Obama’s Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner: Taxes on ‘Small Business’ Must Rise So Government Doesn’t ‘Shrink’

Wow, Geithner is spinning hard. 3% of businesses. Most businesses are on paper or are 1-2 man operations. Small businesses used to do almost 80% of the hiring in this country, now it is only 64%. The tax he wants will affect most businesses who actually hire. That is the point he is so desperate to avoid. Congressman Ellmers almost put him away and the following two questions in red text would be the key followups that would have finished him, “Mr. Geithner, how much of that 3% of small businesses you want to tax actually employ five or more people?”

At the same time the Obama Administration is fine with his friends at Google paying 2.4% on $3.1 billion in profits. General Electric, which was ran by Obama’s friend GE CEO Jeffery Immelt who just took a job at the White House, paid no tax on $14.2 billion in income and actually got government subsidies. GE also owned MSNBC until just recently, but I am sure that is just another one of those funny coincidences.

Geithner talks about the top 2%, but what he didn’t tell you is that the way the tax code works that top 2% excludes much of the very wealthy [see this link for details why]; who such a tax smacks are the genuine wealth creators , upper middle class risk takers and small businesses. A husband and wife with two kids may own and operate three local pizza shops and on paper that small business will bring in $250,000 a year in income (notice I did not say profits, I said income), but most of that money will go to paying employees, buying the pizza delivery man’s gasoline, food, energy for the ovens and freezers, boxes, cleaning supplies, wages, other taxes etc. Everyone must get paid before the owners do and they will be lucky to scrape $50K for themselves, which in turn they will be paying more taxes on.

Then comes the right hook, “Mr. Geithner, how can one be against small businesses that actually hire (pause for effect) and for jobs at the same time?”

I just talked to Addison Scott, who is on Congressman Ellmers’ staff, and I passed those two questions on to them. I can’t wait to see her lay these two questions on Geithner and watch him squirm.

CNS News:

Geithner’s explanation of the administration’s small-business tax plan came in an exchange with first-term Rep. Renee Ellmers (R.-N.C.). Ellmers, a nurse, decided to run for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010 after she became active in the grass-roots opposition to President Barack Obama’s proposed health-care reform plan in 2009.

“Overwhelmingly, the businesses back home and across the country continue to tell us that regulation, lack of access to capital, taxation, fear of taxation, and just the overwhelming uncertainties that our businesses face is keeping them from hiring,” Ellmers told Geithner. “They just simply cannot.”

She then challenged Geithner on the administration’s tax plan.

“Looking into the future, you are supporting the idea of taxation, increasing taxes on those who make $250,000 or more. Those are our business owners,” said Ellmers.

Geithner initially responded by saying that the administration’s planned tax increase would hit “three percent of your small businesses.”

Ellmers then said: “Sixty-four percent of jobs that are created in this country are for small business.”

Geithner conceded the point, but then suggested the administration’s planned tax increase on small businesses would be “good for growth.”

 

Good for the growth of government perhaps, not the economy.

Hal Jordan is having a very tough day…

The greatest thing about science fiction is that it allows us to explore humanity in ways that rarely come along in day to day life.

What does a good man do when put in the most impossible of situations? How does he react? How does it impact him in the face of a man’s strengths and frailties? These are the questions that good science fiction seeks to find the answers to.

Gene Roddenberry said that science fiction is the last playground of the philosophers. Truer words could not be spoken. Green Lantern is a good movie because it is a story of the greatest battle every man must face in some way, the internal battle to determine who and what he will chose to be.

So here we have Hal Jordan, a pilot who suffers from great character strengths and flaws [Note: if you do not think that strength of character can cause one to suffer than you have never tried to do the right thing in the face of a group of people determined to do wrong – Editor].

In the following scenes Hal Jordan’s day starts off bad and by evening his life is turned up side down as he is thrust into an impossible situation.

The Power of Icons in Ideology.

Bill Whiddle,  who is as solid and bright as any communications strategist I have ever seen, in the video below gives us a great refresher in advertising techniques, branding, political messaging, and what he calls “iconography”. The best modern text on this very subject comes from author David Kupellian in his book The Marketing of Evil.

Let me give you an example of what is meant by iconography.

The Nazi Brand:

We all know what the Nazi Swastika is. Today it represents the kind of leviathan state evil that resulted in the murder of millions. It is important to keep in mind that the perception of the Swastika icon or brand was not always so negative. In the 1930’s Hitler was the darling of a large portion of American leftist academia, the media and many leftist political groups. For several years until Hitler took the rest of the Czechoslovakia after being handed the Czech Sudetenlands his brand was largely respected by large groups of people. For years Hitler and Mussolini were treated as brilliant visionaries who had discovered a “third way” as it were.

 

A brand can have its meaning changed, but the iconography stays virtually forever. Just like…

The GM Brand:

Here is another icon whose brand has changed and is in the process of changing at this moment.

This brand symbol represents also used to be highly respected and in many ways revered. A true American icon. In short the GM brand used to mean this:

Now the GM brand is in the process of becoming a joke. Government Motors it is called. They make cars that are too expensive, do not hold up well, and that people do not want to drive. Ironically those are the qualities of the current status of government today.

Like all iconography, as we will see more of in the video below, the icon can be used against the brand.

 

 

 

The Obama Brand:

One will find that much of the same manipulation of iconography is used by the Obama brand and against it.

[Note: Disclaimer for leftists and idiots – We are NOT saying that Obama is the same thing as Hitler and neither is Bill Whiddle in the video below, so don’t even go there. This is about the iconography ONLY!]

Priceless: Why I’m a Democrat – College Democrats of America 2011 Summer Conference

UPDATE – It looks like the DNC found this little post and removed the video.  I should have archived it.  I found an unedited version of the video.

In the video they all use slogans except three who mention policy positions. [Editor’s Note: In the video one person mentions NAFTA, which is just too long and complex of an issue to tackle in this post other than to say that here is a video of Bill Clinton’s comments at the signing]

1 – The Civil Rights Act – which Democrats filibustered and Republicans voted for by an 82% margin (eventually Dems caved). Democrats filibustered (successfully stopping the bills) all of the civil rights legislation in the 1950’s all of what was overwhelmingly supported by Republicans. One look at inner cities and inner city schools which are controlled by the Democratic Party show that the party is exploiting black Americans and has no real interest in empowering them.

2 – The Patriot Act – of which internal violations of using the act illegally have gone up exponentially under this administration. Through fast and loose “interpretation” Democrats have expanded the Act and Obama has been the worst administration when it comes to abuse of privacy rights that I am aware of.

Obama promised to put an end to warrantless wiretapping and do something about the Patriot Act. Where are the so called “far left privacy advocates” now? The Obama Administration (along with a willing Democratic Leadership in Congress) has consistently (1, 2, 3, 4, 5,) pushed for more domestic spying ability and extended the Patriot Act. More spying includes including wanting more wire taps on the internet and arguing that you have no reasonable expectation of privacy in email or cell phones or… well I think you got the point. Of course who was the first TV personality to speak out on these privacy violations. Clue: He’s the new Oprah.

Now we get to ask you if Obama is spying on YOUR library book list!

Related:

Patriot Act Warrants That Let Agents Enter Homes Without Owner Knowing Triple Under Obama

Google Comes Under Fire for ‘Secret’ Relationship with NSA. Cozy with Administration.

Obama Administration implemented policy to have political appointees review all FOIA requests….

Obama Administration wants more wiretaps on internet

Obama Administration Thinks Chicago’s Cameras Everywhere are Just Dandy

Obama Administration: You have no reasonable expectation of privacy in email or cell phones or…

3 – Because more women should be involved in politics – Wow that one is amazing. Shall we go through a list of Democrat misogyny hall of shame? While the first names that come up for sexual attacks, smears, lies, and name calling by Democrats are against Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, and Nikki Haley – Let us NOT forget how Hillary Clinton was mistreated by her fellow Democrats which resulted in the creation of dozens of PUMA groups and websites such as Hillbuzz. Remember how the Obama thugs used threats and in some cases physically kept Hillary delegates out of some caucuses? Remember how the Democrats “super delegates” stepped in when it looked like Hillary was going to win the nomination?

In fact Hillary Clinton’s own Communications Director Howard Wolfson said that Fox News was the only place where her campaign could get a fair shake because the Democrat Media Complex, also known as the elite media, was so grossly unfair even this web site spoke out against it.

This video is one the GOP can use, as it demonstrates that Democrats count on ignorance and mobocracy like sloganeering.

Kiplinger: 10 Tax-Friendly States For Retirees 2011

Great information to campaign with, especially in conjuction iwth our previous post.

Kiplinger:

Where’s the best state for you to retire? Here’s a good place to start your search: These ten impose the lowest taxes on retirees in the contiguous U.S., according to our research. All these retiree tax heavens exempt Social Security benefits from state income taxes. Many of them exclude government and military pensions from income taxes, too, or offer blanket exclusions up to a specific dollar amount for a wide variety of retirement income.

Although relocating to an income-tax-free state such as Florida or Texas may sound appealing, sometimes the best retirement destination is a state that imposes an income tax but offers generous exemptions for retirement income.

Once you narrow your search to a few key states, zero in on local taxes. Municipalities can impose hefty property taxes or other assessments, or they may layer local sales taxes on top of statewide levies. Federal taxes? If you claim the standard deduction, they’ll be the same no matter where you live. But if you itemize your deductions, you’ll be able to write off real estate taxes and state income taxes, reducing your federal tax bill and easing some of the pain.

 

# 1 Wyoming

State Income Tax: None
State Sales Tax: 4%
Estate Tax/Inheritance Tax: No/No

Thanks to the abundant revenues that Wyoming collects from oil and mineral companies, its residents have one of the lowest tax burdens in the nation, according to the Tax Foundation, a nonprofit research group in Washington, D.C. There is no state income tax. The state sales tax is 4%, and counties in the Equality State can only add up to 1% in additional levies — a very low ceiling. Plus, prescription drugs and groceries are exempt from state sales taxes. For most property, only 9.5% of market value is subject to tax, so a home worth $100,000 is taxed on $9,500 of assessed value.

#2 Mississippi

State Income Tax: 3%-5%
State Sales Tax: 7%
Estate Tax/Inheritance Tax: No/No

Mississippi offers a sweet income-tax deal for retirees. It not only exempts Social Security benefits from state income taxes but also excludes all qualified retirement income — including pensions, annuities, and IRA and 401(k) distributions. Remaining income is taxed at a maximum 5%. In addition, the Magnolia State is home to some of the lowest property taxes in the nation. Residential property is taxed at 10% of assessed value, and seniors qualify for a homestead exemption on the first $75,000 of value. The statewide sales tax is 7%, and counties and cities may add up to 3% to the state rate. But prescription drugs and health care services are exempt.

