912 Patriots of Lower Bucks - Your Daily Updates ALL in ONE Place!

August 16, 2011

Quote:

"Freedom has cost too much blood and agony to be relinquished at the cheap price of rhetoric."

~ Thomas Sowell

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Caught on Video: Tea Party Activists Confront President Obama About Biden's 'Terrorist' Description

The Blaze | by Scott Baker | Posted on August 15, 2011 at 10:01pm

DECORAH, Iowa - President Obama got into a heated back and forth with a Tea Party activist who demanded to know at the end of a town hall meeting here whether or not Vice President Biden had called members of the Tea Party "terrorists" during the debt ceiling debate.

In public, Obama did not directly answer the question from Tea Party activist Ryan Rhodes about Biden. But Obama fired back that he knows better than anyone what it's like to be slammed for his political views and was not about to accept a lecture on the topic.

"As someone who's been called a socialist, not born here, taking away freedoms for providing health care, I'm all for lowering the rhetoric," Obama said.

WiFi 1460AM Shows

Tuesdays 5-6pm ET

"LaRossa & Gallagher" with N.J.State Senator Richard LaRossa and Art Gallagher

WNJC 1360AM Shows

(all times are eastern)

Tuesday 3-4pm "American Freedom Watch" - Karen Schoen with John Estabrooks and Mike Lawson

ZOA

Shalom ZOA Members, Friends and Supporters of Israel,

One month from today - Thursday, Sept 8 - Philadelphia ZOA will hold its first Tribute Gala in more than a decade and we invite you to be there for this evening to celebrate Israel, express the community's gratitude to two key figures and have an enjoyable evening out.

We hope you will be there two help us thank two very special men: Dom Giordano, a journalist cut from the cloth of a time when the truth mattered and who thus has become an ardent activist for Israel, and Rabbi Fred Kazan, a man who for generations has encouraged a love for Israel among his congregants and has been outspoken in his devotion to the Jewish State.

We hope you will attend not only to hear the wisdom and candor of our honorees but also the insights of keynote speaker Jonathan Tobin and ZOA National President Mort Klein, and the enjoyable and thoughtful running commentary of Gary Erlbaum, our master-of-ceremonies.

We hope you will attend to support the work of Philadelphia ZOA. Frankly there is no group in our area that matches our dedication to a secure and vibrant Jewish State of Israel and that has the level of activities that we do. As we face the present threats to Israel and look to prepare for the future, we need to do more now and increase our outreach to the younger Jewish community and potential allies, and such ambitions take resources.

Finally, we hope you will attend to partake in an evening of stirring and heartfelt speeches, good kosher food and dessert, and warm Zionist camaraderie all for a good cause.

The event will take place at the Hilton Philadelphia City Avenue, 4200 City Avenue, Philadelphia. The VIP reception will include a glatt-kosher buffet and open bar and begins at 6 p.m. The award ceremony takes place at 7:45 and will be followed by a dessert reception.

We have set up a special ticket hotline you can reach by calling 215-333-1729. You must have a ticket to attend and we do expect a sellout. Please spread the word about this event to your email lists, friends, colleagues and family. Post it to Facebook and other social-networking sites.

We look forward to seeing you on September 8.

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

Americans for Prosperity

Dear Patriot,

Please join Americans for Prosperity Foundation and thousands of grassroots activists for the 5th annual Defending the American Dream Summiton Friday and Saturday, November 4-5 at the Washington Convention Center in downtown Washington, DC.

Last year, more than 2,600 of our best activists descended on Washington for the Summit to demonstrate to elected officials, government bureaucrats, and the national media that the grassroots movement is alive and well. We focused on reining in out-of-control spending and taxation, advancing sound free market public policy, and in a very real way, defending the American Dream.

Special bus packages are running from PA and for only this week you can register for an additional $70 off those all-inclusive bus packages. Sign up now to take advantage of this great opportunity! Use the code "Bus70" when registering.

Bus packages from PA include round trip transportation and hotel accommodations on top of all the other benefits of the Defending the

American Dream Summit.

Summit Highlights Include:

... and much more!

Don't forget, receive $70 off a bus package until midnight on August 14th! Click here to register today and help defend the American dream! Use the code "Bus70" when registering.

Defending liberty and promoting prosperity is a family affair. Give your children the gift of freedom and bring the whole family to the Defending the American Dream Summit this year. In fact, we're offering a discount for families and small groups! Click here for more information about our special packages.

Join us and thousands of fellow freedom fighters and send a message that the American Dream is alive and well in this great country!

Sincerely,

Tim Phillips
President
Americans for Prosperity Foundation

Act! for America

The Doctrine of Abrogation: Open the Koran Day

It's time to sign up!

Earlier this year we announced a major event for this fall, "The Doctrine of Abrogation: Open the Koran Day."

We have scheduled this event for the weekend of October 28 - 30, 2011, which is close to the two year anniversary of the Ft. Hood jihadist massacre perpetrated by Major Nidal Hasan (pictured at right).

If you would like to learn more about this national event, or would like to host a local venue, please click here.

Please read the description of the event and the sign-up instructions carefully, and then access the sign-up form at the bottom of the page.

Also, if you would like to study the Koran, we have a resource to recommend. The Qur'an Dilemma is an accurate, readable English translation that contains commentaries and analysis, including commentaries on the doctrine of abrogation, the history of the codification of the Koran, chronological sequence of the Koran, and the status of women in the Koran. To find out more visit here.

All Tea Parties and Patriots:

You are invited to participate in an important event--

please share this opportunity with friends and neighbors
who believe we need a "road map" to a better future...

Required tickets can be purchased online

Under the information below is a form that can be printed,

to accompany your check and mailed according to instruction.

RedState

RedState Morning Briefing

For August 16, 2011

1. Obama Creates His Own Luck

"Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded - here and there, now and then - are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty. This is known as 'bad luck.'"
- Robert Heinlein

Yesterday in Iowa, Barack Obama proved once and for all that he does not understand how the economy works.

2. Hyperbloviating Think Progress Gets Its Collective Panties In A Wad Over Rick Perry

Let me remind you that union goons sympathetic to Barack Obama have taken to showing up on the doorsteps of bank executives' houses in America to threaten and intimidate them.

Let me also remind you that Barack Obama told Wall Street Executives that he was all that stood in the way of pitchforks coming for them.

And Barack Obama also called on his supporters to bring guns to knife fights, not to mention to punish their enemies.

Then there were the August 2009 town halls where virtually every documented act of violence was at the hands of union goons while Think Progress pretended it was the racist tea partiers causing the violence.

There are countless other examples and through it all, Think Progress cheered it all on.

In Iowa, Rick Perry said, "I dunno what y'all would do to him in Iowa but we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas." Think Progress has gotten its collective panties in such a tight wad over this the whole staff may have to go commando.

Think Progress . . . I'm not sure what to call him . . . blogger, I guess, cause he sure as heck doesn't even clear welterweight on the scale of intellectuals in Washington, Matt Yglesias decries Perry for wanting to lynch Ben Bernanke - something Perry did not say. That Yglesias would suggest it says more about how he views Texas than it does Rick Perry.

3. Steve Penley: The RS Gathering's secret weapon.

If you attended the RS Gathering, or saw some of the photos that were taken by various and sundry folks, then you saw various paintings by an artist named Steve Penley scattered across the event. We were EXTREMELY FORTUNATE that Steve allowed us to have access to his work for the event; he's been a quiet favorite among RedState Contributors for some time now, and having his paintings available at the Gathering gave it a certain touch of style.

4. More Drooling Idiocy on Rick Perry's Faith

A fairly good indicator that Rick Perry will make a strong general election candidate is the desperation you can smell in the left's opening salvo of attacks against him. The early leader for the genre's exemplar is this piece from the formerly proud The Atlantic (which has sadly been reduced to a gay gossip site and anti-Semitic conspiracy newsletter). The author, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, first attempts lamely to argue that Rick Perry's private prayer session from last Sunday was unconstitutional because it was Christian, a contention so stupid that even Doug Mataconis would not make it. However, Townsend's heart is not really in that contention, so Townsend moves on quickly to her second (and contradictory) point: that Rick Perry is not really a Christian at all.

Heritage Hotsheet

Experts on the Day's Hottest News

Items for August 16, 2011

On mortgage rates, Obama wants proposal for how government can keep big role
The Washington Post

Taiwan arms sales, economy shadow Biden's trip to China
The Washington Times

Buffett to Congress: Stop coddling the 'mega-rich'
USA Today

Postal Service running out of money
The OC Register

Democrat donor gets federal health policy slot despite conflicts of interest
The Washington Examiner

Latest Heritage Research:

BACKGROUNDER
Before the Lights Go Out: A Survey of EMP Preparedness Reveals Significant Shortfalls

Quote the wisdom of Al "All-American" Gore.

