Saturday, August 13, 2011

Insider trading investigation of S&P; Possible farm Vehicle reclassification; Obamacare deemed unconstitutional by Democrat judge; Obama drilling rules rejected by judge; Union legislation becomes regulation in attempt to skirt Congress; White House top 20 raises in time of high deficits and debts

CNBC writes: The Securities and Exchange Commission has asked credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s to disclose who within its ranks knew of its decision to downgrade US debt before it was announced last week, as part of a preliminary look into potential insider trading, people familiar with the matter say. http://www.cnbc.com/id/44099845
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The Virginian Gazette writes: A new rule being proposed by the federal Department of Transportation would require farmers to get commercial drivers licenses.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which is a part of DOT, wants to adopt standards that would reclassify all farm vehicles and implements as Commercial Motor Vehicles, officials said. Likewise, the proposal, if adopted, would require all farmers and everyone on the farm who operates any of the equipment to obtain a CDL, they added.
The proposed rule change would mean that anyone who drives a tractor or operates any piece of motorized farming equipment would be required to pass the same tests and complete the same detailed forms and logs required of semi-tractor trailer drivers.
Drivers would keep logs of information including hours worked and miles traveled. Vehicles would be required to display DOT numbers. A CDL in Virginia costs $64 for eight years, or $8 per year, not including the cost of an instructional class and the written test.
If the DOT reclassifies farm vehicles and implements as commercial vehicles, the federal government will have regulatory control over the nation’s farm workers, estimated at over 800,000, by requiring them to have commercial drivers licenses. http://www.gazettevirginian.com/index.php/news/34-news/3739-proposed-rule-on-farms-called-absurd
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Reuters writes of Obamacare ruling: [Part of the judge's decision] "This economic mandate represents a wholly novel and potentially unbounded assertion of congressional authority: the ability to compel Americans to purchase an expensive health insurance product they have elected not to buy, and to make them repurchase that insurance product every month for their entire lives," the majority said in its 207-page opinion. "Today we have prevailed in preventing Congress from infringing on the individual liberty protected by the U.S. Constitution," Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi said. the Obama administration on Friday issued new incentives for states and people to participate in health insurance exchanges, including tax credits and funding grants for the states.  http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/12/us-usa-healthcare-idUSTRE77B4J320110812
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The NYT writes: A judge on Friday threw out Obama administration rules that sought to slow down expedited environmental review of oil and gas drilling on federal land.

The government argued that oil and gas companies had no case because they didn't show how the new rules, implemented by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service last year, had created delays and added to the cost of drilling.
Freudenthal rejected that argument. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/08/12/business/AP-US-Western-Drilling-Lawsuit.html?_r=1
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The Charleston Daily Mail opines: In 2010, organized labor condemned the bipartisan vote in the United States Senate that killed the Employee Free Choice Act.
Employees, prematurely, celebrated the fact that their right to a secret ballot in elections determining union representation was secure.
EFCA, or the "card check" bill, would have eliminated the sacred right of employees to participate in their union elections by secret ballot. 
Where the current administration has failed to persuade Congress to adopt its legislative agenda, time and again, it has waived its regulatory wand and enacted the failed "legislation" as "regulation."
Magically, it becomes the law of the land.
Since the rejection of the Employee Free Choice Act, the administration, largely through the National Labor Relations Board, has brought the legislation the Congress killed back to life.
Consider these recent regulatory initiatives of the NLRB:
n Expanded use of mail and Internet balloting in union elections.
Why? Because these ballots are not cast in secret.
* "Ambush elections" are being pursued, shortening the period of electioneering in a union campaign from 42 to 10 days, with the net result that employees know as little as possible about what they are voting for or against;
* New regulations from the U.S. Department of Labor so onerously increase reporting requirements on management lawyers and consultants that many will cease serving employers at all, depriving them of critical advice on how to comply with the law and not violate it;
* Universal posting obligations imposed on ALL employers explaining how employees can organize a union.
These notices would have to be posted by every employer in every worksite that is under the NLRB's jurisdiction (which includes virtually all private-sector employers) forever; http://www.dailymail.com/Opinion/Commentary/201108021369?page=2&build=cache
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            Snopes confirms: [This program won't allow the entire graph to show, but the % of increases in             salary range from 86% to 17%.  You must click on the link to see for yourself.....  Please note
            the titles of the job-holders.]

How did  your social security increase work out for you this year?  
Was it comparable at all to the increases that Obama gave his staff during this difficult 
financial period?  
Top pay raise of + 86% increase was to the  Kevin Lewis,  Director of African-American
Media.  
 

Description:
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gawker/2011/07/0706_whchart.jpg

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/whraises.asp


            

Friday, August 12, 2011

Contract for the American Dream; Unemployment benefits creates jobs?; Maker of "Certificate of Live Birth" says he made it and it is a forgery; Public comments invited on salary info collection; Feds may investigate Hollywood access to Bin Laden death; National debt comparison; Philly perps from Oprah-supported charter school; Push for Ernie & Bert to marry on Sesame St.; AZ asks Supremes to take immigration law question; Most anti-business and anti-American administration; Obama community health centers won't ask for immigration status: $8.5 million; London considers sprayed dye

