Office of State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe

717.783.1707                                                                                                          RepMetcalfe.com

724.772.3110                                                                                         Facebook.com/RepMetcalfe

March 14, 2011                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

NEWS ADVISORY

Right to Work Prime Sponsor Metcalfe

to Battle AFSCME Union Boss

 LIVE on PCN

WHAT:      Pennsylvania House State Government Committee Majority Chairman and prime sponsor of the soon-to-be re-introduced Freedom of Employment Act to end compulsory unionism, Representative Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler) will face off against David Fillman, Executive Director, American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 13 regarding the topics of collective bargaining and mandatory union dues.   

Viewers are invited to participate in Pennsylvania Cable Network's Live Call-In program by dialing toll-free 1-877-726-5001.

DATE:       Tuesday, March. 15

TIME:        7 p.m.

CHANNEL:  Pennsylvania Cable Network  

INFORMATION:    Visit PCNTV.comfor a list of additional air times.

Media contact: Ty McCauslin, 717.772.9979, tmccausl@pahousegop.com

The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon, this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you received this information in error, please contact the sender and delete the message and material from all computers.

The Lehigh Valley Project 9-12 Tea Party Group

is pleased to announce a legislative discussion forum on the SB-1 (School Chice) legislation on Friday, March 18th from 7-9pm at DeSales University in Centre Valley, PA.

We have confirmed the following speakers/panelists:

Otto Banks, Executive Director, REACH Alliance

Simon Campbell, President, Stop Teachers Strikes, Inc.

Matthew Brouillette, President, Commonwealth Foundation

Deneen Borelli, Fellow with Project 21, board member with the Opportunity Charter School in Harlem, New York and FOX News Contributor

Dick Komer, PA Constitutional Attorney

Chris Friend, President, Friendly Fire Zone and past Director of REACH Alliance

The purpose of the event is to enable us to answer the questions of why our education system is so messed up and whether or not SB-1 is the best solution.  There are pros and cons of this bill and we plan on presenting both sides to allow the the audience to draw their own conclusions.

We have also asked several co-sponsors of the bill to participate and are inviting all of our local state legislators to attend the event, but thus far we have had none of them commit. 

Please pass the word on to your members about this very exciting event.

Thanks,

Kim Schmidtner

Lehigh Valley Project 9-12/Tea Party Group

www.lehighvalleyteaparty.org

Have your questions answered about SB 1 - the School Choice Bill

Sponsored by - The Kitchen Table Patriots

Date:  Thursday, March 17, 2011

When:          7:00PM - 9:00PM

Where: Loyal Order of Moose

127 East State Street, Doylestown, PA 18901-4363

The purpose of the meeting on Thursday, March 17 is to provide an opportunity for the public to have their questions answered about SB 1.

Panelists will include:

·         C.L. Bryant, a tea party favorite speaker will moderate the proceedings for the evening.

·         State Senator Anthony H. Williams (D-8), of Philadelphia and Delaware counties (parts of each), the co-sponsor of the bill, is an outstanding champion of education reform.

·         Matthew Brouillette, President & CEO of the Commonwealth Foundation, the conservative Pennsylvania think tank is a prominent voice in statewide public policy debates through frequent appearances in print, television, and talk radio across the Commonwealth.

·         PA Constitutional Lawyer Philip Murren, of the law firm of BALL, MURREN & CONNEL will be addressing the constitutionality of the legislation under both the United States and Pennsylvania Constitutions.  He testified at the Senate Hearing on the bill on February 16.

Panelists who do not support SB 1 have also been invited.

Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with us after the meeting!!

 Where:  Downstairs at the bar

Brendan Steinhauser

Director, Federal and State Campaigns

FreedomWorks

@bstein80 on Twitter

400 North Capitol St. NW

Suite 765

Washington, DC 20001

(202) 942-7612 phone

(202) 379-6583 cell

(202) 942-7649 fax

www.FreedomWorks.org

Analysis of the SB1 Debate at

The Independence Hall Tea Party Association on March 6

School Choice Non-Debate: Sen. Tony Williams A No-Show --- Again ^Featured

Written by Christopher Freind

The Great School Choice Debate, hosted by The Independence Hall Tea Party Association on March 6, was a passionate discussion of Senate Bill 1, the school choice bill currently in the state senate. At issue was whether SB 1, a limited scope bill granting a voucher to low-income families (in which the state subsidy would follow the child, not the school) is the only legislation achievable at this time, or whether a broader, more comprehensive bill can be passed.

Unfortunately, it wasn't the healthy debate that it should have been because Senator Anthony Williams, one of the bill's prime sponsors and a confirmed panelist, arrived well after the event had ended.  It seems he was misinformed of the time, despite everyone else getting it right. 

Although mistakes happen, it is curious that this is the second time in one month that the senator committed to a school choice discussion, and failed to show.  Some may chalk that up to bad staffing, but others who have been around politics don't believe in such coincidence.

Regardless, the discussion was lively, civil and productive, with all the participants in agreement that school choice was crucial, the only measure that would bring competition and accountability to our failed school system.

The panelists were:
-Reverend Joe Watkins, former Lt. Gov. candidate, MSNBC commentator and Executive Director of the Students First organization;
 

-Dom Giordano, talk-show host extraordinaire on 1210 WPHT, the region's largest talk-radio station.  Giordano was slated to be the moderator, but sat with Watkins so the discussion wouldn't be lopsided.
 

-State Representative Curt Schroder, a proponent of statewide school choice. Schroder was a House member in the mid-90's when a comprehensive school choice bill barely missed passage;
 

-Yours truly, author of numerous columns and participant in several television segments advocating school choice, including why SB 1 is flawed legislation that will most likely fail if it is not amended in the House to expand choice.  I was also Executive Director of the REACH Alliance, the preeminent statewide school choice organization, during the school choice battles in the 90's.
 

Questions were offered by Teri Adams, President of the Independence Hall Tea Party, Sharon Cherubin, Executive Director of UNITE PA, a grassroots organization based in Lancaster County, and the audience.
                                                                         *****

Before the Pennsylvania dialogue began, New Jersey state senator Michael Doherty discussed his state's efforts to pass education reform.  Doherty explained that, while more expansive tax credit programs and school choice would be ideal, they simply weren't possible given the sizable Democratic majorities in that state's House and Senate. He said that they had to settle for what was politically possible.

And that's exactly why the defeatist attitude of some SB 1 proponents is so incomprehensible.  To say that a bill limited only to low-income families is the best we can hope for is simply inaccurate. 

Which is why something doesn't pass the sniff test. 

Rational political observers have stated that, if they didn't know better, it would seem, for some reason, there has been undue influence to kill any effort to expand the bill.

Either that, or legislators don't want to do the work necessary to come up with better legislation.

I had the opportunity to speak with Senator Williams after the non-debate, and while I came away with some good news, I also left with a lot more skepticism.

Williams claimed that the legislation for comprehensive, statewide school choice failed in 1995 by a single vote, a point on which I wholeheartedly agree.

I then asked him if he would support a more expanded version of school choice than is currently offered in SB 1, and he stated that he would (great news), but that "it would not pass," (a perplexing statement).

And therein lies the problem.  There is absolutely nothing on which that assumption can be made, and, in fact, the opposite is undisputedly true.

Let's forget our biases for or against school choice, and focus just on the political realities between 1995 and now.

Despite the Republican wave of 1994, the State House remained Democratic by one vote. It took a party switch to give control to the GOP --- and the ability to push school choice in that chamber.

In the time span since, the legislature has experienced a turnover of at least 70 percent.

Fast forward to the wave of 2010, when thirteen seats flipped and the GOP gained a ten seat majority.  And not only are there more conservative legislators, but the public is much more accepting of school choice.

As an added benefit, Williams will most likely bring several more Democratic legislators with him who were previously "No" votes.

So let's follow this logic.  Fact: the statewide school choice bill fell one vote short in 1995, when the House had a one seat Republican majority.  Fact: the House now has a 10 vote GOP majority.  Fact:  the electorate is much more understanding of the need for this legislation.  Fact: the Republican Governor has stated his support for statewide school choice.  Fact: Williams brings additional Democratic votes.

