IS IT?

http://vimeo.com/52009124

The Agenda

Please watch and share

If you want to understand what is happening to our beloved country please watch this important movie.  Please share it with everyone.

(Rescheduled)

Please Join Us for Our 4th Annual Christmas Tea Party

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

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.

AFTER PARTY, 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.

A lite lunch will be served.

Questions--call 215.620.3055 or visit www.IndependenceHallTeaParty.com.

(No rain/snow date--event will be moved inside if necessary.)

Sponsored by: Independence Hall Tea Party Association

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.

• 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.

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?

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!

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.

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.

Click here to register, email rw@jewishcenter.info or call 215.497.9925 .

This email was sent by: American Conservative Union
1331 H. St., NW Washington, DC, 20005,

A New Year in America: Will We Continue Down the Road to Decline?

By Bruce Thornton

America is following the usual pattern of demise -- but the tide can be turned.

More to read:

Grab Your Parachute
New Year, Same Struggle Against Tyranny
America Doesn't Have a Gun Problem, It Has a Gang Problem
Geert Wilders' Courageous Journey
Gun Grabbers Gone Wild

Trevor Loudon to Tour US in 2013 With New Book 

Posted: 31 Dec 2012 06:22 PM PST

From late 2011 to November 2012, I toured in the United States, three times, promoting my book Barack Obama and the Enemies Within. I spoken in 27 states, to more than 150 audiences. I also did many radio interviews, trying to alert more Americans to the dangers of an Obama presidency.

In 2013, I'll be back with a new book - this time focusing on the pro-communist and socialist infiltration of the US Congress and Senate. The enemies within now have huge covert influence in the legislative branch of the US government - but owing to similar infiltration of the mainstream media, few Americans have any idea of the problem.

Consequently, millions of Americans blithely vote for candidates bent on the destruction of their constitutional republic, every single election cycle.

More Americans must be alerted to this harsh reality.

I have confirmed engagements in California in June and invitations to more than 30 states so far.

If you'd like to discuss the possibility of me addressing your conference, meeting or seminar please Email me.

The Truth About The Fiscal Cliff In Simple Terms 

Posted: 31 Dec 2012 05:50 PM PST

NoisyRoom
By: AJ

FISCAL CLIFF, OH NOES!!

Many either don't know what the "fiscal cliff" is, or believe this problem is something that it's not.

Although America 's economic crisis is not rocket science, the media and politicians have done a good job of keeping the truth hidden so that our focus isn't on the real problem. After all, if we, the people, understood the real problem, we would demand that they fix it and we are smart enough to know the real fix that's needed.

To prevent this from happening, politicians and media conjured up this catchy phrase called "the fiscal cliff." Then they established a narrative that gave us a false target to blame - the so-called "rich."

In other words, keeping the people's attention on class warfare directs our anger and rhetoric onto the false target they've fed us and off of 'what' and 'who' created the problem in the first place. This distracts us from formulating and voicing the real solution to the true problem.

So, what is the real problem that created this crisis?

In a nut shell, our elected politicians have continued to spend trillions more in the past four years than taxpayers have given them. Thus, they have brought America 's economy to the point of near collapse. It's that simple.

Three of the broader consequences of what they've done are:

• For the first time in the history of our nation, America 's credit rating has been downgraded - twice.
• Our national debt now exceeds its yearly gross domestic product (GDP).
• The value of the dollar continues to decline, which makes prices rise on the things we need and want (i.e. inflation).

Right now on Capitol Hill, politicians claim to have a deal in the works whereby they will:

"...raise the tax rates on family income over $450,000 and individual income over $400,000 from 35 percent to 39.6 percent, the same level as under former President Bill Clinton. Also, estates would be taxed at 40 percent after the first $5 million for an individual and $10 million for a couple, up from 35 percent to 40 percent. Unemployment benefits would be extended for one year."

While politicians and media are in lock-step focusing everyone's attention on whom the government can take more money from, who realizes that this simply allows the politicians to continue to spend trillions more at our expense?

Taking more money from the people will result in less growth of the economy, which leads to greater loss of jobs, which leads to increasing the number of people plunged into poverty.

For those buying into the class warfare narrative, know that you are supporting your own demise. How so? The trickle down effect most people don't realize is that, whether you're a car mechanic, a retailer, a construction worker, a car dealership, a waiter, a grocery store cashier, etc., these businesses are negatively impacted when customers have less money to spend; therefore, employers will have less income with which to pay employees. Jobs will be eliminated and some businesses will have to shut down altogether.

It's not rocket science, it is economic reality.

So let's cut through the political spin, false narratives and diversions and give you the simple truth about the economic crisis and the real solution, which can be found in a "real world" example of what people have to do when they've created this same kind of financial mess for themselves.

This might be a helpful way to explain it to family and friends who aren't aware.

We already know that when a person, family or business continues to spend a lot more than they take in, eventually they find themselves in pretty serious financial trouble. Why? Because they've amassed an unsustainable amount of debt that they cannot realistically repay. (Same goes for a country, and that's exactly what our politicians have done.)

Think of a family that takes home $50,000 a year. If they spend 25% more than they take in each year (say they're spending $62,500 each year even though they only bring home $50,000 a year), after four years, they've accumulated $50,000 in new debt, plus interest, which they owe to creditors.

What happens to this family? Interest on the debt continues to accrue, their FICO score (credit rating) declines and their creditors warn that action will be taken against them to recover what is owed.

The family now has to solve the financial mess they created for themselves.

If they're serious about solving the problem, what's one of the first things they have to do? Cut spending.

In addition to cutting their spending down to what they take in ($50K/year), they'll cut even more spending so they can begin to pay off the debt and interest they racked up.

In most cases, when creditors start receiving regular monthly payments on the debt, things will stabilize as long as the family continues to pay. It becomes apparent to creditors that the family has created a budget that reduces spending and frees up money to start paying down their debt.

When we look at the typical things this family will cut, first to go are luxury purchases, trips, gifts, costly entertainment/hobbies, sending money overseas... basically, non-essentials that they couldn't afford to be spending on in the first place. Next might be things like having meals at home instead of eating out at restaurants, sack lunches for the kids instead of the daily school cafeteria expense, trading in the fancier car for one that's half the cost, driving less, using less in utilities, etc.

If that's not enough, they may start selling non-essential possessions/assets to raise more cash to pay toward their debt. Taking on another job would be good, but in this Obama-economy it's probably not a realistic possibility. Some families may even need to downsize their residence; move to a two-bedroom apartment instead of maintaining the cost of the four-bedroom home they've been renting.

