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Six More Months of 2011
July, 2011. After discovering how
extremely negative our financial posture has become, people all over the nation are beginning to ask, just how on earth did
we manage to come to such a precarious position?
It didn’t happen overnight — and it didn’t happen primarily
because of Bush or any other single politician or any one party. Perhaps we need to take a serious look at history.
We just might find some answers if we look very carefully.
Let’s start with FDR. His New Deal certainly started the ball
rolling with a notable acceleration. And then when World War II ended, our debt receded from what had been approximately
100% of our GDP.
Then, along came LBJ and his Great Society. This is often referred
to as the beginning of our contemporary welfare state.
That’s when Medicare was launched and we were told not to worry,
it would only cost about $12 billion by the 1990s. Of course it cost us over $110 billion over that time period.
And then Medicaid came on the scene and similarly exploded into a major expense.
And that was only the beginning. Then there was public housing, food
stamps and so many other massive welfare programs, all of which automatically escalated to astounding figures — in the
trillions of dollars.
These are what we sometimes hear referred to as "unfunded liabilities"
and "mandatory spending." Now such amounts, along with other similar spending, come to over $2.1 trillion a year.
Our national defense was recently calculated as just 4.8% of our GDP, so we can’t lay the blame there, can we?
As reported by The Wall Street Journal, "Spending, as a share
of GDP, in the last three years is higher than at any time since 1946." And noted, "In three years, the debt
has increased by more than $4 trillion, thanks to stimulus, cash for clunkers, mortgage modification programs, 99 weeks of
jobless benefits, record expansions in Medicare, and more."
And how does our future look? "The forecast is for $8 trillion
to $10 trillion more in red ink through 2021." And that doesn’t really consider many of the new entitlements, such
as with a full consideration of the new Obama healthcare monstrosity.
As noted by Senator Tom Coburn, "Our government is twice as big as it
was 10 years ago." So, how does any country ever manage to survive all of this? It doesn’t.
==========================
For quite some time now we have known about our precarious financial condition.
It’s no secret anymore. So what has our gigantic federal bureaucracy been doing to get things under control?
Let’s take a look and see.
The UK’s Daily Mail reveals that, "U.S. gives billions of dollars
in foreign aid to the world’s richest countries — then asks to borrow it." Isn’t that brilliant?
Michael Saltsman (of the Employment Policies Institute) tells us that,
"Nearly 30% of its lowest wage earners reported reduced hours or layoffs after San Francisco passed a paid-leave ordinance."
Not at all surprising for San Francisco where they shoot themselves in the foot on an almost daily basis.
And let us not forget our dear Fannie Mae. As the Associated Press
recently reported, "Federal regulators issued a blistering report about
mortgage giant Fannie Mae, alleging accounting manipulation that lined executives’ pockets and lies about smooth growth
in profits and earnings.
"The government sponsored mortgage company which is struggling to emerge
from an $11 billion scandal, was fined $400 million and agreed to limit its growth."
The regulators report "...said Fannie Mae employees manipulated
accounting so that senior executives could collect millions in bonuses from 1998 until 2004, when its accounting came under
the regulators’ scrutiny."
And, as accounted by Peter Wallison, who was a part of the Financial
Crisis Inquiry Commission, "Fannie Mae did not contribute marginally to the financial crisis. It was the source of
the declining mortgage underwriting standards that brought down the system."
Yes, that’s one of the two big government mortgage giants that Rep.
Barney Frank and Sen. Chris Dodd were supposed to be watching and who told us that everything was okay. And what have
we done about that? Why, of course we saw the Dodd-Frank overhaul put in place. Yes, that’s right —
the same ones who did so much to help us to get into trouble in the first place.
So, let’s take a look at that overhaul. As detailed by
the WSJ, "The Dodd-Frank financial overhaul was designed to end the prospect that the U.S. would ever again step in to
save a large, failing financial firm."
Did it work? As further noted,, "A recent report by rating
firm Standard & Poors has inflamed the debate saying Dodd-Frank hasn’t changed the market’s belief that extraordinary
government support for some large firms is still possible."
So now you have a better understanding about all the wonderful things our
government has been doing to get things under control. Don’t you feel better about things now?
==========================
We have seen many interesting comparisons between Bernie Maddoff and our
federal government’s Social Security program. They have been all over the Internet for some time now. Generally,
the comparisons read as follows:
BERNIE MADDOFF took money from investors and promised that the funds would
be invested and made available to them later on. SOCIAL SECURITY took money from working Americans and promised that
the funds would be invested in a "trust fund" and made available to them later on.
BERNIE MADDOFF, instead of investing the money, he spent it for his own
interests. SOCIAL SECURITY, instead of investing the money in the "Trust Fund," the politicians used it for their own
interests — pork barrel bribes and giveaways and general spending.
BERNIE MADDOFF paid off investors with money taken from new investors.
SOCIAL SECURITY paid off retirees with money taken from new and younger working Americans to pay off the old folks.
BERNIE MADDOFF’s scheme was discovered and no money was available
anymore and everybody lost. SOCIAL SECURITY will run out of available money and what will happen to those responsible?
BERNIE MADDOFF was prosecuted, convicted and remains in prison. SOCIAL
SECURITY’s responsible politicians are either comfortably retired or remain in Washington, doing the same as always.
It’s as simple as that.
==========================
The information we have given you on the contemporary economics of our
nation this month and for a few years now on our web site, gives you a most unfortunate but very accurate accounting of our
problem. So, what do some of our business leaders have to say about what’s been going on? Let’s examine
a couple of the many available examples.
Investor’s Business Daily published comments made this month
by Bernie Marcus, the head honcho of Home Depot. He said, in part, "I can tell you that the impediments that the
government imposes are impossible to deal with. Home Depot would never have succeeded if we’d tried to start it
today."
The other example is from a conference call with Steve Wynn, the
very successful hotel/casino entrepreneur and long time Democrat. His comments ended up being transmitted all over the
Internet and includes the observation: "I’m telling you that the business community in this country is frightened
to death of the weird political philosophy of the President of the United States. And, until he’s gone, everybody’s
going to be sitting on their thumbs."
And there’s plenty more where that came from.
==========================
With all that’s been happening, what do we see happening in The White
House? Well, we see that the First Lady evidently now requires a grand total of 26 personal servants. One might
wonder, if she were asked about this, in light of the suffering and economic chaos, would she say "let them eat cake?"
Reactions to our trying times from the public include such things as Grassfire
Nation Patriot Action Network and others, launching a "Government Spending Addiction Intervention Week." This happened
near the end of this month, but I’ll bet you never heard about it in the left-wing press or on the liberal network news,
now did you?
Actually, it’s not a bad idea. It’s the sort of thing
that we should have as a national event every year. Then nobody could know about it on an annual basis.
==========================
The ominous headlines continue: "Worries Grow Over Jobs," "Little Hiring
Seen By Small Business," "Raters Put U.S. on Notice," "Fall in Property-Tax Revenue Squeezes Cities," "Layoffs Deepen Gloom,"
"Job Search Stretches Past a Year for Millions," "Markets Swoon on Debt Fear,"....and on and on it goes.
And what have we got? Among other things, we’ve got 9.2% unemployment.
We’ve got sharp job losses in the fields of insurance, telecommunications, residential construction, health care retailers,
and so many others similarly effected in an adverse way by government controls and over-regulation.
And in the welfare state of California we see a massive reverse migration
out of the tarnished golden state. And, wonder of wonders, there are even some illegal aliens going back to Mexico.
(And there is that joke going around about a truck full of people caught while being smuggled across the border.
Trouble is, it was out-of-work Americans trying to get into Mexico.)
Don’t laugh. It could happen.
==========================
Other things to think about this month: Our national debt increase
under Clinton was approx. $547 million per day. Under Bush it was approx. $1.6 billion per day. And now, under
Obama it’s a whopping $4.1 billion per day and rising! (These are accurate, nationally reported figures.)
And now a just released report from the Congressional Budget Office tells
us that the federal government’s publicly held debt is expected to expand to as much as 101 percent of the GDP in just
ten years!
And how is all of this reflected throughout the rest of the world?
China has upped its lead in global exports and it is being said that China is soon expected to overtake America — something
that worries many folks all over the world. Nobody’s sure exactly that’s going to mean.
Whatever all of this means, you can be sure, it won’t be good for
us.
==========================
The debt ceiling/debt reduction negotiations near the end of this month
became a drama like no other — a drama of desperation and unbelievable ignorance. It has also been a significant learning
experience (for those few willing to learn).
It started to gather a little momentum in the early part of the month.
The president started out by actually suggesting reductions in medicare and other vitals, but of course never really addressing
the enormous size and waste that has become our national government.
He continued with such statements as, "I cannot guarantee that
those checks go out (Social Security checks, etc.) ... if we haven’t resolved this issue. Because there may simply not
be the money in the coffers to do it."
However, official treasury reports told us an entirely different story.
The reports state that the continuing flow of federal tax revenue, "...has been more than sufficient to cover the combined
costs of federal spending on interest payments, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, the Veterans Affairs department and federal
workers’ wages and insurance benefits, including wages and insurance benefits for military personnel." (CNS
News)
It would certainly seem, from this and from so many other examples, we
cannot be sure of anything our president ever tells us. It is a situation that can only hurt us, on so many levels.
==========================
Things started to unfold, little by little. Senators McConnell and
Reid tried to do what they were separately determined to do if they could. Obama pushed for his idea of a debt deal,
without specifics, even as he continued to reject various Republican plans offered.
The House approved a Republican "Cut, Cap and Balance" bill (touted as
a reasonable answer). House Speaker Boehner found White House negotiations unworkable and turned to Senate leaders.
The Democratic party controlled Senate rejected the "Cut, Cap and Balance" bill.
Debt talks reached gridlock as Sen. Reid and Obama kill all possibilities
of compromise. And the White House added that if any of that should ever get through the Senate, the president will
veto it — referring to the Boehner House plan or anything else like it. Of course it passed the House and never
got through the Democrat controlled Senate.
Then Senate Democrat leaders led by Harry Reid, held a press conference,
after tabling the Boehner bill. Reid tried to tell everyone that the Republicans were somehow orchestrating some sort
of filibuster to thwart any progress. (This writer knows, without any doubt that all of these things happened. This
writer watched it all on C-Span, on news videos, in official releases, etc.)
It became more like the Mad Hatter’s tea party with every passing
day.
==========================
It’s been almost unbelievable. Obama said, "Work with me
— give me something," and after 5 plans and three major bill were all rejected out of hand by Obama and his Democrats,
somehow it’s the GOP that’s not cooperating?
So then Boehner says to Obama, "All right, if you don’t
like anything we try to do, then you give us a detailed plan to work from." Obama’s answer was, once again,
a resounding "No."
And the Senate Democrats continued to be unable to produce anything
with any sort of meaningful financial reform. As one unidentified observer noted, "They’re like drug addicts
who can’t kick the habit."
==========================
Then finally, at the last moment, and sad little compromise was reached.
Reuters - 7/31/11: "President Barack Obama announced on Sunday
that Democrats and Republican leaders have reached an agreement to reduce the U.S. deficit and avoid default."
Finally it happened. With over two years of total control, the majority
party wasn’t even able to come up with any sort of workable budget. And now it has only happened, with a "sort
of" debt reduction agreement, at the last minute, after enormous pressure from a new House of Representatives and a disgusted
public.
And even so, it is being suggested by some that it is primarily window
dressing and will not amount to any real reform that means much of anything. This writer thinks it could be at least
a poor start toward serious reform, but it will have to be accompanied by massive additional efforts, far more courageous
than what has been seen so far.
What will happen now? Time will tell.
==========================
Are there any serious suggestions concerning long term solutions to our
budget and our general economic problems? Yes, there have been a few interesting suggestions.
One idea is that we should seriously consider the Canadian solution.
They turned more to the right on financial matters and now their economy is growing much faster than ours.
There is also significant interest in a real Congressional Reform Act that
will have term limits, no special tenure advantages, Congressional coverage with Social Security and no taxpayer-paid Congressional
retirement plan, coverage under the same healthcare programs that the rest of us must endure, etc., etc.
And the enormous give-away and pork-barrel programs have got to be stopped
dead in their tracks. You’ve read some of the examples listed within these pages. There is so much more.
There are millions going to Hollywood producers, stockcar racetrack owners, Caribbean rum producers, and many, many thousands
more that must be kicked away from the public trough.
There is a very credible organization known as Citizens Against Government
Waste that issues a list of prime cuts every year. If followed, that alone could save us at least two trillion dollars
over a five year period. That’s not chump change.
And, of the greatest importance of all, we must reduce the size of and
the oppressive interference from our federal government. That would bring us back in line faster than you might ever
imagine.
We can do this without sacrificing the elderly, our military, our personal
health, or any other critical mandate. (But of course ObamaCare has got to be removed, or we will lose everything.)
That’s how this writer and a number of others in our nation feel
about the ways and means of actually solving this most serious problem. What do you think about it?
==========================
The American legal system has been going through a general decline, right
along with just about everything else. That’s not only obvious from our continuing coverage, you can see it as
well in everyday life. Most attorneys cost many hundreds of dollars an hour at best, and at worst, thousands of dollars
an hour. In other words, it’s not a matter of justice, it’s a matter of how much justice you can afford.
Holder’s Justice Department seems now to stand as the most obvious
example of our serious decline in this area of great importance. And we have seen so many situations that highlight
this major deficiency.
One immediate sampling of this could well be in the current deadly
gun smuggling fiasco with Mexico. As reported by Doug Book on the Patriot Action Network, "Since whistleblowers brought
this scheme to the attention of Congress early this year, Senator Charles Grassley and Congressman Darrell Issa have been
frustrated by Department of Justice stonewalling, subterfuge, and misrepresentation."
And, as further noted, "It is attorney David Hardy’s contention
that the leadership at the Department of Justice, the ATF and perhaps the FBI and DEA are in violation of the Arms Export
Control Act of 1976."
As pointed out: "Written
to make certain that members of the executive branch do not ‘mistakenly’ sell arms to terrorists or tyrants, the
Act clearly states that a president selling ‘defense articles’ to another nation must first receive a permit from
the Secretary of State.
"Nevertheless, no permit is necessary if these articles are: (1)
For official use by a department or agency of the United States government; or (2) For carrying out any foreign assistance
or sales program authorized by law.
"As attorney Hardy concludes, ‘...the firearms involved were not
being exported for official use by an agency, nor as part of foreign aid."
(You can get confirmation and further information from this report, from WesternJournalism.com and FlovdReports.com.)
==========================
The Justice Department, and its Attorney General Eric Holder have been
further spotlighted by Representative Allen West: "A new member of Congress said that a special prosecutor needs
to review the actions of Attorney General Eric Holder regarding the ‘Fast and Furious’ gun scandal where weapons
were sold to carriers known to supply Mexican drug lords." (From reporter Michael Carl of WND.)
Rules and regulations seem to be breaking down just about everywhere.
As The Wall Street Journal reports, "Congressional rules require public proposals and specific numbers that be openly debated."
We see how little that happens these days.
Does anyone follow the rule of law anymore? Evidently not too many.
There seems to be precious few investigative procedures, prosecutions, or penalties being followed and applied.
It is a difficult time for everyone when law and order is so uncertain.
==========================
Other problems with our legal system include the following from a Washington
Times article: "Forty-nine Republican members of Congress have
asked the House Judiciary Committee to ‘promptly investigate’ Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan’s role in
preparing a legal defense for President Obama ... when she served as Solicitor General.
In a letter to committee Chairman Lamar Smith, Texas Republican, and the
panel’s ranking Democrat, John Conyers Jr. of Michigan, the lawmakers said that ‘contradictory to her 2010 confirmation
testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee,’ recently released Justice Department documents show that Justice Kagan
‘actively participated with her Obama administration colleagues in formulating a defense’ for the law." This was all in regard to questionable law involved with legislation passed for this administration.
Also reported: "Lawmakers, including 10 doctors and GOP
presidential candidates Rep. Ron Paul of Texas and Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, said the recently released Justice
Department documents raise ‘serious questions’ about Justice Kagan’s ability to ‘exercise objectivity’
in any case involving the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that comes before the Supreme Court."
Another nail in our coffin? It would seem so, if nothing is done
about things like this.
==========================
As we move ever deeper into the convoluted legal system, we realize that
court and enforcement authorities are still telling us that ignorance of the law is no excuse. They also tell us that
prosecutors don’t have to show that there is ever any criminal intent.
But, as reported in the WSJ, "The
U.S. Constitution mentions three federal crimes by citizens: treason, piracy and counterfeiting. By the turn of the
20th century, the number of criminal statutes numbered in the dozens.
"Today, there are an estimated 4,500 crimes in federal statutes, according
to a 2008 study by retired Louisiana State University law professor John Baker."
And that doesn’t even count the many thousands of complicated and sometimes conflicting case law decisions that must
be considered and the thousands of new regulations.
There must be a million ways you can break the law and never know it. Ignorance
of the law is no excuse? What is impossible, is to know. Ignorance is guaranteed. Even most lawyers and judges
show a high degree of confusion, disagreement, and general uncertainty in these areas.
It would seem that once again you’re damned no matter what.
==========================
Andy Rooney is credited with so many interesting "Did you know?" questions.
One set that’s been making the rounds on the Internet for some time (and is back again) includes the following:
"Did you know that carved on the top front fascia of the U.S. Supreme
Court building is a relief sculpture that includes Moses holding the Ten Commandments?
"Did you know that two huge oak doors at the entrance to the Supreme Court
courtroom have the Ten Commandments engraved on the lower portion of each door?
"Did you know that inside the courtroom, you can see, on the wall above
where the Supreme Court judges sit, a full display of the Ten Commandments?
"Did you know that various bible verses are etched in stone on federal
buildings and monuments all over Washington, DC?
"And, did you know that every full session of Congress begins with a prayer
that is offered by a preacher who has been paid a government salary to do so since 1777?"
Don’t feel bad if you didn’t know all of that. With the
growing federal court attacks against any display of religious ideas or symbols in public places, it really is a surprise
to many people.
==========================
Daniel L. Dreisbach, a Constitutional scholar and Professor of Justice,
Law and Society at the American University, gave a significant lecture at Hillsdale College in 2006. With today’s
increasing pressure to enforce the perceived concept of Constitutional separation of Church and State (which is a phrase found
nowhere in our Constitution), it is felt that at least some of the Professor’s words need to be read and remembered
once again.
"On New Year’s Day, in 1802, President Thomas Jefferson penned a
missive to the Baptist Association of Danbury, Connecticut. ... They (the Baptists) were drawn to Jefferson’s cause
because of his celebrated advocacy for religious liberty."
Jefferson wrote: "Believing with you that religion is a
matter which lies solely between Man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the
legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the
whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church and State."
And, as the Professor further noted, "Jefferson’s wall (that
‘separation of Church and State’) was constructed in the service of the free exercise of religion. Use of
the metaphor to restrict religious exercise — e.g., to disallow a citizen’s religious expression in the public
square — conflicts with the very principle Jefferson hoped his metaphor would advance."
Of course we can’t use common sense and apply the law as actually
originally intended, right? Or can we?
==========================
I thought California was just about the most dysfunctional state of all
time, but it would seem that Arizona has become a serious contender.
It isn’t enough that the poor state has enormous border problems
with Mexico. And it isn’t enough that there is practically a war between the federal government and the state,
as poor Arizona tries to defend itself.
And it isn’t enough that there has been so many scandals —
like that 14-year-old girl who was sold twice by a parent. (It evidently wasn’t illegal for a family to sell a
child in the state of Arizona.)
Now we are getting an earful and an eyeful of a rather colorful breakdown
in the little town of Quartzsite, Arizona (population approx. 3,800). As reported by Joe Kovacs for WND:
"A small town in Arizona is suddenly a YouTube sensation after a town
hall meeting devolved into a physical clash as a woman was forcibly removed from speaking during the public portion of the
event.
"Jenifer ‘Jade’ Jones, 45, of Quartzsite, Ariz., was taken
into custody by local police at the behest of Quartzsite Councilmembers, over the objections of the mayor, who pleaded with
officers not to remove the woman."
As further reported, "Jones ... who publishes the Desert Freedom
Press was addressing matters of taxation and meeting protocol. Some councilmembers interrupted Jones as she was addressing
the council and audience, ordering her to relinquish the microphone. ... Mayor Ed Foster came to the defense of Jones."
And then, as noted, "Jones was able to speak for a few moments
more, but councilmembers insisted police move in and subdue her. ... When Jones refused to give up the microphone, officers
forcibly removed her from the premises, and cited her for disorderly conduct. Jones suffered a torn ligament in her elbow
during the scuffle, and was transported to La Paz Regional Hospital."
It was also observed that, "Mayor
Foster, a retired Marine and former engineer for Wrigley Chewing Gum, is standing by Jones’ account, and says the town
council and the police department are filled with corruption.
" ‘He’s just an insane person, that chief of police,’
the mayor said of (Chief) Gilbert. ‘He’s a Nazi ... he’s completely out of control. He thinks
he’s running the town.’ "
On Sunday morning (July 10, 2011) Mayor Ed Foster issued a release
that said, in part: "Quartzsite is officially in a State of Emergency. According to most police, this would
indicate that normal law is suspended."
The Mayor’s statement also noted that, "The right to declare
a state of emergency is a state mandated right that is held only by the elected Mayor of a municipality."
Also mentioned, was some of the media confusion. "The AZ central
story makes no mention whatsoever of the Quartzsite 10 — ten police officers representing 80% of the police force —
who have accused the Chief of Police of criminal activity."
In conclusion he said, "I fully expect these people to continue
their illegal activities in the wake of the national media attention they are now receiving. We will continue to expose
these acts and report their illegal meetings, demanding accountability and an independent audit of the financial records to
determine the extent of the crimes committed in Quartzsite."
Wow!
==========================
The battle in Quartzsite, Arizona goes on and on. And as reported
by Gary Hunt’s Outpost of Freedom, "An on again, off again, meeting
was held in Quartzsite, Arizona, on Tuesday, July 12, 2011 at 10:00AM. ... The Mayor declared that the meeting was illegal,
since it was scheduled during the illegal meeting of Sunday, and is not being held at the normal 7:00 PM meeting time, as
stipulated in Town Code.
"He further stated that Arizona Revised Statutes requires that ‘
all persons shall be allowed to attend public meetings,’ after pointing out that there were a number of people outside,
who had not been allowed entry to the meeting."
It was also observed, "The council, absent the mayor, continued
the meeting with Vice Mayor Barbara Cowell presiding over the meeting."
As we move on, July 20 brings us transmissions from Joe Kovacs (WND)
who tells us, "The state of Arizona is now investigating allegations of massive corruption among government officials in Quartzsite,
Ariz." and it is further reported that, " ‘I’m no longer getting paid as mayor,’ said Ed Foster, the
elected head of Quartzsite. ‘That’s not a big deal, but it’s in the town code that I get a stipend of $400.
If they made a decision to withdraw my stipend, they have to do it in public, so just the decision to do it in private
is another violation of the open-meeting law.’ "
Another WND report says additionally that, "The mayor also says the vast majority of officers on the town’s small police force are in the process
of being let go merely because they don’t support the actions of Chief Gilbert. ‘They’re being fired,’
he said. ‘They took their police reports to the U.S. Attorney’s office to file a formal complaint about
this today.’
"The town has not actually fired them yet, but has placed nine officers
on ‘paid, administrative leave until such time that you are told otherwise or until your employment is terminated,’
according to a letter it delivered to the officers today."
It is further noted that, "The letter also says it constitutes a direct
order not to discuss the matter with anyone outside the investigation." Well, I guess that’s one way to try
to button things down and cover over the whole mess, at least for a little while.
==========================
Other towns and cities in Arizona have had all sorts of problems over the
years, as have so many places all over America. It hasn’t been easy and it isn’t getting any better.
And yes, of course there are good things happening out there. But
this work is an accounting of the many problems of the Obama era, with historic references to past eras as well. It’s
problems that we have got to face up to and deal with. Wouldn’t you agree?
So, for now, let’s conclude this series of observations about current
breakdowns, with the immediate example at hand, and look back a bit and see the long-term nature of such issues.
This writer recalls serious dysfunctions in the civil courts of the Phoenix
area, going back several years, where a friend had to become a fugitive. The judge there awarded his wife more
than his total assets, in the conclusion of the divorce action. And no, there were no extenuating circumstances.
He had also never beaten her. And they were only married for a few years. And they had no children.
Then, after the judge’s verdict was given, the judge and the plaintiff
went out and celebrated. How nice for them. And yes, there are plenty more examples of such judicial irresponsibilities.
You may be aware of the beautiful, scenic community of Sedona, Arizona.
What you are probably not aware of is the irresponsible "frontier justice" that has been known to occur in that setting.
One example, of just a few years back, is of an extortionist and manipulator
type personality who confronted various hapless souls with all sorts of confrontations and trumped-up charges, which he hoped
would be to his financial gain.
There actually are a number of predators like that out there who have learned
how to "game" the system. The more sophisticated enforcement, prosecutory and judiciary elements are often aware of
such people and don’t let them get away with such irresponsible behavior.
These elements of law in the Sedona area seem to have been (and evidently
remain) completely ignorant with regard to such problems. And therefore, as you might imagine, this has ended up causing
substantial harm to those who have had the misfortune to become victims of this sort of Sedona "frontier justice."
The issuance of an arrest warrant because the authorities had the wrong
address, ignoring the "set-up" that was initiated by the complainant, an early trial error and dismissal and reinitiating,
a postponement because of a sick judge but an automatic guilty verdict when the hapless defendant was ill and had an excuse
from a physician, and uncountable additional "kangaroo court" operations — all of this and more has done considerable
damage to the innocent.
And who did all of this? Yes, it was the local police investigators,
the Sedona City Attorney, the various judges and some of the most incompetent attorneys known to man. Yes, that town
has a lot to be ashamed of, as do so many other towns and cities throughout the American legal system. It is one damn
mess to be sure.