#3 Pennsylvania

State Income Tax: Flat rate of 3.07%
State Sales Tax: 6%
Estate Tax/Inheritance Tax: Yes/Yes

True to its Quaker roots, Pennsylvania extends a friendly hand to retirees. It offers unusually generous exclusions from state income tax on a wide variety of retirement income. Pennsylvania does not tax Social Security benefits or any type of public or private pensions. Nor does it nick distributions from 401(k)s, IRAs, deferred-compensation plans or other retirement accounts. Remaining income is taxed at a low, flat rate of 3.07%. Food, clothing and medicine are exempt from state sales taxes. Property taxes can be high in the Keystone State, especially near larger cities, but rates vary widely. One caveat for the wealthy: Your heirs won’t get off so easily. Pennsylvania is one of the few states to have both an inheritance tax, paid by the heirs, and an estate tax — though it applies only when an estate is large enough to trigger federal estate taxes ($5 million or more).

#4 Kentucky

State Income Tax: 2%-6%
State Sales Tax: 6%
Estate Tax/Inheritance Tax: No/Yes

The home of the Kentucky Derby is a good bet for retirees. It exempts Social Security benefits from state income taxes, and it allows residents to exclude up to $41,110 per person in retirement income from a wide variety of sources, including public and private pensions and annuities. Personal income-tax rates range from 2% to 6%. A 6% sales tax is imposed at the state level only. Homeowners 65 and older qualify for a homestead provision that exempts part of the value of their property from state taxes. The Bluegrass State has an inheritance tax, but immediate family members are exempt.

#5 Alabama

State Income Tax: 2%-5%
State Sales Tax: 4%
Estate Tax/Inheritance Tax: No/No

Alabama is a tax haven for retirees. Social Security benefits, as well as military, public and private defined-benefit pensions, are excluded from state income taxes. Remaining income is taxed at the state’s low rates, which range from 2% to 5%. Alabama also has some of the lowest property taxes in the U.S. Homeowners 65 and older are exempt from state property taxes, but some cities assess their own property tax. The only downside is sales taxes. Although the statewide rate is just 4%, cities and counties in the Yellowhammer State can impose their own levies, and together the taxes can add up to a whopping 10% or more in some cities. Food is taxed, but prescription drugs are not.

#6 Georgia

State Income Tax: 1%-6%
State Sales Tax: 4%
Estate Tax/Inheritance Tax: No/No

Georgia offers a peachy tax environment for retirees. Social Security income is exempt from taxes and so is up to $35,000 per person of most types of retirement income, including pensions, annuities, rental income, interest, dividends and capital gains for residents 62 and older. Beginning in 2012, taxes on all retirement income will be phased out completely. Remaining income is taxed at rates ranging from 1% to 6%, with the top tax rate kicking in on income in excess of $7,000. The statewide sales tax is 4%, but local jurisdictions can add up to 4% of their own taxes. Food and prescription drugs are exempt from sales taxes. Full-time residents of the Peach State qualify for a homestead exemption, and residents 65 and older may qualify for additional property tax deductions.

#7 Oklahoma

State Income Tax: 0.5%-5.5%
State Sales Tax: 4.5%
Estate Tax/Inheritance Tax: No/No

Oklahoma is more than OK for retirees. The Sooner State has been attracting newcomers since its days when settlers could claim 160 acres of public lands free. It does not tax Social Security benefits or the federal pensions of those who do not participate in the Social Security system. In addition, all residents can exclude up to $10,000 per person ($20,000 per couple) of other types of retirement income (previous income limits for claiming this exclusion were eliminated in 2010). Income-tax rates are low, ranging from 0.5% to 5.5%. Real estate is assessed at an amount between 11% and 13.5% of market value. The statewide sales tax is a modest 4.5%, with prescription drugs exempt. One thing to watch out for: Cities, towns and counties may levy additional sales taxes, which can make the combined sales tax rate top 8%.

#8 South Carolina

State Income Tax: 3%-7%
State Sales Tax: 6%
Estate Tax/Inheritance Tax: No/No

South Carolina extends its Southern hospitality to retirees. The Palmetto State exempts Social Security benefits from state income taxes, and it allows residents 65 and older to deduct up to $15,000 per person ($30,000 per couple) of qualified retirement income when calculating their state income tax. Retired military personnel 65 and older can deduct up to $10,000 of military retirement benefits. Property taxes are very low. Taxes are based on 4% of the market value of a home, and homeowners 65 and older qualify for a homestead exemption that excludes the first $50,000 of their property’s fair market value from property taxes. Sales taxes can be high, though. The statewide rate is 6%, and counties can levy an additional 2%. Prescription drugs are exempt.

#9 Delaware

State Income Tax: 2.2%-6.95%
State Sales Tax: None
Estate Tax/Inheritance Tax: Yes/No

The First State is number one with many retirees, thanks to low real estate taxes, modest income taxes and no sales tax. Social Security and Railroad Retirement benefits are exempt from income taxes, and residents 60 and older can exclude $12,500 per person of investment and qualified retirement income, including out-of-state pensions, dividends, interest and capital gains. Income-tax rates on remaining income range from 2.2% to 6.95%. The top tax rate kicks in when taxable income exceeds $60,000. Residents 65 and older who do not itemize their deductions are eligible for an additional standard deduction of $2,500. Real estate taxes vary by county but are generally low. Residents 65 and older can get a credit equal to half of the school property taxes, up to $500.

#10 Louisiana

State Income Tax: 2%-6%
State Sales Tax: 6%
Estate Tax/Inheritance Tax: No/Yes

Louisiana offers a bayou full of tax breaks to retirees. Social Security and military, civil-service, and state- and local-government pensions are exempt from state income taxes, plus up to $6,000 per person of pension and annuity income. Personal income tax rates are low, ranging from 2% to 6%. Property taxes are the lowest in the nation, according to the Tax Foundation, and assessments are based on 10% of the fair market value. But sales taxes can be steep. The statewide sales tax is 4%, but local parishes and jurisdictions within those parishes can add their own sales taxes. In New Orleans, the combined sales tax rate is 9%. But food and drugs are exempt from sales taxes throughout the Pelican State.

Kiplinger: 10 Tax-Unfriendly States for Retirees 2011

Great information to have and campaign on.

Via Yahoo News:

Some states offer attractive tax benefits for retirees. Then there are these ten tax hells, which have earned a place on our “do not live here for your second act” list either because of higher-than-average taxes across the board or because of policies that don’t exempt much retirement income from state taxation.

For retirees living on a fixed income, high income taxes, burdensome real estate taxes and hefty sales taxes on daily purchases can really eat into a nest egg. Choosing to relocate to — or stay put in — a state with a low overall tax burden can help stretch your retirement income.

#1 VERMONT
State Income Tax: 3.55%-8.95%
State Sales Tax: 6% (localities can add another 1%)
Estate Tax/Inheritance Tax: Yes/No

There are no exemptions for retirement income in the Green Mountain State, except for Railroad Retirement benefits (which are exempt in every state). Out-of-state pensions are fully taxed. Vermont exempts medical devices and prescription and nonprescription drugs from its 6% sales tax. But it imposes a 9% tax on prepared foods, restaurant meals and lodging, and a levies a 10% sales tax on alcoholic beverages served in restaurants. Real estate taxes have two components: school property tax and municipal property tax collected by towns and cities where the property is located. The Tax Foundation, a nonprofit tax-research group in Washington, D.C., lists Vermont’s property tax among the ten highest in the nation.

#2 MINNESOTA
State Income Tax: 5.35%-7.85%
State Sales Tax: 6.875% (cities and counties can add another 2.65%)
Estate Tax/Inheritance Tax: No/No

Minnesota offers retirees cold comfort on the tax front. Social Security income is taxed to the same extent it is taxed on your federal return. Pensions are taxable regardless of where your pension was earned. Income-tax rates are high, and sales taxes can reach 9.53% in some cities. Food, clothing, and prescription and nonprescription drugs are exempt from sales taxes. The North Star State does offer some residents 65 and older who have income of $60,000 or less the option of deferring a portion of their property tax. But this is a low-interest loan, not a tax-forgiveness program.

#3 NEBRASKA
State Income Tax: 2.56%-6.84%
State Sales Tax: 5.5% (localities can add another 1.5%)
Estate Tax/Inheritance Tax: No/Yes

There are no tax breaks for Social Security benefits and military pensions in the Cornhusker State. Real estate is assessed at 100% of fair market value. Residents 65 and older qualify for a homestead exemption on property taxes. Food and prescription drugs are exempt from state sales taxes. But Nebraska imposes an inheritance tax on all transfers of property and annuities.

#4 OREGON
State Income Tax: 5%-11%
State Sales Tax: None
Estate Tax/Inheritance Tax: No/Yes

First, the upside: There’s no state sales tax in the Beaver State. But it shares the distinction with Hawaii of imposing the highest tax rate on personal income in the nation on taxable income of $250,000 or more. Although Oregon does not tax Social Security benefits, that’s the extent of its income-tax breaks for retirees. And Oregon has an inheritance tax that applies even to intangible personal property, such as investments and bank accounts, no matter where it is located.

#5 CALIFORNIA
State Income Tax: 1.25%-9.55%
State Sales Tax: 7.25% (effective July 1, 2011)
Estate Tax/Inheritance Tax: No/No

The Golden State has lost its luster for many retirees. Although Social Security benefits are exempt from state income taxes, all other forms of retirement income are fully taxed. Californians pay some of the highest income taxes in the U.S., with the top rate of 9.55% kicking in at $46,767 of taxable income. State and local sales taxes can reach 9.25% in some cities, although food and prescription drugs are exempt. Real estate is assessed at 100% of cash value, but taxes are capped at 1% of value.

#6 MAINE
State Income Tax: 2%-8.5%
State Sales Tax: 5% (counties can add another 0.5%)
Estate Tax/Inheritance Tax: Yes/No

Like the majority of states, Maine exempts Social Security benefits from state income taxes. And residents can deduct up to $6,000 per person of eligible pension income. But remaining income in excess of $20,150 per year is taxed at a steep 8.5% rate. Residents of the Pine Tree State pay a 5% sales tax statewide on everything except food and prescription drugs. All real estate and personal property is subject to local property taxes (and, in some cases, state property taxes, too), but permanent residents can receive an exemption of $10,000 on the assessed value of their home. Maine is also one of only three states that do not allow cities and towns to impose their own local sales taxes.