The Hill reveals: Representatives of MoveOn.org, Rebuild the Dream and the Center for Economic Policy and Research joined Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) on Tuesday to launch a progressive “Contract for the American Dream” to urge the administration and Congress to turn away from budget cutting and focus on job creation.
In 10 bullet points, the contract calls for massive new spending and taxes.
At the top of the list are items Obama has been calling for: investing in infrastructure, clean energy, strengthening public education. These “winning the future” items were included in Obama’s 2012 budget, which was rejected unanimously in the Senate after it become focused on budget cutting.
The contract also calls for a crackdown on corporations to enforce equal pay for equal work, reforming Social Security by lifting the cap on payroll taxes, accelerating the pullout of troops from Afghanistan and overhauling the campaign finance system.
On taxes, the groups are calling for an end to Bush-era tax rates, a new higher tax bracket for millionaires and a surcharge on Wall Street trades of 1/20th of 1 percent. Schakowsky has proposed a 45 percent tax rate for millionaires and a 49 percent tax rate for billionaires. http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/801-economy/176047-liberals-consolidate-fall-goals-in-new-contract
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Real Clear Politics reports: "I understand why extending unemployment insurance provides relief to people who need it, but how does that create jobs," Wall Street Journal's Laura Meckler asked Jay Carney at Wednesday's WH briefing.
Carney responded: "Oh, uh, it is by, uh, I would expect a reporter from the Wall Street Journal would know this as part of the entrance exam."
"There are few other ways that can directly put money into the economy than applying unemployment insurance," Carney said.
Carney answers the question: "It is one of the most direct ways to infuse money directly into the economy because people who are unemployed and obviously aren't running a paycheck are going to spend the money that they get. They're not going to save it, they're going to spend it. And with unemployment insurance, that way, the money goes directly back into the economy, dollar for dollar virtually."
"Every place that, that money is spent has added business and that creates growth and income for businesses that leads them to decisions about jobs, more hiring http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/08/10/carney_unemployment_benefits_could_create_up_to_1_million_jobs.html
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Patriot Update writes: When the White House posted online an image of President Obama’s purported long-form birth certificate, it also linked to the previously circulated “Certification of Live Birth,” the short-form version that had been presented as the only birth documentation available.
However, the short-form certificate to which the White House linked April 27 was a forgery, claims research expert Ron Polland, Ph.D., who says he made the image himself.
“I made the birth certificate image that was given to the media at the White House press conference held on April 27, 2011,” Polland told WND.  http://patriotupdate.com/10691/i-created-obamas-certification-of-birth
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CNS News writes: The U.S. Labor Department is inviting the public to comment on its plan to collect information on salaries, wages and other benefits paid to employees of federal contractors and subcontractors.
The new "compensation data tool" is intended to improve the government's ability to find evidence of possible pay discrimination.
The Labor Department is seeking public input on 15 questions, including what kind of payroll data should be requested, how the data should be collect, how the data should be used, which contractors should be required to submit compensation data -- and "how the tool might create potential burdens for small businesses."
The public comment period runs for 60 days. The deadline for receiving comments is Oct. 11. The proposed regulation is printed in the Aug. 10 edition of the Federal Register. http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-administration-proposes-regulation
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The Hill writes: Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) has called for a federal investigation into allegations that White House officials are providing Hollywood filmmakers with “top-level access” to information surrounding the successful mission that killed 9/11 terrorist Osama bin Laden.
 In King’s letter, he references an opinion column written by The New York Times’ Maureen Dowd over the weekend, in which she states that acclaimed movie director, Kathryn Bigelow, has been receiving “top-level access to the most classified mission in history from an administration that has tried to throw more people in jail for leaking classified information than the Bush administration.”
 http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/176287-lawmaker-wants-probe-into-white-house-involvement-in-bin-laden-film
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An email making the circuit makes it easier to understand: 
And we wonder why we have been, and will continue to be, downgraded bond rating-wise

The U.S. Congress sets a federal budget every year in the trillions of dollars. Few people know how much money that is so we created a breakdown of federal spending in simple terms. Let's put the 2011 federal budget into perspective:
U.S. income: $2,170,000,000,000
Federal budget: $3,820,000,000,000
New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000
National debt: $14,271,000,000,000
Recent budget cut: $ 38,500,000,000 (about 1 percent of the budget)