==========================
The comments, the activities, and the unfortunate results keep piling up
from the left. One of the many unsettling Obama quotes that we see coming up again and again: "It’s tempting
to bypass Congress and change the rules on my own." And his Executive Orders are proving to be a clear attempt to
do just that.
Another thing that Obama still wants is some kind of National Civilian Community
Corps. The original attempt from his "Give Act" proposed that, "The Director determines appropriate uniforms. Membership
will be mandatory. Units to be assigned to campuses..."
As Obama stated, "We cannot continue to rely on our military in
order to achieve the national security objectives we’ve set. We’ve got to have a Civilian National Security
Force that is just as powerful, just as strong, just as well funded."
That sounds disquietingly like the words of Adolph Hitler as he set up
the "Brown Shirts" and Hitler Youth programs. (Thank you Anna Dewey for refreshing our memories.)
One of the many glaring results of our left-leaning policies is the end
of our manned space transportation system. Our space shuttle is no more. Our scientists are being fired.
And, as headlines point to the growing shortage of young scientists,
The Washington Times gives us this Rep. Roscoe Bartlett quote: "I watch the White House and the people they invite
there and slobber all over. They’re not academic achievers. They’re athletes and entertainers."
Thus we see the stuff that national declines and falls are made of.
==========================
New and highly irresponsible government healthcare decisions and actions
aren’t restricted to ObamaCare alone. We have found these aberrations leaking into just about every area of federal
tomfoolery.
One of the newest Federal Drug Administration (FDA) declarations serves
as a sterling example. It is reported here from TheNewAmerican.com:
"Because Diamond Foods made truthful claims about the health benefits
of consuming walnuts that the FDA didn’t approve, it sent the company a letter declaring ‘Your walnut products
are drugs’ — and ‘new drugs’ at that — and, therefore, ‘they may not legally be marketed
... in the United States without an approved new drug application.’ The agency even threatened Diamond with ‘seizure’
if it failed to comply."
You think that’s crazy? You should read this next one by Drew
Zahn from World Net Daily. It’s about an application for coverage and funding under Medicaid. It part it goes
as follows:
"Undercover citizen Journalist James O’Keefe is at it again, this
time capturing on video an Ohio government worker helping a ‘drug dealer’ commit Medicaid fraud.
"Posing as Russian drug smugglers who drive an exotic $800,000 sports car
and hire out their underage sister as a prostitute, O’Keefe’s operatives reportedly applied for Medicaid assistance
for their father with the Franklin County Department of Job and Family Services, where government employee Traci Daniels told
the applicants to omit listing their expensive car as an asset and report their line of work as ‘babysitting.’
"
These examples seem totally unbelievable, but they are all too real.
This writer has seen the FDA letter. This writer has seen the O’Keefe video. It’s all part of the process
we go through to authenticate the reports we receive.
Yes, it is all too real and it is the way things are now done in much of
our new government’s operations, on all levels. You have been forewarned.
==========================
The nasty attacks, the falsehoods, the voting corruptions, and all the
rest are coming out in full force for the 2012 election. You’ve read our accounting of this sort of thing in this
past mid-term election period, right?
Also, you’re aware of the questionable legality of a big part of
the Hispanic registration and voting in the Los Angeles area? You know about the S.E.I.U. control of the election machinery
in Nevada? Well, here we go again. Consider all of that and so much more for the upcoming presidential election.
From a letter by a new Congressman (who has the audacity to be a
conservative Black — Allen West): "Before I was in office even 30 days, the liberal Democrat machine launched negative
radio ads, phone calls, and web ads against me."
And, Newsmax magazine reports, "Dead people can’t cast votes?
Well, they’re not supposed to — but they are donating many thousands of dollars every year to political campaigns.
In some cases, the donations may be illegal. (Do you think?)
"The dearly departed have donated more than $540,000 to political
causes over the past eight years, according to a Congressional Quarterly MoneyLine report." (This was reported some
time ago, and our sources suggest it is still going on hard and strong today.)
And currently Jim Kouri reports in the Law Enforcement Examiner,
"One of President Barack Obama’s favorite organizations, La Raza — The Race — has teamed up with a federal
agency to promote on of the administration’s many government cash giveaways with Spanish ads encouraging Latinos —
including legal and illegal immigrants — to apply for U.S. taxpayer dollars to pay for housing."
It is our understanding that this minority will be made very much aware
of the political source of such funds. And the timing couldn’t be better for the coming election.
And the WSJ is reporting that, "Democrats in California appear
set to gain more power in new maps of the state’s electoral districts finalized Friday, raising the hackles of Republicans
and reflecting the Golden State’s leftward shift."
With all of this and so much more, the only question remaining is whether
or not truly honest elections are a thing of the past in today’s America.
==========================
While we’re on the subject of ethical behavior, perhaps we should
review some of the other behavioral disappointments. (And, we might add, at least some are being examined more closely,
thanks to a new majority in at least one of the legislative bodies of Congress.)
As reported by Jerry Seper in The Washington Times, "A coalition
of reform groups wants the House Committee on Ethics to resume its work on the long-pending investigation of Rep. Maxine Waters
and provide a public accounting of the status of the case against the California Democrat."
And, as reported by Joel Millman in The Wall Street Journal, "Democratic
U.S. Rep. David Wu faced calls for his resignation from some in his party after the state’s largest newspaper (The Oregonian)
published reports ... of an alleged unwanted advance in November by Mr. Wu toward a young California woman, the daughter of
a longtime Wu supporter."
And Judicial Watch has announced the list of the "Ten Most Wanted Corrupt
Politicians for 2009." (Judicial Watch is a very credible public interest group that investigates government corruption.)
The names on that list are:
1. Senator Christopher Dodd.
2. Senator John Ensign.
3. Rep. Barney Frank.
4. Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geitner.
5. Attorney General Eric Holder.
6. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr.
7. President Barack Obama.
8. Rep. Nancy Pelosi.
9. Rep. John Murtha.
10. Rep. Charles Rangel.
The uncomfortable details on each of these individuals are very long —
too much for us here. But you are invited to get in touch with the Judicial Watch organization for all the information.
Check it out for yourself. I did.
Oh, and possibly it should also be noted that the vast majority on the
list just happen to be Democrats. Just a coincidence, of course.
==========================
On the educational front, a California bill to teach "gay" history was
passed into law. The rest of American history remains at its usual deficient level.
And USA Today reports from Georgia that, "Special state investigators
have uncovered a decade of organized, systematic cheating in the Atlantic School District by scores of educators, including
38 principals, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports."
And WSJ reports, "The results of the latest National Assessment
of Educational Progress, commonly known as the Nation’s Report Card, revealed that U.S. students were making little
progress in their understanding of geography and how people change, and are changed by their natural environment."
They might have considered adding how the kids are changed by the unnatural
environment of today’s "liberal" learning environment. Growing numbers of folks are beginning to wonder if that
might be one of the reasons why our educational systems are failing us.
How did such an environment come about? Dinesh D’Souza observed
(at the University of Texas Law School): "There’s something in the liberal temperament that attracts liberals
to academia. Intelligent conservatives do other things." That’s right. They tend to build a country,
not teach an agenda.
Something to think about?
==========================
Other things for the Ayatollahs of academia to think about: As reported
in WSJ — "Evidence from Florida and Texas, where preferences were temporarily abolished by court order, confirms
that Asian-Americans are systematically kept out of college in favor of less qualified applicants benefitting from government-sanctioned
racial discrimination."
And, we read about several hundred teachers in Washington DC schools
who were finally dismissed for poor performance. And the paper also tells us, "As more students question rising college
costs, professors defend useless research and their lack of teaching."
And the problems go on and on. It is now being suggested that such
levels of turmoil and failure will continue until fundamental changes are made in how teachers learn to teach and learn why
they have no right to indoctrinate their captive audience. Lots of luck on that one.
==========================
It would seem that in just about every area of endeavor that they can get
involved with, Holder and his Justice Department are hell-bent to block the function of justice in America. This is
also now true with regard to the botched gun-smuggling probe as well.
As reported in The Washington Times, "The Justice Department blocked
senior ATF leaders from cooperating with Congress in its investigation of the ‘Fast and Furious’ weapons operation,
ordering them not to respond to questions and taking full control of replying to briefing and document requests, the agency’s
top boss (Kenneth E. Melson) told congressional investigators."
With this, added to all the rest, wouldn’t it seem that Eric Holder
is involved with what so many are now saying is criminal behavior? Is nothing to be done about this?
From the little bit that has been learned, it would seem they are unable
to account for more than 1,000 firearms. That’s what a new congressional report shows. Is this the way things
are going to be?
==========================
In other areas — in areas of security and defense, we find
(courtesy of The Washington Times): "A forthcoming study by the Pentagon’s Defense Science Board concludes
that an Obama administration plan to shoot down long-range Iranian missiles shortly after launch will not work. Portions
of the classified study were disclosed recently during a hearing of the Senate Appropriations defense sub-committee by Sen.
Richard C. Shelby."
It would seem the Administration is equally adept in many other areas
as well, including (as noted by the same publication): "Top-secret government clearance checks were falsified. ...
Overall, court records reviewed by The Washington Times show at least 170 confirmed falsifications of interviews or record
checks and more than 1,000 others that couldn’t be verified. The background investigators, whose work helps
determine who gets top-secret security clearance, were submitting forms saying they conducted interviews or verified official
documents when they never did."
Oh, but our security is hard at work, right? As reported by Bob Unruh
through WND, "The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has begun watching
a blog posted by a Christian who was forced to flee Brazil because of the conflict between that nation’s pro-homosexual
... agenda and his advocacy for traditional marriage.
"Exactly why the U.S. government, which several times has linked Christians
and conservatives with terrorism, is watching Julio Severo’s unabashedly Christian ‘Last Days Watchman’
blog isn’t clear."
You might also find this American Enterprise Institute report to
be of interest: "The United States military, which has acted as the world’s security team for decades, is destined
to become a ‘hollow force’ with fewer personnel and weapons systems, slowed modernization and reduced readiness
under President Obama’s strategy, an analysis is predicting, according to a report from Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin."
So goes the crumbling American empire in its latter days.
==========================
The WSJ headlines from the Middle East (otherwise known as the "Muddled
East"): "Iran Funnels New Weapons To Iraq and Afghanistan," "U.S. Halts Some Aid To Pakistan For Military,"
"U.S. Recognizes Libyan Rebel Group," "Syrian Protesters Attacked," "China Reports Clash in Muslim Area,"
"Syria Warns Diplomats Not to Leave Damascus," and "U.S. Sees Iranian, al Qaeda Alliance."
My God. I certainly hope that last headline is a complete error.
But is seems like it may not be.
==========================
Israel Today magazine says, "U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
announced the Obama administration’s desire to reestablish ties with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood
responded by thanking Clinton, and issuing its first demand of its new American friends: drop support for the ‘Zionist
regime.’ "
Another interesting article, this time from The Washington Times,
includes the following revelation: "Much of Iran’s (atomic) program, including the design of its uranium hexaflouride
facility and the reactor used in its Arak heavy water facility to produce plutonium, can be traced to cooperation in the 1990s
with China and Russia."
The deceptions and the dangers are never ending.
==========================
You may be aware, not so long ago, when we revealed the major push, much
of it funded by Soros, to get Fox in any way that they could manage to do it. Well, it’s been happening, just as we
predicted.
You’ve been hearing the disparaging remarks from the left-wing
media. And, as WND reports, "Despite public statements that Fox News, which often has reported criticisms of President
Obama, was granted the same access as other networks, the emails Judicial Watch obtained ‘provided evidence that FNC
was specifically singled out for exclusion.’ "
One such email, from Jennifer Psoki, the White House Communications
Director, went so far as to say, "We’ve demonstrated our willingness and ability to exclude Fox News."
And, as reported by The Law Enforcement Examiner, "Documents obtained
from the Obama Treasury Department reveal that the Obama administration — contrary to its repeated denials — attempted
to exclude the top-rated Fox News Channel (FNC) reporter or news anchors from having access to Treasury’s ‘Executive
Pay Czar’ Kenneth Feinberg during his availability for a series of interviews with broadcast news organizations."
In other areas of the attack, agenda-driven investigators fanned out all
over the world, looking for any mistake that anyone might have ever made in that rather large organization that Fox is a part
of. Of course, with human imperfection what it is, they knew that eventually they would find someone or something that
wasn’t always operating as things should be.
They finally found there had been outsiders hired to intercept cell phone
voice-mails of various news-makers. Needless to say the Chairman and Chief Executive Rupert Murdock was not at all happy
about what had been done and went after the culprits full-tilt.
His News Corporation, which owns Fox News, also owns The News of The World
in the UK where the breach in proper procedure had occurred. The left smelled blood and went after him and his company
in a big way.
Finally, not at all happy with what he found, Murdock closed the paper
down, permanently. It once was the world’s largest newspaper. Now it is no more.
But the left is still out there, pushing with all it’s might.
They’ll take any opportunity they can find to run the News Corp. and Fox into the ground if they can — as they
tried to do when Rupert Murdock testified before a parliamentary committee and was attacked by someone who sprung from the
audience and tried to splatter him with some sort of foam-like substance.
With all of this, one wonders how there never was the generation of a similar
push against the Manchester Guardian or The New York Times when they used material from an outside source (WikiLeaks) that
put a number of people at risk for their lives. Interesting thought, yes?
==========================
As The Blaze reveals, "DEADLINE is reporting that Robert Redford
and Shia LaBeouf have been cast to star in the political thriller ‘The Company You Keep,’ based on the Neil Gordon
novel about the domestic terrorist group called the Weather Underground."
As The Blaze observes, "The producers may have already given a
peek at the politics behind the film." The producer, Nicolas Chartier, said this about the movie: "This is an
edge-of-your-seat thriller about real Americans who stood for their beliefs, thinking they were patriots and defending their
country’s ideals against their government."
Real Americans who stood for their beliefs? I thought they were making
bombs, setting them off in public locations and putting the lives of many innocent people in serious jeopardy.
Defending their country’s ideals? Is that the new definition
of a terrorist? It would seem that left-wing Redford and his Hollywood buddies are planning on giving that part of history
a makeover — a real whitewashing.
Does he think it could help Obama to offer a different background for some
of the questionable friends of his past? I don’t know, but they’re at it again, for whatever reason —
rewriting history as best they can.
==========================
This was the month when yet another deranged killer went on the rampage.
Anders Behring Breivik set off bombs and conducted a mass shooting that killed at least 76 fellow Norwegians in his
native land. And almost immediately, voices on the left were raised in unison. "It must be part of a right-wing plot!"
And, by the end of this month we hear about yet another incident, this
time of great violence and death that was stopped before it could happen.
As reported by The Wall Street Journal: "Police in Killeen, Texas have arrested an AWOL soldier they believe was planning to attack military personnel
from Fort Hood, the U.S. Army base where an army psychiatrist went on a rampage in 2009.
"Pfc. Naser Jason Abdo, a 21-year-old infantryman who was facing a court
martial at Fort Campbell, Ky., was arrested at a motel..." This
time the left was relatively quiet due to his suspected connection to Arab and Islamic interests.
But most of the time you can count on the liberal elements to go crazy
with just about anything else that happens like this, if they think they might use it to tar the right. It’s what
they do.
It’s what we hear from the left almost anywhere and everywhere in
the world when something like this happens. And then it’s most often discovered that the vast majority
of such incidents are the work of someone on the left, or by someone who hates indiscriminately and/or has no strong political
connection in any single direction.
But the left never lets a little thing like an inconvenient truth get in
their way.
==========================
This writer will never understand why the left-media in America never seems
to understand what their "applied agenda" does to them and what it will really take to up their rating. Changing talking
heads or apologizing for irresponsible behavior isn’t the final answer.
There is but one thing I know that will improve their lot with regard to
audience numbers — just one thing. All they need to do is offer a full and balanced presentation with an emphasis on
truth. That’s all it takes.
The latest thrashing about for any other possible answer includes cutting
Eliot Spitzer from the main CNN evening lineup. Other changes are happening there as well but nobody is seeing what
is really needed.
On Comedy Central, Jon Stewart apologized after some very imprudent remarks
about Fox News viewers. Again, nobody is actually seeing what is really needed. Let’s face it, the viewers
have voted with their remotes and these guys still don’t seem to have a clue.
So be it.
==========================
The union-enabled Obama administration has created a monster. Unions
and their thugs are encouraged as never before to take over just about everything they can get their hands on and silence
that which they cannot. The Wall Street Journal has been chronicling their march to unprecedented power.
As documented by Andrew J. Cowin, "Late last month, the Connecticut think tank of which I am chairman was the subject of a bizarre complaint
filed by public-union leaders. Their gripe? That the Yankee Institute is critical of union practices and that
our founders share the same view.
"Since last year’s election, every statewide office is now held by
Democrats who support public unions. Possibly intoxicated by this success, public-union leaders filed this baseless complaint
with the state’s attorney general, in effect asking: Will no one rid us of this meddlesome think tank?"
Who will be next, The Wall Street Journal, my web site, and other efforts
to communicate the truth? And it’s even reaching for the skies above us. As additionally reported by WSJ,
"Americans may be wondering what this week’s partial shutdown
of the Federal Aviation Administration is all about, given that it doesn’t have anything to do with the debt ceiling.
"We wondered too, but mystery solved: Democrats have furloughed nearly
4,000 FAA employees and 70,000 workers at airport construction projects to preserve a White House indulgence for Big Labor."
As further noted, "Labor
organizations in those industries used to have to persuade a majority of employees to form an union, a standard that prevailed
since 1934. But in 2010, the National Mediation Board that governs these elections suddenly changed the rules.
"President Obama assisted this change by appointing to the board the president
of a pilot’s union and the former president of the Association of Flight Attendants. Now aviation and railway workers
who don’t vote in a union election are no longer counted as part of the overall work force from which unions must build
a majority. In effect, the board counts a nonexistent ballot as a pro-labor vote to organize."
The end result of all of this has ended up giving a partial shutdown
at the FAA and who knows how many more problems yet to come. It has been further noted that, "The FAA bill the House
passed earlier this year would have undone the mediation board’s about-face, but Democrats killed the provision in the
Senate."
And, "The House passed another stopgap — the 21st —
to prevent an FAA shutdown through September, with the labor imbroglio still unresolved. Senate Democrats rejected it."
Of course somehow all of this will be presented as somebody else’s
fault in the left-slanted media. Of course.
And finally, The National Right To Work Legal Defense Foundation asks in
an open letter: "As long as union bosses enjoy the special legal privilege
to seize dues from workers as a condition of employment, shouldn’t workers at least know where the money is going?
Not if you ask Big Labor and the Obama administration.
"One of the very first actions taken by Hilda Solis as President Barack
Obama’s Secretary of Labor was to stop critical reforms that would strengthen union-boss financial disclosure requirements."
Do we see a pattern here with all of this?
==========================
Land of the free? If you’ve been following our accounting,
you have seen how little is left right now and how endangered the remainder has become. Now let’s continue to expose
this decline.
As The Washington Times details, "When Mike and Chantell Sackett bought
a half-acre lot in the Priest Lake area of Idaho’s Panhandle, their plan was to build a home in which they could raise
a family.
"Four years later, there’s still no house on the lot. What the
Sacketts have built instead is a high-stakes legal challenge against the Environmental Protection Agency over its enforcement
of the Clean Water Act.
"After the Sacketts began grading the dirt lot in 2007, the EPA ordered
them to stop, saying that their parcel was in fact a federally designated wetland and that by filling it, they had violated
the Clean Water Act.
Given that the property was sandwiched between two houses in a residentially
zoned neighborhood, the Sacketts assumed they could go to the agency and clear up what they were sure was a mistake."
Their efforts were useless. And what on earth is all this "wetlands"
business about? This writer has seen a good picture of the lot and its surrounding area. It’s elevated,
barren, and totally different from any sort of "wetlands." The government, as usual, is making no sense whatsoever.
And the examples of this sort of thing keep multiplying — endlessly.
==========================
Other examples of our growing oppression can be seen in increasing numbers
of towns across the nation. A sampling, by Jon Christian Ryter, includes the following:
"The City Council of Gould, Arkansas recently enacted an ordinance that
forbids residents of the city from meeting and organizing groups without approval of the city council. Abrogating citizen
rights in cities with liberals in charge of the governments appears to be growing."
Another Ryter example: "In June, 2011, Cedar Rapids, Iowa enacted
Ordinance 2740 that violates the 4th Amendment. The ordinance forces all commercial property owners to put lock boxes
(which can be easily broken open) on their business establishments that will give city officials unfettered access to those
businesses 24-7."
We could list a dozen more like these examples. But I’m sure
you are getting the picture.
So, what does all this mean? It would most certainly suggest that
our original constitutional form of government is in serious jeopardy.
Not surprising, a Time magazine cover and associated story featured a shredding
U.S. Constitution this month, along with the question that asks if this historic document still matters.
As The Daily Caller reported, "On MSNBC, ‘Morning Joe,’
Time magazine editor Richard Stengel presented the cover of his July 4 issue, which features the U.S. Constitution going through
a paper shredder and asks if the document still matters. According to Stengel, it does, but not as much anymore."
So it would seem.
==========================
The destruction of our founding documents and the freedoms that they represent
are not events limited to this particular time in our history. The inclination of some individuals and groups to undue
the best of any period in any nation’s history has always been there, like a dark cloud in an otherwise blue sky. It’s
an ever-active example of a very unfortunate human failing.
This has been true for America as well. And, as with so many other
civilizations, there will almost always come a time when the darker forces among us gain far too much ground and create considerable
havoc with all that we love. Unfortunately for us all, we are living in such a time.
By way of example, in 2005 The Supreme Court officially sanctioned the
rather extensive property theft that had been growing throughout our nation for some time. It’s that infamous
use of eminent domain to force the sale of private property to other private interests that local governments feel might generate
a greater tax revenue.
It flies against one of the most basic cornerstones of our Constitutional
freedoms. And this loss has not gone unnoticed. Folks have risen up against this blasphemy and states have passed
laws to protect property owners from these obvious abuses of eminent domain.
It is mentioned here and now because it is a battle being waged right now,
along with so many other battles to try and regain what has been lost — what we find on that growing list of forfeited
freedoms.
Something to think about.
==========================
You thought that ACORN (an old haunt of our President Obama) had been cracked
open and put out of its misery — or maybe I should say out of our misery, right? Not in this life.
The investigative reporting by Judicial Watch has revealed, "ACORN employees have been nailed, and time and again, for fraudulently registering voters —
including Mickey Mouse and the Dallas Cowboys football team — allegedly for the purpose of sweeping Democrats into office.
"They were caught on tape advising undercover reporters on how to evade
tax, immigration, and child prostitution laws. They were unceremoniously kicked off a U.S. Census Bureau program as
a result of a Judicial Watch investigation. And ultimately, the organization was officially cut off from federal funds
by Congress and (supposedly by) President Obama."
The revelation continues: "So why is ACORN still receiving
taxpayer dollars in defiance of the funding ban?" As revealed, "Judicial Watch investigators recently discovered
that the Obama Department of Housing and Urban Development [HUD] has issued a $79,819 grant to the Affordable Housing Centers
of America — an offshoot of ACORN — in apparent violation of the ACORN funding ban passed by Congress and signed
into law."
Is anybody ever going to be seriously held responsible for this?
Of course not.
==========================
There’s been a lot of talk this month about raising taxes —
at least from the Obama side of the debate. So possibly we might want to take a look and see just how many taxes we have
to deal with these days.
Let me see, to name a few, there is an Accounts Receivable Tax, a Building
Permit Tax, a CDL license Tax, a Cigarette Tax, a Corporate Income Tax, a Dog License Tax, a Federal Income Tax, a Federal
Unemployment Tax, a Fishing License Tax, a Food License Tax, a Fuel Permit Tax, a Gasoline Tax, and an Inventory Tax.
Is that enough for you? No? Well then, how about an IRS Interest
Penalty Tax, a Liquor Tax, a Marriage License Tax, a Medicare Tax, a Property Tax, a Service Charge Tax, a Social Security
Tax, a Sales Tax, a Recreational Vehicle Tax, a School Tax, a State Income Tax, a State Unemployment Tax, and a Telephone
Federal Excise Tax.
Does that do it for you? If not, then also consider a Telephone Federal
and State and Local Surcharge Tax, a Utilities Tax, a Vehicle License Registration Tax, and a Workers Compensation Tax.
Shall I go on? I’d rather not. By now just about everybody
knows what sort of oppression this represents. One last thought, however — did you know that a hundred years ago
not a single one of these taxes existed and somehow we managed to be the most prosperous nation on earth?
I wonder why?
==========================
Of the latest news related to the Internet there is the growing awareness
that online learning is gaining everywhere. This means fewer teachers needed per student, which means less power for
the teachers union and lower cost for the student.
On another matter, with Al Gore still trying to impress people wherever
he can, perhaps we should remind folks of a bit of history. You may recall that Mr. Gore had claimed many things, including
that he had invented the Internet. This statement of his received plenty of press, as you may remember.
We would like to quote this relevant information from Newsmax magazine:
"The Internet came into being because of the genius work of Dr. Robert
E. Kahn and Dr. Vinton G. Cerf.
These men, while working for the Department of Defense in the Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency in the early 1970s, conceived, designed, and implemented the idea of ‘open-architecture networking.’
This breakthrough in connectivity gave birth to the Internet."
An inconvenient truth for Mr. Gore and his star-eyed supporters.
It might also be mentioned that this writer was a part of early computing
and was personally aware of this information and Mr. Gore’s boldface lie. Just thought you’d like to know.
And on yet another matter, as reported by WorldNetDaily, "An elite team
of computer technicians, assembled by the Obama administration to protect Pentagon networkers from cyberattack, shockingly
includes a former Clinton official who ‘lost’ thousands of archived emails under subpoena and who more recently
left the Department of Homeland Security under an ethical cloud related to her qualifications." Her name is Laura
Callahan.
Here we go again.
Still A Long Way To Go
August, 2011. So, now we have a
debt ceiling deal. It most certainly is not what most Americans wanted (as we all have learned), because it raises
the debt ceiling once again, and it offers very little in the way of much needed financial reform (as we all have also heard).
