912 Patriots of Lower Bucks - Your Daily Updates ALL in ONE Place!
January 21, 2013
Quote:
"If there be a principle that ought not to be questioned within the United States, it is, that every nation has a right to abolish an old government and establish a new one. This principle is not only recorded in every public archive, written in every American heart, and sealed with the blood of a host of American martyrs; but is the only lawful tenure by which the United States hold their existence as a nation."
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What the FBI Doesn't Want You To Know About Its "Secret" Surveillance Techniques
Written by PARKER HIGGINS AND TREVOR TIMM
The FBI had to rewrite the book on its domestic surveillance activities in the wake of last January's landmark Supreme Court decision in United States v. Jones. In Jones, a unanimous court held that federal agents must get a warrant to attach a GPS device to a car to track a suspect for long periods of time. But if you want to see the two memos describing how the FBI has reacted to Jones - and the new surveillance techniques the FBI is using beyond GPS trackers - you're out of luck. The FBI says that information is "private and confidential."
Yes, now that the Supreme Court ruled the government must get a warrant to use its previous go-to surveillance technique, it has now apparently decided that it's easier to just keep everything secret. The ACLU requested the memos under the Freedom of Information Act - which you can see FBI General Counsel Andrew Weissmann waving around in public here - and the FBI redacted them almost entirely.
Though the FBI won't release the memos, we do have some information from other sources on the surveillance techniques federal agents are already using. And for the most part the FBI contends they do not need a warrant, and one wonders, given the public nature of this information, why they are officially claiming its "secret."
State Court Declares Unborn Child A Person With Rights
Last week the Alabama State Supreme Court issued a ruling that has not gotten the attention it deserves, especially as the nation prepares to mark the tragedy of 40 years of abortion on demand. The Alabama Supreme Court was considering two tragic cases of children born to mothers who were drug addicts. In one case, a baby boy, Timmy, died 19 minutes after birth due to "acute methamphetamine intoxication."
The mothers were charged under a "chemical endangerment" law written to crack down on parents who expose children to illegal drugs and to dangerous chemicals in meth labs. The mothers were convicted but later appealed contending that the law to protect children did not apply to unborn fetuses.
In a 6-to-2 decision, the Alabama Supreme Court upheld the convictions. Here is an excerpt of the majority's opinion:
"The decision of this Court today is in keeping with the widespread legal recognition that unborn children are persons with rights that should be protected by law. Today, the only major area in which unborn children are denied legal protection is abortion, and that denial is only because of the dictates of Roe."
"Furthermore, the decision in the present cases is consistent with the Declaration of Rights in the Alabama Constitution, which states that 'all men are equally free and independent; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
While the ruling applies only to Alabama, it is another important pro-life victory that clearly recognizes the humanity of the unborn child.
The More The Merrier?
A federal court yesterday heard arguments in a case seeking to strike down Utah's ban on polygamy. The law is being challenged by Kody Brown of the reality show "Sister Wives."
No decision was issued. But based on news reports, the line of questioning from the bench seemed hostile to the law. According to the Associated Press the judge "peppered a state lawyer on why he shouldn't throw out Utah's bigamy law." The judge also asked whether the state was persecuting one particular religion.
Conservatives have warned for years that polygamy would be the logical extension of the militant homosexual movement's efforts to alter the definition of marriage. Our warnings were mocked as hyperbole.
If society can no longer define marriage as the union of one man and one woman, on what legal or moral basis can it be limited to just two individuals? If everyone has a "right" to love and marry whomever they choose, what difference does the number of "spouses" make?
Well, here we are. Utah's ban on polygamy may be the next casualty in the culture war.
The Audacity Of Obama
In a "man bites dog" moment, Barack Obama issued a proclamation declaring Wednesday, January 16th as "Religious Freedom Day" in honor of our First Amendment guarantee of religious liberty. I'm not surprised if you didn't hear about it.
There was no press conference about religious liberty, and the proclamation never made headlines or the nightly news. Nobody knew Obama issued the proclamation because he chose Wednesday to make his nationally televised speech attacking our Second Amendment liberties!
Obama's audacity is stunning. From his promotion of abortion on demand to his embrace of same-sex "marriage" and open homosexuality in the military, when it comes to religious liberty this has been the most hostile administration in history!
And to underscore that point, the day before Obama issued his proclamation on religious liberty, his administration filed an appeal in a case seeking to force Tyndale House Publishers, one of the country's leading Bible publishing companies, to comply with Obamacare's contraception mandate. So far the administration has lost 9 out of 14 cases involving the contraception mandate. Perhaps the president needs to read his own proclamation.
Demonizing Conservatives
Here we go again. Yet another study from a government bureaucracy claiming that conservatives are dangerous and a threat to the country. Sadly, this one comes from West Point's Combating Terrorism Center.
While the study purports to focus on the "violent far-right," the Washington Times reports that the studies defines some on the "far right" as those who "espouse strong convictions regarding the federal government, believing it to be corrupt and tyrannical, with a natural tendency to intrude on individuals' civil and constitutional rights. Finally, they support civil activism, individual freedoms, and self government."
That definition would include virtually every self-identified conservative and Tea Party member!
I am eagerly waiting for the West Point report on the Occupy Wall Street crowd.
Out-Of-Touch Elites
Folks, I know many of you have been frustrated by recent events and headlines. But let me remind you that the talking heads and left-wing elites who spin the news don't represent the vast majority of Americans. Keep these facts in mind:
Guards in schools: The Left scoffed at the NRA's suggestion to post guards in schools. But a recent Pew poll found that the public supports it by an overwhelming margin of 64%-to-32%.
The Second Amendment: While liberals seem to think the Second Amendment is only about hunting, a new Rasmussen poll finds that 65% of Americans believe the "purpose of the Second Amendment is to make sure that people are able to protect themselves from tyranny. Only 17% disagree."
NRA vs. The Left: A recent Gallup poll found that the NRA had a slightly higher favorability rating than Barack Obama, while a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll found that the NRA had a higher approval rating than Hollywood.
Topic: Resisting Federal Gun Control and Registration
Where: Warminster VFW Post,
645 Louis Dr, Warminster, PA
(1/10th Mile east of Street Rd (Rt 132) Between Rts 263 and 332)
When: Monday January 28 2013, 7 to 9 PM
The recent tragedy in Newtown, CT has shocked our country. Unfortunately, the media and liberal politicians are using this evil act to demonize the 2nd Amendment and law-abiding citizens. Draconian gun control is being called for to exploit this tragedy. It is yet another step in their ultimate goal of weakening the American citizenry and consolidating further power and control into the federal government.
THE THREATS
Vice President Biden's task force released recommendations that calls for many semi-automatic rifles and 30 round magazines to be banned.
Sen. Feinstein (D-CA) is introducing legislation that will affect up to 75% of all lawfully owned guns and 100% of all law-abiding gun owners. This bill could require amongst other things:
current gun owners to register themselves as if pre-criminals
registration of firearms and creation of federal tracking database
force owners to pay an annual tax in order to keep their guns.
ban the production and/or sale of many firearms and magazines
require that firearms be surrendered to the government upon the owner's death and not be able to be transferred to living relatives, etc.
Mr. Obama has publicly stated that he will use Executive Orders to implement gun control if Congress should resist implementing severe gun control measures. This is an unconstitutional usurpation of authority and all about CONTROL.
History has demonstrated repeatedly - Gun registration is precursor to gun confiscation!!
A CALL TO ACTION
This meeting will bring together concerned, law-abiding gun owners to discuss:
these gun control activities in Washington DC, and
the ACTIONS we should and will take together as a free people to stop this legislation and power grab.
Now is the time to get actively involved, and draw a line in the sand. If we lose the 2nd amendment, there will be no limits to what can done to us.
Spread the word and pass this notice on.
Citizens of Bucks, Montgomery and other counties welcome.
Rep. Metcalfe will be holding a press conference on Tuesday, January 22, beginning at 11 a.m. in the Capitol Media Center, Representative Metcalfe will be joining with other legislators to announce the reintroduction of the "Pennsylvania Open Workforce Initiative." This package of legislation would make Pennsylvania the 25th Right to Work State.
UN Agenda 21 Seminar will be held at
Friendship Fire Hall - 610 South 2nd Avenue, Lebanon PA, 17042
January 26th from 9:00 to 12:00.
Registration will take place from 9:00 to 9:30 and then the Seminar will begin at 9:30 sharp.
John Anthony's presentation is 90 minutes long and this will be followed by Bill O'Neill's presentation on the success success of dealing with Sustainable Development in Lower Makefield, PA.
Not supported by TPP - individual - Saturday, Feb. 2nd - Rally on 2nd Amendment Rights from 12-3 National Mall across from White House.- call Lil at 215/547-6136 if interested in going by car, train.
February 15 - March 27, 2013 - Debt Ceiling: Sometime in this date range we are expected to reach the debt ceiling (Technically we have already hit the debt ceiling, but this is the date range when we will reach a point where the Treasury can no longer implement "extraordinary measures" to meet our spending obligations.
February 28, 2013 - Sequestration: The "fiscal cliff" bill created a new manufactured crisis that will happen sometime at the end of February. This is when the sequestration can was kicked down the road.
March 31, 2013 - Continuing Resolution: The current Continuing Resolution that the government is operating under expires on March 31. This means that they will have to pass a CR between now and then.
April 15, 2013 - Budget Resolution: This is the date by law in which both Houses should have a budget resolution passed. We are already hearing that the President is late in submitting his budget, the House is reporting that they will not meet their deadline for a budget, and the Senate... well they haven't passed a budget in over 1,350 days.
Any questions, holler.
Lil
Rob Boysen Lil Boysen Bill Harper
Tea Party Patriots PA State Coordinator, S.E. Region Co-Coordinator Co-Coordinator
Philadelphia Tea Party Patriots Group Coordinator Communications Coordinator, Philadelphia Tea Party Patriots-Lower Bucks
Price: $30/per person includes buffet dinner at Cactus Willies, Maryland
Departure: The bus leaves from St. Isidore Church at 8:00 AM
Snacks will be provided Contact Sandy 215-538-1390 for details
Bring your lunch
Entertainment on the bus
CCG Patriots,
There is no more fundamental Constitutionally guaranteed right than the RIGHT TO LIFE. Over 55 million babies have been robbed of their right to life since Roe v. Wade in the mass genocide of abortion. If you believe that abortion is a crime against the innocent and a plague which must be removed from our land, please DO something about it! Join us and tens of thousands of other believers in every American's right to life at the 40th annual MARCH FOR LIFE in Washington DC on January 25th.
You will make your voice heard on behalf of the innocent babies who are murdered every day and will be inspired and encouraged to fight on as courageous pro-life leaders in Congress share their passion for life. Following the rally, in the Congressional office building, you will have an opportunity to meet personally with Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick and other pro-life legislators to encourage them to support vital pro-life legislation. We must continue to push for the complete defunding of Planned Parenthood which, according to Sandy, in 2011-12 was subsidized with half a Billion dollars of our money which supported the killing of 333,964 babies.
One of the most enjoyable ways to participate in the March is to join Sandy Slater, president of the Bucks County Pro-Life Coalition and CCG Press Liaison, on the bus trip from St. Isidore's Church, that she organizes every year. Sandy will update you on pro-life legislation on the trip down so you can talk to your representative. Snacks, water, a comfortable ride with fellow pro-lifers, and dinner at a great buffet are all included for only $30. Contact Sandy to sign up today (see attached flyer and info below).
Please
copy and post this flyer
at your church (or organize your own church bus/van). We must engage others in ACTION to fight this holocaust. Hope to see you there, Jaime
From SANDY SLATER :
You may know that the wonderful founder of the DC March for Life, Nellie Gray died at the age of 86 this past August. She had led the March for Life for 40 years. She is being succeeded by a board member, Jeanne Monahan. This March also marks the 40th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade.
The purpose of the e-mail is to advise you that our Federal Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick again will meet with the participants in this event who are from Dtistrict 8. Because of the crowd and the number of congressmen who tried to accommodate us in DC last year, he would like to have a separate room for Bucks County District 8. This should enable better organization. I know some of the churches who are going to the March but probably not all. Therefore you may get another e-mail as well.
If you are planning to go to the March and would like to meet with Rep. Fitzpatrick, please respond to this e-mail to advise and possibly your number. He is making himself available between 2 & 5 PM on the day of the March 1/25/13. I do not know the place yet.
Another reason for the e-mail is if you have a particular concern or question, and these should be directed toward pro-life, you may want to formulate that beforehand to help him in helping you. There are many pro-life bills that have been introduced but they will have to be re-introduced
Sandy
600 Memorials for 55 Million Babies
Next Tuesday, January 22, 2013, the 40th anniversary of the infamous Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court ruling which legalized abortion on demand, pro-life advocates across America are being urged to memorialize the 55 million pre-born babies who have been aborted since that ruling 40 years ago on that date.
When people want to express their sorrow for tragic deaths, they often bring symbols of their grief to the sitesof the deaths, including candles, flowers and messages. When children are killed, those symbols often include stuffed animals and balloons, such as for the recent school massacre in Newtown. Pro-lifers can help commemorate the 55 million pre-born babies who were aborted before they could even take a breath.
RNC for Life is urging those who value the sanctity of life to remember those innocent babes by placing flowers, balloons and stuffed animals at the approximately 600 abortion facilities across America next Tuesday. We also encourage you to pray silently in front of the abortion facility after placing your memorial.
You don't have to spend much time at the abortuary and you don't have to spend much money on the symbols you place there. But these memorials - hopefully 600+ of them - will send a message to all who see them: Some of the 55 million innocents were killed HERE and we grieve for them.
We hope that these spontaneous memorials will be placed at every abortuary, accompanied by sweet reminders of unborn children and even messages to those innocent babies. We are confident that, in seeing these hundreds of memorials with thousands of participants, America will come to realize the magnitude of the horror that abortion is and has been for four decades. A flyer suitable to distribute is available here which will give you specific suggestions.
Please forward this to everyone you know who believes in the sanctity of Life. We must not let this infamous anniversary go by without memorializing these babes who have been murdered in the womb at the rate of about 3300 EVERY DAY!
Thank you for your help.
Dear NR Friend,
It's time to lift ourselves off the mat, shake off the cobwebs, get reoriented, and start to fight back, to fight for our principles, to fight for our great nation.
It's time to honestly assess the conservative movement's priorities and to forge the way ahead.
That's why our friends at the National Review Institute are sponsoring an important, must-attend conference this January 25-27 in Washington, a critical summit where we can meet, talk, and forge The Future of Conservatism.
Your participation is vital. The National Review Institute's conservative summit will feature a tremendous line-up of leading conservatives and libertarians (and even a controversial figure or two) who will take part in developing a new and revitalized message for our movement. Confirmed speakers to date include
Gov. Scott Walker (WI), Gov. Bobby Jindal (LA), Gov. Bob McDonnell (VA), Rep. Paul Ryan (WI), Sen. Ted Cruz (TX), AG Ken Cuccinelli (VA), Mark Steyn, William Bennett, Charles Krauthammer, Jim DeMint, Larry Kudlow, Laura Ingraham, Hugh Hewitt, Jonah Goldberg, Michael Mukasey, Artur Davis, Rich Lowry, Mona Charen, Ralph Reed, Monica Crowley, Joe Scarborough, Mia Love, Robert Costa, Andrew McCarthy, John Allison, James Pethokoukis, Harold Hamm, Arthur Brooks, Maggie Gallagher, Kellyanne Conway, Kathryn Lopez, Reihan Salam, Mark Krikorian, Jay Nordlinger, John O'Sullivan, Heather Higgins, Peter Thiel, Darcy Olsen, Rob Long, Charles Kesler, Ed Whelan, John Podhoretz, John Fund, Ross Douthat, John Hood, Yuval Levin, Amity Shlaes, Tim Phillips, Travis Brown, and many more.
Be there as we listen to, engage, talk with, and derive inspiration from top conservative thinkers, writers, and politicians. The Future of Conservatism Summit will be a critical and memorable gathering, where wide-ranging discussion and debate will forge a successful vision for the movement and the cause of liberty.
The cost for the Summit, which includes participation in all events (receptions on Friday and Saturday nights, dinner on Saturday, breakfast on Saturday and Sunday, lunch on Saturday and Sunday, plus panel sessions, debates, speeches, and "Night Owls") is only $250 a person (which doesn't even cover the per-person food bill!).