Given these facts, the passage of comprehensive school choice legislation should be a slam dunk.

Instead, with no actual vote count having been taken, the white towel has been thrown in before the fight has begun.

The "we can only get school choice incrementally" argument is based on a number of false assumptions, such as the House and Governorship remaining in Republican hands over the next several cycles, the legislature actually agreeing to take up such a controversial issue year after year while facing the wrath of well-funded teachers unions, and that a limited program will produce noticeable improvements. And if a limited program is judged to be only a marginal improvement, the entire program could be jeopardized, nullifying the one-slice-at-a-time argument.

Here's the bottom line: the forces standing in the way of progress by deliberately ignoring all the political signs need to stop being part of the problem. 

Pennsylvania cannot improve its economic position by graduating functional illiterates, which is exactly what we are doing.  Half of the state's 11th graders cannot read or write proficiently.

It's time, once and for all, to take our heads out of the sand and do the right thing for our children --- all of them. Failure to do so will simply waste another decade and forsake our future.

And what a terrible "choice" that would be.

Chris Freind is an independent columnist, television commentator, and investigative
reporter who operates his own news bureau, www.FreindlyFireZone.com

Readers of his column, "Freindly Fire," hail from six continents, thirty countries
and all fifty states. His work has been referenced in numerous publications including
The Wall Street Journal, National Review Online, foreign newspapers, and in Dick
Morris' recent bestseller "Catastrophe."

Freind, whose column appears regularly in Philadelphia Magazine and nationally in
Newsmax, also serves as a frequent guest commentator on talk radio and state/national
television, most notably on FOX Philadelphia.

Heritage Hotsheet

Experts on the Day's Hottest News

Items for March 15, 2011 

Japan's Nuclear Crisis Escalates
The Wall Street Journal 

Japan facing mounting toll in triple catastrophe; survivors short on supplies
Washington Post 

Nikkei crashes as nuclear crisis escalates
Financial Times
 

Congress stakes out nuclear positions
Politico

Could 'No Child' get left behind?
Politico
 
Conservatives Voice Frustration With Short-Term Budget Bills
FoxNews.com
  

Latest Heritage Research:

Why the Health Care Law Has Sparked a National Debate Over First Principles

RedState Morning Briefing

For March 15, 2011

1. It Is As We Feared

On Sunday, Republican Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, the Senate Republicans' point man on deficit reduction, went on Fox News Sunday and told Chris Wallace that Senate Republicans will consider tax increases to cut the deficit.

Chambliss's partner in crime is Democrat Mark Warner of Virginia who added that they'll tinker with the social security retirement age without any other substantive entitlement reforms.

Democrats are already salivating that they can merge the continuing resolution debate with the debt-ceiling debate. Republicans, scared of a government shutdown and refusing to even consider it, are happy to merge the two knowing it will be hard for conservatives to stand for what leadership aides are spinning as both a shutdown and defaulting on loans.

Conservatives are, therefore, getting played by Republicans leaders in the House. Compounding that, House Republicans are making insignificant spending cuts and refusing to pick a fight over Obamacare. They do not, under any stretch of the imagination, want a government shut down. House Leaders know the only way to shut down Obamacare is to shut down the government and negotiate Obamacare out of existence.

So they'd rather keep Obamacare.

That brings us to the three week continuing resolution. To quote Admiral Ackbar, "It's a trap." House Leaders and Senate Leaders want to drag out the continuing resolution so it can be wrapped into the debt ceiling debate. They think doing so would shut up conservatives and stop all the silly nonsense about cutting spending in a meaningful way.

We must fight this. Below the fold are the names and direct phone numbers of key Republican congressmen in the House. Call each of them. Demand they oppose the three week continuing resolution.

Report back here in the comments with their position.

2. The Problem with One Last Vote for a Flawed Strategy

House Republican Leadership is now telling the press that this is likely the last short-term continuing resolution. At his pen-and-pad today, Majority Leader Cantor said, "We hope and intend for this to be the last one...we hope that this is the last time this happens."

But how can conservatives be so sure that this is not mere blind hope? After all, Cantor explained that there have been no negotiations with the Democrats so far. Now that is certainly not the fault of Republicans, since the Democrats' chief negotiator-Vice President Biden-went to Europe on other matters, squandering the last two weeks of respite. But it does reveal that there has been no progress made whatsoever. Negotiators would be starting from scratch.

If this extension passes, negotiators will have another three weeks, but those discussions will continue to be characterized by Republicans' fear of a government shutdown. Thus Democrats will still be able to stall until the CR expires and force another extension, pushing the debate more and more into the next budget cycle and the debt limit increase.

3. No More Short-Term Budget CR's

From Senator Marco Rubio:

Our country faces a brutal reality: for far too long, the federal government has been recklessly spending money it does not have. It is the reason we now have a $14 trillion debt that threatens to bankrupt our country and why, each day, our government borrows $4 billion - almost half from foreigners and most of that from China.

Despite the seriousness of this debt crisis, an absurd pattern has clearly developed in Washington. Last year, when they still controlled the House, Senate and White House, the Democrats failed to pass a budget at all. In the first two months of this year, Senate Democrat leaders have spent invaluable time not on tackling the debt but on re-authorizing the F.A.A. and reforming the patent system. Their only attempt at addressing our debt was a plan to cut $4.7 billion in spending, which only equals what our government borrows approximately every 30 hours alone.

Democrats' unwillingness to engage on this issue is leading us closer to a catastrophic debt spiral that will irreversibly damage our government, our economy and ultimately our country.

4. Cheap Trick? WI Secy of State Gives Unions Extra Time to Lock in Contracts

This may make things a bit stickier in Wisconsin: Democrat Secretary of State, Doug La Follette, is giving public-sector unions until the last moment possible (March 25th) to lock in contracts before publishing the new law limiting collective bargaining rights.

5. So, Which Murderers are your Taxes Funding?

As the budget battle rages on and as we continue to fund domestic baby-killers, do we have to fund foreign ones as well?!

For years, the left wing foreign policy establishment has rapturously promoted the 'Palestinians' as the cause célèbre of our national security interests. Despite their unyielding commitment to terror, these supercilious 'wizards of smart' have credulously identified the creation of a 'Palestinian' state as the consummate solution to all geo-political problems. They posit that upon creation of a 22nd Arab state and 2nd Palestinian state (the first being Jordan), the culture of terror would cease and we would all experience peace in our time.

6. Durbin and Federal Reserve Plot to Fix Prices and Harm Consumers

Senator Dick Durbin's (D-IL) amendment to the Financial Overhaul Bill is set to go into effect in April that will allow Obama and the Federal Reserve to set the prices of debit card interchange fees.

That may sound like a boring topic, but consider this: because of Dick Durbin's amendment, banks are about to restrict the number of and amount of daily debit card purchases you can make. That's right. JP Morgan is considering capping your debit card purchases at $50.00 to $100.00 per purchase.

Sheepdogs presents: What is Sharia Law?

Guest Speaker: Pamela Geller, noted conservative blogger, editor of Atlas Shrugs and Author of 'The Post American Presidency' will be speaking on what is Sharia law and its threat to freedom and liberty in the U.S.

What is Sharia Law?

When: Saturday, May 14, 2010

11am to 1pm

Where: Avondale Presbyterian Church

420 Pennsylvania Ave. Avondale, Pa. 19311

$10.00 ticket paid via paypal or mailed to

207 Honey Locust Drive, Avondale, Pa. 19311

Questions? Feel free to call Linda Jamshidi at 267-688-3101

Independence Hall Tea Party Association 

Announcing The 2011 Great American Debate Series

The Great Tax Debate, April 16

The Great Energy Independence Debate, July 4

The Great Constitutional Debate, September 17

The Great Tax Debate and Tea Party:

 Fair v. Flat v. Progressive Income Tax

 Saturday, April 16, 2011

Independence Mall

 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

 Details to be announced.