And now even a number of the more apologetic economists are admitting that the "...deal is seen as mild drag on economy."
(WSJ)
And others, like Congressman Paul Ryan (Chairman of the House Budget
Committee) is asking, "Where’s your budget, Mr. President?" And he further adds (as reported in the Wall
Street Journal) that "Democrats have abandoned credible spending plans."
And, in The Washington Times, Michelle Malkin tells us "...it’s
back to big government spending as usual," as she notes that, "The American age of austerity lasted approximately three
minutes, give or take a nanosecond. Immediately after the Senate approved the bipartisan ‘Budget Control Act of 2011'
on August 2, President Obama hustled over to the Rose Garden to crow about the renewed opportunity to make ‘key investments.’
" Nobody has any doubt as to what that means.
Other activities, as detailed in The Wall Street Journal by Nick
Timiraos, includes the disturbing news that, "The Obama administration will announce plans to seek investors’ ideas
for turning thousands of foreclosed properties owned by government-backed entities into rental homes, according to administration
officials."
Sound like a good idea? And what might we expect to happen with such
properties being off the market in the already severely depressed real estate area of our economy?
In other areas of governmental interference we find such things as subsidized
housing (under Section-8 rental subsidies) causing noticeable harm to formerly stable neighborhoods. And now, under
Obama, the situation has plummeted into chaos.
That’s what we find after a four-year investigation by a number of
reporting agencies, including the Indianapolis Housing Authority, the Chicago Housing Authority, the Northern Illinois University
Center for Governmental Studies, federal Housing and Urban Development report, and an endless number of other agencies and
reports.
And what are they telling us? — That the areas involved with such
subsidized housing are almost always involved with extensive increases in crime. And it’s destroying the property values
and it’s destroying lives and it’s costing us all a fortune. Well, of course. What else would you
have expected?
Want to know how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac played their roll in this endless
mess? We recommend the book, "Reckless Endangerment" by Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner. It’s truly
an eye-opener of epic proportions.
And how have those bank bailouts been working? As Holman W. Jenkins,
Jr. reports in the WSJ Business World, "Banks like Bank of America are creatures of the safety net. They wouldn’t
exist without it. ... After the Countrywide deal began to sour, according to an FCIC investigator, a B of A official even
reproached the Fed for approving the deal and then not doing more to support it with regulatory favors."
The bailouts and favors already given were not enough? I guess not.
==========================
As we move along, we see that Exxon has made a truly gigantic oil discovery
in the Gulf of Mexico. So what’s happened? Our federal government has taken the action to delay or possibly
deny the exploitation rights. Naturally — we can’t have us becoming independent from Arab oil, now can we?
This month also sees the Obama Labor Board backing the unions in every
way possible, even with requirements that will force businesses to put up union posters. The dictatorship is firming
up.
And then there’s that San Francisco Chinatown subway project (at
$1.6 billion for just 1.7 miles). As the WSJ put it, "The subway is a case study in government incompetence and wasted
taxpayer money." You were expecting something else?
The problem seems universal. All over the nation we can see this
sort of financial irresponsibility. You can go all the way to Central Fall, Rhode Island where the city has had to file
for bankruptcy, or go back out to California again and you find that the state’s lack of proper funding has jammed up
the state courts.
You can also go into orbit and find that because Obama has ended our shuttle
program (along with just about everything else) the International Space Station may have to be terminated. That’s
what they’re talking about now.
Isn’t that nice? We’ve done such a good job of mucking
everything up, haven’t we?
==========================
So how is our tainted financial pedigree doing now? Not so well,
it would seem. As Reuters reports "A downgrade of United States’ top-tier credit rating has Wall Street scrambling
to figure out the knock-out effects for the financial system, from mortgages to banks to markets that rely on U.S. Treasuries
for collateral."
And near the beginning of the month, Standard & Poor’s
managing director John Chambers said, "There is a 1-in-3 chance of a further U.S. credit rating downgrade over the next
six months to two years."
And Karl Rove reports on Fox News that the percentage of GDP that represents
our public debt was 40% at the beginning of 2009, 62% by 2010 and now is 72% in 2011. Remember, those figures are not
just a bunch of random numbers, they represent the real world — like it or not.
Want to know what else has been going on? As reported in The
Wall Street Journal, "An employee at the Securities and Exchange Commission has accused the regulatory agency of destroying
at least 9,000 documents relating to inquiries of Wall Street banks and hedge funds."
And, as Paul Krugman reports, an "Audit of the Federal Reserve reveals
$16 trillion in secret bailouts." And as the days go by the mess just doesn’t get any better.
==========================
Well, with all the other nonsense going on, we’re still going to
apply a reasonable amount of austerity to government operations, right? Wrong! The facts and figures show us that
spending on the federal level is expected to actually reach a record high this year.
Why is that so and how can we change this situations? William Lajeunesse,
Fox News and The Patriot Action Network all posted the following: "With
America still drowning in debt, critics in and outside of Congress say it’s time to reassess U.S. foreign aid —
especially to China.
" ‘We started looking at the contracts and it was rather amazing
that the number one recipient of these taxpayer dollars were Chinese-state owned corporations,’ said Sen. Jim Webb,
referring to $320 million dollars worth of U.S. government contracts let to China. ‘I think we can take a good
hard look where we’re giving foreign aid.’ "
No. You think? In fact, why are we the nation giving foreign aid to
anyone at this time? — a time when we are so much in need and so deeply in debt.
Conservative Byte reflected the public sentiment that, "President Obama
said the U.S. lost its AAA credit rating because analysts ‘doubted our political system’s ability to act,’
" And who’s political ability do you think it is that cannot respond appropriately?
We all recall how Obama took no advice from his own deficit commission
(and now we have a "super committee" to do the whole thing all over again). And, of course, Obama lurches forward with
endless new restrictions, bureaucratic detailing, and other impediments to our recovery, which even include a new Dept. of
Transportation proposal that all of our farmers must now acquire commercial drivers licenses in order to continue functioning.
As if the myriad of restrictions and misdirections weren’t enough
now Obama’s Justice Department is joining hands with the SEC to investigate Standard & Poor’s for daring to
issue its downgrade rating.
It’s an almost unbelievable chain of events that will join so many
other historic nightmares to become a part of a most shameful period of our American history. You can be sure that future
generations will long note this infamy.
==========================
So, with all of this, what were the economic headlines for this month?
Consider the following: "Washington’s Haggling Left Wall Street Dangling; Factories Slow Pace As Orders Contract;
Stocks Nose-Dive Amid Global Fears; Central Banks Join Rush to Gold; A Wild Ride for Financial Markets; Markets
Brace for Downgrade’s Toll."
And it continued on with: "Downgrade Ignites a Global Selloff;
Dollar Pounded on U.S. Outlook; Higher Food Prices on Way; Trade Gap Widens as Exports Slide; I nflation Jump
Undercuts Growth Prospects; Economy Sinks Markets."
And, as the month labors on: "Soft Economic Data Saps Dollar;
Forecast Clouds Debt-Cut Outlook; Job Market Still Looks Weak; Central Bankers Worry Economy Still in Peril;
Economy Deeply Divides Fed." We are coming to realize a most frightening scenario.
All of these headlines, in chronological order for the month, are from
The Wall Street Journal, a very dependable source for accurate information.
==========================
What does America think about what’s been happening to our country?
Well, a Gallup Poll this month shows us that 11% are satisfied, 88% are dissatisfied and 1% have no opinion. And
a Rasmussen poll this month shows us that 14% think we’re going in the right direction and 79% believe we are going
in the wrong direction.
And from Reuters: "Economic fears are weighing heavily on Americans,
with a large majority saying the United States is on the wrong track and nearly half believing the worst is yet to come, a
Reuters/psos poll said."
And in addition to the business leaders we have already quoted, we
could add Howard Schultz, Starbucks CEO, with his comment, as quoted by the Bloomberg News: "I am asking that all of us
forego political contributions until the Congress and the President return to Washington and deliver a fiscally disciplined
long-term debt and deficit plan to the American people."
Also, Jack A. Ablin, the CFA of the Harris Private Bank has reported
that, "In an economy where spending begets profits and profits beget hiring, the train is off the rails. Profitable
firms simply aren’t hiring. Instead, corporate America is hoarding cash and using their liquidity to buy back shares,
raise dividends and acquire strategic partners, none of which directly adds to payrolls. Business owners and CEOs argue
that benefit costs, most notably health care, make hiring prohibitive."
Sorry folks. That’s the way it is.
==========================
The Wall Street Journal has reported that, "On his three-state tour in the Midwest this week, Mr. Obama repeatedly told audiences that the Korea,
Columbia and Panama free-trade deals would all be law by now if not for an obstructionist Congress. Passing the deals
is something Congress ‘could do right now,’ he said.
"Except that’s not true. Congress can’t pass the agreements
‘right now’ because it doesn’t have them. They are still sitting on the President’s desk." But what is most disturbing of all, that is only the latest in a long line of flat-out lies that
Obama has been feeding us for a long, long time.
So, what has the Administration been actually doing? As Ann
Coulter put it in the weekly Human Events newspaper, "Their plan is to keep spending, while blaming tax breaks for corporate
jets for the entire $14.3 trillion deficit. The Democrats will never suggest any cuts to a budget that has put the country
another $4 trillion in debt since Obama became President."
Miss Coulter further observes that, "...now Sen. Mitch McConnel
(R-Ky.) has checkmated the Democrats. He had proposed a bill that will allow Obama to raise the debt ceiling three times,
up to $2.4 trillion, over the next 18 months, but provide that only Obama proposes equivalent cuts in spending each time.
Finally, the Democrats will be forced to pony up spending cuts or default on the debt and crash the economy."
An interesting take. I know we will all be wanting very much to see
what happens next.
==========================
Is there anything we can do about this madness? Perhaps. The Washington
Examiner says that "Spending, not entitlements, created the huge deficit." That most certainly does suggest that reducing
the overblown size of government, to facilitate a following significant cut in spending — it would suggest such an action
might be an important start in the right direction.
Jason Clemens (in the WSJ) observed that, "While the U.S. remains
mired in debt and slogs through a subpar economic recovery, Canada is moving ahead steadily. Its unemployment rate peaked
at a little over 8.5% and is now 7.4% and there were no bank bailouts. Real GDP growth is expected to be roughly 3% this year."
And he further observed, "Fiscal reforms have shrunk debt and paved
the way for faster growth and less unemployment." Wouldn’t this suggest that serious fiscal reform here in
America could offer a positive impact? There are a number of us out here in the real world who think that’s not
an unreasonable assumption.
The leadership of the Federal Reserve, the IMF and the OECD, meeting in
Jackson Hole, Wyoming, generated a suggestion as well. As reported by Reuters, "While regulatory reform since the
2007-09 financial crisis has given added clout to government regulators, the concentration of power is likely to do more harm
than good unless the regulators themselves are subject to proper oversight, Brown University economist Ross Levine said in
a paper presented at the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank’s annual meeting here." — and shared with the leadership
of the Jackson Hole meeting.
Yes, responsible oversight is very important, wouldn’t you say?
A number of news stories have been reporting that many small-business owners
have made it very clear that they have a number of job openings they can’t fill. Why? Because they haven’t
been able to find the qualified people with the necessary skills.
And that’s where it stands. As Jane Blakemore reports in Newsmax
magazine, "A staggering 6.2 million of the 13.9 million Americans officially
out of work are ‘long-term unemployed,’ meaning they’ve been unable to find work for at least half a year.
"According to the Labor Bureau, at least 1.4 million Americans have been
out of work for more than two years. The real number of folks suffering chronic joblessness, of course, is much higher.
"As soon as people lose hope of finding a job again and stop looking, they
fall off the employment rolls. Some estimate that between 20 and 25 million Americans are underemployed or unemployed."
Perhaps a realistic approach to an actual solution might be to first have
the government publish the more truthful figures of actual unemployment, and then move toward a comprehensive, national
retraining program.
And, since our national finances are in such God-awful shape, why not consider
a big, national telethon? Get everyone to agree that whatever is raised by public donation, it would be matched by our
industrial and financial leaders and, in the same amount, by our federal government.
It wouldn’t completely solve the problem, but it would be a great
step in the right direction, don’t you think?
==========================
It seems that the endless tax problems are truly eternal. And we
see this in just about everything that’s happening out there.
One example, from Grassfire Nation: "The dirty debt deal ‘Super Committee’ has not even officially convened, yet these elite members are already
angling to use their super-legislative powers to raise your taxes.
"In a high-profile Op-Ed piece in The Wall Street Journal, three Democratic
members of the Super Committee (Senators Baucus, Murray and Kerry) sent a very strong and clear signal that they will be pressing
for tax increases to be included in the Super Committee’s conclusions."
Meanwhile, others are doing what they can to hawk a "value-added tax" (VAT)
without telling you how they would like to implement it. We are told they want to do it the way it was done in Europe.
That would mean an added tax structure, not a substitution for our income tax system. That’s the word that’s
going around about this scheme.
And what is this we are hearing about HR-4646? Isn’t that being
proposed as a 1% tax on all bank transactions? They’ve got to be kidding, right?
Of course some folks are able and willing to strike back, as in Wheatland
Township in Illinois. As reported in the WSJ: "...those gathered
in this Chicago suburb earlier this month weren’t facing off against impassive town officials.
"In a rare expression of direct democracy that invoked a 100-year-old state
law, all 200 people present got to vote, and resoundingly overturned Wheatland’s plan to build a new $1.5 million civic
office."
Interesting. Maybe direct democracy is a concept that might be worthy
of some consideration now and again.
==========================
We have seen how many criminals manage to walk away from serious crimes
— that there is no doubt in anyone’s mind they committed — often times due to judges’ bias, jury inadequacies,
very poor prosecution practices, or on various technicalities. And that doesn’t even account for the politicians
and many appointed officials who seem to be above the law.
So, now what about the innocent? How are they treated in today’s
court system? With some of them, not so well.
We see a federal system of asset seizure that, as noted in The Wall Street
Journal, is "Netting innocent with Guilty." And business is booming, thanks to our extremely flawed current Justice
Department.
And then there is this business of still finding so many poor souls who
were jailed for many years, and some even convicted of murder, only to find DNA evidence that shows they were totally innocent.
We have so many examples of how our justice system makes victims out of innocent people, it would take a big, thick book to
adequately cover only a few of the many heartbreaking stories.
But then, you’ve heard about and read about them from time to time,
haven’t you? Now, the question is, what are you or anyone else going to do about it? What are we going
to do about it?
==========================
And then there are the lawyers — God help us. I know, there does
seem to be a precious few who don’t charge an arm and a leg and try to really make a positive difference — too
few to be sure.
Two fellows wrote a book (Winston & Crandall) with a title that
they suggest might be part of the solution. (Title: "First Thing We Do, Let’s Deregulate All the Lawyers"). They
write that "Every industry that has been deregulated, from trucking to telephones, has lowered prices without sacrificing
quality."
However, this writer is inclined to see the organized steel grip that the
legal industry has on the public, as a very clear example of a true monopoly. You haven’t heard about that before?
I should think not. A very large percentage of politicians are also lawyers. Almost all judges were lawyers first,
as are prosecutors. And most of our media hasn’t really ever cared that much about such issues, one way or the
other.
And the lawyers know what’s going on — they’ve got what
they’ve got and you damn well better get used to it. Most will charge all they can. Let’s face it,
you might even get justice now and again,.... if you can afford it.
Let’s face it, the lawyers of America have a very exclusive ownership
and almost total control of that most valuable commodity known as the American civil and criminal legal system. And
you can’t break it up or have any say at all, with powerful citizen reviews, oversight controls or any other "outside"
process.
Yes, it most certainly is a monopoly. Anyone for a little antitrust
action here? Just try it and see how far you get.
==========================
Our Justice Department, various judges, and certain federal investigating
agencies seem to be working overtime these days. This month we offer the following chapters of the endless saga:
As Bob Unruh (WND) reports, "A federal judge who owes his lifetime appointment to Barack Obama today concluded that a pro-life organization whose
leaders criticized a politician for supporting Obamacare for funding abortions just might be guilty of defamation —
and possibly be worthy of jail time.
"The ruling comes from Judge Timothy S. Black in Cincinnati, who refused
to dismiss a case brought by former Democratic U.S. Rep. Steve Driehaus against the Susan B. Anthony List organization which
had criticized the congressman’s vote for Obamacare." How
can this happen and who will they be going after next?
The Justice Department (under Eric Holder) continues its journey into anarchy,
this time as reported by Fox News. "The Justice Department has
filed a lawsuit against Alabama’s new controversial immigration law, essentially fighting Alabama on grounds similar
to its legal battle with Arizona over that state’s controversial law.
"In both cases, the Justice Department argues that the states are overstepping
their authority by wading into something that is a strictly federal responsibility: Immigration enforcement." But what does a state do when the federal authority limits, and in some cases, abandons its responsibility
in such areas?
Does not then the responsibility fall on the states, since protection and
enforcement of the law are primary responsibilities that must not be allowed to be seriously diminished?
As you no doubt realize, the FBI is under the Justice Department, and the
Justice Department is headed by Eric Holder who, we observe, takes his orders from Obama. So one should not be too surprised
to find, "...the FBI and other agencies are asking managers of surplus stores to spy on their customers, watching whether
they pay in cash, make ‘extreme’ religious statements or purchase products such as waterproof matches." (General
news report and blog.)
Unbelievable? No, it’s just "big brother" watching you.
And I would imagine you have followed the Congressional hearing about
the gun-running fiasco that went so terribly wrong. Among other things, Eric Holder testified that he had "...heard
about it over the last few weeks."
This runs counter to Holder having bragged about such operations at a special
meeting in Mexico City some time ago, and the revelation that the White House had been fully informed in September of 2010.
It would seem that Mr. Holder has once again been found to be lying under oath during official testimony. So it would seem.
Human Events did an extensive cover story this month on Eric Holder.
The title was: "Enemy of The State." It was very serious and very detailed. Let’s hope you are not missing
such exposés.
The question is, what can be done about this.
==========================
Remember when Obama said we’ve all got to behave in a more civil
manner? That has certainly become the signature joke of the new Democratic political campaign. And there are so
many examples of this new civility. A few are as follows:
"Vice President Joe Biden joined Democrats in lashing ‘tea party
Republicans,’ accusing them of having ‘acted like terrorists’ in the fight over raising the nation’s
debt limit, according to several sources in the room.
"Biden was agreeing with a line of argument made by Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.)
at a two-hour, closed-door Democratic Caucus meeting. ‘We have negotiated with terrorists,’ an angry Doyle
said, according to sources in the room." (From: Politico)
And black Democratic Congressman Andre Carson checked in with his
rant: "Some of them in Congress right now of this Tea Party movement would love to see you and me hanging on a tree."
And a number of independent pundits have noted, when Obama and his people
(the liberal/progressive element) feel that someone or some group is found to be supporting one or more possible solutions
that they decide not to approve of, then it seems they are most often inclined to automatically announce that such individuals
or groups are the responsible parties for the original problem.
And, it might be added, getting them to realize the very serious, irresponsible
nature of this behavior is not unlike trying to get a drug addict to admit that he has a problem.
Another example of illogical and irresponsible reaction would be
when Obama wanted to set up the date of his next campaign speech — before Congress. As reported by the Associated Press:
"House Speaker John Boehner is asking President Barack Obama to give his major speech on jobs to a joint session of Congress
on Sept. 8 instead of Sept. 7 as requested by the president."
Of course Obama wanted it on Sept. 7, the same day and close to the exact
time that the next Republican Presidential Debate was scheduled. So, when the change to the following day was suggested,
a number of Democrats had a little sissy-fit.
What they didn’t want you to realize was what was further reported
by AP: "Boehner pointed out (in his reply) that a request requires House and Senate approval and that the House was not
scheduled to return to session until Sept. 7."
Obama either already knew that and didn’t care or neither he nor
his staff understood the time factor in such scheduling. Either way, it certainly seems like just one more ignorant
attempt to do whatever they want to do. Take your pick.
==========================
It’s been quite a revelation, especially for various behavioral scientists,
observing the stark differences between the speechmaker-Obama and the administrator-Obama.
We see the likable personality, sometimes referred to as that of a "snake-oil
salesman," when the programing of his speechwriters and his Teleprompters are in play. And, to avoid the usual slips,
gaffs and general uncertainties without such supports, these crutches are almost always in place now.
A good example of the extent of such programing would be with the
Patriot Action Network’s observation that, "President Obama required two heavy-duty Teleprompters during a three-minute
speech in which he nominated Alan Krueger to serve as chairman of his Council of Economic Advisers."
Bret Stephens wrote a thoughtful piece in The Wall Street Journal which
explored the presidential "limitations" in several areas. The work involves disturbing but accurate observations.
He quoted Obama, showing his notable ego, when the president said,
"I think I’m a better speech writer than my speech writers." And, "I know more about policies on any particular
issue than my policy directors. And I’ll tell you right now that I’m ... a better political director than
my political director."
Mr. Stephens then observed that, "Socrates taught that wisdom begins
in the recognition of how little we know." That’s a thought that we have come to realize would be totally
lost on Mr. Obama.
And, as further observed, "He makes predictions that prove false.
He makes promised he cannot honor. He raises expectations he cannot meet. ... He is absent from issues in which he has
a duty to be involved."
The final conclusion in the detailed essay was just about the only
one that could be imagined. It all seems to come down to, "A case study in stupid is as stupid does."
One of the many, many things that Obama seems not to have a clue about
is the Constitutionally defined division of responsibility in our federal government. (Or, maybe he does understand and just
wants to change it?)
It’s simple really. Congress is the division of our government
that is charged with the responsibility of passing laws. That does not mean our Presidency issuing executive orders
or having various department ruling made that are intended to stand as the equivalent of laws that were not intended or passed
by the Congress.
To do otherwise is to break the law! And we know what has happened
concerning this, don’t we?
On labor issues, Obama and his cohorts move forward as well — and
more aggressively than ever. As Eugene Scalia, a former solicitor of labor, wrote in The Wall Street Journal on the latest
package, "...a proposal of the National Labor Relations Board to enable
unions to force organizing elections with as little as 10 days’ notice.
"Critical issues governing the election — such as which employees
may vote — would be determined in a hearing just a week after the union petitions for a vote." After a full, critical analysis, Mr. Scalia concludes that, "A union election is a decisive
event in an employee’s life, and the new rules limit the information employees can get before voting."
When one looks at the larger pattern of all that has been happening, one
cannot escape the obvious. If all of these things continue, America can only be destined to discontinue.
==========================
We never seem to take the books of dictatorial ideologues very seriously.
Even Hitler’s book was not considered to be consequential, until it was too late. So, let us look at the two books of
a current ideologue and see what we find.
In Obama’s book, "Audacity of Hope," he writes of his attitude
toward whites. He says he harbors a "...coil of rage." And he also wrote, "I will stand with the Muslims
should the political winds shift in an ugly direction."
And from Obama’s book, "Dreams From My Father," he wrote, "I
ceased to advertise my mother’s race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating
myself to whites." And in the same book he also wrote, "I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance
and animosity against my mother’s race."
Can’t we ever learn from these people? Will Democrats, and
others, eternally reside in the fantasyland of denial? Is there no way that we can guide them back into the world of
reality?
I know, the real world can be exceptionally uncomfortable at times.
I know that it is often very hard to realize that one might have made a most serious error in judgement. Might it feel
not quite so bad for them if they were to realize that some of the greatest conservatives in America were once liberals? Yes,
including Ronald Reagan.
But they found sweet reason and emerged into the daylight of what is —
not some false dream of what never was. These are some of the thoughts of this writer. What are your thoughts?
==========================
The "left" (which is now in charge) has left a long and infamous legacy
of lie after lie, after lie. It seems to be the only way they can function.
Remember when Senator John Kerry was trying to impress us with his war
experience with his great Cambodian gunboat war stories? Witnesses finally came forward and we learned he was lying.
Remember when Al Gore told us about his sister’s lung cancer death
and about his invention of the Internet? Subsequent investigation showed us he was lying on both counts.
Remember when Bill Clinton said, "I have vivid and painful memories
of black churches being burned in my own state when I was a child." Historic records tell us he was lying.
And remember when Obama tried to show us how his Obamacare was so necessary
with the personal tale that, "I will never forget watching my own mother ... worrying about whether her insurer would claim
her illness was a pre-existing condition." We found that to be a lie as well. (Thanks, Dr. Milton R. Wolf
and The Washington Times for these interesting examples.)
Speaking of Obama, he seems to have outdone them all. As Human Events
shows us, "During the debate over raising the debt ceiling, President Obama said that 80% of Americans support including
higher taxes as part of the deal. But a Rasmussen poll taken the same week showed that only 34% believed a tax hike
should be included in a debt-ceiling agreement."
And, additionally, "Obama pledged during his campaign and throughout
his presidency not to raise taxes on families making less than $250,000. But Obamacare’s individual mandate will
hit many under the $250,000 mark."
And, "When Obama was selling his $787 billion stimulus package,
he consistently bragged about how shovel-ready construction jobs would be funded across the nation. Even the President
later admitted that was a lie, as he told the New York Times: ‘There’s no such thing as shovel-ready projects.’
"
And, "During the 2008 presidential campaign, Obama said: ‘We
have the chance to tell all those corporate lobbyists that the days of them setting the agenda in Washington are over. ...
I don’t take a dime of their money, and when I am President, they won’t find a job in my White House.’
At least a dozen former lobbyists got top jobs in his administration at the beginning of his presidency, according to Politico,
and National Public Radio reported the Obama administration was granting waivers to lobbyists to circumvent the ban."
And, "During the
battle over Arizona’s immigration law, President Obama said: ‘Now suddenly if you don’t have your papers
and you took your kid out to get ice cream, you can be harassed, that’s something that could potentially happen.’
Actually, Mr. President, it couldn’t. The law would allow law
enforcement officials to inquire about immigration status only when there is suspicion of a crime being committed."