Bottom line is the family has to cut their spending "with a chainsaw," as Jim Roger's said when referring to what the government needs to do to solve the financial mess they created for our country.

But politicians refuse to cut spending. They want to continue spending trillions more than they take from us each year.

What is their solution?

• Create a faux fight over how much MORE they will take from us so they can keep over-spending.
• Keep spinning it as class warfare to give us a false 'target' to blame.
• Keep us fighting among ourselves as we get behind one of the political party's 'plans' (so that we're actually rooting for their solutions to take MORE from hard-working taxpayers).
• Divert our attention away from the real problem and the politicians who actually created the problem.
• Remain blind to the fact that politicians want to perpetuate the problem, not solve it.

Insidiously brilliant, isn't it? It is masterful propaganda and it's what they always do.

Investopedia explains what will happen if politicians don't act, but don't forget that all the 'expirations,' sequestration and triggers were put in place/enacted by them.

"If Congress and President Obama do not act to avert this perfect storm of legislative changes, America will, in the media's terms, "fall over the cliff." Among other things, it will mean a tax increase the size of which has not been seen by Americans in 60 years."

So you see, it is our elected politicians who set the stage for this crisis in order to dupe the American people and carry out the political theater now on display so they can get away with taking more from taxpayers, continue the massive over-spending and avert the possibility of torches and pitchforks outside the Capitol.

When these politicians conclude this round of theater, American's will unwittingly breathe a sigh of relief that they reached a 'deal' and saved us.

In reality, the cold hard truth is that we, the taxpayers, continue to serve at the feet of these politicians. As long as they can take more from us - and they surely can - that's exactly what they'll continue to do until we have no more for them to take.

The truth about the fiscal cliff, in simple terms, is that the President and Congress deliberately created the economic crisis our country faces. Their massive spending is intentional and, clearly, it hasn't helped us; it has hurt us. Their intention all along was to continue to take more and more from the people, thereby increasing their power and wealth - and extinguishing ours. How better to expand the ranks of the poor, further de-industrialize America and destroy, from within, a once-great and prosperous nation?

After all, isn't that what the Progressives' hundred-year journey to institute "social justice" in America, from both sides of the aisle, has been all about? Of course it has.

Tyranny comes when the people of a nation can no longer do what they did when they were free. Are we there yet?

Obama Seizing Control of the US Military - Potential Cataclysm Ahead 

Posted: 31 Dec 2012 03:30 PM PST

Barack Obama has worked with pro-Moscow Marxists including Frank Marshall Davis and Alice Palmer, and pro-Cuban radicals like Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, his entire life.

Their number one priority has always been the destruction of the US military, the only significant block remaining, to global revolution.

Now that the Davis/Palmer/Ayers/Dohrn protege has the reins of power, President Obama is working hard to destroy US military superiority, consciously or unconsciously, to the advantage of the Russia/China/Cuba/North Korea/Iranian/Islamic alliance.

From William Bigelow at Breitbart.com:

In an attempt to seize total control over national security and bypass congress, a frightening new step by the Obama Administration is coming into play. As noted in Friday's Wall Street Journal in an op-ed by John Bolton and John Woo, a State Department advisory group that is run by former Secretary of Defense William Perry is advising that the U.S. and Russia both reduce nuclear weapons without a treaty, as a treaty would require ratification by Congress. This would allow Obama and his executive branch to unilaterally cut our nuclear weaponry and ignore the treaty clause of the Constitution.

As Bolton and Woo point out, the US has a greater global responsibility than Russia; Iran and North Korea, neither of which is far from Russian interests, can only be countered by U.S. military strength. In addition, they note that Russia is not a trustworthy partner in weapons reduction; it has violated many arms-control agreements, such as the 1991 Presidential Nuclear Initiatives.

Some of the inherent problems in the seizure by this executive branch of decision-making power is Barack Obama's desire to deeply cut our nuclear forces. A joint decision with Russia would place long-term limits on our cache of arms, thus placing constraints on us catching up if Russia decides to go ahead and build and the blurring of the lines deliberately drawn by the Constitution's Framers separating the executive and legislative branches power.

Obama has made no secret of his desire to dismantle our nuclear capacity; the New Start Treaty he championed in 2011 forced the U.S. to observe a ceiling of 700 strategic delivery vehicles and 1,550 strategic warheads, and this past March he stated his desire to cut our arsenal further:

" ... a step we have never taken before - reducing not only our strategic nuclear warheads but also tactical weapons and warheads in reserve."

It is naïve to assume that Obama is simply blind to the results of his actions and trusts the world around him to act with generosity. There has been too much evidence of Russia's support of Iran's nuclear weapons program, and Russia has cunningly avoided supporting sanctions on North Korea for its rocket launches; in December, Georgy Toloraya, Director of Korean Research at the Institute of Economics, simply said:

"In Russia we believe that resolutions must be observed and UN decisions must be implemented. We think that North Korea has the right for space explorations but only after all the issues linked with the UN sanctions banning rocket launches with the use of ballistic technologies are settled. It is necessary to divide two aspects - we support the discussion of the rocket launch issue by the UN Security Council but we don't think that this must automatically mean tougher sanctions against Pyongyang."

Obama knows all this. His step-by-step evisceration of the United States is not confined to its economic system but its national defense as well.

I go a little further. I say that Obama is happy to wreck the US economy, because this will enable him to completely destroy US military defensive capability. This is the REAL agenda of the left. The people Obama has worked with his entire life.

Four more years of Obama may well bring America to the point of no return.

If Obama is allowed to realize the Davis/Palmer/Ayers/Dohrn vision of a militarily impotent America, Americans will be faced with two very harsh choices.

Lay down your arms and give up your sovereignty to a United Nations world superstate.

Or face the combined military might of Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, possibly Pakistan, Indonesia and Brazil, and several other countries... with hardly a friend in the world to come to your aid.

This won't be a one or two front conflict. This will be a multi-polar, all out attack on the US homeland.

Americans need to wake up. And fast.

Forum: What Are Your Predictions For President Obama's Second Term? 

Posted: 31 Dec 2012 10:10 AM PST

The Watcher's Council

Every week on Monday morning, the Council and invited guests weigh in at the Watcher's Forum, short takes on a major issue of the day. This week's question: What Are Your Predictions For President Obama's Second Term?

