Truth & Consequences - There is no Right and Left, only Right and Wrong

New Article on CASA de Maryland!

2011-09-20T11:28:00.004-04:00

Many of you may wonder where I have been for the past six months or so. Obviously I have not been writing much publicly. One of the major efforts I have been involved in is a report being issued today at Accuracy in Media (http://www.aim.org/). This report documents the abusive and corrupt nature of a very influential illegal immigrant advocacy organization known as CASA de Maryland.

At about 4,500 words, the report is an abbreviated version of the full study. Over the next few weeks I will be releasing portions of that broader study that could not be included due to space constraints.

Please read the AIM report. It documents the corrosive effects the illegal alien issue is having on our government and society. Illegal immgration must be stopped, pure and simple, or we will be subjugated in our own country by people and organizations who have no regard for Constitutional limits on power, and hold our nation and people in marked contempt.

So Donald was serious after all

2011-03-30T00:16:00.002-04:00

Yesterday Donald Trump challenged President Obama to give up his birth certificate by presenting what he purported to be his own. Turns out it was the Jamaica, Queens, NY hospital's own "Certificate of Birth." Not the official document, but would do as secondary evidence needed to secure a passport, for example, according to Fox News.

Not to be deterred from making his point, today Trump provided a "Certification of Birth" showing all kinds of additional information about him and his family as well as the official birth certificate.

Now, why is producing such a thing so difficult for this President?

Looming government shutdown anarchy?

2011-02-21T14:26:00.003-05:00

February 19, 2011 – If Congress and the President cannot agree on a 2011 budget by March 4^th the federal government will shutdown. With the Continuing Resolution passed in the House of Representatives early this morning, including deep budget cuts and two amendments by Rep. Steve King (R-IA) to defund Obamacare, this threatened government shutdown becomes a distinct possibility. What every Republican, every patriot, every person conceivably affected needs to understand is how this will impact average Americans.

Will airports shut down because air traffic controllers have gone on leave? Will those mean Republicans throw granny out in the street when Social Security stops sending payments? Will everyone who receives checks in the mail see their income dry up because the Post Office shuts down?

Will welfare mothers have to grill rats on a spit to feed their children?

The Democrats will tell you that and more. A Google search of “government shutdown” brings up pages describing dire consequences. But if you follow the links you will see that this is more a reflection of leftist media domination than anything else.

The greatest consequence of a government shutdown will be the Democrat-generated media hysteria we will have to put up with unless/until the issue is settled. They will demagogue at every opportunity, describing fantastic scenes of nationwide anarchy. They will do what they always do, about the only thing they do well, and in fact have already begun doing:

They will lie.

President Obama almost immediately threatened that Social Security checks would stop coming.

He lied.

Think Progress, the archetypical radical left propaganda rag, interviewed freshman Republican Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA), who pooh poohed worries about a government shutdown. They didn’t ask him to qualify, but later attempted to discredit his message:

Kelly’s assertions are simply not true. One need look no further than the federal government shutdown of 1995 for proof. During the nearly four-week shutdown, Social Security checks were not mailed and Medicare/Medicaid reimbursements were disrupted.

They lie.

The whole article is a carefully constructed deception—an echo chamber for Democrat demagoguery. Follow the links. They’re hoping you won’t.

The first link goes to a Wikipedia entry that describes the 1995 shutdown. No mention of social security checks. The second goes to an article at Talking Points Memo, the hard left smear site. It simply quotes more Democrats, like Clinton Treasury Secretary Robert Reich and Donna Shalala, then HHS Secretary. She said, “It was a mess, frankly, and devastating to the civil service… It seems to me it’s un-American…”

Devastating to the civil service…

I find that telling. Her biggest concern is the impact on… government. And what a joke. We are talking about two shutdowns here, one of five days and another of three weeks—merely a long vacation for most government bureaucrats.

Un-American? Well, she should know.

According to TPM, Shalala provided a list of payments that would stop: “Social Security checks, Medicare reimbursements...welfare checks to the state, Medicaid checks to the state.”

She lied.

Think Progress even absurdly cites a report by the Center for American Progress. The Center is run by far, far left, former Clinton Chief of Staff John Podesta, and described by former Weather Underground Obama supporter Mark Rudd as “Obama’s government in waiting.” Yet another echo chamber.

The Think Progress article then cites some statistics from a 2004 Congressional Research Service report on government shutdowns, implying that the CRS concurred regarding all these ill effects of the shutdown.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The Congressional Research Service is one of the few remaining organizations within the U.S. government that produces serious, unbiased analysis. Part of the Library of Congress, it is the go to organization when members of Congress want the unvarnished truth. By citing CRS, Think Progress attempts to impute integrity to their fraudulent propaganda. Once again, they are hoping you don’t look up the actual report, which they did not link to.

Think Progress lied.

The CRS report is explicit regarding those government services that will not be disrupted. Cut and pasted directly from the report:

Essential Services and Personnel

A 1980 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) memorandum defines “essential”

government services and “essential” employees as those:

1. providing for the national security, including the conduct of foreign relations essential to the national security or the safety of life and property;

2. providing for benefit payments and the performance of contract obligations under no-year or multi-year or other funds remaining available for those purposes;

3. conducting essential activities to the extent that they protect life and property, including:

n medical care of inpatients and emergency outpatient care;

n activities essential to ensure continued public health and safety, including safe use of food, drugs, and hazardous materials;

n continuance of air traffic control and other transportation safety functions and the protection of transport property;

n border and coastal protection and surveillance;

n protection of federal lands, buildings, waterways, equipment and other property owned by the United States;

n care of prisoners and other persons in the custody of the United States;

n law enforcement and criminal investigations;

n emergency and disaster assistance;

n activities that ensure production of power and maintenance of the power distribution system;

n activities essential to the preservation of the essential elements of the money and banking system of the United States, including borrowing and tax collection activities of the Treasury; and

n activities necessary to maintain protection of research property.

Let me be absolutely clear here. There will be no disruption in Social Security, welfare, civil service retirement, or any other kind of open-ended mandatory program payments. The mail will not stop because the Post Office is largely self-funding (with you know, those stamps you buy to mail things with). Air traffic controllers will not go on furlough, jets will keep flying, the Border Patrol will keep on attempting to secure the border that Janet Napolitano wants unsecured, and our military will stay in the fight, however poorly and treasonously led by the current Commander-in-Chief.

Will there be adverse effects? Absolutely. We are talking about a government shutdown. But they are not the dire consequences Democrats are hyping. The only people who will really notice the government shutdown are government workers themselves, and most importantly, Congressional Democrats and the President.

Boo hoo!

Notice that the CRS Report link is directly from the Democrats’ House Rules Committee website. So the Democrats know all this, but they blatantly lie about it. They can get away with it though, because the media relentlessly echoes their message, and rarely if ever corrects them.

The Republicans’ job from here on in is to point out the facts. Every Republican in Congress should be pounding out this message. In 1995, they utterly failed at this, when Newt Gingrich reportedly made it all about him, suggesting he threatened a shutdown because Bill Clinton dissed him on Air Force One. Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory…

Republicans also must pound the airwaves with reminders that a government shutdown would be due entirely to Democrat intransigence. Republicans are merely trying to keep their pledge to the American people, who in November of 2010 sent an unmistakable message to the Democrats: knock it off!

One possibility remains. Given his penchant for defying law and the Constitution through regulatory subterfuge, President Obama could possibly change the ground rules and crank up the pressure by actually ordering the Social Security Administration to stop sending checks. Once again, it will be incumbent on Republicans to explain that Democrats are choosing to do this.

This is a critical juncture in our Nation’s history. Republicans must demonstrate some intestinal fortitude for a change. A few days ago, I posted an article demanding that Speaker Boehner put up or shut up by allowing amendments to the Continuing Resolution that would defund Obamacare. Given that the bill passed the House with such provisions, it appears he decided to put up.

Speaker Boehner and House Republicans, you have the voters on your side, you have the facts on your side, and never in our history has it been more important for you to take a principled stand. Do not back down in the face of the Democrats’ government shutdown threats. We don’t want that, but if Democrats insist on continuing to trash our country, I say, “bring it on!”

A conversation with Steve King: taking America back

2010-12-06T22:56:00.004-05:00

For years we have heard the common refrain that “the people don’t get it,” or we’re “stupid,” or we “really don’t care.” Ignoring the Americans who serially vote Democrat because they have been bought off with welfare payments or some other benefit, I have always argued otherwise, and Reagan’s 1980 and 1984 landslide victories bore me out. Of course, as President, the senior Bush quickly smashed that resurgent national spirit with a “wicked political pivot” back to insipid mediocrity.

The truth is that since then our options have been limited. The mass media shuts out honest, serious analysis of the issues and censors or ostracizes political leaders who don’t. People have allowed themselves to be browbeaten into apathy and drugged with cultural distractions (like American Idol, for example) because they have had nowhere to turn for answers. Newt Gingrich inspired us for a short time by throwing out the utterly corrupt Congressional Democrats in 1994, but then proceeded to squander his historic victory with a meteoric descent into typical pork barrel politicking. The rest of the Republican caucus followed suit.

A decade of that, followed by four years of Democrat excess that has broken all prior records, a manufactured financial crisis that has driven this country to the edge of the abyss and the election of the most radical president in American history finally stirred us to action. We are now wide awake and looking earnestly for the kind of leadership that can save this country. And that is what we need, for despite the big Republican gains in the House of Representatives and larger gains in statehouses, we are close to the point of no return and the Democrats will push us over the edge if they can get away with it.

They have been pushing for decades to put a greater number of voters on the Liberal Plantation than there are among the working public. The “serial democrat voters” cited above are rapidly approaching the magic 50 percent of the voting population. For example, at present the bottom 50 percent of income earners pay a mere 3 percent of all federal income taxes. Obama even had a proposal to cut their FICA taxes. There is doubtless a similar comparison for states.

With the details just beginning to surface from Obamacare and all the other onerous legislation passed by this corrupt Congress over the past two years, the top 50 percent may well be paying all income taxes. If not, the 12 to 20 million illegal immigrants here would provide that margin if granted amnesty. They might anyway, given Obama’s nationwide vote fraud machine.

So we continue to seek solutions; and look for leadership among those few hearty souls who understand the problem and have a demonstrated track record in backing words with action. Iowa Representative Steve King is one of these, and last week I had the honor to interview him on behalf of Right Side News.

King is a genuine “man of the people,” in the sense that he is one of us. He started a construction business with a whisper and a prayer in 1975, built it from the ground up and ran the business for 28 years before turning the reins over to his eldest son. He has been married to the same woman since 1972, has three sons and five grandchildren, and has lived in the same small Iowa town for thirty-two years. He and his family are members of the local Catholic Church.

In contrast, many DC politicians these days seem to come directly out of law school and go straight into politics with no real-world business experience, often without even racking up many hours in a brick and mortar law firm. And while Democrats embrace the “working class” in their rhetoric, precious few have any real experience in the working world, and couldn’t support themselves in private business if their lives depended on it. They live a parasitic lifestyle financed by We the People, cycling between political posts, lobbying and non-profits, and most haven’t darkened the doors of a church in ages, if ever. Most are elitists and distain the working class, while simultaneously leeching off our efforts.

Not so King. He was raised in a typical middle class family and cut his teeth as an entrepreneur. He knows what it takes to meet a payroll and deal with the regulations inflicted on us from Washington. His interest in politics was borne directly of his experience with regulatory red tape as a small business owner.

He joined the Iowa Land Improvement Contractors’ Association in the 1980s and took progressively higher leadership positions within that organization before running for the Iowa State Senate in 1996. As State Senator he helped eliminate the state inheritance tax, enforce workplace drug testing, enforce parenting rights, including parental notification of abortion, pass tax cuts for working Iowans, and pass the law that made English the official language in Iowa.

King is one of the few members of the U.S. Congress willing to identify the Democrat Party as the nest of destructive socialists that it really is. The train wreck they have created is the most urgent crisis we face. We literally have to take our country back or we will be too weakened to fend off a host of increasingly aggressive foreign foes. I therefore focused on this issue in the interview.

When I talked to him, King had just returned from David Horowitz’s Restoration Weekend, where he was invited to speak. He also participated on an illegal immigration panel discussion. All of the panelists were good. You can see the video here. King’s insightful comments begin at about minute 26 and are worth hearing.

This was a half-hour interview. I have rearranged the order and condensed my questions and some of his answers to get at the most salient points. I have emphasized some of his more important statements in bold italics. You may listen to the entire interview by following this link. Read or listen, King doesn’t pull any punches.

RSN: Congressman King, what can we do to take our country back?

King: Well, the people have run up a new flag next to Old Glory and that is the Gadsden Flag, don’t tread on me. That is the spirit of this renewed America that we have. But what we’re doing in Congress now is basically fighting a rearguard action. We’re hanging on to the freedom we have. Now we may take some back with this new Congress, but we know we can’t sustain this unless we take the culture back.

Back when Clinton was running for President, James Carville coined the slogan “It’s the economy, stupid.” I thought, “Well, that’s stupid. It isn’t the economy at all. It is the culture. If you get the culture right, you’ll get the economy right. Everything will fall into place automatically.”

We have to take back our institutions. In education for example, school choice is the best solution for grades K-12. Parents should be deciding where our children go to school and have a hand in what they learn. We also have to take back our institutes of higher learning. These have been completely taken over by leftists. In law school, for example, they are teaching case law, not the Constitution. There is no question that the vast majority of law professors are far left or democrats at a minimum—very few conservatives. That needs to change.

With the new media: the blogs, Facebook, twitter, cable news and talk radio, we are winning the argument with the American people. But it is going to take a while to infuse our culture with the belief system that has built America. We have to raise our children to understand and believe in American exceptionalism. We need to engage our children to participate in restoring our culture. Whether they grow up to be teachers, pastors, or if they become film makers for example, they need to produce documentaries about what makes America great, not anti-American propaganda like the stuff Michael Moore puts out.

RSN: That is a good long term plan and essential for getting our country back on track. But what can we do in the meantime? The left operates under a completely different set of standards. It is a movement that is hostile to the continued presence of the United States on the world stage as a free country. They want to see us fail, and many of them are routinely breaking our laws to move their agenda along. We can begin to rein them in immediately and discouraging others immediately by subjecting them to the laws they have been so flagrantly violating. Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA), for example has called for RICO investigations of ACORN. Is the new Congress planning any investigations of these people?

King: I am a close friend of Darrell Issa and have worked closely with him on ACORN and other issues. He does plan to conduct investigations into ACORN. We have to continue to track the principals and track their activities and shut off their federal financing. We have done so temporarily and will have to keep doing so.

RSN: I would love to see the same type of inquiry into George Soros and his vast networks of organizations that are just criminal enterprises—to my view anyway. What about Soros?

King: It would be good to look into those things too but I am a little cautious to say exactly what we will do. It takes a lot of manpower with specialized skills to conduct these investigations. We would probably go after the low hanging fruit at first, ACORN is a perfect example.

I don’t know if Soros is what you would call low hanging fruit, but I do think Soros’s activities need to be linked together and there are plenty of outside organizations that can do that. Americans can short circuit this whole process by doing their own research and then presenting it to Congressional panels. I am open to people in this country helping to clean up those kinds of things.

When James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles went undercover into ACORN offices posing as a pimp and prostitute, it rocked ACORN’s world. Without them, we could not have defunded ACORN.

Another example is Rep. Alan Mollohan from West Virginia. He and his father held that seat for more than a generation. We saw his net worth go from about $150,000 to about six-and-a-half million in about two years. A citizen-engaged investigation put a 500 page report on the desk of the West Virginia Attorney General. It didn’t go anywhere until this year’s primary, whenMollohan was defeated by another Democrat in the primaries, and that Democrat was defeated by a Republican in November. That process took five years, but we unseated a person I believe was corrupt, and we got it done with the help of private citizens.

RSN: Cliff Kincaid recently had a National Press Club conference where he called for resurrection of the Congressional internal security committees along the lines of the House Un-American Activities Committee. Would you support recreation of such committees?

King: I would. Something similar. If we called it the House Un-American Activities Committee, that would be lighting up the history of McCarthy in a way that wouldn't be necessary, although I am often quoted as saying "McCarthy was a hero for America. He was. He was right far more times than he was wrong. It is a historical fact. But I would submit a different committee name so that we don't have to deal with the history, and move forward. I think that is a good process and I would support it.

RSN: The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is responsible for the intrusive full-body scans and pat downs all air travelers are now subject to. It is classic bureaucracy. They are completely reactive. First we had the shoe bomber so we had to take off our shoes. Then we got the underwear bomber so now we have to have full body scans and pat downs. Meanwhile we can’t profile or use any common sense approach to identify potential threats. It isinsane. What is your take?

King: I agree. It is stupid. The underwear bomber—he was the Christmas bomber of eleven months ago. Now, eleven months later we have changed the process to do the pat downs and full body scans. What did they [TSA] think, that the Christmas bomber would only show up on Christmas, so they took eleven months to put the system in place? (Simpson laughing) You’re right, it is classic bureaucracy.

After 9-11, we all knew we would have to do airline screening. But I never imagined we would not have some kind of system for identifying high risk passengers. Here is what I would do. I would develop a computer generated model of profiling coupled with special training for our officers. I would set up a scoring system developed by experts, based on a variety of relevant factors such as age, nationality, origin and destination of flight, and physical features like height, weight and eye color. For example, almost every bomber has been a Middle Eastern male between the ages of 17 and 45. We have had only one blue-eyed bomber and that was Timothy McVeigh, and he wasn’t flying.

Based on a scoring system of such factors, weighted appropriately, a person could be subjected to the full body scan and pat down. We should profile them on statistics and data and train our people like El Al trains their people—they haven’t had a hijacking since the early 1970sbecause they do a great job and are not afraid to profile. It is stupid not to.

RSN: Amen to that. I was looking over the Department of Homeland Security website before the interview and I noticed that DHS has a “Countering Violent Extremism Working Group.” Listed as non-DHS board members were a number of Muslims including a notorious radical Islamist, Mohamed Elibiary, leftwing community organizer types and even the CEO of the radical leftist Southern Policy Law Center. What business do these people have anywhere near DHS? We have to pick apart the bureaucracy and find where they have squirreled away these people who are literally wrecking public policy.

King: That’s one area where perhaps a resurrected internal security committee could focus its efforts. But it takes citizen input. To prioritize the huge volume of work we get, the press often determines where we focus our efforts. The press now is the new media. If the information comes to us and it’s been prioritized in the press, we can work quickly on it.

It is not enough to be right. Be right, be consistent, be reliable and raise the issue to the point where it becomes a priority. That is what everyone involved in new media can contribute. Maybe it goes viral and when it does, Congress will act really quickly then.

(NOTE: King originally introduced legislation to defund ACORN in 2007, but it didn’t happen until late 2009 when Giles and O’Keefe’s stunt brought enough public pressure to force the issue.)

RSN: You are one of those people who say the kinds of things we like to hear and we have been talking about things you and I would like to see done, but how many people in Congress and the Senate are willing to follow through with this? Are we really going to see any of these things come to pass?

King: You will see some of it come to pass. Some of us are going to be pushing it hard, but I hesitate because I don’t really know where the freshman class is. There are 84 new House members. Many are young and smart and come with deep convictions and the Constitution stamped on their hearts. But will they be able to join together and form a consensus on what to do? Among the list of sitting Representatives right now, it is hard to put together a list of two dozen people who would support the things we are discussing. So I am hoping that 30, 40 or 50 of the incoming freshmen will take on some of these issues. And they need issues to work on. I have told the incoming freshmen, that they are God’s gift to America. Now let’s just see how big gifts they really are.”

RSN: I think that Obama and the Democrats are going to try to pull a lot of stuff before the Republicans take over. Is there anything we can do to help, especially during the lame duck session?

King: Weigh in everywhere you can, everywhere you can get traction. If James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles can dress up like a pimp and a prostitute and bring a national organization like ACORN crashing down, if young people can do that, we can all contribute in some way. Every phone call, every e-mail, every person you talk to, adds to the dialog, and you or they may be inspired to think of another idea like that. Just keep weighing in and put the pressure on.

This 111th Congress lame duck session is a session of spite. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid have been sitting at this huge banquet table for the last four years of Pelosi’s speakership…gorging themselves on the agenda of the Left. And while it has now been announced that they will be evicted from the banquet they are still gorging themselves and they are prepared to flip the table upside down and throw a pie in our faces on the way out the door. That is what we have to stand up against and I don’t think I can target it any better than that.

Listen to the entire interview, here.

This article was first posted at Right Side News

Conservative Republican Challenges Radical for Seat in Inner City District

2010-10-27T14:40:00.004-04:00

Maryland has long been considered one of the bluest of blue states. But with anti-Democrat fever running red hot, that is rapidly changing. There are competitive races everywhere. Thirty-year incumbent House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer is facing a stiff challenge from Republican Charles Lollar in Maryland’s 5th District. In Maryland’s 3rd, veteran Marine fighter pilot, Republican Jim Wilhelm, is challenging legacy Democratic Congressman John Sarbanes, son of longtime Senator Paul Sarbanes and former Republican Governor Bob Ehrlich is giving corrupt, pathologically dishonest Governor Martin O’Malley—the Boy Blunder—a run for his money.

But another race has flown completely under the radar up to now. Conservative businessman Frank Mirabile has mounted a powerful challenge to radical liberal 7th District incumbent, Elijah Cummings. Maryland’s 7th encompasses largely rural Howard County, part of suburban Baltimore County and western Baltimore City.

Cummings is black. His constituency is disproportionately black. But that is the only thing they share in common. Like most liberals, Cummings uses his fellow blacks to remain comfortably ensconced in his lucrative, cushy job. And he does nothing, I repeat, nothing to help them.

Enter Frank Mirabile. A hardworking family man who built a successful landscaping business, he is dedicated to returning government to its Constitutional roots and getting it off our backs and out of our pocketbooks. Mirabile has a deep grasp of both economics and the needs of the district, unlike Cummings who uses it like a vending machine.

Frank has also done something Cummings hasn’t done in years, if ever. He has walked through the district numerous times. Feedback from residents is stunning:

We are tired of the whole racism bit. We aren’t buying it. If you have solutions let us hear them. Please!
We are sick of all the methadone maintenance clinics in our neighborhoods, grounds for crime, drug dealing and filth.
Our neighborhoods are neglected, run down and dirty.
Trades are not taught in schools anymore. Why not?
Illegal immigrants are doing all the “shovel ready” jobs.
Taxes are too high, even for those on welfare.
Crime is everywhere.
We are sick of Cummings—he’s a phony!

And this is my favorite:

Our American Dream is NOT to be on welfare

They are fed up! And who could blame them?

Coming from a blue collar background, Mirabile has more in common with people in the district than the elitist Cummings. During his walk throughs he has been welcomed with open arms. He offered to set up impromptu rallies within those neighborhoods and many have volunteered their property to host events.

This is a sea change which I don’t think Democrats are even aware of. And as I have argued for years, the only reason more African-Americans do not join the Republican Party is that no one asks them to. At a Republican Party Central Committee meeting in Baltimore earlier this year, we were visited by a black man running for Sheriff. He said blacks are dying for change and literally begged the Committee to get Republican candidates to visit the district.

Well, Frank has done just that and the results are stunning. He has made amazing inroads on a shoestring budget, like so many Tea Party candidates this year. Going into the final stretch however, Mirabile needs the kind of advertizing dollars that will put him over the top.

Recall also: Baltimore City is the home state of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Can you imagine what a victory here would mean? Cummings has a large campaign war chest. Do what you can to support Frank in these last critical days.

Cummings is a member of the far left Congressional Black Caucus and part of the crew that fraudulently tagged Tea Partiers as “racists” at the healthcare rally last March. That day, Speaker Pelosi also walked arrogantly through the crowd with her oversized gavel, and passed the healthcare bill against our will so that “you can find out what’s in it.”

Cummings has comfortably owned his seat for sixteen years, never having to do more than lift the occasional token finger at ribbon-cutting ceremonies and special events. He has literally done nothing for the district.

Traveling through the city, one is stunned by the post-apocalypse look of almost every neighborhood. Most blocks have at least one boarded up building, in many neighborhoods whole areas are boarded and abandoned. Trash and empty lots abound. There are a total of 15,000 abandoned buildings in the city, 10,000 of which are owned by the city itself.

According to FBI crime statistics, Baltimore has the fourth highest murder rate in the country, it is number four in aggravated assault, and fifth in violent crime overall. They don’t call it Charm City for nothing.

Maryland floats on federal dollars and you’d think it could manage some inner city improvements. But endless regulatory red tape prevents the revitalization of these areas that can only be circumvented by pay to play politics or public-private “partnerships” of the kind that forced the resignation of Mayor Sheila Dixon last year. Cummings is fine with all that—a poster boy for this entrenched, corrupt, self-serving political culture.

According to the Census Bureau, despite bloated city and state bureaucracies, the Baltimore City black unemployment rate is 13.2 percent, well above the national average, while white and Hispanic unemployment rates are 5.1 and 7.2 percent respectively. A mere 51 percent of the black population is in the labor force, compared with 61 percent for whites and 67 percent for Hispanics.

Inner city blacks in Maryland, as elsewhere, are furious about how their jobs are being stolen by illegal immigrants. You’d think Cummings would take the pulse of his constituents on that subject. Instead he has voted for the illegals on every single relevant piece of legislation before Congress (from OpenCongress.org):

HR 3722 Amendment 1011 To require hospitals to document illegal alien patients and deny service when they can be safely sent home: NO
HR 5441 Amendment 968 To support Minuteman Project and deny Mexican government information regarding their dispositions along the border: NO
HR 6061 Secure Fence Act To build a fence and place surveillance equipment on the Southern border to reduce illegal entry: NO
HR 6095 Immigration Law Enforcement Act To affirm state and local governments’ right to enforce immigration laws: NO
HR 6094 Community Protection Act To restore Homeland Security's authority to detain dangerous aliens, to ensure the removal of deportable criminal aliens, and combat alien gang crime. NO

Cummings also flagrantly defies the core beliefs of his constituents: he supports gay marriage. His constituents don’t. He supports partial birth abortion. His constituents don’t.

Cummings has refused repeated offers to debate, so Frank challenges him on his Facebook page. Following is an exchange that took place Sunday:

Cummings: Too many Marylanders have lost their homes due to foreclosure. Now we are finding that many foreclosures throughout the nation may have been initiated through fraudulent means. I have called on Governor O'Malley and Attorney General Gansler to create a 60-day moratorium on all foreclosures in Maryland, so we can get to the bottom of this. No family should lose their home because of fraud.

Mirabile: So tell me...after 14 years in office, Maryland being under democratic control...Why are Baltimore streets littered with 15,000 abandoned houses? Why are jobs leaving the city? Why cant' you walk down the streets of West Baltimore with your family without feeling safe? Why have we abandoned trades in
education?
What has been allowed to go on in the neighborhoods of the proud residents of West Baltimore is a crime!

After years and years of promises of empowerment with only a social services check being delivered, don't you think it's time for you, Congressman, to step
down?

How can you say you are for family values when you voted for late term abortions? (Vote tally: Prohibit Partial-Birth/Late Term Abortion bill)

How can you say you are for family values when you voted for transportation of minors across state lines for abortion services without parental notification? (Vote tally: Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act)

Have you told the voters YOU VOTED YES to give yourself a raise in 2009 while millions of Americans lost their jobs?

Have you told the voters YOU VOTED YES for gay marriage?

Congressman Cummings your time has come to re-enter the private sector and learn what it's like to earn a dollar by trust and not by a vote.

