912 Patriots of Lower Bucks - Your Daily Updates ALL in ONE Place!
December 7, 2012
Quote:
"Freedom has cost too much blood and agony to be relinquished at the cheap price of rhetoric."
~Thomas Sowell
The Cost of Silence
How did the fanatical Nazi party silence the German people? Of course, we now know it was done through the control of information, and the use of intimidation on those that even considered the Nazis to be a problem. Aren't we seeing this today?
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)
If you wish to unsubscribe (and we hope you don't) please click the "safe unsubscribe" link.
Conservative group launches campaign to 'depose' Boehner from speakership
Posted By Alexis Levinson
12/05/2012
The backlash against Speaker of the House John Boehner's removal of several conservative members of Congress from committees continued Wednesday, with one conservative group calling for Republicans to "depose" Boehner from his speakership.
American Majority Action (AMA) is launching a #FireBoehner campaign. If 16 members of the Republican Party abstain from voting for Boehner as speaker in January, he will be one vote shy of the 218 necessary to confirm his speakership.
"Speaker Boehner has been an abysmal failure as speaker, and his latest purge is the nail in the coffin for conservatives," said Ned Ryun, president and CEO of AMA. "Boehner has never won a negation [sic] battle with the White House or Senate - and he's been nothing short of an embarrassing spokesman for the conservative movement. It's time for him to go."
The recent anger stems in large part from the removal of Reps. David Schweikert, Justin Amash and Tim Huelskamp from their spots on committees. Boehner has said it was an issue of loyalty, Buzzfeed reported, but conservatives have labeled it a purge of more conservative and libertarian elements of the party. (RELATED: Purged conservative reps: Boehner planning to 'run over' conservatives, vote for tax hike)
"We only need 16 votes to get conservatives on the path to actually reducing our $16 trillion debt," AMA Virginia Director Matt Robbins said. "If conservatives want to tackle our biggest challenges, we need competent leaders - and frankly - new leaders."
Ron Meyer, press secretary for AMA, said that the group likes Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the outgoing chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, to replace Boehner, though he noted that "there aren't enough votes to elect someone new - yet." (RELATED: Amash slams GOP leadership for purging him without notice)
But removing him from the speakership, Myer said, is "doable for sure."
A Boehner spokesman did not respond to request for comment.
Article printed from The Daily Caller: http://dailycaller.com
URL to article: http://dailycaller.com/2012/12/05/conservative-group-launches-campaign-to-depose-boehner-from-speakership/
America's Most Biblically-Hostile U. S. President
David Barton
When one observes President Obama's unwillingness to accommodate America's four-century long religious conscience protection through his attempts to require Catholics to go against their own doctrines and beliefs, one is tempted to say that he is anti-Catholic. But that characterization would not be correct. Although he has recently singled out Catholics, he has equally targeted traditional Protestant beliefs over the past four years. So since he has attacked Catholics and Protestants, one is tempted to say that he is anti-Christian. But that, too, would be inaccurate. He has been equally disrespectful in his appalling treatment of religious Jews in general and Israel in particular. So perhaps the most accurate description of his antipathy toward Catholics, Protestants, religious Jews, and the Jewish nation would be to characterize him as anti-Biblical. And then when his hostility toward Biblical people of faith is contrasted with his preferential treatment of Muslims and Muslim nations, it further strengthens the accuracy of the anti-Biblical descriptor. In fact, there have been numerous clearly documented times when his pro-Islam positions have been the cause of his anti-Biblical actions.
Listed below in chronological order are:
(1) numerous records of his attacks on Biblical persons or organizations;
(2) examples of the hostility toward Biblical faith that have become evident in the past three years in the Obama-led military;
(3) a listing of his open attacks on Biblical values; and finally
(4) a listing of numerous incidents of his preferential deference for Islam's activities and positions, including letting his Islamic advisers guide and influence his hostility toward people of Biblical faith.
EXCLUSIVE: FEMA teams told to 'sightsee' as Sandy victims suffered FoxNews.com | By Perry Chiaramonte | Published December 07, 2012
Hurry up and wait.
That's what first responders were left to do after being deployed by FEMA to assist in the storm-ravaged areas in the initial days after superstorm Sandy, FoxNews.com has learned. A FEMA worker who spoke to FoxNews.com described a chaotic scene at New Jersey's Fort Dix, where emergency workers arrived as the storm bore down on the Atlantic Coast. The worker said officials at the staging area were unprepared and told the incoming responders there was nothing for them to do for nearly four days.
"They told us to hurry, hurry, hurry," the worker, who works at the agency's headquarters in Washington and volunteered to deploy for the storm recovery effort. "We rushed to Fort Dix, only to find out that our liaison didn't even know we were coming."
Energy industry concerned Obama could pursue end-run on climate change rules FoxNews.com | By Shannon Bream | Published December 07, 2012
The United States has joined nearly 200 countries at a United Nations climate summit in Doha, Qatar, this week with the primary goal of coming together on a treaty aimed at preventing what activists are calling dangerous climate change.
Some point to superstorm Sandy as a primary example of the need to curb emissions that they believe are fundamentally disrupting the way Earth's ecosystem works. They would like to have a treaty signed by 2015.
But many in the energy industry are concerned the Obama administration, fresh off a re-election win, will go too far with a radical environmental strategy that will have a negative impact on U.S. businesses and consumers - not just through the U.N., but executive edict.
. . . .
Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., believes, whether via a U.N. treaty or domestic regulations, Obama will continue to work toward reining in domestic energy production.
"The president couldn't get it done through legislation, so now he's doing it through regulation using our tax dollars to make it happen," he said.
Climate Change Naysayer Evicted From U.N. Summit to a 'Chorus of Boos' The Blaze | by Liz Klimas | Posted on December 7, 2012 at 1:58am
Lord Christopher Monckton, a former adviser under the late prime minister Margaret Thatcher and vocal skeptic of man-made global warming, was evicted from the U.N.'s climate change summit taking place in Qatar on Thursday.
"In the 16 years we have been coming to these conferences, there has been no global warming," Monckton said, according to E&E Greenwire.
States Should Absolutely Refuse to Set Up Obamacare Exchanges
By Mario Loyola
November 13, 2012
Proponents of Obamacare are making one argument that some conservatives may find appealing - namely that it is much better, from a states' rights point of view, to set up state-based exchanges than to let the feds come in and do it themselves. This argument is absolutely wrong. Allowing your states to be deputized as instruments of federal policy is just as bad as bowing to federal commandeering of state agencies, which is unconstitutional.
Let's begin with the principle that the federal government is not allowed to command states or their officials to do anything. That was settled in the two modern commandeering cases, New York v. United States (1992) and Printz v. United States (1997). The federal government has gotten around that through a variety of schemes under the general category of "cooperative federalism." The Supreme Court has generally taken a permissive attitude of these schemes, only because the states supposedly retain freedom of choice, "both in theory and in fact." But it is increasingly clear that their choice is not really free, because they are penalized if they don't comply with the federal program.
This problem is clear with programs like Medicaid: The feds tax money away from the states (or they borrow it from the capital markets) and then offer to give it back to the states on condition that they comply with federal preferences. In the Obamacare decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the feds can't present states with the "loaded gun" of losing existing Medicaid funds if they don't comply with the Medicaid expansion requirements. But states still lose the money Obamacare "offers" for the Medicaid expansion itself, hence there is still a draconian penalty.
With the exchanges, there is also federal conditional "aid" in play, but the real penalty the states face if they don't bow to the will of Obamacare is that the feds will come in and take over the health-care market. But it's much easier for the feds to do that in a handful of states than for them to do it in most of the states. Feds might not be able to do it in a large number of states without asking Congress for more money or for amendments to the law. That would strengthen the position of the House of Representatives, and its GOP majority.
State governors should be under no illusions: You are not preserving one iota of state autonomy by setting up your own Obamacare exchange. On the contrary, you are letting the feds deputize you as instruments of federal policy. Let the feds set up the exchanges themselves; they can pay for them and be accountable for the results. That will impose a real limit on federal power, and provide leverage for rolling back some of Obamacare. In the meantime the message of state governments to the Department of Health and Human Services should be an absolute and unequivocal "NO."
Patriots,
Goal: 25 calls a day into all six offices (the Governor and five House leadership)
Adopt A Day Commitment: You personally recruit 5 other people to make the calls with you and ask each of them to find 1 other person to also make a call that day. If you do that you personally will have been responsible for 11 calls into the Governor and House leadership's offices. That's amazing!
Next Action for AFP to support You on your "Adopt a Day":
1.) Once you sign up, Matt or Randy will be reaching out to you via email to confirm your date.
2.) Work with leaders on given day to maximize impact and total number of calls.
3.) Matt, Randy or Ed
Things to Keep in Mind: 1.) This is a "HELPING HAND CALL" and not a "PUNCH IN THE FACE CALL". As mentioned on the conference call, we are one step away from getting what we want...which is Corbett to FULLY close the door on the state exchange...and YOUR HARD WORK helped get him to where we need him to be. So use this opportunity to once again educate and ask Corbett to be a champion for us.
2.) The wheels of change, especially in government, turn very, very, very slowly. Don't be frustrated. Well...you can be frustrated...but don't give up and hold steady on the course. You are doing the right thing and it is making a difference.
3.) A recent news item has come out saying that the federal government and the insurance companies are saying that premiums for states that do not adopt the exchange will be increased. Here is a great way to answer this when speaking with the Governor or legislators:
"We understand the insurance companies are threatening to raise premiums on states that do not adopt exchanges...but let's not kid ourselves...premiums and everything else associated with healthcare are going to increase dramatically, now that Obamacare is law for the foreseeable future. That is a given...so this is nothing new. Furthermore, nothing will cost us more than having our state "own" this exchange when the federal funding runs out in 2015. It will cost the average family over $3000 a year. Do you want to know what $3,000 means for my family? It means I could pay for xxxxx (insert what you could or actually do do with $3,000 a year. For instance: it is a years worth of Catholic school education, it is a year's water bill, it is a year's IRA contribution etc)."
4.) When you make your calls, please make sure you mention you are working with Americans for Prosperity in Pennsylvania. It is so important to continue to build your group by showing that you are part of a larger coalition. AFP is working across the country to defeat the exchanges. In PA, we are working not just as activists, but within the Capitol and with our key donors. You want the legislators and the Governor to know that YOU and YOUR group are part of a very big, broad and powerful COALITION.
Below are a couple of links and other useful information to give to politicians and other activists re: the state exchanges.
Our Main website for all things Obamacare in PA: PennsylvaniaHealthcareFreedom.com
Thanks for all you do, Patriots!