It helps to think about these numbers in terms that we can relate to. Let's remove eight zeros from these numbers and pretend this is the household budget for the fictitious Jones family.
Total annual income for the Jones family: $21,700
Amount of money the Jones family spent: $38,200
Amount of new debt added to the credit card: $16,500
Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710
Amount cut from Jones family budget: $385
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The Blaze reports: A new video of Philadelphia street attacks has surfaced—and this time the teen perps are students from a charter school that received a $1 million donation from Oprah Winfrey, according to Fox 29, which obtained the footage. http://www.theblaze.com/stories/philly-street-mob-from-school-that-got-1m-from-oprah/
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ABC News reports: Thousands of same-sex couples have been married in New York since gay marriage was legalized in the Empire State in July. Now an online petition is pushing to have one more twosome join the line at City Hall – Sesame Street's Bert and Ernie.
That's right – the muppets. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/light-legalized-sex-marriage-york-online-petition-urges/story?id=14275363
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Politico reports: Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer announced late Wednesday she has filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to consider her state’s appeal to a lower court ruling that put on hold key parts of Arizona’s anti-illegal immigration law.
“I am hopeful that the U.S. Supreme Court will choose to take this case and issue much-needed clarity for states, such as Arizona, that are grappling with the significant human and financial costs of illegal immigration,” Brewer said in a statement released by her office. “For too long the Federal government has turned a blind eye as this problem has manifested itself in the form of drop houses in our neighborhoods and crime in our communities. SB1070 was Arizona’s way of saying that we won’t wait patiently for federal action any longer. If the federal government won’t enforce its immigration laws, we will.”
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Real Clear Politics opines: Senator DeMint:We saw within a few days that this president was going to be heavy-handed, he was going to implement his agenda and pay back his political allies. And then we quickly saw with the stimulus that he moved into spending literally $1 trillion on what was effectively a government spending plan, and it just went on from there to ObamaCare and then to Dodd-Frank. It has been the most anti-business and I consider anti-American administration of my lifetime.  http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/08/11/sen_demint_obama_administration_most_anti-american_in_my_lifetime.html
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CNS News reports: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on Tuesday that it has awarded $28.8 million to 67 community health centers with funds from the Obamacare health reform law. 
Of that $28.8 million, "approximately $8.5 million will be used by 25 New Access Point awardees to target services to migrant and seasonal farm workers," Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Spokeswoman Judy Andrews told CNSNews.com. HRSA is a part of HHS.
Andrews said that grant recipients will not check the immigration status of people seeking services. http://cnsnews.com/news/article/hhs-awards-85-million-obamacare-money-25
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Inforwars writes: In addition to shutting down Twitter and BlackBerry messaging during civil disturbances, the government is suggesting rioters be sprayed with dye.
The tactic was used in apartheid South Africa against protesters. In 1989, the government deployed a water cannon to indiscriminately spray dye on anti-apartheid demonstrators who would then be later identified and arrested for the crime of marching on parliament. The incident became known as the “Purple Rain Protest.”  The technique is designed to identify large numbers of people attending political rallies, not looters and vandals mixed in larger crowds of bystanders and others not engaged in criminal behavior.  http://www.infowars.com/cameron-suggests-purple-rain-for-rioters/
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Thursday, August 11, 2011

Weapons of mob destruction in AmericaThe Red School Bus Tour; Education Waivers from Obama; 30,000 MI college students lose food stamps; REINS Act calls for Congressional votes; Loose lips may have endangered Seal Team 6; Children used in progressive agenda video; Government-owneed foreclosures to become rentals?; Papers opine on London riots and socialism; Obama's Iftaar party; ACORN fined for illegal voter-registration;

Weapons of Mob Destruction [on flash mobs of violence in America], from Front Page Magazine:

But there is a bigger consequence that arises from the expectations for, and the inevitable failure of, welfare-statism. Whether they realize it or not, many Americans, as well as their British counterparts, are undermining the social integrity of their own societies. Little incentive remains for providing for oneself — or for that matter, one’s offspring — when the grotesqueness of the “social safety net” renders this virtue irrelevant. When society has removed all negative consequences to poor life choices, which keep people and their progeny nestled in the underclass (child abandonment, disdain for eduction, glorification of thug culture, etc.), it effectively rewards them. It is thus absurd to expect these behavioral trends to disappear rather than the reverse.
The situation is all the more exacerbated by a culture that shields the very segments of society that perpetuate these trends from any scrutiny and responsibility — primarily due to cowardice over racial matters. Hence the sweeping media silence on the disturbing trend of minority-perpetrated mob violence, evident in most of the reportage on these incidents. Here again, on even this most rudimentary level, negative consequences for self-destructive behavior are lifted. We cannot even identify the source of such criminality, nor demand change on the part of the offenders.
It is a rationale ignited by the cradle-to-grave expectations perpetrated by the welfare state. One that ignites anger, resentment and rioting when those expectations are threatened with extinction. http://frontpagemag.com/2011/08/10/weapons-of-mob-destruction-2/2/
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Examiner.com writes: According to an article at the Peoples World, the Red School Bus tour made its final stop for the summer in Hurst, Texas on Thursday.
The tour, organized by the Southern California Young Communist League (YCL), a branch of the Communist Party USA, was intended to introduce children to the wonders of communism and Marxist doctrine.
According to a post at P/Oed Patriot, the tour included:
lively classes and discussions: Marxism and the Political Moment: Building the movement for change; The Crisis of Capitalism Today: Causes of Crisis and the Class Struggle; Working Class and the Labor Movement; Racism, Immigrant Rights, women’s rights, LGTB rights and the struggle for equality; The CPUSA and YCL, envisioning Bill of Rights Socialism and how to get there. Also plenty of cultural, social and recreational activities.
Continue reading on Examiner.com Young Communist 'Red School Bus Tour' ends in Texas - Spokane Conservative | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-spokane/young-communist-red-school-bus-tour-ends-texas#ixzz1UGwmi6tf
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CNS New reports State and local education officials have been begging the federal government for relief from student testing mandates in the federal No Child Left Behind law, but school starts soon and Congress still hasn't answered the call.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan says he will announce a new waiver system Monday to give schools a break. http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/duncan-states-will-get-school-testing-wa
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The Detroit News reports: Michigan has removed about 30,000 college students from its food stamp program — close to double the initial estimate — saving about $75 million a year, says Human Services Director Maura Corrigan. Federal rules don't allow most college students to collect food stamps.  [How crazy is that?]
"Maybe (students) could go get a part-time job — that's what I did," said Corrigan, a former justice of the Michigan Supreme Court who attended Detroit's Marygrove College and University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.
"We want to encourage people to be self-sufficient, not to be dependent on the government," she said in an interview with The Detroit News.

