Quote: (Can be used in almost all gun control arguments; it is worth memorizing.) 

"Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom of Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretence, raised in the United States." 

~ Noah Webster, An Examination of the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution, 1787 

If you see a story that you believe would be useful and important to our readers, simply respond to this email with a link and a brief description of why it is important.  (Even if it may be obvious)

Judge Clears Army Vet to Sue Donald Rumsfeld Over Abduction & Torture Claims

The Blaze | by Billy Hallowell | Posted on August 4, 2011 at 7:00am

WASHINGTON (The Blaze/AP) - Former Secretary of Defense, Donald H. Rumsfeld, has some major problems on the horizon. For the second time, a judge is allowing an Army veteran who says he was imprisoned unjustly and tortured by the U.S. military in Iraq to sue him personally for damages.

The veteran's identity is withheld in court filings, but he worked for an American contracting company as a translator for the Marines in the volatile Anbar province before being detained for nine months at Camp Cropper, a U.S. military facility near the Baghdad airport dedicated to holding "high-value" detainees.

The government says he was suspected of helping get classified information to the enemy and helping anti-coalition forces enter Iraq. But he was never charged with a crime and says he never broke the law.

   Read More . . . 

MSNBC's Martin Bashir, Guest: Tea Party Like 'Psychotic' Drug Addicts, Norway Killer

The Blaze | by Tiffany Gabbay | Posted on August 3, 2011 at 10:12pm

Just when you thought the bias couldn't get any more egregious over at MSNBC, Martin Bashir topped himself yet again when he encouraged one of his recent guests to psychologically analyze Tea Party members. And Stanton Peele, the psychologist and addiction "expert" being interviewed, certainly didn't disappoint Bashir, delivering his rather patronizing "professional" opinion in a segment affectionately titled the "Mind of the Tea Party."

The diagnosis? It's pretty grim. Tea Party members are apparently suffering "psychosis." What's more, according to the good psychologist, they are also the equivalent of drug addicts seeking a euphoric high, who will stop at nothing to achieve that high, and who will lash out like Anders Breivik did in Norway if they fail to attain that high.

   Read More . . . 

Iran Revolutionary Guard Commander Becomes New President of OPEC

The Blaze | by Jonathon M. Seidl | Posted on August 4, 2011 at 8:15am

If you were worried about foreign oil before and production gouging by OPEC before, just wait until you hear who's the organization's new president.

The Guardian is reporting that Rostam Ghasemi, who on Wednesday became Iran's oil minister, is now the new head of OPEC. But not only is he from the U.S.-hating Iran, he's also been sanctioned by the U.S., the E.U. and Australia and has his assets blacklisted.

The Revolutionary Guard and Iran couldn't be happier.

   Read More . . . 

Press Release:

AFDI/SIOA 9/11 Freedom Rally: 

Stand Against Ground Zero Mosque, and Durban III, Stand for America

NEW YORK, July 6: The human rights organization American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) will be hosting its second annual 9/11 Freedom Rally on September 11 at 3pm at Park Place and West Broadway.

Free citizens are coming from all over the U.S. to attend the rally. "It is crucial to stand for freedom on this tenth anniversary of the heinous 9/11 jihad attacks," said AFDI Executive Director Pamela Geller. "We must show the jihadists we are unbowed in the defense of freedom."

AFDI and its Stop Islamization of America (SIOA) program are encouraging all Americans to stand against the Islamic supremacist mega-mosque at Ground Zero and the anti-Semitic Durban III conference that will be held in New York City at the same time, and for American values on the tenth anniversary of the worst attack ever on American soil.

The confirmed list of speakers includes 9/11 family members Alexander and Maureen Santora, who lost their firefighter son Christopher; Sally Regenhard, whose son Christian was killed on 9/11; Nelly Braginsky, who lost her son Alexander; and others.

Other speakers include former U. S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton (video message); the courageous ex-Muslim human rights activist Wafa Sultan; war hero and North Carolina Congressional candidate Ilario Pantano; former prosecutor and bestselling author Andrew C. McCarthy; popular radio host Joyce Kaufman; Darla Dawald, National Director of the Patriot Action Network; James Lafferty of the Virginia Anti-Sharia Taskforce (VAST); Coptic Christian activist Joseph Nassralla; Iraqi ex-Muslim Paul Gaynos.

Hosting the rally are Pamela Geller, publisher of the acclaimed AtlasShrugs.com blog, executive director of AFDI and SIOA, and author of Stop the Islamization of America: A Practical Guide to the Resistance (WND Books); and AFDI/SIOA associate director Robert Spencer, the bestselling author and director of Jihad Watch.

Building the Ground Zero mosque is not an issue of religious freedom, but of resisting an effort to insult the victims of 9/11 and to establish a beachhead for political Islam and Islamic supremacism in New York. Cordoba Initiative board member imam Feisal Abdul Rauf is an open proponent of Sharia, Islamic law, a system that denies the freedom of speech, the freedom of conscience, and the equality of rights of all people before the law. Given the thousands of triumphal mosques that have been built on the cherished sites of conquered peoples throughout Islamic history, the mosque leaders' claim that this mosque would be understood differently by Muslims worldwide lack foundation.

The Durban III conference follows upon two previous conferences that scapegoated and demonized the state of Israel in service of Islamic jihad and Islamic supremacist interests. The rally will defend Israel against the defamation to which it will be subjected at this conference. It will also call upon the city to remove roadblocks to the reconstruction of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, which was destroyed on 9/11 and since then mired in bureaucratic red tape that has prevented its rebuilding - in stark contrast to the help Mayor Bloomberg and other city officials have given to the Ground Zero Mosque project.

AFDI/SIOA is one of America's foremost organizations defending human rights, religious liberty, and the freedom of speech against Islamic supremacist intimidation and attempts to bring elements of Sharia to the United States.

************************************************************************************

LISTEN LIVE TO REPATRIOT RADIO

"BETTER THAN EVER"

WNJC 1360AM Shows

(all times are eastern)

Wednesday 3-4pm "Patriots Watch" - Billy Baer and Dan Haggerty

Thursday 3-4pm "America's Black Shield" - Ted Hayes and Terrance Lang

Friday 10-11 "Veterans' Weekly Forum" - Ed Rosen and Bob Rosebrock

Saturday 5:30-6:30pm "We Say, No Se Puede!" ("No You Cannot!") - Rita Bonilla and Alice Novoa

BEEF N' BEER 

TO

SUPPORT 

U.S. CONGRESSMAN 

MICHAEL G. FITZPATRICK

Thursday, August 11, 2011
7:00pm - 9:00pm 

Smoke Eaters Pub
7681 Frankford Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19136
$40 Per Person

Click Here To Download The Flyer 

   Glenn Beck Restoring Courage Viewing Party : On Wednesday, August 24 we will be streaming the event at The Moose and we're inviting everyone to come down and share this together.  Many of us went to the Restoring Honor event last year and we were deeply moved by the day's events.  Being with others we know made this even more special.  Although we are not going to travel to Israel, we are hoping that we can recreate that atmosphere here in Bucks County.  We are still in the development stages of this event and would like to hear your suggestions on how to have it work out.  And if you can help with the planning, set up and the break down, please let us know.  These events are even more special when you are part of the effort to make it come off well for everyone who comes.  Be sure to invite your friends and family to come as well.  This would be a great opportunity to meet other patriots and meet some new ones.

   Let us know you are coming on our Facebook event post .  

There will be weekly meetings every Wednesday at P J Ryan's, 231 Bridge Street, Phoenixville - 6pm - downstairs

We will be discussing UN Agenda 21 & Sustainable Development, as well as other topics relevant with today's problems like the NWO, Congress, debt, how to be prepared for the future disasters, etc.... At this weeks meeting will start with sending some people over to sit in on the meeting below.  We need to know what our opposition is doing  . . . If you have any questions please feel free to email me back or contact Maggie at www.theunsolicitedopinion.com or Maggie@theunsolicitedopinion.com

If you would like to join the Green Team or volunteer for a sub-committee, please email us

CONTACT Diane about this email at : uncanney2@verizon.net   

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

DO YOU FEEL SOMETHING IS WRONG & WONDER WHY THINGS DO NOT GET FIXED & YOUR REPRESENTATIVES DO NOT LISTEN TO YOU . . .

Please Join Us  to Find out Why . . .

The Shadow Party (who really controls our government), Continuing Education on UN Agenda 21:   How old is Agenda 21?  The roots of Agenda 21 and sustainable building today, an Architects perspective & Nullification - lawful remedies to stop the national government's usurpations. 

Saturday, August 20^th  - 6pm . . .