The Great Energy Independence Debate:

Drill Baby Drill v The Environment

Monday, July 4

Independence Mall

 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

 Details to be announced.

The Great Constitutional Debate:

States Rights v Federal Control; Nullification

 Saturday, September 17

Independence Mall 

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

 Details to be announced.

 

March 14, 2011

 Revelations from Rep. King hearing

We learned much-not only from the testimony, but the disturbing reactions to it


 
Friday's email from Lisa Piraneo provided us a disturbing look into how some members of the House Homeland Security Committee view reformist Muslims like Dr. Zuhdi Jasser. Their condescension bordering on contempt was stunning.

Perhaps just as disturbing was how many of the Muslims who attended the hearing reacted. As Lisa noted, they didn't try very hard to conceal their ridicule and even contempt for these Muslims witnesses who had the courage to speak out against the radicalization going on in America.

One of those witnesses was Melvin Bledsoe, whose son is charged with shooting and killing a member of our armed forces at a recruiting station in Arkansas.

Mr. Bledsoe's statement is re-printed below (highlights added). Take special note of the role he claims a Nashville mosque and its imam played. This is precisely what Brigitte Gabriel has been talking about for years, and addressed in her two best-selling books, Because They Hate and They Must Be Stopped-the growing advocacy of radical Islam inside many of America's mosques.

Statement by Melvin Bledsoe

Father of Carlos Leon Bledsoe (aka) Abdul Hakim Mujahid Muhammad

"The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and that Community's Response"

Committee on Homeland Security

US House of Representatives, Washington DC, March 10, 2011

 Thank you very much for allowing me to come here and tell the country what happened to my son. This hearing today is extremely important to begin the discussion about the issue of Islamic radicalization in America and my hope is that this Committee can somehow address this issue in a meaningful, productive way.

First, I would like to express my deepest sympathy to the family of Private William Long, and to the wounded soldier, Quinton Ezeagwula. I would like to talk about those complicit in Private Long's murder - the Islamic radicals who programmed and trained my son Carlos to kill.

I want to tell the American people and the world what happened to my son. We sent him off to college at Tennessee State University in Nashville, Tennessee in the fall of 2003. Our dreams about his future ended up in a nightmare.

Carlos is my only son. He grew up in Memphis, Tennessee. My wife and I operate a tour company in Memphis, Tennessee and Carlos started helping out with the family business at the age of eight. He loved talking to the traveling public; and he had a lot of fun interacting with the customers.

After graduating from high school, he wanted to get a degree in Business Administration. We thought perhaps he would come back to Memphis to run the business and give my wife and me early retirement.

After the fall of 2005 - his sophomore fall in Nashville -Carlos came home that Christmas for the holidays.

We were sitting around in the family room, Carlos's only sister, Monica, her husband and I, having a normal conversation about life in general. But at a certain point, Carlos and his brother-in-law Terrell got into a heated conversation about the Muslim religion. Then and later, we felt like Carlos's personality changed when we spoke about Islam. We thought maybe he had some Muslim friends in college and was offended by our comments.

The next time Carlos came home, we saw another side of him that we hadn't seen before. During the night, he took down all the pictures from the walls in the bedroom where he slept. He even took Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. picture off the wall. We asked Carlos: "What is going on with you?"

He replied that he is now a new convert to Islam and that everything he does from now on will be to honor Allah. We got very concerned: While he was growing up, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr's picture had always hung on his bedroom wall; but now treated the picture as if Dr. King was nobody to him.

We asked Carlos not to take Dr. King's picture off the wall, but he took it off the wall anyway. This became a big concern to us. We went to visit him in Nashville because we wanted to learn more about what was really going on with Carlos.

We discovered that Carlos had dropped out of school, at the beginning of the 2005 fall semester. He was working a temporary job. He had gotten a dog while in college, and now we found out that he had turned the dog loose in the woods because he was told that Muslims consider dogs dirty creatures. I really couldn't understand how he could do that, because Carlos grew up with a dog in the house since he was five years old.

So my wife and I thought that there something or someone was getting in his head and changing the way he thinks. It had gotten to the point where he had no interest in coming home, even for the holidays.

All of this was part of brainwashing him, and changing his thinking a little bit at a time. He had a job in Nashville, together with some Muslims, who would tell him that according to Islamic law, his employer had to let him pray at certain times of the day, regardless of what was going on at the job. As a business owner, I told Carlos that it would be very difficult for an employer to do this for all of his employees.

As the next step on his process of radicalization, Carlos was convinced to change his name. He chose the name Abdulhakim Muhammad. At this point, his culture was no longer important to him, only the Islamic culture mattered.

Some Muslim leaders had taken advantage of my son. But he's not the only one being taken advantage of: this is going on in Nashville and in many other cities in America.

In Nashville, Carlos was captured by people best described as hunters. He was manipulated and lied to. That's how he made his way to Yemen. Carlos was hoping to go there for a chance to cross over to Saudi Arabia and visit Mecca, as he was taught all true Muslims must do at one time in their life. He was taught that he would get to walk on the ground where Prophet Muhammad walked be able to travel around the area. But these hunters had other plans for him. They set him up, telling him that he could teach English at a British School in Aden in South Yemen, This school turned out to be a front and Carlos ended up in a training camp run by terrorists.

Carlos's joining in with Yemeni extremists was facilitated by their American counterparts in Nashville. We have since discovered that the former Imam of a Nashville mosque, the Al Farooq Mosque, wrote the recommendation letter Carlos needed for the school in Yemen. We also discovered that the school functions as an intake front for radicalizing and training Westerners for Jihad.

From what I understand, the FBI had been following Carlos since before he left Nashville and continued to do so after he came back from Yemen. When Carlos was arrested for overstaying his visa in October of 2008, he was interviewed by an FBI agent based in Nashville even before the U.S. Embassy was alerted about the arrest. According to the Embassy, the FBI was alarmed about what they learned from Carlos.

We wish they could have told us - his family - about what they learned. If we knew how serious his extremism had become, we could have put in every effort to prevent the tragedy in Arkansas from happening.

When my son was arrested in Yemen, my family cried out for help in bringing our son back to America from our Government. We got in touch with the U.S. Embassy and the State Department. We also asked for help from our U.S. Representative, Steve Cohen's office, and from FBI Special Agent Greg Thomason, who had been tracking my son since Nashville.

After our son was finally released and brought home to us. No one said anything to us about what might have happened to him in Yemen or what they may have learned that so alarmed the FBI agent who interrogated Carlos while he was in the custody of Yemen's Political Security Organization.

Carlos's experience in Yemeni political jail was the final stage of his radicalization. He was in there with true evil-doers - hard-core Al Qaeda members who convinced him to get revenge on America.

Something is wrong with the Muslim leadership in Nashville. What happened to Carlos at those Nashville mosques isn't normal. I have other family members who are Muslims, and they are modern, peaceful, law abiding people, who have been Muslim for many years and are not radicalized.

I also have several uncles and brothers in the military. Our family has fought for the United States in every war since the Civil War. I have nephews who are currently in Afghanistan, as I speak, fighting for democracy and freedom for all Americans.

It seems to me that the American people are sitting around and doing nothing about Islamic extremism, as if Carlos's story and the other stories told at these hearings aren't true. There is a big elephant in the room, but our society continues not to see it.

This wrong is caused by political correctness. You can even call it political fear - yes, fear. Fear of stepping on a special minority population's toes, even as a segment of that population wants to stamp out America and everything we stand for.

I must say that we are losing American babies - our children are in danger. This country must stand up and do something about this problem. Yes, it's my son's tragic story you're hearing about today, but tomorrow it could be your son or your daughter. It might be an African-American child that they went after in Nashville, but tomorrow their victim might have blonde hair and blue eyes. One thing is for sure, it will happen again.