And on and on the examples go. The dishonesty is not only massive,
it is catastrophic. Why do I say that? Because if we can no longer trust our government leadership we are lost.
Thank God so much of this is now coming to light. But can enough people
be reached and will they pay attention? Time will tell.
==========================
Now let’s look at this month’s Obama security picture.
According to Conservative Byte, "Infiltration of the federal government
by members of the radical Muslim Brotherhood is worse than some have warned recently, says a former FBI special agent in Washington.
"The agent confirmed that at least three operatives of the Egypt-based
Brotherhood — whose credo is ‘Jihad is our way and death in the cause of Allah is our dream’ — have
penetrated the Obama administration. The shocking charge was first leveled by Muslim reformer Tarek Fatah during a recent
speech in Toronto."
And The Washington Times informs us that, "A Pentagon program
to rush 21 helicopters to Afghan military forces in time for this summer’s fighting season was derailed by the Obama
administration’s conciliatory policy toward Russia ..."
And then the Daily Telegraph (UK) tells us that, "Secret talks
between the United States and the Taliban leadership have broken down after details of the negotiations were leaked."
And finally, an Atlas Shrugs posting reveals that, "The White
House’s published guest list for this year’s Ramadan Iftar dinner was much shorter than the previous years’
roster. It excluded the names of several controversial advocates who have attended the event in the past, including
some who The Daily Caller can confirm did attend."
So much for the direction and control of our nation — right at the
top.
==========================
If you’ve been seriously reading this rather detailed chronology
of Obamanations, you know this president’s specific directions, as seen through his actual choices and actions, and
by those he has brought into his administration and has otherwise taken on as allies.
It should be no surprise that now the Communist Party USA has officially
endorsed the reelection of Barack Obama. And, what is most important in this is not that he got such an endorsement,
but why he got it.
And that is where a serious examination of the past and current history
of this Obama saga gives you all that you will ever need to know to get a genuine understanding of this. Please do take
this very seriously and share this understanding with everyone you know.
Just remember, it may be a terrible time in our history, but it is something
that we can and must overcome. Unborn generations will be counting on you. The future of America is in your hands.
==========================
In almost every area, in most endeavors, the decomposition of our
nation continues. We have shown an endless parade of examples, even as new examples keep emerging. And, as it
all continues, we see (as reported in The Washington Times by Stephen Divan): "Bowing to pressure from pro-immigration
forces, the Obama administration said ... it will halt deportation proceedings on a case-by-case basis against illegal aliens
who meet certain criteria..."
Now that is what is actually happening. And what it really means is another
Obama move around our Congress to begin the process of amnesty for illegal aliens, who have broken into our nation illegally,
who have broken the law by so doing, and, in some instances, have stolen identities, and in some cases have committed far
more serious crimes.
I know, that’s not what the advocates say is happening. But
all too often, that is what we find has actually happened.
And with this, and all the other problems we are facing, what are
we to do? Well, as revealed by World Net Daily (WND), "Judicial Watch has filed a lawsuit over the federal government’s
refusal to disclose how much taxpayers spent to send Michelle Obama on a ‘family outing’ that included a safari
in Africa."
And, in another area of concern, "A federal judge has ordered
the Secret Service to release eight months of White House visitor logs it had previously kept hidden — an estimated
‘tens of thousands’ of records from Obama’s first year in office."
And, as Newsmax magazine reports, there are others who are committed
and involved with these necessary scandalous exposures. "Virginia activist Attorney General, Ken Cuccinelli, battles to
restrain the federal government and keep a wary eye on the ‘schoolyard bully across the Potomac.’ "
And there are other individuals and groups fighting back. They’re
out there, but there are never enough of them. So many others, who believe as they do, have got to understand that they
must have the courage to step up and become involved. That’s the plea that we are hearing out there.
==========================
Chicanery and the other frauds of politics are having their day —
a field day. And the revelations continue unabated.
As Jerome R. Corsi (WND) has revealed, "The ‘buffer zone’ parcel at the Obama family mansion in Chicago’s upscale Kenwood
neighborhood, purchased by the wife of convicted felon Tony Rezko, was transferred to Barack and Michelle Obama without ever
being assessed or taxed, in apparent violation of Illinois law, according to a debt-collection expert.
" ‘The Cook County assessor’s office told me that there is
no record of any tax assessment having been done on this transfer of the buffer zone property into a Northern Trust Co. Deep
in Trust,’ Albert Hendershot told WND."
And, as the Patriot Action Network told us about Obama’s new political
campaign bus, "The U.S. leader swept onto the campaign trail with a
sleek and even sinister looking set of wheels with blacked-out windows, worth $1.1 million.
"The shiny black, armored bus, bristling with secret communications technology,
with flashing police-style red and blue lights on the front and back, made its debut on Obama’s three-day tour of Minnesota,
Iowa and Illinois."
Well, Sarah Roman’s description of the giant bus as "sinister" can
well describe this item when you realize that you and I — the taxpayers — paid for that monstrosity which, by
the way, for the most part was built in Canada, not here in America.
We are told, that’s the Chicago way. Maybe so or maybe not
— but it definitely isn’t the American way.
==========================
This writer is only one of many who have come to recognize the serious
level of corruption that has infested our nation. And, although it has reached into the stratosphere under the current
administration, Republicans are not found to be immune from the problem. It’s an embarrassing human weakness (one
of many) that can worm its way into almost any political ideology.
So now, at this time, we are finding hearings on the issue in the House
and a bill that’s intended to deal with corruption that has actually passed a Senate committee. Who knows, maybe
sometime this century, we may see some significant progress finally emerge.
Meanwhile, practically every style and form of discredited ex-politician
is costing, we the taxpayers, millions and millions of dollars every year for their pensions. Now, doesn’t that
make you feel all warm inside?
And there are so many other things going on. And, once again, there are
those who are fighting back. Take the Drew Zahn (WND) example: "A Michigan
woman is suing her county over limiting her petition gathering to a 3-by-3-foot square of ground in a 135-acre park, a restriction
one attorney said is in the running for the title of the ‘most unconstitutional [free] speech zone ever.’
"Earlier this summer, the Detroit News reports, Denise Miller sat at a
picnic table near the beach at the Linden County Park in Genesee County, Mich., gathering signatures as part of a campaign
to recall Republican Gov. Rick Snyder.
"A park ranger told her she had to leave, and the Genesee County Parks
office later confirmed that she needed a permit to petition signatures within the park. But after she applied for and received
the permit, she discovered the parks office had limited her to a tiny ‘Freedom of Speech Area’ that she says is
located 20 feet from a remote corner of a parking lot and far from foot traffic." So much for the freedom of speech.
==========================
The war goes on and on between our overbearing federal government and little
Arizona. But the brave little state continues to fight back, as always. Evan Perez reports the current chapter
in the saga in The Wall Street Journal.
He writes: "Arizona
filed suit ... against the U.S. government, challenging a portion of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that requires the state to
get federal permission to make changes in its voting procedures.
"Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne said that the lawsuit was aimed at
a part of the law whereby Arizona and other jurisdictions, mostly in the South, must get so-called pre-clearance from the
Justice Department for any such changes, including redistricting.
"Like nearly all other jurisdictions, Arizona is currently carrying out
redistricting. The suit opens a new front in legal battles between Arizona and the U.S. government."
This writer feels that such federal control should not be arbitrarily applied
to one state and not to another. And, in fact, where does it have such an authority over any state?
Of course we don’t have that problem in California where a Democrat
controlled legislature has redistricted the Republican party almost out of existence in some areas. Ah, but that’s
all right there. It’s the initiation of a political re-alignment that is most advantageous for the political forces
in power.
One more nail in America’s coffin.
==========================
It is certainly no secret that Obamacare is putting America’s health
into critical care. Newspaper stories are beginning to show an admission of a considerable increase in the cost of healthcare
premiums, among other things.
Even Obama has had to admit he underestimated the cost of his Obamacare
to the tune of over 50 billion dollars a year! (As reported by Fox News, and others.)
And this current administration seems absolutely determined to turn a deaf
ear to any responsible advice and offers of help to get things under control. Why this is so, they may not even understand
themselves. It’s just the way they are.
Among so many other needed fixes — a move away from price
fixing, which has proven to be very costly in the long run. It has been suggested that alternatives should be explored, such
as concierge physician assistance. This was one of the ideas from John C. Goodman, the head of the National Center for
Policy Analysis.
Another idea was offered to Obama from the top man at IBM, Samuel J. Palmisano.
This company offered a considerable amount of help to significantly reduce Medicare fraud in amounts that could be almost
a trillion dollars.
And how much would this cost? — absolutely nothing!
It was offered for free! Isn’t that fantastic? And what’s even more fantastic, Obama and his people
just flatly turned it down. That’s right. That’s what happened. It’s all part of the public
record. They weren’t interested.
It is being recognized more and more that the current administration is
not at all interested in new ideas, cooperation, or anything else other than their own very rigid ideology. We know,
they say otherwise, but this is the way they actually operate. That is what is actually observed and experienced.
It would seem that about the only way the growing problems can be addressed,
is by direct challenge, in the courts, at the ballot box, and elsewhere.
As revealed by Jon Christian Ryter, "A multifaceted attack on Obamacare has begun in state legislatures and, simultaneously in the US district Court of
Virginia, in Richmond.
"As Congressman Steve King (R-Iowa) circulated a petition in the US House
of Representatives demanding an up-or-down vote on Obamacare, Virginia Solicitor General E. Duncan Getchell, Jr. told US Judge
Henry E. Hudson that it would be an unprecedented ‘overreach,’ and an historical and radical step for the federal
government to be allowed to force individual citizens to purchase a private product — regardless what that product might
be."
And, as reported in the WSJ, " ‘The powers of the legislature are defined and limited; and that those limits may not be mistaken, or forgotten,
the Constitution is written.’ –Chief Justice John Marshall, writing in Marbury v. Madison (1803).
"The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals cites those prophetic words in its decision
... finding President Obama’s individual healthcare mandate unconstitutional."
So, with these and other actions, such as Kansas returning a $31.5 million
"Trojan Horse" health exchange grant, the counterattack moves forward. May our country be the winner in this race against
time.
==========================
Unions seem to be visibly adding to the unrest and general instability
growing in our nation. We see so much that shows us this. We see a union walk-out at Verizon and then we hear
of other things.
As The Wall Street Journal reports, "Verizon said it has found
evidence of vandalized equipment and said picketing laborers prevented replacement workers from entering or exiting some job
sites."
And in other news we learn that labor unions have taken a negative position
against the construction of a 1,700-mile oil pipeline intended to help our desperate energy needs. The span is intended
to extend from Canada to Texas.
And the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), under the direction of the
Obama administration, is more than happy to add to the difficulties. The Right To Work foundation reveals that, "The NLRB — far exceeding its authority — is now forcing its way into private-sector workplaces
nationwide, even if workers don’t want to labor under union-boss control and if the company has never been accused of
an ‘unfair labor practice.’
"Mom and Pop shops, small businesses, larger companies — even some religiously-affiliated
organizations — are now under the Obama Labor Board’s microscope." It’s happening, even as the American economy declines, which seems to be partly as a result of all of
these things and more.
==========================
The majority of the media is up to its usual tricks. And as reported in
The Washington Times, "Tim Groseclose, political science professor at
the University of California at Los Angeles, reveals all in his new book ‘Left Turn: How Liberal Media Bias Distorts
the American Mind.’
"Mr. Groseclose concludes that ‘(1.) All mainstream media outlets
have a liberal bias; and (2.) While some supposedly conservative outlets — such as The Washington Times or Fox News
Special Report — do lean right, their conservative bias is less than the liberal bias of most mainstream outlets.’
"
We also see how that mainstream media has treated the Sarah Palin
documentary film, "The Undefeated," (if they mannaged to mention it at all). And as The Blaze reports, "MSNBC’s Joe
Scarborough has some tough words for Michele Bachmann."
As further noted, "While discussing his take on last night’s
(Aug.11) GOP debate, the ‘Morning Joe’ host spouted off, unleashing several attacks on the GOP Rep. and calling
her a ‘joke’ several times and in many different ways and also targeting Iowans who are thinking of voting for
her."
The Patriot Action Network contributed some interesting facts to the issue
as well: "On the Hannity Show, 2012 (black) Presidential contender and
former Godfather Pizza CEO Herman Cain blasted back at Janeane Garofalo who last week accused Cain of being a paid plant by
the Republican Party to deflect racism."
With his keen sense of humor Mr. Cain replied, " ‘Look, if Janeane
Garofalo and these other loonies believe I’m being paid, would she send me the phone number because whoever is supposed
to be paying me — they are behind on their payments, okay?’ "
In other areas of examination we find much of media continuing to pay the
price of skewed reporting. Metro papers and others have hunkered down and continue to cut staff and reduce their pages.
By example, we hear Gannett, the big newspaper chain, is laying off an additional 700 employees. And AOL doesn’t
look so good under the bias leadership of Huffington.
And the left-wing Mexican millionaire, Carlos Slim, moved to increase his
ownership of The New York Times to 7.3%. And while all of that has been going on, a Wenzel Strategies public-opinion
survey (for WND) shows that the more conservative Fox News is considered as the most trusted national news network.
It’s really amazing. The left-wing media certainly can’t
be ignorant about the public’s desire for the rest of the story, and how that’s been negatively effecting their
bottom line. I t would seem, like so many other extremists in today’s world, they are willing to sacrifice themselves,
if necessary, on the alter of a rigid, all-controlling political ideology.
This sort of thing has happened many times in human history and the results
are rather often quite disturbing, to say the least. Maybe we can learn something here? Maybe some of us can.
But don’t hold your breath waiting for the journalists and editors to develop minds of their own.
==========================
The left is determined to paint the Tea Party as a great villain.
As GBTV noted, "When you can’t win the argument, there is always the route John Kerry chose. He told the media they
had a responsibility to ignore the Tea Party."
Roger Stockton (Western Representation PAC) lets us know that, "Rep.
Maxine Waters told us (the Tea Party people) to go ‘straight to hell.’ ... Rep. Frederica Wilson called us (the
Tea Party people) the ‘real enemy.’ ... Jesse Jackson, at a Martin Luther King memorial luncheon in Washington,
DC, once again called us (the Tea Party people) ‘racists.’ "
So, just what is this big, terrible boogie-man? What is this Tea
Party? They don’t seem to know or perhaps they do know and they want you to think it’s something else.
You see, it’s not a single group and it doesn’t have a central
authority, as the liberals have. It doesn’t have one or even a group of dominant, controlling leaders.
What is it? Why, it’s all of us who want our country back.
It’s folks who want a smaller federal government and one that’s financially stable. It’s blacks who
prefer to think for themselves. It’s other minorities who are truly independent. It’s Republicans.
It’s even some Democrats. It’s folks who don’t identify with any specific party. It’s
Americans who want our freedoms returned to the people. It’s as simple as that.
The left is fighting against "we the people," as the Patriot Action Network
(and so many others) have shown us with such informative reports, as from Eric Odom who writes: "With tens of millions of dollars flowing into Wisconsin on behalf of the union hacks, pushing recalls
is only part of the assault on the will of the voters.
"There is also now a campaign of bully tactics underway and tea party people
are being forced to quickly move rally locations." One
example: "The Tea Party Express is hosting a plethora of Tea Party rallies across Wisconsin in an effort to push back against
the unions driving the recalls. While on the road to Kenosha, WI, we learned the venue was no longer willing to host
the Tea Party rally due to threats and constant bullying."
Meanwhile, the left continues to fault tea party folks for our national
downgrade. Yes, that’s like blaming the firefighters for the fire, as suggested by Sean Lengell. Well of
course.
==========================
As we all have seen, our educational system in America is still failing
much of the time. We see that the educational districts in most states have been failing to properly raise the standards
for math and reading exams, with expected results.
We find unacceptable numbers of high school graduates are just not
ready for college at all. And, as reported by Ben Wolfgang in The Washington Times, " ‘Test-driven policies
which claim to be improving U.S. schools have, in fact, failed by their own standards,’ said Bob Schaeffer, public education
director at the National Center for Fair and Open Testing."
Now more and more concerned parents and others are taking a serious look
at "tenure." And new books are shedding some much needed light on the problem, such as "The Faculty Lounges and Other
Reasons Why You Won’t Get the College Education You Paid For" by Naomi Schaefer Riley.
Is the primary answer additional massive spending for education?
Paul E. Peterson (in the WSJ) answers that, "Americans think so, until they hear that we spend $13,000 per student already."
The Wall Street Journal, always concerned with such issues, gives us a
number of things to think about. "Super teachers alone can’t save our schools. Extraordinary educators are rare and
often burn out." To save our schools, says Steven Brill, "...we have to demand more from ordinary teachers and
their unions." And, in an editorial, "When teachers unions make
it next to impossible to fire bad instructors or close the worst-performing schools, it’s obvious students aren’t
their primary concern.
"Now a new study suggests unions are opposing education reforms that an
increasing number of their members support." And, in a
book review of "Class Warfare" and "Special Interest" it is observed that "The reformers who want to save the public schools
are starting to make a difference, against ferocious opposition."
Progress is occurring, little by little, as Stephanie Banchero wrote:
"This fall, New York City will open P-Tech, a unique six-year high school where students can earn a diploma and an associate’s
degree in a computer-science-related field and then get first crack at a job with IBM. ... The new school was in large part
created by IBM International Foundation."
Way to go!
==========================
Unfortunately, we see violence in just about every part of the Muslim world.
This now even includes the Muslim region of China. We also are finding al Qaeda connections to at least one major, active
Nigerian group.
Things are no better in Israel, with criticism mounting over housing construction
in disputed zones, violence rising on the Israeli border, and Israel sending ships to their border area with Egypt, while
Iran starts to deploy significant elements of its fleet in the Red Sea.
And Iran has sentenced two young American hikers to eight years in prison
— Iran’s latest hostage play. (No doubt to be released when they think it will generate favorable results.)
Also, Syria continues to kill its own people in ever larger numbers in what is now a bloody civil war.
While all of that is going on, the organizers and developers of the "ground
zero" Mosque are holding a fundraiser, intended to coincide with the 10-year anniversary of the 9/11 attack. And, as
you might imagine, in this same general time period, AP has advised its reporters that they should no longer use the phrase
"ground zero" Mosque.
And, if that isn’t enough, Art Moore, on World Net Daily reports
that, "The powerful Washington Islamic lobby group (established as a front for the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas) is
asking a federal judge to expunge all copies of a WND book that exposes its ties to radical jihad through original documents
secured in a daring undercover operation."
The lobbying group he’s talking about is the Council on American-Islamic
Relations. We feel, most sincerely, that it joins a total picture of an out-of-control movement that seriously threatens
peace and security in today’s world. Be warned.
==========================
Once again California leads the nation with its brainless lawmaking, of
course with our federal government close behind. Jarrett Stepman made some cogent observations in an issue of Human
Events this month.
"With a budget deficit over $20 billion, newly elected California Democratic
Gov. Jerry Brown faces the pressing need to take measures to solve the state’s crumbling finances. Brown and his
Democratic allies in the state legislature, however, have decided instead to take on such issues as immigration reform, passing
and signing the Dream Act."
It is one of the most expensive actions that can be taken by a state for
the illegals who have broken into our country in defiance of our laws.
As Stepman further noted, "The California Dream Act, which is
an amnesty program for illegal immigrants, will allow illegal aliens who are students to take advantage of private financial
aid. It will also, of course, incentivize more border-hoppers to flood the state’s taxpayer-supported public university
system."
It is part of the massive welfare aid to illegals in the state. It
is helping measurably to bring about the pending collapse of the previously golden state. Meanwhile, the U.S. Customs and
Border Protection agency has proposed a new salary plan that should help to weaken our border patrol. The agents can
be expected to lose many thousands of dollars in salary. Now isn’t that nice?
We might also add that Representative Joe Wilson was right when
he shouted that the president was lying. As it turns out, illegal immigrants will be covered under Obamacare.
As The Patriot Action Network reports, "Under Obama’s health
care law, the Department of Health and Human Services plans to hand out money to local health centers specifically targeted
to serve communities where illegal immigrants are likely to be a considerable percentage of those receiving care."
And, in a counterattack, Prince William County in Virginia is suing the
federal government to gain access to illegal aliens records, something they should not have had to do — if we were following
our own laws.
And so it goes this month with the invasion of America.
==========================
So, how is our security doing in other areas? Well, as Jon
Christian Ryter reports, "The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has arrogantly threatened to cancel all flights
in and out of Texas by shutting down all airports in that state if a Texas bill that criminalizes TSA pat-downs that include
touching the anus, sexual organs, buttocks or breasts of another person through their clothing is passed into law."
We understand that some pat-downs are not so intrusive while others could
only be described (and are so described) as extreme sexual harassment. It would seem to be a matter of who is doing
the job. Something needs to be done about this? I most certainly think so.
On the China front, Rep. Frank R. Wolf has issued a statement that our
space technology is being shared much too freely with Communist China. It was also reported that China has evidently
developed some sort of anti-carrier pulse weapon. Observers tell us that the way we have been operating with our international
security, we are really asking for it.
Of course what we are doing is to reduce our military to dangerous levels.
That’s the way we seem to be answering these threats.
Congressman Buck McKeon, the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee
gave us the stats on this. In 1990 we had 76 army brigades. — Today we have 45. In 1990 we had 546 major
naval ships. — Today we have 288. In 1990 we had 82 USAF fighter squadrons. — Today we have 39. In
1990 we had 360 strategic bombers. — Today we have 154.
I’ll bet you feel so much safer now when you go to bed at night,
right?
==========================
Many religious communities in America feel more and more like they are
under siege. New York Mayor Bloomberg announced the end of tolerance with his edict that, for the 9/11 ceremony, there
will be no religious leaders or first-responders invited.
It has also been reported, by The Patriot Action Network (and others)
that, once again "...the developers of the Ground Zero Mosque have applied for a federally-funded grant to help build the
mosque withing sight of Ground Zero."
Now the Network reports that, "Our sources indicate that the status
of the Ground Zero Mosque is unknown — LMDC (Lower Manhattan Development Corporation) has made no determination on the
application or that determination has not been made public."
In other news, Ironic Surrealism has posted that, "The United West ‘Strike
Team’ attended a Sheriff Baca Town Hall meeting at the Islamic Center of Los Angeles. ... This is the same one that
was founded by a protege of Hassan al Banna." Our intelligence and theirs both indicate that he is one of the originators
of The Muslim Brotherhood.
It was further reported that "The LA County Sheriff’s Emergency
Operations Bureau, Muslim Community Affairs Unit, a taxpayer funded entity, was the presenting agency." And, "Steve Whitmore, LASD Senior Media Advisor, confirmed the Muslim Community Affairs Unit receives taxpayer
funds of approximately $128,400 per year for two full-time deputies.
"When this reporter asked Mr. Whitmore if any other religions had LASD
Community Affairs Units and received equal taxpayer funds, Whitmore replied, ‘There are no other religious Community
Affairs Units in the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.’ "
It would seem there might be something to be learned from all of this,
wouldn’t you say?
And, finally, as Jon Christian Ryter reveals, "Channel 12 in Winston-Salem, NC reported on Aug. 13 that residents in Elm Towers, a high-rise public
housing apartment building on South Elm Street in Highpoint, NC were ordered by the Highpoint Housing Authority to cease and
desist from holding ‘inherently religious’ Christian worship services in a common area on the first floor of the
high-rise apartment building.
"Religious services have been held in a private, common-use room in the
building for many years to benefit seniors who are too old or feeble to attend regular church services, even with assisted
transportation." Anyone want to tell us how they think things
would have gone if it had been a Muslim meeting?
We all remember ACORN, right? You may recall that they were found
to have submitted at least 888 phony registrations of voters in Florida, felony charges were filed against a number of their
people in the state of Washington, over 1,700 alleged fraudulent registrations, and similar events occurred in Pennsylvania,
Ohio, etc, etc. — in a total of 12 different states.
You may also recall that Obama was asked if he knew about the group and
what had happened. He answered, "Frankly, it’s not something I followed closely." Yes, but what about
his actual involvement working for ACORN? Oh, we don’t want to talk about that.
Now we hear that Obama and his government lackeys have given a grant to
ACORN — in clear violation of the law. (ACORN has changed its name to Affordable Housing Centers of America, in
case you’re interested.)
Another example of how we taxpayers are being taken to the cleaners by
government funded, questionable organizations — Planned Parenthood.
With abortion still their primary activity and with those very revealing
undercover videos still fresh in our minds, Cheryl Wetzstein (The Washington Times) indicates that "Planned Parenthood
gets $363 million a year from taxpayers, says Charmaine Yoest, Americans United For Life president and chief executive."
And, you may remember, a sizeable amount of that money somehow seems to
have just vanished. It doesn’t seem to be able to be accounted for. Interesting.
==========================
Our environment is perceived to be a problem so the answer seems to be
to disrupt absolutely everything and seriously diminish the business community, even if it is destroyed in the process.
To begin with, we find the leading environmental icon becoming more
radicalized with every passing minute. As GBTV reports, "Apparently Al Gore thinks the Arab Spring is going swell
because he’s calling for one like it to sweep across the United States of America. He wants people to rise up and take
to the streets."
And, as reported on the FireWire, "During a speech delivered last week
at the Aspen Institute in Colorado, former Vice President Al Gore became frustrated and unleashed a string of obscenities."
Yes, this is really happening. I have gotten detailed reports and have even watched the videos.
Meanwhile, our presiding dictatorship has gotten into a major battle against
Exxon over a huge and very important oil find — a discovery that is vital for us all, and our government is evidently
inclined to do what it can to restrict, limit or possibly even close down.
And while that is happening, we find the EPA’s major restrictions
on American industry, are strangling what is left of America’s business economy. Even the greatest American guitar
manufacturer, still in America for now, has been stopped dead in its tracks.
As The Wall Street Journal’s Eric Felten writes, "Federal agents swooped in on Gibson Guitar ... raiding factories and offices in Memphis and Nashville,
seizing several pallets of wood, electronic files and guitars.
