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North Korea's Wakeup Call
December 26, 2012
by Phyllis Schlafly
It should have been a loud wakeup call in December when North Korea successfully launched a three-stage rocket delivering a payload in orbit around the globe. This event established North Korea's credentials as having intercontinental ballistic missile technology. On December 23, North Korean officials announced that an analysis of the debris from the rocket shows it has the ability to reach the U.S. mainland.
Senate To Go For Handguns & Gun Owners' Fingerprints!
At the end of November, I wrote about leaks coming from the office of Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) concerning her "Assault Weapons Ban" bill that she is set to introduce in the first session of the Senate in January. Many people wrote to me and commented on how this was not a gun ban on anything but certain types of rifles and that the issue of handguns was not, well, an issue. Low and behold, from the Senator's own website, this bill of hers does include handguns and additionally seeks to pick up gun owners' fingerprints.
The following is a summary of the legislation, from her own site, that she will be introducing:
Indefinite Military Detention Of US Citizens To Be Signed Into Law By Obama
We've been trying to keep you aware of what has been taking place with the talks concerning the 2013 version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). We've covered the Feinstein amendment, which effectively did nothing, except to empower Congress to authorize the military at their whim to violate people's 4th, 5th, and 6th Amendment rights. But now the talks are all done and the legislation is headed for Barack Obama's desk to be signed into law soon, just as it was nearly one year ago today, including provision to use the military to indefinitely detain US citizens.
Previously, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) voted for the Feinstein amendment to the NDAA. But then there came the hashing out of language in the bill and Paul blasted Senator John McCain (R-AZ) for stripping away the amendment.
"We had protection in this bill. We passed an amendment that specifically said if you were an American citizen or here legally in the country, you would get a trial by jury," Paul said. "It's been removed because they want the ability to hold American citizens without trial in our country. This is so fundamentally wrong and goes against everything we stand for as a country that it can't go unnoticed."
Facebook becomes Big Brother, closes pro-gun accounts Today, Dec. 27, 2012, it has come to our attention that Facebook is purging accounts that show a leaning toward pro-gun rights, meaning the Second Amendment of the U. S. Constitution; as well as anything to do with pro-liberty ... READ MORE
* ATTENTION ALL GUN OWNERS *
THE ANTI-GUN ACTIVISTS WILL BE THERE
ON DEC. 29 @ 12 NOON TO 3 PM!
Bring your signs and flags!
The left-wing wackos are going to be protesting at the Reading, PA Expo Center gun show on Dec. 29 & 30!
We think a counter-protest is in order,
what do you think?
Come out & show your support for the Second Amendment!
The 2nd Amendment - A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
Due to weather concerns, we are postponing our 4th Annual Christmas Tea
Partycommemorating the original Philadelphia Tea Party of 1773 until
Saturday, January 5, 2013, 12 Noon - 1 PM (see invitation below).
Although most Americans are aware of the December 16, 1773 Boston Tea
Party--few have ever heard of the first Philadelphia Tea Party which was held on
December 27, 1773 in the Courtyard of the Pennsylvania State House
(Independence Hall).
Over 6,000 Philadelphians (a record-breaking Colonial crowd) gathered together to
decide the fate of the British Tea that had just landed off the shores of the Delaware.
Would they decide to destroy the tea? Would they tar and feather the deliverer,
Captain Ayers?
Find out, next Saturday, when Dom Giordano reprises his role as Dr. Benjamin Rush
in a commemorative recreation of the original event.
Our own John Peteraf plays Captain Ayers, whileRich Zeoli narrates and Tory
McClintock provides the back story.
Joining them--the Whitehall Guard Fife and Drum, and, the Honorable
Anna Little singing, "God Bless America."
We will also celebrate the 225th Anniversary Year of the United States
Constitution and the 225th Anniversary of its Ratification by Delaware,
Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.
During the After Party (1-3 PM), we will hold a Panel Discussion on America's
Future:Short and Long Term Predictions. Issues to be discussed include: the
Fiscal Cliff, Gun Control, Arab/Israeli Relations, the Future of the Republican
Party, and the Tea Party.
Last but not least, we will announce our 2012 Federal Legislator of the Year;
2012 State Legislators of the Year (DE, NJ, & PA); and winner(s) of the 2012
Benjamin Franklin Award for Courageous Journalism.
As this will be a rewarding event, we hope you'll join us!
On behalf on the Association Board,
Teri Adams
PS We laid out the flyer below perfectly before sending it, but some servers may not
read the HTLM code correctly. We apologize if the spacing of the words and/or images
appear haphazardly on your screen .
(Rescheduled)
PleaseJoinUsforOur4thAnnual ChristmasTeaParty
Commemorating the 239th Anniversary of the First Philadelphia Tea Party,
The 225th Anniversary Year of the United States Constitution,
and
The 225th Anniversary of the Constitution's Ratification by
Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey.
January 5, 2013
12-1 PM
Independence Mall
5th and Market Streets
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Featuring:WPHT talk show hosts Dom Giordano as Dr. Benjamin Rush, leader of the December 27, 1773 Philadelphia Tea Party, reciting the original Boston and Philadelphia
Tea Party Resolutions; WPHT's Rich Zeoli;the Honorable Anna Little; Montgomery County Young Republican Tory McClintock; the Association's John Peteraf;the
Whitehall Guard Fife and Drum; Commemorative program booklet; hot cider and cookies.
Free and open to the public.
AFTERPARTY, Independence Visitors Center, 1-3 PM, featuring:
Panel Discussion on America's Future: Short and Long Term Predictions;
and
Announcement of our 2012 Federal and State (DE, NJ, PA) Legislators of the Year.
Cost: $20 for adults; $10 for college & high school students; $5 for children.
(No rain/snow date--event will be moved inside if necessary.)
Sponsored by: Independence Hall Tea Party Association
Yes, it's true: You can support ACT! for America-at no cost to you!An important message from Guy Rodgers, Executive Director
The next time you make an online purchase of almost anything, you could be helping ACT! for America-at no cost to you.
Sound too good to be true? It isn't.
All you have to do is sign up for "iGive"-a program that's been around since 1997.
The concept is as powerful as it is simple.
Every time an iGive member makes an online purchase at over 1,000 brand-name stores, a percentage of that purchase is donated to that person's charity of choice.
And with the holidays just around the corner, you could be helping ACT! for America with every gift you buy!
The concept isn't new. In the mid-1990s many supporters of non-profit organizations signed up with long distance telephone programs where a percentage of their bill was donated to their charity of choice.
But our investigation of iGive has convinced us that this program has an ease of use and sophistication that we find remarkable.
Imagine booking a hotel room on Orbitz-and having 1.6% of that purchase price donated to ACT! for America.
Or buying an Xbox at Best Buy-and having 1.2% of the purchase price donated to ACT! for America.
The same goes for buying merchandise at Amazon, Bath and Body Works, Advance Auto Parts, Game Stop, Kmart, Home Depot, Holiday Inn, Old Navy, NASCAR Superstore, Overstock.com, Mattel, J.C. Penney, Office Max, QVC, Radio Shack, Shoe Carnival, Pottery Barn-and on and on the list goes.
In other words, every time you make a purchase of merchandise you would buy anyway, you would be financially supporting ACT! for America!
All you have to do is log on below and follow the directions to create your account and download the iGive "button." (Note: downloading the "button" is key).
When I was first informed of iGive, I was skeptical. I've seen these ideas come and go. Often, they're too good to be true. Or there are all kinds of glitches and problems.
So I spent hours researching.
I looked at online customer reviews (which were very good). I read all of iGive's fine print, such as Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. I signed up and even emailed two tech support questions to see how good their tech support was.
And the more I dug, the more I liked what I saw. For instance, both of my tech support questions were responded to within 60 minutes. How often does THAT happen?
As you know from our Patriot Partner program, we're all about encouraging a lot of people to each do a little-to do something. When everyone does a little, together we accomplish a lot.
So consider what could happen.
If just 1% of ACT! for America members each purchased just $400 in merchandise in 2013, from all the available outlets, and the average percentage donated to ACT! was 1.5%, the total amount donated back to ACT! for America would be...
...$15,000. That's a lot of money, wouldn't you agree?
And if you were one of those ACT! for America members, it wouldn't cost you one thin dime to help ACT! for America receive $15,000.
If this idea really caught on, and eventually 5% of our members made purchases with iGive, that $15,000 could explode to $50,000, $75,000 or more!
What's more, that 1.5% figure might be low. Many of the merchants offer percentage donations that are much higher. One printer inkjet company I looked at offered 13%!
Every merchant website you visit tells you right at the top what percentage of your purchase price will be donated to ACT! for America.
Just think what we could accomplish with an extra $15,000, $50,000 or $75,000 in our fight against radical Islam!
One of the things I most wanted to know was their Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Check it out for yourself. I confirmed the terms with a company representative. And I like what I learned. As security-conscious as I am, I have no hesitation using the service-and I'm already doing so.
I know there are many people out there who would love to support ACT! for America, or give more than they're giving, but in these tough economic times they simply can't.
Well, here's a way that everyone who believes in our mission can easily support what we're doing-at no cost to them.
It doesn't get any better than that.
There are already chapter leaders who have signed up for the program, and the feedback I have been getting from them has been all positive. They love the idea and many of them are already using it.
So please, join me and these ACT! for America chapter leaders who are already signed up and using the iGive service.
Yours for a safe and free America
Guy Rodgers
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
Dear Fellow Conservative,
Registration for CPAC 2013 is now open! The American Conservative Union's legendary annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is scheduled for March 14-16, 2013 at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center.
Register Now for CPAC 2013 Don't miss your chance to help take our country back to the right. To register now and reserve your space, visit conservative.org.