P J Ryan's, 231 Bridge Street, Phoenixville -  downstairs private dining area

2 hr free parking on street and free lots at both ends of town (District Court Building, & near Customer's 1^st Bank).  There are several metered lots throughout the borough at $1 per hour.  Parking meters are centrally located in each lot and take coins and credit/debit cards. 

Who/what is the Shadow Party.  How old is Agenda 21?  What are the roots of Agenda 21 and sustainable building today?    Find out and use lawful remedies to stop the national government's usurpations.   Speakers include, Jack Callahan, Dave Adamski, Jr., and William Taylor Reil. 

For more info:  www.theunsolicitedopinion.com

Contact:  Maggie  - maggie@theunsolicitedopinion.com or

Diane - uncanny2@verizon.net

Dear Patriot,

Our August meeting will be held in conjunction with the Kitchen Table Patriots to present a project to help ensure the integrity of our electoral process.  This is a genuine non-partisan issue.  Win or lose candidates for office should be able to rely on the officials who oversee the polls on Election Day so that every legitimate vote is counted. 

"True the Vote" is an initiative developed by citizens for citizens, to inspire and equip volunteers for involvement at every stage of our electoral process and to actively protect the rights of legitimate voters, regardless of their political party affiliation.  We are looking for people to learn about this effort and get involved today to ensure we have valid elections for all.  Please join us August 8^th.

True the Vote

w/ TJC & KTP

Monday, August 8^th, 7pm

The Moose Club

127 East State Street

Doylestown, PA

At the meeting we will begin planning for the 2^nd Annual "We Read the Constitution" Rally at Washington Crossing State Park on Saturday, September 17^th.  Those who attended last year will recall the educational and civic value of the event.  If you are interested in helping or being a reader, please contact Audrey Strein at audreys110@yahoo.com. 

Also consider attending a wonderful event with the "First Lady" of the Conservative movement, Phyllis Schlafly, on Tuesday, August 9^th at the Union League in Philadelphia.  Phyllis is the Founder and President of the Eagle Forum.  There is a reception and luncheon; more information can be found here:  http://www.eagleforum.org/w-mailing/2011/Philadelphia-Invite.pdf. 

All the best,

Jeff McGeary

President, Thomas Jefferson Club

For Immediate Release

Contact: 717-228-7524

CONSTITUTION GROUP BRINGING "LIBERTY BREAKFAST" TO CHESTER COUNTY

(Lebanon, PA) - The Constitutional Organization Of Liberty (COOL), a conservative, non-partisan educational organization, has announced it will be hosting a "Liberty Breakfast" in Downingtown on Saturday, August 6.   

Mark Thomas of Cornwall, Chairman of COOL, said that the five-year old organization has arranged for the morning function at the Old Country Buffet, beginning at 8:30 AM.

"We're very excited about bringing our breakfast to Chester County," Thomas said.  "We have hosted courses and functions throughout central Pennsylvania but this is the first one we have held in Chester County."

Thomas said that the Liberty Breakfasts are new for 2011 as they found a number of individuals were interested in gaining additional knowledge about the Constitution but were not able to commit to long term coursework.

"After the successful classes we had last year, COOL's Board went ahead and approved the use of the breakfast model in order to broaden our access and appeal to the different locations we think would be receptive to our courses and educational approach," he said.

Carris Kocher, of the Bill of Rights Bicentennial Committee, which, along with Chester County ACTION, is hosting the breakfast, said she personally made arrangements for the breakfast in Downingtown and is looking for a strong turnout.

"This area has a large number of deeply convicted individuals when it comes to the Constitution and how the law should be applied," Kocher said.  "I really felt the time had come to start combining COOL's strong educational expertise with the conservative activists in the area."

Kocher also noted that since 2011 is the 275th anniversary of Patrick Henry's birth, the breakfast will include a musical tribute to Patrick Henry by Charlie Zahm of Philadelphia,

"Charlie is an outstanding musician with a wealth of musical talent and historical knowledge," Kocher said. "He is popular at Maritime, Early American and Celtic festivals, and his rich voice is matched only by his masterful guitar playing."

"Having this tribute to Patrick Henry at this event seemed fitting," Kocher said, "as, without Patrick Henry, there would be no Bill of Rights and no First Amendment."

State Senator Mike Folmer (R-48^th), who serves as a Board member for COOL, attended the first Liberty Breakfast in Palmyra and said he was very pleased with the function.

"I enjoyed the fact that the breakfast allows participants to gain additional knowledge about the Constitution and our Founding documents without feeling pressured to stick to a long term schedule," Folmer said.  "And for an elected official like myself it is a great time to just catch up with local constituents without having to worry about being the center of attention."

"Anyone who attends these breakfasts comes out learning something," he said.

The topic for the Liberty Breakfast scheduled for August 6 will be "The First Amendment" and will feature both a review of the Amendment as well as an open discussion of the critical aspects of it.

The meeting room at the Old Country Buffet has been reserved and breakfast will be served ala carte whereby participants will order and pay for their own meals.  After the meal, the forum will begin, and there is no charge to participate, although donations will be solicited. 

Attendance confirmation is requested to ensure sufficient seating in the meeting room, and may be made by contacting Kocher via e-mail at kochercj@verizon.net.  Any other inquiries may be made directly to COOL at 717-228-7524, or by e-mail at reclaimliberty@verizon.net.

Welcome to the Recovery 

Tell the Democrats to get their heads out of the sand and fix the economy. It's time for a balanced budget. 

Welcome to the Recovery

RedState Morning Briefing

For August 4, 2011

1. Agenda for the 2011 RedState Gathering

Folks, i've posted the full and final agenda for the 2011 RedState Gathering in Charleston, SC. The event will be from August 12 to 14, 2011. The main event is August 13th.

2. The Case of the Missing President

This anonymously-sourced report from The Hill, which clearly derives in good part from Republican sources, is pretty damning about President Obama's leadership, if it turns out to be accurate.

As John Podhoretz noted in the NY Post, Obama's inability to either work out a deal in private or rally public support behind any particular plan resulted in a deal that left out the one thing he had demanded, any tax hikes. And indeed, whether or not the Hill's account is accurate, it is telling that Obama insisted that his entire role be performed offstage where the public couldn't verify what he was doing or where he stood except by taking the word of him and his spokesmen. That amounted to a total surrender of the 'bully pulpit,' despite Obama's frequent appearances to repeat his vague appeals for a "balanced" approach - Republicans could see that he wasn't willing to take any stand for which he'd be held accountable, and so they inferred, correctly, that he'd never stand ground he'd taken in private if he feared to take it in public. His silence on the specifics rendered him weak and vulnerable, and ultimately impotent. He became the man who'd take any deal, so of course he got none of what he asked for.

3. Let Them Eat Cake! DNC Blows Off Unions For Obama's 50th Birthday Bash!

A day after President Obama held an "urgent" meeting with AFL-CIO bosses in the White House, the Democrat National Committee is hosting a huge birthday bash for Obama's 50th birthday tonight in Chicago. The only problem is, DNC organizers apparently chose not to use union labor for the event.

4. A Rational Shut Down Strategy

In case you haven't noticed it part of the federal government is now shut down. The Federal Aviation Administration's budget is caught up in a disagreement between the House and Senate. The House has adjourned, except for pro forma sessions which prevent Obama from placing more commies in positions of power, which means the FAA will be unfunded until September.

As we approach yet another budgetary food fight when the current continuing resolution expires on September 30 what has happened with the FAA is instructive on how to reduce federal spending, including the elimination of agencies, without triggering a widespread government shutdown with uncertain outcomes.

Heritage Hotsheet

Experts on the Day's Hottest News

Items for August 4, 2011

Obama signs debt ceiling deal to avert default, eyes now turn to 'supercommittee'
 The Washington Post

A Dangerous World-Defense Cuts Risk Disaster
 The New York Post

Ohio Repeal Effort to Decide if States Anti-Union Law Lasts
 NPR

Somali famine spreads to three new areas
 The Washington Post

LORIS: Power down the subsidies to energy producers
 The Washington Times

Latest Research:

Webmemo:Reset Regret: Russian Global Strategy Undermines American Interests

 Conservative history: Defend the Vietnam War.

 Susan's Paul Ryan Medicare Pamphlet - please print this and give it to your contacts

THIS IS WHAT A TRAITOR LOOKS LIKE TO MOST OF US. 

