instruct the Department of Justice to appoint a special counsel.

The question is whether Holder knowingly made false statements of fact under oath during a Judiciary Committee hearing on May 3. At the time, Holder indicated he was not familiar with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives program known as Fast and Furious until about April 2011.

"I'm not sure of the exact date, but I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks," Holder testified.

However, newly discovered memos suggest otherwise. For instance, one memo dated July 2010 shows Michael Walther, director of the National Drug Intelligence Center, told Holder that straw buyers in the Fast and Furious operation "are responsible for the purchase of 1,500 firearms that were then supplied to the Mexican drug trafficking cartels."

Other documents also indicate that Holder began receiving weekly briefings on the program from the National Drug Intelligence Center "beginning, at the latest, on July 5, 2010," Smith wrote.
"These updates mentioned, not only the name of the operation, but also specific details about guns being trafficked to Mexico," Smith wrote in the letter to Obama.

"Allegations that senior Justice Department officials may have intentionally misled members of Congress are extremely troubling and must be addressed by an independent and objective special counsel. I urge you to appoint a special counsel who will investigate these allegations as soon as possible," Smith wrote.

Read full FOX News.com article here.

Chris Christie won't run for president in 2012

I also think that it was not his time. He has to clarify some of his positions on immigration, global warming and his Bernie Madoff connection, before he can be a serious contender for the Republican nomination. I do believe he has done a great job for the state of New Jersey and has potential on the National scene.

Excerpt:
TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced Tuesday that he would not join the 2012 presidential race, saying he’d returned to his original feeling about staying out despite reconsidering in recent days.

“In the end, what I’ve always felt was the right decision remains the right decision today. Now is not my time. I have a commitment to the people of New Jersey that I simply will not abandon,” Christie said, speaking to reporters in Trenton. “People sent me to Trenton to get a job done, and I’m just not prepared to walk away.”

He pledged to stay focused on his job as governor: “New Jersey, whether you like it or not, you’re stuck with me.”

The first-term Republican governor repeated that he believed that President Barack Obama has “failed the leadership test.”

In a press conference, Christie said he’d felt obligated to reconsider after being approached by so many people in recent weeks, but insisted his decision is final, explaining, “I think they understand that this was a long shot for them to change my mind in the first place.”

Christie left the door open to a possible endorsement of another candidate but made no commitments. He also brushed off talk of running for vice president, saying, “I don’t think there’s anybody in America who’d say my personality is best suited to being a No. 2.”

Read full POLITICO article here.

A HERD OF COWS - A FLOCK OF CHICKENS

The English language has some wonderfully anthropomorphic collective
nouns for the various groups of animals.

We are all familiar with a Herd of cows, a Flock of chickens, a School
of fish and a Gaggle of geese.

However, less widely known is a Pride of lions, a Murder of crows (as
well as their cousins the rooks and ravens), an Exaltation of doves and,
presumably because they look so wise, a Parliament of owls.

Now consider a group of Baboons. They are the loudest, most dangerous,
most obnoxious, most viciously aggressive and least intelligent of all
primates.
And what is the proper collective noun for a group of baboons?

Believe it or not ....... a Congress!
It is all becoming perfectly clear

Executive Snapshot: Renee Coffman Dean, college of pharmacy, Roseman University of Health Sciences

I am very proud of my grand niece and her accomplishments. She and her husband saw a need in our education system and successfully filled it.

Excerpt:
Imagine walking into a university every day and seeing your name on its walls. The letterhead, degrees and pens all bear your personal moniker.

This is Renee Coffman's life, and she seems to take it all in stride.

As dean of the college of pharmacy at the Roseman University of Health Sciences, Coffman manages the Southern Nevada and South Jordan, Utah, campuses. She co-founded the university in 1999 with her husband, Harry Rosenberg, who is campus president.

"We moved here specifically to start a pharmacy school, because there was no pharmacy school in Nevada at the time," Coffman said.

Since its opening, the college has graduated between 800 and 900 pharmacists.

The school was founded as the Nevada College of Pharmacy until it added nursing to its academic offerings and was renamed as the University of Southern Nevada, a moniker it held until July when it was renamed again as the Roseman University of Health Sciences, for its founders.

"I put the man in Roseman," Coffman joked.

The duo moved to Las Vegas from Southern California. They previously worked at the Western University School of Health Sciences in Pomona, Calif., which is also where they met and fell in love.

"He actually hired me," Coffman said. "We are a really good team. He is the visionary and the dreamer part of the team and my skill is taking the dream and interpreting it, to see it through."