Join the Celebration In honor of CPAC's 40th Anniversary, we look forward to joining conservatives from across the nation for CPAC 2013, celebrating the accomplishments of the movement while also energizing the next generation of conservatives.
New Location CPAC 2013 boasts a new location at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center. Complimentary CPAC shuttle busses to and from the Gaylord Center will be available at convenient locations across the National Capitol Region. Details will be released in the coming weeks; please visit conservative.org for updates.
CPAC Past & Present The ACU has hosted CPAC in the Nation's Capital since 1973, and it now stands as the largest annual gathering of conservatives in the country. Additionally, the ACU this year hosted two regional CPACs designed to energize and mobilize Midwest and Mountain West conservatives, giving them the tools needed to defeat the liberal agenda in 2012 while also highlighting rising conservative stars and issues in the region. Stay tuned for details on 2013 regional CPAC locations!
Interested in Sponsoring CPAC 2013? National and local partners are critical to achieving a successful event. CPAC 2013 provides an excellent platform to promote your message and network with the leaders and activists who are on the frontlines of the conservative movement. We invite you to review the special opportunities available to join the action at CPAC 2013 by visiting conservative.org.
This email was sent by: American Conservative Union 1331 H. St., NW Washington, DC, 20005,
The Great Betrayal: Obama's Wars and the War in Iraq
Jul 18th, 2012
Daniel Greenfield's new Freedom Center pamphlet,The Great Betrayal: Obama's Wars and the War in Iraq, is an effort to understand the politics of the "war on terror" which has now reached a final punctuation point with the U.S. decision to speed its withdrawal from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan (where success was once deemed so crucial to national security), and to practice an incoherent form of regime change in Libya while ignoring more serious threats in Syria and Iran.
The war on terror began, Greenfield shows, as an admirable bipartisan commitment soon after the tragedy of 9/11-an effort to transcend party lines not only to punish those who attacked our country but also to interrupt planning for further attacks and try to stop the international spread of the Islamic jihad behind the attacks. But the Democratic Party, with the honorable exception of a few individuals like Richard Gephardt and Joe Lieberman, turned its back on a war soon after authorizing it, and did so at a time when American troops were facing hostile enemy fire.
Although Senate Democrats on the intelligence oversight committee had been granted access to every piece of data available to the White House, they now accused President Bush of tricking them to secure their approval. In fact, their own about-face was entirely dictated by political considerations when a Sixties antiwar activist, Howard Dean, surged ahead in the Democratic primary polls and it appeared for a moment that Americans were on the side of retreat and capitulation.
Although regime change in Iraq had been official U.S. policy since Bill Clinton signed the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998, Democratic senators such as John Kerry who only months earlier had supported the war effort now launched demoralizing attacks on the American commander-in-chief and his troops in the field, stigmatizing it as "the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time." If the truth was the first casualty of their war against the Bush administration, the second casualty was the principle of bi-partisanship that had guided foreign policy debates throughout the Cold War, the principle that "politics stops at the water's edge." Now partisan politics trumped security.
The unrestrained attacks on the Iraq War as illegal and unjustified went largely unanswered by Republicans who failed to call the Democratic saboteurs of the nation's war effort to account or to decry the risk their cynical attacks posed to American servicemen and women on the battlefield. As Greenfield demonstrates, the Democrats' partisanship had consequences not only in Iraq but elsewhere in the region: the paralysis that resulted from their "anti-war" campaign led straight to the destruction of Lebanon and the installation of a terrorist army, Hezbollah, there as a regime within a regime. And it emboldened an overtly Islamofascist regime in Iran not only to supply the IEDs responsible for most of our troop fatalities in Iraq but also to proceed with a nuclear program aimed directly at Israel and the West.
The Great Betrayal shows that Barack Obama's abandonment of Iraq is a betrayal of all the Americans and Iraqis who gave their lives to establish freedom in that country. And the result of his policies in Afghanistan has been as disastrous. While the President presented his rationale for pursuing war there as the pursuit of al-Qaeda, after abandoning his "surge" (which resulted in two thirds of all America's Afghan casualties there and the resurgence of the Taliban allies of al-Qaeda), he blithely prepared for withdrawal as if national objectives had been met.
Order your copy of The Great Betrayal today by clicking here.
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.
The Democrats-especially Eric Holder-love to tell us there is little if any voter fraud. Well, if you don't include the recent voter fraud in New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Massachusetts!
Obama did win the election, right? Maybe...
The Jigg Is Up! Democrats in NY, MASS, NJ and MD Charged with Voter Fraud
RedState Morning Briefing
For December 28, 2012
Hey there,
Did you miss me?
I hope you had a Merry Christmas.
I'm still technically on vacation so do not mention to my wife that I'm sending out a quasi-morning briefing.But I heard from plenty of you that you missed it so here is some stuff I put together.
Also, from 9am to noon eastern time today, I'll filling in for Neal Boortz.It's the last guest host appearance before he returns for the final countdown until his retirement.You can listen live right here at WSB.You can even call in if you like.The number is 1-877-310-2100.
If you haven't heard, General Schwarzkopf has died. Let's remember to pray for his family. He was an awesome soldier. You can read more here at Fox News.
Now, before I get into the fiscal cliff, let me take care of a few things:
1.We need to set the record straight about Adam Lanza and the guns he used.He did use the AR-15 and don't believe anyone who says otherwise.Gun rights advocates need to get their facts straight too.
2.The press corps is full of idiots falling all over themselves to defend David Gregory because he's David Gregory.If a poor guy in the inner-city did on TV what David Gregory did, the very same insular snobs dismissing this story would be calling 911 demanding jail time for the guy. The press does not want to point out that David Gregory broke a law to advocate for the very law he broke.If these clowns are going to give up objectivity for activism, they sure as heck should get their facts straight and comply with the laws they demand the rest of us follow.
Note to the press corps: you are not Congress and God knows you are not God.
3.Here's a great take on gun control and gun rights from Dan McLaughlin.Dan, by the way, is an awesome writer and the sharpest wit I know.You should follow him on twitter.One day someone is going to pay him a lot of money and steal him away from RedState.He's just brilliant.
Now, a few words on the fiscal cliff.You can read my thoughts fresh off the keyboard on this right here.Here's a snippet:
"One of the biggest problems on Capitol Hill these days is that the leaders of both parties are calling all the shots without input from the rest of Congress until the end. Certainly there comes a point when there are too many cooks in the kitchen, but the purpose of the legislature is to legislate and the legislators cannot do their job because of their leaders.
"HR8 has been pending before the United States Senate for some time. It purports to solve the fiscal cliff problems from the Republican perspective of the House. Harry Reid should throw it on the floor of the Senate and just let both sides offer up amendments to reshape it."
Now, I'm going back to vacation after I fill in for Neal Boortz today and then do CNN.I promise, then I'll stop working.You stop working too.Have a great weekend and Happy New Year!
It is a "damned if you do and damned if you don't" predicament for employers -- who themselves should be considered a "protected class" given the battering they receive from the federal government....»
The good news is that science evidence has made it quite clear that the human contribution to a possible global warming is minor; in fact it cannot even be identified in the data record. The bad news is that the media and politicians pay no attention whatsoever to the science ...»
The NRA president's solution to school massacres won't work, but for a reason that will make gun control advocates apoplectic -- namely, it doesn't go far enough....»
For reasons that most of us in the American Thinker community and observers such as Thomas Sowell find inexplicable, the Republicans simply will not make the budget case in public. ...»
Obama's State Dept. Re-assigns Wrong Doers NO ONE HELD ACCOUNTABLE
Did MTP Host David Gregory Break Gun Laws On Live TV?
Legal Gun Owners made public online and on N.Y.. newspaper
Conservative members of the House dealt a stunning defeat to the Republican leadership on Thursday night, forcing Speaker John Boehner to cancel a vote on his "Plan B" tax-increase proposal.
Like millions of other young men of his generation, he fought for his country against the forces of evil. In Ted's case, it was against the Japanese whose unprovoked attack on the US Navy at Pearl Harbor brought the U.S., and Ted, into the struggle.
An FBI official said Peltier "approached these two agents as they lay on the ground, wounded and disabled," and "then shot both agents at point-blank range."
Santa, please, please, please strangle the idiotic fantasy that Americans buying a bunch of junk (or gift cards for after-Christmas purchases of junk) will "save" the imploding U.S. economy.
In Washington, an annual charity concert known as "Christmas in Washington" was held. For 30 years the event has been attended by the first family. The main performer was South Korean rap star Park Jae-sang, known as "Psy."
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
A Norfolk, Conn. Islamic Center got the Dept. of Justice to strongarm the city when the property they bought for a community center in a AAA residential neighborhood was rejected by the zoning commission.
Police Officer Paul Fields viewed the directive to attend an Islamic proselytizing event as "an unlawful order, as it is in direct conflict with my personal religious convictions, as well as to be conscience shocking."
CAIR, who bills themselves as a voice of moderation and a defender of human rights, has joined forces with a virulently anti-Semitic, radical Islamist who is banned from entering the U.S. in announcing a movie about Mohammed. The film's price tag is reported to be $1 billion.
Imam Shakir Zaid stated that the Islamic state has a responsibility to wage jihad against non-Muslim states. "There's no political will" to use the vast weapons caches against "the enemies of Islam," he criticized. MORE...
"The Sons of Pigs and Apes": Muslim Antisemitism and the Conspiracy of Silence
by Neil J. Kressel
This startling book shows how the Muslim world has resurrected almost every diatribe that has been produced against the Jews, and how it has introduced many homegrown and novel modes of attack. Kressel finds that much bigotry comes from the highest levels of religious and political leadership. This growing epidemic of hate has been largely ignored or downplayed by the West. However, Kressel argues that Muslim anti-Semitism provides an acid test of the seriousness of Western liberalism.