In Liberty, Jennifer Stefano @stefanospeaks Pennsylvania State Director Americans for Prosperity (AFP) and Americans for Prosperity Foundation (AFPF) P.O. Box 843 Washington Crossing, PA 18977
In Liberty,
Matthew M. Hissey
(267) 838 2380
Field Director Greater Philadelphia Region
Americans For Prosperity
ObamaCare is Not a Sure Thing
December 5, 2012
by Phyllis Schlafly
Those who thought ObamaCare was set in concrete by Chief Justice John Roberts' decision last June are in for a shock. December 14 is the new deadline (extended from November 16) for states to let the feds know, yea or nay, whether or not they will be setting up a health insurance exchange, which is the key to participating in the misnamed Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
With the annual Army-Navy Game being held in Philadelphia this weekend, we wish to welcome the abundance of patriots visiting our city as we celebrate the 225th anniversary of the signing of the US Constitution.
One outstanding group of patriots headed our way is the Freedom Alliance. This group sponsors, among many other worthy programs, collegiate scholarships for the children of soldiers killed or severely wounded in action.
On Friday evening, they will host their annual 2012 Defender of Freedom Dinner with Retired Colonel Oliver North as a featured speaker. The dinner will commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Viet Nam War.
2012 Defender of Freedom Dinner
When: Friday, December 7; 7 PM Reception, 8 PM Dinner
Where: Historic National Guard Armory, Philadelphia, PA
We hope some of you will be able to represent our Association at this terrific event!
Our own Help-A-Vet Money Drop--to bundle donations for two local military related charities, The Homeless Veterans Project and the Philadelphia Veterans Comfort House--continues through this weekend.
The Homeless Veterans Project, a program run by the Broad Street Ministries, provides meals and other services to homeless vets. Association friend, Joe Eastman, is one of its biggest boosters.
The Philadelphia Veterans Comfort House provides shelter for homeless vets.
Another Association friend, Chris Hill, is heavily involved with this charity.
So far, we have raised $405. We hope to collect at least $1000 for these fine charities.
If you would be willing to make a $5 or $10 donation towards our goal, we would be most appreciative. We will continue to provide you with timely updates on our progress and wish to thank those who have already contributed.
or send a check to:
Independence Hall Tea Party Association
P. O. Box 306
Cheltenham, PA 19012
God Bless all of you, our fallen heroes and their families, and the entire military -- those who have served, or are currently serving -- our great nation.
On behalf of the Association Board of Directors,
Teri Adams
The Independence Hall Tea Party Association formed in 2009 after historic February 28 and April 18 Tea Parties on Independence Mall. It is the oldest and largest independent grassroots Tea Party organization in the tri-state (DE, NJ, PA) region.
The Association's mission is to educate the general public regarding the principles of limited government as enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. Visit us @ www.IndependenceHallTeaParty.com.
Explore the idea of American Exceptionalism with historian Victor Davis Hanson.
On December 11th join Victor Hanson for dinner at the Philadelphia Ritz Carlton. For more information and registration please click here or go to phillyfreedom.org.
Victor Davis Hanson is and American military
historian, columnist, political essayist and former classics
professor, a scholar of ancient warfare. He has been a
commentator on modern warfare and contemporary politics
for National Review and other media outlets. He was for
many years a professor of classics at California State
University, Fresno, and is currently the Martin and Illie
Anderson Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover
Institution. His upcoming book, The Savior Generals (2013)
analyzes how five generals in the history of the West changed
the course of battles against all odds.
Citizens for Liberty Presents: Health Care Town Hall Meeting - December 12, 2012
Hello patriot!
You're invited to our next meeting. ITS NEXT WEDNESDAY. We have organized a group of activists, professionals, and doctors to come to our meeting to speak with the community about why we must STOP ObamaCare and Governor Corbett's Health Care Exchanges. This goes beyond the 2 party system, it's not about democrats or republicans, its about doing whats right for America and shutting down this tyranny. This is 2 days before the states have to make a final decision. Come out, get educated, and get active! We will also be speaking about CFL Leadership positions. We need help!
Special guest speakers confirmed so far are Katy Weber Abram from Americans for Prosperity, Dr Nick Pandelidis who is the VP of the PA Chapter of Docs4PatientCare, and William Taylor Reil who is an expert constitutionalist on Nullification.
WHEN: Wednesday, December 12th TIME: Doors open at 6:30pm, meeting starts at 7pm WHERE: St. Mark's Lutheran Church 508 Harry Street Conshohocken, PA 19428
IMPORTANT DETAILS:It's located one block in from Fayette Street on East Fifth Avenue, on the corner of 5th and Harry Street. A parking lot is across the street. We will be in the basement auditorium. Signs will be posted for your convenience
PLEASE RSVP SO WE KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE ATTENDING
Please plan to be there. Put the date on your calendar now.
A "show and tell" with John Taylor who works with Tom Dewees, at the American Policy Center, a 15 year leader of exposing this UN scheme to take away your property rights and other American liberties, otherwise known as sustainable development.
Agenda 21 is the plan that is intended to take away the rights and liberties of all Americans. Currently, there is a big push to institute a global tax and make the UN the global IRS. If you think this is not possible, I challenge you to find out the real truth.
The UN Agenda 21 plan is also to take away your gun rights, control the sea, space and air (global commons), have financial regulatory authority, a global economic council, and a world monetary board. But one of the worst things for us, is the plan to take away our right of property ownership and turn much of our country into uninhabited wastelands. No roads, no transportation, no population.
If you think this is extreme and can't happen, you are wrong. This plan is so far down the road that we will have a very hard time stopping it. There are many counties and townships in our area that have already signed up and are involved, including the borough of West Chester. These communities and counties don't realize what they are signing up to support. The words they use are positive sounding, but the results are very ugly. Some municipalities in Maryland have fought and have won their way out of the program.
Everyone needs to learn about this plot. Please personally invite your supervisors, the RCCC, commissioners, and other legislators. Do this now! Plan to greet them, sit with them and follow up with them. They are so involved with other issues that Agenda 21 seems far off and impossible. Aware citizens must help them learn the reality!
We the People must defeat any treaty that promises to hand the UN global taxing powers or any other powers over our nation and our liberties!
Please join the VFP and participate - join like-minded patriots and learn how we can help stop this assault on America!
Free parking, food and drink available for purchase.
Tickets: $25.00 includes appetizers, beer, wine and soft drinks. This is to cover the expenses of the party. Please RSVP by replying to this email. Please send your checks to:
The Kitchen Table Patriots PO Box 3, Doylestown, PA 18901
Yours in Liberty, The Kitchen Table Patriots Team
Memorial Lecture
Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013
7:30pm
The Annual Jay Michael Swartz Memorial Lecture: An Evening with Michael Medved
For Men and Women Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013 7:30pm *Pre-lecture dinner 6:15pm At the Glazier Jewish Center | 25 N. State St.
Fee: $36 *Pre-lecture dinner with Michael Medved (includes lecture): $100
AMERICAN JEWS AND CHRISTIAN EVANGELICALS: IRRECONCILABLE ENEMIES OR INEVITABLE ALLIES?
Michael Medved is a nationally syndicated radio talk show host and bestselling author. His daily show is heard by over 3.75 million people across the country. Born in Philadelphia, Michael won admission to Yale at age 16 as a National Merit Scholar. He majored in American History and graduated with honors, before attending Yale Law School, where his classmates included Bill and Hillary Clinton. Michael wrote his first bestseller at age 26 - "What Really Happened to the Class of '65?" - a skeptical reconsideration of the "counterculture" of the 1960's that became a weekly TV series on NBC.
Many American Jews distrust and even fear the rise of the evangelical Christianity. They see this religious movement as a threat to the survival of Judaism in the United States and to the continuance of a society that values pluralism and religious liberty. On the other hand increasing numbers of American Jews view evangelicals as natural allies, not just when it comes to support of Israel, but on a range of social issues here in the U.S. In this provocative presentation, Michael Medved will explain where Jews and Christians already agree, and where they can never agree, in their participation in the ongoing battles shaping American society.
Lubavitch of Bucks County * 25 N State Street * Newtown, PA 18940 * 215-497-9925
Join Us on Fridays and Take a Stand for Israel:
Individuals sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood's sinister agenda have infiltrated the Obama Administration.
Brainwashed by the Muslim Students Association and then propelled in to the position of Deputy Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the David Horowitz Freedom Center tracks the path of Huma Abedin and other Muslim sympathizers who have navigated their way into positions of great influence in the Obama Administration. Everything is revealed in the explosive new Freedom Center pamphlet, "The Muslim Brotherhood in the Obama Administration," written by Frank Gaffney, national security expert who served as Assistant Secretary of Defense under Ronald Reagan.
The David Horowitz Freedom Center is committed to educating the public on the Muslim Brotherhood's sinister Agenda. That is why we are giving away this pamphlet for FREE.
Monday 3-4pm "Bordering on Insanity" - Sue Payne and Frosty Wooldridge
Tuesday 3-4pm "American Freedom Watch" - Karen Schoen with contributors John Estabrooks and Dr. Ronald Myers
Wednesday 3-4pm "Patriots Watch" - Billy Baer and Dan Haggerty
Thursday 3-4pm "America's Black Shield" - Ted Hayes and Terrance Lang
Friday 10-11pm "Veterans' Weekly Forum" - Rich Davis and David Bellavia
For Immediate Release
Contact: Don Adams, 215.620.3055
Cort Rosholt, 609.354.8767
Tea Party Praises Gov. Christie for Health Insurance Exchange Bill Veto
Philadelphia, PA (December 6, 2012) -- The Independence Hall Tea Party, with thousands of members and friends in Central and South Jersey, is praising Governor Chris Christie, today, for vetoing the latest Health Insurance Exchange bill to reach his desk.
Governor Christie vetoed the bill with hours to spare before the deadline.
"At least 21 states are now refusing to set up exchanges and we are glad
Governor Christie has joined Governors John Kasich (R-OH), Scott Walker
(R-WI), and others in rejecting this burdensome feature of ObamaCare," said Association President Teri Adams.
"The Governor has heeded the calls of our members and others throughout the state." (See letter below.)
"Implementing a state Health Insurance Exchange could have prove extremely costly--especially when one considers the federal mandates that could apply," said Burlington County resident and Association Board Member Bill Green.
"We realize the Federal government will attempt to set up exchanges for states that refuse to do so. But state refusal to implement exchanges will make the implementation of ObamaCare much more difficult."
"Without the assistance of the states, it's possible ObamaCare will be crushed by the weight of its own enormous burden," added Ms. Adams.
# # #
December 5, 2012 11:30 AM
Dear Members and Friends,
In May of this year, Governor Chris Christie became one of the first governors in the nation to veto a bill establishing a statewide Health Care Exchange--a prominent provision of ObamaCare.
Since both Houses of the New Jersey Legislature are controlled by Democrats, it should be no surprize that, once again, a similar bill sits on the Governor's desk. He has until Thursday to dispense of it.
Normally, we would be confidant that the Governor would do the right thing.
The problem--a lot has transpired since the original veto, including:
1. The US Supreme Court upheld ObamaCare.
2. Obama was re-elected president--making the law's repeal impossible.
3. Christie embraced the President and seems to think kowtowing to him will bring riches to NJ in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.