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The Hill reports: Congressional Republicans and aides confirmed that regulations are going to be at the top of the GOP agenda next month as the party looks to counter the White House’s drive for jobs legislation addressing taxes and infrastructure.
The GOP will make a major push this fall for the REINS Act, which would require all major regulations to get a vote in Congress. Also on the short list is a bill sponsored by Rep. John Sullivan (R-Okla.) and reported out of the Energy and Commerce Committee in July that requires more extensive cost-benefit analysis on regulations. Finally, there are dozens of policy riders in the appropriations bills that will target burdensome regulations.
Democrat aides are worried that the push on the appropriations policy riders, especially in the bill funding the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), could lead to a government shutdown crisis at the end of September. That bill is listed by Cantor’s office as a tool for regulatory reform. http://thehill.com/homenews/house/175779-gop-jobs-plan-targets-federal-regulations
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As Doug Patton at Liberty Extra wrote: But perhaps the most despicable thing Obama has done is to get 30 of our bravest servicemen killed in order to promote himself for re-election.  After the courageous members of Navy Seal Team Six executed Osama bin Laden, Barack Obama was not satisfied to act like a responsible commander-in-chief by keeping the identity of the team secret — because he is not a commander-in-chief. He is a community organizer for radical causes turned sleazy Chicago politician, and he needed a political shot in the arm in order to get himself re-elected. So he decided to tell the whole world the branch of service in which these men served and the name of their unit! http://www.libertyextra.com/commentary/2011/08/only-republicans-can-re-elect-obama/
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The Blaze reports: Because there‘s nothing more convincing than using kids who don’t understand government and economics, Van Jones’s Rebuild the Dream group is employing tiny tots to push a progressive liberal agenda in a new video.  [It includes free Medicare for all.]  Huffington Post explains the premise behind the movement:
The basic premise of the campaign is that America isn’t broke, it’s merely imbalanced. In order to stabilize the economy, politicians should make substantial investments in infrastructure, energy, education and the social safety net, tax the rich, end the wars, and create a wider revenue base through job creation. http://www.theblaze.com/stories/van-jones-group-uses-kids-video-to-push-universal-health-care-higher-taxes/
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The AP reports: The Obama administration may turn thousands of government-owned foreclosures into rental properties to help boost falling home prices.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency said Wednesday it is seeking input from investors on how to rent homes owned by government-controlled mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GOVERNMENT_HOME_RENTALS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-08-10-13-18-31
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Following are some sections of thoughtful columns on the London riots.  There it is the youth of all colors who believe this is really fun, and that they are entitled to it, it would appear.  The columns question why it is happening - Socialism...........
The City Journal opines on London: The riots are the apotheosis of the welfare state and popular culture in their British form. A population thinks (because it has often been told so by intellectuals and the political class) that it is entitled to a high standard of consumption, irrespective of its personal efforts; and therefore it regards the fact that it does not receive that high standard, by comparison with the rest of society, as a sign of injustice. It believes itself deprived (because it has often been told so by intellectuals and the political class), even though each member of it has received an education costing $80,000, toward which neither he nor—quite likely—any member of his family has made much of a contribution; indeed, he may well have lived his entire life at others’ expense, such that every mouthful of food he has ever eaten, every shirt he has ever worn, every television he has ever watched, has been provided by others. Even if he were to recognize this, he would not be grateful, for dependency does not promote gratitude. On the contrary, he would simply feel that the subventions were not sufficient to allow him to live as he would have liked. http://www.city-journal.org/2011/eon0810td.html
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The NY Daily News opines: The characteristics that are common to all classes are arrogance, a sense of entitlement and an unwillingness to moderate their behavior for the convenience of others. The main difference between the classes is that the rich can pay for what they feel entitled to, while the poor have to wheedle, cajole, swindle and steal it. But the inflamed sense of entitlement is the same.
The slum dwellers of London are not well-educated - they reject the very concept of education - but are perfectly capable of drawing their conclusions. The only thing that will stop the rioters is boredom or exhaustion.
zz1UesTJKpQ
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The UK Daily Mail adds: If you live a normal life of absolute futility, which we can assume most of this week’s rioters do, excitement of any kind is welcome. The people who wrecked swathes of property, burned vehicles and terrorised communities have no moral compass to make them susceptible to guilt or shame.
Most have no jobs to go to or exams they might pass. They know no family role models, for most live in homes in which the father is unemployed, or from which he has decamped.
Today, those at the bottom of society behave no better than their forebears, but the welfare state has relieved them from hunger and real want.
Meanwhile, sanctions for wrongdoing have largely vanished.
These kids are what they are because nobody makes them be anything  different or better.
So there we have it: a large, amoral, brutalised sub-culture of young British people who lack education because they have no will to learn, and skills which might make them employable. They are too idle to accept work waitressing or doing domestic labour, which is why almost all such jobs are filled by immigrants.
They have no code of values to dissuade them from behaving anti-socially or, indeed, criminally, and small chance of being punished if they do so.
They have no sense of responsibility for themselves, far less towards others
They are an absolute deadweight upon society, because they contribute nothing yet cost the taxpayer billions. Liberal opinion holds they are victims, because society has failed to provide them with opportunities to develop their potential.
Most of us would say this is nonsense. Rather, they are victims of a perverted social ethos, which elevates personal freedom to an absolute, and denies the underclass the discipline — tough love — which alone might enable some of its members to escape from the swamp of dependency in which they live.
Only education — together with politicians, judges, policemen and teachers with the courage to force feral humans to obey rules the rest of us have accepted all our lives — can provide a way forward and a way out for these people.
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Again, from the UK Daily Mail: So now the chickens have well and truly come home terrifyingly to roost. The violent anarchy that has taken hold of British cities is the all-too-predictable outcome of a three-decade liberal experiment which tore up virtually every basic social value.
The married two-parent family, educational meritocracy, punishment of criminals, national identity, enforcement of the drugs laws and many more fundamental conventions were all smashed by a liberal intelligentsia hell-bent on a revolutionary transformation of society.
Those of us who warned over the years that they were playing with fire were sneered at and smeared as Right-wing nutters who wanted to turn the clock back to some mythical golden age.
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And another: The idea that they should not steal other people’s property, or beat up and rob passers-by, appears to be as weird and outlandish to them as the suggestion that they should fly to the moon.
These youths feel absolutely entitled to go ‘on the rob’ and steal whatever they want. Indeed, they are incredulous that anyone should suggest they might pass up such an opportunity.
What has been fuelling all this is not poverty, as has so predictably been claimed, but moral collapse. What we have been experiencing is a complete breakdown of civilised behaviour among children and young people straight out of William Golding’s seminal novel about childhood savagery, Lord Of The Flies.
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The Indian Express reports: Welcoming guests at the annual White House Iftaar party, US President Barack Obama said, Islam has always been part of the American family and Muslim Americans have long contributed to the strength and character of our country in all walks of life. [Always?  I'm not much of a historian, but I don't recall stories of Muslims being part of the Civil War, the Revolution,  or WWII, do you?] 
Obama said the annual Ramadan dinner, a tradition that President Clinton began and President George W Bush continued, is quintessentially American.
"No matter who we are or how we pray, we're all children of a loving God," he said. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/islam-has-always-been-part-of-our-american-family-obama/830375/0
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Fox News reports: A Nevada judge on Wednesday gave ACORN, the defunct grass-roots community organization, the maximum fine for its illegal voter-registration scheme in that state. 
District Court Judge Donald Mosley was blunt and unsparing in his criticism of the discredited activist group. Citing the long history of voter registration fraud allegations that engulfed ACORN across the country, he slapped the group with a $5,000 fine for violating Nevada election law during the 2008 presidential election. 
Mosley, reading the pre-sentence report, listed a series of voter registration fraud allegations against ACORN workers. He said that if the claims have been true, then "It is making a mockery of our election process. If I had an individual in this courtroom...who was responsible for this kind of thing, I would put that person in prison for 10 years, hard time, and not think twice about it," he said. "To me this is reprehensible. This is the kind of thing you see in some banana republic, Uruguay or someplace, not in the United States." 
In Nevada, ACORN pleaded guilty to one felony count of unlawful compensation for registration of voters,
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/08/10/judge-gives-maximum-and-fines-acorn-5000-for-illegal-voter-registration-scheme/#ixzz1UimijFHc
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Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Republicans keep control of Wisconsin Senate; $11 Million union dollars fail; DOD, Homeland Security, and Commerce and Housing all focusing environmental justice; Republicans gave away the game to Democrats and Obama; Michael Moore calls for Obama to be a dictator, arrest S&P!; Philadelphia Mayor decries black flash mob, calls for curfew; Mobs force Londoners to strip naked; CBO told NOT to be truthful on Obamacare; Progressive "Contract for the American Dream" has 10 bullet points for spending; Al Gore irrelevant?; Obama is cold; Cokie Roberts faults our Constitution; N. American Smart Grid & the Security & Prosperity Partnership of N. America; Five unions in MI to bargain together; Militant union strike on Verizon; Kansas returns federal healthcare grant; Obama's political implosion; "Obama will have to Kill Romney" strategy