Embed RadicalIslam.org's News Scroller into Your Website or Blog
Help us spread the word about the threat of radical Islam. Click on this link for simple directions on how RadicalIslam.org's constantly updated news scroller can become part of your site.
U-Report!
RadicalIslam.org invites you to write to us to report issues concerning radical Islam in your area. Let us know about attempts by Muslims to impose Islamic law in your community, report about radical Muslim demonstrations or activities on your college campus or in your neighborhood.
If you are a Muslim, send us details about any radical literature or sermons in your mosque.
Send us all the details. After being reviewed, your story may be published on RadicalIslam.org
Posted by Daniel Greenfield @ the Sultan Knish blog
Spain has begun deportation proceedings against Imran Firasat, a Christian refugee from Pakistan, for making a documentary about Mohammed and thereby threatening the national security of Spain. If Firasat is deported back to Pakistan, he will face the death penalty proving that it's a short step from the Spanish Inquisition to the Pakistani Inquisition.
The United States has a man sitting in prison for making another blasphemous movie, which the government spent weeks blaming for worldwide attacks on American embassies. And he isn't the first man persecuted or prosecuted for offending Islam. Offending Islam has become a national security issue involving all levels of government.
When Bubba the Love Sponge, a Tampa DJ, proposed to burn a Koran, the commander of the Afghanistan war contacted his girlfriend, who would later be stalked by Petraeus' girlfriend, to contact the Mayor of Tampa to keep Bubba from burning a Koran. Instead of explaining how the American system works to the Lebanese temptress and her four-star general, the mayor wrote back that the city was working on it.
The Benghazi Report and the Diplomatic Security Funding Cycle
December 27, 2012
Stratfor
By Scott Stewart Vice President of Analysis
On Dec. 18, the U.S. State Department's Accountability Review Board released an unclassified version of its investigation into the Sept. 12 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed in the attack, so the report was widely anticipated by the public and by government officials alike.
Four senior State Department officials have been reassigned to other duties since the report's release. Among them were the assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security; two of his deputy assistant secretaries, including the director of the Diplomatic Security Service, the department's most senior special agent; and the deputy assistant secretary responsible for Libya in the State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.
The highly critical report and the subsequent personnel reassignments are not simply a low watermark for the State Department; rather, the events following the attack signify another phase in the diplomatic security funding cycle. The new phase will bring about a financial windfall for the State Department security budgets, but increased funding alone will not prevent future attacks from occurring. After all, plenty of attacks have occurred following similar State Department budgetary allocations in the past. Other important factors therefore must be addressed.
Predictable Inquiries
The cycle by which diplomatic security is funded begins as officials gradually cut spending on diplomatic security programs. Then, when major security failures inevitably beset those programs, resultant public outrage compels officials to create a panel to investigate those failures.
The first of these panels dates back to the mid-1980s, following attacks against U.S. facilities in Beirut and Kuwait and the systematic bugging of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. These security lapses led to the formation of the Secretary of State's Advisory Panel on Overseas Security, chaired by former Deputy CIA Director Adm. Bobby Inman. The law that passed in the wake of the Inman Commission came to be known as the Omnibus Diplomatic Security and Antiterrorism Act of 1986, which requires that an accountability review board be convened following major security incidents.
Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birthright of an American. The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people.â€� â€"Tenche Coxe
DICK ACT of 1902... CAN'T BE REPEALED (GUN CONTROL FORBIDDEN) - Protection Against Tyrannical Government
DICK ACT of 1902 . . . CAN'T BE REPEALED (GUN CONTROL FORBIDDEN) The Trump Card Enacted by the Congress Further Asserting the Second Amendment as Untouchable The Dick Act of 1902 also known as the Efficiency of Militia Bill H.R. 11654, of June 28, 1902 invalidates all so-called gun-control laws. It also divides the militia into three distinct and separate entities.
The three classes H.R. 11654 provides for are the organized militia, henceforth known as the National Guard of the State, Territory and District of Columbia, the unorganized militia and the regular army. The militia encompasses every able-bodied male between the ages of 18 and 45. All members of the unorganized militia have the absolute personal right and 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms of any type, and as many as they can afford to buy.
The Dick Act of 1902 cannot be repealed; to do so would violate bills of attainder and ex post facto laws which would be yet another gross violation of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The President of the United States has zero authority without violating the Constitution to call the National Guard to serve outside of their State borders.
The National Guard Militia can only be required by the National Government for limited purposes specified in the Constitution (to uphold the laws of the Union; to suppress insurrection and repel invasion). These are the only purposes for which the General Government can call upon the National Guard.
Attorney General Wickersham advised President Taft, “the Organized Militia (the National Guard) can not be employed for offensive warfare outside the limits of the United States. �
The Honorable William Gordon, in a speech to the House on Thursday, October 4, 1917, proved that the action of President Wilson inl that he felt Wilson ought to have been impeached.
During the war with England an attempt was made by Congress to pass a bill authorizing the president to draft 100,000 men between the ages of 18 and 45 to invade enemy territory, Canada. The bill was defeated in the House by Daniel Webster on the precise point that Congress had no such power over the militia as to authorize it to empower the President to draft them into the regular army and send them out of the country.
The fact is that the President has no constitutional right, under any circumstances, to draft men from the militia to fight outside the borders of the USA, and not even beyond the borders of their respective states. Today, we have a constitutional LAW which still stands in waiting for the legislators to obey the Constitution which they swore an oath to uphold.
Charles Hughes of the American Bar Association (ABA) made a speech which is contained in the Appendix to Congressional Record, House, September 10, 1917, pages 6836-6840 which states: “The militia, within the meaning of these provisions of the Constitution is distinct from the Army of the United States.� In these pages we also find a statement made by Daniel Webster, “that the great principle of the Constitution on that subject is that the militia is the militia of the States and of the General Government; and thus being the militia of the States, there is no part of the Constitution worded with greater care and with more scrupulous jealousy than that which grants and limits the power of Congress over it. �
“This limitation upon the power to raise and support armies clearly establishes the intent and purpose of the framers of the Constitution to limit the power to raise and maintain a standing army to voluntary enlistment, because if the unlimited power to draft and conscript was intended to be conferred, it would have been a useless and puerile thing to limit the use of money for that purpose. Conscripted armies can be paid, but they are not required to be, and if it had been intended to confer the extraordinary power to draft the bodies of citizens and send them out of the country in direct conflict with the limitation upon the use of the militia imposed by the same section and article, certainly some restriction or limitation would have been imposed to restrain the unlimited use of such power. �
The Honorable William Gordon
More Info With over 300 Million guns in the United States, the federal CORPORATE government (federal gov't defined as corporation under 28 U.S.C. Section 3002 (15) and the states are subdivisions of the corporation, 28 U.S.C. Section 3002 (10), cannot ban arms or stop people from defending themselves against a tyrannical government. I read somewhere that just the State of North Carolina can call up 20-30 divisions of unorganized militia (would be about 200,000-300,000 armed North Carolinians) on a moment's notice. Imagine the State of Texas or Oklahoma if that's the case?
Amazingly, even if the US tries to ban all arms through backdoor measures like domestic violence laws (Violence Against Women Act, 18 U.S.C. Section 922 (g)) or through an unconstitutional U.N. declaration adopted by our current Marxist unconstitutional Congress, no treaty can supercede the Constitution:
"This [Supreme] Court has regularly and uniformly recognized the supremacy of the Constitution over a treaty." - Reid v. Covert, October 1956, 354 U.S. 1, at pg 17. This case involved the question: Does the NATO Status of Forces Agreement (treaty) supersede the U.S. Constitution? Keep reading. The Reid Court (U.S. Supreme Court) held in their Opinion that,
"... No agreement with a foreign nation can confer power on the Congress, or any other branch of government, which is free from the restraints of the Constitution. Article VI, the Supremacy clause of the Constitution declares, "This Constitution and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all the Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land...’
"There is nothing in this language which intimates that treaties and laws enacted pursuant to them do not have to comply with the provisions of the Constitution nor is there anything in the debates which accompanied the drafting and ratification which even suggest such a result...
"It would be manifestly contrary to the objectives of those who created the Constitution, as well as those who were responsible for the Bill of Rights â€" let alone alien to our entire constitutional history and tradition â€" to construe Article VI as permitting the United States to exercise power UNDER an international agreement, without observing constitutional prohibitions. (See: Elliot’s Debates 1836 ed. â€" pgs 500-519).
"In effect, such construction would permit amendment of that document in a manner not sanctioned by Article V. The prohibitions of the Constitution were designed to apply to all branches of the National Government and they cannot be nullified by the Executive or by the Executive and Senate combined."
Did you understand what the Supreme Court said here? No Executive Order, Presidential Directive, Executive Agreement, no NAFTA, GATT/WTO agreement/treaty, passed by ANYONE, can supersede the Constitution. FACT. No question!
At this point the Court paused to quote from another of their Opinions; Geofroy v. Riggs, 133 U.S. 258 at pg. 267 where the Court held at that time that,
"The treaty power as expressed in the Constitution, is in terms unlimited except by those restraints which are found in that instrument against the action of the government or of its departments and those arising from the nature of the government itself and of that of the States. It would not be contended that it extends so far as to authorize what the Constitution forbids, or a change in the character of the government, or a change in the character of the States, or a cession of any portion of the territory of the latter without its consent." Assessing the GATT/WTO parasitic organism in light of this part of the Opinion, we see that it cannot attach itself to its host (our Republic or States) in the fashion the traitors in our government wish, without our acquiescing to it.