"Who are these people?" (To a tour guide at Monticello after seeing busts of George Washington and Ben Franklin.)

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

SAVING MEDICARE

Since 1964, our nation's senior citizens have relied on Medicare to ensure access to healthcare. Now the program is going broke -- and it is going broke fast.

It began spending its reserves in 2008 when payouts exceeded dollars collected for the program. [cite]

Predictions for exhaustion of the reserve vary, with 2024 identified by the Social Security Administration in the Trustees 2011 report. [cite]

The Democrat response is to reduce the amount Medicare reimburses physicians for their services. [cite]

This will result in fewer participating physicians and the physicians continuing in the program seeing fewer Medicare patients.

Patients will wait longer and have fewer choices in seeing a doctor.

If this makes access to care sufficiently untenable, or if Medicare does not get on viable financial footing, it will be administered through ObamaCare[cite].

This would include cost controls by a 15-member board of bureaucrats deciding wich treatments, drugs, and surgeries patients can receive.

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Chairman of the House Committee on the Budget, has a plan which saves Medicare with no disruption to today's seniors and reasonable changes for future retirees.

The Ryan Plan is widely misunderstood and misrepresented. The future of our seniors' healthcare is too important to be decided on misinformation. Here are the facts about Medicare and the Ryan Plan.

The Ryan Plan in a Nutshell

Those currently retired and those close to retirement (55 and over) will see no change from the existing Medicare system. Existing physician reimbursement flaws will be corrected to encourage physicians to continue participating in the system.[cite]

On retirement, those currently under 55 will be provided vouchers from the government to help pay for health insurance. Voucher amounts will be based in part on income, with wealthier individuals receiving less assistance. Risk pools [cite] will be created to ensure that insurance companies will provide coverage to seniors, despite their generally higher use of medical care.

The result is retirees will have a system that gives them options, similar to that which members of Congress use and which will include options similar to Medicare Advantage, the popular plan eliminated by Obamacare. [cite]

The Ryan Plan Incorporates These Important Points

It is important that we

Plan now for changes, to avoid chaos later

The medicare system is running out of money. Change is coming, one way or another.

Pretending we can continue as we are is not an option, it is a recipe for disaster. The longer we wait to make changes, the greater the disruption to current and future retires, the more abruptly the changes will have to be implemented, and the fewer options we will have.

By implementing the Ryan Plan now, we will

maintain the existing system for current retirees and for individuals 55 and over
provide a sustainable, quality system for future retirees.

It is important that we...

Preserve the existing system, unchanged, for current retirees and workers 55 and older

This bears repeating:

Under the Ryan Plan, if you are retired, your Medicare coverage will not change.
If you are over 55, Medicare as it exists today will be there for you when you retire.
And the Ryan Plan provides for quality health insurance coverage upon retirement for those currently under 55.

It is important that we...

Maintain availability of insurance coverage for future retirees

Since individuals generally require more medical care as they age, it tends to be difficult for older individuals to find private health insurance that will cover them. That is one reason our existing Medicare system is considered so important for many. The Ryan Plan creates risk pools which encourage multiple insurance companies to offer health coverage to those of retirement age.

It is important that we...

Maintain affordability

Individuals have paid into the Medicare system with the promise that coverage will be there for them when they retire. Unfortunately, we are facing an economic crisis in this country and Medicare is a significant part of the problem. To save the system for everyone and to avert broader economic calamity, in the future wealthier Americans will have to bear a greater portion of their healthcare burden.

It is important that we...

Make it feasible for doctors to participate in Medicare

Currently in many areas of the country physicans are reimbursed for Medicare patients at a rate that does not cover their expenses. Recent changes put forth by the Democrats further reduce reimbursement. [cite] This is not sustainable for any business and as a result increasing numbers of physicians are discontinuing their participation in the Medcare program. Patients are finding that their physician is no longer a Medicare provider and when they look for another physician it is increasingly difficult for them to find a Medicare provider who is accepting new patients and can see them in a reasonable time. [cite]. The Ryan plan fixes the reimbursement problem, making it feasible for physicians to continue participating in Medicare.

It is important that we...

Keep medical decisions between patients and doctors, not remote government panels

The Ryan plan harnesses the free market and puts choice in the hands of the patient. Retirees will be able to pick the insurance plan that best meets their needs, applying government vouchers toward premium costs. Medical decisions would be made in consultation with their personal physician, based on the individual's situation and preferences.

References

CONGRESSMAN ALLEN WEST speaks to the Tea Party Fort Lauderdale.

Allen West's speech to their group at this past Saturday's "sell-out" meeting. West speaks of things we need to know when fighting the kind of battles we Tea Parties are engaged in. He mentions two books we've got to read, in order to be equipped for the fight.

It's eleven minutes long, and well worth watching and learning.

Morning Bell

A Devastating Blow to Obamacare
Obamacare has suffered a devastating blow. On Friday, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the individual mandate in President Barack Obama's signature health care legislation is unconstitutional. With its ruling, the court affirmed the principle that the Constitution means what it says-Congress does not have unfettered power to force the American people to comply with any and all dictates it creates.

The federal government's argument in favor of Obamacare's individual mandate, in contrast, is without limit-and it's a position that the court strongly rejected:
The government's position amounts to an argument that the mere fact of an individual's existence substantially affects interstate commerce, and therefore Congress may regulate them at every point of their life. This theory affords no limiting principles in which to confine Congress's enumerated power....

The federal government's assertion of power, under the Commerce Clause, to issue an economic mandate for Americans to purchase insurance from a private company for the entire duration of their lives is unprecedented, lacks cognizable limits, and imperils our federalist structure.

Why Aren't 9/11 First Responders Being Invited to 10th Anniversary Ceremony?

First responders are being excluded from this year's 10th anniversary ceremony at ground zero. Hear how one former NYPD officer feels about the snub.
· Watch the Interview
· Has Al Qaeda Found a Way to Weaponize Ricin?

From the Desk of David Horowitz

Dear Fellow Conservative,

A woman of extraordinary courage and vision is under attack.

Pamela Geller, who was awarded last year by the Freedom Center for her courage in the war against tyranny, is the

target of a $10 million intimidation lawsuit designed to silence, once and for all, one of America's most vibrant voices speaking out in defense of the freedom of speech

, the freedom of conscience, and the equality of rights of all people.

And it's all because she rushed to the defense of a young girl in fear for her life.

In July 2009, a seventeen-year-old girl named Rifqa Bary ran away from her home in Ohio, saying that her father threatened to kill her upon discovering that she had converted from Islam to Christianity. There followed a bitter custody battle: Rifqa fought hard to stay out of her parents' home while the Islamic supremacists such as the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) did all they could to force her to go back. Due in large part to Pamela Geller's efforts, the Islamic supremacists lost, and Rifqa remained free and able to exercise her freedom of conscience. But now the losers are determined to exact revenge upon the freedom fighter who protected Rifqa from harm.

Omar Tarazi, the lawyer for the parents of Rifqa Bary, is suing Pamela for ten million dollars for libel, for things she wrote in good faith about the case at her acclaimed and award-winning blog AtlasShrugs.com. The great lawyer David Yerushalmi is representing Pamela Geller in this frivolous lawsuit, and he is generously donating his time and expertise pro bono. Nonetheless, Pamela's ancillary legal expenses relating to this suit are spiraling.

The Freedom Center has offered to help raise the funds needed for her legal defense.

That means we need to raise a minimum of $30,000 in the next 48 hours to cover the first set of legal fees. Will you help us?

Please follow this link right away to make a generous tax-deductible contribution to the Freedom Center Legal Defense Fund, so we can continue to support Pamela.

The Left and its Islamic supremacist allies are waging a full-throttle campaign against the freedom of speech. This campaign takes many forms: obscene and unfounded charges of "Islamophobia" and "hate speech," demonization and character assassination in the mainstream media, and - in this case - legal intimidation.

The objective is always the same: to silence activists like Pamela Geller who dare to tell the truth about the Islamic threat to the West.

This push will only become stronger now in the aftermath of the tragedy in Norway, for which Pamela has been unfairly blamed. In the eyes of the Left and the Islamic supremacists, Pamela has committed Orwellian "thought crime," and for that she must be punished.

But Pamela Geller will not be deterred. She is publishing a new book for grassroots activists,

Stop the Islamization of America: A Practical Guide to the Resistance

. She is traveling to Israel in August to dedicate the Aqsa Parvez Memorial Grove for victims of honor killing - the first-ever recognition by anyone in the West that this practice is wrong and that freedom-lovers intend to resist it. She is also planning another rally for freedom at Ground Zero this September 11, after holding two rallies there attended by tens of thousands last year. She will continue to fight for justice and human rights in the court of public opinion and in the actual courtroom where this outrageous lawfare attack is being mounted.