Channel 3000 reports: Republicans will stay in control of the state Senate after surviving several recall challenges on Tuesday.
Republicans on Tuesday successfully defended four seats in recall elections, and Democrats picked up two seats. http://www.channel3000.com/politics/28818859/detail.html
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The MacIver News Service has reported that more than $11 million in labor union money has been shuffled into Wisconsin to fund third party political advertising to benefit the Democratic candidates. Earlier this week we also reported on a Get Out the Vote Scheme that appeared to run afoul of Wisconsin election law. The group, Wisconsin Jobs Now! was offering food and prizes to voters who then hopped in a van and were shuttled to Milwaukee City Hall to vote early via absentee ballot. (The use of ‘walking around money’ and such inducements for voting may be common in other states but they are illegal in Wisconsin.)  After our report, the group began to scrub their internet history to hide their connection to another liberal activist group, Citizen Action of Wisconsin.  http://biggovernment.com/bhealy/2011/08/02/claims-of-election-fraud-illegal-collusion-arise-in-wisconsin-recall-election/
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Expose Obama reports: Though it is unrelated to their mission,the Department of Defense,Homeland Security,Commerce and Housing are among the federal agencies that will focus on helping minorities get green under an Obama administration plan that aims to bring “environmental justice” to poor and underserved communities nationwide.
The effort was launched by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last fall and the agency has doled out millions of dollars in “environmental justice grants” to dozens of left-wing groups,including some dedicated to helping illegal immigrants. Earlier this year the administration dedicated an additional $7 million to study how pollution,stress and social factors affect “poor and underserved communities”…
Besides the previously mentioned,the Department of Education,Veterans Affairs,Agriculture,Transportation,Justice,Health and Labor have all been forced to develop “environmental justice strategies to protect the health of people living in communities overburdened by population.”
http://www.exposeobama.com/2011/08/08/obama-makes-environmental-justice-a-defense-and-homeland-security-issue/?utm_source=Expose+Obama&utm_campaign=cd2e4ecf4d-EO_08_08_20118_8_2011&utm_medium=email
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Personal Liberty reports: Democratic nonsense aside, the truth is that Republicans:
  1. Raised the debt ceiling enough to take the pressure off Obama until after the 2012 elections,
  2. Were not able to assure that there will be no tax hikes in the near future (trust me, there will be),
  3. And rather than cutting spending, merely slowed the growth of spending (as Republicans have been doing for decades) from an Obama baseline that would have been unheard of even in the George W. Bush years. http://www.personalliberty.com/conservative-politics/government/just-who-exactly-is-delusional/?eiid=&rmid=2011_08_09_PLA_[E11343050]&rrid=39458277
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The Washington Times writes: Pres Obama, show some guts & arrest the CEO of Standard & Poors. These criminals brought down the economy in 2008& now they will do it again,” Mr. Moore wrote.
He went on to link approvingly to an article last week in the Guardian, a left-wing British newspaper, about a police raid in Milan against the offices of S&P and fellow ratings agency Moody’s. Italian police were searching for evidence on whether the rating agencies, in the words of a local prosecutor, “respect regulations as they carry out their work”.
“Here’s how they roll in Italy when it comes to these bastards,” Mr. Moore cheered. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/aug/8/michael-moore-obama-show-some-guts-arrest-sp-head/
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CBS reports: Mayor Michael Nutter today announced a tighter weekend curfew in the Center City and University City regions of the city, as he continues grappling with the threat of “flash mobs” in Philadelphia.
Nutter today described those engaging in flash mob rampages (see previous story) as “a tiny minority of ignorant, reckless fools.” http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2011/08/08/nutter-sets-9pm-weekend-curfew-for-minors-in-center-city-university-city/
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The UK Daily Mail reports: Mayor Michael A. Nutter, telling marauding black youths “you have damaged your own race,” imposed a tougher curfew Monday in response to the latest “flash mob” — spontaneous groups of teens who attack people at random on the streets of the city’s tourist and fashionable shopping districts.
“Take those God-darn hoodies down, especially in the summer,” Mr. Nutter, the city’s second black mayor, said in an angry lecture aimed at black teens. “Pull your pants up and buy a belt ‘cause no one wants to see your underwear or the crack of your butt.”
[Since mainstream media won't mention that in mob rages at the Wisconsin State Fair, at the Michigan beach and the Mag Mile in Chicago, and now in center city Philadelphia are black-on-white rages, I will.  Be forewarned!]
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2024001/UK-riots-2011-London-Birmingham-people-forced-strip-naked-street.html#ixzz1UY6Edb5R
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NewsDze-Zimbabwe: This is the shocking moment a young man is apparently forced to hand over all of his clothes after appearing to be stripped naked during lawless riots overnight.