#7 IOWA
State Income Tax: 0.36%-8.98%
State Sales Tax: 6% (localities can add another 1%)
Estate Tax/Inheritance Tax: No/Yes

The Hawkeye State offers no feathered nest for retirees. Although it allows single retirees to exclude up to $6,000 of retirement-plan distributions from state income taxes, and married couples can exclude up to $12,000, the rest is taxed at rates as high as 8.98%. Iowa taxes a portion of residents’ Social Security benefits, too, although it is in the process of phasing out the Social Security tax, which is scheduled to disappear in 2014. Food and prescription drugs are exempt from the statewide 6% sales tax. Real estate is assessed at 100% of market value, and most property is taxed by more than one taxing authority, such as cities, counties and school districts. There is a small homestead tax credit for residents who live in-state at least six months of the year.

#8 WISCONSIN
State Income Tax: 4.6%-7.75%
State Sales Tax: 5% (counties can add another 0.5%)
Estate Tax/Inheritance Tax: No/No

The Dairy State exempts Social Security benefits and military-related pensions from its state income taxes, but it taxes most other pension and annuity income the same way the federal government does. Retirees 65 and older can subtract $5,000 of qualified retirement income, including IRA distributions, from their Wisconsin taxable income, subject to income restrictions. Some Wisconsin state- and local-government retirees qualify for a tax exemption. But out-of-state government pensions are fully taxed. Food and prescription drugs are exempt from state sales taxes. Some homeowners may qualify for a school property-tax credit against their state income tax.

#9 NEW JERSEY
State Income Tax: 1.4%-8.97%
State Sales Tax: 7%
Estate Tax/Inheritance Tax: Yes/Yes

Its nickname may be the Garden State, but New Jersey is no Eden for retirees. The Tax Foundation says New Jersey’s combined state and local tax burden is the highest in the nation, thanks in part to sky-high property taxes. But there are a few bright spots: New Jersey does not tax Social Security benefits and military pensions. It also allows residents 62 or older with incomes of $100,000 or less to exclude up to $15,000 ($20,000 for married couples filing jointly) of retirement income, including pensions, annuities and IRA withdrawals. Groceries, medicine and clothing are exempt from the 7% statewide sales tax. The state imposes an inheritance tax on the transfer of real and personal property worth $500 or more, but bequests to family members are exempt. Even with the bright spots, it’s an expensive place to live for retirees.

#10 CONNECTICUT
State Income Tax: 3%-6.7%
State Sales Tax: 6.35%-7%
Estate Tax/Inheritance Tax: Yes/No

Connecticut can be inhospitable to retirees, depending on their income and where they earned their retirement benefits. Although some residents of the Constitution State can exclude their Social Security benefits from state income taxes, the exclusion applies only if their adjusted gross income is $50,000 or less ($60,000 or less for married couples). All out-of-state government and civil-service retirement pensions are fully taxed. Effective July 1, 2011, the sales tax rate statewide is 6.35%, with luxury items taxed at 7%. Connecticut residents pay some of the highest property taxes in the U.S., according to the Tax Foundation, but residents 65 and older qualify for an annual property tax credit or rent rebate.

 

Indiana has the second highest tax on diesel in the country, sixth highest gas tax. A list of fuel taxes by state.

View the PDF file from the American Petroleum Institute Right HERE.

For more charts and graphs ob fuel taxes see the following links:

http://www.api.org/statistics/fueltaxes/

http://www.gaspricewatch.com/usgastaxes.asp

This lizard (read government) could cost up to 60,000 jobs and 25% of our national oil production.

The government says that where there is oil drilling there are less of these lizards per mile. An interesting method of measurement as there are no shortage of deer and how much space in my home town is covered by parking lots and malls? Deer can be seen every day and is hunted just to keep the numbers from getting out of control.

Massive new oil shale finds have been found in Texas and parts of New Mexico, enough to increase domestic production by 25%. The Obama Administration, if recent history is a guide, won’t have that. The lizard is very skiddish and lives mostly under the sand, so most people have never seen one (hmm I wonder how hard that makes them to count).

ABC News:

The sand dune lizard is a small reptile that has become the scourge of the Texas Oil industry, not because it is dangerous but because the threatened species could put land ripe for oil exploration off limits.

“As far as I am concerned, it is Godzilla,” Texas land commissioner Jerry Paterson told ABC News. “[It’s] the biggest threat facing the oil business in memory,” said Ben Shepperd, president of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association. They believe the small tan-colored, insectivorous lizard could cost the oil industry and surrounding communities thousands of jobs.

About 63,000 Americans work in the oil and gas well industry as of September 2009, the most recent period available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program. Most of those jobs are in Texas.

The federal government said the sand lizard is on the verge of extinction, and is expected to place it on the endangered species list soon.

If the species makes the list, its 800,000 acre habitat in the shinnery oak sand dune communities of southeastern New Mexico and southwestern Texas would receive protected status. That habitat happens to be right in the heart of Texas oil country.

“If the lizard is put on the endangered species list, then [rigs] would [be] shutdown,” Leslyn Wallace, a land manager at RSP Permian, told ABC News. That would cost many Texans their jobs.

But here is the rub, The eco-radicals in the government have used the Endangered Species Act as a weapon before to target the industries they despise. After the polar bear population had risen 30% the government decided to put the polar bear on the endangered species list anyways because of reductions in polar sea ice, which saw a cyclical low in 2007, but had already rebounded 27% in the following year and is still growing today.

Pinal County Sheriff: Mexican Drug Cartels now control corridor from Mexican border to Phoenix

And the Obama Administration is doing little more than posting these signs….

 

Here is a CNN from late 2007 and things have just gotten worse:  Mexican Drug Cartels Threaten U.S. Reporters – 

Soros Funded Group Seeks to Control State Election Posts

George Soros

Washington Times:

A small tax-exempt political group with ties to wealthy liberals like billionaire financier George Soros has quietly helped elect 11 reform-minded progressive Democrats as secretaries of state to oversee the election process in battleground states and keep Republican “political operatives from deciding who can vote and how those votes are counted.”

Known as the Secretary of State Project (SOSP), the organization was formed by liberal activists in 2006 to put Democrats in charge of state election offices, where key decisions often are made in close races on which ballots are counted and which are not.

Pay attention to this part:

Named after Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code, so-called 527 political groups — such as SOSP — have no upper limit on contributions and no restrictions on who may contribute in seeking to influence the selection, nomination, election, appointment or defeat of candidates to federal, state or local public office. They generally are not regulated by the Federal Election Commission (FEC), creating a soft-money loophole.

While FEC regulations limit individual donations to a maximum of $2,500 per candidate and $5,000 to a PAC, a number of 527 groups have poured tens of millions of unregulated dollars into various political efforts.

SOSP has backed 11 winning candidates in 18 races, including such key states as Ohio, Nevada, Iowa, New Mexico and Minnesota.

This is where illegal and foreign money and foreign governments influence our elections. The excuse the Soros funded group uses is that it claims Republicans stole the 200 presidential election on Florida. Of course when a group of newspapers went to Florida and recounted themselves they also concluded that president Bush had won fairly.

But let me tell you what wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair when Al Gore’s lawyers used a technicality to toss out military ballots in Florida. There were valid reasons why the Supreme Court ruled for President Bush in the Bush v. Gore lawsuits: the Florida Supreme Court was allowing Democrats to change the election rules on the fly during the count; and Gore’s lawyers and a partisan Florida Court wanted to allow selective recounting of discarded votes, meaning that only in areas where Gore had a substantial lead would the votes be recounted. President Bush’s team said that if there was going to be a recount it had to be all of the state and under one set of rules – and on that part of Bush v. Gore the Supreme Court agreed 7-2.

Of course Soros’ group has already stolen elections in Minnesota. USA Today, among others, report that Al Franken won his Senate seat through fraud.

Justice Department whistle blower J. Christian Adams went public after the Justice Department dismantled the integrity division of the section in charge of making sure that “Motor Voter” was enforced properly and that dead people were removed from the voter roles. The Obama Justice Department has made it clear that they will not take action in vote intimidation cases if the victims are white and/or the perpetrators are black.

J. Christian Adams via Ed Morrissey:

How The Department of Justice Allowed Vote Fraud in Minnesota

Former Department of Justice attorney J. Christian Adams has blown the whistle on politicization within Justice in enforcing election laws, specifically the laws requiring cleaning voter rolls of the deceased and convicted felons. While the main focus of the media (such as it is) has been on the politics of the issue, Adams wants to get more of a focus on the consequences of politicization. He talks with Twin Cities talk-show host Chris Baker about the impact of this politicization in Minnesota, a subject that Minnesota Majority knows all too well. The conservative organization has spent the past 20 months attempting to get the attention of the DoJ on this very subject, to no avail:

Minnesota Majority has experienced the DOJ’s refusal to investigate these kind of cases first-hand. On November 17th of 2008 (immediately following the 2008 General Election and while the Coleman-Franken recount battle was getting underway), Minnesota Majority president Jeff Davis sent a certified letter to then Voting Section chief of the Civil Rights Division at the DOJ, Christopher Coates, requesting an investigation into apparent failures to comply with HAVA by Secretary of State Mark Ritchie. No response was forthcoming.

Since the DOJ in Washington DC failed to follow up on Davis’ complaint, Minnesota Majority contacted the local FBI office and lodged the same complaint. Special Agent Brian Kinney responded and visited the Minnesota Majority office to examine Minnesota Majority’s findings. At that time, he said, “based on what I see here there is more than enough evidence to initiate an internal complaint.” He gave his assurances that he would bring the matter to the attention of his supervisors. There was no further follow-up.

By October of 2009, Minnesota Majority had compiled evidence of further violations of HAVA in Minnesota, including a finding that ineligible felons were not being detected and flagged for challenge or removal from the voter rolls. This resulted in hundreds of fraudulent votes by ineligible felons being counted in Minnesota’s 2008 election. Davis sent another certified letter to Voting Section Chief Christopher Coates. Like the first complaint from nearly a year prior, the second letter went unanswered.

Minnesota Majority’s experience supports J. Christopher Adams’ claims that the DOJ’s policy is not to pursue violations of HAVA’s anti-fraud provisions. The dismissal of the voter intimidation charges against members of the New Black Panther Party who brandished nightsticks outside a Philadelphia polling place during the 2008 General Election was the last straw for Adams, who resigned in protest. He claimed that his superiors also ordered himself and other attorneys not to comply with subpoenas issued by the US Civil Rights commission, placing them in what Adams called, “legal limbo.”

Voting Section Chief Christopher Coates, who worked with Adams on the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation case was demoted and transferred to a post in South Carolina earlier this year.