The Freedom Center will not allow the Left and the Islamic supremacists to stigmatize truth-tellers like Pamela as "Islamophobes." That's why I'm asking you to help us build up our legal defense fund for the witch-hunt against Pamela Geller.

So will you stand with the Freedom Center to support Pamela by making an immediate donation of $25, $50, $100, $250 or more to our legal defense fund?

If the Left and its Islamic allies succeed in silencing this heroic advocate for freedom, they will have won a tremendous victory in their ongoing campaign to outlaw all criticism of Islam, and thereby render us mute and defenseless in the face of the advancing jihad.

They must not succeed. And with your support, they will not.

Sincerely,

David Horowitz

President & Founder

P.S. The Freedom Center's Legal Defense Fund is footing Pamela Geller's legal fees, and I urgently need your help to raise $30,000 in the next 48 hours to cover the first bill.

Will you help us out by making an immediate tax-deductible contribution of $25, $50, $100, $250 or more?

Glenn Beck

Op/Ed: Why Jews Should Stand with Glenn Beck

By Ari Abramowitz | Sunday, Aug 14, 2011 at 8:53 PM EDT

By now, I would imagine that most Jews in Jerusalem know about the upcoming "Restoring Courage" Rally that Glenn Beck is staging in Jerusalemon August 24th. The fact that the reaction to this rally is as varied as the reaction to Beck himself is both tragic and embarrassing and in my mind is all too consistent with a rather self-destructive predisposition our nation has towards seeking the favor of our enemies and alienating our friends.

Glenn Beck is an opinionated and controversial guy and if he is trying to sugar coat his perspectives into being more palatable to his detractors, he is not doing a very good job. While I, personally, agree with him on most issues, there are others on which we disagree. But this rally is not about Glenn Beck or partisan politics. This rally is both about the fate of the State of Israel and the survival of the United States of America.

ITAI

SYRIAN DEMOCRATIC COUNCIL SNUBBED BY STATE DEPARTMENT

By Joseph Puder

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks with members of Muslim Brotherhood

Yahoo News reported on August 2, 2011 that "Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, met this morning with members of the U.S. based Syrian opposition." According to Sherkoh Abbas, president of the Kurdistan National Assembly of Syria (KNA-S) and a founding member of the Syrian democratic opposition group, Syrian Democracy Council (SDC), the "opposition members" Clinton invited are associated with the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood. Abbas contends that his group of pro-Western democrats seeks to create a federal democratic Syria that would enfranchise all segments of Syrian society, would strive for peace with Israel, disassociate Syria from Iran and respect Lebanon's sovereignty, has been shunned by Clinton and the Obama administration.

It is perhaps not surprising to see the Obama administration snubbing pro-American allies and pandering to those nations and groups who are clearly anti-American. This past February Obama told President Mubarak of Egypt - a country which, under his rule, had been a U.S. ally - that "he must go" but, has refrained from demanding that President Bashar Assad, an ally of Iran, a sponsor of terrorism, and an enemy of the U.S., that he must go. Nor has the Obama administration/State Department recalled its ambassador.

The Palestinian news agency, Maan reported on February 2, 2011 that: "President Barack Obama told Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak that he must begin to transition power 'now,' hinting his offer to leave after September elections may not go far enough. Obama also made another subtle shift toward crowds amassed in Cairo and other Egyptian cities after days of rage against Mubarak's rule, saying America had heard them, and they would certainly get the change they craved." Obama, it seems, couldn't grasp the Syrian people's rage against Assad, nor feel the pain of the Syrian people with the cold-blooded murder of thousands of their countrymen and women by the Assad regime.

With atrocities too glaring to ignore, and the resistance to the Baathist regime is increasing rather than subsiding, Hillary Clinton has woken up and decided that the Obama administration must react. The recognition of the opposition and condemnation of the killings has been, in fact, mere lip-service and contradicts her assertions made on March 28, 2011 as reported by Bloomberg News Radio that, "the elements that led to intervention in Libya - international condemnation, an Arab League call for action, a United Nations Security Council resolution - are not going to happen with Syria, in part because members of the U.S. Congress from both parties say they believe Assad is a reformer." It would be more accurate, however, to say that it is the Obama administration that considered Assad to be a "reformer." Moreover, both the Arab states and the U.N. condemned the atrocities in Syria. And, while Khadafy's Libya has not endangered American troops, Assad's Syria has actively allowed Arab-Muslim terrorists to cross the Syrian border into Iraq where they have attacked U.S. personnel.

The hypocrisy embedded in the Obama administration's choices speaks volumes. The Huffington Post reported on February 14, 2011 that, "Under Obama's proposal, released Monday, the State Department's Democracy Fund would be cut by 21 percent from its current $140 million appropriation, leaving it with $111 million for fiscal 2012. Subsidies for the National Endowment for Democracy, a private nonprofit that focuses on spreading democracy, would be cut by 12 percent, from $118 million to $104 million." The Obama administration also reduced funding for democracy and governance programming in Egypt by more than half from $50 million in 2008 to $20 million in 2009.

Sherkoh Abbas believes that the U.S. "working with Salafi groups, and the Turkish government, would create an opposition in Syria that is strictly Islamist, and thus serve Turkish economic interests in Syria, and keep the Kurdish issue as dormant in Turkey as well as in Syria. By placing the U.S. behind such political parties as the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), the U.S. will lose touch with the real opposition on the ground, which seeks democracy, peace with its neighbors, economic stability, guided by a pro-western outlook." Abbas asserted that only a fraction of the Syrian people belongs to political parties and that the MB aided by the Islamist Turkish government seeks to highjack the Syrian revolution.

"The Obama administration" says Abbas "is doing nothing to support the Syrian people's quest for freedom and democracy, and for the idea of a federalized Syria, which could reduce the influence of the MB, isolate Hezbollah, and contain the threat of Iran in the Middle East. In our view, the only people who will benefit in maintaining the current regime in Syria are Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas." So, why doesn't the Obama administration support regime change in Syria or provide support for democratic groups such as Syrian Democracy Council? Abbas believes that the Obama administration has leveraged its policy on Syria by giving Turkey a free hand to sort things out in Damascus and Aleppo.

Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's Prime Minister, boosted by another decisive electoral victory earlier this year, has developed hegemonic ambitions for the region and beyond and, has assumed the mantle of protector of Sunni-Islam. In the current upheaval in Syria, Erdogan - according to Asia Times - "made a startling claim that what happens in Syria is an "internal affair" for Turkey and not a foreign policy issue, given the 850 kilometer border between the two countries and their deep cultural and historical links. This is the first time Erdogan has hinted Turkey might intervene in Syria. It wasn't one of those intemperate outbursts for which he is well-known. Erdogan intended it as a calculated affront to the Syrian regime and he had the Sunni Muslim Arab audience in mind."

Unlike President Obama, Sherkoh Abbas's vision for Syria, under the leadership of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), would be most endearing to Americans. As he points out, "What we want is a stable, secure democratic and federal Syria, a free-market economy, peace with Israel and a country friendly towards the West. The current centralized Baathist government has proved that it is the cause of unrest, not only in Syria, but in neighboring countries and to the world as well. Syria, moreover, cannot be a stable state as long as the second largest ethnic groups - the Kurds - are marginalized and disenfranchised. If the SDC were to be in a position of power in Syria, we would respect Lebanese and Iraqi sovereignty, and we will guarantee security and peace to Israel."

Both houses of Congress as well as the American people must take the Obama administration to task for its policy choices. The Foreign Affairs Committee in the House of Representatives and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee should initiate immediate hearings on the State Department's exclusion of the democratic opposition in Syria. The American people must be clear on where their country's policy makers stand and are leading this country.

Front Page Mag

Sharia Enclaves in the West

Posted by Ryan Mauro Bio ↓ on Aug 12th, 2011

Islamist organizations are hard at work creating Muslim enclaves in the West, including right here in the United States. These efforts are designed to create Islamic autonomous areas, often with the expressed desire of incrementally bringing the host country completely under Sharia-based governance. This campaign has not stopped or even slowed down since FrontPage Magazine and the Middle East Forum shined the light on it one year ago.

One group leading the effort to establish Islamist communities within the U.S. is As-Sabiqun, led by an extremist cleric named Imam Abdul Alim Musa. His list of heroes reads like a who's-who of the jihadist world, from Hasan al-Banna to Sayyid Qutb to Ayatollah Khomeini. He recently heaped praise upon Iranian President Ahmadinejad. In June 2002, he expressed support for suicide bombings in Israel. He preaches that the 9/11 attacks were a CIA/Mossad operation, says he "like[s]" Osama Bin Laden, supports Hezbollah, and describes Hamas as being "very nice people." The As-Sabiqun Web site has a plan to create Sharia enclaves in the U.S. in stages, beginning with moving Muslims to one area and setting up independent social services.

