Theodore's World

The Supreme Court has cleared the way for Chrysler's sale to Fiat, turning down a last-ditch bid by opponents of the deal.

The court said late Tuesday it had rejected a plea to block the sale of most of Chrysler's assets to the Italian automaker. Chrysler, Fiat and the Obama administration had warned that the high court's intervention could have scuttled the sale.

A federal appeals court in New York had earlier approved the sale, but gave opponents until Monday afternoon to try to get the Supreme Court to intervene.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg ordered a temporary delay just before a 4 p.m. deadline on Monday.

Now the court has freed the automakers to complete their deal.

NEW YORK (AP)—Chrysler returned to bankruptcy court Tuesday to get a judge to approve the termination of 789 dealer franchises, while its plan to partner with Italy's Fiat hung in limbo as the automaker awaited action by the nation's highest court.

The sale of Chrysler's assets to Fiat Group SpA had been expected to close more than a week ago, but Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's decision to delay the sale now threatens to derail Chrysler's restructuring plans.

In a brief filed with the Supreme Court Tuesday afternoon, Chrysler and Fiat warned that the deal will terminate if it does not close by June 15. While a new agreement could be negotiated, there's no guarantee that one will be reached or that Chrysler will be able to be jump start its operations after the deadline, they said.

In bankruptcy court, more than 25 attorneys representing hundreds of dealers from across the country argued that little would be gained by terminating their franchises, while Chrysler maintained that the move is a necessary part of its plan to cut costs and quickly emerge from Chapter 11.

Arguments ended early Tuesday afternoon and U.S. Judge Arthur Gonzalez said he would issue his ruling later in the day.

Many of the dealers were selling the last cars on their lots and preparing to shut their doors for good at the end of the day, while others planned to sell used cars or other brands after severing ties with Chrysler.

The Auburn Hills, Mich., automaker has been flying through five weeks of bankruptcy proceedings and appeared all but certain to complete the sale of its assets to Fiat before the June 15 deadline. But Ginsburg issued a stay Monday to review an appeal by a trio of Indiana pension and construction funds which own a small part of Chrysler's secured debt.

The delay may be only temporary. Ginsburg could decide on her own whether to end the stay, or she could ask the full court to decide.

Fiat has the right to walk away from Chrysler after June 15 and leave the struggling U.S. automaker with little option but to liquidate. But a Fiat spokesman said Tuesday that the Italian automaker will not turn its back on a deal despite the Supreme Court stay.

Indiana officials, representing the state funds challenging the Chrysler sale, submitted a short statement to the Supreme Court Tuesday that calls attention to Fiat's statement.

"The Indiana Pensioners respectfully submit that the risk of termination by Fiat if the transaction does not close by June 15 no longer provides a basis for driving the timing of these proceedings," the officials said.

Responding to the Indiana funds later Tuesday, Chrysler and Fiat said that the sale agreement will terminate automatically if the sale doesn't close by the deadline, and there's no guarantee that they could negotiate a new deal.

"Given Chrysler's precipitous state, every day past June 15 increases the risk that Chrysler's business will not be able to restart successfully," the company said.

Meanwhile, the Obama administration said in a separate filing that each day of delay consumes more of the financing provided by the government.

"If the closing is delayed by more than approximately 10 days, a sufficient amount of the current commitment of debtor-in-possession financing from the United States will have been consumed as to require the government either to increase its overall funding to the detriment of taxpayers, or abandon its role in the transaction," the administration said.

Production at Chrysler's manufacturing plants remains halted pending the closing of the sale. Chrysler, which says it is losing $100 million every day its plants are closed, said it had no comment until it receives further information from the court.

Chrysler's ability to speed through the bankruptcy process has partially been a result of the involvement of the Obama administration's auto task force, which provided $4.5 billion in financing and helped negotiate a deal between the company's stakeholders.

Under a deal brokered in the days leading up to Chrysler's April 30 Chapter 11 filing, Fiat will receive up to a 35 percent stake in the new company created by the sale, in exchange for sharing the technology Chrysler needs to create smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles.

The United Auto Workers will get a 55 percent stake that will be used to fund its retiree health care obligations, while the U.S. and Canadian governments will receive a combined 10 percent stake.

Meanwhile, the automaker's secured debtholders would get $2 billion in cash, or about 29 cents on the dollar, for their combined $6.9 billion in debt. Some of the debtholders balked at the deal, saying as secured lenders they deserved more.

The Indiana funds filed an objection to the sale and later appealed to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court. They claim the sale unfairly favors Chrysler's unsecured stakeholders such as the union ahead of secured debtholders like themselves.

The funds also are challenging the constitutionality of the Treasury Department's use of money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program to supply Chrysler's bankruptcy protection financing. They say the government did so without congressional authority.

The funds hold about $42.5 million, or less than 1 percent, of Chrysler's $6.9 billion in secured debt. They bought it in July 2008 for 43 cents on the dollar.

The appeals come as Congress scrutinizes the Obama administration's restructuring of Chrysler and GM. The Senate Banking Committee said it planned to call Ron Bloom, a senior adviser to the auto task force, and Edward Montgomery, who serves as the Obama administration's director of recovery for auto communities and workers, to a hearing Wednesday.

Fiat Said to Buy Chrysler Assets Today to Form New Automaker

Bloomberg.com

A group led by Fiat SpA will complete its purchase of most Chrysler LLC assets this morning New York time, after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected creditors’ objections and cleared the way for a new U.S. automaker, said two people familiar with the matter.

The new company, Chrysler Group LLC, will be owned 20 percent by Turin, Italy-based Fiat, 9.85 percent by the U.S., 2.46 percent by Canada and 67.69 percent by a United Auto Workers union retiree health care trust fund. The U.S. and Canadian governments financed the sale with $2 billion.

Obama back in March laughing at the troubles the auto industry was having. A man whose claim to fame was that of a community organizer laughing at people that work darn hard for a living and hold very responsible jobs. Obama has ice in his veins. ~ Wild Thing

Wild Thing's comment.......

"Many of the dealers were selling the last cars on their lots and preparing to shut their doors for good at the end of the day, while others planned to sell used cars or other brands after severing ties with Chrysler."

On my way home yesterday, I heard on the news that the dealers trying to sell of their cars said that the only cars most of them had left were the stupid enviro cars, the ones that were supposed to have better gas mileage. People did not want them. Hello Obama you might want to listen for a change to what the people want, they DON'T want the tiny little toy cars or any of the Al Gore BS hype cars.

This whole mess will have an incredibly negative impact on business in America and it is ALL on Obama! There is no law but the Law of Obama, you will bow down before him and obey. He will rule by decree and will be righteous unto those who have paid tribute unto him. All hail OBAMA.

Well, there goes the republic. Done. Finis. Stick a fork in it. We now live in a fascist dictatorship. If I am wrong I as always I am open for learning more. But as of this writing for this post this is how it feels, this is how I see it.

This is truly a bad day for us. Unbelievable that these people are so willing to toss aside our great Constitution.

FDR’s Fascism took years to shut down. Finally the Democrats in Congress walked away.

The secured bonds are longer secured at least not when Obama can put unsecured creditors ahead of them.

This sends a bad message to foreign holders of bonds as well..

Way to go you muslim piece of filth.

We have 2010 and our fight back better be a good one. God help us and our country.

Rant over....haha sorry.

Posted by Wild Thing at 05:55 AM | Comments (21)

June 09, 2009

Santelli: Geithner Is "Lying To The American Public"

CNBC's Rick Santelli says Tim "Tax Cheat" Geithner was lying when he told the Chinese there is no risk of monetizing debt in the United States.

"We lost an additional 345,000 jobs in the month of May. That was far less than expected."

Republicans Blast Obama Administration as Jobless Rate Hits 9.4 Percent

Republicans cite the latest unemployment figures as evidence that President Obama's $787 stimulus package isn't working.

Bankruptcy Attorney Thomas Lauria Reviews The Chrysler/Fiat Case

Less than four months after the Obama administration argued that unemployment would top 9 percent only if Congress failed to pass a massive trillion-dollar "stimulus" spending bill, the Labor Department reported Friday that the jobless rate had soared to 9.4 percent, the highest in 25 years.

In pushing to get his $787 billion stimulus package passed in Congress, President Obama's economic team said that without the federal spending jolt, the unemployment rate would hit 8.8 percent by the last fiscal quarter of 2010. With the package, his advisers argued, the unemployment rate would reach only 7 percent.

US Unemployment Rate Gallops Ahead of Expectations

VOA

The White House says America's employment picture is worse than the Obama administration had anticipated just a few months ago. The somber admission follows the latest jobless report showing the highest unemployment rate the United States has seen in more than 25 years.

Wild Thing's comment...........

There is no question that they are Arrogant.

There is no question that they Hate America.

Barack Hussein Obama is intentionally sinking the U.S. economy. INTENTIONALLY destroying us. Those accusations are of Treason.

I sure hope Obama fails, if he does then we will see America survive and be able to recover from this Muslim Monster.

Posted by Wild Thing at 05:44 AM | Comments (5)

Supreme Court Stalls Chrysler-Fiat Deal ~ Black Eye To Obama and His People

Supreme Court Stalls Chrysler-Fiat Deal

The Washington Post

The Supreme Court ruled moments ago that Chrysler cannot yet sell most of its assets to Fiat, a move that has been opposed by three Indiana state pension and construction funds.

The ruling grants a stay in the sale as the court gathers more data. The court has not decided whether to schedule a hearing on the matter.

It temporarily blocks the way for Chrysler to complete its merger with the Italian automaker and begin its new, post-bankruptcy life.

The U.S. favors the Chrysler-Fiat merger and wants to remove the Indiana road block.

"I'm delighted it appears we will be getting our day in court," Indiana state treasurer Richard Mourdock said in an interview on CNBC.

Here's the text of the statement from Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg:

"UPON CONSIDERATION of the application of counsel for the applicants, and the responses filed thereto, IT IS ORDERED that the orders of the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, case No. 09-50002, dated May 31 and June 1, 2009, are stayed pending further order of the undersigned or of the Court."

From the lawyer, Thomas Lauria, who is challenging the Chrysler deal. From an interview with Susie Gharib, Bankruptcy Attorney Thomas Lauria Reviews The Chrysler/Fiat Case

.................."GHARIB: I'm fine, thank you. Let me begin by asking you that if you do make an argument before the Supreme Court, what's the case that you're going to make on behalf of your Indiana investors?

LAURIA: Well, there are really two issues. The first one is that the executive branch of the government has no statutory or constitutional authority to take over and run a car company as it's done with Chrysler. The second argument is that the scheme that the government put together with the company and some of the other stakeholders is really a sham transaction that was designed to upend the priority scheme under the bankruptcy code and to deprive my clients of their contractual rights.

GHARIB: So you're saying on the first point, you're saying that the government didn't even have a right to give those bailout funds to Chrysler. That's number one. Number two is, what's the take away money or restructuring part of the deal, right?

LAURIA: Correct.

GHARIB: All right. So then what's the end game here? What do you want to happen?

LAURIA: Well, we want to see Chrysler be reorganized in a way that complies with the law. I think it's actually pretty easy to do. Rather than try to characterize this as a liquidation of Chrysler for $2 billion which gets paid to the secured lenders and then giving the $20 billion going concern value of the company to junior creditors, what you should do is sell the assets for the full price, $22 billion and then let the creditors share that $22 billion which is cash, debt and equity according to their contractual rights and the priority under the bankruptcy code.

GHARIB: But time is running out here and if the deal between Chrysler and Fiat doesn't go through and Chrysler is forced to just liquidate, my understanding is that the value of the company, the break up value of Chrysler is under a billion dollars.

LAURIA: Well in fact there's no competent evidence in the record what the liquidation value of Chrysler is. The expert who testified in front of the bankruptcy court below left out critical assets from his valuation analysis. He used multiples that were well under market and most interesting to me, he was going to get a $10 million success fee if the deal went through which really raises a question as to whether or not his testimony was biased.

Wild Thing's comment.......

Obama and his Administration work for the people -- not the other way around. I hope OBama feels a punch from this, even a liittle punch would be better then the constant caving in to his demands like we have seen too much of.

Solicitor General Kagan argued that the Supreme Court didn't have authority to rule on this case. I wouldn't be surprised that the USSC took the case just to rule that they do have authority over it no matter which way they rule.

Dear God, preserve our Republic.

Posted by Wild Thing at 05:42 AM | Comments (8)

June 08, 2009

Ginsburg Blocks Obama's Chrysler Sale - for now

Ginsburg temporarily blocks Chrysler deal

the SCOTUS web site.

FTA: Ginsburg’s brief, unexplained order said only that the bankruptcy court’s decisions approving the sale were “stayed pending further order” by her or the Court.

A small group of objectors to the heavy-handed Obama tactics in the Chrysler sale won a huge victory in SCOTUS today. It is a direct rebuke of Obama. The next deadline is June 15 - that's when Fiat, as a private entity, has said the deal must be finished or they walk. SCOTUS will need to hear the full case by then if they choose to honor that declared deadline. A briefing schedule has not yet come out.

The case is Indiana State Police Pension Trust, et al., v. Chrysler LLC (application 08A1096) case. The importance of the Order will be to delay the Chrysler sale pending a review by the Court.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg put a temporary hold Monday on the deal to sell Chrysler to save it from collapse. Her order, however, simply gives her or the full Court more time to ponder whether to postpone the sale further, or allow it to go forward. The order can be found here.

It would have taken the votes of five members of the Court to grant a full postponement. Ginsburg’s brief, unexplained order said only that the bankruptcy court’s decisions approving the sale were “stayed pending further order” by her or the Court.

The Justice acted just minutes before a 4 p.m. deadline that the Second Circuit Court had set last Friday. At that hour, a delay ordered by the Circuit Court expired. If Ginsburg had not acted, the sale would have been cleared under the terms of the lower court’s order. Her order stayed the orders of the bankruptcy court approving the sale, since those orders would have gone into effect when the Circuit Court delay ran out.

The wording of Ginsburg’s order — “stayed pending further order” — is the conventional way by which a Justice or the Court carries out an action that is expected to be short in duration, and not controlling — or even hinting at — the ultimate outcome. Any speculation that her order meant the Court was leaning toward a further postponement would be unfounded.

Wild Thing's comment.......

OUCH! LOL good for her, kind of shocking she is the one to do this though. hahaha I guess the never say never comes in to play a little on this one.

I never ever thought I would thank Ginsburg for anything.

Thank you Justice Ginsburg.

Posted by Wild Thing at 06:30 PM | Comments (4)

June 05, 2009

White House Set to Appoint a Pay Czar

The Obama administration plans to appoint a "Special Master for Compensation" to ensure that companies receiving federal bailout funds are abiding by executive-pay guidelines, according to people familiar with the matter.

The administration is expected to name Kenneth Feinberg, who oversaw the federal government's compensation fund for victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, to act as a pay czar for the Treasury Department, these people said.

Mr. Feinberg's appointment could be announced as early as next week, when the administration is expected to release executive-compensation guidelines for firms receiving aid from the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. Those companies, which include banks, insurers and auto makers, are subject to a host of compensation restrictions imposed by the Bush and Obama administrations and by Congress.

Wall Street has been anxiously awaiting more details on how the rules will be applied. "The law is confusing and a bit ambiguous, and so we're looking for certainty as to how to structure pay incentives," said Scott Talbott, senior vice president of government affairs for the Financial Services Roundtable, a trade association.

The move comes amid a series of sometimes-overlapping efforts to curb pay at financial firms following perceived industry excesses that led to the lending boom and bust.

The Obama administration earlier this year issued guidelines that include limiting salary for top executives at some firms receiving TARP funds and requiring that additional pay be in the form of restricted stock, vesting only after the company repays its debt, with interest, to the government. Congress then chimed in with even tougher rules curbing bonuses for top earners at firms receiving TARP money. As part of that effort, lawmakers barred those firms from paying top earners bonuses that equal more than a third of their total compensation.

The White House has been wrestling with how to marry those two efforts, which in combination are more punitive than administration officials had intended.

The government is also pursuing a separate revamping of financial-sector rules that could change industry compensation practices more broadly. For instance, the Federal Reserve is considering rules that would curb banks' ability to pay employees in a way that would threaten the "safety and soundness" of the bank.

Mr. Feinberg is expected to focus on pay restrictions related to firms receiving TARP bailout funds, helping companies to interpret the rules and ensure that they are being followed.

For instance, companies have been confused about whether to pay 2008 bonuses, since restrictions on incentive pay didn't go into effect until early 2009. Some firms have made the payments while others have held off. Many firms are also unsure whether the "top earners" targeted by Congress include rank-and-file employees or just executives.

Mr. Feinberg will report to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, but he is expected to have wide discretion on how the rules should be interpreted. Firms likely won't be able to appeal decisions that Mr. Feinberg makes to Mr. Geithner, according to people familiar with the matter.

Mr. Feinberg, founder and managing partner of the law firm Feinberg Rozen LLP, spent several years overseeing payouts totaling more than $7 billion to victims of the 9/11 attacks. He personally reviewed every claim, approving or denying awards and allocating sums to be paid out of the Treasury.

Wild Thing's comment......

Unbelievable. Another day...another Czar! God save the Republic!

Why do we have a congress? Soon all the cabinet positions will have a czar, if they dont already.. non of them vetted, or approved by cogress, this is really getting scary......BIG Borther stuff.

"The Obama administration plans to appoint a "Special Master for Compensation" to ensure that companies "

“Master?” They even have to use the word “master???”

czar /zɑr, tsɑr/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [zahr, tsahr]
–noun
1. an emperor or king.
2. (often initial capital letter) the former emperor of Russia.
3. an autocratic ruler or leader.
4. any person exercising great authority or power in a particular field: a czar of industry.

"The law is confusing and a bit ambiguous, and so we’re looking for certainty as to how to structure pay incentives,” said Scott Talbott, senior vice president of government affairs for the Financial Services Roundtable, a trade association.

What law...these commies are making it up as they go.

....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.

Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67

Posted by Wild Thing at 07:49 AM | Comments (8)

June 04, 2009

Democrats' National Energy Tax Will Devastate Rurial American and Farmers

Democrats' National Energy Tax ( Cap & Trade) Will Devastate Rurial American, Family Farmers

REPUBLICAN LEADER PRESS OFFICE
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH

Washington, Jun 3

The Democrats’ national energy tax – to be paid by anyone who drives a car, buys an American-made product, or has the audacity to flip on a light switch – would disproportionately target rural America by increasing the energy bills for every American family, hurting family farmers, and threatening small businesses.

The legislation recently passed by the Energy & Commerce Committee and making its way to the House floor – often called “cap-and-trade” by its supporters – purports to combat global warming by setting strict limits on carbon emissions. To do so, it would impose enormous taxes and restrictions on energy use, which would place an especially heavy burden on rural America and family farmers. And that isn’t sitting well with Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN), the Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee:

- “Peterson also has been an outspoken critic of the entire measure; he and other farm-state lawmakers say it tilts too heavily in favor of urban interests instead of rural ones.” (“For climate change bill, hard part starts now,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 31, 2009)

- “If they don’t want to change it, then they’ll have to find the votes some other place,” Peterson said. “In my district, a ‘no’ vote would be a good vote.” (“Energy and Commerce ‘emissaries’ a key to House floor success for climate plan,” The New York Times, May 22, 2009)

- “Peterson earlier this week met with the 26 Democrats on his panel and emerged with a ‘virtually unanimous’ agreement that his committee members would stand with him in opposition to a climate change bill that didn’t adequately address the concerns of the agriculture industry, according to one of those Democrats. ‘We’ve thrown a pitchfork in the sand,’ the Democrat said.” (“Cap-and-trade showdown,” The Hill, May 20, 2009)

Indeed, rural Americans will be hit the hardest by a national energy tax because agriculture is so energy-intensive.

On average, 65 percent of farmers’ costs are dedicated to fuel, electricity, fertilizer, and chemicals – meaning even a small increase in operating costs could devastate countless family farmers. Moreover, Americans in rural areas travel farther for routine errands – 25 percent more miles than urban households according to the most recent federal highway data – and rural households spend 58 percent more on fuel as a percentage of their income than urban residents.

As a result, higher gasoline prices and other rising energy costs will force agricultural producers to pay more for seed, equipment, machinery, steel, and other supplies needed to operate their farms.

The “cap and trade” proposal would cost families about $3,100 per year, making it clear why rural America – and all of America – has so much at stake as Democrats attempt to force this national energy tax through Congress. Led by Reps. Frank Lucas (R-OK), Sam Graves (R-MO), and Doc Hastings (R-WA), the House GOP’s Rural America Solutions Group is working with Rep. Pence’s (R-IN) American Energy Solutions Group to highlight the consequences on the Democrats’ plan and an “all of the above” strategy to clean up the environment, create jobs in rural America and across the country, and lower energy prices.

Cornerstones of the strategy include:

- Increasing environmentally-safe energy production on remote lands and far off our shores;

- Promoting the use of alternative fuels that will reduce carbon emissions, such as nuclear, clean-coal, and renewable energy technologies; and

- Encouraging increased efficiencies and cutting edge technologies to maximize America’s energy potential.

As the national energy tax makes its way to the House floor, the questions facing Democrats who represent rural districts are straightforward. Do they stand with their Party leaders who want to saddle Americans with a new tax that will devastate family farms and small businesses? Or do they stand with Chairman Peterson and House Republicans who want to protect rural Americans – and all Americans – from this harmful national energy tax?

Wild Thing's comment..........

How does a person live with themselves when they know what they are doing will destroy so many lives and livelhood of so many families. I know, they just don't care. Obama could care less.

....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.

Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67

Posted by Wild Thing at 06:46 AM | Comments (4)

June 01, 2009

GM Bankruptcy Looming ~ What New GM Will Emerge

With bankruptcy looming, a new GM begins to emerge

DETROIT

With an almost certain bankruptcy filing days away, General Motors is beginning its reinvention, planning to retool one factory to make its smallest vehicles ever in the U.S. and rid itself of the biggest.

As GM's board began two days of meetings Friday to make a final decision on the company's fate, GM was also closing in on a sale of its European Opel unit, and its main union overwhelmingly approved dramatic labor cost cuts. A deal to sell its rugged but inefficient Hummer brand also appeared on the horizon.

The moves provided more clues about what a restructured GM might look like ahead of the expected Chapter 11 filing Monday. Taxpayers will eventually own nearly three-quarters of a leaner GM, with a total government commitment of nearly $50 billion.

GM has yet to confirm it will seek bankruptcy protection but scheduled a news conference for Monday in New York.

With the government's backing and nearly $20 billion in U.S. loans so far, the company has made more dramatic changes in just a few days than it has in decades.

"It's been coming to a head for a very long time," said Aaron Bragman, an analyst for the consulting firm IHS Global Insight. "But in just the past few months we've really seen steps being taken to completely and dramatically change the face of American auto manufacturing."

GM said it plans to reopen a shuttered U.S. factory to build subcompact cars. The retooled factory would be able to build 160,000 cars a year and create 1,200 jobs, offsetting some of the 21,000 that will be lost when GM closes 14 factories by the end of next year.

GM's stock tumbled to the lowest price in the company's 100-year history, closing at just 75 cents after trading as low as 74 cents. The government plan for GM revealed Thursday would make the shares virtually worthless.

The United Auto Workers' reluctant but overwhelming ratification of concessions will save GM $1.3 billion per year and bring its labor costs down to those of its Japanese competitors. The new UAW deal freezes wages, ends bonuses and eliminates some noncompetitive work rules.

The changes, plus others that will be worked out in court, will shrink GM and position it to be among the world's most competitive automakers if it can emerge from bankruptcy protection and survive the global auto sales slump, Bragman said.

"They've eliminated their legacy costs. They've already invested in new product that's coming. They have the ear of the government unlike any time in their history, and the government has said basically 'we are going to help you survive and thrive,'" Bragman said.

GM is banking on more demand for smaller cars previously shunned by Americans. The government decided earlier this month to raise fuel economy standards for the entire U.S. fleet by 2016.

The new standards were one of the biggest factors in GM's announcement to build subcompacts in the U.S. rather than in China, said a person familiar with GM's plans who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the plans.

Chrysler LLC, already in bankruptcy protection, is banking on the same thing. It wants to sell all its assets to Fiat Group SpA so the Italian automaker can start building its sophisticated small cars on this side of the ocean.

The strategy is still a big gamble. Americans have opted for bigger cars and trucks, with the exception of last summer, when gas topped $4 per gallon. GM and Chrysler hope people will spend more for better-equipped subcompacts with more luxurious interiors and performance that rivals the best luxury sedans.

Smaller costs after bankruptcy should help the companies make money even though compact cars carry far smaller profit margins than pricey SUVs. But there remains a risk that gas prices will remain low and the cars won't sell, blowing up the automakers' new business models.

The UAW deal moves billions in retiree health care costs off GM's books, giving a union-run retiree health care trust 17.5 percent ownership of a post-bankruptcy GM. The trust will take on health care costs for retirees next year. Higher health care costs alone account for a $1,500-per-car cost gap between GM and Japanese vehicles.

But just cutting labor costs won't be enough to save the company. It also has been working to streamline its engineering and design, as well as standardize many parts so they can go into multiple models.

"They've already made huge progress," said Laurie Harbour-Felax, president of a consulting company that studies competitive cost differences between automakers. "The problem is you can't see that because revenue died, because nobody's buying cars."

New RNC Ad On Obama's Government Motors!

Wild Thing's comment........

Rush will be getting a lot of play from his parody "In a Yugo"

He can do daily updates on SUV's squashing these things...The SUV did it!!

....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.

Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67

Posted by Wild Thing at 06:44 AM

Comments from Coulter and Krauthammer Re: Rascist Sotomayor

Coulter To Latino Panel: My Sotomayor Answer Will Be Best Because I'm White

Townhall

Coulter was on Geraldo's FOX show today discussing the Sotomayor hub-bub with Los Angeles mayor and former leader of MEChA; an organization -- like La Raza -- that believes most of the Southwest United States needs to be returned to Mexico. Moreover, joining the Latino panel was Hollywood celebrity-activist, Rosie Perez (she starred in White Men Can't Jump, 1992), and the Bush-appointed, first Latino to serve as United States Attorney General.

I pulled the two best parts of the segment: the first one is in the title; the second one Coulter mocks the incessant mention of Sotomayor's Latin heritage. Unfortunately, for Rosie Perez, her reaction was caught on the split screen.

Krauthammer: Sotomayor is a leftist militant third-world race supremacist, not an impartial judge

La Raza infiltrates the Supreme Court... a neo-Marxist radical militant anti-American third world race supremacist... just like Obama!

Wild Thing's comment........

I am glad we have these people on our side and speaking out. At least if this Judge makes it, it won't be because no one let people know what she was like. They can't say later they did not know.

Ann is always good and I love her humor she throws in to make her point.

Krauthammer he is awesome.People that attack him would be amazed at how hard it is for him to get out of bed in the morning. He is paralyzed from the chest down and has to work at breathing. I have been a fan ( I guess it would be called ) of his for a long time.

Posted by Wild Thing at 06:40 AM | Comments (2)

May 30, 2009

Judge Napolitano: Repeal the 17th Amendment For Better Local Representation

Judge Napolitano explains why repealing the 17th Amendment (Direct Election of Senators), which wasn't part of the original Constitution (added by Woodrow Wilson "progressives") will enhance local representation.

Wild Thing's comment........

The direct election of Senators removes completely the State's representation in the federal government and has undermined this nation is so many ways its unfathomable.

The House represents the people, the Senate was meant to represent the states, and the Executive branch represented the federal government, and the Supreme Court played referee... now since this ammenment there is no state representation in the federal government!! It is tragic.

The 17th (and 16th) must go if we are ever to restore our constitutional republic. Yes I would be all for this to happen.

Also here is the 16th:

Article I, Section 9: "...No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken..."

Amendment XVI: "The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration."

....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.

Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67

Posted by Wild Thing at 05:46 AM | Comments (8)

May 29, 2009

Strong Evidence Chrysler Dealer Closings Politically Motivated by Obama

Furor grows over partisan car dealer closings

By: Mark Tapscott

Editorial Page Editor

Evidence appears to be mounting that the Obama administration has systematically targeted for closing Chrysler dealers who contributed to Repubicans.

What started earlier this week as mainly a rumbling on the Right side of the Blogosphere has gathered some steam today with revelations that among the dealers being shut down are a GOP congressman and closing of competitors to a dealership chain partly owned by former Clinton White House chief of staff Mack McLarty.

The basic issue raised here is this: How do we account for the fact millions of dollars were contributed to GOP candidates by Chrysler who are being closed by the government, but only one has been found so far that is being closed that contributed to the Obama campaign in 2008?

Florida Rep. Vern Buchanan learned from a House colleague that his Venice, Florida, dealership is on the hit list. Buchanan also has a Nissan franchise paired with the Chrysler facility in Venice.

"It's an outrage. It's not about me. I'm going to be fine," said Buchanan, the dealership's majority owner. "You're talking over 100,000 jobs. We're supposed to be in the business of creating jobs, not killing jobs," Buchanan told News 10, a local Florida television station.

Buchanan, who succeeded former Rep. Katharine Harris in 2006, reportedly learned of his dealership's termination from Rep.Candace Miller, R-MI. Buchanan owns a total of 23 dealerships in Florida and North Carolina.