"The Feds are keeping mum, but in a statement yesterday, Gibson’s
chairman and CEO, Henry Jusekiewicz, defended his company’s manufacturing policies, accusing the Justice Department
of bullying the company. ‘The wood the government seized ... is from a Forest Stewardship Council certified supplier."
What about other guitar manufacturers who are similarly innocent?
They were not raided. You see, the Gibson owner had made significant political donations to the conservative cause.
It would seem that Holder’s Gestapo Justice Department is at it again. This administration has got to be stopped!
Meanwhile, in Texas, "...wind turbines proved to be a green flop.
On the afternoon of Aug. 2 2011, when electricity demand hit 67,919 megawatts, the maximum output ‘ERCOT’ could
pull from their expensive green experiment was 1,500 megawatts of electricity, or 2.2% of the demand, even though the designers
of the system assured Texas it would deliver 15% of peak demand." (As researched and written by Jon Christian Ryter.)
That, and so many other examples, would suggest that such solutions for
pollution and climate change are not what you would call effective. And so, what about our climate? Is it warming?
The actual answer seems to be "yes" and "no." That is, climate change is normal and by natural causes. Sometimes
it’s warmer and at other times it’s colder.
Sometimes the greatest influence is from volcanoes and sometimes it’s
due to a small increase in our sun’s energy output. Our instrumented monitoring has clearly established this fact.
It should also be noted that recent warming seems to be related to a corresponding
spike in energy from the sun. Can we be sure about that? Instruments monitoring the sun showed this to be the
case and instruments monitoring the planet Mars showed us that the Southern Polar Cap on that planet was receding, beyond
the seasonal variant, during that corresponding period.
And yes, human activity has had an impact, but it has not been nearly as
large as we’ve been told. And yes, even if it had no climatic impact, it is a good idea not to quickly use up
all our energy resources and trash the planet in the process — but also it would not be good to practice planetary husbandry
in a way that ruins us all financially, and especially to the point where it ends up destroying our civilization.
And then we also have new information from time to time, such as from the
Institute of Marine Science. It reported, in the UK’s New Scientist magazine that a British tribunal has ruled
that global warming doesn’t exist.
And also a few news articles have surfaced that show a significant number
of mistakes have been made in important research papers. The retractions that are beginning to surface verify this most
embarrassing turn of events. So, with all of that, and all the rest, it is not an easy game to call.
==========================
History will show that there have been a number of players on the American
stage, doing all that they can to bring about a metamorphism of the great American experiment. It is change that we
now find is profoundly destroying the very nation that they would make into something else.
And just who are the most important of those players? One might say
Obama or Holder or Frank or any number of others, but only somewhat in the shadows is a figure that is like something or someone
that was fashioned from some sort of work of rather disturbing fiction. But he is not fiction. He is all too real.
This writer, and others who have researched this issue, believe him to be a man named George Soros. Oh yes, we have told you
about him before, but there is always more.
You may be aware of the media empire that he has financed for his
special propaganda purposes. It is extensive. It is worldwide. As Dan Gainor, VP of the Media Research Center
tells us, "It gives him incredible influence. Every month, reporters, writers and bloggers at the many outlets he
funds easily reach more than 330 million people around the globe."
He has been the greatest benefactor of Obama and everyone else on the far-left.
And the President hasn’t forgotten that. Obama has moved to rein in hedge-fund managers and other gamblers and
manipulators within the money system, but "...he lets the Soros exemptions to his attack-the-rich rules slide like butter
on a hot plate," as reported by Michelle Malkin in The Washington Times.
One of Soros’ latest manipulations is in various political battleground
states by massive funding of liberals to Secretary of State positions as overseers of voting results. The thing that
is almost criminal about it is that the only possible advantage he could ever have in doing this would be to guarantee manipulation
of results if necessary. That’s the only advantage we can find.
Of course there should be no "almost" about any possible criminality here,
according to many observers. But this is a changed America and such as this is now possible and so much more as well.
And his influence is everywhere else as well. As WND’s Aaron
Klein observes, "A former Jordanian diplomat widely quoted in news media in recent months, calming fears about the Muslim
Brotherhood, is a Mideast specialist for a peace institute funded by billionaire George Soros."
It would seem that George Soros has become a frightening Machiavellian
character on the world stage.
On Toward Winter
Sept., 2011. This month the headlines concerning
the economy are horrendous, as usual. A Reuters headline reads, "Consumer morale stagnates," and the Wall Street
Journal headlines (in the order of occurrence) have been as follows: "Factories
Pull Back As Worries Pile Up; White House Downshifts on Jobs, Growth; Job Growth Grinds to a Halt;
"One by One, the Drivers of Growth Fade; Fed’s Report Paints a Gloomy
Picture on Growth; Income Slides to 1996 Levels; Home Forecast Calls for World-Wide Distress Rises as Investors
See Futility of Governments, Central Banks."
Do we see a pattern here? One would certainly think so. Can this situation
be reversed? The primary thoughts on this are that it will be difficult to impossible to be able to expect substantial
positive changes under the current national administration.
That’s another headline for you — one you haven’t seen.
==========================
Well, Obama has made another speech. This time he calls it his "Jobs Plan."
To most of us it was yet another warmed-up version of most of his other speeches over the last few years.
He once again said a lot of things he thinks we want to hear, regardless of the
fact that the actions of his administration are dedicated to an entirely different direction.
Also, as the Patriot Action Network has observed, "Obama used his bully
pulpit to say, in essence, if those Republicans do not pass his jobs bill immediately, without review, they should be politically
lynched."
Also observed, "In his typical, manipulative, deceptive fashion, Obama said
several right things, such as government getting out of the way of small business, while his administration does the complete
opposite." No surprises there.
We’re also seeing Obama presenting a more than $300 billion dollar
package (as noted by Bloomberg). He’s calling for tax cuts with plenty of new spending. As Senator Rob Portman (a member
of the deficit-reduction committee) commented, "He has just added to the debt tonight with additional ideas."
The total cost, as noted in The Wall Street Journal, comes to at least $447 billion.
And, as noted by Thomas J. Donahue therein, "Instead of temporary tax breaks and more spending, we need permanent tax incentives,
development of our energy resources, and entitlement reform." Lots of luck on that one.
==========================
More is unveiled and, as reported in the WSJ, "The prospects for President
Barack Obama’s $447 billion jobs plan grew dimmer as he unveiled the fine print of how it would be paid for —
primarily through tax increases that Republicans said would destroy jobs, not create them."
In a later edition of the paper, it was also revealed that, "Obama’s
proposal to limit charitable tax deductions punishes those who receive, not just those who give."
And more and more we are finding that Obama’s "tax the rich" policy will
stifle the jobs growth. It doesn’t seem to be a matter of just closing loop-holes in the tax code, it’s
more a matter of adding significant tax burdens upon those who already carry an enormously heavy tax load.
Another thing that should be considered, even if every last cent that the wealthy
makes should be confiscated, it would hardly make a dent in our enormous debt. It would, however, destroy the jobs creation
engine. But of course they don’t want you to consider that.
Additionally, we are finding that a number of Democrats are beginning to balk at
the heavy-handed Obama tax plan. As reported by Fox News, a Democratic Senatorial aide was quoted as saying, "This
is the time for new ideas, not re-fighting old battles for short-term political gain." He was somewhat disparagingly
referring to Obama’s new tax proposals.
Similar quotes are trickling in, as you might imagine. It is not a happy time for
anyone in America.
==========================
The unsubstantiated federal raids that have closed down the great American "Gibson
Guitar" company has created repercussions of fear throughout the American business community. And it is only one of
quite a number of such federal moves against the business establishment.
We have not only learned that no actual charges have ever been filed against Gibson
Guitar, all claims made have, so far, been proven to be utterly false.
And, in addition to all of that, Chris Daniel (KMJ Radio) has released a startling
transcript of his conversation with Gibson’s owner, Henry Juszkiewicz, a part of which is as follows:
"Chris: Mr. Juszkiewicz, did an agent of the US government suggest to
you that your problems would go away if you used Madagascar labor instead of American labor? Henry: They actually
wrote that in a pleading. Chris: Excuse me? Henry: They actually wrote that in a pleading.
Chris: That your problems would go away if you used Madagascar labor instead of ours? Henry: Yes. Yeah.
They said that explicitly."
And of course we wouldn’t want to also suggest that the Gibson’s owner’s
notably conservative political donations would ever have had anything to do with the initial actions against the company.
Of course not.
Ask yourself this, what does this sort of thing suggest that our nation has become?
And, while you’re at it, you might also ask yourself if you plan to remain sitting right where you are right now
and not actually try in any way at all to get America back.
==========================
The gradual destruction of American business continues, as also reported
by the Patriot Action Network. "In the Weekly Republican address, Rep. Peter Roskam provides examples of job creators
facing ‘government barriers to job creation’ including ‘our unsustainable debt, the constant threat of higher
taxes, and excessive regulations.’ "
And rising costs of federal and state unemployment insurance taxes are giving our
struggling businesses a disastrous one-two punch that seems to be destroying any real chance for a recovery.
And of course the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is applying such a crushing,
heavy hand that we even see memos surfacing from other government regulators that express genuine concern about the eventual
outcome of it all.
And, to add to that, Jon Christian Ryter reveals that, "On June 9, 2011
Barack Obama issues Executive Order 13575 creating the White House Rural Council that will exercise broad unconstitutional
municipal powers over the food, fiber and energy production in rural America." As he further reveals, it "...calls
for the federal government to assume control over just about every aspect of rural America."
As Senator John Barrasso reports in The Washington Times, "Regulatory
overreach is smothering the economy. ... Since the start of the year, the administration has proposed more than 340 regulations
at a cost of more than $65 billion to job creators."
And let us not forget the Labor Department. They are doing more than trying
to send our aircraft manufacturing into a tailspin. As reported by Trottman and Whelan in The Wall Street Journal, "The
Labor Department is investigating pay practices at many of the top companies in home building, hitting them with a broad demand
for records that has led to complaints of regulator overreach." You can count on it being all that and much, much
more.
And this endless harassment also now includes the wonderful outdoor "Bass Pro Shops."
The government is suing the company because they claim that non-white employees weren’t hired as clerks and as managers
in their stores. Of course the company assures everyone that no intentional bias is ever condoned or practiced.
And, as if all of that is not enough, the regulations from that Dodd-Frank bill
are expected to kill many thousands of additional jobs. Frankly it just keeps going on and on like that. And there
is no end in sight.
==========================
Further examples of Wall Street Journal headlines for this month include:
"August’s Retail Sales Reflect Stalling Recovery; Commercial Real Estate Is Starting to Wobble; Housing Slump
Hits New Mortgage Loans; Freddie Faulted on Reviews; Student Loan Defaults Are Growing, and the Worst is Still to Come."
And, added to that we find the Washington Times headline, "Supercommittee
members awash in lobbyist money." And Bloomberg reports that, "The U.S. poverty rate rose to the highest level
in almost two decades and household income fell in 2010, underscoring the lingering impact of the worst economic slump in
seven decades."
Now there is most certainly no doubt as to what has been happening, and there shouldn’t
any longer be any doubt as to why these things are happening.
What is in doubt is what you are going to do about it.
==========================
It isn’t enough to just look at the tragedies of the failed stimulus, or
the destructive business controls, or any of the other ruinations. We must act to reverse these terrible events.
Some (although all too few) are doing just that. Some are trying to rescue the
students of America — to bring back our science, our history and our future. And some are beginning to realize we must
develop sophisticated retraining programs that can help to put people back to work in the ever-changing employment environment.
And that not only means high-tech training, it also means blue-collar training as well.
The public is also needed to get behind the various Congressional investigations
into some of the more blatant abuses and breakdowns. And there is so much more that must be done. It is all
a very daunting task, but public pressure on elected and appointed officials can sometimes have a positive effect.
==========================
We have been made aware of the fact that North Korea has spent a lot of time and
money developing a very good counterfeit American $100 bill. It’s so good that it passes for the real thing almost
everywhere.
But it doesn’t seem to matter so much because, thanks to Obama, the genuine
$100 bill is worth almost the same amount. So, how is that, you say? For all the reasons you have learned in these
chronicles and so much more, too numerous in examples to be made easily available in anything less than in a massive encyclopedia.
And all they can say is we must take more money away from the job creators. Further
taxing the wealthy, not doing so by closing unfair tax loopholes — just taxing them all more and more — that is
their answer. And certainly we cannot really begin to start solving the problem by seriously reducing the massively
bloated size of government, which would seriously start to reduce the huge amount of taxpayer funds being poured into the
public trough.
But they can’t really do that, now can they? They choose to keep on
keeping on the way they always have, making small compromises only, when they feel they have to. And so, on it goes,
with just the interest alone on our current national debt calculated as approximately 1.2 billion dollars every single day.
An unbelievably irresponsible situation to be sure.
And even a few of them have actually finally admitted responsibility. As
The Daily Caller revealed, "Vice President Joe Biden told Florida radio station WLRM that voters should hold President
Barack Obama, not former President George W. Bush, accountable for the poor state of American’s economy."
Well, I guess someone is going to be taken to the woodshed for that revelation.
And, in the meantime, we are reminded of that classic popular definition of "insanity." It’s described as being
when you do the same thing over and over and over again, and still somehow expect different results.
And then of course there is also an interesting definition for the "brain dead"
personality. It is those who refuse to see what is actually happening and who is doing it, no matter what it ends up
doing to them in the long run.
The question is, how many do we have in our nation today who are afflicted with
that growing insanity and how many are becoming the walking brain dead? Who among you might that be? And, might they
ever be reasoned with?
==========================
The report card for Obama and his administration is incomplete, but so far it scores
with the lowest marks possible. This according to a growing number of concerned citizens everywhere. Yes, that’s
the conclusion from reports and comments coming from every quarter.
And, the final report, from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and
Enforcement, concludes that the major Gulf of Mexico blowout and spill was not only the fault of the BP oil company, it was
also, without doubt, the fault of the government regulators and inspectors.
And of course Obama had promised that his regulators and inspectors would do their
job better and more comprehensively than under any other administration. So much for that.
We also find the White House doing what it can to eradicate the Sept. 11 "Patriot
Day" remembrance and replacing it with what is described as a more politically left-of-center "National Day of Service."
It is seen as a part of their general re-writing of history.
On Obama’s Muslim front, we discover such gems as from the Fox News
report that quotes the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ message to our president, saying "You promised me a state
by September, 2011. I hope you will deliver."
However, an unnamed Palestine Authority official was quoted by a number of sources
as saying, "We were told to wait for Obama’s reelection ... but after the reelection, the U.S. said the schedule
will short to reach a Palestinian state." Evidently Obama plans to legitimize the Arab "state" that is sworn and
dedicated to the destruction of Israel and all Jews everywhere. Evidently.
==========================
As Obama continues to talk we are reminded of his endless promises, such as for
transparency in government. Michelle Malkin tells us (in The Washington Times) that such nominations as Ron Sims "...to
the No. 2 post at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) ... " is not exactly an example of an individual
prone to transparency.
As Michelle reports, "Mr. Sims key accomplishments in the Pacific Northwest
have involved illegally keeping taxpayers in the dark." He was a Seattle-area county executive of very questionable
reputation with regard to such matters as openness and who knows what else.
What can only be described as blatant dishonesty from Obama on so many issues,
is quite clearly described by Stephen Moore in The Wall Street Journal. "While running for President, Mr. Obama promised
‘pay as you go budgeting,’ and in February 2009, during his ‘fiscal responsibility summit’ he sounded
like Ronald Reagan when he said that ‘this is the rule that families across this country follow every single day, and
there’s no reason why their government shouldn’t do the same.’ But the Obama government isn’t
doing the same. It is doing the opposite."
Mr. Moore also noted that, "In 2008 he pledged he would ‘go through
our federal budget — page by page, line by line — eliminating those programs we don’t need, and insisting
that we do operate in a sensible, cost-effective way.’ That hasn’t happened."
He showed us further that, "Mr. Obama says
he wants to make America less dependent on foreign oil, but he called again for raising taxes on domestic oil and gas production.
"And, he said last year that he believes America is ‘running out of places
to drill’ even though in the last five years new discoveries of oil and natural gas have occurred in Pennsylvania, West
Virginia, North Dakota, Texas, Montana and Colorado — causing a near doubling in U.S. recoverable reserves."
And on and on goes the Obama lying machine. And little by little, America
does seem to be wising-up to this snake oil salesman.
As exampled by a statement by a leading Democrat from Oregon who was quoted in
The New York Times saying, "In my district, the enthusiasm for him has mostly evaporated. There is tremendous discontent
with his direction." Well, I should think so.
==========================
Have you been following Obama’s trail of destruction? Do you remember
when the far-left extremist Rosa Brooks was appointed to an important position in the Defense Department?
Do you remember The Wall Street Journal reporting that Steve Rattner, Obama’s
"Car Czar," was found to be under three criminal indictments for serious wrongdoing?
Do you recall when it was estimated that approximately 30% of American business is now
under the financial control of the government? It involves everything from bail-outs, loans, special grants, all-controlling
government contracts, mortgage relief programs, special guarantees, new controls, new regulations, etc., etc.
The list of all of this is very long — it’s almost endless.
But then, you know that, don’t you? But perhaps you may not be aware of what the famous historian Will Durant
said: "A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within."
Read it and weep.
==========================
More bad news this month, as a result of Obamacare. As the Journal reports
on-line: "The health insurance premiums paid by employers rose sharply this year, with
the average annual cost of family coverage passing the $15,000 mark for the first time, according to a major survey.
"The 9% average increase in family premiums for 2011, reported in an annual poll
of employers performed by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust, comes despite a continued
trend toward more limited use of medical services in the U.S."
Also, as reported in The Washington Times by Donald Lambro, "Douglas Elmendorf,
Director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, testified before the House Budget Committee in February that Obamacare
will result in 800,000 fewer jobs at a time when well paying jobs are in short supply."
Some solutions being applied to all of this mess, seem to be that more and more
public employees are opting out for almost any available alternate plan. Private families and the self-employed everywhere
wish they could do the same as they find rates rising and health plans being discontinued.
Is that why Nancy Pelosi said to pass it and then find out what’s
in it? Evidently so.
==========================
Along with just about everything else, our national security is reaching ever higher
degrees of dangerous insecurity. As reported "Inside the Ring" (Washington Times): "Pentagon
technology security officials met with General Electric officials on Sept. 1 to discuss security concerns related to the transfer
of jet avionics technology to China.
"The meeting was called after congressional staff pressed the Pentagon to review
whether China could divert U.S. commercial jet technology to military systems, as Beijing has done with missile, jet and satellite
know-how."
And, from Joseph Farah’s G2 bulletin (WND): "As the nation
observes the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, experts are warning that the U.S. is effectively
defenseless against an electro-magnetic pulse attack or a far less expensive radio frequency attack on the nation’s
critical military and civilian electric and electronic infrastructure."
This is far more serious than you ever might imagine. A truly effective EM
pulse attack on America could be expected to knock out all communications, transportation, all electricity, computer systems,
just about everything that functions in our entire civilization. Yes, it’s that serious.
And, as all the many threats and other concerns mount, CNN informs us that,
"Iran plans to send ships near the Atlantic coast of the United States."
And what are we doing about all of this? We are not doing a very good job
of facing the fact that our U.S. military inventory is getting old. And the maintenance and replacement costs can be
expected to be many billions of dollars. But don’t worry, we most likely won’t be spending very much in
that area. Thanks to the current administration’s accelerated spending spree in so many wasted areas, we just
don’t have that kind of money available any more.
But of course something has to be under way with regard to our defense, right?
As reported in The Washington Times: "The Obama administration has been secretly working on a review of U.S. nuclear weapons
in what officials say is part of the White House effort to make deeper cuts on strategic nuclear forces."
Try to sleep well tonight.
==========================
In his latest campaign joint-session, Obama said, "The only thing preventing
us from passing these bills is the refusal by some in Congress to put country ahead of party."
What most of the lame-media didn’t bother to tell you is what the Patriotic
Action Network revealed: "House Speaker John Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor sent President Obama a letter
reminding him that the House has passed a dozen bills that would spur job creation and the economy. However, the Democrats
in the Senate have refused to even consider all but one of the House measures."
It’s nice to know that Pinocchio is alive and well. It’s just
that we would really rather not have that long-nosed fibber as the President of our nation.
And let us not ignore other comments such as reported by the News Observer
in a quote by North Carolina Democrat Governor Bev Perdue who said: "I think we ought to suspend, perhaps elections for
Congress for two years and just tell them we won’t hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them
help this country recover. I really hope that someone can agree with me on that."
Naturally the public response to that was not what one would describe as friendly.
So, as you might expect, the Governor did some damage control by saying it was all just a little joke. Well, it was
obviously not a joke and no one was observed chuckling when she said it either.
Even without all of that, it’s going to be an interesting election year,
what with such enormous scandals surfacing. We have what seems like unending voter frauds, unfounded federal destruction
of businesses, the Fast and Furious Mexican weapons deal, the Solyndra solar fiasco, the Light Squared mess, the uncontrolled
union violence, and an endless number of other shameful situations that just go on and on, forever.
We also would like to call everyone’s attention to the embarrassing fact
that even after two years of congressional control, followed by three years of additional presidential control, the Democrats
find that we now have Latinos as the largest group of poor children in America — for the first time.
And, as reported by Walter Williams, "Overall U.S. unemployment is 9.1
percent. For white adults, it’s 8 percent, and for white teens, 23 percent. Black adult unemployment stands
at 17 percent, and for black teens, it’s 40 percent, more than 50 percent in some cities."
The main media is more than a little reluctant to highlight these very embarrassing
statistics, so the Democrats are hoping their minority supporters won’t notice. They haven’t for many years,
so there’s good reason to suspect they won’t know and they won’t react. The Democrats believe they’ve
really got them under their thumb. Only time will tell how true this may prove to be.
==========================
This month, on Labor Day, Obama shared a stage with Teamster Union president Hoffa,
when the union boss called upon his "army" of militants to "take these sons of bitches out." Sorry for the raw
language, but that is exactly what he said and you know how many within those unions react to such rhetoric.
As the Associated Press reported, right around that same time period: "Hundreds
of union longshoremen held security guards hostage for hours at a port in Longview, Washington."
And there are so many other examples of physical attacks, the breaking of windows,
destroying or damaging vehicles and often times outright looting. And much of the time, few to no arrests are ever made.
Gee, I wonder why.
But there is a silver lining that shows up every once in a while —
a silver lining in that dark cloud of despair in our difficult times. As reported in The Washington Post: "With the
outcome of his own reelection effort 14 difficult months away, President Obama suffered a sharp rebuke when voters in New
York elected a conservative Republican to represent a Democratic district that has not been in GOP hands since the 1920s."
The report by Paul Kane further noted that, "The defeat came as Republicans
trounced Democrats in another special House election in Northern Nevada where Republican Mark Amodei led Democrat Kate Marshall,
56 percent to 39 percent almost from the start."
Let us hope that this trend is a harbinger of the future — and of a reparative
future for a renewed America. Let us hope.
==========================
Corruption is everywhere — it really is. There are those little towns
like Quartzsite, Arizona, where now there are charges of a rigged election, to the many even more serious national corruptions.
Actually, as far as this writer is concerned, they are all important.
We’ll give you just one example:
It’s about the questionable ethics of SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro.
As detailed so very well in The Wall Street Journal, we shall start with a "...remarkable report from SEC Inspector General
David Kotz disclosing how the SEC’s former top lawyer, David Becker, directly handled matters relating to the Madoff
fraud case despite his mother’s $2 million investment with the firm, to which he and his brothers were heirs."
As further explained, "The conflict here would seem to be obvious, and
Mr. Becker did at least disclose it — to Mrs. Schapiro, shortly after arriving at the SEC in February 2009. ‘I
did precisely what I was supposed to do,’ he told Congress. ‘I identified a matter that required legal advice
from the SEC’s Ethics Office. I sought that advice, received it and followed it."
However, as further divulged, "...that still
leaves the role played by Ms. Schapiro, who never told her fellow commissioners about the conflict, going so far as to let
them vote on how to divide up the Madoff assets, a change from which Mr. Becker stood to benefit.
"Only in February, after Mr. Becker was named in a clawback lawsuit by Madoff trustee
Irving Picard, did the commissioners learn of the conflicts by reading the press."
Are you surprised? You shouldn’t be.
==========================
And the corruption payoffs go on. Another interesting example would be as
reported by Fox News: "Undocumented workers collected $4.2 billion in a certain tax credit
last year, up from less than $1 billion five years ago, according to a new audit.
"The report, from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, looked
only at a tax benefit known as the Additional Child Tax Credit, a refundable credit meant for working families. The
audit found that as a result of vague U.S. law — as well as an expansion of the tax credit in stimulus legislation and
other measures — the number of illegal workers collecting the money has skyrocketed."
Think of it this way: You can break the law by breaking into this country
and then you could be handsomely rewarded for your trouble. And all of that at the taxpayer’s expense. Isn’t
that wonderful?
Just another fun example of how things are in the new American amusement park.
==========================
Another questionable activity unearthed by The Wall Street Journal: "...the president urged Congress to pony up roughly $200 billion in taxpayer money to ‘provide
more jobs for teachers and more jobs for construction workers’ and more money to carry out other state and local activities.
"He urges Congress to spend this money even after handing out hundreds of billions
of dollars for similar purposes as part of the 2009 stimulus package, as well as a score and more billion dollars again in
2010."
Now here’s the kicker, as further disclosed, "These vast contributions to the coffers of state and local governments, though pitched as a jobs bill, are in reality
the latest in a series of bailouts for the debt-ridden state and local governments.
"They are of special benefit to states in ‘blue’ [Democratic] regions
of the country where the president’s most fervent supporters reside." That’s
a very creative way to buy votes, now isn’t it? Most ingenious.
This whole business was researched and reported by Paul E. Peterson and Daniel
Nadler. Mr. Peterson is the director of Harvard’s Program on Education Policy and Governance. Mr. Nadler
is a research fellow within that program.
I do believe these gentlemen know what they’re talking about.
