Sheriff Joe Arpaio To Release Results Of Investigation Into Obama's Eligibility Tomorrow 3/1/12

I don't know one way or another whether Obama is Constitutionally qualified to be President. As it was in the Nixon Watergate scandal, it is all in the cover-up. Hopefully the Sheriff will be able to shed some light on the subject.

Excerpt: PHOENIX, Ariz. – Poll after poll in recent months has revealed that Americans have a high level of concern over Barack Obama’s eligibility to be president, with one poll revealing fully half of the nation wants Congress to investigate the question.

But mostly reporters for the traditional media – networks, major newspapers, major news corporations and conglomerates – have giggled when talk turns to the serious question of just what – exactly – does the U.S. Constitution require of presidents.

But that’s changing, as media organizations from all political persuasions seek admittance to a news conference to be held by Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Ariz.

The event is tomorrow at 1 p.m. Mountain Standard Time in Phoenix, 3 p.m. Eastern, and will be live-streamed by WND.

The topic of discussion will be an investigation by Arpaio’s Cold Case Posse into concerns about Obama’s eligibility, the first time an official law enforcement report has addressed many of the allegations about the presumptive 2012 Democratic nominee for president.

Those issues include his eligibility under the U.S. Constitution’s requirements, questions about his use of a Connecticut Social Security number, the image of his purported birth certificate from Hawaii and others.

Top national media organizations have indicated their plans to attend and bookings for radio and television reports are in the works. Expected are reporters from AP, Reuters, Univision, the Washington Times and NBC, CBS and ABC affiliates, as well statewide radio networks, among many others.

Read full WND article "MEDIA FINALLY PAYING ATTENTION TO ELIGIBILITY?" here.

David Copperfield - Flying (Levitation)

Received this in an email today. When I was young, I had a recurring dream for years that I could levitate. It was so vivid that sometimes I felt it was real. David Copperfield has captured my childhood dream in this illusion.

Golf's "Facts" in Dispute

Have heard many of them, but a few surprises. Details in the WSJ article are interesting.

Excerpt: Nine Things People Say About the Game That Aren't True—and One That Is

Golf is only for rich people.

Business people play golf so they can make deals on the course.

In Scotland, golfers never take longer than three hours to play a round.

Ben Hogan's "secret" went to the grave with him.

A 10-handicapper should shoot 10 over par.

Keep your head down.

"I hit my drives 270 yards."

The biggest difference between Tour pros and amateurs is how far the pros hit.

Put a wedge in a Tour pro's hands, and he'll stick it to 5 feet.

Drive for show, putt for dough.

Read full WSJ article "Golf's Biggest Delusions" here.

"Attack of the Community Organizer"

Cavuto: Gas prices aren't rising, the dollar is falling

How Many Times Has The FTC Found Evidence Of Price Gouging By Energy Companies

All Obama is trying to do is destroy the oil and gas industry to enable him to exercise control over our energy sector. He has said it and has demonstrated through his policies that he wants the cost of fossil fuels to skyrocket so that the populace will turn to the then "less expensive" alternatives.

If you want to understand how the free market operates when it comes to oil and gas, then this is a good article by the Institute for Energy Research.

Excerpt: Answer: Zero

Several investigations into alleged “price gouging” have concluded there is no evidence of any sort of illegal or inappropriate pricing activity.

After Hurricane Katrina, the FTC stated that it found “[n]o evidence to suggest that refiners manipulated prices through any means….”[1]

The FTC also noted that “if natural price signals are distorted by price controls, consumers ultimately might be worse off as gasoline shortages could result.”

In addition, the Washington State Attorney General released a report earlier this year on a lengthy investigation into gasoline prices that concluded: “This investigation did not uncover any illegal conduct in Washington regarding the pricing of gasoline during the period examined, 2000-2008.”[2]

Increasing taxes or imposing other punitive measures on American energy companies will not only do nothing to ease prices at the pump, but they could create more pain for consumers and increase our reliance on foreign oil.

The Nixon-Carter experiment with price controls led to long lines at the pump and higher prices for consumers.

Past laws imposing “windfall profits taxes” on oil companies were also a failure. As a CRS report on the topic stated the last time our nation imposed a “windfall profits tax” on American businesses, it “increased the demand for imported oil and made the United States more dependent upon foreign oil….” [3]

The answer to higher gas prices is to eliminate impediments to increasing the supply of crude oil.

Providing more supply to a tight global market will greatly help meet demand and is the best path to providing consumer relief. Market expectations that new supply will be coming online have alone led to oil price decreases in the past.

Estimates suggest 1 million barrels of oil a day could be produced from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) . This equals about 10 percent of the oil America uses daily for gasoline consumption . The “1002 area” in ANWR was actually singled out in 1980 as a study area for its oil and gas development potential (P.L. 96-487).

In discussing the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), CRS notes that “[a]nother 86 billion barrels of oil and 420 tcf of natural gas are classified as undiscovered resources. Congress has imposed moratoria on much of the OCS since through the annual Interior appropriation bills.”[4] This amount of oil represents about 33 percent of Saudi Arabia’s proven reserves (260 billion barrels).


Read full Institute for Energy Research report here.

Cartoon - Obama's Energy Prices

Obama Administration Using Espionage Act To Silence Domestic Critics

It is interesting to see an article critical of the Obama administration in the NYT. Perhaps the Ostrich is removing its head from the sand. Could this be a circulation builder for the Times?

Excerpt: The Obama administration, which promised during its transition to power that it would enhance “whistle-blower laws to protect federal workers,” has been more prone than any administration in history in trying to silence and prosecute federal workers.

The Espionage Act, enacted back in 1917 to punish those who gave aid to our enemies, was used three times in all the prior administrations to bring cases against government officials accused of providing classified information to the media. It has been used six times since the current president took office.

These kinds of prosecutions can have ripples well beyond the immediate proceedings. Two reporters in Washington who work on national security issues said that the rulings had created a chilly environment between journalists and people who work at the various government agencies.

During a point in history when our government has been accused of sending prisoners to secret locations where they were said to have been tortured and the C.I.A. is conducting remote-controlled wars in far-flung places, it’s not a good time to treat the people who aid in the publication of critical information as spies.

And it’s worth pointing out that the administration’s emphasis on secrecy comes and goes depending on the news. Reporters were immediately and endlessly briefed on the “secret” operation that successfully found and killed Osama bin Laden. And the drone program in Pakistan and Afghanistan comes to light in a very organized and systematic way every time there is a successful mission.

There is plenty of authorized leaking going on, but this particular boat leaks from the top. Leaks from the decks below, especially ones that might embarrass the administration, have been dealt with very differently.

Read full NYT article here.

Steven Wright Witticisms

Received this email today.  It started me thinking.

If you're not familiar with the work of Steven Wright, he's the famous Erudite (comic) scientist who once said: "I woke up one morning, and all of my stuff had been stolen and replaced by exact duplicates."

His mind sees things differently than most of us do. . ..

Here are some of his gems:

1 - I'd kill for a Nobel Peace Prize.

2 - Borrow money from pessimists -- they don't expect it back.

3 - Half the people you know are below average.

4 - 99% of lawyers give the rest a bad name.

5 - 82.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot.

6 - A conscience is what hurts when all your other parts feel so good.

7 - A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.

8 - If you want the rainbow, you got to put up with the rain.

9 - All those who believe in psycho kinesis, raise my hand.

10 - The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

11 - I almost had a psychic girlfriend, ...... But she left me before we met.

12 - OK, so what's the speed of dark?

13 - How do you tell when you're out of invisible ink?

14 - If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.

15 - Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.

16 - When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.

17 - Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy.
18 - Hard work pays off in the future; laziness pays off now.
19 - I intend to live forever... So far, so good.

20 - If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?

21 - Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

22 - What happens if you get scared half to death twice?

23 - My mechanic told me, "I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder."

24 - Why do psychics have to ask you for your name.

25 - If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.

26 - A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.

27 - Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

28 - The hardness of the butter is proportional to the softness of the bread.

29 - To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research.

30 - The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard.

31 - The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up.

32 - The colder the x-ray table, the more of your body is required to be on it.

33 - Everyone has a photographic memory; some just don't have film.

34 - If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.


And the all-time favorite -

35 - If your car could travel at the speed of light, would your headlights work?

GOVERNMENT PRESCHOOL TYRANNY – “YOU AIN’T SEEN NOTHING YET“

It is time to remove the responsibility from the Federal usurpers and return education to the people and the states.