The agenda / itinerary is still being finalized as new speakers are being added, but here are some highlights:
Lunch speeches Governors Scott Walker and Bobby Jindal, Senator Ted Cruz, and former Congressman Artur Davis
Dinner speeches by Jim DeMint and Bill Bennett
Breakfast speeches by Congressman Paul Ryan and Gov. Bob McDonnell
Rich Lowry discusses the state of the movement with Charles Krauthammer
a Saturday "Night Owl" with Mark Steyn, Jonah Goldberg
a Friday "Night Owl" with Laura Ingraham, Kathryn Lopez, Monica Crowley, Mona Charen, and Mia Love
Larry Kudlow hosts a panel on "The Way Out of the Fiscal Mess"
Hugh Hewitt and Mark Krikorian debating immigration policy
Panels on "Selling Capitalism," the Constitution, what's being achieved in the states, demographics, energy, foreign policy, marriage,
and much more
If you've been to a previous NRI Summit, you know how invigorating they can be. They are -- and later this month will once again be -- an ideal opportunity to learn, to contribute, to network, to energize.
Please join us (NRI has made this especially affordable so you can attend). Get complete (developing) information www.nrinstitute.org/summit. You can also register there.
And you can get a special rate on a great hotel room at the Omni Shoreham Hotel -- do that here.
"FrackNation," a film by investigative journalist Phelim McAleer, will be broadcast on Jan. 22, 2012 at 9 p.m. ET according to The Hollywood Reporter. AXS TV is a cable network owned by Mark Cuban, Ryan Seacrest and entertainment companies AEG and CAA.
In a press release, McAleer said of the film, "FrackNation has been described as the first 'pro-fracking film.' I would describe it as pro-journalism and pro-truth. It asks hard questions of the environmental movement and its campaigns. And they seem to not like difficult questions."
In the film, McAleer travels across the U.S. and interviews people on both sides of the fracking issue, including farmers who have leased their property for natural gas drilling and say it is safe, as well as others who want to lease their lands, but cannot due to bans on the practice. He also scrutinizes claims made by Josh Fox, the anti-fracking filmmaker of Gasland.
The new documentary film was funded through Kickstarter, a crowdfunding website, and was co-directed by McAleer, his wife Ann McElhinney and their colleague Magdalena Segieda. "FrackNation's" debut will come just a couple weeks after the anti-fracking drama "Promised Land" starring Matt Damon and John Krasinski hits movie theaters nationwide.
The timing is intentional and meant to urge debate following "Promised Land's" release, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Cuban said "Of course the timing is relevant."
"Promised Land" will merely be the newest entertainment media attempt to demonize the practice of fracking, following episodes of TV programs like "Rizzoli & Isles." The U.S. news media, when they talk about fracking also often portray it negatively. The New York Times ran an entire series of misleading reports in 2011 about fracking and continued to attack the process, even after the paper's ombudsman criticized the Times' coverage.
McAleer has made two previous documentaries, Not Evil Just Wrong and Mine Your Own Business.
Friendship Fire Hall - 610 South 2nd Avenue, Lebanon PA, 17042
January 26th from 9:00 to 12:00.
Registration will take place from 9:00 to 9:30 and then the Seminar will begin at 9:30 sharp. John Anthony's presentation is 90 minutes long and this will be followed by William O'Neal's presentation on the success of his efforts in dealing with Sustainable Development in Upper and Lower Makefield.
If you choose to pay the registration for this event in advance you can send payment to
Sue Rodkey (Treasurer)
814 Walnut Street
Lebanon PA, 17042
Cost is $20/person or $30/couple - Twp Supervisors get in free. Make checks payable to The Lebanon 9-12 Project. Please RSVP to us, central.montco.ptpp@gmail.com if you want to go so I can give them a headcount.
Sam Rohrer, President of the PA Pastors Network, will be speaking at the Coalition for Advancing Freedom's January meeting. January 22, 2013 at 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Hilton Garden Inn, 815 East Blatimore Pike (Rt 1), Kennett Square, Pa
E15, a higher blend of ethanol and gasoline, has rolled out in a handful of states. But its use in older vehicles is generating warnings from AAA, which says E15 could be harmful to pre-2012 vehicles.
The AAA says the Environmental Protection Agency and gasoline retailers should halt the sale of E15, a new ethanol blend that could damage millions of vehicles and void car warranties.
AAA, which issued its warning Friday, says just 12 million of more than 240 million cars, trucks and SUVs now in use have manufacturers' approval for E15. Flex-fuel vehicles, 2012 and newer General Motors vehicles, 2013 Fords and 2001 and later model Porsches are the exceptions, according to AAA, the nation's largest motorist group, with 53.5 million members.
"It is clear that millions of Americans are unfamiliar with E15, which means there is a strong possibility that many may improperly fill up using this gasoline and damage their vehicle," AAA President and CEO Robert Darbelnet tells USA TODAY. "Bringing E15 to the market without adequate safeguards does not responsibly meet the needs of consumers."
On Monday, President Barack Obama nominated former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel to be his next Secretary of Defense in succession to Leon Panetta. Chuck Hagel's record is one of being a frightening and dangerous apologist for terrorist groups like Hamas and Hizballah, as well as for the Iranian terrorist regime, while being arguably one of the most vicious and hostile critics of Israel. The ZOA believes that appointing Chuck Hagel as Defense Secretary would also serve to confirm the fears that many have that President Obama is no friend of Israel and is not serious about stopping Iran's nuclear program.
ACTION:
Please call your U.S. Senators to urge President Obama not to nominate Chuck Hagel and to vote against his appointment if Hagel's name goes forward for Secretary of Defense. You can reach all U.S. Senators through the Capitol Hill switchboard: 202-224-3121.
Call Sen. Casey 202-224-6324
Call Sen. Toomey 202-224-4254
New Jersey:
Call Sen. Lautenberg 202-224-3224
Call Sen. Menendez 202-224-4744
Delaware:
Call Sen. Carper 202-224-2441
Call Sen. Coons 202-224-5042
BACKGROUND:
In 2009, Hagel signed a letter urging President Obama to begin direct negotiations with Hamas, a U.S. designated terrorist group committed in its Charter to the destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews, a position President Obama has not taken up.
In a 2006 interview with former Middle East negotiator Aaron David Miller, Hagel said that "the Jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people" on Capitol Hill ('Hagel named to intelligence board,' Jewish Telegraphic Agency, October 29, 2009).
In July 2006, at the outbreak of the Lebanon war, Hagel argued against giving Israel the time to break Hizballah, urging instead an immediate ceasefire ('Key Republican breaks with Bush on Mideast,' CNN.com, July 31, 2006).
December 2005: Hagel was one of only 27 senators who refused to sign a letter to President Bush urging him to pressure the Palestinian Authority (PA) to ban terrorist groups from participating in Palestinian legislative elections.
June 2004, Hagel refused to sign a letter urging President Bush to highlight Iran's nuclear program at the G-8 summit and was one of only two senators in to vote against renewal of the Libya-Iran sanctions act.
November 2001: Hagel was one of only 11 senators who refused to sign a letter urging President Bush not to meet with the late Yasser Arafat until his forces ended the violence against Israel.
In July 2001, Hagel was one of only two senators to vote against extending the original Iranian sanctions bill.
October 2000: Hagel was one of only four senators who refused to sign a Senate letter in support of Israel.
If you want to understand what is happening to our beloved country please watch this important movie. Please share it with everyone.
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
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.
This is a major push forward for APC in the battle to stop Agenda 21, and I need you to look it over and sign your approval to it.
Let me explain this vital project.
Across the nation, individuals and local activists have been working to stop the ravages of Agenda 21 and Sustainable Development. And we have won some astounding victories.
We've made Agenda 21 a major issue.
But we are vastly outgunned by the Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are pushing this agenda from the UN all the way to your city council.
They are flooding state capitals with lobbyists, money, and a flood of issue documents. They are rich, powerful and well organized.
We aren't. We are a rag tag band of dedicated activists with passion for the cause of freedom and little else.
That has got to change.
Our activists need the tools necessary to win.
That's just what my "Stop Agenda 21" project is designed to provide.
As President Barack Obama completes his 4th year in office, it appears he will stop at nothing to impose his leftist ideology on a center/right nation.
Having just raised taxes on 77% of those Americans fortunate enough to have jobs, the President is now plotting to restrict 2nd Amendment rights.
Last year, the President threatened the very idea of religious liberty by mandating that all religious institutions provide, through insurance coverage to their employees, free contraceptives and abortifacients--regardless of a church's teaching on such critical matters of morality.
This has led to a show down between the Obama Administration and leaders of the largest Christian denomination in America--the Roman Catholic church.
President Obama, of course, could not stop there. Every tragedy, catastrophe, and act of terror provides him with an additional opportunity to open the floodgates of federal spending or restrict basic civil rights.
Seizing on the massacre of primary school children in Newtown, Connecticut, the President has decided to use the violent murders as an occasion to issue 23 vaguely worded Executive Orders on gun control. (There are only Ten Amendments in the United States Constitution's Bill of Rights covering a much broader range of civil rights issues, including 'Freedom of Religion.')
If only someone on that Connecticut school campus had possessed a gun to shoot the deranged killer, many, if not all, of the young lives might have been saved.
Instead of mandating that schools protect themselves from terrorists by training teachers (voluntarily) on the proper use of guns, the President issued the following Executive Orders found at Forbes.com:
In addition, President Obama proposed a bill that includes an outright ban on assault weapons--among other 2nd Amendment restrictions. This bill must pass both houses of Congress before it can be enacted into law.
This is where you come in. Please contact your Senators and
Representative. Tell them to vote against further restrictions on the 2nd Amendment.
Dial the Capitol Switchboard @ 202.224.3121 or 202.225.3121 and ask to be connected to the appropriate legislator's office.
If you live in Delaware, New Jersey, or Pennsylvania and would like to fax or email a letter to your legislators or House and Senate leaders, click the link below for the numbers and/or addresses:
And while you're at it, please call the White House switchboard at
202.456.1111 (9 AM-5 PM) and tell the President to stop his assault on the US Constitution.
The transparent dismantling of the 2nd Amendment is happening, ironically, during the 225th Anniversary Year of the US Constitution.
On behalf of the Association Board of Directors,
Teri Adams
The Independence Hall Tea Party Association formed after historic February 28 and April 18, 2009 Tea Parties on Independence Mall. It is the oldest and largest independent grassroots Tea Party organization in the tri-state (DE, NJ, PA) region and encompasses the 5th leading media market in the United States.
GAO report: US on 'unsustainable long-term fiscal path'
Posted onJanuary 19, 2013byConservative Byte
The Government Accountability Office warned in a report that if cuts are not made to mandatory spending - including Social Security and Medicare - there will be a fundamental gap between spending and revenue as more baby boomers retire.
"Significant actions to change the long-term fiscal path must be taken," the GAO warned. The report was released amid heated debates between the president and congressional Republicans trying to hammer out a deal over taxes and spending. If no deal is reached, taxes go up and major spending is cut.
The GAO warned that discretionary spending is not the crux of the problem. "Discretionary spending limits [which includes defense spending] alone do not address the fundamental imbalance between estimated revenue and spending, which is driven largely by the aging of the population and rising health care costs."
Corbett To Propose Gas Tax Increase as Transpo Funding Fix
Written by Keegan Gibson, Managing Editor
Facing one of his biggest challenges yet as Governor, Tom Corbett has elected a pragmatic rather than partisan approach to transportation funding. The Associated Press reports that Corbett will unveil his long awaited plan next week.
At its core: a $2 billion increase in the taxes paid by gas stations. Corbett supports lifting a cap on the oil company franchise tax, meaning the wholesale cost of gasoline will go up.
The AP cited two sources familiar with the plan and Corbett has yet to officially confirm any details.
Lifting the cap was the primary funding mechanism proposed by Corbett's transportation commission in 2011.
If and when he does, he may emphasize the fact that he is removing a cap on the taxes. But the reality is that it effectively will be a tax increase - and potentially a stark departure from his campaign's no-tax pledge.
The Collectivist Mind Game, Part 1: Demonizing the Non-Compliant Oleg Atbashian In a society shaped by the government's mind games of manipulative illusions, a dissenter sticks out like a sore thumb. Once the resistance has been demonized, its members will be quickly identified and denounced by the compliant citizenry More
Debunking the Sandy Hook Debunkers Jack Cashill Sandy Hook is particularly disturbing because the truth is, or at least should have been, so accessible. This tragedy should never have spawned anything like a conspiracy theory, but it obviously has More
The Left's Inability To Be Civil Steve McCann The lifeblood of a Democracy is civil discourse. It is painfully obvious that the left, the mainstream media, and the Democratic Party have no interest in any other point of view or even the future of the country. More
Governor Cuomo: Dishonesty is not Enough William A. Levinson When abusing state power in order to harass law-abiding gun owners and manufacturers, you need incompetence as well. More
The Children's Hour Jeannie DeAngelis Barack Obama should pay less attention to attacking the Constitution and more time admitting that federally-funded public education is an abysmal failure. More
The New Moral McCarthyism Andrew E. Harrod In free societies, pornography largely remains an often frowned upon matter of private adult autonomy while the global homosexual movement is increasingly gaining acceptance of its agenda as a civil rights issue demanding public approval. More
American Thinker Blog
Lessons from the NRA Ad January 21, 2013 How many more lessons do conservative pols and spokesmen need? More
The left is preparing its next step in the grand transformation of the United States into their dream collectivist utopia. And what are conservatives doing in response? Nada. ...»
Theologians and philosophers have derived an enlightened morality positing the primacy of human worth. It is through this that the West's view of man's place in the cosmos has transcended that of other civilizations. ...»
The purveyors of the diversity movement ask us to embrace the concept as a worthy goal and an important part of America's future. Should we join them?...»
Completely absent in Zafar's discussion is the historic understanding of free speech as a trial and error method of distinguishing truth from falsehood. ...»
Bang for your buck: that's what the Freedom Center provides. Ammunition for the culture war against the Left: that's what your contribution buys. So please act now and help us in the fight we are waging on many fronts for America's future. America is under assault from within and without. There is no time to lose.
During the legislative battle that rammed the Obamacare takeover down our throats, Obama and the libs piled up youth props around them like bunker sandbags.
If America increases sanctions or conducts a military strike on Iranian nuclear sites in the next six months, the mullahs will unleash terror teams in the United States.
The White House posted a set of four videos Thursday of children reading their letters to the president encouraging a solution to the problem of gun violence.
If you live long enough, it was once said, you not only see everything and experience quite a bit, but you are no longer fooled by fancy rhetoric, pretty pictures and utopian dreams.
Chuck Hagel hates Jews. Or should I say, he hates Jews who think that Jews have rights and that their rights should be defended, in Israel by the government and the IDF, in America by Israel's supporters.
"Now that Sharia law has become an integral part of Egypt's new constitution, Christians in that country are at greater risk than ever." - Jordan Sekulow
That would mean that KSM, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks on the U.S., would be able to meet with his fellow terrorists outside his cell five times a day to "pray."
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
Holder Begs Court to Stop Document Release on Fast and Furious
by Matthew Boyle 17 Jan 2013
Attorney General Eric Holder and his Department of Justice have asked a federal court to indefinitely delay a lawsuit brought by watchdog group Judicial Watch. The lawsuit seeks the enforcement of open records requests relating to Operation Fast and Furious, as required by law.
Judicial Watch had filed, on June 22, 2012, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking all documents relating to Operation Fast and Furious and "specifically [a]ll records subject to the claim of executive privilege invoked by President Barack Obama on or about June 20, 2012."
The administration has refused to comply with Judicial Watch's FOIA request, and in mid-September the group filed a lawsuit challenging Holder's denial. That lawsuit remains ongoing but within the past week President Barack Obama's administration filed what's called a "motion to stay" the suit. Such a motion is something that if granted would delay the lawsuit indefinitely.
Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said that Holder's and Obama's desire to continually hide these Fast and Furious documents is "ironic" now that they're so gung-ho on gun control. "It is beyond ironic that the Obama administration has initiated an anti-gun violence push as it seeking to keep secret key documents about its very own Fast and Furious gun walking scandal," Fitton said in a statement. "Getting beyond the Obama administration's smokescreen, this lawsuit is about a very simple principle: the public's right to know the full truth about an egregious political scandal that led to the death of at least one American and countless others in Mexico. The American people are sick and tired of the Obama administration trying to rewrite FOIA law to protect this president and his appointees. Americans want answers about Fast and Furious killings and lies."