We must stop these extremist invaders from raping the minds of American citizens on American soil. Here in America today, there are people with radical Islamic political views who are organizing with one goal in mind: to convert our citizens and to turn them against the non-believers. This is a big problem now in Nashville, on college campuses and in the nearby area. Nashville has become a hot bed for radical Islamic recruiting.

Carlos grew up a happy-go-lucky kid. He always had a big smile on his face, and loved to crack a joke or two. Everyone liked him. He loved to play team sports like basketball and football. He loved swimming, dancing, and listening to music.

Today we have two families that have been destroyed. This could have been prevented. I would like to see something change so that no other family in this great country of ours has to go through what our family is facing now.

GOD HELP US! GOD HELP US! 

  

Women's Online Jihad magazine martyr bomb tips

• Glossy 'Jihad Cosmo' combines beauty tips with suicide bombing advice
   By Daily

 READ MORE: 

Atrocity Rocks Israel

Mar 14, 2011 12:10 am | P. David Hornik

Palestinians slaughter Fogel family in Itamar -- including a three-month-old infant.

comments | read more    

Clueless Clapper

Mar 14, 2011 12:09 am | Robert Spencer

Has the director of National Intelligence made any study in the area of national intelligence since 1985?

comments |read more 

Monday, March 14, 2011

To: Friends & Supporters

From: Gary L. Bauer


Palestinian Killers Slaughter Israeli Family

An Israeli family was brutally murdered in their home in Samaria over the weekend. The parents and three of their children, including an infant girl, were viciously stabbed to death in their sleep. One child's throat was cut by a "brave" jihadist who no doubt believed that Allah would reward him in paradise for this unspeakable evil.

Upon hearing news of the atrocity, Palestinians in Gaza rushed into the street to dance and hand out candy to celebrate the murders, just as they did after 9/11. These are some of the people the "international community" demands be given a state and to whom the Obama Administration sends tens of millions of our tax dollars. These are the people with whom Israel is supposed to negotiate and sign treaties.

The killings were condemned by the Palestinian "prime minister" and by some Palestinian newspapers. But the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, an offshoot of the "moderate" Fatah Party, claimed credit for the slaughter. Palestinian culture and society is permeated with incitement to hate the Jews and to kill the infidel.

Palestinian TV regularly shows little boys and girls who are prompted to say that they want to grow up and "liberate" Jerusalem and reclaim the land for Allah. Schools and mosques teach hate day after day. This is why it is absurd to keep pretending that a Palestinian state would live side-by-side in peace with its Israeli neighbors.

In response to the killings, the Israeli cabinet Saturday night authorized the construction of hundreds of new homes in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. The Obama Administration, of course, condemned the killings, but it also condemned the plan to build new homes. Authorizing new homes was the appropriate Israeli response. As Prime Minister Netanyahu said, "[The Palestinians] murder and [the Israelis] build."


In Defense Of Modernity

The terrible tragedy in Japan has grabbed headlines and dominated the news for days now. Thousands are feared dead. It's impossible to imagine the power of the earthquakes and the tsunami. Our hearts are broken by the scenes of total devastation, and our prayers are with the Japanese people.

But U.S. media outlets should be ashamed of themselves for their alarmist reporting over the weekend. Virtually every network gave the impression that the Japanese nuclear plants were at risk of a Hiroshima-style explosion. There was little to no perspective. "Japan Facing Catastrophe" was the major theme. The catastrophe -- the earthquake and tsunami -- already happened! What Japan is dealing with are the consequences of a major natural disaster that is extraordinarily difficult to predict and even harder to prepare for.

From all the research I've seen over the weekend, the idea that the Japanese power plants are going to create a nuclear catastrophe is absurd. Yet the media are hyperventilating over small things like the distribution of iodine tablets, which was breathlessly reported as if there was a government cover up of widespread contamination. It is in fact standard procedure. There are fears now about radioactive steam and vapors being released from the plants. But think about the release of radiation that resulted from all the nuclear tests that were conducted for decades during the Cold War.

Remember Rahm Emanuel's motto -- Never let a crisis go to waste? The left is gearing up to take advantage of this tragedy. Some politicians are now suggesting that, in addition to the moratorium on oil drilling, we should have a moratorium on the construction of nuclear power plants in the U.S. At a time when oil prices are skyrocketing because of tensions in the Middle East, they want to take one more resource off the table? They can't be serious. Unfortunately, they are. As today's Wall Street Journal notes, we have not built a nuclear power plant since the Three Mile Island accident in 1979.

Liberals don't want us to drill for oil because of the BP blowout in the Gulf of Mexico. We can't mine for coal due to the risk of mine explosions. We can't drill for natural gas because of fears of water contamination. Now we can't use nuclear power because of what happened in Japan.

Some liberals don't even like windmills because they kill birds and ruin scenic views. Even efforts to build solar power plants have been resisted due to environmental concerns. Our economy needs power, but these leftists and so-called progressives are at war with modernity and progress.

In defense of modernity, compare the recovery effort in Japan to what happened in Indonesia and Haiti, where there was little infrastructure and substandard construction. The death toll was far higher. But Japan will emerge from this tragedy faster and stronger, as the Journal notes, precisely because of its "great material development and wealth."


Obama Going Back To School

In recent statements President Obama has suggested that his sole focus is on governing and public policy, not politics and his reelection campaign. But from White House staff changes to the president's travel schedule, it is clear that the president's reelection campaign is underway, and earlier than ever.

Today's Washington Post has a front page article about how the White House has launched an "early and aggressive outreach effort" aimed at college students, one of Obama's "most politically important constituencies." The Post notes that Obama made high-profile trips last month to Penn State and Cleveland State University, where he discussed his ideas for the economy and spoke to small business owners. But during both trips, when the cameras weren't rolling, President Obama met with small groups of student activists.

According to the Post, the White House has announced plans to hold 100 such student meetings with key administration officials this spring. A White House spokesman insists that these meetings are about policy only and getting feedback from college students about issues like "jobs, access to education and dependence on foreign oil." But at the Cleveland State University event, Obama told the students there, "Spread the word because we're going to be going to different college campuses we want to organize." It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Obama is organizing for his reelection.

The "early and aggressive outreach" to college students is partly the result of polling data indicating that many twenty-somethings have soured on Barack Obama. A recent Washington Post/ABC News survey finds that Obama's support among those under 30 has dropped 23 points since his inauguration, while the percentage of Americans under 30 identifying as Democrats has also dropped significantly since the 2008 election. While Obama still enjoys strong support among younger voters, such defections could tip the balance in states he barely won in 2008, such as Indiana and North Carolina.

The erosion of youth support is not good news for Team Obama, but it should come as no surprise. Since he took office, unemployment for those aged 20-24 is up, from 11 percent in 2008 to 15 percent today. Thanks in part to Obama's policies, gas prices are soaring as is the national debt. High gas prices are a hidden tax on everyone, but they are especially hard on many college students who work part-time or those just starting their careers in entry-level jobs. Meanwhile, the national debt is a ticking time bomb that threatens their standard of living in future years.

If you have college-aged children or grandchildren who fell for the hype about hope and change, don't give up on them -- they are the future of our country and they are worth fighting for! Engage them. Explain to them how Obama's spending has put their future at risk and how his big government policies will mean less freedom and opportunity for them and their families.


What Would Jesus Cut?

Liberal Christians are coming to the aid of Obama's big government deficit spending by claiming that the proposed Republican budget cuts are "unbiblical" and "morally wrong." Christ, they insist, would want us to keep spending out of compassion for "the least of these."

But as I argue in my weekly Human Events column, it is immoral to burden our children with crushing debt. And the scriptural admonition to care for the poor was a personal command to share, not a command for Caesar to "spread the wealth around." Click here to read more.

 

Updating the Fort Hood murders

Mar 14, 2011 06:13 am | Coach Collins

By Kevin "Coach" Collins

 The case of Fort Hood murderer, United States Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan has dragged on for seventeen months. This loathsome coward's acts cannot be forgotten.

Here's a recap of some of the latest developments.