The Razor: I believe we will witness the Left's Reagan, the difference being that no matter how badly he governs, whether he leaves the economy in tatters or how little he accomplishes, the Left will continue singing lionizing him. Meanwhile those of us in the center and on the right will continue wondering what the Left has been smoking, and how we can sell it to make a little cash to pay our taxes with.

But seriously, Obama's strengths are only relative to the weaknesses of the GOP. If the GOP were as organized as the Democrats have been since 2006 Obama would not be perceived as all-powerful as the Left would have us believe. It is only because the GOP is in a civil war between the Washington elite and the Tea Party grassroots that Obama has managed to shine. If the Tea Party overthrows the GOP leadership the way the Deaniacs took over the Democrats after Howard Dean lost the battle for the 2004 candidacy but won the war for the Left by securing the heart of the party, the DNC, then the last two years will not be as glorious as they appear to be from the Leftist propaganda of today.

The Noisy Room: Barack Obama will certainly attempt to finish the Progressive agenda he started in his first term. He will use his power in the Senate, in the Supreme Court and of course the Executive branch to ram through Marxist legislation and regulation. He will use executive orders wherever he can get away with it - the Constitution be damned. It means nothing to him.

The implementation of Obamacare will begin to take hold and America will see tax hikes at levels that will totally suppress Capitalism and smother entrepreneurship. The printing of money will accelerate and at some point you will see interest rates explode. There will also be a stock market crash. Hyperinflation will also kick in. Whether this occurs in Obama's second term or not depends on many factors - many of them are global in nature. Food and energy prices will steadily rise into the stratosphere. Unemployment will continue on an upward trend. But the government will keep manipulating the numbers and the stock market as long as they can before it all spins apart. Our debt will grow exponentially and our credit rating will most likely become junk. We are following in the footsteps of Greece. Our country is already in a managed depression and it will get progressively worse. Pun intended.

In foreign policy, you will continue to see Responsibility to Protect be used as an excuse to go into conflicts and bypass Congress. Obama will actively aid the Muslim Brotherhood and the stirrings of a new caliphate. He will not come to the aid of Israel, even if she is attacked. If he does, it will be mere lip service as he despises Israel, almost as much as he despises America. Obama will send troops into a myriad of African nations, further weakening our forces. He will slash our nuclear stockpiles and our military budget as much as he can get away with. He will bring America to her knees on the military front leaving us vulnerable to attack. He will assist Islam in any way he can. Obama will also cozy up even more to the United Nations, promoting an International Criminal Court and treaties concerning the control of guns, global warming, Agenda 21 and a whole host of Marxist policies, including control of the Internet and free speech.

At home, you will see violence increase massively and different forms of martial law and the abridgement of Constitutional rights will be in play. The unions and the TSA will strengthen. In the name of national security, patriots will be profiled. I would not be surprised to see a gun registry and the eventual confiscation of weapons as well. The censorship of social media has already begun and will get worse. Illegal immigration will increase and violence on both of our borders will be common, with a special emphasis on the Mexican border.

Drug legalization will spread as the government provides bread and circuses to the people to pacify them somewhat.

Government will grow massively in size as will regulations. Everyone will be a criminal of one sort or another. The culture will continue to devolve without God and ethics as a bedrock. The country is being run by gangsters.

The one bright light in all of this are the elections in 2014. Perhaps, Americans will have had enough by then and conservatives will sweep the elections. In order to do that, the Tea Party will need to organize and reignite. The second term of Obama will be one hell of a ride.

JoshuaPundit: One of the things that has always struck me about President Obama is his enjoyment of the perks of office and what I'll call playing president as opposed to actually governing. A classic example is what I saw on one of this week's Sunday shows, where the president was asked about what steps he was taking regarding the Fiscal Cliff and suggested we all pray.

Here is the president of the United States, rather than working in the trenches to actually come to a reasonable compromise simply shrugging and saying, once again 'it's beyond my pay grade.'

I've always had the feeling that Barack Obama was the front man for the band rather than the guy who wrote the songs or produced the albums, if you get my drift. Oh he's down for the agenda all right, but he's not actually creating all that much. During the beginning two years of his first term when the Democrats had a supermajority, it was Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and their minions whom actually concocted the stimulus, the GM buyout and ObamaCare.

No matter whom had been elected this year, America was always going to face a certain amount of fiscal corrections. President Obama's second term will likely be when the bill comes due. It's more likely to be a Carter-esque stagflation in my view than a depression or massive deflation, with low or negative growth, corresponding high rates of unemployment, high fuel prices (and higher prices for most other things) coupled with an increased racial divide and a number of foreign policy debacles, especially in the Middle East. And speaking of which, look for an increased distancing between the White House and Israel as well as some more tap dancing on Iran and outrage in the Oval Office when and if Israel actually decides to deal with what they rightly consider an existential threat. One sign is the White House coordinated media pimping over the last few days by the usual suspects which signals to me that Chuck Hagel is likely to be nominated as Secretary of Defense.

We may also have a few interesting scandals to look forward to. Fast and Furious and Benghazi aren't going away.

The Independent Sentinel: My predictions for the president's second term are: more spending, more taxation, more regulations and rules, more illegal "immigrants," more class warfare, more attacks on religion, more division, inflation, more restrictions on gun rights, more PC requirements, more Hollywood and media propaganda, a nuclear Iran, N. Korea shooting off long range nuclear weapons, more nations acquiring nuclear weapons as we downsize our arsenal and a Republican win in 2016.

Bookworm Room: All I can think of is Martin Mulls' famous humming song:

Last night I took you home
And we began to hmmmmm, hmmm hmmm
You were such a hmmmmm, hmmm hmmm...hmm hmm hmm hmm
Only seventeen...
Hmmm hmmm, hmm hmm hmm, rubber shirts
Hmmm hmmm, hmm hmm hmm, leather skirts
Hmmm hmmm...hmm hmm hmm hmm...
And jars of vaseline.

Hmmm, hmmm Hmmm, Hmmm Hmmm, Hmmm HMMM...Hmmmm
Pick up the soap...
Hmmm hmmm Hmmm, HMMM hmmm...Hmmmm
Mayonaise and rope...

Then from the chandelier...
The THREE of us hmmm hmmm, hmm hmm
Hmmm hmmm, hmm-hmm-hmm...hmm hmm...
Hmm hmm hmm hmm hospital...for life
Hmmm hmmm, hmm hmm hmm, whips and chains
Hmmm, hmm hmm hmm, hmmm, great danes
Hmmm hmmm...hmm hmm hmm Hmm, hm Hm...
Your wife...