The Civil Rights Commission has subpoenaed Coates to testify on the matter but his DOJ employers are currently blocking his testimony.

Why would the DoJ block testimony from one of its attorneys on the internal policies of Justice?

Reminder: Reagan Savaged Carter and the Democrats With the Truth

The Carter record is a litany of despair, of broken promises, of sacred trusts abandoned and forgotten. Eight million — eight million out of work. Inflation running at 18 percent in the first quarter of this year. Black unemployment at 14 percent, higher than any single year since the government began keeping separate statistics. Four straight major deficits run up by Carter and his friends in Congress. The highest interest rates since the Civil War, reaching at times close to 20 percent, lately they’re down to more than 11 percent but now they’ve begun to go up again. Productivity falling for six straight quarters among the most productive people in the world.

Through his inflation he has raised taxes on the American people by 30 percent, while their real income has risen only 20 percent. The Lady standing there in the harbor has never betrayed us once. But this Administration in Washington has betrayed the working men and women of this country.

The President promised that he would not increase taxes for the low and middle-income people, the workers of America. Then he imposed on American families the largest single tax increase in our nation’s history. His answer to all this misery? He tries to tell us that we’re “only” in a recession, not a depression, as if definitions, words, relieve our suffering.

Let it show on the record that when the American people cried out for economic help, Jimmy Carter took refuge behind a dictionary. Well if it’s a definition — if it’s a definition he wants, I’ll give him one.  A recession is when your neighbor loses his job.  A depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his.

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/ronaldreaganlibertypark.htm

Union whistleblowers: We were beaten and harassed after they accused bosses of looting

This is not the first time we have seen corruption from the Communication Workers of America. This is also not the first report of threats and beatings. I know a person who is a member of CWA. They went on strike shortly before the 2004 election and the union said it had no money for striker pay, but had given millions of dollars to multibillionaire John Kerry.

New York Daily News:

Sebastian Taravella and Salvatore DiStefano are among several phone company employees who claim they were beaten or threatened.

 

Unionized phone company employees say they were beaten or threatened after they accused their labor bosses of looting their coffers through various scams.

One member of Communications Workers of America Local 1101 said that after he reported a time-sheet padding scheme, a thug beat him so badly his spine was injured.

Another says he found a dead rat in his locker, while a third said a union officer warned that suspected informants should be brought off company property and “taken care of.”

The threats come to light as the U.S. Labor Department is probing charges that union bosses lined their pockets at the rank-and-file’s expense.

Accusations include an unauthorized 401(k) plan union officers gave themselves funded with members’ dues, along with hefty weekly allowances, lavish expense accounts and six-figure salaries, union documents show.

The feds are also looking into allegations that double-dipping union bosses illegally received pay from Verizon and the local for the same hours, sources said.

“This was union greed and that’s worse than corporate greed,” said Kevin Condy, a reform movement leader of the 6,700-member local that represents mostly Verizon workers in Manhattan and the Bronx. “These guys acted like they felt they were entitled.”

And, some members charge, the bosses retaliated when threatened with exposure.

In August, business agent Patrick Gibbons said he received death threats and his office was vandalized after he complained that union bosses were misappropriating cash.

“They were warning me that if I continue to complain about their finances, they would have me killed,” Gibbons wrote in an open letter to union members.

Six months earlier, Verizon heavy equipment operators Salvatore DiStefano and Sebastian Taravella sued the local in Brooklyn Federal Court.

They said they were harassed after telling Verizon security officials a manager allowed workers to leave early but claim a full day’s pay – as long as they completed a quota of assigned jobs.

DiStefano told the Daily News he was “attacked by a union thug” as he started the morning shift at a Verizon garage in the Bronx in April 2009. “He pounded me with his fists, he spit on me, he choked me and threw me down to the floor,” he said.

DiStefano said he suffered two herniated discs and had knee problems that required surgery. He got workers’ compensation as a result, records show.

Taravella said a dead rat was put in his locker with “a note tied to his tail” that said “Rest in Peace, Sebbie.”

The incidents came after a local vice president purportedly told members at a meeting, “We have to deal with these spies on a personal level, like take them … off the company property and off company time and take care of them,” the suit charged.

Taravella still works at Empire City Subway, a Verizon subsidiary; DiStefano was fired in July 2009 for “violation of the business code of conduct.”

Verizon officials declined to comment except to say they’d given probers “a small amount of payroll information.”

Lots of padding

A financial monitor hired by the union’s national last month uncovered “highly questionable practices” by local union bosses, including:

Setting up a 401(k) plan for themselves to which members contributed a percentage of their dues, totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars. The national union halted the perk in March.

Establishing a weekly $225 no-receipts-required expense allowance that added $11,700 annually to the paychecks of each officer and board member. The national also stopped this in March.

Expensing meal tabs averaging $225 a person at an Atlantic City meeting and $600-a-night hotel charges in Las Vegas.

Spending up to $37,000 a year in car service bills while also charging for their own cars.

“We’ve turned over everything we’ve come across in our investigation to the Labor Department,” said national CWA secretary-treasurer Jeff Rechenbach.

That included a phone call in which Local 1101 president Joseph Connolly discussed double-dipping with a union vice president, Rechenbach said.

Connolly, whose base salary is $170,000, did not return calls for comment. The Labor Department would not comment.

 

Palestinian child abuse on parade, literally…

Nakba Day

Palestinian boys dressed in uniforms of Palestinian security forces and holding plastic toy guns take part during a rally marking “Nakba” in the West Bank city of Nablus May 15, 2011. Palestinians on Sunday mark the “Nakba”, or catastrophe, to commemorate the expulsion or fleeing of some 700, 000 Palestinians from their homes in the war that led to the founding of Israel in 1948. (REUTERS/Abed Omar Qusini)

Massive Economic Study: Obama Stimulus Bill Cost 1 Million Private Sector Jobs in Ohio

This is not from any light-weight folks, this is linked on Dr. Greg Mankiw.

Mankiw wrote one of the most respected series of econ college textbooks used in universities today.

Dr. Mankiw:

Tim Conley and Bill Dupor have a new paper on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (that is, the Obama stimulus bill).  Their empirical findings:

Our benchmark results suggest that the ARRA created/saved approximately 450 thousand state and local government jobs and destroyed/forestalled roughly one million private sector jobs. State and local government jobs were saved because ARRA funds were largely used to offset state revenue shortfalls and Medicaid increases rather than boost private sector employment. The majority of destroyed/forestalled jobs were in growth industries including health, education, professional and business services.

 

Powerline comments:

Earlier this week, they reported their findings in a paper titled “The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: Public Sector Jobs Saved, Private Sector Jobs Forestalled.” The paper is dense and rather lengthy, and requires considerable study. Here, however, is the bottom line:

Our benchmark results suggest that the ARRA created/saved approximately 450 thousand state and local government jobs and destroyed/forestalled roughly one million private sector jobs. State and local government jobs were saved because ARRA funds were largely used to offset state revenue shortfalls and Medicaid increases rather than boost private sector employment. The majority of destroyed/forestalled jobs were in growth industries including health, education, professional and business services.

So the American people borrowed and spent close to a trillion dollars to destroy a net of more than one-half million jobs. Does President Obama understand this? I very much doubt it. When he expressed puzzlement at the idea that the stimulus money may not have been well-spent, and said that “spending equals stimulus,” he betrayed a shocking level of economic ignorance.

George Mason University: What States Have the Most Freedom & Who Has the Least

Mercatus Center at George Mason University – http://mercatus.org/freedom-50-states-2011

 

Judicial Watch: Obama Administration Channeling Tax Dollars to La Raza

La Raza means “The Race”. La Raza calls for communist revolution in the United States, wants much of the Western United States given to Mexico (they call it Aztlan), and are so racist that they are often referred to as “The Klan with a tan”; what would one expect from a group that calls itself “the race”?

Judicial Watch:

A Judicial Watch investigation reveals that federal funding for a Mexican La Raza group that for years has raked in millions of taxpayer dollars has skyrocketed since one of its top officials got a job in the Obama White House.

The influential and politically-connected National Council of La Raza (NCLR) has long benefitted from Uncle Sam’s largess but the group has made a killing since Obama hired its senior vice president (Cecilia Muñoz) in 2009 to be his director of intergovernmental affairs.

Ignored by the mainstream media, Judicial Watch covered the appointment because the president issued a special “ethics waiver” to bring Muñoz aboard since it violated his own lobbyist ban. At the pro illegal immigration NCLR, Muñoz supervised all legislative and advocacy activities on the state and local levels and she was heavily involved in the congressional immigration battles that took place in the George W. Bush Administration.

She also brought in a steady flow of government cash that’s allowed the Washington D.C.-based group to expand nationwide and promote its leftist, open-borders agenda via a network of community organizations dedicated to serving Latinos. Among them are a variety of local groups that provide social services, housing counseling and farm worker assistance as well as publicly-funded charter schools that promote radical Chicano curriculums. Judicial Watch published a special report on this a few years ago.

This week a JW probe has uncovered details of the alarming increase in federal funding that these NCLR groups have received since Muñoz joined the Obama Administration. In fact, the government cash more than doubled the year Muñoz joined the White House, from $4.1 million to $11 million.

Not surprisingly, a big chunk of the money (60%) came from the Department of Labor, which is headed by a former Californiacongresswoman (Hilda Solis) with close ties to the La Raza movement. Since Obama named her Labor Secretary, Solis has launched a nationwide campaign to protect illegal immigrant workers in theU.S. Just this week Solis penned declarations withGuatemala andNicaragua to preserve the rights of their migrants.

The NCLR also received additional taxpayer dollars from other federal agencies in 2010, the JW probe found. The Department of Housing and Urban Development doled out $2.5 million for housing counseling, the Department of Education contributed nearly $800,000 and the Centers for Disease Control a quarter of a million.

Additionally, NCLR affiliates nationwide raked in tens of millions of government grant and recovery dollars last year thanks to the Muñoz factor. An offshoot called Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC) saw its federal funding nearly double to $18.3 million following Muñoz’ appointment.

A social service and legal assistance organization (Ayuda Inc.) that didn’t receive any federal funding between 2005 and 2008 got $600,000 in 2009 and $548,000 in 2010 from the Department of Justice. The group provides immigration law services and guarantees confidentiality to assure illegal aliens that they won’t be reported to authorities.

Related: The speech below was at a La Raza event in Los Angeles

High School Teacher Calls For Racist Communist Revolution Against U.S. Government. Praises Murderous Dictator Hugo Chavez.