You can read the details of the proposals in the reference at the end of this post.

Excerpt: Under Obama’s Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge (Obamacare for Preschool) the North Carolina lunchbox seizures will be just the beginning. Please read the details below and take a stand against this latest assault on family and freedom.

The appalling report of government agents demanding inspection of preschoolers’ lunch, judging the home packed lunch not adequately nutritious, seizing the contents, and then billing the family for the government imposed mystery meat nuggets has rightly stirred a storm of controversy. American citizens living in what they thought was the “land of the free and the home of the brave” might be tempted to think that this is just an isolated incident and wouldn’t apply to them or that it only deals with lunch. However, after review of the tyrannical requirements and goals of multiple other government programs for young children, the idea from the classic Bachman Turner Overdrive tune “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” is far more apropos.

Education Liberty Watch has been warning of the dangers to freedom, parental autonomy, academics, and health of programs like quality rating systems (QRIS) (QRIS), Head Start, home visiting, mental health screening, and the preschool Race to the Top (RTT-ELC) for a long time. However, we will focus on Race to the Top because it is the most current and the most comprehensive example of the efforts to consolidate government control over young children in so many interconnected and overarching ways.

The following excerpts are from a summary of the big government nanny-state plans from all of the applicants for the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge at a recent forum held in Washington, DC and put on by the Early Learning Challenge Collaborative. For the sake of time and space, here are some highlights of the most chillingly freedom robbing initiatives from the nine winners of the $550 million boondoggle (Only winning applications will be discussed for time and space reasons. Text in bold italic font is added emphasis):

1) More Lunch Box Monitoring –

2) Cradle to Grave Data Tracking (Big Brother is Watching) –

3) Imposition of Government Mental Health Curricula Through 3rd Grade –

4) Infant and Young Child Mental Screening –

5) Preschool Standards Aligned with Common Core Standards and or K-3 Standards –

6) Womb to Tomb Services –

7) Mandatory QRIS Participation –

The liberty of future generations depends on our response right now.

WHAT TO DO:

1) Urge Congress to stop funding Race to the Top in any form.

2) Urge Congress to significantly defund or eliminate Head Start, which even a Time Magazine editorial [Time to Ax Public Programs That Don't Yield Results] said should be done.

3) Urge Congress to support the Parental Consent Act by Rep. Ron Paul in the House (HR 2769) and Senator Rand Paul (S 1800) that requires informed, opt-in parental consent for any federally funded program that involves mental screening.

3) States should withdraw from the RTT ELC given that the grant money will create lots of expensive, liberty-robbing unfunded mandates in the future

4) Legislatures should consider defunding, dismantling, and privatizing quality rating systems to preserve the autonomy of independent and religious childcare programs, providing conscientious objection clauses to the radical preschool standards, and finding other ways to measure quality other than imposing these standards and curriculum on providers and families.

5) Support family formation and two parent families in welfare and divorce reform.

Read full report here.

Gallup Poll: Obama Should be Worried - February 25, 2012

Gallup has released their state-by-state Presidential approval polling. The results do not look good for the President. If you take the simple analysis that any state with a negative rating will go to the Republican, and any state with a positive rating will go to Obama, November promises to be a bloodbath for the incumbent.

If you just add up electoral votes in that manner, you have the Republican winning 323 to 215.
Here is the projected electoral map courtesy of the Washington Examiner:

Now granted, just going by the February state Presidential approval is a dodgy way to project the November elections. For one thing, we don’t know whom Obama’s opponent will be, and the voters may disapprove of him even more than Barack. For another, the campaign hasn’t been run yet. There is also the factor that plenty of Democrats who disapprove of Obama’s performance will still vote for him in November simply because he IS a Democrat.

Still, the above map hints at the problems facing the President. Practically the whole country is down him. He only has islands of support on the West Coast, the Great Lakes, and the Northeast. Everywhere else is solid red.

Should the Obama people be worried? I think so.

Original article posted by Mark B. Lowe here.

"Let me go on, I'm not yielding my time." Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.), takes on Henry Waxman (D-CA)

The Dark Intentions of Public Schooling

Secrets in Plain Sight

Very long video, interesting and full of facts about the Mayans, Aztecs, Egyptians, Druids, Masons, architecture, layout of Washington DC, and others..

Texas defunds Planned Parenthood, defies Obama’s Medicaid cut-off threat

Excerpt: f there was any hope that the state was seeking a compromise with the federal government over Texas’ Women’s Health Program, it’s fading fast.

At the direction of lawmakers and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, the Texas Health and Human Services commissioner signed a rule on Thursday that formally bans Planned Parenthood clinics and other “affiliates of abortion providers” from participating in the program – something the Obama administration has said is a deal-breaker for the nearly $40 million-per-year state-federal Medicaid program.

The rule, signed by Commissioner Tom Suehs on Thursday, takes effect March 14.

“Under federal law, states administer Medicaid and have the right to set the criteria for providers in the program. That is what Texas is doing,” said Stephanie Goodman, a spokeswoman for the agency. “We have a state law that our Attorney General says is constitutional, and it clearly bans abortion providers from taking part in the Women’s Health Program. We can’t violate a perfectly valid state law just to appease Washington. We hope CMS will reverse its position and allow the program to continue".

Stanek herself blasts PP’s pretense of fighting against those who “politicize lifesaving breast cancer screenings and birth control access.” This is exactly what PP does itself to justify the continued stream of tax-funding while also providing abortions. Stanek pulls back the curtain:

Cervical cancer is primarily caused by the Human papillomavirus, an incurable STD.

And if women stopped getting abortions and taking artificial steroids (birth control pills), breast cancer would decrease dramatically.

Planned Parenthood pimps all it claims to cure.

Read full report here.

Obama Shredding The Constitution

Obama, The Dependency President

Cindy Simpson, the author of this article is correct. "Obama knows exactly what he's doing." Dependency is the name of the Liberal/Democrat game. The more people dependent on the government, the more votes for those legislators that are willing to spend taxpayer dollars to maintain that dependency. We are now at the tipping point or have already been tipped. The polls are showing some upward movement for Obama. It is incomprehensible for me to imagine that any of those supporting him are actual taxpayers. Well maybe some far left zealots pay taxes (lol).

Excerpt: At the time of our nation's founding, only property owners were given the right to vote. Less than 100 years later, that requirement was eliminated. While we can recognize the need for that change, at the time, taxes were minimal, and government-funded social programs were unheard of. Today, tax law has grown into a 10,000-page "body of social policy" that authorizes the hand of government to grab a large percentage of the income and wealth of half of the country and redistribute it into chosen pockets.

Voting requires no skin in the game. Or proper identification at the polls or the ability to speak English. Apparently even dead people may vote. And while ACORN was at least a little more transparent in its schemes to entice voters, even imaginary ones -- big government, with all of its policies and programs, continually trains voters to keep the big dogs in power.

Do Republicans really believe that a "smaller government" message, no matter how economically sound, will persuade those in the majority who rely on big government to vote a GOP ticket? As pundits argue that GOP candidates should stay away from discussion of social issues, they fail to admit that most of those social issues are being subsidized by the government and are the root cause of our economic woes. According to the same series of charts published by Heritage, 70% of federal spending goes to such programs -- the programs that make up the Dependency Index.

How many voters did the 1,000-plus-page stimulus package buy? How many voters do the promises of ObamaCare and other spending programs lure? I would wager far more voters than the number who understand the disastrous impact of such measures on the economy.

Obama knows exactly what he's doing. He and his Democrat trainers are passing out treats, with leashes attached. And the majority of Americans have learned to heel.

Read the full American Thinker article here.

John Stossel: I Tried to Open a Lemonade Stand

Hope John and FOX Business don't mind but this is an excerpt taken from John's program last evening. There are so many regulations that even the regulators don't know what exists. It is about time that wide sweeping Sunset Laws are put in place to get government out of the way and put the people back in charge of their own welfare.

If I want to buy a glass of lemonade from the neighbor's child, I'll buy it without looking for the Employer ID #, the Food Protection Certificate, the Sales Tax Certificate, the Temporary Food Service Establishment Permit, or the fire extinguisher. It would be laughable, if it were not so destructive to our entrepreneurial spirit.

Excerpt: Want to open a business in America? It isn't easy.

