Another Unspun Hero of the New Media
Warren Buffet, a big and early Obama supporter, says the economy is in shambles and there is no sign of a recovery yet. He also repeated his criticism of “cap and trade” as a method to control pollution, saying it would be a huge, regressive tax.
References
This is something on which the administration does not want a spot light. Friday, there will be a very important vote on a very important bill that affects 95% of Americans. Not much attention - at least not the amount that it warrants - is being given to this in the MSM. Most of the attention is going to be on Health Care reform. However, Cap and Trade deserves more attention especially given that the vote is this week.
After weeks of negotiations, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) announced he had struck a deal with Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), who led a push for greater protections for farmers and rural interests.
“We have an agreement, and we’re moving forward on Friday,” Waxman told reporters on Tuesday evening after he and Peterson had met with moderate Democrats in the Blue Dog Coalition. “We’re going to pass this bill.”
Asked if he’d be able to support the bill on the floor, Peterson said, “Yes.” - Politico
Who is going to pay for Cap and Trade?
Once the government creates a scarce new commodity — in this case the right to emit carbon — and then mandates that businesses buy it, the costs would inevitably be passed on to all consumers in the form of higher prices. Stating the obvious, Peter Orszag — now Mr. Obama’s budget director — told Congress last year that “Those price increases are essential to the success of a cap-and-trade program.”
Hit hardest would be the “95% of working families” Mr. Obama keeps mentioning, usually omitting that his no-new-taxes pledge comes with the caveat “unless you use energy.” Putting a price on carbon is regressive by definition because poor and middle-income households spend more of their paychecks on things like gas to drive to work, groceries or home heating. - Wall Street Journal
Gateway Pundit reminds us of how Obama characterizes Cap and Trade as being paid for by “polluters” but previously explained that it would “cause electricity rates to skyrocket!” That means all American citizens are really the ones who pay for it - not just “polluters”
BucksRight points out that Congress is trying to sneak through the massive “Cap and Trade” (more accurately “Cap and Tax”) energy proposal that will cause energy prices to skyrocket, resulting in an additional financial burden on each American family of about $3,900 per year.
Bait and Switch:
Obama said during his campaign that 95% of Americans would not see a tax increase. That was the Bait. Cap and Trade is the Switch.
Who Loses?
Consumers in red colored states will pay more for electricity to make up for the shortfall in allowances (dollars in millions).
(Map from GOP.gov)
Find out who your Representative is! Find out where they stand on this bill! Let them know what you think! DO IT BEFORE FRIDAY!
References
Michelle Bachmann plans not to completely fill in the 2010 Census. Part of her objection has to do with her concerns about the involvement of ACORN. She also believes that she’s not legally obligated to answer some of the more invasive questions it contains.
Outspoken Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann says she’s so worried that information from next year’s national census will be abused that she will refuse to fill out anything more than the number of people in her household.
. . .
“I know for my family the only question we will be answering is how many people are in our home,” she said. “We won’t be answering any information beyond that, because the Constitution doesn’t require any information beyond that.” - Washington Times
It has been argued that the scope of the questions in the census has gotten far out of hand and has far exceeded its original intent. However, this extended scope of the census has received the implied approval of the Supreme Court in Knox v. Lee (Legal Tender Cases). 79 U.S. (12 Wall.) 457, 536 (1871).
“The Constitution orders an enumeration of free persons in the different States every ten years. The direction extends no further. Yet Congress has repeatedly directed an enumeration not only of free persons in the States but of free persons in the Territories, and not only an enumeration of persons but the collection of statistics respecting age, sex, and production. Who questions the power to do this?”
Although I tend to agree that some of the questions are too invasive, it seems that such concerns would not be sufficient legal grounds for refusal to answer them. At the very least, you would have a hard time winning such a case in a court of law.
There are, however, some separate reasons, and perhaps legal gounds, for challenging the 2010 Census.
Remember when Obama chose Sen. Judd Gregg as his pick for commerce secretary, after New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson withdrew his nomination? Gregg later withdrew his name, citing “irresolvable conflicts” over the administration’s stimulus bill and the upcoming 2010 census.
Before the ink was even dry on the announcement of Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) as Commerce Secretary, the Congressional Black Caucus and Latino groups were complaining that a Republican could not be in control of the census. Instead of supporting Gregg and letting the confirmation process vet this issue, the White House immediately caved and gave the power of oversight of the Census to the White House and indicated that Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel would be in charge. - Human Events
The Census was Hijacked! In short, the Obama administration plans to violate the Constitution and the law.
