Thursday, September 17, 2009
'Probe' March attendees for racist views
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The media should investigate the racial views of conservative activists like the ones who attended the Washington anti-big government march last weekend, one liberal congresswoman said Wednesday.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said that it's not enough for African-Americans to levy allegations of racism against the right-leaning protesters, and that the media must look into their views.
"I want those people talked to; I want them interviewed,"
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The 'Racism' Canard
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In the wake of Joe Wilson's crude outburst, many network commentators (and Jimmy Carter, of course) are weighing in on the new racism that supposedly explains 1) rising opposition to Obamacare and 2) the president's sinking polls.
I think this is a disastrous political move to save a health-care plan that simply has not appealed to a majority of Americans. I suspect it will result in another 5-point poll slide.
[Let's hope. The race baiters must be held accountable for the severe harm they do our nation with false racism charges. We just elected a black president for crying out loud, racism is not a pervasive problem in this country.
At least not among whites, or BO couldn't have been elected.]
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POLL: Americans Overwhelmingly Reject Racism Claims
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Twelve percent (12%) of voters nationwide believe that most opponents of President Obama’s health care reform plan are racist. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 67% of voters disagree, and 21% are not sure.
Eighty-eight percent (88%) of Republicans reject the notion that most of the opponents are racist. So do 78% of voters not affiliated with either major party.
However, just 39% of Democrats share that view. Twenty-two percent (22%) of those in the president’s party say that most of the opposition to his plan comes from racists, and another 39% are not sure.
Wilson’s comment forced the White House to issue a clarification of its position on health care coverage for illegal aliens and added a further complication for advocates of the plan, as eighty-three percent (83%) of voters nationwide say that people should be required to prove they are citizens before receiving government health care benefits.
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Senate's 10-year health fix would cost US $856B
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Sen. Max Baucus on Wednesday brought out the much-awaited Finance Committee version of an American health-system remake — a landmark $856 billion, 10-year measure that starts a rough ride through Congress without visible Republican backing.
The bill by Baucus, chairman of the Finance Committee, would make major changes to the nation's $2.5 trillion health care system, including requiring all individuals to purchase health care or pay a fine...
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New IBD Poll Disputes Media Claims Most Doctors Back ObamaCare
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A new Investor’s Business Daily poll of more than 1,300 physicians finds that nearly two-thirds (65%) don’t back ObamaCare, more than 70% say the government cannot provide insurance coverage for 47 million additional people and save money without harming quality, and 45% of doctors say they “would consider leaving their practice or taking an early retirement” if the liberal health care plan passes.
Earlier this week, as the front-page story in today’s Investor’s Business Daily noted, the Los Angeles Times ran a front-page story touting the American Medical Association (AMA)’s backing of President Obama’s health care plans, while a National Public Radio publicized a poll funded by a pro-ObamaCare group to claim that “nearly three-quarters of doctors said they favor a public option.”
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POLL: Opposition to Health Care Reform Reaches New High at 55%
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The latest Rasmussen Reports daily tracking poll shows that just 42% now support the plan, matching the low first reached in August.
A week ago, 44% supported the proposal and 53% were opposed, but then the president had yet another prime-time speech on the topic.
If the plan passes, twice as many say the quality of care will get worse vs. better (50%, 24%). Fifty-three percent (53%) say passage of the plan will make the cost of health care go up while 17% say it will make costs go down.
Despite declining overall support, 51% still say that health care reform is likely to pass this year.
['Representative' government?]
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A "Sting"-ing Indictment of Media Hypocrisy
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Undercover journalism is only acceptable when it fits a liberal agenda.
That is the message from "professional" reporters and left-wing activists outraged about three successful video stings targeting President Obama's old friends at the left-wing tax-subsidized outfit ACORN...
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AP Report On Census Bureau's Firing minimizes ACORN, blames on Republicans
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In no less than four seperate videos (full script here) viewers have seen helpful ACORN employees tell O'Keefe and Giles, among many jaw-dropping things, that:
- Giles should call herself a “freelance performing artist” for tax purposes.
- That they should claim three of 13 underage girls the pair planned to bring in from El Salvador to work as prostitutes as dependents.
- That the prostitute should also claim child tax credits for those declared as "dependents."
O'Keefe and Giles piled on Friday morning by releasing a second pair of videos showing that they had pulled off a similar sting at ACORN's DC office.
But if we're to believe the Associated Press, Friday's out of the blue decision by the Census Bureau to sever its ties with ACORN in connection with the 2010 census had nothing or at most very little to do with what O'Keefe and Giles pulled off.
Instead, Yen portrayed the decision as a cave-in to the minority party in Washington known as Republicans. Uh-huh.READ MORE
ACORN Story Grows But Mainstream Media Reluctant to Cover It
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ACORN Story Grows But Mainstream Media Reluctant to Cover It
CBS and NBC Finally Catch Up to ACORN Scandal; Express Sympathy for the Left-Wing Group
ABC World News Boss on Ignoring ACORN: 'We're Not in the Business of Noise'
Jon Stewart Mocks Media on ACORN Story: ‘Where the Hell Were You?’