The Reid Court continues with its Opinion:
"This Court has also repeatedly taken the position that an Act of Congress, which MUST comply with the Constitution, is on full parity with a treaty, the statute to the extent of conflict, renders the treaty null. It would be completely anomalous to say that a treaty need not comply with the Constitution when such an agreement can be overridden by a statute that must conform to that instrument." The U.S. Supreme court could not have made it more clear : TREATIES DO NOT OVERRIDE THE CONSTITUTION, AND CANNOT, IN ANY FASHION, AMEND IT !!! CASE CLOSED.
1776 I pledge allegiance to the flag, of the 1776 constitution, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, Indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for All!
We the People of the Republic are the Resistance to NO Democracy the answer to NOW democracy is 1776.
Have you ever heard of the “Dick Act of 1902?â€� More properly known as the “Efficiency of Militia Bill H.R. 11654″. Oddly enough it is not available online from government sources, only a “catalog pageâ€� found at The Library of Congress . The Dick Act’s most quoted synopsis is: The Dick Act of 1902 also known as the Efficiency of Militia Bill H.R. 11654, of June 28, 1902 invalidates all so-called gun-control laws. It also divides the militia into three distinct and separate entities. The three classes H.R. 11654 provides for are the organized militia, henceforth known as the National Guard of the State, Territory and District of Columbia, the unorganized militia and the regular army. The militia encompasses every able-bodied male between the ages of 18 and 45. All members of the unorganized militia have the absolute personal right and 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms of any type, and as many as they can afford to buy. The Dick Act of 1902 cannot be repealed; to do so would violate bills of attainder and ex post facto laws which would be yet another gross violation of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The President of the United States has zero authority without violating the Constitution to call the National Guard to serve outside of their State borders. I find it hilarious that the bill introduced to fund the National Guard’s annual exercise also provides for the unorganized militia (you and me) to own whatever we wish in the way of weaponry “for the militiaâ€�. Just another conveniently ignored facet of living in a “Republicâ€� that the modern day politicians try to make us believe is a democracy. We the people hold the power. Exercise your power, vote to keep your guns and your freedom. Vote Republican. The Pennsylvania Gazette, Feb. 20, 1788 once published the following: “Who are the militia? If not ourselves? Is it feared, then, that we shall turn our arms each man gainst his own bosom. Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birthright of an American. The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people.â€� â€"Tenche Coxe, Penn Gazette I couldn’t agree more. What about you?
What is EPA Chief Lisa Jackson hiding?
By: Audrey Hudson
12/26/2012
Lisa Jackson is the boss at one of the most contentious government agencies in the Obama administration and is responsible for numerous controversial actions that will have a significant financial effect on American consumers: the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
So it's no wonder Congress is miffed to discover that her decision-making process on key issues was conducted in the most secretive manner Washington has ever devised-under an alias.
Jackson's secret identity email account name is "Richard Windsor." The name is part family dog (Richard) and part hometown (East Windsor, N.J.), and it turns out there are at least 12,000 recently discovered but as yet undisclosed emails using her government-approved pseudonym that has prompted two congressional inquiries and an inspector's general (IG) investigation.
"Our objective is to determine whether EPA follows applicable laws and regulations when using private and alias email accounts to conduct official business," said the IG's notice last week announcing the audit.
Meanwhile, the congressional panels want to know how the use of an alias affects transparency-a practice that President Barack Obama pledged to uphold to the highest standard when he was first elected to that office.
"Over the past two years, the Energy and Commerce Committee initiated a number of oversight inquiries seeking information and documents relating to actions and policy decisions at the Environmental Protection Agency, including regulatory actions and major rulemakings that required your review or approval," Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) said in a Dec. 13 letter to Jackson.
"We recognize the utility of a secondary, internal email account for the conduct of agency business. We seek to understand whether conducting business with an alias has in any way affected the transparency of the agency's activities ..." the letter said.
"The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people." This fervent hope was expressed in 1788 by Continental Congressman Tench Coxe of Pennsylvania. (1)
During the more than 200 years since ratification of the United States Constitution, no God given right has resisted a more determined opposition than the right to keep and bear arms. Gun owners have been threatened with fines and imprisonment for wishing to defend family and property. In Connecticut, law abiding Americans were rendered defenseless by state statute, their slaughter knowingly and deliberately facilitated by politicians interested only in the implementation of an anti-gun agenda.
The Sandy Hook killings have predictably prompted calls to ban "assault weapons;" the firearms with which the American people can most effectively defend life and liberty. ... Continue Reading:Americans will never surrender their 2nd Amendment rights
Fifty years later, veterans still suffer rebound effects from inhabiting thick jungles during one of America's most brutal wars. "Inside the Vietnam War," airs tonite, December 28 at 8 p.m., in a special encore presentation on the National Geographic Channel. An outstanding memorial tribute by USA TODAY it features individual interviews of veterans from all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Marine Security Guard, Bill Newell stood post at the US Embassy in Saigon on April 29, 1975, when he got the news that two of his fellow Marines became the last Americans to die in that terrible war. Charlie McMahon and Darwin Judge were killed by rocket fire as they defended the Saigon airport. Newell evacuated the next day in the next to last US helicopter lifting off of the Embassy roof. An iconic photograph of people trying to grab onto the final copter out of Saigon lives in the hearts and ... Continue Reading:Forty years later, Vietnam remembered by the soldiers
In retaliation against the New York newspaper � the Journal News � that published the addresses of those pistol permit holders in two of the state�s counties, a blogger has created a map pinpointing the addresses of the newspaper�s employees. See the full-sized version of the map HERE.
With time running out for Congress to strike a deal and avert the so-called �fiscal cliff� before the first day of 2013, it may be good to prepare for the consequences of a failure. Arm yourself with the hard financial data on what's coming our wayHERE.
The average number of people seeking unemployment benefits over the past month fell to the lowest level since March 2008, a sign that the job market is healing. However, if you look deeper into the numbers you will see there is a catch. Get the whole story on the allegedly positive employment dataHERE.
While CNN�s Piers Morgan is a well known critic of America�s Second Amendment, he has now ventured into a new campaign to reform another document critical in the development of western civilization: the Bible. Watch Morgan's very surprising Christmas Eve commentsHERE.
On Tuesday, a group of surveillance cameras captured the power of a tornado as it tore through a Walgreens parking lot in Mobile, Alabama. The swirling wind moved vehicles, blew out windows and reportedly sounded like �a washing machine full of rocks.� Witness the power of Mother Nature on display from several anglesHERE.
The video attached to this story was posted in September, but it�s just now starting to go viral. It�s titled �Whirled Beat" and features a 10-year-old boy drumming a washing machine. Yes, it�s a young boy using a washing machine as a drum. And, it is incredible. Watch itHERE.
As the crew on MSNBC�s �The Cycle� discussed what they did over the Christmas holiday on Wednesday, co-host Tour� surprised his colleagues when he revealed that he refuses to �lie� to his children and tell them that Santa Claus is real. Watch the segment and see if you agree with Tour� HERE.
Most accountants and financial planners will tell you "no." There�s a 100% legal way to hide both money and income from the government. You never have to report this secret source of income, and you never have to pay taxes.
Not a fan of corny puns? Then we suggest you look at another story. That�s because this one links to an item about a German shoe company that has created a new pair of shoes targeting atheists. In other words, Atheists now have the chance to buy some soles. See the shoes some are calling clever while others are finding them offensiveHERE.
Dec 27, 2012 01:30 pm Click here for Part 1 Each December I gaze into my crystal ball and predict what I believe will be the top 10 stories of the coming year. I almost never get these right but they're fun to speculate about nevertheless. A year from now we'll take a look back and see how well I [...]
Video: No Evidence Of Voter Fraud? Except In NY, NJ, MD And MASS!
Dec 27, 2012 01:25 pm
The Democrats-especially Eric Holder-love to tell us there is little if any voter fraud. Well, if you don't include the recent voter fraud in New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Massachusetts! Obama did win the election, right? Maybe... Related posts: Obama, Holder Push For Massive Voter Fraud Chaim Ben Pesach of the Jewish Task Force points [...]
Video: Col. David Hunt: Obama's Benghazi Accountability Report Is "Crap"
Dec 27, 2012 01:20 pm
Obama's 39-page Benghazi Accountability Report is "crap" according to retired Colonel David Hunt. Obama wants America to believe we couldn't have gone into Benghazi to save the four Americans murdered by the al-Qaeda-linked terrorists? The attack took place over eight hours. Related posts: Obama's 'Benghazi Accountability Report' A Sham Part 1 of Western Journalism's analysis [...]
Americans Will Never Surrender Their Second Amendment Rights
Dec 27, 2012 01:15 pm "The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people." This fervent hope was expressed in 1788 by Continental Congressman Tench Coxe of Pennsylvania. During the more than 200 years since [...]
Video: Flashback: Pres. Clinton Asks For $60 Million For Cops In Schools
Dec 27, 2012 01:10 pm The Left mocked NRA president Wayne LaPierre call for armed police officers in schools, but the Left's patron saint, Bill Clinton called for the exact same thing in 2000! Related posts: Bill & Hillary Clinton Are Moderates Next To Obama? Don't Fall For It! In September, President Bill Clinton, as the keynote speaker at... Surreal: [...]
Dec 27, 2012 01:05 pm It's official. President Obama wants to reinstate the so-called "assault weapons ban" which had a largely unsuccessful run from 1994 to 2004. And in Nevada, the chair of the state senate Judiciary Committee, Tick Segerbloom, says he's going to introduce a similar bill as "a starting point for discussion", whatever that means. Folks on NBC [...]
Wild Bill tells us how to turn around America-or more pointedly, how to resuscitate America-after Barack Hussein Obama has destroyed our economy, our foreign policy, and our country's moral foundations. Related posts: Radical Left Begins To Turn On Their Messiah, Obama (Editor's note: This video contains some strong language. Viewer discretion... Two Different Visions For [...]