Also fueling the controversy is the fact the RLJ-McCarty-Landers chain of Arkansas and Missouri dealerships aren't being closed, but many of their local competitors are being eliminated. Go here for a detailed look at this situation. McClarty is the former Clinton senior aide. The "J" is Robert Johnson, founder of the Black Entertainment Television, a heavy Democratic contributor.

A lawyer representing a group of Chrysler dealers who are on the hit list deposed senior Chrysler executives and later told Reuters that he believes the closings have been forced on the company by the White House.

"It became clear to us that Chrysler does not see the wisdom of terminating 25 percent of its dealers. It really wasn't Chrysler's decision. They are under enormous pressure from the President's automotive task force," said attorney Leonard Bellavia.

Also, see my column on this issue and how it fits into the larger context dubbed by the Examiner's Michael Barone as "gangster government."

As part of Chrysler's bankruptcy agreement with the White House, the company plans to close roughly a quarter of its 3,200 dealerships. Lists of the dealerships being cut and those retaining their Chrysler franchises can be found here in pdf format. Many dealers contend the criteria being used to determine which dealerships survive is not clear and that many of those that are being closed in fact are profitable businesses, despite the current recession.

* Gateway Pundit , Thank you for the tremendous work you have done on this ~ Wild Thing

Chrysler Dealership owner Jim Anderer was on with Neil Cavuto.

Jim's dealership is being shut down.

Anderer noted that the closings didn't make any sense and that many of them were profitable. Anderer says the country was shutting down his business. He couldn't understand how they were making their decision on which dealerships they were closing:

Find out which GOP donors getting Chrysler's ax

Obama receives only $450 in entire inventory of political contributions

Source for the list of all 789 dealerships to be closed

The list of Chrysler's 789 closing franchises and databases of political donors and found that of dealership owners making contributions in the recent election, less than 10 percent gifted to Democrats while 90 percent gave substantial sums to Republican candidates.

The following dealers are scheduled to lose their Chrysler franchise designation. Based on available records and databases, each of them contributed to political campaigns during the 2008 election.

Many of the dealers who donated to Republican campaigns last year also contributed additional thousands to George W. Bush's presidential 2004 campaign and to campaigns to elect GOP representatives. Those donations are not included in this list.

The listed franchise owners contributed at least $450,000 to Republican presidential candidates and the GOP in the recent election while only $7,970 was donated to Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign and $2,200 was given to Sen. John Edwards' campaign.

Of all political contributions from dealers on the list of closing facilities, President Obama received a combined total of only $450 toward his election.

Dealers who contributed to GOP and candidates in recent election:

• Vernon G. Buchanan: $147,450 to GOP candidates and organizations
• Wallace D. Alley and Family: $4,500 to GOP.
• Robert Archer: $4,600 to GOP and conservative causes.
• Homer S. Higginbotham and Family: $2950 to GOP.
• James Auffenberg and Family: $28,000 to GOP; $6,000 to one Democrat candidate.
• Michael Maroone and Family: $60,000 to GOP; $8,500 to two Democrat candidates.
• Jerome Fader: $6,500 to Democrats; $2,500 to Independent Joe Lieberman.
• Stephen Fay and Family: $13,500 to GOP.
• William Numrich: $20,000 to GOP.
• Robert Carver: $10,000 to Democrats including $1,950 to Hillary Clinton, nothing to Barack Obama.
• Robert and Linda Rohrman: $24,000 to GOP.
• Frank Boucher, Jr. and Family: $18,000 to GOP, $1,000 to one Democrat candidate.
• Scott Bossier: $4,300 to GOP.
• Todd Reardon: $17,000 to GOP; $2,000 to one Democrat candidate.
• Russ Darrow and Family: $78,000 to GOP.
• Bradford Deery and Family: $24,700 to GOP.
• Charles Gabus and Family: $30,000 to GOP.
• Brian Smith: $15,500 to GOP.
• Michael Schlossman: $14,000 to GOP; $14,000 to three Democrats ($12,500 to Sen. Russ Feingold).
• Don Hill: $11,000 to GOP; $12,800 to conservative incumbent Rep. Heath Shuler.
• Don Miller: $2,000 to GOP; $1,000 to Feingold.
• Eddie Cordes: $2,150 to GOP.
• Robert Edwards: $1,100 to GOP.
• James Crowley: $19,100 to GOP.
• Stanley Graff: $2,200 to John Edwards (2008 Presidential Run); $500 to GOP.
• John Stewart: $10,500 to GOP.
• John Fitzgerald and Family: $4,600 to John McCain (2008); $2,000 to Hillary Clinton (2008); nothing to Barack Obama.
• William Churchill and Family: $3,500 to GOP.
• Thomas Ganley: $9.450 to GOP.
• Gary Miller: $20,000 to GOP.
• Kevin and Gene Beltz: $18,500 to GOP.
• Arthur Grayson: $14,000 to GOP.
• Eric Grubbs and Family: $26,000 to GOP.
• Michael Leep and Family: $19,500 to GOP; $4,800 to three Democrats including Sen. Evan Bayh.
• Harry Green, Jr.: $10,000 to GOP.
• Ronald Hoover: $5,250 to GOP.
• Ray Huffines and Family: $18,500 to GOP.
• John O. Stevenson: $1,500 to GOP.• James Marsh: $8,200 to GOP.
• Max Pearson and Family: $112,000 to GOP.

GOP Chrysler Dealers Terminated: Rush Limbaugh Show...Rush reads a letter from a successful dealer being FORCED to close!!! Excellent video.

Rep. Aaron Schock's supporter Gary Uftring from Peoria, Illinois is losing two of his franchises even though they are "5 Star Dealerships" that make money.

Peoria Journal Star

U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock blasted Chrysler's decision to shutter nearly 800 dealerships across the country, including two here that he and others say are making money and not costing the automaker a dime.

Joined by Gary Uftring, owner of Uftring Auto Mall, Schock stressed that there should be greater accountability of the governmental task force tapped by the Obama administration to review the overhaul of the domestic auto industry.

"This happened not because they failed, not because of market pressure, but because of a third party, the government, which intervened," the congressman said, saying the government shouldn't be in the business of dictating business decisions to an entire industry.

To him, the decision to close shop makes no sense. He claims he met all sales expectations and never cost Chrysler money. Rather, he said, he was a "Five Star" dealership, the highest rating Chrysler gives, and one of the better-selling dealerships.

Terry Allen, whose Chrysler dealership in Mason City will be eliminated, said his business was the top sales tax generator in the area. He, like Uftring, said he met or exceeded all expectations from the car maker but in the end, has about three weeks left as a dealer.

Wild Thing's comment............

Everthing Obama does is ANTI-AMERICAN ! This is total criminal activity by Obama and the democrat party.

The way Obama’s election campaign & lap-dog press went after his rivals during the campaign was unprecedented.

Think about this, Obama was NOT an almighty, long term, powerful politician when he was running, he was only a US Sen for 4 yrs. Going from a Constitutional Republic to a Fascist Tyranny is “change”

But he wielded power like he was as powerful as Stalin in USSR.

Now that he's in control of the Exec Branch of the US, just think how much power he has now!

The entirei thing is Obama's fault, his fingerrpints are all over it. He is in charge, he is the one that controlled what happened with what he did with Chrysler soooo how does it feel Obama. YOU can't blame President Bush on this one you jerk Communist Marxist!

....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.

Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67

Posted by Wild Thing at 07:50 AM | Comments (9)

May 27, 2009

Sotomayor Ruled Against Gun Rights!

Sotomayor believes 2nd Amendment not for Individuals

expose obama .com

By Mathew D. Staver

Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court to fill the seat of retiring Justice David Souter. If confirmed, Sotomayor would become the first Hispanic and third woman to serve on the High Court.

Sotomayor is a graduate of Princeton and obtained her law degree from Yale. She served in private practice and as Assistant District Attorney in New York County and was nominated to the Second Circuit federal Court of Appeals by President George H. W. Bush in 1991.

Despite 17 years on the bench, Sotomayor has never directly decided whether a law regulating abortion is constitutional. In Center for Reproductive Law & Policy v. Bush, she wrote an opinion that upheld the Mexico City Policy prohibiting federal funding of overseas abortions.

Sotomayor does not believe that the Second Amendment right to bear arms applies to individuals. While on a panel discussion at Duke Law School, she argued that the “Court of Appeals is where policy is made.” Judge Sotomayor has had 5 decisions reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court, 3 of which have been reversed. She has carried 11 of 44 possible votes during those cases. In Knight v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, Chief Justice Roberts stated that her method of reading the statute in question “flies in the face of the statutory language.”

She has written in support of Affirmative Action, upheld the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and in Amandola v. Town of Babylon, she wrote that denying use of a town hall annex for their worship services violated the First Amendment. She has written a book called “The International Judge,” which suggests that international law and policy should be considered in some court decisions.

Some have described her temperament on the bench as a “bully” and “abusive” to lawyers.

Sotomayor Nomination an Obama Slap at Second Amendment

Second Amendment Foundation

and The Liberty Sphere via Atlas Shrugs

BELLEVUE, WA

The nomination of Second Circuit Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor to replace retiring Justice David Souter on the U.S. Supreme Court is a slap at gun rights and the Second Amendment, the Second Amendment Foundation said today.

Judge Sotomayor, a New York native, ruled on a Second Circuit Appeals Court panel that the Second Amendment is not a fundamental right and does not apply to the states in the case of Maloney v. Cuomo. This ruling is in direct conflict with a Ninth Circuit Court ruling in the Nordyke v. King case in California that the Second Amendment is incorporated through the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

“While Democrats in Congress have been making great strides in the gun rights arena, refusing to consider a renewal of the Clinton gun ban, and offering overwhelming bipartisan support for legislation allowing citizens to carry firearms in national parks, President Obama just demonstrated that he prefers judges who oppose Second Amendment rights,” said SAF founder Alan M. Gottlieb.

Incorporation may be taken up by the high court during its next session beginning in October, because attorneys in the Maloney case plan to appeal in late June.

“If the Maloney appeal is accepted by the Supreme Court,” Gottlieb wondered, “would Justice Sotomayor – provided she is confirmed – recuse herself from deliberations?”

Judge Sotomayor has written an opinion that declined to order the release of certain information under the Freedom of Information Act. In one case, according to SCOTUSblog, she wrote that the “unwarranted invasion of privacy” for individuals whose names would be release under an FOIA request outweighed the public interest.

“Would a Justice Sotomayor be just as protective of the privacy rights of concealed carry permit holders if a newspaper wanted to publish that information,” Gottlieb asked. “We hope that during Senate confirmation hearings, someone asks about her positions on incorporation and the privacy rights of gun owners. The Second Amendment needs to be expanded, not eviscerated.”

The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nations oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 600,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control. SAF has previously funded successful firearms-related suits against the cities of Los Angeles; New Haven, CT; and San Francisco on behalf of American gun owners, a lawsuit against the cities suing gun makers and an amicus brief and fund for the Emerson case holding the Second Amendment as an individual right.

Wild Thing's comment........

Obama and Sotomayer can 'rule' that the second doesn't apply all day long.,but it doesn't mean many of us would not fight back.

Here are some words from the past.........

“Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightening. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its waters.

“This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did, and it never will. Find out just what a people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.” ~~Frederick Douglass August 4, 1857

Douglass was, of course, speaking of the slavery then extant here.

So, too, are we.

....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.

Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67

Posted by Wild Thing at 06:48 AM | Comments (8)

Judge Sotomayor and Five Million Criminal Votes for Obama

Judge Sonia Sotomayor: Court is Where Policy is Made

Judge Sotomayor and Five Million Criminal Votes for Obama

Sultan Knish

There are 5.3 million votes for Obama out there, the only problem is that they happen to belong to murderers, rapists, armed robbers and other convicts and ex-convicts.

That golden box of 5+ million votes is being unlocked by Democrats in one of two ways. The first relies on changing state laws that prevent felon voting at the state level. Their greatest success has arguably been Florida, a crucial swing state with over a million ex-felons. When Governor Charlie Crist promised to let criminals vote during the election and then implemented it once in office, the impact on the 2008 Presidential election was quite sizable.

With anywhere from 250,000 to 500,000 new votes available, the Obama campaign ran a "You can Vote Too!" registration drive for ex-felons. And since Obama won Florida by barely 200,000 votes, the newly enfranchised murderers, rapists and pedophiles no doubt did their share to help put him in the White House.

Iowa restored felon voting in 2005, and between 2004 to 2008, swung from Republican to Democratic.

In 2007 Colorado struck down the requirement that ex-felons have to at least complete their parole before becoming eligible to vote, overriding a Colorado Supreme Court ruling. In 2008 Colorado voted for a Democratic Presidential candidate for the first time in 26 years.

Virginia, which also began legalizing felon voters, became another swing state that swung unexpectedly to Obama.

While legalizing felons alone did not swing any of these states, they were part of a larger program to liberalize the voting base, which is why such laws were invariably championed by Democrats and Liberal Republicans. Bringing in millions of new votes changes the game. And that was what happened in 2008.

However giving criminals voting rights on a state by state level has been a long slow process, and that is where the second method comes in, to strike down any bans on felon voting at the Federal level.

The key argument used by felon voting advocates is that barring criminals from voting is a form of racial discrimination, since a disproportionate number of convicted felons are black or members of other minority groups. This brings in the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into the picture. Using the VRA, the Supreme Court could potentially strike down any state laws banning criminals from voting. Even convicts still in jail.

This would immediately unlock that golden box of 5 million votes for Obama, even more than local state measures of ACORN's voting fraud, which relied heavily on ex-cons, did.

And the Voting Rights Act is where Judge Sotomayor comes into the picture. While the Supreme Court currently has not chosen to hear any cases involving felon voting, allowing state circuit courts to maintain the ban, Judge Sotomayor is an enthusiastic judicial advocate of applying the VRA to felon voting, treating criminals as a discriminated against group being denied their civic rights.

In Hayden vs Pataki, a case brought by Joseph "Jazz" Hayden, who stabbed a sanitation worker to death, and has since become a campaigner for letting felons vote, Judge Sotomayor dissented from the majority by arguing that the VRA in no way excludes or was meant to exclude felons.

SOTOMAYOR, Circuit Judge, dissenting:

"It is plain to anyone reading the Voting Rights Act that it applies to all “voting qualification[s].” And it is equally plain that § 5-106 disqualifies a group of people from voting. These two propositions should constitute the entirety of our analysis. Section 2 of the Act by its unambiguous terms subjects felony disenfranchisement and all other voting qualifications to its coverage.

What that means is that Sotomayor believes that any voting qualification, including bans on having convicted murderers and rapists vote, is a violation of the Voting Rights Acts. Felons can be treated as a "group" that has been discriminated against by being banned from the right to vote

This would allow Obama to "crack" more conservative states where felon voting enfranchisement has not made any headway, by treating felon disenfranchisement as a violation of the Voting Rights Act.

By nominating Sotomayor, Obama is very clearly looking ahead to 2012, by first nominating an Hispanic Woman, secondly a left wing judicial advocate, more specifically one whose views on ballot access will help open up that golden box of millions of votes, and in the case of a Bush vs Gore type Supreme Court case, will always argue on the side of inadequate access.

And of course Sotomayor's ruling in Ford vs McGinnis that Islamic rights for prisoners can be entirely at the whim of the prisoner, can't hurt. Nor her open position that her job is to make policy, rather than rule on the constitutionality of the laws.

Like Obama her nomination is being treated as a "historical nomination", though Justice Benjamin Cardozo was arguably the first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice (who naturally doesn't count because he's Jewish), and her judicial advocacy views, her identity politics, will be treated as assets, in the same way that they were for Obama.

But the bigger picture is that Sotomayor is meant to be Obama's ace in the hole for the 2012 election.

Wild Thing's comment........

GREAT article and information. I remember when Charlie Crist did this I was so angry!!

I was so ticked off this morning when she was announced and then immediately the bush bashing, the racists speak. The party of no is going to say no. They had a whole script prepared because they knew she was a racist and has made racist comments. As always they are making this about race.

Her saying that her court made policy and then she caught herself because she was being taped. Then someone came ot make light of that and said some stupiud thing like that was a discussion among students. So that made it okay? Obama likes the radical who will go against their given rights within their position.

And to those on TV saying she is a moderate. If Sotomayor is moderate than so were Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin.

There is a dark side to this lady. Very dark.

Posted by Wild Thing at 06:47 AM | Comments (4)

DeMint Takes Lead in Criticizing High Court Pick

DeMint takes lead in criticizing high court pick

Miami Herald

WASHINGTON

Sen. Jim DeMint, was more critical than his Republican colleagues Tuesday about President Barack Obama's nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.

While most Republicans took a cautious approach, DeMint, of South Carolina, sounded warnings about Sotomayor's record and philosophy as a federal district and appellate judge from New York.

"Some of her writings seem to raise serious questions about her approach to the Constitution and the role of the federal judiciary, but I will withhold judgment about her nomination until she has the opportunity to fully present her views before the Senate," DeMint said.

DeMint's aides pointed to a case last year in which Sotomayor ruled that the city of New Haven, Conn., had acted properly in rejecting discrimination claims by white firefighters. The case, Ricci v. DeStefano, is now before the Supreme Court.

"Few things are more central to our duty than confirming Supreme Court justices who will uphold the law and apply it equally for all Americans, not rewrite it from the bench based on personal opinion," DeMint said.

DeMint is not on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will hold confirmation hearings for Sotomayor.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who does sit on the judiciary panel, was more guarded in his response to Obama's choice of Sotomayor as the first Hispanic nominated for the high court.

"I do not know Judge Sotomayor," Graham said. "I look forward to meeting with her and discussing the important issues confronting the court."

Graham was among the Senate Judiciary Committee members Obama called last week to discuss his pending high court nomination. Graham was out of the country Tuesday, but his aides said they didn't believe Obama had named Sotomayor during their phone talk.

Graham said he intends "to be fair and firm in (his) questioning of the nominee" during the committee confirmation sessions.

"The hearings can be a valuable public service, as they give us a window into the nominee's philosophy and disposition," Graham said. "I hope we will have a meaningful opportunity to explore the qualifications, judicial temperament and judicial philosophy of Judge Sotomayor."

Republican President H.W. Bush appointed Sotomayor to the federal district bench in 1992. Democrat Bill Clinton elevated her to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

After an extensive delay over political disputes, the Republican-controlled Senate voted 67-29 in October 1998 to confirm Sotomayor's promotion to the appellate court.

The late Republican Sen. Strom Thurmond voted against Sotomayor. Sen. Fritz Hollings, a Charleston Democrat, was one of four senators who chose not to vote.

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., called Sotomayor "a superb pick" by Obama to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter.

"The president has demonstrated that he is dedicated to nominating justices who have life experiences that will enable them to both sympathize and empathize with all Americans," Clyburn said.

Sotomayor, 54, grew up in a Bronx housing project with a single mom after her father died when she was 9.

Only the Senate will vote on Sotomayor's confirmation.

Oran Smith, head of the Palmetto Family Council, criticized Sotomayor as an activist judge.

"Judge Sotomayor's judicial record and writing clearly show she believes a court is not an applier of law written by elected representatives, but just another political advocate for social change," Smith said

From Rush Limbaugh........

"So, here you have a racist. You might want to soften that and you might wanna say a reverse racist. And the libs, of course, say that minorities cannot be racists because they don't have the power to implement their racism. Well, those days are gone because reverse racists certainly do have the power to implement their power. Obama is the greatest living example of a reverse racist and now he's appointed one -- getting this, AP? -- Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court ...

So she's not the brain that they're portraying her to be, she's not a constitutional jurist. She is an affirmative action case extraordinaire and she has put down white men in favor of Latina women. She has claimed that the court is all about making policy. So yes, there's a golden opportunity. Take this to the mat. Take it to the wall. The people need to know what Obama really believes in and this is how it could happen. Now will the Republicans do it? That's another question."

Wild Thing's comment...........

DeMint, one of the few with a spine!!!

For the time being our days as a Constitutional Republic are almost over. I know that sounds down and depressing but that is what is showing up.

Founding Documents provide that, if any branch of our government ever exceeds its Constitutionally limited authority and ceases to be lawfully of, for and by the people, we the people have both the duty and the unwavering obligation to remove it and restore a Constitutional one again.

This in-over-his-head rent-a-meat-puppet in the White House swore an oath to uphold and defend our Constitution even as he paid a team of lawyers to prevent him having to abide by it.

The Constitution does not grant to the president the authority to fire CEO's of corporations, take over huge companies, dictate what cars can be built, take over the country's health-care or own and run the banks.

Unless and until we remove this larcenous, traitorous, pathalogically-deceitful usurper from the White House, we are no longer a Constitutional Republic for right now.

This will be a good test to see who is trustable and who is not. There should be no mistaking RINOs for republicans anymore.

The thing our side I wish would learn, I mean the politicans that say they are Republicans. We are aware we are outnumbered in both houses. But if they can show US, we the people that they at least speak out and make it known they do not go along with this kind of thing each time they need to, we WILL remember later when it comes time to vote. Just as we WILL remember those that turned to mush and stayed silent.

Posted by Wild Thing at 06:40 AM | Comments (5)

May 26, 2009

Communist Party Official Shares Obama's Ambitious Agenda

Top Red's dream come true

With Obama as president, health care and the economy can be "reformed," U.S. troops can be evacuated from the Middle East, a second stimulus bill can be passed, the criminal justice system can be overhauled and union rights can be expanded – in other words, it's a Christmas list come true – declared the leader of the Communist Party USA.

"All these – and many other things – are within our reach now!" exclaimed Sam Webb in a New York banquet speech for the People's Weekly World, the official newspaper of the Communist Party USA.

Webb's speech was entitled, "The impossible becomes possible."

Webb declared that under Obama, "We can dream again, knowing that the gap between our dreams and reality is bridgeable."

"I am confident the American people in their millions – reeling under the weight of this terrible economic crisis and yearning for a more decent, equal, peaceful and just world – will follow their example and turn this country into a more perfect union," stated Webb.

Webb continued:

* In this new political climate, we can foresee winning a public option, like Medicare, in the current legislative fight over health care reform.

* We can visualize enacting tough regulatory reforms on the financial industry that brought the economy to ruin.

* We can imagine bringing the troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan, while being part of a regional process that brings peace and stability to the entire region.

* In this new political climate, the expansion of union rights in this legislative session is not only sensible, it's doable.

* Much the same can be said about winning a second stimulus bill, and we sure need one, given the still rising and likely long term persistence of unemployment with the heaviest burden, as usual, falling on communities of color.

* Isn't it possible in the post-Bush era to launch a vigorous attack on global warming and create millions of green jobs in manufacturing and elsewhere?

* Can't we envision taking new strides in the long journey for racial and gender equality in this new era, marked at its beginning by the election of the first African American to the presidency?

* And isn't the overhaul of the criminal justice and prison system – a system steeped in racism and employing punitive treatment as it organizing principle – no longer pie in the sky, but something that can be done in the foreseeable future?

Webb explained how unions and grassroots organizations can help bring about important changes.

Indeed, labor unions were instrumental in electing Obama. A Political Affairs article just after last November's election titled "Special Interest or Class Consciousness? How Labor Put Obama in the White House" reported on polling data released that revealed the extent of union support for Obama.

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, or AFL-CIO, sponsored a poll showing union members supported Obama by a 68-30 margin and strongly influenced their family members.

Reacting to Webb's speech, Communist researcher Trevour London of the New Zeal blog stated:

"Now we know every major item on the Communist Party's agenda. Socialized healthcare, increased union power, massive controls on the finance sector, ending the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, a heavily regulated 'green economy', a second 'stimulus' bill, weakening of the 'racist' prison system. ... Tick the items off as the Obama administration acts on each and every one of them."

Wild Thing's comment........

Evidently, no one on Planet Earth learned anything at all from the catastrophic failure of the Soviet experiment except the Soviets themselves.

The UNIONS are always there when it comes to this communist, socialist stuff. I wish when we talk to people about this they would listen. It sure is hard to get through to UNION members if there is one in the family.

....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.

Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67

Posted by Wild Thing at 07:40 AM | Comments (4)

May 25, 2009

Obama's Fault Dollar Hits New Multimonth Low

Dollar hits new multimonth low vs euro, pound, yen

NEW YORK

The dollar kept falling Friday, notching fresh multimonth lows against the euro, pound and yen as a warning that Britain's debt level may result in its credit rating being cut ricocheted into worries about the massive U.S. deficit.

The 16-nation euro rose to $1.4015 in morning trading from $1.3889 in New York late Thursday—its first time above $1.40 since Jan. 2.

The British pound rose to $1.5916 from $1.5890, peaking at $1.5945 earlier in the session, its highest point since Nov. 6.

Meanwhile, the dollar edged up to 94.51 Japanese yen from 94.23 yen—after earlier falling to 93.82, its lowest point since Feb. 23.

On Thursday, Standard & Poor's said Britain may have its rating cut because of rising debt levels. Though the ratings agency reaffirmed the country's actual long-term credit rating at "AAA," it said the outlook had deteriorated because of massive borrowing to deal with the recession and the banking crisis.

Because Britain is pursuing similar policies to the U.S.—with both the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve injecting billions of dollars in their economies by buying assets from banks—the move also weighed on U.S. assets and the dollar. Treasurys sold off Thursday, and continued to do so Friday.

S&P's announcement "wound up creating more problems for the U.S. dollar than for the British pound," HSBC analysts said in a research note.

"The problem for the U.S. is particularly acute because of its reserve status," said UBS analyst Brian Kim in an e-mail to investors Friday. Major holders of U.S. debt, such as Middle Eastern sovereign funds and the Chinese government, have not been shy about calling the U.S. out for what it sees as policies that will trigger inflation, shrinking the value of their Treasury holdings.

"The dollar has weakened as dollar bears have now added concerns on U.S. credit ratings to their arsenal," Kim said.

Earlier this month, the Obama administration hiked its forecast for this year's federal deficit to $1.84 trillion. The deficit is approaching $1 trillion for the budget year that began Oct. 1.

Big deficits mean the government has to borrow more, which could put its credit rating at risk. They can also put upwards pressure on inflation, thus cutting the purchasing power of the dollar.

In other trading, the dollar fell to 1.1235 Canadian dollars from $1.1404 and slid to 1.0833 Swiss francs from 1.0936 francs late Thursday.

Wild Thing's comment..........

They’re plan to destroy the US dollar and force Americans into a global currency controlled by a world bank is working perfectly for them on their agenda. I guess Soros is bursting at the seams with joy.

....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.

Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67

Posted by Wild Thing at 05:40 AM | Comments (2)

May 22, 2009

Obama Wants U.S. to Loan $100 BILLION to Global Bailout

Obama Wants U.S. to Loan $100 Billion to Global Bailout Fund

CNSNews

Obama has asked Congress to authorize $100 billion in loans to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help create a $500 billion global bailout fund.

If passed by both the Senate and the House, the bill would allow the IMF to borrow up to $100 billion from the U.S. and increase the U.S. fiscal contribution to the IMF by $8 billion.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the loans would not cost the U.S. more than $5 billion.

“It’s a new appropriation,” Rob Blumenthal of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, the committee that drafted the bill, told CNSNews.com.

“No money is required upfront. We’re not writing a check for 108 billion. So in the long term, if loans go into default, then what the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) is saying is that it might cost us up to $5 billion, but there’s no immediate outplay of funds.”

But the move is questioned by some lawmakers who are skeptical about lending money when the nation’s debt continues to climb – and who are concerned about the fact that the U.S. will have to borrow the money at some point to pay the $100 billion.

“Forcing taxpayers to borrow another $100 billion from China to bailout foreign countries makes no sense when we’re already facing record debt,” Wesley Denton, spokesman for Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), said.

Contributions from the U.S. and other countries would triple the IMF’s lending power and double its lending resources for low-income countries.

World leaders began on the global bailout initiative, called the New Arrangement for Borrowing (NAB), at the G-20 summit in early April. The president agreed at that time to make the additional funds available.

Last week, he sent letters to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader John Boehner to seek their support.

“The NAB is a mechanism through which the IMF can obtain supplemental financial resources for use in its lending operations when the IMF’s existing resources are substantially drawn down in the face of circumstances that threaten the stability of the international monetary system,” Obama wrote.

“Treasury Secretary Geithner concluded that the size of the NAB is woefully inadequate to deal with the type of severe economic and financial crisis we are experiencing, and I agree with him,” the letter said.

The Treasury Department released another letter to Pelosi and Reid Monday to express support for the plan. Japan has already signed a $100 billion pledge and the European Union, Norway, Canada, Switzerland, South Korea and Australia have also pledged billions of dollars for the global bailout. The IMF is a coalition of 185 countries that assesses the global financial situation and fosters stability and trade. Although its programs have been criticized in recent years, managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said he is optimistic about the member-states’ cooperation in this new borrowing arrangement.

“This is the most coordinated stimulus ever,” Strauss-Kahn said at the G-20 summit in April.

“We have already finalized with the Japanese a $100 billion loan. The Europeans have committed another $100 billion. And we have other partners to complete the first rung of $250 billion, and then will come the second rung to create this NAB proposed by (U.S. Treasury Secretary) Tim Geithner, which altogether will increase the resources by $500 billion.

“$500 billion plus the $250 billion we already have makes – how do you say that? – a fire,” Strauss-Kahn, former French finance minister, said.

Wild Thing's comment.........

Obama is a TAX WHORE!

Hell will freeze over before Obama does anything that is NOT against our country. Barack Obama pledged $100 billion in foreign aid to help bail out the ailing International Monetary Fund in April. Only after he announced it did he go to Congress and make his case for the money.

