Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Why Won't Obama Waive the Jones Act?
Subject: txt hots engry -
Five years ago, in the midst of another crisis in the Gulf of Mexico, the Bush administration waived the Jones Act, easing the way for foreign vessels to move in U.S. waters and between ports. The decision came with the administration under duress for its handling of Hurricane Katrina. Today the Obama administration faces a different set of challenges with the Gulf oil spill cleanup. But unlike his predecessor, President Obama has declined to suspend the law, even temporarily. Obama's decision has turned into a public relations headache for an administration already reeling from its oversight of the oil spill, yet still he refuses to lift it...
READ MORE
TSA Union to Distribute Leaflets at Airport
Subject: txt gwot hots nsec sclm bbro bdd - crpt -
Informational pickets from the union representing security screeners at Indianapolis International Airport are expected today to begin passing out leaflets outside the passenger terminal. The union that has limited rights to represent the 40,000 employees nationwide of the Transportation Security Administration is trying to win full recognition for collective bargaining. And the union is calling on Congress to confirm former Hoosier and FBI Deputy Director John Pistole as the next top administrator of the TSA.
READ MORE
GOP SPONSOR may withdraw support for campaign finance bill
Subject: txt hots 2010 -
Rep. Mike Castle (Del.), one of just two Republican sponsors of a sweeping campaign finance bill, is so upset about late changes to the measure he is considering withdrawing his support and voting against it.
“The exemptions are getting bigger and bigger. I don’t think they are even done yet.”
READ MORE
Flashback: Media Promoted Military Criticism of President Bush
Subject: txt hots gwot nsec msm bias -
During Bush's tenure, active duty generals that spoke out against administration policy were portrayed as courageous whistleblowers. Retired generals were treated as ever-wise sages of military policy. None were scrutinized as McChrystal, pictured right, has been in the hours since Rolling Stone released its article.
The most prominent active duty general to earn the media's affection was Gen. Eric Shinseki, current Secretary of Veterans Affairs (to the media's delight). He insisted in 2003 that, contrary to Defense Department policy as iterated by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the United States would need to send "hundreds of thousands" of troops to Iraq during the initial invasion. The media ate it up...
READ MORE
Most In Military Will Say McChrystal 'Was Right'
Subject: txt gwot nsec hots - Col. Jack Jacobs:
Contessa Brewer got a lot more than she was likely looking for when she interviewed Col. Jack Jacobs [ret.] this afternoon about the McChrystal situation. The MSNBC host wanted to focus on the impropriety of McChrystal publicly airing his criticisms of Pres. Obama and others in the chain of command.
But the Medal of Honor recipient went out of his way—twice—to add an inconvenient truth: that when it comes to the substance of the criticism, most in the military think McChrystal "was right"...
READ MORE
Pakistani PM ignores US warning on Iran gas deal
Subject: txt islm - nsec intl gwot -
Islamabad - Defying a warning from Washington, Pakistan's prime minister promised Tuesday to go ahead with a plan to import natural gas from Iran even if the U.S. levies additional sanctions against the Mideast country...
[They're siding with one of many 'strong horses' emerging in the power vacuum created by Obama's conveyed weakness.]
READ MORE
25 Saudi Guantanamo prisoners return to militancy
Subject: txt gwot nsec -
Around 25 former detainees from Guantanamo Bay camp returned to militancy after going through a rehabilitation program for al Qaeda members in Saudi Arabia, a Saudi security official said on Saturday. (snip)Around 11 Saudis from Guantanamo have gone to Yemen, an operating base for al Qaeda, while others have been jailed again or killed after attending the program...
READ MORE
Never forget 9/11
Subject: txt 1st hots gwot nsec - gdd -
America's two worst attacks on our homeland by foreign enemies happened on Dec. 7, 1941, at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and on Sept. 11, 2001, in New York City. So it's perhaps especially fitting that an everyday guy like Kawika Crowley of Hawaii would do what he can to remind us all that America can never afford to forget about either Pearl Harbor or 9/11...
READ MORE
.
POLL: 74% Have Favorable Opinion of U.S. Military
Subject: txt heroes gwot nsec -
.
Nearly three-out-of-four Americans (74%) have a favorable opinion of the U.S. military, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Just 12% hold an unfavorable opinion, and 13% are not sure.
These figures have held steady for the past two years.
READ MORE
Toy soldiers run afoul of school's weapons ban
Subject: txt edu child - heroes -
Christan Morales says her son just wanted to honor American troops when he made a hat decorated with an American flag and small plastic Army figures. But the hat ran afoul of the district's no-weapons policy because the toy soldiers were carrying tiny weapons.
"His teacher called and said it wasn't appropriate because it had guns,"[For Memorial Day, mind.
We NEED universal school vouches to break the liberal indoctrination centers our government run public school systems have become.]
READ MORE
Beating swords into welfare cheques
MARK STEYN: Hedonistic benefits, low birth rates—Europe needs protection from itself
... Polite society has spent the years since playing catch-up. So if you don’t want your fin du civilisation analysis from a frothing right-wing loon you can now get it from the house-trained chaps at the New York Times:
“Europeans have boasted about their social model, with its generous vacations and early retirements, its national health care systems and extensive welfare benefits, contrasting it with the comparative harshness of American capitalism . . . ‘The Europe that protects’ is a slogan of the European Union.”