In Midway, Georgia, a 14-year-old girl and and her 10 year old sister sold lemonade from their front yard. Two police officers bought some. But the next day, different officers ordered them to close their stand.

Their father went to city hall to try to find out why. The clerk laughed, and said she didn't know. Eventually, Police Chief Kelly Morningstar explained, "We were not aware of how the lemonade was made, who made the lemonade, and of what the lemonade was made with."

Give me a break. If she doesn't know, so what? But kids trying their first experiment with entrepreneurship are being shut down all over America. Officials in Hazelwood, Missouri ordered little girls to stop selling Girl Scout cookies.

It made me want to try to jump through the legal hoops required to open a simple lemonade stand in New York City. Here's some of what one has to do:

1)Register as sole proprietor with the County Clerk's Office (must be done in person)

2)Apply to the IRS for an Employer Identification Number

3)Complete 15-hr Food Protection Course!

4)After the course, register for an exam that takes 1 hr. You must score 70% to pass. (Sample question: "What toxins are associated with the puffer fish?") If you pass, allow 3-5 weeks for delivery of Food Protection Certificate.

5)Register for sales tax Certificate of Authority

6)Apply for a Temporary Food Service Establishment Permit. Must bring copies of the previous documents and completed forms to the Consumer Affairs Licensing Center.

Then, at least 21 days before opening your establishment, you must:

Arrange for an inspection with the Health Department's Bureau of Food Safety and Community Sanitation. It takes about 3 weeks to get your appointment. If you pass, you can set up a business once you:

-Buy a portable fire extinguisher from a company certified by the FDNY and set up a contract for waste disposal.

We couldn't finish the process. Had we been able to schedule our health inspection and open my stand legally, it would have taken us 65 days.

Article came from FOX Business report here.

Sarah Palin: Relentless scrutiny pushed her to exasperation

You haven't heard much about the release of over 34,000 pages of Sarah Palin's emails by the State of Alaska. Why? It looks like the emails disprove the criticisms heaped upon Sarah following her retirement from the Governorship. I'm sure that in all those emails there will be something the MSM will be able to distort. But as for now, hark, I hear the crickets chirping.

Excerpt: Just a few months after returning from the presidential campaign trail, a weary Sarah Palin shot off a 1 a.m. email to top colleagues in her office.

Flimsy ethics complaints were mounting, and the Alaska governor was feeling increasingly detached from her family. She faced mounting legal bills that only exacerbated the financial turmoil related to her family's travel.

"I'm just beat down on this one. I am tired. The opponents have succeeded on the drive towards our personal bankruptcy, and have divided my family," she wrote.

She finished the overnight email with a sobering conclusion: "One has to be single, wealthy, or corrupt to function in this political system."

The relentless examination and subsequent exasperation lingered for months after Palin's stint as a vice presidential candidate in 2008, and thousands of documents released by the state this week indicate that it ultimately drove her to leave political office.

Emails show that Palin remained engaged as governor in the issues of her day job, pushing for a natural gas pipeline, preparing speeches for civic groups, coordinating with the state's chief lobbyist in Washington, D.C., and even helping arrange a reception for football players at the governor's mansion. She said it was invigorating to directly speak to protesters holding a derogatory sign.

The treasurer of Palin's political action committee, Tim Crawford, said Thursday: "We encourage everyone to read the emails. They show a governor hard at work for her state."
But the documents also show her becoming increasingly distracted by the external issues tied to her newfound celebrity.

One of her political critics, trying to tout his own international experience in early 2009, parroted a "Saturday Night Live" line about Palin being able to see Russia from her house - a phrase that morphed from the governor's initial comment that Russia was visible from part of Alaska.

"Why does he suggest I said i could see russia from my house? I said u can see russia from Alaska, in trying to explain the proximity," she wrote to a staffer.

Despite it all, Palin's aides remained fiercely loyal to her. Randy Ruaro sent an email in July 2009 simply entitled "Thank you."

"I have been asked several times in the last few years why I work so hard. It's very, very easy to work hard for someone when you respect and believe in them," he wrote.

Read full article here.

NATO to Prosecute Soldiers Who Burned Korans?

From what I heard, these books were desecrated by the Muslim prisoners and had to be destroyed. I guess the crime was that the books were not burned beyond recognition and the agitators that found the remains used them to foment anti-American sentiment. I wonder how many women took part in the riots.

If Obama bows to these terrorists, he will confirm his Muslim religious heritage and suspicion that he is the enemy within.

Excerpt: Is this really happening?

The Karzai goverment said NATO promised to put the koran burners on public trial as soon as possible.

Reuters reported:

Afghanistan wants NATO to put on public trial those who burned copies of the Koran at a NATO base, President Hamid Karzai’s office said on Thursday, after a third day of bloody protests over the incident.

It said NATO had agreed to a trial, but that could not be immediately confirmed.

Karzai had earlier accused a U.S. officer of “ignorantly” burning copies of the Koran, in an incident that has deepened anti-Western sentiment in a country NATO is trying to stabilize before foreign combat troops leave by the end of 2014.

Demonstrations have drawn thousands of angry Afghans to the streets, chanting “Death to America!” amid violence that has killed 11 people including two U.S. service personnel.

“NATO officials, in response to a request for the trial and punishment of the perpetrators … promised this crime will brought to court as soon as possible,” Karzai’s office said in a statement.

President Barack Obama sent a letter to Karzai apologizing for the burning of the Korans, after Afghan laborers found charred copies while collecting rubbish at the sprawling Bagram air base.

See full article here.

High Gas Prices: Obama's Half-Truths vs. Reality

When Stephen Chu, Obama's Energy Secretary says "Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels of Europe", it is a little hypocritical for the President to say he is doing everything that he can to reduce the price. Obama believes it is necessary to increase the cost of energy to an unsustainable level in order for him to pass his Cap and Tax policies for total governmental control of carbon emissions. Despite overwhelming evidence that there has been no global warming for the last ten years, Obama persists in his support of the fringe wacho environmentalists who believe that there are too many people on this earth and we are destroying it.

Excerpt: The national average for gas prices is almost $3.60 per gallon, increasing 40 cents from a year ago and jumping 20 cents from just one month ago.[1] Prices are already surpassing $4 per gallon in some states and could threaten the country’s economic recovery.

Higher gas prices drive up production costs for goods reliant on transportation, and more money spent at the pump means less money spent at restaurants and movie theaters. Buying fewer goods and services tightens the economic vice and holds back job creation.

Almost 70 percent of the price of gasoline comes from the price of crude oil, with excise taxes, refining costs, and retail/distribution making up the other 30 percent.[2] Exporting refined petroleum products comprises a small percentage of total domestic gas production and marginally impacts prices. Despite demand for oil falling in the United States as a result of a weaker economy and a warm winter curbing the use of heating oil, the industrial rise growth of China and India continue to put upward pressure on the price of oil. The threat of Iran restricting oil exports to Europe is also driving up the global price, impacting gas prices in the U.S.

Here are five half-truths that one continually hears about gas prices and five actions that Congress and the Administration can take to effectively combat high gas prices.

Half-truth #1: Oil production is the highest it has been in eight years.

Half-truth #2: Increasing oil production takes too long and would not impact the market for at least a decade.

Half-truth #3: Oil is not enough. America has only 2 percent of the world’s oil reserves.

Half-truth #4: Oil is not enough. The country needs an “all-of-the-above” approach to reduce its dependence on oil.

Half-truth #5: Speculators are driving up the price of gas, and they need to be reined in.

Five Actions for Congress and the Administration

Congress and the Administration should:

1. Get moving on permits.

2. Require lease sales when ready.

3. Create a sensible review processes.

4. Remove regulatory delays and limit litigation.

5. Approve the Keystone XL Pipeline.

Let the Market Work

The market would respond if Congress and the Obama Administration allow it to work. Oil companies would respond by increasing their production, and consumers would switch to more fuel-efficient cars without any need to mandate more fuel-efficient trucks and cars. If the price of gasoline continues to rise, it will make alternative technologies all the more economically competitive.

Read full Heritage Foundation report that discusses each of the proposals above, here.

Gas Prices - Yes We Can

Obama's Dividend Assault; A plan to triple the tax rate would hurt all shareholders.