I ask you to step down and prove to the constituents of Congressional District 7 you are willing to live by the laws you impose upon us and walk the streets with your family.

One final note: I challenge you to come out of the shadows and debate the issues one on one. No canned questions, just an honest discussion on the problems the families and small businesses of Maryland face. You'll be surprised how many families in the West side of Baltimore want opportunity not a hand out. Let’s meet and have this discussion for all to make up their minds.

Reading that, who would you want to represent you in the 7th District? Cummings coan only parrot the Reid, Pelosi, Obama script. His interest in his district only extends to the voting box. Watch this revealing video. Cummings concludes, “We can do better.”

He’s right. We can do better. Frank Mirabile is a real, conservative choice for Maryland’s 7th District who wants to serve the people of that district, not the arm-twisting agenda of remote, globalist progressives. Let’s give MD-07 a real choice this year. Help Frank get elected.

Mirabile has the more conservative Howard and Baltimore Counties largely sown up and thus has focused his last efforts on the city. Now he has to double up on his message during these final critical days, and it is up to us to do all we can to help him out.

Soldier of Fortune Turns 35 – an Exceptional Magazine and Much More

2010-10-07T21:24:00.004-04:00

By Jim Simpson

35th Anniversary Issue

Like most things unapologetically conservative and unapologetically pro-American, Soldier of Fortune magazine has been pilloried for years by the organized Left’s venomously anti-American press and culture. But SOF, founded in 1975 by decorated Special Forces veteran and lifelong adventurer, Lt. Col. Robert K. Brown (USAR - Ret.), stands out as a singular example of American exceptionalism in print media. But that the rest were half as good.

SOF is more than that too, for unknown to most people, Soldier of Fortune magazine and its staff of intrepid reporters – almost all with special operations backgrounds, some who paid the ultimate price while on assignment – has voluntarily assisted the U.S. military and our allies for decades, with little or no recognition, providing intelligence, training and combat support to freedom fighters throughout the world. They did so much of this in fact, that they could almost be characterized as the first “private contractor,” except they did all their work for free, with expenses being covered by the magazine itself.

Started in 1975, the year of the Vietnam War’s ignoble end, Soldier of Fortune magazine quickly gained a wide following among Vietnam veterans. It was one of the few journals then in print that gave an honest and appreciative assessment of veterans’ wartime sacrifices, with articles written mostly by fellow veterans who knew about war firsthand, up close and personal.

The magazine remains dedicated to our Nation’s military and is avidly read and appreciated by veteran and active duty alike. As editor Brown stated in SOF’s 25 year anniversary issue:

Overnight, SOF offered Vietnam vets the recognition they deserved, a home in a sense, a meeting place for like souls. Like a banner, it acknowledged their sacrifices and continues to do so, loudly and loyally.

Current Cover Features
Congressional Candidate
Gy. Sgt. Nick Popaditch

Americans fed on network news had little idea what was really happening over there. Many still don’t. Shamefully, the mass media (they are not mainstream) has never come clean about their central role in the systematic deception of the American public that led to America’s first military defeat. America did not lose the Vietnam War on the battlefield, despite military missteps. It was lost due to a conspiracy of deliberate misreporting by American media and the incompetent, feckless and in some cases treasonous, activities of the White House and Democrat-controlled U.S. Congress.

In addition to becoming a voice for Vietnam vets, SOF rapidly gained a reputation for cutting-edge reporting at the front lines of bush wars throughout the world, many of which were and still are ignored by the mass media. For example, since 1982 SOF has reported on the plight of Burma’s Karen people, who have fought a war of liberation against that country’s brutal, Stalinist regime for decades.

10th Anniversary Issue

SOF’s reporting on the Karens inspired Sylvester Stallone to make his 4th Rambo movie about the Burmese conflict. As Sly puts it:

I think SOF has proven time and time again that it has its thumb on the pulse of what is really transpiring in the remote, dark parts of the world that the drive-by media tends to overlook.

One of SOF’s correspondents, Lance Motley, was killed by Burmese forces in 1989 while reporting on the conflict. Wounded three times on previous expeditions around the globe for SOF, Lance was as usual, right on the front lines.

Motley personified the archetypical SOF reporter. A West Point graduate and Special Forces officer, Lance quit the Army out of boredom. He then made a solo trip to Afghanistan. He had no backing from anyone, no knowledge of the people, language or culture, but managed to sneak in, find his way to the action, fight with the Mujahideen against the Soviet occupiers, and help compile a list for the U.S. Congress of weapons the Afghans needed – all in six months! This was before anyone had ever heard of Charlie Wilson. Lance’s obituary is a testimonial to the caliber of men who wrote for Soldier of Fortune.

SOF is about the only journal that has reported on Laos and Vietnam’s relentless genocide against its indigenous tribes. The Degar people of Vietnam’s Central Highlands, known collectively as “Montagnards” (mountain people) fought valiantly alongside American Special Forces throughout the Vietnam War, but were shamelessly abandoned when we decided to pull out. The U.S. government forgot about them, but their former enemies didn’t. Since that time, the Degar have been systematically repressed, with many tortured and killed in “reeducation” camps.

The Laotian Hmong who assisted the U.S. during its CIA-operated secret war in Laos, have suffered similarly. For the last thirty five years, the Laotian communist government has engaged in a bush war with the goal of exterminating remaining Hmong, killing as many as 100,000, including the use of chemical weapons. Remaining Hmong have retreated to remote mountainous areas, where they survive in primitive conditions, living off the land.

To add insult to injury, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, (ATF) saw an opportunity to lure Hmong expatriate leader, then 77 year-old Major General Vang Pao, into a sting operation. Vang led Laotian forces for the CIA during the secret war and has spent his life devoted to the Hmong cause. He remains a widely respected leader, both among the Hmong expatriate community and in Laos. Those remaining in Laos would likely have perished long ago were it not for the external assistance provided to them through Vang’s efforts.

ATF agents convinced Vang to become involved in a plot to overthrow the communist Laotian government. Assured that this was a CIA-backed operation, he agreed. He and his compatriots were later arrested and charged with violating the Neutrality Act. Fortunately Vang’s case was dismissed in 2009. The fate of his co-defendants has not yet been determined. See a very good video about this case and the plight of the Hmong here.

The reality of Southeast Asia’s Communists’ brutal genocide against the Hmong and Degar people stands in stark contrast to their wartime propaganda about “liberating the oppressed.” But for SOF, we wouldn’t know about it.

Meanwhile, American communists like Bill Ayers and Tom Hayden, who actively, blatantly supported communist North Vietnam during the war, have nothing to say about the miserable aftermath they helped bring about. Many of these same Leftists, by the way, were the foremost organizers of Progressives for Obama – just one great big cesspool.

25th Anniversary Issue

SOF’s Brown also became personally and professionally involved in the search for living POW/MIAs after the war, dumping about $350,000 into the effort. This unfortunate chapter in our Vietnam experience had its share of charlatans, who capitalized on the hopes of POW/MIA families and concerned veterans like Brown. SOF, however, wasted no time in challenging those who appeared to be frauds, even fellow decorated Special Forces veterans like Bo Gritz.

SOF was also one of the few, if not the only, publication that reported on the situation in Afghanistan during the years between the Soviet withdrawal and the rise of the Taliban. By reading SOF, one would come to know the various factions within Afghanistan and especially, dispositions of the large, Soviet-backed force organized to continue the war on the Soviets’ behalf after they left. This force was commanded by Abdul Rashid Dostum, a notorious, brutal communist warlord, who has figured prominently in the post-9-11 Northern Alliance.

During the 1980s, SOF staff took many trips to Afghanistan. One trip yielded two 5.45 mm cartridges for the new Russian AK-74. Neither the weapon nor the ammunition had previously been seen by Western intelligence. This new ammunition was believed to be the culprit in massive wounds reportedly being suffered by Mujahideen in their battles with the Soviets. On a subsequent trip, Col. Brown smuggled out another 5,000 rounds of ammunition and a sample of the AK-74 weapon itself, turning it all over to the U.S. military attaché in Islamabad.

SOF staff has engaged directly in training of allied troops, supplementing the U.S. military’s effort. They were particularly active in Central America’s recent civil wars. A recent Newsmax article by Barrett Tillman relates:

The byword is professionalism. For instance, a 1983 report describing the work of a 12-man SOF team in El Salvador covers 47 pages. It includes weapons maintenance, sound discipline on ambush, field medicine and sanitation.

On September 30th 1995, the El Salvadorian government awarded Brown their Combat Star medal. The citation reads: “In Recognition of Your Combat Support Services With Units of the Armed Forces of El Salvador, 1980 to 1992.”

SOF provided similar training to Nicaragua’s Contras during the Nicaraguan civil war. While they were at it, Brown grounded the Sandinistas’ entire fleet of Soviet Hind attack helicopters by posting the advertisement shown here. I interviewed Unintended Consequences author and firearms expert John Ross about it by phone, who confirmed the following account:

“In the 1980s, Danny Ortega’s oppressive Communist regime in Nicaragua received a fleet of Russian Hind helicopters… to put down the Contras. When the Contras started to take heavy losses from these gunships, Bob Brown single-handedly grounded the entire fleet in less than 72 hours. How? By printing a full-page ad in his own magazine offering a million dollar reward to anyone who would bring us one of these choppers. The Russians knew damn well that every Cuban pilot would jump at the chance to fly into nearby El Salvador and get a million bucks and a Miami liquor license for his efforts. Bob’s actions helped cause Ortega’s fall, and stopped the spread of Communism in Central America dead in its tracks.”

Ross’s account is exaggerated but not entirely off the mark. An ABC reporter, Peter Collins, who had contacts in the Nicaraguan military, confirmed to Brown that they had, in fact, grounded their fleet of Hinds for three weeks because it took that much time to bring in trustworthy replacement pilots.

Brown had placed the ad hoping it would have just such an effect. As explained to me for this article, the idea was modeled after a similar PSYOPS plan conducted during the Korean War to ground MIG-15s in advance of an important bombing campaign. Brown had no interest in actually securing a helicopter.

The history of SOF is replete with such examples – too many to mention. Brown himself has received numerous awards and citations for his contributions by governments far and wide. His unique staff of reporters recall the “warrior philosophers” of ancient Greece. Fearless, highly intelligent, well-read and well-educated, (many without benefit of a college degree), they provided on deadline, crisp, clear, straightforward analyses of complicated political/military issues that still vex ivory tower political scientists.

Some paid the ultimate price. Lance Motley was mentioned earlier. Three others were killed in action. These men reflected the dedication and ability of SOF’s unique staff.

Robert MacKenzie

Lt. Col Robert MacKenzie was SOF’s contributing editor for unconventional operations. A truly gifted soldier, MacKenzie was retired from the Army 70 percent disabled two years after enlisting, due to a wound suffered in Vietnam. Not to be deterred, in 1970 he joined the Rhodesian Special Forces (SAS) and served 10 years, receiving both the Bronze and Silver Crosses of Rhodesia for bravery and leadership in action. He later served as second-in-command of the Transkei, South Africa Special Forces.

Hired as an SOF journalist in 1985, MacKenzie reported on conflicts all over the globe, including Bosnia and Croatia, African hot spots, Russia, South America and Southeast Asia, to name a few, and was responsible for rescuing seven Westerners held hostage in Africa. He was hired by the Sierra Leone government in 1995 to train government forces, and was killed in an ambush by Revolutionary United Front (RUF) guerillas while trying to assist another wounded soldier.

Mike Echanis was a U.S. Army Ranger, renowned martial artist and martial arts editor for SOF in the mid-1970s. . In 1978 he was he was working in Nicaragua as a contractor for the CIA, and was killed in a helicopter crash after a bomb planted on board detonated. Foreign correspondent George Bacon III was another highly-decorated soldier, who received the CIA Intelligence Star for his work in Laos. He was killed in Africa while fighting for the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA). Motley, MacKenzie, Echanis and Bacon share a special place on the SOF masthead, along with a list of other noteworthy contributors who have since passed on.

Keep in mind that all these men (and many more) died in the line of service fighting enemies borne of the worldwide communist movement, which has prospered largely because incompetent, cowardly and sometimes treasonous U.S. “leaders” have allowed it to. In this President and Congress, such "leadership" is endemic, or perhaps I should say epidemic. Fortunately, a record number of military veterans are running for national office this year, who, if elected will bring a measure of sanity back to our Nation’s capital. Please check them out at Veterans for Freedom, Iraq Veterans for Congress and Combat Veterans for Congress and do all you can to lend support.

For his part, SOF founder Brown spends little time behind a desk. He was one of the first journalists to enter Kuwait City following its liberation by American forces in 1991 and SOF provided extensive on-the-ground reporting of the first Gulf War. It continues to provide cutting-edge coverage of operations in Iraqi, the conflict in Afghanistan, and other conflicts large and small throughout the world. Through its unique network of contacts, SOF continues to scoop the mass media on major stories involving military and intelligence issues, and brings a refreshing, insightful perspective that you will not find in the militarily-illiterate, anti-American mass media.

Finally, SOF and its editor are tireless advocates for gun rights. Col. Brown has been on the NRA Board of Directors for decades. Over the years, the magazine has featured reviews on new firearms and equipment and columns by noted gun experts such as John Farnam, Maj. John Plaster, Jeff Cooper and others.

In summing up his attitude toward life, Col. Brown says, “Slay dragons, do noble deeds and never, never, never, give up.” That attitude is certainly reflected in the storied history of Soldier of Fortune magazine, 35 this year and going strong.

New Documentary on Leftist Cultural Destruction Strategy

2010-08-02T18:19:00.000-04:00

By James Simpson

Below is a trailer for a must see new video by Curtis Bowers, Agenda: Grinding America Down. It includes the perspective of many well-known policy experts, including Reagan Attorney General Edwin Meese, III, Trevor Loudon, Phyllis Schafly, Brannon Howse, M. Stanton Evans, Dr. Robert Chandler, and many others. This documentary DVD is well worth the modest price.

Note: while I was also interviewed for this documentary, I will not receive, nor did I ask for any remuneration. My only interest in promoting this video is seeing the facts contained herein communicated to the public -- facts that our media has utterly failed to disclose.

AGENDA: Grinding America Down (Trailer) from Curtis Bowers on Vimeo.

Time for a little perspective on oil spills

2010-07-02T19:42:00.001-04:00

The Deepwater Horizon disaster killed 11 men and a large amount of oil has been released into the Gulf of Mexico, some of the most important fishing grounds in the U.S. As a result, the Gulf coast economic outlook is not good for the near future, especially with the current recession. This is a terrible tragedy, no doubt, but the media hysteria over this spill is nonetheless overblown, and to claim that it spells the end of a way of life for many Gulf residents is questionable at best. Oil spill disasters of equal or greater magnitude have occurred over the past century with little or no long term consequences.

This spill began on April 20^th. According to the most recent flow-rate estimates of the gusher, it exceeded the Exxon Valdez spill, which released 259,000 barrels of oil, within the first week. It is interesting to note that Hurricane Katrina caused the release of approximately 167,000 barrels of oil from broken pipelines, storage tanks and industrial plants, according to the Coast Guard. There was not much environmental damage reported from these leaks, which presumably would have affected the same waters.

But these incidents are dwarfed by the 1979 Gulf of Mexico Pemex/Ixtoc I Oil blowout, until now, the largest accidental spill in history. This spill lasted almost ten months, releasing between ten and thirty thousand barrels per day (BPD). In total it released approximately 3.3 million barrels into the Gulf.

Using the current upper end estimate of 60,000 BPD, the Deepwater Horizon spill has now surpassed the Pemex spill, so it can rightfully claim its place as record holder for accidental spills. But it is still dwarfed by Saddam Hussein’s deliberate release of somewhere between 5.7 and 11 million barrels from tankers ten miles off the Kuwaiti coast.

While the Pemex spill affected 162 miles of coastline in Texas and Mexico, the long-term environmental consequences were negligible. As one marine biologist put it:

To be honest, considering the magnitude of the spill, we thought the Ixtoc spill was going to have catastrophic effects for decades. ... But within a couple of years, almost everything was close to 100 percent normal again.

The deliberate spill orchestrated by Saddam was the largest single man-made oil discharge in history, but we hear nary a peep from sanctimonious Leftist environmentalists about damage there. Why not?

But by far the worst spills came in the opening months World War II, when German U-Boats off the north Atlantic coast sunk 452 oil tankers carrying approximately 29.4 million barrels. Those spills had no serious long term environmental impacts that we know of. For the Gulf blowout to leak this much oil, it would have to spew 60,000 barrels per day for 490 days.

I don’t trust the Union of Concerned Scientists exactly, but the Left can’t fault me for using them as a source. They claim spills around the world equal about 1 billion gallons, or almost 24 million barrels annually. This is similar to the amount sunk by U-Boats in WW II as described above, every year.

I am no oil expert, and am not trying to downplay the severity of the Gulf spill. But I have talked with experts, and they agree. This oil leak will cause damage in the near term, but is not likely to cause the kind of cataclysmic long-term damage projected by the news media.

The hysteria seems to be of a piece with everything the Obama administration and Congress have been up to for the past two years. This crisis has been hyped to provide Obama with the pretext he needs to cynically promote “Cap and Trade” – legislation certain to wreak havoc on our tottering economy while working against satisfying our energy needs. And never one to overlook an opportunity to milk the private sector, he also used it to put his jackboot on yet another industry. And yes, his demand for a $20 billion “aid” fund was a shakedown. Where in the Constitution does the President have such despotic authority?

And while he bludgeons the oil industry with fines, promises of stringent regulations, and attempts a shutdown of all offshore drilling operations – actions only guaranteed to prolong the suffering of Gulf residents – Obama has refused to waive the Jones Act and other restrictions. Doing so would have allowed foreign companies, particularly the Dutch, to offer their cutting-edge equipment in containing the spill immediately, a move which could have virtually eliminated the threat to the delicate Gulf ecosystem. Additionally, other bureaucratic roadblocks have hampered efforts, roadblocks that Obama could easily lift if he ever decided to use his executive authority properly, including:

Missed opportunities to burn off more of the oil because of overblown air pollution concerns; holdups in the use of dispersants; permit delays in allowing the state of Louisiana to create artificial barriers against the encroaching oil slick; and failure to approve barges and booms in time to block oil from reaching Alabama’s Magnolia River.

Meanwhile, Obama has done nothing to stop his benefactor, George Soros from moving forward with his Brazilian offshore drilling project, funded with $10 billion in U.S. tax dollars courtesy Obama. Not a squeak about this from the media of course. These people are such despicable hypocrites!

Finally, some have also claimed this spill will have a calamitous effect on gasoline prices. The 60,000 BPD lost in this leak represents less than 0.08 percent of the 73 million BPD produced worldwide. This supply disruption would normally not even register on the world spot oil market where prices are determined. Yet the Obama administration’s heavy-handed regulatory overkill may yet drive up prices anyway if the market anticipates extensive regulation-driven supply disruptions.

Putting it as politely as possible, the reckless corruption and ineptitude of this administration knows no bounds. There is nothing to be said for this carnival of clowns except that they must be voted out of office as soon as possible, followed immediately by a nationwide RICO investigation into their extensive, willfully destructive, corrupt activities. It seems apparent that nothing will stop these people short of jail.

Rep. Pet Stark: the borders are secure and we are all idiots

2010-06-30T12:02:00.016-04:00

Posted below is a revealing video of Rep. Fortney Pete Stark, (D-CA) at a recent town hall meeting with his constituents. To call him contemptuous would be an understatement. To their faces he smugly ridicules every single person who speaks up at this meeting. And he is an equal opportunity dispenser of distain. Among the audience are representatives of practically every hyphenated-American in existence, and they all demand one thing: seal the border.

His blasé response? "Our borders are quite secure, thank you."

Stark's sneering, insulting attitude is the modern face of Progressivism. Actually, it has always been the face of progressivism, but progressives used to be a little more careful about showing it. As one of Congress's most hardcore leftists, Stark is a prominent member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the website for which used to be linked to the Democratic Socialists of America site until WorldNetDaily exposed that fact in 1999. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was a member too, until that became an inconvenient truth.

This is the guy who gave us the Stark Law, one of the most convoluted, impenetrable pieces of health regulation legislation out there. Criminalizes everyone and made deliberately vague so no one really is certain what it requires.

It should be apparent from his absolute contempt of his constituents that he could care less what their concerns are about anything. The man is a hard Leftist, and like the rest of them, all about merrily wrecking our country from within. He deserves a lot more than mere retirement, but if he can be removed from office, perhaps at least he will be deterred from wreaking further havoc on us.

Read some of the things he has said to people throughout his tenure. Simply incomprehensible, but it does reflect the political outlook of the virulently anti-American enclave from which he gets at least some of his support: Oakland, CA.

Stark also brazenly defies the law by using a Maryland address as his primary residence for the tax advantages it provides, while claiming to actually live in San Lorenzo, CA, where he is registered to vote and must claim residency in order to represent the people of his district. The San Lorenzo home is owned by his in-laws and no one has ever seen him there. The House Ethics Committee initiated a probe of this violation in late 2008, but I can't imagine it going anywhere.

It should be apparent from videos like this, and the accumulated evidence since Democrats took back control of Congress in 2006, that Stark and his fellow Democrats have no interest in representing their country, but in doing whatever they want at our expense.

One of the town hall participants observed that in 1972 candidate Stark criticized his opponent a 28 year incumbent for serving too long. Yet Stark is now the longest serving member of Congress among California Representatives, having held office for 38 years. When confronted about this, Stark blithely remarked that he had no intention to retire.

Stark is a miserable excuse for a human being and a vicious anti-American. It is way past time for him to go, although I would be happy to support his indefinite continued existence as a dependent of the government: in jail, where he belongs.

Las Vegas Hotel Owner Tells it Like it is

2010-06-26T14:26:00.003-04:00

This is better than Rick Santelli's rant. Here is a successful businessman giving us the reality of the situation.

Hotel owner Steve Wynn describes this administration and Congress's policies. As he says repeatedly, it is a combination of the insane spending and regulatory policies of the Democrats and the complete uncertainty this creates for business.

As I have said, this is a deliberate strategy. Nothing discourages business more than uncertainty, and the Obama administration has introduced a climate of uncertainty in this country that is unprecedented in our history. Even during war, no American ever seriously believed anyone would come along and attempt to change the fundamental structure of our society. But it is happening now before our eyes!

The corruption of this administration, the fraud occupying the White House and the revolting, despicable scumbags running Congress, defy description. They are corrupt, subhuman slugs.

Watch this four minute clip. Right on the money! (HT Allan Erickson).

MSNBC Works with Alex Jones to Discredit Tea Party Movement

2010-06-17T04:54:00.002-04:00

By Cliff Kincaid June 13, 2010

The “Rise of the New Right” will be quickly forgotten because of its serious inattention to the facts.

Radio host Alex Jones, who believes that 9/11 was a U.S. government plot and “inside job” conspiracy, is featured in Chris Matthews’ Wednesday documentary on MSNBC as a leader of the “New Right” and the Tea Party movement. But Jones has absolutely nothing to do with the conservative or Tea Party movements.

In the advance promotional advertisements for the program, Jones is shown saying that the U.S. has entered the phase of “deep tyranny.” The promos make Jones appear to be the undisputed leader of the “New Right” and the Tea Party movement.
But in fact, a video shows Jones disrupting a Tea Party rally in Texas by shouting at organizers and speakers with a bullhorn. This performance woke up many Tea Party members to the real Jones agenda and he has been anathema to them ever since.

“HARDBALL Looks at Conservative Movement,” the MSNBC website says, referring to the Chris Matthews program which airs at 7 p.m. ET Wednesday.

But Jones is not and never has been a conservative. Jones has much more in common with the left than the right. He is, for example, a member of the 9/11 Truth Movement, as was Van Jones, the Obama official fired after evidence of his communist background began to surface. The 9/11 Truth Movement was originally designed to undercut evidence that Muslims were behind the attacks that killed almost 3,000 Americans. Leftists joined the movement and used it to undermine the Bush Administration drive for a military response to Islamic terrorism and its base of operations in the Middle East.

On MSNBC, it seems clear that the “Rise of the New Right” program planned for June 16 is an outgrowth of fear that the Tea Party movement could threaten liberal control of Washington, D.C.

The key to the MSNBC assault is the use of Jones.

As Accuracy in Media has documented, Jones postures as a “patriot” with inside information about various plots but appears regularly on the Russia Today television propaganda channel, where he has defended Russian foreign policy. One of his themes is that the U.S. is the greatest instigator of terrorism in the world today. He also promotes legalization of marijuana as a solution to our economic woes.
These are hardly “conservative” or Tea Party positions.

Judging by the transcript, reportedly leaked by an MSNBC “insider” to Jones, the radio host says in the program, apparently with a straight face, that a “global guild of psychopaths” is “setting up a planetary police state” to destroy up to 99 percent of the world’s population.

Adopting its own conspiracy theory, MSNBC throws out the names of Sarah Palin, Scott Brown, Dick Armey, Rand Paul, Joe McCarthy, Glenn Beck, Father Coughlin, Pat Buchanan, and the John Birch Society, as if they are all somehow linked or share something in common.

It is classic guilt by association, with no evidence of association being presented.
But for Alex Jones, the attention serves his purposes. Having cooperated with Matthews, a former Democratic Party operative, and his producers, Jones’ associates are now claiming that the script is biased to make the Tea Party movement look bad. This was the obvious intention all along, of course, and Alex Jones played his part.

Matthews and his “sources” in the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Media Matters group should understand that, rather than being any kind of right-wing political figure, Jones works openly and closely with such “progressive” figures as Webster Tarpley, a former high-level associate of political opportunist and extremist Lyndon LaRouche, one of the first fringe political figures to question whether Muslims were behind the 9/11 attacks. Tarpley wrote 9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in the USA, blaming the U.S. for the attacks.

LaRouche, who has been on the fringes of the political scene for decades, began his career as a Marxist and his National Caucus of Labor Committees was a faction of the left-wing Students for a Democratic Society at Columbia University. During the late 1970s and 1980s, LaRouche and his operatives suddenly adopted a “conservative” posture. After that, however, LaRouche ran for president as a Franklin Roosevelt Democrat. He served prison time on financial fraud charges before re-emerging and running a movement that today is attempting to co-opt the Tea Party message.

Tarpley, who, like Jones, is a prominent figure in the so-called 9/11 Truth Movement, is a regular guest on the Jones radio show and appears in Jones documentaries that purport to expose the Obama Administration and the forces behind it. One of Tarpley’s books on Obama, published by Progressive Press, whitewashes Obama’s Marxist connections. He advertises himself as “one of the most incisive critics of Anglo-American hegemony,” demonstrating how he views the world.

One of the common themes of both Jones and Tarpley is that Muslims are being unfairly blamed for terrorist attacks such as 9/11 and that the U.S. and/or Israel are really behind them.

The problem of LaRouche operatives in the Tea Party movement is a real one and has been recognized as such. Members of the LaRouche movement have been waving the signs that are sometimes seen at Tea Party gatherings that depict President Obama as Hitler. The words “LaRouche PAC,” referring to the cult leader’s political action committee, are actually visible on some of the signs and banners.

The Matthews documentary mentions the Nazi charge against Obama, in order to discredit the Tea Party movement, without noting its LaRouche origins. It is another example of the program’s basic dishonest approach.