Let us remind the Governor that a bad law deserves a quick death--and that ObamaCare will cost New Jersey dearly.
In the words of President Calvin Coolidge, "It is much more important to kill bad bills than to pass good ones."
What you can do now if you reside in New Jersey:
T Action Alert:Please call Governor Christie and politely request that he veto the Health Care Exchange bill. Remind him that ObamaCare is
bad law on so many levels--and a costly one at that!
Governor Christie: 609.292.6000
We greatly appreciate everything you do.
On behalf of the Association Board of Directors,
Teri Adams, President
The Independence Hall Tea Party Association is a regional, tri-state (DE, PA,NJ) grassroots organization formed in May, 2009. Its mission is to educate the general public regarding the principles of limited government as enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. Visit us @ www.IHTPA.org.
RedState Morning Briefing
For December 7, 2012
Dear Friends,
There is tremendous news breaking right now within the conservative movement.
I got the call before the news went out.
Jim DeMint, the standard bearer of the conservative movement in America and conservative king maker, is resigning from the United States Senate at the end of the year.
He will succeed Ed Fuelner as President of the Heritage Foundation.
While my initial reaction was one of sadness that we are losing the clearest voice in the Senate for conservatives, the upside on Jim DeMint's departure from the Senate is mind boggling. Mitch McConnell likes it when people compare McConnell to Darth Vader, seemingly clueless that Vader lost the Death Star twice to a rag tag group of rebels in really beat up, hand-me-down spaceships.
If McConnell smiles at hearing the news Jim DeMint is leaving the Senate, he should remember Obi Wan Kenobi telling him . . . errrr . . . Darth Vader, "If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine." Jim DeMint's power in the conservative movement just grew exponentially. A man who was going to retire in four years anyway, will now be leading the conservative movement from its base of operations for years to come.
Without Jim DeMint we would most likely not presently have in the United States Senate Pat Toomey, Rand Paul, Mike Lee, Marco Rubio, Jeff Flake, Ron Johnson, and Ted Cruz. We would not have a Republican establishment that now worries conservatives might actually primary them.
Without Jim DeMint we would still have a conservative movement that is part and parcel the Republican Party in name, word, and deed. DeMint showed the Republican Party can be challenged from within and that conservatism can be distinctly voiced from within the party moving it right, not moving with it.
On January 3, 2011, Human Events named Jim DeMint the "conservative of the year." I had the distinct privilege of writing the summation of the honor. I noted, "DeMint's tenure started out like that of most freshmen congressmen - anonymous and committed to bringing home the bacon, much like Rep. Inglis who, when Senator DeMint moved up to the Senate, moved back into his old House seat until the tea party movement threw him out in 2010."
But during the fight over No Child Left Behind, Jim DeMint got his first real taste of Washington politics and decided he needed to change it. For a time, he teamed up with conservatives in Congress to fight within the GOP and move the party right. But there were not enough of them so he went out and found them.
The Heritage Foundation's founding is a similar tale. The American Enterprise Institute was the think tank of think tanks in Washington prior to the Heritage Foundation's founding in 1973. It is nonpartisan, but mostly right of center. In 1964, several top AEI staff including its President, William J. Baroody, Sr., served on the side as policy advisers to Barry Goldwater. That raised the IRS's eyebrows and, after dealing with the IRS, AEI made in a policy to be center-right (mostly), but very nonpartisan.
By 1973, with Nixon and price controls and the Rockefeller Republicans, the conservative movement was ready to form a decidedly, unapologetically conservative think tank to support the ideas of conservatism through a growing movement of conservatives in Congress. It's founding and present mission is to "formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense". The Heritage Foundation set the stage for Ronald Reagan. Without Heritage, no doubt Reagan could have won. But Reagan's ideas and policies were incubated in the Heritage Foundation. Heritage was the foundation of the Reagan Revolution.
The three founders of the Heritage Foundation were Paul Weyrich, Ed Feulner, and Joseph Coors. Since 1977, Ed Fuelner has been the Heritage Foundation's President.
One of the things I have been most fearful of within the conservative movement is the realization that many of the leaders of the movement are hitting retirement age. Some have already passed on to be with their Maker. When I go to many of the off the record conservative meetings I get asked to attend, I see people my parents' age and older. The Reagan Revolutionaries are retiring or dying.
The present generation knows Reagan from history books, not from living in his America. The up and coming leaders of the Republican Party were kids, not even in high school, when Ronald Reagan was President. Nikki Haley turned 9 the day Ronald Reagan was sworn into office. Marco Rubio and Bobby Jindal were 10. Paul Ryan was 11. Ken Cuccinelli was 12. Scott Walker was 13. I was 5 years old.
The conservative movement, still so attached to Reagan, risks becoming a relic of history as it fails to adapt to the twenty-first century tackling new ideas with its timeless principles. A great many conservative organizations have no succession plan. When their leader dies, the organization withers. All the money, time, and effort that went into the organization fades.
When Ed Fuelner started the Heritage Foundation he was 39 years old and still eight years from the Reagan Revolution. He is now just past 70 and the nation is almost a quarter century removed from Ronald Reagan's last year in office. Unlike many leaders in the conservative movement, Ed Feulner has actually led all the way. He did not pass off his role to be just a figure head. He has been engaged. He kept and is keepingconservatism alive well past Reagan, through reading a lie off George H. W. Bush's lips, through Bill Clinton's triangulation, even to now during this superficial revival of American liberalism in politics and popular culture. Like a monk preserving knowledge in the dark ages in a monestary, Ed Fuelner turned the Heritage Foundation into a monastery of conservatism making sure the timeless principles of Burke and Kirk and Hayek and Reagan found the intellectual footing to advance philosophy into policy and policy into politics.
More importantly, Ed Fuelner did it right. He has not left without making sure his organization could stand without him. In doing so, he made probably the boldest move since his founding - aligning an organization many, including myself, have criticized in the past decade as becoming too aligned with the GOP at the expense of conservatism itself and stumbling on health care policy, with the grassroots of the conservative movement. It is a near phoenix like move.
The Heritage Foundation, which more or less arose from the ashes of the Goldwater conservatism that failed in the late sixties, became a key player within institutional establishment Republican politics over the past decade, and now suddenly finds its founder retiring and passing the keys over to the man who has helped restart the conservative movement within the political wing of the GOP in the way Ed Fuelner restarted the conservative movement within the intellectual wing of the GOP.
There is no better person to take Ed Fuelner's job. It is a marvelous transition. Ed Fuelner knew he was not the indispensable man, but has now made sure the Heritage Foundation remains the indispensable organization within the conservative movement. That is a brilliant legacy.
As for Jim DeMint leaving the United States Senate, it is a very good thing.
I'm in for Talkmaster Neal Boortz today. You probably will want to tune in for this show. There's a lot going on today with the fiscal cliff and other news. The show runs from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. ET.
1. Why John Boehner Must Not Fold on Tax Rate Increases
Often things get lost in the daily grind of politics. The fact that the GOP is willing to raise taxes gets lost by the media because the media wants the GOP to raise rates.
2. Unions Get Ugly As Michigan Is Set To Become 24th Right-to-Work State In Nation
The Michigan House passed a Right-to-Work law this afternoon. It was expected that the Michigan Senate would be taking up the legislation early next week.
However, a mere three and a half hours later, the Michigan Senate surprised everyone-especially unions-by following the lower chamber in passing Right-to-Work legislation as well.. . . please click here for the rest of the post →
3.Two Roads Diverged: Jim DeMint Leaves U.S. Senate for Heritage Foundation Presidency
Jim DeMint, the standard bearer of the conservative movement in America and conservative king maker, is leaving the United States Senate.
There Is No Party of Principle Steve McCann Any political party, whose leadership interests extends beyond aggregating power and accumulating personal wealth, would level with the people. More
Boehner Orchestrating the GOP's Demise J. Robert Smith It's a contest of wills and guess who is winning? President Obama, of course. And that's because the president is up against the GOP's equivalent of Churchill's "Boneless Wonder," Speaker John Boehner. More
Saved from Another Great Depression? Jon N. Hall The crisis of the moment is not a crisis of liquidity, but of solvency; specifically, the solvency of governmeny. Our 2008 liquidity crisis was dealt with quickly. Solvency issues cannot be dealt with by central banks. More
Textbooks, Lies, and Vulnerable Kids Janet Tassel Islamist indoctrination continues apace in liberal Massachusetts -- but several groups of concerned parents are starting to do something about it. More
Restore America 101 Lloyd Marcus Now is not the time to be discouraged. We have a lot of work ahead, and we must be ready to do it! More
Lincoln and the Welfare State Mary Nicholas Lincoln would not only stand against the welfare state, but fight it. Why? Because his piercing gray eyes would instantly recognize it as another form of slavery, one more insidious than the variety he fought, but slavery nevertheless. More
Fiscal Cliff Causes Hostage Crisis Scott Mayer The so-called "fiscal cliff" that has everyone so paralyzed with fear is really just a politically-constructed illusion designed to scare Americans into handing over more money and power to politicians. More
Pearl Harbor in Perspective December 7, 2012 The Axis powers have come and gone, but the internal dangers created by Roosevelt's New Deal still plague us today. More
Young Voters December 7, 2012 Depressing but not surprising. More
Students Forced to Stand for 'Black National Anthem' December 6, 2012 Students at Capital High School (CHS) in Charleston, West Virginia have been regularly forced to stand during the playing of a song known as "The Black National Anthem." More
Costas: The Worm Squirms December 6, 2012 Bob Costas, is demonstrating more feints and jukes than the NFL's best running backs and probably wishing he could have a replay of his Sunday night miss-step. More
When leftists take over, anybody who isn't 100% politically correct better look out, especially if you happen to be a Catholic who takes his/her religion seriously.
Few explanations go back to first principles in analyzing why it is that a majority of the electorate chose Obama, statism and socialism over Romney, free markets and ordered liberty.
Grover Norquist is being portrayed as a mad sorcerer, staggering around and misfiring spells in fits of pique while his entranced minions slowly come to.
While President Obama's lips champion the middle class, his administration's old hands are preparing to lavish rewards on the crème de la campaign crème: his wealthiest political donors.
Key defense contractors said Monday that automatic federal spending cuts set to begin next month would hamstring their ability to develop critical machinery, equip military personnel and help maintain national security.
Someone who sounds a great deal like Santa says that things are fine - there's nothing to see here - go to bed and dream of food stamps and welfare while the fruits of someone else's labor is whisked away in the dark of night.
Did you know that if everyone who visited our FSM website this year donated just $1, we would easily exceed our annual budget?
Your gift will be an investment in freedom.
As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, The Family Security Foundation relies upon the thoughtfulness and (tax-deductible!) generosity of visitors like you.