Obama wants....Obama needs...Obama wants...Obama needs....narcissistic Kenyan bastard. RAPING every current and future citizen of this country. Why not just shoot ‘em in the head once you have FINISHED, Marxist!

It is for the good of the neighborhood.....Que Mr. Rogers!!

Posted by Wild Thing at 05:49 AM | Comments (10)

"Me Love you long time"

scene from "Full Metal Jacket"

U.S. Will Pay $2.6 Million to Train Chinese Prostitutes to Drink Responsibly on the Job

CNSNews.com

The National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAA), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), will pay $2.6 million in U.S. tax dollars to train Chinese prostitutes to drink responsibly on the job.

Dr. Xiaoming Li, the researcher conducting the program, is director of the Prevention Research Center at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit.

Previous studies in Asia and Africa and our own data from FSWs [female sex workers] in China suggest that the social norms and institutional policy within commercial sex venues as well as agents overseeing the FSWs (i.e., the 'gatekeepers', defined as persons who manage the establishments and/or sex workers) are potentially of great importance in influencing alcohol use and sexual behavior among establishment-based FSWs," says the NIH grant abstract submitted by Dr. Li.

"Therefore, in this application, we propose to develop, implement, and evaluate a venue-based alcohol use and HIV risk reduction intervention focusing on both environmental and individual factors among venue-based FSWs in China," says the abstract.

The research will take place in the southern Chinese province of Guangxi.

Guangxi is ranked third in HIV rate among Chna's provinces--and is a place where the sex business is pervasive, Li said.

“The purpose of the project is to try and develop an intervention program targeting HIV risk and alcohol use,” Li told CNSNews.com. “So basically, it’s an alcohol and HIV risk reduction intervention project."

The doctor said the heart of the study involves “a community-based cluster randomized controlled trial among 100 commercial sex venues in Beihai, a costal tourist city in Guangxi.”

“We want to get some understanding of the fundamental role of alcohol use and HIV risk,” he said. “We use the population in China as our targeted population to look at the basic issues. I think the findings will benefit the American people, too.”

Li said minimal research has been conducted on the link between alcohol use and prostitution as it relates to HIV.

“Alcohol has been a part of the commerce of sex for many, many years. Unfortunately, both global-wise (and) in the United States, very few researchers are looking at the complex issue of the inter play between alcohol and the commerce of sex,” he told CNSNews.com.

The grant is one of several “international initiatives” sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.

Wild Thing's comment........

So I guess they could call this the ChiHo project.

What a scam artist this guy is, so he has all this money, our tax dollars for his grant. More wasted tax dollars.

2.6 million so the “researcher” can go out drinking with prostitues and not even American. Can't they at least make grants only for Americans???

This is so stupid it goes beyond stupid.

Posted by Wild Thing at 05:40 AM | Comments (2)

May 21, 2009

The Sad CAFE

FrontPage Magazine

The Obama administration’s proposed mileage standards that will be announced today may kill more Americans at a faster rate than the Iraq War, his signature issue in the 2008 presidential campaign.

Obama’s standards will require automakers to meet a 35 miles-per-gallon standard by 2016, four years earlier than the same standard imposed by the Energy Security and Independence Act of 2007.

The only way for carmakers to meet these standard is to make smaller, lighter -- and deadlier cars.

The National Academy of Sciences has linked mileage standards with about 2,000 deaths per year. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that every 100-pound reduction in the weight of small cars increases annual traffic fatalities by as much as 715.

In contrast in the more than six years since the Iraq war began, there have been 4,296 deaths among American military personnel.

And what will be gained by the new mileage standards?

The Natural Resources Defense Council said that the 35 MPG standard would save about one million gallons of gas per day. So how does that savings balance against the 2,000 fatalities per year that the National Academy of Sciences says are caused by those same lighter cars?

For the sake of being utilitarian, let’s generously assume that the mileage standards reduced the price of gasoline by $1. That would translate to a daily savings of $1 million. Is that savings worth killing more than five people per day, plus other non-fatal injuries and property damage?

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency -- for the purposes of risk assessment -- values a single human life at $6.9 million dollars. So the new mileage standards would cost about $35 million per day in human lives (not including non-fatal injuries) to save $1 million in gas.

There’s also another lesson hidden in the proposed standards, one that applies to businesses trying to game global warming legislation.

Carmakers lobbied hard against overly stringent mileage standards in the 2007 energy bill, finally negotiating with Congress a compromise standard they thought they at least had a chance to meet. President Obama has now pulled the rug out from under the carmakers and their 2007 deal with Congress.

This ought to serve as a lesson for businesses that are trying to negotiate a climate deal they think they can survive. Rest assured that as soon as business groups agree to a climate deal, the Greens and the Obama administration will go to work the next day figuring out ways to bulldoze the deal in order to make greenhouse gas limitations more stringent and more expensive.

Businesses often operate under the misimpression that they can cut lasting, win-win compromise deals with environmental groups. But such dealing is an impossibility since the Green Left is ideologically driven and will not be happy until capitalism is stamped out. The Greens are not interested in compromise. Like blood in the water to sharks, compromise by businesses signals weakness and vulnerability, and, therefore, opportunity for the Green movement to impose an agenda that is costly in treasure, and costlier in human lives and suffering.

Worse or Worser: Automakers consider new mpg standard to prevent Senate bill

Auto Blog

In the Wild West, the order would have been "Cut them off at the pass!" For carmakers today battling with wildly fluctuating forecasts for mpg, CO2, and CAFE standards, the mission is to cut them off at the Capital. Taking matters upon themselves, some manufacturers are considering a proposal that would require 36 mpg for cars and 30 mpg for light trucks.

That proposal is being offered in an attempt to derail the fuel economy measure being taken up by the Senate in a couple of weeks. That's the one that calls for a CAFE standard of 35 mpg fleetwide by 2020 and a 4% increase every year for ten years, to which the automakers have unanimously replied, 'never gonna happen.'

Environmentalists are trying to make that bill even stronger, seeing that is has a provision allowing the government to reduce the standard if it is found to be too technologically or financially difficult for automakers to achieve.

Senator Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat who's a friend of the industry, is proposing an alternative that mandates 36 mpg for cars by 2022, and a 30 mpg for trucks by 2025.

Let's see -- that would give a 33 mpg average for cars and trucks in a maker's fleet by 2025, which is 2 mpg and 5 years shy of the CAFE standard requested in the bill the carmakers don't like. Is it us, or is this really just about timing?

Wild Thing's comment..........

Obama just took over the job of Congress by passing his own laws, what are we paying those clowns on the Hill for.

The Obama & Congress have nationalized the Auto Industry and is forcing it to build 'Mickey Mouse Cars' that no one wants to buy.

The Obama & Congress have refused to lets us drill for oil, natural gas, use of coal that would free us from foreign imports.

The Obama & Congress are willing to Sacrafice/Kill 2,000 people a day in "MIckey Mouse Cars" at a cost of 35 million dollars to save 1 million dollars worth of gas made from foreign oil.

All of this regardless of the fact that we could produce cheaper gas from our own oil and save 2,000 lives a year or more with cars people want.

....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.

Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67

Posted by Wild Thing at 05:47 AM | Comments (6)

May 19, 2009

GM Bankruptcy Plan Calls For QUICK Sale To GOVERNMENT

GM BANKRUPTCY PLAN CALLS FOR QUICK SALE TO GOV'T

Reuters

General Motors Corp's (GM.N) plan for a bankruptcy filing involves a quick sale of the company's healthy assets to a new company initially owned by the U.S. government, a source familiar with the situation said on Tuesday.

The source, who would not be named because he was not cleared to speak with the media, did not specify a purchase price. The new company is expected to honor the claims of secured lenders, possibly in full, according to the source.

The remaining assets of GM would stay in bankruptcy protection to satisfy other outstanding claims.

GM has about $6 billion in secured debt, including a secured revolving credit and bank debt.

The government's plans include giving stakes in the new company to GM's union and bondholders, although the ownership structure of the company is still being negotiated, said the source who is familiar with the company's plans.

In addition, the government would extend a credit line to the new company and forgive the bulk of the $15.4 billion in emergency loans that the U.S. has already provided to GM, the source said.

The government has given GM until June 1 to restructure its operations to lower its debt burden and employee costs.

If those talks failed, the company has said it would follow rival Chrysler LLC into bankruptcy.

Setting up a new company to buy the healthy assets is aimed at reassuring consumers who might not be willing to make a major purchase from a bankrupt company, fearing it would not honor warranties or provide service.

The board of the new company would be established with the tacit approval of the government. Fritz Henderson, who took the helm of GM earlier this year after the government pushed out Rick Wagoner, would likely head the new company, the source said.

GM could not be immediately reached for comment.

Wild Thing's comment.......

First paragraph: NEW YORK (Reuters) - If General Motors Corp files for bankruptcy, as widely expected, plans include a quick sale of the automaker's healthy assets to a new company owned by the U.S. government, a source familiar with the situation said on Tuesday.

If someone told me that Obama would nationalize the banks and the auto industry in his first 150 days, I would have thought them crazy. This is truly astonishing.

The article talks about creating a new company, and the gov taking over GM then selling to this “new” company any “healthy” assets. Guess this means the “unhealthy” assets would twist in the wind or be transferred to the same imaginary hole where the gov is storing the “toxic” assets it bought. Healthy assets will be handed off to the UNION!!! The plan is not to save GM but the labor unions.

Just like in Britain after WW-II, major industries were forced to sell themselves to the government. These government run British industries, like coal mining, were run with enormous deficits solely to benefit the unions and crippled the British economy for decades. It took Margaret Thatcher to undo this mess and restore at least some sanity to the British economy. Let us hope we can have another Thatcher or Reagan to quickly lead us out of this mess.

I really believe these people have been planning this stuff for a long time. The reason Obama is not getting the
day to day stuff of filling cabinet positions done is he has a huge agenda that he needs to shove through, not just govern as he is supposed to.

Obama is the most dangerous THING our country has ever had. Even the terrorists do not make me afriad like Obama does.

Posted by Wild Thing at 05:55 PM | Comments (13)

May 18, 2009

Hot In Recession: Cheaper Wine, Chocolate, Spam

Hot in recession: Cheaper wine, chocolate, Spam

WASHINGTON

It's not all doom and gloom in the U.S. economy. Some products are bucking the recession and flying off store shelves.

Sales of chocolate and running shoes are up. Wine drinkers haven't stopped sipping; they just seem to be choosing cheaper vintages.

Gold coins are selling like hot cakes. So are gardening seeds. Tanning products are piling up in shopping carts; maybe more people are finding color in a bottle than from sun-worshipping on a faraway beach.

Strong sales of Spam, Dinty Moore stew and chili helped Hormel Foods Corp. post a 6 percent increase in first quarter sales in its grocery products unit.

Consumers have trimmed household budgets and postponed buying cars, major appliances and other big-ticket items. Yet they still are willing to shell out for small indulgences and goods that make life more comfortable at home, where they are spending more time.

Recession shoppers also are drawn to items that make them feel safe, both personally and financially.

"The focus on the family hearth is something that has happened in nearly every recession. It's, `How can I have more fun at home?'" said Paco Underhill, whose company, Envirosell, monitors the behavior of shoppers and sellers across the U.S. and in other countries.

"People are much more focused on their homes and their immediate happiness and they're buying things that they can use themselves — seeds, fishing equipment. Lipstick and chocolate are small rewards that make you feel better."

Profits in the first three months of 2009 at Hershey Co., the nation's second-largest candy maker, surged 20 percent and beat Wall Street's expectations. Kraft Foods Inc. reported double-digit growth in macaroni and cheese dinners — the consummate comfort food.

Recessions, it seems, are good for love, too. Over the final three months of 2008, condom sales rose 5 percent and Match.com reported its strongest performance in seven years.

But economic woes are as rough on the tummy as they are on the wallet. Chicago-based market researcher Information Resources Inc. reports that sales of laxative liquids and powders rose 11.5 percent for the 52 weeks ending April 19. Sales of stomach remedy tablets, including Pepto-Bismol and Phillips brands, climbed 8 percent.

As expected during any economic slump, recession shoppers looking for deals have boosted sales at discount chains such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Dollar Tree Inc. sneaked into this year's Fortune 500 for the first time, at No. 499.

There's a general tendency to trade down, according to Leo J. Shapiro & Associates, a consulting firm in Chicago. That means eating dinner at the kitchen table instead of restaurants, buying used cars and shopping at do-it-yourself auto parts stores. It means spending less on clothes. Sales at luxury retailer Saks Inc. fell 32 percent last month. Sales at Goodwill Industries International stores in the U.S. and Canada jumped by 7 percent in March.

"If you're used to eating out, maybe you're now buying a high-end steak at the supermarket," said Bill Patterson, a senior analyst in Chicago with Mintel International, which supplies consumer, product and media intelligence. "If you eat at home mostly, maybe you are going down from the branded product to a private label."

People are not drinking as much beer or wine at bars and restaurants, but they haven't stopped drinking. The Wine Institute says that despite the recession, U.S. sales of California wines totaled about 467 million gallons last year — 2 percent more than the year before. But people are looking more closely at cheaper selections: The overall retail value of California wine sales fell slightly from 2007, the institute said.

Those on the go are not shying away from footing the bill for sturdy running shoes. Sales increased 2 percent in 2008, said Tom Doyle at the National Sporting Goods Association in Mount Prospect, Ill.

"Runners aren't going to hurt themselves to save a few bucks," he said. Likewise, sales of bicycle helmets are up as parents continue to spend money to protect youngsters, he said.

The financial meltdown produced more interest in home safes. Coin dealers are awash in customers as investors big and small see the safety of gold.

Sunshine Minting Inc. in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, which supplies gold blanks to the U.S. Mint, doubled its work force in 2008.

"It just came on like gangbusters," said president Tom Power, who struggled to hire, train and get new equipment to handle demand that doubled, then tripled. "You can't just flip a switch and jump up production overnight."

Guns are selling well, too. Total firearms sales rose 27.5 percent at Smith & Wesson for the three months ending Jan. 31. It's not a sudden interest in hunting behind the increase; hunting firearm sales at the company declined during the quarter by 46 percent.

Gun sales are being driven by concern that the Obama administration will tighten gun laws. But people also are feeling a level of fear and heightened interest in self-reliance as they weather the recession.

"They are looking down the road going `What could happen here?'" Underhill said. "I think a lot of Americans are truly scared. One of the things that tickles is our pioneer ethos, which is, `I feel better with a year's supply of toilet paper' and `Maybe I should start canning and pickling.'"

Many people already are.

The number of home vegetable gardens is predicted to jump more than 40 percent this year, compared with two years ago, according to the National Gardening Association. Sales of vegetable seeds such as green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and lettuce climbed 30 percent as of March at W. Atlee Burpee, a large seed company in Warminster, Pa. It organized a basic training course called "root camp" for hundreds of would-be gardeners this month outside Philadelphia.

Still, when the economy grinds to a halt, people clench their teeth. That could mean spending money at the dentist.

There's no statistical evidence, but dentists such as Dr. Matthew Messina in Cleveland, Ohio., are seeing more people with tooth-grinding injuries.

"The body responds the same way to a real threat, `There's a burglar in the house,' as it does to a perceived stress like `I'm worried I'm going to lose the house,'" Messina said.

As they say, there are lies, damn lies, and statistics.

And the class-warfare Democrats are really good at those lies. If they weren't, there wouldn't be one in the White House right now, nor would there be a Democrat-majority House and Senate.

When Democrats tell you that "the rich" aren't paying their fair share, they are lying to you.

When Democrats tell you that our society is one dominated by "selfishness" and "greed," they are lying to you.

When Democrats tell you that the tax policies of George W. Bush's unfairly favored "the rich" and penalized the poor, they are lying to you. (It was quite the opposite.)

The Marxist-socialist who currently occupies the White House, thanks in part to a liberal media who supported him, rode a wave of economic lies that all Americans will wind up paying for in the end.

Let's look at a real-life example of the liberal/Democrat lie.

Wild Thing's comment...........

Well at least there’s no shortage of chocolate. Ammo, that’s another story. I’d say guns and ammo are the hottest items. It has little to to with recession, and most to do with the dem controlled gov’t. and OBama.

Posted by Wild Thing at 05:48 AM | Comments (14)

May 16, 2009

Democrat 'Zombie" Voters (Dead People) Get Stimulus Checks

Dead People Get Stimulus Checks

MyFOXNewYork.com

This week, thousands of people are getting stimulus checks in the mail. The problem is that a lot of them are dead. A Long Island woman was shocked when she checked the mail and received a letter from the U.S. Treasury -- but it wasn't for her.

Antoniette Santopadre of Valley Stream was expecting a $250 stimulus check. But when her son finally opened it, they saw that the check was made out to her father, Romolo Romonini, who died in Italy 34 years ago. He'd been a U.S. citizen when he left for Italy in 1933, but only returned to the United States for a seven-month visit in 1969.

The Santopadres are not alone. The Social Security Administration, which sent out 52 million checks, says that some of those checks mistakenly went to dead people because the agency had no record of their death. That amounts to between 8,000 and 10,000 checks for millions of dollars.

The feds blame a rushed schedule, because all the checks have to be cut by June. The strange thing is, some of the checks were made out to people -- like Romonini -- who were never even part of the Social Security system.

Wild Thing's comment........

What the heck are they using anyway, ACORN files? hahaha sheesh! This is such a typical way that Democrats run things. It should just say.....Stimulus checks for ACORN registered 'zombie' democrat voters.

No one could be more deserving. No one in our society is more disadvantaged. The dead suffer, by far, the worst wage and housing discrimination, and have the least access to medical care and education. And not one state permits the dead to marry. Heh heh

Posted by Wild Thing at 07:55 AM | Comments (19)

May 14, 2009

EDITORIAL EXEGESIS

EDITORIAL EXEGESIS

The Washington Examiner via The Patriot Post

"Give President Obama credit -- he at least made the proverbial offer Chrysler's secured creditors couldn't refuse. The way Obama strong-armed creditors who rightfully expected to be treated justly under the law was right out of Juan Peron's playbook.

Like the Argentinian strong man, Obama muscled the owners and creditors out of a productive private company and gave it to union leaders, who will then fill his campaign coffers in gratitude for his generosity. The Examiner's Michael Barone -- who has forgotten more about American government and politics than most Washington political experts know -- was correct to dub Obama's Chrysler heist 'an episode of Gangster Government.'

Forget what anybody in the White House or what is left of the Chrysler executive corps claims to the contrary because the UAW effectively owns the company now, holding 55 percent of its stock.

True, the union doesn't get an explicit controlling majority of the board of directors, but who needs that when you've got the White House guaranteeing your work and the U.S. Treasury Department making sure you never have to worry about the bottom line. ... Contrasting mightily with the Pennsylvania Avenue Gang's thuggery is the quiet confidence of Ford Motor Company's president and CEO, Allan Mullaly. He had the foresight three years ago to strengthen his firm's cash and credit reserves in anticipation of the inevitable decline of auto sales.

When GM and Chrysler headed hats-in-hand to Washington last fall, Mullaly said Ford didn't want a bailout and then watched quietly as his two cross-town rivals committed corporate suicide. Now Ford is positioned strongly to be the last great American car company. With a guy like that at the helm, it's enough to make people who love American free enterprise go out and buy a new Ford."

Wild Thing's comment.......

Obama is on the side of the Unions, he probably celebrated his vicotry with all of this with the Unions getting more power then even before.

....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.

Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67

Posted by Wild Thing at 05:45 AM | Comments (6)

May 12, 2009

Soda Tax Being Considered By Obama the Taxing Addict!

Senate leaders are considering new federal taxes on soda and other sugary drinks to help pay for an overhaul of the nation's health-care system.

The taxes would pay for only a fraction of the cost to expand health-insurance coverage to all Americans and would face strong opposition from the beverage industry. They also could spark a backlash from consumers who would have to pay several cents more for a soft drink.

On Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee is set to hear proposals from about a dozen experts about how to pay for the comprehensive health-care overhaul that President Barack Obama wants to enact this year. Early estimates put the cost of the plan at around $1.2 trillion. The administration has so far only earmarked funds for about half of that amount.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington-based watchdog group that pressures food companies to make healthier products, plans to propose a federal excise tax on soda, certain fruit drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks and ready-to-drink teas. It would not include most diet beverages. Excise taxes are levied on goods and manufacturers typically pass them on to consumers.

Senior staff members for some Democratic senators at the center of the effort to craft health-care legislation are weighing the idea behind closed doors, Senate aides said.

The Congressional Budget Office, which is providing lawmakers with cost estimates for each potential change in the health overhaul, included the option in a broad report on health-system financing in December. The office estimated that adding a tax of three cents per 12-ounce serving to these types of sweetened drinks would generate $24 billion over the next four years. So far, lawmakers have not indicated how big a tax they are considering.

"Soda is clearly one of the most harmful products in the food supply, and it's something government should discourage the consumption of," Mr. Jacobson said.

The main beverage lobby that represents Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo Inc., Kraft Foods Inc. and other companies said such a tax would unfairly hit lower-income Americans and wouldn't deter consumption.

"Taxes are not going to teach our children how to have a healthy lifestyle," said Susan Neely, president of the American Beverage Association. Instead, the association says it's backing programs that limit sugary beverage consumption in schools.

The beverage-tax proposal would apply to drinks that many Americans don't consider unhealthy -- such as PepsiCo's Gatorade and Kraft's Capri Sun -- based on their calorie content.

Health advocates are floating other so-called sin tax proposals and food regulations as part of the government's health-care overhaul. Mr. Jacobson also plans to propose Tuesday that the government sharply raise taxes on alcohol, move to largely eliminate artificial trans fat from food and move to reduce the sodium content in packaged and restaurant food.

The beverage tax is just one of hundreds of ideas that lawmakers are weighing to finance the health-care plans. They're expected to narrow the list in coming weeks.

The White House, meanwhile, is pulling together private health groups to identify cost savings that will help fund the health overhaul. Mr. Obama on Monday held a White House meeting with groups that represent doctors, hospitals, insurers, pharmaceutical companies and medical-device makers. They pledged to help restrain cost increases in the health-care system in an effort to save $2 trillion over the next decade.

"When it comes to health-care spending, we are on an unsustainable course that threatens the financial stability of families, businesses and government itself," Mr. Obama told reporters.

Wild Thing's comment......

Can we tax democrats for being democrats or something?? History proves over and over that the Democrats are the party of taxing people to death. Heck even after death.

If they tax soda, Nicholas is going to have a fit. He drinks a lot of diet Coke.

How much more does Obama think half of this country will stand for his being the worst president our country has ever had!!!!! No one comes close to how bad he is, imo. Carter runner up followed by Bill Clinton.

Posted by Wild Thing at 06:47 AM | Comments (10)

May 11, 2009

Attention Hungry Obama To Hold Yet Another Town Hall Meeting

Obama to hold town hall meeting on credit cards

Reuters

Barack Obama will hold a town hall meeting next week in New Mexico to promote congressional efforts to reform credit card practices, the White House said on Friday.

Banks such as Bank of America Corp (BAC.N)>, JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), Citigroup Inc (C.N) and Capital One Financial Corp (COF.N) face a new set of rules issued by the Federal Reserve last year aimed at reining in abusive credit card practices.

The rules are to be implemented by July 2010, a date some lawmakers and consumer groups complain is too far away to help struggling consumers.

U.S. lawmakers are trying to codify those rules in legislation and send it to Obama this month to sign into law. Legislative efforts are aimed at stopping credit card companies from imposing certain late fees, restricting retroactive rate increases, as well as other questionable billing practices and marketing to minors.

The Senate is expected to begin debating on Monday on legislation. The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved its own legislation last month.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters on Friday that Obama will focus on legislation and urge lawmakers to "get something done on an issue of tremendous importance to middle class families.

"For many people credit cards provide an opportunity to finance purchases," Gibbs said. "But we think there's a more equitable way to do that and I think that those reforms are on their way through Congress."

Wild Thing's comment........

Geez every freakin week he holds a town hall meeting..He is still in campaign mode!

Demonrats believe that our the Constitution is a living document but your credit card contract should be fixed.
Something tells me Obama will use this town hall meeting to once again attack on capitalism.

....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.

Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67

Posted by Wild Thing at 05:55 AM | Comments (9)

May 10, 2009

DHS Deputy Secretary to Keynote Civil Rights Awards Lunch at ADC

DHS Deputy Secretary to Keynote Civil Rights Awards Lunch at ADC (The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee ) Annual National Convention

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) is proud to announce that Deputy Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Jane Holl Lute will deliver the keynote remarks during this year’s Civil Rights Awards Lunch headlining an outstanding program of awards and speakers at one of the anchor events during the ADC Annual National Convention.

The Deputy Secretary, the second-ranking official at DHS after Secretary Napolitano, has over 30 years of dedicated military and executive experience and has served as Assistant Secretary General to the United Nations responsible for the support of international peacekeeping operations. ADC is pleased to welcome Deputy Secretary Lute to discuss the ongoing challenges facing law enforcement and the post-9/11 communities and the struggle to maintain and promote civil rights and security simultaneously.

Also confirmed to deliver special remarks at the Saturday June 13 lunch is Chair of the House Judiciary Committee Congressman John Conyers (D-MI). Congressman Conyers has been a tireless advocate for civil rights and most recently championed legislation to provide resources to law enforcement to combat hate crimes. Since the days when he marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Congressman Conyers has been working to protect the rights of all Americans and the integrity of our Constitutional values.

Also, ADC is proud to present this year’s Excellence in Advocacy Award to the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) for their outstanding work toward substantively and constructively addressing challenges facing the Arab and Muslim community post-9/11. The Award will be accepted by MPAC Executive Director Salam Al-Marayati who has successfully spearheaded MPAC’s excellent advocacy efforts on multiple levels.

Other confirmed speakers during this year’s ADC Annual National Convention include Surprise Special Guest ***, Congressman Keith Ellison, Congressman John Dingle, Congressman Brian Baird, Congresswoman Donna Edwards, Archbishop Cappucci of Jerusalem, Dean of the White House Press Corps Helen Thomas, Professor John Mearsheimer, J Street Executive Director Jeremy Ben-Ami, Palestinian Member of the Kenesset Said Naffaa, Professor Saad Eddine Ibrahim, ACLU National Board Member Preetmohan Singh, FBI Assistant Director John Miller, and AFL-CIO Middle East and North Africa Director Heba El-Shazli.

Wild Thing's comment........

This administration and Obama are reaching out to every connection to the enemy of our country there is. And this is another example of how they do not care at all about our security, protecting the citizerns of our country and instead think it is acceptable to associate with the enemy and friends of the enemy.

And check out the list of the other confirmed speakers, in the last paragraph.

....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.

Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67

Posted by Wild Thing at 08:46 AM | Comments (4)

May 08, 2009

Obama’s $100 Million Budget Cuts, Visualized

A great, short video showing what $100 million means in the context of a $3.5 trillion budget.

How much is the $100 million dollars in budget cuts compared to the federal budget as a whole? This video imagines the budget at $100 in pennies to provide the answer.

Wild Thing's comment.......

Clever idea how to explain this.

Posted by Wild Thing at 05:44 AM | Comments (5)

May 07, 2009

Obama's ACORN and Census GPS-tagging Your Home's Front Door

Census GPS-tagging your home's front door

Coordinates being taken for every residence in nation

Census Bureau Adopts GPS to Find American Homes

According to an online Yahoo program, the Global Position System coordinates for the White House, probably one of the best-known publicly owned buildings in the world, are 38.898590 Latitude and -77.035971 Longitude. And since you know that, it's no big deal for the White House to know the coordinates for your front door, is it?

Some people think it is, and are upset over an army of some 140,000 workers hired in part with a $700 million taxpayer-funded contract to collect GPS readings for every front door in the nation.

The data collection, presented as preparation for the 2010 Census, is pinpointing with computer accuracy the locations and has raised considerable concern from privacy advocates who have questioned why the information is needed. The privacy advocates also are more than a little worried over what could be done with that information.

Enhancing the concerns is the Obama administration's recent decision to put White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel in an oversight role over the census, which will be used to determine a reapportionment of congressional seats and could be used to solidify a single political party's control over the nation, its budget, military and future.

Commerce Secretary Gary Locke recently told the Washington Post: "The census director reports to me, and, of course, I serve at the pleasure of the president." He added the White House told him "it has no interest in politicizing the census."

But at American Daily Review, blogger Douglas Gibbs had more than a few doubts.

"GPS coordinates of your front door will make it easier for the government to monitor you," he said. "The U.S. Census Bureau is simply an excuse – a harmless looking means of obtaining the front door coordinates. The creation of GPS coordinates for front doors has nothing to do with the census, in all honesty, no matter how much the United States government tries to convince you that it does."

He recalled wondering why, just weeks ago, the Obama administration announced its oversight of the census, "literally taking control of the census away from the Commerce Department."

He put that together with Obama's longtime push for national service.

"The Obamites, thirsty to serve their new messianic figure, have lost enough of their objectivity to be willingly recruited into such an insidious program like gaining these coordinates for the U.S. government. … I ask again, what would be the purpose of shooting the GPS coordinates of American doorways?" he wrote.

Please continue HERE for the rest of the article

by Dan Charles

July 31, 2006

Two-and-a-half years from now, in early 2009, the Census Bureau plans to send an army of 100,000 temporary workers down every street and dusty, dirt road in America. They will be armed with handheld GPS devices.