 Fort Hood Shooter's Gun

 One of the guns used by Hasan was a FN Herstal 5.7 semiautomatic pistol. This fact is significant because it adds to the growing body of evidence that Mexican Cartels are working with Islamist terrorists. In return for smuggling them over our borders, Islamist terrorists are teaching the Cartels how to make effective IEDs. These guns are a favorite shopping list item when the Mexican criminals send their lackeys north to buy guns. They use armor piercing bullets that are designed to kill police officers.

 Hasan is getting his monthly paycheck from the Army which in his case is about $6,000. The good news is he can't find a bank willing to receive his direct deposits. Presumably the checks ... Continue Reading:Updating the Fort Hood murders

comments | read more 

King-Bachmann Pledge: Vote 'No' on Any CR That Permits Obamacare Funding
(CNSNews.com) - U.S. Reps. Steve King (R-Iowa) and Michelle Bachmann (R-Minn.), two of the leading congressional proponents of the Tea Party movement, have taken a pledge and are asking all other House members to join them in vowing to vote "no" on any continuing resolution that permits any funding for the implementation of Obamacare.

As Libyan Rebels Lose Ground, Arab League's Call for 'No-Fly' Zone Adds to Pressure on U.S.
(CNSNews.com) - A call by the Arab League for the international community to enforce a "no-fly" zone in Libya will add to the pressure on already divided major powers this week. The Obama administration has voiced reluctance, and it is allowing the E.U. to take the lead, while also stressing the need for any action to be endorsed by the United Nations. The Arab call comes as anti-government rebels continue to retreat under fire - and their revolt appears to be heading for defeat.

Pelosi: 'The Biggest Growth in Jobs' This Year Has Been in Health Care
(CNSNews.com) - House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said "the biggest growth in jobs in our economy" this year has been in health care. "Four million jobs will be created by the legislation when it is fully in effect," Pelosi said at the Thursday press conference celebrating the first anniversary of the health care law.

Education Secretary Won't Say Where Constitution Grants Authority for Federal Dep't of Education
(CNSNews.com) - Secretary Arne Duncan dodged the question and talked about federal funding instead.

Nuclear Disaster in Japan Prompt Calls for U.S. Reactor Review
(CNSNews.com) - Fears of a severe nuclear accident in Japan escalated Monday, after a second hydrogen explosion at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is calling for a safety review of 31 reactors in the U.S. that are of the same design as those in Fukushima.

One Indictment Issued in ATF Operation That Allegedly Put Guns In the Hands of Mexican Criminals
(CNSNews.com) - One indictment has been issued in connection with the gun-tracing operation run by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), which allegedly allowed weapons to be funneled to Mexican criminals. "We don't speak to open investigations, especially investigations that are under indictment," an ATF spokesman told CNSNews.com.  "I can tell you that an indictment was announced on January 25 against 20 defendants."

Report: R.I. 'Hitting the Cliff' As Stimulus Infusion Runs Out
(CNSNEws.com) - More than $1.9 billion in federal stimulus money has flowed into Rhode Island, the Providence Journal reported Monday, but despite the windfall, R.I.'s unemployment rate over the past two years never dropped below 9.9 percent -- which is where it was when President Obama signed the stimulus bill into law.

Report: Pennsylvania School Budgets Crashing Without Stimulus
(CNSNews.com) - Public schools and state-owned universities in Pennsylvania face massive cuts in the state's 2011-12 budget as federal stimulus money runs out.
 

OTHER HEADLINES:

Military Force Sent by Persian Gulf States Enters Bahrain

Administration Refused More Than a Third of FOIA Requests Last Year

Miss. Gov. Haley Barbour Contrasts Himself With Obama on Economy

U.S. Criticizes Israeli Settlement Construction Plan

Gadhafi Warplanes Strike Rebel-Held Libyan City

Japan Overwhelmed by Tsunami Victims, Food Shortages, Nuclear Fears

Japan Central Bank Injects Cash in Attempt to Keep Financial Markets Stable

U.S. Missile Strike Kills Three in Pakistan

Suicide Bomber Kills 10 Soldiers at Iraq Army Post

State Department Spokesman Ousted for Remarks That Put Obama on the Spot

Group Clones Ancient Trees in Effort to Cleanse Environment

Passenger Prayer Spurs Security Alert on Flight to Los Angeles

Two Sheriff's Deputies Killed, Two Wounded in Small Virginia Town

'Oliver Twist' Workhouse Saved From Demolition
 

NEWSPAPER ROUNDUP:

Legal fight flares anew over proposed Armenian Genocide Museum in D.C.

Elderly, retired judges keep 9th Circuit courthouses open

'We must seek agreement on gun reforms,' Obama says in op-ed

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski backs Planned Parenthood

Obama to outline education fix that gives states more power

China wants 'one-child' compensation following New Zealand earthquake

Poll: Drill more to ease energy crisis, voters say

Republicans applaud Bill Clinton's remarks on offshore drilling

McConnell blames Obama for rising gas prices

Wood smoke harmful to health and DNA, study finds

White House seeks to re-connect to young voters

R.I. Gov. Chafee factors marijuana sales into budget plan

Gov. Mitch Daniels endorses Republican Sen. Lugar

Fla. teacher disciplined for sex innuendoes on quiz
 

COMMENTARY:

Paging Dr. Chu

By Rich Galen

In his time as Energy Secretary, Dr. Steven Chu has been a strong advocate for nuclear power. One year ago he wrote an essay in the Wall Street Journal, saying, "America is on the cusp of reviving its nuclear power industry." Chu said the president's 2011 budget request would allow the Energy Department to "be able to support between six and nine new reactors." Given what is happening in Japan, it is time for President Obama to instruct his Energy Secretary to revisit his position.

Nuclear Facts to Remember While Following Japan

Posted March 14th, 2011 

The true scope of the devastation in Japan caused by Friday's earthquake and tsunami are still unknown. While the official death toll has surpassed 1,000, the police chief of the Miyagi Prefecture said Sunday there is "no question" that at least 10,000 people have died in just his region alone. Japan has mobilized 100,000 troops for rescue missions, and at least three U.S. Navy ships of the USS Ronald Reagan strike group are assisting in relief efforts. Yet, despite the gravity of the situation, some on the left in this country are already politicizing the disaster to score points against the nuclear power industry.

   Read More . . . 

House and Senate Analysis: March 13-19, 2011

Posted March 13th, 2011 

House Analysis: March 13-19, 2011

With the current short CR is set to expire on Friday, March 18^th the House will be focused on yet another short term extension.  The plan put forward by Republican leadership cuts an additional $6 billion dollars over three weeks, but again fails to include important policy riders like defunding Obamcare, blocking implementation of the EPA's cap-and-trade plan, and denying federal funding for Planned Parenthood.  Failure to pass a either a short term or a longer-term extension by Friday would lead to a government "shutdown," which Heritage explains is more like a government slow down.

   Read More . . . 

A Little Less Talk, a Little More Action on Gas Prices

Posted March 12th, 2011 

A CNN report Friday revealed the stark reality that gas prices have risen by 37 cents since February 22, reaching an average of $3.50 per gallon nationwide. Prices are expected to follow an upward trajectory in coming months. 

   Read More . . . 

Understanding Japan's Response to Its Nuclear Reactor Emergency

Posted March 12th, 2011 

The impact of the Japanese earthquake on its nuclear reactors continues to capture the world's attention. Reports of radioactive releases, elevated radiation levels, and malfunctioning power systems all strike fear into the public as memories of Three Mile Island and Chernobyl quickly enter the national and global conscious. It is important, however, to understand what these terms mean and how different actions taken by Japanese nuclear officials actually impact human health and safety.

   Read More . . . 

Court to DOJ: No More Stalling on Obamacare Lawsuit

Posted March 12th, 2011 

Late yesterday, the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals handed the Obama DOJ yet another defeat in the Obamacare litigation-this time related to how quickly the appeal will proceed.  Readers of this blog know that the Obama DOJ has been attempting to slow walk its appeal of Judge Vinson's ruling.  Judge Vinson stayed his decision striking down the whole of Obamacare, but only if the DOJ filed for expedited review in the 11th Circuit.  The DOJ did file for expedited review on Wednesday, but as Todd Gaziano noted at the time, "the Administration's motion to expedite the appellate briefing requests a timeline that is still too slow," and the motion also claimed that if opposing counsel appealed any of the claims they lost below, then the Justice Department would need more time for briefing.