May 08, 2010 — ”Where we now stand is stolen, occupied Mexico”…La Raza rally at UCLA….More gems: ‘Communist Revolution’, ‘Frail, racist white people’, ‘La Raza’ (the Race), Fidel Castro, ‘Northern Front of Latin Revolution’…”40 million…revolutionaries…in the belly of the beast”. “Our enemy is Capitalism and Imperialism”. Sedition anyone?
Sanchee H.S. history teacher Ron Gochez, La Raza Rally at UCLA

Here is his H.S. Let them know what you think of his comments:
http://www.santeefalcons.org/
Phone: (213) 763-1000
Los Angeles Unified School District
Tel: 213-241-7000
superintendent@lausd.net
Los Angeles Board of Education:
Tel: 213-241-6389
Email: steve.zimmer@lausd.net

“We are revolutionary Mexican organization here. We understand that this is not just about Mexico. Its about a global struggle against imperialism and capitalism At the forefront of this revolutionary movement is La Raza. We will no longer fall for these lies called borders. We see America as a northern front of a revolutionary movement Our enemy is capitalism and imperialism.”

Russian ‘President’ Medvedev Endorses Obama 2012. Oligarchs for Obama!

The Putin/Medvedev oligarchical neo-dictatorship has endorsed Barack Obama’s re-election. Why wouldn’t they. Obama reneged on a promised missile defense shield for Poland and the Czech Republic, let Sakashvilli and the Georgians twist in the wind, handed Medvedev Britain’s key nuclear secrets, and signed on a lopsided arms treaty that gave away the farm. The Russian Oligarch could not have a more submissive counterpart.

Obama - Medvedev

AFP:

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday he wanted his US counterpart Barack Obama to win re-election next year, fearing that the two men’s efforts to improve ties may lose steam under a new administration.

“I can tell you directly — I would like Barack Obama to be re-elected president of the United States maybe more than someone else,” Medvedev said in an interview with the Financial Times whose full transcript was released by the Kremlin early Monday.

“If another person becomes US president then he may have another course,” he said.

How touching. Keep in mind that under Putin/Medvedev Russia has been murdering journalists who tell the truth about them, they have been overtly manipulating the European energy market to meddle in elections, and they have sacked the Republic of Georgia.

But I will give credit to Russian leadership in one area, they were smart enough to adopt the tax system developed by famed American economics guru and business leader Steve Forbes, while Obama pushed us deeper into the tax system designed by Karl Marx. Of course, Marx received two inheritances, squandered them both and couldn’t balance a checkbook.

George Soros funds 30 foundations on journalism to influence elite media

 

By Dan Gainor:

George Soros

When liberal investor George Soros gave $1.8 million to National Public Radio , it became part of the firestorm of controversy that jeopardized NPR’s federal funding. But that gift only hints at the widespread influence the controversial billionaire has on the mainstream media. Soros, who spent $27 million trying to defeat President Bush in 2004, has ties to more than 30 mainstream news outlets – including The New York Times, Washington Post, the Associated Press, NBC and ABC.

Prominent journalists like ABC’s Christiane Amanpour and former Washington Post editor and now Vice President Len Downie serve on boards of operations that take Soros cash. This despite the Society of Professional Journalists’ ethical code stating: “avoid all conflicts real or perceived.”

This information is part of an upcoming report by the Media Research Centers Business & Media Institute which has been looking into George Soros and his influence on the media.

The investigative reporting start-up ProPublica is a prime example. ProPublica, which recently won its second Pulitzer Prize, initially was given millions of dollars from the Sandler Foundation to “strengthen the progressive infrastructure” – “progressive” being the code word for very liberal. In 2010, it also received a two-year contribution of $125,000 each year from the Open Society Foundations. In case you wonder where that money comes from, the OSF website is www.soros.org. It is a network of more than 30 international foundations, mostly funded by Soros, who has contributed more than $8 billion to those efforts.

The ProPublica stories are thoroughly researched by top-notch staffers who used to work at some of the biggest news outlets in the nation. But the topics are almost laughably left-wing. The site’s proud list of  “Our Investigations” includes attacks on oil companies, gas companies, the health care industry, for-profit schools and more. More than 100 stories on the latest lefty cause: opposition to drilling for natural gas by hydraulic fracking. Another 100 on the evils of the foreclosure industry.

Throw in a couple investigations making the military look bad and another about prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and you have almost the perfect journalism fantasy – a huge budget, lots of major media partners and a liberal agenda unconstrained by advertising.

One more thing: a 14-person Journalism Advisory Board, stacked with CNN’s David Gergen and representatives from top newspapers, a former publisher of The Wall Street Journal and the editor-in-chief of Simon & Schuster. Several are working journalists, including:

• Jill Abramson, a managing editor of The New York Times;

• Kerry Smith, the senior vice president for editorial quality of ABC News;

• Cynthia A. Tucker, the editor of the editorial page of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

ProPublica is far from the only Soros-funded organization that is stacked with members of the supposedly neutral press.

The Center for Public Integrity is another great example. Its board of directors is filled with working journalists like Amanpour from ABC, right along side blatant liberal media types like Arianna Huffington, of the Huffington Post and now AOL.

Like ProPublica, the CPI board is a veritable Who’s Who of journalism and top media organizations, including:

• Christiane Amanpour – Anchor of ABC’s Sunday morning political affairs program, “This Week with Christiane Amanpour.” A reliable lefty, she has called tax cuts “giveaways,” the Tea Party “extreme,” and Obama “very Reaganesque.”

• Paula Madison – Executive vice president and chief diversity officer for NBC Universal, who leads NBC Universal’s corporate diversity initiatives, spanning all broadcast television, cable, digital, and film properties.

• Matt Thompson – Editorial product manager at National Public Radio and an adjunct faculty member at the prominent Poynter Institute.

The group’s advisory board features:

• Ben Sherwood, ABC News president and former “Good Morning America” executive producer

Once again, like ProPublica, the Center for Public Integrity’s investigations are mostly liberal – attacks on the coal industry, payday loans and conservatives like Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour. The Center for Public Integrity is also more open about its politics, including a detailed investigation into conservative funders David and Charles Koch and their “web of influence.”According to the center’s own 990 tax forms, the Open Society Institute gave it $651,650 in 2009 alone.

The well-known Center for Investigative Reporting follows the same template – important journalists on the board and a liberal editorial agenda. Both the board of directors and the advisory board contain journalists from major news outlets. The board features:

• Phil Bronstein (President), San Francisco Chronicle;

• David Boardman, The Seattle Times;

• Len Downie, former Executive Editor of the Washington Post, now VP;

• George Osterkamp, CBS News producer.

Readers of the site are greeted with numerous stories on climate change, illegal immigration and the evils of big companies. It counts among its media partners The Washington Post, Salon, CNN and ABC News. CIR received close to $1 million from Open Society from 2003 to 2008.

Why does it all matter? Journalists, we are constantly told, are neutral in their reporting. In almost the same breath, many bemoan the influence of money in politics. It is a maxim of both the left and many in the media that conservatives are bought and paid for by business interests. Yet where are the concerns about where their money comes from?

Fred Brown, who recently revised the book “Journalism Ethics: A Casebook of Professional Conduct for News Media,” argues journalists need to be “transparent” about their connections and “be up front about your relationship” with those who fund you.

Unfortunately, that rarely happens. While the nonprofits list who sits on their boards, the news outlets they work for make little or no effort to connect those dots. Amanpour’s biography page, for instance, talks about her lengthy career, her time at CNN and her many awards. It makes no mention of her affiliation with the Center for Public Integrity.

If journalists were more up front, they would have to admit numerous uncomfortable connections with groups that push a liberal agenda, many of them funded by the stridently liberal George Soros. So don’t expect that transparency any time soon.

Dr. Walter Williams: Unions discriminate against black Americans, minimum wage impacts black teen unemployment. Regulations make licencing so expensive they keep minorities out.

When I was growing up, gas was 70 cents a gallon and when you went to get gas, a young person who was apprenticing at the service center attached to most every gas station would come out, pump your gas, check your tires and fluids, wipers etc. That young person was apprentricing under an experienced mechanic and learning valuable skills.

Those days are gone. Now gas is $4.00 and you pump it yourself. Service? Forget it, you will be lucky if the clerk speaks English. The minimum wage, labor regulations, and government regulations have brought such apprenticeships to a screeching halt.

Interesting Video: Inner City Black Man Trashes Obama as Man Who Hates Wealth

There are more and more of these kinds of videos appearing on the internet. Inner city black America is figuring out that something is wrong. It seems that the man in this video read Obama’s book and realized that Marxism is bad and is full of hypocrisy.

Warning, the man in this video uses “gangsta” like adult language. It probably has 100 cuss words in it.

Ann Coulter on why liberal ‘men’ hate and how conservatives explain the mortgage crisis vs liberals

My thoughts on Herman Cain

Herman Cain

Political Analysis by Chuck Norton

I have followed Herman Cain’s career for many years and I am going to tell you up front that I like him. He is a nice man who is very smart and he is a legendary problem solver and economic wiz. He is also a great manager. Cain has a reputation for fixing companies that fall into bad shape and thus save a create jobs. Herman Cain is an easy man to admire.

Cain as a presidential candidate has some problems.

Cain has no foreign policy experience, but in fairness lots of governors and other candidates had no foreign policy experience to speak of either. Some did great (Reagan) and some were so bad that they have resulted in countless lives lost (Carter). Perhaps the key to a successful foreign policy lies in the candidates philosophy. Reagan had a foreign policy philosophy which was very simple, “We Win They Lose”. Cain speaks too frequently about differing to advisers and generals. This excuse will not work much longer. Cain says that he cannot have an opinion on some of these issues because there is information at the White House he must see to have a fully informed opinion. While there is some truth to this, Cain could hire some experts and craft a basic policy strategy. If he doesn’t do that he will be seen as “un-presidential”.

[Editor’s Note: Sarah Palin does not have access to the secret information that is available to the White House, what she does have is access to a foreign policy expert in John McCain, and she has hired foreign policy consultants to get her up to speed. She has also been making overseas tours. Palin has a rather detailed policy position on most every issue foreign or domestic – LINK. Sarah Palin is not even a candidate and she has done this; soon Herman Cain will have no excuse. If Cain does not get up to speed we can expect a major foreign policy gaff from him. Newt Gingrich seemed to be watching Cain’s back in the first CNN debate, which is interesting.] 

In spite of Cain’s positive attributes and charisma, his candidacy is a longshot at best. Cain has never held office before and very few people are willing to vote for someone with no government experience. Will voters,  after having an unknown quantity like Obama being such a disaster, be willing to vote for another?