==========================
There are always those who might prefer to say that I am only presenting a few
examples which they might like to convince you are exceptional and not a part of an extensive pattern. So for them,
I hereby offer you a little larger collection, which, if added to all the many other examples you may have read in this continuing
chronology, will give you a more substantial number (though still only a fraction of what is out there).
As offered by The Patriot Action Network: "A
United States Air Force general is blowing the whistle on another White House scandal, but few in the news media seem to be
listening.
"According to General William Shelton, the commanding officer of U.S. Air Force’s
space command, he was told to alter his testimony before the House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on Strategic Forces,
regarding an Obama White House attempt to award a defense contract to the LightSquared firm.
"LightSquared is a high-tech company doing business in Virginia that’s owned
by billionaire Philip Falcone, an Obama friend and campaign contributor."
As further revealed, "Republican lawmakers say that after Falcon’s
visit (to the White House), the Obama White House allegedly tried to push through a LightSquared proposed wireless network
regardless of the objections emanating from military commanders who believed the project could disrupt key U.S. satellite
systems."
In another example: "We are trying to keep up with all the voter
fraud allegations happening in several states. Two high-powered Democrats in Florida were just arrested for election
fraud. The press release seems to forget to mention their party affiliation, but they are Democrats."
And, "In Navada, a contract between SEIU Local 1107 and Clark County —
where voting ‘glitches’ were reported — makes SEIU the sole union representative for voting machine technicians."
And, "In North Carolina, Sam Laughinghouse of New Bern said he pushed
the button to vote Republican in all races, but the voting machine displayed a ballot with all Democrats checked."
And, "What is happening with the major voter fraud case in Houston?
Nothing. A big Obama activist is connected to this scandal."
And, "Is Winston-Salem State University going to remain as an early-voting
site after they were caught sending emails promoting Democratic candidates in the general election?"
And, "Let’s not forget Michelle Obama talking to voters, inside
a polling station, about voting for her husband. Her excuse was to say she didn’t know the law (even though she
is a lawyer)."
And, "The Yuma Sun, praising tow organizations,
‘Mi Familia Vota’ and ‘One Vote Arizona’ for going door to door and submitting more than 3,000 voter
registrations in Yuma County right before the deadline for registering voters. The groups submitted over 20,000 registrations
statewide.
"What they failed to mention is that over 65% of these last-minute registrations
were invalid due to the registrant not being a citizen, a wrong/invalid address, or a false signature."
It should also be noted that almost all of the registrations turned in were listed
as Democrats. It should also be noted that the "Mi Familia Vota" group is very closely tied to SEIU.
And on and on one could go with an almost endless procession of corruption.
Unfortunately, it would take an army of volunteers to list them all and a library of books to contain them all.
This is what we are facing all over the nation.
==========================
The Justice Department’s problems seem unending. Add to that, Jim McElhatton’s
report in The Washington Times that, "Michael E. Horowitz, President Obama’s nominee
as the Justice Department’s top watchdog, has earned more than $4 million since last year as an attorney representing
the likes of Pfizer Inc., Dow Chemical Co., and Cablevision Systems Corp.
"But he is keeping the identities of nearly a dozen other clients secret on newly
filed ethics forms." We understand that the Democrat lawmakers are not planning
to let a little thing like that get in their way.
Also, in this same national weekly, the top investigative reporter, Michelle
Malkin, informs the readers that, "...the Justice Department announced it was shuffling Kenneth Melson, acting director
of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives out of his job.
"Melson told Congressional investigators that he said ATF’s senior leadership
‘moved to reassign every manager involved in Fast and Furious, from the deputy assistant director for field operations
down to the group supervisor’ after ATF whistleblowers went to the press and Capitol.
"But according to Melson, he and company were ordered by Justice Department higher-ups
to remain silent about the reasons for the reassignments." Well now, that certainly
makes things perfectly clear, doesn’t it?
As Congressman Issa said, " ‘Fast And Furious’ is felony stupid
at all levels." And as we are hearing elsewhere, Eric Holder and the president need to be fully investigated for
their responsibility in this and so many of the other growing nightmares.
==========================
On the legal front this month there is both good news and bad news.
The bad news first, as reported in the WSJ: "Where there’s money, there are trial lawyers, and their latest
hope for a jackpot is a lawsuit against an industry in political disfavor with the Obama Administration: for-profit colleges."
And, as reported in The Washington Times: "U.S. taxpayers risk losing
more than a half-million dollars from the collapse of solar-panel maker Solyndra Inc., but former Massachusetts Gov. William
F. Weld and his associates stand to earn a windfall in fees representing the bankrupt company in coming months."
And let us not forget the disgusting fact that the Obama friends and others who
invested in Solyndra, have been put ahead of we, the hapless taxpayers, for payouts from the bankruptcy, by the White House.
Wasn’t that nice of them to do that?
And as a Center for Security Policy report reveals: "The Center for Security Policy’s report, ‘Shariah Law and American State Courts. ...’ evaluates
50 Appellate Court cases from 23 states that involve conflicts between Shariah (Islamic law) and American state law.
"These cases are the stories of Muslim American families, mostly Muslim women and
children, who were asking American courts to preserve their right to equal protection and due process.
"These families came to America for freedom from the discriminatory and cruel laws
of Shariah. When our courts then apply Shariah law in the lives of these families, and deny them equal protection, they
are betraying the principles on which America was founded."
Unfortunately, this is exactly what has been found to be happening in a growing
number of incidents. But then, with just about everything else breaking down, why not the rest of our principles as
well?
And what is that good news we promised? Well, there’s not very much,
but at least, "A federal appeals court ruled that the 17-year prison sentence imposed on convicted terrorist plotter
Jose Padilla was too lenient and threw it out." This was reported by The Wall Street Journal.
And, the Associated Press relates to us, "A former judge who orchestrated
a massive kickback scheme involving for-profit youth detention centers was sentenced to 17 ½ years in federal prison, closing
one chapter in a scandal that prosecutors said shook Pennsylvania’s judicial system ‘to its very foundation.’
"
Well at least once in a while we get something right — not too often, but
once in a while.
==========================
The National Right To Work Legal Defense Foundation communicates the following
information: "The National Labor Relations Board just destroyed thousands of ballots.
I wish this was unexpected, but with the out-of-control Obama Labor Board, it’s exactly as we’ve feared
and predicted.
"As you know, the NLRB is bulldozing its way through workers’ rights and
the Board’s own precedents to hand Big Labor as many new special privileges as it can before the 2012 elections."
As noted in more detail, "...three former
union lawyers on the National Labor Relations Board voted to overturn the Board’s pivotal 2007 ruling on the Dana Corp.
"The Foundation-won Dana case was one of the most important victories for workers’
rights at the Board in recent years, securing for employees the right to challenge union card check organizing campaigns with
a secret ballot vote."
And, to add further national disruption, The Blaze gives the following blow-by-blow
flow of quotations that one can only describe as disquieting to the extreme. The quotations are as follows:
"We are heros who need to create a crisis, SEIU’s Stephen Lerner at the
Progressive Summit tells unions, community organizers and students. They need to escalate their protests, break laws,
occupy abandoned houses and spread the crisis all over the U.S.
"Gird your loins — this is war against capitalist, bloodsucker America, the
New Black Panther president Shabazz tells a Harlem audience."
And the wild, inflammatory rhetoric grows as metropolitan families begin to hide
their families and bolt their doors. Is this the beginning of the end? It damn well better not be.
==========================
On the Arabic front, we now hear that documents have surfaced that indicate the
CIA has actually been working with the brutal Libyan government. Seems like the right had doesn’t know what the
left hand is doing with regard to government positions or operations.
And, the WSJ reports: "The United Nations nuclear agency says it
is ‘increasingly concerned’ that Iran has conducted experimental work to develop nuclear weapons, in particular
on warheads to deliver nuclear payloads."
And, "Six independent film makers were detained in Iran, the British Broadcasting
Corp. said, denying an Iranian media report that the group was made up of broadcaster’s staffers."
And, "A bomb exploded outside New Delhi’s High Court, killing 11
people and injuring more than 60 in an act of suspected terrorism in the heart of India’s capital that further heightened
concerns about the nation’s security vulnerabilities."
And headlined: "U.S. Accuses Pakistan of Militant Ties." And
with the Reuters’ release: "Pakistan warned the United States to stop accusing it of playing a double game with Islamist
militants and heaped praise on ‘all-weather friend’ China."
And that’s what’s really been happening out there.
==========================
I think we need to take a long look at the Muslim extremist problem in today’s
world as seen from a somewhat longer time frame. I believe we all need to come to the realization that what we have
here is something that’s been around for some time and it’s not going to go away anytime soon.
It’s like this:
In 1968, Bobby Kennedy was assassinated by a Muslim extremist.
In 1972, a number of Munich Olympic athletes were kidnaped and massacred by Muslim
extremists.
In 1979, the U.S. embassy in Iran was taken over and those therein were taken hostage,
by Muslim extremists.
In the 1980s, a number of Americans were kidnaped in Lebanon and held by Muslim
extremists.
In 1983, the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut was blown up, with terrible results,
by Muslim extremists.
In 1985, the cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked and a 70-year-old American
passenger was murdered and thrown overboard in his wheelchair by Muslim extremists.
In 1985, TWA Flight 847 was hijacked in Athens and a U.S. Navy diver was murdered
while trying to rescue passengers, by Muslim extremists.
In 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed and destroyed, with a total loss of life
of all on board, by Muslim extremists.
In 1993, The World Trade Center basement parking area was bombed by Muslim extremists.
In 1998, the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by Muslim extremists.
In 2000, the U.S.S. Cole was hit by a suicide bombing in Aden, Yemen and 17 American
sailors were killed and 39 others ere injured, by a Muslim extremist.
On 9/11/2001, four American airliners were hijacked and two were used to destroy
the World Trade Center in New York and one was flown into the Pentagon building in Washington, DC and a final airliner managed
to be diverted and crashed by passengers. The many thousands who died were killed by Muslim extremists.
In 2002, reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnaped and murdered by Muslim extremists.
And throughout the Middle East, many thousands of Arab men, women and children
have been massacred by many hundreds of bombings, by Muslim extremists. And the killings are still going on.
No matter what the political left tries to tell us, there is a clear and horrendous
pattern here that has come down to us through the years. It is a bloody trail that no one with any sort of reasonable
mind can mistake.
Thank God there are dedicated souls who take the time to keep this message going
throughout the Internet. It is a lesson that everyone should see.
==========================
We have all seen Obama’s Solyndra fiasco and other solar promotions go down
in economic flames, with the bankruptcies and the FBI raid and similar actions. If nothing else, it all is certainly dramatic.
We remember Obama saying that, "Companies like Solyndra are leading the way
toward a brighter and more prosperous future." And then we learn that one of this company’s big investors
is the George Kaiser Family Foundation, and the big oilman behind that, bundling campaign funds from all over for Obama’s
original presidential run in 2008.
As the unraveling moved forward, The Wall Street Journal observed that, "Watching
the denials of paternity in Congress, you’d think that failed solar company Solyndra was a political orphan instead
of a former Administration darling and favorite of the President and Vice President."
As further noted, "Committee Democrats and two Administration officials tried to
pin the tail on the Bush Administration by noting that the Solyndra loan consideration began before President Obama took office.
...
"However, in the Solyndra case, the Bush Administration’s review board
declined in January 2009 to act on the loan proposal, calling it ‘premature.’ "
And then, as reported by the Associated Press reporter Matthew Daly, "The Obama administration ignored repeated warnings about a clean-energy loan program that has become
an embarrassment for the White House amid the collapse of a California solar energy company that received more than $500 million
in federal loans.
"At least three reports by federal watchdogs over the past two years warned that
the Energy Department had not fully developed the controls needed to manage the multibillion-dollar loan program that provided
more than $528 million to Solyndra Inc., a now-bankrupt solar panel manufacturer."
And now, as reported in the WSJ: "If
you thought that the $535 million Solyndra scandal had chastened the fearless venture capitalists of the Obama Administration,
think again.
"The Department of Energy shoveled out $1.1 billion in new loan guarantees to solar
projects in Nevada and Arizona ... and more deals are pending before the $18 billion program funded by the 2009 stimulus..."
And let us also call your attention to Aaron Klein’s WND report that reveals,
"President Obama’s nominee for Commerce secretary served as chairman of the board
of a solar energy company that recently received a $1.37 billion federal loan guarantee — the largest the Department
of Energy has ever given for a solar power project.
"Now that company, BrightSource Energy, is attempting to build the world’s
largest solar power plant, amid concerns such ventures may be too risky an investment for the federal government." Gee, why would anybody think that?
Oh yes, we might also mention that the dominos are beginning to fall.
As reported by The Wall Street Journal, "Solar-power equipment maker Sterling Energy Systems Inc. has filed for bankruptcy,
adding to a wave of troubles in the solar industry. ... The filing is the latest in a string of U.S. solar company bankruptcies."
A few scientists have dared to suggest (as this writer has as well) that the potential
is certainly great for capturing energy from the sun, but a great deal more R.&D. efforts will be required. Science
hasn’t as yet caught up to the pie-in-the-sky dreamers. We still have a long way to go.
==========================
The inconsistencies and preferred treatments in the federal government’s
handling of climate and energy issues have become grossly unfair and very obstructionist. Every which way they go they
seem to do far more harm than good.
A couple of good examples, from the growing stack, would be Mark Hemingway’s
contribution in The Weekly Standard and a key editorial in the WSJ.
Mark tells us, "Remember how Obama recently
waived new ozone regulations at the EPA because they were too costly? Well, it seems that the Obama administration would
rather make people with Asthma cough up money than let them make a surely inconsequential contribution to depleting the ozone
layer.
"Asthma patients who rely on over-the-counter inhalers will need to switch to prescription-only
alternatives as part of the federal government’s latest attempt to protect the Earth’s atmosphere."
What doctors and scientists can’t understand is that hardly anything at all
could ever easily escape from the inhalers. What is expelled goes into the lungs of the individual who needs the relief.
Doesn’t the government understand that? Evidently that’s just too complicated for them to grasp.
The second example, from the Journal, tells us that, "The U.S. Attorney for North Dakota hauled seven oil and natural gas companies into federal court for killing 28 migratory
birds that were found dead near oil waste lagoons.
"You may not be surprised to learn that the Administration isn’t prosecuting
wind companies for similar offenses." Frankly, the dishonesty of this is appalling.
==========================
Other little bits and pieces concerned with our climate and our energy includes
such gems as yet another well known scientist moving away from the more absolute position of the environmental left.
This time, as reported by Newsmax magazine, "Nobel Prize-winning physicist
and erstwhile Obama supporter Ivar Giaever has resigned as a Fellow from the prestigious American Physical Society to protest
the organization’s promotion of manmade global warming fears."
As this writer, and so many others, have suggested, our planet has historically
shown an undulating pattern of temperature variations that have had no significant connection with the human inhabitants.
Statistically, human influence and the influence of other forms of life have made contribution
to the weather patterns within the troposphere, but an increase in solar energy output or a significant volcanic eruption
can easily outpace almost any other factor by a very large margin.
That does not mean we need not behave responsibly with regard to our planet.
That means we don’t need to react in an extreme and irresponsible manner.
Another of those bits and pieces would be the announcement by the Ford Motor company
of the development of the smallest automobile engine they have ever put together. It’s a three-cylinder, 1-liter
engine they plan to put into the Ford Focus in 2012.
They say it will offer 118 horse-power and will step right out there with the best
of them. Ford (which the taxpayers didn’t have to bail-out) is proving to be one very innovating company.
Way to go!
==========================
How are things going on the educational front? You shouldn’t ask.
According to the College Board test administrators, the current high school SAT reading and writing scores have hit the lowest
level that has ever been recorded.
And in the Atlanta Public School system, which had registered some of the highest
standardized test scores ever, it was found that a considerable number of the educators (teachers and principals) have made
these high scores possible by cheating.
And as reported by The Blaze, "The San Antonio
Tea Party was part of a panel supported by a local public radio station. ... The topic of discussion: the DREAM Act and the
problem of illegal immigration. Jonathan Bryant, a government studies teacher, from John F. Kennedy High School attended
the event along with some of his students (who, according to Bryant, may be illegals). ...
"After the president of the [tea party] group affirmed his support for the laws
governing illegal aliens in the schools, Mr. Bryant just couldn’t contain himself. ... The Texas teacher called the
tea party president a ‘Nazi.’ " Evidently various n-words are all right
so long as they are levied against folks who are grassroots or conservative in their origins. So it would seem.
We are also seeing our federal government and even many lower levels of government,
through various officials, encouraging and even assisting in efforts to shut down successful charter schools and voucher programs,
even as they continue to throw billions of taxpayer’s dollars at failing public school systems. They seem dedicated
to rewarding failure at every opportunity.
==========================
There is an anonymous letter from a Florida teacher that has been circulating around
the Internet that is very interesting. Normally I do not pick up on anonymous sources, but I can see that, to keep her
career from possibly being placed in jeopardy, she (or he) needed to remain unidentified.
Also, I have heard so many other comments out there, from known sources, that are
just like this. This writer feels it should be shared. A part of it is as follows:
"One student of mine from the Dominican Republic told me that she didn’t
want me to find a job for her after she finishes my program because she is getting housing from our housing department and
she has gotten a PELL grant, which paid for her total tuition and books, plus gave her money left over.
"She was looking into WAIT which gives students a credit card for gas to come to
school, and into CARIBE which is a special program for immigrants and it pays for child care and all sorts of needs while
they go to school or get training.
"She also told me she was not going to be a U.S. citizen because she plans to return
to the Dominican Republic someday and that she loves her country, not this country." Well, maybe so, but I’ll bet she certainly loves all those free goodies that she is getting, which, I
might add, most of the rest of us mere citizens cannot get.
And such is the way things are.
==========================
The dishonest main-stream media continues its usual practices and with the usual
results. NBC, The New York Times and so many others continue to make their claim that tea party get-togethers are populated
by racists and other kinds of extremists and are little more than home-grown terrorists.
That’s rather interesting since the violence is showing up on the left, not
the right. And so many of the tea party groups are very enthusiastic supporters of Herman Cain and other responsible
black leaders.
So, how is that blatant dishonesty going for the left-leaning media? Well,
Janet Robinson, New York Times chief Exec. has had to announce that the third-quarter ad revenue is expected to fall 8% more
than was originally forecast.
And, of curse, Senator John Kerry still would like to offer government financial
support for the New York Times owned, Boston Globe. Oh yes, that’s the paper that has given so much promotional
political support to Kerry. Well of course.
And meanwhile, the Tribune Company — which owns the Los Angeles Times, The
Baltimore Sun, The Chicago Tribune, etc., etc. — remains firmly ensconced in the state of bankruptcy. And, the
Washington Post is cutting back on leased properties in Virginia and Maryland. They need to tighten their belt.
That’s right, the general public has become thoroughly disillusioned with
them all. In fact, as Bob Unruh (WND) reports, " A new poll suggests that
main street America may not be all that impressed with mainstream reporters, with only one person in 10 between the Atlantic
and Pacific stating they trust the ‘national news media’ a great deal.
"That’s according to a new scientific telephone survey of nearly 1,100 respondents
conducted Aug. 20-22 with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.93 percentage points. It was done by Wenzel Strategies." Perhaps we should just step aside and allow the metro papers and the broadcast network news to
just continue to commit suicide. We will most likely be all the better for it.
And meanwhile, we have other things going on. Glenn Beck has taken his popular
television show in a brand new direction. He and his company, Mercury Radio Arts, have set up a large internet "television"
operation (GBTV) that is hoped will open a great new venue for investigative and commentary and involvement broadcasting.
It’s a gamble because it will cost a little money for individual subscriptions.
The question is, will that be something that enough folks will be willing to pay for, when they are getting so much Fox reporting
and entertainment programing almost for free (except for the cable or satellite subscription, of course)?
I guess all we can say is, time will tell.
==========================
The attack on Christianity continues to move forward. As reported by The
Patriot Action Network:
"Vanderbilt University has placed four Christian student groups on ‘provisional
status’ after a university review found them to be in non-compliance with the school’s nondiscrimination policy.
If they remain in non-compliance, the student Christian groups risk being shut down.
"Vanderbilt says the student organizations cannot require that leaders share the
Christian groups’ beliefs, goals and values. Carried to its full extent, it means an atheist could lead a Christian
group, a man a women’s group, a Jew a Muslim group or vice versa."
And, "Fourteen year old Dakota Ary attends
Western Hills High School in Fort Worth, Texas. He is an honor student, plays football and has never been in trouble.
...
"According to Dakota, the topic of homosexuality has been discussed on a number
of occasions in his German language class. When the topic came up in class again this week, he told the student behind
him that he was a Christian and that he believed being a homosexual was wrong.
"His German teacher overheard his comment and started yelling at him and threatened
to write him up with an infraction and then sent him to the school’s office. Upon hearing what had taken place
and what Dakota had said, the assistant principal gave Dakota a two day suspension from school."
And, "A San Juan Capistrano [California] family has been fined for holding
regular Bible studies in their home in violation of the city’s zoning code. ... The city of San Juan Capistrano has
fined Charles and Stephanie Fromm $300 for their regular Bible study groups, according to a statement from the Sacramento-based
Pacific Justice Institute."
And San Diego area Westview High School teacher Brad Johnson "...was told
by a federal appeals court that his boss had a right to tell him to take down religious posters from his classroom walls."
The banners had such phrases as "In God We Trust" which is engraved on our money.
History will not speak kindly about this era of the persecution of Christians in
the former United States of America.
==========================
Grassfire Nation is reporting some very disturbing news: "Late last week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) took what is being called ‘the final
step’ toward implementing their illegal Net Neutrality regulations.
"You may recall that back on Dec. 21 the FCC bypassed government regulations and
seized control of the Internet — delivering what many believe is a knockout blow to one of the last, great free-market
frontiers our nation and the world has ever seen.
"According to the organization ‘Less Government,’ regardless of multiple
lawsuits, a move by the House of Representatives and a D.C. Circuit Court unanimously ruling that the FCC had no authority
to take control, the Federal government is still arrogantly pushing forward toward full implementation of their Net Neutrality
regulations on November 20."
I realize that this sort of thing is hard to believe, but it is really happening.
And yes, it also put into serious jeopardy the ability to maintain such web sites as ours, which offers you news and other
current history and opinions that are only available so completely on such web sites on the Internet.
They are all vulnerable now to the ideological whims of the new all-powerful central
government that is being put in place.
Another nail in our coffin.
More Winter For Our Economy
October, 2011. Our economy is what it is,
and it isn’t pretty. It was announced that our budget deficit has reached $1.3 trillion. And, as you might have
expected, the latest census data shows us that the top income totals in our nation are to be found in the greater Washington
DC area.
And the mountains of federal paperwork is growing exponentially in concert with
the nightmare. By way of example, it has been noted that it was estimated to be 6,283,620 hours of paperwork to comply
with the new Federal Reserve Volcker rule. Isn’t that going to be fun?
It would seem to this writer that using the tools and procedures suggested to us
by most of our politicians and federal agency directors, to solve the serious problems of our economy, is way too much like
trying to cut the grass with a pair of scissors.
==========================
The Wall Street Journal headlines for this month include such stimulating
news as — "Stocks Log Worst Quarter Since ‘09; Market Nears Bear Territory; Metals, Crude Oil Slip
on Bernanke, Growth Concerns; Factory-Goods Orders Show Decline; Housing’s Job Engine Falters; Bleak
News for Americans’ Income; Stocks Slide Back Into Red; Pain Spreads to Biggest Banks; Appliance Sales
Tumble; Slow Recovery Feels Like Recession."
The headlines were in chronological order. For a follow-up with full details, you
may want to check out the full Journal. (That’s why we source just about everything here — so you can verify and
get the full story.)
==========================
Once again we follow the current administration’s efforts to deal with our
problems. And, once again, it’s the same old story over and over again.
As reported in Newsmax Magazine, there seems to be, "A two-pronged attack
from the FDA and a new bill introduced by Dick Durbin that would make supplements more expensive — and harder to get."
Bill O’Reilly examples such difficulties in what he sees as "Wrecking
the economy in the name of compassion." He further notes in The Washington Times that, "...47 percent of people
in this country, both citizens and non-citizens, are receiving one or more federal benefit payments. That is the highest
entitlement percentage in US history."
And, in that same publication, Michelle Malkin reminds us that "In February
2009, President Obama signed the trillion-dollar American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Nearly $115 billion was earmarked
for education."
As she noted, it was "...predicted the law would hold the jobless rate under
8.5 percent. The actual unemployment rate in October 2009 skyrocketed to a whopping 10.2 percent."
And, "In August 2010, President Obama ... lobbied hard for the so-called
‘EduJobs’ bill — $26 billion more to bail out bankrupt states, school districts and public hospitals."
Obama and his cohorts, "...promised the jobless rate would be down to
7.9 percent. The actual unemployment rate in August 2010 was 9.6 percent." And now, of course, "Obama and
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are pushing for a ‘mini’ $30 billion union jobs package for teachers (with $5
billion to mollify police and firefighters unions)."
And also, "...funding fantastical green school construction jobs (earmarked
for unionized-only contractors in an industry that is 85 percent nonunion)."
If such a mess should ever manage to get passed, don’t expect any different
unemployment results than the miserable statistics we have always ended up with. As Michelle observes, they keep, "...getting
in wrong over and over again."
==========================
There seems to be an almost endless number of missteps being made by our current
federal government. There is everything from the new Volcker regulations (which is so gigantic a volume that the regulators
seem unsure as to what to regulate) to actions and restrictions that are clearly job killers.
These problems have been highlighted in a number of publications, including
Human Events, where we find a most revealing report that offers the following: "Peter Schiff, the CEO of Euro Pacific
Capital, testified before the House Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Oversight, and Government Spending on Sept,
13."
Part of his testimony went as follows: "In
my own business, securities regulations have prohibited me from hiring brokers for more than three years. I was even
fined $15,000 expressly for hiring too many brokers in 2008. In the process I incurred more than $500,000 in legal bills
to mitigate a more severe regulatory outcome as a result of hiring too many workers.