Feminist Agenda Versus The True Fight For Women's Rights
Dec 27, 2012 12:55 pm On a cold winter night, a public bus sped through the dark streets of New Delhi, India. Curiously, the bus passed through several checkpoints without stopping at any of them including those guarded by the police. Unknown to the outsiders, a grave crime was taking place on the bus. Six men used iron bars to [...]
UK Automaker Fires Chaplain To Appease Non-Christians
Dec 27, 2012 12:50 pm After spending the past decade guiding and counseling employees of luxury car manufacturer Bentley, a Christian chaplain was unceremoniously fired in an apparent attempt to avoid offending those of other faiths. To add insult to the dismissal, Bentley let the reverend go just days before Christmas. "It is just beyond belief," the chaplain said, explaining [...]
Dec 27, 2012 12:45 pm It's hard to see clearly when you are crying. And you don't want to operate heavy machinery, drive, or vote on major legislation until you can see clearly. We mourn the tragic loss of life that occurred at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. What captured our attention most was the fact that most [...]
U.S. Treasury, Trying To Duck Borrowing Limit, Will Stop Investing In Gov't Retirement Funds
Dec 27, 2012 12:40 pm WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. Treasury Department will begin taking steps on Friday to delay hitting the government's $16.4 trillion borrowing limit on Dec. 31. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in a letter Wednesday to congressional leaders that the department will use accounting measures to save approximately $200 billion. That could keep the government from [...]
Government Dependents Outnumber Those With Private Sector Jobs In 11 U.S. States
Dec 27, 2012 12:35 pm America is rapidly becoming a nation of takers. An increasing number of Americans expect the government to take care of them from the cradle to the grave, and they expect the government to dig into the pockets of others in order to pay for it all. This philosophy can be very seductive, but what happens [...]
Dec 27, 2012 12:30 pm WASHINGTON, Dec. 27 (UPI) - The U.S. Supreme Court has blocked Hobby Lobby's request for an emergency injunction to block contraceptive insurance coverage requirements. The court said Wednesday it won't decide the craft chain's case - along with Christian bookseller Mardel, both owned by the Green Family of Oklahoma City - before lower courts have [...]
Former President George H.W. Bush Admitted To Intensive Care
Dec 27, 2012 12:25 pm The Associated Press reports that former President George H.W. Bush, 88, has been admitted to the intensive-care unit at Methodist Hospital in Houston, following "a series of setbacks including a persistent fever." He's been battling bronchitis, but it appeared to be under control before his fever developed. The exact cause of the fever evidently remains [...]
This Chilling Economic Report Is Getting Passed Around By CEOs
Dec 27, 2012 12:20 pm Over an early-morning coffee with the chief executive of an FTSE 100 business last week, talk turned to the outlook for 2013. Where I had expected some guarded optimism, instead I heard a chilling analysis. The CEO said he had been reading a new paper from Boston Consulting Group headed " Ending the era of [...]
Obama Looks To Retain Upper Hand As Fiscal Talks Resume In Washington
Dec 27, 2012 12:15 pm President Obama will strive to retain the political upper hand in negotiations over deficit reduction when he returns to Washington Thursday morning. Obama had been in Hawaii with his family since Saturday but is scheduled to arrive back at the White House just before noon as the nation approaches the year-end fiscal cliff. There is [...]
"Well, the trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so." ~ Ronald Reagan
Leftist Proclaims: It's Time To Amend The Bible
[Video] Piers Morgan Scolds Pastor: It's Time To Amend The Bible
In an interview with evangelical pastor Rick Warren, Morgan asserted that the Bible, like the Constitution, is "basically inherently flawed" and that "it's time for an amendment to the Bible."
Hillary Disappears: Not Seen In Public In Days Weekly Standard
The day after the day after the shooting at a school in Newtown, Connecticut, State Department officials notified the press that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had fallen ill. "While suffering from a stomach virus, Secretary Clinton became dehydrated and fainted, sustaining a concussion," deputy assistant secretary Philippe Reines said in a statement to the press.
Massacres: Who Started the Fire? By Bradlee Dean RightSideNews.com
As we reflect upon massacres such as Sandy Hook, Aurora, Colorado, the Sikh Temple in Wisconsin, Tucson, Arizona, and Columbine, we cannot help but see the similarities: conflicting news reports on what happened, who did the killing, and the number of shooters. Eyewitnesses in all of these massacres said there were more shooters than the media maintains, indicating the shooting was coordinated and planned.
Obama Strikes Back Against Sensible Immigration Policy
ICE Scraps 287(G) Program That Allowed Local Police to Enforce Immigration Law By Susan Jones CNSNews.com
Amid Hispanic calls for immigration leniency, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency is scrapping a program that allowed specially trained state and local law enforcement officers to enforce federal immigration law.
Allah Akbar and Ho Ho Ho By Daniel Greenfield CanadaFreePress.com
"A flag bearing a crescent and star flies from a flagpole in front of the World Trade Center, next to a Christmas tree and a menorah."~ New York Times, 1997
In 1997, Mohammed T. Mehdi, the head of the Arab-American Committee and the National Council on Islamic Affairs, lobbied to have a crescent and star go up at the World Trade Center during the holiday season. His wish was granted, despite the fact that Mehdi had been an adviser to Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman.
Radio Host Calls For Devil-Worship Watch List WorldNetDaily.com
Law-enforcement authorities should investigate whether Sandy Hook killer Adam Lanza is connected to any "radical devil worshiping sects" locally or online, suggested reporter and radio talk-show host Aaron Klein.
Afghan Policewoman Kills US Adviser In Kabul Associated Press/CNSNews.com
An Afghan policewoman walked into a high-security compound in Kabul Monday and killed an American contractor with a single bullet to the chest, the first such shooting by a woman in a spate of insider attacks by Afghans against their foreign allies.
No Rest For The Weary In The New Year We Have Coming
Farmers Hustle to Avoid Fiscal Cliff Blowback Thomson/Reuters/NewsMax.com
As the United States inches closer toward the "fiscal cliff," Iowa farmer Brian Van Meetern is hurriedly selling his grain before year's end and buying a new $50,000 sprayer for his farm.
The Chicago Tribune has announced that starting in January, the Chicago-based paper and several other Tribune-owned papers will be dropping the Associated Press as its chief wire service.
Along with the Chicago paper, six other Tribune-owned papers will also be dropping the AP. Those papers are the Baltimore Sun; the Orlando Sentinel; the South Florida Sun-Sentinel; the Hartford Courant; the Morning Call of Allentown, Pennsylvania; and the Daily Press of Newport News, Virginia.
Dianne Feinstein has announced that she will introduce sweeping gun control legislation in the Senate. Under her bill, countless standard handguns apparently would now be banned, and for the first time a federal register that may include many millions of gun owners, fingerprinted and photographed, would be created. This is how Feinstein describes her proposal on her web site:
Following is a summary of the 2013 legislation:
Bans the sale, transfer, importation, or manufacturing of:
* 120 specifically-named firearms
* Certain other semiautomatic rifles, handguns, shotguns that can accept a detachable magazine and have one military characteristic
* Semiautomatic rifles and handguns with a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10 rounds
* Strengthens the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban and various state bans by: - Moving from a 2-characteristic test to a 1-characteristic test - Eliminating the easy-to-remove bayonet mounts and flash suppressors from the characteristics test - Banning firearms with "thumbhole stocks" and "bullet buttons" to address attempts to "work around" prior bans
* Bans large-capacity ammunition feeding devices capable of accepting more than 10 rounds.
* Protects legitimate hunters and the rights of existing gun owners by: - Grandfathering weapons legally possessed on the date of enactment - Exempting over 900 specifically-named weapons used for hunting or sporting purposes and - Exempting antique, manually-operated, and permanently disabled weapons
*Requires that grandfathered weapons be registered under the National Firearms Act, to include:
- Background check of owner and any transferee; - Type and serial number of the firearm; - Positive identification, including photograph and fingerprint; - Certification from local law enforcement of identity and that possession would not violate State or local law; and - Dedicated funding for ATF to implement registration
There is a great deal to be said about this, and much that is still not known, such as the identification of the 120 firearms that are to be specifically banned, or the 900 that are to be exempted. But here are a few preliminary comments:
1) I don't think Feinstein's legislation can pass the Senate, let alone the House. It will be poison to red-state Democratic Senators. Perhaps a scaled-down version can get through the Senate, however. In that case, it will never get through the House. If the Democrats wanted to do something to boost the standing of John Boehner and his colleagues in the House with conservatives, they couldn't come up with anything much better than Feinstein's proposal.
2) Liberals have wanted for decades to create a nationwide database of guns and gun owners. There is at present no federal system for registration of ordinary firearms. While Feinstein's plan doesn't get them all the way there, it would create a registration system that may cover many millions of guns and gun owners, depending on how the ambiguity noted below is resolved. The Democrats could work from there to establish a universal registration system in the years to come.
3) Based on Feinstein's description, it is hard to tell how her proposal would affect standard semiautomatic handguns. Handguns with a "fixed magazine" holding more than ten bullets would be banned. That is dumb, but there are very few handguns with fixed magazines. (I don't believe I have ever seen one.) Standard semiautomatics have detachable magazines. However, Feinstein's ban also applies to "large-capacity ammunition feeding devices capable of accepting more than 10 rounds." That sounds like it would cover detachable magazines. The large majority of standard, full-sized semiautomatic pistols have magazines that hold more than ten rounds. Does that mean that all such weapons would be included among those that are grandfathered under the bill? If so, countless millions of guns and gun owners would need to be registered.
4) I own one such full-sized pistol, an Armalite AR-24 with a 16-round magazine. Under Feinstein's bill, would I would be required to register it, undergo a background check, and be photographed and finger-printed so that I can be enrolled on the federal register of gun owners? I can't tell from Feinstein's description. If so, I would have lots of company; most handgun owners, I am pretty certain, have at least one pistol equipped with a magazine that holds more than ten rounds.