In 
1952 
President  Truman 
established  one  day  a  year  as  a
"National Day of Prayer." 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In 
1988
President Reagan 
designated the
First Thursday in May of each year as 
the National Day of Prayer.   
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In June 
2007
(then) 
Presidential 
Candidate Barack Obama 
declared that the USA 
"Was no longer  a 
Christian nation." 
---------------------------------------------------------------   
This year
President Obama 
canceled the 
21st annual National Day 
of Prayer ceremony 
at the White
House under the ruse 
Of "not wanting to offend anyone"   

------------------------------------------------------------------------   

BUT... on September 25, 2009 
from 4 AM until 7 PM, 
a National Day of Prayer 
FOR THE MUSLIM RELIGION 
was Held on Capitol Hill, 
Beside the White House. 
There were over 50,000 Muslims
in  D.C. that day.   

Error! Filename not specified.
     HE PRAYS WITH THE MUSLIMS! 

I guess it Doesn't matter 
if "Christians" 
Are  offended  by  this  event - 
We  obviously
Don't  count  as 
"anyone"  Anymore. 

The direction  this country is headed 
should strike fear in the heart of every Christian,
especially knowing that the 
Muslim religion believes that if Christians cannot be
converted, they should be annihilated. 

This is not a Rumor - 
Go  to  the  website 
To  confirm  this  info: 
 http://www.islamoncapitolhill.com

The Willful Tea Party Ignorance of Sarah Churchwell

Professor of American Studies at the University of East Anglia 

Edward Cline 

Stealthily Orchestrating a Pro-Islamic Stance

Marilyn Penn

Today's Hot Topics

• 1. Fears Of Double-Dip Recession Rise: Dow Falls Below 12,000; Consumer Spending Declines [WT]
• 2. Holder Wants to Keep Secrets in FBI Lawsuit [AP]  
• 3. Mubarak In Court On Stretcher For Trial [SKY NEWS]
• 4. Media Blames Islamic Expert for Norway Massacre [CBN] 
• 5. 1.6M bolt high-tax state in last decade [NYP]
• 6. Poll: Americans think elected reps behaved like 'spoiled children' in debt ceiling negotiations [DAILY CALLER]  
• 7. U.K.: Muslim prison inmates believed to be planning "massive attack," staff nearly lost control after Friday prayers [JIHAD WATCH]
• 8. Commandments Suit Has No Legal Standing [CBN]  
• 9. Alabama Officials Criticized A Justice Department Lawsuit Challenging The State's Tough New Immigration Law [WT].

10. TSA to Put Hub Fliers On The Spot: Soon Will Be Carrying Out Sophisticated Behavioral Inspections [BOSTON HERALD]

The Deal is Done - Assessing Winners and Losers

Roger Aronoff 

Back to Big Government-Spending as Usual

Michelle Malkin

Islam and Apostasy

1,500 Killings Ordered by Leader of Mexican Murder, Inc.

Jim Kouri, CPP

Shocker: Pilot Licenses Issued to 27 on Terror List

Michael Cutler

What the debt-ceiling battle means for 2012

By Karen Tumulty and Perry Bacon Jr., WaPo 

To much of America, it may appear that the battle to lift the debt ceiling simply proved that Washington is broken. But as messy and ugly as it was, it also has been a clarifying moment - one that could define the terms of engagement of the 2012 election and shape the battle as one of two vastly different governing philosophies.

Whoever the Republican presidential nominee turns out to be, it now looks likely that President Obama's battle for reelection will be fought around big issues. Chief among them: the size and role of government, and the values that will set priorities for a diminished pool of resources in austere times.

"This had nothing to do with the debt ceiling," said Mickey Edwards, a former Republican congressman who runs a political leadership program for elected officials at the Aspen Institute. "This was about the 2012 election, and the lines were drawn about as clearly as possible on both sides."

Obama...

Oppose UN Palestinian Statehood Resolution

Proclaiming Justice to the Nations (PJTN) to Lead Jewish/Christian Leadership to Israel,

On Sept.1, 2011, to Oppose UN Palestinian Statehood Resolution

Nashville (August 1, 2011)-Laurie Cardoza-Moore, President and Founder of Proclaiming Justice to the Nations (PJTN), and Dr. David M. Hudson, Senior Pastor of Riverside Apostolic Church in Morgantown, WV and President of a leading international evangelical organization representing 7 million members around the globe, will be joined by many other prominent Christian and Jewish leaders in an unprecedented inter-faith event, held in Jerusalem, to protest UN plans to vote on a resolution to declare a Palestinian state. The group will arrive in Jerusalem on Aug. 30, 2011, and join their Jewish brethren in prayer at the Western Wall in a demonstration of solidarity. On Sept. 1, the group will conduct a press conference in Jerusalem (place and time to be determined).

PJTN'S position is clear stating that this is the most outrageous...

Golda Meir, former Israeli Prime Minister, 1972

Today's Headlines:  Wednesday, August 03, 2011

Harry Reid: 'I Love NPR'

Pelosi Predicts: $2.4 Trillion Added to Federal Credit-Card Limit Will Last Only 18 Months

 U.S. Government Repaying Debt With More Debt

CNSNews.com has been awarded a $100,000 challenge grant! Please make a tax deductible gift today and your support will be doubled!

 U.S. Move to Create Envoy for Religious Freedom Seen As Meddling by Islamists

Sen. Cornyn: Debt Deal Is a 'Step in the Right Direction'

Coburn: 'Yes,' Federal Spending Will Be Higher in FY 2012 than in FY 2011

Obama: U.S. 'Economy Has Already Had To Absorb an Earthquake in Japan'

Obama: Next Debt Deal Must Include Tax Hikes, 'Everyone Is Going to Have to Chip In'

Steve King: 'Debt Limit Deal Forfeits Mandate House Republicans Received Last November'

Gallup: Liberals Remain a Small Minority in America

Obama Issues Statement Marking Ramadan, But No Easter Statement This Year

Pelosi: Raising Taxes Should Be Considered In 'A Very Strong Way'

Fertilizer Control: DHS Creates 'Ammonium Nitrate Security Program'

Senate Passes $2.4 Trillion Debt Deal - 19 Republicans, 7 Democrats Vote No

U.S. Move to Create Envoy for Religious Freedom Seen As Meddling by Islamists

China Urges U.S. to Handle Debt Responsibly

COMMENTARY:

Boehner's Next Bad Deal
By Terence P. Jeffrey
A speaker who cuts a debt-limit deal like the one Boehner cut is not planning to fight over the 2012 appropriations bills. He is planning to cut another deal.

Back to Big Government-Spending as Usual
By Michelle Malkin
The American Age of Austerity lasted approximately three minutes, give or take a nanosecond, as Obama started talking about the opportunity to make "key investments."

Brian Williams vs. The Tea Party
By L. Brent Bozell III
You can tell the liberals are really sweating the politics of the debt-ceiling talks when NBC has Brian Williams host a special "Dateline NBC" devoted to politics.

NEWSPAPER ROUNDUP:

Federal officials investigate eagle deaths at Calif. wind farm
Judge says health care law doesn't fund abortion
Potential Medicare payment cuts alarm doctors, hospitals
Senate blocking recess appointments with series of 'pro-forma' sessions
N.J. Democrat resigns after his naked photos surface
Muslims in U.S. optimistic about future, poll finds
Massive global cyber attack targeting U.S., U.N. discovered; Experts blame China
Beltway: 3 die in 2 accidents, but baby born in traffic backup
Mass. town raises money to restore clock broken for 14 years
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) launches PAC, Constitutional Conservatives Fund
NSA is looking for a few good hackers
Cranston residents protest sign urging cancer patient to die

The richest members of the US Congress 2010

John Kerry #1!

It has become old hat: Kerry is the richest Member of Congress for the 13th time in the 15 years since his 1995 marriage to Teresa Heinz Kerry, widow of the late Sen. John Heinz (R-Pa.), the scion of the ketchup fortune.

The value of Kerry's disclosed assets bounces between $200 million and $300 million each year, and his liabilities hang a little below $50 million. However, in various years other estimates have placed the family's net worth at probably three times the value shown on congressional reports. Assets held in the name of a spouse can be reported as being worth "over $1 million" no matter how far over that number the actual value falls.

Click here to read the full article at CNBC

Biden, McConnell and the making of a deal

Obama drew the line at defense cuts

He had given away his demand for a clean increase in the debt limit. He had given up on tax hikes on the rich and closing corporate loopholes. He had even given away billions in cuts to domestic programs close to his heart.

But by 4 p.m. Sunday - two days before the country would plunge into default - President Barack Obama drew the line against congressional Republicans who wanted assurances that defense spending would be cut less than many other programs.

Click here to read the full article at Yahoo News

Free cell phones for the needy drawing both cheers and jeers

Cell phones become a 'right'

Sharron Walters could not afford one more monthly bill.  But without a phone, it would be difficult for Walters, who relies on a wheelchair, to secure rides to and from her daily errands. She also could not keep in touch with her son, who lives out of town.