Internet rumours last night claimed that on top of the widespread destruction across London and Birmingham, people were having their clothes removed by looters as police attempted to contain the criminality. http://newsdzezimbabwe.wordpress.com/2011/08/09/anarchy-in-london-people-stripped-naked/
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The Daily Caller writes: Federal payments required by President Barack Obama’s health care law are being understated by as much as $50 billion per year because official budget forecasts ignore the cost of insuring many employees’ spouses and children, according to a new analysis. The result could cost the U.S. Treasury hundreds of billions of dollars during the first ten years of the new health care law’s implementation.
“The Congressional Budget Office has never done a cost-estimate of this [because] they were expressly told to do their modeling on single [person] coverage,”
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/08/08/researchers-obamacare-cost-estimates-hide-up-to-50-billion-per-year/#ixzz1UY8teAs8
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The Hill writes: Representatives of MoveOn, Rebuild the Dream and the Center for Economic Policy and Research will join Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) on Tuesday to launch a progressive “Contract for the American Dream” to urge the administration and Congress to turn away from budget cutting and focus on job creation.
In 10 bullet points, the Contract calls for massive new spending and taxes.
At the top of the list are items President Obama has been calling for: investing in infrastructure, clean energy strengthening public education. These “winning the future” items were included in Obama’s 2012 budget, which was rejected unanimously in the Senate which had become focused on budget cutting by late spring. http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/801-economy/176047-liberals-consolidate-fall-goals-in-new-contract
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The Hill opines: Al Gore is using this hot summer to turn up the heat on climate skeptics.
The former vice president angrily denounced "bulls--t" from climate skeptics whom he accused of emulating the disinformation tactics once used by the tobacco industry.