Protects from what? Right now, Europe mostly needs protection from itself, and its worst inclinations:
“With low growth, low birth rates and longer life expectancies, Europe can no longer afford its comfortable lifestyle.”
The Times hits all the Steynian themes, including the Continent as defence-welfare queen:
“Europeans have benefited from low military spending, protected by NATO and the American nuclear umbrella.”
Absolved from having to pay for their own defence, Continentals, like Canadians, beat their swords into welfare cheques, and erected vast cradle-to-grave social entitlements. Even under the U.S. security umbrella, they proved unsustainable. Why? Because Europeans stopped breeding. And, even with unprecedented levels of immigration, they’ve been unable to halt population decline.
Again, that was mere Steynian alarmism a year or two back. Now it’s received wisdom.
Here’s Time magazine:
“Germany is shrinking—fast. New figures released on May 17 show the birth rate in Europe’s biggest economy has plummeted to a historic low.”
[Europe's biggest economy - one sixth the annual car sales of California alone. My point? Most Americans have been kept unaware that throughout the last 25 years of conservative resurgent boom (the longest in recorded history) America has continued to outperform our contanental cousins, increasing the economic gap between.
Yet we're now to adopt their model?]
READ MORE
REGULATORS' BUDGET RISING
Subject: txt bbro sclm - lbrty -
The president's budget request calls for fiscal regulatory expenditures of over $59 billion in 2011 and a staff of almost 284,000. The requested Regulators' Budget of $59.4 billion in 2011 is 4.1 percent larger in real terms than appropriated outlays of $56.3 billion in 2010. [One year.]
Appropriated outlays in fiscal year 2010 were 8.9 percent higher than in 2009.
Over the last decade, between 2000 and 2010, annual budget outlays for regulatory activities increased 75.5 percent in real terms, for a real dollar increase of $21.7 billion.
Staffing increases at the federal regulatory agencies over the last decade have been similarly dramatic, and growth continues, say Dudley and Warren:
The number of full time staff is expected to reach an all time high of 283,741 in 2011.
Source: Susan E. Dudley and Melinda Warren, "Regulators' Budget Rising," George Washington University, May 18, 2010.
READ MORE
Death by Debt
Subject: txt mny econ tax -
Death by debt isn’t only a Greek tragedy, it’s downright common. Powerful nations all the way from Rome to Russia have killed their economies by spending more than they had. And, if the American people don’t stage an intervention soon, the United States may do the same.
The federal government will soon be paying more in interest on the national debt than we spend on national defense.
The national debt represents 93% of our total gross domestic product (GDP) with foreign governments like China and private entities owning nearly half that debt...
READ MORE
If You Can't Budget, You Can't Govern
ubject: txt 2010 libs bdd mny -
"If you can't budget, you can't govern,"
Rep. John Spratt Jr., D-S.C., proclaimed in 2006 when the House GOP leadership chose to dispense with passing a budget resolution. Now that the Dems run the House, Spratt is chairman of its Budget Committee and the April 15 deadline for passing a budget resolution is a niggling detail, easily ignored.
House Democrats have decided to not even try to pass a budget resolution before this fiscal year expires on Sept. 30 -- and may well delay passage until after the November elections... [snip]
The House Democrats must figure that they have a better chance of hanging onto their offices by doing nothing -- and they may be right. As Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., told the Los Angeles Times,
"Name one person who won or lost an election because they didn't get a budget resolution passed."
Come November, with any luck, voters will be able to name more than one.
READ MORE
Mad and Madder
Subject: txt sclm bdd vals econ -
If a people base their societal model on non-work, their society will eventually fall apart. It cannot be otherwise
Said one [Spanish] outraged protestor:
We are very angry because this is not only an attack to our rights and to our salaries that there is an attack to the welfare. This is an attack to all the public services.
Like the Greeks, the Spaniards too do not like the idea of spending cuts and demand that their government keep giving them money. The problem is that the Spanish government does not have any money. It only has debts.
We used to mock Europe's spend-happy socialists. In recent years, however, we have been spending so much that Europeans now seem responsible in comparison.
If you still think they are mad, then we must be madder still...
READ MORE
Permanent middle class tax cuts too costly
Subject: txt tax - Hoyer:
A top House Democrat said Tuesday that tax increases will eventually be necessary to address the nation's mounting debt, raising a difficult election-year issue as Democrats fight retain control of Congress.
In the near term, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer raised the possibility that Congress will only temporarily extend middle-class tax cuts set to expire at the end of the year.
He pointedly suggested that making them permanent would be too costly. Tax cuts enacted under former President George W. Bush are scheduled to expire at the end of the year, affecting taxpayers at every income level...
[And representing, at this time of recession, the largest tax increase in our nation's history.
They consider it their money, and they don't care how much harm they cause in pursuit of their socialistic ideology.
It's either them or us - choose wisely.]