In the wake of the horrific elementary-school shootings in Newtown, Conn., last month, many Americans, desperate to do something in response, have decided that much stricter gun control is the answer. Democrats have proposed reinstating the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein has proposed legislation that would even restrict the use of some semiautomatic handguns.
During a press conference Wednesday, President Obama called on congress to pass specific gun control proposals, including universal background checks and assault weapon regulation. Photo: Getty Images.
During his press conference on Wednesday, President Obama spoke about the right of gun ownership and the right to live free of gun violence. Photo: Getty Images
During a press conference Wednesday, President Obama called his gun control proposals 'common sense measures' and emphasized his support of the Second Amendment, saying, "I respect our strong tradition of gun ownership."
As a former prosecutor in Washington, D.C., who enforced firearms and ammunition cases while a severe local gun ban was still in effect, I am skeptical of the benefits that many imagine will result from additional gun-control efforts. I dislike guns, but I believe that a nationwide firearms crackdown would place an undue burden on law enforcement and endanger civil liberties while potentially increasing crime.
The D.C. gun ban, enacted in 1976, prohibited anyone other than law-enforcement officers from carrying a firearm in the city. Residents were even barred from keeping guns in their homes for self-defense.
Some in Washington who owned firearms before the ban were allowed to keep them as long as the weapons were disassembled or trigger-locked at all times. According to the law, trigger locks could not be removed for self-defense even if the owner was being robbed at gunpoint. The only way anyone could legally possess a firearm in the District without a trigger lock was to obtain written permission from the D.C. police. The granting of such permission was rare.
The gun ban had an unintended effect: It emboldened criminals because they knew that law-abiding District residents were unarmed and powerless to defend themselves. Violent crime increased after the law was enacted, with homicides rising to 369 in 1988, from 188 in 1976 when the ban started. By 1993, annual homicides had reached 454.
Senator Dianne Feinstein speaks to the media on NRA/assault weapons on December 21.
The Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department also waged a war on firearms by creating a special Gun Recovery Unit in 1995. The campaign meant that officers were obliged to spend time searching otherwise law-abiding citizens. That same year, the department launched a crackdown called Operation Cease Fire to rid the District of illegal firearms. But after four months, officers had confiscated only 282 guns out of the many thousands in the city.
Civil liberties were endangered. Legislative changes empowered judges to hold gun suspects in pretrial detention without bond for up to 100 days, and efforts were made to enact curfews and seize automobiles found to contain firearms. In 1997, Police Chief Charles Ramsey disbanded the unit so that he could assign more uniformed officers to patrol the streets instead, but the police periodically tried other gun crackdowns over the next decade-with little effect.
In 2007, a panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that the city's gun ban was unconstitutional. Senior Judge Laurence H. Silberman wrote in the majority opinion that "the black market for handguns in the District is so strong that handguns are readily available (probably at little premium) to criminals. It is asserted, therefore that the D.C. gun control laws irrationally prevent only law abiding citizens from owning handguns."
The ruling was affirmed the following year by the Supreme Court in District of Columbia v. Heller. Justice Antonin Scalia's majority opinion said that citizens were guaranteed a right to keep firearms that were in common use in their homes for self-defense, but that the government could pass reasonable regulations concerning firearms and ammunition.
Posted by Daniel Greenfield @ the Sultan Knish blog
LET'S GET RIGHT TO THE POINT
While the White House was busy drafting proposals to ban assault rifles, the last of the regulations imposed on Saudi travel to the United States after September 11 were being taken apart. While some government officials were busy planning how to disarm Americans, other officials were negotiating the transfer of F-16s and Abrams tanks to Muslim Brotherhood-run Egypt.
Obama is unwilling to trust Americans with an AR-15, but is willing to trust a genocidal terrorist group with Abrams tanks and F-16 jets. The F-16's M61 Vulcan cannon can fire 6,000 rounds a minute and the 146 lb warhead of its HARM missiles can do a lot more than put a few dents in a brick wall. The Abrams' 120 mm cannon can penetrate 26 inches of steel armor making it a good deal more formidable than even the wildest fantasies of San Francisco liberals about the capabilities of a so-called "assault rifle."
While Obama has not been willing to respect the Constitution of the United States and its Bill of Rights, he was willing to arm a terrorist group whose motto is, "The Koran is our constitution, the Prophet is our leader, Jihad is our path and death in the name of Allah is our goal."
If a High School student wrote that on his Facebook page, he would be in police custody within the hour, but an international organization and national government that trades in such rhetoric gets devastating firepower from our government... free of charge.
Posted by Daniel Greenfield @ the Sultan Knish blog
Last week featured the shocking revelation that two athletes had lied to the whole country for years in order to become rich and famous. This is the same thing that politicians do except without the exercise regimen.
Moral theater is an odd event in a country which has mostly given up on morals. In the absence of any notion of right and wrong, the only truly punishable offenses involve hurting people's feelings. That includes famous people "betraying our trust" by doing something that we didn't expect them to be doing thereby deceiving us into liking them for the wrong reasons.
That code means that it is completely acceptable for a public figure to be amoral as long as they are honestly up-front about it. Or as long as they embrace an absence of characters and standards as the basis for some sort of savvy post-media in the media image where they acknowledge that they do everything only in order to get attention as a way of commenting on the attention-getting tendencies of modern entertainers.
Shallowness is actually a winning media strategy. The truly shallow have nothing to hide because they have nothing. They voluntarily turn their life into public consumption. Most of the rest just manufacture a fake reality that seems real only because generations that grew up on television have brains that are trained to confuse natural lighting, low resolution footage and shaky cameras with sincerity.
In a culture where everything is really fake, exposing the few people who seem virtuously really is an industry. The media deconstruction process establishes once and for all that all families are bad and that all virtuous people are fake. Except the virtuous people being profiled by them tomorrow and destroyed the week after that.
The more fake the culture is, the more of a sucker it is for fake authenticity. The explosion of reality shows is traceable to the death of reality. Everyone wants to connect to something and someone and the entertainment industry is abandoning escapism from reality for escapism to a fake reality next door. Music has reached the same range of fake reality, embracing the inauthenticity of making your life public as the ultimate form of authenticity.
Iran is just hours away from conducting a sham trial of American pastor Saeed because of his Christian faith. Make your voice heard. Sign our petition urging the State Department to demand his release, and read these important updates from the ACLJ.
Pastor Saeed's Iranian lawyer was permitted to see Saeed's court file & he discovered a trial had been set for days later, January 21, 2013.
Thank you for being a member of the ACLJ and standing with us in defense of freedom. Stay up-to-date with the latest news on the issues you care about with the ACLJ Facebook App, and "Like" the ACLJ 's Facebook page.
Thank you, The ACLJ Team
Thursday Column
Sensible Gun Control Policy?
The Assault Weapons Ban: Fact v Fiction
By Mark Alexander · January 17, 2013
"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclination, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." --John Adams (1770)
(Publisher's Note:A message for those who are not gun owners, and may be among many Americans who feel threatened by the possession and particularly the unlawful use of firearms in our country. If you are inclined to approve of the latest political effort to enact "sensible gun control policy," I invite you to objectively read this brief study on "assault weapons." It is based on the latest information from the FBI and other aggregators of criminal data. It is not based on political agendas using the genuine emotional response all Americans feel when innocent men, women and children are murdered, as political fodder for their agenda.)
In December, there was a horrible attack in an elementary school, committed by a mentally ill young man. He illegally obtained a rifle and a number of pistols, and used them to kill six adults and 20 children.
As a parent, I was deeply affected by this loss of life, especially the faces of the children killed in that school. I am always moved by the death of innocents, particularly children.
In the wake of that tragedy, some politicians did what they do best -- build a political platform on the caskets of children in order to seize and sequester the emotional response of millions of Americans to advance a political agenda. In this case, they concealed that agenda in emotive wrapping paper, and sealed it with a lot of rhetorical demagoguery, hoping that enough people would remain too immersed in their emotional state to discern the real political agenda.
In a press conference Wednesday, Barack Obama made a broad emotional appeal "for the children": "Protecting our children from harm shouldn't be divisive. ... I asked Joe [Biden] to lead an effort along with members of my cabinet to come up with some concrete steps we can take right now to keep our children safe. ... This is our first task as a society -- keeping our children safe. If there's even one thing we can do to reduce this violence, if there's even one life we can save, we have an obligation to try it. ... I think about how, when it comes to protecting the most vulnerable among us, we must act now."
In other words, to counter the fact that his gun control agenda will, in reality, do nothing to "protect the children," he has now lowered expectations to maybe "one life we can save," and he insists Congress "must act now" before reason overtakes emotion.
Obama went on to say, "If Americans of every background stand up and say 'enough, we've suffered too much pain and care too much about our children to allow this to continue,' then change will come."
Well, who could disagree with keeping children safe? But is that really the reason Obama is calling for the most restrictive gun control in the history of our Republic?
(Note: Regarding the use of children as "political pawns," White House spokesman Jay Carney criticized the NRA for referencing the protection of children in a Web ad. Carney protested, "Children should not be used as pawns in a political fight." This briefing was an hour after Obama surrounded himself with children as pawns in a political fight.)
I don't doubt that Obama, like most parents, wants to keep his children safe. In fact he surrounds his children with dozens of guns to keep them safe everywhere they go. But there is also no doubt that his agenda to restrict the ownership of guns has nothing, in fact, to do with the safety of other children -- or anyone of any age.
There are a few proposals under consideration by Congress, in conjunction with Obama's ban on defensive weapons, that should be enacted. For example, I support a background check for all gun purchases, not just those from gun dealers. And we should have a more comprehensive approach to identifying and treating those with severe mental health problems -- though not likely under ObamaCare.
(I note that these measures would do little or nothing to stop unlawful gun purchases for unlawful purposes, other than make it more difficult for unqualified purchasers to acquire a weapon.)
But the centerpiece of Obama's gun control agenda is a ban on so-called "assault weapons." I note "so-called" because this legislation is more accurately described as a "defensive weapons" ban since such arms are purchased, first and foremost, for defense and not assault. Some liberal states and municipalities, in fact, are mounting their own assaults on these weapons.
So, why all the political focus on "assault weapons"?
"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms ... disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. ... Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants." --Cesare Beccaria
Twice this week, Barack Obama graced us with his pontification on both his fealty to the Second Amendment and his desire for "common sense" gun control measures. With the Left, however, those two things are mutually exclusive. He's merely repeating the siren song of every other socialist tyrant during the last one hundred years.
On Monday, Obama goaded Republicans to go along with his schemes. "[I]f in fact ... everybody across party lines was as deeply moved and saddened as I was by what happened in Newtown," further gun control measures are the only reasonable solution, he concluded. Furthermore, "As far as people lining up and purchasing more guns," he said, "I think that we've seen for some time now that those who oppose any common sense gun control or gun safety measures have a pretty effective way of ginning up fear on the part of gun owners that somehow the federal government's about to take all your guns away. And, you know, there's probably an economic element to that. It obviously is good for business." He should know -- he's the Gun Salesman Emeritus, presiding over the sale of 67 million guns in four years.
So to recap, if you don't support gun control, you hate kids, and if you're buying or selling guns, you're a greedy loon. Now who's ready for a rational discussion?
Then on Wednesday, Obama laid down the gauntlet. Of course, there was nothing new in what he proposed -- he had it all on the shelf just waiting for the first post-election crisis to exploit. Using four children as human shields, he bravely strode to the lectern to outline 23 executive actions, adding a call for congressional action. Nothing like basing policy on the opinions of eight-year-olds who've been brainwashed in government schools.
One particularly worrisome item on Obama's list is No. 14: "Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence." Such research isn't new, however. Timothy Wheeler, MD, director of Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership, writes, "Memories are short. It was only 15 years ago that Congress cut off federal funding for the Centers for Disease Control's gun research. Top CDC officials such as Patrick O'Carroll, M.D., had said things like, 'We're going to systematically build a case that owning firearms causes deaths. We're doing the most we can do, given the political realities.'" There is reason to fear that the CDC would once again politicize their research or expand exclusionary mental illness to prohibit firearm ownership for millions of Americans.
Not only that, but Obama's item No. 4 gives the attorney general the authority to "review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks." Remember Fast and Furious? And recall the DHS warning about right-wing extremists? For that matter, check out this week's report on "America's Violent Far-Right." Now raise your hand if you trust Eric Holder to determine who "dangerous people" are.
Obama also promised to nominate a permanent ATF director. We suggest one who won't supply "assault weapons" to murderous Mexican drug cartels.
Next, Obama called on Congress to pass universal background checks and to ban so-called "military-style assault weapons" and standard-capacity magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. This defensive weapons ban faces a steep climb, however. Not withstanding Joe Biden's claims of "overwhelming consensus" on gun control, the GOP controls the House, and we don't believe even the spaghetti-spine Republicans in that chamber will consent to a ban. Then there's the Senate, where Democrats such as Max Baucus (MT), Mark Begich (AK) and even Al Franken (MN) are balking at, if not outright opposing, a ban. Mark Pryor (AR), Tim Johnson (SD), Kay Hagan (NC) and Mary Landrieu (LA) likewise face re-election in red states in 2014 and are probable "no" votes. Even Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) doesn't seem to be a fan of Dianne Feinstein's gun ban.
If you want to know the basic facts about "assault rifles" and "assault weapons," this primer by Regis Giles at Girls Just Wanna Have Guns is an excellent summary. Giles's exhortation to young women not to be victims was one of the highlights of CPAC 2011.
An excerpt:
The second correct definition of an assault rifle is based on cosmetic features set by politicians. These rifles are all semi-automatic, or self-loading in old school firearm terms. Every time you press the trigger, one round is fired, and one round only. The action cycles, replacing the now expended case with a fresh round from the magazine. While this can be accomplished very rapidly, it is still one shot per trigger press.
What makes one rifle an assault weapon, and a rifle that works exactly the same way and looks very much the same not an assault weapon? The politicians that set the cosmetic features of a rifle they deem to be an assault weapon. So this second definition is slippery and can be very broad, but boils down to some group of politicians decided that the rifles with X features are "scary", and thus "assault weapons". This also means that it varies by state. California has a very wide definition of what an assault rifle is with a list of specific firearms for good measure. Free markets being what they are, there have been many creative ways found to manufacture rifles that work exactly like, or very close to, the CA definition, without crossing those legal lines.
But what does this mean to the current hue and cry spewing forth from the likes of Piers Morgan and Senator Diane Feinstein? It means that through ignorance or malice, they are lying. The CT school massacre was an act of pure evil, and a Bushmaster rifle may have been used. It was NOT however, an "assault rifle" either in true (military) terms, nor in the made up terms of the CT assault weapons ban. (Sec. 53-202a. Assault weapons: Definition) The rifle was semi automatic, but lacked some cosmetic features deemed "scary" or "evil" by some know nothing politicians and wasn't included in the specifically named list of weapons.
The issue of violence committed by the deranged reveals a number of the defects of contemporary liberalism.
I don't believe we have written anything about the terrorist attack on the Algerian gas plant at Ain Amenas. News accounts have generally been sketchy, but with the siege now over, more details have emerged. The Associated Press reports:
Algerian bomb squads scouring a gas plant where Islamist militants took dozens of foreign workers hostage found 25 more bodies on Sunday as they searched for explosive traps left behind by the attackers, a security official said, a day after a bloody raid ended the four-day siege of the remote desert refinery. ...
He said the militants came from six countries and were armed to cause maximum destruction. Sonatrach, the Algerian state oil company running the Ain Amenas site along with BP and Norway's Statoil, said the entire refinery had been mined.
"They had decided to succeed in the operation as planned, to blow up the gas complex and kill all the hostages," said Communications Minister Mohamed Said, speaking on a state radio interview.
It is noteworthy that the terrorists came from six countries; also significant is the fact that when the terrorists first seized the refinery, they let hundreds of Algerian workers go and kept foreign workers from a number of countries as hostages. News accounts often emphasize that Algeria has been fighting Islamic terrorism since the 1990s, which is true, but this most recent attack appears to be a different phenomenon with a more international focus, notwithstanding the terrorists' demands (see below).
Some have criticized the Algerian government for using force to retake the refinery rather than negotiating with the terrorists:
Algeria's response to the crisis was typical of its history in confronting terrorists, favoring military action over negotiation, which caused an international outcry from countries worried about their citizens. Algerian military forces twice assaulted the two areas where the hostages were being held with minimal apparent mediation - first on Thursday, then on Saturday.