It's going to be very bad, with a lot of unspeakable things happening.

The Right Planet: The sequester looming in the fiscal cliff fiasco threatens to eviscerate the military and redistribute ever more money to "hope and change"-namely, social justice (i.e. welfare). Trevor Loudon wrote on his blog: "The push will be towards universal socialist healthcare and an economy wrecking Financial Transactions Tax." What is hard for me to predict right now is just how devastating Obamacare is going to be as it kicks in. I've already heard from a friend of mine that his job is threatened by the 2.3% medical device tax that the federal government will charge on everything his employer manufactures. The tax is also having a huge impact on their suppliers. I feel an intense sense of foreboding about the next four years. I truly believe we are under the leadership of a de facto thugocracy-organized crime.

I can't really state it better than what Trevor Loudon predicts in his article on what to expect: "Republicans are no longer fighting old line Democrats. They are effectively battling D.S.A, the Communist Party and the labor unions. The Democrats are simply a front for the Marxists... These people play dirty, and they play for keeps."

Well, there you have it.

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher's Forum. And remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It's a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere and you won't want to miss it. And don't forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter... 'cause we're cool like that, y'know?

We'll gladly pry the guns from your 'cold, dead fingers'

And while we're at it, proposes this Pulitzer-nominated columnist, we should repeal the 2nd Amendment, declare the NRA a terrorist organization and drag Republicans behind pickup trucks until they agree with gun control!

If that doesn't work, he says, it's time for "radical measures" ...

Read the latest now on WND.com.
 

8 deadly killers prepared to 'bring U.S. to its knees'

Anthrax, cholera, smallpox, Ebola and more - it's a deadly cocktail of the most frightening and deadly plagues known to man, being mixed up in genetically altered versions by scientists from a trio of America's enemies.

This is no mere worrying. Sources inside the most dangerous country on earth tell WND this ... is real ...

Read the latest now on WND.com.    

When they come for guns, this man could be your last hope

He's not a politician, lawmaker or administrator. He's a man (or woman) with a badge who doesn't work for the feds.

Should Washington enforce gun control, this enforcement officer could be on your side and on the scene in a matter of minutes ...

Read the latest now on WND.com.    

Could an 'evil gene' explain Sandy Hook massacre?

The bad news, says this filmmaker, is that the "evil gene" scientists are looking for in Sandy Hook slayer Adam Lanza has already been found.

And you have it ...

Read the latest now on WND.com.    

'Weapon in the hands of a David against Goliath'

The mutual interdependence of America's critical national infrastructures portends a vulnerability to an electromagnetic pulse event now more than ever, due to major technology advances that have helped facilitate that growing interdependence.

Read the latest now on WND.com

Plus!

New calculations from WND columnist Diana West suggest the most dangerous murder rate in the world exists not in war-torn Africa or drug-ravaged Columbia, but among U.S.-allied troops being killed by Afghan "friendly" forces.

Click here for details

Is your beloved cell phone killing you?

While much has been made about the health effects of smart meters, there is another device, even more widely used, that could be every bit as dangerous.

Ready for a shock?

Read the latest now on WND.com.    

Citizens fire back against anti-gun newspaper

A newspaper that published the names and addresses of pistol permit-holders is now staring down the barrel of a different kind of weapon.

See how gun owners are taking aim ...

Read the latest now on WND.com.    

It's a major award! Look who won ...

Looking for a "fast, balanced and reliable" source of news?

This award winner might surprise you ... or not.

Read the latest now on WND.com.    

Lawmaker: Tweak Constitution to affirm gun rights

A state lawmaker is proposing amendments to the U.S. Constitution to deal with the suggestion from Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., that would require Americans to register their guns, and critics say, would even lead to their confiscation.

Read the latest now on WND.com

Plus!

What stories did the establishment media ignore in 2012? WND's annual review lists the 10 most "spiked" or underreported stories of the last year.

Click here for details

PC police got your tongue?

A public university wants to create an atmosphere on campus that doesn't offend illegal aliens, homosexuals and other minority groups.

And you won't believe what they're doing to promote "diversity."

Read the latest now on WND.com.    

Settlement of the year 

Posted: 01 Jan 2013 02:19 PM PST

(Scott Johnson)

Legal observers seeking to declare a settlement of the year would have had to wait just about until the last minute to catch the resolution of the class action classic brought against Toyota. Last week brought the announcement of Toyota's agreement valued at more than $1 billion to settle a lawsuit involving "unintended acceleration" in some Toyota, Lexus and Scion models. Under terms of the settlement, filed last week in federal court in Santa Ana, Toyota will install a brake-override system in an estimated 3.25 million vehicles and compensate car owners for the reduced value of the vehicles, among other terms. As the Wall Street Journal presents it, the class-action lawsuit allege that a flaw in Toyota's electronic throttle-control system-and not ill-fitting floor mats and sticky accelerator pedals-were causing Toyota drivers to accelerate out of control and crash.

The settlement leaves two lawsuits related to Toyota's 2009-2010 recalls standing as well as all personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits against Toyota. The Los Angeles Times reports:

According to attorneys for the plaintiffs, the estimated value of the settlement makes it the largest of its kind, although there have been larger non-auto industry class settlements in recent years. They said the settlement provides that 16 million current Toyota owners will be eligible for a customer care plan that provide a warranty for certain parts alleged to be tied to unintended acceleration claims.

If you thought that there where there was smoke there must have been a fire, I believe you'd be mistaken:

Toyota has maintained that its vehicles were free from electronic flaws that caused sudden acceleration. The NHTSA and NASA investigated, but was unable to trace a defect.

"This was a difficult decision - especially since reliable scientific evidence and multiple independent evaluations have confirmed the safety of Toyota's electronic throttle control systems," Christopher P. Reynolds, Toyota Motor North America's chief legal officer, said in a statement. "However, we concluded that turning the page on this legacy legal issue through the positive steps we are taking is in the best interests of the company, our employees, our dealers and, most of all, our customers."