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same." ~ Ronald Reagan
Posted by Daniel Greenfield @ the Sultan Knish blog
In Cairo, Morsi scribbles his decrees and in Washington DC, Obama scribbles his. There is an ocean between the two men, but there is a good deal that they have in common. Both are ideologues who piggybacked on public outrage over the national impact of international economic declines to climb to power and pursue their true agendas.
Without worries about the price of bread, the odds are good that Mubarak would be sitting in his old place and Morsi would be looking over the latest economic reports from the Brotherhood's business networks and front groups. And without a sharp decline in American living standards, Mubarak would be receiving phone calls from President McCain urging him to democratize Egypt, while Obama would be rallying the troops at the latest SEIU event for taking back Congress.
Times of crisis are political hunting grounds for extremist groups whose ideologies would otherwise be unpalatable. Angry people are more willing to accept the previously unacceptable to shake up the system and punish those that they blame for their economic situation. They are in the long run, only punishing themselves, but the long run rarely wins elections. The short run however is the all-time ballot box winner.
But the problem with running on the old Bolshy platform of "Land, Bread and Peace" is that the people eventually expect you to deliver at least two of three. And ideologues are not interested in empowering people. They will hand out subsidized freebies to their supporters to win elections, but they won't empower them economically, outside their network of subsidies, and peace is never on the table with folks who believe utopia is just a hundred years of war away.
Bang for your buck: that's what the Freedom Center provides. Ammunition for the culture war against the Left: that's what your contribution buys. So please act now and help us in the fight we are waging on many fronts for America's future. America is under assault from within and without. There is no time to lose.
Here it comes...déjà vu all over again. The beautiful thing about a preemptive strike is that it allows our leaders to take action to prevent an atrocity that our target would never consider doing and has promised never to do. All we need is a false flag operation to light the fuse.
Staging...ready...ACTION!
The only questions that remain are:
Will President Obama will bother to seek ratification from Congress (like Bush did) or not (like Obama did in Libya)?
What form of government will follow in the wake of Assad's downfall?
I have a feeling that Obama is betting on the Muslim Brotherhood to take over, but doubt that it will turn out that way. My money is on Somalia-like chaos, with large swaths of territory controlled by al-Qaida affiliates and a likelihood of Iran blowing this conflict into a full scale regional war...or possibly Syria's ally Russia doing it.
Pentagon sources tell NBC News that the Syrian military is awaiting final orders to launch chemical weapons against its own people after precursor chemicals for deadly sarin gas were loaded into aerial bombs. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reports.
By Jim Miklaszewski and M. Alex Johnson, NBC News
The Syrian military is prepared to use chemical weapons against its own people and is awaiting final orders from President Bashar Assad, U.S. officials told NBC News on Wednesday.
The military has loaded the precursor chemicals for sarin, a deadly nerve gas, into aerial bombs that could be dropped onto the Syrian people from dozens of fighter-bombers, the officials said.
As recently as Tuesday, officials had said there was as yet no evidence that the process of mixing the "precursor" chemicals had begun. But Wednesday, they said their worst fears had been confirmed: The nerve agents were locked and loaded inside the bombs.
Sarin is an extraordinarily lethal agent. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's forces killed 5,000 Kurds with a single sarin attack on Halabja in 1988.
U.S. officials stressed that as of now, the sarin bombs hadn't been loaded onto planes and that Assad hadn't issued a final order to use them. But if he does, one of the officials said, "there's little the outside world can do to stop it."
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton reiterated U.S. warnings to Assad not to use chemical weapons, saying he would be crossing "a red line" if he did so.
Children run along a street damaged by what activists said was a Syrian Air Force airstrike in the Aleppo district of Salaheddine on Wednesday.
By NBC News' Jim Miklaszewski
U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said Thursday that intelligence about Syrian chemical weapons "raises serious concerns" that the regime of Bashar Assad may use them against the country's own citizens. Panetta repeated the stern warning issued earlier this week by President Obama that "there will be consequences of the Assad regime make the terrible mistake by using these chemical weapons on their own people."
His comments came a day after unnamed U.S. officials told NBC that the Syrian military had loaded the precursor chemicals for sarin, a deadly nerve gas, into aerial bombs that could be dropped from dozens of fighter-bombers. The defense chief, who was speaking at a news conference at the Department of Veterans Affairs, would not elaborate on what the potential consequences would be.
A member of the regime in Damascus, however, dismissed the assertions Thursday, saying he feared the United States and other Western powers could be trying to find a "pretext for intervention" in Syria's civil war, Reuters reported.
Sarin is an extraordinarily lethal agent. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's forces killed 5,000 Kurds with a single sarin attack on Halabja in 1988.
Assad's deputy foreign minister Faisal Maqdad said Thursday that they would never kill Syrians with chemical weapons, dismissing the Western intelligence reports as "theater."
"Syria stresses again, for the tenth, the hundredth time, that if we had such weapons, they would not be used against its people. We would not commit suicide," Reuters reported, citing the official's comments on Lebanon's Al Manar television, the voice of the pro-Assad Hezbollah movement.
"In fact, we fear a conspiracy ... by the United States and some European states, which might have supplied such weapons to terrorist organizations in Syria, in order to claim later that Syria is the one that used these weapons," he added, speaking on Lebanon's Al Manar television, the voice of Hezbollah.
"We fear there is a conspiracy to provide a pretext for any subsequent interventions in Syria by these countries that are increasing pressure on Syria," he said.
...
There are limited options for military intervention by the United States in Syria. It has one of the most robust air defense systems in the world - supplied by key ally Russia - but one option could be sending cruise missiles to attack regime targets.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard is alive and well in the U.S. and the country's law enforcement officials ignore them at their peril, according to former U. S. Air Force officer Steven O'Hern.
O'Hern says that the Revolutionary Guard, long an influential factor in the radical Islamic regime in Iran, does most of its surveillance and intelligence gathering through its proxy force, Hezbollah, considered by many to be a terror group.
"In the United States, the Revolutionary Guard uses more than one approach. Hezbollah operatives and sympathizers are present in large numbers in many parts of the United States and actively conduct reconnaissance missions that develop information, photographs, and diagrams of federal buildings, and infrastructure targets," O'Hern said.
"Those targets include such things as water utilities or electrical substations, and other potential targets to give the Guard the ability to quickly order a terrorist strike in our homeland," O'Hern said.
He explains that the Revolutionary Guard is working through Shi'a mosques around the United States as well as the nation's Lebanese immigrant communities.
Former Hawaii elections clerk Tim Adams has now signed an affidavit swearing he was told by his supervisors in Hawaii that no long-form, hospital-generated birth certificate existed for Barack Obama Jr. in Hawaii and that neither Queens Medical Center nor Kapi'olani Medical Center in Honolulu had any record of Obama having been born in their medical facilities.
His position was senior elections clerk, overseeing a group of 50 to 60 employees responsible for verifying the identity of voters at the Absentee Ballot Office. It was in this capacity that Adams became aware of the search for Obama's birth-certificate records.
"During the course of my employment," Adams swears in the affidavit (viewable in full as part 1 and part 2), "I became aware that many requests were being made to the City and County of Honolulu Elections Division, the Hawaii Office of Elections, and the Hawaii Department of Health from around the country to obtain a copy of then-Senator Barack Obama's long-form, hospital-generated birth certificate."
As he inquired about the birth certificate, he says, his supervisors told him that the records were not on file at the Hawaii Department of Health.
"Senior officers in the City and County of Honolulu Elections Division told me on multiple occasions that no Hawaii long-form, hospital-generated birth certificate existed for Senator Obama in the Hawaii Department of Health," Adams' affidavit reads, "and there was no record that any such document had ever been on file in the Hawaii Department of Health or any other branch or department of the Hawaii government."
In a recorded telephone interview, Adams told WND that it was common knowledge among election officials where he worked that no long-form, hospital-generated birth certificate could be found at the Hawaii Department of Health.
"My supervisor came and told me, 'Of course, there's no birth certificate. What? You stupid,'" Adams said. "She usually spoke well, but in saying this she reverted to a Hawaiian dialect. I really didn't know how to respond to that. She said it and just walked off. She was quite a powerful lady."
Moreover, Adams was told that neither Queens Memorial Hospital nor Kapi'olani Medical Center had any records of Obama's birth at their medical facilities: "Senior officers in the City and County of Honolulu Elections Division further told me on multiple occasions that Hawaii State government officials had made inquires about Sen. Obama's birth records to officials at Queens Medical Center and Kapi'olani Medical Center in Honolulu and that neither hospital had any record of Senator Obama having been born there, even though Governor Abercrombie is now asserting and various Hawaii government officials continue to assert Barack Obama Jr. was born at Kapi'olani Medical Center on Aug. 4, 1961."
"We called the two hospitals in Honolulu: Queens and Kapi'olani," Adams stressed. "Neither of them have any records that Barack Obama was born there."
Chief Justice John Roberts rewrote the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in order to rescue it from the Constitution. The IRS rewrote the law in order to rescue it from financial oblivion. And the leftist scribes who authored ObamaCare claim none of this illegal, post-legislative tampering really matters. For they contend that what they wrote in the law is not as important as what they really meant!
John Roberts stunned and angered "fellow" conservative justices on the Supreme Court when he deliberately ignored the actual language of the Affordable Care Act in ruling the law Constitutional. For although the law's authors were careful to avoid any use of the word TAX, Robert's ruled the individual mandate to be just that, allowing him to find the mandate Constitutional under the congressional power to tax. It was this dishonest interpretation of Congress' "intent" which has permitted ObamaCare to continue on.
People on the right spend a great deal of time and energy excoriating Hollywood, Broadway, and the music industry. Many say the answer is to boycott Hollywood -- some already have. But if you give up on the culture, you lose forever. So quit complaining about it, and start doing something that changes it.
Barack Obama was able to defeat first Hillary Clinton in the 2008 primaries and then Republican opponents in 2008 and 2012 due to his charisma and coalition-building ability. But the black base was the key, and it bears further examination.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said some very interesting and revealing things in her appearance at the Saban Center's gala dinner on November 30. Her criticisms all fall into the current, dominant, Western view that the world's problems are caused by greedy, aggressive, un-empathetic white people who oppress everyone else.
Behold the .50 Beowulf, a cartridge yours truly has fired on multiple occasions both in the recommended semi-auto, and the absurdly entertaining full-auto.
The Obama administration �secretly� approved arms shipments to Libyan rebels from Qatar last year. However, U.S. officials quickly became concerned as evidence suggested Qatar was handing the weapons over to Islamic militants. Read what the NY Times is reportingHERE.
On Wednesday night, Fox News caught up with actor Ed Asner to ask him about his participation in the California Teachers Union video. How did he respond? The answer must be seen to be believed. Watch itHERE.
TheBlaze is publishing a weeks worth of original articles examining what went wrong for the Republican Party in the 2012 presidential election and considering where the GOP goes from here. See the latest chapter in our seriesHERE.