Real Aspen reported on Gore’s comments at an Aspen Institute forum Thursday and included an audio snippet on its website.
Gore said:
The model they innovated in that effort was transported whole cloth into the climate debate. And some of the exact same people — by name, I can go down a list of their names — are involved in this. And so what do they do? They pay pseudo-scientists, to pretend to be scientists, to put out the message: "This climate thing, it’s nonsense. Man-made CO2 doesn’t trap heat. It may be volcanoes." Bulls--t! "It may be sun spots." Bulls--t! "It’s not getting warmer." Bulls--t!  [It would appear that Algore knows his game is up, and that means that his multi-millions invested in companies that would benefit by Cap and Trade legislation will not pan out.  Not only that, Congress may be investigating him for perjury in front of a Congressional committee.  No wonder he is irate!]   http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/175967-gore-climate-skeptics-are-spreading-bullst
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The Washington Post opines : [Liberal opinion writer Richard Cohen ends his latest column by pronouncing]: This president got elected because he was cool. He could be defeated because he is cold. http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/mr-cool-turns-cold/2011/08/08/gIQAoZlI3I_story.html
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Western Journalism reports:  Cokie Roberts one of the leading voices of the left wing establishment in America masquerading as a journalist lets the truth slip in this important video. Our big problem is the “US Constitution” in her analysis. http://www.westernjournalism.com/cokie-roberts-our-big-problem-is-the-us-constitution/
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Gulag Bound writes: Documented: plans are underway right now to electronically control our homes.  Learn about this outrageous encroachment of our freedoms, while we can still stop it.  This is not about “conservative” or “liberal” politics.  It is about civil rights vs. totalitarianism.
A critical video to watch, alright.  Do learn from the expert research and analysis of Patrick Wood, editor of The August Forecast & Review.

Be sure to listen to the infuriating truth that the North American Smart Grid is being implemented right now, according to the Bush administration’s semi-covert, supposedly non-governmental agreement with Mexico and Canada, in the “Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America” (SPP).
And this is to become a part of the Global Smart Grid, as Wood explains — right into our tiny electric cars and home appliances.  Are you using your dryer too much, this month? http://gulagbound.com/18738/how-technocracy-is-attempting-to-control-our-homes/
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CBS Detroit reports: Five labor unions representing most state of Michigan employees plan to announce a coordinated bargaining approach as contract talks escalate.
The announcement scheduled for Tuesday afternoon comes as Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration seeks $145 million in overall state employee concessions for the fiscal year that starts in October.
The coalition scheduled to make Tuesday’s announcement includes units of the United Auto Workers, Service Employees International Union, the Michigan Corrections Organization, the Michigan State Employees Association and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.  http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2011/08/09/michigan-state-worker-unions-to-bargain-together/
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Verizon Offers $50,000 Reward After Sabotage On Day Two Of Militant Union Strike

RedState writes: It’s been less than 24 hours since the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) called 45,000 of their respective members out on strike against Verizon and, already, there are reports of sabotage of Verizon equipment, as well as illegal picketing.

“In addition to inconveniencing our customers, these deliberate disruptions of our network have affected hospitals, paramedics, fire fighters, law enforcement and other first responders. Verizon is working closely with local authorities to investigate these sabotage incidents, and identify and prosecute those responsible to the fullest extent of the law. And we will not hesitate to terminate any employee who may be involved in these acts.
“In addition, there have been circumstances where union picketers are showing contempt for our customers by illegally preventing us from accessing the tools we need to serve them,” said Mason. “We are taking legal action to end this unlawful activity.”
http://www.redstate.com/laborunionreport/2011/08/08/verizon-offers-50000-reward-after-sabotage-on-day-two-of-militant-union-strike/
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Weasel Zippers reports: Kansas became on Tuesday the second U.S. state to return a large federal grant meant to help it create a prototype health insurance exchange as part of the Obama administration’s healthcare overhaul.
Republican Governor Sam Brownback said the state would give back the $31.5 million it received from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to become an early leader, along with six other states, in establishing health insurance exchanges that other local government could use as a model. http://weaselzippers.us/2011/08/09/kansas-returns-obamacare-money-to-federal-government/
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The Washington Times opines: The most shocking thing about President Obama’s political implosion from bright supernova to deadened black hole has been the complete undoing of his ability to speak.
Gone is the soaring rhetoric and promising tone. Absent is that special credibility he once held with voters who saw him as an adult promising to bring some common sense to Washington.
That winning audacity has been replaced by stiff irritability. Hopeful visions have given way to scolding lectures.
It is the choppy cadence of a child struggling to learn how to read. The halted pace is so slow that comprehension is sometimes lost and he has to stop, back up and take another run at it.
With no music or poetry, Mr. Obama is left grasping for the most barbaric of rhetorical tools, hacking away with class warfare, blaming everyone but himself and offering no vision for fixing this mess. Then tacking onto the end a tinny message about troops who have died.
You have global chaos, market terror and brave Americans who died in a far-off land fighting for American freedom. If ever there was a moment for magic and inspiring oratory, it would be now.
These are the moments great men live for and for which great speeches are made. Just imagine what the Barack Obama of 2008 would have done with such a moment. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/aug/9/fallen-off-olympus-obama-stammers/?page=all#pagebreak
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Newsbusters reveals: Team Obama sees Mitt Romney as the probable GOP nominee, and they won’t wait until the general election to offer attack lines. “Barack Obama’s aides and advisers are preparing to center the president’s reelection campaign on a ferocious personal assault on Mitt Romney’s character and business background.”But the anonymous strategists Politico interviewed don’t seem to remember the Gabrielle Giffords shooting in their usage of metaphor. "Unless things change and Obama can run on accomplishments, he will have to kill Romney, http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-graham/2011/08/09/media-mum-obama-adviser-says-he-will-have-kill-romney#ixzz1UcY3F2sU
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Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Attacks on Tea Parties; Al Gore's investment in Cap & Trade; 17% believe U.S government has the consent of the governed; Obama: creating more jobs is not rocket science; George Soros made $1billion on debt rating?; Geithner on S&P's lack of knowledge; A widespread crisis of faith in progressive guardians;