In other words, the evidence supporting the claims against Toyota was on the thin side. By contrast, the prospective award of attorneys' fees to the plaintiffs' class counsel is on the fat side, and is the inevitable sidebar to this settlement. As is often the case, no one comes out of the lawsuit in better shape than the attorneys. The Wall Street Journal plays it straight:

Toyota has agreed to pay legal fees as part of the settlement. Steve W. Berman, a managing partner in the firm, estimated fees of $200 million, about 18% of the total. According to the National Association of Legal Fee Analysis, that percentage would top all others in class-action settlements of more than $1 billion, and tie for third among fee percentages in class-action settlements of more than $300 million.

The amount would be spread among 25 firms and about 85 attorneys who worked on the case. The settlement doesn't include any admission of fault.

Hagens Berman has won a number of big settlements. The firm and Mr. Berman were the lead attorneys representing 13 states in suits against the tobacco industry that led to a multibillion-dollar deal. It also won a settlement from Exxon Mobil Corp following the Valdez oil spill off the coast of Alaska. Mr. Berman has been named one of the 100 most powerful lawyers in America by the National Law Journal.

Mr. Berman, 58 years old, in an interview this week, said the case against Toyota had several challenges, particularly after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration could find no evidence of electrical glitches in Toyota's throttle control system.

The lack of merit to the case unfortunately no deterrent to the attorneys' fee award. On the contrary, I believe it may be one of the factors that can be used to support enhancement of an award of fees under the rubric of "risk." This was a risky plaintiffs' case into which the attorneys devoted their resources. The Journal touches on it at the end of its sidebar:

Given the risks and expense of dragging the case to its jury trial conclusion, however, it made sense for both sides to settle it, [Berman] said.

"After two years of intense work, including deposing hundreds of engineers, poring over thousands of documents and examining millions of lines of software code, we are pleased that Toyota has agreed to a settlement that was both extraordinarily hard-fought and is exceptionally far-reaching," Mr. Berman said in a statement.

In Minnesota we have our own sickening sidebar to the overblown case against Toyota, one that I wrote about last year in "The farce after the comedy and the tragedy." Please check it out.

Here's the deal 

Posted: 01 Jan 2013 10:25 AM PST

(Paul Mirengoff)

Politico has posted the full text of the fiscal cliff legislation. I hope you have more luck working with it than I did.

The political logic of the cliff - the fact that, absent compromise tax rates were set to increase on all taxpayers - always meant that a compromise on taxes would favor Obama and the Democrats. The compromise reached is consistent with that logic.

The $450,000 per household threshold on increased tax rates is a little better than I thought the Republicans would get in a compromise. But some deductions will phase out for households making more than $250,000. I can't tell yet whether this is just a fig-leaf to enable Obama to say kept his promise to raise taxes on this entire cohort or whether it will carry a significant bite.

The political logic of the cliff should favor Republicans when it comes to spending cuts which, in the form of the sequestration, are impending. Just as tax increases for everyone were set to increase - a particularly bad result for Republicans both politically and substantively - unless the Republicans gave ground, spending cuts - a bad result for Democrats - will occur unless the Dems give ground in the next two months.

Unfortunately, Republicans seem as anxious as Democrats to avoid the cuts mandated by the sequestration. They shouldn't be. Veronique de Rugy puts the cuts in perspective:

The alleged brutality of the cuts is one of the biggest myth of 2012. For the most part, the sequestration "cuts" aren't really cuts at all. According to the Congressional Budget Office, discretionary spending would grow from $1.047 trillion to $1.234 trillion without sequestration. With the sequestration cuts in place, it will instead grow from $1.047 to $1.147 trillion. Medicare, which also faces cuts in the sequestration process, follows a similar trend. That means that going through with sequestration is just the beginning. It won't make a dent in the size of our debt, and more cuts will be needed in the future. Yet both sides oppose fulfilling the deal they agreed upon.

Republicans can redeem the advanatage provided them by the sequestration if they limit their negotiations to proposals that make the spending cuts more rational, but not smaller. They should resist Obama's efforts to broaden the negotiations. And they should laugh off his promised attempt to bring additional revenue increases into the negotiations.

As for debt-ceiling negotiations, they should proceed on a separate track. Obama shouldn't be put in a position where he can accuse Republicans of bringing on a default when all they are really doing is enforcing the level of cuts mandated by the sequestration.

In sum, Obama has redeemed much of his advantage on taxes. The Republicans haven't redeemed any of their advantage on spending, but haven't forfeited that advantage either. Not yet, anyway.

Deal? What Deal? 

Posted: 01 Jan 2013 08:52 AM PST

(John Hinderaker)

The agreement on taxes and spending that was announced last night must have been reduced to legislation, since the Senate has voted on it. Have you read it? I haven't; nor have I yet seen the text published anywhere. John Boehner says he will delay a House vote for a few days so that members and the public can study the bill and figure out what it says. That is good, as far as it goes, but what we have seen over the past few weeks illustrates once again the evils of relying on secret, back-room negotiations rather than an open and transparent budgetary process.

For now, we have to rely on press accounts of what the legislation contains. The Washington Post says that taxes will rise for households earning $250,000 above, fulfilling President Obama's campaign promise. Households over $450,000 ($400,000 for individuals) in income-reporters seemingly never think to ask whether we are talking about adjusted gross income, taxable income or something else-will see their rates rise to Clinton-era levels. Taxes on dividends and long-term capital gains will rise from 15% to 20% for the same group. Households with incomes over $250,000 will lose deductions, as yet unspecified in the press.

These provisions are bad for two reasons. First, they are unfair. They raise taxes on the very citizens who are overtaxed already. Second, the amount of revenue they raise is pitifully small. The press describes it as a $600 billion tax increase, but all of the numbers used to describe the deal are grossly inflated because they ostensibly cover ten years. So the tax increase amounts to roughly $60 billion per year. With annual federal budgets in excess of $1 trillion, the new tax increases will close approximately six percent of the budget, assuming that no taxpayers take any actions to avoid the new taxes. With marginal income tax rates set to exceed 50% in some states, it is easy to predict that to some degree, affected taxpayers will choose leisure over work, or structure their incomes to avoid the new taxes. So the real impact on the deficit is likely to be less than six percent.

Then we have the spending side, where it is not clear exactly what is going on. The Democrats had the chutzpah to demand that the scheduled sequestration, which involves more dollars than the agreed-upon tax increases, be deferred for several years-i.e., never happen at all. The parties apparently agreed last night to a two-month delay in implementation of the sequestration. What is the point of a two-month delay? Congress will be a little more Democratic in two months, and I can only assume the Democrats want to take a run at canceling the impending spending cuts after the new Congress convenes. If that is correct, then the Democrats do not consider the deal, as announced last night, to be final. And, of course, Obama has suggested that he intends to go back to the well for more tax increases. So the nation's fiscal drama is only beginning.