As-Sabiqun is now fundraising for two new initiatives:

The Left Owns the Election Law Industry

Posted by J. Christian Adams Bio ↓ on Aug 12th, 2011

Before the 2000 presidential election, most Americans assumed the mechanics of elections functioned smoothly. The thirty-six day battle for the presidency demonstrated otherwise. Today, most Americans still assume the institutions,

firms and foundations that fight about election law disputes are equally matched and similarly funded as between left and right. That is a dangerously incorrect assumption, especially with the 2012 election fast approaching. From an election administration perspective, the 2012 presidential election is already upon us. And the Left is fully engaged.

Like so many other institutions, whether academia or the media, leftists dominate the field of election law, and the consequences are immediate and devastating. Worst of all, hardly anyone has noticed that these scores of leftist election experts enjoy a largely unopposed battlefield.

SultanKnish

An Anatomy of Law Enforcement Impotence

The modern law enforcement apparatus is an impressive thing. It's no longer about men with clubs standing on street corners and cracking heads. Law enforcement is a scientific endeavor encompassing everything from high end forensic sciences to sociology and psychology. It's a field of ideas now, and it suffers from the same malfeasance of ideas that every other aspect of Western culture does.

The modern police force does not enforce laws out of some abstract sense of justice, its only goal is the social good. And the social good calls for not enforcing laws, as often as it calls for enforcing them. Law enforcement does not exist for the sake of law, but for social stability, and how to achieve that social stability is still a matter of debate.

Law enforcement guidelines often call for forbearance in situations where enforcement would aggravate the violence. These situations almost invariably involve violence originating

from a racial or ethnic group. During race riots, police officers may be told to stand by and observe the situation, because their intervention would only worsen the problem. The Crown Heights Pogrom and the London riots are both examples of this philosophy at work.

Read more:

Isralpundit

Egypt and Israel cooperate on reigning in lawless Sinai

Egypt deploys thousands of troops and tanks in Sinai, in coordination with Israel

Egypt trying to stop Bedouin control of the northern Sinai peninsula and put an end to anarchy that has taken hold of the region since Mubarak's fall; top Israeli defense official in Cairo for talks.
By Anshel Pfeffer and DPA

Egypt, in coordination with Israel, has deployed its military in the northern Sinai Peninsula in order to gain control over the anarchy that has taken hold of the region, a senior Israeli defense official said on Sunday.
Egyptian troops escorted by tanks entered the Sinai Peninsula region on Friday in an attempt to put an end to the anarchy that has erupted there since the fall of the Mubarak regime.

The aim of the operation was to halt Bedouin control of the northern Sinai area, which allows for the transfer of weapons to the Gaza Strip through underground tunnels.

The Israeli government approved the operation, which places Egyptian infantry, armored vehicles, and...

Read the whole entry »

PA Rejects 'Two States for Two Peoples'

Video: The PA continues to speak 'two views for two media." Fatah official Sha'ath tells Lebanese TV a PA state must include all Israeli Arabs.

by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

The Palestinian Authority continues to speak "two views for two medias." Fatah foreign relations director Nabil Sha'ath told Lebanese TV that a PA state must include all Arabs with Israeli citizenship as well as millions of foreign "refugees."

The video and translation of his comments were provided by Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

"The French Initiative reshaped the issue of the 'Jewish State," a formula that is also unacceptable to us - two states for two peoples," Sha'ath said. "They can describe Israel as a state for two peoples, but we will be a state for one people.

"The story of two states for two peoples means that there will be a Jewish people over there and a Palestinian people here. We will never accept this....

"We will not...

Read the whole entry »

PA TV Honors Mother of Terrorist

Laura: There is no difference between fatah and hamas. Both charters call for the obliteration of Israel and both murder Jews, and yet the west and even the Israeli government talk about fatah being a "partner for peace" as though it can be distinguished from hamas. Here is PA TV honoring a mother who raised her daughter to become a homicide bomber. "Palestinian" mothers of homicide bombers take pride in the fact that their children blew themselves up to massacre Jews. A depraved society which celebrates the act of mass murder and indoctrinates their children that their greatest aspiration in life should be to blow themselves up in a crowd of Jews, is certainly not deserving of statehood. Yet instead of treating "palestinian" society as a pariah, the world demands that Israel surrender territory to these bloodthirsty hordes who scream for the genocide of the Jews. And our tax money goes to support them. And Israel, not the...

Read the whole entry »

What Happened to Obama? Absolutely Nothing.

He is still the same anti-American leftist he was before becoming our president..

By NORMAN PODHORETZ

It's open season on President Obama. Which is to say that the usual suspects on the right (among whom I include myself) are increasingly being joined in attacking him by erstwhile worshipers on the left. Even before the S&P downgrade, there were reports of Democrats lamenting that Hillary Clinton had lost to him in 2008. Some were comparing him not, as most of them originally had, to Lincoln and Roosevelt but to the hapless Jimmy Carter. There was even talk of finding a candidate to stage a primary run against him. But since the downgrade, more and more liberal pundits have been deserting what they clearly fear is a sinking ship.

Here, for example, from the Washington Post, is Richard Cohen: "He is the very personification of cognitive dissonance-the gap between what we (especially liberals) expected of the first serious African American presidential...

Read the whole entry »

Beck meets with Chief Rabbi Metzger

Glenn (Beck) was granted a special meeting with Israel's Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger. In the clip above, Glenn and the Chief Rabbi discuss preparations for the August 24th Restoring Courage event in Jerusalem.

Watch Glenn and the Chief Rabbi connect on issues of faith and as the Chief Rabbi offers his support of the event. For more information on the Restoring Courage,

Follow the Road to Restoring Courage on GBTV!

CNS News E-Brief

Today's Headlines: Monday, August 15, 2011

Israel Looms As a Key Issue in GOP Race

Average Teen Unemployment Rate in D.C. is 50.1%, Analysis Shows

George Will Slights Bachmann's Fitness to 'Control' Nukes--Just as He Slighted Palin's

It's fast. It's easy. It's secure. Please support CNSNews.com today!

Iraq Erupts: Bombings in a Dozen Cities Kill at Least 60 on Monday

NY Times: Republicans Will 'Resist' Job Creation to Hurt Obama

Bachmann, Perry Both Competing on Jobs Issue

Va. Gov. McDonnell Is New Head of Republican Governors Association

White House Attacks GOP Candidates' Vow to Nix Any Tax Hike Deal

Pawlenty Withdraws, Newcomer Perry Seeks His Endorsement

COMMENTARY:

Pawlenty Drops Out
By Rich Galen
Without a central theme to his campaign, Tim Pawlenty was never going to be able to "nice" his way into the Oval Office.

Defense-Less
By Alan Caruba
History demonstrates that reducing U.S. expense expenditures, a move favored by Democrats, is always unwise.

NEWSPAPER ROUNDUP:

Warren Buffett: I beg you to raise my taxes
Obama rejects calls for Eric Holder to resign over botched gun sting
Cases lining up to ask Supreme Court to clarify 2nd Amendment rights
Arizona Hoarding Task Force sees a rise in inquiries
The View's Joy Behar marries her 'spousal equivalent' after 29 years
Federal agents checking for illegal immigrants on public transportation
Tea party members accuse Rep. Allen West of chickening out
Pharmacy robberies in Lake Park stem from pill shortage
Mass. AIDS programs face cuts as U.S. shifts funding
Red Cross workers in Conn. vote to authorize strike

The Wilkow Majority

America's over-spending problem

Article has charts AND graphs

After receiving many comments on my recent post laying some of the blame for our deficits on President George W. Bush, but much more of the blame on President Barack Obama, I decide to recheck how I that this impression.

If you believe that "a picture is worth a thousand words," then these pictures will relieve the need for much narrative. It's easy to be in denial when your information is based on opinions or incorrect data. It is much harder when faced with graphic evidence. Therefore, this post is for all of those who disagree about who caused the spending problem in recent years in the USA, and for all those who have been arguing to no avail to prove that point.

Click here to read the full article at Yahoo News

Struggling Republican Pawlenty exits White House race

Good move on his part, really

Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty became the first major casualty in the marathon U.S. presidential campaign on Sunday while fellow Republicans Michelle Bachmann and Rick Perry built momentum in the race.

Pawlenty, once seen as a strong contender for the Republican nomination to face Democratic President Barack Obama in the November 2012 election, dropped out a day after a disappointing showing in Iowa's straw poll, a key early test of strength among his party's candidates.

Click here to read the full article at Yahoo News

August 15, 1971: A date which has lived in infamy

Nixon forces dollar and gold to cut ties

In their impossibly good book Money, Markets, and Sovereignty (2009), Benn Steil and Manuel Hinds make the point that over the last four thousand years, the only period in which humanity has not consistently based its currency in metal, specifically gold, is the last forty. That's right. Ever since President Richard M. Nixon announced forty years ago today, on August 15, 1971, that the U.S. would no longer officially trade dollars for gold, we have been enjoying a new era of human history.