   Read More . . . 

Future Union Members

The Blaze | by Scott Baker | Posted on March 15, 2011

Hey, teachers!

You've got them chanting "Hey hey, ho ho, Scott Walker has got to go" - but what do they know about Scott Walker?

March 14, 2011

The Obama administration is corrupt and evil

MARIE JON, RA ANALYST - President Barack Obama exhibits very little to none of the biblical teachings of the Judeo-Christian faith. To this day, he has not become a member of any of the Christian churches in Washington, D.C.... (more)

March 14, 2011

Chairman Peter King vs. the silliness brigade

WES VERNON, RA ANALYST - There were some dramatic and silly moments at the congressional hearings on Radical Islam's war against America this past week. Homeland Security Committee Chairman Pete King (R-N.Y.) deserves our thanks for getting the much anticipated probe off the ground; especially given that his life has been threatened as he now has police protection - not at his request... (more)

March 13, 2011

Obama calls for stricter enforcement of gun laws

ASSOCIATED PRESS - President Barack Obama is calling for more stringent enforcement of existing gun laws, citing the "awful consequences" of gun violence in American society... (more)

March 13, 2011

King-Bachmann pledge: vote 'no' on any CR that permits Obamacare funding

CNSNEWS.COM - U.S. Representatives Steve King (R.-Iowa) and Michelle Bachmann (R.-Minn.), two of the leading congressional proponents of the Tea Party movement, have taken a pledge and are asking all other House members to join them in it... (more)

March 13, 2011

What would Jesus cut?

JOSEPH FARAH - In predictable fashion to the growing awareness in Washington that the borrowing-and-spending cycle is no longer sustainable, left-winger Jim Wallis has asked his fellow travelers, few of whom actually attend church or study the Bible, "What would Jesus cut?"... (more)

March 13, 2011

Time for war against Democrats' fiscal sabotage

DAVID LIMBAUGH - It is amazing that the American people would continue to elect Democratic politicians to national office, considering Democrats' cynical disregard for the federal budget crisis. They aren't even slightly serious about becoming part of the solution. Consider the Senate Democrats' most recent proposal for budget cuts to avert a government shutdown... (more)

March 12, 2011

The itch that's destroying America

JOAN SWIRSKY, RA ANALYST - It's a funny thing about itches...the more you scratch, the more you itch. This is because scratching floods your system with histamine, which causes -- itching! Oh, you can get rid of the itching with an over-the-counter medication, or go to the doctor for something stronger. But people with chronic itching conditions inevitably start to believe in Hell, and view itching as among the worst punishments on earth... (more)

March 11, 2011

A RomneyCare fix for Romney

JEFF JACOBY - "Our experiment wasn't perfect," said former Governor Mitt Romney, speaking to an audience of New Hampshire Republicans about the Massachusetts health-care overhaul he signed in 2006. "Some things worked; some things didn't. Some things I'd change"... (more)
 

 Dems hope to taint Romney with health law praise

March 11, 2011

'Us vs. them' unions

WASHINGTON TIMES - Republicans in the Wisconsin statehouse had enough of Democratic Party antics designed to insulate its union supporter base from the pains of the economic malaise affecting the rest of us. The state Senate voted Wednesday to ban public-sector employees from entering into collective bargaining arrangements... (more)

March 11, 2011

Wisconsin governor officially cuts collective bargaining

ASSOCIATED PRESS - Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker succeeded Friday in taking away nearly all collective bargaining rights from the vast majority of the state's public employees, quietly capping weeks of contentious debate and delivering an epic defeat to the labor movement with a private bill signing... (more)

March 11, 2011

Obama's new ambassador to China: not so 'squeaky clean'

MICHELLE MALKIN - Liberal media outlets did their best in 2009 to boost former Washington State Gov. Gary Locke, President Obama's third pick for the beleaguered Commerce Secretary job, as a "squeaky clean" appointee... (more)

March 11, 2011

Poll: Just 18% approve of Congress

POLITICO - After briefly rising in the first months of the new Congress, the congressional approval rate has dipped back below 20 percent in a new poll. Eighteen percent of Americans surveyed for a Gallup poll released Friday said they approve of how Congress is handling its job, down from 23 percent in February and 20 percent in January... (more)

March 11, 2011

Maryland gay marriage bill dies with no final vote

ASSOCIATED PRESS - A bill to legalize gay marriage in Maryland has died after the House of Delegates avoided a final vote on the measure. House Speaker Michael Busch said the issue will not be taken up again this year... (more)

March 11, 2011

Peter King's important service

RICH LOWRY - Betty Friedan famously wrote about "the problem that has no name." Decades later, domestic Islamic radicalism bids fair to become the new nameless problem, at least if the Left gets its way. The outraged reaction to the hearings being held by Rep. Peter King (R., N.Y.) to look into the radicalization of the domestic Muslim community was so mindless it bordered on a collective self-lobotomy... (more)

March 10, 2011

Ensure limited-government victory by empowering states

REP. MIKE PENCE - As a new Republican majority in Congress wrestles with historic budget deficits and unprecedented public debt, many Americans are rightly asking not only "How did we get here?" but "How can we make sure this never happens again?"... (more)

March 10, 2011

Rep. Mike Rogers: Obamacare waivers for everyone

NEWSMAX - Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan has introduced legislation that he feels would solve the spectacular debate sparked by Obamacare: waivers for all. Everyone... (more)

March 10, 2011

Obamacare's magic billions

DEROY MURDOCK - Imagine that you have $500 in your left pocket. You shift it to your right pocket. Can you now buy $1,000 worth of merchandise at your favorite store? Of course not! Now, a politician tries the same experiment, only with 1 billion times as much money. Can he transfer $500 billion from one pocket to the other and then finance $1 trillion worth of goodies?... (more)

March 10, 2011

Utah lawmakers recognize gold as legal tender

WORLDNETDAILY - Utah lawmakers today gave their final approval to a bill that would recognize gold and silver as legal tender for the first time in the United States in some three generations... (more)

March 10, 2011

Expert warns of health risks associated with new light bulb technology

CNSNEWS.COM - A lighting expert who has overseen lighting projects including the Statue of Liberty and the Petronas Towers, expressed concerns on Capitol Hill Thursday about the safety of certain types of new light bulbs... (more)

 The relative ease of the fix is what makes the Obama administration's Social Security strategy so shocking. The new line from the White House is: no need to fix it because there is no problem. As Office of Management and Budget Director Jack Lew wrote in USA Today just a few weeks ago, the trust fund is solvent until 2037. Therefore, Social Security is now off the table in debt-reduction talks.

Senator Rubio Comments On Senate's Failure To Rein In Spending "I Did Not Come To The U.S. Senate To Be Part Of Some Absurd Political Theatre"

 READ MORE:

 

 Congressman Steve King Socks it to the House and Speaker Regarding defunding Obamacare!

 SEE VIDEO HERE:

The Foundation

"We should never despair, our Situation before has been unpromising and has changed for the better, so I trust, it will again." --George Washington

Japan Crisis Escalates

More than 10,000 Japanese citizens are estimated dead in the wake of Friday's tsunami. Prime Minister Naoto Kan told the nation Sunday that the earthquake and tsunami represent the biggest crisis to face the country since the end of World War II.

Complicating matters greatly, Japan's nuclear crisis has escalated as authorities attempt to mitigate the threat of multiple potential reactor meltdowns. The cooling system at a sixth reactor at the Fukushima No. 1 and No. 2 plants has now failed, and one meltdown is occurring. Some 200,000 people have been evacuated and the evacuation zones are being widened.