Conservative activist Tom DeWeese of the American Policy Center, who began his conservative career in Young Americans for Freedom decades ago, has written that, “Forces led by Lyndon LaRouche and, in my opinion, Alex Jones, are working deep inside our movement to see it implode into fights, caused by distrust and hatred. I believe they are manipulating the media to show the freedom movement as simply a band of nuts not to be taken seriously.”

It’s hard to tell who is manipulating whom. In any case, the Matthews agenda is clear: to use Jones in an unfair effort to smear the ordinary Americans and conservatives associated with the Tea Party movement as kooks following dangerous and unstable personalities. By extension, this reasoning goes, any candidate receiving their support is questionable.

All of this is supposed to benefit Democrats such as Harry Reid running against Tea Party-backed candidates like Sharron Angle in Nevada.

Another theme of the Matthews program, which we have seen before, is that the Tea Party movement includes racists. Matthews is a member of an all-white line-up of hosted shows on MSNBC-TV that has been determined to ignore black speakers and black leaders of the Tea Party movement.

If Matthews had wanted to present the facts, rather than his own conspiracy theories, he could have mentioned that Kentucky Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul, a leader of the Tea Party movement, has appeared several times on the Alex Jones radio show and that Jones has even raised money for him. These are facts that any objective journalist on the right or left would agree that Paul has to account for.

In addition, Fox News host Andrew Napolitano, who now has his own television show on the Fox Business Network (FBN), appears regularly on the Jones radio program and has referred to the radio personality as a “great” figure with amazing insights into current events.

Incredibly, Rand Paul recently bypassed NBC’s “Meet the Press,” in order to avoid being questioned about his libertarian views, and instead went on the Russia Today propaganda channel, where he talked about immigration and other matters. For someone who wants to be elected to a national office with influence over national security affairs, it is shocking that Paul would go on a channel financed by the Kremlin that not only promotes Russian foreign policy but also the 9/11 “inside job” conspiracy theory.

In one segment that seems largely untainted by the political motives or conspiracies advanced by Matthews and his producers, the MSNBC program features a legitimate Tea Party member by the name of Ana Puig, a stay-at-home mother of four who got involved in the “Kitchen table patriots” because of the Marxist threat she saw developing from the Obama Administration. “I like to call it 21st Century Marxism, a camouflage statement for Communism since we are not fighting a bloody battle,” she has written. “Instead, we are fighting an ideological one.”

This is the real voice of the Tea Party movement. And this is why liberals like Matthews are so scared of it. The Tea Party movement has emerged because of recognition of what Obama and his backers truly represent.
One motive for the weak and slanted Matthews documentary is clearly disgust over the fact that Fox News, which is killing MSNBC in the ratings, has been a platform for Ana Puig and others like her. The role of Fox News in promoting the movement is mentioned several times.

By attacking the Tea Party movement, Matthews is really attacking his nemesis Fox News.

But if the transcript that is being made available by Jones is the final one, Matthews will have demonstrated that, in addition to being a hatchet man for the Democratic Party, he is also a bad journalist. He could have mentioned a real issue—how Andrew Napolitano of FBN has praised Alex Jones and has appeared repeatedly on his radio show.

The “Rise of the New Right” will be quickly forgotten because of its serious inattention to the facts. But you can bet that Jones will use it to make himself into a media martyr.

Cliff Kincaid is the Editor of the AIM Report and can be reached at cliff.kincaid@aim.org

Christie Does it Again!

2010-06-04T19:02:00.002-04:00

This time with the unions. Public employee unions have become monsters. They hobble effective administration at every level of government while demanding ever greater benefits and pay, sucking the essence out of the rest of us.

Christie is right. The unions are all about themselves. They don't care about employees. They don't care about work product. They care about themselves, pure and simple. Time to say, "Enough!"

Chris Christie is one of the best, if not the best, politician on the scene today, and exactly what we need in Washington, DC.

The Clear Signs Our Children Won't Enjoy All We've Enjoyed

2010-05-26T18:14:00.002-04:00

By Jeff Gardner
Right for a Reason

Mexico is a mess. More than a mess, really.

It's a burning high rise of a nation.

It's on fire from top to bottom – from border to border. North to south.

Mexico's mix of corruption, crime, wealth, and poverty should make any thinking person north of the Rio Grande shudder about its future. And ours.

Within its city limits, Mexico City's population is just under 9 million people. But there is little to that number because wrapped like a constrictor around the city is an suburban morass of 12 million more citizens. At nearly 22 million, Mexico City's metro-area population is the third largest of its kind in the world.

Roughly, it's like have 22 million people in an area the size of Albuquerque's metro-area and Santa Fe's metro area combined. You think there's a lot of space there until you consider that we're talking about two Chicagos and a Houston set in that same space.

You get the idea. Mexico City is crowded. With the population comes pollution and an aquifer that become so depleted the city is sinking. Projections for Mexico City's water supply running dry run from dire to doom – 20 years to 60 years.

Even Mexico's population demographics are screwy. There are tons of old people and tons of young people. The old are probably settled in and used to what Mexico has to offer, or not offer as the growing case might be. But the young? With nothing but misery promised them by a government happy to pass off its problems to us, is it any wonder they'll do anything to get into our little slice of Heaven?

And here's thing. It not like there's not money in Mexico – the richest person on earth is Mexican Carlos Slim Helu. Big money in Mexico if you own the phone company and other nifty telecom interests. (Note: Forbes.com's picture of Helu is not flattering. If you're worth $55.3 billion you can afford to trim the hair on your ears. I'm serious here.)

So is this coming into focus? We live right next to trouble. Growing trouble. Miserable, Book of Revelations-type trouble. We read about it daily. The violence and crime – bordering on outright war between the drug cartels and the government today – routinely spills over into our country.

So you might think that over the course of the recent visit of Mexican President Felipe Calderon to the White House, our president might put a little fire under the butt of said Mexican president and ask him to start addressing their nation's problems.

Nope. As we've learned, in Obama World the United States is the progenitor of every single problem on the globe today. All of the world is filled with good, healthy, non-aggressive, peace-loving citizens. Obama, I suspect, wakes each morning and sighs, “Well, another a day as leader of the Devil's spawn.”

At least that's what I assume when he declares Arizona's attempt to protect its citizens and legal immigrants an act of “bad government.”

“We (the United States) are not defined by our borders,” Obama proclaimed.
Does this sound like a man you want leading your sovereign nation? Honestly? In context, out of context, as a non sequitur, his proclaimation was absurd, borderline (pun intended) traitorous.

Today nearly half of the people locked up for violent crimes in New Mexico are illegal aliens, according to information compiled from Homeland Security and FBI reports. Nearly 90% of the murder warrants issued in Albuquerque alone are for illegal aliens.

The numbers are staggering. The numbers for Arizona are equally bad. The numbers for California are worse.

We, the American people, are not the problem here, Mr. President. But increasingly it's looking like you and your Administration are.

2010-05-20T17:39:00.002-04:00

Maryland's intrepid state Delegate Pat McDonough has announced a plan to deal with illegal immigration in Maryland similar to the law recently passed in Arizona. He will introduce this bill in the next legislative session. Maryland's Montgomery County Gazette issued a predictably critical assessment of the plan, saying McDonough, "never let political reality stand in the way of his crusades," and declared his proposal dead on arrival before it has even been introduced.

The Gazette response, typical of leftist news media everywhere, displays in microcosm the arrogant myopia that is driving newsrags out of business across this nation. Who in God's green earth do these people think they are? When and how can any problem be addressed if every controversial proposal is attacked and written off before it is even aired? This is precisely the kind of attitude that gave rise to the Tea Party movement and it is causing a seachange in national politics. The Gazette should take note. Trouble is, liberals are so smug and self-righteous, they can't see reality even when it is dangled in front of their noses.

Unfortunately, it is the rest of us who pay for their self-serving, destructive polices, and we are frankly fed up. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer deserves credit for braving the denizens of political correctness to enact the Arizona bill. She has set off a chain reaction that has already seen similar legislation proposed in at least nine other states.

Before they start criticizing the Arizona law, which mirrors federal law -- not that such irony would ever stop them -- Obama and the Democrats should read the sixteen page bill. Or maybe they should learn why it is the federal government's failure that prompted passage of the law in the first place. The Montgomery County Gazette got exactly one sentence correct in their diatribe against McDonough when they said, "The federal government basically has abdicated its would-be, should-be role."

Of course they immediately negated any hope of intellectual redemption by reverting to form and advocating for Congress's latest try at an amnesty bill.

Oh yes, the Democrats and maybe one or two really stupid Republicans are proposing immigration "reform" like they did in 2007. But as in 2007, it is nothing more than an amnesty bill, and we already know from the 1986 law, that amnesty doesn't work. It didn't work then and it won't now.

But that fact is irrelevant to Democrats, because it is not designed to work. It is designed, like practically everything else that Democrats do, to undermine the rule of law and overwhelm federal, state and local crimefighting, health and welfare budgets according to the Cloward-Piven Strategy of Manufactured Crisis, while securing more reliable voting blocs. This last is an especially high priority for the Obama administration and Congress this year because they are going to need every vote they can get to keep power, and they know it.

The Los Angeles Times, which seems to be coming somewhat to its senses lately (it correctly recognized Senator Barbara Boxer as not having "adequate intellectual firepower" for the job) had the decency to allow Dan Stein of the Federation for American Immigration Reform to make the case for the Arizona law in an OpEd. But that the Gazette, or the Baltimore Sun for that matter, should be so open to first amendment expression. To wit:

[Arizona] state taxpayers spend more than $2 billion a year on education and healthcare for illegal immigrants and their children

kidnappings in Phoenix are at an all-time high

criminal drug and illegal smuggling is epidemic

Arizonans have endured decades of federal neglect of immigration enforcement

killing last month of rancher Robert Krentz -- police suspect by an illegal immigrant -- is only the latest graphic example of widespread lawlessness on the border

The left deliberately raises the strawman argument of "racism" and "racial profiling" to distract from these critical realities. Arizona's problems are being replicated all over the country as a flood of illegal immigrants, including criminals, terrorists and gangs bring with them violence, diseases once thought to be eradicated, like tuberculosis and leprosy, and overwhelming burdens to our welfare system, the courts and medical facilities.

A 2006 report from the Dallas Morning News spotlights just one of these issues. The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act of 1986 requires hospitals to accept pregnant women in need of emergency help, and imposes a $50,000 fine for violations, so no hospital can turn down illegals. But Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas goes further, offering free prenatal care to pregnant mothers.

Not surprisingly, Parkland gets the lion's share of indigent and illegal immigrant mothers. Some of its statistics are eye-popping. For example, a 2006 patient survey indicated that 70 percent of mothers who gave birth at Parkland in the first three months of that year were illegal immigrants. In 2004, the hospital spent $70.7 million delivering 15,938 babies.

Yet Parkland is proud of its service to the community and is not troubled by the high cost. As Parland's CEO said, "We are the safety net hospital for Dallas County, and these folks are residents of our county." Nice sentiment, but as always, the wise bet is to follow the money. Parkland earned a profit of $7.9 million in obstetrics that year - a hefty 10 percent return! Nice work if you can get it.

So who pays for this cadillac care to indegents and illegals, many of whom are taking advantage of the services to have anchor babies? According to the News article, about $44 million came from state and federal Medicaid funds while Dallas County taxpayers shelled out $31.3 million.

Once again, the taxpayer is on the hook so why should the hospital care?

Like the Arizona law, Del. McDonough's proposal would give law enforcement the teeth it needs to tackle this problem. And in Maryland, thanks to the Democrats' sanctuary state policies, the problem is immense. According to a report by the Federation for American Immigration Reform:

There are currently about 250,000 illegal immigrants in the State of Maryland.

Illegal immigrants cost Marylanders $1.4 billion per year in education, medical care and incarceration. This represents 70 percent of Maryland's current $2 billion budget deficit.

Between 2002 and 2008, the foreign-born population in Maryland grew by 34.6 percent. Meanwhile, the number of students requiring english instruction has grown a whopping 93.7 percent!

Marylanders spend more than $966 million annually on education for an estimated 80,800 children of illegal aliens.

nearly $250 million additional is spent on providing special English instruction to an estimated 35,000 children of illegal aliens.

Almost 10 percent of public school children in Maryland have illegal immigrant parents.

These costs would be considerably higher if other cost areas such as assistance programs for needy families or welfare benefits for American workers displaced by illegal alien workers or resulting from depressed wages were included in the calculation.

It is high time someone proposed doing something about Maryland's illegal immigration problem, and we are absolutely certain the Democrats won't. So we say, "Hooray for Pat McDonough!" Given the high proportion of mindless leftists living in Maryland, he may well be tilting at windmills, but the worm is turning, and if someone doesn't act nothing will happen.

Chris Christie - The People's Governor

2010-05-13T22:47:00.002-04:00

Christie is showing the kind of leadership the American people are looking for. Straightforward, honest and bold. You must watch this video. It is only two-and-a-half minutes. Christie puts a reporter firmly in his place.

Gov Christie calls S-L columnist thin-skinned for inquiring about his 'confrontational tone'

Puerto Rican Statehood Today! -- Updated

2010-05-01T12:43:00.002-04:00

UPDATE: The bill advocating Puerto Rican statehood passed on April 30^th and now moves to the Senate. An amendment was added allowing Puerto Rico a fourth option in the second round of voting. That option would be to retain the status quo, i.e. opt out of any changes at all. At least they have an out now. We’ll see what happens when the “World’s Most Deliberative Body” gets hold of it. Any bets?

This bill was advocated by the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico. No surprise there. They are all of one spirit with this monstrous radical leftist Congress and President, who are becoming increasingly transparent in their desperate bid to keep the reins of power.

Glenn Beck’s rundown on the Puerto Rico statehood movement was excellent. See it here.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Apparently there is to be a vote later today [April 29th] on a bill regarding Puerto Rican statehood. They are calling it “non-binding” but it is not non-binding! It is a trap. The bill makes eventual Puerto Rican statehood a virtual certainty. This is despite the fact that statehood has been voted down repeatedly. The Puerto Rican people don’t want it!

But since when has that stopped the Left from ramming what they want down people’s throats? And why do they want it? The same reason they want everything, to further entrench their power. Statehood would mean two new senators, six or seven new representatives, and a whole slew of new voters. As Examiner.com’s Robert Moon points out:

Due to its dense population of poverty-stricken minorities, Puerto Rico can be counted on to vote overwhelmingly for Democrats and all their handouts, and their representation will also consequently outnumber that of 25 other existing U.S. states.
Meanwhile, with Puerto Ricans having an average income of less than half that of our poorest state, they will instantly become eligible for dozens of our welfare programs. Truckloads of taxpayer dollars will also have to be perpetually dumped into the territory, by federal law, to bring it up to American infrastructure and environmental standards.

Oh, and never mind us. We don't get a say in this either. Puerto Rico, which doesn't want statehood, is being forced to vote, while we American citizens, who have a vested interest in the outcome, will not be given the opportunity to vote! Simply incredible!

HR 2499, titled “A Bill, to provide for a federally sanctioned self-determination process for the people of Puerto Rico” follows a very devious, underhanded multi-step path to essentially force Puerto Rican voters to eventually adopt statehood. Here’s how.

The bill first authorizes Puerto Rico to hold a vote where they are given the following two choices only:

Puerto Rico should maintain its current political status.

Puerto Rico should have a different political status (Different political status. These vague words are exactly as in the bill.)

So citizens get to choose 1 or 2. Period, no ifs, ands or buts. Then the bill stipulates what comes next:

If the people choose option 1 – which they have chosen multiple times already – then the Puerto Rican government is directed to conduct more plebiscites every eight years for the foreseeable future. So in other words, Mr. Puerto Rican citizen, we are going to keep cramming this down your throat until a majority of you choose option 2.

Once the people choose option 2, then there will be a second vote with the following three options:

Full independence.

Sovereignty “in association with the United States…” not subject to the Constitution’s Territorial Clause.

Statehood.

For the record, the first two options will not get much support. So the entire structure of the bill is designed to funnel Puerto Rican voters into a predetermined outcome: Statehood. This despite the fact that Puerto Ricans have voted against statehood over and over again!

Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a senior Democrat Congressman no less, just posted his views on this bill at Huffington Post. Here is what he has to say about it:

I am a senior Democratic Member of Congress, whose parents were born in Puerto Rico, and for whom Puerto Rico self-determination has been - and remains - a central issue of my congressional career. This statehood bill is the opposite of self-determination.
It is designed to craft an artificial majority for statehood where none exists now (Emphasis, mine). Every time the people of Puerto Rico have been consulted on this issue through a plebiscite they've said NO to Statehood. NO to Statehood in 1967. NO to Statehood in 1993. NO to Statehood in 1998. This should be called the "Don't you dare say NO to Statehood Bill".

But he is just getting going. Listen to this:

When a similar Puerto Rico bill came up under Speaker Newt Gingrich's Republican controlled Congress a decade ago, it was the product of lengthy and thorough hearings and an open and fair process. Then, I was given time to offer seven amendments. Then I was able to clarify the bill for the Puerto Rican people. Then, each of my seven amendments got 30 minutes of floor time for debate.
Flash forward to now. Now a Democratic Majority Congress is only allowing me two of the 16 amendments I offered in the Rules Committee on Wednesday. Now I only have 10 minutes to debate each one.
Now, under Democratic Leadership, we get one hearing, no forewarning, no companion Senate bill, and a debate only a few seconds longer than a NASCAR pit-stop…I get more time to debate renaming a Post Office than I will get to debate a bill that could make Puerto Rico the fifty-first state.
In my opinion, this bill is the political equivalent of a shady Goldman Sachs derivative: It's secretive. It lacks transparency. It's likely to blow up down the road and cause systemic risk to out democracy. And those who put this political derivative together don't really tell you what this is really about and will play dumb when it explodes.

We all know now from the outrageous experience of Obamacare that leftists could care less what the will of the people is. For those of you who traditionally vote Democrat this should serve as a warning: that includes you! Even if it’s those poor, downtrodden Puerto Ricans the Left claims to want to help so much. Ram Obamacare down Americas’ throat; ram statehood down Puerto Rico’s throat.

Do I detect a pattern here?

This information needs to go viral. Congress needs to hear from all of us big time. Congress needs to be shut down with phone calls and faxes starting first thing in the morning. That is today, April 29, 2010.

All this is going on while everyone is distracted by the monstrous financial bailout bill coming out of the Senate. The timing was deliberate! And we now hear that despite losing support from lone RINO Republican Lindsey Graham, the Democrats are going to go ahead with illegal immigrant amnesty.

So now we have a pretty comprehensive electoral strategy mapped out:

Naturalize 12 million illegal aliens
Universal voter registration
Do away with Electoral College using state-by-state approach
Force Puerto Rican statehood.
Soros-funded Secretary of State project to help steal close elections
Cap & Trade, and Stimulus monies as political slush fund.

If you’re not sufficiently angry and alarmed now, there is no hope for you. These people are demonstrating right to our faces their willingness to trample our rights and defy our will. If they are willing to do this now, what will they be willing to do if they get the permanent majorities they want?

Is Lindsey Graham Compromised?

2010-04-21T17:36:00.005-04:00

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham is perhaps the most irritating personification of the RINO label in the U.S. Senate. Despite the overwhelming evidence against manmade global warming and the irrefutable damage Cap and Trade legislation will do to our tottering economy, Graham has teamed with leftist Senator John Kerry to resurrect that legislation we all thought was going nowhere. Kerry himself recently noted that the recession has reduced greenhouse gas pollution by 6 percent. He wants to see another 14 percent reduction by 2020. Not one given to heavy intellectual lifting, we'll assume Kerry overlooked the implications of that statement. But others have been explicit, suggesting a controlled recession is what’s needed to achieve that result.

Controlled recession! These people are lunatics defined.

But why would any Republican in his right mind join in with this lunacy? Apparently Graham is looking for more. Now, he has gone out on a limb again to join with Democrats in an attempt to resurrect illegal immigrant amnesty again. There is no doubt where the American people stand on amnesty. This is one of the most unpopular issues in the country, and it is hard to square the notion of a decorated JAG lawyer getting behind a movement that so clearly undermines the rule of law.

We all know why the Democrats’ want amnesty. It is the most promising of their many, despicable, underhanded, self-serving plans to pack voter rolls with reliable democrat voters, constitution, rule of law, and the will of the people be damned. But why would Graham be willing to so blatantly stab his Party in the back, especially when the crucial midterm elections appear to be turning in the GOP’s favor?

Admittedly, he is not alone. John McCain has also supported amnesty, although he appears to be backpedaling now, and Graham gets a lot of help from other RINO Republicans on this and other issues in undermining a coherent, principled GOP message.

But Graham always seems to be out front. During the amnesty battle in 2007, Graham was showered with special recognition by the radical amnesty lobbying group National Council of La Raza. And lest their be any doubt, the umbrella group that pushed this legislation in 2007, the Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, was a virulent brew of radical groups funded in large part by George Soros and following the Manufactured Crisis strategy.

In addition to earning the ire of conservative Republicans, none of this has gone over well in Graham's home state, either. Graham has already been repeatedly censured by members of his state’s Republican Party for his positions that “do not serve the interests of South Carolinians,” and there is a move afoot to replace him when he is next up for re-election.

So what exactly is it with Graham? Well, we may have finally learned. An explosive Youtube video posted yesterday demands that Lindsay Graham come out of the “log cabin closet” and admit his homosexuality to the world.

At a Saturday, April 17th Tea Party rally in Greenville, SC, Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC) President William Gheen demanded that Graham publicly admit what “many people in South Carolina and Washington, DC know.” As Gheen explained:

I personally do not care about Graham's private life, but in this situation his desire to keep this a secret may explain why he is doing a lot of political dirty work for others who have the power to reveal his secrets. Senator Graham needs to come out of the closet inside that log cabin so the public can rest assured he is not being manipulated with his secret.

If that is Graham's motive, it would certainly explain a lot. It would also provide justification for demanding his removal. Gheen is right that Graham’s private life is no one’s business, but if Graham has bought silence about it by agreeing to back these odious, nation-wrecking initiatives, he has betrayed his country, his Party, and utterly destroyed his own credibility.

Here's the ALIPAC video that has gone viral on the web:

Patriot Manifesto

2010-03-27T06:18:00.005-04:00

It is way past time that we recognize the dangers the radical left poses to our continued viability as a nation. If we are to have any chance of saving this country, we must confront and tackle the difficult issues immediately at hand. The first step of course is to replace Congress with substantial majorities of dedicated conservative patriots this fall.

It is not enough however, to merely “throw the bums out.” We must recognize that radical leftist politicians are but the tip of the iceberg and represent a domestic political movement deeply entrenched throughout our institutions that is dedicated to the destruction of our country. This movement, this ideology and its practitioners must be identified, confronted and stopped in their tracks.

This is a matter for both the law and the political system. But the law is impotent without political support, and that support can only be obtained from brave, principled and dedicated public servants who both understand the magnitude of the problem and are willing to deal with it directly. With this in mind, we present the Patriot Manifesto.

Signers of the manifesto, hopefully millions of Republicans, Independents, and maybe even some Democrats, would take a pledge to support only candidates and organizations who agree to make at least some of the following issues their national priorities. Such agreement would have to be verifiable, either by public statements of support, or by signing the Manifesto. This Manifesto will apply to candidates running at all levels of government. Following are the necessary actions:

FEDERAL

1. Repeal all onerous legislation Obama has signed, starting with Obamacare, but all the other legislation as well, such as the Kennedy Serve America Act, hate crimes legislation, and Cap and Trade, should that pass.

2. Repeal all bailout legislation signed by this president and rescind all monies not yet spent. Release banks, automobile manufacturers and other industries from all restrictions imposed by Obama and Congress. Revoke lucrative deals with unions made by Obama.

3. Repeal all laws, including those contained in the 2010 Appropriations bill that provide funding for radical organizations like ACORN, the ACLU, the National Council of La Raza, CAIR and other radical groups.

4. Issue immediate call to investigate these organizations under the auspices of the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statutes or other applicable federal law.

5. Repeal the Community Reinvestment Act and all supporting legislation. This destructive law was designed to undermine our financial system by forcing financial institutions to abandon sound lending practices in the interest of wealth redistribution.

6. Repeal any tax increases enacted under Obama. Enact immediate broad-based tax relief; including making all Bush tax cuts permanent. Support immediate 3 – 6 month tax holiday.

7. Immediately open all domestic oil and gas sources to exploration/drilling. Immediately abolish restrictions against development of nuclear power and construction of new power plants. Support defendants in legal challenges brought by environmental groups with full force of Justice Department.

8. Return subsequent years' appropriations to pre-2010 levels.

9. Support increased military funding. Reauthorize funds for continued development and fielding of nationwide missile defense shield. Support funds for revitalizing aging ballistic missile systems. Support increase in fleet size, air force size and especially, the standing army. Loosen restrictions on rules of engagement. Demand investigation of those government officials, newspapers and private individuals whose treasonous activities – such as revelations about the terrorist wiretapping program – damaged national security.

10. Launch investigations into alleged massive vote fraud conducted in 2008 elections and demand responses to critical unanswered questions:

Investigate alleged illegal collusion between ACORN, Obama campaign, labor and other organizations.
Investigate activities of convicted insider trader George Soros and his philanthropic organizations regarding their current activities and their inordinate influence in the 2008 and prior elections.
Demand immediate release of all records pertaining to questionable overseas contributions and domestic bundling operations conducted by the Obama Campaign.
Demand immediate release of birth certificate, college and health records for President Obama. We want to know what his qualifications are.

11. Demand GENUINE comprehensive immigration reform, including:

Repeal Motor Voter Law.
Demand release of funds appropriated for border fence and support immediate construction. Pen legislation to extend and strengthen fence for entire border.
Repatriate all illegal foreign nationals in the U.S. that have been identified, including those currently in U.S. jails.
Draft legislation outlawing anchor babies and repeal all federal laws that support the illegal immigrant community in any way - repeal funding the National Council of La Raza and similar organizations that serve specifically immigrant communities.
Take aggressive efforts against asylum states: deny block grants and other federal funding unless and until they begin enforcing the law.
Investigate, arrest and punish state/local officials who willfully promote illegal immigrant asylum within their states in defiance of federal and state law.
Advocate for legislation codifying English as the official language of the United States.

12. Sign a statement of philosophy that recognizes the superiority of a free, minimally taxed and regulated market and limited government as delineated by the U.S. Constitution. Take a pledge to work towards restoring America to that ideal, including support of judicial nominees who believe in Judicial restraint. That the Judiciary's role is to interpret the Constitution not rewrite it.

STATE

1. Support across the board tax cuts.

2. Sign resolution taking back states' rights under the 10th Amendment.

3. Cut wasteful spending and remove onerous regulations.

4. Aggressively enforce laws on illegal immigration.

5. Repeal any state laws that provide assistance to illegal immigrants.

LOCAL

1. Support across the board tax cuts.

2. Support smaller government, less regulation.

3. Support federal, state and local efforts against illegal immigration.

3. Take pledge to cut essential services (fire and police) last, not first.

Signatories of this manifesto would agree not to contribute to any political candidate or organization that does not express unequivocal support for this manifesto. For example, should the RNC decide not to make these items priorities, we tell the RNC that they don’t get any of our money. If they agree however, we in turn must honor our side of the bargain by contributing as generously as we can afford.

A printable version of this manifesto can be found HERE.

Blatant Media Dishonesty From AP: What else is new?

2010-03-21T13:36:00.003-04:00

The Associated Press headline screams: Lawmaker Won’t Press Charges in Spitting Incident,” and the headline is being reprinted everywhere on the Leftist blogosphere as well as in the mass media. But read past the headline. The very first sentence of the story says: “A congressman who was spat on by a protestor on Capitol Hill says he is declining to press charges, but turns out the Capitol Police say they made no arrests.” (Emphasis mine.)