Enjoying not being the mot juste. Out of the gate, we got the 1970s, what with their stagflation, a real stock market performance worse than that of the 1930s, and a crisis of confidence such had never bedeviled the American people before. There were go-go years in the 1980s and 1990s, to be sure, when stocks increased 15-fold and the tech revolution changed the world. But now we have our woebegotten 2000s, where stocks lose ground against the price level year after year, 9% unemployment is the new normal, and explosive government spending and Federal Reserve blowouts can't create a job.

Click here to read the full article at Yahoo News

Why the stock market tanked

Forbes breaks it down

The stock market's 1000-point setback, echoed the world over, has been a shock and a puzzle. Following a tripartite debt-control agreement in Washington, how could the economic situation be worse than before? I begin with a suspicion that the much prayed-for "deal" was a pretense. On Aug. 1, all three negotiating groups concluded that their time had finally run out. Though they had gotten nowhere, they declared a victory simply by announcing agreement.

The gridlock that has exercised the media over the past months is now set to continue inside the twelve-member select committee authorized by the "deal." Between them, these twelve won't have any more teeth than the debt limit itself did. Even if, miraculously, they were to come out with the right stuff, neither house of Congress, and neither political party, is obligated to ratify it. Now the debt limit has been raised, but the warring sides are back in the same positions they had staked out all along.

Click here to read the full article at Yahoo News

Campaign for Working Families

Monday, August 15, 2011

To: Friends & Supporters

From: Gary L. Bauer

Bachmann Wins Ames

Congratulations to Rep. Michele Bachmann! She finished first at the Ames, Iowa, straw poll with 29% of the vote. Ron Paul was a close second (28%). Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty finished a distant third (13%).

In fourth place was former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum (10%), followed by businessman Herman Cain (9%). Texas Governor Rick Perry, who did not compete, received 4% of the vote from write-in ballots. Perry's write-in vote beat out former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (3%), former Speaker Newt Gingrich (2%), former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman and Michigan Congressman Thad McCotter.

Bachmann has done incredibly well. She has connected with Iowa's conservative grass roots, and her victory in Ames will give her new momentum in fundraising and media attention. In fact, she was on all the Sunday talk shows.

Chris Wallace mentioned that he has interviewed Michele Bachmann four times and that she has gotten better with each appearance. She is bright, quick and has a keen grasp of the issues. It would be a mistake to underestimate her.

The Ames straw poll did what it was supposed to do. It tested the appeal and organizational strength of the candidates and their campaigns. Bachmann has clearly cemented her position among the top tier candidates. Tim Pawlenty invested heavily in the straw poll, and dropped out of the race after his disappointing finish.

The conventional wisdom suggests that the GOP race is now a three-way contest among Romney, Bachmann and Perry. I think the conventional wisdom is probably correct, barring the entry of someone like Sarah Palin, Chris Christie or Jeb Bush. But time is running is out for any new candidate to jump in.

Is Being A Christian A Liability?

On "Meet The Press" Sunday, NBC's David Gregory peppered Michele Bachmann with questions about her faith. At one point, Gregory asked, "Would God guide your decisions that you would make as president of the United States?" The interview was a media inquisition.

There is no religious test for public office in America. But our left-wing secular media is doing its best to impose one. Evangelical Christians will be mocked by our media elites and made to look naïve at best or insane at worst.

This is nothing new. During the 2000 campaign, the media went ballistic when George W. Bush and I stated in a debate that Jesus Christ was the most influential individual in our lives.

Time and time again, during my campaign in the 2000 primaries, I ran into bright teenagers who suggested that my faith disqualified me from running. They had been brainwashed into believing that the "separation of church and state" required our public officials to be agnostic. The media are subtly hinting that Bachmann, Rick Perry and any other conservative who takes their faith seriously are unqualified to be president.

Can you imagine Gregory or another talking head subjecting a Muslim candidate to such questions? The same media that is so concerned with how Michele Bachmann's faith will intrude into public life applauds when Muslims demand the right to build a mosque at Ground Zero.

The hypocrisy is unbelievable. The liberal media went out of its way to reassure Americans that Barack Obama was a Christian. And while the media elites are so curious about the faith of Michele Bachmann, they had virtually no interest in investigating what Obama learned as he sat in Jeremiah Wright's church for 20 years. Moreover, they never question the legitimacy of the Religious Left when it misquotes the Bible chapter and verse in support of its socialist agenda.

Whatever happens in this campaign, the media's war on faith -- their continued attempts to force Christianity into the closet -- is very dangerous for our republic. This nation was founded on the belief that liberty comes from God, not government. Further marginalizing and dividing Americans only contributes to political polarization.

Obama Under 40%; Hits The Road

Barack Obama's approval rating hit a new low of 39% in Gallup's daily tracking poll this weekend. His disapproval rating soared to 54%. Against that backdrop, Obama is hitting the road in what the White House has dubbed an "economic bus tour ... to stress the vital role rural America plays in ensuring the growth of our economy." Obama will be stopping in Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota this week.

I think the Associated Press was closer to the truth, writing: "President Barack Obama launches a political counteroffensive this week... The trip is timed to dilute the GOP buzz emanating from the Midwest after Republicans gathered in Iowa over the weekend for a first test of the party's White House candidates."

The Republican Party is having some fun with the president's taxpayer-subsidized road trip, calling it the "DEBT" tour -- "Debt-End Bus Tour." The RNC is running ads noting how many jobs have been lost in each state since Obama took office.

The Poverty Behind British Riots

The left is desperately trying to warn that the Tea Party movement's calls for fiscal responsibility will lead to rioting in America, just as budget cuts have supposedly caused the rioting in Great Britain. Here is an excerpt of a column that ran in the New York Times last week:

"The American right today is obsessed with cutting government spending. In many ways, [British Prime Minister] Cameron's austerity program is the Tea Party's dream come true. But Britain is now grappling with the consequences of those cuts..."

Hogwash! This is nothing more than liberal fiscal extortion. In my weekly Human Events column, I make the case that the poverty behind the British riots is spiritual, not material. As we continue to wrestle with our fiscal deficit, we cannot ignore our virtue deficit. You can read more at humanevents.com.

DOT To Mandate All Farm Vehicles Require CDL Licenses, Could Bring Demise To Farmers

Obama To End Family Farms

In Late May, the DOT proposed a rule change for farm equipment, and if it this allowed to take effect, it will place significant regulatory pressure on small farms and family farms all across America -- costing them thousands of dollars and possibly forcing many of them out of business. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), part of the Department of Transportation (DOT), wants new standards that would require all farmers and everyone on the farm to obtain a CDL (Commercial Drivers License) in order to operate any farming equipment. The agency is going to accomplish this by reclassifying all farm vehicles and implements as Commercial Motor Vehicles (CMVs).

(It is also important to note here that DOT Secretary Ray LaHood holds a seat on the newly created White House Rural Council. A powerful group whose members have ties to George Soros and The Center For American Progress.)

The move by the DOT appears to be "legislation through regulation." By reclassifying all farm vehicles and implements as Commercial Vehicles, the federal government will now be able to claim regulatory control over the estimated 800,000 farm workers in America, at the same time, overriding the rights of the states.

The proposed change also means ANYONE driving a tractor or operating any piece of motorized farming equipment would be forced to pass the same rigorous tests and fill out the same detailed forms and diaries required of semi-tractor trailer drivers. This reclassification would bury small farms and family farms in regulation and paperwork.

Government Gone Wild

What Is The American Dream?

Since our independence from the British following the Revolutionary War, we have been the light at the end of the tunnel for generations of people searching for a better life and the opportunity to achieve it. The United States has been that place and even today it remains so. There is no other place in the world that allows and encourages individuals to reach for the stars with their ideas and initiative.

The Germans, Irish, Japanese, Vietnamese, Indian, and countless other ethnic groups came to this country speaking little english but dedicated to work and moving ahead. Normally within two generations, they became influential in their community because of their dedication and hard work. There were hiccups along the way with subsets turning to crime, but the majority moved ahead and added to the history of this great country while joining the middle and the upper class.

The dream of knowing that hard work and dedication will ultimately lead to success in this country remains true. There are some who move ahead by using ruses to influence others, but they ultimately are finally discovered for what they are. Look at the number of politicians who think that they are above the law and eventually fall because of the law. Business leaders fall into the same vein. I know that there are some who escape and end up as successful individuals even though they are reprobates, but I personally believe that everyone will receive his just deserts if not in this world then in the next. Wow! I am showing my beliefs.