I'm not too surprised that the people who have not worked all their lives and have not saved all their lives and have not paid medicare and SS taxes all their lives, and are not struggling to save for a decent standard of living in retirement, that they want to tax that security away and give it to a government that has no clue what the limits of their Constitutional obligations are. Instead of thinking up ways of "stealing" more money from the citizenry to give to the unemployable welfare generation, to solidify his re-election, Obama should find ways to cut the government down to the size that the designers of The Greatest Nation on Earth intended. Socialism breeda dependency, and dependency destroys nations.

Excerpt: President Obama's 2013 budget is the gift that keeps on giving—to government. One buried surprise is his proposal to triple the tax rate on corporate dividends, which believe it or not is higher than in his previous budgets.

Mr. Obama is proposing to raise the dividend tax rate to the higher personal income tax rate of 39.6% that will kick in next year. Add in the planned phase-out of deductions and exemptions, and the rate hits 41%. Then add the 3.8% investment tax surcharge in ObamaCare, and the new dividend tax rate in 2013 would be 44.8%—nearly three times today's 15% rate.

Keep in mind that dividends are paid to shareholders only after the corporation pays taxes on its profits. So assuming a maximum 35% corporate tax rate and a 44.8% dividend tax, the total tax on corporate earnings passed through as dividends would be 64.1%.

Who would get hurt? IRS data show that retirees and near-retirees who depend on dividend income would be hit especially hard. Almost three of four dividend payments go to those over the age of 55, and more than half go to those older than 65, according to IRS data.

But all American shareholders would lose. Higher dividend and capital gains taxes make stocks less valuable. A share of stock is worth the discounted present value of the future earnings stream after taxes. Stock prices would fall over time to adjust to the new after-tax rate of return. And if investors become convinced later this year that dividend and capital gains taxes are going way up on January 1, some investors are likely to sell shares ahead of paying these higher rates.

The question is how this helps anyone. According to the Investment Company Institute, about 51% of adults own stock directly or through mutual funds, which is more than 100 million shareholders. Tens of millions more own stocks through pension funds. Why would the White House endorse a policy that will make these households poorer?

Seldom has there been a clearer example of a policy that is supposed to soak the rich but will drench almost all American families.

Read full WSJ aritcle here.

Newt Gingrich addresses the NRA

You've got to love this guy. He makes history and the 2nd amendment historically interesting.

Gingrich: Defeating Obama 'Most Dangerous President in US History' a 'Duty Of National Security'

Nation At Risk: 5 Black Swans That Could Obliterate America's Future

Default on the Debt, Nuclear weapons, and Biological weapons are most likely self explanatory, so I did not provide the Townhall explanation. In any event, we can hope that our Federal Government is paying more attention to these 5 "Black Swans" than they are to contraceptives and global warming that does not exist.

Excerpt: Nassim Nicholas Taleb wrote a fantastic book on the impact of large, high impact, statistically rare events called The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable. According to Taleb, history tends to swing much more than we realize on these theoretically foreseeable, but often unexpected large events as opposed to the much more predictable trajectory that we tend to forecast when we look ahead to the future.

Technically, Taleb would probably classify the events we're about to discuss as "grey swans," unlikely events that we should still be able to anticipate, but that's splitting hairs. Long story short, we should be aware that our world can change for the worse in a hurry and we should make sure we're taking steps to alleviate the danger.

Default on the Debt:

Demographic Assimilation: "According to a 2002 Zogby poll, 58% of Mexicans said that the ‘territory of the United States’ southwest rightfully belongs to Mexico.'" Mexico, being a bad neighbor, actively encourages both illegal aliens and Mexican-Americans to have their first loyalty to Mexico. This hasn't been a big issue thus far, but we still have porous borders and there's a genuine danger that Mexico could become a failed state. What if the worst happens and we go from 10-12 million illegals in the United States to 25-40 million packed into the southwestern United States in a relatively short period of time? Demographics are destiny, which is something we taught both Mexico and the Indians the hard way, which is why it's so ironic that we think that same lesson couldn’t ever apply to us.

EMP: There haven't been any high altitude nuclear explosions since 1962; so it's hard to definitively know exactly how much damage a nuke exploding over the center of the United States would cause. A Solar Storm, which could theoretically produce almost the same effect, is even more of an unknown. However, it's entirely possible that a single nuclear bomb or Solar Storm could fry enough electronics to send us all the way back to the Dark Ages in the space of a few heartbeats. Airplanes would drop from the sky, the power grid would go down long term, the Internet would go offline, and nearly all the electronics, computer circuitry, and automobiles people rely on would stop functioning. Millions would die in a few months’ time, economic activity would grind to a halt, and people all across America would get to experience the old school "Oregon Trail" video game in real time.

Nuclear Weapons:

Biological Weapons:


Read full Townhall article here.

The Political Quote of the Year - Geitner On Obama's 2013 "Dead On Arrival" Budget

Excerpt: Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, speaking on behalf of the Obama White House, to Rep. Paul Ryan: "You are right to say we're not coming before you today to say 'we have a definitive solution to that long term problem.' What we do know is, we don't like yours."


Those two sentences speak to a mentality so bereft of intellectual vigor, so stunningly and candidly shallow, so thoroughly irresponsible, so politically myopic, selfish, and cowardly, that it should disqualify this crew from a second term in office. What a disgrace. Remember this moment the next time Democrats accuse the GOP of being the "do nothing," intransigent, "party of no."



Read full Townhall report here.

Judge Napolitano.How to get fired in under 5 mins

The Muslim War Against Europe - Intimidation, Death-Threats & Murder (are you getting this?)

Raul Labrador, A Rising Republican/Conservative Star?

Another newby that came up in the Tea Party image in 2010. Much like Sen. Rubio, Labrador believes in the Constitution.

Excerpt: Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho), less than two years in office, quickly made a national mark by shining a bright light on the deeply troubling case of Operation Fast and Furious, the gun-running scandal that led to the murder of Border Agent Brian Terry in Arizona in December 2009.

The lawyer from Eagle, Idaho, who has called for the resignation of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, has a message for the moderators at the Feb. 22 debate: Address the scandal and start a national discussion about the issue. “I would ask [the presidential candidates] what would they do to remedy the damage of ‘Fast and Furious’ and regain the confidence of the American people,” Labrador said in an interview with HUMAN EVENTS.

Labrador, who has tweeted before all recent debates for the networks to address ‘Fast and Furious’, wants the issue to be discussed nationally. Of the 18 presidential debates to date, Operation Fast and Furious was discussed only once.

He blames media coddling of President Barack Obama. “The mass media don’t want there to be any scandals in the Obama administration,” Labrador said. “If this were a Republican administration, this would be on the top of the news every single night until there were answers or until … heads rolled.” Labrador said that the Obama administration should never have participated in Operation Fast and Furious, but the apparent cover-up may be a greater scandal than the actual operation.

Labrador, an Eagle Scout, is an example of what can happen when preparation meets opportunity on the national stage, and a greater role for him may be as an ambassador to the public for conservatism that Republicans sorely need, which would be fitting because the last two such figures—Ronald Reagan and Jack Kemp—directly influenced Labrador. Reagan won over Labrador’s mother, a Democrat, and Labrador was influenced by Kemp’s ability to articulate a conservative message that brought more people into the Republican coalition.

“You should never, ever, ever give up on your beliefs and compromise on your principles,” Labrador said. “But you should find a way to speak in a way that appeals to moderates and independents.”

In a party that has been looking for heirs to wear the Reagan-Kemp mantle, Labrador is one to watch.

Read full Human Events article here.

Caterpillar To Build Plant In Georgia, Not Home State Of Illinois

Obama Admits He Is A Muslim Video - Hannity Pressured To Not Show It

According to Patriots for America, this is a video that Sean Hannity of FOX News has been trying to show that has consistently been blocked by the Obama Administration for several weeks. Watch it now before it gets pulled from the Internet!

Caterpillar: Goodbye Illinois, Hello Indiana’s Right To Work

This is a followup to my February 9th post that discussed why businesses were fleeing the state of Illinois.

Excerpt: Caterpillar has been a mainstay Illinois-based company for generations but no longer. The power and influence of big labor has impacted the company for too long, damaging its bottom-line and hurting workers.

Now that Illinois’ neighbor, Indiana, has become a Right to Work state, Caterpillar is exploring their options, according to The Detroit News’ Robert Laurie:

Back in 2009, Barack Obama announced that Caterpillar had promised to rehire some of its laid-off workforce if his stimulus proposal passed. This week, the nation’s largest manufacturer of mining and construction equipment announced that it would be moving a factory from Canada to Indiana. In the process, it will create 450 new jobs in the state.