"Mediation?" Seriously?
An audio recording of Algerian security forces speaking with the head of the kidnappers, Abdel Rahman al-Nigiri, indicates that the hostage-takers were trying to organize a prisoner swap with authorities.
"You see our demands are so easy, so easy if you want to negotiate with us," al-Nigiri said in the recording broadcast by Algerian television. "We want the prisoners you have, the comrades who were arrested and imprisoned 15 years ago. We want 100 of them."
This is a typical terrorist demand, and one that should never be acceded to. While I can't address the specific tactics used by the Algerian government, their refusal to negotiate with the terrorists and their determination to bring the siege to a reasonably quick resolution are the right approach. Terrorists thrive on notoriety and usually want to prolong hostage dramas as much as possible (Cf. the Americans held in Tehran for more than a year). In general, the quicker the terrorists are killed, the better. Where it is possible to save hostages, efforts should be made to do so. But the cold reality is that terrorists generally have the ability to kill hostages if they so choose, and that result, if it occurs, should be blamed on no one but the perpetrators.
This comment by Obama adviser David Plouffe strikes me as myopic:
David Plouffe, a senior adviser to President Barack Obama, said Sunday that al-Qaida and al-Qaida-affiliated groups remain a threat in northern Africa and other parts of the world, and that the U.S. is determined to help other countries destroy these networks. Speaking on "Fox News Sunday," Plouffe said the tragedy in Algeria shows once again "that all across the globe countries are threatened by terrorists who will use civilians to try and advance their twisted and sick agenda."
You can call it a "twisted and sick agenda," but in fact, the extension of the Ummah and the establishment of sharia are mainstream goals shared by millions of Muslims. Islamic terrorists in general are not crazy; they are religious zealots whose interpretation of the Koran is a plausible one. In many instances, they are intelligent and well-educated. It would be helpful if responsible officials, rather than denouncing the terrorists' agenda as "twisted and sick," had a more realistic appreciation of what that agenda really is.
Finally, with the locus of Islamic terrorism shifting, at least for the moment, from the Middle East to Africa, it is worth noting-again-that Islamic terrorism has absolutely nothing to do with Israel. The Obama administration, mired in the past as usual, seems not to have outgrown the delusion that if the United States distances itself from Israel, a frequent but hardly exclusive target of Islamic terrorism, it will somehow palliate the terrorists. The futility of this policy is impossible to overstate.
We saw a terrific evening of fights last night at the Minneapolis Convention Center. The main event featured local middleweights Caleb Truax and Matt Vanda; I previewed their bout here. We had a table in the interior section of the arena near the ring. You needed credentials to get there, like at a political convention:
Our guests included a professional boxer and a long-time fight fan who formerly covered Minnesota boxing for UPI, so it was fun to get their informed views as the fights progressed. There were seven bouts altogether, of which we saw six.
The crowd of around 5,000 was interesting, to say the least. In another sign of the times, everyone was wanded on the way in. Vanda reputedly belongs to a motorcycle gang in East St. Paul; I don't know about that, but quite a few of his supporters do look the part. At one point during the main event, a skirmish apparently broke out between Vanda and Truax partisans. We were struck by the number of women in the crowd-I assumed it would be 70/30 men, but it was more like 50/50.
Between bouts we were visited by some notables of the local boxing world. The gray-haired guy in this photo once went the distance with Ray Leonard; his nephew, also in the photo, is a pro boxer and a friend of ours:
It was hard to get good pictures because of the low light, but I kept trying. This was one of the preliminary bouts; one of our guests fought the guy on the right to a draw:
Another undercard bout: the "African Assassin," on the left, won this one:
The boxing was good, if sometimes crude, all night. But the main event was a thrill. One of our guests, a former amateur boxer who has followed boxing closely for quite a few decades, called it one of the best fights he has ever seen. We were rooting for Caleb Truax because he is a friend of my son; most of the crowd was pro-Truax, although Vanda had plenty of supporters too. Truax was pretty clearly the better boxer, but Vanda is a beast. He is heavily tattooed and, despite being near the end of his career, in superb condition. He looks ferocious: nicknamed the Predator, he prowls his corner before the fight and between rounds, staring down his opponent. He appears indifferent to being hit. In the photo below, Truax is in the red trunks with his back to the camera:
Truax won the early rounds, but Vanda, undeterred, came back strongly. During the 8th he absorbed a furious barrage from Truax and paused long enough to point skyward with his right glove in a show of defiance before launching a counter-attack that had his fans cheering. By the ninth, the whole convention center was roaring. The unnaturally tough Vanda, showing little effect from the pounding he had taken for eight rounds, staggered Truax. By the end of the round, Truax was hanging on. The tenth and final round was non-stop action-the whole fight was, really-as the crowd roared for three minutes. At the end, the boxers were slugging it out toe to toe. The fight ended to enthusiastic applause for both fighters.
Truax won a unanimous decision, but we, and I suspect most of the crowd, walked away shaking our heads at Vanda's almost unbelievable toughness. If, as Vanda said, this was his last fight, the long-time local favorite went out in style. As for Truax, his record now stands 21-1-1, with his only loss to former world champion Jermain Taylor, and he likely has a future as a ranked middleweight.
So, what did we think of our first live boxing event? It was sensational. The two women at our table who weren't sure what they would make of live boxing found themselves cheering raucously. For just about as long as I can remember, observers have been proclaiming the demise of boxing, but there is no sporting event that compares, in my opinion, with the excitement of a good boxing match, witnessed live. It is no wonder that the sport continues to have its fans.
On Meet the Press this morning, Chuck Schumer promised that this year, Democrats will finally adopt a budget:
The third-ranking Senate Democrat says Democrats will pass a budget proposal this year that includes new taxes and "our Republican colleagues had better get used to that fact."
Word is that the Republicans will agree to raise the debt ceiling for 90 days if the Democrats will agree, in return, to pass a budget-any budget. Maybe Schumer is signaling that such an offer will be accepted; I am not sure whether it has officially been made yet. Schumer's comment is, in any event, rather comical. Senate Democrats can pass a budget with 51 votes, so if they want a budget that calls for higher taxes they can easily adopt one. That doesn't mean, however, that legislation that increases taxes will actually pass the Senate, let alone the House. Republicans would love to "get used to" the Democrats' putting their plans for the nation's finances on paper, higher taxes and all. They have been begging the Democrats to do so for the last four years.
The Associated Press tries to put Schumer's comments in context, but as always, they can't resist offering the Democrats a little cover:
The Democratic-controlled Senate last passed a full budget in 2009.
What, pray tell, is a "full budget"? That would be a "budget."
Ahmad Hashemi worked for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs as an English, Turkish and occasionally Arabic interpreter. He is now a refugee from the regime. The Times of Israel has posted Hashemi's testimony regarding the aims of the regime under the heading "Don't be fooled: Iran wants the bomb." It's a timely reminder of a development that will likely come to fruition or be dealt with during Obama's second term. Hashemi writes, for example:
I was present at inner-circle conversations in which a number of high-profile Iranian officials made no secret of their intention to go atomic. I personally witnessed the following examples:
Former Revolutionary Guards commander: 'Holy Islamic bomb is a must'
In April 2005, after organizing several meetings in his office at the Discernment Council headquarters, I was invited to a meeting at the home of Mohsen Rezai, the Secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council and a former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) during the Iran-Iraq war. I was invited in my capacity as a founding member of of the short-lived Islamic Association for Students and Academicians (IASA, which was dissolved the next year), together with Ruhollah Solgi, the IASA secretary general. (Today, Solgi is the governor of Aran va Bidgol County in the Isfahan region.) We were asked to come and exchange views on the overall situation on the upcoming presidential election campaign in which Mr. Rezai was preparing to run as a presidential nominee.
Rezai's home was located in the Shahrak Shahid Daghayeghi Complex at the outskirts of the Lavizan forests in northeast Tehran. We went to a spacious, concrete villa on the last block of the fenced in and tightly patrolled neighborhood, which provides housing primarily for IRGC officers and other high-profile officials.
When we arrived, Rezai was busy meeting various military and political figures, including generals from the IRGC. At this private meeting in his house, while castigating former reformist president Khatami for his compromising approach towards the West, Mohsen Rezai strongly advocated the idea of acquiring nuclear bombs for "deterrent purposes." He referred to such a weapon as a "holy Islamic bomb" needed to defy the bullying approach of global arrogance. Mentioning that even Khomeini approved of acquiring an atomic bomb to safeguard the interests of Islam during Iran-Iraq war, he argued that everything is allowed for the sake of Islam, including using WMDs and the mass killing of civilians.
The A-bomb and Iran's National Security Council
In early 2012, Ali Bagheri, the deputy secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, was meeting his Indian counterpart at a dinner reception at India's embassy in Tehran. While we waited for the Indian official, who had been delayed in traffic, to arrive, I heard the Iranian foreign ministry's director for Europe and America, Ahmad Sobhani, ask Mr. Bagheri about the Supreme Leader's latest views on the 5+1 negotiations. Bagheri replied that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei remained adamant and increasingly convinced that "we should expedite our efforts and diversify our secret facilities to achieve our goal before it is too late."
I saw this out of the corner of my eye on one of the cable news channels yesterday. All I can say is it made me laugh. I kept waiting for the follow-up question: And whom did you vote for? I guess we can draw our own inferences.
Or does that mistake the genre of the video? At Hot Air, Allahpundit calls it "a psychological experiment in serial form." Pending further review, I'll file this under Laughter is the Best Medicine.
One of the wonderful things about Fox News is how it drives the Left out of their minds. Talk about having no sense of proportion: even though Fox kills CNN and MSNBC in the ratings, Fox News's viewership is still just a fraction of audience for the nightly news broadcasts of the Big Three legacy networks, which I confess I still watch for the pure schadenfreude of seeing the unstoppable decay of these self-important media institutions. The Left openly pines for a revival of the "fairness doctrine," initially to clamp down on Rush Limbaugh and conservative talk radio, but now the big target is clearly Fox News. It's another great example of William F Buckley's remark that while the Left says it is open to other points of view, it always shocks them to discover that there are other points of view. To which I'll add that conservative dissent eventually brings out the Left's desire to censor or limit opposing views.
The Fox-induced agony of the Left is why it is difficult, then, to criticize Fox News or raise the question of whether it does a disservice to conservatives in some respects. One needn't be a highbrow critic of "populism" to ponder this. It's bad enough that Fox continues to feature the egregious Dick Morris, the person who confidently predicted not just a Romney landslide, but, back in 2007, that the 2008 race would be Condi Rice against Hillary Clinton, and who is now peddling an unserious book about the UN. (Just to clarify: it's not that the UN is unworthy of a hard smackdown; rather, Morris isn't the person to do this.) Now comes the announcement that Fox has hired Dennis Kucinich to be a commentator, chiefly, it appears, on the O'Reilly Factor. As the teens like to say, "really?"
Fox already has Joe Trippi, Kirsten Powers, and Juan Williams from the center-left, though they play the role of analyst more than advocate most of the time. But if you want someone to play a more open liberal advocate role on Fox, there are lots of serious and articulate liberals-I'll just suggest Michael Tomasky of the Daily Beast for one example-who would give O'Reilly or other Fox hosts a run for their money. Kucinich is a clown, and he makes the O'Reilly Factor more of a clown show than it already is. But maybe that's the point; it is not for nothing that Rush Limbaugh, a serious man who nonetheless understands showmanship at the same time, refers to Bill O'Reilly as "Ted Baxter."
I get plenty of air time on Fox shows, though my one and only contact with the O'Reilly Factor several years ago was deeply problematic. A producer called to ask about my availability on a segment about gasoline prices. O'Reilly likes the stupid and constantly discredited theory of the Left that high gasoline prices are the result of market manipulation by Big Oil. After a few minutes of conversation about how oil markets actually work, the producer said to me, "Well, we're really looking for someone who will say that it's market manipulation," and apparently not someone who would say the opposite. To which I replied: "Sounds to me like you're not interested in someone with expertise on the subject to provide analysis and discussion, but a character actor to play a role for Bill." Long pause. "We'll get back to you." They never did. I've long suspected that O'Reilly is a pure opportunist; if there were more money to be made in being a lefty (say, over at MSNBC), he'd be there in a New York minute. Footnote: the next day I had a similar long and serious conversation with a producer from another show that was substantive and productive. It was a producer from "The Daily Show." Go figure.
Jack Pitney
The same can't be said of Sean Hannity, whose conservatism is sincere and passionate. But that's part of the defect of his show (both radio and TV); he gives up in depth and persuasiveness what he exudes in pure loud partisanship, to the point that he is hard to listen to. I always have to tune out his radio show when he starts shouting at and berating liberal callers. And he features Dick Morris too much, too.
To be sure, we shouldn't expect Fox shows to imitate the cool urbanity of "Firing Line" (though "Firing Line" generated some of the highest ratings of any PBS show over the years), and there are genuinely substantive shows on Fox such as everything on offer from John Stossel and Neil Cavuto. And Special Report with Bret Baier is the best evening news show on air. At some point someone will say, "Ratings! Profit!," at which point I begin to suggest that Fox is misnamed: they are the Hedgehog News Network (if you know the old Isaiah Berlin article). They get one big thing, which is ratings. (And to which I'll add that there's one Roger Ailes trait I do highly approve: blondes.)
Melanie Marlowe
It still seems to me that you could get big ratings and still do the conservative cause some good with some thought and some fresh faces. In place of Morris I'd nominate Jack Pitney, one of the liveliest speakers you'll ever see, with a depth of knowledge about politics that easily keeps up with Karl Rove. He'd grab an audience in nothing flat. And if you want someone new to fit the Fox distaff profile, how about Melanie Marlowe? She'd be a killer.
Last night, Brian Ward and I covered the good-a terrific interview with Roger Simon and his wife Sheryl Longin-the bad-Lance Armstrong-and the ugly-the bizarre controversy over Manti Teo's nonexistent girlfriend. This is how Brian described the podcast over at Ricochet:
The Hinderaker-Ward Experience (HWX) podcast returns for a special Friday night edition.
Over some Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye and a hardcore brandy and eggnog, the boys bump their heads up against the debt ceiling and contrast President Obama's current strident condemnations of Congressional resistance to raising the debt to Senator Obama's past strident condemnations of Presidential requests to raise the debt. They also come to terms with telling lies in America through the dark glass of Manti T'eo and Lance Armstrong.
Next they delve into the exotic world of thespianism when they are joined by the great Roger Simon and Sheryl Longin, for an entertaining discussion of their new play, The Party Line.
Things then wrap up with the Loon of the Week (featuring Constitutional scholar Danny Glover), This Week in Gatekeeping (featuring a serial columnist fabricator), and this weeks Ricochet Listener/Member of the Week - the legendary Sean!
Care to be the next Listener/Member of the Week and appear on the next Hinderaker Ward Experience podcast? Be the first one to name the phrase that pays in the comments section, and you're in. It's as easy at that.
We hope you enjoy and thanks for listening.
I especially commend to your attention the interview with Roger and Sheryl and their new play, The Party Line. It weaves together two stories, separated in time by 70 years or so. One concerns Walter Duranty, the corrupt New York Times reporter who won a Pulitzer Prize for covering up for Stalin; the other features Pim Fortuyn, the assassinated Dutch politician. The Party Line is a colorful, entertaining two-act play that would be fun to see performed, but it is also great to read. You can buy it at Amazon here.
You can listen to the podcast by playing it right here, or you can go to Ricochet to download or subscribe to the podcast in various ways, or you can hit the subscribe button in the graphic above to subscribe on iTunes or elsewhere. Or you can use Stitcher. There are many ways to experience the Hinderaker-Ward Experience, but I think the best is by subscribing on iTunes. That way, you never have to worry about missing an episode.
I want to draw your attention to Judy Shelton's article "Money in bad faith," in the new issue of the Weekly Standard out this morning. The Fed's QE-Infinity project cannot end well. In my opinion, it should remain near the top of the reasonable man's list of worries. Shelton writes:
If we want to preserve the morality of a free-market system, we cannot permit our central bank to carry out monetary policy in ways that play favorites. It's especially egregious that the Fed has become complicit in drawing off capital into the abyss of deficit financing; clearly, our central bank is catering to the political class, bailing out Washington itself through massive purchases of government debt obligations. Monetary policy today delivers the biggest benefits to the world's largest borrower our federal government.