Cain’s candidacy has already had missteps. Cain’s presentation seems to indicate that he believes that ALL wisdom is outside of Washington, while this may be the case in many things depending on your point of view, it is certainly not always the case. Cain has made some mistakes in his messaging plan so far that indicate a naivety that concerns me. For Example elite media journalists trip him up and get him off message rather easily. They also bait him into answering certain social hot button issues that are always a lose/lose when you attempt to answer them.

With that said Cain will be an asset in this primary because he explains economics well and he is great at critiquing and explaining President Obama’s bad policy choices. Cain does not have to be the nominee to be effective in helping conservatives win in 2012 as he will be a good asset to who ever the GOP nominee ends up being.

Senate Subpoena’s Obama Administration. Hiding Facts on How Outspoken Jihadist Fort Hood Shooter Was Promoted Instead of Discharged

[Editor’s Note: Be sure to read the following link HERE as it provides very enlightening insight as to how this disaster happened]

ABC News:

Sen. Joseph Lieberman and Sen. Susan Collins today issued subpoenas to Attorney General Eric Holder and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, demanding information on what the government knew about accused Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Hasan prior to the Nov. 5 incident.

In a letter accompanying the subpoenas, Lieberman, I.-Conn., and Collins, R.-Me., the chairman and ranking minority member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said they had been forced to issue the subpoenas by a lack of cooperation from the Obama administration.

“We have repeatedly sought your departments’ cooperation for more than five months,” said the letter. “Our efforts have been met with delay, the production of little that was not already publicly available, and shifting reasons for why the departments are withholding the documents and witnesses that we have requested.”

During a conference call with reporters, Lieberman said he wanted to learn what information the government had about Hasan’s contacts with radical Muslim cleric Anwar Awlaki. “What were the signals, what was done to stop them,” said Lieberman, “and why wasn’t an investigation done then?”

“We think our request is quite reasonable,” said Lieberman, “”Our goal is to look back and see what these two federal agencies could have done to stop this man from committing a massacre of 13 Americans.”

The subpoenas demand information on contacts between Hasan and Awlaki in the months before the shooting spree. “Given the warning signs about Major Nidal Malik Hasan’s extremist radicalism,” asked the letter, “why was he not stopped before he took thirteen American lives?”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE LETTER

The subpoenas command Holder and Gates to appear before the committee on April 27 at 10:00 a.m., and to bring specified materials with them.

Holder is asked to provide the names of individuals on the Joint Terrorism Task Force in San Diego and Washington or the National Joint Terrorism Task Force who might have been familiar with emails between Nidal Hasan and Awlaki prior to the shooting.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE HOLDER SUBPOENA

Gates is ordered to produce Hasan’s official personnel file and any performance evaluations. He is also commanded to provide the names of defense department intelligence and criminal investigation employees who had knowledge of Maj. Hasan prior to the shootings, or who may have worked with the Joint Terrorism Task Forces in D.C. and San Diego “during the period of time in which information linked to Major Hasan came to those entities.”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE GATES SUBPOENA

Lieberman and Collins had been threatening to issue the subpoenas for nearly a month. On Thursday, they restated their intention to issue the subpoenas during a press conference.

On Friday, Secy. Gates told reporters that the administration was not seeking to hide information from Congress, but that its first priority was the prosecution of Maj. Hasan. [Editor’s Note: This excuse is a crock as a Senate Committee can meet in closed session.]

Related:

AIM: American Tax Dollars for Al-Jazeera-inspired Terrorism

Obama Policies Failing: Sinking Stats Tell Story

Central planning of an economy doesn’t work in large, diverse, environments, and works poorly in small homo-genius societies (Greece, Spain, Portugal all collapsing).

Government spending does not create wealth and in only limited circumstances does it have a long term positive impact with a high velocity of money. Politicians do not spend money on the greatest needs of individuals, businesses and communities; rather they spend those dollars with the hope that it will buy votes, increase influence, and come back in the form of campaign donations. People tend to act in their own self interest, so how can a politicians best interest be everyone elses?

Central planners are also very fond of “tax credits” which they call “tax cuts”. You get a tax credit if you engage in a behavior that the government approves of.  This causes people and businesses to act not in what is best for them, their family, their business, their economic needs or the needs of their customers, rather they are acting in the interests of a politician. How is that good for the economy when it comes down to you feeding and taking care of your family? This also results in mass corruption as the tax code becomes a behemoth filled with politicians picking winners and losers. This is called “crony capitalism” or “state run capitalism” (all of which is just a mutation of socialism/corporatism).

Tax credits are also used as the politicians rhetorical ruse. Very often government tax credits are such a regulatory burden they are an economic non starter or they are so “targeted” it means that almost no one will qualify for them [Example: Tax credit for a family of four who makes under $40,000 per year, who is buying house over 2,000 square feet, that is ran by solar power].

The more the planner’s plans fail the more the planner’s plan – Ronald Reagan.

Larry Kudlow:

With a flamboyant downgrade of the outlook for economic growth, jobs and profits, Wednesday’s 280-point Dow plunge to launch the so-called June stock swoon is a warning shot across the bow.

The Dow tanked alongside a batch of dismal economic data. The ISM manufacturing index, ADP employment, Case-Shiller home prices and consumer confidence are all pointing to 2 percent growth or less, rather than the kind of 5 percent growth we ought to be getting coming out of a deep recession.

The economy now looks like a Government Motors engine that’s stalling out. Or perhaps, with energy and food inflation, and housing deflation at the same time, the economy is acting like a pinball machine on permanent tilt.

There’s a key message here: Big-government stimulus never works.

First there was the massive Barack Obama stimulus spending. Then QE1. And now QE2 is winding down. And what did we get for all this? Slower growth overall, paltry job creation, more energy and commodities inflation, continued housing deflation, and virtually no new business start-up entrepreneurship.

We know the Obama spending package failed to create a 7 percent to 8 percent unemployment rate, as advertised. And now we’re learning that the Fed’s QE2 has actually done more harm than good.

All that money-printing stimulus worked to depreciate the dollar and jack-up commodity prices, especially oil and gasoline, but also food. So both companies and consumers have been punished.

Some demand-side boneheads on Wall Street want the Fed to move to QE3, allegedly to fight a stalling economy. But if the central bank prints another $600 billion or so, all that will do is sink the greenback another 10 percent and drive oil and gasoline prices higher and higher. And that, in turn, will slow business and consumers even more.

Press Banned from Vice President Biden’s Fund Raiser Gala’s

OK on one hand I am totally in favor of this because I do not have to watch them.

On the other hand they are a violation of the Obama Administration’s repeated promises of openness and transparency.

Real Clear Politics:

A little more than a week ago, Vice President Joe Biden traveled to fundraisers in two battleground-state cities, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.

Neither stop included the White House press corps; requests by local media to cover the events were denied by the vice president’s press office. The Democratic National Committee arranged the events for the Obama Victory Fund.

A number of seasoned political reporters and former White House press-office staffers consider that lack of coverage a dangerous precedent.

“It would behoove the Obama administration to keep its promise of transparency even with fundraisers,” agrees Jeff Brauer, a political history professor at Keystone College. “The United States is a democracy, after all.”

Having press coverage of fundraising events that feature the president or vice president matters for at least two reasons, Brauer explains.

“One, large amounts of taxpayer dollars are being used for personal security at such events. As with all tax dollars, they should be spent with accountability.

“Two, it is important for the public to know what the president and vice president are saying to donors. Is it the same message they are saying to the electorate at large?”

Such knowledge helps citizens judge officeholders’ authenticity and integrity.

More

Days before Biden was sworn in as vice president in 2009, he promised to be more open than his predecessor, Dick Cheney.

Yet his official schedule more often than not lists meetings as “closed press” or shows no public events at all.

Creepy Clinton Appointee Judge Tries to Ban All Spiritual References at Graduation Speech – Gets Overturned by Appeals Court

View Liberty Institute’s news release and the Fifth Circuit Court’s ruling.

Watch Angela’s speech on YouTube, and see out this Fox News segment.

Fox News:

A federal judge has ordered a Texas school district to prohibit public prayer at a high school graduation ceremony.

Chief U.S. District Judge Fred Biery’s order against the Medina Valley Independent School District also forbids students from using specific religious words including “prayer” and “amen.”

The ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed by Christa and Danny Schultz. Their son is among those scheduled to participate in Saturday’s graduation ceremony. The judge declared that the Schultz family and their son would “suffer irreparable harm” if anyone prayed at the ceremony.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said the school district is in the process of appealing the ruling, and his office has agreed to file a brief in their support.

“Part of this goes to the very heart of the unraveling of moral values in this country,” Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott told Fox News Radio, saying the judge wanted to turn school administrators into “speech police.”

“I’ve never seen such a restriction on speech issued by a court or the government,” Abbott told Fox News Radio. “It seems like a trampling of the First Amendment rather than protecting the First Amendment.”

Judge Biery’s ruling banned students and other speakers from using religious language in their speeches. Among the banned words or phrases are: “join in prayer,” “bow their heads,” “amen,” and “prayer.”

He also ordered the school district to remove the terms “invocation” and “benediction” from the graduation program.

“These terms shall be replaced with ‘opening remarks’ and ‘closing remarks,’” the judge’s order stated. His ruling also prohibits anyone from saying, “in [a deity’s name] we pray.”

Should a student violate the order, school district officials could find themselves in legal trouble. Judge Biery ordered that his ruling be “enforced by incarceration or other sanctions for contempt of Court if not obeyed by District official (sic) and their agents.”

The Texas attorney general called the ruling unconstitutional and a blatant attack from those who do not believe in God — “attempts by atheists and agnostics to use courts to eliminate from the public landscape any and all references to God whatsoever.”

“This is the challenge we are dealing with here,” he said. “(It’s) an ongoing attempt to purge God from the public setting while at the same time demanding from the courts an increased yielding to all things atheist and agnostic.”

 

The judges ruling was not just wrong, it was unhinged. This is what happens when political donors, cronies, political hacks and campaign envelope lickers get awarded judgeship’s as an “atta boy”.

New Book: Hollywood producers and directors openly admit they “black list” conservatives.

In the explosive new book Primetime Propaganda: The True Hollywood Story of How the Left Took Over Your TV Hollywood’s elite sat down with Ben Shapiro and admitted it all.

How did he get them to open up? Says Shapiro, “I put on a ‘Harvard Law’ hat and they just figured I was a left winger as well. They opened right up.”