YouTube shows: In his speech on the Senate floor, Sessions stood up for the Tea Party and those who share their concerns: "You'll forgive me if I'm a little concerned by all these attacks on the Tea Party. They didn't start this fire—they sounded the alarm. Before the last election, when Democrats controlled both chambers of Congress by substantial majorities, every conversation was about increasing spending...
But, after the 2010 election, and the emergence of the Tea Party... we have finally begun to look at Washington's spending problem. Now, instead of just raising the debt ceiling with no spending cuts—as the White House initially and repeatedly demanded—we're talking about how to cut some spending."
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52JDl05HvIM&feature=player_embedded

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Al Gore’s venture capital firm has invested $6 million in a software company that stands to make billions of dollars from cap-and-trade regulation — further fueling controversy that Gore lied about his profiteering from cap-and-trade to Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and the House Energy and Environment Subcommittee during testimony in April. http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/11607

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Infowars reports: A new Rasmussen poll shows that just 17 per cent of Americans believe that the U.S. government has the consent of the governed, an all time low. This dovetails with a record low for Congress’ approval rating, which stands at a paltry 6 per cent, while 46 per cent of Americans think most members of Congress are corrupt, with just 29% believing otherwise. http://www.infowars.com/pollster-americans-are-pre-revolutionary/
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UPI reports: U.S. President Barack Obama said Monday America has solutions to all of its challenges and creating more jobs "is not rocket science."  [Well then just how stupid is he if he still hasn't solved this problem?]
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UK Daily Mail reveals: A mystery investor or hedge fund reportedly made a bet of almost $1billion at odds of 10/1 last month that the U.S. would lose its AAA credit rating.
Now questions are being asked of whether the trader had inside information before placing the $850million bet in the futures market, or if the bet happened at all.
There were mounting rumours that investor George Soros, 80, famously known as ‘the man who broke the Bank of England’, could be involved.
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Creators.com opines: An unrepentant Geithner immediately took the offense and insultingly attacked S&P for its decision to downgrade our credit rating. "I think S&P's shown really terrible judgment. And they've handled themselves very poorly, and they've shown a stunning lack of knowledge about basic U.S. fiscal budget math."
S&P's managing director, David Beers, didn't receive the slander sitting down. He said he had "absolutely" no second thoughts about the decision. He also said it was a gross exaggeration to suggest that the downgrade was mainly responsible for the market sell-off, pointing to the extreme volatility of the market in the period preceding the downgrade.
Consider also the arrogance of this administration for lecturing anyone else about his budgetary acumen. We've not experienced a financial train wreck in our national history so directly traceable to the White House.
There is no question Republicans bear some degree of blame for all of this, but Obama (and his party) has ratcheted up spending to an entirely new level of profligacy.
His deficits are three times those of his predecessor and 10 times the Bush deficit of 2007.  http://www.creators.com/conservative/david-limbaugh.html
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National Review opines: We are witnessing a widespread crisis of faith in our progressive guardians of the last 30 years. These are the blue-chip, university-certified elite, employed by universities, government, and big-money private foundations and financial-services companies. The best recent examples are sorts like Barack Obama, Eric Holder, Larry Summers, Peter Orszag, Robert Rubin, Steven Chu, and Timothy Geithner. Politicians like John Kerry, John Edwards, and Al Gore all share certain common characteristics of this Western technocracy: proper legal or academic credentials, ample service in elected or appointed government office, unabashed progressive politics, and a free pass to enjoy ample personal wealth without any perceived contradiction with their loud share-the-wealth egalitarian politics.
In the devolution from global warming to climate change to climate chaos — and who knows what comes next? — a small group of self-assured professors, politicians, and well-compensated lobbyists hawked unproven theories as fact — as if they were clerics from the Dark Ages who felt their robes exempted them from needing to read or think about their religious texts. Finally, even Ivy League and Oxbridge degrees and peer-reviewed journal articles could not mask the cooked research, the fraudulent grants, and the Elmer Gantry–like proselytizing about everything from tree rings and polar-bear populations to glaciers and the Sierra snowpack. A minor though iconic figure was the truther and community activist Van Jones, the president’s “green czar,” who lacked a record of academic excellence, scientific expertise, or sober and judicious study, assuming instead that a prestigious diploma and government title, a certain edgy and glib disdain for the masses, and media acclaim could permit him to gain lucre and influence by promoting as fact the still unproven.
So the elites’ furor grows at those who seek and obtain power, exposure, and influence without the proper background, credentials, or attitude.
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/274035/tottering-technocracy-victor-davis-hanson#
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Expose Obama exposes: The Obama administration has drafted a new,little-noticed executive order that would plainly stifle free speech. The “Disclosure of Political Spending by Government Contractors” order is still a draft,but if the administration has its way,the order will be in full force soon. http://www.exposeobama.com/2011/08/08/obamas-executive-order-would-stifle-the-first-amendment/?utm_source=Expose+Obama&utm_campaign=cd2e4ecf4d-EO_08_08_20118_8_2011&utm_medium=email