According to Article I, Section 2 the Constitution: “The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.” As for the Law, Congress decreed the following:
The Secretary [of Commerce] shall perform the functions and duties imposed upon him by this title, may issue such rules and regulations as he deems necessary to carry out such functions and duties, and may delegate the performance of such functions and duties and the authority to issue such rules and regulations to such officers and employees of the Department of Commerce as he may designate. - U.S. State Code
Title 13 of the U.S. Code, Chapter 1, Subchapter I, § 2, entitled “Bureau of the Census,” states: “The Bureau is continued as an agency within, and under the jurisdiction of, the Department of Commerce.”
Not under the jurisdiction of Obama and Rahm Emanuel, but the Department of Commerce. The Director of the Census by law must be within the Department of Commerce and under the direction of the Senate approved Secretary of Commerce.
The way the Census is being administered may itself be illegal even if the overly, invasive scope of its questions is not.
References
In an open letter to President Obama from Lou Pritchett, who is a former vice president of Proctor & Gamble, Pritchett lists a number of things that scares him about the President. Apparently, he submitted this to the New York Times under the title of “Obama, You Scare Me” but they never published it.
References
The U.S.Military is tracking a North Korean ship suspected of proliferating missiles and nukes.
The U.S. military is tracking a flagged North Korean ship suspected of proliferating weapons material in violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution passed last Friday, FOX News has learned.
The ship, Kang Nam, left a port in North Korea Wednesday and could be carrying weaponry, missile parts or nuclear materials. The U.S. military has been tracking it since its departure.
. . .
North Korea, though, has said that any attempt to board its ships would be viewed as an act of war and promised “100- or 1,000-fold” retaliation if provoked.
- FoxNews
Developing . . .
Video from RussiaToday
References
From Arizona comes an interesting letter from a 53 year-old life long registered Democrat who feels the Democrat Party no longer represents her views or works to pursue issues important to her. She feels the same way about the Republican Party.
Here are the views and issues for which Janet Contreras seeks representation, concerning which she feels disenfranchised:
Read Janet’s Open Letter to Our Nation’s Leadership.
References
“It appears that North Carolina is about to follow New York’s lead and implement a tax collection scheme that will see Amazon.com shut down its Associates affiliate program in the state. Today, all Amazon Associates in NC received this gloomy email from the online retailer” - from Andy Beal at Marketing Pilgrim.
Senate Bill 487 and House bill 558. They appear to be modifying existing mail order laws to include “remote” sales, which is what they’re calling affiliate sales. - Jangro
Read about Amazon’s failed attempt to oppose similar legislation in New York.
Here is an interview on News 14 including support by Rep. Paul Luebke, D-Durham and concerns from Brooks Raiford, president and CEO of the North Carolina Technology Association:
“We used to think of everything in terms of being tangible,” Rep. Paul Luebke, D-Durham, said. “Nobody thought of how you could possibly download anything.”
. . .
“So if you buy a book in a bookstore, you’re going to have to pay sales tax on it,” Luebke said. “If you’re downloading a book from a book seller, you should have to pay sales tax on that as well.”. . .
“We would be concerned about any kind of new taxes in this economy,” Brooks Raiford, president and CEO of the North Carolina Technology Association, said. “The consumer is already very highly taxed, the economy is stretched.”
Raiford is also concerned about how the companies he represents would also be affected.
“All we’re asking is that those considerations be taken carefully and that the industry be asked for their input as the legislation is finalized,” he said.
Slide Show from Internet Law Center: What we might learn from California’s experience.
You can take action by emailing your NC Representatives letting them know that you oppose this legislation.
References
ABC, the “All Barack Channel”, is further cementing its closeness with the Obama administration. ABCNEWS anchor Charlie Gibson will deliver WORLD NEWS from the Blue Room of the White House.
The network plans a primetime special — ‘Prescription for America’ — originating from the East Room, EXCLUDING OPPOSING VOICES FROM THE DEBATE.
In a letter of complaint to ABCNEWS from Republican National Committee Chief of Staff Ken McKay:
Next Wednesday, ABC News will air a primetime health care reform “town hall” at the White House with President Barack Obama. In addition, according to an ABC News report, GOOD MORNING AMERICA, WORLD NEWS, NIGHTLINE and ABC’s web news “will all feature special programming on the president’s health care agenda.” This does not include the promotion, over the next 9 days, the president’s health care agenda will receive on ABC News programming.