Read more from Mark Alexander and comment here 

Political Futures

"[N]ow gasoline costs more than $4 a gallon in many places in California, and averages more than $3.50 nationwide. In response, the Obama administration is reportedly considering tapping into the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve to increase supplies and drive down high prices brought on by a recovering world economy and unrest in the oil-rich Middle East. Yet the reserve depot was not designed to alleviate periodic gas-price spikes, but to ensure our very survival during a global catastrophe that might result in a cutoff of most petroleum imports from overseas. There are now more than 700 million barrels of stored oil in the reserve. In times of near-Armageddon, even that huge supply would provide for all of the nation's oil needs for only a single month. It would make up for all imported oil cutoffs for only two months. So how is it wise to tap this critical but finite reserve -- especially when the current administration had prohibited new oil and gas production in large parts of the Gulf of Mexico and the western United States? The administration certainly will not reconsider new drilling in oil-rich areas in Alaska or elsewhere off the American coasts. The message to Americans seems to be that it is OK to consume old oil stockpiled by previous generations (the reserve was begun in 1975), but quite wrong to drill for new oil to be used by the present generation." --historian Victor Davis Hanson 

Opinion in Brief

"[T]he scandal is not that House Committee on Homeland Security chairman Peter King (R., N.Y.) [held] hearings on 'The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and that Community's Response.' The scandal is that they have been so long in coming. The Department of Homeland Security was created in direct response to an act of Islamic terror, an act perpetrated by radical Muslims who lived and worked, planned and plotted inside the United States. Post-9/11, the threat of homegrown jihad is as great or greater. ... [A] search of the Homeland Security hearings in the 111th yields not one mention of Islamism or jihad. So the cries of religious persecution from groups like CAIR and their allies on the left badly miss the point: It isn't that we have cast a discriminatory eye toward Islam, but that excessive concern with the pieties of multicultural relativism has prevented us from being sufficiently critical of Islamism. A problem cannot be dealt with that is not first faced foursquarely, and, to appropriate a phrase, we have for too long been a nation of cowards when it comes to addressing jihadist radicalism between our shores. Representative King's hearings make an honest first effort to do that." --National Review editors

Re: The Left

"For many on the Left the real fear is that for the first times in their lives they would have to find a job in the private sector they so vilify. Therefore the real interest of these radicals [regarding Wisconsin] is not the so-called denial of the 'right' to collective bargaining but that by eliminating compulsory union dues ... a major source of funding for their groups will be eliminated. ... The Left, despite their protestations that they always have the best interests of the people at heart, have only their own interests at heart. It is their individual income stream and their massive egos which must be fed, and there is not enough private funding to do so. Therefore it must come from the public coffers whether directly from government programs or indirectly through compulsory public sector union dues. It has taken a national and various state financial crises to pull back the curtain so the American public can view the corruption and greed in the full light of day. The Left ... will not go gently into that good night; but no longer will they operate with such impunity as their influence wanes and funds dry-up." --columnist Steve McCann

Liberty

"If you can't read the Constitution, or the Declaration, or The Federalist Papers, you won't understand their essential concepts or why they represent so much wisdom. When even our elite colleges and universities aren't teaching the next generation the basic concepts of the American republic like federalism or the difference between Thomas Jefferson and Karl Marx, it ought to be obvious that American public education is failing American democracy. ... [A] generation that is not taught to recognize the irreconcilable differences represented by the Declaration of Independence and the Communist Manifesto, between Madison and Marx, the Federalist Papers and Rules for Radicals is doomed to be ruled, not to rule. Individual liberty will not long survive in a republic of civic dunces." --Washington Examiner editorial page editor Mark Tapscott

Government

"There is a distinct group of Americans who bear a large burden for today's runaway government. You ask, 'Who are they?' It's the so-called 'greatest generation.' When those Americans were born, federal spending as a percentage of GDP was about 3 percent, as it was from 1787 to 1920 except during war. No one denies the sacrifices made and the true greatness of a generation of Americans who suffered through our worst depression, conquered the meanest tyrants during World War II and later managed to produce a level of wealth and prosperity heretofore unknown to mankind. But this generation of Americans also laid the political foundation for the greatest betrayal of our nation's core founding principle: limited federal government exercising only constitutionally enumerated powers. It was on their watch that the foundation was laid for today's massive federal spending that tops 25 percent of GDP. A good part of that generation is still alive. Before they depart, they might do their share to help us have a federal government exercising only constitutionally enumerated powers." --economist Walter E. Williams

Faith & Family

"It was never an easy relationship. For a while, though, the Defense of Marriage Act [DOMA] and the Obama administration managed to live together. Then the administration walked out, leaving DOMA to fend for herself. There's no point asking why. We know why -- the president's core supporters refuse to recognize what centuries of tradition and common sense tell us, and what voters and lawmakers confirmed in 1996 -- that marriage is between one man and one woman. The question is, what's next for this act scorned? ... Its validity and constitutionality are beyond question. Yet the administration, by walking away from DOMA, is rejecting this. In effect, it's saying, 'Congress, you think the laws you pass on behalf of your constituents deserve a defense in court? Not unless we agree with them. Voters, you think marriage should be reserved for one man and one woman? You're bigoted and irrational.' ... DOMA deserves better than the half-hearted defense it has been getting so far." --Heritage Foundation president Ed Feulner

The Gipper

"Let's ensure that the federal government never again legislates against the family and the home. ... But let us make certain that the family is always at the center of the public policy process, not just in this administration but in future -- all future administrations." --Ronald Reagan 

Culture

"[Last] week, a sting video shows NPR Foundation President Ron Schiller (no relation) saying that tea party activists were 'seriously racist' and telling two purported Muslim program underwriters that there aren't enough 'non-Zionist' news organizations. Vivian Schiller and Ron Schiller both have been forced to resign. But, with a new, large Republican majority in the House of Representatives, NPR leaders could hardly have done a better job of persuading Congress to zero out public radio funding. ... Much if not all of NPR's programming already attracts thinly (and irritatingly) disguised advertising. I'm sure the NPR demographic is one many other advertisers would like to target. At the same time, the case for government support of public broadcasting is far weaker than it was in the 1960s and 1970s, when there was far less variety in broadcasting and more reason to doubt that public radio could come up with a commercially viable product." --columnist Michael Barone

Reader Comments

"Mark Alexander's piece on Democratic Socialism is right on. However, you might catch some flak about framing Obama's image with that of Hitler and Stalin. Allow me to say, as a Jewish American (not hyphenated, just used as way of identifying my point of view), stay the course. The three men just had different methods of achieving the same end -- statist dominance over their respective economies and consequently, societies." --Michael

"While I have disagreed with the vast majority of the decisions President Obama has made during his time in office, I have to say that I find the portrayal of his image next to Josef Stalin and Adolf Hitler to be objectionable. Both Stalin and Hitler were directly, intentionally responsible for tens of millions of deaths. To compare our President (and like it or not, that's what he is) to these men is exactly the kind of hysterics I found so reprehensible when President Bush was in office. If someone who was politically on the fence saw this image, the chances are good that all the text around it would be instantly discredited in their mind." --Phil

Editor's Reply: The purpose of this image was clearly stated both in the essay and the image: The terminus of Marxist, Nationalist and Democratic Socialism is the same -- tyranny. However, let me respond to your objection on the basis that "Both Stalin and Hitler were directly, intentionally responsible for tens of millions of deaths." Hitler and Stalin were responsible for the policies of regimes that killed millions, Stalin (est. 20 million) far more than Hitler (est. 6 million), though the Leftmedia would have you believe the Nationalist murdered more than one of their Marxist brethren. However, there are few deaths directly attributable to either of them (as is often the case with tyrannical cowards, who have others do their bidding). I am aware of no deaths attributable to Barack Obama, however he has been very directly and intentionally supportive of his regime's policy to allow the killing of approximately 53 million children since 1973. In his brief capacities as an Illinois state and U.S. senator, and subsequently as president, Obama even supported the killing of fully developed children, who, according to the American Medical Association, have "the brain and material inside the skull evacuated" prior to being fully born. Perhaps some would qualify counting the deaths of children ripped from their mothers wombs (also a practice of Hitler's regime), "hysterics," but this grisly practice is the direct result of eugenics as advanced in the 1930's by Hitler in Germany and Margaret Sanger in the U.S. to "improve the genetic composition of a population." But I digress...