The deal passed the Senate last night on a lopsided vote, but it is not a foregone conclusion that it will pass the House. The Washington Post suggests that some of the needed votes will come from lame-duck Republicans who don't need to face the voters again. Funny how "statesmanlike" those Republicans can be when they are on their way out of office, and into (in many cases) lucrative lobbying jobs.

I didn't make any predictions for 2013; I figured I was so wrong about 2012-I picked Mitt Romney to win, among other things-that I should give predictions a rest. But here is one: in the weeks to come, we will learn at least one or two not-yet-reported facts about last night's compromise that will cause an uproar.

STEVE adds: Found one already, John.  Apparently an extension of the wind production tax credit, a pure cave-in to a rent-seeking lobby, was included in the tax bill.

Laughing in Rhythm 

Posted: 01 Jan 2013 08:28 AM PST

(Scott Johnson)

Pete Lee of Minneapolis community radio station KFAI FM is the proprietor of Bop Street, the weekly Monday afternoon drive-time radio show that he has presided over as an on-air volunteer for more than 20 years. I got to know Pete in 2003 when I helped KFAI raise money for its capital campaign.

Pete hails from Red Bank, New Jersey, Count Basie's home town. As a college freshman he fell in love with a native Minnesotan and came to the Twin Cities to join her. He says he arrived on the old Empire Builder from New York and upon his arrival took her to see Count Basie perform at St. Paul's old Prom Ballroom. Count Basie and the Prom are gone now; Pete and his wife remain.

Pete works full time as a zookeeper at St. Paul's Como Zoo, where he tends the apes. He claims that one of his apes may have an artistic vision, the incomparable Amanda, and he described himself as serving as her artistic assistant. In 2003 Amanda had her own gallery showing in the Twin Cities courtesy of Pete.

Pete has an omniscient love of American popular music in all its forms, from jazz, to blues, to rhythm-and-blues, pop, vocal group harmony including doo wop and gospel, rock, country and rockabilly, as well as the composers and performers of the music. I deduce from listening to his show over the years that among his favorite performers are Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Louis Jordan, Percy Mayfield, Louis Prima and Keely Smith, Elvis and the Beatles. But there can be no doubt that at the summit of these performers in Pete's estimation is the man whom he regularly refers to as Saint Francis of Hoboken.

Pete builds each week's shows around "birthdays in blue," the birthdays of the performers, composers, and musicians who have created American popular music. He says that organizing the shows in this fashion assures that repetition will be kept to a minimum. In preparing the shows he draws on his own record and compact disc collection numbering in excess of 2,000.

According to Pete (or according to what he had learned in high school), all pleasure is guilty. He confessed that his guilty musical pleasure is Slim Gaillard, performer of novelty songs in a made-up hipster language. Slim's hits include "Flat Foot Floogie," the immortal "Chicken Rhythm," and a couple of other "totally absurd" classics.

On yesterday's show (archived here for two weeks) Pete celebrated the anniversary of Slim Gaillard's birth in the usual style, with the parade of Gaillard's hits and Pete's lucid exposition of them. Although the date and place of Gaillard's birth are in doubt, most authorities seem to cite January 1 or 4 as the date.

When I met with Pete in 2003 I had never heard of Slim Gaillard. Checking him out following our meeting, I found it easy to understand Pete's enthusiasm for him. It has a quality for which "guilty pleasure" may in fact be the perfect description. "Laughing in Rhythym" (video below) is a good example, though I would also recommend "Laguna Orooney" (the video has disappeared from YouTube) as well as further explorations in the Gaillard canon.

Reliving the Left-Wing Terrorism of the 1970s 

Posted: 31 Dec 2012 05:08 PM PST

(John Hinderaker)

In many ways, it feels like we are reliving the 1970s, with the awful difference that Jimmy Carter has been re-elected. This story stimulates a sick sort of nostalgia; a hung over feeling, even though New Year's Eve hasn't even started yet:

The privileged daughter of a prominent city doctor, and her boyfriend - a Harvard grad and Occupy Wall Street activist - have been busted for allegedly having a cache of weapons and a bombmaking explosive in their Greenwich Village apartment.

If it were a Greenwich Village town house and the explosives went off before they could be confiscated by the cops, it would be a dead ringer for 1970.

Morgan Gliedman - who is nine-months pregnant - and her baby daddy, Aaron Greene, 31, also had instructions on making bombs, including a stack of papers with a cover sheet titled, "The Terrorist Encyclopedia,'' sources told The Post yesterday.

People who know Greene say his political views are "extreme," the sources said.

I would say so, yes.

Cops found the stash in the couple's West Ninth Street home Saturday when they went there to look for Gliedman, 27, who was wanted for alleged credit-card theft.

That's the modern way to finance the revolution, apparently-much easier than robbing banks or Brink's trucks.

A detective discovered a plastic container with seven grams of a white chemical powder called HMTD, which is so powerful, cops evacuated several nearby buildings.

Police also found a flare launcher, which is a commercial replica of a grenade launcher; a modified 12 gauge Mossberg 500 shotgun; ammo; and nine high-capacity rifle magazines, the sources said.

Cops also allegedly uncovered papers about creating homemade booby traps, improvised submachine guns, and various handwritten notebooks containing chemical formulas.

The perps, needless to say, are not working-class heroes:

Gliedman, who grew up on Park Avenue, graduated from Dalton in 2002. Her dad, Dr. Paul Gliedman, is director of radiation oncology at Beth Israel Hospital, Brooklyn Division. ...

Greene attended Harvard as an undergraduate and did his graduate work at the university's Kennedy School of Government.

Of course he did! You can fill in your own commentary; if they were Tea Partiers, etc. It's really too easy.

But the main sense I get is of a sort of perverted Groundhog Day, as we find ourselves living through one phenomenon after another that decades ago, we thought were gone for good.

We'll go over the cliff without feeling a thing 

Posted: 31 Dec 2012 03:07 PM PST

(Paul Mirengoff)

Whatever the Senate does or does not do today, it appears that the House will not vote on any cliff-related legislation tonight. There just isn't enough time.

Technically, therefore, we will go over the full fiscal cliff.

Congressional action may come tomorrow or on Wednesday. After that, any action will be in the hands of a new, very slightly more Democratic Congress.