If we continue to allow the Fed to underwrite deficit spending and inflict the resulting monetary distortions on the people who actually contribute real value to the economy, who live and work in the belief that saving is a virtue, we will witness the steady demoralization of democratic capitalism.
Shelton's article is not long and is worth reading in its entirety.
Phil Everly - the younger of the Everly Brothers - turns 74 today; older brother Don Everly will turn 76 next month. In the Cosmic American Music the Everly Brothers have a constellation all to themselves. They brought the close harmony singing of traditional country music into the mainstream of American popular music. More than a few great musicians learned harmony singing by listening to their records. In his multimedia show that returns to the Dakota Jazz Club and Restaurant later this month, Peter Asher recalls how he and Gordon Waller taught themselves harmony singing by imitating the Everly Brothers. Paul McCartney acknowledged his debt to the Everlys in "Let 'Em In" and wrote "On the Wings of a Nightingale" for their first post-reunion recording in 1984.
After tearing through a succession of memorable pop songs written for them by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant at the end of the 1950's, they struck out on their own with Warner Brothers in 1960. Some of their most brilliant work followed, including their 1960 Warner Brothers hit "Cathy's Clown." Even as their audience in the United States deserted them in the wake of the British Invasion, they continued deepening and updating their work on albums such as The Everly Brothers Sing and Roots.
Their British fans never really left them. After performing together with their faces a few inches apart from each other for 20 years, the brothers famously broke up in public onstage at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California, in 1973. When they reunited ten years later, they repaid their debt to their British fans by debuting the reunion in a concert at the Royal Albert Hall. (Rhino Records has now released a two-disc recording of that concert.)
The video above captures Don and Phil in a beautiful performance of "Take a Message To Mary/Maybe Tomorrow" at the Christmas 1983 BBC concert following their reunion concert that fall. It's a medley that goes back to their Cadence recordings of the 1950's and brings their career full circle. "Take a Message to Mary" was written by the Bryants, "Maybe Tomorrow" by the Everlys.
We saw the Everly Brothers at the University of Minnesota when their reunion tour took them through Minneapolis in June 1984, and again in the fall of 2003 when Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel - two of their most diligent students - brought them to St. Paul as part of their own version of a reunion tour. Seeing them all together gave me the occasion to meditate on the emotional pull of the brothers' close harmony singing in "The deep meaning of Simon and Garfunkel."
Chuck Hagel has acquired another dubious supporter in his bid to become Secretary of Defense: former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel. Gravel's political history is checkered, to say the least. He served two terms as a Democratic senator from Alaska, and eventually joined the Libertarian Party. Gravel first became known as a rabid opponent of the Vietnam war. In later years, he bitterly opposed the Iraq war and has expressed support for 9/11 trutherism. Perhaps most pertinent to Gravel's support for Hagel is the fact that he authored a book titled A Political Odyssey: The Rise of American Militarism and One Man's Fight to Stop It.
Perhaps even more notable than Gravel's support for Hagel is the venue in which he expressed it: Iranian state television. FrontPage has the story:
Iran's English language propaganda arm said last week that the choice of Chuck Hagel for secretary of Defense indicates that the United States would allow Iran to get a nuclear bomb rather than confront the Islamic Republic. The Iranians used a former Democratic Senator, Mike Gravel, as the centerpiece of this report.
Press TV, the Iranian regime's English language mouthpiece, spoke "exclusively" with former Democratic Senator Mike Gravel of Alaska for a report on what Hagel's nomination means to any future confrontation between the two nations. The report stated:
I think if [Chuck] Hagel gets appointed or confirmed by the Senate for the Defense Department, I think that will be a plus from Iran's point of view because I do not think he would get involved in any plan to go to war with Iran," said former US Senator in San Francisco Mike Gravel in an exclusive interview with Press TV.
Gravel also told Press TV that he didn't believe Hagel's nomination would have major consequences for the US's relationship with Israel. However, he also said that "Hagel would not be a friend of Israel. He would not be an enemy but he would certainly be a lot more circumspect with our relationship with Israel."
It is quite remarkable that President Obama has nominated a Secretary of Defense who is applauded by eccentric opponents of American strength like Mike Gravel, and bitter enemies of the U.S. like the government of Iran. In a parallel universe inhabited by reporters, this would be a news story.
All is not as it appears in the case of Richard Windsor, the alias used by outgoing EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, apparently to shield email messages from discovery and disclosure. Under court order to cough up the email messages to Chris Horner of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and having turned over a first installment of 2,100 such email messages earlier this week, the Obama administration is making this a case that might challenge the ingenuity of Sherlock Holmes.
With Horner's assistance, my daughter Eliana tries to pierce the fog of administrative war in her NRO column "Lisa Jackson's gadfly." Let's get to work on this case:
Monday, the administration responded to Horner's Freedom of Information Act request, and he received 2,100 of some 12,000 e-mails sent from Jackson's alias account, with the rest set to arrive in installments of approximately 3,000 a month over the next three months.
But, having pored over the items, Horner thinks something's fishy. "The e-mails they released do not resemble the 'Windsor' e-mails we have," Horner says. That address, according to Horner, was known to and used among high-level EPA officials and Jackson's political confidants, including the man likely to replace her on the job, Bob Perciasepe, whereas the e-mails the EPA sent to the CEI on Monday appear to have come from an account used for more general purposes, such as sending agency-wide e-mail blasts.
While the EPA has acknowledged the existence of Jackson's Windsor account, it makes a contention that doesn't comport with the facts as we know them: that is, that Jackson has only two government e-mail accounts. According to the EPA, Jackson holds only a public account, whose address is posted on the EPA's website and which hundreds of thousands of people use to contact her, and an internal account, which she uses to correspond with staff and other government officials.
Horner suspects that, despite what the EPA says, Jackson actually has more than one internal account: at least one used to correspond with agency employees at large - the one from which the EPA turned over the documents on Monday - and the Windsor account, used for more sensitive subjects.
Horner believes that, in protecting the Windsor e-mails, the administration is trying to hide its musings on cap-and-trade, a legislative proposal that never gained broad political support. Acknowledging the legislation's failure, President Obama was not deterred. "Cap-and-trade was just one way of skinning the cat," he said. "It wasn't the only way. It was a means, not an end. And I'm going to be looking for other means to address this problem."
It's those means, and other sensitive aspects of the administration's environmental agenda, that Horner thinks may be hiding in Jackson's Windsor inbox. A lawyer by training, Horner is an outspoken climate-change skeptic and the author of many books on the subject, and he suspects the EPA is continuing to shield the Windsor correspondence from public view because its contents would be damaging to the administration. "At the most basic level," he says, "we know they're hiding correspondence that Jackson and her team felt would be sufficiently troubling to the public or problematic to the agenda if revealed that it was worth creating a false identity to protect it."
There is more at the link warranting your attention. It's all hands on deck to get to keep this case in view and get to work on it.
All the leaves are brown, and the budget is still red, even with Jerry Brown's big income and sales tax hike the voters foolishly approved back in November. The latest entirely predictable piece of news was reported yesterday. The Wall Street Journal headlinetells the story succinctly: "California Budget Hit By Facebook's IPO." Wait a moment: how exactly is a budget "hit" by the creation of massive new liquid wealth? It seems the state had counted upon getting $1.9 billion in capital gains taxes from Facebook's debut as a publicly traded company, but since California has unfriended the entire business community it is not surprising that the take will only be about $1.3 billion. (Needless to say, you can't run a budget on one-time IPOs anyway.)
Meanwhile, rumors are flying around Sacramento that Gov. Jerry Brown is about to go full Moonbeam on us again, and may call in his upcoming State of the State address for California to raise its current "renewable portfolio standard" for electricity from the current ridiculous target of 33 percent by the year 2020 to 40 percent. More: he might even call for banning any future construction of gas-fired power plants in the state. I guess Jerry thinks we can power the state on his recycled speeches. There's certainly a lot of hot air in them.
Jerry Brown is also after the state's colleges and universities to cut costs and lower tuition, as California's budget woes have meant cuts for state aid to higher education, with more cuts ahead if the state's fiscal picture doesn't improve. Hmm, let's see here. I've heard of one state lately where state aid to higher education is increasing rapidly. North Dakota. In fact, North Dakota's rapidly growing budget has been in surplus for quite a while, though I doubt they'll be interested in investing their surplus in California state bonds.
The pity is that California could easily match North Dakota's economic and fiscal success. Fuel Fix.com recently estimated that California could edge out Texas as the nation's leading oil producing state if it wanted to open up some of its land. My pal (and one of the top energy minds around) Mark Mills observed in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that California could collect a gusher of revenue and economic growth:
California collects about $15 billion in tax revenues for every billion barrels of state oil production, according to research conducted last year by the University of Wyoming's Timothy Considine and Edward Manderson. If that is accurate, then simply by opening up Monterey oil development-no incentives, grants or state funds required-tax receipts could total $250 billion over the coming two decades. Economists Robert Hahn and Peter Passell, at the American Enterprise and Milken Institutes respectively, point to another $30 billion to $80 billion in broad economic and social benefits that ripple through an economy for every billion barrels of oil production.
Do the math: The overall economic benefits of opening up the Monterey shale field could reach $1 trillion. One can only imagine the impact on California's education system, social programs, infrastructure, and even energy-tech R&D. Moreover, with that kind of revenue, Sacramento tax collections could wipe out debt and deficits.
Then there's this:
A savvy politician might also point out the promise of Silicon Valley developing still more advanced hydrocarbon tech. One can foresee a growing array of software, sensor, materials and big-data startups that underpin the smart controls and data processing central to modern oil production.
Hmm: maybe the next IPO in the hydrocarbon energy sector could live up to the budget dreams of the kleptocrats in Sacramento. But then, Mark notes that this would require a "savvy politician," and not a moonscape dreamer like Jerry Brown.
It's the liberal counterpart to my conservative worry list. There are a lot of things I worry about and mighty few I don't ("global warming" would probably lead my short list of non-worries). Coming to the rescue of folks like me is economist Irwin Stelzer, who offers a worrier's guide to "Selective worrying." One problem: Stelzer legitimates some serious worries of mine:
Ben Bernanke's Fed is printing money at an unprecedented rate in order to keep interest rates low. And plans to keep doing so until the unemployment rate drops to at least 6.5 percent. It is an enabler: The government is borrowing $40 for every $100 it spends (don't try that in your house or business), and the Fed is printing money with which to purchase the IOUs the government is issuing, and then more so it can send interest payments to the treasury. Jeffrey Lacker, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, fears that the Fed has gone too far and for no purpose, "that just throwing money at the economy is unlikely to solve the problems that are keeping a ... worker from finding a good competitive job." Richard Fisher of the Dallas Fed and Esther George of Kansas City also worry about Bernanke's no holds barred use of the printing press. Among other things, zero interest rates are causing asset inflation-and shares, land, and house prices that are driven artificially skyward often come down with an unpleasant thud.
Enter the bond vigilantes. At some point investors will decide, as they did in the case of Greece and similarly situated eurozone countries, that the only way the U.S. government can pay its debt is by printing still more money, debasing the currency, and repaying its creditors with dollars worth far less than those it borrowed. At that point the interest rates they demand will shoot up, raising the government's borrowing costs, driving down the value of the Fed's portfolio of $2.6 trillion in bonds, driving up mortgage rates, aborting the housing recovery, making it costly for consumers to swipe their credit cards and throwing the economy into recession, or worse. This is a legitimate worry, one that makes the rulers of our biggest creditor, China, more than a little nervous.
Stelzer counts that as one worry, but I think he's counting conservatively. Here are worries two and three:
A second worry with a realistic basis is that what has come to be called "the new normal" for the American economy includes an irreducible unemployment rate of 7.5 percent. Even if the lower Fed target of 6.5 percent is attainable, some economists reckon that at the current rate of job growth and labor force participation, we won't get to that target until 2020. Others guess that even if the economy grows at annual rate of 2.25 percent-it is now growing at less than 2 percent, and that was before the recent increase in payroll and other taxes-it will take 5.4 years to get the unemployment rate down to 6.5 percent. The importance of removing impediments to economic growth is demonstrated by a second computation: If the economy would only grow at a rate one percentage point higher-3.25 percent-unemployment would drop to the Fed's target in 1.8 years.
A final and wholly realistic brick in the wall of worry relates to the policies of the Obama administration. Its regulatory agencies have now filed their agendas for 2013: Proposed new regulations total tens of thousands of pages, with more to come as regulations implementing Obamacare and the Dodd-Frank financial reform law are written. These are not likely to stimulate growth or create jobs for other than bureaucrats.
That's the bad news. Stelzer also purports to bring the good news taking certain worries off our list. Among Stelzer's companion list of non-worries is the fear that we're heading into a recession. But isn't our slow-as- molasses economic growth something to worry about? That one is staying on my list.
Can't the government, at the end of the day, just print money, with the unfortunate downside being inflation? It turns out that it isn't actually that simple, because the framers of our financial system were pretty farsighted. And that, in turn, sheds light on why the debt ceiling is non-trivial. The Grumpy Economist, John Cochrane of the University of Chicago and the Hoover Institution, explains:
First, just to be clear, let me clarify the playlist:
* Debt: US government bonds, issued by the Treasury. Promises to pay for your healthcare is not "debt," and if the government reneges on that promise it's not a "default."
* Cash: Bills and coins.
* Reserves: Essentially checking accounts at the Fed. Banks may freely obtain cash in return for reserves and vice versa.We often say "the Fed prints money" when in fact what it does is to create reserves.
In the first debt-limit debate, I was initially puzzled that it was a problem at all. The "debt limit" does not include currency or reserves, though both are functionally US government debt. That seems like an unfortunate oversight: Why can't the government just pay its bills by printing money, i.e. creating reserves? Sure, you might worry about inflation sooner or later, but this is a legal question. The government can print money to pay its bills, no?
Well, no, which is really interesting.
For the Fed to "print money," meaning to create reserves, it has to buy some other asset. Though the Fed can manufacture money costlessly, it legally can only do so by buying assets. The Fed cannot engage in fiscal policy, and printing up checks and sending them to taxpayers - or even dropping cash from helicopters - is fiscal, not monetary policy.
And the debt limit applies to all Federal debt outstanding, including debt held by the Fed. So, as long as the Fed buys only Treasury bills, the debt limit does, in fact, stop the government as a whole from "printing money" (creating reserves) to pay bills. To do so, the Treasury has to issue debt, borrowing the money, pay its bills, and then get the Fed to buy the debt, so that in the end there is more money outstanding. But a debt limit stops this operation.
Well, the Treasury has the actual printing presses that make good old fashioned cash. Why can't the Treasury just print up money and use it to pay bills? (Or, deposit the cash at the Fed, thereby get reserves, and transfer the reserves by writing checks.) No, that's illegal too. The Treasury prints the bills, but they can only be issued by the Fed, and in return for already-created reserves.
So the architects of our monetary system and debt limit weren't so dumb after all. Though we have a fiat money system, and, drawing a circle around the whole government, it should be able just to print money and give it to people (social security) or buy tanks and stuff with the printed money, the debt limit does pretty well constrain the government budget.
To emphasize, this isn't about a fight between Treasury and Fed. They can agree they want to print money to evade the debt limit. But they still can't do it. It's a limit on what the government as a whole can do.
There is much more, including a discussion of why scare talk about "default" is wrong-a point we have made repeatedly-and why Paul Krugman is, to use "a polite word again...misleading."
Days after President Barack Obama unveiled a sweeping package of federal gun control proposals, concerned citizens gathered in state capitals nationwide to rally against those measures. See the picturesHERE.
On Saturday, Former U.S. President Bill Clinton spoke with top Democratic donors at a private meeting. He warned the group to treat gun control differently than other political issues. See Clinton's advice on guns and gun controlHERE.
According to CBS News� political director John Dickerson, if President Obama wants to leave any kind of legacy, he needs to declare war on his enemies and then �pulverize� and �destroy� them. Who is Dickerson suggesting that the President should "destroy?" You probably can guess. If not, learn the answerHERE.
In a bloody finale, Algerian special forces stormed a natural gas complex in the Sahara desert on Saturday to end a standoff with Islamist extremists that left at least 23 hostages and 32 militants dead. Get the latest details on this storyHERE.
A fish with radiation levels more than 2,500 times the allowed maximum was caught this week in the waters off Japan�s Fukushima nuclear plant.
The discovery, which comes just weeks before the two-year anniversary of the nuclear disaster, has sparked considerable concern about the safety of the local food supply. See this "hot" fish and learn what's being done about it HERE.