You’d think the president would be happy, but this is not quite what he had bargained for. Take note, Governor Snyder. Caterpillar’s move came almost immediately after Indiana passed a right-to-work law, which will make union dues voluntary in the state. Labor officials claim Right To Work will deplete union funds, making it much more difficult for them to organize factories.

Coincidence? Workers who were formerly employed at the London, Ontario factory have been locked out since the beginning of the year after their union refused to accept pay cuts which would have kept the operation profitable. As a result of Big Labor’s obstinance, these jobs have been permanently eliminated and the plant relocated. The work will now be done in Muncie, [Indiana].

Read full article here.

OBAMA'S GIVEAWAY: OIL-RICH ISLANDS TO RUSSIA

To Obama, these oil resources are just part of his policy to rid ourselves of all carbon based energy. Why would he care if it is given away. Through some idiotic reasoning, oil harvested and used in other countries does not pollute, but if it is sourced domestically and used here, it is disastrous to our environment. We can all assume that Obama is not stupid, so he must be doing his "Saul Alinsky" bit and destroying our economy in order to reinvent it. God help the USA if he is reelected in November.

Excerpt: Part of Obama’s apparent war against U.S. energy independence includes a foreign-aid program that directly threatens my state’s sovereign territory. Obama’s State Department is giving away seven strategic, resource-laden Alaskan islands to the Russians. Yes, to the Putin regime in the Kremlin.

The seven endangered islands in the Arctic Ocean and Bering Sea include one the size of Rhode Island and Delaware combined. The Russians are also to get the tens of thousands of square miles of oil-rich seabeds surrounding the islands. The Department of Interior estimates billions of barrels of oil are at stake.

The State Department has undertaken the giveaway in the guise of a maritime boundary agreement between Alaska and Siberia. Astoundingly, our federal government itself drew the line to put these seven Alaskan islands on the Russian side. But as an executive agreement, it could be reversed with the stroke of a pen by President Obama or Secretary Clinton.

The agreement was negotiated in total secrecy. The state of Alaska was not allowed to participate in the negotiations, nor was the public given any opportunity for comment. This is despite the fact the Alaska Legislature has passed resolutions of opposition – but the State Department doesn’t seem to care.

Now is the time for the Obama administration to stand up for U.S. and Alaskan rights and invaluable resources. The State Department’s maritime agreement is a loser – it gives us nothing in return for giving up Alaska’s sovereign territory and invaluable resources. We won the Cold War and should start acting like it.

The Obama administration must stop the giveaway immediately.

Read full article here.

Patrick Buchanan Removed From MSNBC By Far Left Ideologues.

Those far left promoters of freedom can't stand anyone that disagrees with their liberal agenda. Soon they will have all dissent banned from the MSM, including FOX News that is now under investigation by Holder's justice department. This is a concerted effort by the left to have only one voice available to the American people; and it is working.

Excerpt: My days as a political analyst at MSNBC have come to an end.

After 10 enjoyable years, I am departing, after an incessant clamor from the left that to permit me continued access to the microphones of MSNBC would be an outrage against decency, and dangerous.

The calls for my firing began almost immediately with the Oct. 18 publication of "Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025?"

A group called Color of Change, whose mission statement says that it "exists to strengthen Black America's political voice," claimed that my book espouses a "white supremacist ideology." Color of Change took particular umbrage at the title of Chapter 4, "The End of White America."

Media Matters parroted the party line: He has blasphemed!

A Human Rights Campaign that bills itself as America's leading voice for lesbians, bisexuals, gays and transgendered people said that Buchanan's "extremist ideas are incredibly harmful to millions of LBGT people around the world."

Their rage was triggered by a remark to NPR's Diane Rehm -- that I believe homosexual acts to be "unnatural and immoral."

On Nov. 2, Abe Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League, who has sought to have me censored for 22 years, piled on.

"Buchanan has shown himself, time and again, to be a racist and an anti-Semite," said Foxman. Buchanan "bemoans the destruction of white Christian America" and says America's shrinking Jewish population is due to the "collective decision of Jews themselves."

Well, yes, I do bemoan what Newsweek's 2009 cover called "The Decline and Fall of Christian America" and editor Jon Meacham described as "The End of Christian America." After all, I am a Christian.

So it would seem. MSNBC President Phil Griffin told reporters, "I don't think the ideas that (Buchanan) put forth (in his book) are appropriate for the national dialogue, much less on MSNBC."

In the 10 years I have been at MSNBC, the network has taken heat for what I have written, and faithfully honored our contract.

Yet my four-months' absence from MSNBC and now my departure represent an undeniable victory for the blacklisters.

The modus operandi of these thought police at Color of Change and ADL is to brand as racists and anti-Semites any writer who dares to venture outside the narrow corral in which they seek to confine debate.

All the while prattling about their love of dissent and devotion to the First Amendment, they seek systematically to silence and censor dissent.

Without a hearing, they smear and stigmatize as racist, homophobic or anti-Semitic any who contradict what George Orwell once called their "smelly little orthodoxies." They then demand that the heretic recant, grovel, apologize, and pledge to go forth and sin no more.

Defy them, and they will go after the network where you work, the newspapers that carry your column, the conventions that invite you to speak. If all else fails, they go after the advertisers.

Read full article by Pat Buchanan here.

Marco Rubio - "We Are A Nation Of Haves And Soon-To-Haves"

Obama Lies Site

Ran across this website today and found it interesting. Gives a list of Obama falsehoods yearly since the 2008 campaign. Go to Obama Lies here.

Malachy, A Pekingese Wins Westminster. Our Charlie Is Our Champ

Malachy, a pekingese, won best in show at Westminster last evening. Our peke Charlie is of royal blood "Morningstar" also.

Here is our Charlie at 1 year old. Of course Malachy is a Grandpa at 4.

Renewable Green Nuclear Energy: Here, Now

It appears that this is something we should be looking into. I posted an article about Bill Gates' project last March.

Excerpt: renewable green nuclear technology does exist. It was invented in Oak Ridge, Tennessee decades ago! However, a nuclear reactor that is unable to produce bomb-grade material made this technology unattractive in a Cold War world.

Now, in 2012, MSRs have so much more to offer! MSRs produce energy by adding Uranium-235 to thorium fluoride salts. The United States has large deposits of thorium -- enough material to power our electricity needs for thousands of years.

MSRs do not have the threat of a meltdown. With no nuclear core or control rods, water is not needed to cool them in an emergency. It simply cannot melt down.

MSRs remove the fear of nuclear weapons proliferation and can use decommissioned nuclear warheads as fuel, rendering the bomb-grade material so inert that it cannot be used even as a dirty bomb.

This renewable green nuclear energy can recycle the dangerous worldwide stockpile of spent nuclear fuel. Using discarded nuclear material, MSRs create electricity while rendering the radioactivity to less than 1% of the waste a current light water reactor produces. When the low-grade spent material is processed, it can be transported and stored without containment, becoming safe in a few hundred years, not thousands.

Due to the resilience of the salt substrate, the rector's heat can be extracted in graphite heat exchangers without passing the radiation to the generator turbines. Construction and operation costs are significantly reduced because the power cycle is outside the containment sphere.

When the electrical demand is low, an MSR can shift gears to cost-effective electrolysis of waterproducing a truly green and renewable fuel: hydrogen.

Integrating with another American innovation from Los Alamos, MSRs can sequester CO2 out of the atmosphere while producing a cleaner-burning synthetic fuel alternative to gasoline. They call it Green FreedomTM.

Is it not shocking that this technology is never mentioned in the green energy movement?

Allison Fisher of Public Citizen calls nuclear power "a failed and dangerous technology," making no mention of the success of the Oak Ridge National Laboratories' MSRE or the Los Alamos Green Freedom technology on the Public Citizen's website.

No other country to date has been able to successfully harness the greatest innovation since fire.

Why? It's the same reason why no other country has landed on the moon: none of them possesses the technical expertise and entrepreneurial spirit found in the United States of America.

However, the Chinese, with investment from Bill Gates, are attempting make American MSR technology viable and will no doubt use it to their advantage at the expense of our economy.

The choice is simple: we can continue to bury our heads in the Arabian sand, spending ourselves blind waiting for Mother Nature to reveal the secret of green energy alchemy. Or we can develop true renewable green nuclear energy as the fuel for America's economic recovery.