Three months ago, Walters, 48, of Swissvale started using Assurance Wireless, a program of Sprint subsidiary Virgin Mobile that provides free cell phones and 250 monthly minutes to people receiving government support such as Medicaid or food stamps.

Click here to read the full article at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Actor Matt Damon defends teacher tenure in testy exchange

Matt Damon!

Actor Matt Damon got into a tense exchange with a journalist from the libertarian Reason TV site after she asked him whether teachers with tenure would lack incentive to work hard at their jobs.

The journalist argued that Damon has an incentive to work hard as an actor because he lacks job security, while teachers do not.

Click here to read the full article (w/ video) at Yahoo News

Obama administration sues to block Alabama immigration law

But California does whatever it wants

The Obama administration on Monday sued to block enforcement of Alabama's new immigration law, widely considered to be the toughest measure in the United States to try to crack down on illegal immigrants.

The law, known as H.B. 56, was signed by Republican Governor Robert Bentley in June and is due to take effect on September 1. Civil rights groups brought a separate lawsuit challenging the law about a month ago.

Click here to read the full article at Yahoo News

MSNBC chief lauds Sharpton but no job offer yet

"Fits in with audience sensibility"

 MSNBC's possible hiring of the Rev. Al Sharpton doesn't represent a conflict of interest for the cable channel, its president said.

"He's been on MSNBC for all 15 years," MSNBC President Phil Griffin added, noting Sharpton's long track record with the channel.

Click here to read the full article at Yahoo News

Automakers warn of fragile demand

Here comes the next gov't intervention

U.S. auto sales ticked higher in July, but the industry's top salesmen cautioned the prospect for a second-half recovery remained clouded with consumers hurting in a weak economy.

Chrysler's U.S. sales chief, Reid Bigland, called the market "tougher than a cheap steak," while his equivalent at General Motors Co, Don Johnson, said "consumer confidence is pretty fragile right now because of everything that's happened in the past few months."

Click here to read the full article at Yahoo News

 I wonder if he read the bill.

August 2, 2011

Dear Neighbor,

Over the last few weeks hundreds of constituents from across the Eighth Congressional District have contacted my office regarding our nation's debt crisis.  The opinions you have expressed on how to resolve this situation have been varied and informative.  The overwhelming sentiment has been that Congress and the President must act quickly to resolve the current fiscal crisis facing our nation.  I am sending you this email today to update you on this important issue because you have the right to know the truth about America's budget and I have the responsibility to deliver it.

Recently, both Congress and the American public have been focused on the August 2nd deadline to raise the federal government's debt limit or risk default.  Credit rating agencies have raised red flags that in addition to raising the federal debt limit, we must also get our budget deficit under control in order to preserve our nation's AAA credit rating - the highest possible rating.  On May 31st, Congress rejected, by a strong bi-partisan vote of 318-97, a "clean" debt limit increase that did not include any spending cuts or other deficit reduction measures.

This week, Congress passed a plan that increases our nation's debt limit and makes fundamental fiscal reforms that will help prevent such a crisis in the future.  This plan, which I supported, received bi-partisan support in the House and the Senate.  It received my support because it contains three essential elements necessary to restore our nation's fiscal health by cutting government spending more than the debt ceiling increase, implementing spending caps to restrain future government growth, and advancing the cause of a balanced budget amendment.

This is how the plan achieves these goals. First, it will provide for an immediate increase in the debt ceiling by $900 billion while reducing spending by $917 billion.  Second, the plan creates a bi-partisan Joint Committee to propose an additional $1.2 - 1.5 trillion in deficit reduction measures.  Congress would be required to adopt all the Joint Committee's recommendations or across the board spending cuts would take effect automatically. This Joint Committee was a key element of Senator Harry Reid's original plan.  Finally, there are incentives for Congress to send to the states a balanced budget amendment.  Currently, 49 of the 50 states have constitutional provisions requiring their budgets to be balanced every year, and the federal government should follow their lead. 

The plan enacted this week is not perfect, but it represents a balance among various proposals and avoids a default by the federal government.  It also makes substantial cuts to federal spending that will begin to restore fiscal order; however, additional deficit reduction measures are still required to put us on a steady trajectory towards a balanced federal budget.  I am particularly disappointed this plan does not include the necessary tax reforms to create a fairer tax structure by closing loopholes and requiring everyone to pay their fair share of taxes - including individuals and companies.  Such reforms are necessary if we are to achieve fiscal stability in the long term.  I will continue to advocate for tax reform and hope that the bipartisan committee will include serious tax reform in the proposal to Congress next year. 

I highly value input from you and other constituents across the Eighth Congressional District.  During the debate on the debt limit your comments have been particularly helpful.  I encourage you to email your concerns and comments on this issue directly to PA08DebtCeiling@mail.house.gov.  Additionally, you can visit my website at Fitzpatrick.house.gov for regular updates on this and other important issues facing our nation or to sign up for my bi-weekly e-newsletter.

Sincerely,

Mike Fitzpatrick
Member of Congress

P.S. - This plan represents only a beginning of what must be a continuing conversation. We are moving forward but the fate of our economy and our country depend on us finally getting serious about America's fiscal health.

August 03, 2011
 
  ECONOMIST/ACTOR MATT DAMON ON TAXES   Last weekend, at an event promoting the "Save Our Schools" program, Oscar-winner Matt Damon gave an in-depth interview on taxes and the Tea Party. Watch it HERE.
  GOP REP CALLS CNN'S PIERS MORGAN 'A JOKE'   Florida Congressman Connie Mack was not pleased with the tone and direction of the questions posed to him on CNN's "Piers Morgan Show." Watch Mr. Mack debate with an unrepentant Morgan HERE.

BIN LADEN SHOOTER, 'FOR GOD AND COUNTRY'  Seal Team 6 is the focus of the August 8th issue of The New Yorker magazine. The feature story contains gripping, descriptive, and telling details about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. Read all about it HERE.

obama pivots towards jobs, NJ Dem pulls a 'Weiner', And $2.4 trillion = 18 mos.  The midweek Must-Reads from around the Internet are waiting for you HERE.

Russian Prime minister PUTIN's bizarre arm-wrestling and pan-bending display   58-year-old Vladimir Putin recently visited a pro-Kremlin youth camp and was photographed climbing a rock wall without safety gear, arm-wrestling a man nearly twice his size, and trying to bend a frying pan. See the feats of strength HERE.  

VIRAL VIDEO DU JOUR - BRITISH SOLDIERS PERFORM 'GLEE' SONG IN AFGHANISTAN   The music is from Journey, the performance is from the cast of "Glee" but the entertainment factor is courtesy of British troops serving in Afghanistan. Watch the music video clip HERE.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

To: Friends & Supporters

From: Gary L. Bauer

From The Budget Deficit To The Jobs Deficit

Yesterday President Obama signed the legislation extending the debt limit as soon as it reached his desk. He did it alone - without the usual ceremony and without congressional leaders flanking him. Then Obama promptly turned to his obsession - raising taxes to feed the growing appetite of his ever-growing government. In his Rose Garden remarks, Obama said:

"...since you can't close the deficit with just spending cuts, we'll need a balanced approach where everything is on the table. ...It also means reforming our tax code so that the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations pay their fair share. And it means getting rid of taxpayer subsidies to oil and gas companies, and tax loopholes that help billionaires pay a lower tax rate than teachers and nurses. ...Everyone is going to have to chip in. It's only fair. That's the principle I'll be fighting for during the next phase of this process."

But, of course, there is no demand for higher taxes from Americans. They want to know, "Where are the jobs?" The unemployment rate today is 9.2%, higher than it was when Obama took office in 2009. His $830 billion stimulus bill has been a colossal failure. And because of that failure and others, America is suffering from a jobs deficit.

A new report this morning suggests that mass layoffs have returned. More than 66,000 Americans were laid off last month - up 60% from June and 59% higher than last July. Many of these losses came from industries (healthcare and defense) that have been under assault by the Obama Administration.

Yet, while Obama claims to care about job creation, he regularly launches into attacks on job creators, vowing to raise their taxes. A day does not go by without Obama attacking entrepreneurs and stoking the fires of class warfare.

How much more does Obama think the wealthiest Americans should pay? Already, the top 10% of earners are paying 70% of all income taxes collected. And yet Obama and his liberal Democrat allies still wonder why companies aren't hiring!

Businesses are looking to the future and guess what they are seeing? More than $500 billion in new tax hikes thanks to ObamaCare. On top of that, the Bush tax cuts expire in 2013.  And, there is the ever-looming threat of more regulations from the EPA, also known as the Employment Prevention Agency!