[Think about that; the comedian had it more right than our major 'professional' news orgs.]
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ACORN Suspends Operations
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ACORN, calling the actions of some of its employees “indefensible,” has suspended advising new clients as part of its service programs and is setting up an independent review to see what happened.
ACORN chief executive Bertha Lewis said in a written statement that she was “ordering a halt to any new intakes into ACORN’s service programs until completion of an independent review.”
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'Liquid bomb' plotters sentenced in London to life in prison
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London - Three British Muslim extremists were all handed life sentences on Monday after being found guilty last week of plotting to blow up transatlantic passenger aircraft with home-made liquid bombs.
The 28-year-old ringleader of the group, Abdulla Ahmed Ali, was given a minimum of 40 years in prison, while his accomplices Assad Sarwar, 29, and Tanvir Hussain, 28, received a minimum of 36 and 32 years, respectively..
[If only our intelligence agencies could find some point of commonality between all these terrorists...
GWOT]
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FBI unit set for more anti-terror raids in Queens; Fears of Madrid-style subway bombings
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Fearful of a Madrid-style subway train bombing, authorities are poised to make more raids to seize bomb-making materials at locations in Queens, sources said Wednesday.
The FBI's elite Hostage Rescue Team arrived in New York in anticipation of the offensive to thwart a Denver-based terror cell with ties to Al Qaeda, police sources told the Daily News...
[GWOT]
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Al Qaida moves the battle to Iraq
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What do you do if you're Osama with an S? Easy. You attack where the enemy is retreating. The Americans are pulling back in Iraq, so that's where you start to truck-bomb civilians again, to show that they can't rely on the Americans, and the Iraqi government is helpless. The goal is to spread terror until the people buckle under again.
In Iraq we are therefore seeing a series of massive suicide bombs against civilians. American military sources think AQ is doing it. Ahmadinejad may be aiding them, or anybody else, including Saudi princes and Iraq's own political parties. It's a snake's nest. But the Gulf region is the biggest source of oil. [incorrect: North America is the largest source - were it developed] Whoever controls the Gulf controls Europe and the Middle East. Who else will do it besides the US? Well, there's Ahmadinejad just waiting in the wings.
In Afghanistan Obama has imposed new rules of engagement, resulting in four US Marines killed last week when they were pinned down and denied artillery support.
In sum: Eight years after 9/11/01, the US is being attacked again by Al Qaida, but this time in Iraq. They will attack us where they see weakness, and Obama can be pushed most easily in the war he campaigned against.
Under George W. Bush we had AQ on the run, but Bush was crucified by the Left for whipping Al Qaida in Iraq. Bush was supposed to wait until they came to New York City again, and get them there. But now Obama's retreat from Iraq will result in a power vacuum that both Al Qaida and Tehran will try to fill.
And we are going to see more US deaths as Obama leaves our military on the defensive....
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Anti-Americanism: Alive and Well in the Age of Obama
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Islamic countries distrust the United States under the leadership of President Obama about as much as they did under President George W. Bush. What's going on?
Throughout the Bush presidency, opinion polling from the Pew Research Center trumpeted America’s “abysmal” approval ratings across the globe. The problem, pollsters suggested with numbing regularity, was that a “cowboy president” had inflamed the Muslim world...
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Hillary Clinton Hosts Iftar, Reaches Out to Muslim Communities
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Hillary Clinton reached out to Muslim communities at home and abroad by hosting an ''iftar'' at the State Department Monday evening.
"Iftar" refers the one meal participating Muslims have each day after fasting from sun-up to sun-down for one month, in observation of Ramadan -- the holiest period of each year and the ninth month in the Islamic calendar.
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Focusing on 9/11 Victims - Muslims
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With the eight year anniversary of 9/11 mere hours away, the Associated Press wrote a very moving, very emotional piece, focusing on victims who fear leaving the house on that day, victims who will never view that day as routine, victims who get a sick feeling in their stomach when the anniversary arrives each year - Muslims.
Yet there is little mention of Americans themselves who feel a little less safe on 9/11, and there is no attempt at all to capture the anxiety of those who still give a quick glance up to the sky each time the sound of an airplane fills their ears.
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An Iran Next Door
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Security: When a tropical thug vows to go nuclear, he's easy to dismiss as a blowhard. But Hugo Chavez's menacing plans are growing more specific and call for a stronger U.S. response. Fresh from what he called his most successful "Axis of Evil" tour, the anti-American strongman won not only Russian contracts for new S-300 rocket systems and T-72 tanks last week, but $2.2 billion in Russian cash to buy them...
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Cuba won't make any concessions wants embargo lifted anyway
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Havana, Cuba - Cuba will not make any political or policy concessions to improve relations with the U.S. - no matter how small, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said Wednesday, snubbing Washington's suggestions that some reforms could lead to better ties.
He told a news conference that the United States must lift its 47-year-old trade embargo without waiting for anything in return...
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Job-killing policies could doom Democrat hopes
"The level of unemployment is unacceptably high. And will, by all forecasts, remain unacceptably high for a number of years."
Who do you suppose said that? A Republican political operative? A Fox News political analyst? One of those Tea Partiers who assembled in Washington on Sept. 12?