"Quoting Jefferson and suggesting that active rebellion may be necessary to stop the slide toward Democratic Socialism is irresponsible. Some in your ranks may be deranged enough to take you seriously. We have the right to vote and that is sufficient."

Editor's Reply: "Deranged" better describes those who do not fully grasp the timeless wisdom of Thomas Jefferson's words: "The tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." More than a million Patriots have died in defense of Liberty and in honor of their oaths to support and defend our Constitution. If you are not among the ranks of Patriots ready to heed Jefferson's words today, then for you, I invoke Samuel Adams words: "We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands, which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!"

"Mr. Alexander, I'm a young Christian from a former socialist country, the Czech Republic. I subscribe to The Patriot Post and read it with great interest. My homeland once had Christian roots but in recent history, has been dominated by Nationalist Socialism and Marxist Socialism. Could you please help me to understand what the difference between 'patriotism' and 'nationalism' is? Here in Europe, anyone who puts his country first is called a nationalist. This term is pejorative. Thank you for the work you do. I would like to help my fellow Czechs to love God and our country as you do yours." --Czech Patriot

Editor's Reply: These words have different meaning both over time and geographically. Generally speaking, Nationalism refers to a blind allegiance to the state, no matter what the nature of the state may be. American Patriotism, as we use it appropriately, refers to a steadfast devotion to the fundamental principle of our nation's Founding, individual Liberty as "endowed by our Creator," and the extension of that principle to our posterity.

"In Alexander's exposition on Democratic Socialism, there were a number of budget perspectives that I had never seen before. One of the most troubling was this one: 'In 2010, central government spending in the U.S. was almost 41 percent of our nation's GDP -- by far the highest it has been since WWII. In the last decade of the Soviet Union's existence before its collapse, the USSR's central government spending peaked at 49 percent of GDP.' U.S. government spending as a percent of GDP is on track to equal that of the USSR a the time of their collapse? Every American needs to read that stat. Please advise your source." --Crimson Economist

Editor's Reply: This information was provided directly by Andrei Illiarionov, former senior economic policy advisor to the Russia president, Vladimir Putin.

Insight

"Socialism of any type leads to a total destruction of the human spirit." --Russian dissident and novelist Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008)

The Last Word

"In Washington, D.C., America is witnessing one of the grossest spectacles of fiscal incompetency, coupled with denial, ever perpetrated by a political party. And that's the Republicans. Democrats have made it clear that they will accept nothing less than the destruction of the republic, if that's what it take to prove progressivism is 'successful.' Over the top? Consider this: the highest cut in the federal budget proposed by the Irresponsible Republicans is $61 billion. The Democrat Destroyers say such a cut is way over the top. Last month, in 28 days, our government spent $223 billion of money we don't have. That's nearly four times more than the cuts proposed by the Irresponsibles, every one of which will be fought tooth and nail by the Destroyers. Any questions? I have one. At what point does this eyes-wide-open effort to bankrupt America reach the boiling point with the American public? If someone came into your house and 'borrowed' a little over seven hundred bucks -- per family member -- I bet most Americans would be pretty upset. Well try dividing $233 billion in borrowed money by 300 million Americans, and guess what: that's precisely what the Obama administration added to every citizen's share of the debt -- in one month." --columnist Arnold Ahlert

March 14, 2011

Academic Excellence and the Mix of Students

By Robert Weissberg 

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Networks ignore death threats to Wisconsin legislators


   
From the Desk of:
David Martin, Executive Vice President
Media Research Center

3/14/2011

Two months after trying to blame Conservatives for the senseless shootings in Arizona, the leftist media are ignoring actual death threats against Wisconsin legislators who voted to restore fiscal sanity to their state budget. --David


Unless you live in Wisconsin and actually witness the liberal media fueled madness that is taking place there, you likely aren't getting the whole sordid story.

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Stopping Policies That Drive Up Gas Prices, Destroy Jobs

  

Stopping Policies That Drive Up Gas Prices, Destroy Jobs

 

March 13, 2011 | Posted by Speaker Boehner's Press Office

This week, the House will vote on another round of spending cuts aimed at ending some of the uncertainty facing job creators so they can begin hiring again. And with high gas prices burdening families and small businesses, Republicans have launched the American Energy Initiative to stop Washington policies that are driving up prices and expand American energy production to help lower costs and create jobs. Learn more below and watch Speaker Boehner     discussing the initiative here:

* VIDEOS * TODAY'S HOT PICKS *

1. Al Qaeda's New Magazine for Women Mixes Beauty and Bomb Tips
2. Video: George Will: 'NPR Is Run By People Who Don't Like People Like Me'
3. New Video: Japan earthquake: Footage of moment tsunami hit
4. Satellite Photos of Japan, Before and After the Quake and Tsunami
5. Video: CNN's Anderson Cooper's Live Reaction to Hydrogen Explosion: 'Should I Get out Of Here?'
6. Video: Huge Hydrogen Explosion At Japan's Nuclear Reactor
7. Audio: Funny! Laura Ingraham mocks NBC's Andrea Mitchell for defending NPR
8. Video: CNN's Kurtz talks to James O'Keefe about he ACORN and NPR undercover videos
9. Video: All 14 Wisc. Senate Dems Join Pro-Labor Protesters in March Around Capitol
10. Hussain Hashem al-Hussaini is "John Doe #2 in Oklahoma bombing

Conservative party piece:

Boast that you never allow your kids to watch network news or read the local liberal newspaper. When your liberal friend responds, "Then how are they going to learn about the world?" reply, "Oh, you know, with things called books. Right now they're reading Animal Farm and The Road to Serfdom."  

March 14, 2011 

On Monday's Program 

GB returns from vaca

Glenn is back from vacation and a lot happened during the break to comment on - the disaster in Japan, the 'moron' in California who was swept away trying to film the tsunami, the ongoing union protests in Wisconsin, Jesse Jackson's latest idiotic comments, and of course - the diet. The diet, in case you are not already aware, Glenn calls it the 'stick' diet and it is as bad as it sounds. How did one week of a fun in the sun vacation change Glenn's outlook on the news, if at all? Find out in his first monologue from radio today.

Glenn responds to NYT rumor mill

Last week The New York Times featured an article by David Carr that speculated the future was 'dark' for the Beck/Fox relationship. His main thesis was the latest leftist classic Beck attack: 'poor' ratings.  Of course! No one is watching Glenn Beck. What's that say about the rest of cable news? Because Glenn is crushing the 5pm competition and is beating every single show on CNN, Headline News, and MSNBC - including prime time. Needless to say, Glenn had a few words in response to Carr's article -- get them HERE. 

Incredible on the ground video of Japan Tsunami: The death toll continues to rise with hundreds still missing. The footage coming out of Japan has been horrifying - the latest is this on the ground footage shot as the wave makes its way down a city street and quickly begins destroying everything in its path. WATCH 

Jesse Jackson's latest idiotic, racist comments

It remains one of the wonders of the world that Jesse Jackson remains a leader in the African American community, especially when he keeps saying seemingly racist comments like the one he recently unleashed. He claimed that Wisconsin is indeed a civil rights issue because the black middle class is 'government-driven.' Will the media remain silent? Glenn reacts to these comments and more on radio today - click HERE for details. 

What to give up for Lent...Glenn Beck?

That's what one 'faith' group is urging Christian owned stations to do for Lent - give up Glenn Beck. But it doesn't take much investigative work to see that the so called 'faith' group supporting this Beck boycott is (drum roll please...) a George Soros funded group! Isn't it odd how every single 'stop Glenn Beck' movement always ends up being funded by either George Soros or some other radical left wing organization? Get the full story from The Blaze HERE.