Robert LaMacchia, head of the Census Bureau's geography division, says they'll capture the latitude and longitude of the front door of every house, apartment and improvised shelter they find.

"We will actually knock on doors and look for hidden housing units," he says. "We will find converted garages; from the outside, it may not look like anybody lives there."

But census workers will add each dwelling, legal or not, to the Census Bureau's Master Address File.

Recent proposed budget cuts have put part of this plan in jeopardy. But if Congress restores the money, the census will end up with the geographic coordinates — accurate to within 10 feet — for about 110 million residences.

But the Census Bureau can't, by law, share that list with anyone, even local governments. LaMacchia says the information has to be treated as confidential. Otherwise, people might lie, and the census wouldn't be accurate.

"People would not tell us about hidden housing units," LaMacchia says. "People would not respond to the questionnaire if they believed that that information would be turned over to law enforcement or code enforcement and become public information."

ACORN to count heads for Census

The Washington Times

First it was President Obama trying to break all precedent and run the 2010 census from within the White House. While the administration finally backed down from that politicization of the census, it clearly hasn't learned its lesson. Now it is having ACORN officially "partner" with the Census to help count the number of Americans in the country. It's like Santa trusting a child to tell him how many times he or she has been good in the past year.

We could write a book on the false voter registrations submitted by ACORN. There are bizarre stories, such as one from Cleveland, where ACORN employees reregistered the same individual 77 times, even though the individual kept on telling the ACORN workers that he was already registered. But ACORN's people kept offering to bribe him with cigarettes or money to get him to fill out another form. Similar examples from across the United States are too numerous to count.

Last year alone, voter fraud investigations took place in 12 states: Connecticut, Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin.

Giving it any type of official role in the process, including making it a so-called "Census Bureau partner," is disturbing. We worry about how ACORN may misuse this affiliation in representing itself to others.

What is at stake from an accurate census is huge. The allocation of seats in Congress, and ultimately questions of who controls it, depend on an accurate count. Much of the money Congress spends is allocated based on the census. Requiring that the census be non-partisan is the first requirement that must be met.

Wild Thing's comment.......

The fact that this was on the planning board since 2006 and now they are doing it but with Obama at the helm. Now that is concerning.

"But the Census Bureau can't, by law, share that list with anyone, even local governments."

This 'can't by law" stuff means nothing when we have thugs like Obama, Rahm and Holder etc. in charge. They have no honor, no integrity and laws mean nothing to these jerks. And being that Obama is ACORN, he insists on their being the ones to do this. now that is concerning.

I realize they are supposed to get an accurate count of the population. Good grief, hahahah BUT ACORN?

What are they going to do about the addresses of the corpses voting for Democrats LMAO, group them all together in one massive cemetary I suppose.

Google earth has coordinates of whatever you want on the planet. There’s no point in getting GPS coordinates for each house manually.

....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.

Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67

Posted by Wild Thing at 06:47 AM | Comments (4)

House Bypasses Governor’s Veto to Claim Oklahoma’s Sovereignty

House bypasses governor’s veto to claim Oklahoma’s sovereignty

News OK

Although Gov. Brad Henry vetoed similar legislation 10 days earlier, House members Monday again approved a resolution claiming Oklahoma’s sovereignty.

Unlike House Joint Resolution 1003, House Concurrent Resolution 1028 does not need the governor’s approval.

The House passed the measure 73-22. It now goes to the Senate.

"We’re going to get it done one way or the other,” said the resolutions’ author, Rep. Charles Key, R-Oklahoma City.

"I think our governor is out of step.”

House Democrats objected, saying the issue already had been taken up and had been vetoed, but House Speaker Pro Tempore Kris Steele, R-Shawnee, ruled the veto is not final action.

Key said he expects HCR 1028 will pass in the Senate. HJR 1003 earlier passed the House 83-18 and won approval in the Senate 29-18.

Henry vetoed HJR 1003 because he said it suggested, among other things, that Oklahoma should return federal tax dollars.

Key said HCR 1028, which, if passed, would be sent to Democratic President Barack Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress, would not jeopardize federal funds but would tell Congress to "get back into their proper constitutional role.” The resolution states the federal government should "cease and desist” mandates that are beyond the scope of its powers.

Wild Thing's comment.......

Great news! Bless those Okies!

I hope this state sovereignty thing is a growing trend. States rights have been stripped away from us for years.

The American people are no longer being represented, and they know it! The tea parties are going to get bigger and bigger. Thank God, people are finally speaking up.

"House Democrats objected, saying the issue already had been taken up and had been vetoed”

Dem’s just hate it when they have to follow the ‘rule of law’ and the Constitution (State or U.S.).

Unless, of course, it’s in their favor.

....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.

Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67

Posted by Wild Thing at 06:44 AM | Comments (3)

May 06, 2009

Scholarship Students Slam Obama

The recipients of the DC Opportunity Scholarships — Obama supporters, mind you — directly ask the president why he is allowing their scholarships to be taken away.

Obama voters slam Obama for destroying a very successful school choice program in the name of politics. The parents are furious and plan to ask Obama he is doing this when they marched for him... can he take this wonderful program away.

Wild Thing's comment.......

This is something the Republicans could be doing right now. Speak out about this, pay for billboards along roads about this. Push the fact that these people have been LIED to by their Messiah of thugville.

Posted by Wild Thing at 05:47 AM | Comments (6)

Obama and White House Threats Over Chrysler

Megyn Kelly and Neil Cavuto Interview Tom Lauria Over Fascist White House Threats To Chrysler Creditors

Laurie has said :

"One of my clients was directly threatened by the White House and, in essence, compelled to withdraw its opposition to the deal under the threat that the full force of the White House press corps would destroy its reputation if it continued to fight." --Attorney Tom Lauria

As I posted about in this post, an interview that Mark Levin had done.

Chrysler Lender Attorney "White House Directly Threatened My Client"

Megyn Kelly. Interviews Tom Lauria

Neil Cavuto Interview of Tom Lauria

From the May 4 broadcast of Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show:

LIMBAUGH: Now we know, ladies and gentlemen, I was right. Now we know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, I was right; option number three: They are scared to death. My buddy Frank Beckmann at WJR in Detroit interviewed one of the bankruptcy lawyers for one of the bondholders at Chrysler, one of the clients. His name is Tom Lauria.

Tom Lauria said, "Let me tell you, it's no fun standing on this side of the fence opposing the president of the United States. In fact, let me just say people have asked me who I represent. That's a moving target. I can tell you for sure that I represent one less investor today than I represented yesterday. One of my clients was directly threatened by the White House and, in essence, compelled to withdraw its opposition to the Chrysler deal under the threat that the full force of the White House press corps would destroy its reputation if it continued to fight. That's how hard it is to stand on this side of the fence."

And Frank Beckmann said, "Was it Perella Weinberg?" Lauria says, "It was Perella Weinberg."

Now, this happened in Friday -- on Friday in Detroit. It's made the news throughout the weekend. I -- so here's -- now the White House, by the way, is denying all of this, but there's a pattern here, ladies and gentlemen, that sort of gives the lie to the denial. I mean, this is -- we've referred to the situation that's going on in Washington as loan-sharking, Obama loan-sharking people.

Basically what happened was, as we mentioned last week, the bondholders, the investors at Chrysler, were leaned on by Obama and called out personally by the name of hedge funds and they were selfish and they were holding out for a better deal. These people were forced to settle for 20 to 30 cents on the dollar, while the UAW was made whole in the whole thing. And the lawyer, Thomas Lauria, now says that his client was threatened with reputation ruination from the White House press corps.

Wild Thing's comment...........

This guy is scared one can feel coming from him. and so are the clients he is representing on this.

And lastly look at this:

New Allegations Of White House Threats Over Chrysler

The Business Insider

"The sources, who represent creditors to Chrysler, say they were taken aback by the hardball tactics that the Obama administration employed to cajole them into acquiescing to plans to restructure Chrysler. One person described the administration as the most shocking “end justifies the means” group they have ever encountered. Another characterized Obama was “the most dangerous smooth talker on the planet- and I knew Kissinger.” Both were voters for Obama in the last election."

"One participant in negotiations said that the administration's tactic was to present what one described as a "madman theory of the presidency" in which the President is someone to be feared because he was willing to do anything to get his way. The person said this threat was taken very seriously by his firm."

The White House has denied the allegation that it threatened Perella Weinberg.

Last week Obama singled out the firms that continue to oppose his plan for Chrysler, saying he would not stand with them. Perella Weinberg says it was convinced to support the plan by this stark drawing of a line between firms that have the president's backing and those that did not. They didn't want to be on the wrong side of Obama. Privately, administration officials have expressed confidence that other firms will switch sides for this reason.

These allegations add to the picture of an administration willing to use intimidation to win over support for its Chrysler plans--and then categorically deny it.

Posted by Wild Thing at 05:44 AM | Comments (4)

May 05, 2009

Obama Wants $190 Billion Tax Increase on Companies

Bloomberg.com

Obama proposed to raise about $190 billion over the next decade by outlawing three offshore tax-avoidance techniques used by U.S. companies such as Caterpillar Inc. and Procter & Gamble Co. He also would make it riskier for Americans to stash money in tax-haven banks.

The tax system is “full of corporate loopholes,” Obama said at the White House today, as he outlined the plan along with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. The tax proposals, which will be part of a detailed budget the administration releases later this week, would raise a total of about $210 billion over the next decade.

Geithner said that in addition to the tax changes, the Internal Revenue Service is making an unprecedented effort to strengthen.

The administration is going after a strategy that allows U.S.-based multinational companies to effectively hide from the Internal Revenue Service the role their foreign subsidiaries play in shifting profits into low-tax jurisdictions such as the Cayman Islands, according to the administration.

The proposal, affecting tax rules known as “check the box,” would net $86.5 billion in revenue between 2011-2019 by overhauling regulations created in Democrat Bill Clinton’s administration and later written into law by a Republican- controlled Congress after Clinton tried to withdraw the rules.

Tax Changes

The proposal, combined with a $60.1 billion plan to limit many expense deductions for American companies that take advantage of laws allowing them to defer tax on foreign profits and a $43 billion crackdown on abusive foreign tax credits, would be the biggest tax increase on U.S. corporations since 1986. Obama also would shift the burden of proof to individuals when the IRS alleges assets are being hidden in certain offshore bank accounts, the White House said in a statement.

“This is bad stuff,” Kenneth Kies, a tax lobbyist at the Washington firm Federal Policy Group, said of Obama’s plans. “This is going to be the biggest fight for the corporate community in the next two years.” Kies represents General Electric Co., Anheuser-Busch Cos. and Microsoft Corp., among others.

While the administration expects companies to lobby against the proposals, the president said his plan strikes loopholes that give multinational companies an unfair advantage over companies that operate only within the U.S.

In 2004, U.S.-based multinational corporations paid about $16 billion in U.S. taxes while earning about $700 billion offshore, or an effective tax rate of about 2.3 percent, according to the administration statement. The top marginal tax rate for U.S. companies is 35 percent; drug companies such as Amgen Inc. and technology companies such as Microsoft are among companies that make the biggest use of tax-deferral benefits.

Four Proposals

Obama and Geithner outlined the tax proposals before the White House releases a more detailed budget later this week.

The biggest of the requests is the repeal of the check-the- box rules, which took effect in 1997. The rules were designed to reduce paperwork for companies and the IRS by allowing companies to classify entities within their corporate structure in the most tax-efficient manner without inviting a tax challenge.

The Clinton administration realized that the rules made it easy for multinationals to create entities whose only purpose was to shift profits into low-tax countries and out of reach of the tax authorities, according to a January Government Accountability Office report that found 83 of the 100 biggest companies had subsidiaries in tax havens.

Repeal Recommendation

Once the assets were in the haven, the U.S. parent company borrowed from the subsidiary. The interest payments were deductible in the U.S. and tax-free in the haven, the GAO said. The nonpartisan congressional Joint Committee on Taxation recommended in 2005 that the rules be repealed.

The Clinton administration intended the rules to help U.S. companies minimize their foreign tax liability, not to avoid the IRS, said Andrew Lyon, a former Treasury Department tax official who is now a principal at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP’s Washington office.

As a package, Obama’s proposal “is just a massive change and targeting what really has been a growth area for the U.S. economy: the overseas activities of U.S. firms,” Lyon said.

Stephen Shipman, a portfolio manager at Century Management, an Austin, Texas, hedge fund, said the result would be double- taxation for many companies that operate overseas.

“The simple thinkers in the White House will learn that such policies will result in less economic exchange, both overseas and here in the United States,” Shipman said.

When the Clinton administration tried to rescind the benefits of the tax rules in such cases, companies mounted a lobbying effort and got Congress to back the rule, a White House official said. Obama believes the rules have no economic substance other than avoiding U.S. tax, the official said.

Passive Income

“Check-the-box was responsible for a lot of currently taxable passive income disappearing from the system,” said Lee Sheppard, a tax lawyer and contributing editor at Tax Notes, a weekly industry journal.

Obama’s plan will be “surprising and cause a lot of pain” to U.S. companies, said Pamela Olson, a former top tax policy official in President George W. Bush’s Treasury Department. Many companies structured their international operations over the last decade based on rules such as check-the-box.

“Everything they’ve done is going to get wiped out,” Olson said. The Obama Treasury Department could have made most of the changes administratively, she said. By making it a legislative proposal, the new administration can count any revenue that results from the policy change in its budget.

Obama’s other corporate tax plans are patterned on those made in 2007 by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, a New York Democrat, an administration official said.

Expense Deductions

The first would defer most expense deductions, including those for interest paid, for U.S.-based multinationals, until U.S. tax is paid on the foreign income.

That would end a practice where companies deduct 35 cents of a dollar of interest paid to a foreign subsidiary that owes little or no tax in the country where it is located, the Obama administration official said. Such tax arbitrage, while now legal, reduces companies’ overall tax burdens often at the expense of the U.S. Treasury.

The proposal stopped short of an outright repeal of U.S. tax-deferral rules, as feared by a coalition of 200 companies and trade groups ranging from Alcoa Inc. to Yum! Brands, Inc. that was spearheaded by the Business Roundtable, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Foreign Trade Council, all Washington- based trade associations.

Letters to Leaders

In letters to congressional officials including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the trade groups warned such a repeal would hurt U.S. companies’ competition with their foreign rivals by increasing operating costs. That would make U.S. companies vulnerable to takeover and cost American jobs, they said.

Obama’s proposal would divert the revenue it collects to making permanent a research and experimentation tax credit that is popular with many of the same businesses protesting the end of the tax-deferral rules, the administration official said. That credit, which has expired 13 times, is due to expire again Dec. 31; while the research credit is renewed only temporarily, there has been only one year since 1986 when it and the tax deferral rules haven’t been on the books at the same time.

Another Obama proposal would end abuses of foreign tax- credit rules. U.S. tax law gives companies a dollar-for-dollar credit for taxes paid for foreign governments, but companies are projected to use techniques over the next decade to artificially inflate or accelerate those credits by $43 billion, the administration official said. The Obama budget would recoup that revenue, the official said.

Offshore Money

For individuals, Obama will propose shifting the burden of proof when the IRS believes money is being hidden offshore. In cases where individuals bank with financial institutions that haven’t agreed to report certain account information to the IRS, the individual will have to prove he or she doesn’t own the account, rather than requiring the IRS to prove ownership.

The change is projected to generate about $9 billion in new revenue between 2011 and 2019, and Obama believes it will yield substantially more, the administration official said.

Obama’s proposals could be superseded by recommendations by a panel led by Paul Volcker, whom the president named to make recommendations on tax overhaul by December, the administration official said. The panel won’t be constrained by the budget’s proposals, the official said.

Wild Thing's comment......

OH sure Hussein, that will sure pump some life into the economy.

Tax increases on companies are NOT paid by those companies. They pass along increased taxes, just like other increased costs, to their customers, and ultimately to the final consumers. So, when Obama tells us that he’s not raising taxes on individuals... he’s full of it.

I guess because he spent so much time in foreign countries growing up he never heard the old but true saying, “You can’t get blood out of a turnip”. Or “nothing from nothing leaves nothing.”

Obama is coming for the turnip. U.S. based multi-nationals will close the U.S. part of the business and operate as foreign companies. That breaks the access for the IRS to try to tax the profits made in a foreign country. It also kills revenue to the IRS from the part of the company that ceases to exist on U.S. soil.

More corporations will reincorporate off-shore and then import their goods into the USA. The big breweries are foreign owned. Most “big Pharma” is foreign owned, Fiat will soon own Chrysler operating assets. the list goes on and on. Why be an American corporation and put up with this crap? There are more stable countries with less political risk in the world.

Posted by Wild Thing at 04:45 AM | Comments (8)

May 04, 2009

Obama to Roll Out International Tax Proposals

Obama to roll out international tax proposals

Reuters

Washington

Barack Obama plans to roll out a set of proposals on international tax policies on Monday, in an announcement with potential implications for U.S. multinational firms.

The White House said Obama will be joined by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner for the event.

Obama's budget outline released in February made reference to proposals to change the tax treatment of U.S. firms with overseas operations and measures to crack down on international tax evasion.

The White House said at the time the measures would bring in $210 billion in additional revenue over the next decade.

During his campaign last year, Obama spoke out against provisions in the tax code that allow U.S. firms with overseas operations to defer payment of taxes on corporate profits if they plowed the money back into their foreign subsidiaries.

Obama said this gave companies incentives to ship jobs overseas.

Wild Thing's comment......

This idiot is charging head long into the abyss and dragging the country with him.

Posted by Wild Thing at 05:49 AM | Comments (10)

Obama: Wall Street Will Play Less Dominant Role

Wall Street is not going to play as dominant a role in the economy, president says.

Confrontation with witness

WASHINGTON

Wall Street is not going to play as dominant a role in the economy as regulations reduce "some of the massive leveraging and the massive risk-taking that had become so common," President Barack Obama says.

The changes in the role of Wall Street and the huge profits that came from that risk-taking could mean other adjustments as well, Obama said in an interview in this week's New York Times Magazine.

"That means that more talent, more resources will be going to other sectors of the economy," he said. "I actually think that's healthy. We don't want every single college grad with mathematical aptitude to become a derivatives trader. We want some of them to go into engineering, and we want some of them to be going into computer design."

The Obama administration is trying to restore more regulations on the financial sector to avoid some of the risk-taking that helped cause the current economic problems.

"Wall Street will remain a big, important part of our economy, just as it was in the '70s and the '80s," he said. "It just won't be half of our economy."

Obama said he expects that government efforts to fix the economy will cause long-term changes.

"What I think will change, what I think was an aberration, was a situation where corporate profits in the financial sector were such a heavy part of our overall profitability over the last decade," he said.

Obama said he's confident that people will regain trust and confidence in the financial system, but he believes it will take time.

"I think it's important to understand that some of that wealth was illusory in the first place," he said.

Wild Thing's comment........

Forget socialism. This guy is going straight for communisim. This Soutpiel puppet has perpetrated one of the biggest cons the world has ever seen.

Translation: “Wall Street, you better cough up big for Democrats in 2010 and for me in 2012 if you want us to stay off your back.”

Wall Street IS the free economy. If Wall Street declines it can mean only one thing. Government grows = communisim.

What a flaming hypocrite. If you look closely, HALF of his administration or more has worked on Wall Street at some point. I just read yesterday that Rahm Emanuel had a brief career as an investment banker. What the heck does Rahm Emanuel know about banking?

Rahm Emanuel’s profitable stint at mortgage giant [Freddie Mac]
Chicago Tribune

"Before its portfolio of bad loans helped trigger the current housing crisis, mortgage giant Freddie Mac was the focus of a major accounting scandal that led to a management shake-up, huge fines and scalding condemnation of passive directors by a top federal regulator.

One of those allegedly asleep-at-the-switch board members was Chicago's Rahm Emanuel—now chief of staff to President Barack Obama—who made at least $320,000 for a 14-month stint at Freddie Mac that required little effort."

Rahm made $19 MILLION during his short time on Wall Street. He wired the state bond deals and reaped the harvest.

Obama and his soros communism will 'crowd out' capitalism. (which all here see as plain as the noses on our tea party faces). What he left out is...as goes Wall St, so goes Main St. (at least while he's president, or until we can elect a Congress WITH a brain to replace this cursed Congress WITHOUT a brain, whichever comes first).

Posted by Wild Thing at 05:45 AM | Comments (10)

May 01, 2009

Supreme Court Justice David Souter to Retire

Souter to Retire From Supreme Court

FOX news

Supreme Court Justice David Souter has reportedly decided to retire from the Supreme Court, a move that will provide President Barack Obama his first opportunity to nominate someone to the nation's highest court.

The White House has been told that Souter will retire in June, when the court finishes its work for the summer, a source familiar with his plans said Thursday night. He almost certainly would remain on the bench until a successor is confirmed.

Souter, 69, is widely regarded as one of the most liberal members of the bench. As such, his departure would not likely lead to a significant change in the close idealogical split that currently defines the Court.

A number of Souter's former law clerks reached late Thursday night were unaware of the news and said they had no advance knowledge of Souter's departure. "A tremendous loss," says Georgetown University law professor Rebecca Tushnet who clerked for Souter a decade ago.

Just a few weeks ago at a speech in Washington, Souter described his annual ritual of preparing for the upcoming Supreme Court term as "a lobotomy of the mind." That comment suggesting the Court's business was intellectually listless combined with the fact that he had yet to hire clerks for the upcoming fall term prompted much speculation that he would step down.

Souter's presence in the current liberal block of the Court is a long-standing matter of frustration for conservatives who feel his appointment in 1990 by President George H.W. Bush — a Republican — was a missed opportunity.

Wild Thing's comment.......

And so it begins.... with the Judges.

Can we hope the replacement can be delayed for 3 1/2 years until Obama is voted out of office ???
Just a thought..... yes I know, that won't happen.

I could say it will be a very liberal Judge replaced by another very liberal Judge. Except for one thing, if we
use the ruler on what Obama would do, the Judge Obama will pick will be off the charts a very liberal Judge.
He has not picked one person yet for anything that is not a communist, nut case that wants to destroy our country.

Soros will let him know who to pick probably.

Posted by Wild Thing at 06:47 AM | Comments (4)

April 29, 2009

Update: McCain and Senate Select Committee on POW and MIA

******* Just moving this up to a more recent posting.Because of what John Kerry is doing this month . Will reference later.~ Thank you , Wild Thing ********

The documentary "Missing, Presumed Dead the Search for America's POWs" however focuses more on Senator John McCain successfully blocking the release of classified POW/MIA documents. Here is a DVD extra from that documentary.This video was done by The group Vietnam Veterans Against McCain.

Memorandum for: Vice Chairman, Senate Select Committee on Prisoners of War and Missing in Action

Subject: Possible Violations of Title 18, U.S.C., Section 2071, by the Select Committee and Possible Ethical Misconduct by Staff Attorneys.

From: John F. McCreary

Continuing analysis of relevant laws and further review of the events between 8 April and 16 April 1992 connected with the destruction of the Investigators' Intelligence Briefing Text strongly indicate that the order to destroy all copies of that briefing text on 9 April and the actual destruction of copies of the briefing texts plus the purging of computer files might constitute violations of Title 18, U.S.C., Section 2071, which imposes criminal penalties for unlawful document destruction. Even absent a finding of criminal misconduct, statements, actions, and failures to act by the senior Staff attorneys following the 9 April briefing might constitute serious breaches of ethical standards of conduct for attorneys, in addition to violations of Senate and Select Committee rules. The potential consequences of these possible misdeeds are such that they should be brought to the attention of all members of the Select Committee, plus all Designees and Staff members who were present at the 9 April briefing.

The relevant section of Title 18, U.S.C., states in pertinent part: Section 2071. Concealment, removal, or mutilation generally (a) Whoever willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, or destroys, or attempts to do so, or, with intent to do so takes and carries away any record, proceeding, map, book, paper, document, or other thing, filed or deposited with any clerk or officer of any court of the United States, or in any public office, or with any judicial or public officer of the United States, shall be fined not more than $2,000 or imprisoned not more than three years, or both. (June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 795)

a. On 8 April 1992, the Investigators' Intelligence Briefing Text was presented to Senior Staff members and Designees for whom copies were available prior to beginning the briefing. Objections to the text by the Designees prompted the Staff Director to order all persons present to leave their copies of the briefing text in Room SRB078. Subsequent events indicated that two copies had been removed without authorization.

b. On 9 April 1992, at the beginning of the meeting of the Select Committee and prior to the scheduled investigators' briefing, Senator McCain produced a copy of the intelligence briefing text, with whose contents he strongly disagreed. He charged that the briefing text had already been leaked to a POW/MIA activist, but was reassured by the Chairman that such was not the case. He replied that he was certain it would be leaked. Whereupon, the Chairman assured Senator McCain that there would be no leaks because all copies would be gathered and destroyed, and he gave orders to that effect. No senior staff member or attorney present cautioned against a possible violation of Title 18, U.S.C., Section 2071, or of Senate or Select Committee Rules.

c. Following the briefing on 9 April, the Staff Director, Ms. Frances Zwenig, restated to the intelligence investigators the order to destroy the intelligence briefing text and took measures to ensure execution of the destruction order. (See paragraph 3 of the attachment.) During one telephone conversation with the undersigned, she stated that she was "acting under orders."

d. The undersigned also was instructed to delete all computer files, which Mr. Barry Valentine witnessed on 9 April.

e. In a meeting on 15 April 1992, the Staff's Chief Counsel, J. William Codinha, was advised by intelligence investigators of their concerns about the possibility that they had committed a crime by participating in the destruction of the briefing text. Mr. Codinha minimized the significance of the documents and of their destruction. He admonished the investigators for "making a mountain out of a molehill."

f. When investigators repeated their concern that the order to destroy the documents might lead to criminal charges, Mr. Codinha replied "Who's the injured party." He was told, "The 2,494 families of the unaccounted for US Servicemen, among others." Mr. Codinha then said, "Who's gonna tell them. It's classified." At that point the meeting erupted. The undersigned stated that the measure of merit was the law and what's right, not avoidance of getting caught. To which Mr. Codinha made no reply. At no time during the meeting did Mr. Codinha give any indication that any copies of the intelligence briefing text existed.

g. Investigators, thereupon, repeatedly requested actions by the Committee to clear them of any wrongdoing, such as provision of legal counsel. Mr. Codinha admitted that he was not familiar with the law and promised to look into it. He invited a memorandum from the investigators stating what they wanted. Given Mr. Codinha's statements and reactions to the possibility of criminal liability, the investigators concluded they must request appointment of an independent counsel. A memorandum making such a request and signed by all six intelligence investigators was delivered to Mr. Codinha on 16 April.

h. At 2130 on 16 April, the Chairman of the Senate Select Committee, convened a meeting with the intelligence investigators, who told him personally of their concern that they might have committed a crime by participating in the destruction of the briefing texts at the order of the Staff Director. Senator Kerry stated that he gave the order to destroy the documents, not the Staff Director, and that none of the Senators present at the meeting had objected. He also stated that the issue of document destruction was "moot" because the original briefing text had been deposited with the Office of Senate Security "all along." Both the Staff Director and the Chief Counsel supported this assertion by the Chairman.

i. Senator Kerry's remarks prompted follow-up investigations (See paragraphs 4 through 9 of the attachment) and inquiries that established that a copy of the text was not deposited in the Office of Senate Security until the afternoon of 16 April. The Staff Director has admitted that on the afternoon of 16 April, after receiving a copy of a memorandum from Senator Bob Smith to Senator Kerry in which Senator Smith outlined his concerns about the destruction of documents, she obtained a copy of the intelligence briefing text from the office of Senator McCain and took it to the Office of Senate Security. Office of Senate Security personnel confirmed that the Staff Director gave them an envelope, marked "Eyes Only," to be placed in her personal file. The Staff Director has admitted that the envelope contained the copy of the intelligence briefing text that she obtained from the office of Senator McCain.

The facts of the destruction of the intelligence briefing text would seem to fall inside the prescriptions of the Statute, Title 18, U.S.C., Section 2071, so as to justify their referral for investigation to a competent law enforcement authority. The applicability of that Statute was debated in United States v. Poindexter, D.D.C. 1989, 725 F. Supp. 13, in connection with the Iran Contra investigation. The District Court ruled, inter alia, that the National Security Council is a public office within the meaning of the Statute and, thus, that its records and documents fell within the protection of the Statute. In light of that ruling, the Statute would seem to apply to this Senate Select Committee and its Staff. The continued existence of a "bootleg" copy of the intelligence briefing text - i.e., a copy that is not one of those made by the investigators for the purpose of briefing the Select Committee - would seem to be irrelevant to the issues of intent to destroy and willfulness; as well as to the issue of responsibility for the order to destroy all copies of the briefing text, for the attempt to carry out that order, and for the destruction that actually was accomplished in execution of that order.

As for the issue of misconduct by Staff attorneys, all member of the Bar swear to uphold the law. That oath may be violated by acts of omission and commission. Even without a violation of the Federal criminal statute, the actions and failures to act by senior Staff attorneys in the sequence of events connected with the destruction of the briefing text might constitute violations of ethical standards for members of the Bar and of both Senate and Select Committee rules. The statements, actions and failures to act during and after the meeting on 15 April, when the investigators gave notice of their concern about possible criminal liability for document destruction, would seem to reflect disregard for the law and for the rules of the United States Senate.