No, it was Lawrence Summers, the director of President Obama's National Economic Council and, by common consent, one of the world's leading economists...
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POLL: 54% Say Tax Hikes Bad for the Economy
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Just 16% of U.S. voters believe that tax increases help the economy. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds most voters (54%) say tax increases hurt the economy, a number that has been fairly consistent for more than a decade. Fourteen percent (14%) say tax increases have no impact, and 16% are not sure.
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TAXING HEALTH CARE
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Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus released his revenue "policy options" and high on the list is . . . taxing health benefits. The tax exclusion is such a big revenue prize because Baucus is scrubbing every other tax nook and cranny and only coming up with rounding errors. A sampler:
- End or limit the tax-exempt status of charitable hospitals, which only costs currently a mere $6 billion a year.
- Make college students in work-study programs subject to the payroll tax; also targeted are medical residents,
- Reducing Medicare reimbursement rates for supposedly "over valued physician services," such as diagnostic imaging; CBO says that requiring doctors to get prior clearance could save $1 billion in 10 years.
- For individuals with high-deductible insurance plans, contributions to health savings accounts would no longer be tax deductible; that would penalize patients who choose plans that encourage them to be informed consumers
To finance government-run health care, liberals will have to tax everything in sight, and that includes your current health insurance...
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Cap And Trade Could Cost Families $1,761 A Year
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The Obama administration has privately concluded that a cap and trade law would cost American taxpayers up to $200 billion a year, the equivalent of hiking personal income taxes by about 15 percent.
A previously unreleased analysis prepared by the U.S. Department of Treasury says the total in new taxes would be between $100 billion to $200 billion a year...
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TAXING OUR WAY TO ENERGY INSECURITY AGAIN
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In June, the Institute for 21st Century Energy issued a report outlining the reasons why the Obama Administration's efforts to levy new taxes and fees on the oil and gas industry is a bad idea.
According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the report outlines the many reasons why singling out the oil and gas industries is bad for America, including increasing our reliance on foreign oil, harming U.S. economic competitiveness, and jeopardizing jobs while increasing costs to consumers.
Of particular concern is the fact that national oil companies (NOCs) will gain a competitive advantage over U.S. companies if oil and gas taxes be raised.
Already, 17 of the top 25 oil and gas producing companies are national companies, the largest of which are based in the Middle East, Russia, China and Venezuela. NOCs currently account for 51 percent of world oil and gas production.
Instead of raising oil and gas taxes, the Institute recommends:
- Making public areas [the ones we supposedly own] available for lease and exploration, which could create as many as 160,000 new jobs, increase government revenues by as much as $1.7 trillion and offset nearly 20 percent of imported oil.
- Changing the tax code such as reducing the recovery period for investment in electricity transmission lines. [I.e., an instant 'fix']
- Creating policies that encourage greater use of natural gas, and increasing and making permanent the research and development tax credit.
Since the Obama Administration seems intent on taxing us back to energy insecurity again, it will be up to Congress to reject this approach and pursue a path that will instead increase our energy security.
[That means up to us, and silence will be interpreted as consent.]
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[Then >
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Pledge of Confusion
asldkfjs
It's a new school year, but an old fight is brewing in American classrooms. Teachers and administrators around the country are scratching their heads once again over the Pledge of Allegiance.
The courts have consistently ruled that students have the right not to recite the pledge in public schools. But now some First Amendment advocates are taking it one step further, arguing that the law compels educators to inform kids at the beginning of school that the decision is entirely up to them.
They're advocating a "Miranda warning" for the Pledge -- an administrative notice to students that they have the right to remain silent...
[I've an idea: let's leave it up to their parents - if they don't want Jr. saying the pledge, a note to the teacher will get him excused.
Of course there's no extra staffing funds my way - never mind.]
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G, B, F...
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Weekly Standard Mocks WaPo Crusade Against Bob McDonnell
The Weekly Standard parodied the Washington Post for its biased, obsessive coverage of Virginia gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell:
Weekly Standard Mocks WaPo Crusade Against Bob McDonnell
The Weekly Standard parodied the Washington Post for its biased, obsessive coverage of Virginia gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell:"Post Runs Another Story About Its McDonnell Story: Stories to run until ‘controversy’ takes on life of its own, sources say."...
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Supreme Court Asked if ''Redskins'' Offends
A group of American Indians who find the Washington Redskins' name offensive wants the Supreme Court to take up the matter. The group on Monday asked the justices to review a lower court decision that favored the NFL team on a legal technicality.
Seven Native Americans have been working through the court system since 1992 to have the Redskins trademarks declared invalid...
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POLL: 57% View Pelosi Unfavorably, But That’s An Improvement
...that’s down seven points from late last month when she hit an all-time high in terms of unpopularity. This puts Pelosi’s unfavorables back to where they were in February.
Forty-two percent (42%) have a very unfavorable view of the San Francisco Democrat, down from 46% in August.
Thirty-four percent (34%) of voters view Pelosi favorably, but just 13% have a very favorable opinion of her. Still, that’s the highest level of very favorable support she has enjoyed since March.
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