A twice-robbed Florida homeowner finally got fed up with having his belongings stolen. So, he ginned up his own improvised security system and it worked! In fact, it worked so well, the crook was captured. See the videoHERE
Washington state and Colorado voted to legalize and regulate recreational use of marijuana last month. But before that, the plant, renowned since ancient times for its strong fibers, medical use and mind-altering properties, was a staple crop of the colonies. Check out the history of "evil weed" in AmericaHERE.
An unsuspecting daughter was reunited with her father, a U.S. Airman, when he surprised her at her high school play. The heartwarming moment was captured on video and posted on the Welcome Home Blog. Watch the magicHERE. READ THIS |
Thursday, December 6
Conservative Warrior DeMint Leaves Senate for Think Tank
South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, often the conservative conscience of the Senate, will resign his seat next month and assume leadership of the Heritage Foundation. He will replace long-time Heritage President Ed Fuelner.
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley will name a successor. She could name herself to the seat or tap a rising conservative figure like Rep. Tim Scott. DeMint's replacement will then have to run for election in 2014. The state is already shaping up as a major battleground race for conservatives, with many grass roots organizations contemplating a primary challenge to Sen. Lindsay Graham.
McConnell To Obama: 'It's Not Going To Happen' More
Video: Bin Laden Raid A Smokescreen For BHO Eligibility Hearing
Dec 06, 2012 01:43 pm
Did you know that the most significant of the dozen or so Obama eligibility hearings occurred on May 2, 2011 in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena, California? Did you know that this particular lawsuit included 2008 presidential candidate Alan Keyes, twenty state representatives, and thirty members of the military? Never heard about [...]
Will The Illegal "Re-writing" Of ObamaCare Never End?
Dec 06, 2012 01:42 pm Chief Justice John Roberts rewrote the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in order to rescue it from the Constitution. The IRS rewrote the law in order to rescue it from financial oblivion. And the leftist scribes who authored ObamaCare claim none of this illegal, post-legislative tampering really matters. For they contend that what they wrote in [...]
Video: Obama May Have Supplied Arms Used In Benghazi Attack
Dec 06, 2012 01:34 pm
Why would the Obama administration spend two weeks parroting a ridiculous story about a "protest turned violent" because of an anti-Muslim YouTube video being the cause of the attack on the Benghazi consulate? Why would they then spend a month blaming the CIA for bad intel? Why would they then comb through a former four-star [...]
Dec 06, 2012 01:22 pm Dear Fellow Republicans: Having been a GOP member for over fifty-five years, I wish this letter could begin with "Thanks for your service." But you need to know some of the reasons why there is such a feeling of disdain among many of us: 6) BENGHAZI - You've spent weeks hung up on who altered [...]
Video: Sheriff Joe Arpaio Interview: Investigating Obama's Records, Part 2
Dec 06, 2012 01:15 pm
Sheriff Joe Arpaio talks to PolitiChick Ann-Marie Murrell about the media block regarding his investigation into President Obama's records. Part 2 of 2. (Watch Part 1 here.) Related posts: Sheriff Joe Arpaio Interview: Investigating Obama's Records, Part 1 Sheriff Joe Arpaio talks to PolitiChick Ann-Marie Murrell about the... Shocking Video: Andrew Breitbart's Last Interview Was [...]
The Flag Of Our Fathers Is Falling And Calling Out To Us!
Dec 06, 2012 01:07 pm I am still numb and dumfounded by the Election 2012 results that saw the re-election of THE most radical BIG Government President in our History. As our Republic dies and democracy-mobocracy grows in America I reflect upon the America my father fought for in World War II. My Dad, Joe Jacobs was a true "GI [...]
Fast And Furious Scandal Revived By Gun Control Agenda
Dec 06, 2012 12:54 pm It appears NBC's Bob Costas spoke too fast and made many conservative Americans including gun owners and the NRA furious. It happened the day after the murder-suicide involving Jovan Belcher of the Kansas City Chiefs. Not only was Belcher's live-in girlfriend, 22 year old Kasandra Perkins, a victim, but the couple's three month old baby daughter [...]
Something really evil has been going on for the last four years-plus... Related posts: Michael Savage: Obama May Be Foreign 'usurper' Michael Savage, the nation's No. 4-rated radio talk show host,... Rush: Did Obama Apply To Columbia As A Foreign Exchange Student? Rush Limbaugh on his show yesterday asked this important question,...
Nikita Khrushchev: White Mentor Of Modern Black Anti-Americanism!
Dec 06, 2012 12:40 pm " The 60s are over y'all! " There, I said it... and it needed to be said. My generation, children of the late 20th Century civil rights and Black nationalist movements, has the unenviable, inevitable task of carting outmoded ideologues to the " junk " folder of history. These movement's de-evolution to Anything Goes Socialism [...]
Video: Michael Lerman Serves CA Elected Officials And Electors Obama Treason Notice
Dec 06, 2012 12:38 pm
I wish more people had the courage this man has... Related posts: Michael Savage: Millions Of Illegal Aliens Elected Obama Excellent radio commentary by Michael Savage aired on November 26......... Michael Savage: FBI Should Be Investigating Obama's Eligibility To Be President Thank you Michael Savage for having the courage to speak...
One More Component In Electing A Conservative President
Dec 06, 2012 12:34 pm Last week, I outlined a series of proposals for electing our next conservative president, including a needed societal shift in culture, education, news and entertainment media, and essential control of our southern border. However, there is another very important component: a fundamental change in the way we elect our chief executive. Don't misunderstand me. I [...]
How did the fanatical Nazi party silence the German people? Of course, we now know it was done through the control of information, and the use of intimidation on those that even considered the Nazis to be a problem. Aren't we seeing this today? Related posts: Obama Attorney Attempts To Silence Opposition In RICO Case [...]
College Faculty Halts Construction, Calls Signs Sexist
Dec 06, 2012 12:13 pm Leftism flows freely on the campuses of American universities, though occasional idiocy rises to a level I feel warrants exposure. Such a case recently surfaced near a community college campus in Ohio. As construction workers performed their integral service, one female employee was reportedly outraged at the "Men Working" signs erected at the work site's [...]
Video: "Fox And Friends" Blasts Obama For Only Meeting With MSNBC Hosts
Dec 06, 2012 11:52 am
The Fox And Friends crew caught wind of the report that several MSNBC hosts, along with members from other "progressive media" organizations, took a trip to the White House on Tuesday - and they were not pleased. Related posts: White House Spokesman Praises MSNBC Hosts After Obama's Fox Swipe Just hours after President Obama's swipe [...]
Dec 06, 2012 11:44 am Help us; we're falling and we can't get up again. Once upon a time - in 1988 and 1998 to be exact - the United States was the best country for a baby to be born and raised in, at least according to The Economist magazine. But the 2013 edition of the magazine's "where-to-be-born" index [...]
Video: How Much Money Has Obama Committed To Fighting "Global Warming"?
Dec 06, 2012 11:32 am
Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma has an important message for global warming skeptics... Related posts: Global Warming Advocates Argue More Ice Means Climate Change WASHINGTON - In a depressed economic recovery, scientists continue to... Al Gore Says Global Warming Skeptics Are Like Racists One day climate change skeptics will be seen in the...
Dec 06, 2012 11:24 am Photo Credit: RetailByRyan95 Many wonder how they might react in the face of crisis but few are able to prove their courage under fire as effectively as one AutoZone employee recently did. Just before closing, an armed robber burst into the retailer and forced the worker - a U.S. Air Force veteran - into a [...]
Video: Chris Matthews Takes Another Swipe At The GOP And Minorities
Dec 06, 2012 11:20 am
Playing the race card, Chris Matthews joked that the minorities gathering in large groups like the Republican National Convention "concerns" the party. Related posts: Chris Matthews And MSNBC Now Claim The Word 'Chicago' Is Racist Chris Matthews was on Hardball tonight covering the Republican National... Chris Matthews Calls GOP Party Of "Grand Wizards" Thanks to [...]
Dec 06, 2012 11:14 am It's been about a month since the election, and the dust has finally settled. I believe we are all glad the negative television commercials are gone as well as the obnoxious lawn signs; but there are a lot of people who miss the action and are beginning to exhibit withdrawal symptoms. Whereas young people were [...]
Video: Excellent Response To Bob Costas's Gun Control Misinformation
Dec 06, 2012 11:06 am
This video has gone viral in just two days...please share!! Related posts: Song To Obama: "GET OUT" This is a rather pleasant anti-Obama tune and an accompanying... Keith Olbermann & Co. Decry "Misinformation" About Their Hero Obama Olbermann and Markos Moulitsas, "Countdown" contributor and founder of the...
Dec 06, 2012 11:01 am Reality is the one truth of our existence. Reality sustains and nurtures us, calling us in ways unknown. There is another reality. A reality that speaks of higher truths. This reality exists within the realm of spirit. This reality only God knows and is for us to discover. He offers many choices in our lives. [...]
Video: Conservatives Speak Out On House Committee Purge
Dec 06, 2012 10:51 am
Reps. Tim Huelskamp and Justin Amash said they were blindsided by news that they would be removed from key committees during the upcoming Congress. Related posts: Boehner, GOP Leaders Purge Conservatives From Powerful Committees UPDATE: Boehner Spokesman Kevin Smith responds- "The Steering Committee makes... Kansas Rep. Huelskamp Charges Boehner Punished Him And Others For Conservative [...]
Private Security: A Dangerous And Necessary Service
Dec 06, 2012 10:49 am My brothers at Critical Intervention Services lost an officer Thanksgiving Eve. CIS officer Michael Valentin died patrolling a Tampa community his company specializes in serving. As an anti-crime activist and security professional, this is beyond tragic on many levels. A teenage repeat offender has been arrested for this murder and two armed robberies. Please [...]
Video: McConnell Offers To Vote On Obama's Tax Hiking Plan; Harry Reid Objects
Dec 06, 2012 10:44 am
What's the problem, Harry? Related posts: Romney: Harry Reid Should 'Put Up Or Shut Up' On Taxes Mitt Romney appeared on Sean Hannity's radio program to discuss... RNC Chairman Calls Harry Reid A "Dirty Liar" RNC Chairman Reince Priebus called Harry Reid a "dirty liar"...
Obama-friendly Business Group Given Great Access To The White House
Dec 06, 2012 10:40 am A business group considered friendly to President Obama has been granted high-level access to senior White House officials as "fiscal cliff" negotiations have gripped Washington. Business Forward on Thursday will host the last in a series of seven briefings where high-level Obama administration officials have discussed the budgets cuts and tax increases of the fiscal [...]
Why Republicans Should Keep Their No-Tax-Hike Promises
Dec 06, 2012 10:36 am The politicians claim that they are negotiating about how best to reduce the deficit. That irks me because our fiscal problem is excessive government spending. Red ink is merely a symptom of that underlying problem. But that's a rhetorical gripe. My bigger concern is that politicians are prevaricating. They're really talking about higher taxes in [...]