Hillsdale College

"The Debt Limit Debate Has Just Begun"

By Gary Wolfram William Simon Professor of Economics and Public Policy
Hillsdale College
Article originally posted on Ricochet.com

The deal which raised the debt ceiling did not meet with the stock market rally that some had expected. This was in large part because, despite the media hype, the markets knew that the U.S. was not going to default on its debt obligations. The fact that 10 year Treasuries were yielding around two and a half percent indicates that the markets were aware that the U.S. always had enough revenue to make interest payments on our bonds and to refinance maturing debt.

Without further borrowing ability the Treasury would not have been able to make all payments due, however. A choice would have had to be made as to whether Social Security payments would be delayed, Medicare providers' checks would be reduced, or government vendors would not get paid on time. But given the 14th amendment's provision that the validity of the debt of the United States shall not be questioned, it is almost certain that U.S. Treasury bondholders would have been paid.

Who would not have been paid would have been a political choice. AARP reported that its members "flooded the White House and the halls of Congress with 557,249 letters and 387,018 phone calls." This might give an indication that the politically correct thing for the President to do would have been to reduce and delay Social Security payments that are received by 60 million Americans, and blame it on the "Tea Party Republicans." While the President would appear on prime time national television to make his point, the Speaker of the House would have had a hard time beating out The Voice to give his response.

In 1995-96 I took a leave from Hillsdale College to be Congressman Nick Smith's chief of staff. A similar battle was taking place with the newly elected House Republican majority and President Bill Clinton. The Republicans had control of the Senate as well and sent a balanced budget and debt ceiling increase to President Clinton, who vetoed it. The federal government was temporarily shut down and President Clinton was able to win the issue politically. Newt Gingrich ended up losing his position as Speaker of the House and Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole was firmly trounced by Clinton in the 1996 election.

Given the political realities, including that the Republicans only control one House this time, the outcome of the debt limit legislation was as good a deal as was going to be made. The gain, however, was not in the details of the deal itself, other than it avoided raising taxes, but in pushing to the front pages of America the fact that federal government spending is not sustainable.

Friedrich Hayek wrote in The Constitution of Liberty that a primary benefit of democracy is that debate over the issues will advance the state of knowledge. The "intransigence of the Tea Party Republicans" accomplished what it needed to-push the debate on federal government spending into the national spotlight.

The debt ceiling legislation does little to address the unsustainable degree of federal government spending, particularly in entitlement programs. The media has trumpeted the "cuts" by adding them up over ten years. For example, we know that the basics of the deal are about $1 trillion in cuts from discretionary spending, and then the Super Committee will find another $1.2 trillion in deficit reductions. To put this in perspective, the Congressional Budget Office projects federal spending over the next decade to exceed $50 trillion. Little wonder that the markets did not rally in the face of the deal.

What this all means, however, is that the debate over federal spending has at least begun. Most Americans now realize that the national debt is in excess of $14.3 trillion, and that Medicare and Social Security, as well as Medicaid, are in an unsustainable position. What is vital is that those who believe in a limited federal government and in the importance of freedom keep the debate alive by noting that nothing has been done yet to address the long run unfunded liabilities of Social Security and Medicare.

It is not sustainable for Americans over the age of 62 to expect their retirement and health care to be paid for by someone else for the final 20 to 30 years of their life. Common sense tells us that this cannot possibly happen. The debt limit debate has forced our Congressmen to admit to this. The next step is to address the problem.

Gary Wolfram is William Simon Professor of Economics and Public Policy at Hillsdale College and President of Hillsdale Policy Group, a consulting firm specializing in taxation and policy analysis. His public policy experience includes serving as Congressman Nick Smith's Chief of Staff, Michigan's Deputy State Treasurer for Taxation and Economic Policy under Governor John Engler, and Senior Economist to the Republican Senate in Michigan.

Visit our website, www.hillsdale.edu, for more information about Hillsdale College.

Andrew Breitbart Presents Big Government.com

Agenda 21: Obama Administration Racing Towards Rio + 20

by Laura Rambeau Lee

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was held on August 2 - 6, 2010 in Bonn, Germany. It was the third round of U. N. climate change negotiations with representatives from 178 governments present. The meeting was designed to set the agenda for what they hoped to accomplish at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico in November and December of last year.

The information in their press release conveyed the urgency of the U. N. to get this moving forward with solid agreements reached by the November/December conference. The text in this press release is so extremely important for all of us to understand that paragraphs have been copied verbatim.

"Governments have a responsibility this year to take the next essential step in the battle against climate change, said UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres. How governments achieve the next essential step is up to them. But it's politically possible. In Cancun, the job of governments is to turn the politically possible into the politically irreversible, she said." (Bolded by Writer)

"Christiana Figueres pointed to the opportunity to capture the promises, pledges and progress that governments have already made, in accountable and binding ways. According to Ms. Figueres, governments now need to resolve what to do with their public pledges to cut emissions. All industrialized countries have made public pledges to cut emissions by 2020 and 38 developing countries have submitted plans to limit their emissions growth."

THE COMMIE-IN-CHIEF IS AT IT AGAIN.........TRYING TO SCORE POLITICAL POINTS AT THE EXPENSE OF MILITARY FAMILIES

White House Photo of Ceremony for U.S. Troops Killed in Afghanistan Sparks Controversy

Associated Press | Published August 11, 2011

WASHINGTON - A White House photographer was allowed to take and widely distribute a photo from the ceremony Tuesday for the return of the remains of 30 American troops killed in a weekend helicopter crash in Afghanistan despite the Pentagon's claim that any public depiction of the scene would violate the wishes of bereaved families.

News media coverage of the ceremony had been banned by the Pentagon over the objections of several news organizations.

Pentagon officials had said that because 19 of 30 of the American families of the dead had objected to media coverage of the remains coming off a plane at Dover Air Force Base, no images could be taken. In addition, the Pentagon rejected media requests to take photos that showed officials at the ceremony but did not depict caskets.

Lloyd Marcus Responds to Black Tea Party Critic.

August 7th, 2011

Mr. Walter Smith included me in his list of email recipients. Here is an excerpt.

"Does any one know Lloyd Marcus?

Since when did African Americans become so equal that they could afford to support groups that are obviously anti-Black. Does he not know that a vote against Barack Obama is a vote against all African Americans?"

Dear Mr. Smith. I usually delete hate mail from the left. Because your email did not begin with the typical calling me numerous expletives and the "n" word, I will reply.

I find it amazing how blind you are regarding YOUR racism. You call millions of Americans, many who voted for Obama, "obviously anti-Black" because they disapprove of his socialistic agenda . So, because we have a black president, any and all criticism is automatically deemed to be racist. Last time I checked, this is still America where folks have a right to disagree regardless of the president's skin color.

Firewall/The Blaze

August 15, 2011 FLORIDA GUN OWNERS SCORE A BIG WIN The State of Florida has decided to protect the Second Amendment by eliminating the onerous restrictions put in place by many municipalities and local governments. See the details on Florida's new NRA-friendly law HERE. NANNY-STATE NEWS - FiTted SHEET MANDATE After a one month recess, California State lawmakers are due back at the Capitol in Sacramento today where they will vote on a veritable mountain of proposed legislation, including a law to ban flat bed sheets in hotels. Read the details HERE.

WARREN BUFFET SAYS 'TAX THE SUPER RICH' President Obama's very wealthy friend, Warren Buffet has joined the chorus of people calling for increased taxes on wealthy and "super wealthy" Americans. Watch Mr. Buffet explains his reasoning HERE.

BACHMANN WINS IOWA STRAW POLL, BUT ANN COULTER WAITS FOR CHRIS CHRISTIE Michele Bachmann handily defeated the rest of the announced GOP 2012 Presidential hopefuls in Saturday's Iowa straw poll, but conservative commentator Ann Coulter is holding out for NJ Governor Chris Christie to enter the race. Watch Ms. Coulter's breakdown of the straw poll HERE.

GOOGLE BUYS MOTOROLA, OBAMA'S BUS TOUR KICKS OFF, & IS THE TEA PARTY DYING? It was a long and news-filled weekend. How do you manage to stay on top of all the essential stories? The answer is simple - visit the Monday morning Must-Reads HERE.

VIRAL VIDEO DU JOUR - ROBOT BLOWS UP SUSPICIOUS PACKAGES AT BOEHNER'S OFFICE On Sunday, three suspicious briefcases were spotted at the front door of House Speaker John Boehner's office in Ohio and the Bomb Squad was called in. Watch as a police robot removes the briefcases and then "disrupts" them by blowing them up HERE.

BOY SCOUT TRAINING HELPS LOST 12-YEAR-OLD SURVIVE IN THE WILD After getting lost deep in the Utah wilderness, 12-yr-old Jared Ropelato put to use some of his Boy Scout training and survived a very rough night in the Ashley National Forest. See Jared's story HERE.