Check out the Thorium Energy Alliance or the International Thorium Energy Organization for information and technical aspects.

Read full American Thinker article here.

CEOs say how you treat a waiter can predict a lot about character

Things that all aspiring bosses and businessmen should know. Not bad to follow in your daily life also.

Excerpt: Office Depot CEO Steve Odland remembers like it was yesterday working in an upscale French restaurant in Denver.

The purple sorbet in cut glass he was serving tumbled onto the expensive white gown of an obviously rich and important woman. "I watched in slow motion ruining her dress for the evening," Odland says. "I thought I would be shot on sight."

Thirty years have passed, but Odland can't get the stain out of his mind, nor the woman's kind reaction. She was startled, regained composure and, in a reassuring voice, told the teenage Odland, "It's OK. It wasn't your fault." When she left the restaurant, she also left the future Fortune 500 CEO with a life lesson: You can tell a lot about a person by the way he or she treats the waiter.

Odland isn't the only CEO to have made this discovery. Rather, it seems to be one of those rare laws of the land that every CEO learns on the way up. It's hard to get a dozen CEOs to agree about anything, but all interviewed agree with the Waiter Rule.

The CEO who came up with it, or at least first wrote it down, is Raytheon CEO Bill Swanson. He wrote a booklet of 33 short leadership observations called Swanson's Unwritten Rules of Management. Raytheon has given away 250,000 of the books.

Among those 33 rules is only one that Swanson says never fails: "A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter, or to others, is not a nice person."

Swanson says he first noticed this in the 1970s when he was eating with a man who became "absolutely obnoxious" to a waiter because the restaurant did not stock a particular wine.

"Watch out for people who have a situational value system, who can turn the charm on and off depending on the status of the person they are interacting with," Swanson writes. "Be especially wary of those who are rude to people perceived to be in subordinate roles."

Read full USA Today article here.

Bill Swanson’s Unwritten Rules of Management

1. Learn to say, "I don't know." If used when appropriate, it will be often.
2. It is easier to get into something than it is to get out of it.
3. If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much.
4. Look for what is missing. Many know how to improve what's there, but few can see what
isn't there.
5. Viewgraph rule: When something appears on a viewgraph (an overhead transparency),
assume the world knows about it, and deal with it accordingly.
6. Work for a boss with whom you are comfortable telling it like it is. Remember that you
can't pick your relatives, but you can pick your boss.
7. Constantly review developments to make sure that the actual benefits are what they are
supposed to be. Avoid Newton's Law.
8. However menial and trivial your early assignments may appear, give them your best
efforts.
9. Persistence or tenacity is the disposition to persevere in spite of difficulties,
discouragement, or indifference. Don't be known as a good starter but a poor finisher.
10. In completing a project, don't wait for others; go after them, and make sure it gets done.
11. Confirm your instructions and the commitments of others in writing. Don't assume it will
get done!
12. Don't be timid; speak up. Express yourself, and promote your ideas.
13. Practice shows that those who speak the most knowingly and confidently often end up
with the assignment to get it done.
14. Strive for brevity and clarity in oral and written reports.
15. Be extremely careful of the accuracy of your statements.
16. Don't overlook the fact that you are working for a boss.
* Keep him or her informed. Avoid surprises!
* Whatever the boss wants takes top priority.
17. Promises, schedules, and estimates are important instruments in a well-ordered
business.
* You must make promises. Don't lean on the oftenn-used phrase, "I can't estimate it
because it depends upon many uncertain factors."
18. Never direct a complaint to the top. A serious offense is to "cc" a person's boss.
19. When dealing with outsiders, remember that you represent the company. Be careful of
your commitments.
20. Cultivate the habit of "boiling matters down" to the simplest terms. An elevator speech is
the best way.
21. Don't get excited in engineering emergencies. Keep your feet on the ground.
22. Cultivate the habit of making quick, clean-cut decisions.
23. When making decisions, the pros are much easier to deal with than the cons. Your boss
wants to see the cons also.
24. Don't ever lose your sense of humor.
25. Have fun at what you do. It will reflect in your work. No one likes a grump except another
grump.


In the Business 2.0 article that made Swanson's little book famous, they expounded on his rules and added the following:

1. You can't polish a sneaker. (notice when something hasn't got any real substance)

2. You remember 1/3 of what you read, 1/2 of what people tell you, but 100 percent of what you feel. (leaders generate emotions that move people in the desired direction)

3. Treat your company name as if it were your own (possibly the same as #19 above)

4. When faced with decisions, try to look at them as if you were one level up in the organization. Your perspective will change quickly. (your boss has to weigh more considerations than you do in making a decision)

5. A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter is not a nice person.

6. When facing issues or problems that are becoming drawn out, "short them to ground." (solve problems instead of talking about solving problems).

Issa takes step toward holding Holder in contempt of Congress

All I see is that Issa is allowing Holder to determine the next deadline that they will ignore and Issa will again set a new deadline. Feb. 9th was the deadline after Issa got mad at the delay before. This will go on forever and nothing will happen before the election, nor thereafter. It is all a farce.

Issa should issue the contempt order and see what happens. He probably will not do it because he knows he has no power against an out of control Executive Branch.

Excerpt: In a Jan. 31 letter, Issa had threatened Holder with such a move if he failed to provide all the subpoenaed documents relating to the Fast and Furious gunwalking scandal by Feb. 9. That deadline has come and gone, and Holder’s Department of Justice still hasn’t provided most of those documents. Issa’s subpoena dates back to Oct. 12, 2011.

On Tuesday in a seven-page letter, Issa revealed that Deputy Attorney General James Cole begged Congress to extend the Feb. 9 deadline. Issa wrote that the request was “ironic” and “ignores the reality that the Department has unreasonably delayed producing these documents to the Committee.”

“On its face, the requested extension demonstrates a lack of good faith,” Issa wrote to Holder. “With one exception, the Department has only produced documents responsive to the subpoena on the eve of congressional hearings in which senior Department officials testified. The Department appears to be more concerned with protecting its image through spin control than actually cooperating with Congress.”

“We cannot wait any longer for the Department’s cooperation,” Issa continued. “As such, please specify a date by which you expect the Department to produce all documents responsive to the subpoena. In addition, please specify a Department representative who will interface with the Committee for production purposes.”

Read full Daily Caller article here.

Canadian Resources Minister: Soros ordered pipeline blocked.

I guess ole George is cashing in some of his chits with Obama. Any caring Obama has for the welfare of the USA is certainly not obvious. It is all about politics and power for him.

Excerpt: Canadian Resources Minister Joe Oliver says Barack Obama blocked the pipeline deal on behalf of radical left-wing Billionaire George Soros.

Soros has pumped millions into American far-left groups, many of which used some of his money to campaign for Barack Obama.

Barack Obama vetoed a major oil pipeline deal that would have brought thousands of new jobs and decreased our oil dependency on the Middle East. Obama is ensuring that unemployment stays high, gas prices climb, and America keeps sending tens of billions to Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. The so-called “environmental concerns” are completely unfounded.

The liberal Washington Post called Obama’s veto “an act of national insanity.” Liberal TIME magazine attacked Obama and said the veto means Canadian oil will go to China and Americans will continue buying oil from Saudi Arabia.

Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver recently blamed billionaire agitator George Soros, who funds extreme left-wing causes in North America, Europe, and Central Asia. He also fingered the US based Tides Foundation.

The Tides Foundation is a left-wing not for profit with a budget in the hundreds of millions. They are most known for promoting the global warming hoax.

Read original article here.

George Soros and Media Matters Show Their Darker Side

Media Matters, a George Soros funded tax exempt corporation, in close contact with the Obama administration, has declared war on Conservatives and FOX News employees. The far left, Chicago style election campaign is going full throttle. This election will be the dirtiest ever. We need to elect someone to the Presidency that will again have some respect for the process and the US citizenry.

Excerpt: A little after 1 p.m. on Sept. 29, 2009, Karl Frisch emailed a memo to his bosses, Media Matters for America founder David Brock and president Eric Burns. In the first few lines, Frisch explained why Media Matters should launch a “Fox Fund” whose mission would be to attack the Fox News Channel.

“Simply put,” Frisch wrote, “the progressive movement is in need of an enemy. George W. Bush is gone. We really don’t have John McCain to kick around any more. Filling the lack of leadership on the right, Fox News has emerged as the central enemy and antagonist of the Obama administration, our Congressional majorities and the progressive movement as a whole.”