Kansas Rep. Huelskamp Charges Boehner Punished Him And Others For Conservative Votes
Dec 06, 2012 10:33 am Kansas Rep. Tim Huelskamp said Wednesday that House Speaker John Boehner removed him and other conservative Republicans from key committee posts for conservative votes against House leadership this term. The allegations mark the second straight day the Tea Party-backed Huelskamp has lashed out at Boehner and other House leaders for perceived punishment when they return [...]
Dec 06, 2012 10:29 am Peter Parker's uncle Ben said it best: "With great power comes great responsibility." The Spiderman character had a great deal of power. While that was important, the way he used it was more important. If you've ever seen the film Unbreakable, starring Bruce Willis and Samuel L Jackson, you know what I mean. Right now [...]
"It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself." --Thomas Jefferson
Editorial Exegesis
"Both the White House and House Republicans are pretending that their goal is 'reducing the deficit,' which they suggest means making real spending choices. ... Since 1974, Capitol Hill's 'baseline' has automatically increased spending every year according to Congressional Budget Office projections, which means before anyone has submitted a budget or cast a single vote. Tax and spending changes are then measured off that inflated baseline, not in absolute terms. The most absurd current example is Mr. Obama's claim that his '$4 trillion' plan reduces the deficit by about $800 billion over 10 years by ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But those 'savings,' as he calls them, are measured against a White House budget office spending baseline that is fictional. Those wars are already being unwound and everyone knows the money will never be spent. But they are called 'savings' to gull the public and make the deficit reduction add up to a large-sounding $4 trillion. ... In Washington, Democrats designed this system to make it easier to defend annual spending increases and to portray any reduction in the baseline as a spending 'cut.' Chris Wallace called Timothy Geithner on this 'gimmick' on 'Fox News Sunday' this week, only to have the Treasury Secretary insist it's real. Republicans used to object to this game, but in recent years they seem to have given up. In an October 2010 speech at the American Enterprise Institute, House Speaker Boehner proposed that 'we ought to start at square one' and rewrite the 1974 budget act. But he then dropped the idea, and in the current debate the GOP is putting itself at a major disadvantage by negotiating off the phony baseline. In a press release Tuesday, his own office advertised the need for 'spending cuts' that aren't even cuts. If Republicans really want to slow the growth in spending, they need to stop playing by Beltway rules and start explaining to America why Mr. Obama keeps saying he's cutting spending even as spending and deficits keep going up and up and up." --The Wall Street Journal
You know the old saying: Don't listen to what they say ... watch their hands.
That might be especially true in the case of the Obama administration's unbelievable efforts to blame the Benghazi massacre on a YouTube video long after everyone knew it was a terror attack.
One Mideast analyst -- 20 years with the CIA -- says it was all a distraction. We should he watching what the State Department was doing behind the scenes.
Here's the inside story of Boehner's conservative purge
Et tu, Boehner?
House Speaker John Boehner is working feverishly to find common ground with Obama to avert the coming fiscal cliff, but based on which four GOP lawmakers he chose to unceremoniously strip of their key committee positions, he's not as interested in working to find common ground with fiscal conservatives in his own party.
Who got dumped ... how the deed was done ... what it means ...
And, almost forgot ... participate in today's WND Poll to sound off on House Speaker John Boehner's performance.
The nonprofit Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays has documented a long list of incidents of verbal abuse by homosexuals who challenge the premise that there are former homosexuals, despite the documented cases.
But now a wrench has been thrown in their argument that blows it to pieces -- and guess who tossed that wrench ...
Jim DeMint's resignation from the Senate is a loss for conservatives. Perhaps a conservative Senator will emerge who combines DeMint's stature and principled adherence to traditional conservatism across-the-board. But no one comes immediately to mind.
DeMint's move to the Heritage Foundation, as its new president, seems like a plus for Heritage. As Bethany Mandel explains, fundraising is a major part of that job, and a challenge for any successor to Ed Fuelner. DeMint has demonstrated considerable fundraising skill with the Senate Conservatives Fund.
Mandel also points out that Heritage recently has supplemented its traditional role as a major research institution by getting more involved in day-to-day political battles on Capitol Hill. DeMint, of course, is well-suited to help lead that move.
Who will take DeMint's place as Senator from South Carolina? John Fund suggests three possibilities. The first is Rep. Tim Scott, who just won easy reelection to a second term. He is African-American. Currently, no blacks serve in the U.S. Seante. No black Republican has served there since Edward Brooke left that body in 1979.
The second possibility mentioned by Fund is David Watkins, a former state house speaker and ambassador to Canada under George W. Bush. He would be more of a "placeholder," of the kind favored for such appointments these days.
Third, Gov. Nikki Haley could appoint herself. But appointing oneself Senator is usually a bad idea.
Crony Chronicles is a good site that addresses one of the key issues of our time; not just that, but a potentially winning issue for conservatives. It is worth bookmarking and returning to. The latest from Crony Chronicles is Miracle on Wall Street. First, the video, by our friend Justin Folk:
Crony Chronicles notes that in 2012, according to the Cato Institute, the federal government paid out $98 billion to corporations for what is conventionally referred to as corporate welfare-more than the annual profits of Ford, Apple, Microsoft, Target, Home Depot, Best Buy, Coca Cola and PepsiCo combined. No wonder big business is happy, for the most part, to coexist with big government. In addition, Crony Chronicles calculates that companies get another $200 billion in the form of tax preferences. And that doesn't count the hidden costs of tariffs, anti-competitive regulations, and so on. Cronyism is big business, and should be on anyone's list of government spending targeted for cuts.
Controversy is brewing over new Common Core State Standards in English that call on public schools to emphasize the reading of "information text" instead of fictional literature. According to the Washington Post, English teachers across the country are upset by what they consider the government's effort "to drive literature out of the classroom."
English teachers are right to be upset, but they shouldn't take it personally. The government has nothing much against literature, per se. Rather, this initiative is driven in large part by the desire to promote political propaganda in the classroom. The study of literature is being downgraded in the process, but for a good cause.
Consider that one of the "informational texts" recommended as a replacement for, say, Great Expectations is "Executive Order 13423: Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management." Students would thus study government propaganda in English class (this Executive Order was issued under President Bush, but it is still propaganda - a political sop to the environmental left, as Stanley Kurtz shows).
Another Common Core's non-fiction exemplar is an excerpt from a 2009 New Yorker essay by Atul Gawande on health care. This too is propaganda - an effort to show that Obamacare is wise policy.
Proponents of downgrading the teaching of literature claim that their goal is to make sure U.S. students can read and understand complicated texts. But there are plenty of complicated texts that don't amount to political propaganda, much less propaganda relating to current hot-button policy issues in which the Obama administration is heavily invested. If teaching students how to read such texts were the only goal here, the list of exemplar tests wouldn't include one-sided political tracts about health care and the environment.
Consider also where the Common Core comes from? The Washington Post tries to make it appear that the new curriculum percolated up from the states. But at the back end of its story we find that "the Obama administration kicked the notion into high gear when it required states to adopt the common standards - or an equivalent - in order to compete for Race to the Top grant funds." (emphasis added).
The Common Core, then, should be viewed, at least in part, as an attempt by the Obama administration to gain control of what is taught in public schools for the purpose of indoctrination. As Stanley Kurtz puts it, "Obama has managed to press direct support for his most cherished and controversial policy initiative onto your local school district."
A long-time proponent of a politicized curriculum, Darling-Hammod was Obama's education adviser during the 2008 campaign. She was on track to be nominated Secretary of Education until her leftism alienated many Democrats. Bill Ayers - domestic terrorist and former Obama associate on educational matters - expressed disappointment that Darling-Hammond was not nominated, adding that he would also have picked Noam Chomsky for Secretary of State, fellow terrorist Bernadine Dohrn for Attorney General, and Paul Krugman for Secretary of Treasury.
But, as Kurtz explains, Darling-Hammond may be more useful in her role as the leading presence at the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, one of the two private groups involved in designing the Common Core. And Darling-Hammond isn't just a prime force behind the common curriculum; she's also working on standardized testing. Kurtz shows that Darling-Hammond is actually opposed to such testing and that her mission is to dumb testing down.
The shrewdest aspect of Obama's education power play is the relative absence of his fingerprints. As noted, Common Core is being presented as having been adopted in 46 states and the District of Columbia. In reality, though, most of them hadn't even seen the new standards. They were induced to agree to adopt whatever curriculum leftists like Darling-Hammond came up with as a condition of receiving federal funds.
As I said in my review of Kurtz's book the modern left is cleverer than the rest of us.
The rest of us can fight back, though. Indiana and Utah already have popular rebellions in progress against the Common Core. If you want help with this fight in your area, contact the American Principles Project.
Yuval Levin explains why compromising over how to deal with the nation's fiscal crisis is so difficult:
The Democrats want to raise revenue and the Republicans want to reform entitlements. Those goals would seem to be easily reconciled - just do some of each, or even lots of each. But it only seems that way because we don't often think about why the parties want these things. Simply (and surely somewhat too simply) put, the Democrats want more money so that the entitlement system doesn't have to be reformed, while the Republicans want to reform the entitlement system so that the government doesn't have to take more of the country's money or take up even more of the economy. That means that doing some of each, let alone lots of each, doesn't give both parties what they want, it gives both parties what they are desperately trying to avoid.
That's it in a nutshell. And I think the Democrats understand this conundrum better than the Republicans do. Or maybe they are just in a better position right now to proceed based on this understanding.
We continue our Christmas extravaganza previewing the Fall issue of the Claremont Review of Books through Friday. If you lean conservative and love to read about history, politics, economics, literature, culture and current events, the CRB has earned your attention. Subscriptions are available here for $19.95 (including immediate online access).
Students of Winston Churchill know that Aristotle played a key role in his self-education. Churchill's search for "a concise compendious outline of Ethics" concluded with his mid-life reading of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. Who are we to argue with the great statesman? We choose to follow his example. And luckily for us, the recent translation by Robert D. Bartlett and Susan D. Collins of this classic is both readable and faithful to the original. Professor Diana Schaub writes in the new issue of the CRB that the translators have done a fine job making palatable the dry "chopped hay" of the original Greek (so judged noted food critic and poet Thomas Grey).
Profesor Schaub's review is much more than a simple endorsement. She discourses on the difficulty of translation and the proper rendering of key terms like magnanimity and to kalon, while providing an insightful comparison with Joe Sachs's disarmingly idiosyncratic translation, all enlivened by learning lightly worn. I absolutely love Schaub's review. Read it for a glimpse of the true, the beautiful, and the good things to be found in Aristotle's Ethics. Then turn to the source. The Bartlett and Collins translation would be a prudent choice.
Tomorrow: A look back at the work of the late, great James Q. Wilson.
Three years ago, I told the Heritage Foundation's Board of Trustees that I would step down as president in April of 2013. I urged them to set up a formal succession process and begin a national search.