John F. McCreary
May 3, 1992

Dolores Apodaca Alfond
chairwoman of the National Alliance of Families
an all-volunteer MIA organization

One such witness was Dolores Apodaca Alfond, chairwoman of the National Alliance of Families, an all-volunteer MIA organization. Her pilot brother, Capt. Victor J. Apodaca, out of the Air Force Academy, was shot down over Dong Hoi, North Vietnam, in the early evening of June 8, 1967. At least one person in the two-man plane survived. Beeper signals from a pilot's distress radio were picked up by overhead helicopters, but the cloud cover was too heavy to go in. Hanoi has recently turned over some bone fragments that are supposed to be Apodaca's. The Pentagon first declared the fragments to be animal bones. But now it is telling the family -- verbally -- that they came from the pilot. But the Pentagon, for unexplained reasons, will not put this in writing, which means Apodaca is still unaccounted for. Also the Pentagon refuses to give Alfond a sample of the fragments so she can have testing done by an independent laboratory.

Alfond's testimony, at a hearing of the POW/MIA committee Nov. 11, 1992, was revealing. She pleaded with the committee not to shut down in two months, as scheduled, because so much of its work was unfinished. Also, she was critical of the committee, and in particular Kerry and McCain, for having "discredited the overhead satellite symbol pictures, arguing there is no way to be sure that the [distress] symbols were made by U.S. POWs." She also criticized them for similarly discounting data from special sensors, shaped like a large spike with an electronic pod and an antenna, that were airdropped to stick in the ground along the Ho Chi Minh trail.

These devices served as motion detectors, picking up passing convoys and other military movements, but they also had rescue capabilities. Specifically, someone on the ground -- a downed airman or a prisoner on a labor detail -- could manually enter data into the sensor pods. Alfond said the data from the sensor spikes, which was regularly gathered by Air Force jets flying overhead, had showed that a person or persons on the ground had manually entered into the sensors -- as U.S. pilots had been trained to do -- "no less than 20 authenticator numbers that corresponded exactly to the classified authenticator numbers of 20 U.S. POWs who were lost in Laos."

Other than the panel's second co-chairman, Sen. Bob Smith, R-N.H., not a single committee member attended this public hearing. But McCain, having been advised of Alfond's testimony, suddenly rushed into the room to confront her. His face angry and his voice very loud, he accused her of making "allegations ... that are patently and totally false and deceptive." Making a fist, he shook his index finger at her and said she had insulted an emissary to Vietnam sent by President Bush. He said she had insulted other MIA families with her remarks. And then he said, through clenched teeth: "And I am sick and tired of you insulting mine and other people's [patriotism] who happen to have different views than yours."

Brought to tears

By this time, tears were running down Alfond's cheeks. She reached into her handbag for a handkerchief. She tried to speak: "The family members have been waiting for years -- years! And now you're shutting down." He kept interrupting her. She tried to say, through tears, that she had issued no insults. He kept talking over her words. He said she was accusing him and others of "some conspiracy without proof, and some cover-up." She said she was merely seeking "some answers. That is what I am asking." He ripped into her for using the word "fiasco." She replied: "The fiasco was the people that stepped out and said we have written the end, the final chapter to Vietnam." "No one said that," he shouted. "No one said what you are saying they said, Ms. Alfond." And then, his face flaming pink, he stalked out of the room, to shouts of disfavor from members of the audience.

....

Wild Thing's comment........

This is such a huge issue for me and why I have such tremendous animosity towards McCain and always will.

John Kerry and Senator John McCain chaired the country's most thorough investigation into the fate of POW/MIAs in Southeast Asia. Unfortunately they did more to obstruct that investigation than to pursue evidence indicating that Vietnam deliberately withheld captured American servicemen.

This is a long post and I apologize for that.

U.S. POW/MIAs Who May Have Survived In Captivity
Prepared by the Office of Senator Bob Smith
Vice-Chairman, Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs
December 1, 1992

Posted by Wild Thing at 04:47 AM | Comments (14)

April 28, 2009

Pontiac: R.I.P.

Pontiac -- in business since 1926 -- became a symbol of American muscle cars with Hollywood's glorification of it in the movie "Smokey and the Bandit" and the television show "Night Rider."

Pontiac is a brand of automobiles produced from 1926 till current, and sold in the United States, Canada and Mexico by General Motors (GM), marketed as an "athletic" brand specializing in mainstream performance vehicles.

The Pontiac name was first used in 1906 by the Pontiac Spring & Wagon Works. The name was taken from Chief Pontiac, an American Indian chief who led an unsuccessful uprising against the British shortly after the French and Indian War.

The Oakland Motor Company and Pontiac Spring & Wagon Works Company merged in November 1908 under the name of the Oakland Motor Car Company.

The operations of both companies were joined together in Pontiac, Michigan (of Oakland County) to build the Cartercar. General Motors in 1909 purchased Oakland. General Motors' first Pontiac was conceived of as an affordable six cylinder intending to compete in the more inexpensive four cylinder model range. Within months of its introduction, Pontiac was outselling Oakland.

As a result of Pontiac's sales rising while Oakland's sales were declining, Pontiac became the only companion marque to survive its parent, with Oakland ceasing production in 1932.

CLICK to play VIDEO ~ Pontiac GTO's to the tune of "Little GTO" by Ronnie and the Daytonas

GM pulls the plug on a brand credited with originating the muscle car.

CNN ....for entire article

GM CEO Fritz Henderson announced that Pontiac will be shut down indefinitely.

Pontiac is scheduled to be shut down next year after inventories are eventually cleared. This news comes as a surprise to many analysts who know that Pontiac was GM’s third best selling make. Other GM subsidiaries like Saturn, Saab, and Hummer are also on the razors edge as they too may be downsized or closed completely. The reason why Pontiac was chosen for the axe was due to profitability concerns. Pontiac was not making GM a substantial enough profit.

21,000 jobs are expected to be cut in the coming months when the company closes its doors. Pontiac was introduced by GM in 1927 with the Pontiac Chief and has been a symbol of power ever since.

CLICK TO PLAY VIDEO ~ This is a generic spot for Pontiac's whole 1987 auto line with the "we build excitement" jingle.

Wild Thing's comment......

This is just sad! Killed by the UAW and liberalism especially Obama and Pelosi/Reid’s NO Energy Policy. No drilling, no shale oil, no coal diesel, no nothing.

Didn’t HO-bama call the shots here, making him the first US president in history to kill an American car brand?

....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.

Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67

Posted by Wild Thing at 05:55 AM | Comments (12)

April 12, 2009

Steele: Obama Using ACORN For Census

newsmax

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele says the Obama administration is partnering with the liberal activist organization ACORN to rig the upcoming census.

The census determines how Congressional district lines are drawn and how many House seats each state has. So the results will affect the makeup of Congress and how many electoral votes each state receives in the next presidential election.

The amount of federal funds allocated to each state also is set according to the census, which is taken every 10 years.

“It has become plain that when candidate Obama talked about change, he was talking about using the system to create permanent liberal control of the federal government,” Steele writes in a fundraising letter.

“President Obama's old friends from ACORN, the leftist, urban ‘community’ organization with a long history of promoting vote fraud, has been chosen by the Administration as a ‘partner’ with the Census Bureau to determine population counts in cities around the country.”

In an ACORN voter registration drive during the 2008 election, 400,000, or about 30 percent, of the registrations proved to be faulty, and some were fraudulent. The activity triggered investigations in 13 states.

The Obama campaign denied that ACRON was involved with its own voter registration drives.

But Steele says: “With this group's track record of coming up with countless fraudulent voter registrations in heavily Democrat areas to sway elections to ultra-liberals, you can be sure they'll be manipulating population numbers as well.”

Wild Thing's comment.........

Chicago dirty thug politics takes root in Washington DC.

Will Michael Steele and the Republicans actually attempt to fight this? I hope so, that is why these people have been elected. And the RNC politicans and Steele can't say they don't know what we want.

America currently has no Executive branch. It has a Democrat coup. That coup has declared war on the legitimate US government, the people of the United States, and the Constitution.

Here is one of my concerns about Michael Steele, Friday morning on the radio while subbing for Bill Bennett Stelle said..... “I like the President... I think he is a good leader for who he is leading... I think he is an honorable man”.

Michael Steele does not know which end his refuse is supposed to be ejected from.

....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.

Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67

Posted by Wild Thing at 06:40 AM | Comments (5)

April 11, 2009

Act Forces Congress' Return to Limited Government

Rep. John Shadegg, R-Ariz

Legislator to colleagues: 'Your laws not authorized by Constitution'

As a reminder of the federal government's limited powers, 20 representatives want to ensure that every single piece of legislation passing through Congress includes a statement citing specific constitutional authority for enacting it.

Sponsored by Rep. John Shadegg, R-Ariz., H.R. 450, or the Enumerated Powers Act, states,

"Each Act of Congress shall contain a concise and definite statement of the constitutional authority relied upon for the enactment of each portion of that Act. The failure to comply with this section shall give rise to a point of order in either House of Congress. …"

When he introduced the proposal Jan. 9, Shadegg gave a House floor speech reminding his colleagues of limited authority granted in the 10th Amendment of the United States Constitution.

It states, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

"What that means is that the Founding Fathers intended our national government to be a limited government, a government of limited powers that cannot expand its legislative authority into areas reserved to the states or to the people," Shadegg said. "As the final amendment in the 10 Bill of Rights, it is clear that the Constitution establishes a Federal Government of specifically enumerated and limited powers."

For that reason, Shadegg said he has introduced the Enumerated Powers Act each year that he's been in Congress.

"This measure would enforce a constant and ongoing re-examination of the role of our national government," he said. "… It is simply intended to require a scrutiny that we should look at what we enact and that, by doing so, we can slow the growth and reach of the Federal Government, and leave to the states or the people, those functions that were reserved to them by the Constitution."

Shadegg said the act would perform three important functions:

1. It would encourage members of Congress to consider whether their proposed legislation belongs in the federal level in the allocation of powers or whether it belongs with the states or the people.

2. It would force lawmakers to include statements explaining by what authority they are acting.

3. It would give the U.S. Supreme Court the ability to scrutinize constitutional justification for every piece of legislation. If the justification does not hold up, the courts and the people could hold Congress accountable and eliminate acts that reach beyond the scope of the Constitution.

He said the Founding Fathers granted specific, limited powers to the national government to protect the people's freedom.

"As a result, the Constitution gives the Federal Government only 18 specific enumerated powers, just 18 powers," Shadegg noted.

Beginning with President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, he said, Congress has ignored the 10th Amendment and greatly expanded federal government.

"Let me be clear," he said. "Virtually all the measures which go beyond the scope of the powers granted to the Federal Government by the 10th amendment are well-intentioned. But unfortunately, many of them are not authorized by the Constitution. The Federal Government has ignored the Constitution and expanded its authority into every aspect of human conduct, and quite sadly, it is not doing many of those things very well."

While many believe government "can do anything," that is not what the Founding Fathers intended for the nation, Shadegg contends.

Wild Thing's comment........

It’s a wonderful idea! President Reagon required this of his staff for any new regulation. It cut down on a lot of BS.

I sure hope it will pass, but reality says it won't. BUT the thing is as things keep getting worse and worse because of B.Hussein maybe some demcorats will see that this bill is very much needed.

....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.

Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67

Posted by Wild Thing at 04:50 AM | Comments (8)

April 10, 2009

Catholics Take Offense To Obama Naming Critic of Pope Benedict to Faith-Based Panel

Catholics Take Offense to Obama Naming Critic of Pope Benedict to Faith-Based Panel

Harry Knox, appointed by President Obama to a White House advisory council, lambasted the pope and Catholic bishops in a gay newspaper last month for their opposition to same-sex marriage.

A representative of a national gay rights group who was appointed by President Obama to a White House advisory council this week once described Pope Benedict XVI and some Catholic bishops as "discredited leaders" because of their opposition to same-sex marriage.

Harry Knox, director of the religion and faith program at Human Rights Campaign, a Washington-based gay rights group, lambasted the prelates in a gay newspaper last month for their support of Proposition 8, the successful November ballot measure that made same-sex marriage unconstitutional in California.

Knox told the Bay Area Reporter that the Knights of Columbus, the Catholic fraternal service organization, were "foot soldiers of a discredited army of oppression" for their role in the campaign, saying the group "followed discredited leaders," including bishops and Pope Benedict.

"People are right to criticize the Catholic Church for anything," Donahue told FOXNews.com. "But Harry Knox is not just a critic. He's insulting. He used disdainful, disparaging terms to talk about the pope and the Catholic hierarchy. If someone were appointed using that language about homosexuals, he would be thrown out."

Donahue said he would prefer to see Obama end the faith-based initiative.

Knox did not return messages seeking comment.

Wild Thing's comment..........

How do you like your buddy Obama now Notre Dame??

I think the Catholic Church priests etc. will not be on Obama's A list of invitations to the White House. He sure tries to do all he can to do things like this, just like Pelosi too and Kerry are not fans of what the Catholic church stands for.

....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.

Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67

Posted by Wild Thing at 04:44 AM | Comments (2)

April 08, 2009

US Recovery Is Far Off, Banks Are 'Basically Insolvent': Soros

US Recovery Is Far Off, Banks Are 'Basically Insolvent': Soros

cnbc

The U.S. economy is in for a "lasting slowdown" and could face a Japan-style period of relatively low growth coupled with high inflation, billionaire investor George Soros said on Monday.

Soros, speaking to Reuters Financial Television, also warned that rescuing U.S. banks could turn them into "zombies" that draw the lifeblood of the economy, prolonging the economic slowdown.

"I don't expect the U.S. economy to recover in the third or fourth quarter so I think we are in for a pretty lasting slowdown," Soros said, adding that in 2010 there might be "something" in terms of U.S. growth.

Soros' view contrasts with the majority of economists, who expect the U.S. economy to stop contracting in the third quarter and resume growing in the fourth quarter, according to the latest monthly poll of forecasts conducted by Reuters.

The recovery will look like "an inverted square root sign," Soros said. "You hit bottom and you automatically rebound some, but then you don't come out of it in a V-shape recovery or anything like that. You settle down—step down."

The healing of the banking system and housing markets is crucial to recovery. "The banking system, as a whole, is basically insolvent," Soros said.

What's more, the Treasury's Public-Private Investment Fund is going to work but it won't be enough to recapitalize the banks in a way that they are able to or willing to provide credit.

"What we have created now is a situation where the banks who will be able to earn their way out of a hole, but by doing that, they are going to weigh on the economy," he said. "Instead of stimulating the economy, they will draw the lifeblood, so to speak, of profits away from the real economy in order to keep themselves alive. This is the zombie bank situation."

Exactly one year ago, he told Reuters that global losses are likely to top $1 trillion from the credit crisis. To date, U.S. and European banks have recorded more than $700 billion in losses and write-downs, as of Feb. 5. 2009, according to Reuters data.

Soros also said the U.S. dollar is under selling pressure and may eventually be replaced as a world reserve currency, possibly by the IMF's Special Drawing Rights, a synthetic currency basket comprised of dollars, euros, yen and sterling.

"I think the dollar is now under question and I think the system will need to be reformed, so that the United States will be subject to the same discipline as is imposed on other countries," said Soros, whose famous bet against the British pound earned his Quantum Fund $1 billion in 1992.

Wild Thing's ciomment.......

This jerk Soros is loving every second of this and what is being done to our country by Obama. Soros and his crowd of commies are responsible for the financial and economic mess of the world!

The other day on Fox Business Network, and I am so sorry I did not get the name of the man that was speaking. He said that IF Obama would leave the economy alnoe, stop spending right now, that America would survivie and get back on her feet. BUT if he keeps doing things the way things he has been doing, in 8 to 10 years we will have a 23 Trillion debt and there willl be no way to ever recover.

I wish there was some way to convince Obama, the media and their kool -aid people that this has got to STOP NOW!

If I can find the video or transcript I will add it to this.

....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.

Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67

Posted by Wild Thing at 06:47 AM | Comments (8)

April 07, 2009

Low Class Obama gives 50,000 for Earthquake-Hit Italy

Rescuers search victims in the rubble of the old city of the Abruzzo capital L'Aquila, damaged during a strong earthquake.

US gives 50,000 dlrs for quake-hit Italy

The United States said Monday it would donate 50,000 dollars in emergency aid to Italy after a powerful earthquake killed at least 100 people.

"We send our heartfelt condolences to the families of those killed in the earthquake. Our embassy in Rome will provide 50,000 (dollars) in emergency relief funding," State Department spokesman Robert Wood told reporters.

Italian authorities told the United States they did not need rescue teams, Wood said.

Obama earlier offered his condolences on a visit to Turkey and voiced hope that the United States could send rescuers.

The earthquake killed at least 100 people and injured 1,500 more as it reduced medieval buildings to rubble in the central town of L'Aquila.

Wood said there were no reports of US citizens among the dead or injured but that the US embassy in Rome was reaching out to Americans living in the region.

Wild Thing's comment........

$50,000 is an insult, the Obama administration continues to be an embarrassment to America.

Obama gave $900 Million to the Hamas.

"The United States plans to offer more than $900 million to help rebuild Gaza after Israel's invasion and to strengthen the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, U.S. officials said on Monday. The money, which needs U.S. congressional approval, will be distributed through U.N. and other bodies and not via the militant group Hamas, which rules Gaza, said one official."

The Palestinian Authority does not rule Gaza. Any rebuilding of Gaza will only strengthen Hamas. Secondly, any foreign organizations operating in Gaza either answer to Hamas or are Hamas run outright.

Posted by Wild Thing at 05:55 AM | Comments (28)

Obama’s G-20 Giveaway ‘Effectively Repealed’ Declaration of Independence

Obama’s G-20 Giveaways ‘Effectively Repealed’ Declaration of Independence....Internationalizing (Not Nationalizing) Companies Essential to the System

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE HAS BEEN REPEALED

On April 2, 2009, the work of July 4, 1776 was nullified at the meeting of the G-20 in London.

The joint communiqué essentially announces a global economic union with uniform regulations and bylaws for all nations, including the United States. Henceforth, our SEC, Commodities Trading Commission, Federal Reserve Board and other regulators will have to march to the beat of drums pounded by the Financial Stability Board (FSB), a body of central bankers from each of the G-20 states and the European Union.

The mandate conferred on the FSB is remarkable for its scope and open-endedness. It is to set a "framework of internationally agreed high standards that a global financial system requires." These standards are to include the extension of "regulation and oversight to all systemically important financial institutions, instruments, and markets...[including] systemically important hedge funds." Note the key word: "all." If the FSB, in its international wisdom, considers an institution or company "systemically important", it may regulate and over see it. This provision extends and internationalizes the proposals of the Obama Administration to regulate all firms, in whatever sector of the economy that it deems to be "too big to fail."

The FSB is also charged with "implementing...tough new principles on pay and compensation and to support sustainable compensation schemes and the corporate social responsibility of all firms."

That means that the FSB will regulate how much executives are to be paid and will enforce its idea of corporate social responsibility at "all firms."

The head of the Financial Stability Forum, the precursor to the new FSB, is Mario Draghi, Italy's central bank president. In a speech on February 21, 2009, he gave us clues to his thinking. He noted that "the progress we have made in revising the global regulatory framework...would have been unthinkable just months ago."

He said that "every financial institution capable of creating systemic risk will be subject to supervision." He adds that "it is envisaged that, at international level, the governance of financial institutions, executive compensation, and the special duties of intermediaries to protect retail investors will be subject to explicit supervision."

In remarks right before the London conference, Draghi said that while "I don't see the FSF [now the FSB] as a global regulator at the present time...it should be a standard setter that coordinates national agencies." This "coordination of national agencies" and the "setting" of "standards" is an explicit statement of the mandate the FSB will have over our national regulatory agencies. Obama, perhaps feeling guilty for the US role in triggering the international crisis, has, indeed, given away the store. Now we may no longer look to presidential appointees, confirmed by the Senate, to make policy for our economy. These decisions will be made internationally. And Europe will dominate them. The FSF and, presumably, the FSB, is now composed of the central bankers of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States plus representatives of the World Bank, the European Union, the IMF, and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Europe, in other words, has six of the twelve national members. The G-20 will enlarge the FSB to include all its member nations, but the pro-European bias will be clear. The United States, with a GDP three times that of the next largest G-20 member (Japan), will have one vote. So will Italy. The Europeans have been trying to get their hands on our financial system for decades. It is essential to them that they rein in American free enterprise so that their socialist heaven will not be polluted by vices such as the profit motive. Now, with President Obama's approval, they have done it.

Wild Thing's comment........

What Obama got for us in return for the abject apologies for our “arrogance” (wonder what the guys in the Normandy cemeteries have to say about that) and all the giveaways of our sovereignty and money. Let's see Spain is sending a 12 man training team to Afghanistan and 25 Belgian pastry chefs will be following them; the rest are even bold enough to throw a few euros into the Afghan election system. Oh and OUR country is sending a mere 70,000 of its best young men and women, an effort that must sound “meager” by comparison. Yep Obama is a sharp negotiator!!?? NOT!

There is no daylight between Marxism and Obama's policies.

When people see how this will effect them and their freedoms they have taken for granted, more people will be screaming for action.

Tea parties are increasing, too. If Congress doesn't have the fortitude to do what is best for the country, things are going to come to a crescendo and the people will DEMAND it. This HAS GOT to happen.

A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear. The traitor is the plague.” ~~Marcus Tullius Cicero

....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.

Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67

Posted by Wild Thing at 05:45 AM | Comments (6)

April 06, 2009

Will bill give Obama control of Internet?

Proposed new powers called 'drastic federal intervention'

By Drew Zahn

A pair of bills introduced in the U.S. Senate would grant the White House sweeping new powers to access private online data, regulate the cybersecurity industry and even shut down Internet traffic during a declared "cyber emergency."

Senate bills No. 773 and 778, introduced by Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.V., are both part of what's being called the Cybersecurity Act of 2009, which would create a new Office of the National Cybersecurity Advisor, reportable directly to the president and charged with defending the country from cyber attack.

A working draft of the legislation obtained by an Internet privacy group also spells out plans to grant the Secretary of Commerce access to all privately owned information networks deemed to be critical to the nation's infrastructure "without regard to any provision of law, regulation, rule or policy restricting such access."

Privacy advocates and Internet experts have been quick to sound the alarm over the act's broadly drawn government powers.

"The cybersecurity threat is real," says Leslie Harris, president of the Center for Democracy and Technology, which obtained the draft of S.773, "but such a drastic federal intervention in private communications technology and networks could harm both security and privacy."

"The whole thing smells bad to me," writes Larry Seltzer in eWeek, an Internet and print news source on technology issues. "I don't like the chances of the government improving this situation by taking it over generally, and I definitely don't like the idea of politicizing this authority by putting it in the direct control of the president."

According to a Senate document explaining the bill, the legislation "addresses our country's unacceptable vulnerability to massive cyber crime, global cyber espionage and cyber attacks that could cripple our critical infrastructure."

In a statement explaining the bill's introduction, Sen. Rockefeller said, "We must protect our critical infrastructure at all costs – from our water to our electricity, to banking, traffic lights and electronic health records – the list goes on."

Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, who is co-sponsoring the bill, added, "If we fail to take swift action, we, regrettably, risk a cyber-Katrina."

Critics, however, have pointed to three actions Rockefeller and Snowe propose that may violate both privacy concerns and even constitutional bounds:

First, the White House, through the national cybersecurity advisor, shall have the authority to disconnect "critical infrastructure" networks from the Internet – including private citizens' banks and health records, if Rockefeller's examples are accurate – if they are found to be at risk of cyber attack. The working copy of the bill, however, does not define what constitutes a cybersecurity emergency, and apparently leaves the question to the discretion of the president.

Second, the bill establishes the Department of Commerce as "the clearinghouse of cybersecurity threat and vulnerability information," including the monitoring of private information networks deemed a part of the "critical infrastructure."

Third, the legislation proposes implementation of a professional licensing program for certifying who can serve as a cybersecurity professional.

And while the critics concede the need for increased security, they object to what is perceived as a dangerous and intrusive expansion of government power.

Wild Thing's comment.........

Al Gore invented Obama oh wait that was supposed to be Al Gore invented the internet.

I thought the dems hated the wire taps and now they want this? I guess it is ok with the dems as long as it is one of theirs suggesting it.

To any liberals lurking here that may think this is a good idea... Be careful what powers you give the government.

If they get away with this, it would probably effect all the conservative blogs and places like Townhall, WND, and all the other places we read.

....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.

Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67

Posted by Wild Thing at 07:45 AM | Comments (10)

Geithner to Banks:Government Decides Your Executive Line-Up

Geithner to Banks: Get Federal Help, Government Decides Your Executive Line-Up

FOX news

and

Bloomberg

WASHINGTON

The government may require new faces in executive suites at banks requiring "exceptional assistance" in the future, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Sunday.

Critics of the Obama administration's move last weekend to force out the chairman of General Motors Corp., Rick Wagoner, as a condition for possible additional federal loans say that strong government intervention contrasts with measures placed on the financial industry in return for billions in infusions.

Geithner denied there was a double standard and put banks on notice that they may need to change leadership teams in exchange for accepting more money in the future.

"If, in the future, banks need exceptional assistance in order to get through this, then we'll make sure that assistance comes with conditions, not just to protect the taxpayer but to make sure this is the kind of restructuring necessary for them to emerge stronger," he told "Face the Nation" on CBS. "And where that requires a change of management of the board, we'll do that."

The treasury chief said that is what has happened at some big institutions that are getting large amounts of government aid. They include the mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which were placed into conservatorship by the government last September, and insurer American International Group Inc., the recipient of more than $170 billion in help since last fall.

"We've already seen a substantial number of the largest banks in our country fail or be absorbed by other institutions, no longer existing at independent institutions. And where the government has acted, like in Fannie and Freddie or like in AIG, where we've had to do exceptional things to stabilize them, we have replaced the management and the board," Geithner said.

"And we've done that because we want to make sure that taxpayers' assistance is going to make these companies stronger, make sure there's accountability, make sure it comes with strong conditions. And we'll do that in the future if that is necessary," he added.

"It's a single standard, a single principle. And our obligation to the American people is to do what's necessary to try to bring recovery back on track as quickly as possible."

Asked if chief executives of big banks such as Citibank and Bank of America should worry about their jobs if their companies don't improve their performance, Geithner said the government would not shy from such a restructuring.

"Where that's necessary, where it meets the test, where it's necessary to do what we ... exist to do, which is to make sure that this financial system supports recovery and the banks emerge stronger," Geithner said.

As part of the new administration's overhaul of the $700 billion bailout effort, banking regulators are requiring stress tests for the 19 largest banks to see whether they will need additional support to withstand a more severe downturn than the country is experiencing now.

Wild Thing's comment........

The most ridiculous part of this mafia scheme is that these banks literally want to GIVE the money back, but Comrade Geithner won’t take it back. He’d rather have the power.

These people are so brazen, and there’s simply nobody to hold them to account. There is NO Constitutional authority for bailouts and corporate handouts, and certainly none for the Fed to take control of any enterprise.

....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.

Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67

Posted by Wild Thing at 06:44 AM | Comments (4)

April 05, 2009

Obama Wants to Control the Banks

fas-cism
noun
1. a socialist governmental system led by a dictatorial party which seeks to control industry and commerce, and uses laws and governmental force to institute Utopian programs.

Obama Wants to Control the Banks

By STUART VARNEY (Mr. Varney is a host on the Fox Business Channel)

I must be naive. I really thought the administration would welcome the return of bank bailout money. Some $340 million in TARP cash flowed back this week from four small banks in Louisiana, New York, Indiana and California. This isn't much when we routinely talk in trillions, but clearly that money has not been wasted or otherwise sunk down Wall Street's black hole. So why no cheering as the cash comes back?

My answer: The government wants to control the banks, just as it now controls GM and Chrysler, and will surely control the health industry in the not-too-distant future. Keeping them TARP-stuffed is the key to control. And for this intensely political president, mere influence is not enough. The White House wants to tell 'em what to do. Control. Direct. Command.

It is not for nothing that rage has been turned on those wicked financiers. The banks are at the core of the administration's thrust: By managing the money, government can steer the whole economy even more firmly down the left fork in the road.

If the banks are forced to keep TARP cash -- which was often forced on them in the first place -- the Obama team can work its will on the financial system to unprecedented degree. That's what's happening right now.

Here's a true story first reported by my Fox News colleague Andrew Napolitano (with the names and some details obscured to prevent retaliation). Under the Bush team a prominent and profitable bank, under threat of a damaging public audit, was forced to accept less than $1 billion of TARP money. The government insisted on buying a new class of preferred stock which gave it a tiny, minority position. The money flowed to the bank. Arguably, back then, the Bush administration was acting for purely economic reasons. It wanted to recapitalize the banks to halt a financial panic.

Fast forward to today, and that same bank is begging to give the money back. The chairman offers to write a check, now, with interest. He's been sitting on the cash for months and has felt the dead hand of government threatening to run his business and dictate pay scales. He sees the writing on the wall and he wants out. But the Obama team says no, since unlike the smaller banks that gave their TARP money back, this bank is far more prominent. The bank has also been threatened with "adverse" consequences if its chairman persists. That's politics talking, not economics.

Think about it: If Rick Wagoner can be fired and compact cars can be mandated, why can't a bank with a vault full of TARP money be told where to lend? And since politics drives this administration, why can't special loans and terms be offered to favored constituents, favored industries, or even favored regions? Our prosperity has never been based on the political allocation of credit -- until now.