If you're a small business owner, how on earth are you supposed to think about hiring when you know there are massive tax increases coming and this president keeps promising to raise them even higher?

Don't Fall For Class Warfare

The president set up his call for higher taxes yesterday by saying that we "can't close the deficit with just spending cuts, we'll need a balanced approach where everything is on the table." It may seem "balanced" to tax "millionaires and billionaires" to pay for Big Government, but the Democrats' tax rhetoric does not match reality - and they know it!

Obama has already been smacked down by media fact checkers for his claims about "millionaires and billionaires." His plan calls for raising taxes on those making $200,000, which will hit the small business owners who drive our job growth. But even that's not enough.

Washington Post blogger Ezra Klein is seen as one of the brightest up-and-coming intellectuals of the left. Today he is urging Democrats to let ALL of the Bush tax cuts expire - not just those for the wealthy. Klein writes:

"Now let's say the tax side goes according to the White House's plan: Most of the Bush tax cuts are extended, but the break for income of more than $250,000 a year expires. Are we done? ... In 2021, that scenario would leave the debt above 75 percent of GDP - and growing. ...it doesn't leave us at all prepared to deal with costs related to the retiring baby boomers. ...

"Next year, the Bush tax cuts expire. If Congress does nothing, we revert to Clinton-era tax rates for everyone, and the federal coffers fill with $3.6 trillion in additional revenue over the next 10 years - enough to stabilize deficits. ...To govern responsibly, Democrats cannot simply raise taxes on the rich and call it a day."

In a moment of honesty, even a true blue lefty like Klein acknowledges the cost of Big Government, as well as the hollowness of Obama's class warfare rhetoric. Don't fall for it.

Share this report with your friends and family members who may be tempted by poll-tested phrases like "making the wealthiest pay their fair share." As I have said before, there aren't enough rich people in America and they are not rich enough to pay for all of Obama's spending. Liberals don't want to cut government; they want to raise YOUR taxes to pay for their ever-growing bureaucracy.

Americans Support Ground Zero Cross

Yesterday I told you about a group of atheists who are suing to prevent the Ground Zero cross from being included in the 9/11 memorial and museum. A new Rasmussen poll finds that 72% of Americans want the Ground Zero cross to be part of that memorial. Just 10% agree with the atheists who contend that the cross violates the so-called "separation of church and state."

Soros-Funded Group Calls for Wealth Redistribution at Home & Abroad

By Discover The Networks
 

The "non-partisan" research and advocacy organization Demos advocates massive wealth redistribution by means of forcing "the rich" to "pay their fair share" in taxes. On a global scale, Demos likewise calls for a system of wealth redistribution modeled on the United Nations' Millennium Project - whereby "all peoples and nations share in the prosperity generated by markets, growth, and trade." Predictably, Demos exhorts the debt-ridden U.S. to lead the way in sharing its "wealth."

 Sen. Rubio Debate Over Debt Ceiling Is Just The Beginning - Our new George Washington speaks again!

Rubio: "This Debate Will Continue."

Government Amateurs vs Government Professionals

In the budget debate, government amateurs took on government professionals. And the professionals won. This is only to be expected. Professionals usually have the inside track in whatever field they're in. Not only do they hold the higher ground, but they know all the loopholes and how to shape the dialogue.

 

In most fields, the only way that amateurs can beat professionals is by undercutting them. Which is why professionals create guilds which set certain standards of training and apprenticeship for anyone who wants to enter the field. And they also set prices to avoid being undercut.

In the budget debate, the amateurs offered government for less. And the professionals warned that cutting the price of government would lead to catastrophic results. Global defaults, loss of credit rating, human sacrifice, cats and dogs living together and the usual mass hysteria. This is how professionals defend against amateurs competing on cost. By warning that going cheaper will lead to disaster.

Open elections were supposed to be an obstacle to the creation of a professional class of politicians. But the guild still exists. Professional politicians go through law school, become interns for other politicians, and then move up the ladder. Favors are traded with other guild members. Then the favors are cashed in. The whole system runs on money. Taxpayer money.
 

Chronicle · August 3, 2011

The Foundation

"No pecuniary consideration is more urgent, than the regular redemption and discharge of the public debt." --George Washington

Editorial Exegesis

"After months of talk about the nation's runaway debt, lawmakers managed to agree on a plan that, at most, will cut spending by a mere 5%. Is it any wonder federal spending is out of control? ... According to IBD's analysis of available budget numbers, the deal's $2.4 trillion in 10-year cuts amounts to a mere 5% trim off total projected federal spending during that time. It's like a 400-pound man boasting that he plans to drop 20 pounds over a decade, while his doctors warn about the risks of losing weight so fast. Even calling these 'cuts' is a bit of a stretch, since spending will continue to increase, just at a slightly slower pace. ... By 2021, federal spending would still equal 22% of the nation's economy, above the post-World War II average of 20%. Not really a cut, is it? Plus, in the short term, these 'deep,' 'sharp,' 'slashing' cuts would still leave the federal government spending roughly 4% more in 2012 than it did in 2010, and 20% more than it did in 2008. Shorn of all the hyperbole, what this agreement really demonstrates is why it's so hard to get federal spending under control. Both sides routinely use budget gimmicks to exaggerate spending cuts, while armies of special interests swarm Washington to make sure their pet programs don't get touched. All the while, spending marches upward. And reporters too dumb, lazy or biased to understand how budgets work keep falling for this nonsense." --Investor's Business Daily

Essential Liberty

"It is true that the Tea Party has 'won' within the context of what constitutes a political win in Washington. But have they accomplished enough to change our future? No, by this deal, they have not. To have a chance at actually changing our future, Washington would have to risk shocking and unpredictable change that might rock, temporarily, the financial prosperity of the nation. The establishment is not ready for that. To wit: Whether to risk radical change now or not is the measure of whether to support the deal. Thus, Washington politicians and politically alert citizens across the country can be broadly divided into those who fear losing the status quo and those who fear losing the future." --columnist Tony Blankley

Share your thoughts

Upright

"Federal outlays now make up a quarter of the total national output. Federal spending is up 46% in the last decade while the economy has grown by just 14% (inflation adjusted dollars). In other words, government is growing over 3.5 times faster than our ability to sustain it. Normally, spending numbers are lost on much of the voting public, but the debt ceiling offers a chance at national reflection over what we have purchased and what we've committed to buy. Instead of framing the debate around government freebies, as in the case of the federal budget, the debt ceiling shows Americans how much it all costs. It is the difference between the euphoria of a credit card-financed shopping spree and the realism [of] the next month's Visa statement." --columnist Joseph Ashby

"If the debt-ceiling had not been raised, the government would have been forced to choose between spending initiatives. The debt-ceiling would have provided a hard cap; it would have prevented President Obama from being able to press for new spending initiatives. Now, with the 'Super Congress' ... in charge of cutting the deficit, we can expect a new push for higher taxes, especially since reports are that the constituency of the Super Congress will be 'moderate.' ... If someone sets a hard date, we can fairly guarantee that the doom-saying is nonsensical. Never in history, has a non-mankind-created hard date turned out to be disastrous. No Kal-El prediction of the sun exploding has ever been accurate. ... The only apocalypse that will occur is the one our scaremongering politicians bring down upon us." --columnist Ben Shapiro

"The political class predicted 'disaster' if Congress didn't raise its debt limit. I think that was a scam to get more money. See, the poor politicians don't have enough, and they need to borrow more. We taxpayers are cheap. This year we'll give them only $2.2 trillion. They want to spend $3.8 trillion." --columnist John Stossel

Insight

"No government is respectable which is not just. Without unspotted purity of public faith, without sacred public principle, fidelity, and honor, no machinery of laws, can give dignity to political society." --U.S. senator Daniel Webster (1782-1852)

"If you are afraid to speak against tyranny, then you are already a slave." --author John "Birdman" Bryant (1943-2009)

The Demo-gogues

He should take his own advice: "[This debt-ceiling deal is] an important first step for ensuring that as a nation we live within our means. ... [But the economy] didn't need Washington to come along with a manufactured crisis. It's pretty likely that the uncertainty surrounding the raising of the debt ceiling -- for both businesses and consumers -- has been unsettling, and just one more impediment to the full recovery that we need. And it was something that we could have avoided entirely. Voters may have chosen divided government, but they sure didn't vote for dysfunctional government." --Barack Obama

Pity party: "If I were a Republican, I would be dancing in the streets. I don't have any idea what the Republicans wanted that they didn't get." --Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO)

Government is great: "[Some] of us ... believe that government has a role for positive achievement in society along with the private sector doing things only government can do. ... I don't like this deal. But I think it would have been worse. ... Tax cuts are fun, but I never saw a tax cut put out a fire. I never saw a tax cut make a bridge. We need to have to make the case for positive government." --Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA)