During their nationwide search, the Board looked for a successor who would keep Heritage on its course of growth and innovation, and preserve our widely acknowledged status as an institutional center of the conservative movement. And the Board has found a splendidsuccessor.
I'm delighted to announce that the Board has elected Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina to take over next April as President of The Heritage Foundation.
Jim, who will resign his Senate seat before then, needs little introduction. He has spent most of his life as an entrepreneur, building and running his own marketing firm. In 1998 he won a seat in the House of Representatives and in 2004 was elected to the Senate.
His conservative credentials are sterling. National Journal recently ranked him as the most conservative member of the Senate. Americans for Tax Reform named him the No. 1 senator for his voting record on tax and spending policies. He is a favorite of the Tea Party, and he has earned a tremendous 99% rating from Heritage Action for America.
It puts my mind at ease to know that Jim's capable hands will take the helm. I know Heritage will continue to uphold the same high standards and conservative principles that we have since our founding in 1973.
We will remain committed to principle
And it's no surprise that our Board chose a principled leader like Jim DeMint. Everything we do at Heritage is guided by our mission statement. It is even written in our charter that Heritage is established "to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense."
Heritage's Trustees are the guardians of the institution's integrity. All are conservatives dedicated to preserving America's freedoms.
Moreover, our Board committed a decade ago not to follow in the footsteps of all too many organizations that lurch to the left over time. They pledged that all candidates for senior management and trustee are vetted "to ensure that they are totally committed to the Heritage Vision and Mission."
I hope you will join me in knowing that Jim will not only preserve the Heritage mission but will also lead the institution to greater achievements as America's premiere conservative institution.
Our plan for the coming months
Between now and April, I'll spend time with Jim showing him the ins and outs of my duties as president.
In April, my wife Linda and I will take an extended vacation -- in part to allow Jim the freedom to take the reins. After that, I will remain involved with The Heritage Foundation and the conservative movement. I will continue as a Heritage Trustee and advisor to the team and as an enthusiastic supporter of Jim's leadership.
I hope you will join me and the entire conservative movement as I welcome Jim DeMint and a new era of our fight for freedom. Thank you for all you do.
Onward!
Edwin J. Feulner, Ph.D. President
Thursday, December 6, 2012
To: Friends & Supporters
From: Gary L. Bauer
DeMint Resigning From The Senate
South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint announced today that he will resign his Senate seat in January to become the next president of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington, D.C. think tank. Senator DeMint is one of the conservative movement's staunchest allies in Washington, and his leadership in the Senate will be sorely missed.
It pains me whenever someone of Senator DeMint's stature leaves Congress. But as the senator said himself, he is not leaving the battle. He will continue to be a powerful voice for the conservative principles of lower taxes, smaller government and more freedom. I am confident the Heritage Foundation will thrive with Jim DeMint at its helm.
I am also confident that South Carolina's Republican Governor Nikki Haley will appoint a strong conservative to succeed Senator DeMint.
Bailout Nation
First the big banks got their bailout. Next the auto unions got their bailout. Then a slew of left-wing constituencies got bailouts from the stimulus bill. Now one city councilwoman is demanding to know when Detroit will get its bailout. (Another one?)
The White House has announced that President Obama will take his tax-hike campaign tour to Detroit next week. And when he's there, he better be ready for JoAnn Watson. At an emergency city council meeting Tuesday, Watson said this:
"After the election of Jimmy Carter, [Mayor] Coleman Alexander Young, he went to Washington, D.C. He came home with some bacon. That's what you do. Our people in an overwhelming way supported the re-election of this president and there ought to be a quid pro quo."
Detroit had better get in line. There is a growing wave of municipal bankruptcies, which have largely escaped the media's notice. But while Democrats are obsessed with raising taxes, the bottom line is inescapable: Government -- at every level -- has simply gotten too big, and liberal policies are not creating enough economic growth to sustain it.
Geithner: Our Way Or The Cliff!
For all the talk about the need for bi-partisan compromise on the fiscal cliff (just 25 days away), Democrats have become as stubbornly inflexible as, well, a donkey. Obama has staked out his position -- tax rates must go up -- and he is refusing to budge.
Yesterday Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was interviewed on CNBC. Consider this exchange:
CNBC: "When it comes to raising taxes on the wealthy ... if Republicans do not agree to that, is the administration prepared to go over the fiscal cliff?"
Geithner: "Oh, absolutely. There's no prospect in an agreement that doesn't involve the rates going up on the top 2 percent of the wealthiest."
In other words, it's Obama's way or the highway, and 90% of American households will face an average $3,500 tax increase.
Whenever a Republican takes a stand against raising tax rates, media commentators fly into hysterical reactions about how uncompromising conservatives are hurting the poor, the middle class and putting the economy at risk for their narrow ideological agenda. But whenever Obama or Geithner adopt such hardline positions, the liberal commentators usually nod approvingly and move on.
By the way, congressional Democrats evidently aren't too keen on Barack Obama's proposal either. Yesterday, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell tried to put Obama's "ridiculous" fiscal cliff proposal on the Senate floor for a vote. Guess what happened? Harry Reid objected and refused to allow the vote!
Dr. Dean Spills The Beans
My friends, here is a key fact to keep in mind as this debate drags on: Republicans have already made a good faith offer. They agreed to $800 billion in additional revenue through tax reform measures. That is a huge concession for the party of lower taxes, less spending and smaller government. But it's not enough for Barack Obama and other Democrats like former DNC Chairman Dr. Howard Dean.
As we have explained repeatedly, raising taxes on the so-called "rich" doesn't solve the problem. The problem is that government is simply too big and spending too much. I was reminded today that all the talk about marginal tax rates misses the point. We should be talking about real tax rates -- the taxes required to pay the real costs of big government.
Obama's tax increases on the rich amount to $80 billion a year, when he's running deficits of $1,000 billion a year. As Thomas Sowell put it, "Raising the tax rates on everybody in the top 2% will not get enough additional tax revenue to run the government for 10 days. And what will the government do to pay for the other 355 days in the year?"
Howard Dean has his solution: He wants to go over the fiscal cliff in order to raise everybody's taxes! Here's what he said on MSNBC last night:
"The truth is everybody needs to pay more taxes, not just the rich. ... we're not going to get out of this deficit problem unless we raise taxes across the board... And if we don't do that, the problem is the pressure is going to be on spending even more."
Unfortunately, Dr. Dean's prescription still doesn't pay for the real cost of big government. But he may have just spilled the beans as to Obama's real goal in this fiscal cliff showdown.
Obama really doesn't want a deal. That's why he is making laughable offers he knows Boehner can't accept, while rejecting proposals he said he wanted last year.
Obama wants the revenues from the expiration of all the Bush tax cuts, but he needs to make sure Democrats don't get blamed for raising your taxes. So far, the polls indicate he is succeeding.
December 6, 2012
New Study Evaluates Census Data on Children in Same-Sex Households by Christine Kim, Policy Analyst
The finding is based on data from 1.6 million children in the 2000 U.S. Census, which included 8,632 children who lived in same-sex households.
The new study also re-examines findings from a 2010 study that used the same data source but concluded that children raised in sex-same households progressed just as well as children in married heterosexual households when differences in the socio-economic status (i.e., household income and parental education) are taken into consideration.
Why the different conclusions regarding children's grade retention using the same data source?
The Census provides only a single-year picture of children's living arrangements, so its data do not reflect their full family history. For example, married households include both first-marriage and remarried couples. The 2010 study tried to address this issue by limiting its sample in two significant ways that may not represent the full family experiences of all children.
The new study re-examines the data without these two limitations. When both restrictions are lifted, the sample size increased by nearly 125 percent, from 716,740 children to 1,610,880 children.
What happens when more children are included in the analysis? The new study finds that:
When the sample consisted of only biological children, regardless of residential stability, children in married heterosexual households were 25.8 percent more likely to make typical school progress than peers raised in same-sex households;
When the sample consisted of all children, regardless of their biological status or residential stability, children in married heterosexual households were 35.4 percent more likely to make normal progress in school than peers in same-sex households.
Consistent with previous research, these findings suggest that when considering how children's family environment influences their outcomes, it is important to look at both family structure and stability.
Together, the pair of studies underlines the complex dynamics between children's family situations and well-being, as well as the difficulty of analyzing that relationship even with sophisticated research methods and data.
The studies also underscore the necessity for policymakers to weigh the full accumulating research evidence in their decision-making.
Since 1974, the number of individuals with no religious affiliation has increased by 165 percent, while the number of those who feel strongly affiliated with their religious tradition has declined by 11 percent. Currently, more than one in six is not affiliated with a religion, while more than one in three reports being strongly affiliated.
DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society at The Heritage Foundation
Founded in 1973, The Heritage Foundation is the nation's most broadly supported public policy organization. Heritage established the DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society in 2004 to educate government officials, the media and the public about the role religion, family, and civil society play in sustaining freedom and the common good.
Why Must We Reform Medicare? Specialists Weigh In
Far from coping with the explosive costs of Medicare, the Obama Administration's latest fiscal cliff offer is laughably inadequate.
The proposal remains stubbornly uninformed by the serious thinking of a variety of Medicare experts over the past several years. These experts-ranging from the Simpson- Bowles Commission to former CBO Director Alice Rivlin of the Brookings Institution, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), and Joseph Lieberman (I-CT)-have produced several responsible reform proposals that already hold bipartisan support. There is simply no excuse for the president or Congress to blow yet another historic opportunity to at least make an initial down-payment on the huge task of reforming the Medicare program.
Real reform is the only long-term solution that can meet Medicare's enormous challenges:
A demographic challenge. With the flood of Baby Boomers retiring, the program-unchanged-will not be able to absorb the demographic shock. Medicare enrollment will jump from nearly 50 million to 80 million seniors by 2030.
An absence of modernized insurance. Traditional Medicare is defective as insurance, evident in the absence of even basic catastrophic coverage. Roughly 90 percent of seniors enrolled in the traditional Medicare program must depend on supplemental coverage to fill in the gaps where it falls short. Moreover, Medicare's payment system still rewards volume rather than quality of care.
Massive debt. Medicare's long term unfunded liability-benefits that are not paid for-approaches $37 trillion. While current seniors paid into Medicare, they didn't pay in enough for the benefits they now receive. This forces current taxpayers to finance 85 percent or more of Medicare's costs.
13.5 Million AMERICANS ENROLLED IN CONSUMER-DIRECTED HEALTH PLANS Likely to be negatively impacted by Obamacare. Learn More >>
About The Heritage Foundation
Founded in 1973, The Heritage Foundation is a research and educational institute - a think tank - whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.
It seems that every day now brings another business owner in the news talking about cutting workers' hours or making other cost-cutting moves in anticipation of Obamacare's impact in 2013.