Which brings me to the Pay for Performance Act, just passed by the House. This is an outstanding example of class warfare. I'm an Englishman. We invented class warfare, and I know it when I see it. This legislation allows the administration to dictate pay for anyone working in any company that takes a dime of TARP money. This is a whip with which to thrash the unpopular bankers, a tool to advance the Obama administration's goal of controlling the financial system.

After 35 years in America, I never thought I would see this. I still can't quite believe we will sit by as this crisis is used to hand control of our economy over to government. But here we are, on the brink. Clearly, I have been naive.

Wild Thing's comment.......

Rush has also been pointing this out on his show. And as Mr. Varney points out, the far left is in change, and the pinko Congress lead by Obama and Pelosi is going wild introducing the most outrageous legislation. The opportunities for corruption are breathtaking. Our government is so corrupt and to think they will have their evil hands on anything in the private sector at all makes me sick and angry.

"Fast forward to today, and that same bank is begging to give the money back. The chairman offers to write a check, now, with interest. He's been sitting on the cash for months and has felt the dead hand of government threatening to run his business and dictate pay scales. He sees the writing on the wall and he wants out. But the Obama team says no,..."

What would be great to see would be if the banker call a news conference, invite the treasury secutary, tell the press how well the bailout worked and present Geithner with the check. The look on Geithner face would be priceless!!!!

In the article yesterday that BobA., posted a link for it said Judge Andrew Napolitan said in his article :

"There is simply no authority in the U.S. Constitution for Congress to exercise the level of control it now seeks over private industry." There is simply no authority in the U.S. Constitution for Congress to exercise the level of control it now seeks over private industry. In fact, this level of control will wind up costing the businesses that took TARP (voluntarily or involuntarily) money since they will lose key employees who will go to work elsewhere and because the reporting requirements will take time and time is money. The Constitution basically says that if the government wants to take time or freedom or money from someone or something, it must sue for it. It cannot just give itself the authority to do so via legislation. Our liberties are slipping away right before our eyes."

....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.

Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67

Posted by Wild Thing at 06:47 AM | Comments (6)

April 03, 2009

House Approves Democrats (Obama's) $3.45 Trillion Budget Plan

House Approves Democratic Budget Plan

FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL

The House today approved the $3.45 trillion budget outline that will serve as the blueprint for Congress to determine spending priorities for the coming year.

The bill passed mostly along party lines with a 233 to 196 vote. House Republicans voted unanimously against the plan but were joined by 20 moderate democrats.

The House proposal calls for about $100 billion less in spending than the initial White House proposal but includes all of President Obama's major budget initiatives on energy, education and healthcare.

"This is sort of an emancipation day, this is a special day for us. It is a day that we waited for, worked for, hope for and now we will be able to pass a budget that is truly a statement of national values," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

Republicans argued that the budget "spends too much, taxes too much and borrows too much," to pay for unecessary domestic programs and called for increased tax cuts to help Americans deal with the bad economy.

"The budget before the House makes the economy worse and will destroy more American jobs," said House Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio. "If you just look at the spending in this budget, it's staggering. American families are making sacrifices. They're tightening their belt. But Washington clearly is not."

House Republican Conference Chairman Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., called the bill "the most fiscally irresponsible budget in American history."

The budget resolution does not have the force of law and will not be signed by the President. But once the Senate and House reconcile their two proposals, which they are expected to do later this month, the plan will serve as an overall guideline as Congressional committees write appropriations bills for next year's spending priorities.

The House plan also contains "reconciliation" language which will enable Democrats to fast-track health care and education plans without one Republican vote.

Democrats argue that it will set the government on a path to more than halve the current projected $1.7 trillion deficit down to $586 billion by 2013.

BILL TITLE: Congressional Budget for Fiscal Year 2010

All Republicans, plus twenty Democrats, voted against. Final vote was 233-196, approving the budget, with three not voting.

Wild Thing's comment.......

They have lost their Marxist minds. This is the most out of whack, upside down, spend crazy president and Congress EVER. Anyone that supports this monstrosity isn’t worthy of US citizenship.

I wonder if there will be any credible resistance in the Senate. I've heard it may have a tough time there, but given their track record, this doesn't look good.

Well at least the House Republicans voted unanimously against this monster. I wish it could have stopped this thing.

Posted by Wild Thing at 06:48 AM | Comments (5)

It's Official, Dem Budget To 'redistribute income'

Constitution hating Barack Hussein Obama

It's official, Dem budget to 'redistribute income'

Tax hikes to hit $250,000 earners, 'maybe even going further down'

Obama Guarantees Sacrifice

The nation needs to face the fact that income will be redistributed and health care rationed under a federal budget plan moving through Congress at the behest of President Obama, according to an official who served under President Clinton.

The plan, according to Lawrence J. Haas, former communications director for Vice President Al Gore, said Obama "wants to make permanent all the tax cuts from those years [2001 and 2003] for people making up to $250,000 a year and frankly to redistribute income a bit in a fair way so he would raise taxes on those above $250,000."

Haas said in recent budgets, the income "has been redistributed … in exactly the other direction," condemning tax cuts for anyone in an upper income bracket, a category that includes many business owners.

Haas said GOP plans for restraint are "radical."

"They would impose … they propose to severely limit spending across the board other than for defense and veterans programs," he said.

He explained the income redistribution plan:

"The tax cuts from 2001 and 2003 provided a disproportionate amount of the benefits for those in the top one, two percent of earners, so in essence what the president is attempting to do is make things a little bit fairer by way of asking those who have done so well in recent years to pay a little bit more … [while continuing] tax relief for people at the bottom, in the middle, in all candor who have struggled in recent years."

He said while the president "has proposed" protecting from tax increases those who make less than $250,000, even that's not assured.

To the extent we need to raise taxes down the road we're going to have to sort of work our way down that income level starting with people making over $250,000," he said, "and maybe even going further down. I hope we don't have to do too much of that."

He said health care costs will play a major role in coming budgets.

"That's going to cause us to make some real decisions as to who gets how much health care and when they get it," he warned

President Obama famously created an issue during the 2008 campaign by telling a plumber his goal was to spread the wealth.

Obama believes the Constitution is flawed, because it fails to address wealth redistribution, and he says the Supreme Court should have intervened years ago to accomplish that.

Obama told Chicago's public station WBEZ-FM that "redistributive change" is needed, pointing to what he regarded as a failure of the U.S. Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren in its rulings on civil rights issues in the 1960s.

The Warren court, he said, failed to "break free from the essential constraints" in the U.S. Constitution and launch a major redistribution of wealth. But Obama, then an Illinois state lawmaker, said the legislative branch of government, rather than the courts, probably was the ideal avenue for accomplishing that goal.

In the 2001 interview, Obama said:

If you look at the victories and failures of the civil rights movement and its litigation strategy in the court, I think where it succeeded was to invest formal rights in previously dispossessed people, so that now I would have the right to vote. I would now be able to sit at the lunch counter and order and as long as I could pay for it I’d be OK.

But, the Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth, and of more basic issues such as political and economic justice in society. To that extent, as radical as I think people try to characterize the Warren Court, it wasn't that radical. It didn't break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution, at least as it's been interpreted, and the Warren Court interpreted in the same way, that generally the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties. Says what the states can't do to you. Says what the federal government can't do to you, but doesn't say what the federal government or state government must do on your behalf.

And that hasn't shifted and one of the, I think, tragedies of the civil rights movement was because the civil rights movement became so court-focused I think there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalition of powers through which you bring about redistributive change. In some ways we still suffer from that.

Wild Thing's comment........

This whole thing is sickening, especially all the things Obama says. Someone that speaks as Obama does about our Constitution should never be allowed to hold a government office.

This was all reported BEFORE the election and we saw how half of America did not care about any of this and went ahead and voted for him. I hope now that it is being discussed again maybe those idiots will WAKE UP!!

“With our financial house on fire, Obama makes clear both in his speech and his budget that the essence of his presidency will be the transformation of health care, education and energy. Clever politics, but intellectually dishonest to the core. Health, education and energy — worthy and weighty as they may be — are not the cause of our financial collapse. And they are not the cure. The fraudulent claim that they are both cause and cure is the rhetorical device by which an ambitious president intends to enact THE MOST RADICAL AGENDA OF SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION seen in our lifetime.” - Charles Krauthammer

....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.

Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67

Posted by Wild Thing at 06:47 AM | Comments (3)

April 02, 2009

Bank CEO's Might Get Pink Slip from Terrible Tim Geithner

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner tells Katie Couric he is open to more unconstitutional terminations of CEOs, continuing Team "Obama"s assault on the markets, investors and capitalism.

Obama, in a blatant abuse on his constitutional Executive power, felt it necessary to fire GM CEO Rick Wagoner this week.

Tim Geithner unveiled a plan last week, designed to give Treasury Department the ability to take over financial institutions at the Secretary's choosing.

Recently, a bill has been introduced in Congress, HR 1664 Grayson-Himes Pay For Performance Act of 2009, which aims to cap pay which is not performance based and any and all employees who work for companies receiving bailout dollars.

It's a power grab to redistribute wealth, penalize the successful and establish a communistic "equality" among Americans. Regulation = control and power.

Posted by Wild Thing at 11:55 AM | Comments (8)

April 01, 2009

Neil Cavuto Is Awesome as He Slams Democrat Alan Grayson

Pay for Performance

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla) on the bill before Congress that would cap excessive pay..... putting salary and bonus control of *all* employees receiving *any* federal assistance in the hands of the Treasury Secretary, is in the nation’s best interest.

Wild Thing's comment......

Neil Cavuto slammed Far Left liberal Alan Grayson for proposing a bill that gives Congress the power to decide what it excessive pay for American jobs.

This was beautiful. Cavuto slams Grayson for not answering his questions.

"The Constitution never gave you the damn authority of telling anyone what they should make... The Constitution never gave you the authority to blithely come in here and arrogantly set pay for people you don't even know. And, you don't have the guts to come back at me and tell me what you think adequate pay range is."

....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.

Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67

Posted by Wild Thing at 06:47 PM | Comments (6)

Beyond AIG: A Bill to Let BIG Government Set Your Salary

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., left, talks with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, right, and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, on Capitol Hill Tuesday, March 24,2009. Frank's committee has passed a bill giving Geithner extensive control over salaries of employees working at companies receiving government bailout funds. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Beyond AIG: A bill to let Big Government set your salary

The Washington Examiner

By Byron York

It was nearly two weeks ago that the House of Representatives, acting in a near-frenzy after the disclosure of bonuses paid to executives of AIG, passed a bill that would impose a 90 percent retroactive tax on those bonuses. Despite the overwhelming 328-93 vote, support for the measure began to collapse almost immediately.

Within days, the Obama White House backed away from it, as did the Senate Democratic leadership. The bill stalled, and the populist storm that spawned it seemed to pass.

But now, in a little-noticed move, the House Financial Services Committee, led by chairman Barney Frank, has approved a measure that would, in some key ways, go beyond the most draconian features of the original AIG bill.

The new legislation, the "Pay for Performance Act of 2009," would impose government controls on the pay of all employees -- not just top executives -- of companies that have received a capital investment from the U.S. government.

It would, like the tax measure, be retroactive, changing the terms of compensation agreements already in place. And it would give Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner extraordinary power to determine the pay of thousands of employees of American companies.

The purpose of the legislation is to "prohibit unreasonable and excessive compensation and compensation not based on performance standards," according to the bill's language. That includes regular pay, bonuses -- everything -- paid to employees of companies in whom the government has a capital stake, including those that have received funds through the Troubled Assets Relief Program, or TARP, as well as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The measure is not limited just to those firms that received the largest sums of money, or just to the top 25 or 50 executives of those companies. It applies to all employees of all companies involved, for as long as the government is invested. And it would not only apply going forward, but also retroactively to existing contracts and pay arrangements of institutions that have already received funds.

In addition, the bill gives Geithner the authority to decide what pay is "unreasonable" or "excessive." And it directs the Treasury Department to come up with a method to evaluate "the performance of the individual executive or employee to whom the payment relates."

The bill passed the Financial Services Committee last week, 38 to 22, on a nearly party-line vote. (All Democrats voted for it, and all Republicans, with the exception of Reps. Ed Royce of California and Walter Jones of North Carolina, voted against it.)

The legislation is expected to come before the full House for a vote this week, and, just like the AIG bill, its scope and retroactivity trouble a number of Republicans.

"It's just a bad reaction to what has been going on with AIG," Rep. Scott Garrett of New Jersey, a committee member, told me. Garrett is particularly concerned with the new powers that would be given to the Treasury Secretary, who just last week proposed giving the government extensive new regulatory authority. "This is a growing concern, that the powers of the Treasury in this area, along with what Geithner was looking for last week, are mind boggling," Garrett said.

Rep. Alan Grayson, the Florida Democrat who wrote the bill, told me its basic message is "you should not get rich off public money, and you should not get rich off of abject failure." Grayson expects the bill to pass the House, and as we talked, he framed the issue in a way to suggest that virtuous lawmakers will vote for it, while corrupt lawmakers will vote against it.

"This bill will show which Republicans are so much on the take from the financial services industry that they're willing to actually bless compensation that has no bearing on performance and is excessive and unreasonable," Grayson said. "We'll find out who are the people who understand that the public's money needs to be protected, and who are the people who simply want to suck up to their patrons on Wall Street."

Wild Thing's comment.........

It means the end of capitalism, and the end of the free market system the end of freedom and liberty and the beginning of communism control of our country.

Lockheed Martin, Boeing, you name the contract, there ya go. Anyone who does business with the Fed will eventually fall under this as they stretch it to fit.

Gee, shouldn’t we also be setting salaries for Washington? Not to mention term limits and pension qualification service.

These clowns go to Washington, make millions and retire on our nickel. Barney is a dangerous and stupid man.

Posted by Wild Thing at 06:48 AM | Comments (8)

March 31, 2009

B.Hussein Obama's Most Perilous Legal Pick Harold Koh

New York Post

By MEGHAN CLYNE

Obama nominee sees no "reason why sharia law would not be applied to govern a case in the United States"

On top of that, this Obama pick believes that "America's focus on the War on Terror [is] 'obsessive.'" And his list of countries that flagrantly disregard international law highlights North Korea, Iraq, and the U.S.A. -- which he collectively calls "the axis of disobedience."

JUDGES should interpret the Constitution according to other nations' legal "norms." Sharia law could apply to disputes in US courts. The United States constitutes an "axis of disobedience" along with North Korea and Saddam-era Iraq.

Those are the views of the man on track to become one of the US government's top lawyers: Harold Koh.

President Obama has nominated Koh -- until last week the dean of Yale Law School -- to be the State Department's legal adviser. In that job, Koh would forge a wide range of international agreements on issues from trade to arms control, and help represent our country in such places as the United Nations and the International Court of Justice.

It's a job where you want a strong defender of America's sovereignty. But that's not Koh. He's a fan of "transnational legal process," arguing that the distinctions between US and international law should vanish.

What would this look like in a practical sense? Well, California voters have overruled their courts, which had imposed same-sex marriage on the state. Koh would like to see such matters go up the chain through federal courts -- which, in turn, should look to the rest of the world. If Canada, the European Human Rights Commission and the United Nations all say gay marriage should be legal -- well, then, it should be legal in California too, regardless of what the state's voters and elected representatives might say.

He even believes judges should use this "logic" to strike down the death penalty, which is clearly permitted in the US Constitution.

The primacy of international legal "norms" applies even to treaties we reject. For example, Koh believes that the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child -- a problematic document that we haven't ratified -- should dictate the age at which individual US states can execute criminals. Got that? On issues ranging from affirmative action to the interrogation of terrorists, what the rest of the world says, goes.

Including, apparently, the world of radical imams. A New York lawyer, Steven Stein, says that, in addressing the Yale Club of Greenwich in 2007, Koh claimed that "in an appropriate case, he didn't see any reason why sharia law would not be applied to govern a case in the United States."

A spokeswoman for Koh said she couldn't confirm the incident, responding: "I had heard that some guy . . . had asked a question about sharia law, and that Dean Koh had said something about that while there are obvious differences among the many different legal systems, they also share some common legal concepts."

Score one for America's enemies and hostile international bureaucrats, zero for American democracy.

Koh has called America's focus on the War on Terror "obsessive." In 2004, he listed countries that flagrantly disregard international law -- "most prominently, North Korea, Iraq, and our own country, the United States of America," which he branded "the axis of disobedience.[...]

Even though he's up for a State Department job, Koh is a key test case in the "judicial wars." If he makes it through (which he will if he gets even a single GOP vote) the message to the Obama team will be: You can pick 'em as radical as you like.

Another Day, Another Scary Nomination

by David Limbaugh ( Rush's brother)

Source

So while you should be mortified by his dictatorial power grab with General Motors, please don't miss his recent nomination of former Yale Law School Dean Harold Koh as legal adviser for the State Department.

In his new position, Koh not only would represent the United States before international bodies, such as the U.N. and the International Court of Justice, but also would influence the degree to which laws of other countries should influence American jurisprudence.

After reading an alarming piece by Meghan Clyne in the New York Post concerning the Koh nomination and the degree to which Koh believes it's appropriate for courts to consider other nations' laws in interpreting our Constitution, I read a number of Koh's legal writings and speeches.

Clyne reported that New York lawyer Steven Stein said that Koh, in addressing the Yale Club of Greenwich in 2007, claimed that "in an appropriate case, he didn't see any reason why sharia law would not be applied to govern a case in the United States."

It turns out that on March 21, 2007, Carol Iannone, on Phi Beta Cons blog, published a letter from Stein to Dean Koh about his Yale Club remarks. Stein wrote, in part, "In your discussion of 'global law' I recall at least one favorable reference to 'Sharia', among other foreign laws that could, in an appropriate instance (according to you) govern a controversy in a federal or state court in the US."

In Fordham Law Review, Koh asserted that the U.S. "Supreme Court is divided between two judicial camps: the transnationalists and the nationalists." Koh considers himself a transnationalist and justices Roberts, Scalia and Alito nationalists.

Koh explained the differences between these two judicial philosophies. According to Koh, transnationalist judges look to U.S. interdependence, whereas nationalists tend to look to U.S. autonomy. Transnationalists think about how U.S. law fits into a framework of transnational law, while nationalists see a rigid foreign and domestic divide. Transnationalists think that courts can "domesticate" international law (make it part of our law), whereas nationalists think that only the political branches can. Transnationalists favor the development of a global legal system, while nationalists prefer a national legal system.

Koh's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Sept. 16, 2008, in which he lamented that the Bush administration forfeited the "universal sympathy" America enjoyed as a victim of the 9/11 attacks with a "series of unnecessary, self-inflicted wounds, which have gravely diminished our global standing and damaged our reputation for respecting the rule of law," including Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, torture, indefinite detention of enemy combatants, military commissions, warrantless wiretaps, evasion of the Geneva Conventions and international human rights treaties, excessive government secrecy, attacks on the United Nations, and others.

It's no surprise to me that Obama seeks to install as assistant State Department legal counsel a man who, like George Soros and a host of ultra-left-wing bloggers, believes America is always the bad guy and that we should rehabilitate ourselves through following the wisdom of foreign nations and international bodies.

Wild Thing's comment........

US laws and the Constitution have no meaning, no standing, and no relevance to this guy. This is terrifying! And what makes this a double whammy is that Obama feels the exact same way about our Constitution as he has made it very clear that he loathes it.

from New York Times

"“I was a little Jakarta street kid,” he said in a wide-ranging interview in his office (excerpts are on my blog, www.nytimes.com/ontheground). He once got in trouble for making faces during Koran study classes in his elementary school, but a president is less likely to stereotype Muslims as fanatics — and more likely to be aware of their nationalism — if he once studied the Koran with them.
Mr. Obama recalled the opening lines of the Arabic call to prayer, reciting them with a first-rate accent. In a remark that seemed delightfully uncalculated (it’ll give Alabama voters heart attacks), Mr. Obama described the call to prayer as “one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset.”

Posted by Wild Thing at 05:50 AM | Comments (5)

Rush Limbaugh On Obama's Constant Assault on America's Producers.

Here's Barack Obama. I talked about how the left thinks that we just have to sacrifice, we all must sacrifice. We have to suffer. The only way this country will be just and fair is if everybody is equally miserable in their suffering and sacrifice -- and he said it, essentially, on Face the Nation yesterday. Bob Schieffer talked about announcing his plans today on the takeover of General Motors and canning the CEO. "What are these companies going to have to do, President Obama, in order to get additional bailout money?"

Sacrifice? Sacrifice doesn't build things. Not the way he's talking about it. He doesn't mean the virtue of sacrifice. That's going to make America what America should be. It's just scary, because he's going to ensure it! He's going to make sure that there's sacrifice, and that's what his administration's all about.

Based on what we've seen with General Motors and the banks, if he fails, America is saved. Barack Obama's policies and their failure is the only hope we've got to maintain the America of our founding. We can sit here all the all day as we have. We can rail against General Motors. There is nothing going to stop any of this. Nothing is stopping it. I can say all day long, "Gosh, I hope this fails isn't going to stop anything." Has anybody heard the Republicans say anything today about the firing of Rick Wagoner? If they have, it hasn't been reported. Republicans, as usual, are a week behind the times. They're out there rapping about the budget, which is okay, the budget needs to be rapped about, "We'll rap about it further," but the big news of the today is GM. I haven't heard a Republican, have you? I haven't seen any media who find anything the slightest bit squishy about this.

When the history of this is written, people are going to say, "Where was the media? Where were the Republicans?" Where were all of the "moderate" Republicans who told us that this guy's temperament and his steadiness, and his intellect, that's why we should support him? Well, remember, it's not what Obama knows; it's what you think he knows. It's what he makes you think he knows. He doesn't know anything about the automobile business. He doesn't know how to change a tire. The automobile business needs car guys, people that love grease, get in there, manufacture these engines and cars, great designs, lines, and make people want to go out and buy these cars. Car companies have to be run by financial people today 'cause they're basically health care and retirement funds. The side business is making cars, hoping that they pay for some of it...

When you talk about his character, you're talking about who he is, who reared him, who raised him, who mentored him, who his associations were. I agree, they're all important, they were covered up. This is a radical guy. This is a very arrogant, radical guy who is angry. Nobody will convince me otherwise. Yeah, I mean he doesn't show it. Sometimes I think I notice it. I think it flares at times. Not the anger, but he reveals that he has a bunch of chips on his shoulder, and we know his wife does, and we know Reverend Wright does. We're getting a lot of this stuff that's happening right out of Reverend Wright's sermons. There really is. And a lot of what's going to happen in education, right out of Bill Ayers' curriculum, his extremist, terrorist buddy.

The best way to understand Obama, and I can't say this enough, he really believes that it's his job to return the nation's wealth to its rightful, quote, unquote, rightful owners. And that means that he believes the people who have wealth have stolen it from those who have no wealth. It's been unfairly achieved and accrued, and it's his job to take it and redistribute it. And that's what he means by sacrifice. When he talks about sacrifice, he's talking about raising your taxes, taking away your assets, and giving them to other people he thinks you stole them from who are thus more deserving. If you'll just be open to admit it, you can see it practically every day in his policy pronouncements.

Wild Thing's comment........

The obsession Obama has for everyone to sacrifice and the way he means it taies away all the American dream. If Obama loved America whcih he does not, he would know what that dream has meant to the citizens of our country. NOT his country but our country, the United States of America.

Posted by Wild Thing at 05:48 AM | Comments (4)

Who Will Raise Kids: Mom, Dad or State?

Republican Rep. Hoekstra Discusses Parental Rights

Who will raise kids: Mom, Dad or state?

wnd ....for complete article

By Drew Zahn

Though efforts to pass a constitutional amendment protecting parental rights have failed in the past, two U.S. legislators are preparing to reintroduce the idea this week; and this time, they say, the effort is backed by more than 60 congressional members.

Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., who introduced a parental rights amendment by himself last year, told the Agence France-Presse that he will be joined by Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., on Tuesday as they renew the fight.

According to a statement released to AFP by Hoekstra's office, the amendment "would clearly outline in the U.S. Constitution that parents, not government or any other organization, have a fundamental right to raise their children as they see fit."

"At a time when government at every level seems to encroach upon the ability of parents to choose the best for their children," Hoekstra writes on his website, "it is important to preserve parental rights into the Constitution."

Last summer Hoekstra introduced H.J.R. 97, proposing a constitutional amendment stating that the liberty of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children is a fundamental right that cannot be infringed upon by federal, state, or international treaty law without demonstrating government interest "of the highest order." Hoekstra asserts that legitimate cases of abuse and neglect fall under the "demonstrated government interest" clause.

Without any co-sponsors, however, H.J.R 97 died in committee.

According to ParentalRights.org, an organization dedicated to seeing the amendment passed, this year's effort, in addition to senatorial support from DeMint, has recruited 65 U.S. representatives who have committed to joining Hoekstra in co-sponsoring a parental rights amendment.

"Few dispute the vital role of parents in raising the next generation, but, regrettably, few recognize that the fundamental role of parents is under direct attack," wrote J. Michael Smith, president of the Homeschool Legal Defense Association.

Smith pointed to the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, an internation treaty approved by the Clinton administration but stalled by opposition in the Senate, as one example of governmental attempts to infringe on parental rights.

"It's possible that in the near future, the United States may significantly weaken the rights of parents to raise their children," Smith wrote. "Crucial decisions that parents are accustomed to making, such as what our children read, who they associate with, what kind of discipline is used, whether we take them to church, or whether we homeschool, all become decisions for the state if the United States ratifies the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child."

He continued, "By allowing the government to define and determine what is in the 'best interests of the child,' outside the context of abuse and neglect cases, the UNCRC in effect diminishes the parental role, replacing it with government supervision."

As WND reported, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., last month urged a hurry-up timetable for adoption of the UNCRC.

"Children deserve basic human rights ... and the convention protects children's rights by setting some standards here so that the most vulnerable people of society will be protected," Boxer said, according to Fox News.

Critics like Smith, however, argue the document, which creates "the right of the child to freedom of thought, conscience and religion" usurps the role of parents in directing their children's upbringing.

Hoekstra used a 3-minute video clip, viewable above, to explain how, he believes, parental rights are being overlooked in the nation's capitol and why a parental rights amendment is needed:

snipet

To succeed, the amendment Hoekstra and DeMint plan to introduce Tuesday( TODAY) will need to pass in both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate by two-thirds majorities each, then win ratification by three-fourths of the states.

Wild Thing's comment.......

God bless Hoekstra and DeMint ! I sure hope this time the amendment will get enough votes and
pass in both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate.

....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.

Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67

Posted by Wild Thing at 05:47 AM | Comments (3)

10 Facts About American Health Care

10 Surprising Facts about American Health Care

The Heritage Foundation

Via the National Center for Policy Analysis, Hoover Institution senior fellow Scott Atlas identifies 10 things you probably did not know about health care:

Fact No. 1: Americans have better survival rates than Europeans for common cancers. Breast cancer mortality is 52 percent higher in Germany than in the United States, and 88 percent higher in the United Kingdom. Prostate cancer mortality is 604 percent higher in the U.K. and 457 percent higher in Norway. The mortality rate for colorectal cancer among British men and women is about 40 percent higher.

Fact No. 2: Americans have lower cancer mortality rates than Canadians. Breast cancer mortality is 9 percent higher, prostate cancer is 184 percent higher and colon cancer mortality among men is about 10 percent higher than in the United States.

Fact No. 3: Americans have better access to treatment for chronic diseases than patients in other developed countries. Some 56 percent of Americans who could benefit are taking statins, which reduce cholesterol and protect against heart disease. By comparison, of those patients who could benefit from these drugs, only 36 percent of the Dutch, 29 percent of the Swiss, 26 percent of Germans, 23 percent of Britons and 17 percent of Italians receive them.

Fact No. 4: Americans have better access to preventive cancer screening than Canadians. Take the proportion of the appropriate-age population groups who have received recommended tests for breast, cervical, prostate and colon cancer:

* Nine of 10 middle-aged American women (89 percent) have had a mammogram, compared to less than three-fourths of Canadians (72 percent).
* Nearly all American women (96 percent) have had a pap smear, compared to less than 90 percent of Canadians.
* More than half of American men (54 percent) have had a PSA test, compared to less than 1 in 6 Canadians (16 percent).
* Nearly one-third of Americans (30 percent) have had a colonoscopy, compared with less than 1 in 20 Canadians (5 percent).

Fact No. 5: Lower income Americans are in better health than comparable Canadians. Twice as many American seniors with below-median incomes self-report “excellent” health compared to Canadian seniors (11.7 percent versus 5.8 percent). Conversely, white Canadian young adults with below-median incomes are 20 percent more likely than lower income Americans to describe their health as “fair or poor.”

Fact No. 6: Americans spend less time waiting for care than patients in Canada and the U.K. Canadian and British patients wait about twice as long - sometimes more than a year - to see a specialist, to have elective surgery like hip replacements or to get radiation treatment for cancer. All told, 827,429 people are waiting for some type of procedure in Canada. In England, nearly 1.8 million people are waiting for a hospital admission or outpatient treatment.

Fact No. 7: People in countries with more government control of health care are highly dissatisfied and believe reform is needed. More than 70 percent of German, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and British adults say their health system needs either “fundamental change” or “complete rebuilding.”

Fact No. 8: Americans are more satisfied with the care they receive than Canadians. When asked about their own health care instead of the “health care system,” more than half of Americans (51.3 percent) are very satisfied with their health care services, compared to only 41.5 percent of Canadians; a lower proportion of Americans are dissatisfied (6.8 percent) than Canadians (8.5 percent).