Since opening, the university has fared well in Southern Nevada. The school usually has a ratio of 10-to-1, applicants to seats. Also, the administration has been able to give pay raises every year, in the range of 3 percent to 5 percent.

"We've never run a deficit in our budget," Coffman said.


Read full Las Vegas Business Press article here.

Monday, October 3, 2011

BARACK OBAMA Marched With New Black Panthers at 2007 Selma Rally

I guess we now know the reason why the voter intimidation charges against the New Black Panthers was dismissed by the Holder Justice Dept. even after the US had won the case.

Excerpt: New photographs obtained exclusively by BigGovernment.com reveal that Barack Obama appeared and marched with members of the New Black Panther Party as he campaigned for president in Selma, Alabama in March 2007.

The photographs, captured from a Flickr photo-sharing account before it was scrubbed, are the latest evidence of the mainstream media’s failure to examine Obama’s extremist ties and radical roots.

In addition, the new images raise questions about the possible motives of the Obama administration in its infamous decision to drop the prosecution of the Panthers for voter intimidation.

The images, presented below, also renew doubts about the transparency of the White House’s guest logs–in particular, whether Panther National Chief Malik Zulu Shabazz is the same “Malik Shabazz” listed among the Obama administration’s early visitors.

Read full article here.

Welfare parasites are devouring the host culture.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Words To Live By



One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.

As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!

MORAL :
Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred - Forgive.

2. Free your mind from worries - Most never happens.

3. Live simply and appreciate what you have.

4. Give more.

5. Expect less from people but more from God.

You have two choices... smile and close this page,
or pass this along to someone else to share the lesson .
God bless us all!

Saturday, October 1, 2011

EPA CO2 Endangerment Finding Rigged?

Read also Plants gobbling up CO2 – 45% more than thought.

Excerpt:
Most folks would not be surprised if I were to make the claim that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did not properly consider the science when it issued its “Endangerment Finding” saying that CO2 was a pollutant and a danger to humanity. It is that scientifically unsupported finding that allows them to regulate CO2.

And you likely would not be surprised if I made the claim that:

1. The EPA did not release the findings supporting its Technical Support Document (TSD), as is required by law. Instead, it has kept them secret.

2. The EPA was supposed to get a panel of outside scientists to provide an impartial analysis of the science. Instead, it put an EPA employee on the panel. If I were a cynical sort of fellow, I’d say that the employee in question was instructed to find in favor of the Persecution rather than in favor of the Defense …

3. The EPA has different regulations for normal decisions and for a “highly influential scientific assessment”. Anyone with half a brain would certainly say that a ruling that will cost billions and billions of dollars and affect nearly every single business in America is a “highly influential scientific assessment”. However, the half-brains at the EPA says not so, they say it’s just an ordinary old plain vanilla assessment, no need for special caution or extra due diligence …

Most folks know that I’m a climate heretic, so it’s no surprise that I might hold such outrageous views. However, here’s what might surprise you.

Those are not my views. They are the published views of the US EPA Office of the Inspector General, as expressed in their latest official report on the question.

Read full blog post here.

Bombshell: DOJ Considering Elimination of ATF. Cover-up?

If the Obama administration does anything that even looks like cost cutting, you know they are attempting to cover up something and protect their people. I have no problem with consolidation, but to punish the lower level agents, who fought against this program, rather than routing out the administration officials that promoted it, is a travesty, and a cover up at the highest levels.

My next question is, what is the purpose of the ATF? Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are all legal. Maybe these agents should be transferred to border security.

Excerpt:
Multiple sources, including sources from ATF, DOJ and Congressional offices have said there is a white paper circulating within the Department of Justice, outlining the essential elimination of ATF. According to sources, the paper outlines the firing of at least 450 ATF agents in an effort to conduct damage control as Operation Fast and Furious gets uglier and as election day 2012 gets closer. ATF agents wouldn’t be reassigned to other positions, just simply let go. Current duties of ATF, including the enforcement of explosives and gun laws, would be transferred to other agencies, possibly the FBI and the DEA. According to a congressional source, there have been rumblings about the elimination of ATF for quite sometime, but the move would require major political capital to actually happen.

“It’s a serious white paper being circulated, how far they’d get with it I don’t know,” a confidential source said.

Sounds great right? Eliminating ATF? But there is more to this story. Remember, low level ATF field agents, like ATF whistleblower John Dodson, were uncomfortable conducting Operation Fast and Furious from the beginning, but were told by high level officials within ATF that if they had a problem with the operation, they could find a job elsewhere.