The sequel to recent selection The Inner Circle finds a sicko reenacting presidential assassinations with a twist: he targets religious figures. Jump into Brad Meltzer's swift, historically dazzling thrillerHERE.
A mother in St. Louis, Missouri was stunned after her daughter�s school allegedly suggested breast reduction surgery as a possible way to combat the bullying that the young woman was experiencing. Read this outrageous storyHERE.
President Barack Obama�s second inauguration was �awesome,� �moving� and �you know, part of history.� Vice President Joe Biden even cried. At least, that's what people said when Jimmy Kimmel sent a camera crew out to ask people how they liked the big event. See the clipsHERE.
Dutch television hosts Dennis Storm and Valerio Zena entered territory no man can quite comprehend during their recent broadcast of their show Guinea Pigs � childbirth. They hooked themselves up to machines that reportedly simulate the pain of contractions. See just how long they lastedHERE.
The House GOP announced early Friday afternoon that they would vote next week to pass a three-month debt limit increase to �meet our immediate obligations.� We wondered whether this was yet another concession or whether it was part of some larger strategy. Get the full story and decide for yourselfHERE.
Her name is Jessie Duff. She is a world champion shooter. On Friday, Ms. Duff joined Sean Hannity to bring us seven-plus minutes of gun-shooting, range-blasting goodness. Enjoy the videoHERE.
On Tuesday, the Combating Terrorism Center (CTC) at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point released a study warning against American �far right� groups including the �anti-federalist� movement and strong limited government activists. See the surprising reportHERE.
U.S. Marine Corps special operators will soon be outfitted with Colt�s M45 Close Quarters Combat Pistol, marking the first time in nearly 30 years that Colt pistols will accompany Marines into combat. Get a close up look at the impressive new side arm and let us know if you think it's "hot or not" HERE.
Time Warner Cable enacted a strict semi-automatic weapons ban on Friday. The second largest cable provider in the U.S. said they will no longer accept ads that show �semi-automatic weapons� or �guns pointed at people.� Learn what restrictions the company will put on gun violence in programmingHERE.
Barack Obama�s plans for his second swearing-in will break a few traditions, but so far there�s no word on whether he�ll set any new records for an inaugural address. Presidents have always used the occasion �to articulate their hopes and dreams for a nation,� according to Congressional records. Some have been mercifully succinct � in fact, one delivered only 135 words. Test your knowledge, and learn who added the words "so help me God" to the oath of officeHERE.
Much of Friday's news cycle was dominated by reaction to Lance Armstrong�s confession to Oprah. And much has been said about whether he was genuine or not. Body language expert Professor Patrick O�Donnell, says that while Armstrong's words were saying one thing, his body was saying quite another.Watch Professor O'Donnell break it downHERE
On Friday, �Real News� opened up on the Manti Te�o and Lance Armstrong controversies, as well as the major lies that continue to unfold in American sports culture, and politics. Watch the full segmentHERE.
Glenn Beck frequently talks about the importance of building and supporting local communities through personal involvement and charity. Four years ago, the First Family started the National Day of Service program to inspire Americans to get involved with community service in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Participating is simple. To find a project close to you, just click HERE.
In a segment during Beck�s TV program about The Singularity, a technology-evolutionary jump, guest Cody Wilson was talking about his success in using 3D printers to actually make plastic guns. That's when Beck asked, �America, is this guy a hero or a villain?� Watch the clipHERE.
During Thursday�s edition of �The Five,� co-hosts Bob Beckel and Greg Gutfeld went into a heated exchange over gun violence and the National Rifle Association, which Beckel called �thugs� and the �most evil lobby� in Washington. See the video HERE.
On Wednesday, NBC�s Chuck Todd ran down a number of ways the U.S. is not better off than it was four years ago when President Barack Obama first took office. On Todd's list: median household income is lower, more Americans are living below the poverty line and the 7.8 percent unemployment rate is exactly the same. Check out this story from a surprising sourceHERE.
Nighttime satellite images from NASA have picked up on a strange clump of lights in the northwestern part of the continental U.S. Check out the images and see if you can guess what is causing this strange cluster of lightsHERE.
You didn�t think moving from print to online would prevent Newsweek Magazine from coming out with controversial and, um, �questionable� covers, did you? See the 'Second Coming' cover photoHERE.
BuzzFeed�s Michael Hastings is claiming that Chicago Mayor (and former White House chief-of-staff) Rahm Emanuel physically assaulted him during an interview, grabbing his arm and attempting to intimidate him �with a threat of physical violence." See the video coverage of this storyHERE.
Thursday night, Beck spoke again about "The Singularity" and explained that advancing technology is not bad or evil, but people must be prepared to use it responsibly and be aware of the potential dangers new technology will pose. Learn how advancing technology, the "Singularity" and government regulation are all connectedHERE.
Real News from TheBlaze -- Find out about the one election that Obama can't possibly win (and we're not talking about 2016). - Tune in to Real News tonight for the answers -- 6pm ET or on-demand on TheBlaze TV.
Wilkow! -- Executive Orders - What are they? How have they been used and abused by Presidents? Watch Wilkow! at 6pm ET -- only on TheBlaze TV.
Transit police in Philadelphia have arrested a man who allegedly threw a woman on the subway tracks at a station in the city�s Chinatown neighborhood. Watch the shocking videoHERE.
Once Obama takes your guns, how will you defend yourself? Learn time-tested weapons making methods to keep yourself safe from intruders, bureaucrats, and more.
If you�ve ever questioned whether dogs truly are �man�s best friend,� this story will surely solidify your views. Every day, a German shepherd whose owner died last year has reportedly been showing up for mass at Santa Maria Assunta Church in San Donaci, Italy. See the photosHERE.
A nationwide flu outbreak could be a sufficient excuse to call up the National Guard Rapid Response Parallel support module to take control of a "national emergency" with possible declaration of martial law protocols. According to a North Carolina police lieutenant, in some three to six months declarations of martial law could be made throughout the nation. In a two part radio broadcast aired by a Virginia pastor, Lieutenant McCoy has attracted the attention of more than 20,000 listeners. "We're in huge trouble," he says as he calls up memories of white, granite gravestones all over Europe; gravestones marking the final resting place of veterans who died "for us" during World War II. (1)
Tragically, many of our veterans are now referred to as potential "domestic terrorists" by President Obama's Department of Homeland Security. Men who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan have been declared "risks" should they choose to purchase a firearm for private ... Continue Reading:FEMA and the National Guard-working for or against the American public?
Barack Obama's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) has sent an open letter to all Federal Firearms License (FFL) holders/licensed gun dealers in the United States, recommending they "...enhance public safety and assist law enforcement by encouraging and facilitating transfers of firearms between private individuals through their business." In short, FFL holders are being told to perform background checks and keep records of private gun sales between American citizens, EVEN THOUGH federal law may NOT require that they do so! (1)
According to current federal law, gun sales between private individuals must be handled by FFL holders ONLY if the private parties are residents of different states. Residents of the same state may conclude the sale of a firearm without submitting to a background check, having the sale recorded or paying a fee to a FFL holder/licensed gun store. Yet in the ATF's January 16th letter to gun dealers, this vitally important ... Continue Reading:Firearm dealers told to ignore federal law, begin de facto registration of gun owners
The Republic of Mali is a landlocked nation in Northwestern Saharan Africa. Mali is divided into eight regions and has a population of 15 million. The main sources of income for the nation are fishing and agriculture though it is one of the largest producers of gold on the African continent. Since 1992 the country was stable until a coup d'état in March 2012 removed the government and suspended the constitution, claiming that the nation's President did little to quell a rebellion by a separatist group which was sidelined by al Qaeda trained Islamic terrorist Ansar Dine and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The goal of these organizations was to turn Mali and Algeria into Sharia compliant Islamic republics. Being so close to Libya and Egypt it would be safe to assume that they were getting assistance from the Muslim Brotherhood.
Just about four months ago the Democrats' media broke the heartbreaking story of how a double tragedy had struck Manti Te'o a star football player for Norte Dame. The reports told of how Te'o's grandmother in Hawaii had died and shortly thereafter his girlfriend, the love of his life, had died from injuries sustained in a car accident or leukemia - whichever carried the narrative better during a particular retelling of the story .
Te'o's grandmother Annette Santiago, was real and there is no reason to doubt his deep sense of loss at her death, but the "life" and "death" of his girlfriend, Lennay Kekua stinks of what Norte Dame has become under its current president Father John Jenkins.
As the Notre Dameian fake story goes the happy couple met in Palo Alto after Norte Dame had lost to Stanford. The local Norte Dame house organ wrote flowery ... Continue Reading:Phonies like Notre Dame's Te'o are media favorites
Realizing that a shooting war with American citizens would not bode well for an Obama legacy which will already require a blanket guarantee of willful amnesia on the part of historians, the president's handlers on Wednesday decided it best to propose an Executive ban on gun owners rather than on the guns they own.
If fact, nowhere in the list of 23 executive actions recommended by Obama will the American public find the words, "these weapons will be banned" or "confiscation will begin on..." The president wisely left the heavy lifting of "assault weapons" bans and other unconstitutional offensives on the 2nd Amendment to congress, placing lawmakers in a rock-and-a-hard-spot position for which any existing red state Democrats are no doubt less than grateful. (1)
But the scheme Obama did choose is far more insidious than any direct attack on the weapons of choice of American gun owners. For the president is ... Continue Reading:Obama Executive Orders designed to ban owners, not guns
Not only might fracking save the U.S. economy, it might also force a new maturity on the Islamic world by making its people face reality. It also would deny nations like Saudi Arabia (our embarrassingly reactionary friends) and Iran and Venezuela (our even more reactionary enemies) the means to threaten others while oppressing their own people.
Though a "fiscal cliff" deal is complete in Congress, the fallout certainly isn't over. The deal that resulted after Congress's final discussions over the country's budget failed to address America's long-term debt issue, but it also failed to settle another ongoing debate centered around programs, subsidies, and policy for American agriculture in the wake of the expiration of the 2008 Farm Bill.
Gun shows represent only one part of unchecked private party firearms sales. Yet gun shows are the example that the gun-control activists constantly harp on as the reason for a broad national background check requirement. Is it possible that criminals are too stupid to buy guns at gun shows? Or is it possible that they prefer to obtain guns in less expensive ways, such as by theft?
Lance Armstrong's acolytes bullied the press into silence. And he's far from the first athlete whose PR flacks have done so. But hey, this is just sports. It's not like old media looks the other way when a politician screws up, right? No, of course not.
"In spite of its alluring name, the welfare state stands or falls by compulsion. It is compulsion imposed upon us with the state's power to punish noncompliance. Once this is clear, it is equally clear that the welfare state is an evil the same as every restriction of freedom. " ~ Wilhelm Ropke
Obama's Harrowing China Solution
The Darkest Design Of Barack Obama By Erik Rush CanadaFreePress.com
For some time, there have been unsubstantiated reports of the Obama administration engaging in clandestine negotiations with China toward satisfying America's debt to that nation via exchanges of land and resources. Such an arrangement would be illegal and treasonous of course, but given its deportment to date, that would not likely deter this administration.
Obama Argues Religious Exemptions Don't Apply To Abortion Pill Mandate
Government Says Violating Faith 'No Burden' WorldNetDaily
Attorneys for the Obama administration have explained to a federal appeals court that ordering company owners to violate their faith by paying for abortion pills does not amount to a significant "burden" at all.
Michelle's Latest Community Organizing Gambit: Be Afraid
Obama Launches Major Alinsky-Style Community Organizing Project From The White House By Katie Pavlich TownHall.com
It's easy to belittle Barack Obama for being a community organizer, but he's the one who got the last laugh on November 6, 2012. Community organizing is key to not only winning a campaign but changing a country, which is exactly what the Obama's plan to do moving forward. Today Michelle Obama helped launch President Obama's "Organizing for Action," a massive community organizing project geared towards pushing through Obama's second term agenda and changing how voters think about issues for the long term.
Take The Poll: Is GOP Plan To Raise The Debt Ceiling Brilliant Or Capitulation? America's Conservative News
Instead of drawing a line in the sand and simply refusing to raise the limit on Barack Obama's credit cards, Republican leaders are floating a plan to raise the debt limit if Harry Reid agrees to freeze Congressional pay if the Senate does not pass a budget in three months.
"Only a mediocre person is always at his best." ~ W. Somerset Maugham
Show Us Yours, Mr. President
Rush Limbaugh Calls For Background Check On Obama BirtherReport.com/Posted On America's Conservative News
Barack Obama wants a national database of gun owners and background checks for everyone who owns a gun, but as Rush points out, there's never been a background check on the occupier of the Oval Office.
Poll: Obama's hiding something Politico/World Net Daily
More than a third of Americans--and 64 percent of Republicans--believe that President Barack Obama might be hiding something, according to a new poll Thursday.
Illegal Alien: Thanks To 'Obama's Law' 'We're Safe' from Deportation By Dan Joseph CNSNews.com
A self-professed illegal alien who spoke at today's "Campaign for Citizenship" event tells MRCTV that, after 20 years of hiding, she's now "safe" to admit her status publicly.
30 Hostages Reported Killed in Algerian Rescue Attempt NewsMax.com/Thomson/Reuters
Thirty hostages and at least 11 Islamist militants were killed on Thursday when Algerian forces stormed a desert gas plant in a bid to free many dozens of Western and local captives, an Algerian security source said.
The Tea Party, red-blooded Americans and Second Amendment constitutionalists have defied the gun grabbing intent of the encroaching federal government. "We will not go quietly into the night this time were armed only with ...(more)
Following Obama's choreographed attack on the Second Amendment earlier this week, the Department of Homeland Security announced it will join the administration, the Justice Department and the FBI in a renewed attack on firearms.
Under the guise of preventing what is largely unpreventable short of disarming ...(more)
The Constitution's Second Amendment was created to bolster slavery and capture land from Native Americans, award winning actor Danny Glover told a group of students at a Texas A&M sponsored event on Thursday.
Actor Danny Glover told students at Texas A&M University the intent ...(more)
How did the rest of the media miss this? According to the new issue of Newsweek online, President Obama, who this weekend begins his second term-the third president in a row to do so-is "The Second Coming."
With flattering photographs, the magazine edited by Obama fan Tina Brown holds out hope ...(more)
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is proposing legislation to nullify President Obama's executive actions on gun policy, claiming that the president's actions are a breach of constitutional separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches.
During a Wednesday appearance on Fox News' "Hannity," the Republican senator outlined ...(more)
After trotting out young children as the backdrop for his gun control rollout yesterday, the White House released videos today of young children reading anti-gun letters to the camera. "No guns, no guns, no guns, ...(more)
A New York lawmaker says that the state's recently passed gun control law stunningly fails to include any exemptions for law enforcement officers, and technically prohibits police from ever bringing guns on school grounds or possessing extended ammo magazines ...(more)
Republican senator Ted Cruz of Texas said Thursday that Barack Obama is "high on his own power" with regard to the president's announced efforts on gun control. Speaking on Laura Ingraham's radio talk show, Cruz, who was just elected to the Senate last November, said "this is a president who has drunk the Kool-Aid." ...(more)
Is this why you can't get ammo so easily?
It's not only guns that are missing from the shelves. It's ammunition, too.
And you won't believe what federal authorities are intentionally doing to cause this, and how it's even harming local POLICE departments.
A Colorado homeschooling single mom had enough on her plate before her life was turned upside down by a complaining neighbor who dragged her into this mess ...
NFL quarterback Tim Tebow, who led the Denver Broncos into an unlikely playoff appearance a year ago but then was traded to the New York Jets, now is being recruited by a "team" that more closely reflects his Christian style ...
A relatively rare astronomical event -- rare, at least, in terms of most people's lifetimes -- is coming this year and sure to spark concerns and theories as to it's greater spiritual meaning.
One thing is certain ... it is coming at a time when the electronic infrastructure that makes modern civilization possible is uniquely at risk.
Is this celestial event that will have the world gazing heavenward a harbinger of coming divine judgment?
If you thought the Civil War -- also known as the War Between the States or the War of Northern Aggression -- ended in the South's surrender at Appomattox in April 1865, think again.
If these upbeat, modern-day secessionists are right, that war's "end" was more of a strategic cease fire.
Against abortion? Then don't have one, reads the pro-abortion bumpersticker.
But, adds Obama, if you're an employer, you must pay for others to have abortions.