Actors such as Dwight Schultz lost parts due to conservative black listing

Via The Blaze (2):

Dwight Schultz

Some of the videos have executives making rather obvious revelations, like when Larry Gelbart and Gene Reynolds talk about pacifist messages in M*A*S*H or when MacGyverproducer Vin Di Bona says anti-gun messages were a recurring theme in that show.

But an additional video has Di Bona, who also created America’s Funniest Home Videos, becoming remarkably blunt about his approval of a lack of political diversity in Hollywood. When Shapiro asks what he thinks of conservative critics who say everyone in Hollywood is liberal, Di Bona responds: “I think it’s probably accurate, and I’m happy about it.”

Another video has Leonard Goldberg — who executive produces Blue Bloods for CBS and a few decades ago exec produced such hits as Fantasy Island, Charlie’s Angels and Starsky and Hutch — saying that liberalism in the TV industry is “100 percent dominant, and anyone who denies it is kidding, or not telling the truth.”  Shapiro asks if politics are a barrier to entry. “Absolutely,” Goldberg says.

When Shapiro tells Fred Pierce, the president of ABC in the 1980s who was instrumental in Disney’s acquisition of ESPN, that “It’s very difficult for people who are politically conservative to break in” to television, he responds: “I can’t argue that point.” Those who don’t lean left, he says, “don’t promote it. It stays underground.” …

In the book, subtitled “The true Hollywood story of how the left took over your TV,” Shapiro also tells anecdotes of bias against conservatives. One example is Dwight Schultz, best known for his roles as Murdock in The A-Team and Barclay in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

The late Bruce Paltrow knew that Schultz was a fan of President Ronald Reagan. When Schultz showed up to audition for St. Elsewhere, a show Paltrow produced, to read for the part of Fiscus, Paltrow told him: “There’s not going to be a Reagan a**h*** on this show!” The part went to Howie Mandel.

Here is Dwight Schultz in an award winning scene from Star Trek: The Next Generation

Dwight Schultz as Murdock in The A-Team

Dwight Schultz as Barclay in Star Trek: Voyager

 

MORE!

McGuyver Creator: I am Happy With the blacklisting of conservatives

COPS – Manipulated to be politically correct? –

Fred Silverman of NBC, ABC, and CBS:  The progressive perspective is the only one that is available.

Leonard Goldberg, CBS Producer: Leftism is “100% dominant” –  

 

And Your CNN Presidential Debate Winner Is……..

Michele Bachmann

By IUSB Vision Editor Chuck Norton

I did not expect to be making this post tonight. With that said there is no question that Minnesota Member of Congress Michele Bachmann gained the most from tonight’s debate. I have never seen her more focused and disciplined.

I have met Michele in person and talked with her. I refer to her as Michele because if you ever do meet her you will discover that she loves people, loves life and is one of those “infectiously happy people”. Most anyone can have a conversation with her and she will treat even a near stranger with the warmest hospitality. If you are a thinking person or a person of good spirits Michele has an instant familiarity with you which is very disarming.

It is these same qualities above, which make her such an amazing spirit, why I almost convinced myself that she could never be President of the United States. She is just so sweet and kind and even when she is tough on people like Tony Wiener she still comes off as too nice. I thought that she would “etiquette” herself right out of the primary.

I stand corrected.

Flashback 2007 – CNN Debates: Unbiased and Undecided Voters Turn Out to be Democrat Operatives

I sent this note to her campaign:

Michele, you won tonight and gained the most. Now the knives are going to be pointed at you and there was even a tweet saying “release Bachmann’s emails”. Just to be smart, you should release your school records and slap Obama again. You were focused and disciplined like I have never seen you. Be ready for a good rhetorical fight and do not “etiquette” yourself out of the election as we Republicans sometimes take “being nice” too far. The stakes are very high. Great job tonight.

‎”Mother of all repeal bills” was your moment. Build on it. Explain how there are so many regulations that no one could live long enough to even read them, yet citizens are expected to know and perfectly comply with every one or the might of a leviathan sized federal govt comes down upon us. This has created a crisis in confidence. This economy is not about supply or demand, it is about confidence.

Herman Cain gained much tonight as well and Tim Pawlenty gained some, but not enough to get over his “excitement deficit”. Mitt Romney did well in that he had a couple of good moments, only one weak one, and did not damage himself. Ron Paul had a couple of good moments, but came off a as cantankerous old man. Newt did well enough to stop his free-fall so now he can rebuild.

I live-blogged the debate on FaceBook:

•  Come on candidates say it “Since when does a group have the right to have a monopoly on the labor the taxpayers buy?”
• Aren’t monopolies bad?
• I like Romney’s response, “Why didn’t Obama call me so I could tell him what worked and what didn’t” – Brilliant answer. This is a new angle for Romney, who ever his new communications team is, I have to say they came up with a good one.
• Bachmann – harder hitting than I have seen her before, I told her team that I was concerned that they would “etiquette” themselves right out of an election. It seems that they have gotten the message.
• Old school Newt, it is about time.
• Ron Paul gave a great answer on why Central Planning fails – the R&D question. While the space program and very few others are good govt R&D investments – there is only a very limited collective role for govt. Like or dislike Ron Paul, he hit that one out of the park.
• Herman Cain gave a solid answer on how TARP was used to pick winners and losers, see my recent note for some of the details on how that hurt the entire country.
• Ron Paul had a good answer about how the govt housing “rescue” has failed.
• Newt had a great point re NASA: Govt bureaucracy is way more expensive, slower and less effective than most profitable private businesses.
• Romney – “We are hearing all sorts of ideas on how to reign in the excesses of govt” we are hearing it from everybody except the president.” Very Nice.
• Bachmann had a great answer on how not to default. If we default it will be the President and Treasury Sec who are responsible.
• Pawlenty gave a good answer on the separation of church & state trap question. Santorum had a great line – “If your faith and reason are sound they will bring you to the same place”.
• Herman Cain had a good answer on creeping Sharia Law.
• Newt on the Muslim Terrorist – “You are my enemy, I lied” – wow grand slam home run Newt!
• Mitt Romney had his first weak moment, “ALL are welcome in my administration no matter what their faith, but I will pick people that I know to be in my administration” – See how he is on both sides – I mean how many Muslims were his appointees in Mass?
• Santorum should not have said “taken the bullets” he should have said “taken the slings and arrows”
• Bachmann handled the “rape and incest” question very nicely.
• Someone SAY it – “In a post 9/11 world we need to know who is coming in the country and what their intentions are.” This isn’t about compassion, this is about self-defense.
• Pawlenty had a great answer on the role of conservative justices on the court.
• Newt Home Run on Illegal immigration – are you totally opening the border or totally for rounding people up – this is a false choice.
• ‎”It is time to have a president who really cares about getting america on track to energy security” Romney – Way to go Mitt – Tie the policy to the man – Well Done!
• Bachmann – Our policy in Libya is fatally flawed. We are the head and not the tail. Obama differed leadership to France, that is all we need to know. Are we helping Al-Qeada in Libya?
• Pawlenty hit the Palin vs Biden question out of the park.
• Who gained the most – Bachmann clearly gained the most. She was very disciplined. Herman Cain gained the second most. Pawlenty gained some, but not enough for what he needed.
• Romney won in a way that he did not slip up and only had one weak moment. Newt stopped his free-fall, now he has to rebuild. Santorum was solid to be sure, but did not stand out in this crowd.
• Bachmann – the MOTHER of all repeal bills – brilliant. The government is SO big and the regulations are so numerous and unfair that it is ungovernable and stifling.
• Ron Paul, most of his answers were good and he had a couple of very good moments, but he came off as a cantankerous old man (no personal offense is intended, I am just analyzing).

Note to Possible Presidential Candidates on Communications Strategy

If you get into a siege mentality you greatly limit the talent that that can help you and you also give gatekeepers too much power. Leadership isolates. While that is always a problem it becomes a dangerous problem when you are the leader of a group that has a siege mentality.

The siege mentality exacerbates a mass assumption that anything that comes from outside the group cannot possibly be correct. Therefore you must always keep some people around you who are mature enough to be loyal two you while being skeptical of you at the same time; “Yes Boss” doesn’t always serve you well.

When a candidate is under attack by a hostile press, you do not put yourself on a fortress, you put the press inside of a fenced in ring and shoot arrows into the fence when necessary. If your organization does not understand what I just explained you are already in trouble.

Washington Post Glenn Kessler: President Obama’s phony accounting on the auto industry bailout

Note: This did not appear in the printed edition of the Washington Post, not does it appear on the paper’s main site. It is on their blog site. They can say that they reported it while making sure that most average people never see this story.

Washington Post Politics Blog:

 

“Chrysler has repaid every dime and more of what it owes American taxpayers for their support during my presidency.”

— President Obama, June 4, 2011

This post has been updated.

With some of the economic indicators looking a bit dicey, President Obama traveled to Ohio last week to tout what the administration considers a good-news story: the rescue of the domestic automobile industry. In fact, he also made it the subject of his weekly radio address.

We take no view on whether the administration’s efforts on behalf of the automobile industry were a good or bad thing; that’s a matter for the editorial pages and eventually the historians. But we are interested in the facts the president cited to make his case.

What we found is one of the most misleading collections of assertions we have seen in a short presidential speech. Virtually every claim by the president regarding the auto industry needs an asterisk, just like the fine print in that too-good-to-be-true car loan.

Let’s look at the claims in the order in which the president said them.

“Chrysler has repaid every dime and more of what it owes American taxpayers for their support during my presidency — and it repaid that money six years ahead of schedule.  And this week, we reached a deal to sell our remaining stake. That means soon, Chrysler will be 100 percent in private hands.”Wow, “every dime and more” sounds like such a bargain. Not only did Chrysler pay back the loan, with interest — but the company paid back even more than they owed. Isn’t America great or what?

Not so fast. The president snuck in the weasel words “during my presidency” in his statement. What does that mean?

According to the White House, Obama is counting only the $8.5 billion loan that he made to Chrysler, not the $4 billion that President George W. Bush extended in his last month in office. However, Obama was not a disinterested observer at the time. According to The Washington Post article on the Bush loan, the incoming president called Bush’s action a “necessary step . . . to help avoid a collapse of our auto industry that would have had devastating consequences for our economy and our workers.”

Under the administration’s math, the U.S. government will receive $11.2 billion back from Chrysler, far more than the $8.5 billion Obama extended.

Through this sleight-of-hand accounting, the White House can conveniently ignore Bush’s loan, but even the Treasury Department admits that U.S. taxpayers will not recoup about $1.3 billion of the entire $12.5 billion investment when all is said and done.

The White House justifies not counting the Bush money because, it says, that money was completely spent when Obama was making a tough political decision on whether to extend another loan. In other words, a decision to do nothing at the time would have resulted in the immediate loss of the $4 billion that Bush had extended.