December 31 was always a phony deadline. So is any other specific date. The stock market will react one way or another to the "cliff" on Wednesday. But any losses (say) can be recouped as the result of subsequent congressional action that Wall Street likes.

In any event, I'm signing off for what little remains of the year.

Happy New Year.

Tax portion of fiscal cliff deal reportedly has been finalized 

Posted: 31 Dec 2012 12:04 PM PST

(Paul Mirengoff)

Robert Costa reports that, according to senior Republican Senate aides, the tax side of the fiscal-cliff deal has been finalized. The basic framework is as follows:

- Current tax rates would be permanently extended for singles making $400,000 or below, and permanently extended for couples making $450,000 or below;

- For singles, capital gains and dividends of $400,000 or below would be permanently taxed at 15 percent; capital gains and dividends above $400,000 would be permanently taxed at 20 percent;

- For couples, capital gains and dividends of $450,000 or below would be permanently taxed at 15 percent; capital gains and dividends above $450,000 would be taxed at 20 percent;

- The Alternative Minimum Tax would be permanently patched;

- Estates over $5 million would be taxed at 40 percent, and that tax rate would be permanently extended.

The word "permanently" looks nice, but, of course, it actually means "until the Democrats sufficiently increase their power in Congress."

Still, this isn't a bad deal on the tax side. However, there doesn't appear to be anything meaningful on the spending reduction side.

That's probably okay too as long as the sequestration remains in place. As I have said before, going over half of the fiscal cliff - the spending part - isn't a bad outcome.

But the Democrats reportedly are trying to get out from under the sequestration, at least for a year, and there's the rub. Even without the sequestration, Republicans could still negotiate cuts in exchange for raising the debt-ceiling. But this overlooks the draconian consequences of a default on the U.S. debt. Republicans will be as reluctant to be blamed for a default as they are now to be blamed for a middle class tax increase.

The sequestration was designed to be as draconian as raising taxes and defaulting, but it isn't. Spending cuts are what Republicans want. They should be part of our future and, unfortunately, that includes cuts in defense spending. Ideally, spending cuts would be far better-crafted than the ones in the "cliff" package. But we're a long way past being in a position to measure things against the ideal.

Republicans should insist that, absent concrete spending cuts that improve the cliff package, the sequestration remain front and center, not something to deal with in a year.

Obama demonstrates the virtue of the sequestration 

Posted: 31 Dec 2012 11:25 AM PST

(Paul Mirengoff)

President Obama has just completed his highly partisan remarks on fiscal cliff negotiations to a highly partisan crowd at the White House. If Obama actually wants a deal, he should hope that no Republican legislators were watching. And one can now better understand why Speaker Boehner became so frustrated after dealing on a sustained basis with this arrogant man.

Stripping away Obama's self-serving cheap shots at Congress - which some Republican members may find difficult to do - Obama basically told us that spending cuts are going to have to be "balanced." And he made it clear that by this he means, in part, that spending cuts will have to balanced by additional revenue increases beyond those achieved by the increases in tax rates for the wealthy that will be part of the impending deal (assuming it is consummated).

Obama's remarks were designed, of course, to satisfy Democratic Senators who will be unhappy with the McConnell-Biden compromise. Apparently, lefty Senators such as Harkin and Franken have already made their displeasure known. Presumably, this prompted Obama's remarks.

But Republicans are part of the equation too. And by signaling the hard line he will take when it comes to spending cuts, Obama should have demonstrated to Republicans the importance of keeping the sequestration alive and not long deferred, if deferred at all.

For Obama to tie spending cuts to more efforts to soak the rich - he mentioned attacking certain deductions - appears to be an act of bad faith. As far as has been reported, this was not part of the negotiations Obama conducted with Boehner. The two discussed reducing tax deductions on the rich as an alternative to increasing tax rates, not as a supplement to higher tax rates and a condition for spending cuts. So we may be looking at a classic case of bait-and-switch.

Fortunately, spending cuts that are independent of any tax increases beyond those in the "cliff" are scheduled to become effective in a few hours. On these, Obama holds the weaker hand. Republicans must not allow him to throw that hand in as part of any bargain.

One can imagine Joe Biden assuring Mitch McConnell and other Republicans that Obama's remarks were for the consumption of Harkin, Franken, etc. and that he won't really take such a hard line on spending cuts down the road. Republicans who have been paying attention during the past four years will know better. Indeed, a Martian who landed just in time to observe the relish and arrogance with which Obama delivered his remarks would know better.

A Liberal Comes Clean: We Hate the Constitution 

Posted: 31 Dec 2012 10:46 AM PST

(Steven Hayward)

I frequently bait the law professoriate with the axiom that if you really want to understand constitutionalism, and the U.S. Constitution in particular, don't take constitutional law at an elite law school.  There you will only receive systematic mis-instruction in the subject.*  Joe Knippenberg reminds me that my AEI colleague Walter Berns always said that the problem with law professors is that they taught constitutional law, not the Constitution.   Hence most constitutional law professors treat the Constitution as a plaything from which to extract whatever outcome they want.

In some cases the general wording of clauses of the Constitution (like the Fourth Amendment's "unreasonable" search and seizure clause) does require exercising judgment about how to apply the text to changing circumstances and technology.  But then there are those pesky clauses written with sufficient specificity (such as the "embarrassing" Second Amendment-as some liberals call it) that not even the inventive Cass Sunstein can find a clever interpretive workaround to generate the desired liberal result.  At such times this impulse yields to the suspicion that many liberals don't really like the Constitution at all, and would junk it if they could.

Woodrow Wilson professed this openly.  But the Founders built well, knowing that the Constitution-the documentary embodiment of the Rule of Law replacing the Rule of Man (or Rule of the King, as practical matters had it in the 1780s)-would work only if it became an object of reverence in place of a monarch among the people.  As such, directly attacking the Constitution has always been a non-starter in American politics. Instead, liberals typically repair to the doctrine of the "living Constitution."

Thus it is helpful when a liberal's impatience with constitutionalism yields to the impulse to rip the façade away and declare their contempt for the Constitution.  Georgetown Law School professor Louis Seidman thus does us the favor of candor with his New York Times op-ed today entitled "Let's Give Up on the Constitution."  The first paragraph is enough:

AS the nation teeters at the edge of fiscal chaos, observers are reaching the conclusion that the American system of government is broken. But almost no one blames the culprit: our insistence on obedience to the Constitution, with all its archaic, idiosyncratic and downright evil provisions.