The Capitol Police “made no arrests.” The article goes on to quote the Police spokesman: “Sgt. Kimberly Schneider of the U.S. Capitol Police said in an e-mail later: ‘We did not make any arrests today.’” So did the incident even occur?

From the very beginning, this story has stunk. Anyone who has ever attended Tea Party rallies knows that this is a decent bunch of folks - ordinary, decent, hardworking Americans taking time away from work and families to come to Washington in the firm belief that we are being betrayed by our lawmakers. Just compare pictures of the aftermath of the 9-12 march with the aftermath of any other large Mall gathering. 9-12 protesters left the place spotless. These people would condemn on the spot anyone spitting or engaging in any other untoward behavior.

But nevermind, despite no evidence provided that the spitting incident even happened, the article repeats without question this same Congressman’s claim that racial epithets were shouted at him as he made his way to the Capitol:

Missouri Democrat Emanuel Cleaver was making his way through a group of angry protestors when the incident occurred. It was one of several ugly incidents in a day of protests against President Barack Obama's health care overhaul measure, which faces a House vote on Sunday. Cleaver, who is black, was also one of several lawmakers who faced racial epithets as they walked to the Capitol to vote.

“Racial epithets.” We all know what that means. Except that didn’t happen either. How do we know? From the following video, posted at Biggovernment.com by Jim Hoft of Gateway Pundit:

As is readily apparent from the clip, protesters are shouting "kill the bill!" and simply shouting "boo!"

And for those who think this may have happened at some time before or after this clip, here's another, with an accompanying article by Rick Moran:

There is a good piece over at the American Thinker blog that evaluates the likelihood of Cleaver's charge:

When I heard the accounts of Cleaver, Congressman Lewis and others, I did not necessarily disbelieve them, but I decided to check the source, a piece in the notoriously liberal McClatchy papers by one William Douglas, and I began to see how the record was being twisted. Douglas reported, "said he was a few yards behind Lewis and distinctly heard ‘nigger.' ‘It was a chorus,' Cleaver said."

"It was a chorus." Where? Where is the chorus? Furthermore, this would have been picked up in multiple places and plastered far and wide in the Leftist media if there were a shred of evidence. There is not. This is out-and-out media fraud. Can the AP ever be trusted to report the news anymore?

Who's on First

2010-03-16T00:38:00.002-04:00

A great metaphor for the healthcare game Pelosi and the Democrats are playing.

Veterans for Congress

2010-03-03T13:42:00.014-05:00

“I will go to Washington to do battle against Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, Steny Hoyer and the rest of them. They have never seen anything like the Southern fried butt whipping that’s coming at them!” Lt. Col. Allen West (Ret.)

A common complaint we hear about members of Congress is that they have never served in the military. A total of 95 veterans of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and the National Guard are current House members (the 96th, John Murtha just died). This represents a mere 20 percent of sitting Members of Congress and is a record low. We can chalk this up as one good reason for Congress’s stunning ignorance regarding military matters.

Among the many encouraging signs for the nation as we head into the 2010 midterm elections is the number of first-time Republican candidates for Congress who are recent military veterans. There is even an organization supporting them: Iraq Veterans for Congress (IVC).

IVC was created in the 2008 election cycle to assist Marine Corps veteran Kieran Lalor in his bid to win New York’s 19th congressional district. While Kieran lost that year, the organization assisted the successful candidacies of Duncan Hunter, Jr. (CA-52) and Mike Coffman (CO-6).

This year, IVC is supporting 36 vets. 33 are running for U.S. House seats, one is running for governor, another for lt. governor, and one for U.S. Senate. There are also a number of others running independently. If just those 33 House candidates won, it would increase veterans’ representation in the House by over 30 percent.

Such a win could provide a backstop against the lunatic, anti-military policies of Congressional Democrats and the White House, and may add some much-needed spine to the House Republican caucus. A list of those running is provided at the end of this article.

These people are exemplary models of the best America can produce, but space considerations prevent me from describing them all in detail. There are a few among them however, whose stories are a bit “more equal,” so I am going to pick out one or two for special focus in the next few columns. Here’s the first:

Nick Popaditch – Cigar Marine

“Gunny Pop” Nick Popaditch, enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps 1986, a year after graduating high school. He served as a tank commander during the first Gulf War and was honorably discharged in 1992. He re-enlisted in 1995, and from 1998 – 2002, served as a Drill Instructor at MCRD San Diego. In 2003, Nick shipped off to the Gulf to participate in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) again as tank commander. Upon entering Baghdad, his unit became famous the world over for helping to topple Saddam’s statue. The picture of him above, smoking a cigar with Saddam’s statue in the background, earned him the moniker “Cigar Marine.”

Gunnery Sergeant Popaditch returned to Iraq for a second tour in 2004, and participated in the first assault on Fallujah in April. During that battle, Nick was hit in the head by a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG). This was actually caught on camera by nearby news crews. Nick was blinded by the wound, but due to the tireless efforts of medical staff and his indomitable spirit, his left eye was saved. Nick wrote a book, with co-author Mike Steere, about his experiences, Once a Marine: An Iraq War Tank Commander’s Inspirational Memoir of Combat, Courage, and Recovery. The book made the Commandant of the Marine Corps recommended professional reading list for all ranks, won The Military-Writers Book of the Year for 2009, and was a national book club selection. Nick’s unique command tactics and leadership in Iraq earned him the Silver Star.

Nick is running for a seat in the 51st Congressional District of California, a seat currently held by Bob Filner, one of the most liberal Democrats in the House and a founding member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (read socialist). The choice couldn’t be clearer: a patriotic American versus a radical leftist who has been wreaking havoc in Washington, DC since 1992.

Time for regime change once again! And Gunny Pop is the one to topple this slug. Future issues will examine the testimonials of Allen West, Dan Gilyeat, Katherine Jenerette and others. With folks like these on board there may yet be hope for our teetering Republic.

Here is a list of all IVC candidates. Check them out! U.S. House: Justin Bernier (CT-5th) USN, Will Breazeale (NC-7th) USA, Diggs Brown (CO-4th) USA, Kevin Calvey (OK-5th) USA, Dan Gilyeat (KS-3rd) USMC, Tim Griffin (AR-2nd) USA, Wayne Harmon (IN-7th) USMC, Dr. Joe Heck (NV-3rd) USA, Jesse Kelly (AZ-8th) USMC, Adam Kinzinger (IL-11th) USAF, Todd Lally (KY-3rd) USAF, Patrick Murray (VA-8th) USA, Andrew “Rocky” Raczkowski (MI-9th) USA, Brian Rooney (MI-7th) USMC, William Russell (PA-12th) USA, Steve Stivers (OH-15th) USA, Scott Taylor (VA-2nd) USN, Vaughn Ward (ID-1st) USMC, Allen West (FL-22nd) USA, Michael Crimmins (CA-53rd) USMC, Dave Evans (TN-6th) USA, Mike Grimm (NY-13th) USMC, Katherine Jenerette (SC-1st) USA, Quang Pham (CA-47th) USMC, Les Phillip (AL-5th) USN, Lang Sias (CO-7th) USN, Rick Barber (AL-2nd) USMC, Rick Crawford (AR-1st) USA, Steve Pearce (NM-2nd) USAF, Mike Pompeo (KS-4th) USA, John Loughlin (RI-1st) USA, Willie Vaden (TX-27th) USMC. U.S. Senate: Conrad Reynolds (AR) USA. Candidates for governor/lt. governor: Allen Weh (NM) USMC, Bill Connor (Lt Gov-SC) USA.

This article appeared originally at DC Independent Examiner.

Media Matters Debunks Simpson! Or Maybe Not

2010-02-06T16:01:00.004-05:00

I have not posted on this site since Brown's victory. Probably will not be posting anything for a few days, as have other duties at present. I have posted a few items at Examiner.com, however, for those of you who don't visit that site, I am reprinting below an amuzing post from two weeks ago. Have a laugh.

Media Matters Debunks Simpson!

Or maybe not.

It would be funny were it not so pathetic. No, I take that back. It is hilarious, knee-slapping, laugh-out-loud funny, and I have been laughing about it since I found out about it. Fellow Examiner, Jim Kouri, (Law Enforcement Examiner) alerted me to the fact that Media Matters, the leftwing, Soros-funded, media lapdog, er watchdog, had taken me and others to task over reportage on universal voter registration.

The issue was John Fund’s naming of Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) as pushing universal voter registration legislation along with point man, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY). Fund said this in a recorded panel discussion at David Horowitz’s Restoration Weekend last November. I cited Fund’s remarks in an article published in early January. Now there is no dispute that universal voter registration legislation is being contemplated and that Chuck Schumer has been its main instigator, but when Frank subsequently objected to being identified with it, Fund corrected himself that he had meant to say “John Conyers.”

Oh. My. God!

Media Matters was breathless. The venerable Wall Street Journal reporter John Fund caught in a lie! A lie! Fund lied! Yes he did, he lied! He said it was Barney Frank but it was really Congressman John Conyers (D-MI)!!!

And James Simpson repeated the lie! Yes, he did! He did! Others repeated the lie. The Washington Times repeated the lie. Rush repeated the lie. Glenn Beck repeated the lie! And you know what Lenin said about repeating a lie enough. The lie was repeated and repeated in a Republican attempt to associate Barney Frank with…. Chuck Schumer?!?!

Oh, the inhumanity of it!

Media Matters found indisputable proof: the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy is alive and well! Yeah, and we just invaded Massachusetts too!

This isn’t all. In a feeble attempt to cast doubt on Fund’s integrity after he issued his correction, Media Mattes sniffed that Fund “offered no proof” that it was in fact Conyers.

No proof.

Well here’s a little clue for the clueless idiots at Media Matters. The people you carry water for lie consistently. They lie endlessly. They never offer proof. They never offer apologies. They never correct or even acknowledge mistakes. They never so much as return phone calls; unless it is to lapdogs like you who will unquestioningly repeat whatever the line du jour is. And in case you missed the big clue you just got from Massachusetts, we are sick to death of it!

Genuine media watchdogs, like Cliff Kincaid and the folks at Accuracy in Media, or Brent Bozell and his Media Research Center, do their own research, real research. They uncover facts, real facts. They expose lies, real lies. They expose hypocrisy, dishonesty, corruption – even treason. Your Party is rife with it.

But they don’t get help from anybody.

It is not John Fund’s job to prove anything to you. He made an honest mistake as we all do from time to time and admitted it. That is his responsibility – not to you, but to his audience and himself – and he kept it. You integrity-challenged morons put yourselves up as a media “watchdog.” If that is what you really are – not just the paid shills of the George Soros left – then prove it. Try doing some real work for a change.

Notice what I haven’t said thus far. Media Matters never disputed the substance of the charge: i.e. that universal voter registration will be proposed this year. Nor did they deny Chuck Schumer was behind it.

Typical.

I learned of Fund’s error sometime after publishing my first article on the subject. Okay, Media Matters, here it is. Are you ready? I’m sorry. I did and do confess to repeating what Fund said, and no I didn’t bother to check if Frank was really Schumer’s co-conspirator.

Since all is done behind closed doors anyway, who knows? It could be Schumer’s Lhasa Apso for all I know. Oh there I go again! No I don’t know if it was the dog or if he even has one.

Usually I’d issue a correction in the article. But I’m not even going to bother. You know why?

Because it doesn’t matter.

Democrat politicians are almost all the same. Oh, okay, there are some differences. John Conyers is an addled, mindless, incompetent and probably seditious idiot who can demonstrate how wonderful his beloved socialism has worked by showing off his home district: Detroit, (though I doubt if he’s been there for years.) Barney Frank is, well, Barney Frank. I’m sure it doesn’t matter that this Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee had a “cozy” relationship with a top Fannie Mae executive when he was on the House Banking Committee. No conflict of interest or potential for corruption there, nah!
It certainly didn't influence his relentless defense of Fannie Mae later, either.

Be it Barney Frank or John Conyers, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Jack Murtha (D-PA) or whoever. Take your pick. They are all self-serving, corrupt, lying, destructive, seditious, conceited, impossibly grandiose, parasitic slugs. (No offense to slugs intended.). Any and all would (will) get behind this legislation when they think the timing is right because its passage would help Democrats.

But back to Media Matters. Even the comments were idiotic. One commenter arrogantly stated that we “never really make a serious case for why it would be a bad idea.” Ahh, he obviously didn’t read my piece. In fact it is now a series of articles that offer numerous examples of how universal voter registration could, and probably would be used to game the system. Given the amount of fraud in government programs already, it should be fairly obvious to anyone who even considers the idea. If that isn’t enough, all one needs do is note that many of the same people pushing this were behind Motor Voter, which has provided rampant opportunities for fraud. They are also the ones trying to prevent states from enacting laws requiring proof of identification to vote. How could anyone who wants to maintain integrity in the voting system oppose this ?

Finally, consider this: voting is our right, but it is also one of the most important, if not the most important responsibilities we have as citizens. There are no longer any serious impediments to registering to vote. If someone is too lazy or careless to even bother to register, can we really expect that he/she understands or even cares what his vote means? Do we really even want that person to vote? I don’t.

The entire leftist agenda can be summed up as: “let government do it for you.” That agenda has brought this country to near ruin. And they want to extend it to voting. Remarkable.

I did thank Media Matters for the plug however. To the extent anyone actually reads their bilge, or for that matter, to the extent leftists actually read anything, it may have driven a little traffic to my website.

Game Changer: Massachusetts earthquake puts everything in play

2010-01-20T21:03:00.002-05:00

Scott Brown’s stunning electoral victory in Massachusetts yesterday confirms to the world what we have known all along: patriotism and common sense are alive and well. Real Americans remain a majority in this country, and the massively-funded, corrupt Democrat machine, engorged with our tax dollars, radical billionaire money and lock-step union support, cannot buy elections, even in hardcore Democrat states, once the sleeping giant has awoken.

And make no mistake about it: we are wide awake!

The Democrats were certainly hamstrung by choosing an impossibly bad candidate. Martha Coakley made a fool of herself repeatedly, yet throughout it all carried herself with an astonishing sense of conceited entitlement, seemingly contemptuous of even having to campaign at all. Meanwhile, her campaign took on an air of ugly thuggishness. Two scenes captured on video during this short campaign say it all. Everyone has seen the first one, where a reporter is pushed to the ground by a Coakley supporter while Coakley stands by doing nothing. Remember, she is the Massachusetts attorney general. The second one has received less attention, but is even more telling: a female reporter getting thrown out of a Coakley campaign office with shouts of "Nazi." Someone even used the "F" bomb. What class acts.

The real problem is that Coakley defines what the Democrat Party has become today: arrogant, boorish, incomprehensibly ignorant and downright thuggish. Former Vermont Governor and Presidential candidate Howard Dean, for example, reacted to Brown's victory by saying that now Democrats have to get tough, and not "deal with Republicans anymore." Stunning. So that’s what we've been witnessing all year, with Democrats violating Senate rules, holding closed-door meetings, locking Republicans out of discussions, rejecting outright any Republican proposals and violating their own promises of "transparency." But they haven't been tough enough. Simply amazing.

Scott Brown's election was certainly about healthcare. Massachusetts already has its own expensive plan. They don't need or want even more government intrusion. It was also about national security. Brown's own internal polling convinced the campaign this was true. People feel insecure with this President and his administration, and with good reason.

But it was even more than that...

Maybe the Dems really ARE that stupid

2010-01-16T21:47:00.004-05:00

Can we hope?

Completely aside from the virulent backlash Congressional Democrats and the White House are facing for their blatantly corrupt, disingenuous and destructive agenda, Democrat senatorial candidate Martha Coakley has an additional huge handicap to overcome: herself.

A few weeks ago this column wondered aloud how the Obama administration and the Democrat Congress could be so careless about their plummeting poll numbers and the growing backlash all over the country against their destructive agenda. It concluded that they must know something we don't, i.e. that they had a secret plan to win in 2010 and 2012.

The last sentence of the article read: "can they really be that stupid?"

Well, whatever the Dems have up their sleeve, in Martha Coakley's case, the answer seems to be an unqualified "yes."

A hilarious article by David Freddoso at the Washington Examiner (Coakley tests the limits: How many gaffes will it take to lose in liberal Mass.? January 15, 2010,) catalogs some of the incomprehensibly stupid things this woman has said. These rank alongside the infamous "I invented the Internet," by Al Gore, and VP Joe Biden's string of fence-post-stupid comments, like the one about President Roosevelt going on TV in 1929, or his prediction that Obama would be tested by an "international crisis". No, I take that back. Even Coakley can't hold a match to foot-in-mouth diseased Joe, but she is vying for a close second. Borrowing from Freddoso's article:

•She said in a televised debate with Republican candidate Scott Brown that there are no more terrorists in Afghanistan.

•When asked about her foreign policy experience, she said -- on television -- that her sister lives overseas.

•She said on the radio yesterday that freedom from coercion against one's religion does not extend to the workplace if you're Catholic and you happen to be a doctor or nurse.

Additionally:

•Coakley ridiculed her opponent for standing out "in the cold" and shaking hands with fans at Fenway Park.

•Instead of pressing flesh with the voters in the last few critical days, she held a Washington fundraiser populated by health care and drug lobbyists.

•At said fundraiser, one of her handlers pushed an inquisitive reporter to the ground as she looked on.

•Although photos show her looking directly at the pusher and the reporter on the ground, she later said: “I know something occurred, but I’m not privy to the facts. I’m sure it will come out, but I’m not aware of that.”

•Her campaign misspelled "Massachusetts" in a recent ad.

According to Fox News, in a radio interview Friday night Coakley also called Boston Red Sox former star pitcher Curt Schilling "A Yankees fan." As Fox relates:

Coakley hit a foul ball when the show's host, Dan Rea, noted that Schilling is supporting Brown. "And another Yankee fan," she said, apparently stunning Rea. "Curt Schilling, a Yankee fan?" Rea asked, prompting Coakley to quickly backtrack. "Ok, I'm wrong," she said. "The Red Sox great pitcher of the bloody sock?" Rea asked, referring to the World Series game that Schilling pitched with an ankle injury that caused blood to stain his sock. But Coakley swung back. "Well, he's not there anymore," she said.

"'Ok, I'm wrong,' she said..."

Yeah.

Not to be outdone, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee got into the act with a recent ad superimposing Republican Scott Brown over a picture of the World Trade Center and calling it Wall Street "greed and corruption". Has anyone told them what happened on 9/11? They found out apparently because the ad now has a different high-rise in the background. Same idiotic message though.

Ben Smith of Politico reported this under the heading, A Trade Center image in DSCC spot, with links to both the before and after advertisements. Both ads end with the same message: "January 19, Your Vote Matters."

Yes, it does.

Perhaps they are coming unglued after all. For when all else fails, the Dems' now resort to calling in the boys in purple - The Service Employees International Union (SEIU). SEIU buses have been making their appearance in Massachusetts, and as SEIU President Andy Stern says "We prefer to use the power of persuasion, but if that doesn’t work we use the persuasion of power." We saw it last summer with astroturfing SEIU thugs showing up at town halls to intimidate and sometimes beat Tea Partiers. SEIU union thugs beating on boy scouts may become the new way of winning elections for Democrats. No wonder they have so much admiration for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. SEIU's eye-popping business-as-usual corruption figures prominently in the annals of scandal-plagued Obama friend and former Illinois Governor Ron Blagojevich. SEIU has been described as "ACORN with an advanced degree."

I will not hold my breath for the outcome of this race. Obama will be traveling there to work his vote fraud, er, community organizing charm on the electorate. Still, it would be perfect justice to see the Quisling of the Senate finally replaced with a candidate who actually represents Americans, instead of one like Martha Coakley, who only represents interests of the far, far, virulently destructive left. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch.

More of what the Dems know: we might have guessed

2010-01-09T12:24:00.003-05:00

In a recent article we discussed the possibility that Democrats will introduce universal voter registration (UVR) legislation this year, and offered that as an explanation for their seeming carelessness in the face of plummeting poll numbers. John Fund of the Wall Street Journal was quoted in the article as asserting that UVR will open the nation up to massive vote fraud. The reasons are straightforward and many: 1. registering people using existing government databases will result in many duplicates; 2. many of the lists contain names of illegal immigrants; 3. the list could be expanded to include felons currently ineligible to vote.

The notion of universal voter registration has been, like most leftist agenda items, a long time in the making, but flying beneath the radar for all but those paying close attention. As a result, most of us are behind the curve. The left can thus present universal voter registration as a much-needed "reform," with talking points and ready answers to objections all lined up, while the rest of us struggle to assess the damage it will do. But it will do damage, potentially permanent damage to our representative republic.

Voter Registration and Registration Fraud

Most of the calls for UVR cite the fact that about 30 percent of eligible voters remain unregistered. (In the last election cycle 29 percent were not registered.) The radical left Nation magazine effuses:

It doesn't have to be this way. Registration rates in other countries frequently run upwards of 90 percent (both Canada and France hit that mark, for example, while Venezuela stands at roughly 94 percent, and Russia about 97).

Venezuela and Russia. How has voter registration worked out for them? Not exactly the role models for democracy if you ask me, but then for the folks at Nation, they're all of a piece. Just ask Bill Ayers.

These folks also argue that UVR will prevent voter registration fraud. If the feds do all the registering, they reason, groups like ACORN that have been tied to rampant registration fraud -- not to mention all their other illegal activities -- will be disenfranchised.

But a look at who is supporting the idea gives the lie to that one. An article appeared last year on Alternet.org, a leftist website run by former Mother Jones publisher Don Hazen. Titled Consensus Builds for Universal Voter Registration, the by-line was Project Vote. This is the same Project Vote where Barack Obama cut his teeth organizing for the Senate election of communist-sympathizer Carol Moseley Braun. Project Vote is at the forefront of the voting rights movement. It is also an ACORN subsidiary.

In 1993, Bill Clinton signed the National Voter Registration Act into law. Commonly known as Motor Voter, the law allows for people to register to vote at welfare offices, motor vehicle departments and other government agencies. These agencies are required to provide necessary forms and even promote voter registration. Democrats billed Motor Voter as a method to make it easier for "disenfranchised voters" to become registered. Note that there was nothing except their own inertia preventing eligible people from registering to vote before this was passed, but the Democrats are all about saving the "poor and oppressed," especially when most of those poor and oppressed will be guaranteed democrat voters.

A 2008 Project Vote report titled Unequal Access: Neglecting the National Voter Registration Act 1995-2007 claimed that, "40 percent of voting-aged citizens from households earning under $25,000 were unregistered." The report further complains that "Thousands of eligible low income voters could be brought fully into the democratic process every day if states fully complied with the NVRA." Once again, these people are perfectly capable of bringing themselves into the "democratic process" if they so choose, but that's not good enough for Democrats. The report also observed that 20 percent of qualified citizens making $100,000 or more remain unregistered, but that didn't seem to bother them.

Motor Voter was anticipated to create a massive potential for voter registration fraud. Events since its passage seem to have borne that out. And while supporters of the law claim that vote registration fraud does not necessarily lead to vote fraud, the danger is clearly there, especially from absentee ballots and in states where only minimal identification is required. It also creates opportunities for voting activists to challenge elections. If the registration process is flawed, they argue, why not the election process itself?

As explained earlier this week, the Motor Voter law was the brainchild of socialists Richard Cloward and Frances Fox Piven. Instigators of the Cloward/Piven Crisis Strategy, these two radical activists spent a lifetime dreaming up ways to wreak havoc upon our government, hoping that the crises they fomented would ultimately lead to its collapse. ACORN has been the main vehicle for execution of this strategy. Therefore, the filing of excessive and fraudulent voter registrations may be an end in-and-of-itself. It certainly has created chaos and undermined the integrity of our voting system.

It also could be the pretext upon which the left intended to base their push for universal voter registration. And while there is little doubt, given the current condition of federal and state databases, that such a move would create all kinds of duplication, Democrats would achieve their goal of getting all of those unregistered democrats on the roles. Then all they'd have to do is get them to the polls. No longer having to sully itself with fraudulent registrations, maybe ACORN could turn its attention more fully to get-out-the-vote activities it illegally conducted for the Obama campaign in 2008.

Illegal Immigrant Voting

Critics fear that universal voter registration will allow many illegal immigrants to register and vote. UVR proponents will dismiss the "illegal immigrant" objections by countering that such individuals either won't be counted or could be weeded from voter rolls depending upon the methodology used to register voters. Congressional opponents of UVR will of course seek amendments making sure illegals and felons are excepted. But that is a throwaway for the left. They have something else in mind.

Separate and distinct from UVR legislation, Congress intends to move forward once again on immigration "reform." According to Reuters, the Obama administration has already signaled its intention to push for this in 2010, including "a path to citizenship for the 12 million immigrants living here illegally." There are probably more than 12 million at this point. Since during the healthcare debates the Democrats reduced their estimates of people needing coverage from 47 million to 30 million to subtract out illegal immigrants, implicitly that suggests they believe the current number to be 17 million.

Getting the illegal immigrant vote is key for Democrats in 2010. While registering low income people to vote will guarantee more democrat voters, it may not in-and-of-itself provide the winning margins Democrats need to overcome their growing unpopularity. And while amnesty would provide Democrats with a huge pool of potential new voters, without UVR, the logistical problem of getting them registered to vote in time for the 2010 elections would remain. UVR would solve this problem, guaranteeing these people to be registered to vote the minute they achieved citizenship.

But it doesn't end there. Once again, separate and distinct from UVR, legislators are contemplating granting felons the right to vote. A bill, S 1516, was proposed by Democrats in the Senate last summer. While the Senate bill deals only with felons who have served their time, don't expect it to end there. An organization called ProCon.org claims that in 2004, there were 5.2 million felons "disenfranchised" from voting. That's a lot of potential democrats.

This week the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a Washington state law banning felons from voting. Fortunately saner heads still exist and the state of Washington has asked the Supreme Court to review the 9th Circuit ruling. The Obama administration likely agrees with the 9th Circuit however, having appointed felon-rights advocate Sonya Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.

So, look to Congress to propose both immigration reform and felon "voting rights" legislation. For all this to work, however, Congress needs to propose universal voter registration first. That way they can pretend that illegal immigrants and felons will not be included. This may be why John Fund was so confident UVR would be proposed sometime in January 2010.

But it doesn't even end there. Expect to hear calls for abolishing the Electoral College and moving toward direct Presidential elections. That's in the works too. It can be accomplished without Constitutional amendment. State legislatures can vote to give all their electors to the winner of the popular vote. Direct elections will become law when enough state legislatures have passed legislation to make up a majority of the electoral vote (270 of 538). Only five states holding 61 electoral votes, Hawaii, Washington, Illinois (go figure), New Jersey and Maryland have signed on to this so far, so it will take longer to accomplish. But direct elections will be the last nail in the coffin for our beloved Republic.

Add to this the deliberate sabotage of our economy with unprecedented deficit spending, stimulus bills that stimulate only Democrats while unemployment rises to Depression-era levels, cap and trade legislation that threatens devastating tax increases justified by a hoax, a healthcare bill that will make us all sick while dramatically ramping up costs, add in all the other garbage legislation designed to keep us distracted, distraught and demoralized and you have a prescription for an unprecedented takeover of our country from which we may never recover.