"I have also been prohibited from opening up additional offices. I had a
major expansion plan that would have resulted in my creating hundreds of additional jobs. Regulations have forced me to put
those jobs on hold." Now there is a good example of the Democratic job creation
machine in action.
==========================
Human Events has also come up with an interesting list of "green job fiascoes."
Among them is, of course, Solyndra. And then there is also this one: "The bailout that General Motors received from
the government came with a price. The carmaker was tasked to create the ultimate green vehicle. The result —
the Chevy Volt — is a product with an exorbitant price tag that nobody wants to buy."
And there is, "Evergreen Solar Inc., of Massachusetts, which received
$58 million in stimulus money and other government largesse, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August."
And let us not forget, "The city of Seattle received $20 million in federal
stimulus money to help homeowners make their houses more energy-efficient. Some 16 months later, 14 jobs were created
and three homes were weatherized."
"...‘Green Vehicles’ received $500,000 from the city of Salinas,
Calif., and another $187,000 from the state of California as it promised to create 70 new jobs making an innovative three-wheel
electric car with a $25,000 price tag. ... The company folded without making a single car."
"...Before Republicans took back the statehouse in Pennsylvania, Democratic
Gov. Ed Randell helped support ethanol producer Bionol Clearfield with $27 million in grants and loans, and by issuing $67
million in tax-free bonds. But even a deal with Getty Oil to buy the fuel couldn’t save the venture from going
belly-up two years after its founding."
And, to top it off, "Clark County, Nevada, which happens to be the home
of the gambling mecca of Las Vegas, received $490,000 in stimulus money from the U.S. Forest Service to plant trees in urban
neighborhoods. ... The stimulus that resulted from the grant to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s home state created
1.7 jobs (one full-time employee and one part time) and 11 temporary jobs."
Human Events does a marvelous job reporting things like this. It’s
yet another publication I look forward to reading every week.
==========================
Next, we find out that the FisKer electric car company, "...with the approval
of the Obama administration ... received a $529 million federal government loan guarantee assembling its first line of cars
in Finland, saying it could not find a facility in the United States capable of doing the work." (Thank you
Patriot Action Network for that informative report.)
And, as we might expect, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has come
out with harsh criticism for the credit rating firms, and especially Standard & Poor’s. It’s not unlike
this writer receiving a credit downgrade for heavy debt and irresponsible spending and then turning around and reporting the
credit rating firm as irresponsible.
The only reason that our left-wing government can get away with that sort of thing
is because our left-wing media lets them get away with it. It’s as simple as that.
==========================
Adding to the hundreds of other business leaders who have finally begun speaking
up, we now also have the president of the Consumer Electronics Association president, Gary Shapiro, who was quoted in the
Washington Times this month saying a few choice words.
"President Obama’s regulatory team is hurting U.S. competitiveness
and slowing the growth of the economy because its members’ lack of business experience." As reported by Tim
Devaney, "Mr. Shapiro accused Mr. Obama of driving a mindset that ‘business is evil.’ "
Also we are now hearing about internal communications within the "Fannie" and "Freddie"
mortgage empire that suggest that top management people within those organizations, as well as the government regulators,
were warned. Along with Barney Frank, Chris Dodd and all the other Obama people, it would seem even the top leadership within
the mortgage giants were not interested in what was about to happen.
Also, James J. Mulva, the chairman and chief executive officer of Conoco-Phillips
had this to say in the Wall Street Journal: "Even after 103,000 jobs were added during September, unemployment remains
at 9.1 %. Counting those who have given up the job search or accepted a part-time job, economists calculate actual unemployment
at a staggering 16.5%.
Where can growth and new jobs come from? Mr. Mulva tells us, "One source is
the natural gas industry, which is already generating jobs by the thousands, all without government subsidy. And it
can generate more, if we unleash this resource’s full potential." The question is, will the Obama government
allow it to happen?
==========================
Senator Harry Reid was down to his usual standards this month when, from
the floor of the Senate he proclaimed that "Private sector jobs are dong just fine. It’s the public sector
jobs where we’ve lost huge numbers."
Once again it would seem that the only way Harry can ever make both ends
meet is when he has his foot in his mouth. As RedState.com has noted, "According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics, government workers have the lowest unemployment rate of any industry or class recorded — at 4.7% —
while the national unemployment rate is 9.1% — nearly twice that of public sector workers."
Meanwhile, it would seem that Obama’s jobs bill isn’t all that he wants
us to believe it is. As you may recall from the news reports, "President Obama’s $447 billion jobs bill failed
to clear a procedural hurdle in the Democrat-controlled Senate, despite a White House push that accelerated in the
11th hour." (Fox News)
And now the Federal Reserve’s Ben Bernanke is warning us that our economic
recovery was (and possibly still is) "close to faltering." And, believe it or not, he even admitted that the
White House shares the responsibility for this.
And now Democrats in the House are calling on Obama to sack Edward Marco, who is
the acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and we also hear that the top man in Freddie Mac is going to quit
the government run mortgage monster. Are we seeing the beginning of an exercise sometimes referred to as "the rats leaving
a sinking ship?" No, I wouldn’t really call them "rats." However, the pattern seems eerily similar, don’t
you think?
It might be interesting to also note some comments by Jeffrey T. Kuhner in The
Washington Times. "Is America in its twilight years? Patrick J. Buchanan argues
it is. Americans, especially conservatives, should heed his warnings.
"The very future of our republic is at stake. Mr. Buchanan has written the political
book of the year — and maybe of our time." The title: "Suicide of
a Superpower." This writer is inclined to say, "Where have you been?"
A book was published way back in 1999 titled, "Good-bye, America?" You may
not have read my book — hardly anyone did. Perhaps most folks were not as yet ready to face what was to come.
And, of course, the liberal media managed to bury it fairly well back then. Too bad.
==========================
With all that has been happening, there has been a very modest growth of our economy.
Unfortunately, this has not been because of our federal government — it has been in spite of our
federal government.
However, it would seem that once in a while a very rare moment occurs when it seems
the government may actually be getting something right. As reported by The Wall Street Journal, "The fees employers
pay to bring temporary workers into the U.S. will be used to train American workers for jobs, as part of a $160 million grant
program the Labor Department is undertaking to help businesses curb reliance on foreign workers for some highly skilled jobs."
Let’s hope they actually do this right.
In another area --- Some people would like to be able to give one or two interest-free
loans to family members or friends to help them through these hard times. That shouldn’t be a problem. It’s
their own money. They should be able to do something like that if they want to, right?
Wrong! Tax experts tell us that a person can end up with all sorts of problems
with the IRS. It would seem that there is hardly anything that is yours anymore.
Well, at least there is a little bit of push-back in a few areas. More and more
people are rallying in support of the Gibson Guitar Company, which, it would seem, has been almost completely destroyed by
our federal authorities for no legitimate reason that can be substantiated. Good luck.
==========================
We all know what’s been happening on Wall Street in New York and in several
other cities in various parts of America. From all we can gather, they are the anti-just-about-everything occupiers of public
property. And, unlike the tea party rallies, they don’t just come and make their statements and go home.
They don’t remain peaceful and clean up after themselves.
What they say and what they have done is most revealing. It shows us all
the vast and disturbing differences when the "left" tries to do its pitiful imitation of what the "right" has done.
It shows us all what they are truly made of. It is most revealing.
They have actually taken up residence in public areas, with all the accompanying
filth and safety hazards. They have blocked streets and bridges. Some have gotten into drugs and public sexual
acts. They have caused havoc everywhere.
As WND tells us, "Stephen Lerner, a controversial
anti-capitalist SEIU organizer, is one of the forces behind the protests on Wall Street and nationwide, according to quotes
obtained by a socialist activist who doubles as a Washington Post columnist.
"...Lerner recently laid out a mass economic protest plan intended to bring down
the stock market, and boasted his plan could be used to cause a new financial crisis. His ideology prompted some conservative
critics to go so far as to label him as an economic terrorist." As reported in
The Washington Times, "The movement has spread in recent weeks to Los Angeles, San Francisco,
St. Louis, Boston, Kansas City and elsewhere.
"It is unclear what its agenda is beyond overturning our capitalist system and
everything that flows from Wall Street, which is the capital investment that is the life blood of our economy." And further (as written by Donald Lambro), "They are in very
large part confuse, uninformed young people who have picked the wrong economic targets for their grievances.
"Where did these ideas come from? Much of this anti-corporate, anti-wealth, anti-capitalism
rhetoric sounds like it is straight our of college economics courses taught by left-wing professors. They are still
there, raging against big business and capitalism, brainwashing naive students who believe that stuff and vote accordingly."
We also see that the unions have been very quick to take advantage of the situation.
The AFL-CIO, Teamsters and the SEIU are all there. And what about the naive youths and young adults? New York
magazine talked with about 50 of them. They found that 84 percent didn’t seem to know anything about the Dodd-Frank
Act and as many as 64 percent didn’t know what the SEC (Securities Exchange Commission) was, although they were right
there where they are. And those were just a couple of examples.
Ted Nugent summed it up with his observation that, "Useful idiots are
protesting against the wrong fat cats."
==========================
The Patriot Action Network checked the "occupiers" out thoroughly and came to some
interesting conclusions: "There is some question as to which sense is first alerted
to the on-coming presence of the Occupy Wall Street crowd. Do you hear them first or do you smell them first?
"...You hear how, ‘We need to cut the heads off of bankers. We need to run
all the Jews out of the country. Tax the rich into poverty to make them pay.’
"...Next is the smell. You guys ever heard of soap, anti-perspirant, personal
hugiene? ... Also you’ll see areas set aside for ‘media’ (books, brochures, tracts, posters, T-shirts) celebrating
the many virtues of Communism," among other things.
"Here you’ll see and listen to an Occupy Wall Street leader ‘educate’
the unwashed masses in certain rights they need to work and fight to get, including, and I’m not kidding, the right
to have sex with animals." And of course the signs are everywhere. "The revolution is here!" and "Death
to Capitalism!" and "Support Communism!" and "Destroy Wall Street!" and "Socialism Rules!" and "America
is The Great Satan!"
And with all of this and so much more, the vast majority of our left-wing media
thinks its all a wonderful expression of free speech, while they recall the Tea Party outings as being "angry and profane"
(from the New York Times). The Occupiers and the Tea Parties are as different as night and day, but definitely not the
differences suggested by the liberal journalists.
==========================
The New York Post was there as well and added its observation: "Lured by cheap drugs and free food, creepy thugs have infiltrated the crowd of protesters camped out
in Zuccotti Park for Occupy Wall Street, The Post has learned.
" ‘I got warrants. I’m running from the law,’ boasted Dave, 24,
a scrawny, unshaven miscreant in filthy clothes from Stamford, Conn. ‘I’m not even supposed to be here,
but it’s as good a spot as any to hide.’ Wanted for burglary, the drug-addled fugitive said some of his
hard-partying pals clued him in that the protest was a good place to be fed, get wasted and crash.
"Drugs can be easy to score — a Post reporter was offered pot for $15 and
heroin for $10. They’ve already fueled at least one violent incident, when a wasted nut job socked a medical volunteer
in the face before others hauled the attacker away."
In San Diego they came to occupy the civic center area. And three Southwestern
College professors were reported holding an "Occupy Democracy Event" to rally youths for participation.
And, as reported by the local NBC station in San Diego (but not the network),
"A total of 51 Occupy San Diego protesters were arrested. ... Members of the public and employees in nearby buildings complained
to the police of human and animal feces, drug use and litter on the premises."
Bob Unruh (WND) reports: "The dark scourge
of anti-Semitism has reared up at many ‘Occupy’ protests across the country, and the subject could well become
a campaign 2012 issue as Republicans have been quick to point out to voters that many Democrats, including the President are
aligning themselves with the protests.
"Protesters have proclaimed that ‘Zionist Jews’ still ‘need to
be run out of the country,’ and they condemn ‘Nazi Bankers on Wall Street.’ And Barack Obama’s
perspective? ‘I think that it [the movement] expresses the frustrations that the American people feel,’
he said."
And who or what is behind all of this, you may ask? We have seen video footage
of Obama friend Bill Ayers teaching revolutionary theory at Occupy Chicago. And World Net Daily informs us that, "A
public relations firm closely partnered with the George Soros-funded Tides Foundation represented last week’s anti-Wall
Street march past millionaires’ homes in New York." Frankly, the left is deeply involved with all of this
just about everywhere.
And with all the violence and general law breaking, there has started to be such
activities as fighting and even rape. Oh, it’s a real hoot.
Finally, as reported by Meghan Barr, for the Associated Press, "Fed up with petty crime, the all-night racket of beating drums, the smell of human waste and the sight
of trampled flowers and grass, police and neighbors are losing patience with some of the anti-Wall Street protests around
the U.S.
"In Oakland, Calif., police in riot gear fired tear gas and bean bags before daybreak
... to disperse about 170 protesters who had been camping in front of City Hall for the past two weeks, and 75 people were
arrested.
"The mayor of Providence, R.I., is threatening to go to court within days to evict
demonstrators from a park. And businesses and residents near New York’s Zuccotti Park, the unofficial headquarters
of the movement that began in mid-September, are demanding something be done to discourage the hundreds of protesters from
urinating in the street and making noise at all hours.
"In Philadelphia, city officials have been waiting almost two weeks for Occupy
Philly to respond to a letter containing a list of health and safety concerns. City Managing Director Richard Negrin
said officials can’t wait much longer to address hazards such as smoking in tightly packed tents, camps layouts that
hinder emergency access, and exposure to human waste."
And The Boston Herald reports that, "Two Occupy Boston members have been arrested
on drug charges, Boston police said yesterday. Bostonians Isaac Bell, 34, and Charlene Dumont, 31, were both charged with
distribution of a Class A drug (heroin) and possession with intent to distribute a Class A drug within 1,000 feet of a school
zone, police say." All of this seems to have happened in the presence of a 6-year-old child, as also reported by
the Herald.
And as the American Nazi Party announces that it stands in solidarity with
the occupation movement, Karl Rove reports, in The Wall Street Journal: "At his recent news conference, President
Barack Obama praises Occupy Wall Street, saying, ‘It expresses the frustrations that the American people feel.’
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi praised the protesters, saying, ‘God bless them for their spontaneity.’ Vice
President Joe Biden claimed the protesters had ‘a lot in common with the tea party.’ "
So, violence and other lawlessness is just an expression of frustration and it’s
all really a lot like the tea party? Then I guess pigs can fly and the moon is actually made out of cheese, right?
==========================
We knew it was going to happen because it almost always seems to happen, every
time a Republican begins to look like some kind of possible threat to a left-wing Democrat in any kind of political activity
— they unleash every sort of unfounded charge or smear they can manage to create.
They keep doing it because they can’t really run on any successes in office
(you have to have them to run on them). Lucky for them, they have a blatantly supportive national media always willing to
hang on their every word.
Two good examples in today’s news include a totally anonymous accusation
of suggestive behavior against Herman Cain (which seems to have been proven to be baseless) and a very questionable smear
by Manuel Roig-Franzia against Marco Rubio.
As reported by Human Events, "Manuel Roig-Franzia
has a well documented history of being an apologist for the Cuban communist regime and a hater of the Catholic church.
He is also now writing a book on Marco Rubio.
"We can get a sense of the book by his stunning hit job on Marco Rubio in The Washington
Post. Roig-Franzia claims Rubio has embellished his ‘compelling version of his family’s history that had special
resonance in South Florida.’ "
The Miami Herald wrote: "The Washington
Post just released this interesting story headlined ‘Marco Rubio’s compelling family story embellishes facts,
documents show.’ The paper flagged a clear inaccuracy in his official Senate biography that states the Senator’s
parents ‘came to America following Fidel Castro’s takeover.
" ‘That’s false. Rubio’s parents came to the US before
then, in 1956. They remained in the US after Castro took over in 1959. They returned to Cuba for brief stints
early on, before the country devolved into Soviet-style totalitarianism.’ "
The actual truth is that when they returned to Cuba, things began to start to move
in bad and even dangerous directions, so his parents had to get out and stay out, of course. (I do believe the term
"flee" would not be inappropriate.)
Nothing that Rubio has said seems to be inconsistent as far as we can tell.
His family was a part of "a community of exiles" in the Miami area. The real truth is as simple as that.
==========================
And while the media has a feeding frenzy over any invented negative they
can find concerning any leading conservative, including such generalizations as Bill Mahr’s, "If you’re racist,
you’re a Republican," — with all of that, there is little to no attention paid to such things as Human Events
and the few other conservative publications have been willing to report, such as: "Vice President Joe Biden now says
he didn’t make a reference to rape, and got testy with Human Events when we asked if he would like to retract his comments
that the number of sexual assaults would increase if Republicans don’t sign on to Barack Obama’s latest ‘jobs’
proposal."
Biden was then quoted as saying, "I didn’t use, no no no ... Let’s
get it straight, guy. Don’t screw around with me." Then finally, as noted by Jason Mattera: "Then
Biden confirmed that he indeed did talk about rape in terms of the President’s spending measure. ‘Murder
will continue to rise, rape will continue to rise, all crimes will continue to rise,’ if the Democrats agenda isn’t
passed, he added."
This writer saw the video and you can be sure, that’s exactly the way it
was. And on and on it has gone like this, as exampled by so many of the stories reported herein — stories that
were never really run with any prominence or not run at all in most of the media.
As you can see, the truth is might hard to come by these days. That’s
why I make this heartfelt effort here.
==========================
The impact of the growing negatives in the American political spectrum has begun
to become extremely noticable. A growing number of Democrats have been observed keeping a discrete distance between themselves
and Obama. A few Democrats have even dared to openly criticize either Obama or his policies. Human Events has
reported on a few interesting examples of this.
"Sen. James Webb (D-Va.) Last week called the President’s plan to raise
taxes ‘terrible,’ and said he does ‘not believe we should be increasing ordinary earned income taxes on
any level.’ Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) said the Obama Administration ‘has not shown the leadership to combat
gun violence.’ "
Audrey Hudson’s article also noted that, "Senator Jim Webb, strategist
James Carville, and Rep. Maxine Waters are just a few notable Democrats who have been strongly criticizing President Obama
as of late." One might also add Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-Calif.), Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), and Rep. John Conyers
(D-Mich.) to that list.
And James Freeman, under the headline: "The Exasperation of the Democratic
Billionaire" (in The Wall Street Journal), quoted Mortimer Zuckerman in an extensive interview. " ‘It’s as if he doesn’t like people,’ says real estate mogul and New York Daily
News owner Mortimer Zuckerman of the president of the United States.
" ‘Barack Obama doesn’t seem to care for individuals,’ elaborates
Mr. Zuckerman, ‘though the president enjoys addressing millions of them on television.’ The Boston Properties
CEO is trying to understand why Mr. Obama has made little effort to build relationships on Capitol Hill or negotiate a bipartisan
economic plan." This from one of the top Democratic party supporters.
==========================
ObamaCare still remains in intensive care. Well, what can one expect from
a health care plan that was written by a committee whose chairman said he just doesn’t understand it, was passed by
a Congress that never read it through, and didn’t really care that much anyway because they aren’t even covered
under the damned thing anyway. What can you expect from that, something reasonable?
And now Pelosi tries to defend the almost 2,000 Obamacare waivers by saying,
"They’re small. I couldn’t speak to all 1,800 of them, but some of the lists that I have seen have been very,
very small companies. They will not have a big impact on the economy of our country."
That’s what Nancy Pelosi said in a CNBC interview. We beg to differ
with you Ms. Pelosi. Some are not so small at all. One glaring example would be McDonalds — not exactly a little
hole-in-the-wall outfit.
And now MSNBC’s Tom Curry has reported that, "The Obama administration
announced that it has suspended one piece of the landmark health care law which the president signed last year. Secretary
of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius told Congress in a letter that the CLASS Act, which was supposed to provide
a new voluntary long-term care insurance program, was unworkable since no actuarially sound way could be figured out to run
the program."
And now Eric Odom, the Media Director of the Liberty News Network tells us that,
"A new investigation coordinated by ‘Operation Rescue’ and ‘Protect
Defending Life’ exposes an abortion clinic for not only performing late-term abortions, but also utilizing Medicaid
to pay for the procedure once approved as a patient.
"The groups recorded a caller who speaks with a customer service representative
at the Southwestern Women’s Options Abortion Center in New Mexico. Sue, the representative who answered the phone,
starts out by saying that, ‘Our clinic will actually do an elective procedure up until about 28 weeks.’
When the caller explains she cannot pay for the abortion due to her unemployed status, the agent explains that her type of
Medicaid covers the late-term abortion."
And now a special report from the Institute of Medicine (an advisory board) is
urging that we have affordable health plans. And Gov. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) and Dr. Scott W. Atlas, a Stanford
University Medical Center professor have even come up with a plan for serious alternatives to government run healthcare.
That’s what we understand.
Whatever happens, it won’t be simple and easy. It will take an enormous
amount of work to get ourselves properly untangled from the Obamacare mess that we have now. And then we’ll have
to start all over again because the system we had before was inadequate and going broke. Whatever happens, it’s
going to be painful. That’s for sure.
==========================
With all that has happened, the Obama bunch remains the same. The bad things
keep coming at us, from every angle. We see that the sister-in-law of Obama’s influential White House transition director,
John Podesta, became a lobbyist for a wind power company that just happens to have been awarded a $135.8 million loan guarantee
from the Department of Energy.
We see there are a number of Muslims with Muslim Brotherhood connections,
closely involved with the White House. As World Net Daily reports, "One is Rashad Hussain, Ambassador to the 52-nation
Organization of Islam Conference. ... Before joining the White House as a lawyer, Hussain regularly spoke to Brotherhood front
groups and defended Brotherhood leaders like Sami al-Arian."
Another associated with Obama is Delia Mogahed, who writes Obama speeches,
comes from the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt." Such is now what once was the spiritual center of our nation —
the White House. We see a video of Obama speaking at a union hall in Pittsburgh, telling everyone he has instructed
his advisors to push through stimulus projects without the approval of Congress.
We see Obama claiming that he wants to rebuild our roads, hoping that no one is
smart enough to remind anyone that he was a part of the stalling of a major highway bill since 2009. We see, as reported in
The Wall Street Journal, "The President has — for the fourth time in his administration — proposed to limit
the value of the charitable tax deduction. ... The white House wants to steer your charitable giving to pet causes."
(This was detailed by Howard Husock, vice president for policy research at the Manhattan Institute.)
We see, as revealed by WND, "Newly resurfaced photographs show President
Obama appearing and marching with members of the New Black Panther Party as he campaigned for president in Selma, Alabama,
in March 2007. BigGovernment.com posted the photographs, reporting that the images were captured from a Flickr photo-sharing
account before they were scrubbed."
We see a video that shows Obama leaving a recent meeting with Congressional leaders,
after Cantor told the President that Republicans would not vote for his proposed tax hikes. We see that Obama then grabbed
his things and stormed out of the meeting, actually kicking the door open on his way out.
We see Michelle Malkin’s column in which she writes that, "The Pleasanton (CA) Weekly was bullied by the White House ... over a benign article that irked the administration
because it made Michelle Obama look snooty.
"The San Francisco Chronicle was punished by the White House because a print pool
reporter used a cellphone to record video of protesters at an Obama Bay Area fundraiser. A WFAA-TV Texas reporter was dressed
down by the President for having the audacity to interrupt.
"The Boston Herald was spanked by the White House for running a front-page op-ed
by GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney." And her examples go on and on and
on. Do you think maybe that tells us something about Obama?
Yes, there’s a lot to be seen, if one looks beyond the usual empty-handed
journalism that we are normally fed.
==========================
Sandra L. Staats reports, through the Patriot Action Network, "The Federal
Election Commission ruled that a Guyana-born American citizen could file papers and raise money to run for president
of the United States. But the agency also told the prospective candidate, Abdul Hassan, that his campaign may not receive
federal matching funds because he was not born in America."
This writer would like to direct the attention of the Federal Election Commission
to a very special paragraph from Section-1 of Article II of the Constitution of the United States of America. The paragraph
(never amended) reads as follows: "No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at
the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President."
What is wrong with those people on the Commission? Are they also now
going to be treating our Constitution the way so many of our judges have come to do? Does our Constitution have no relevance
at all anymore, unless it suits the whim of those in a position of power? What do you think?
==========================
One of our signs of our time might be described as a bumper sticker I saw not long
ago. It read: "Guns don’t kill people. Drug cartels armed by our government kill people." It
stands as an example most apropos for our trying time.
That botched federal gun-running probe is but the latest in a long line of irresponsibilities
that seem to have connections to Eric Holder and his Justice Department. He vehemently claims that, "My testimony
was truthful and accurate," but that’s not at all in agreement with what has been revealed through the growing Congressional
investigation.
As reported by Bob Unruh (WND), "One member
of Congress has started using the word ‘accessory’ in talking about members of the Obama administration who had
their fingers on the pulse of the Operation Gunrunner ‘Fast and Furious’ stunt under which the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives ordered gun dealers to sell weapons to unqualified buyers, who then dumped them into the
Mexican drug cartel civil war.
"And that may include Attorney General Eric Holder. After all, despite his
sworn assurance to Congress in a May appearance on the Hill that it was only within the ‘last few weeks’ that
he even heard of the project, a stack of memos reveals that if he paid attention to his office work, he knew the situation
a year earlier."
Mr. Unruh put it very diplomatically. In fact, it would seem, to this writer,
that Holder is either extremely incompetent in his job or he has knowingly been very dishonest about the whole dirty business.
And this is far from being the first indication of his possible dishonesty.
As Jerry Seper reports in The Washington Times, "In 2001, the House Government
Reform Committee questioned the accuracy of Mr. Holder’s depiction of what he did as deputy attorney general in the
last-minute pardon by President Bill Clinton of fugitive financier Marc Rich, whose former wife, Denise Rich, had donated
$1.3 million to Democrats."
Another example that Mr. Seper offers is: "Two years earlier, Mr.
Holder came under fire for refusing to tell a Senate committee whether the Justice Department had recommended against Mr.