“We must take Fox News head-on in a well funded, presidential-style campaign to discredit and embarrass the network, making it illegitimate in the eyes of news consumers.”

What Frisch proceeded to suggest, however, went well beyond what legitimate presidential campaigns attempt. “We should hire private investigators to look into the personal lives of Fox News anchors, hosts, reporters, prominent contributors, senior network and corporate staff,” he wrote.

Read full Tucker Carlson article here.

Daniel Hannan: Europe is a grizzly image of the future

Are you ready to Take America Back?

The GOP Can Add 10 Million Jobs and $15 Trillion to US Economy without Spending a Dime

Jobs, domestic energy independence, economic infusion, reduced gasoline prices; sounds good to me. Wonder what Obummer is thinking.

Excerpt: here are many contrasts that the GOP can use to go after Obama on the economy.

None present such a black and white contrast as the dispute about the black, tar-sands crude that Canada would like to ship through the US to refineries on the Gulf via the Keystone XL pipeline. The dispute isn't about the environment, is about creating 10 million U.S. jobs.

The pipeline could ultimately supply about a million barrels of Canadian oil to the US per day and 400,000 US jobs, most of them almost immediately.

But instead, the president, who has been railing against Congress for not passing another expensive jobs bill, and talks about income equality like it’s the most pressing issue of the day, just killed 400,000 American jobs that would battle income inequality in the most productive sense by providing ordinary Americans with the opportunity to earn some income.

While it’s estimated that Canada may have as much as 2 trillion barrels of oil in reserves, “the U.S. Geological Survey estimates the [US] has 4.3 trillion barrels of in-place oil shale resources centered in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming, said Helen Hankins, Colorado director for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management” according to the Associated Press.

4.3 trillion barrels is 16 times the reserves of Saudi Arabia, or enough oil to supply the US for 600 years.

As I have pointed out all along, the Keystone issue isn’t about the safety of a pipeline. Obama and enviro-whacko friends know that if they allow Canadian tar sands oil to be developed via the Keystone pipeline, that the US will also start to develop their own tar-sands and shale oil. The US contains well over 600 years of known reserves and that would allow the US to be a net exporter of oil. If that happens, the green economy ruse that the left has sponsored, already reeling from bankruptcies and cronyism, would collapse. It would show that there is no shortage of oil and “green” energy can not compete with fossil fuels.

The only thing left then for those bitter climate clingers would be the shoddy science of Global Something-or-Another.

Oil from tar sands, reports the BBC on the Keystone decision, “is so plentiful that full-scale development would seriously delay the transition to low-carbon alternative fuels,” which is the holy grail of the left. And along the way, the U.S. would create at least 10 million new U.S. jobs, keeping around $500 billion per year here at home. Over twenty years that would be an additional $12.5 trillion in GDP even at a modest 2 percent growth rate. At 4 percent the numbers are closer to $15.5 trillion.

Full scale development of tar sands can only be stopped by taxing oil out of existence, like was tried with cap and trade. Cape and trade was never about trying to cool the earth. It was about giving "green" technologies a competitive advantage over fossil fuels that free markets won't concede.

Building out the infrastructure to drill and transport that oil just from the Rocky Mountains in the US could supply literally millions of jobs for American workers, while supplying literally millions of barrels of oil per day, repairing our energy security for the next century. But moist importantly it would repair our economy.

I mean we went to war to protect the supply of oil coming from Libya for Europe.

Couldn’t the GOP at least first go to work making sure Keystone provides work for Americans?

That’s an issue to go to war over.

Read full Townhall article here.

Where IDs Are Required

Democrats Failure To Pass Budget Is Illegal, As In Criminal

Harry Reid and the Democrats in the Senate refuse to bring a budget to a vote because they do not want any document that can be used to show or slow their profligate spending spree. As long as there is no budget, they can blame the Republicans for trying to shut down the government when they vote against the continuing resolutions or increases in the debt ceiling. The vast majority of the American people do not follow what is really happening and rely on the MSM that is in the tank for the liberal Democrat criminals.

Excerpt: Two top Democrats in Congress say the legislature doesn't really need to pass a budget. Excuse us, but passing a budget isn't optional; it's required by law. Is this the future of rule under the Democrats?

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer is tired of passing budgets as the law demands. He thinks Congress can just keep spending money without any sort of budget.

"The fact is, you don't need a budget," he said last Tuesday. "We can adopt appropriations bills. We can adopt authorization policies without a budget. We already have an agreed-upon cap on spending."

Actually, "the fact is," Congress is required under the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to pass a spending plan and then have it scored by the Congressional Budget Office and signed by the president. That none of this happens suggests a level of disrespect for the law and the people found only among criminals.

This is fiscal gangsterism, nothing else. It has nothing to do with the current fiscal crisis, or the slow economy. It has everything to do with Democrats' refusal to admit that their unparalleled spending binge and exploding debt will soon lead to a tidal wave of tax hikes on average Americans.

Read full Investors Business Daily article here.

Obama vs Walter

Obama goes to a primary school to talk to the kids. After his talk he
offers question time.
One little boy puts up his hand, and Obama asks him his name.

" Walter," responds the little boy.

"And what is your question, Walter?"

"I have four questions:

First, Why did the USA Bomb Libya without the support of the
Congress?

Second, Why do you keep saying you fixed the economy when it's
actually gotten worse?

Third, Why did you say that Jeremiah Wright was your mentor,
then said that you knew nothing about his preaching and beliefs?

Fourth, Why are we lending $BILLION to Brazil to drill for oil, but
America is not allowed to drill for oil?"

Just then, the bell rings for recess. Obama informs the kiddies that
they will continue after recess.

When they resume Obama says, "OK, where were we? Oh, that's right:
question time.. Who has a question?"

Another little boy puts up his hand. Obama points him out and asks him
his name.

"Mikey," he responds.

"And what is your question, Mikey?"

Actually, I have two questions.

First, Why did the recess bell ring 20 minutes early?

Second, What the hell happened to Walter?"

CPAC Occupy Protesters Paid $60 To Show Up

Newt Gingrich's 2012 CPAC Speech

Entitlements - Makers vs. the Takers

Obama and the Democrats are against reforming the entitlement programs for two reasons. One, the more people dependent on the government, the more votes for the Democrats. Two, if the Republicans would, by any chance, decide to act in the best interests of the nation, and bring a halt to the increase in entitlement spending, then the backlash would also favor the Democrats. It is a win-win situation for the Democrats, and a lose-lose situation, both for the Republicans and the nation.

Excerpt: You’ve played by the rules. Worked hard to put yourself through school. You’ve gotten a decent job and you pay your taxes. You’re faithfully paying down your mortgage and saving money in a 401(k) – all to secure your finances and your future. But now there are a lot more “takers” than “makers” in this country – and the impact is systemic and long-lasting.

The Fiscal Times (TFT): With so many people out of work and so many suffering – through no fault of their own – how do you draw the line between real need and a so-called “culture of mooching”?
Charles Sykes (CS): That’s obviously the most difficult part, the gray area in the middle. There’s a distinction between needing temporary aid versus using a vast network of dependency as a way of life. Unemployment compensation, for example, is necessary for an amount of time. But when you start getting into 90-plus weeks of unemployment, hasn’t a temporary stopgap now become an excuse for people to avoid taking jobs? A number of economic studies have shown that the longer these benefits are extended, the higher the unemployment rate is. People make a rational calculation that it’s easier to stay on the couch than to get a job that maybe isn’t as great as what they had before.

TFT: Isn’t it a big leap to go from someone on unemployment to a wholesale expansion of dependency?
CS: If we have hungry children, of course we as a compassionate society have an obligation to take care of them. But I think we’re going through a massive concerted effort to expand the number of people who are dependent, who are looking to the government to buy them free breakfast, lunch and dinner, far beyond any reasonable definition of genuine need.

TFT: Is this new learned helplessness, as you describe it, a replacement for the employed-for-life, taken-care-of-for-life notion that many in earlier generations have known?
CS: Maybe. But ultimately the use of other people’s money and the vast expansion of benefits won’t substitute for what used to be provided for by the private sector. You can certainly understand the attraction of the bailouts, the freebies, the handouts, the dependency – for people who are nervous about the economy. But some politicians play upon this anxiety by promising things that are ultimately unaffordable and unsustainable. This endless promise that there’s always enough money in someone else’s pocket won’t work. It’s very seductive in some ways, but it’s not a solution to our economic problems, and it’s changing the culture and character of our society. It’s not the self-reliance and sense of independence and industry that our nation was founded on.