Hating the Tea Party: "[A]s result of the Tea Party direction of this Congress these last few months has been very, very disconcerting and very unfair to the American people." --Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

"The Tea Party acted like terrorists in threatening to blow up the economy." --Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA)

"They have acted like terrorists." --Joe Biden, repeating and approving the line

Gun grabbers: "The easy availability of high-capacity ammo magazines in the U.S. has once again helped enable a large-scale massacre. ... This is another tragic example of our lack of common-sense gun laws failing us with deadly consequences, allowing a cold-blooded killer to easily acquire the tools of mass murder even from another country. How many more innocent people need to die before we realize that some simple, common-sense gun safety laws in the United States could actually save lives?" --Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) on the Norway massacre, while her pals call conservatives "terrorists"

Dezinformatsia

Media vs. Tea Party: "So the question, I think, some people might be asking is, do you think that members of the Tea Party Caucus know how to govern or are they -- do they understand that standing up for a cause is not the same as governing?" --NBC's Ann Curry

"They truly did not know what the words 'debt ceiling' meant. Look, let's admit it. It's true of most of the media, most everybody because these things were never covered before. And so they didn't know what it was. Now they were going to have to learn what it was, and they certainly weren't going to take their lesson from Washington about what the debt ceiling is. ... So, there is no educating these Tea Party people. It's just a matter of how do you maneuver around them, and how do you govern." --MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell

"We know that the federal government has promised more benefits than it can currently afford. The only way out of this problem involves some combination of tax increases and cuts to Medicare, Social Security and the military. Anyone who won't get specific about which ones they favor is not a fiscal conservative." --New York Times reporter David Leonhardt

The BIG Lie: "The reality, of course, is that we already have a centrist president -- actually a moderate conservative president. Once again, health reform -- his only major change to government -- was modeled on Republican plans, indeed plans coming from the Heritage Foundation. And everything else -- including the wrongheaded emphasis on austerity in the face of high unemployment -- is according to the conservative playbook." --New York Times columnist Paul Krugman

Newspulper Headlines:

Questions Nobody Is Asking: "Is Michelle Obama Trying to Kill Me?" --PajamasMedia.com

Now He Wants a Rematch With the Rabbit: "Pres. Carter Sees Guinea Worm Stopped After 23-Yr. Fight" --Atlanta Business Chronicle

Not the Sharpest Knife in the Drawer: "Glendale Man Attempts Self-Surgery With Butter Knife" --Associated Press

Everything Seemingly Is Spinning Out of Control: "McDonald's to Make Happy Meals More Healthful" --Los Angeles Times

Bottom Story of the Day: "Obama Polling Better Than Nixon" --Washington Examiner website

(Thanks to The Wall Street Journal's James Taranto)

Village Idiots

Broken record: "Everything is on the table for that [special congressional] committee, everything, including both entitlement reform and tax reform. Let's be clear: The president thinks, as you know, that the biggest possible overall accomplishment in terms of deficit reduction is a desirable goal, as long as it's balanced. He looks forward to, through the process set up by that committee, to having that debate about what our priorities are. If we need to, as legislated through this deal, find another $1.2 trillion to $1.5 trillion in deficit cuts, how are we going to do that? Are we going to do it by asking sacrifice only of middle-class Americans, or seniors, parents of children who are disabled? Or are we going to ask that others, including oil and gas companies, corporate jet manufacturers, or the wealthiest Americans share in the sacrifice?" --White House Press Secretary Jay Carney

Heated rhetoric: "Once having been successful at blindfolding the American public, putting a gun to the president's head, forcing him to sign into law this extraordinary act of ... unpatriotic and irrational frenzy -- I think that now [Republicans are] emboldened, they will now take this as a blueprint and ... a manifesto of sorts to go forward and to disrupt the workings of American government at the behest of a splinter group that is a radical right-wing organization that really needs to be brought to ... account for the devastation that it has wrought on this economy." --Georgetown University professor Michael Eric Dyson on MSNBC

"When any faction in America that would put a gun to the head of 310 million people and say 'if you don't do it our way we will blow your dreams away, we will blow a hole in the American economy,' that is un-American and that is not how we do business and we refuse to bow down to those kind of bully tactics. ... The Tea Party is saying if they don't get their way they will refuse to have America pay our bills; if America becomes a dead-beat nation we are finished as a first-rate power. And nobody should threaten that kind of harm to America and get away with it." --former Obama "green czar" Van Jones

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was actually shot in the head in January, was present for the vote on the debt ceiling. After she was shot, leftists couldn't say enough to blame toxic right-wing rhetoric for the shooting. Yet here they are, using "gun to the head" metaphors. Their hypocrisy knows no bounds.

Short Cuts

"They used to say that Richard Nixon had a 'secret plan' in the 1968 presidential campaign to end the Vietnam War. President Barack Obama outdid Nixon with a secret plan to control the deficit. He kept telling us of all the virtues of his plan. It was balanced, responsible, courageous and fair. It was just very, very secret." --columnist Rich Lowry

"President Obama admitted in a Kansas City radio interview the next election will be a referendum on him and his presidency. The White House quickly clarified his statement. What the president meant to say is that Bush has screwed up left field so badly that nobody can play it." --comedian Argus Hamilton

"That thoughtful observer of the passing parade, Nancy Pelosi, weighed in on the 'debt ceiling' negotiations the other day: 'What we're trying to do is save the world from the Republican budget. We're trying to save life on this planet as we know it today.' It's always good to have things explained in terms we simpletons can understand. After a while, all the stuff about debt-to-GDP ratio and CBO alternative baseline scenarios starts to give you a bit of a headache, so we should be grateful to the House Minority Leader for putting it in layman's terms: What's at stake is 'life on this planet as we know it today.' So, if right now you're living anywhere in the general vicinity of this planet, it's good to know Nancy's in there pitching for you." --columnist Mark Steyn

"Someone said President Obama was wrong for telling the American people to call their representatives about the debt ceiling. If there's one thing that congressmen hate, it's being told what to do by the people that put them there." --comedian Jay Leno

Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus et Fidelis!
The Patriot Post Editorial Team

Proxy Access Rule: Appeals Court Rejects SEC Regulation

By Diane Katz

In an important victory for free enterprise, a unanimous panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has struck down the regulatory hijacking of corporate board elections. Authorized by the Dodd-Frank statute, the so-called proxy access rule crafted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was deemed to be "arbitrary and capricious" in a rebuke by the court. The opinion, penned by Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg, also chastised the commission's rulemaking process as "opportunistic" and underscored the government's duty to conduct credible analyses of regulatory costs rather than simply hyping unsubstantiated benefits.

The proxy access case is particularly consequential, as the SEC and at least 10 other agencies prepare to unleash hundreds of new and very costly regulations under Dodd-Frank.[1] At least three other SEC rules have been invalidated for similar reasons in recent years, and several new commission regulations issued under Dodd-Frank could also face scrutiny for substandard economic analyses.

>> Click here to read the full report

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QUICK HITS

The Dagong Global Credit Rating Company (similar to Moody's) downgraded the U.S. credit rating yesterday.

A new Congressional joint committee will be named this month to develop a broader plan to control government spending.

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak goes on trial today from a hospital bed for charges of corruption and complicity in the killing of protestors.

In Atlanta, entrepreneurial street vendors are fighting back against government regulations.

Atheists are suing to remove a cross from the 9/11 Museum and Memorial.

Lib-Speak IV - A Left-Icon For The Age Of Obama
GrassTopsUSA Exclusive Commentary
By Don Feder
08/03/2011
           This is the fourth installment in a series on liberal language-manipulation - the ways in which the left's terminology comes loaded with hidden assumptions. If you even tacitly accept these catch phrases, you've lost the debate before it starts.

         For instance, the expression "same-sex marriage" is based on the preposterous notion that "marriage" (as shaped by biology and theology) is even remotely possible between two people of the same gender. Accept the assumption, and you are reduced to fighting on the fringes. (Example: Is it good for children?)

         Since the left controls most of society's idea-generators - the mass media, academia, public education, book publishing - it has all of the tools it needs to condition the public consciousness to assimilate certain ideas.

         It's hoped this series will help to break the spell cast by liberal necromancers. Continuing our long march into the murky terrain of leftist clichés:

         Christian Right (an expression much preferred to Christian conservatives, as it sounds more ominous) - Since evangelicals became a political force in the late 1970s, the left has been squawking about a coming theocracy - that sinister Testament-thumpers would shred the Constitution, end democracy and rule with a Bible in one hand and a mace in the other. As the religious right includes Catholics, Mormons and Orthodox Jews, as well as evangelicals, the left never explains exactly how this theocracy would work. Is the blueprint the King James Bible, the Book of Mormon or the Torah? Of necessity, the fear-mongering must be vague.