Fact No. 9: Americans have much better access to important new technologies like medical imaging than patients in Canada or the U.K. Maligned as a waste by economists and policymakers naïve to actual medical practice, an overwhelming majority of leading American physicians identified computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as the most important medical innovations for improving patient care during the previous decade. The United States has 34 CT scanners per million Americans, compared to 12 in Canada and eight in Britain. The United States has nearly 27 MRI machines per million compared to about 6 per million in Canada and Britain.

Fact No. 10: Americans are responsible for the vast majority of all health care innovations. The top five U.S. hospitals conduct more clinical trials than all the hospitals in any other single developed country. Since the mid-1970s, the Nobel Prize in medicine or physiology has gone to American residents more often than recipients from all other countries combined. In only five of the past 34 years did a scientist living in America not win or share in the prize. Most important recent medical innovations were developed in the United States.

Wild Thing's comment........

I wish the left and Obama would leave health care alone. I really fear Obama’s socialists ideas.

Check this out, I think it was made in England. LOL surprise ending

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqfFrCUrEbY

....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.

Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67

Posted by Wild Thing at 05:40 AM | Comments (6)

March 30, 2009

Obama Tells CEO of General Motors To STEP DOWN!

GM CEO resigns at Obama's behest

Politico....for complete article

The Obama administration asked Rick Wagoner, the chairman and CEO of General Motors, to step down and he agreed, a White House official said.

On Monday, President Obama is to unveil his plans for the auto industry, including a response to a request for additional funds by GM and Chrysler.

Wagoner’s resignation was one of the remarkable strings attached to the new aid package the administration is offering GM, based on recommendations from the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry, headed by the Treasury Department.

The White House confirmed Wagoner was leaving at the government's behest after The Associated Press reported his immediate departure, without giving a reason.

The surprise announcement about the classically iconic American corporation is perhaps the most vivid sign yet of the tectonic change in the relationship between business and government in this era of subsidies and bailouts.

Wagoner has been CEO for 8 years and at GM for more than 30. The company has not said who will replace him. GM has received $13.4 billion in government aid, and has been seeking $16.6 billion more.

Industry sources had said the White House planned very tough medicine in Monday's announcement, which turned out to be an understatement. And it went to the very top. The measures to be imposed by the government will have a dramatic effect on workers, unions, suppliers, bondholders, shareholders, retirees and the communities where plants are located, the sources said.

GM and Chrysler have to prove their viability as a condition of a federal bailout released under former President George W. Bush, and both have asked the current administration for more money. Ford has not sought federal funds because it had secured a line of credit just before money dried up.

Obama said Friday in an interview with CBS’s “Face the Nation,” broadcast Sunday, that the carmakers were going to have to do more.

“There's been some serious efforts to deal with a combination of long-standing problems in the auto industry,” the president told host Bob Schieffer. “What we're trying to let them know is that we want to have a successful auto industry, U.S. auto industry. We think we can have a successful U.S. auto industry. But it's got to be one that's realistically designed to weather this storm and to emerge at the other end much more lean, mean and competitive than it currently is.

“And that's gonna mean a set of sacrifices from all parties involved — management, labor, shareholders, creditors, suppliers, dealers. Everybody's gonna have to come to the table and say it's important for us to take serious restructuring steps now in order to preserve a brighter future down the road."

Schieffer followed up: “But they're not there yet.”

Obama added: “They're not there yet.”

The administration calls the task force “a cabinet-level group that includes the secretaries of Transportation, Commerce, Labor and Energy. It will also include the chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, the EPA administrator, and the director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change. The Task Force will be led by Treasury Secretary [Tim] Geithner and [National Economic Council] Director Larry Summers.”

Wild Thing's comment................

I read the item several times, but I didn’t see any United Auto Workers officials being asked to quit. Probably just an oversight.....hmmmmmmmm.

One of the conditions of the GM bailout (done by Bush, not Obama) was that the company would work to get more cooperation from the UAW on the pay scale and benefits, as well as work practices. So you can bet the UAW is out there dancing in joy right now.GestapObama has clearly dumped that part of the deal, and substituted something that was not in the deal at all.

IMO, Government shouldn’t be dictating the firing of executives of private companies. This is communism! And I will add that government has no business being in the car business. This will end badly no matter what else happens.

How about telling UAW to go!

Posted by Wild Thing at 07:55 AM | Comments (17)

Card Check - United Auto Workers Try to Unionize Indiana Plant

Wild Thing's comment.......

Obama supports the bill. An original co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act, Obama urged his Senate colleagues to pass the bill during a 2007 motion to proceed:

"I support this bill because in order to restore a sense of shared prosperity and security, we need to help working Americans exercise their right to organize under a fair and free process and bargain for their fair share of the wealth our country creates."

"I will make it the law of the land when I'm President of the United States", he told a labor federation meeting in April, 2008. While Obama didn't talk about this issue much before general audiences, it was his main promise when he spoke to unions

Posted by Wild Thing at 07:50 AM | Comments (9)

Obama's Deck Stacked in Billed 'open' Forum

Obama's deck stacked in billed 'open' forum

Obama's deck stacked in billed 'open' forum President picks campaign supporters to ask questions at 'online' town hall Barack Obama speaking at Open for Questions In an event billed as an opportunity for the American people to ask questions of an "open" and "transparent"

administration, the only fully identified inquirers plucked from the audience, it turns out, were Obama campaign supporters.

At last week's "Open for Questions" forum, the full transcript and video of which is posted on the White House website, Obama answered several questions selected from a reported 100,000 queries posted online.

He also took a handful of questions, in town hall fashion, from those in attendance at the event.

But according to a Washington Post report, those audience members the president chose included "a member of the pro-Obama Service Employees International Union, a member of the Democratic National Committee who campaigned for Obama among Hispanics during the primary;

Obama invited six audience members to pose questions.

The first questioner, named Ellie, wasn't fully identified on the White House transcript of the event. The other five, however, were people later pegged as Obama campaign backers.

In the week leading up to the Open for Questions forum, Obama released a promotional video on YouTube in which he said, "One of my priorities as president is opening the White House to the American people, so that folks can understand what we're up to."

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told the Post that Obama has said, "I think it's important to engage your critics ... because not only will you occasionally change their mind but, more importantly, sometimes they will change your mind."

Those the president engaged, however, included Sergio Salmeron, who told the Post he had worked as a canvasser for the campaign, as well as working with voter registration and translation of campaign materials.

Salmeron told the Post he was invited to Open for Questions by a fellow worker at Organizing for America, the volunteer coordination effort with the homepage www.barackobama.com.

Questioner Carlos Del Toro thanked the president "for all the efforts that you and your administration [have] done on behalf of veterans and also on behalf of small businesses."

Del Toro also ran as a Democratic candidate for the Virginia Legislature, donated over $2,700 to Democrat candidates in 2008, and endorsed Obama for election in the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star.

Wild Thing's comment..........

Obama is such a LIAR! He can't even be honest when it comes to those asking questions.

I heard on Sunday morning a women in the press and I wish I could get her quote she was so awesome, she said a lot of the press is getting fed up with how Obama is treating them. She went on to say that the press is supposed to ask questions ( LOL they didn't want to when he ran for president but now they say they do want to) and they Obama won't let them. That no other president in history has controlled the press like Obama has been doing. Those are some of the things she said and she was not a happy camper.

Well they wanted him, they knew he could only speak with a teleprompter and yet they kept going on and on into insanity what a great speaker he was.

....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.

Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67

Posted by Wild Thing at 07:45 AM | Comments (4)

March 29, 2009

Angela Merkel,the German chancellor Says NO to UK Brown and B.Hussein Obama

Brown snubbed over tax

Times Online.co.uk

GORDON BROWN’S carefully laid plans for a G20 deal on worldwide tax cuts have been scuppered by an eve-of-summit ambush by European leaders.

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, last night led the assault on the prime minister’s “global new deal” for a $2 trillion-plus fiscal stimulus to end the recession.

“I will not let anyone tell me that we must spend more money,” she said...

The attacks on Brown’s ambitions for the G20 to inject more money into the world economy come at the end of a week where the prime minister has travelled to three continents to build support for his proposals.

The likely deadlock at this week’s meeting will kill any remaining hope that Alistair Darling’s April 22 budget will offer significant tax cuts.

The assault by European Union leaders also represents a defeat for President Barack Obama, who is desperate for other big economies to copy his $800 billion stimulus plan.

“There will be a very long communiqué, but there won’t be much in it,” said a Washington economist.

Obama Faces Cold Reception in Europe. Support Has Turned to Opposition Over Stimulus Plan

ABC news

The last time President Obama went to Europe, he was greeted with raucous applause and 200,000 Europeans choking a Berlin square, chanting "Obama" and "Yes We Can."

This time, as the president heads to London this week to press the Group of 20 nations for a global economic stimulus plan, he's likely to get a warm reception but cold comfort from many European leaders.

European Union chief Mirek Topolanek, the recently ousted leader of the Czech Republic, calls the plan the Obama administration has been pushing "a way to hell."

Wild Thing's comment..........

God bless her! I love it when someone says no to the communist Obama.

Posted by Wild Thing at 05:48 AM | Comments (5)

March 28, 2009

Ray Mabus, Obama's Pick For Secretary Of The Navy

JACKSON, Miss.

President Barack Obama on Friday nominated former Mississippi Gov. Ray Mabus to be secretary of the Navy, choosing a political supporter with a two-year career in the service.

Mabus, 60, is a Democrat and campaigned extensively for Obama last year. He had been previously talked about as a candidate for a place in Obama's cabinet as secretary of education.

If confirmed, Mabus would succeed Navy Secretary Donald C. Winter. The secretary is the civilian leader of the service and is responsible for a wide range of duties, from recruiting and mobilizing to overseeing the construction and repair of ships, equipment and facilities.

"At this critical moment in our nation's history, I am grateful that these exceptional public servants have chosen to help my administration bring the change our country needs today," Obama said in a statement announcing Mabus' selection and other administration posts.

Mabus served in the Navy from 1970-72 as a surface warfare officer on the Newport, R.I.-based USS Little Rock. Before then, he was in the Naval ROTC while he was an undergraduate student at the University of Mississippi.

He was governor of Mississippi from January 1988 to January 1992. He also served as U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1994-96 under President Bill Clinton. Mabus' name surfaced as a possible Navy secretary soon after Clinton was elected president, but he was not nominated for the post. Mabus' term as governor overlapped part of Clinton's tenure as governor of neighboring Arkansas.

Mabus would not discuss the nomination, saying he was told to refer all calls to the White House. His nomination still must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Mabus was an early supporter of Obama's presidential campaign, endorsing the Illinois senator in 2007 and surprising some political observers who had expected Mabus to support Hillary Clinton because of Mabus' past political ties to Bill Clinton.

Democrats for Despotism Party figures had a profitable relationship with Haiti's dictator.

October 27, 2008

It took eight years, but on Oct. 8 I finally secured a copy of Fusion Telecommunications' 1999 contract with the Haitian telephone monopoly Teleco. By law the agreement is a public document but Fusion wouldn't give it to me until the FCC required them to do so. Now I think I know why.

Fusion is run by former Democratic Party Finance Chairman Marvin Rosen. It no longer does business in Haiti. But when it did, former congressman Joseph P. Kennedy II, a staunch supporter of former Haitian strongman Jean Bertrand Aristide, was on the board. So too was President Bill Clinton's former aide, Thomas "Mack" McLarty, and former Mississippi Democratic Gov. Ray Mabus. In other words, the Fusion name was synonymous with the Who's Who of the Democratic Party.

Democrats were important to Aristide. President Clinton used the U.S. military to restore him to power in 1994 after he had been deposed in a coup, in part because he was fond of inciting violence against his political opponents. Upon his return in 1994, Aristide resumed his despotic ways. Haitians begged for U.S. help but their pleas fell on deaf ears. In February 2004, Aristide was finally run out of the country.

Wild Thing's comment........

Mabus is a Koolaid drinking Obama hack. Also he was Mississippi’s version of Bill Clinton.

And two years in the Navy, that usually goes to someone that has been in longer doesn't it???

The alleged administration continues to run aground.

....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.

Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67

Posted by Wild Thing at 06:50 AM | Comments (12)

March 27, 2009

'Mandatory Service' Bill Advances As It Passes In Senate

'Mandatory youth service' bill advances

Roll Call .....CLICK TO SEE SENATORS THAT VOTED FOR THIS AND WHO DID NOT

House version commissions panel to consider 'volunteer' requirement

Congress appears ready to pass an Obama administration plan that could create mandatory public service requirements for all American youth, fulfilling a campaign promise.

The bill, HR 1388: The Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act, otherwise known as the "GIVE Act," has already passed the House by a vote of 321-105.

On Tuesday, the Senate voted closure on the motion to proceed by a margin of 74-14 in a move that makes its ultimate passage likely.

The bill, promoted by the Obama administration as a means of encouraging America's youth to participate in voluntary community service, has received little scrutiny from Congress or the public.

Yet, a version of the bill in the House proposes to establish a Congressional Commission on Civil Service tasked with determining whether a mandatory service requirement for all young people in America could be developed and implemented, though it is not clear that provision will survive a conference committee.

Moreover, an amendment to the bill introduced by Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., one of the bill's 37 co-sponsors in the House, appears to severely restrict the First Amendment by prohibiting the youth participating in the program from attempting to influence legislation, organize or engage in protests, petitions, boycotts or strikes.

Funds under the bill are designated to be distributed through AmeriCorps, even though AmeriCorps volunteers have a history of being recruited and employed by community programs with an ideological purpose supported by Democratic Party politicians, including Planned Parenthood.

Under terms of the legislation, volunteers recruited into AmeriCorps through the GIVE Act could end up counseling Planned Parenthood clients to recommend and arrange abortions.

It is uncertain whether restrictions will survive into the final legislation that would prohibit GIVE Act participants from being recruited under the program to work in ACORN, a radical community organizing group facing criminal charges in several states for voter fraud.

"The purpose of the bill is to require mandatory community service for all young people in the United States," Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, told WND in a telephone interview.

"The mobilization of the youth to put them into community work environments that are specified in the bill raises questions about who will be teaching the youth and what is deemed appropriate community service," he said.

"It's great young people should do community service, but to have mandatory government-run community service projects may be a different thing," Poe stressed, explaining why he voted against the bill. "It's better if we can encourage young people to volunteer, and when you require something of them you are certainly not volunteering, and to place them only in government-controlled programs concerns me."

Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, who also voted against the GIVE Act, expressed to WND his reservations.

"I opposed the bill because it would expand and authorize programs that have been audited and considered ineffective by the Office of Management and Budget, which does not align with the administration's stated plans of encouraging transparency and accountability in all federal programs."

Wild Thing's comment.......

Where are the watchdogs of freedom now that this kind of fascist legislation is about to be passed?

Ironic that America’s first black President reinstates slavery.

The GIVE/SERVE Act Senate version passes, 79-19

"I begin with the young. We older ones are used up. We are rotten to the marrow. We are cowardly and sentimental. We are bearing the burden of a humiliating past, and have in our blood the dull recollection of serfdom and servility. But my magnificent youngsters! Are there any finer ones in the world? Look at these young men and boys! What material! With them, I can make a new world. This is the heroic stage of youth. Out of it will come the creative man, the man-god.

“When an opponent declares, ‘I will not come over to your side,’ I say calmly, ‘Your child belongs to us already…What are you? You will pass on. Your descendants, however, now stand in the new camp. In a short time they will know nothing but this new community’.” - Adolf Hitler

....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.

Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67

Posted by Wild Thing at 05:48 AM | Comments (17)

Obama's "‘Banana Republic" Budget

Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) appearing on Lou Dobbs show. Discussing how Obama's budget increases taxes in order to grow the size of the government.. ....March 25th.

Senator Judd Gregg on Sean Hannity from Feb. 26th

Senator Gregg: This budget does nothing to get under control what I call the fiscal tsunami which is this huge cost that is coming at our country and specifically at the next generation to support my generation as we retire. And it will basically overwhelm our children and our grand children... Basically, it will bankrupt our country... The spending in this budget expands. In my opinion there is excessive spending on the entitlement side which is where we should have savings rather than new spending. And, of course, there is a lot of new taxes here about 1.4 trillion dollars.

Sean Hannity: Senator, you say it is going to bankrupt the country...

Senator Gregg: It is going to bankrupt the country.

Obama budget makes US worse than Cuba

Michelle Bachmann website

President Barack Obama's 3.55-trillion-dollar budget plan will leave the United States with a worse budget deficit than Cuba, a leading Republican critic warned Tuesday. "This creates for us a higher deficit than Cuba's. This is not the kind of position we want to put the United States in," Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters.

Other Republican critics of Obama's spending policies, including his nearly 800-billion-dollar economic stimulus package, have variously warned that he risks turning the country into Argentina, France, Germany, or Zimbabwe.

Asked for the figures underpinning the charge, a McConnell aide pointed to a report from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office that warned the US budget deficit for fiscal year 2009, ending September 30, would swell to 13.1 percent of Gross Domestic Product.

According to official Cuban government figures, Cuba's projected deficit in 2009 will run to 5.6 percent of GDP, less than the 6.7 percent it reached in 2008.

Wild Thing's comment..........

What is equally disturbing about this report is who is buying the debt. We are selling ourselves down the river to the Chinese and the Arabs. In a few months we are our the way to becoming a Third World country. And all this to satisfy the vain ambition of a inexperienced marxist confidence man, and the self-serving crooks and megalomaniacs in Congress.

Posted by Wild Thing at 05:47 AM | Comments (4)

March 26, 2009

Geithner 'open' to China proposal and Obama Pushes to Give Treasury More Power

The dollar fell yesterday after Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the U.S. was "open" for a new global currency to replace the dollar.

The dollar fell briefly on Wednesday after US Treasury secretary Tim Geithner said he was open to exploring a Chinese proposal to reduce reliance on the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency.

Geithner 'open' to China proposal

Politico

Geithner, at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the U.S. is "open" to a headline-grabbing proposal by the governor of the China's central bank, which was widely reported as being a call for a new global currency to replace the dollar, but which Geithner described as more modest and "evolutionary."

"I haven’t read the governor’s proposal. He’s a very thoughtful, very careful distinguished central banker. I generally find him sensible on every issue," Geithner said, saying that however his interpretation of the proposal was to increase the use of International Monetary Fund's special drawing rights -- shares in the body held by its members -- not creating a new currency in the literal sense.

"We’re actually quite open to that suggestion – you should see it as rather evolutionary rather building on the current architecture rather than moving us to global monetary union," he said.

"The only thing concrete I saw was expanding the use of the [special drawing rights]," Geithner said. "Anything he’s thinking about deserves some consideration."

The continued use of the dollar as a reserve currency, he added, "depends..on how effective we are in the United States...at getting our fiscal system back to the point where people judge it as sustainable over time."

President Obama flatly rejected the notion of a new global currency at last night's press conference.

UPDATE: Evidently sensing a gaffe, moderator Roger Altman told Geithner that it would be "useful" to return to the question, and asked if he foresaw a change in the dollar's centrality.

"I do not," Geithner said, adding several forceful promises, including, "We will do what's necessary to say we're sustaining confidence in our financial markets."

After stating, to a courageous Congresswoman, yesterday, that he would NOT support such a plan!

Congresswoman Bachmann Questions Geithner & Bernanke About A Global Currency.

Wild Thing's comment on this part.......

Congresswoman Michelle Bachman was told by Geithner on Tuesday, that he “categorically” rejected the Chinese call for a global currency! So he lied or changed his mind.

At Tuesday's House Financial Services Committee meeting (chaired by bawney frwank), Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) twice asked little TurboTax Timmy Geithner where in The Constitution it gave him this power he and the Kenyan are seeking.

And twice TurboTax Timmy had no answer. He kept dancing around the questions saying 'Congress did this, blah, blah, Congress did that, blah, blah'. But Rep Bachmann was relentless on the issue of 'THE CONSTITUTION'.

Little Timmy looked like a deer in the headlights. It was like the word 'Constitution' was some obscure word used in ancient Sumeria. It was also clear TurboTax Timmy has no idea of what's IN the Constitution.

Notice how Geithner doesn't have a clue when she asks him about the Constitution!

I went to her US House page.

There's video links on her questioning in the AIG hearings of yesterday. Plus there's a video from a FoxNews interview with her after the hearing.

She is a very smart lady, I have always loved the way she stands up to these people wanting to destroy our country. We need more like her.

There is also this:

Obama Administration Sending Draft Legislation to Hill to Give Treasury More Power

ABC News

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner hopes to today send draft legislation of a bill to Capitol Hill that will give him more power to take over large financial institutions in serious trouble. The government currently has this authority with banks, but not with other financial institutions such as bank and thrift holding companies, or with holding companies that control insurance companies, futures commission merchants, and broker-dealers.

The draft legislation will -- likely later today -- be sent to Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., chair of the Senate Banking Committee and Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chair of the House Financial Services Committee.

As written, the bill would give the Treasury Department what's called "resolution authority," granting the U.S. government the authority to put a big financial company into receivership or conservatorship. With that authority, the government can either reorganize or shut down the company -- renegotiating or reneging on contracts (such as retention bonuses for AIG executives), transferring the company's assets and liabilities, and dealing with any derivatives portfolio.

One possible sticking point: President Obama and Secretary Geithner are seeking sole authority be given to the executive branch to put these companies into conservatorship or receivership. The legislation as written would give the decision making power to the Treasury Secretary and the chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), though the decision would be "informed" by the advice of the chair of the Federal Reserve Board and any other relevant regulatory agency.

Wild Thing's comment.........

Lord, please help us.

Another BAD idea! Reasonably smart people, with reasonably smart advisers would come to the right conclusion at least some of the time. The fact that Obama and his team are soooooo wrong about everything makes me believe that it has to be on purpose. He's getting the results he wants. He's not "wrong" -- he's evil.

This is all being done on purpose. Bring down the dollar, bring down America. It’s the only logical conclusion we can draw, it’s purposeful. Nothing else works. They are not all stupid people. I also think this is why there are so many treasury job turn downs. The candidates see what’s going on and want to have nothing to do with it.

We have to figure out a way to fight back, and turn despair into Action it’s not over yet. I keep writing to the politicans that have been taking somewhat of a stand to encourage them and be supportive of them. They need to know we see what is happening and don't like what is happening, and fear for our country.

And regarding the last article in this post, where they want the Treasury to have more pwoer, for those of us in America that have read the Constitution noting all legislation must originate in the congress.

Judge Napolitano said on Fox yesterday that this is not Constitutional and that Congress does not have the power to legislate this.

....Thank you Richard for sending this article to me.

Posted by Wild Thing at 05:55 AM | Comments (8)

Jake DeSantis Letter: "Dear A.I.G., I Quit! "

Dear A.I.G., I Quit!

New York Times

The following is a letter sent on Tuesday by Jake DeSantis, an executive vice president of the American International Group’s financial products unit, to Edward M. Liddy, the chief executive of A.I.G.

DEAR Mr. Liddy,

It is with deep regret that I submit my notice of resignation from A.I.G. Financial Products. I hope you take the time to read this entire letter. Before describing the details of my decision, I want to offer some context:

I am proud of everything I have done for the commodity and equity divisions of A.I.G.-F.P. I was in no way involved in — or responsible for — the credit default swap transactions that have hamstrung A.I.G. Nor were more than a handful of the 400 current employees of A.I.G.-F.P. Most of those responsible have left the company and have conspicuously escaped the public outrage.

After 12 months of hard work dismantling the company — during which A.I.G. reassured us many times we would be rewarded in March 2009 — we in the financial products unit have been betrayed by A.I.G. and are being unfairly persecuted by elected officials. In response to this, I will now leave the company and donate my entire post-tax retention payment to those suffering from the global economic downturn. My intent is to keep none of the money myself.

I take this action after 11 years of dedicated, honorable service to A.I.G. I can no longer effectively perform my duties in this dysfunctional environment, nor am I being paid to do so. Like you, I was asked to work for an annual salary of $1, and I agreed out of a sense of duty to the company and to the public officials who have come to its aid. Having now been let down by both, I can no longer justify spending 10, 12, 14 hours a day away from my family for the benefit of those who have let me down.

You and I have never met or spoken to each other, so I’d like to tell you about myself. I was raised by schoolteachers working multiple jobs in a world of closing steel mills. My hard work earned me acceptance to M.I.T., and the institute’s generous financial aid enabled me to attend. I had fulfilled my American dream.

I started at this company in 1998 as an equity trader, became the head of equity and commodity trading and, a couple of years before A.I.G.’s meltdown last September, was named the head of business development for commodities. Over this period the equity and commodity units were consistently profitable — in most years generating net profits of well over $100 million. Most recently, during the dismantling of A.I.G.-F.P., I was an integral player in the pending sale of its well-regarded commodity index business to UBS. As you know, business unit sales like this are crucial to A.I.G.’s effort to repay the American taxpayer.

The profitability of the businesses with which I was associated clearly supported my compensation. I never received any pay resulting from the credit default swaps that are now losing so much money. I did, however, like many others here, lose a significant portion of my life savings in the form of deferred compensation invested in the capital of A.I.G.-F.P. because of those losses. In this way I have personally suffered from this controversial activity — directly as well as indirectly with the rest of the taxpayers.

I have the utmost respect for the civic duty that you are now performing at A.I.G. You are as blameless for these credit default swap losses as I am. You answered your country’s call and you are taking a tremendous beating for it.

But you also are aware that most of the employees of your financial products unit had nothing to do with the large losses. And I am disappointed and frustrated over your lack of support for us. I and many others in the unit feel betrayed that you failed to stand up for us in the face of untrue and unfair accusations from certain members of Congress last Wednesday and from the press over our retention payments, and that you didn’t defend us against the baseless and reckless comments made by the attorneys general of New York and Connecticut.

My guess is that in October, when you learned of these retention contracts, you realized that the employees of the financial products unit needed some incentive to stay and that the contracts, being both ethical and useful, should be left to stand. That’s probably why A.I.G. management assured us on three occasions during that month that the company would “live up to its commitment” to honor the contract guarantees.

That may be why you decided to accelerate by three months more than a quarter of the amounts due under the contracts. That action signified to us your support, and was hardly something that one would do if he truly found the contracts “distasteful.”

That may also be why you authorized the balance of the payments on March 13.

At no time during the past six months that you have been leading A.I.G. did you ask us to revise, renegotiate or break these contracts — until several hours before your appearance last week before Congress.

I think your initial decision to honor the contracts was both ethical and financially astute, but it seems to have been politically unwise. It’s now apparent that you either misunderstood the agreements that you had made — tacit or otherwise — with the Federal Reserve, the Treasury, various members of Congress and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo of New York, or were not strong enough to withstand the shifting political winds.

You’ve now asked the current employees of A.I.G.-F.P. to repay these earnings. As you can imagine, there has been a tremendous amount of serious thought and heated discussion about how we should respond to this breach of trust.

As most of us have done nothing wrong, guilt is not a motivation to surrender our earnings. We have worked 12 long months under these contracts and now deserve to be paid as promised. None of us should be cheated of our payments any more than a plumber should be cheated after he has fixed the pipes but a careless electrician causes a fire that burns down the house.

Many of the employees have, in the past six months, turned down job offers from more stable employers, based on A.I.G.’s assurances that the contracts would be honored. They are now angry about having been misled by A.I.G.’s promises and are not inclined to return the money as a favor to you.

The only real motivation that anyone at A.I.G.-F.P. now has is fear. Mr. Cuomo has threatened to “name and shame,” and his counterpart in Connecticut, Richard Blumenthal, has made similar threats — even though attorneys general are supposed to stand for due process, to conduct trials in courts and not the press.

So what am I to do? There’s no easy answer. I know that because of hard work I have benefited more than most during the economic boom and have saved enough that my family is unlikely to suffer devastating losses during the current bust. Some might argue that members of my profession have been overpaid, and I wouldn’t disagree.

That is why I have decided to donate 100 percent of the effective after-tax proceeds of my retention payment directly to organizations that are helping people who are suffering from the global downturn. This is not a tax-deduction gimmick; I simply believe that I at least deserve to dictate how my earnings are spent, and do not want to see them disappear back into the obscurity of A.I.G.’s or the federal government’s budget. Our earnings have caused such a distraction for so many from the more pressing issues our country faces, and I would like to see my share of it benefit those truly in need.

On March 16 I received a payment from A.I.G. amounting to $742,006.40, after taxes. In light of the uncertainty over the ultimate taxation and legal status of this payment, the actual amount I donate may be less — in fact, it may end up being far less if the recent House bill raising the tax on the retention payments to 90 percent stands. Once all the money is donated, you will immediately receive a list of all recipients.

This choice is right for me. I wish others at A.I.G.-F.P. luck finding peace with their difficult decision, and only hope their judgment is not clouded by fear.

Mr. Liddy, I wish you success in your commitment to return the money extended by the American government, and luck with the continued unwinding of the company’s diverse businesses — especially those remaining credit default swaps. I’ll continue over the short term to help make sure no balls are dropped, but after what’s happened this past week I can’t remain much longer — there is too much bad blood. I’m not sure how you will greet my resignation, but at least Attorney General Blumenthal should be relieved that I’ll leave under my own power and will not need to be “shoved out the door.”

Sincerely,

Jake DeSantis

Wild Thing's comment.......