Clinton’s offer of clemency to 16 Puerto Rican nationalists a month after then-Attorney General Janet Reno said their
release posed a national security threat."
And as Thomas Sowell noted in an article in the same publication, "Attorney
General Eric Holder became a key figure epitomizing the view that government’s role in racial matters was not to be
an impartial dispenser of equal justice for all, but to be a racial partisan and an organ of racial payback."
And as Jerry Septer noted in another article in the Washington Times: "In
a blistering letter, Rep. Darrell E. Issa, California Republican who heads the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee,
told Mr. Holder that it was time for him ‘to come clean to the American public’ on what he knew and when about
the weapons investigation, saying Mr. Holder has made numerous statements about the operation that have ‘proven to be
untrue.’ "
And Holder’s Department of Justice has gone off the deep end in other areas
as well. There is that example of property seizures, such as the Tewksbury, Mass. motel that was taken because it was
found that some guests got involved in drug offenses.
And, as reported by "Terrorism Watchmen" and other groups, "Top Justice
Department officials convened a meeting where invited Islamist advocates lobbied them for cutbacks in anti-terror funding,
chages in agent’s training manuals, additional curbs on investigators and a legal declaration that U.S. citizens’
criticism of Islam constitutes racial discrimination."
All I can say about Holder and his so-called Justice Department is — watch
out America!
==========================
The Solyndra mess just keeps keeping on. The Wall Street Journal reveals
more, including email arguments and warnings that, "...went as high as Valerie Jarrett, a confidante of the president,
and Ron Klain, then chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden. In one email, Mr. Klain said that Solyndra and other
clean-technology energy ventures could go ‘belly-up’ by Election Day 2012."
As the month moved forward, Grassfire Nation revealed that, "Numerous sources
are now reporting that California-based solar panel company, Solyndra donated $7,500 to the California Democratic Party and
company employees had also contributed more than $20,000 to Democratic candidates..." That, in addition to all the
other much larger Democratic political donations.
Additionally, "Even worse, the Detroit News reported that the Obama administration
was so eager to give Solyndra taxpayer money, energy Secretary Steven Chu ‘personally approved more cash even though
they had already defaulted on one loan.’ "
And of course most of us recall how Solyndra executives took the "Fifth Amendment"
rather than reveal anything that might suggest a criminal act. This was in front of an official House committee investigation.
But of course Holder and Obama and the rest of his gang couldn’t possibly
have done anything wrong, now could they? Maybe, as with everything else, we can find some way to blame it all on George Bush,
right?
==========================
Other exposures include an interesting revelation by Chuck Neubauer in The
Washington Times. "House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s husband, a real estate developer and investment banker,
stands to make millions of dollars in a previously undisclosed residential real estate project in California as a partner
with the father of a woman Mrs. Pelosi helped become ambassador to Hungary, records show."
We also hear that Senator Feinstein (D-Calif.) is suggested as having a serious
conflict of interest that provided a substantial government contract for her husband’s company. And there are so many
others like that.
And, as if that weren’t enough, Bob Unruh (WND) reports that, "A
group that monitors elections in Minnesota and roots out fraudulent votes is warning ballot fraud is on the rise across the
nation, and if unchecked, the ultimate consequences would be an electorate that simply doesn’t believe the system works
and refuses to participate — ‘a total breakdown in the cohesion of American society.’ "
Most disturbingly, there is an element in American politics that really does seem
to want that to happen.
==========================
With regard to the media, it seems often to be much like Peter Funt put it:
"So much media, so little news." Or, in some instances, there’s lots of news, but so much of it is blatantly
false, to the utter shame of the once great field of journalism.
Grassfire Nation points to a glaring example of this malpractice (one small example
out of so many). "The liberal media are openly promoting the ‘Occupy Wall
Street’ effort, providing enormous coverage and creating a direct comparison to the Tea Party movement.
"First, the left is aggressively promoting ‘Occupy.’ According to Media
Research Center’s Brent Bozell, ‘The Occupy folks drew more broadcast network stories in the first nine days of
coverage (24) than the Tea Party drew in the first nine months (19).’ And it gets worse. The left is openly
touting the Occupy effort as ‘the liberal version of the Tea Party’ (NBC News) and ‘the equivalent of the
Tea Party movement on the left’ (Meet The Press)."
TheTeaParty.net states that, "The continuing comparisons between Occupy
Wall Street and the Tea Party movement are absurd. Pundits and prognosticators in the media are saying that this is
the left’s version of the same grassroots fervor that is the hallmark of the Tea Party."
By way of example (?) they point out that, "A speaker at Occupy L.A. belittled
the nonviolent civil disobedience of Gandhi and instead called for a slaughter along the lines of the bloody French Revolution.
‘So, ultimately, the bourgeoisie won’t go without violent means ... Long live revolution! Long live
socialism!’ "
And, as it was observed, "The blood thirsty crowd cheered loudly as the speaker
praised socialism and called for the violent overthrow of American capitalism." And that’s just one of many,
many examples.
Calling for slaughter, long live socialism, overthrowing American capitalism?
And the filth, the drugs, the blocking of streets — somehow all of this is like the Tea Party? Well, maybe that’s
just the best that the left can do, and if it is, it’s indeed a very sad example of what they’re made of.
Most informed readers remember the happy, relaxed, patriotic Tea Party events and
how peaceful they were and how they cleaned up after themselves, to the point where it looked so clean that it seemed as though
no one had even been there. And the way much of the media handled it, they did all they could to minimize the events
— almost as though it had never happened.
==========================
If you should ever happen to wonder how well our aberrant media is doing these
days, be assured it’s doing as badly as ever. Circulations are dropping, viewers are leaving, ads are shrinking.
They’re doing just fine. They never seem to learn and it seems they never will.
Of course some of the "big pockets" on the left are doing about the only thing
they ever can think to do — they throw money at the problem, like that Mexican billionaire Carlos Sim who once again
pours more money into The New York Times, increasing his ownership therein.
We also see NBC’s "Today" show isn’t doing so well either. And in general,
the audience numbers are slipping for that network and for the others as well, for newscasts and for some of the other programing,
too.
Brent Bozell, the founder of the Media Research Center issued an interesting letter
in which he states that, "The research shows that by a 5-to-1 margin, ABC, CBS and NBC
morning hosts have employed an adversarial liberal agenda when questioning this year’s Republican candidates.
"It is completely different from the treatment these same shows accorded Democratic
primary challengers in 2007." It is understandable that he concludes, "Viewers
are tuning out in droves because they are sick and tired of such undeniable bias." The stats show that’s exactly
what has happened.
==========================
Our educational system continues to be the very serious problem it has been for
such a long time now. Every time an academic improvement is won or a skewed priority is fixed, it is realized for what
it is — a very small repair in the massive damage of a very large system. What is needed most of all is for a
complete realignment of the entire system.
This is what must be done. Meanwhile, the countless problems continue
to surface, as seen through the comprehensive reporting of authors like Robert Spencer in Human Events. He tells us,
"The International Islamic News Agency (IINA) reported that ‘in a bid to run correct news reporting about Muslims,
two American universities have launched a project to teach journalists how to tackle Islam-related issues. Titled, Covering
Islam in America, the project was co-launched recently by Washington State University and the Poynter Institute’s News
University.’ "
But, as revealed, the "...course is actually predicated on the assumption that
Muslims and Islam are getting negative press coverage. This is ... absurd. After every jihad plot and jihad attack,
journalists fill their publications with stories about pious, wise Muslims fearing a ‘backlash’ — a backlash
that never comes." Naturally a course correction that would fully explore the very serious problems that non-Muslims
face all over the world — that is not to be considered. Of course not.
We can also turn to the failing state of California where we see that, "California
Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 499 into law that goes a step further in providing preventative care for children
12 and over to prevent contracting STDs or drug related diseases such as hepatitis B. The new law provides for vaccines
for HPV, HIV and hepatitis to be made available to teens without parental consent or knowledge."
This information has been brought to us through the Patriot Action Network.
And with it we find ourselves wondering why the emphasis is on an assumption and acceptance of early sexual activity rather
than on abstinence and personal dignity as an important core behavior.
Let us also not forget that, in many school districts around the nation, it has
become so serious a crime to try and send your child to a better public school than the child might have been attending, that
in some districts special contract investigators will sometimes even follow kids home to be sure they are actually attending
the "correct" school.
If they find they are not, in some districts the parents can be subjected to prosecution
and even jail time! Yes, it’s actually happened. This is how bad things have gotten in some of our schools.
Bill and Melinda Gates have been very concerned about many of the problems we have
with our children’s education, not only here in America but all over the world. It would seem they really understand
that a comprehensive and truly meaningful education is a key component to all our futures.
They have gone on record concerning such things as our current academic performance
rating system, which passes almost all teachers automatically. They suggest it very defective and actually quite fraudulent.
They also are of the belief that educators could learn a great deal from the business community about the improvement of performance.
There is so much to be learned by everyone, not just the students.
==========================
The terror topic remains Islamic as always. And as AP reports, "Terrorist
groups have expressed interest in obtaining some of the thousands of shoulder-launched missiles that have gone missing in
Libya." As further revealed, "Libya was believed to have about 20,000 such missiles in its arsenals before the
civil war began in March, Andrew J. Shapiro said. Although many were destroyed by NATO air strikes, thousands are missing."
Mr. Shapiro is the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Political and Military Affairs.
We also understand that Islamists have struck in Somalia (Africa). It’s
the al-Shabaab militant group and they killed between 50 to 100 in Magadishu, the capital of that besieged nation. African
Union forces are doing all they can to clear the region.
And, while all of that is going on, both Iran and Syria have been sending
funds to North Korea and, as announced by the WSJ, "U.S. authorities said they foiled an Iranian-directed plot to assassinate
the Saudi Arabian ambassador to Washington, a rare instance where Tehran is accused of fomenting terrorism on U.S. soil."
You might also want to check out Mona Charen’s news article in the
Washington Times, in which she writes, "If the Iranian government doesn’t frighten you, you haven’t been paying
attention. The regime in Iran has been killing Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan for many years and has sworn countless
times in the past 30 years to preside over the destruction of the United States."
As she further notes, the current assassination threat on American territory,
"...was only one of several violent attacks Iran was planning to perpetrate on American soil. It seems safe to say
that President Obama’s outreach to the mullahs is not going well."
With all of this, it is still to be considered as just a part of the much bigger
battle plan. This ranges from Iran’s infiltrations into Latin America, to such reports as bylined by Thomas More
on the Internet where we read that, "Muslims have created ‘no go zones’ across
Britain and France where it’s too dangerous for Christians to enter. Muslims entered these nations as immigrants,
but refused to assimilate. They have conquered parts of their host countries without firing a shot.
"And now the same thing is happening in America. Muslims see America as a
country to conquer, not to embrace. Dearborn, Michigan is fast becoming a ‘no go zone’ for Christians.
Christians have been arrested there for discussing their Christian faith with Muslims, violating Sharia law. Christians were
arrested for handing out Bibles — no distribution of Bibles or tracts."
This writer certainly hopes that this is an exaggeration.
However, as Islam Sharia Watchmen reports, "Steve Eckley, Senior Vice-President
of Hutton Hotel, has caved to Islamic supremacists’ demands and canceled our entire ‘Preserving Freedom Conference’
scheduled for November 11 in Nashville. Eckley notified us that they will not honor our contract. He said he has
been getting threatening letters and calls."
The Watchmen group further stated that, "This is the second time in no
less than a week that a major hotel has capitulated to intimidation and demands to enforce the blasphemous laws under Sharia
here in America. Opposing the most radical and extreme ideology on the face of the earth is now forbidden in the war
of ideas."
And we have received other reports and many Internet narratives and seen so many
videos. It can’t all be one massive plot of exaggerations, now can it?
==========================
The Iranian leadership and other revolutionary conquerors in the Middle East and
elsewhere are really celebrating. After all they have done, the major American response is that we are pulling out of
Iraq. It sends a clear and unmistakable message and they definitely got that message.
It has been officially announced by the White House that our fighting forces will
be gone from Iraq by years-end. Watch what happens next. The would-be new world conquerors will be ready to move
in.
Meanwhile, the Israel National News reports that, "Palestinian Authority
Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has bested Hamas’ generosity and is honoring [the newly] freed terrorists with a $5,000 grant
[each], partially funded by the United States and the European Union. Meanwhile, Hamas urges more kidnappings."
And there is a verified report circulating all over the Internet stating
that, "The White House’s official web site, August 10, posted a story entitled ‘Islamic Relief USA Starts
Its First Summer Food Services Program’ boasting that the U.S. Department of Agriculture is now helping this Islamic
group get its program started. ... Islamic Relief USA has ties to Hamas. How many other groups with ties to terror organizations
are working with the USDA?"
With all good intentions aside, let there be no mistake as to what sort of world
we are actually helping to build.
==========================
Other security issues that also involve everyone’s safety, as reported
by Bret Stephens in The Wall Street Journal: "Shortly after the end of the Cold War, an American defense official named
Phillip Karber traveled to Russia as an advance man for a visit by former Secretary of Defense Frank Carlucci. ‘We
were meeting with Russian generals,’ Mr. Karber recalls, ‘and we met a three-star who told us they had 40,000
warheads, not the 20,000 we thought they had.’ "
With regard to China, Mr. Stephens continues, "In December 2009,
as part of the celebrations marking the 60the anniversary of the People’s Republic, the PLA [People’s Liberation
Army] announced to great fanfare that the Second Artillery Corps has built a cumulative total of 3,000 miles of tunnels —
half of them during the last 15 years."
As further observed, "The extent of the tunneling was hard to square with the
supposedly small size of the Chinese nuclear arsenal, which is commonly believed to be in the range of 240- 400 warheads.
‘So they’ve built 10 miles of tunnel for every warhead?’ Mr. Karber recalls asking himself.
‘That doesn’t make sense.’ " All of that tunneling "Would suggest that China would have somewhere
in the order of 3,000 warheads today," Bret Stephens speculates.
So, just how nice and friendly is this well-armed China? In one Washington
Times article we read that, "U.S. officials said there is evidence linking hackers in China to recent cyber-attacks on
Japan’s main defense contractor, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries." And of course you may recall the United States
has had some of those attacks on our industries and our military as well.
In another Times story, "The lead article in the Chinese Communist Party
newspaper ‘Global Times’ on Sept. 27 contained an alarming call for a declaration of war against Vietnam and the
Philippines, two nations that in recent weeks launched the loudest protests against China’s sweeping maritime sovereignty
claims in the South China Sea."
And what had we suggested would happen with weak international leadership under
Obama? And what has been happening all over the world?
==========================
The battle for our survival is being fought on so many fronts. As the Patriot
Action Network reported, "The Washington, D.C. office of Human Rights confirmed that it is investigating allegations that
a Catholic University violated the human rights of Muslim students by not allowing them to form a Muslim student group and
by not providing them rooms without Christian symbols for their daily prayers."
That’s amazing. It’s a private school and it’s a Catholic
school. Why on earth would very sensitive, devout Muslims be there at all? There is something very peculiar about
this.
And, as pointed out by Drew Zahn (WND), "A board of county commissioners
in North Carolina is asking the Supreme Court for help. It’s members don’t believe they should have to forbid
volunteers from mentioning the name of Jesus in prayers offered before their meetings."
The American Civil Liberties Union and a separation of church and sate group are
behind it, as you might have imagined. They stand against over 200 years of original American interpretation and common
practice, of course.
And to add to the persecution, the Obama administration wants more government and
court control over what is said in our churches and how they administer their calling. "Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran
Church and School vs. EEOC" is most certainly a case in point. And there are so many others. They are everywhere.
It has truly become an oppressive time for many of the Christians in America.
==========================
Attacks against beloved American symbolism within our nation continue on
as always. Jihad Watch reports that, "Parents of children at an elementary school in Colorado are furious after the
American flag was lowered at the multi-cultural school and replaced with a Saudi Arabian flag. As the tenth anniversary
of 9/11 approaches, someone at Bauder Elementary School in Fort Collins appears to have lowered the American symbol while
raising that of the Muslim country in its place."
The Blaze reports, through Madeleine Morgenstern that "Students in a Texas
public high school were made to stand up and recite the Mexican national anthem and the Mexican pledge of allegiance. ...
It happened last month in an intermediate Spanish class at Achieve Early College High School in McAllen, Texas, a city located
about 10 miles from the U.S.-Mexican border."
As usual we check these things out thoroughly. In this case, a student videoed
the "event." We have seen that video.
==========================
As you may realize, this writer has always believed in reasonable planetary husbandry
(with emphasis on "responsible"). But I have also felt that this should not be a matter of forcing requirements that
do significant damage to lives and economies in the process.
So, what is one to make of a situation revealed in The Wall Street Journal
by Tamara Audi who tells us that "...a recent federal decision to designate a portion of the Santa Ana River as a protected
habitat zone for the ‘sucker’ [a tiny fish] has local water officials protesting that the plan is a threat to
the future of a vast region southeast of Los Angeles known as the Inland Empire."
This writer knows that region — a place that has already been severely damaged
by confiscatory, inept urban renewal projects (in San Bernardino) and by our economic collapse under the current administration.
Frankly, it’s an area that can’t take much more. It could end up dry and desolate, like other portions of
California that have been similarly treated by over-exuberant environmentalists in positions of power.
And what are we to think about those environmental protesters who evidently would
rather we remain beholding to Middle Eastern terrorist oil than to allow a more reasonable and environmentally considerate
Canadian pipeline? Where is the logic in that?
You can just imagine the considerable number of good examples that we could also
include, if our available space was infinite. But, even then, would enough people care? Does our movement toward
a national suicide matter any more? Let’s hope it does.
==========================
Robert Bryce wrote a very interesting opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal,
making a number of thoughtful points that might be worth considering. Among his comments we find: "During the
decade that Al Gore dominated the environmental debate, global carbon-dioxide emissions rose by 28.5%.
"Regardless of whether it’s getting hotter or colder — or
both — we are going to need to produce a lot more energy in order to remain productive and comfortable." Mr.
Bryce also noted that, "According to the International Energy Agency, the U.S.
is now cutting carbon emissions faster than Europe, even though the European Union has instituted an elaborate carbon-taxing/ricing
scheme.
"The U.S. is producing vast quantities of cheap natural gas from shale, which is
displacing higher-carbon coal. Meanwhile, China’s emissions jumped by 123% over the past decade and now exceeds those
of the U.S. by more than two billion tons per year. Africa’s carbon-dioxide emissions jumped by 30%, Asia’s
by 44%, and the Middle East’s by a whopping 57%." Now there is a bunch of
inconvenient truths I’ll bet most folks never knew about. Mr. Bryce, the author of these comments, is a senior
fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
We might also suggest a comment for examination, made by Phil Jones of the UEA
Climate Research Unit and reported by the BBC. His comment: "There has been no statistically significant warming
since 1995." So there you are. Some experts are making claims in one direction and some in the opposite direction.
And, on the political front, as reported by Stephen Dinan in the Washington Times:
"The EPA’s internal watchdog said last week that the Obama administration cut corners in evaluating the science it
used to back up its 2009 finding that carbon is a dangerous pollutant and can be regulated under existing federal law."
I have no doubt as to what sort of regulation they have in mind.
And so it goes.
==========================
A while back (March 2, 2010) ABC News told us that there are more than 700,000
sex offenders in the United States, that the recidivism rate is 24% and that crimes against kids offers an average sentence
of no more than 3 years. What about offenders not caught yet, unsuccessful (incompleted) sexual offenses, offenses and
offenders not reported? One can only imagine what the final numbers might end up being.
We are told that our criminal system of law is so greatly flawed that such figures
cannot help but be the inevitable result. Even so, some predators feel most of the courts are still not liberal
enough for them. We understand that some are migrating to places like the state of Vermont where they feel they will
face little more than a catch and release policy that is particularly helpful to their "special interest."
In other areas of our legal breakdown, Michael Morton walked out of a Texas prison
this month, as a free man, after serving just under 25 years for murder. It was a crime that DNA evidence now shows
another man is connected to, not Mr. Morton.
Now this freed convict is doing all he can to fully investigate his former prosecutors
regarding their investigations, performance, and the possibility of withheld evidence. Frankly this is something we
all should demand each and every time something like this happens. But we tend to look the other way, don’t
we? — After all, it isn’t our lives being destroyed, right?
==========================
We have seen that there are so many organizations and even businesses that seem
dedicated to just about everything that is counter to the most basic values and directions that we have all cherished in America.
I never could understand why. I guess I’ll just have to realize that organizations and businesses are made up
of people, and some people would take our nation apart and remake it in a strange and foreign image that can only conclude
the Great American Experiment.
Of the many we see that seem so dedicated in this direction, there is, of course,
the ACLU, ACORN, SEIU, and so many more — many who are partaking of taxpayer funds. Everyone from AARP, GE and La Raza
(The Race) have done so, by doing everything from avoiding taxes as if they are a legitimate non-profit group, or getting
government grants, or getting special treatment for government contracts, or any number of other "tricks."
La Raza (The Race) is an excellent example of this, as reported by Townhall.
They have pointed out that, "...the organization more than doubled its cash intake from $4.1 million in 2009 to $11 million
in 2010. This, after Obama appointed La Raza senior vice president Cecilia Munoz as his director of intergovernmental
affairs."
It’s an organization that is intensely racial and Mexican national in its
nature and thoroughly dedicated to open borders and full amnesty for the illegal aliens, and all sorts of public funding and
special treatment.
And then there is the infamous Planned Parenthood organization and companies like
Progressive Insurance whose leadership is well known for its financial support of the far, far left in America, and whose
insurance turns out to be one of the more expensive being offered, in spite of their claims. (That figures.)
We just thought you’d like to know about things like this.
Almost The End of Another Year
Nov., 2011. As usual, during this difficult
period, the stocks have fallen again, with the S&P and Dow posting, this month, the worst Thanksgiving week on record
since way back in 1932. Yes, of course one can expect the excuses will be found to also bring us a mechanical correction
and a spring-back now and again, but the trend still remains more like one step up and then two down.
It is also a time when we are finding that American Airlines has gone into
bankruptcy (a recoverable Chapter11, we hope). And we find our United States Postal Service reporting a $5.1
billion loss for last year. (And it’s not doing any better for this year either, except for the upper-level bonuses
that were certainly not justified.) It might also be added that our GDP (Gross Domestic Product) has been revised in
the downward direction for the Third Quarter of this year. And, as Bill O’Reilly has noted on Fox News and in The Washington
Times, "Americans are right, the country is in decline."
Again, we remind everyone of our 1999 book, "Good-bye, America?" We could
see it coming, even way back then.
==========================
I’m sure most of you are aware of the continuing drop in home prices. You
can add to that the continuing difficulties of the government financed and government controlled mortgage giants, Fannie Mae
and Freddie Mac. And, as you might have expected, Freddie Mac got another $6 billion of our taxpayers’ money —
to help it with its current $4.4 billion debt.
And, as you might imagine, "Lawmakers moved ... to slash pay for employees at
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, presenting the latest challenge to federal regulators overseeing the firms’ operations.
... Fannie and Freddie declined to comment." (As reported in The Wall Street Journal.)
And, as further reported by the WSJ, in yet another area of responsibility, "Concerns
are rising that the Federal Housing Administration [FHA] could run out of money if the economy doesn’t recover soon."
The signs aren’t good — not good at all, in any direction one might turn.
Our cities are in trouble as well. Birmingham, Alabama (Jefferson County)
has filed the largest municipal bankruptcy in American history. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania’s in trouble as well.
A judge has voided its bankruptcy filing so that perhaps the state can take over the obligation.
It is also becoming even more apparent that the public union looting of our cities
has created much of the problem. Little by little, municipal officials are beginning to address the problem. It’s
about time.
==========================
On the energy front, The Washington Examiner tells us that "President Obama’s
United States Department of Agriculture has delayed shale gas drilling in Ohio for up to six months by canceling a mineral
lease auction for Wayne National Forest. The move was taken in deference to environmentalists, on the pretext of studying
the effects of hydraulic fracturing." It might be added that an estimated 200,000 jobs may have been lost due to
this delay.
In another example, Human Events reports that "Key
factions within the Democratic Party have been locked in a furious battle pitting jobs against the environment, with President
Barack Obama in the hot seat to make the final call on a massive new pipeline project that also promises energy security.
...
"But after nearly three years of environmental reviews, 39 months waiting for Obama
to approve the presidential permit, and new reports that the decision could again be pushed until after the election, TransCanada
tells Human Events the delays could force them to sell their product elsewhere, specifically to China." Among other important losses, 20,000 jobs are estimated being held in the balance with this one.
And The Wall Street Journal informs us that "A Massachusetts energy company
that received a $43 million U.S. loan guarantee has filed for bankruptcy protection, in a new black eye for the Obama administration’s
clean-energy program."
The company is the Beacon Power Corporation — one more nail in our coffin.
==========================
We are all too much aware of the grandiose promises of everything from political
cooperation to helping the people. And how is that working out for us? The Associated Press reports that "The ranks
of America’s poorest have climbed to a record high — 1 in 15 people, new U.S. Census data shows."
And, as William McGurn reports in the Wall Street Journal, "...it may
have been outlined best by two Democratic strategists in a publication for the left-leaning Center for American Progress.
Ruy Teixeira and John Halpin made headlines for making official what everyone has known unofficially for some time: The Democratic
Party is abandoning the white working class."
With all of that you can add the expiring tax breaks at the end of this year, among
them: Our mortgage insurance premium deduction, the home-energy tax credit of up to $500, the 2% Social Security tax cut,
that $4,000 higher-education tax deduction, and any charitable contribution of your IRA assets. All of this and much
more is coming our way at the end of this year and next year unless Congress is able to get a good hold on this mess and their
efforts aren’t canceled out by the president.
We’ll see what happens to you soon.
==========================
After extensive internal wrangling and histrionics, the super-committee deficit
panel closed its tattered briefcases and staggered out into the night. As could be expected, their utter failure took
its toll on the stock market, as it also can be expected to take its toll on the people of our nation.
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