TFT: Who among the current presidential candidates would accomplish that, in your view?
CS: Unfortunately the person I’m politically closest to is not running. That’s Paul Ryan. He’s just about he only political figure who has tried to grapple with this and say, How would we slow this entitlement world – slow the growth of spending? And if it proves to be the third rail of politics in this election season, then I think we will have squandered one of the best opportunities we’ve had in a generation.

Read the full Fiscal Times interview here.

Obama Defies Congress by Funding ACORN - Chicago Style Corruption

ACORN is alive and well under a different name. The corruption in the Obama administration is endless, and we, as citizens are unable to do anything about it. Everyone talks about the congressional hearings that Issa is chairing. But what has he accomplished? NADA! Obama must be defeated in 2012 and it must be by a true conservative, not a RINO like Romney. That is the only way anything will get accomplished.

Excerpt: There is an old claim, oft-repeated as gospel truth, that the only living thing that would survive a nuclear attack is the cockroach. The power of modern weaponry has likely rendered this false, but in its place we might well put the disgraced “community organizing” organization, ACORN. Reports of ACORN’s demise are greatly exaggerated, a fact by which nobody with even a cursory familiarity with their practices should be surprised. The evidence suggests that the group has weathered the fallout from its scandals with a remarkable fortitude — it is not just surviving, but thriving; and it is doing so with thousands of those federal dollars that it is explicitly banned from receiving.

Since it was ignominiously stripped of all federal funding in 2009, ACORN has steadily maintained its extensive network of “affiliates” — more specifically, tax-exempt progressive 501(c)3 and 501(c)4 organizations, most of which have been renamed since the scandal hit. For 40 years, it appears, ACORN employed many of these groups to funnel millions of federal dollars its way — and it continues to do so today. It appears to be getting away with it. When somebody buys a gun for a convicted felon, it is called a “straw purchase,” and it is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. When ACORN takes money prohibited to it by employing others as collection agents, it is called “accounting.” This is the financial equivalent of being dishonorably discharged, but continuing to serve, and anyone who respects congressional authority should be outraged.

The system ACORN has developed is ingenious. A 501(c)3 is defined by the IRS as a “Religious, Educational, Charitable, Scientific, Literary . . . Public Safety . . . National or International Amateur Sports Competition, or Prevention of Cruelty to Children or Animals Organization.” 501(c)3 groups are prohibited from electioneering or endorsing candidates by virtue of their tax-exempt status, and are severely limited in their capacity to lobby. They are also explicitly barred from using any federal funds to support what little lobbying they are permitted to do. Prima facie, they are useless to those with overtly political aims.

But while 501(c)3 organizations — such as ACORN’s new (i.e., renamed) groups, the Affordable Housing Center of America (AHCOA) and the New York Agency for Community Affairs (NYACA) — are heavily restricted in the political sphere, such impediments can be easily circumvented. This is generally achieved via a mechanism known as “fiscal sponsorship.” Fiscal sponsorship works pretty much how it sounds: In order to help out third-party organizations (“fiscal agents”) that either do not qualify for 501(c)3 status or are waiting for certification, established 501(c)3 groups are permitted to underwrite certain “projects” that they consider to be vital to their mission. In theory at least, this can be a useful and positive tool, one that allows the easy funding of temporary ventures and the sharing of administrative costs, expertise, and infrastructure. (Think, for example, of a college wishing to fund a student documentary.)

But fiscal sponsorship also presents 501(c)3 groups with a highly efficient and sophisticated means of laundering money. Indeed, a leading nonprofit tax attorney, John Edie, suggests that the mechanism is predominantly used for that purpose: “If you’re going to use a fiscal agent, to me you’re saying, ‘Well, I’m going to launder the money through somebody.’” In this particular case, that “I” is any one of the 501(c)3 groups that ACORN has established to do its dirty work, and that “somebody” is ACORN central.

Anyone looking for a large building with “ACORN” written on the side will be disappointed, but to conclude anything from the absence of such is to miss the point entirely.

Heads are starting to turn: Representative Darrell Issa (R., Calif.) has written to the Attorney of New York’s Eastern District, complaining that ACORN-affiliated 501(c)4 group New York Communities for Change (NYCC) is soliciting donations from union members under false pretenses, and questioning whether federal funds are being illegally directed to Occupy Wall Street and others. An illustration of ACORN’s diffuse rebirth: NYCC is headed up by Jon Kest, formerly of NY ACORN, and the group works out of ACORN’s offices in Brooklyn, retaining swathes of ACORN’s former staff. According to one Fox News report, “sources inside NYCC allege that the group has hired approximately 100 former ACORN-affiliated staff members from other cities, paying some of them $100 a day, to attend and support Occupy Wall Street.” My request for a comment from NYCC was met with only with “the statement [NYCC] sent to Fox News when they raised these false allegations in October,” which reads that “[NYCC] is a new organization that fights for low- and moderate-income families. We don’t pay protesters and any monies raised by NYCC’s canvass are used in support of our ongoing issue campaigns.” The statement didn’t address my questions about fiscal sponsorship.

As of yet, however, Issa’s complaint has had nothing to do with the issue of fiscal sponsorship, and he is still scratching at the surface. Both Fox News and Andrew Breitbart’s Big Government have looked into this issue — as have a variety of other groups — but given the apparent complexity of the ruse, it is becoming clear that only a more comprehensive enquiry will suffice. Congressional authority is being flouted and, in a nation of laws and not men, it does not matter whether the infraction is to the tune of a billion dollars or a single cent. Congress might start by enforcing the existing laws, for then, and only then, will John Boehner’s promise that “the writing is on the wall for ACORN” be true.

Read full National Review article here.

They're Using Insurance for Communism' Ann Couter Rocks CPAC

Obama's Contraception Compromise - Comments

Just listened to Obama and his compromise on the Catholic Church's opposition to the government's contraceptive edict. Obama says that the insurance companies will pay for those services for the employees of the Catholic hospitals, etc.

What a crock. Policies are issued to the company, and paid for by the company (Catholic entity). How do you prove who is paying when the rates are negotiated in general by the two parties, not on an individual treatment basis. The policy that the Catholic organization purchases will still cover contraception.

Maybe each employee will get two insurance cards, one from their employer's policy and one directly from the Insurer. Yeah, right!

This is no solution.

Dad uses Facebook to teach daughter a lesson

Path to a Brokered GOP Convention Emerges

For those of you not enamored with any of the candidates and tired of the bickering that is handing a win to Obama, this is a possibility that you may be hoping for.

Excerpt: For many conservative Republicans, the dream outcome of the primary season is a brokered convention. Disappointed in the four remaining choices, they hope to change horses in August, and draft their preferred candidate, be it Jeb Bush, Mitch Daniels, Chris Christie, or Paul Ryan.

I've been adamant that such an outcome is extremely unlikely. For a brokered convention to occur, there has to be an almost perfect storm of events; the GOP elites can’t just declare shenanigans on the primary season and select a new nominee. Instead, something has to prevent any of the current candidates from clinching a majority of the delegates; if one of them amasses that majority, he will be the nominee on the first ballot at the convention in Tampa.

My assumption -- and the assumption of many -- was that the GOP fight would eventually degenerate into an ideological battle between the very conservative and somewhat conservative/moderate wings of the party, with Romney on one side and a single alternative on the other. Unless there was a late entrant or Ron Paul caught fire in the caucus states, someone was virtually assured of claiming the requisite number of delegates in that scenario.

But for the first time, the two way faceoff doesn't seem inevitable, and a viable path to a brokered convention is beginning to emerge. Let’s start with something else I overlooked. The GOP does have super-delegates of a sort, in the form of the 63 RNC members. They aren’t as numerous as they are in the Democratic Party, but they are still there. While many of them have already declared allegiance to one candidate or another, those commitments can evaporate quickly, as Hillary Clinton learned to her sorrow in 2008.

But more importantly, demographic and geographic splits are beginning to surface in the GOP that resemble the splits in the Democratic Party in 2008. That year, Hillary Clinton laid claim to working-class whites and Latino voters, while Barack Obama laid claim to college-educated whites and African-Americans. This divide continued throughout the primary, right up to the last day of voting.

Read full analysis here.