This is chicanery. Under the president’s math, Chrysler paid back 100 percent of Obama’s loan and less than 70 percent of Bush’s loan. A more honest presentation would combine the two figures to say U.S. taxpayers got back 90 percent of what they invested. In fact, that is how the Treasury and other administration officials frequently portray it; it is just when Obama speaks that the numbers get so squishy.

The White House justifies saying that Chrysler will be in 100 percent “in private hands” because there will no longer be government ownership once Fiat completes its purchase of the U.S. stake. For the record, the United Auto Workers will own 46 percent of the company.

“All three American automakers are now adding shifts and creating jobs at the strongest rate since the 1990s.”The White House says the data to back this claim concerning the Big Three automakers is not public information. The official Bureau of Labor Statistics data refers to the entire auto industry — including foreign auto manufacturers, auto parts manufacturers, auto parts dealers and auto dealers. If you look at the data, the 113,200 jobs added between June 2009 and May 2011 amounts to about a 5 percent increase — from a rather low base.

UPDATE, 10:45 AM: Yen Chen, automotive business statistical analyst at the Center for Automotive Research, says CAR’s analysis of Big Three auto data shows this statistic is correct. The Detroit Three are expected to add 10,000 hourly and 5,000 salaried workers this year, from a base of 115,805 hourly workers and 56, 432 salaried workers. That’s an increase of about eight percent in each case. More than 16,000 hourly workers were added in 1991, but from a much higher base–440,000– and 10,000 were also added in 1995, when there were 433,000 hourly workers. Meanwhile, salaried workers have been on a steady decline since 1990 (when the big Three employed 157,000).

“GM plans to hire back all of the workers they had to lay off during the recession.”This is another impressive-sounding but misleading figure. In the five years since 2006, General Motors announced that it would reduce its workforce by nearly 68,000 hourly and salary workers, creating a much smaller company. Those are the figures that generated the headlines.

Obama is only talking about a sliver of workers — the 9,600 workers who were laid off in the fourth quarter of 2008. About 4,100 were sent home for a few weeks. Another 5,500 were put on indefinite leave, meaning there were no jobs at the time for them. All but 1,000 havereturned to work, and the rest should be back at work by year’s end, according to GM spokesman Greg A. Martin.

“In the year before I was President, this industry lost more than 400,000 jobs, and two great American companies, Chrysler and GM, stood on the brink of collapse. Now, we had a few options.  We could have done what a lot of folks in Washington thought we should do — nothing.”This is quite a straw man — that many people wanted to do nothing. It was never so black and white. The debate was over the right course to take in the bankruptcy process.

The Wall Street Journal published Monday an interesting conservative critique of the government’s intervention by David Skeel, a law professor at University of Pennsylvania. Skeel says that the revival of the auto industry “is a very encouraging development,” but “to claim that the car companies would have collapsed if the government hadn’t intervened in the way it did, and to suggest that the intervention came at very little cost, is a dangerous misreading of our recent history.”

To support the claim that “a lot of folks” wanted to do nothing, the White House referred us to statements by the House minority leader, John Boehner (R-Ohio), and Sens. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) and Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.).

We do not read Boehner’s quote that way; in this 2009 comment, he is questioning the administration’s approach while saying, “The success of our automotive industry is critical.”Shelby and Kyl in 2008 were protesting the use of taxpayer funds by Bush to delay a bankruptcy filing; they preferred immediately putting the companies through the bankruptcy process.

It will be up to historians to decide what the best solution would have been for taxpayers and the auto industry. We can understand why the president wants to portray himself as making a lonely and tough decision. But the debate was not either/or, bur rather what was the best policy to bring the automakers back to financial health.

 

Pawlenty Attacks Romney Calling It “ObamneyCare”… But YouTube Never Forgets…

This is what is viral on the net today.

This is exactly the kind of thing that kills campaigns as the commercials just write themselves. Republicans need to understand and “get” YouTube.

Pawlenty against RomneyCare

Pawlenty for RomneyCare

GM CEO: Gas Taxes Should be Raised by $1 a Gallon…

I will never buy another GM vehicle. I currently have three.

Via Heritage:

If General Motors CEO Dan Akerson had anything to say about it, you would be paying a dollar more a gallon for gas. Yes, with $4/gallon prices hitting consumers in a tough economy, Akerson told the Detroit News: “You know what I’d rather have them do — this will make my Republican friends puke — as gas is going to go down here now, we ought to just slap a 50-cent or a dollar tax on a gallon of gas.”

Akerson, 61, was appointed CEO of GM last fall, having previously served as an Obama-appointed member of the board. He has been critical of the Obama Administration on several issues, including fuel economy standards, but now has discovered something in common: a love of high gas prices. He, like President Obama and Energy Secretary Steven Chu, believes that higher gas prices will force taxpayers to buy more fuel-efficient (and usually more expensive) vehicles.

In 2008, Secretary Chu said: “Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe.” And it was President Obama who told CNBC in 2008 that he preferred a “gradual” increase in gas prices. Obama and Chu know that only when matched dollar-for-dollar will Americans choose alternative energy sources that are much more expensive today. Since the already heavily-subsidized alternative energy sources are not getting cheaper, the only solution is to make cheap energy more expensive.

Akerson, Chu and Obama are wrong to embrace high gas prices. Hitting lower-income Americans with a punitive gas tax while unemployment remains near ten percent is a bad idea, regardless of what behavior you are hoping to mandate.

Akerson’s comments came in the context of a larger conversation on energy policy. Akerson correctly stated that the government’s imposed fuel standards are taxing production, which will cost jobs and raise the purchase price of cars. But passing that burden directly to consumers at the gas pump isn’t the solution. The idea that the government must either increase taxes on businesses or struggling taxpayers is a false choice.

High gas prices alone won’t encourage consumers to buy the hugely unpopular Chevy Volt. The Volt isn’t selling because even after substantial tax credits that the government cannot afford, the additional cost in buying a not-ready-for-market Volt, plus the cost of electricity (which isn’t free) is far greater than any potential gas savings.

A third of high school grads never studied the Constitution…

The best way to “fundamentally transform America” is to make sure new generations forget what it is all about.

Heritage:

A third of graduated and rising high school seniors – who will be voting in the 2012 elections – have never studied the U.S. Constitution.

A recent study by the National Assessment for Educational Progress reported that only 67% of all high school students have spent any time studying the nation’s founding document.  Every four years, the NAEP polls 10,000 students about their knowledge of – or even exposure to – the Constitution.  The percentage of knowledgeable students is continually decreasing and, since 2007, the numbers have fallen another five percentage points from 72%. Maybe this is obvious, but shouldn’t a responsible and informed citizenship be one of the goals of public education?

Without basic knowledge of this foundational document, these voters will be hard pressed to answer some of the most important political questions in 2012. The next election is going to depend on every voter’s understanding of constitutional authority. For instance, does Obamacare’s individual mandate fall under the commerce clause? Other recent questions – like which branches are involved in the decision to declare war – cannot be answered without a thorough understanding of the Constitution.

But a basic understanding of the Constitution is useful well beyond just the next election.  The Constitutionspells out both the powers and limitations of the federal government.  It seems that it could become rather difficult to secure the blessings of liberty without teaching the next generation how our government is designed to protect these liberties.

Dr. Walter Williams: Government Lies

Dr. Walter Williams

President Obama and congressional supporters estimate that his health care plan will cost between $50 and $65 billion a year. Such cost estimates are lies whether they come from a Democratic president and Congress, or a Republican president and Congress. You say, “Williams, you don’t show much trust in the White House and Congress.” Let’s check out their past dishonesty.

At its start, in 1966, Medicare cost $3 billion. The House Ways and Means Committee, along with President Johnson, estimated that Medicare would cost an inflation-adjusted $12 billion by 1990. In 1990, Medicare topped $107 billion. That’s nine times Congress’ prediction. Today’s Medicare tab comes to $420 billion with no signs of leveling off. How much confidence can we have in any cost estimates by the White House or Congress?

Another part of the Medicare lie is found in Section 1801 of the 1965 Medicare Act that reads: “Nothing in this title shall be construed to authorize any federal officer or employee to exercise any supervision or control over the practice of medicine, or the manner in which medical services are provided, or over the selection, tenure, or compensation of any officer, or employee, or any institution, agency or person providing health care services.” Ask your doctor or hospital whether this is true.

Lies and deception are by no means restricted to modern times. During the legislative debate prior to ratification of the 16th Amendment, President Howard Taft and congressional supporters said that only the rich would ever pay federal income taxes. In 1916, only one-half of 1 percent of income earners paid income taxes. Those earning $250,000 a year in today’s dollars paid 1 percent, and those earning $6 million in today’s dollars paid 7 percent. The lie that only the rich would ever pay income taxes was simply a lie to exploit the politics of envy and dupe Americans into ratifying the 16th Amendment.

The proposed tax increases that the White House and Congress are proposing will probably pass. According to the Washington, D.C.-based Tax Foundation, during 2006, roughly 43.4 million tax returns, representing 91 million individuals, had no federal tax liability. That’s out of a total of 136 million federal tax returns. Adding to this figure are 15 million households and individuals who file no tax return at all. Roughly 121 million Americans — or 41 percent of the U.S. population — are completely outside the federal income tax system. These people represent a natural constituency for big-spending politicians. Since they have no federal income tax obligation, what do they care about higher taxes or tax cuts?

Another big congressional lie is Social Security. Here’s what a 1936 government pamphlet on Social Security said: “After the first 3 years — that is to say, beginning in 1940 — you will pay, and your employer will pay, 1.5 cents for each dollar you earn, up to $3,000 a year … beginning in 1943, you will pay 2 cents, and so will your employer, for every dollar you earn for the next 3 years. … And finally, beginning in 1949, twelve years from now, you and your employer will each pay 3 cents on each dollar you earn, up to $3,000 a year.” Here’s Congress’s lying promise: “That is the most you will ever pay.” Let’s repeat that last sentence: “That is the most you will ever pay.” Compare that to today’s reality, including Medicare, which is 7.65 cents on each dollar that you earn up to nearly $107,000, which comes to $8,185.

The Social Security pamphlet closes with another lie: “Beginning November 24, 1936, the United States government will set up a Social Security account for you … The checks will come to you as a right.” First, there’s no Social Security account containing your money, but more importantly, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on two occasions that Americans have no legal right to Social Security payments.

We can thank public education for American gullibility.

 

More Lies

Gov. Christie: Government Union Spent $6 million in TV Ads Motivating People to Hate

Six million in less than three months…