I had hoped it wouldn't come to this. But if it is their agenda to use UVR, illegal immigration and felon votes to steal the 2010 election, and I believe it is, they need to know that we are going to do everything within our power to stop them. They represent gangster government, a radical cabal aiming to consolidate power once and for all by duplicitously using our own institutions against us. If they attempt this, they have lost the legitimate right to lead, and those institutions, by definition, will have been corrupted beyond repair. It will be left to us to get rid of them, and it will be our right to do so, by any means at our disposal.

What the Dems Know: Universal Voter Registration

2010-01-05T11:40:00.004-05:00

Many are puzzled that Democrats persist in ramming unpopular and destructive legislation down our collective throats while seemingly unconcerned by their plummeting poll numbers. A widespread belief is that the Democrats are committing political suicide and will be swept from one or both houses of Congress with unprecedented electoral losses next November. But since Democrat politicians rarely do things that will not ultimately benefit themselves, this column asked two weeks ago: "what do they know that we don't?"

We may have found out. It's called universal voter registration. The Wall Street Journal's John Fund described the Democrat plan recently at a David Horowitz Freedom Center forum. Watch the video:

Fund describes the proposal as follows:

In January, Chuck Schumer and Barney Frank will propose universal voter registration. What is universal voter registration? It means all of the state laws on elections will be overriden by a federal mandate. The feds will tell the states: 'take everyone on every list of welfare that you have, take everyone on every list of unemployed you have, take everyone on every list of property owners, take everyone on every list of driver's license holders and register them to vote regardless of whether they want to be...'

Fund anticipates that Congress will attempt to ram this legislation down our throats like they have been with the "healthcare" bill. What a surprise! Fund covers the vote issue at greater length in his book, How the Obama Administration Threatens to Undermine Our Elections, a very good read.

Leftist groups are already arguing that universal voter registration will solve all the problems with our voting system. But the left created most of these problems. The radical leftist Nation magazine, for example, absolutely loves the idea of universal voter registration. This is the same magazine, however, that advanced Richard Cloward and Frances Fox Piven's Manufactured Crisis strategy. The Cloward/Piven strategy was designed to undermine government institutions by overwhelming them with impossible demands for services. Cloward and Piven focused on welfare, housing and voting as the main targets of this strategy, and the radical group ACORN was specifically created for the purpose of executing it.

The Nation article enthusiastically lists Cloward/Piven-inspired organizations like Project Vote, the ACORN group where President Obama cut his teeth. It also discusses the left's efforts to push enforcement of the Motor Voter law, and explains how universal voter registration could assist in these efforts. Cloward and Piven were the ones who crafted Motor Voter legislation in the early 1980s and pushed for it's enactment until 1993, when President Clinton signed it into law. Cloward and Piven considered Motor Voter to be their crowning lifetime achievement. The picture below, from White House photo archives, shows Cloward (light grey suit) and Piven (green coat and navy dress) standing directly behind Clinton at the Motor Voter signing ceremony.

The left has predictably launched vicious smear attacks against John Fund for bringing universal voter registration to our attention. A Google search of the issue brings up any number of nasty ad hominem attacks. Most notable is Media Matters, the leftist group whose sole purpose seems to be smearing Republicans and defending the left's indefensible policies. They put up this gem: "Right-Wing Ass Weasel John Fund Doesn't Like Universal Voter Registration because of ACORN." Media Matters, what a class act!

The problems with universal voter registration are numerous and obvious. Many state lists include vast numbers of illegals, including some states which allow illegals to obtain driver's licenses; because many homeowners have more than one home there will be duplicates; because so many people are on so many separate federal and state government agency lists, there will be duplicates, and because so many lists exist with little or no cross-checking capability these duplicates are likely to go uncorrected. Add to this the fact that Dems hope to extend voting rights to felons and the whole thing begins to look like a nationwide Democrat voter registration drive facilitated by taxpayers.

Universal voter registration will create massive vulnerabilities to systemic voter fraud nationwide, and if Democrats have proven anything in recent years, it is that they can win elections that way. The George-Soros-funded Secretary of State project (SOS) was designed to take advantage of such vulnerabilities and may have been developed in anticipation of the universal voter registration plan. Al Franken's stolen election in Minnesota was a trial run for the SOS project. Longtime ACORN friend Mark Ritchie was elected Minnesota Secretary of State in 2006 with Soros's SOS and ACORN money, and what followed in Norm Coleman's Senate runoff election was a frighening demonstration of just how far Democrats will go to win. Franken won the runoff and the Democrats got their filibuster-proof sixty vote Senate majority.

The Motor Voter law was correctly identified as a facilitator of vote fraud. One of the few legal issues Barack Obama actually participated in as a lawyer was a 1995 suit against the State of Illinois, which he brought on behalf of ACORN. Then Republican Governor Jim Edgars saw the newly passed Motor Voter act as creating the potential for massive vote fraud and refused to implement it. With the assistance of the Clinton Justice Department, Obama's legal team won that suit. Obama himself actually participated very little, a strategy that seems to have served him well in life. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, after identifying himself in court proceedings, Obama sat back and let "the heavy-hitters at the Justice Department make the arguments..."

It is not surprising that the Democrats are now choosing to push this new initiative, for universal voter registration will be Motor Voter on turbochargers. And who better to sign it into law than the President from ACORN.

Radical Islam and America’s Future

2010-01-01T20:14:00.005-05:00

Political Islam, i.e. radical Islam, is actually a cutout for continued communist aggession against the West. This is perhaps the most justifiable explanation for the resurgence of radical Islam in recent years, though it receives scant recognition.

We knew this to be true back in the 1970s and 1980s, when the communist-inspired PLO began its operations against Israel. We knew that Hezbollah and the other Muslim terrorist organizations got their training, weapons and support from Syria - a Ba'athist (Stalinist Arab Communist Party) country. We knew by extension that Syria, like all Soviet client states, was acting on behalf of the Soviet Union.

But after the Soviet Union "fell" in the 1990s, suddenly we were confronted with "Muslim" terrorism. Still the same actors, still the same support networks, still the same tactics, yet now it was supposedly a dire new threat. And if you think horrific public killings and suicide bombings – even using children – are an Islamic invention, ask anyone who served in Vietnam. Communist tactics, all. Even before the communists, Japanese frequently used this tactic in WW II. A very good article on Alternet.org, The Hard Truth About Suicide Bombers had this to say:

Martyr missions made their official twentieth-century debut in the Second World War with the Kamikazes; they showed up again in the 1960s, when Viet Cong sympathizers exploded themselves amidst U.S. troops. Their debut in the Islamic world was not until the 1980s, during the Iran-Iraq war.

If you listen to statements from jihadists like Osama Bin Laden, their justification for war against the West is based on the same tired slogans repeated by leftists since the 1930s, i.e. that America and its allies are "imperialist," "greedy capitalists" "exploiting" the rest of the world, yada yada, only now it is the Muslim world we are supposedly oppressing.

Meanwhile, strong evidence has surfaced that al Qaeda is stage-managed by the KGB. This was the assertion of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko – poisoned in 2006 with radioactive polonium-210 by Putin’s KGB assassins. Litvinenko asserted, among other things, that al Qaeda number two, Ayman Al-Zawahiri is in fact a KGB agent. And it is he, not Bin-Laden, who many believe calls the shots. Other Russian dissidents support this claim.

Some will argue that it was Hasan Al Banna who initiated the modern “Islamic resurgence” when he founded the Muslim Brotherhood in 1928. And it is true that this group was the springboard for most of the modern jihadists groups known today. A later leader, Sayyid Qutb, was, if anything, an even greater Islamic purist than Al Banna. Yet the Soviets’ have historically demonstrated an uncanny ability to capture such movements for their own nefarious purposes. The Islamic jihadists are no exception.

This assertion provides the most compelling internally consistent explanation for the left's enthusiastic embrace of Islam. Consider: the left is supposedly all about women's liberation, equality, saving the "oppressed of the earth" and is militantly opposed to religion and religious intolerance in all its forms. If this is true, then on ideological grounds the left should be at war with radical Islam, or at least see it as a dangerous competitor, because radical Islam is the most intolerant, misogynistic, oppressive, religiously fanatic bunch of lunatics in the world -- except perhaps the communists.

National Lawyers Guild (oldest US communist front) Lawyer Lynn Stewart, who was convicted of communicating messages to Islamic radicals for her client, the jailed blind sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, gave it away when she said:

They [radical Islamic movements] are basically forces of national liberation. And I think that we, as persons who are committed to the liberation of oppressed people, should fasten on the need for self-determination…My own sense is that, were the Islamists to be empowered, there would be movements within their own countries…to liberate.

There it is: "...were the Islamists to be empowered, there would be movements within their own countries… to liberate." You have to know leftist terminology. "Liberate" everywhere and always refers to imposing a communist regime, for that is always the leftists’ long run goal. So what she is saying is that these movements are actually communist movements in disguise. And indeed, the statements by radical Islamic leaders, though couched in Islamic phraseology, essentially advocate the same thing.

This does not mean that radical Islam is not a threat in-and-of-itself.

Just as most American liberals are unaware that their purpose is to give legitimacy – "mainstream" if you will – the radical left's communist agenda, most Muslim Jihadists are unaware that they fight on behalf of the same ideology. Many of them believe the exhortations of their Imams. Many truly believe they are working on Allah's behalf to create a worldwide Muslim caliphate. Because of this, they have to be considered a stand-alone threat.

And herein lies the purpose of this post.

This 1/2 hour video is an abridged version of a 1.5 hour documentary, the Third Jihad, narrated by Dr. Zuhdi Jasser. An American and prominent Muslim himself, Jasser states that after 9/11 he dedicated his life to battling radical Islam. It came out last year. If you haven’t already seen it, watch it and forward it to everyone you know.

Drunken, lying slob

2009-12-30T23:15:00.000-05:00

That is the only way to describe it. Senator Max Baucus's (D-MT) bizarre Senate floor speech of last Wednesday, December 23rd, caps off months of unprecedented, corrupt, dishonest and duplicitous behavior from virtually the entire Senate and House Democrat caucuses, culminating in a shocking violation of Senate rules to ram through almost certainly unconstitutional "healthcare" legislation on Christmas eve.

But the speech takes the cake. Baucus accused Republicans of not having the courage to stand up against political pressure in order to pass legislation Republicans were not allowed to see, could not modify in any meaningful way, and correctly believed would ruin healthcare in this country.

Baucus was the one who needed courage here -- or maybe a better word would be gall -- and the only way he could find it was to resort to the bottle. If Baucus had any guts, or even a shred of intellectual integrity, he would have stood up to his own Party and told the truth: that the bill they sought would add trillions in new spending, would force the entire healthcare system to ration, and would dramatically increase costs for most people.

Instead they lied, dissembled, hid the actual legislation until the last minute, played bait-and-switch, and rigged the numbers using transparent, disingenuous budgeting tricks.
Senator Baucus is a disgrace to an already disgraced body of legislators. His drunken, dishonest rant makes a mockery of the ethical behavior we expect from U.S. Senators, and sets a very poor example for the entire world to see.

Baucus shouldn't wait for the electorate of Montana to throw him out next November. He should resign.

Now.

Democrats’ Suicide Strategy – Do They Know Something We Don’t?

2009-12-21T21:22:00.007-05:00

Much has been made about how Democrats are committing political suicide with the healthcare bill and all the other onerous legislation they have proposed and/or passed this year. There is no mistaking that these actions are extremely unpopular. The widespread uncertainty they have fostered in the business community by coupling job-killing legislation and talk of big tax increases with unprecedented, reckless deficit spending has kept our economy at a virtual standstill. And their insulting, arrogant, dishonest and blatantly corrupt behavior has brought citizen concern and anger to a fever pitch, while Democrat poll numbers plummet.

But those who believe in this "Democrat suicide" model implicitly assume next November's elections will be free and fair. Given ACORN’s antics, Democrat Secretaries of State literally stealing elections, shocking abuses of power by Democrats in Congress and the administration, the blatant thuggery of SEIU and other union activists, while the media covers for them, such an assumption is fairy tale fantasy. It would be funny to think some people actually have that much faith in Democrats, if the implications weren't so disastrous. As it is, one can only cry.

Some of us believe this "Democrat suicide" to be a reason for greater concern rather than less. Since FDR, Democrat politicians have demonstrated themselves to be selfish in the extreme, throwing friends under the bus, lying in public, buying voters with vast spending programs that commit government to ever growing expenditures, while the programs themselves prove unfettered disasters; whatever is necessary to accomplish their goals. It is difficult to square this observed behavior with the notion that they would suddenly be running off the cliff like a bunch of lemmings just to pass healthcare in time for Christmas.

It is therefore much more likely that their corruption, their despicable, insulting tactics and breathtaking dishonesty comes of an ominous foreknowledge. We know, for example, that much of the "Stimulus" money is only stimulating Democrats. Despite the supposed focus on “shovel-ready” projects, only 7 percent of the $787 billion in the first Stimulus bill actually was slated for such projects. But when fellow Democrat Peter DeFazio pointed this out, Obama’s answer was, “Don’t think we’re not keeping score, brother.” One can assume a similar attitude drives the auto and banking industry "bailouts," and just about every other piece of legislation. Post bailout, for example, UAW workers pay nothing for a Cadillac healthcare plan now that GM is underwritten by We the People.

We have never before witnessed such brazen corruption. Consider the award of almost $6 million in “Stimulus” monies to companies run by former Hillary Clinton pollster Mark Penn, supposedly to save three jobs. According to The Hill, Clinton still owes Penn $1 million for her 2008 campaign. Looks like we taxpayers are covering that now.

The Obamacare health travesty bill voted on in the wee hours Monday night contains a laundry list of Senate buyoffs, of which Senator Ben Nelson’s (D-NB) $100 million Medicare exclusion for the state of Nebraska is only one. Chris Dodd, facing a daunting re-election battle in Connecticut, got a similar amount for his state, presumably to improve his chances. There are many others. Lindsay Graham, the usually collegial Senator from South Carolina calls the bill “…one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in the history of Washington.” And as if the Democrats couldn’t do more, we now learn this version of the bill allows for covering illegals.

The largest three kickbacks in the Senate bill total $1.2 billion. Sounds like a lot of money with which to bribe voters. But what will it mean when the trillions of dollars in “Stimulus I” and “Stimulus II” (just passed in the House of Representatives) are applied to election contests? Are Democrats overconfident? One can only hope. But if past is prologue, it is a dim hope, at best.

And it gets even worse. After all the secrecy, after blatantly violating sacrosanct Senate rules, after buying off Senators to get their support, Senator Harry Reid’s bill includes a section that will require a super-majority (i.e. two-thirds) of Senators to change any rules relevant to decisions made by the “Independent Medicare Advisory Boards,” aka “Death Panels.” As Redstate reports, Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) objected that any language requiring a super-majority vote must be approved by a two-thirds majority. For the second time, the Senate presiding officer brushed aside standing Senate rules and said they didn’t apply. This happened today.

Even a former mobster is comparing Obama and Democrats to the Mafia. A post at Anti-Idiotarian Rotweiller contained the following quote, which seems to sum up the issue quite well:

The Left has no intention of giving up power. But they act consistently and almost unanimously in ways that leaving [sic] me biting my tongue to find ways of describing it in this forum, and actively infuriating huge swathes of the American people. If there are honest elections a whole bunch of them are going to lose power, quite possibly enough to take them out of control of the government.
Politicians in a group when they act consistently and anomalously against what would seem to be their own interests, are usually operating on information not available to anyone else. One also has to add to the mix the question why the Republicans as a party are only offering token opposition to the Democrats, when standing up would rally support to them? What do they know?
When you rule out the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, has to be considered. The only thing that remains, that I can see, is that no matter what they do, they no longer have any fear of facing the voters in an honest election. The specific mechanisms and basis for that confidence have yet to be determined. If anyone has a convincing alternative explanation that fits the data; I would gladly entertain it. I really would like to be able to accept an alternative that bodes better for our country, our Constitution, and the future of my children.

In mind of this, two more pieces of legislation have come to light which promise more devastation to our country, more government control, and even more promising prospects for Democrats to extort votes in 2010.

The first is Barney Frank's financial overhaul bill. Michelle Bachman (R-MN) claims it is even worse than the healthcare bill. Michelle tends to shoot from the hip, and sometimes opens herself to criticism as a result, but her assessment of the Frank bill appears to be on the money.

The second is a new illegal immigrant amnesty bill that will flood voter rolls with tens of millions of new Democrat voters, if passed. Anyone want to bet on their chances of getting it through?

And we still have eleven months to go… This nonstop blizzard of society-wrecking legislation continues to follow the Manufactured Crisis format, for anyone still in the dark about it.

In order to win next November, Republican candidates will have to win with vast majorities just to overcome Democrat vote fraud. For close races it will be scorched earth tactics like they used in Florida’s 2004 presidential race.

But they will have an added advantage because they have also been busy stacking the deck through the so-called "SOS Project." This George Soros-funded initiative strives to elect sympathetic Secretaries of State all over the country as they did in Minnesota.

Finally, Obama has gotten four sympathetic “technical advisors” appointed to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. One of these, Edwin Smith, VP of Dominion Voting Systems, has been called a “scammer” by the Brad Blog, know for its expertise on e-voting machines. Brad Blog describes Smith thusly: "This isn't just the Fox in the Hen House. This is the Fox who has already devoured every Hen in the House, in the Hen House. With feathers in his mouth and a sub-machine gun in his hands."

Smith is a former VP at Sequoia Voting Systems, a producer of voting machines that failed during New Jersey’s 2008 elections. Sequoia had been owned by Smartmatic, a Venezuela-based company tied to the Chavez government and suspected of rigging the Venezuelan vote for Hugo Chavez. Smartmatic was forced to sell off Sequoia after an investigation by the U.S. Treasury and State Departments in 2006, but Sequoia’s software is still owned by Smartmatic. Smartmatic in turn, got its technology from Dominion, Smiths latest employer.

If all this fails, it is not inconceivable that they would take some more blatant extra-legal step, to shut down, postpone or otherwise nullify election results. If this sounds too extreme, consider: the Democrats are staking their future on a legislative, rhetorical and legal strategy that is alienating the entire country.

Are they really that stupid?

Related video: Why Switzerland is the safest, most free country in the world.

UPDATE: There appears to be a movement already afoot among some states to nullify any healthcare measure that comes out of this Congress. Nullification is an innovative Constitutional strategy states may use to neutralize onerous federal law the state believes to be unconstitutional. This comes out of the nascent 10th Amendment movement within some states to reassert authority that the federal government has been undermining for a long time. It is nice to be able to offer this positive bit of news as Christmas approaches, given Congressional Democrats' apparent determination to play the Grinch and wreak as much havoc as possible in this Christmas season.

Lord Monckton: Global Warming Hero

2009-12-15T02:23:00.001-05:00

Our Western society and its freedoms nurture an intangible that terrifies despots everywhere. That intangible is the human spirit. In the past, despite seemingly insurmountable barriers and desperately long odds, the American people have risen to the occasion and defeated enemies, wiped out diseases and met any number of national calamities with virtue and innovation.

That spirit is visible in the Tea Party movement and the widespread protests that have accompanied the Obama administration's naked attempts to socialize our country. And with the "Global Warming" movement threatening to impose its own form of income redistribution, it is deeply satisfying to see people rising up in defense of our country, our culture and way of life against the lunacy of the environmental reds. One such hero is Lord Christopher Monckton.

Lord Monckton has been on a virtually nonstop campaign over the last few years educating people about the realities of "Global Warming" and the chicanery and fraud surrounding it. He is on a mission and will talk to anyone about it, even stooping to an interview with your humble servant. Despite vicious attacks, Monckton has maintained both decorum and a sense of humor, something the left seems constitutionally incapable of. He devastates his enemies in the global warming thugocracy with facts and humor.

In his latest video, he names some of the chief names behind the "Climategate" scandal and explains the manner in which each has skewed, buried, or even replaced the facts with their own cooked statistics. This video is only 1/2 hour long, but worth every minute.

Latest indications suggest the Copenhagen Climate Change Treaty may be defeated. If this happens, we can thank Lord Monckton for his part in saving us from it.

The New Pearl Harbor: “Safe Schools” CZAR peddled child pornography to children

2009-12-07T16:54:00.009-05:00

Sixty-eight years ago today, Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the United States into World War II. In that historic conflict we defeated Japan and its German Nazi ally four years later at a cost of over 400,000 American lives.

Since before World War II however, we have faced a much more subtle foe – one that in many ways has been more deadly. The foe is an amorphous mass, variably called: “Liberal,” "Progressive," “Leftist,” “the Left,” “the Radical Left,” the “New Left,” “Communist,” “Neo-communist,” “Socialist,” “Marxist,” “Neo-Marxist,” even “Marxofascist.”

Lest “liberals” take offense at being associated with communists, Marxists and socialists, it can only be said that Lenin referred to them as “useful idiots,” i.e. those who knowingly or unknowingly assist communists in achieving communist objectives. For this reason communists share the same contempt for liberals that the rest of us do. We both know they are fools. The communists laugh at them because they know the liberals will be joining us in the gulags if the communists have their way.

So forget liberals. Call the foe the “radical left”. It has been the instigator of most of our foreign policy failures, including Vietnam and Korea; failures measured in millions of lives. Practically every public policy failure of the past century, from the healthcare crisis to our addled legal system, from crime-ridden ghettos to failing public schools, can be laid at the feet of the Left.

But many of us have been complicit, in that we either stood idly by, or supported the left’s policies because we saw some personal benefit (e.g. welfare payments, housing subsidies, Medicare, etc.) Many politicians have assisted the Left out of cynical calculation, going along to get along, or downright cowardice. Some of us voted for them. Many pitched in and helped because we thought we were doing good – like Teddy Kennedy used to say, “Fighting the good fight.”

As a result, today this foe occupies the corridors of power across much of the United States, and has penetrated our government at all levels, corporations, foundations and most tragically, our schools.

One of their latest offensives is the Obama administration’s appointment of militant gay activist Kevin Jennings to be the Department of Education’s director of the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools, i.e. the “Safe Schools CZAR.”

Jennings’ career has largely been dedicated to advancing the radical homosexual agenda.

Jennings was a member of the radical group ACT UP, which used violent tactics to push its equally radical AIDS agenda. He helped fund a pornographic ACT UP exhibition at Harvard University’s art museum.

Early in his teaching career, Jennings encouraged a teenager who was in a homosexual relationship with an older man. If the boy was underage, as Jennings claimed in a 2000 speech, then Jennings may have violated the law by not reporting statutory rape to authorities.

He has since admitted he should have “handled this situation differently” but has also altered the story, now claiming the boy was sixteen, i.e. of legal, consenting age. Surprise, surprise, the boy has come forward to the leftist Media Matters, saying he was sixteen at the time. But actually, the relevant state law requires reporting of sexual activity between an adult and any child less than eighteen years of age.

Finally, Jennings has the singular distinction of being identified in his own words as someone who openly admired National Man-Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) cheerleader, Harry Hay. Hay was a communist homosexual considered to be the “father” of the American gay movement.

Jennings main “qualification” if you want to call it that, is his creation and long-term leadership of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). According to its website, this group “strives to assure that each member of every school community is valued and respected regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression.” It goes on to decry “racism,” “sexism,” “homophobia,” and “heterosexism” as detrimental to “a healthy school climate.” (Emphasis added.)

Here is an audio of Jennings angrily accusing schools of “promoting heterosexuality” and “recruiting children to be heterosexuals,” citing as evidence, assignment of such literature as Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

The charge is of course absurd. Schools have never promoted heterosexuality. Heterosexuality does not require promotion. But that has never been their job anyway. The school’s job is to educate and teach children how to learn. Shakespeare isn’t widely taught because his works “promote heterosexuality.” He is taught for his literary genius.

It is a widely-used communist tactic, however, to attack people, institutions, companies, whatever, for doing what they have always naturally done. This is what Jennings was doing here. Remember Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals #3:

Whenever possible, go outside the experience of an opponent. Here you want to cause confusion, fear, and retreat.

Because the charge of “promoting heterosexuality” is so completely outside our frame of reference, it puts people on the defensive. It forces people to question and doubt their actions and attitudes where no doubt existed before. In that doubt, fear and confusion, the speaker offers his “solution” that will make all the doubt and fear go away. This is a standard tactic for manipulating people into agreeing to policies and ideas they would never support otherwise.

It is also part and parcel of the communist Frankfurt School’s conspiracy to corrupt the culture and morals of American society, something we have come to know as the “Culture War.” Significantly, Jennings outlined his strategy for mainstreaming homosexuality in secondary schools in a 1995 speech titled “Winning the Culture War.” He said that it was essential to frame the debate as a “safety issue” rather than a homosexual issue because if his movement was perceived “as preying on children, we will lose.”

But that is precisely what they appear to have been doing. A WorldNet Daily article offered inadvertent proof of this in October 2008, before anyone had heard of Kevin Jennings. Ironically the article was about Weather Underground terrorist and Obama friend Bill Ayers’ endorsement of a book titled “Queering Elementary Education: Advancing the Dialogue about Sexualities and Schooling.” Jennings wrote the foreword.

But Jennings and Ayers have more in common than that. Like Bill Ayers, Jennings organized a fundraiser for candidate Obama. Also in attendance at the Jennings fundraiser, visible in this video link, is Bill Clinton. Hidden from view in the video, but present nonetheless, sitting just to the right of the stairway, is George Soros. A regular rogue's gallery of Crisis Strategy practioners, that gathering.

Now, Scott Baker of Breitbart.tv has published at Gateway Pundit the disturbing evidence that shows exactly how Kevin Jennings and his GLSEN activists advance their homosexual agenda in schools: by peddling child pornography.

Warning: some of the links embedded in this article contain foul language and graphic, explicit descriptions of various sex acts, mostly among children, some as young as five.

As the article explains:

GLSEN… strives to influence the educational curriculum to include materials which the group believes will increase tolerance of gay students and decrease bullying. To that end, GLSEN maintains a recommended reading list of books that it claims "furthers our mission to ensure safe schools for all students.” In other words, these are the books that GLSEN’s directors think all kids should be reading: gay kids should read them to raise their self-esteem, and straight kids should read them in order to become more aware and tolerant and stop bullying gay kids. Through GLSEN’s online ordering system, called “GLSEN BookLink,” featured prominently on their Web site, teachers can buy the books to use as required classroom assignments, or students can buy them to read on their own.

The authors ordered some random samples to see what was in the books:

What we discovered shocked us. We were flabbergasted. Rendered speechless. We were unprepared for what we encountered. Book after book after book contained stories and anecdotes that weren’t merely X-rated and pornographic, but which featured explicit descriptions of sex acts between pre-schoolers; stories that seemed to promote and recommend child-adult sexual relationships; stories of public masturbation, anal sex in restrooms, affairs between students and teachers, five-year-olds playing sex games, semen flying through the air. One memoir even praised becoming a prostitute as a way to increase one’s self-esteem.

The Gateway Pundit article examined eleven books. Excerpts are provided, with photocopied page reproductions proving their authenticity, one with a graphic drawing of two men engaged in anal sex with a Boy Scout and scout master looking on. You are free to peruse them by following the link. These were shown, as the article explained, to present irrefutable proof of what might otherwise seem unbelievable.

As the founder of GSLEN, as a champion of the NAMBLA lifestyle, it is impossible to accept that Kevin Jennings is not aware of the child pornography being peddled by his organization. It requires no stretch of the imagination to believe that he not only approves of this literature, but that it was promoted at his instigation.