The arguments submitted by Obama's attorneys to the appeals court show just how determined the administration is to not only snuff out innocent human life but to snuff out faith itself.
Where do 'hardcore Hollywood leftists' get these ideas?
Admittedly America is divided over the Second Amendment right now. The arguments are heated ... ideological ... and, at times, based on false information.
But here's a claim that will leave your jaw on the floor.
The only thing crazier is how much this actor was paid to say it ...
When confronted with the murder of children, the only reaction is anger, shock, and grief. Since the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, America has been reeling.
We want to protect our fellow Americans, our families, and ourselves. We want to understand the causes of violence and meet the challenges before they turn into tragedies. On this, we can all agree.
To be effective, the response to Newtown cannot be a hasty "Do something-anything" response. That's why Heritage experts have taken the time to consider the complex problems involved.
In a new report, senior legal fellow John Malcolm and director of domestic policy studies Jennifer Marshall acknowledge:
The serious work to make society safer and stronger after events like the December 2012 Newtown massacre requires that constitutional and complex cultural factors be taken into consideration and that policy be based on a serious study of all of the evidence.
Their report unpacks that statement, bringing key principles into each of the issues.
Constitutional concerns. Malcolm and Marshall write: "The constitutional right to keep and bear arms is an individual right that is fundamental to a free society, which depends, ultimately, on personal responsibility." The Second Amendment is a safeguard for liberty and security, and Americans' right to keep and bear arms has been upheld by the Supreme Court. Any policy must be consistent with the Constitution.
Complex cultural factors. All individuals need to be known and cared for in relationships-a family, a neighborhood, a circle of friends, a house of worship or other community group. This is essential to thriving as a human being. The family especially shapes a person's experience deeply. If that first community of security breaks down, it is important that others in these circles of support step in to help. Malcolm and Marshall point to transformative programs led by community leaders who are directly impacting gang violence, at-risk adolescents, and struggling families.
Federal policy responses to such intensely personal issues would be unwise. A national, one-size-fits-all prescription is not the answer. From school security to mental illness, these issues are best handled at the most local and personalized level possible.
Policy based on evidence. Any policy response should be based on factual research. As Malcolm and Marshall note, gun control laws do not correlate with decreased violence, and gun ownership does not correlate with increased violence. "If gun control were a panacea, then Washington, D.C., Oakland, and Chicago, which have very strict gun control laws, would be among the safest places to live rather than among the most dangerous."
We also have evidence that severe, untreated mental illness is frequently a characteristic of mass killers-and that federal involvement in mental health services has not worked well. The authors conclude: "Given the weak track record of federal mental health programs, states should exercise primary responsibility for determining appropriate mental health services, which will entail eliminating restrictions currently imposed by the federal government."
As the White House continues to roll out details of its plans, it is important to remember, as Malcolm and Marshall put it, that "Not all problems can be solved with government action, and if government action is required, any federal action, including executive orders, should be consistent with our federal system of government, respect for state sovereignty, and the separation of powers."
They also have this message for Members of Congress: "[E]motional appeals cannot be the sole basis for action. Policymakers should avoid a rush to judgment on prescriptions that violate first principles, that ignore the real root of these complex problems, or that disregard careful social science research."
There is no simple solution to the problem of violence. And there is no immediate antidote to the anguish of those who lost loved ones in Newtown. We must make sure that in the days to come, we exercise sober judgment.
Our nation is a compassionate nation. Our people respond and come together in response to horrific crimes such as the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
As they strive to make a safer and stronger society in the wake of Newtown, "policymakers should avoid a rush to judgment on prescriptions that violate first principles, ignore the real root of these complex problems, or disregard careful social science research," Heritage Foundation scholars John Malcolm and Jennifer Marshall explain in an important new report.
"Any federal government role must be limited and constrained by constitutional principles," they write. "The most important solutions lie at the state and local levels, in the community and within the family."
Malcolm and Marshall identify four key points lawmakers should keep in mind as they plan a response to the Newtown tragedy.
The Heritage Foundation's Luke Coffey explains one important lesson Americans should drawn from this week's hostage crisis in Algeria: having forward-deployed military bases in Europe is vital to promoting America's interest in the region.
During September's Benghazi attacks, an anti-terrorism team was sent to enhance security at the U.S. embassy in Tripoli. Instead of deploying a team all the way from the U.S., the government was able to deploy Marines from a U.S. Navy base in Rota, Spain-a mere two-hour flight away.
The Obama administration's defense cuts heavily affect the U.S. military presence in Europe. Ultimately, these cuts will reduce our military's ability and flexibility to react to any future situation that may arise.
America will not default on its debt absent a "clean" debt limit increase, Heritage Foundation President-Elect Jim DeMint said Wednesday on Fox News. Instead, we need to couple a debt limit increase with spending cuts and other reforms that put us on a path to a balanced budget, he said. Watch the video on myHeritage.
Have you often wished you could use IRA funds to make a gift to your favorite charity without it being treated as a taxable withdrawal? Now you can. But time is short-you have until January 31, 2013 to make your IRA contribution for the 2012 tax year.
There is growing opposition in Russia to a new law banning Americans from adopting Russian children. Some are even calling for the dissolution of the Duma, which enacted the law with Vladimir Putin's approval in December.
The unrest isn't focused solely on the adoption law, The Heritage Foundation's Ariel Cohen explains, and young people in particular are dissatisfied. These protests, he argues, could be part of a broader movement that could unseat the current leadership, which has now been in place for 13 years.
A new Heritage Foundation video calls attention to the billions of dollars in earmarks and special-interest giveaways in the costly Hurricane Sandy aid legislation. "The Senate's version of the bill," Heritage's Ericka Andersen reports, "included notorious pork projects such as $100 million for Head Start, $150 million for fisheries in Alaska, $2 million to fix a Smithsonian roof, and $28 billion for future disaster-mitigation projects, among other things." Click here to watch the video and learn more.
From our Hill Sources: The House and Senate are both in for a short work week, due in large part to Monday's inauguration of President Obama.
Monday's Schedule: Members will arrive at the Capitol as early as 9 a.m. Monday morning, and both President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will be sworn in just before noon. Obama's second inauguration speech is scheduled to start promptly at noon.
Once the festivities are over, both chambers will start work Tuesday on a handful of bills.
Debt Limit Extension
After holding a retreat in Virginia last week, Republicans have decided to move a bill that would raise the statutory debt ceiling for another three months. The House Republican plan is to make a longer-term debt ceiling agreement contingent on Senate passage of a budget -- the Senate has not passed one in nearly four years. The bill, which was still being written over the weekend, is also expected to withhold the pay of members of Congress in the event that Congress cannot pass a budget. Democrats criticized the GOP plan as a "gimmick", but Republicans see the bill as an opportunity to engage the Senate on an ongoing debate about the budget and spending levels. Find bills related to the federal debt and budget in this Issue Spotlight: http://www.popvox.com/blog/2013/issue-spotlight-debt-ceiling/
The House
-- HR 273: Eliminating a pending pay increase for federal workers. (This is a House Republican response to President Obama's Executive Order calling for a pay increase for federal workers starting in late March.) - http://www.popvox.com/bills/us/113/hr273
-- Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Reauthorization Act (HR 307): To reauthorize certain programs under the Public Health Service Act and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with respect to public health security and all-hazards preparedness and response. (This is a bill the House approved late last year to reauthorize various government programs that help keep the US prepared for biological threats. It was easily approved last year, and the House will likely approve it again on Tuesday, sending it onto the Senate.) - http://www.popvox.com/bills/us/113/hr307
The Senate
-- The Disaster Relief Appropriations Act (HR 152):
This is the $50.7 billion Hurricane Sandy relief bill. The House approved it last week, and the Senate is expected to take it up sometime during the week. - http://www.popvox.com/bills/us/113/hr152
Seen the "Promised Land"? Now Check Out the Action Kit
In conjunction with the movie, "Promised Land," Participant Media created a social action campaign, including a toolkit, to propel individuals to create change in their own communities. As the movie shows so effectively, a single voice can change the public discourse. The POPVOX team is excited that Participant Media included POPVOX as part of the campaign. Check out the "Promised Land" toolkit at http://www.takepart.com/promisedland
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Rep. Gosar on the Second Amendment
Rep. Paul Gosar Renews Call For Immediate Resignation of Attorney General Holder
I ran into Rep Gosar at the Phoenix airport last night. I was coming home from a yearly company meeting and he was returning home from DC. We talked about 15 minutes and he informed me that he is NOT going to let these issues be swept under the rug. He also asked me to inform you that he is still working on the Benghazi situation. We must continue to write, call, and fax our Senate and Reps on these issues and hold them accountable. He says we must continue to apply pressure.
Here is the release from Rep. Gosar's office:
Friday January 18th
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Rep. Paul Gosar, DDS (R-AZ) introduced a Resolution of No Confidence in U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. The resolution states "that it is the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress has lost confidence in the Attorney General of the United States and thereby requests his immediate resignation."
Rep. Gosar has garnered 48 co-sponsors before the resolution was filed in the 113th Congress. He introduced a similar resolution last year that had over 114 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives.
"I am very frustrated that it is even necessary for me to reintroduce this resolution. Attorney General Holder continues to evade his constitutional obligations to provide Congress and the American people answers for Operation Fast and Furious."
"Regardless of the contempt charges which have already been passed by the House," Rep. Gosar continued, "Mr. Holder must immediately resign his post so the President may appoint a new Attorney General - one who will hopefully restore confidence in our justice system."
Operation Fast and Furious allowed for thousands of weapons to cross the border from the United States and into the hands of Mexican cartels and other criminals. This operation directly violated U.S laws, Mexican laws, and international laws
Final Note from Darla:
Obama is so worried about protecting the American citizens and children that he turns his head as Eric Holder and his ilk allow guns into the hands of Mexican cartels and criminals. This "oversight" caused the death of American citizen Brian Terry, Border Agent.
Obama and Biden are hell bent on removing guns from respectful gun owners that need their guns to protect themselves and their families from the government, cartels, and criminals.
Thanks for your Concern Obama but with that kind of concern and caring for Americans we are better off without your "oversight" and executive "over-reach" to legislate our right to bear arms!!
Darla Dawald, National Director
Scouts vs. ACLU: A Contrast in Values
Cartoon for the ACRU by Glenn Foden.
Obama Has Long Opposed the Second Amendment
This column by ACRU Senior Legal Analyst Ken Klukowski was published on January 17, 2013 on Breitbart.com.
President Barack Obama is being blatantly disingenuous when he says he believes in the Second Amendment. He opposed it as recently as three years ago, and seems to be hoping that Americans don't know how to use something called "Google" to realize his actions contradict his words.
In his gun-control press conference we analyzed yesterday, Obama said: "Let me be absolutely clear. Like most Americans, I believe the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to bear arms."
This column by ACRU General Counsel and Senior Fellow for the Carleson Center for Public Policy (CCPP) Peter Ferrara was published January 16, 2013 on The American Spectator website.
President Obama said at his increasingly notorious press conference on Monday, "America cannot afford another debate with this Congress about whether or not they should pay the bills they have already racked up." He added, "[T]he issue here is whether or not America pays its bills. We are not a deadbeat nation."
No that is not the issue. The issue is whether having already racked up a world record smashing $16 trillion in national debt, President Obama is going to be granted a license to rack up trillions more in national debt without enacting some control over runaway federal spending.
This column by ACRU Senior Legal Analyst Ken Klukowski was published on January 17, 2013 on Breitbart.com.
President Barack Obama on Wednesday revealed his national gun control proposal, one loaded with divisive rhetoric and exploiting children onstage to push his agenda, which ignores the most effective ways to stop gun violence.
Obama had a full-dress press event, joined by children on stage as a backdrop to give the impression that what he proposes is the best way to protect children and to reinforce his rhetoric that those opposing new gun controls are not putting children first. He vilified the "gun lobby" and claimed that a majority of the members of the National Rifle Association (NRA) support his gun-control agenda.
This column by ACRU Senior Fellow Ken Blackwell and ACRU Senior Legal Analyst Ken Klukowski was published on January 14, 2013 on The Patriot Post.
Dear General Powell,
I was disappointed with the clear implication in your Meet The Press interview that those of us in the GOP who defend life, protect traditional marriage and advance religious liberty are intolerant.
It was obvious to anyone who watched the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, that NO! had it. There was no way the convention chairman could have heard a two-thirds vote for the YES! position. Three times the chairman asked them to vote. Three times they denied God. Denied Him Thrice!
TABITHA KOROL - To the members of the hierarchy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - I find myself writing on behalf of Stephen Stone for several reasons, not the least of which is that I am dismayed that you have a hierarchy that allows man to rule over man, and allows some to dictate to others when they have not the authority to do so... (more)
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST - Alger Hiss, Soviet agent inside our State Department, had far more influence at the Yalta Conference than previously imagined... (more)
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST - The culture war is part of a collision of two worldviews. Can the disagreements between these worldviews be settled through rational discussion?... (more)
TIMOTHY P. CARNEY - Whenever a politician proposes a policy surrounded by children, skepticism is in order. But skepticism, logic and sound argumentation are the enemies of President Obama in his gun control push, which kicked off Wednesday on a White House stage filled with kids... (more)
WASHINGTON POST - The National Rifle Association cast its opposition to Obama's plans as "the fight of the century" in a letter circulated at the 35th annual Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade Show and Conference, known in the trade as "the SHOT show," in Las Vegas... (more)
NEWSMAX - President Barack Obama's proposals for gun control are unlikely to even be considered by Republicans in the House, let alone approved. Obama Wednesday is announcing his plan for bans of assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, mandatory federal background checks for all gun buyers, and a new law to snuff out gun trafficking... (more)
NEWSMAX - The conservative group FreedomWatch is suing the White House task force that led to the gun control proposals offered by President Barack Obama Wednesday. FreedomWatch's suit is based on the argument that the White House group conducted illegal meetings with lobbyists without public notice that's required... (more)
NEWSMAX - A veteran Oregon lawman has told the White House he'll refuse to enforce any and all regulations proposed by President Barack Obama, CNN reports. "Politicians are attempting to exploit the death of innocent victims for laws that would prevent honest, law-abiding Americans from possessing certain firearms and ammunition magazines," Linn County Sheriff Tim Mueller says in a defiant letter to Vice President Joe Biden... (more)
JERUSALEM POST - A day after American Jewish columnist Jeffrey Goldberg quoted President Barack Obama as saying that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu does not understand what is in Israel's best interest, Netanyahu visited the Gaza border on Wednesday and essentially shot back, "Yes I do"... (more)
ASSOCIATED PRESS - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Wednesday the U.S. "will take all necessary and proper steps" to deal with an Islamist attack on a natural gas field in southern Algeria that has resulted in Americans and other foreigners taken hostage... (more)
ASSOCIATED PRESS - A Florida Senate panel says police should be banned from using drones to spy on citizens. A bill (SB 92) that would prohibit law enforcement agencies from gathering evidence or other information flew through the Criminal Justice Committee with a unanimous vote Tuesday... (more)
BLOOMBERG - President Barack Obama proposed the most ambitious set of gun control proposals in decades, calling for a renewal of a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines and setting out 23 executive actions he'll take such as ordering agencies to share data for background checks and addressing mental health issues... (more)
MICHELLE MALKIN - The president of the United States will release a binder full of new gun-control executive orders on Wednesday. Instead of standing alone, bearing full responsibility for the imperial actions he is about to take, President Obama will surround himself with an audience of kids who wrote to him after the Newtown, Conn., school massacre... (more)
U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT - A day before President Barack Obama is scheduled to release Vice President Joe Biden's recommendations to curb gun violence in the United States, the National Rifle Association told U.S. News and World Report that they have seen membership grow by 250,000 in the month since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut... (more)
DENNIS PRAGER - Last week the New York Times published an opinion piece that offered atheism's response to the evil/tragedy in which 20 children and six adults were murdered at the Sandy Hook elementary school in Connecticut. What prompted Susan Jacoby to write her piece was a colleague telling her that atheism "has nothing to offer when people are suffering."... (more)
WASHINGTON TIMES - "The favorite news outlet of conservatives ranks just ninth in presser questions in President Obama's first term, getting to ask questions at only half the rate of the 'Big Three' broadcast networks," reports Eric Ostermeier, a University of Minnesota media analyst who literally counted the number of questions at White House press conferences from 2009 through Monday... (more)
ALAN KEYES - Any effort to disarm the American people is unlawful. That is clear according to the "laws of nature and of nature's God" and the clear, plain language of the Constitution. Moves to disarm the people are unequivocally the benchmark of a design "to reduce them under absolute despotism."... (more)
WASHINGTON TIMES - Anti-gun politicians are wasting no time while the Newtown, Conn., school shootings are still fresh in Americans' minds. The White House task force on gun violence will issue recommendations on Tuesday, and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. said President Obama might bypass Congress and implement unpopular gun-control measure through executive orders... (more)
JOAN SWIRSKY, RA ANALYST - When Sandy hit, my husband Steve and daughter Karen and I spent day after day after day freezing in our ordinarily-cozy home, unable even to leave the premises, as police tape cordoned off every means of egress to protect all the shivering residents of our block from the massive trees that had blown over like toothpicks and the downed wires that were strewn all over the place like spaghetti gone wild... (more)
BLOOMBERG - President Barack Obama plans to push for a comprehensive immigration plan that includes a legislative solution to issues such as undocumented immigrants, according to administration officials... (more)
President Obama Undermines Case Against Universal E-Verify
"First, it's time for Congress to require a universal background check on anyone trying to buy a gun." These were President Obama's words as he outlined his plans for gun control legislation on Wednesday. Full Story
ICE Delayed Arrest of Illegal Alien Intern for Political Reasons
The Associated Press confirms that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials in Washington, D.C., and New Jersey delayed the arrest of an illegal alien intern for political reasons. Full Story
California Traffic Accident Study Illogically Cited to Justify Driver's Licenses for Illegal Aliens
The Los Angeles Times reported on January 15 on the claims of proponents of driver's licenses (DLs) for illegal aliens. Full Story
Rubio Reveals Parts of Modernization Plan for Immigration
Rubio, who was elected in 2010 to his first U.S. Senate term, told The Wall Street Journal in an interview published Saturday that his plan would include a permanent residency provision. Full Story
Illinois Issues Driver's Licenses to Illegal Aliens
On January 8, the Illinois House approved bill (SB 957) that would allow as many as 250,000 illegal aliens to receive an Illinois driver's license. Full Story
This week in voter ID news...