5) The ban on handguns with magazines that hold more than ten bullets (assuming that is what is intended) is idiotic. If you want to shoot a lot of rounds in a short time, all you have to do is pre-load multiple magazines. People do this all the time.
6) Semiautomatic handguns with magazines that hold ten or fewer bullets are generally compact weapons, and often carry pieces. Small gun = small magazine = fewer bullets. Bigger handguns with bigger magazines are not as suitable for concealment and are not often carried. So the guns that would fall outside of Feinstein's legislation are the ones that are easy to conceal. A user can fire more than ten shots with such firearms simply by changing magazines, which takes a second or two.
For the reasons noted, some clarification is required before we can understand the full scope of Feinstein's proposal. It is hard to say, at this point, whether it is merely grandstanding by Feinstein that will soon be forgotten, or whether it represents the first shot in an all-out war against gun owners (i.e., red America) by the Democratic Party.
During an interview with Pastor Rick Warren, Piers Morgan proposed that we "amend the Bible." Morgan believes the Bible should be amended because it's out-of-date on the issues such as gay rights. Here is the exchange:
Morgan didn't spell out the process by which the Bible should be amended. Perhaps he wasn't using the word "amend" literally. We can always hope not, anyway.
The Bible isn't like the U.S. Constitution. It does not have the force of govenrment law behind it. If one ignores a particular prohibition or teaching - because it is "out-of-date" or, what is often the same thing, because one would rather not follow it - no government penalty attaches and no government enforcement mechanism comes into play (unless the law contains the same prohibition). But, of course, one assumes all other risks.
Towards the end of the exchange, Warren and Morgan agree that it's good to have the kind of discussion they just had. Morgan adds that the discussion should always be respectful. Why? Because "the moment it becomes disrespectful and discourteous and then rude and then poisonous, you never achieve anything."
But, as Peter Wehner notes, this is the same Piers Morgan who, during an interview, called Larry Pratt, the executive director of Gun Owners of America, "an unbelievably stupid man" who "shame[s] your country" and "doesn't give a damn about the gun murder rate in America."
If one is ever going to embellish significantly on the truth, a eulogy is probably the place to do it. But the embellishment should pertain solely to the deceased, not the eulogizer.
In his eulogy for Sen. Daniel Inouye, President Obama spoke in some detail about his favorite subject - himself. In doing so Obama claimed that "Danny Inouye was perhaps my earliest political inspiration." He explained that he learned how a democracy is supposed to work from watching Sen. Inouye cross-examine witnesses during the Senate Watergate hearings. Without that experience, Obama asserted, "I might never have considered a career in public service; I might not be standing here today."
Inouye was impressive during the Watergate hearings, to be sure. John Ehrlichman, one of the targets, dubbed him "Senator Ain't-no-way," as in ain't no way he's not coming after you hard.
But, as Patrick Brennan points out, Obama has written two autobiographies. In them, collectively, he mentions the late Hawaii Senator only once. And in that one mention, Obama compares Inouye to former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens(!) as an example of the Senate's collegial "dying breed."
Inouye also received no mention in the two leading biographies of Obama - David Remnick's and David Maraniss'. And Brennan found no referenes to Inouye in Obama's publicly reported speeches.
In Dreams from My Father, Obama does mention, in passing, watching the Watergate hearings as a boy during a family trip. But he doesn't suggest that these hearings marked the beginning of his political awareness or that they had any particular significance for him. The reference merely adds color: "We took Greyhound buses, mostly, and stayed at Howard Johnson's, and watched the Watergate hearings every night before going to bed."
No matter what the occasion, and no matter who is supposed to be the subject of praise, for Barack Obama the topic is always the same - Barack Obama. And when he discusses this topic, the truth is usually beside the point.
Reader John Lundstrom writes to add a related note to John Hinderaker's post "Our history, andi theirs." He writes:
I've been a devoted reader of Power line for years and was most interested in your post. I was gratified to see your reference to the glorious First Minnesota and your citing of Wayne Jorgenson's excellent Every Man Did His Duty.
Knowing of your association with Minnesota, I take the liberty to note another Minnesota regiment whose men, I believe, also did their duty. This year the Minnesota Historical Society published my book One Drop in a Sea of Blue: The Liberators of the Ninth Minnesota. It deals with the Ninth's experiences in three largely unknown stories of the Civil War.
The first concerns an incident in Missouri in November 1863 where 38 men of the Ninth responded to the plea of an escaped slave and held a train at gunpoint to reunite the man with his family who were being rushed out of state to be sold. The men were arrested, confined and charged with mutiny, but the case was later dropped.
The rest of the book follows the men and their regiment in the disastrous defeat at Brice's Crossroads (June 1864) and the horrific experiences of the 235 Minnesotans who were captured there and sent to Andersonville and other prisons. Over 60 percent of them died in Rebel captivity or shortly thereafter.
One of the 38 "Liberators" (as I call them in the book) was my great-great uncle, who died in November 1864 in the prison camp at Florence. He is the reason why I wrote the book. A scholar who read the manuscript for me was a retired historian with the state of Missouri, and he remarked that this was the first Civil War book he had ever read where the Radical Republicans were actually the heroes.
Sincerely, John B. Lundstrom Curator Emeritus of History, Milwaukee Public Museum
I've struggled with my weight ever since I quit smoking thirty years ago, going up and down 30 pounds several times. All I can tell you is that it's a helluva lot easier going up than it is coming down, though you probably already knew that.
In his capacity as a general service operation, Glenn Reynolds has occasionally cited science writer Gary Taubes and linked to his book Why We Get Fat. Taubes recommends a low-carb/no-carb diet, as some of the popular diet books apparently do, both for reasons of weight control and overall health.
Taubes's first book on diet issues was Good Calories, Bad Calories. He returned to the subject in Why We Get Fat to condense his survey of the research and focus on obesity.
The second book is the place to begin if you want to give his approach a try. I'm on Day 25 and can only report that, as with smoking, the cravings mostly went away after 14 days. It is nevertheless a challenge. I'm shooting for a 60-day trial period and will share the results with anyone who might be interested.
Taubes first made a splash with his 2002 New York Times Magazine cover story "What If It's All Been a Big Fat Lie?" The cover story displays his heterodoxy and bravado, challenging the medical establishment and government authorities with gusto. You can find more along the same lines in his 2007 New York Times Magazine article "Do We Really Know What Makes Us Healthy?"
Taubes is a formidable science writer. His approach is serious and methodical, taking account of the changing nature of the conventional wisdom and the studies that have supported it. The approach is occasionally boring, although Taubes is an excellent writer with a flair for interesting anecdotes that illustrate his thesis.
In chapter one of Good Calories, Bad Calories for example, he relates President Eisenhower's struggle with a low-fat diet following his first heart attack at the age of 64 in 1955. Eisenhower rigorously followed a low-fat dietary regime to decrease his cholesterol. As his cholesterol continued to increase, however, Eisenhower became so agitated and angry (annoyed in part by the diet itself) that his physician lied to him about the results.
Where does Taubes come up with a story like that? His footnotes cite Clarence Lasby's 1997 book Eisenhower's Heart Attack: How Ike Beat Heart Disease and Held On To the Presidency, published by the University of Kansas Press. When Taubes can locate the intersection of diet and the presidency, I declare that he is a man after my own heart (no pun intended).
Taubes disputes the connection between dietary fat and high cholesterol. He challenges the thesis that dietary fat is detrimental to our health. He rejects a balanced diet. He advocates a high-fat diet. He opposes dieting. He doesn't object to exercise, but he asserts that it makes you hungry. It's almost funny. He is the dietary equivalent of politically incorrect.
I don't know the subject and don't know what Taubes might be leaving out. Interested readers might want to check out Gina Kolata's review of Taubes's first book or John Horgan's Scientific American post on Taubes.
Taubes is a sober writer. I don't think he is ever intentionally humorous in the two diet books. For the humorous take we go to Woody Allen, who gives us something like the condensed version of the Taubes doctrine in his great comedy Sleeper (clip below).
Thursday, December 27, 2012
To: Friends & Supporters
From: Gary L. Bauer
Too Late To Avoid The Fiscal Cliff?
President Obama cut short his Hawaiian Christmas vacation and returned to Washington, D.C., this afternoon in order to jumpstart negotiations aimed at avoiding massive across-the-board tax increases on January 1st. While so much of the focus has been on Speaker John Boehner, Barack Obama is president and his party controls the Senate.
Yesterday the GOP House leadership issued a joint statement noting that the House of Representatives has already passed legislation to avoid the fiscal cliff, and is now waiting for the Senate to act on that legislation.
At this late stage, timing alone could prevent a deal from coming together before December 31st. Nevertheless, news broke this afternoon that Speaker Boehner has reportedly called for the House to reconvene Sunday evening.
In addition to haggling over tax rates, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner threw a monkey wrench into the works yesterday. He sent a letter to Congress warning that the government would hit the debt limit on Monday -- not February or March as was previously reported.
Obama has repeatedly demanded that increasing the debt limit be part of any fiscal cliff deal, even going so far as to suggest that Congress completely surrender its authority over the debt ceiling. That has been a non-starter for congressional conservatives, who have insisted on addressing the debt ceiling separately.
Geithner's letter is an obvious attempt by the administration to ratchet up the pressure on House Republicans to cut a deal. The Wall Street Journal reported that "Treasury has known for months that the debt ceiling could be reached in December." It's these kinds of hardball tactics and moving goal posts that have made negotiations with the Obama White House virtually impossible.