Homosexuality brought us the AIDS epidemic, which, as of 2001, had killed 583,293 people. Half of the estimated 40,000 annual AIDS infections are among people under 25. Homosexual teens are more than three times as likely to commit suicide as others in their age group. Homosexuality has bought Western culture deserved contempt, as the West’s “sexual tourists,” mostly homosexual men, travel the world preying on third world children, spreading and bringing back every description of sexually transmitted disease.

The headlines are awash with stories of sexual predators trafficking in child pornography, abusing, kidnapping and murdering children. The Catholic Church has been scandalized by stories of priests abusing choir boys, shaking that institution to its very foundation.

While these abhorrent, unhealthy, illegal and sometimes deadly activities have landed people extensive jail sentences, it takes the breath away to realize that the person President Barack Obama chose to ensure “safe” public schools spent much of his adult life actively promoting the homosexual lifestyle with child pornography. He should be in jail with the rest of the sexual predators. Instead he has been made gatekeeper to our most prized possession: our children.

The child pornography laws only ban images, and except the one picture noted above, the mass of this is in written form. All the books should be examined closely by law enforcement for sexually explicit images. Leave it to the Holder Justice Department to defend Jennings then.

Jennings is an abomination. This presidency is an abomination. Obama has taken a chain saw to our economy. He has taken a chain saw to our national security. Now he’s going after our children. The tide must be turned. The “sleeping giant” aroused to fury by Pearl Harbor must awake again.

Another Muslim Terrorist? Black Muslims Call Cop Killer "Martyr"

2009-12-02T00:07:00.007-05:00

Update 12/2: the Seattle Times reports that Clemmons told others he was going to kill police:

Clemmons asked Hinton, described as his half-brother, for keys to his white pickup, and told the men they should keep their eyes on the TV because he planned to kill police, according to charging documents and Troyer.

If this is correct, then Clemmons' rampage was clearly pre-meditated. He also did not act alone. According to the Times, witnesses saw Clemmons jump into a white pickup truck after the shooting, which sped away, driven by another man. Many other friends and family helped him move from place to place to evade capture. It would be interesting to find out what the Black Foot Soldiers Network knows about this and how they knew what he was planning before going on the killing spree.

Maurice Clemmons, the alleged shooter in the Sunday murder of four Lakewood, Washington police officers, was killed early this morning by a Seattle police officer.

The blogsite Fire Andrea Mitchell reported that a radical black Muslim group called National Black Foot Soldiers held a protest today outside the Parkland, Washington coffee shop where the murders occurred. The protesters allegedly gathered to celebrate Clemmons as a "Crowned BOW (Black on White) Martyr," calling his attack a "preemptive strike on terrorists..."

The substance of this story was originally announced by a blog called the Last Crusade, which has also claimed that Clemmons converted to Islam while imprisoned in Arkansas. Gateway Pundit picked up the story as well, noting however, that Last Crusade's claim of Clemmons' conversion is unsubstantiated.

A black militant site called "Black Male Felon" seemingly described the protest:

The rally came after a reported emergency meeting held by the [Black Foot Soldiers] movement to to map out plans for a street penitentiary protest and street party that will be held to disrespect tributes, memorials and funerals whites are expected to have for the terrorists.

Whatever the Black Foot Soldiers may be planning, there actually was no "rally." Spokesmen for both the Lakewood and Tacoma, Washington police departments said they had not heard of anything like that going on. The Pierce County Sheriff's office, which is handling the coffee shop shooting investigation, stated unequivocally that there was no such protest.

The truth is actually worse. The Black Foot Soldiers were not protesting, except perhaps online, but they were referring to Clemmons' attack as a protest:

Seattle Black Foot Soldiers say the four people slain in a daring demonstration at the Steele Street Forza Coffee House in Parkland were racist terrorists who caused black citizens to live in fear. (Emphasis added.)

What these groups say is that any killing of whites, including in this case Clemmons' cold-blooded murder of officers Renninger, Owens, Griswald, and Richards, is "a legitimate protest". Black Male Felon celebrates the killings as "Brother Maurice Clemmons' daring stand against white police terrorism." The theme of National Black Foot Soldiers is captured in the slogan: "When whites pay reparations there will be no more black on white crime."

The vitriolic hatred on these sites is enough to turn a person's stomach. The bit of writing contained on these sites is essentially a collage of run-on sentences spewing foul language interspersed liberally with admonitions to kill whitey. They blatantly advocate murder and defend other recent cases of seemingly senseless black on white killings, like the four Oakland police officers killed by Lovelle Mixon, and many, many others.

Many who voted for Barack Obama believed his election would finally put an end to this kind of racist hatred. Indeed, he promised to work toward that end. If anything however, his election seems to have emboldened it. Jeremiah Wright should have been a warning.

It is pointless to argue with the kind of lunatic delusion that motivates these people. They are beyond reaching. It recalls the video of "Professor" Kamau Kambon advocating ing the extermination of white people. The Black Male Felon site defines the terms BOW (black on white) BOB (black on black) WOB (white on black) and WOW (white on white), while the National Black Foot Soldiers objects to black on black killing, but not killing per se, reminding its readers "THERE IS 1 ENEMY. LET US HAVE 1 MIND. [sic]"

It is not known at present whether or not Clemmons was associated with any of these groups, but one post ascribes a quote to Clemmons, in which he says: "Watch the news, I'm gonna kill a bunch of cops."

Whatever the case, it is likely that Clemmons knew he would find police victims at that coffee shop. The Forza Coffee Company was founded by a retired police officer. And while the Steele Street franchise where the shootings occurred had no tie to him, it was apparently a place frequented by local police.

The coffee company has set up a charity for the families of these fallen officers. Learn more by following this link.

Photo: Pierce County Sheriff's Office

Holder allows ACORN funding, despite ban

2009-11-29T21:33:00.005-05:00

Current law prohibits the community organization ACORN and its associated groups from receiving any federal funds from any federal law currently on the books, (P.L 111-68 Sec. 163). However, the Eric Holder Justice Department has interpreted the law's phraseology in such a way that permits federal agencies to pay ACORN for "binding contractual obligations" the government made before the current prohibition was enacted. This interpretation may go a long way toward effectively neutralizing ACORN's funding prohibition, and it is a questionable interpretation at best.

The actual ban reads as follows: "None of the funds made available from this joint resolution or any other prior Act may be provided to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries or allied organizations." (Emphasis added.)

The Justice Department has decided that the phrase "provided to" is unclear and "has no established meaning in appropriations law." They cite terms more frequently used, such as "obligate" and "expend," that have widely accepted meaning in spending legislation. They go on to arduously defend their point by exhaustively listing the many definitions of "provide" given in Websters, Oxford and American Heritage dictionaries and even Roget's Thesaurus. Like Bill Clinton, they probably could have found as many definitions for the word "is..."

It would be interesting to learn who provided the legislative language for this amendment. Someone on Speaker Pelosi's staff, perhaps? It would also be interesting to know whether or not that person(s) had input from the Justice Department. Either way, it is reasonable to suspect that whoever wrote this legislation knew what they were doing, and that the key phrase "provided to" would cause problems in execution. The question is, why didn't the Republicans foresee that it might cause problems? Outmaneuvered again?

On the other hand, the Holder Justice Department could simply be flat wrong in its legal reasoning. Not too much of a stretch, considering that Holder decided to drop charges of voter intimidation against the clearly guilty Black Panthers, overruling his own legal staff in the process. It is amazing what this administration will do to protect its supporters.

The Justice Department also raised the ugly specter of opening the government up to liability for breaking "binding contracts," adding that the decision put them on much firmer Constitutional grounds by ensuring that this prohibition would not amount to a "bill of attainder." ACORN is already suing the government citing the Constitutional clause (Art. 1, Sec. 9, Para. 3), which prevents the legislature from singling out an individual or group for punishment without first ascertaining guilt by trial.

At first blush, this seems to be a valid concern. If ACORN engages in legitimate activity for which it is paid directly by the government, and has already made financial commitments in anticipation of reimbursement, then perhaps those obligations already made should be honored by the government. Also, it may be bad precedent to use the legislative process to "punish" ACORN for its misdeeds, if that is in fact what Congress is doing.

However, this begs the question. If ACORN has been engaging in massive, nationwide vote registration fraud, as it has; if it has been encouraging a shopping list of illegal activity through its "housing counseling," as every one of the O'Keefe and Giles tapes demonstrated it has, why hasn't the Holder Justice Department launched an investigation into the group? Why don't they settle the matter once and for all by ensuring ACORN's Constitutional right to a fair and speedy trial, thereby firmly establishing its guilt or innocence?

There is no legitimate reason for the Obama Justice Department not to investigate this clearly corrupt organization. But so far, they have refused to. The result is the unprecedented spectacle of a private citizen, Andrew Breitbart, demanding the Justice Department investigate ACORN, and threatening to expose even more damaging revelations about the group if they don't!

Furthermore, what legitimate business is ACORN conducting that requires binding prior commitments the government need reimburse? Is ACORN in the aircraft carrier building business or something?

Who knows? With this group and its 360 odd identified affiliates, it seems like almost anything is possible. Perhaps ACORN has been selected to manufacture the 2012 Pelosi GTxi SS/RT hybrid vehicle. (Okay, so we need a little comic relief.)

According to the Cato Institute, from 2003 to 2007 ACORN received almost $16 million from the government. This was broken down as follows:

Housing counseling assistance - 62%

Self-Help Homeownership - 7%

Rural Housing and Economic Development - 2%

Fair Housing Initiatives - 4%

Community Development Block Grants - 26%

Sixty-two percent of payments go to "housing counseling assistance," while block grants provided 26 percent. "Housing counseling assistance" would come under the heading of continuing operations, requiring no commitments other than for normal operating costs. Block grants are awarded based on applications that grantees make for future plans, or for ongoing operations that may or may not be reimbursed depending upon whether or not they get the grant. I don't even know what "fair housing initiatives" and "self-help homeownership" are. And if by "economic development," they mean commitments to actual building projects, perhaps reimbursement could be justified, if this referred to a tangible fixed asset already under construction. But even if it does, this only represents two percent of government payments to ACORN. I suspect Justice was hoping to let them keep a lot more.

The larger question is this: should the government be obligated to spend money it has good reason to believe will be used for illegal purposes? If, for example, the U.S. Marshall's Service discovered that it was providing Witness Protection Program funds for "informant relocation" to a private contractor secretly working for the Mafia, wouldn't it stop immediately and move to shut down the entire organization? Wouldn't Congress demand funds be cut off immediately, instead of paying out "existing contracts" and worrying about "bills of attainder?" Of course it would.

Congress is not "punishing" ACORN here. Instead it is exercising rare good judgement in its oversight role by ensuring that it is not inadvertently spending taxpayer dollars in support of criminal activities. The prohibition against funding ACORN is perfectly legal and Constitutional for this reason, according to legal scholars.

ACORN, as has been discussed many times before, is a key player in the Cloward-Piven Strategy of Manufactured Crisis. As such its legitimate activities -- to the extent that it even engages in legitimate activities -- are used to facilitate and/or mask its destructive ones. In this regard it is similar to a Mafia organization.

The Mafia runs legitimate businesses to mask illegal ones and launder money. The fact that it owns legitimate businesses that have made "prior financial commitments" doesn't stop the FBI from shutting them down. Federal law enforcement regularly seizes Mafia business assets, legitimate and otherwise, under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statutes. The same should be true for ACORN.

The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform published a paper last summer that both documented ACORN's widespread criminal activities, and determined that appropriate legal remedies for this criminal organization include applying the RICO statutes to seize their assets. Some of the illegal activities uncovered and listed in this report include:

ACORN has evaded taxes, obstructed justice, engaged in self dealing, and aided and abetted a cover-up of the $948.607.50 embezzlement by Dale Rathke, the brother of ACORN founder Wade Rathke. (Editor's note: Louisiana's Attorney General says the actual figure may be closer to $5 million.)

ACORN has committed investment fraud, deprived the public of its right to honest services, and engaged in a racketeering enterprise affecting interstate commerce.

ACORN has committed a conspiracy to defraud the United States by using taxpayer funds for partisan political activities.

ACORN has submitted false filings to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Department of Labor, in addition to violating the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

ACORN falsified and concealed facts concerning an illegal transaction between related parties in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).

Meanwhile, the person who commissioned that ACORN report, Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) , has blasted the administration for ruling that ACORN could continue to receive funding. He said that Congress's intent was clear, calling Holder's decision "old-fashioned cronyism."

So why should the government be paying ACORN at all? It is an organization devoted to the systematic destruction of America. If anything, ACORN needs to be permanently dissolved, it's principals arrested and sentenced to long jail terms. Its assets need to be seized and surrendered to the Asset Forfeiture Fund. This organization needs to be unmercifully trounced into the dirt.

So what the Holder Justice Department has essentially done is present us with a Constitutional crisis. If the Constitution demands that an individual or organization be adjudicated guilty or innocent in a court of law before Congress can strip it of funding, then it is incumbent upon the Justice Department to investigate said organization and resolve the question. Yet Obama's Justice Department, under the incompetent, if not criminal, leadership of Eric Holder refuses to do so.

Let's make something else explicit also. The ACRON funding ban is attached to a Continuing Resolution, a law which allows the government to continue operations into the new fiscal year (started October 1, 2009) in lieu of appropriations bills that have yet to be passed, and is set to expire on December 18, 2009. Yes, that's 18 days from now.

The only way this ban can be made permanent is for language to be included in some newer legislation that doesn't expire. It is likely that the Democrats will fight it, too. As it stands, the Justice Department is quibbling over a ban enacted in September that covers a period of two months and eighteen days.

This is all consistent with the Manufactured Crisis Strategy, from giving foreign terrorists the legal protections of U.S. citizens, and trying them in a city where they are almost certain to get a mistrial, to demanding criminal investigations of CIA officers who believed they were operating under the force of law. From exonerating Black Panther thugs who engaged in voter intimidation, to protecting the criminal organization ACORN from even two months of economic sanctions. In short, doing everything possible to deliberately mess things up.

Congress must demand the FBI investigate the continuing criminal enterprise we all know by the acronym ACORN. While they are at it, they might request an investigation of political corruption within the Holder Justice Department. If Holder wants a Constitutional showdown to protect Obama's diseased, corrupt political allies, have at it.

Meanwhile, there is no legitimate reason for ACORN to continue receiving federal funds.

Notorious terrorist captured – SEAL captors arrested!

2009-11-25T00:54:00.011-05:00

First we had Congressman John Murtha accusing US Marines of atrocities in Haditha, Iraq - a blatant lie based on false information supplied by the enemy. Those Marines had to face an arduous multi-year trial despite the obvious fabrication of evidence, and it is still not over for some. Next we have the Obama administration seeking to soothe Muslim fears about "backlash" after a Muslim Major commits the first successful act of terrorism on our soil since 9/11, while they withhold evidence about the case from Congress and do lmore to suppress than investigate the nature of the attack. Now we have the spectre of seeing three U.S. Navy SEALs arrested because the terrorist they captured claims he was punched!

Who is the enemy here? Four SEALs captured Ahmed Hashim Abed, codenamed "Objective Amber" on September 3rd. Abed was the ringleader of the group who ambushed four security contractors in Fallujah in 2004, and hung their burned bodies on a bridge. One of the four, Scott Helvenston, had been a Navy SEAL himself for twelve years.

But now Abed is claiming he got a bloody lip. Boo hoo! And the Navy is prosecuting! These people are insane! Give the SEALs a medal for a dangerous, thankless job well done, and suggest that Abed get on his knees and thank God he wasn't captured by someone else.

What I want to see is an investigation of the Navy legal team and the chain of command that ordered and condoned this arrest. This aggressive prosecution of battlefield events, where enemy terrorists are treated as "witnesses" to a "crime" has has always looked more like a deliberate strategy to hamstring warriors and thwart battlefield success rather than merely the misguided application of political correctness.

SEALs are not cops, and no military force operating on a battlefield should be forced to adopt law enforcement procedures for capturing terrorists. These are not purse-snatchers! If the military has adopted such mindless guidelines for handling enemy killers, then it is the military's policy that needs to be examined, not the actions of warriors in battle. And if this policy has filtered down from political leadership, as it probably has, then their fitness for office need to be seriously questioned.

At best these actions against military members should be considered vindictive prosecutions, but I believe something much more malevolent is at work. I believe the person or persons who promote such policies seek to sow doubt and demoralization, and bring unbearable stress on front line forces. They are covert agents, saboteurs working behind the lines to undermine battlefield effectiveness, and should be investigated as such.

When they are uncovered and exposed, they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Treason in battle is worthy of execution. But it would be enough to see them stripped of rank and summarily dismissed - perhaps into the tender mercies of Fallujah's Ba'athists. I am sure they would get a warm welcome.

Outrage doesn't begin to describe this travesty.

I'm sure this administration will applaud the Navy's efforts to achieve justice for poor Abed, since they are all about applying law enforcement standards and extending US citizens' civil rights to foreign terrorists. With their superior global awareness, they will surely want these SEALs given a fair trial in an appropriate setting. To demonstrate their evenhandedness to the terrorists, they'll probably choose GITMO.

This subversive element within our government, this leftist, anti-American cabal destroying our country from within needs to go! Right now!

Questioning Conspiracy

2009-11-23T17:17:00.003-05:00

As long as we are facing facts, it is time to confront a long-held, dangerous delusion of the American psyche.

The vast majority of people who have read my series on the Cloward Piven Strategy, including Monday’s post, Cloward Piven Government, have taken the lessons to heart and are justifiably alarmed by their conclusions. Yet, despite the exhaustive wealth of evidence, despite overwhelming documentation embedded within these and others’ essays, some people choose to dismiss the frightening conclusions by taking the easy way out and ridicule them as “conspiracy theories.”

To these people, I have to say, “You don’t know what you don’t know.” The “dismissal by conspiracy theory” argument is the product of a lazy, cowardly mind, unwilling to risk a peek, instead reacting instinctively out of subliminal fear to facts that threaten comforting rationalizations.

The communist method is and always has been conspiracy. Since the Soviet military adopted Sun Tzu’s Art of War as their guiding philosophy, they have almost always utilized the effective tools of slow subversion as a critical component of their overall offensives. One of the foremost experts on Soviet methods even called the Soviet Union the “Counterintelligence State,” based on the idea that the entire society was dedicated in one form or another to “Dezinformatsia.”

The public relations campaign launched against Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s was in fact a full-scale assault led by American communists to discredit the notion of communist conspiracy, which at the time was very widely believed to be occurring. It was an intimidation campaign based on Alinsky’s rule #5: “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon...”

The effectiveness of this campaign lives with us today as people almost universally shy away from any notion even hinting at that awful word “conspiracy” when it comes to leftists. For example, this manufactured ignorance is so widespread that many people conflate the 1947 House Un-American Activities Committee’s (HUAC) investigations of the film industry with “McCarthyism” when McCarthy hadn’t even been elected Senator.

McCarthy’s 1950s investigations focused on communist infiltration of the Army, especially the Army facility at Monmouth, New Jersey, where atomic spy Julius Rosenberg had worked. Three years after McCarthy had been railroaded for his efforts, that facility quietly closed because of this internal security threat it. Did you know that? Why not?

As commentator Chuck Morse wrote in 2003:

The substantial power the left wielded over our government and media was on full display in the concerted campaign to stop McCarthy, who, in hindsight, has been vindicated of all charges. Politicians who would henceforth be more circumspect when investigating communist or any other subversive element in government heard the lesson of McCarthy's downfall loud and clear. Average citizens, at least subliminally conscious of the auto da fe McCarthy had been put through, would also learn to curb their criticism of the left as well.

The left ridicules notions of communist conspiracy and we buy it. In the same breath they aggressively promote the notion of “CIA” or “Vast Right-Wing” conspiracy as though it’s a given, and we buy that too! But if one is possible, so must be the other. Our illogical reasoning is the result of years of popular culture conditioning, not fact. The difference is, with communists, subversive conspiracy is doctrine. With us, it is an alien notion, born witness by the scorn with which counterintelligence and clandestine activities are treated even within the military establishment.

Fast forward.

Cloward and Piven were not merely two lone sociology professors conspiring on teacher salaries to bring down America. They were prominent socialists and lifelong members of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), the largest and oldest worldwide socialist organization. Therein lay their strength, both in recruitment and resources. The leftist Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) held seminars for activists on how to use the CPS. Cloward and Piven’s Nation article was reprinted a record 30,000 times.

These folks were not alone. And they only added to the plethora of anti-American strategies being used, building on the already utilized Alinsky method. Also, we have been infiltrated since the 1930s by the KGB and their sister agencies in other communist countries whose goal has not merely been to obtain military secrets, but much more to create a subversive infrastructure in this country. The IPS, mentioned above, is largely a KGB front. All of its principals are American communists, who, by definition, work for the communist international, still run by the KGB despite the alleged "fall" of communism.

All these groups, the think tanks, the DSA, ACORN, ACLU, the National Lawyers Guild, the Communist Party and all their offshoots are led by people who know each other, have worked in the "movement" for years, and share the same goals, often trading places in the various organizations. It is well organized, powerful, and even deadly when necessary. Connections to foreign intelligence agencies like the KGB are well hidden, but very likely much closer than even a lot of people in the movement realize (those, like many prominent Democrats, are the useful idiots).

Finally, it doesn't take much for a conspiracy to work when you give participants a vested interest. That was an overtly stated component of the CPS. Cloward and Piven said:

First, this plan promises immediate economic benefits. This is a point of some importance because, whereas America's poor have not been moved in any number by radical political ideologies, they have sometimes been moved by their economic interests.

So they were able to mobilize armies of poor people simply because those people saw a paycheck in the form of welfare benefits. ACORN attracted homebuyers in droves by showing them how to get 5% or even zero down payment mortgages, with the implicit promise -- borne out later in some cases -- that they wouldn’t have to pay anything. Countrywide Financial, the "Friends of Angelo" bank, had a direct working relationship with ACORN and by 2006 were holding $600 billion in high risk mortgage investments.

Most communist conspiracies work because, as Whittaker Chambers explained, most people aren't communist and don't even know they are promoting communist causes. They merely work in their own interest, whether that be to obtain a mortgage, get welfare income, or save a tree.

Cloward-Piven Government

2009-11-22T23:12:00.007-05:00

Correction: I attributed a quote in this article to Barney Frank that "the middle class will be too distracted to fight." That was an error. Barney Frank never made that statement. The correct quote was “You don’t have to be worried about what the Middle Class is going to do. Things are so bad they have to put food on the table, get clothes on their kids, get them to school..." The statement was made in hearings with Obama economic advisor Robert Reich, where Reich proposed that stimulus dollars not go to "high skilled people who are already professionals or to white male construction workers..." but to low income groups. Rangel wanted assurances that would happen and asked if it could not be set up to happen automatically. So the dollars would not necessarily go where they could be put to most productive use, but to those groups who comprise a large part of the Democrat base. I apologize for the error. The quote has been removed.

Cloward Piven Government

Casualties mount in Afghanistan as we fight an increasingly brazen Taliban, while President Obama continues to ignore the pleas of our military commanders for more troops. At the same time, he parties with Obama fundraiser and supporter Jodie Evans, the terrorist-sympathizing co-founder of Code Pink, who just returned from Afghanistan after a visit with the Taliban. She brought him a package of materials. Was she acting as conduit for the Taliban, like Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin, who brought a letter to Obama from the Palestinian terrorist group, Hamas?

A lone Muslim terrorist guns down 13 American service members and wounds forty others in the worst domestic terrorist attack since 9-11 and the President of the United States says we shouldn’t “jump to conclusions.” The Director of Homeland Security meanwhile, directs her attention to reassuring Muslims that there won’t be a “backlash” while utterly ignoring her responsibility to protect this nation, and the Army Chief of Staff considers these killings a cost of achieving “diversity” he is willing to pay.

When Attorney General Eric Holder announced last week that the government would try admitted 9-11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a NY civilian court, constitutional scholars, defense analysts, intelligence experts and many citizens were stunned. The precedents and possibilities are horrifying. In the same breath Holder refused to provide names of Justice Department lawyers facing potential conflicts of interest who formerly worked in Holder’s law firm on behalf of Guantanamo terrorist detainees.

When the brave and clever initiative of two twenty-something kids demonstrate the community organization ACORN’s degenerate, corrupt nature, we watch the spectacle of ACORN suing these kids while law enforcement stands idly by. Meanwhile the Democrat-controlled Congress removes federal funding for ACORN in the about-to-expire continuing resolution, but tries to sneak it back in new legislation.

Saturday Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid bought off support of two “wavering” Democrat Senators to achieve cloture on the Senate’s massive, unread and unanalyzed, 2,074 page version of healthcare legislation that expanded upon the Senate Finance Committee bill, also passed out of committee without substantive review. This will compete with the House’s massive, unanalyzed and unread 1,990 page health bill, passed with a five vote margin on November 7th. And while everyone was focused on health legislation, backdoor censorship passed under the misnamed “Hate Crimes” bill. Incapable of passing as a standalone, the Dems tacked it onto defense authorization legislation.

Meanwhile, Senator Barbara Boxer’s economy crushing global warming tax bill moved out of her Environment and Public Works committee on November 5 after she violated committee rules by holding a vote with no Republicans present. While all the news outlets are now pronouncing “Cap and Trade” dead until next year, the New York Times reports there is already another plan in the works. Look for a surprise vote in December.

The media rejoiced at positive third quarter 2009 GDP growth – entirely fueled by the temporary “Cash for Clunkers” and first-time homebuyer credit programs – but at the same time, unemployment raced past 10 percent. With many unemployed leaving the labor force entirely, the true rate may be actually closer to 20%.

The “Stimulus” plan has proven a complete failure in creating promised private sector jobs. The only jobs it has created are in the public sector, and a lot of these are fraudulent. Many of us knew this would happen. Indeed, despite the administration’s claim that “most economists” agreed with the stimulus plan, the truth is that most did not. One well-known economist dubbed it “Mugabe Economics.”

Despite this, Democrats in Congress and the White House are discussing a second stimulus bill, adding yet more billions to what is already the highest deficit in post WW II history – at 11% of GDP, almost twice the previous record – while President Obama observes without irony that “people could lose confidence in the U.S. economy in a way that could actually lead to a double-dip recession…” if we keep on piling up federal debt. All this is reported without comment by the mass media.

A million or more people gathered at the Washington, DC Mall on September 12, 2009. Many of these people were middle-aged or elderly. For most this was the first public demonstration they had ever attended. It was an unprecedented spontaneous outpouring of concern over this President and Congress’s reckless policies, expressed by people who one year ago didn’t know each other, had never heard of “community organizing” and had no need to. While Democrat “paid volunteer” SEIU union thugs roved town hall meetings over the summer beating up protesters, the President’s allies dismiss the 9/12 gathering as “Astroturf.”

We stand aghast at these and other astonishing statements, delivered offhandedly by the leader of the free world or his proxies, as we collectively reel from the successive body blows his initiatives are delivering to our economy and morale. We marvel at the appointment of “czars” each more radical than the next, whose unspeakable agendas are ignored by the press.

Entrepreneurs and businesses sit on their hands, not because there is no business opportunity, but because they, like practically everyone else in this country, are increasingly uncertain about our future. With anxiety bordering on sickness, we ask ourselves “what on earth is going on?”

It is time to cast aside all remaining doubt.

In September of last year, American Thinker published Barack Obama and the Strategy of Manufactured Crisis. Part of a series, it connected then presidential candidate Barack Obama to individuals and organizations practicing a malevolent strategy for sabotaging our society. Since then the story of that strategy has found its way across the blogosphere, onto the airwaves of radio stations across the country, the Glenn Beck television show, Bill O’Reilly and now Mark Levin.