IOWA
New Voter ID Bill Would Allow Student IDs - The bill, which was filed by Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz, would require a state-issued or student ID to vote and would implement several other voting reforms including adding a written, rather than spoken, oath requirement for people vouching for other peoples' identities.
Some Montanans will need to get a different form of identification in order to vote if a Bozeman legislator gets his way."
NEVADA
Voter ID Plan Gets Mixed Reception - Secretary of State Ross Miller was cheered and booed Friday during a symposium at UNLV, while outlining his Voter ID bill. Miller's plan will be considered in this year's Legislature.
State Rep. Cathrynn Brown, reversing herself based on her constituents' wishes, said Wednesday she will introduce a bill requiring identification to vote.
NORTH CAROLINA
Voter ID Push May Soften - A highly controversial voter ID bill, vetoed by the governor last year, may not be dead but several media outlets are reporting that Gov. Pat McCrory may be taking a softer stance on the issue.
Any NC voter ID law will face legal, GOP obstacles - Pat McCrory and Republican legislative leaders pledged that they would undo vetoes from Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue that GOP legislators could not override because they lacked enough votes.
TEXAS
New Bill Would Repeal Texas Voter ID Law - State Rep. Eric Johnson, D-Dallas, started the 83rd legislative session with one issue in mind: voter identification laws. Johnson filed five bills Thursday, his first legislation of the new session, aiming to both increase voter participation and strike down a bill requiring voters to show photo IDs at the polls.
Wisconsin high court kicks voter ID to appellate level - The Wisconsin Supreme Court has refused to review a Madison judge's ruling striking down the state's voter identification law. The decision marks the third time the Supreme Court has refused to take the case.
Legislation on the Move*
CONGRESS
HAVA Amendment, HR 50was referred to the US House Administration Committee by Rep. George Miller (D-CA). The bill amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to promote early voting in elections for Federal office and to prevent unreasonable waiting times for voters at polling places used in such elections, and for other purposes.
FLORIDA
Voter Registration Bill, HB 25was referred to House Ethics and Elections Subcommittee; Civil Justice Subcommittee; Appropriations Committee; and State Affairs Committee. This bill relates to voter registration drives, establishing rules regarding disclosure of the the "third party" group activities, extending the deadline to return completed registration forms, and defining related fines and penalties.
Early Voting Bill, SB 176 was referred to Senate Ethics and Elections; Community Affairs; and Rules. This bill extends the early voting period. Early voting may be conducted for up to 14 hours per day and would end on the second day before the election.
MISSOURI
Voter ID Bill, HB 48was read a second time in the House. This bill requires voters to show government-issued, current and valid photo identification in order to vote in a public election. The state would be required to provide at least one form of acceptable ID for voting purposes at no cost to qualified voters.
Voter ID Bill, HJR 5was read a second time in the House. This bill would submit to Missouri voters an amendment to article VIII of the Constitution of Missouri to require all voters to verify their qualifications as citizens of the United States and residents of the state by presenting valid government-issued photo ID before voting.
Voter ID Bill, SB 27was read a second time in the Senate and referred to the Senate Financial and Governmental Organizations and Elections Committee. This bill requires all voters to present current, valid, government-issued photo ID to vote a regular ballot.Voters who were born before January 1, 1941 and those who do not present required ID due to disability, religious objections, or "inability to pay for a document necessary to obtain the required identification" will be allowed to vote a provisional ballot that will be counted if the voter's signature is verified. All other voters who do not present required ID will be forced to vote provisional ballots and must return to the election authority and present required ID. The act is contingent on the passage of a constitutional amendment establishing voter ID.
Voter ID Bill, SJR 6was read a first time. This bill proposes an amendment to the state constitution, as approved by voters in November 2014, to require voters to present government-issued photo ID to vote a regular ballot.
ILLINOIS
Same Day Registration Bill, HB 68 was referred to the Rules Committee. This bill allows a voting eligible citizen to register to vote at their precinct on Election Day.
NEW YORK
Early Voting Bill, SB 1461was filed. This bill would provide early voting in the state of New York. Voters would be permitted to cast early ballots during a one week period until one week before Election Day. The board of elections of each county and in the city of New York must designate at least five early voting polling places.
Voter Registration Bill, SB 1549was filed. This bill allows first-time voters to register to vote any day that the office of the board of elections is open, including Election Day.
Voter Roll Maintenance Bill, SB 1688was filed. This bill relates to removing deceased voters from the voter registration rolls. Before August 1 of every year, the state or county board of elections would be required to review the Social Security Administration's master death file and remove the names of all deceased voters from the registration rolls. If an individual claims that he or she has been erroneously removed from the rolls, the voter would be allowed to vote through "an affidavit ballot in the same manner as a voter who is deemed to be inactive."
MONTANA
List Maintenance Bill, LC 503was drafted. Under this bill, if an election administrator determines that there are material differences between the mailing address from the U.S. postal service national change of address files and the mailing address on record in the statewide voter registration database, the election administrator must send to the address on file with the U.S. postal service a "forwardable," postage-paid, pre-addressed return confirmation notice on which the voter may confirm his or her current mailing address. The voter would be placed on the inactive list no later the 90 days before the next federal election if the voter failed to respond to the confirmation notice within 30 days or if the notice was returned as undeliverable with or without a forwarding address.
NEW YORK
Absentee Voting Bill, AB 2045was sent to the Attorney General for opinion. This bill removes limitations on voting by absentee ballot that are required by the constitution.
Early Voting Bill, SB 1920was referred to Elections. This bill provides early voting in the state of New York. Any registered voter would be allowed to vote no sooner than 14 days before an election and up to the day before Election Day.
PENNSYLVANIA
Voter Registration Bill, SB 37was referred to State Government. This bill would allow voters to register to vote or change party enrollment and update their name or address on a current registration electronically.
VIRGINIA
Voter ID Bill, HB 1337 referred to Elections Subcommittee. The bill would eliminate the use of utility bills, bank statements, government checks, or paychecks as proof of residence to vote.
Early Voting Bill, HB 1353 was referred to Elections Subcommittee. This bill allows any registered voter to vote an absentee ballot in person without providing a reason.
Early Voting Bill, HB 1361 was referred to Elections Subcommittee. This bill allows for early voting by absentee ballot without an excuse. Mail ballots still have restrictions.
Early Voting Bill, HB 1520 was referred to Elections Subcommittee. This bill provides that qualified voters may vote early and in person without providing an excuse or reason for not being able to vote in person on Election Day. Voting early by mail would still require an excuse for not being able to vote in person.
Early Voting Bill, HB 1592 was referred to Elections Subcommittee. This bill provides that any registered voter qualified to vote in the election may vote in person from 19 to three days before the election at specified times and at the sites provided in the locality. The provisions for absentee voting remain in effect except that the provisions for in-person absentee voting are superseded by the early voting process during the early voting period.
Voter Registration Bill, HB 1747 was referred to Elections Subcommittee. This bill requires individuals and groups conducting voter registration drives to register with the State Board of Elections; provide information as required by the State Board; receive training; and execute a sworn affidavit that they will abide by all Virginia voter registration laws and rules. The bill also prohibits pre-populating registration applications and reduces the time limit for mailing or delivering complete applications.
Proof of Citizenship/Voter ID Bill, HB 1788 was referred to Elections Subcommittee. This bill requires voter applicants to present proof of citizenship with their registration applications. Anyone who has registered to vote in Virginia before January 1, 2014 would be exempt from this rule. The bill also amends the type of identification a voter must present to vote at the polls: ID must contain the voter's name, date of birth, and photograph; must be issued by the United States or the Commonwealth; and must contain an expiration date that is unexpired or that expired only after the most recent general election. The bill also requires that the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue a free special identification card to voters who do not possess and cannot afford the necessary photo identification. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2014.
Conduct of Elections Bill, HB 1942 was referred to the Campaign Finance Subcommittee. This bill authorizes the State Board of Elections to provide for a pilot program in which localities may establish vote centers for use in primary elections.
Felon Voting Bill, HJ 535 was referred to the Constitutional Amendments Subcommittee. This bill authorizes the General Assembly to provide by law for the restoration of civil rights for people convicted of nonviolent felonies who have completed service of their sentences subject to the conditions, requirements, and definitions set forth in that law. The present Constitution provides for restoration of rights by the Governor. The amendment retains the right of the Governor to restore civil rights and adds an alternative for restoration of rights pursuant to law for nonviolent felons.
Felon Voting Bill, HJ 539 was referred to the Constitutional Amendments Subcommittee. This bill would revoke voting rights of a person convicted of a felony until the person has completed service of his or her sentence, including payment any fines or fees. The bill further removes the power of the Governor or other appropriate authority (such as another state's law) to restore the right to vote to a person with a felon conviction.
Felon Voting Bill, HJ 547 was referred to Constitutional Amendments Subcommittee. This constitutional amendment would direct the General Assembly to provide by law for the restoration of civil rights for citizens convicted of nonviolent felonies.
Felon Voting Bill, HJ 563 was referred to Constitutional Amendments Subcommittee. This bill authorizes the General Assembly to provide by general law for the restoration of civil rights for people who had been convicted of felonies and who have completed all terms of their sentences. The present Constitution provides for restoration of rights by the Governor.
Felon Voting Bill, HJ 585 was referred to Constitutional Amendments Subcommittee. This bill authorizes the General Assembly to provide by law for the restoration of civil rights for people convicted of nonviolent felonies who have completed service of their sentences.
Felon Voting Bill, HJ 603 was referred to Constitutional Amendments Subcommittee. This bill authorizes the General Assembly to provide by general law for the restoration of civil rights for persons convicted of felonies who have completed service of their sentence including any period or condition of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence. Currently, the Constitution provides for restoration of rights by the Governor. The amendment retains the right of the Governor to restore civil rights and adds the alternative for restoration of rights pursuant to general law.
Felon Voting Bill, HJ 664 was referred to the Constitutional Amendments Subcommittee. This bill authorizes the General Assembly to provide by general law for the restoration of civil rights for people convicted of felonies who have completed service of their sentence, including any period or condition of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence. Currently the Constitution provides for restoration of rights by the Governor. The proposed amendment retains the right of the Governor to restore civil rights and adds the alternative for restoration of rights pursuant to general law.
* Bill list sourced from Project Vote and Thomas.gov.
January 18, 2013
On Today's Program
Obama keeps trotting out the kids
The White House, clearly short on intellectual arguments to ban guns, is bringing out the kids to do their dirty work...again. First he used the kiddie-shields during the signing of his 23 executive actions. Now the White House has produced 4 of the letters from the children('s parents) into videos. WATCH
Lance Armstrong: Not a good guy
Part of Oprah's much anticipated interview with Lance Armstrong last night did not disappoint. Pat called it one of the greatest interviews he's ever seen. Oprah grilled Armstrong on his use of steriods and blood doping, and his answers were surprisingly open...and perhaps more disturbing than most anticipated. The now infamous cyclist still doesn't appear to be all that sorry. See the interview & reaction on radio today.
5pm ET -The Glenn Beck Program: Have a question for Glenn? He's got an answer. Tonight is your chance to ask Glenn anything!
6pm ET -Real News: Does everybody lie? Tonight, the panel will take a look at the two high profile cases of lying that spun out-of-control this week.
7pm ET -Wilkow!: Tonight's topic of discussion is the executive order. Andrew takes a look at the history: the good, the bad, and the most nefarious abusers of this action.
Saturday @ 10PM - The B.S. of A.: Don't miss Brian Sack and the gang as they highlight executive order disorder, talk to an optimistic Boeing spokesman, and go inside a Libertarian amusement park.
Have you seen Glenn's new blog? Don't miss out on all the great exclusive and behind the scenes content from Glenn, Stu, his staff, and the American Dream Labs. Check it out!
MONDAY: Glenn Beck's 2013 Misfit Inauguration Ball on TheBlaze TV
Monday, January 21 at 5pm ET, join Glenn as he hosts the 2013 Misfit Inauguration Ball live from his studio in Dallas, TX. Join some of the infamous "misfits" no longer welcome in Obama's America - champions of freedom, smaller government, and the Constitution. With live red carpet commentary from Pat & Stu, this is one black-tie affair you won't want to miss. DETAILS
Mistake or message? Tania flushes wedding ring down toilet
In a stunning turn of events, just hours before departing on an exotic anniversary weekend, Tania Beck symbolically accidentally flushed her wedding ring down the toilet. She claims it was an "accident," but Pat & Stu suspect there's something else at play here. The theory is pretty convincing: check it out HERE.
The Morning Blaze with Doc Thompson kicks off THIS MONDAY on TheBlaze Radio Network!? You've heard him fill in for Glenn on radio for years and now Doc Thompson is taking over mornings on TheBlaze Radio Network. The Morning Blaze with Doc Thompson kicks off this Monday at 6am ET. Get the full lineup HERE and make sure to 'LIKE' TheBlaze Radio on Facebook for the latest updates and inside scoop.
Hero or villain? Fascinating guest explains how to eliminate gun control forever
Glenn conducted a fascinating interview last night on TheBlaze TV with a guest who says that new technology will render any future gun control laws obsolete. The interview, which got a little tense at times, included Glenn strongly questioning the tactics used to ensure the Second Amendment. Is this guest a hero or a villain? Watch and decide.
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More-On Trivia: Atlanta vs. San Francisco
More-On Trivia has been incredibly accurate throughout its lifespan, especially when you consider that the game appears to be a totally random attempt to highlight America's current-event ineptitude. Whether it's right or wrong, it's always entertaining. Today was no exception as the ever popular and apparently difficult "which direction does the sun rise... in your neighborhood?" question had participants scratching their heads. Who wins? The answer HERE.
Watch Glenn on DISH!
TheBlaze, Glenn's TV channel, is available exclusively on DISH channel 212. Click HERE for more details.
HOPE 101: A cautionary reminder
Why do the so-called "good guys" keep letting us down? The answer is pretty simple, we're putting our hope in the wrong things. MORE
"It really grips you....I lost a lot of sleep reading it." -Tim LaHaye, co-author of the LEFT BEHIND series.
Glenn's e-book thriller series Wrath & Righteousness examines the eternal battle between Light and Darkness while asking one of the fundamental questions of our existence: what is mankind's relationship to the spiritual world? The seventh episode in the 10-part series is available HERE. Download the previous 6 episodes HERE to catch up. Have a question or comment about the series? Visit our FAQ page.
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Obama keeps trotting out the kids