The article is really not worth bothering with further.  There's active commentary about it going on all over the blogosphere today.  (Start with Jonathan Adler and Wesley Smith if you are a glutton.)  As I sometimes like to say, "Our Constitution may not be perfect, but it's better than the government we've got."  Those "evil" and "archaic" provisions are why, despite 100 years of largely successful "Progressive" assault against our constitutional principles, the United States is still the freest nation in the world.

Let's hope the higher education bubble breaks first and hardest at our intellectually corrupt law schools.

* There are a handful of isolated worthy exceptions, such as Mike McConnell at Stanford, Richard Epstein at NYU, Randy Barnett at Georgetown, Gerard Bradley at Notre Dame, John McGinnis at Northwestern, and most of the happy band who appear on the Volokh Conspiracy.  But as a proportion of the law professoriate they have to represent less than 5 percent of the total.

Is a fiscal cliff deal at hand? 

Posted: 31 Dec 2012 10:20 AM PST

(Paul Mirengoff)

Once "fiscal cliff" negotiations were in the hands of Mitch McConnell and Joe Biden (who replaced Harry Reid last night, apparently at McConnell's request), the prospects of a deal improved considerably. Deals are what McConnell and Biden do.

The problem is that McConnell and Biden may not be in a position to make good on any deal. John Boehner, who has been in the wings for some time, and Harry Reid, who was sent there yesterday, will be far more instrumental in the passage of any deal. It is Boehner, not McConnell, who must sell a deal to House Republicans. And it is Reid, not Biden, who must sell it to Senate Democrats.

Which brings us to the latest report on negotiations. According to AP:

The contours of a deal to avert the 'fiscal cliff' emerged Monday, with Democrats and Republicans agreeing to raise tax rates on couples making over $450,000 a year, increase the estate tax rate and extend unemployment benefits for one year, officials familiar with the negotiations said.

But with a midnight deadline rapidly approaching, both sides were at an impasse over how to handle automatic, across-the-board spending cuts set to take effect on Jan. 1. Democrats want to put off the cuts for one year and offset the so-called sequester with unspecified revenue.

Left to their own devices, McConnell and Biden could easily compromise on delaying the across-the-board spending cuts - split the difference and delay them for half a year. And Reid could probably bring the Senate along.

But House Republicans will, I assume, balk at tax rate increases on those making $450,000 a year or more unless they receive something better in return than a delay in the sequester to be offset with "unspecified revenue." After all, they wouldn't agree to tax rate increases for "millionaires" only without concrete spending cuts.

We can expect Boehner to push for whatever deal McConnell signs off on. And he won't need to bring his entire caucus, or even a majority of it, along in order to pass a Senate bill. But he would be ill-advised to push for a deal that a majority of his caucus doesn't want, especially if they don't want it because it kicks meaningful spending cuts too far down the road.

President Obama is scheduled to speak about the "cliff" in a few minutes. So stay tuned.

December 31, 2012

On Today's Program

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!

Glenn, tens of thousands of patriots, gather for Restoring Love

2012 was perhaps the biggest election year in our lifetime - but not for the reasons most would assume. While there was universal agreement among conservatives and republicans that Barack Obama must be defeated, that wasn't the most important thing that needed to be addressed. Glenn has talked repeatedly over the course of the year about how the problem isn't limited to just democrats or republicans - it's the entire government as a whole. It's grown far too massive in size and scope and we've allowed ourselves to fall into the trap that when we see a problem we assume someone else will fix it. The problem, of course, is that 'someone else' has turned into the federal government. So what's the the best way - even better than defeating Obama - to stop the onslaught of a nanny state government? Love.  It's as simple as that. Instead of waiting for the government to go help the elderly person across the street - you do it. Instead of wondering if that homeless person has something to eat - give them some food. Glenn challenged the audience to descend in Dallas at Cowboys Stadium, participate in the largest day of service in history, and then return to the stadium to make a statement to the world. The people showed up in amazing numbers, as the video and the pictures attest, and Glenn gave one of the most amazing speeches you'll see anywhere - not to mention great musical performances from Matt Maher, Kari Jobe and others.

TONIGHT: Before you ring in 2013 take a look back at 2012

2012 was an eventful year. This New Years 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 TONIGHT as we look back at 2012 and forward to 2013. It all starts at 5pm ET on TheBlaze TV!

We're changing the media in 2013, make it your New Year's resolution to join the movement! Start a 14-day FREE trial of TheBlaze TV today to catch all of the great programming coming up in the new year! AND catch up on great shows, live, events, documentaries and much more from 2012 on demand!

Stories from TheBlaze:

Look back on Glenn's reflections and predictions from 2012. Which ones came to light? Find out HERE.

New video mocks celebrities' 'Demand a Plan' gun control PSA. Sick of the hypocrisy rolling out of Hollywood on a daily basis? You're going to love this video.

Hilary Clinton hospitalized with a blood clot following concussion

Secretary of State Hilary Clinton was admitted to a New York hospital Sunday after the discovery of a blood blot stemming from the concussion she sustained earlier this month. DETAILS

Fiscal Cliff updates: Get the latest must-know details on the 'fiscal cliff' debate HERE.

Christian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani re-arrested in Iran on Christmas day

After spending nearly three years behind bars, Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani was released from an Iranian prison sparking a sigh of relief among human rights workers. But on Christmas Day, Nadarkhani was, once again, detained.

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Two Nights, Two Special Reports - Only on Real News from TheBlaze

• Night One: Holding the Line: National Security in 2013
  Buck Sexton sits with a panel of top national security and foreign policy experts to discuss the threats and dangers America faces abroad in 2013, and the steps we can to take to avoid them. Holding the Line: National Security in 2013. Wednesday, January 2nd at 6pm ET, exclusively on TheBlaze.
• Night Two: A Real News Special Report: American Exceptionalism
  What makes our system better? Join Will Cain as he explains how throughout history it's been entrepreneurship in this country that's made America better. But is our formula for success in jeopardy? American Exceptionalism: A Real News Special Report. Thursday, January 3rd at 6pm ET, Exclusively on TheBlaze.

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Glenn's e-book thriller series: Great news! The sixth episode in the WRATH & RIGHTEOUSNESS e-book series has been released! There are ten episodes in total (about 5-6 full books worth of content), and we're releasing them over the course of about one year. Download episodes 1-5 to catch up, then get the latest installment in the series HERE. Have a question or comment about the series? Visit our FAQ page.