Hagel Nomination In Jeopardy
There is growing speculation that former Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel's nomination to be Secretary of Defense may never happen. Lost in the headlines over the Christmas holiday was a report from National Journal that the White House is "considering other candidates" for the key cabinet post.
When Hagel emerged as a serious contender, conservative organizations and pro-Israel groups wasted no time in speaking out. Christians United for Israel, under the leadership of Pastor John Hagee, began organizing online opposition to Hagel's nomination. Bill Kristol's Emergency Committee for Israel launched a TV ad campaign in Washington, D.C.
Many Washington observers have been surprised by the White House's lack of defense for Hagel, who was widely reported to be Obama's top choice for the job. But at least with Susan Rice's failed bid for Secretary of State, Obama displayed a "show of insulted loyalty," as one Huffington Post blogger put it. There has been none of that for Hagel, lending credibility to the report that others are being considered.
Obama Administration Still Misleading On Benghazi
After a scathing report on the September 11th terrorist attack on our consulate in Benghazi, Libya, we were told that four top State Department officials resigned. Then a clarification was issued -- one official had resigned and three were disciplined.
But according to the New York Post, even that story -- just like the Obama Administration's original claims about the attack itself -- is not accurate.
The three "disciplined" officials were placed on administrative leave. In other words, they got a vacation and they are expected to return to their jobs soon.
The one official who reportedly resigned still remains on the State Department payroll. Evidently he only "resigned" a presidential appointment, and will continue to serve in another position. As the Post put it, he is essentially "switching desks." The statement that he resigned was technically accurate, but grossly misleading.
Of course none of this is news to the left-wing "mainstream media," but some members of Congress are furious. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, blasted the Obama Administration for continuing to mislead the American people. Here is an excerpt of her comments:
"If these reports are correct, they're pathetic examples of yet another ruse about the tragedy of Benghazi. State Department officials proclaimed to the world that heads would roll after the deception related to the deceitful video excuse and the non-existent spontaneous protest outside the consulate. Now we see that the discipline is a lie and all that has happened is the shuffling of the deck chairs."
Meanwhile, it's been nearly two weeks since anyone has seen Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. We were told she could not testify about Benghazi because of a concussion. She has missed several high profile events, including a press conference announcing John Kerry, her former Senate colleague, to be her successor as Secretary of State. Yet as The Weekly Standard notes, statements have gone out in her name recently, so just how serious is her condition?
Senate Republicans are keeping up the pressure on Clinton. Several GOP senators have said they would block a vote on Kerry's nomination until Clinton testifies about the Benghazi attack. Stay tuned.
Posted by Daniel Greenfield @ the Sultan Knish blog
Americans are in love with anything on wheels. This is the country of the Corvette and the Hog where driving fast is considered a national birthright despite the toll in lives and pollutants. And most of the rest of us have come to accept that.
We may shake our heads at the billions wasted on gasoline, on air fresheners and dashboard ornaments that could have been used to feed the starving children of the world. But when tragedy strikes it is important for us to set aside the political rhetoric and have a serious discussion about assault vehicles.
Let's talk about motorcycles.
Unlike cars, motorcycles have no practical purpose. No one commutes to work on a motorcycle. No one drives to pick up their children from soccer practice on a motorcycle. But for some people a motorcycle is a symbol of their masculinity and that symbol has become death on wheels.
Americans are in love with motorcycles. 9 percent of Americans own 11 million motorcycles as part of the 18 billion dollar motorcycle industry. Some Americans even own more than one motorcycle, even though one motorcycle is the most that any normal person could possibly need.
Motorcycle deaths have risen sharply in the last ten years and the motorcycle industry is to blame for preventing us from addressing this horrifying epidemic of highway death.
In 1994, there were 2,320 motorcycle deaths. In 2012 that number increased to 4,500 as the assault vehicles greased their wheels with the blood of innocent men, women and children.
1 in 7 US traffic deaths is now caused by the motorcycle. Or what we should properly rename the Assault Cycle. Unfortunately movies like Easy Rider glamorize motorcycle culture and the motorcycle industry preys on the vulnerable male psyche as riders chase after some escapist fantasy of personal autonomy.
Even as Barack Obama is indicating his intent to impose strict gun-control measures on U.S. citizens, he's giving weapon systems to terror groups and governments that have declared their intent to destroy our ally.
If Adam Lanza had declared his murderous intent in advance and Obama had supplied him with the gun, would he be any less culpable for Lanza's crime than he will be for the carnage certain to follow his arming of these extremists?
Has American Civil Liberties Union taken liberties with truth?
The ACLU's latest attempt to scare money out of the organization's supporters makes a lot of serious, frightening claims ... maybe even about people like you.
They probably didn't expect anyone to ask them to back up their outrageous charges.
If you find yourself out of step with Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama and what seems like a near majority of Republican members of Congress willing to compromise their principles, take heart.
Here's a representative whose willingness to take on the Democrats' sacred cows meant being targeted and outspent 12-to-1 ... who beat back the challenge anyway ... who refuses to join fellow Republicans who can't stand the heat ...
Did we mention this fighter with a titanium spine is a she?
If a leading evangelical Christian apologist has his way, his fellow Christians will be relating to Muslims in an entirely new way ... with intellectual rigor ... with the gospel ... and as a mission field.
In January, Senator Feinstein will introduce a bill to stop the sale, transfer, importation and manufacturing of military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition feeding devices. Stay informed ...(more)
Republican senators will refuse to confirm Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., as Secretary of State until the nation's current top diplomat, Hillary Clinton, testifies about her handling of the Benghazi terrorist attack ...(more)
On December 15, the day after the day after the shooting at a school in Newtown, Connecticut, State Department officials notified the press that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had fallen ill. "While suffering from a stomach virus, Secretary Clinton became dehydrated and fainted ...(more
A Year in Review: Obamacare in Pictures
As 2012 comes to a close, we take a look at the implications of one of the biggest policy decisions of the year. It is critically important for every American to understand the impact of Obamacare. The Heritage Foundation's updated "Obamacare in Pictures: Visualizing the Effects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" shows through charts and graphs Obamacare's far-reaching negative effects on all Americans.
Here are a few examples of what the chart series depicts:
Obamacare's cuts to Medicare. Obamacare cut $716 billion out of the Medicare program to pay for new spending in Obamacare. These cuts come from Medicare Advantage, hospice services, nursing homes, and more. Taking this money out of Medicare will have serious implications on seniors' ability to access care.
18 new taxes and penalties. Obamacare includes 18 new taxes and penalties that will cost Americans $836 billion by 2022. Many of these will fall heavily on the middle class, including the much debated individual mandate tax. Nearly 70 percent of those responsible for paying the individual mandate tax will have incomes below 400 percent of the federal poverty level.
Premiums continue to rise. One of the boldest promises President Obama made when advocating his health care law was that premiums would significantly drop for American families. Thus far, that hasn't happened. Premiums have increased by almost $2,000 for families with employer-sponsored coverage over the last two years.
The penalties for not providing government-issued health coverage keeps growing. 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.
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Budget policy in 2012 was characterized by deficit spending, major increases in the national debt, and a heated debate over the "fiscal cliff."
With just days left for President Obama and lawmakers in Congress to avert a major tax hike, sequestration, and other major policy changes, today we bring you a list of the top 10 facts on federal spending in 2012:
Four years of trillion-dollar-plus deficits. Fiscal year 2012 concluded with a $1.1 trillion deficit, marking the fourth year of trillion-dollar-plus deficits. Too much spending is the root cause of the federal government's deep and sustained deficits. At 23 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2012 and on track to rise further, federal spending is growing at a dangerous pace.
National debt hit $16 trillion. On September 4, the U.S. national debt hit the $16 trillion mark. We owe more on the national debt than the entire U.S. economy produced in goods and services in all of 2012. Sixteen trillion dollar bills stacked one on top of the other would measure more than 1 million miles high, which would reach to the moon and back more than twice.
The debt limit was raised by $1.2 trillion. On January 30, the federal government raised its debt limit from a staggering $15.194 trillion to an even bigger $16.394 trillion. This increase was the last one of three granted in the Budget Control Act of 2011, a result of that summer's debt ceiling negotiations, which allowed for a total debt limit increase of $2.1 trillion.
The $650 billion fiscal cliff distracted from the $48 trillion looming fiscal crisis. Much of 2012 was spent arguing over tax rates in the fiscal cliff debate while lawmakers ignored the much more dangerous looming fiscal crisis. As large and as major a concern as federal budget deficits are today, they stand in the shadow of $48 trillion in long-term unfunded obligations in Social Security and Medicare. Even with President Obama's originally proposed tax hikes in his budget, the federal debt would still rise by more than $7.7 trillion in the next 10 years.
Social Security ran a deficit for the second year in a row. According to the 2012 trustees report, Social Security spent $45 billion more in benefits in 2011 than it took in from its payroll tax. This deficit is in addition to a $49 billion gap in 2010 and an expected average annual gap of about $66 billion between 2012 and 2018. Social Security's deficits will balloon yet further. After adjusting for inflation, annual deficits will reach $95 billion in 2020 and $318.7 billion in 2030 before the trust fund runs out in 2033 and a 25 percent across-the-board benefit cut occurs.
Three years of spend-as-you-go policies without a federal budget. The last time both chambers of Congress agreed on a budget was on April 29, 2009. Since then, Congress has operated on a spend-as-you-go basis, characterized by incoherent, ad hoc budget procedures. The House passed budget resolutions each of the past two years, but the Senate failed to do its part.
The government spent nearly $30,000 per American household. The average American household's share of federal spending in 2012 was $29,691, or roughly two-thirds of median household income. The government collected $20,293 per household in taxes in 2012, resulting in a budget deficit of $9,398 per household in 2012.