(Linked Source above also contains response from ABCNEWS)
References
Conservatives Are Single-Largest Ideological Group according to a new Gallup Survey. Thus far in 2009, 40% of Americans interviewed in national Gallup Poll surveys describe their political views as conservative, 35% as moderate, and 21% as liberal.
Americans readily peg themselves, politically, into one of five categories along the conservative-to-liberal spectrum. At present, large minorities describe their views as either moderate or conservative — with conservatives the larger group — whereas only about one in five consider themselves liberal.
References
Dozens of cities around the U.S. may have to have entire neighborhoods bulldozed in order to survive. 50 cities have been identified as potentially needing to shrink substantially to cope with their declining fortunes. In Flint Michigan, local politicians believe the city must contract by as much as 40 per cent, concentrating the dwindling population and local services into a more viable area.
This strategy is the brainchild of Dan Kildee, treasurer of Genesee County, which includes Flint.
References
The image above is a word cloud of Obama’s Speech in Egypt.
The importance of each word (usually determined by frequency) is indicated by the font size and color of a word.
References
Who is in charge of dismantling General Motors? Answer: Brian Deese, a not-quite graduate of Yale Law School who had never set foot in an automotive assembly plant until he took on his nearly unseen role in remaking the American automotive industry. I’m not sure what qualifications Deese has for running General Motors. He was pretty much the only full-time member of the Presidential Task Force on Automobiles from November 4 through mid-February. Nevertheless, he has no previous automotive experience or even business experience. “Change you can believe in”
References
Правда не Правда, и Известия не Известия => “Pravda is not the truth, and Izvestia is not the news.” is a popular saying or pun in Russia about its two most well known newspapers. (There is also the alternative: Правда не Известия, и Известия не Правда - “Pravda is not News and Izvestia is not the Truth” and/or “The Truth is not News, and News is not the Truth”)
Although this saying, with its play on words, insinuates that the newspaper Pravda does not live up to its name, the online version contains a recent article that reveals some very important truths to which Americans should give special attention. The article is entitled, “American Capitalism Gone with a Whimper” and is a reprint of a blog post at Mat Rodina. Here is how the post/article begins:
Read the rest of this entry »
References
Sotomayor’s 60 percent reversal rate by the Supreme Court is really not that big of a deal. That 60 percent is literally only 3 out of 5 cases and that is below average. The Supreme Court reverses about 75 percent of circuit court decisions it chooses to review and rule upon.
Since joining the Second Circuit in 1998, Sotomayor has authored over 150 opinions, addressing a wide range of issues, in civil cases. To date, two of these decisions have been overturned by the Supreme Court; a third is under review and likely to be reversed. - SCOTUSBlog
That brings Sotomayor’s overall reversal rate to 2%
References
North Korea threatened a military response to South Korean participation in a U.S.-led program to seize weapons of mass destruction, and said it will no longer abide by the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War. - Bloomberg
North Korea threatened military action Wednesday against U.S. and South Korean warships plying the waters near the Koreas’ disputed maritime border, raising the specter of a naval clash just days after the regime’s underground nuclear test. - AP
References
GPS outage is possible in 2010 according to some after a government watchdog agency warned that the U.S. Global Positioning System might fail. Representatives from the top GPS firms say that they’re unconcerned about the future of the GPS satellite constellation.
References
California voters say NO to more tax and spend budget measures! Now the question is will California get a bailout from the Obama administration.
References
Psychologist Dr. Macolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) was sought out for help by Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment) because in Cole’s word’s, “I see dead people” - the famous tagline from the movie Sixth Sense. It appears that the Obama administration has a similar problem. “I pay dead people”, via stimulus checks.
The Social Security Administration, which sent out 52 million checks, says that some of those checks mistakenly went to dead people because the agency had no record of their death. That amounts to between 8,000 and 10,000 checks for millions of dollars.
The feds blame a rushed schedule, because all the checks have to be cut by June. The strange thing is, some of the checks were made out to people — like Romonini — who were never even part of the Social Security system. - Source
References
ACORN is now at the center of a battle between Rep. Barney Frank (R- Mass) and Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R- Minn).
Bachmann states:
References
Journalist, Roxana Saberi, who was arrested in Iran on charges of spying was released Monday. Her lawyer said that the tiral was over a confidential Iraq war document.
In a brief statement Roxana Saberi said:
“I’m of course very happy to be free and with my parents again.and I want to thank all the people all over the world — which I’m just finding out about, really — who, whether they knew me or not, helped me and my family during this period. I don’t have any specific plans for the moment I just want to be with my parents and my friends and relax.”
References
Click for more info about PajamaHadin