August 15, 2011

Romney is the Wrong Candidate

By Star Parker

8/15/2011

Mitt Romney is a clever and talented man. But, as was evident in the most recent Republican debate, he should not become our next president.

Why?

Eight of ten Americans say the country is on the wrong track.

We must consider clearly what kind of individual we need as president to take on the prodigious challenges facing us to get back on track.

We need a leader prepared to tell the American people what they don't want to hear. We need a leader obsessed with truth, not focus groups. We need a leader whose passion is not becoming president but saving America.

I just don't see these vital characteristics in Romney. The opposite. As we know, he has a history of flip flopping on key issues - such as same sex marriage and abortion.

Most recently, he sat out, obviously intentionally, the whole critical debate on the debt ceiling.

And, perhaps of greatest immediate material concern, he continues to refuse to repudiate the health care system he set up in Massachusetts. Yet he says he wants to repeal Obamacare, which is a carbon copy of Romneycare.

Let's understand today's leadership challenge this way.

LarryElder.com

Mitt, Apologize For Romneycare -- Or Forget The Nomination

Posted by By Larry Elder on 08/11/2011

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney wants to be president. And a plurality of Republican voters want him to be president. Recent polls show Republican nominee Romney beating President Barack Obama. Three big issues, however, threaten to implode the GOP front-runner's nomination, let alone general election victory: RomneyCare, RomneyCare and RomneyCare.

Few things unite the tea party, the GOP caucus/primary activists and the knock-on-doors, hang-the-signs, ring-the-phone volunteers more than their universal hatred of ObamaCare. Most Americans want ObamaCare repealed, some because it lacks a "public option." But the tea party-like Republicans -- and even regular Republicans -- overwhelmingly support ObamaCare repeal. It is up there with the worst legislation ever signed.

World Net Daily

CERTIFIGATE

Obama Social Security Number to become issue in 2012 race?

'You better probe a little harder to make sure identity you're dealing with is a real identity'

Posted: August 11, 2011
9:00 pm Eastern

By Joe Kovacs
© 2011 WND

President Obama's potentially criminal use of a mysterious, Connecticut-based Social Security Number should become an important issue in his quest for re-election in 2012, says a former presidential candidate and ambassador in Ronald Reagan's administration.

Alan Keyes, who most recently sought the Republican nomination in 2008, discussed concerns about why Obama has a number reserved for Connecticut applicants, despite the president's never having lived in the Constitution State.

The first three digits of Obama's SSN are 042. That code falls within the range of numbers for Connecticut, which according to the Social Security Administration has been 040 through 049.

"I believe that when you are confronted with a situation that is filled with these kinds of - what shall we call them - anomalies, disparities, it is reasonable common sense to want to try to get straight answers," said Keyes.

MovieGuide.com

Watch fresh films

Truth, Ethics and Documentaries

09 August 2011

By Tyler Walton, Contributing Writer

"Curiosity," says Emmy-award-winning producer Joani Livingston, "is the spark for all documentaries." Livingston, who considers her investigative work as expressive art, holds the documentary industry to high standards.

"The best documentary filmmakers allow the story to unfold, following the bread crumb trail of story, rather than trying to mold the story to fit their preconceived ideas."

However, not every documentary follows this bread crumb trail of story. Too often, documentaries invent their own stories and lead viewers away from the truth.

For example, the British Broadcasting Company lost much prestige recently when news of faked footage of sweatshop exploitation surfaced concerning a 2008 BBC investigation into the alleged use of child labor in India by European clothing retailer Primark®. The offending program, viewed by millions, has been pulled from sales by the BBC Trust. The BBC has issued a public apology to both Primark® and viewers at home. Moreover, the BBC Trust has urged its executives to seriously consider returning the Royal Television Society award that the program won in 2009.

We all should find encouragement in knowing how our Tea Party movement has spread.

I'd like to see an information-sharing method set up between all these national groups. Why? Because I believe the assaults on our societies are coordinated, and probably quite similar from one country to the other. The "Communist International" - the "Comintern" - was dissolved during World War II. One of its aims was to foment Communist revolutions worldwide. Though supposedly out of existence, I believe it remains alive under different guises, injecting its bacteria into any open wound it can find, or create, within a society.

If we had sharing between Tea Party leaders of various nations about the identification of threats within their country, I think it would lead to useful results.

Lou Flanagan

Berwyn, Pennsylvania

Valley Forge Patriots Tea Party

Serving the Western Suburbs of Philadelphia

Tea Party groups around the World

Poland

https://www.facebook.com/PolskaTeaParty

Australia

http://austeaparty.com.au/web/

Canada

(seems limited to municipal politics)

http://www.teapartyofottawa.ca/

United Kingdom

https://www.facebook.com/ukteapartymovement?ref=ts

UK also has numerous other groups with concerns similar to the Tea Parties.

Dutch Tea Party

https://www.facebook.com/ukteapartymovement?ref=ts

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dutch-Tea-Party/139426379440594

Italian Tea Party

http://www.teapartyitalia.it/

http://www.facebook.com/groups/teapartyitalia/

Argentina Tea Party

https://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_108443869222581&ap=1

New Zealand Tea Party

http://nzteaparty.co.nz/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/New-Zealand-Taxpayer-Tea-Party/167951803269101?ref=ts&sk=wall

Tokyo Tea Party

http://tokyo-teaparty.jp/

Moscow Tea Party

http://moscowteaparty.com/

Columbia Tea Party

https://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_150111911715282&ap=1

American Cival Rights Union

Left-Wing Wisconsin Recall Amnesia

This column by ACRU Senior Fellow Robert Knight was published August 15, 2011 in The Washington Times.
Some stories have "legs." They don't disappear after a day or so but stay in the news, especially if they help move a liberal agenda. Think of global-warming findings or New York's assault on marriage.

Tuesday's recall elections in Wisconsin won't have legs. That's because union-backed Democrats failed to gain control of the state Senate in perhaps the most expensive off-year campaign in history. Of six Republicans up for recall, just two were defeated. One was in a heavily Democratic district that gave President Obama more than 60 percent of the vote in 2008, and the other senator had dumped his wife and moved in with his mistress.

On the day after the election, ABC's "Good Morning America" did not bother to report on it, as noted by the Media Research Center's Scott Whitlock. CBS' "Early Show" gave it a liberal slant while failing to mention that two Democrats would face recall elections in Wisconsin on Tuesday. NBC's "Today Show," a four-hour program, mentioned the vote result only once.

Read the Entire Column

Bat's the Way It Is for Unarmed Britons

This column by ACRU Senior Legal Analyst Jan LaRue was published August 13, 2011 on the American Thinker blog.
In the midst of riots, arson and looting, British citizens armed themselves with ... aluminum bats.

A Louisville Slugger is no match for a mob, but when your Socialist government makes it virtually impossible to own a gun, you grab whatever you can to protect yourself, your family and your property.

Online sales of aluminum bats on Amazon.com increased by 6,000 percent during the violence, according to CNN. Most British police don't carry guns. The situation is a far cry from the right to bear arms enshrined in the English Bill of Rights, a forerunner of our Second Amendment.

Read the Entire Column

Wasteful Politicians, And The Fed's Coming Recession

This column by ACRU General Counsel and Senior Fellow for the Carleson Center for Public Policy (CCPP) Peter Ferrara was published August 11, 2011 on Forbes.com.
The Tea Party-dominated Republican House majority already acted in the spring to solve America's sovereign debt crisis by passing the budget proposed by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). With $6.2 trillion in cuts in the first 10 years alone, Ryan's proposal would not only lead to a balanced budget, but would ultimately actually pay off the national debt if continued, as scored by the Congressional Budget Office.

Despite President Barack Obama's unreasoned rhetoric, that budget was carefully crafted so no one would actually suffer as a result of those cuts. Sure some people would lose government windfalls and those who were able would have to pay for more themselves, slowly and carefully phased in over time. But that is exactly what we need right now.

If Senate Democrats and the Obama Administration had acted to implement that Ryan budget, or anything anywhere near it, there would have been no downgrade of America's AAA credit rating that has prevailed since President Washington. But instead they responded with unreasoned derision, running an ad that showed Ryan throwing an elderly woman over a cliff, even though his reforms would not apply to anyone over 55 today. That ad itself contributed to last Friday's credit rating downgrade, showing Washington unreasoned and unwilling to address the problem.

Read the Entire Column

Ignorance, Stupidity or Connivance?

This column by ACRU Policy Board Member and Professor of Economics Dr. Walter E. Williams was published August 10, 2011 on Townhall.com.
President Barack Obama has called for a luxury tax on corporate jets as a means to generate revenue to fight federal deficits. The president's economic advisers ought to be fired for not telling him that doing so is unwise and counterproductive. They might have already told him so, only to have the president say, "Look, I know you're right, but I'm exploiting the public's envy of the rich!" Let's look at what happened when Obama's predecessor George H.W. Bush signed the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 and broke his "read my lips" vow not to agree to new taxes.