         Like Muslims seeking a global caliphate, the Christian right is also prepared to climb to power over a mound of corpses, the left warns. When a Norwegian nutcase blew up a building in Oslo and shot up a socialist youth camp, the left believed it had found an honest-to-goodness-real-live Christian terrorist, so it could continue to pretend that there's nothing unique about Islam that encourages mass murder. Yet, according to his 1,500-page manifesto, Anders Breivik, the man arrested for the crimes, believes it's possible to be a "Christian-atheist" and calls himself a follower of Darwin - just like every other conservative Christian I've never met.

         Lone wolves do not a movement make. Unlike the crazy imams, rabid ayatollahs, terror-sponsoring states and jihadist groups with tentacles that encircle the globe, Breivik has no support base. Where is the Christian equivalent of Hamas, Hezbollah, Al Qaeda, the Moslem Brotherhood, Ahmadinejad, Iran, Syria, etc.? Onward Christian-atheist soldiers marching on socialist youth camps to protest Muslim immigration to Europe?

         The agenda of the religious right is truly terrifying. It would end abortion, preserve marriage and allow religious symbolism in public places. If this constitutes a theocracy, then that's what we had back in 1962, when John F. Kennedy was president. This was the status quo antebellum - before the left launched the culture war in the late '60s. Pretty scary, huh?

         Moderate Republicans - the only kind the left likes. You Republicans, why can't you be more like John McCain, the media endlessly lecture us? (In "My Fair Lady," Professor Henry Higgins sang "Why can't a woman be more like a man?" For the establishment, it's, "Why can't a Republican be more like a Democrat?") The left calls them "moderates." We know and loath them as RINOS (Republicans In Name Only). For many RINOS, their Republican identity is genetic. They are bluebloods who consider the GOP their patrimony, and are incensed by the takeover of their club by Christians, Constitutionalists, taxpayers, right-to-lifers and other rabble.

         Moderately conservative on fiscal concerns, they are Democrat-clones on social issues - thus former N.J. Governor Christine Todd Whitman and current U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, the RINO twins from Maine. Often, after it's no longer advantageous to feign Republicanism, so-called moderates gravitate to their true home, like former New York Mayor John Lindsay and former Connecticut Governor Lowell Weicker.

         Besides helping to close the ideological gap between the parties, there's another reason the liberal media love "moderate" Republicans (moderately pro-free market, moderately limited government, occasionally willing to uphold the Constitution) - they're born losers. Witness Gerald Ford in 1976, Bush '41 in 1992 (by which time he'd shed his Reganite coloration), Dole in 1996 and McCain in 2008. Republican moderates who offer, to paraphrase Barry Goldwater, an echo - not a choice, provide a fuzzy contrast to their Democratic opponents, are as exciting as Mitt Romney on valium and end up alienating the GOP base.

         There is no moderate/conservative split at the grassroots. From 2002 to 2011, self-identified Republicans who call themselves conservative increased ten percentage points, from 62% to 72%. At the same time, Republicans who said they were "moderate" fell from one in three to fewer than one in four.

         The expression "moderate Republican" implies that real Republicans are extremists. If a moderate Republican supports raising the debt limit with little or nothing in return (to avert the calamity of a government shutdown), then Republicans who demand real spending cuts must be zealots.

         Overpopulation - Here's a term that defies definition. Ask the proponents of population control how many people is too many and they'll respond that they can't say exactly, but they just know the earth has an excess of Homo sapiens.

         In 1792, when he wrote "An Essay on the Principal of Population," and the world held an estimated 970 million people, Thomas Malthus thought there were too many of us and further population growth would cause mass starvation in Europe. What happened as population grew wasn't famine but the industrial revolution. In 1968, when the world's population was around 3 billion, in "The Population Bomb," Paul Ehrlich ominously predicted "in the 1970s and 1980s, hundreds of millions of people will starve to death in spite of any crash program." Instead of worldwide starvation, we had an explosion of agricultural productivity due to hybrid seeds and better irrigation.

         Today, with the human population over 6.7 billion, Al Gore and his brotherhood of the boiling planet speak of carbon footprints, a widening hole in the ozone layer and ocean levels rising perilously, due to melting polar ice caps. Thus one fraud (Global Warming) is used to support another fraud (overpopulation).

         Of course, the objective of Planned Parenthood International, the Optimum Population Trust and the United Nations Population Fund isn't to sell theories but to eliminate people. Abortion and contraception are their goals. While overpopulation is an easily refuted theory, the worldwide decline of birthrates is a reality. The crisis confronting humanity in this century won't be a "Soylent Green" scenario, but a declining workforce and an aging population, as fewer and fewer children are born each year thanks in part to overpopulation hysteria.

         Pro-Choice - The term removes abortion from the abortion debate.

         Who can oppose choice? Is not America a country founded on personal liberty? But this isn't a Coke-versus-Pepsi alternative. Proponents of the "pro-choice" position (also called a "woman's right to choose") want a mother with a child in her womb to be able to choose to have that demonstrably human life extinguished, to have the unborn child's brains sucked out of its skull in a late-term abortion, and to allow abortion for any reason, no matter how trivial.

         Those who call themselves pro-choice want women to have as little information as possible on which to make a reasoned choice. Thus they oppose waiting periods and informed consent. They don't want women to know the nature of the unborn child or the health risks (physical and psychological) of abortion. Instead of being aware of fetal brainwaves and heartbeats (and the capacity of pre-born children to experience pain), they want women to embrace the lump-of-tissue/products-of-conception dogma based on ignorance.

         Abortion is the only issue where choice is in vogue on the left. Should people be able to choose to own handguns, which can be used to defend a life as well as to take it? Absolutely not, proponents of choice reply! Some choices are just too dangerous to leave to the individual. Pro-lifers might rejoin that some things are just too evil to leave up to conscience.

         Gun Control - The term implies that the possession and use of handguns is an entirely unregulated field - that underage, mental defectives, homicidal ex-felons and terrorists mumbling verses from the Koran can saunter into gun stores and stroll out with an AK-47 minutes later - that there are no state, federal or local laws regulating ownership and use, that there are no licensing laws, no waiting periods, no registration requirements, no age requirements, no safety regulations and no prohibitions of certain types of weapons. In 2003, the liberal Brookings Institution excitedly reported that rather than the oft-cited 20,000 figure, according to its estimate, in 1999, there were only "400 different state laws regulating the manufacture, design, sale, purchase and possession of firearms.' (This does not include federal statutes and local ordinances) - making gun ownership still one of the most regulated activities in the United States.

         The expression also suggests that gun control enhances safety. If anything, there is a negative relationship between gun control and crime rates. From 1973 to 1997, nationwide, overall gun possession went up 103% while the murder rate dropped 27.7%. States and municipalities with the most stringent gun laws tend to have the highest crime rates. Most Americans understand this intutively. Where would you feel safer on a Saturday night, in the South Bronx, South Central L.A., or in one of those middle-American towns where the disgruntled cling to their religion and their guns - as Obama put it during the 2008 Democratic primaries?

         Gun control (leading to gun confiscation) has a strong appeal for liberal politicians who don't want to control crime - those opposed to the death penalty, minimum sentencing and three-strikes-and-your-out laws. It creates the illusion of toughness by focusing on inanimate objects, instead of the murderers, robbers and rapists who use them.

         Hate Speech - Hate speech is, well, hateful, and supposedly leads to hate crimes. In the wake of the shooting spree in Norway, the European and American left told us repeatedly that the tragedy was the result of anti-Muslim agitation. (The gunman wanted to stop Muslim immigration to Europe and Islamization of the continent.) It should be noted that the alleged shooter didn't murder Muslims but white Norwegians at a socialist summer camp. Given Anders Breivik's state of mind (his lawyer says he's crazy), this makes perfect sense. It's like: "I hate the French, so I think I'll shoot a bunch of Eskimos."

         Those reputed to suffer the most from hate speech are always the left's favorite victim groups - especially homosexuals and Muslims. The perps supposedly include: the pro-family movement, those opposed to homosexual marriage, conservative talk show hosts (particularly Glenn Beck), "anti-immigrant rhetoric," Sarah Palin, and critics of Sharia, mega-mosques and stealth jihad.

         When Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot and seriously wounded, and six killed in Tucson in January, some Democratic Congressman were screaming for the blood of conservative talk show hosts, or re-imposition of the Fairness Doctrine - which amounts to the same thing.