READ MORE
State workers to be paid when budget is late
Subject: txt crpt cali mny -
"State employees would get paid if the Legislature fails to enact a budget on time, under a bill passed by the California Assembly."
[But we'll send them all back to Sacramento come November, because the majority of electorate are now public employees.]
READ MORE
The paranoid delusions of the expert class
.
The indomitable James Poulos, writing from his new perch at the excellent Ricochet blog, links to this frightening New York Times piece: But increasingly, some educators and other professionals who work with children are asking a question that might surprise their parents:
Should a child really have a best friend?
As James notes, How deep must the depths of anxiety be into which our administrative class is regularly plunged.
They are getting the bends...
[We NEED universal school vouchers.]
READ MORE
And so it begins
Subject: txt hcare -
Those of us with even a shred of common sense saw the handwriting on the wall when the health care bill was being sold
Those of us with even a shred of common sense saw the handwriting on the wall when the health care bill was being sold and subsequently forced down our throats. We knew that most, if not all, of the promises being given to sell the legislation would be broken or were outright exaggerations of reality. While "I told you so" would be appropriate now, it just doesn't make me feel any better.
This document is an actual letter that was received by a good friend of mine just yesterday. Needless to say, this 60-year old didn't sleep much last night. Her policy with this insurance company dates back 12 years. Because of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passed by this Congress, she will no longer have insurance effective December 15, 2010. Where does she go now, Mr. President? Her policy was affordable. Can you assure her that the next one will be?
Remember this? "If you like your insurance company, you can keep it." She liked her insurance and the policy provisions....and yet?
How about this one? "We're going to provide insurance for millions of Americans who are currently uninsured." How many millions of Americans will be joining the uninsured rolls after receiving a letter like this one in the coming years?
Paying close attention to paragraph one: "NHIC has determined that it will not be able to meet the requirements set forth by Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act." (emphasis mine)
How many more insurance companies are going to have a similar finding?
My greatest fear is that this is just the beginning. We're witnessing the biggest lie of all:"This legislation will not lead to national health care."
READ MORE
Mocking Moscow Cuts Gas Supply To Belarus
Subject: txt engry intl russia -
Russia has cut back its gas supply to Belarus over unpaid debts, raising fears of disruption to European supplies. The head of Russian oil giant Gazprom said Belarus had failed to come up with the money and instead was offering equipment and machinery to cover a £130m overdue payment.
But in a mocking attack, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said only hard cash would settle the debt and ordered Gazprom to close the tap on Russian gas supplies to Belarus...
[It's our energy policy that enables such energy tyrants - all needlessly.]
READ MORE
Belarus 'to suspend Russian gas transit to Europe'
Subject: txt engry tinl russia try -
Belarus will suspend Russian transit gas deliveries to Europe after Moscow cut supplies in a dispute over debts, President Alexander Lukashenko says. Mr Lukashenko said the neighbours were facing a "gas war" and he would resume supplies only when Belarus got $260m (£176m) in outstanding transit fees. Earlier, Russia cut gas supplies to Belarus...
[This is how wars begin - over an artificially created resource shortage.]
READ MORE
Obama administration spends $1.2 billion on cycling and walking initiatives
Subject: txt sclm grn bdd othr auto -
The Obama administration more than doubled spending on cycling and walking initiatives to $1.2 billion last year as it seeks to coax Americans out of their cars....
READ MORE
California Economy 'Leaking' Emissions
CALIFORNIA
"The LAO reported May 13 California's economy will likely be adversely affected in the near term. Implementing the California Air Resource Boards (CARBs) Scoping Plan will raise the state's energy prices which are already among the highest in the country. This will further impact the state's economy by causing the prices of goods and services to rise, lowering business profits, and reducing production, income, and jobs. It will also worsen the already devastating state and local budget crises."
[Because of who we vote for.]
READ MORE
CBS Poll Finds Tough Numbers for Obama on Oil Leak, But Couric Hides Them
Subject: txt msm bias engry -
Katie Couric opened Monday's CBS Evening News by touting how “in a CBS News/New York Times poll out tonight, 43 percent of Americans approve of President Obama's handling of the spill. Only 13 percent approve of BP's efforts.”
She offered no further details, such as how 47 percent disapprove of Obama's performance, and only those checking CBSNews.com would realize the selectivity in the assessment of Obama she chose to highlight.
“Poll: Most Say Obama Lacks Clear Plans on the Oil Spill, Energy or Jobs” read the headline over a “Political Hotsheet” posting, which Brian Montopoli led:
Most Americans do not believe President Obama has a clear plan to deal with the oil spill in the Gulf -- 61 percent -- say the President's response to the oil spill was too slow...
[What bias?]
READ MORE
CNN Fires the Associated Press
CNN has announced that it will cease using all content from the Associated Press effective June 30, and from all appearances will take a run at becoming a credible wire service competitor.
Although it would be easy to dismiss this as the blind leaving the blind, this development seems like it has the potential to alter the news landscape and temper some of the worst excesses of press bias and ignorance.
Here are a few paragraphs from CNN's internal announcement, as carried at Media Bistro:
READ MORE
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