“This operation, which in my opinion endangered the American public, was orchestrated in conjunction with Assistant U.S. Attorney Emory Hurley. [Emory Hurley is the same Assistant U.S. Attorney who previously prevented agents from using some of the common and accepted law enforcement techniques that are employed elsewhere in the United States to investigate and prosecute gun crimes.] I have read documents that indicate that his boss, U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke, also agreed with the direction of the case,” Special Agent Peter Forcelli said in testimony on Capitol hill on June 15, 2011.

ATF field agents weren’t the problem with Operation Fast and Furious, high ranking officials within ATF and the Department of Justice were and still are. DOJ would eliminate ATF only to take the heat off of the Obama Administration. By eliminating the bureau, it makes it seem like DOJ is taking Operation Fast and Furious so seriously, they decided to “clear out the corruption, clean house,” however, it would only be a distraction away from the people at the top of the investigation. In fact, evidence shows the DOJ has been stonewalling the Oversight Committee investigation into the operation to protect Obama political appointees.

Read full Townhall article here.

Pew Research: 43% to 22% - Job Situation Remains Top Economic Worry

Jobs, Deficit

Welcome To The Republican Party

I recently received this email:


I recently asked my friends' little girl what she wanted to be when she grows up. She said she wanted to be President of the United States. Both of her parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there. So I asked her, "If you were President, what would be the first thing you would do?" She replied, "I'd give food and houses to all the homeless people." Her parents proudly beamed. "Wow...what a worthy goal," I told her. "But you don't have to wait until you're President to do that. Tell you what - you can come over to my house and mow the lawn, pull weeds, and sweep my driveway, and I'll pay you $50. Then I'll take you over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $50 to use toward food and a new house. How about doing something wonderful like that?" She thought that over for a few seconds, then she looked me straight in the eye and asked, "Why doesn't the homeless guy come over and do the work, and you can just pay him the $50?" I said, "Welcome to the Republican Party." Her parents still aren't speaking to me.

Herman Cain Bio

What you may not know about Herman Cain who is running for president....
He’s not a career politician (in fact he has never held political office). He’s known as a pizza guy, but there’s a lot more to him. He’s also a computer guy, a banker guy, and a rocket scientist guy.
Here’s his bio:
  • Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics.
  • Master’s degree in Computer Science.
  • Mathematician for the Navy, where he worked on missile ballistics (making him a rocket scientist).
  • Computer systems analyst for Coca-Cola.
  • VP of Corporate Data Systems and Services for Pillsbury (this is the top of the ladder in the computer world, being in charge of information systems for a major corporation).
All achieved before reaching the age of 35. Since he reached the top of the information systems world, he changed careers!
  • Business Manager. Took charge of Pillsbury’s 400 Burger King restaurants in the Philadelphia area, which were the company’s poorest performers in the country. Spent the first nine months learning the business from the ground up, cooking hamburger and yes, cleaning toilets. After three years he had turned them into the company’s best performers.
  • Godfather’s Pizza CEO. Was asked by Pillsbury to take charge of their Godfather’s Pizza chain (which was on the verge of bankruptcy). He made it profitable in 14 months.
  • In 1988 he led a buyout of the Godfather’s Pizza chain from Pillsbury. He was now the owner of a restaurant chain. Again he reached the top of the ladder of another industry.
  • He was also chairman of the National Restaurant Association during this time. This is a group that interacts with government on behalf of the restaurant industry, and it gave him political experience from the non-politician side.
Having reached the top of a second industry, he changed careers again!
  • Adviser to the Federal Reserve System. Herman Cain went to work for the Federal Reserve Banking System advising them on how monetary policy changes would affect American businesses.
  • Chairman of the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank. He worked his way up to the chairmanship of a regional Federal Reserve bank. This is only one step below the chairmanship of the entire Federal Reserve System (the top banking position in the country). This position allowed him to see how monetary policy is made from the inside, and understand the political forces that impact the monetary system.
After reaching the top of the banking industry, he changed careers for a fourth time!
  • Writer and public speaker. He then started to write and speak on leadership. His books include Speak as a Leader, CEO of Self, Leadership is Common Sense, and They Think You’re Stupid.
  • Radio Host. Around 2007—after a remarkable 40 year career—he started hosting a radio show on WSB in Atlanta (the largest talk radio station in the country).
He did all this starting from rock bottom (his father was a chauffeur and his mother was a maid). When you add up his accomplishments in his life—including reaching the top of three unrelated industries: information systems, business management, and banking—
STACK THAT UP AGAINST THE 'COMMUNITY ORGANIZER'....
Herman Cain may have the most impressive resume of anyone that has run for the presidency in the last half century.