Obamacare will spend $1.7 trillion over 10 years. After the Supreme Court decision on Obamacare, the Congressional Budget Office did an update of its scoring of the law. The result: Obamacare will spend $1.7 trillion over 10 years on its coverage expansion provisions alone, including a massive expansion of Medicaid and federal subsidies for the new health insurance exchanges. This means that Obamacare will increase federal health spending by 15 percent.
Social Security was the biggest federal spending program. In 1993, Social Security surpassed national defense as the largest federal spending category, and it remains first today. The top five biggest spending programs, in order, are 1) Social Security; 2) national defense; 3) Medicare; 4) Medicaid, CHIP, and other government health care; and 5) interest on the debt.
More than 40 percent of Americans are on some government program. According to Census Bureau data and Heritage Foundation calculations, 128.8 million people in America depend on a government program for basic (or not so basic) needs, such as rent, prescription drugs, and higher education.
It seems that no aspect of American life can escape government regulation. In the past year, regulators drafted rules that addressed everything from caloric intake to dishwasher efficiency.
Most of these rules increase the cost of living, others hinder job creation, and many erode freedom. Not all regulations are unwarranted, of course, but increasingly, the rules imposed by the government have less to do with health and safety and more to do with whether government or individuals get to make basic pocketbook and lifestyle decisions that affect them. And it is not just the regulators who are to blame. Congress writes laws that give unelected bureaucrats the broad powers they wield.
Today we bring you 10 of the worst regulations from 2012:
The EPA in February finalized strict new emissions standards for coal- and oil-fired electric utilities. The benefits are highly questionable, with the vast majority being unrelated to the emissions targeted by the regulation. The costs, however, are certain: an estimated $9.6 billion annually.
3.Fuel Efficiency Standards
In August, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in tandem with the Environmental Protection Agency, finalized fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks for model years 2017-2025. The rules require a whopping average fuel economy of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. Sticker prices will jump by hundreds of dollars.
4. New York's 16-Ounce Soda Limit
Not all regulations come from Washington. On September 13, at the behest of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the New York City Board of Health banned the sale of soda and other sweetened drinks in containers larger than 16 ounces.
5.Dishwasher Efficiency Standards
Regulators admit that these Department of Energy rules will do little to improve the environment. Rather, proponents claim they will save consumers money. But they will also increase the price of dishwashers, and only about one in six consumers will keep his or her dishwasher long enough to recoup the cost.
In April, the National Labor Relations Board issued new rules that shorten the time allowed for union-organizing elections to between 10 and 21 days. This leaves little time for employees to make a fully informed choice on unionizing, threatening to leave workers and management alike under unwanted union regimes.
8. Essential Benefits Rule
Under Obamacare, insurers in the individual and small group markets will be forced to cover services that the government deems to be essential. Published on November 26, the HHS list of very broad benefits has created enormous uncertainty about the extent of essential treatment.
9. Electronic Data Recorder Mandate
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on December 13 issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to mandate installation of electronic data recorders, popularly known as "black boxes," in most light vehicles starting in 2014. The government mandate understandably spooks privacy advocates.
10. "Simplified" Mortgage Disclosure and Servicing Rules
In July, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released its proposal for a more "consumer friendly" mortgage process, with a stated goal of simplifying home loans. The rules run an astonishing 1,099 pages. Then, one month later, the bureau proposed more than 560 pages of rules for mortgage servicing.
No End in Sight
As busy as regulators were in 2012, do not look for them to slow down in the new year. We'll continue to document the real-life impact with our ongoing Tales of the Red Tape series on The Foundry.
DECEMBER 26, 2012
Judge Robert Bork's Lasting Legacy
by Paul Larkin, Senior Legal Fellow
The world saw Judge Robert H. Bork (Mar. 1, 1927-Dec. 19, 2012), the public figure. He was in the public eye as a solicitor general, a circuit judge, and (most famously) as a nominee to the Supreme Court. Those who knew him as a Yale Law School professor, an author, and a legal commentator would have had a deep appreciation of the man as a keen intellect with an ever-inquisitive mind.
But I was luckier than even those people were, for I had the profound good fortune to clerk for Judge Bork when he sat on the appellate court.
Most people think that appellate judges spend their time ruminating about esoteric legal issues in a case, without giving much thought to how their rulings will affect the individuals involved. That may be true of some judges, but it wasn't true of Judge Bork.
I remember a contract case that I worked on as a law clerk. It raised pretty much every legal issue that we had covered in the course on contracts that every first year law student takes. Indeed, the case read like a final exam on contract law.
It was, in sum, the kind of case least likely to garner any public interest at all. Yet Judge Bork approached it as though it raised issues of tremendous public import. I remember discussing the case with Judge Bork. The night before the parties presented their oral arguments in court, Judge Bork walked into my office to discuss it. He asked not just about what my research had found, but also for my opinion on the case-not something every judge is interested in hearing from a mere clerk.
I told him that I was 90 percent certain that one of the parties was right on every issue. "Ninety percent is not good enough," he responded. He went on to explain that he wanted to be certain about what to do in the case, and that he wanted to get it right because what he did affected people.
Judge Bork never viewed cases as just an opportunity for him to issue pronouncements about the law. He believed that his job was to decide each particular case-and to decide it correctly. Opinions were just a way to explain why a judge cast a vote one way or another.
My entire clerkship with Judge Bork was an experience that I've come to treasure more and more as it fades further and further into the past. Others who clerked for him feel the same way. Judge Bork always listened respectfully to our ideas and recommendations. He engaged us in debate as though we were faculty colleagues-and always with the goal of finding the right answer to any and every legal issue.
Having had the privilege of knowing Judge Bork as a person, his death resonates deeply. And it hurts. The legal and conservative communities may have lost a standard bearer today. But a small group of us also lost a person whom the public never had the opportunity to know. And we will miss him more than the public-not knowing him-can possibly imagine.
Last week, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order rebuking the Obama Administration in a lawsuit filed by Wheaton College and Belmont Abbey College. The two universities had challenged the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) anti-conscience mandate requiring them to fund health care plans for their employees that provide abortion-inducing drugs, contraception, and sterilization - or else pay substantial penalties.
The Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation
Founded in 1973, The Heritage Foundation is the nation's most broadly supported public policy organization. Heritage created the Center for Legal and Judicial Studies in 2001 to educate government officials, the media and the public about the Constitution, legal principles and how they affect public policy.
The Heritage Foundation | 214 Massachusetts Ave NE, Washington, DC 20002 | 202.546.4400 | heritage.org
Ever since the Senate rejected President Obama's cap-and-trade scheme in 2009, his administration has been hard at work to find other ways to implement a radical, environmentalist agenda.
Grizzly bears, sea turtles, and sandhill cranes-these kinds of critters most likely come to mind when endangered species are mentioned.
In the endangered species business they are known as "charismatic megafauna" and are often plastered across fundraising appeals. However, as the federal list of regulated species swells, fewer of its denizens are generally awe inspiring.
Too often, government policies designed to ameliorate a general problem merely benefit a special interest. A case in point, highlighted by Binyamin Applebaum on the Economix blog, is the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP).
HARP is part of the complex federal effort to stabilize the home mortgage market and stem the flood of foreclosures, and it will continue to operate through 2013.
After the Disaster: American Rebirth or Interment? By Terence P. Jeffrey America is not headed toward another Civil War. But we are headed toward a great fiscal and cultural crisis. Our nation's future depends greatly on whether there now emerge national leaders who understand what has happened to us and have the moral courage to speak it plainly.
The Left Bullies the NRA By Ben Shapiro When an evil white person with a history of mental instability shoots up a school, killing 20 children, most of whom were white, the media is suddenly concerned with gun control.
With Glenn on vacation for the holidays, we're counting down the top Glenn moments of 2012. What were this year's highlights? Stay tuned to the Glenn Beck newsletter to find out!
Islamic Extremism Rising
When the media blindly cheered the Arab Spring without any warnings whatsoever, Glenn was the lone voice in the media raising questions. His reward for simply stating the obvious was, as usual, a round of arrogant mockery from the establishment media. In the nearly 2 years since the uprising began in the Middle East Glenn has been right more than wrong. TheBlaze released two stunning documentaries, Rumors of War 3 and The Project, featuring in-depth analysis of radical Islamic movements, the progress they're making and what their plans are for the future.
'Both the Bible and U.S. Constitution are inherently flawed and need to be amended.' Piers Morgan gives Pastor Rick Warren his thoughts on gay rights, the Bible, and the Constitution - WATCH.
Weekly jobless aid claims fall to 350k - but there's a catch. MORE
Wars of Christmas past: Author and defense historian Michael Keane writes about his experience embedded in Iraq during Christmas 2004; and the dramatic punctuation to wars that Christmas has provided throughout American history all the way back to the War of Independence. STORY
Viral video of insanely talented Norwegian kicker has caught the NFL's attention. See it HERE.
Caught on video: Tornado roars by store. A wrath of winter storms - blizzards in the northeast and tornadoes in the southeast - on Christmas Day have left at least six dead. Pictures and footage of the events have begun to emerge, but when it comes to video, nothing can match the terrifying sights of the tornado that ripped through Mobile, AL on Tuesday. WATCH
People are REALLY excited about getting AR-15s for Christmas
If you wanted any verification on the rumors about soaring gun sales, you didn't have to look any further than Twitter this Christmas. Many took to social media to show off the presents they received this year, including the proud owners of new guns. See their posts and pictures HERE.
Video: 10-year-old's incredible talent will leave you amazed.WATCH
2012 was an eventful year. This New Year's Eve, your favorite personalities from TheBlaze reflect back on what they remember most and share some of their favorite stories of the year. Join us on New Year's Eve as we look back at 2012 and forward to 2013 - only on TheBlaze TV.
Missed yesterday's top Glenn moment of 2012? Look back at Glenn's expansion of TheBlaze HERE.
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