The methodology is known as the Cloward-Piven Strategy, and we can all be grateful to David Horowitz and his Discover the Networks for originally exposing and explaining it to us. He describes it as:

The strategy of forcing political change through orchestrated crisis. The "Cloward-Piven Strategy" seeks to hasten the fall of capitalism by overloading the government bureaucracy with a flood of impossible demands, thus pushing society into crisis and economic collapse.

Richard Cloward and Frances Piven were husband and wife, two lifelong members of Democratic Socialists of America and taught sociology at Columbia University (Piven later went on to City University of New York). In a May, 1966 Nation magazine article titled “The Weight of the Poor,” they outlined their strategy, proposing to use grassroots radical organizations to push ever more strident demands for public services at all levels of government.

The result, they predicted, would be "a profound financial and political crisis" that would unleash "powerful forces … for major economic reform at the national level."

They implemented the Strategy by creating a succession of radical organizations but most notably the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), with the help of veteran organizer Wade Rathke. Their crowning achievement was the “Motor Voter” act, signed into law by Bill Clinton in 1993 with Cloward and Piven standing behind him (shown on the left, Cloward in grey, piven in green).

As we now know, ACORN was one of the chief drivers of high-risk mortgage lending that eventually led to the financial crisis. But the Motor Voter law was another component of the strategy. It created vast opportunities for fraud in our electoral system which ACORN then exploited.

ACORN’s vote registration scandals throughout the U.S. are predictable fallout.

The Motor Voter law also opened another vulnerability in the system: the registration of vast numbers of illegal aliens, who then vote reliably Democrat. Herein lies the real reason Democrats are so anxious for open borders, security be damned.

It should be clear to anyone with a mind and two eyes that this president and this Congress do not have our interests at heart. They are implementing this strategy on an unprecedented scale by flooding America with a tidal wave of poisonous initiatives, orders, regulations and laws. As Obama advisor Rahm Emmanuel said, “A crisis is a terrible thing to waste.”

The real goal of “healthcare” legislation, the real goal of “cap and trade,” the real goal of “stimulus” is to rip the guts out of our private economy and transfer wide swaths of it over to government control. Do not be deluded by the propaganda. These initiatives are vehicles for change. They are not goals in and of themselves, except in their ability to deliver power, and will make matters much worse, for that is their design.

This time, in addition to overwhelming the government with demands for services, Obama and the Democrats are overwhelming political opposition to their plans with a flood of apocalyptic legislation. Their ultimate goal is to leave us so discouraged, demoralized and exhausted that we throw our hands up in defeat.

It is time acknowledge that these people are our enemies. They don’t use guns, yet, but they are just as dangerous, determined and duplicitous as the communists we faced in the Cold War, Korea, Vietnam and bush wars across the globe, and the Nazis we faced in World War II.

It is high time we overcome the denial, and fully digest and internalize this fact, with all its ugly ramifications. These people are stealing this country while we stand and watch. They have violated countless laws, and could be prosecuted, had we the political power. Not only are their policies unconstitutional, but deliberately so – the goal being to make the Constitution irrelevant, we could make them live up to their oath of office, had we the political power. Their spending is off the charts and will drive us into hyperinflation, but could be rescinded, had we the political power. These policies are toxic, but could be stopped and reversed, had we the political power. Their ideologies are poisonous, but could be exposed for what they are, with long jail sentences as an object lesson, had we the political power.

Every single citizen who cares about this country should be spending every minute of his/her spare time lobbying, organizing, writing and planning. Fight every initiative they launch. It is all destructive. If we are to root out this evil, it is critical that in 2010 we win competent, principled leaders willing to defend our constitution and our country. Otherwise the malevolent cabal that occupies the seat of government today will become too entrenched.

After that all bets are off.

Businessman and Examiner.com columnist Jim Simpson is a former White House staff economist and budget analyst. His writings have been published in American Thinker, Washington Times, WorldNet Daily, FrontPage Magazine, DefenseWatch, Soldier of Fortune and others.

On the precipice – Healthcare disaster looming

2009-11-21T17:16:00.005-05:00

By James Simpson

This Congress is beneath contempt. What they are poised to pass today – yes I know this is just a procedural vote, but everything turns on it – is an abomination. Since Lincoln and Landrieu have been bought off it is now sure to pass. Landrieu cost the taxpayer $100 million. I wonder what we paid Lincoln to betray us. This bill will not merely ruin our healthcare system; it will impose economy crushing taxes, pushing our already tottering economy ever closer to the abyss.

No surprise there. Candidate Obama said that since we are only 4 percent of the world population, we cannot go on consuming 25 percent of the world’s resources. It’s not fair. In his worldview we should only be consuming, what, 4 percent? In his mind we are confiscating resources and need to give them back.

How stupid can a person be? It is not a zero sum game! We don’t consume 25 percent of the world’s resources; we trade 25 percent of the world’s resources, (if that figure is even correct. I suspect it is high. But some on the left claim 40, 50, even 75 percent – they are delusional.) In any event, the world should be glad we are here, for we are the world’s consumer market. We support the world economy. Without that support the world will plunge into a depression that will make 1933 look like a walk in the park! A good, brief explanation of why that is, here.

As it is, taxes proposed to pay for this bill will be onerous, but at $849 billion over ten years, the bill radically underestimates cost. The Senate Budget Committee estimated the true cost at $2.5 trillion. But even this is a vast underestimate because they implicitly assume the legislation will remain unchanged. This will not happen. It has never, ever happened! After the bill passes, Congress will add all kinds of bells and whistles, and will add more “fixes” as the problems created by this piece of crap begin to manifest themselves. So think of the Senate Budget Committee’s $2.5 trillion 10 year cost as a bare bones, no further changes, minimum.

Medicare provides a good example. From a modest $16 billion spending in its first year, Medicare increased 231% over the next nine years, an average annual program growth of 12.72%. This is after correcting for inflation! I do not believe this new bill even factors in inflation over the 10 year period. If you look at Medicare from its first year to the tenth w/o correcting for inflation, it grew 434% or 18.24% per year! These data are derived from program outlay figures provided by the White House Office of Management and Budget - unassailable.

Here is another way to look at it. Medicare and Medicaid together cost $656 billion in 2008, the last year for which actual data are available. The total number of people enrolled in these two programs is about 88 million people – yes that’s right folks we are paying medical bills for approximately thirty percent of the population already! This comes out to about $7,500 per enrollee per year.

This bill is going to generously allow us to pay for 47 million more. Forget about denying illegals, they will be covered when this legislation finally passes. Don’t believe a word about “cost savings.” It is not going to happen, even if they do start euthanizing granny. Medicare and Medicaid currently squeeze everything they can out of the medical profession and their cost cutting measures are already creating supply shortages. So consider $7,500 a reasonable estimate of per capita cost. Assuming this same average cost for all these new folks gets us an annual price tag of about $350 billion, ($7,500 x 47 million) or a ten year cost of $3.5 trillion.

Now, Congress has never in the history of major legislation, ever left it alone once passed. It will explode just like Medicare and Medicaid have throughout their entire existence – and Congress gave us the exact same phony promises back when these programs were first proposed. So take the $35o billion and multiply it by, oh pick any number... say 3, which gives you an average annual cost of $1 trillion once the program has been up and running for a while, and you are probably closer to a realistic cost figure.

This bill is a five-alarm fire that will consume our nation if it passes.

Businessman and Examiner.com columnist Jim Simpson is a former White House staff economist and budget analyst. His writings have been published in American Thinker, Washington Times, WorldNet Daily, FrontPage Magazine, DefenseWatch, Soldier of Fortune and others. You may read more of his articles on his blog, Truth and Consequences.

No Political Purge

2009-11-19T12:34:00.000-05:00

There has been a story flying around the internet in recent days that the Obama administration intends to purge Republicans from the bureaucracy by using a new federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM) rule requiring that all applicants for career civil service jobs who held political jobs "within the past five years" be approved by OPM. The assertion is that “past five years” can only refer to Bush appointees, and that OPM’s memo authorizes the agency to ferret out Republican civil service hires and find some bureaucratic pretext to kick them out.

A close reading of the OPM memo and statements by Elaine Kaplan, OPM General Counsel, provide reassurance that, however the Obama administration plans to handle Republicans working in the bureaucracy, this OPM rule is not intended to affect them.

OPM has long had the authority to evaluate political appointees' fitness for career civil service jobs, and as the memo pointed out, currently vets certain political appointees seeking career service during presidential election years only. The memo explains their intention to extend this vetting procedure in the future to all new applicants having held political appointments within five years from the time of their application.

This idea did not originate with the Obama administration. According to General Counsel Kaplan, discussions about this proposal were the result of longstanding criticisms from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Senior Executive Association and others, about how political appointees often avoid the competitive employment process, thereby denying the position in question to possibly better qualified applicants. The proposal was developed by the Center for Merit Systems Accountability, an office within OPM that has studied and advised on such issues since OPM was created.

The controversy appears to have come originally from Instapundit, was picked up by Redstate, and Rush Limbaugh commented on it, identifying Redstate and Instapundit as the source. Media Matters for America, the widely recognized Soros-funded shill for all things Democrat, pounced on Rush immediately for "falsely hyping" OPM's power to fire political appointees.

The memo states:

Beginning January 1, 2010, agencies must seek prior approval from OPM before they can appoint a current or recent political appointee to a competitive or non-political excepted service position at any level under the provisions of title 5 United States Code. OPM will review these proposed appointments to ensure they comply with merit system principles and applicable civil service laws.

The confusion stems from the requirement that this rule cover:

The appointment of a current political Schedule A or Schedule C Executive Branch employee who held the position within the last five years to a competitive or non-political excepted service position...(Emphsasis added)

OPM stressed that this rule does not apply to current employees who have already been accepted into the civil service. It will only affect new hires going forward from January 1st. So OPM will not be going back and examining the credentials of current civil service employees who were at one time political appointees. This seems clear from the memo.

However, a question remains. What happens if a current civil service employee who was political within the past five years applies for a new job within the civilian service?

For example, if someone had been a political appointee under George W. Bush, and had switched to a career federal job, say three years ago, what would happen if he/she applied for a new position within the bureaucracy, e.g. moving from a field managerial position to a higher level position in headquarters, or to a completely different position in another agency? Would these new rules then apply, or would the person be treated as any other employee with in the civil service and simply evaluated by the hiring agency on his/her merits?

The memo is silent on this question, and as written could be interpreted to include such people. In any event it is certainly easy to envision the hyper-political Obama administration interpreting it this way. All the memo says is that anyone seeking civil service employment who held a political appointment within the past five years must receive OPM approval.

This was the concern Rush had - a legitimate question completely overlooked by the hyperventilators at Media Matters. In fact, according to OPM the same concern was raised by a federal agency.

The Center for Merit Systems Accountability, which developed the rule in the first place, responded directly to this question:

The policy announced last week simply does not apply to a former political appointee who was hired for a career federal job and applies for a different federal job at the same or another agency. For example, a Bush appointee from 2005 who was hired by HHS as a GS-14 career federal employee in 2007 can apply for another federal job at the VA and the VA’s selection of that person will NOT be reviewed by OPM under the new policy.

As is commonly done, OPM is going to be sending out a “Q and A” to Federal agencies that will address this and other related implementation issues that were not spelled out in detail in the Director’s memorandum. The Q & A will go out in December, before the January 1 start date for the new policy.

Kaplan stated flatly, "If a current career Federal employee applies for a new career Federal job in the same or another agency, we would not review the matter even if that person was a political appointee within the past five years..."

So while Rush raised a legitimate concern, OPM has provided reassurances that the memo simply lacked clarification on that point.

Meanwhile, in addition to their ad hominem attack and hyperbolic language, Media Matters cursory read of the memo misinterpreted its purpose too. The rule was not created to prevent politicals from “burrowing in” to the bureaucracy, as Media Matters asserts. It was created to make all applicants subject to the same standards. Nonetheless, they were correct in concluding that Republicans weren’t targeted. Who would have thought? Apparently even a blind pig ...

This administration has plenty wrong with it and is rapidly moving to expand its power and influence in an unprecedented fashion. It is critical however, to separate fact from fancy, and not immediately see evil with every initiative coming out of the federal government. The OPM memo addresses a longstanding problem within government and represents a reasonable approach to resolving it.

This article appeared originally in American Thinker.

Businessman and Examiner.com columnist Jim Simpson is a former White House staff economist and budget analyst. His writings have been published in American Thinker, Washington Times, Worldnet Daily, FrontPage Magazine, DefenseWatch, Truth and Consequences.Soldier of Fortune and others. You may read more of his articles on his blog,

Nidal Hasan, the Muslim U.S. Army Major accused of the mass killings at Fort Hood, is listed as participant in the George Washington Universit

2009-11-16T11:42:00.000-05:00

Nidal Hasan, the Muslim U.S. Army Major accused of the mass killings at Fort Hood, is listed as participant in the George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute's (HSPI) Presidential Transition Task Force Report. While this is not entirely surprising, given Hasan's former position in the Army, it raises significant questions about White House reluctance to release relevant records allegedly in its possession.

The HSPI is not a governmental organization, and was not directly tied to the Obama administration's transition team. Rather, in its own words, it is a "nonpartisan 'think and do' tank whose mission is to build bridges between theory and practice to advance homeland security through an interdisciplinary approach..." HSPI has already issued a statement on Hasan's participation in the task force as follows:

Gay Pro-Hillary Blog Outs Bush's Trip to Ft. Hood

2009-11-13T13:48:00.005-05:00

Bet you didn't know George W. and Laura Bush paid a secret visit to the wounded and aggrieved families at Fort Hood, did you? They did. The day after it happened. And stayed for hours.

Fox News reported this briefly. AP covered it with this cursory report:

The Bushes made their private visit to Fort Hood's Darnall Army Medical Center on Friday night. Bush spokesman David Sherzer said in an e-mail that the couple thanked Fort Hood's military leaders and hospital staff for the "amazing care they are providing."

No one else did... almost no one. Hillbuzz, a Chicago-based gay political site set up last year to support the presidential candidacy of Hillary Clinton, wrote a "Thank You" to former President George W. Bush and his wife for their visit to the troops. It is inspiring - the kind of thing we should see much more often, frankly. I recommend you read it. Unlike the contempt and dismissive hatred from the leftist sages of the hypocritical Fourth Estate.

It was all the more amazing considering the legacy of this group. For example, they went to Tallahassee, Florida in 2000:

...screaming and yelling like crazy people, demanding justice and fairness and the unalienable right for all votes to count... Oh, how we RAILED against Bush in 2000...

And spouted all the routine Leftist tripe throughout his presidency:

...how we RAILED against the surge in support Bush received post-9/11 when he went to Ground Zero and stood there with his bullhorn in the ruins on that hideous day...

We were convinced that ANYONE who was president would have done what Bush did, and would have set that right tone of leadership in the wake of that disaster. President Gore, President Perot, President Nader, you name it. ANYONE, we assumed, would have filled that role perfectly...

There was a spell when we refused to even refer to Bush as the president, instead calling him “Dracula”...

But these guys had their moment of truth:

The VJs at Sidetrack [their gay bar hangout] whipped up compilation tapes of Bush tripping on stairs, flubbing lines in his speeches, dropping things, taking a wrong turn and trying to open a locked door, etc. All the things that any one of us does in the course of a week, or a day, but are mercifully never recorded doing ... And the nastiness and hate that welled up in the crowd and lasered in on Bush was palpable and frightening, if not particularly shocking, considering where we were...

It was ugly, in a world where not a frosted-tipped hair’s ever out of place and awning over youth and beauty is the order of the day; it was cruel and clumsy here sensitivity and nuanced expression are normally prized; it was unbridled and irrational hellfire...

Hello pot? This is kettle, welcome to fabulous — and to the Jekyl meets Hyde cocktail of Bush hate and showtunes at Sidetrack on a Monday in Boystown, where we very much realized we didn’t know where we belong anymore.

Because, as the Bush Administration ends, so too ends our days of believing Democrats are always good, Republicans are always evil, and gay men have a monopoly (or even firm handle) on what’s witty and clever...
One of the reasons it’s been so hard to put together our thoughts on Bush as he leaves office is because, honestly, we feel badly about the way we’ve treated him, about the things we’ve said about him, all these years.
Because George W. Bush is a decent man with a servant’s heart who did the best damn job he could. He kept us safe for seven years. He stood up to the bullies and terrorists and scoundrels of the world and said with Texas gumption and flare that America under his watch would kowtow to NO ONE.

Wow!

And, after Clinton suspended her presidential bid in June, we all found ourselves in uncharted territory because we never believed Obama would be a good president, we still don’t trust him, and decided to support a Republican for the first time in our lives. If we thought the hatred and nastiness aimed at us during the primaries when we supported Hillary over Obama was bad, we certainly didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into when we backed McCain/Palin.
But, in a strange and sick way, all the hate flung at us by the Obama trolls just emboldened us more. Everyone who told us to shut up just made us want to write and post more. It was hard to be a Democrat supporting a Republican. We alienated a lot of lifelong partisan friends, and struggled to break free of that partisan thinking ourselves. It was tough, but we knew in our heart what we were doing was right. We believed in McCain/Palin, and saw them as the next best ticket for America, after Clinton was out of the race.
And so we worked as hard for them as we did for Hillary Clinton — and in the process, we acquired a new respect for and understanding of Republicans we never had before. Never again will we walk through life with partisan blinders on. Never again will we call Republicans ugly names or automatically hate people just because they have an (R) after their name. Never again will we sit back while good, qualified, hard-working female candidates of either party are ripped apart by the media (in the form of vile pigs like Russert, Olbermann, or Matthews).

Vile pigs... and coming from some of their own! Ouch. Ironically, their tribute to outgoing President George W. Bush quoted above is one of the most moving, maybe the most moving tribute I have ever read to the man. I don't agree with everything said, but that is to be expected.

To support Hillary requires a belief in leftist ideals, and it is almost seen as a duty by gays to sign onto that agenda and all the venom and personal attacks that go with it. But I suspect that Hillbuzz's days as liberals are numbered. It appears this epiphany helped these people discover that -- like most of us who have seen through the left's misinformed ideology and intimidation tactics -- perhaps they weren't so liberal after all.

Read their FAQS. Great answers you won't hear from most liberals, like:

Q: How can you support both Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin at the same time?

A: And we say back, how can you have two favorite teachers in different subjects…or like two different football teams…or drink Coke and Pepsi? Last time we checked, this is still America, and it does not have to always be an Us v. Them world, no matter what the MSM and Liberals try to convince you.

By their own admission, these people remain "lifelong democrats." But their willingness to see through their own dogmatic partisanship and proudly recognize some of the good things George W. Bush did as president marks them as rare liberals indeed - both intellectually principled and courageous.

Keep speaking truth to power, Hillbuzz.

Bush and firefighter Bob Beckwith (AP Photo by Doug Mills)

Lou Dobbs Calls it Quits

2009-11-12T01:26:00.006-05:00

CNN newsman Lou Dobbs, an increasingly strident voice against the epidemic of illegal immigration had his last show on CNN last night. Although this has apparently been in the works for a while, he tendered his resignation suddenly, only telling his staff that afternoon. Watch his excellent resignation announcement here.

MSNBC, quoted Jonathan Klein, the president of CNN/U.S. as saying “Lou has now decided to carry the banner of advocacy journalism elsewhere.” That's funny. CNN never heard of "advocacy journalism" before? What is it that they do?

Dobbs added that he wanted:

to contribute positively to the understanding of the great issues of our day ... in the most honest and direct language possible.

Good!

Dobbs listed all the issues he thought critical to our time, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the economy, illegal immigration, and so forth. But more importantly:

...each of those issues is in my opinion informed by our capacity to demonstrate strong resilience of our now weakened capitalist economy and demonstrate the political will to overcome the lack of true representation in Washington DC. I believe these to be profoundly critically important issues…And as for the important work of restoring inspiration to our great free society and our market economy, I will strive as well to be a leader in that national conversation...

So Lou recognizes the broader picture that our entire country, our government, our very way of life, is threatened. As go those bedrock issues, so goes everything else. With the exception of the radio talk show hosts we know and love, practically no one in this country, certainly few among the political class, are doing much of anything to defend the concepts of freedom and free market which were the foundation of our greatness and our wealth.

According to the AP Dobbs said some leaders in media, politics and business "have been urging me to go beyond my role here at CNN and to engage in constructive problem-solving." If such options include running for the U.S. House of Representatives, or even better, the Senate, he will find enthusiastic support here. That tepid body is screaming for someone willing to lead on the critical issues of our day. Let's pray the GOP doesn't miss an opportunity to encourage him.

Not surprisingly, at Dobbs' announcement, all the illegal immigration advocates were out in force declaring victory. The home page of one particular site, Bastadobbs.com, shouted: "We did it!" Go to their "Who We Are" page to see all the radical affiliated sites. The only ones I didn't see up there were National Council of La Raza (NCLR), MALDEF and MEChA.

But that doesn't mean they weren't active in opposing Dobbs. On their website NCLR proudly proclaims participation in a boycott against Dobbs' CNN advertizers.

The National Council of La Raza is one of the most radical illegal immigration proponents out there. In a fashion very similar to the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), they disguise underhanded Alinsky tactics with slick PR, which has managed to co-opt some gullible -- or maybe just self-serving -- GOP Senators (like Lindsay Graham and John McCain) into supporting their agenda.

They ardently claim for example, to only be interested in legal immigration. But they were a very big partner with George Soros, ACORN, MALDEF and MEChA in the Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, who together lobbied hard for the Amnesty bill that fortunately went down in flames two years ago.

A 2007 article in Truth & Consequences exposed the radical nature of this organization. For example, regarding California's Proposition 187 barring illegal immigration, former NLCR President Raul Yzaguirre called supporters "bigots and xenophobes." He dismissed Republican efforts to court the Hispanic vote by saying "a knife in the back is deadly even if it's delivered with a smile." This despite the fact that NCLR gets annual appropriations from the federal government to assist them in their activities and enjoys bi-partisan support. So much for moderation and honesty, or gratitude for that matter.

NCLR can further be considered a player in the Crisis Strategy promoted by ACORN, Soros, and our wonderful President. This aspect of the group was described in a 2007 article that appeared in American Thinker.

Hate Speech is OK if You're a Democrat

MALDEF, The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, has a whole page of videos and articles attacking Dobbs and challenging his assertions. MALDEF also supported the horrendous Hate Crimes Legislation, that unfortunately was just signed into law, in addition to being at the forefront of defending illegal immigrants.

But ad hominem attacks are par for the course in the rare instances public figures stand on principle these days. In Dobbs' case that included an actual attack, in the form of gunshots fired at his house following a deluge of threatening phone calls.

Domestic terrorists? Janet Napolitano, where are you? Oh, that's right, it's not terrorism when the Left issues threats and fires shots at offending conservatives - a regular feature of the past few election cycles by the way. It is only terrorism when grandmothers parade in front of the Capitol, demanding the Congress act responsibly.

In a way it is discouraging that Dobbs is leaving CNN, for he represented a reed of hope that CNN might retain a shred of integrity in its reporting. More likely they made the working atmosphere too unpleasant for him to continue. Such is the way of the open-minded liberal.

Dobbs spent thirty years at CNN. Let's hope this move helps him to become a more effective agent of influence for America. There are too many agents of influence in this country that want to see America fail. Our President is one of them. Tough roads ahead.

Godspeed, Lou Dobbs.

Lou Dobbs Photo: AP File

FASCISM poster HT: Anti-Idiotarian Rotweiller

Sojourn to the Heartland

2009-10-29T23:40:00.037-04:00

Arising from the sea of anxiety about this country's future is an island of optimism. Its name is Tyler, Texas. I traveled there last Thursday, October 22nd, to speak to a feisty, up-and-coming new group called Grassroots America - We the People. The trip was arranged through TOGINET radio, whose CEO and President, John Martin, is revolutionizing internet talk with his lineup of solid conservative programming backed by cutting edge technology.

Things moved pretty fast as soon as I arrived. We drove from the airport straight to the Toginet studios, high atop Toginet Towers overlooking beautiful downtown Tyler. Right away we went into the studio to record a show with the Grassroots America folks. Another interview was scheduled for that evening on another Toginet show, Politically Correct, as well.

While between flights earlier that day, I had participated in a panel discussion by cell phone on Crusade Radio with Lor d Christopher Monckton. Lord Monckton is a highly regarded scientist and was the science advisor to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. He is traversing the United States raising the alarm bell over President Obama’s intention to sign a new global warming treaty at the Copenhagen UN Climate Change Conference in December. He was scheduled to speak to the U.S. Senate later that day, but we managed to get him scheduled for the show that evening. He was a great guest. Listen to the interview by going here and looking for his name under the “Recent Shows” heading on the right side of the page.

We the People

On Friday I spoke at a Grassroots America We the People “Call to Action” luncheon meeting. You can listen to the speech by going to Toginet’s GAWTP radio show, and look for the description of my speech under the “Recent Shows” heading.

Over the past year, the question I have been asked most frequently is, “What can we do?” People are frightened as never before. They are understandably anxious about the future, and as happens so frequently when the answer is not immediately apparent, despair that there may not be an answer.

My frequent response is that just because it is difficult to see the solution does not mean that there isn’t one. Despair never won any fight. Americans have repeatedly shown their ingenuity in the face of crisis throughout history. We may be late to stir, but once awoken are an amazingly resilient, dedicated and resourceful people. This is one of the many fruits of our freedom.

The left recognize this American spirit as a wildcard in the mix and are literally terrified of it. Joe Wilson’s spontaneous “You lie!” response to Barack Obama, and the left’s relentless campaign to discredit him afterward, despite Mr. Obama’s sweeping accusation of Republican lying mere minutes earlier, is one small example.

Grassroots America We the People is a big example of this great American spirit and goes a long way toward answering the question “What do we do?” Founder and President George Stephenson started the group on February 9th of this year as a weekly lunch meeting between himself and one other concerned activist. George had no experience in politics prior to the 2008 elections, when he was chosen as a precinct chairman.

This lunch meeting rapidly grew and attracted the attention of JoAnn Flemming, the formidable former Smith County Commissioner (and current GAWTP Board’s National Executive Director).
Eight months later the organization is 1,500 strong and growing every day. At least twelve other groups in surrounding counties have sprung up, inspired by GAWTP’s example.

GAWTP's strength lies in their focus on precinct level victories and they have created a simple cookie-cutter organizational model that can be replicated across the country. With the slogan, “Unite, Educate, Empower,” they call their strategy the County Model. It correctly recognizes that any successful effort to truly recapture America from the leftists must come from the ground up, and shows others how to do it.

Radical politicians at the national level get all the attention, and hence the focus of our outrage. But if every one were replaced tomorrow, there would still be a federal, state and local political and bureaucratic infrastructure in place dedicated to the same goals.

This destructive nest of termites has to be scoured completely out. They have insinuated themselves into our institutions at every level by stealth and duplicity. Honestly understood, they and their agenda could not survive, and GAWTP has developed the correct pest control formula.

The speech to the Friday GAWTP Call to Action meeting was well received. There was a brisk discussion following the speech and we used all of our allotted time.

Saturday I met with the group again to conduct a more informal, in depth seminar on the Manufactured Crisis Strategy. You can see the entire presentation on Reelsnap.com, here.

Again, the group was interested and animated, and we had an extensive question and answer period that used up all available time. I could have stayed all day talking with these good people.

Southern Hospitality

In addition to providing two days of very successful meetings, the folks in Tyler dished out southern hospitality in Texas-sized proportions. We dined on home-cooked southern dishes and saw the sights.