Here are just a few of the business owners' comments on the health care law:
"We've calculated it will [cost] some millions of dollars across our system. So what does that say-that says we won't build more restaurants. We won't hire more people," Zane Tankel, chairman and CEO of Apple-Metro, which runs 40 Applebee's restaurants. >> Tweet this quote
"There's no other way we can survive it, because we think it will cost us 50 cents a sandwich. That's just the actual cost. If you have 40 or 50 employees at a restaurant, and the penalty is $2,000, and you're going to pay $80,000 or $100,000 penalty, there goes the profit in your restaurant."-Jimmy John Liautaud, founder of Jimmy John's subs, who said he was considering cutting workers' hours to come in under the Obamacare mandate threshold. >> Tweet this quote
"It's a great concept. We want to have everyone insured. The problem is, who is going to pay for it and how are we going to accomplish this?" - John Metz, who operates roughly 40 Denny's locations and five Hurricane Grill & Wings franchises in Florida, Virginia, and Georgia, and has said he may have to add an Obamacare surcharge to his menus. >> Tweet this quote
"New unit construction will cease if we have to allocate moneys for that construction to the [Affordable Care Act]. And building new restaurants is how we create jobs." - Andy Puzder, CEO of CKE Restaurants, which owns Hardee's and Carl's Jr.
Heritage's Alyene Senger explains that these businesses are responding to Obamacare's employer mandate, which has a job-killing effect:
Obamacare requires all businesses with 50 or more full-time employees to provide health coverage for their workers or pay a $2,000 penalty for each employee after the first 30 workers. The employer mandate creates incentives for businesses to avoid higher costs by, for example, hiring part-time employees instead of full-time employees, since businesses will not be penalized for failing to provide health insurance to part-time employees....Businesses can also avoid penalties by keeping the number of employees under the mandate threshold of 50, which further discourages creating new jobs.
These businesses' plans are only the effects based on what we know about Obamacare. There are still many, many crucial details that we don't know. Health and Human Services (HHS) just released some of the new rules that will govern what kind of coverage insurers must offer -and Heritage's experts are still going through the 300-plus pages of regulations to sort out what they mean.
In the meantime, forget President Obama's "if you like your plan, you can keep it" promise. Two government agencies have estimated that more than 11 million people will no longer have their employer-sponsored health coverage once Obamacare is fully implemented. Other studies have put that number much higher.
With employers dumping employees into government-run insurance exchanges or Medicaid (which are still unsettled proposals), the future of health insurance will be taxpayers footing the bill. This is a huge money problem on top of the skyrocketing entitlement programs that already exist. But on a personal note, it's not the best solution for the under-employed or under-insured.
Take Dave Willingham, a 32-year-old interviewed by Huffington Post after taking a job at a community college cafeteria in Washington State. "When he recently accepted his job after a bout of unemployment, he was told up front that he would not be getting more than 19 hours per week. That's because workers who average 20 hours per week qualify for benefits like health care, vacation and sick pay, he said."
In his cafeteria job, Willingham earns a little more than minimum wage and receives food stamps. But this isn't the situation he wants for himself:
"That subsidy is a huge blessing for me," Willingham said. "But at the same time, I'd rather have the agency and dignity that would come with actually having more money coming in and getting to make that decision for myself....Ultimately, it would be nicer to feel more in control of my own life and destiny."
Becoming dependent on the government for health care is not a step toward personal control or an improved life situation for workers like Dave Willingham. But sadly, that is exactly where Obamacare is taking hourly workers.
Bronson Stocking, a member of Heritage's Young Leaders Program, contributed to the preparation of this article.
"We have a tax machine that, in direct contravention of the Constitution, is not designed to solely raise revenue but is used, openly and admittedly, to control and direct the economy and to equalize the earnings of our people." ~ Ronald Reagan
Surprise! Obama May Not Be As Smart As He Thinks He Is
Court Hears Challenge To Obama Recess Appointments AP/WorldNetDaily
A federal appeals court is considering whether President Barack Obama violated the Constitution earlier this year when he bypassed the Senate to fill vacancies in his administration.
The Illiteracy Machine Wants Your Kids By Bruce Deitrick Price RightSideNews.com
Every attempt to improve education in this country will fail unless we first make sure that children can read. This goal, however, is impossible to reach, given that the Education Establishment aggressively obstructs our path.
Border Crossing Operates On Honor System, Border Patrol Hundreds Of Miles Away By Audrey Hudson HumanEvents.com
Federal officials estimate the Boquillas crossing located in the Big Bend National Park will accommodate 20,000 visitors a year, whose entry into the U.S. will by monitored by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers 300 miles away in El Paso through surveillance cameras that will observe kiosks where identification cards are scanned for access.
The Socialist Propaganda Seems To Be Working On The American Sheepul--WAKE UP!
Gallup: 53 Percent Of Democrats Have 'Positive Image' Of Socialism By Jon Street CNSNews.com
According to a recent Gallup poll that asked participants if they have a positive or negative image of socialism, 53 percent of Democrats and "leaning democrats" said they have a positive image while 23 percent of Republicans and "leaning republicans" said their image is positive.
Jedi Mind Trick Nation By Ben Shapiro So how is it that Democrats seem to be winning the battle over the fiscal cliff? Polls show that Americans think Republicans are being stubborn to insist on cuts rather than going along with President Obama's ridiculous scheme to tax and spend more. Why? The Old Jedi Mind Trick. That trick relies on Americans not wanting to see plain facts before them.
Republican Senator Jim DeMint has long been one of the good guys in D.C. battling the good fight day in and day out. Well, it looks like the Republicans will have some big shoes to fill in 2014 as DeMint is planning to step down and take a role at a prominent conservative think tank. Get the full story HERE.
Obama's epic fiscal cliff flip-flop
President Obama's Press Secretary Jay Carney mocked the GOP proposal this week by equating it to magic beans and fairy dust. However, just over a year ago in July 0f 2011, Barack Obama himself had a proposal that seemed...well...exactly the same as the Republicans. Hear what he said then vs. now and watch Glenn's reaction HERE.
6pm ET - Real News: Is Cuba going Capitalist? How will going off the Fiscal Cliff impact your local economy?
7pm ET -Wilkow!: We're 25 days from the fiscal cliff and Americans don't know what their tax rate will be. Andrew talks about how it will impact individuals and small businesses.
Glenn's Family Christmas! Next Thursday, On December 13th, Glenn invites you into his home with family and friends to enjoy holiday music and touching stories. Watch the children in a real-life nativity play and find out how this year Glenn discovers the true meaning of Christmas. It's a heartwarming Christmas special for the entire family -- get a sneak peek!
Georgia resident fights back against U.N. Agenda 21 Glenn's new book, AGENDA 21, exposes the future consequences of something we're seeing pushed through right now on the local level. If we want to ensure we don't go down this dangerous road, Agenda 21 has to be recognized and fought on the local level - here's another case of it being exposed on the local level.
The Marketplace by TheBlaze is offering 41% off a gift package from small business Mavericks Coffee! Including cinnamon glazed almonds, chocolate covered coffee beans, (addicting!) 6 unique blends of coffee, 3 bags of specialty teas and MORE -- order today!
Hardcore vs. Softcore Christmas: Pat & Stu make the helpful distinction between hardcore and softcore Christmas movies -- WATCH.
Help those in need this holiday season with Mercury One's Hope for the Holidays campaign!
Your donation will provide gifts for young children who may otherwise not know the joy of receiving. Fill local food pantries with needed food and supplies; empower churches, synagogues and other faith based organizations to continue serving their local areas through outreach, education and other community programs. Donate HERE to help!
Patrick Poole, Diana West weigh in on the latest uprisings in Egypt
Egypt is spiraling out of control once again, this time because Morsi is trying to be another dictator and the people want none of it. Morsi spoke today and said he would not tolerate an attempt to overthrow the government. Still, a shocking number of Egyptians want Islamic nations to unify in order to form the Islamic caliphate. Get the full story HERE.
Pat in trouble with the law?
Pat Gray revealed a disturbing secret on radio today: he has had multiple run-ins with law enforcement officers in the past few months. Pat has been nabbed by police SIX times. What did he do to get in so much trouble? Find out on radio today.
Glenn's Daily Prep: How can you check out the stories that Glenn checked out this morning? Here's an inside look at the prep material put together for Glenn each morning. Tons of great stories and many you haven't seen yet because there just wasn't enough time to fit them all in. Read it HERE.
Glenn's e-book thriller series: Great news! The sixth episode in the WRATH & RIGHTEOUSNESS e-book series has been released! There are ten episodes in total (about 5-6 full books worth of content), and we're releasing them over the course of about one year. You'll find easy download links to all episodes HERE. Have a question or comment about the series? Visit our FAQ page.
~ If you come across an issue or story that you think would be of interest to the group, forward it to this email address so we can include it in the daily newsletter. Please include any links to the associated story with your email so that we can source it for the newsletter. J
You have received this mailing because you subscribed to our mailing list or signed up at a meeting. If you have any problems with this mailing, please reply to this posting. Thank you for your support.
Hurry up and wait.
Without worries about the price of bread, the odds are good that Mubarak would be sitting in his old place and Morsi would be looking over the latest economic reports from the Brotherhood's business networks and front groups. And without a sharp decline in American living standards, Mubarak would be receiving phone calls from President McCain urging him to democratize Egypt, while Obama would be rallying the troops at the latest SEIU event for taking back Congress.
"Both the White House and House Republicans are pretending that their goal is 'reducing the deficit,' which they suggest means making real spending choices. ... Since 1974, Capitol Hill's 'baseline' has automatically increased spending every year according to Congressional Budget Office projections, which means before anyone has submitted a budget or cast a single vote. Tax and spending changes are then measured off that inflated baseline, not in absolute terms. The most absurd current example is Mr. Obama's claim that his '$4 trillion' plan reduces the deficit by about $800 billion over 10 years by ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But those 'savings,' as he calls them, are measured against a White House budget office spending baseline that is fictional. Those wars are already being unwound and everyone knows the money will never be spent. But they are called 'savings' to gull the public and make the deficit reduction add up to a large-sounding $4 trillion. ... In Washington, Democrats designed this system to make it easier to defend annual spending increases and to portray any reduction in the baseline as a spending 'cut.' Chris Wallace called Timothy Geithner on this 'gimmick' on 'Fox News Sunday' this week, only to have the Treasury Secretary insist it's real. Republicans used to object to this game, but in recent years they seem to have given up. In an October 2010 speech at the American Enterprise Institute, House Speaker Boehner proposed that 'we ought to start at square one' and rewrite the 1974 budget act. But he then dropped the idea, and in the current debate the GOP is putting itself at a major disadvantage by negotiating off the phony baseline. In a press release Tuesday, his own office advertised the need for 'spending cuts' that aren't even cuts. If Republicans really want to slow the growth in spending, they need to stop playing by Beltway rules and start explaining to America why Mr. Obama keeps saying he's cutting spending even as spending and deficits keep going up and up and up." --
Jim DeMint stepping down