         After dozens of interrogations since he's been in custody, and much time delving into the background of alleged shooter Jared Loughner, there isn't a scintilla of evidence that he: listened to talk radio, was a fan of Sarah Palin or wanted to get tough with illegal immigration (all blamed for the attack). Loughner said he was into "conscience dreaming" as a way to counter a conspiracy to use "English grammar construction" to effect "mind control." One of his professors at Pima Community College described him as "someone whose brains were scrambled," and a former classmate said that in high school the habitual pothead was "left wing, quite liberal and oddly obsessed with the 2012 prophecy."

         Irrelevant, say hate-speech haters; the right "created the climate of hate" in which such deeds flourish. Apparently, the only hateful words which lead to violence flow from the right. When Massachusetts Congressman Mike (Little Cesar) Capuano urged union goons demonstrating against limits on collective bargaining in Wisconsin to "get out on the streets and get a little bloody when necessary," it did not raise an alarm in the MSM, other than a mild reprimand for the Congressman's choice of words, even though the thugs proceeded to rough-up Tea Party counter-protestors.

         They can call us paranoid Nazis who hate minorities and want to throw granny off a cliff, and it's no big deal. We ask to see Obama's birth certificate and it's hate-speech dripping venom. The object is censorship - silencing talk radio via the FCC, prohibiting the expression of certain ideas as homophobia, Islamophobia, racism and the like. Those who can't debate try to intimidate.

Lib-Speak I - A Lexicon For The Age Of Obama
Lib-Speak II - A Left-Icon For The Age Of Obama
Lib-Speak III - A Left-Icon For The Age Of Obama

Don Feder is a former Boston Herald writer who is now a political/communications consultant. He also maintains his own website, DonFeder.com.

"Marxism in America" by Lt. Gen. (Ret.) W.G. Boykin - OAK

 In this video entitled "Marxism in America" General Jerry Boykin discusses his background and training in understanding Marxist insurgencies and how current government actions parallel Marxist tactics.

 

 Home sales nearing reality in Communist Cuba

Fellow patriots,

Given our dependence on Pakistan in order to maintain supply lines to Afghanistan and fight the Taliban on Pakistani soil, this article is a very ominous sign.  Brace yourself for things to get a lot worse before they get better.  Let's just hope that we're able to finish the mission in Afghanistan before Pakistan changes from a reluctant ally into a determined foe or nuclear-armed failed state.

Dave

US prepares for worst-case scenario with Pakistan nukes

By Robert Windrem NBC News Investigative Producer for Special Projects

As U.S.-Pakistani relations spiral downward, the specter of a showdown between the increasingly antagonistic allies is garnering more attention, including the worst-case scenario of the U.S. attempting to "snatch" Pakistan's 100-plus nuclear weapons if it feared they were about to fall into the wrong hands.

That would be a disastrous miscalculation, former Pakistani President and army chief Pervez Musharraf told NBC News, saying that such an incursion would lead to "total confrontation" between the United States and Pakistan.

A Medium Range Ballistic Missile Hatf V (Ghauri) missile takes off during a test fire from an undisclosed location in Pakistan on Dec. 21 in this photo distributed by the Pakistani military. The liquid-fuel missile can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads and has a range of more than 800 miles.

Tea Party News
Wednesday, August 3rd

Sarah Palin Blasts Mitt Romney, Praises Michele Bachmann Sarah Palin is mad and she's not going to take it anymore. She criticized the debt-ceiling deal and condemned VP Biden. "I'm gonna stick up for people who at this point are being called terrorists and being accused of waging jihad against our own country. Enough is enough and I'm not going to sit here and take it anymore." About Mitt Romney: "Bless his heart, I have respect for Mitt Romney, but I do not have respect for what he has done through this debt increase debate. He waited until it was a done deal that we would increase the debt ceiling and then he came out with a statement that he didn't like the deal." "Michele Bachmann (Bachmann voted against the debt-ceiling increase) spoke out and she cast her vote according to her principles, she stood true." Palin said she's "an optimist heading into this next election cycle," though she still hasn't made up her mind about her role in it. As for President Barack Obama, Palin said, "He is so off base. 2012 cannot come soon enough." [ABC News, Aug. 3] Click here for the complete source story Cain comes on strong Herman Cain showed why he is outperforming more established candidates in the Western Conservative Summit straw poll. Mr. Cain captured 48 percent of the vote, far outpacing Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who came in second with 13 percent. The ballot list the names of 14 Republican candidates, both announced and speculative. His speech was so well received that afterward, dozens of audience members lined up for him to sign his new book, "This Is Herman Cain!" - and the book hasn't even come out yet. Instead, Mr. Cain autographed stickers that buyers could later attach to their books. The crowd was repeatedly on its feet as Mr. Cain delivered his compelling life story and a prescription for America's ills that was heavy on the private sector, light on the government, and long on patriotic vision."Hope and change ain't working," Mr. Cain said in one of his many applause lines. "I think the American people are ready for hope and Cain." [Washington Times, Aug. 1] Click here for the complete source story Michael Savage: America has been 'hoodwinked' "If the left is telling you it's a victory for the tea party, then you know it's a lie," he said to his "Savage Nation" listeners. "You're being hoodwinked again." He said today's politicians need to learn from history to understand that the term "Leninist" best describes the president. "The Leninist elite would lead people to a world free of pain and poverty. There would be no more haves and have-nots or private property. Just boundless prosperity. All a nation had to do was transfer its entire wealth to Lenin's vanguard." But the Leninist vision will have consequences. "America's rich will be poorer, America's poor will be poorer, America's middle class will be wiped out, but America's government will be more powerful than ever, as will the elected officials and their corrupt bureaucrats." [WND, Aug. 3] Click here for the complete source story

August 3, 2011 

On Wednesday's Program 

Matt Damon thinks that because he hoards his money, the rich aren't job creators 

Matt Damon was at an event for teachers this week and gave a few on-camera interviews - somehow he ended up getting asked about taxing the rich and Damon didn't hesitate. He argued for a 50% tax rate on the rich and mocked the concept that the wealthy create jobs. Ok Matt, so where do the jobs come from? The poor? Glenn reacts on radio today. WATCH. 

The next Twilight? Glenn thinks so...

Glenn is incredibly excited about Mercury Ink's first book release: "Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25" and spoke with author Richard Paul Evans on radio today. When Glenn read this story he was hooked and believes this series has the potential to be a Twilight/Harry Potter sized success - but even better than the book is the story behind the book. Check out the segment from radio and the gripping video trailer HERE. TODAY ONLY you can pre-order your copy online at bn.com/vey and receive 50% off - ORDER NOW!

125: The # of Chevy Volts sold last month...DETAILS. 

1791 Death to Tyranny: The very first item in Glenn's 1791 clothing line is the Death to Tyranny t-shirt. Today at Markdown.com you can get the 1791 T-shirt for $17.91 - but hurry, the deal ends tomorrow morning! Get it HERE.

Diane Sawyer: The rich aren't 'real' people?

While interviewing Nancy Pelosi on the debt deal, Sawyer asked if this deal would hurt 'real people' leaving the impression that she believes wealthy people aren't real. Pelosi used the opportunity to rail about higher taxes on the rich to pay for these 'severe' cuts - but are they severe cuts at all? Glenn has the audio & explanation on radio today. MORE

Gov cracks down on 4-year-old girl's lemonade stand

Another kid has had their idea crushed by the government - a 4-year-old girl who just wanted to sell some lemonade was told she needed a $400 permit in order to continue. The local officials cited 'health code' reasons, but would a permit make her lemonade any healthier? And shouldn't they follow the rules? Glenn explains what this and other stories like the Amish milk debacle are teaching our kids. WATCH

S.E. Cupp Moderates First Ever Presidential Twitter Debate!

S.E. Cupp was in New Hampshire to moderate six GOP presidential candidates debating on Twitter. See if she was able to keep them to 140 characters or less - FREE CLIP. All the details behind the debate are available on demand for GTBV subscribers. Not part of GBTV - SIGN UP!

Who do you like in 2012? If you haven't made your mind up yet, get more information. Since Obama was elected, Glenn has sat down with Michele Bachmann, Ron Paul, Sarah Palin, Rick Perry and more as they share their thoughts on the issues facing America - get the interviews HERE.

Another CNN host mocks Tea Party, Congressman Connie Mack

First CNN hired a disgraced-by-prostitute-scandal former Governor, then they hired a talent show host to replace Larry King - so clearly they are not setting the bar high. But last night's CNN interview with Congressman Connie Mack was an embarrassment to the network. The host was outwardly belligerent to Congressman Mack and it got so ugly it prompted Mack to call the program a 'joke' - catch the audio and Glenn's reaction HERE.