Our visit culminated with a trip to Gladewater, Texas’ famous Sacred Spur Ranch. Its storied history includes being home to the renowned Buzzard Breath barrel racing arena – the site of many competitions – and a barrel and reigning horse training facility with thirteen World Championships and twenty Reserve World Championships to its credit.

The ranch is also a night hotspot featuring popular country western acts and far and away the best ribs I have ever tasted.

Saturday night’s lineup featured the great Paula Nelson (Willie Nelson’s daughter and a star in her own right), who was at the Ranch to celebrate her birthday. Rudy Mata and the Ranch Hand Band, warmed things up, and Billy Joe Shaver, who Ranch owner Bob Miller called “My favorite songwriter and human being… the real deal… the original honky tonk hero,” closed the night with an unforgettable set.

Toginet Radio records the Saturday concerts held at the Sacred Spur, and this night was no exception. Unlike Blogtalk and other internet radio venues, Toginet (pronounced toh-gee-net) sounds as clear and sharp as FM. Listen to the whole concert! Go here and look for “Paula Nelson’s Birthday Party” under “Recent Shows.”

The show went from 7 pm to sometime past midnight. Present among the crowd was another Toginet celebrity, Eric Williams, the NFL defensive lineman who helped carry the Washington Redskins to Super Bowl history in 1991. Eric retired from football in 1993 and has relocated to Tyler. Now he co-hosts the Toginet radio show, Cowboys and Indians.

Walking among the crowd with his camera ever at the ready for a clandestine shot was the accomplished photographer, Dale Stenbroten. Dale is the owner of SR Studio.net, and has done portraits for such noted stars as Dennis Hopper, Jay Leno and Robert DeNiro. His photography is also featured in national magazines such as Oprah Winfrey’s “O,” Vanity Fair and many others.

With offices already in four locations around the country, Dale was impressed with his visit to Texas and is planning to open a studio in Houston. All photos in this article were provided courtesy of SR Studio.net.

Jim 'n Paula

It was a fantastic night of kick-ass country music and culminated in some entertaining antics. I had told my wife earlier that I was going to be “rubbing elbows” with the rich and famous, in the person of Paula Nelson, to which she replied: “Just make sure you keep it to the elbows.”

Paula is a really good sport and played up the gag to the hilt with this ad-libbed bit of theatre. The other folks in attendance were literally rolling on the ground laughing.

Fire & Brimstone

The morning after “rubbing elbows” with Paula, I felt a pressing need for redemption and hurried off to hear John C. Martin, Toginet.com President John Martin’s father, preach at his Community Presbyterian Church.

Pastor Martin preaches the old-fashioned way. He prepares. John reads and diligently translates the Bible from its original texts in Greek and Hebrew. He is a genuine Biblical scholar and has written numerous books on the subject. Read the description here about how he exhaustively prepares for each Sunday.

Pastor Martin’s sermon literally blew my socks off. Nothing like the mealy-mouthed pap you get at most churches these days, he teaches the Word unapologetically, with power born of knowledge and faith. This was followed by a question and answer session, which resolved doctrinal questions I had about Bible passages discussed in the sermon. Tyler is indeed blessed to have such a gifted preacher.

God may not forgive me for having such a great time. Just the same, I can honestly say I have rarely come away from a place feeling so revitalized, energized, and with a new sense of purpose.

Manufactured Crisis Speech

2009-10-27T10:26:00.002-04:00

Jim Simpson gave a speech on the Manufactured Crisis Strategy last Friday, October 23, to Grassroots America We the People, in Tyler, Texas. To listen, go to the Grassroots America radio program and look to the right hand side, under the “Recent Shows” heading for the following description:

The Freedom Destroying Philosophy of Leaders in the White House Administration: James Simpson's Speech on Friday Oct 23 at Call To Action Lunch Meeting in Tyler, TX.

You can either click on the “Play” button under the description or double click on it and download the podcast.

Panel Discussion with Lord Monckton Thursday!

2009-10-21T17:18:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow, Thursday, October 22, at noon eastern time, Jim Simpson will be on a radio discussion panel with Lord Christopher Monckton to talk about global warming and Lord Monckton's prophetic warning that we are about to give up our sovereignty to the UN.

Please go here for details.

Obama to surrender US sovereignty to UN at climate summit

2009-10-19T19:57:00.002-04:00

Not content with his humiliation at Copenhagen, Denmark this past September, President Obama will be traveling there again in December to attend the UN COP15 Climate Change Conference. This agreement would commit the United States to punitive and expensive greenhouse gas regulations dictated by the United Nations without recourse.

COP stands for "Conference of the Parties" and the December Copenhagen conference will be the 15th under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), hence COP15. According to their website, it will be one of the largest conferences ever held outside the New York or Geneva headquarters, with an anticipated attendance of over 10,000 people, including governmental representatives from 189 countries, industry groups, and other non-governmental organizations.

The theme of the December 7 - 18 conference is "Hope," so perhaps Mr. Obama will have more luck this time. Instead of soliciting the International Olympic Committee with trite cliché and no payoffs, he will be doing something much easier: selling out our country. After all, ceding power, relinquishing billions in U.S. tax dollars and destroying U.S. economic competitiveness is a pretty easy sell to the countries that will benefit, and he has had a lot of practice doing the same thing here at home. He will have a hard time screwing this one up.

The Hope site optimistically pronounces:

On 7 December, leaders from 192 countries gather for UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen and decide the fate of our planet...

Decide the fate of our planet... Do these people have any idea how mindlessly grandiose they sound? Of course not. They are out to save the planet, just like Nancy Pelosi! It is hard for a normal person to imagine making such proclamations without embarrassment. But this is today's political class

This agreement will cede U.S. sovereignty permanently and irrevocably to the United Nations. So said British Lord Christopher Monckton at an event at Bethel University in St Paul, Minnesota this past Wednesday, October 14th.

Lord Monckton was former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's science advisor. He has lectured and written extensively on the issue, including an in-depth scientific critique to the 50,000 member American Physical Society, a serious side-by-side comparison slap-down of Al Gore's global warming assertions, and a recent summary of the global warming issue. In introducing his topic at Bethel University, he states unequivocally:

...and I am going to show you the latest science, which now doesn't leave the question unsettled any more, this is now settled science, it is now settled science that there is not a problem with our influence over the climate. The science is in, the truth is out, and the scare is over.

You can watch his entire 1 hour 35 minute presentation here - well worth the time if you can spare it. The slideshow he frequently points to in this presentation can be viewed along with the video, here. Lord Monckton presents a series of statistics, charts and studies making a compelling case that not only is global warming insignificant - if it exists at all - but is likely not manmade, and more importantly, that the global warming alarmists have repeatedly, blatantly, deliberately lied, suppressing the facts to promote the myth.

Despite his effective refutation of manmade global warming, his closing remarks about the Copenhagen treaty are chilling:

I read that treaty. And what it says is this, that a world government is going to be created. The word "government" actually appears as the first of three purposes of the new entity. The second purpose is the transfer of wealth from the countries of the West to third world countries, in satisfication of what is called, coyly, "climate debt" because we've been burning CO2 and they haven't. We've been screwing up the climate and they haven’t. And the third purpose of this new entity, this government, is enforcement.

So, thank you, America. You were the beacon of freedom to the world. It is a privilege merely to stand on this soil of freedom while it is still free. But, in the next few weeks, unless you stop it, your president will sign your freedom, your democracy, and your humanity away forever. And neither you nor any subsequent government you may elect will have any power whatsoever to take it back. That is how serious it is. I've read the treaty. I've seen this stuff about [world] government and climate debt and enforcement. They are going to do this to you whether you like it or not.

Watch him make his powerful concluding remarks in this Youtube video. (4 mins.)

You might call it a bit of rhetorical overkill, but given everthing else this administration and Congress have already done, only a bit. As Monckton later stated in a Q & A session, for such a treaty to be ratified requires a positive vote from a two-thirds majority in the U.S. Senate.

It seems difficult to imagine Democrats convincing seven Republicans to assist them in committing national suicide that way. Indeed, a recent Wall Street Journal article quoted Senate Republicans as saying that whatever deal Obama cut at Copenhagen would be dead on arrival:

Wisconsin Rep. James Sensenbrenner, the top Republican on the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, predicts "a repeat of Kyoto -- namely an environmentally ineffective agreement that cannot be ratified" by the Senate.

However, perhaps an easier option would be for Democrats to pass legislation enacting some or all of the proposals. The House has already passed the Waxman-Markey (Cap and Trade) bill. This onerous legislation calls for an 83 percent reduction in greenhouse gasses from 2005 levels by 2050. That means almost complete elimination of carbon based fuels, and parallels the goals identified in COP15, which asks participating countries to reduce global emmissions 50-85% by 2050.

Such reductions would essentially bring our economy to a screeching halt, as Lord Monckton states in his speech. Even the more modest goal for 2020 of a 17 percent reduction will force radical changes in how we do business and conduct our daily lives.

Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and the increasingly addled Lindsay Graham (R-SC), put out an Op-Ed in the New York Times last week, under the frighteningly Obamanoid title "Yes We Can," indicating that perhaps Senate Republicans shouldn't be so sanguine either. Their article concludes thusly (emphasis added):

We are confident that a legitimate bipartisan effort can put America back in the lead again and can empower our negotiators to sit down at the table in Copenhagen in December and insist that the rest of the world join us in producing a new international agreement on global warming.

So if Kerry and Graham get their way, not only is America going to agree to UN global warming regulations, we are going to lead the charge in getting them imposed!

And the UN panel is fully anticipating a more conciliatory approach from the US. Recognizing Kerry's efforts, as UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer, stated:

I think that a major shortcoming of Kyoto was that the official delegation came back with a treaty they knew was never going to make it through the Senate. And this time I have the feeling that the communication is much stronger, that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, through John Kerry, is really expressing strongly what they feel needs to be done in Copenhagen.

Thank you John Kerry.

The UN website states the following about COP15 (emphasis added):

This [the 2009 Bangkok climate change talks] was the penultimate negotiating session before COP 15 in Copenhagen in December, at which an ambitious and effective international climate change deal is to be clinched.

Before COP15, there will be a final round of negotiations November 2-6 in Barcelona, Spain at the Barcelona Convention Center.

The most recent UNFCCC Working Group report (181 pages) can be accessed here in PDF format. Much of it references earlier documents, of which there are many. To fully assess the ramifications of this proposal would likely require referencing these earlier documents as well.

While the prospects for Senate ratification of this treaty are probably in doubt, it seems likely the US Congress may try to pass Waxman - Markey or some other hybrid legislation using the same underhanded tactics now in play on healthcare. All the more reason to redouble our efforts at getting them out in 2010.

Suffice it to say that if the carbon reduction targets already discussed are adapted by this country, nevermind whatever other onerous provisions are in this treaty, we might as well all buy a horse and buggy - sorry, rickshaw; horses create methane - because we will be headed back into the 18th century.

Additional Resources:

UNFCCC and Kyoto Protocol: Guide to Climate Change Negotiations (2008)

SourceWatch: UNFCCC summary, listing all participating parties, all COP meetings past and scheduled, and other useful information

Democrats Playing Shell Game with Health Proposals

2009-10-14T15:03:00.004-04:00

So the Senate Finance Committee headed by Max Baucus (D-MT) passed its healthcare bill out of committee yesterday. It is an onerous proposal, as we detailed a few days ago.

One lone Republican, the feckless Olympia Snowe (R-ME) voted in favor of the bill. In endorsing it, she said:

Is this bill all that I would want? Far from it. Is it all that it can be? No. But when history calls, history calls...

History calls. Right. Baucus said something similar.

So let's make "history" by ruining one of the best healthcare systems in the world. Do any of these politicians understand logic? That was a rhetorical question. They don't. Doing something is not necessarily better than doing nothing. It can make things even worse, and in this case that is guaranteed.

All the politicians in favor of governmental action cite the unsustainable "rising costs" of healthcare. For Americans who pay for their own healthcare, whether directly or through private insurance, this is a legitimate concern. But every piece of legislation under consideration, including this one, forces these same people to pay much more.

But politicians really aren't concerned with the rising costs to us, even though they sell "reform" by pretending to be. When they speak of "rising costs" they are talking about the cost to government!

Meanwhile, the Baucus bill guarantees that quality and availability of healthcare will decline. This is explicitly outlined by inclusion of government appointed healthcare panels (yes, the Death Panels) and implicitly guaranteed by reductions in reimbursements to hospitals and doctors - at current rates already too low. Finally, it includes no effort at malpractice liability reform, which unnecessarily wastes hundreds of billions of dollars each year.

However, this bill is not as bad as it could be. Things will only go downhill from here.

The Senate passed another healthcare bill out of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee this past July. Remember Reagan's famous joke? "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'"

Well, Godhelp us.

Treasonous Teddy Kennedy (D-MA) contributed to that bill before becoming too ill to do more damage. But the torch was picked up by fellow corrupt, dissolute leftist Christopher Dodd (D-CT) and HELP Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA), another radical leftist.

What happens now is that Senate Majority leader Harry Reid (D-NE), and Senators Baucus, Harkin, Dodd and whatever other co-conspirators are part of the plot will gather in Reid's office. In a front page story yesterday, (As Panel Votes Today, Democrats Look Ahead, Tuesday October 13, 2009) the Washington Post painted a charming picture of the secret dealings to come:

In the Senate, negotiations are shifting from the public forum of the Finance Committee to a more cloistered setting: the seating area in front of the marble fireplace in the office of Majority Leader Harry M. Reid ... Baucus will retreat to Reid's office along with Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D- Conn.) and a handful of top White House officials to meld the finance panel's package with an alternative bill that Dodd shepherded through the Senate health committee in July.

"Cloistered setting..." Right.

Olympia Snowe has harped frequently on her cordial meetings with President Obama to discuss the healthcare issue. But now that she has managed to make this healthcare monstrosity "bi-partisan" do you think she'll be included in these fireside chats? Meanwhile, the folks back in Maine may finally be getting the message that she is betraying them (in addition to the rest of the country.)

But she has competition. Not to be outdone in witlessness, Snowe's fellow senator, Susan Collins has today indicated she is willing to support healthcare "reform" as well. What is the matter with the water in Maine? Has it been tainted by Canadian socialists, or what?

Do you see what the Democrats are doing? Now that the Senate has it's cherished but completely phony "estimate" from CBO claiming "deficit reduction of $81 billion over ten years," a bill excluding the dreaded "public option," and the "bi-partisan" stamp from the mindless senior senator from Maine, it will go about formulating the real bill. This will happen behind closed doors, with little if any opportunity for public review and the mass media will doubtless do their part to keep it quiet.

In the meantime, there are three more healthcare bills circulating in the House of Representatives, every one even more radical than the Baucus travesty. These will eventually be reconciled, in similar secret fashion, with whatever mess comes out of combining the two Senate bills.

Leftists in government created a crisis in healthcare to advance their agenda. The end goal is the complete takeover of the healthcare industry by the federal government. They will get what they really want, control, and we the people will suffer incalculably. Hospitals will close their doors, healtcare providers will go out of business, and future healthcare practitioners will seek other, more promising professions. We will pay more and face long lines for inferior service, or get no service at all, as every other nation that went this way has experienced.

Change only a socialist could dream about - soon to be reality for the United States. God save us!

Democrat Senators Exempt Home States from Health Bill

2009-10-12T05:18:00.003-04:00

Senate Democrats, who think healthcare "reform" is so important that we shouldn't take time to read the legislation, are now scurrying to exempt their home states from its costly provisions. In a Wall Street Journal article last Thursday, Kimberly Stassel described the situation:

A central feature of the Baucus bill is the vast expansion of state Medicaid programs. This is necessary, we are told, to cover more of the nation's uninsured. The provision has angered governors, since the federal government will cover only part of the expansion and stick fiscally strapped states with an additional $37 billion in costs.

Majority Leader, Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) has cut a deal to exempt Nevada from these costs for the next five years. Generous Mr. Reid saw to it that Oregon, Rhode Island and Michigan got the same exclusion, using a formula known only to the Nevada Senator, because "they are suffering more than most."

Sure.

It has nothing to do with Reid's tough battle to retain his seat in the upcoming election cycle. Can't imagine what he got from those other states. Prime real estate? Or maybe just cover.

Other senators have raised the minimum tax threshold for high dollar health insurance plans because the thresholds provided in the Baucus bill turned out not to be so "high dollar" after all, hitting middle income folks in many states. 17 mostly blue states have gotten some version of this change.

Still more Democrats have made additional changes that benefit their respective states or lifted provisions that would otherwise hurt their constituents. Stassel concludes:

So, health-care "reform" is good, smart and necessary, so long as it isn't fully applied to the states of the senators who are pushing it. The Democrats' growing problem is that somebody is ultimately going to have to pay, and Mr. Reid's bad example has given every one the same idea. If Colorado has a fair claim on being treated the same way Nevada has been, of course we're going to ask to have that kind of treatment, promised Sen. Mark Udall, upon news of the Reid deal.

The naked self-serving, gall of these utterly corrupt Democrats defies belief. It is ironic that perhaps their corruption might possibly work in our favor for a change. Since Democrats seem intent on saving their own rear ends by exempting some of their constituents from the more costly provisions of this bill. Perhaps in their panic they will carve out so many loopholes that the whole thing falls apart.

It is a sad testimonial to the depths this country has sunk that we should have to rely on the self-serving impulses of Democrat senators to save us from some aspects of the legislation they are trying to saddle us with. But since "principled" Democrats are virtually impossible to find these days, it may well be the most we can hope for.

Finally, it seems impossible to concieve that these Democrat senators are unaware of the demoralizing impact their wantonly corrupt behavior has on the people of this country. More likely they are aware of it and see it as an added benefit. A demoralized population is much easier to manage.

That is why it is critically important to remain engaged. These people must be removed from office or we will lose our country.

Baucus Health Bill True Cost: $2 Trillion!

2009-10-09T13:32:00.002-04:00

The Congressional Budget Office published its preliminary estimate Wednesday of the health overhaul bill crafted in secret by Montana Senator Max Baucus's Finance Committee. According to CBO, the Bill's $829 billion ten year cost would be offset by $910 billion in "savings," resulting in a net $81 billion reduction in the federal budget deficit by 2019.

Right. Take a deep breath.

Included in the "savings" estimates are about $507 billion, that is one-half a trillion dollars in new taxes and penalties and $404 billion in cost reductions. Most of the cost reductions would come on the backs of service providers, meaning service cuts to Medicare recipients, and a preliminary reading suggests a majority of the new taxes would come from higher income clients who pay for their service already. It includes a 40 percent excise tax on the more generous health-insurance plans, but due to inflation, over time this tax would cover lower cost plans as well.

It gets better.

The operating assumptions underlying cost estimates are usually heroically optimistic and peppered with backside-covering caveats. The assumptions used are also the place to spot future problems. Taken directly from the CBO report, the following should give any reasonable person pause:

These projections assume the proposals are enacted and remain unchanged throughout the next two decades, which is often not the case for major legislation." (Emphasis mine.)

That is an understatement. When legislation like this passes it is almost always bare bones, a camel's nose under the tent. Once they have managed to sign the bill into law, legislators come out of the woodwork turning it into a Christmas tree for new proposals.

Every piece of similar legislation in the past, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, AFDC and any other entitlement you can name grew exponentially after it became law, not merely because the program attracted so many beneficiaries, but primarily because legislators added new provisions on an almost yearly basis.

That is what will happen with this bill. Although it will likely happen much faster, because complete socialization of medicine is the ultimate goal, and they have been working to achieve this for almost a century. Read on:

The projected savings for the proposal reflect the cumulative impact of a number of specifications that would constrain payment rates for providers of Medicare services. (Emphasis mine)

This will cause service cuts to Medicare. Expect to see doctors abandon ship en masse. Here are some more gems:

Payments to physicians would be lowered by constraining Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) increases.

While this amounts to price controls - a bad thing - it is a big part of the cost savings in this bill. Cato Institute claims that Congress routinely blocks such restraints and will do so again. If that happens, there goes $200 billion in "savings." Cato has found an additional $108 billion in federal spending it says CBO overlooked.

Payment rates for many other service providers would be held below the level of inflation. (Emphasis mine.)

In real terms, this amounts to a pay cut (read more shortages.)

Now here is the kicker:

The projected longer-term savings for the proposal also assume that the Medicare Commission is relatively effective at reducing costs-beyond the reductions that would be achieved by other aspects of the proposal...

Medicare Commission? What is that? Could it possibly be the dreaded Death Panel?

The proposal would also establish a Medicare Commission, which would be required, under certain circumstances, to recommend changes to the Medicare program to limit the rate of growth in that program's spending.

Death Panel? C'mon! Don't be ridiculous! That was only what that silly Palin girl called it. This is simply a reasonable effort to control costs as some lawyer at Oxford University Press Blog described.

Granny, grandpa, ruuuun!

This Commission is severely restricted in the current proposal as indicated by the relatively paltry savings CBO projected due to its activities: $22 billion. Yet the statement above clearly suggests that a much bigger role for the Commission is envisioned in later years.

And finally:

The long-term budgetary impact could be quite different if those provisions were ultimately changed or not fully implemented.

So in order to make this thing work there will be $500 billion in new taxes and service cuts totalling another $400 billion, and most of those cuts will be achieved by this new "Medicare Commission." Great!

But they didn't tell you everything. The CBO made vague references to "national health expenditures":

Members have also requested information about the effect of proposals on national health expenditures (NHE). CBO does not analyze NHE as closely as it does the federal budget, however, and at this point the agency has not assessed the net effect of the current proposal on NHE...

Whoa! What do we call this, an er...ah... oversight?

They are talking about an additional one trillion dollars!

Over half the bill's mandates are unfunded and fall on businesses and individuals, and so are not counted in the "cost to government!"

This information is what killed Hillary's proposal in 1994 and is the reason they kept it out of this one!

And here is the last shocker of this CBO estimate: they did it without even seeing the legislation! None was provided to them to make these estimates, so we still don't even know what's really in the bill!

There are a host of other frauds being perpetrated on us right now by our government regarding health care. So let's get something straight about the high percentage of GDP (16-17 percent) devoted to healthcare in this country, because it is widely misunderstood.

First, most of the excessive costs of American medical care are the result of government intervention. In fact proponents of socialized medicine anticipated that the costs of Medicare and Medicaid would create a crisis in health care, generating calls for reform. Their ready answer was just more of the same.

We would all like to see costs of medical care come down. This country should move to reduce costs by removing the causes: excessive government intervention that distorts the market. The many ways government intervenes and the many solutions are beyond the scope of this essay, but that is the answer.

But more importantly, even were this not true, it is irrelevant. It is not a zero sum game! This is the mistake all socialists make. You have heard the argument: "If we spend less on health care, we can spend more on other things."

When government confiscates the income generated by productive activity in one sector of the economy (it doesn't matter which sector), and transfers it to a sector of the economy that produces nothing (the government) the entire economy suffers.

Conversely, the healthcare sector of the economy is largely self-supporting - or would be, if the government got out of the way. That is, it thrives, without government help, on the productive activity of its professionals with the dollars voluntarily contributed by its clients (you and I.)

You and I are not constrained by what we voluntarily pay in order to stay healthy. We are constrained by parasitic government activity that confiscates today at least one third of our annual earnings without providing commensurate benefit.

This country chooses a high level of care. We prefer it that way, and so far, we have been able to afford it. Government's growing intrusion into the healthcare market may put costs out of reach, but be clear on the cause!

However, with ever higher taxes and ever more regulation over everything we do, our government is gradually strangling us. Now they are spending not only our hard-earned dollars, but a good portion of the dollars future generations are expected to earn before they are even able to earn it. Will they be able to?

And now House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has been caught on tape calling for a Value-Added-Tax (VAT) to pay for the healthcare bill and other goodies. Does this mean even the Democrats recognize CBO's cost estimates are a fraud? They should, because it is.

The healthcare overhaul bill currently hiding in the Senate Finance Committee of Max Baucus is a walking disaster. Proponents of this monstrosity claim we have to do something or things will get worse. Newsflash: things can always get worse, and under this bill they certainly will.

(Nancy Pelosi AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Ayers admits 'Dreams' authorship again - just kidding

2009-10-08T12:07:00.007-04:00

The news that Bill Ayers admitted authorship of Obama's 'Dreams From My Father' posted on these pages yesterday generated a lot of interest and comment. While most believe Ayers to be the author, some doubted the story that he would admit it to anyone, much less a conservative blogger. Others dismissed it as simply a tease. Salon.com ridiculed it (what do you expect), and still others thought the whole thing irrelevant either way.

It has come to light that he said almost the identical thing to a National Journal reporter recently. Jonah Goldberg at National Review put up a post today in The Corner quoting the Journal's Will Englund:

Who actually wrote Dreams From My Father? ... National Journal caught up with Ayers at a recent book festival ... When he finished speaking, we put the authorship question right to him. For a split second, Ayers was nonplussed. Then an Abbie Hoffmanish, steal-this-book-sort-of-smile lit up his face. He gently took National Journal by the arm. "Here's what I'm going to say. This is my quote. Be sure to write it down: 'Yes, I wrote Dreams From My Father. I ghostwrote the whole thing. I met with the president three or four times, and then I wrote the entire book.'" He released National Journal's arm, and beamed in Marxist triumph. "And now I would like the royalties."

This is pretty much identical to what he said Monday. In light of that, I am inclined to agree with the skeptics that he was just having a joke on us. Or maybe it was a little more than that. Maybe this is the beginning of another smear campaign, wherein anyone who suggests Bill Ayers wrote Obama’s book is castigated, like people who question Obama’s eligibility. “Sure, I wrote Dreams, ha, ha, ha, and Sleeping Beauty too.”

It seems pretty clear that he did write most or all of the book. This is stated plainly in Christopher Andersen's biography, never mind Cashill's diligent sleuthing. And while no one, left or otherwise, would deny Ayers lies, Andersen's veracity has never been doubted before now.

As to its relevance, this is a blockbuster story really, because it completely discredits Obama's carefully crafted image. From that standpoint it makes sense that Ayers would try to ridicule those of us peddling it. As Jack Cashill makes clear at American Thinker today,

First, it reveals Obama to have been a shameless liar in his disavowal of Ayers during the campaign. Second, it suggests a dangerously intimate relationship with a man whose hatred of the United States borders on the pathological. And third, it makes a total sham out of the literary world's anointment of Obama as "the best writer to occupy the White House since Lincoln," the understanding on which the Obama genius myth is based.

Remember, influential people decided to back this president based on his supposed authorship of Dreams.

In light of the National Journal post it seems clear that Ayers was playing games, and I bought into it. Oh well, there goes perfect for the day.

But whatever Ayers hoped to gain, the story is not going away.

Ayers has been a very influential person in Obama's life going back at least to the early 1990s, and likely the 1980s. In the 1990s, Ayers helped Obama gain access to the deep pockets of Chicago foundations, where he used them to grease the skids for his political career.

He was a key player in many of the pro-Obama leftist organizations that helped Obama gain the White House. Until Ayers was summarily tossed under the bus in the campaign last year, many believed he was still a key influence, a mentor even.

The story of his authorship remains relevant and provides yet more fuel for those of us who believe that President Obama gained office on false pretenses, is a danger to this country and thoroughly unfit to serve.

Ayers may well be trying to marginalize those who legitimately question his role as Obama’s ghostwriter on Dreams. But he is playing with fire, considering the evidence that is at hand.

Photograph: Jeff Sciortino