When Congress imposed a 10 percent luxury tax on yachts, private airplanes and expensive automobiles, Sen. Ted Kennedy and then-Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell crowed publicly about how the rich would finally be paying their fair share of taxes. What actually happened is laid out in a Heartland Institute blog post by Edmund Contoski titled "Economically illiterate Obama, re: Corporate Jets" (7/12/2011).

Read the Entire Column

Renew America

August 15, 2011

The war habit: What are we doing in Libya?

WES VERNON, RA ANALYST - So how are things going for us in Libya? What's the latest? Haven't heard? Neither have I. That must mean things are going to hell in a rocket-ship, because with Obama in the White House, the media have accorded the silent treatment to any bad news on that war front. Why? The activist left can't play the "Bush is Hitler" card anymore, so their media allies ignore it... (more)

August 14, 2011

Perry, Bachmann blast Obama in Iowa 'shootout'

NEWSMAX - The appearances of Rep. Michele Bachmann and Gov. Rick Perry on the same stage in Waterloo, Iowa, Sunday evening were billed as the "shootout at the O.K. Corral," but the target for the two Republican candidates was President Barack Obama instead of each other... (more)

August 14, 2011

Savage and the fall of the U.K.

JOSEPH FARAH - It's been more than two years since Britain banned entry to American talk-radio phenom Michael Savage, along with a short list of terrorists, neo-Nazis murderers and other vile scum. It was in May 2009 that the British government released a list of 16 persona non grata -- banned so as to protect the country from provocateurs of violence... (more)

August 14, 2011

To reform immigration, legal and illegal

MARK KRIKORIAN - Members of the chattering classes keep hoping the immigration issue will just go away. I was once interviewed on a radio show along with an activist on the other side who said Mexico's falling birthrate would mean that pretty soon we'd be scratching our heads wondering what all the fuss over immigration policy was about... (more)

August 14, 2011

The individual mandate is Obamacare's linchpin

MARC SIEGEL - Last week, when the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Obamacare's mandate that everyone buy health insurance is unconstitutional, it paved the way for a showdown in the U.S. Supreme Court. For the first time, the mandate was struck down separately from the rest of the health-reform law, raising the possibility that we could be left with the behemoth but without its controversial head... (more)

August 14, 2011

Gallup: Obama approval hits all-time low of 39%

NEWSMAX - President Barack Obama's approval numbers have hit an all-time low, falling below 40 percent for the first time in Gallup's daily tracking poll. New numbers that Gallup posted today put the president's approval at 39 percent, compared with 54 percent disapproval... (more)

August 14, 2011

Pawlenty drops 2012 presidential bid

FOX NEWS - Tim Pawlenty announced an end to his presidential candidacy Sunday after what he called a "disappointing" third place finish in the Ames, Iowa, straw poll. The former Minnesota governor said he had hoped to get a jolt from the preference poll that is an early indicator of a candidate's potential strength in the primary season... (more)

August 14, 2011

Why Romney is the wrong guy for the GOP

STAR PARKER - Mitt Romney is a clever and talented man. But, as was evident in the most recent Republican debate, the former Massachusetts governor should not become our next president. Why? Eight of 10 Americans say the country is on the wrong track. We must consider clearly what kind of individual we need as president to take on the prodigious challenges facing us to get back on track... (more)

August 14, 2011

Michele Bachmann wins Iowa Straw Poll

WASHINGTON TIMES - Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann won the mega-hyped presidential straw poll here, while Rep. Ron Paul showed why he's been called the Babe Ruth of these kinds of contests, finishing a close second -- an outcome that's likely to give their candidacies a jolt of momentum heading into the fall campaign season... (more)

August 13, 2011

Ron Paul: 'Life does not come from the government'

ABC NEWS - ABC's Jason Volack and Michael Falcone report: AMES, Iowa -- Pivoting away from his economic-focused speeches of the past week, presidential candidate Ron Paul told a crowd in Iowa on Saturday that "life does not come from the government-- it comes from our creator"... (more)

August 13, 2011

Is Rick Perry the answer to GOP's prayers?

ALAN KEYES - Based on the evidence of both past experience and current events, I am bound by rational conviction to reach the verdict that the GOP offers no prospect but repeated bitter disappointment to those like me who seek the revival and perpetuation of constitutional, republican government in the United States... (more)

August 13, 2011

Texas Governor Perry launches 2012 presidential bid

REUTERS - Rick Perry, the conservative governor of Texas, declared himself a candidate for U.S. president Saturday, shaking up the race for the Republican nomination to face Democratic President Barack Obama in 2012... (more)

August 13, 2011

The transparency cure

EMILY MILLER - The debt-ceiling agreement brokered behind closed doors by President Obama and congressional leadership was a failure in every respect. It neither soothed the markets nor produced a dime in actual spending cuts. The stock markets plunged and the United States suffered a humiliating downgrade - the very fate this deal was supposed to avoid... (more)

August 12, 2011

Arizona court OK's abortion restrictions

ASSOCIATED PRESS - An Arizona appeals court ruled yesterday to allow key parts of a state law restricting abortions to take effect, including one that requires women to see a doctor in person the day before getting an abortion to hear about risks and alternatives. The provisions have been on hold for two years after a state judge blocked them from taking effect in 2009... (more)

August 12, 2011

The buck stops with ... the Tea Party

WASHINGTON TIMES - Perhaps the most telling moment during the whole of the debt-ceiling negotiations came from White House consultant David Axelrod. Appearing on CBS' "Face the Nation," Mr. Axelrod echoed a growing chant from the left wing: The Standard & Poor's downgrade of America's credit rating was "essentially the Tea Party downgrade," he charged, adding that the "Tea Party brought us to the brink of default"... (more)

August 12, 2011

Appeals court rules against Obama healthcare law

REUTERS - An appeals court ruled Friday that President Barack Obama's healthcare law requiring Americans to buy healthcare insurance or face a penalty was unconstitutional, a blow to the White House... (more)

August 12, 2011

Free birth control for all!

DEROY MURDOCK - To understand how the Obamaa+ administration is running America into the ground, consider the Department of Health and Human Services' August 1 decree ordering, essentially, free birth-control pills for all women. Through this brand-new entitlement -- announced the very day that Congress voted to "reduce" the national debt -- Washington mandates more giveaways, not just to poor women, but to every woman in America, regardless of employment, income, or trust fund... (more)

August 11, 2011

Beating up on Bachmann

EMILY MILLER - The left's phobia of Rep. Michele Bachmann must be contagious. Anticipating a strong showing for the Republican presidential candidate in Saturday's Ames, Iowa, straw poll, Newsweek magazine printed a profile so nasty that the story ought to be judged by its cover... (more)

Yahoo News

Another Government Mandated Program . . .

Comcast to launch $10 internet service for low-income families

By Mike Wehner, Tecca | Today in Tech - Mon, Aug 8, 2011

Qualifying families can also purchase a netbook computer for just $149

While technology relentlessly marches forward, it's important to remember that there are families across the United States who remain without internet service, or even a computer of any kind. As cable and fiber-optic technologies become more widespread, low-income families are left with few choices when it comes to getting online. Comcast hopes to change that by offering internet service for just $10 per month - as well as a discounted netbook computer - to families that qualify. The program is called Internet Essentials, and will be available in all Comcast service areas starting with the upcoming school year.

About the program

Pakistan let China see crashed U.S. "stealth" copter

By Rosalind Russell and Alison Williams | Reuters - Sun, Aug 14, 2011

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan gave China access to the previously unknown U.S. "stealth" helicopter that crashed during the commando raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May despite explicit requests from the CIA not to, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

The disclosure, if confirmed, is likely to further shake the U.S.-Pakistan relationship, which has been improving slightly after hitting its lowest point in decades following the killing of bin Laden.

During the raid, one of two modified Blackhawk helicopters, believed to employ unknown stealth capability, malfunctioned and crashed, forcing the commandos to abandon it.

Rumsfeld: A Voice of Reason and Experience in Turbulent Times

My fellow mainstream Americans,

As you and I face reminder after reminder of the crisis point our nation has reached, listening to our past leaders - those who have faced daunting challenges and are still among us - can show us the way forward.

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was so generous with his time recently, and the resulting interview was so rich, that I couldn't make room for all of it in our first post.

Now a robust 79 years of age, Rumsfeld and I spoke about his autobiography, how Washington has changed since he arrived, and the value of humility in public service.

Click here to watch.

Discover The Networks

"Liberating" the Earth with Arson and Vandalism

By Discover The Networks

Describing free-market capitalism as the force responsible for "creating the various injustices on this planet and ultimately the destruction of life," the Earth Liberation Front has declared war against "greedy capitalists" and "rich scum."