This letter tells a lot.This letter needs to be read far and wide. Maybe the hordes should have informed themslves of the facts before they loaded up their pitchforks and lit the torches.

DiSantis is a brave man to have done this. What the left did to Joe Plumber will or probably be done to this man as well, maybe worse.

In the hearing, Barney Frank asked for the names and addresses of the AIG employees who received bonuses. Liddy responded, saying he wanted assurance that they would be kept private because of death threats. Frank said they could subpeona them, etc. Then this weekend, tour buses show up at some of the homes. How did they get the addresses, and was it through Barney Frank?

Glenn Beck said ACORN was paying for the buses but Rush Limbaugh speculated that it was the unions who unleashed the tour buses.

....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.

Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67

Posted by Wild Thing at 05:50 AM | Comments (6)

NRA:The Untold Story of Gun Confiscation After Katrina

NRA: The Untold Story of Gun Confiscation After Katrina

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, Police Superintendent P. Eddie Compass unleashed a wave of confiscations with these chilling words:

"No one will be able to be armed. We will take all weapons. Only law enforcement will be allowed to have guns."

Thousands of firearms were then confiscated from law-abiding gun owners. The police gave no paperwork or receipts for those guns. They just stormed in and seized them.

New Orleans gun owners are showing up at these trailers, with serial numbers of their firearms, expecting Mayor Nagin and his band of anti-gunners to respect the Federal courts.

They are met by stony-eyed bureaucrats who say serial numbers aren't enough—and that gun owners now need PROOF OF PURCHASE of these firearms.

How many of those gun owners do you think had original receipts for those firearms? And even if they did, how many do you think could find those receipts in the wreckage of a hurricane?

Many of these firearms were passed down from father to son, generation to generation. Some are precious heirlooms. Some are collector's pieces won in our wars. And they were all lawfully owned and they must be returned to their owners.

How to Carry a Concealed weapon

Wild Thing's comment.........

Oh my God this is scary. I hope and pray this never happens again anywhere in our country.

......Thank you RAC for sending this to me.

RAC has a website that is awesome. 336th Assault Helicopter Company

13th Combat Aviation Battalion - 1st Aviation Brigade - Soc Trang, Republic of Vietnam

Posted by Wild Thing at 05:47 AM | Comments (8)

Card Check Means Union Slavery

Watch this chilling video and hear how the union thugs gain access to the home addresses and phone numbers of employees. The company, in this case the Chrysler Corp., buckled to the union and gave out the private info.

Card Check Means Union Slavery

The American Spectator

Suppose to vote in state and national elections you weren't allowed a secret ballot behind a curtain. Suppose to vote you had to go downtown and vote in the baseball stadium, where your choices would be flashed on the scoreboard, before a howling mob. Your boss, and your co-workers, and your neighbors would all know who you voted for.

That is how the unions and liberal Democrats want to change the law in regard to employees choosing whether they want a union.

For decades now, employees have been able to vote in secret ballot certification elections to determine whether they really wanted a union in their work place. In about half of these elections, for many years now, the workers have said no to the union.

Workers v. Unions

Why would workers not want a union? First, unions are expensive. Union dues for major, national unions now often run $500 to $600 a year. Once you get a union in your workplace, if you don't pay the dues, in most states you are automatically fired. Unless your state has a right-to-work law, once your employer signs a contract with a union, you must join it and pay its dues whether you want to or not.

Moreover, your union may call a strike when you can't afford not to work and miss your paycheck. Under current law, you can still cross the picket line and continue working. But you are then subject to union harassment and even violence, even after the strike ends. And check it out for yourself: there is a long history of union violence.

In addition, if you work hard and try to get ahead, the union often works against you. Union work rules routinely require advancement based on seniority in the union, not hard work, skill, and productivity.

Unions also have a bad history of driving the employer into the ground over the years, with unnecessary costs and excessive demands, resulting in fewer and fewer jobs, until the employer is finally gone.

Unions vs. Free Choice

The controversy over card check legislation shows how concerned union bureaucracies are regarding the wishes of the workers. This legislation bears the Orwellian name "The Employee Free Choice Act." It would end secret ballot elections for deciding whether the workers want a union -- elections, remember, where the workers have rejected the union half the time.

Instead union organizers would take a card endorsing union representation to individual workers to sign. These union organizers know where you work, where you live, where your car is parked in the parking lot. They probably know where your kids go to school. They may have kids at that school as well. A group of them can come to your house after work and ask you to sign the card. Are you going to tell them no to their face? Is this really a free choice? Are many going to tell them no after one incident of slashed tires or a broken windshield, at home or at work, or a kid harassed at school? Again, there is a long history of union violence. Intimidation and harassment are routine union practices.

March 24, 2009

Obama Volunteers:"We're not looking for a fight.That will come later,when we have an army"

Obama volunteers hunt budget support in Birmingham, Alabama grassroots campaign

The Birmingham News

Volunteers fanned out across the Birmingham area and Alabama Saturday to pump up enthusiasm for President Barack Obama's budget proposal in much the same way they did to win over voters during the presidential campaign.

About 30 volunteers in Birmingham canvassed shopping areas and other high-traffic locations to talk about the need for health care reform, an education overhaul and environmentally friendly energy development.

"If we don't change these three things in the next 10 to 15 years, America is over as we know it," Chris DeHaven, told the group of volunteers before they went their separate ways.

Obama's plan faces criticism from Republicans and others who say it's too expensive. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released a report Friday saying Obama's agenda would cause huge budget deficits, forcing the country to borrow $9.3 trillion in the next decade.

Those who gathered at Kelly Ingram Park in downtown Birmingham were urged to enlist others who share Obama's vision and to stay away from trying to convert naysayers.

"We're looking for supporters," said DeHaven of Hoover, one of the event's organizers. "We're not looking for a fight. That will come later, when we have an army."

The volunteers are part of Organizing for America, the same grassroots, national network credited in large part with Obama's quick rise from obscurity to president. Birmingham and 11 other sites statewide were part of a national push this weekend by Organizing for America to trumpet Obama's spending proposal.

Across the metro area, volunteers gave their opinions about why Obama's plan is good for the country's future. Then they asked those willing to sign a pledge of support for the budget. Supporters' e-mail addresses and other contact information were collected, to keep people engaged and to recruit more volunteers.

Leanne Townsend of Hoover also helped organize Saturday's event. She has been a member of the Obama grassroots network since March 2007.

"Our group in Birmingham has been very involved," Townsend said. "We're still very energetic. We all worked so hard during the campaign. We can't just stop."

Wild Thing's comment.........

"We're looking for supporters," said DeHaven of Hoover, one of the event's organizers. "We're not looking for a fight. That will come later, when we have an army."

What?! This Chris DeHaven is a lunatic. The country has survived for over two hundred years without Obama. These people are fanatics. Wrong, Chris! America is over if we do not stop you. These people are sick and some maybe even dangerous. Willfully ignorant, begulied cult followers are usually dangerous people.

I have to wonder which this is more about, gathering support or gathering a list of dissenters.

I think the Army this he is referring to is the Army this jerk is referring to: The “National Civilian Community Corps” (NCCC). It becomes a reality via the “National GIVE Act” or the “Serve America Act”(As it’s called in the Senate”.

The House version passed last week includes money for a committee to study the “Feasibility” of making the NCCC a MANDATORY service for all young people... The purpose of this “permanent cadre” is to be at the beck and call of the Federal Government to respond to Natural and “OTHER” emergencies (riots or to enforce Martial Law, or just harass the AIG execs, etc... etc...).

These people will also be USED to supply the labor to build infrastructure projects for the Government. They will live in CAMPS, and will have UNIFORMS.

A spending cap on this project is non-existant (in the House version - not sure on the Senate version), which goes along with what Obama spoke of during the election — that his National Civilian Security Force.

directive from the DoD should just about seal their intentions.

DoD Civilian Expeditionary Workforce

PDF file dates 23 January 2009

Everyone should read this PDF file above if you can. . It sounds like the plan of a totalitarian government.

"Expeditionary Forces" will be deployed amongst us. To what nefarious purposes?

(1) To support workforce stability and deployment predictability, the timeframes during which the DoD Civilian Expeditionary Workforce is susceptible to expeditionary assignments will be designated in 6-month rotational periods. Tours will be determined through collaboration of the combatant commanders, career field managers, functional community managers, and civilian employees, as applicable. The portion of the DoD Civilian Expeditionary Workforce that is within the 6-month window of deployment susceptibility shall maintain full preparedness as trained, cleared, and ready.

Posted by Wild Thing at 07:50 AM | Comments (14)

Cap-and-trade Promises Disaster

Obama Admits Cap & Trade Will Cause Electricity Rates to Skyrocket

Cap-and-trade promises disaster

by R. Emmett Tyrrell

The Washington Times

Thank God winter is almost over. It has been another cold one. I hope Al Gore wore his hat and brought along his galoshes whenever he made an appearance against global warming. Better yet, I hope he scheduled his jeremiads in warmer climes, say, Miami Beach or Antigua.

As I reported a while back, scientists have not been able to measure any increase in global warming since the end of 1998. That, despite their lunkheaded computers forecasting the opposite. Over the last two years temperatures have actually dropped by more than 0.5 degrees Celsius. Button up!

I mention all this because (1) it is always amusing to kid Mr. Gore and (2) the price tag for Prophet Obama's climate plan has just jumped to $2 trillion. That is 3 times the White House's initial estimate for its cap-and-trade monstrosity. It is also a huge tax on corporations and consumers at a time when both are in recession.

Only government thrives. Given the fact it is increasingly unclear there is such a thing as global warming and the fact that cap-and-trade is an expensive and dubious remedy for it might not the Prophet Obama hold back. He has plenty else to do.

Cap-and-trade has been tried in Europe by the signers of the Kyoto Protocol and according to the Heritage Foundation's Ben Lieberman, "Nearly every European country participating has higher emissions today than when the treaty was first signed in 1992. ... emissions in many of these nations are actually rising faster than in the United States." Yet perhaps the Obama administration has its eye on something other than limiting emissions. Possibly it sees cap-and-trade as a great way to gain control of still more of the private sector.

As mentioned above, the huge amount of money mulcted from the private sector and handed over to the public sector has got to please every collectivist in the White House. Moreover there is the huge bureaucracy that will have to be set up to oversee cap-and-trade.

Those of us who have followed the economic crisis and the Ponzi schemes of Bernard Madoff are familiar with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). If the administration's climate legislation is passed, we shall have the Cap and Trade Commission (CAP). It will be vast.

To begin with, CAP's agents will have to go to every factory and office building and presumably even public buildings and decide their allowable amount of emissions. That is to say, their cap.

Next the agency will auction off and oversee the sale of the documents that certify emissions allowances. Call them coupons. Then the agency will have to monitor the exchange of these allowances and the ownership. Finally the agency will have to monitor compliance and presumably punish those who fail to comply.

In this setup there will be countless opportunities for corruption as polluters try to bribe CAP's agents, or the agents try to elicit bribes. As with the SEC, there will be incompetence and lax enforcement. Finally, there will be senators and members of the House of Representatives making special pleadings for corporations in their regions, labor unions, special pleaders of all sorts.

Finally, there is the economics of the legislation. It will take $2 trillion from the private sector and dump it into the public sector. That is to say, a large tax on the private sector will transfer money to the public sector. So how is the private sector to grow itself out of this recession? The administration's answer is that the government will return the money to worthy endeavors, health care, green technology - again still more opportunities for corruption and for special favors to pleading solons and numas on Capitol Hill.

The Prophet Obama was very disturbed recently when asked if he was a socialist. Socialism is government control of the means of producing and distributing goods and services. What I have just described is a powerful instrumentality toward socialism. Along with Cap-and-Trade, the Obama administration is calling for a sufficient number of these instrumentalities to socialism that by the next election the United States will be very close to being a socialist state.

There is no point in Mr. Obama arguing against that observation. He ought simply to come out and say it. He is for socialism. What could possibly be wrong with that?

Wild Thing's comment........

Excellent article, this cap and trade thing is all part of a larger plan to take over the U.S. economy, a plan that BO and those to whom he answers have been working on for decades. This is all totally insane! The fact that the government “profits” from cap and trade makes it a tax pure and simple. Look at the revenue Obama is expecting from his cap and trade scam.

As Thomas Sowell said this week:

"The one person toward whom there is no compassion is the taxpayer.”

...... Thank you Jim for sending this to me.

Posted by Wild Thing at 07:40 AM | Comments (6)

March 23, 2009

Great Song for The Tea Parties,"It Ain't Your Money to Spend"

Jazz singer, Kathleen Stewart, has recorded a little ditty that should become the theme song for the Tea Parties.

This is the New York City Tea Party Protest and the singer is Kathleen Stewart.

Kathleen Stewart

Kathleen also has a website.

Wild Thing's comment........

I had never heard of her before, but she is good and I love this song.

Posted by Wild Thing at 06:47 AM | Comments (4)

March 21, 2009

AWESOME Speech by Republican Rep. Steve LaTourette Re: AIG

Rep. Steve LaTourette Speaks on the House Floor about AIG

Is this sick or what! ,...........

AIG is like a suicide bomber

Obama: It’s Like AIG Has a Bomb Strapped to Them

Source

But today, President Obama took that rhetoric in a different direction. He actually upped the ante explaining that AIG is like a suicide bomber.

“We had to step in, it was the right thing to do, even though it is infuriating,” Obama said, explaining why the government needed to bail out the troubled banks.

“The same is true with AIG,” he said. “It was the right thing to do to step in. Here’s the problem. It’s almost like they’ve got — they’ve got a bomb strapped to them and they’ve got their hand on the trigger. You don’t want them to blow up. But you’ve got to kind of talk them, ease that finger off the trigger.”

Wild Thing's comment........

There is no accountability in this Administration. There need to be mass resignations - starting with Obama. This is embarrassing. Its not like everyone doesn’t know by now that his people authorized the bonuses.

"AIG is like a suicide bomber"

Obviously he was speaking without his teleprompter or he would not have said such a thing.

I have not posted about all the uproar about the people that got a bonus because there has been so many other things that have been happening.

You know I mentioned before that I think Obama does a slight of hand thing with our country. He used this bonus thing and what happened.....we had news of HR1388 and the DOD and guns ammo, and our wonderful health care and treatment for our Veternas being taken away. HUGE things happening that needed to be addressed and letters written and phone calls made. So I keep seeing how Obama does one thing over here and at the same time is doing something else over there, slight of hand really comes to mind.

So now when I saw this video I just had to share it with you because it is one of the better speeches made about the BS that has gone on with the bonus thing and I wanted you all to see it.

If Congress can pick out an individual or a group of citizens then what is to stop them from writing Bill of Attainder on any or all of us for what ever reason?

What Congress did yesterday is a specific dis-incentive to the very professionals who have been charged with pulling AIG up from its bootstraps and making it solvent again.

The Dims have no intention of allowing any corporation the free market tools to heal their companies to a point where they can re-pay the government for their bailouts.

Democrats were the ones who put a choke hold on their better practices to put them in a position to fail in the first place—now they won’t let them fix their own problems.

Their agenda is the total destruction of corporate America, and thereby our Capitalist system.

Posted by Wild Thing at 05:44 AM | Comments (2)

B.Hussein Obama Needs To Learn Some Lessons From Milton Friedman

In his book "Capitalism and Freedom" (1962) Milton Friedman (1912-2006) advocated minimizing the role of government in a free market .

Milton Friedman - (CLASSIC! why socialism fails/ Obama is the Problem / Donahue smackdown)

An excerpt from an interview with Phil Donahue in 1979.

THIS IS A MUST SEE!!

1. Excellent smackdown of Donahue (not that hard with an intelectually unarmed liberal)

2. BINGO! on political appointees towards the second half. He just nails why Obama appointed Hillary, and the rest of the beltway insiders.

3. DOUBLE BINGO! on capitalism creates prosperity and why Obama's plans are 100% guaranteed to fail. Obama is 100% clueless and history is going to spank him.

4. Notes it is the INDIVIDUAL who makes prosperity the government does nothing to create prosperity.

Milton Friedman is rolling, rolling, in his grave...

For more of his FANTASTIC interviews- go here:

http://miltonfriedman.blogspot.com/

My favorite quote from Friedman.

“If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there’d be a shortage of sand.”

Posted by Wild Thing at 05:40 AM | Comments (2)

March 20, 2009

House Passes Mandatory National Service Bill aka The HR 1388 Bill, “Give” Act

As HR 1388/S 277 , the "GIVE Act " is on its way to the Senate, OBAMA says "It is time to STEP UP and SERVE" in a TV commerical announcing NEW Website.

USA Service website

So here he is with a NEW website before the Bill called S.277 (formerly HR1388) hits the Senate Floor. He is very eager.

House adopts plan for 'volunteer' corps

http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h1388/text

By Bob Unruh

The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a plan to set up a new "volunteer corps" and consider whether "a workable, fair, and reasonable mandatory service requirement for all able young people" should be developed.

The legislation also refers to "uniforms" that would be worn by the "volunteers" and the "need" for a "public service academy, a 4-year institution" to "focus on training" future "public sector leaders." The training, apparently, would occur at "campuses."

The vote yesterday came on H.R. 1388, which reauthorizes through 2014 the National and Community Service Act of 1990 and the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973, acts that originally, among other programs, funded the AmeriCorps and the National Senior Service Corps.

It not only reauthorizes the programs, but also includes "new programs and studies" and is expected to be funded with an allocation of $6 billion over the next five years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Many, however, are raising concerns that the program, which is intended to include 250,000 "volunteers," is the beginning of what President Obama called his "National Civilian Security Force" in a a speech last year in which he urged creating an organization as big and well-funded as the U.S. military. He has declined since then to elaborate.

The new bill specifically references the possibilities "if all individuals in the United States were expected to perform national service or were required to perform a certain amount of national service."

Such new requirements perhaps, the legislation notes, "would strengthen the social fabric of the Nation and overcome civic challenges by bringing together people from diverse economic, ethnic, and educational backgrounds."

No one, apparently with the exception of infants, would be excluded:

"The means to develop awareness of national service and volunteer opportunities at a young age by creating, expanding, and promoting service options for elementary and secondary school students, through service learning or other means, and by raising awareness of existing incentives."

According to a report by Canada Free Press, "'volunteerism' that kept America running since the days of its founding" would be "wiped out with the stroke of a pen."

"It becomes forced labor and like the practice of another era, presses American citizens of all ages and creeds, unknowingly into military service," the commentary said.

"On paper, H.R. 1388 is the 'Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act'; the more innocuous sounding 'The Give Act,' for short.

"The Give Act puts the finishing touches to Public Allies New Leadership for New Times, modeled after Saul Alinsky's 'Peoples Organizations' and operating under Michelle Obama," the commentary said.

"Michelle was also a pioneer in the social entrepreneur movement – leaders who create new approaches and organize to provide new solutions to social problems. Like most things Saul Alinsky, H.R. 1388 sounds noble in stating why wide-sweeping change is necessary," the commentary said.

"H.R. 1388 goes straight to the heart of volunteerism in America, impacting everything from the lemonade stands of neighborhood children, to the residents of senior citizens homes. … The Give Act puts tow-headed school children and silver-haired seniors in the official uniform of the new State, and encompasses every walk of life in main-street America," the commentary said. "Whether you are young or old, or firmly believe that volunteering means you are offering your time to the good of community work, you will be pressed into Obama's National Civilian Community Corps."

Groups of such "volunteers," would, under the legislation, be "grouped together as appropriate in campuses for operational, support, and boarding purposes. The Corps campus for a unit shall be in a facility or central location established as the operational headquarters and boarding place for the unit. … There shall be a superintendent for each camp."

The plan generated this concern from Resistnet.com: "This is the equivalent of brown shirts."

Another portion of the bill talks about a "service learning" plan that will be "a mandatory part of the curriculum in all of the secondary schools served by the local educational agency."

A forum participant noted, "I wonder what's going to happen to those who refused to 'volunteer.' Maybe they will be put into a different 'campus.' I guess we will soon find out."

Formal announcements about the plan suggested something far different, picking a provision far down in the 200 pages of legislation to highlight.

According to a Business Wire statement released by Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the bill "would formally authorize federal support for establishing the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks on America as a National Day of Service and Remembrance."

That provision is tucked into the far reaches of the legislation, but Schumer discussed it as if it were the primary point.

"I could not be more proud to work to pass this important provision," said Schumer. "September 11 should not only be a day for mourning – it should be a day to think about our neighbors, our community, and our country. We can take a tragic day in our nation's history and turn it into a force for good."

On the Albany Insanity blog, this concern was raised: "What gives the government the right to require individuals to give three years service under the guise of 'volunteer' service? It is not explicit exactly who is required but I think they get the bill passed and then iron out the details. It talks about uniforms and 'camps.' They revise the word 'camps' and call it 'campus.' There is language about Seniors and Community organizations."

This Bill is very long and very detailed.

HERE is another link to the Text of H.R. 1388 bill , this one might be easier to read, just give it a little time to load it is long, but this one has highlighted sections.

GovTrack website

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-1388&version=rh&nid=t0%3Arh%3A2355

NATIONAL GIVE ACT H R 1388 Passed House 321-105

H R 1388 YEA-AND-NAY 18-Mar-2009 4:39 PM
BILL TITLE: Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education (GIVE) Act

FINAL VOTE RESULTS Roll Call You can see who voted for this communist bill

Now it iGoes to Senate

CONTACT YOUR SENATORS

In case anyone was wondering it is in THIS bill that Obama has created his “National Civilian Community Corps”. Or “Obama’s SS” because that is EXACTLY what it will end up being. This is the corps that he no doubt wants to make mandatory... And regardless this is the corps he wants to be fully funded and AS STRONG as our military.

It is in this sectoin of the bill.

This is Subsection E as it appears and was passed by the House of Representatives:

[Subsection E]

‘SEC. 155. NATIONAL CIVILIAN COMMUNITY CORPS.’;

And for we baby boomers and those that are older the Senior citizens:

12) Whether current Federal volunteer programs are suited to address the special skills and needs of senior volunteers, and if not, how these programs can be improved such that the Federal Government can effectively promote service among the ‘baby boomer’ generation.

First Amendment down the toilet it goes????

H.Amdt. 49: Amendment to prohibit organizations from attempting to influence... Amendment to prohibit organizations from attempting to influence legislation; organize or engage in protests, petitions, boycotts, or strikes; and assist, promote, or deter union organizing. An amendment to H.R. 1388: Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act. Offered: Mar 18, 2009 Sponsor: Rep. George Miller [D-CA] Actions: Mar 18, 2009: Amendment (A012) offered by Mr. Miller, George. Mar 18, 2009: On agreeing to the Miller, George amendment (A012) Agreed to by voice vote. For more information, see the the official record on THOMAS for H.Amdt. 49. See Text of amendment

Wild Thing's comment........

This is moving way too fast to keep up. I have never, in my life, seen anything like this.

“mandatory” “volunteer” corps....uuuuuuuuuugh

This is unConstitutional. I know, they don’t give a spit about the Constitution. I am just stunned at the number of (R)s that voted for it. 70 House Republicans voted for it. We need to clean house in 2010. I’m guessing not one of them read the d*mn thing. The way the dims have been shoving all these bills through so fast. If I was a congressman, I wouldn’t vote for anything that I did not understand or have not read.

And here is another thing about this in the bill.

Section6104 (b) 5-7, (5) The effect on the Nation, on those who serve, and on the families of those who serve, if all individuals in the United States were expected to perform national service or were required to perform a certain amount of national service. (6) Whether a workable, fair, and reasonable mandatory service requirement for all able young people could be developed, and how such a requirement could be implemented in a manner that would strengthen the social fabric of the Nation and overcome civic challenges by bringing together people from diverse economic, ethnic, and educational backgrounds.

Let's say you have a daughter and she has to do this. She will not be going to some fun camp you have chosen, let's say one from your church or something. These camps "campuses" that Obama has in mind will be a mixed group I would suppose from all areas. Gang bangers, thugs, put in the same groups with innocent kids. This is a total nightmare it will be inflicting suffering and danger to the good people by the minority thugs and thugettes.

Also this and I truly do not see how this 3 or 4 year thing is possible even if a person was brain numb and wanted to do it. sheesh How is a person supposed to work and feed their families, and all the other things people do on their own, activities that have become apart of American life !

Plus the fact that Michelle Obama is involved in this makes me VERY nervous.

Obama and his ilk think of the citizens of our country as two legged live stock.

They assume that a Civilian Security Force will be the antidote for their fear of us.

“When governments fear the people there is liberty. When people fear the government, there is tyranny.” --Thomas Jefferson

“Wolverines!!!”

....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.

Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67

Posted by Wild Thing at 06:50 AM | Comments (15)

March 19, 2009

Good News ....DOD Brass Ban LIfted

Feds undercut ammo supply

But Defense policy reversed after intervention by 2 Montana senators

This is a 6 page pdf mostly with signatures and names.

Responding to two Democratic senators representing outraged private gun owners, the Department of Defense announced last night it has scrapped a new policy that would deplete the supply of ammunition by requiring destruction of fired military cartridge brass.

The policy already had taken a bite out of the nation's stressed ammunition supply, leaving arms dealers scrambling to find ammo for private gun owners.

Mark Cunningham, a legislative affairs representative with the Defense Logistics Agency, explained in an e-mail last night to the office of Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., that the Department of Defense had placed small arms cartridge cases on its list of sensitive munitions items as part of an overall effort to ensure national security is not jeopardized in the sale of any Defense property.

The small arms cases were identified as a senstive item and were held pending review of policy, he said.

"Upon review, the Defense Logistics Agency has determined the cartridge cases could be appropriately placed in a category of government property allowing for their release for sale," Cunningham wrote.

The Defense Department liaison was responding to a letter yesterday to the Defense Logistic Agency's Vice Admiral Alan S. Thompson from Tester and fellow Montana Democrat Sen. Max Baucus. The senators argued "prohibiting the sale of fired military brass would reduce the supply of ammunition – preventing individual gun owners from fully exercising their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. We urge you to address this situation promptly."

One of the companies that brought attention to the issue is Georgia Arms, which for the last 15 years has been purchasing fired brass casings from the Department of Defense and private government surplus liquidators.

The military collects the discarded casings from fired rounds, then sells them through liquidators to companies like Georgia Arms that remanufacture the casings into ammunition for the law enforcement and civilian gun owner communities.

But earlier this month, Georgia Arms received a canceled order, informed by its supplier that the government now requires fired brass casings be mutilated, in other words, destroyed to a scrap metal state.

The policy change, handed down from the Department of Defense through the Defense Logistics Agency, cut a supply leg out from underneath ammunition manufacturers.

The policy compelled Georgia Arms to cancel all sales of .223 and .308 ammunition, rounds used, respectively, in semi-automatic and deer hunting rifles, until further notice. Sharch Manufacturing, Inc. had announced the same cancellation of its .223 and .308 brass reloading components.

"They just reclassified brass to allow destruction of it, based on what?" Georgia Arms owner Larry Haynie asked WND. "We've been 'going green' for the last dozen years, and brass is one of the most recyclable materials out there. A cartridge case can be used over and over again. And now we're going to destroy it based on what? We don't want the civilian public to have it? It's a government injustice."

The Firearm Blog

It looks like the ban has been lifted. Brass casing sold for domestic use will not require mutilation.

from Georgia Arms

" A hardy congratulation is due to our loyal customers, our good friends, and our fellow shooting enthusiasts through out this great nation! Due to the diligent and overwhelming effort of many thousands of you, calling, writing, and emailing our elected officials, DOD Surplus, LLC, has rescinded its prior directive that ALL small arms spent casings be mutilated rather than recycled. This was a huge victory for common sense and we would like to thank each and every person who made an effort and played a role in correcting this mistake. We at Georgia Arms are proud of everyone who took the time and had the courage to stand up for our rights. We believe, that by your outpouring of anger and dismay, you not only extended our liberty and freedoms but also took a stand for economic common sense in a time when we know our government should be trying to reduce costs at all levels rather than throwing money away for some politically correct reason or the other. Again, our hat is off to everyone who helped and thanks to God as well. We will roll up our sleeves and go back to work; we have 223’s and 308’s to build! We will start shipping backorders today. "

(This was pertaining to an outstanding bid on a lot of brass that we won prior to the mutilation order. DOD sent us a bill for the brass after we had refused it due to the mutilation requirements. DOD on Monday sent us a bill for the brass and when we responded that we had already refused it due to the mutilation clause, we received this reply via email.)

Word came down that all shells 50 caliber or smaller CAN still be purchased without the mutilation requirement as long as kept in the US."

More from The Firearm Blog.....

- Prior to 11/2008, Demil B items required no mutilation for sale to the public. That policy changed in November, but several exceptions were granted. Expended munitions brass was one of those given a waiver.

- Enter the new administration. Since Demil B category items had been given a broad, general label as “national security sensitive” someone above the DRMS (likely in the DLA) reviewed the policy and immediately went with a CYA policy and yanked all exemptions. No thoughts or considerations were given to the implications of this policy change, but this directive was issued to DOD Surplus effective immediately last week.

- Shit storm blows up as a result. In particular, the letters, phone calls, and emails to our legislators, the media, and anyone else who would listen caused this policy to be review post haste.

- As of this morning our company was informed that expended munitions brass will now be reclassified as Demil Q –– which requires no mutilation unless sold to a foreign country.

Wild Thing's comment.........

All little things and large, that are the basic strengths of this Republic are now under sage.

Nicholas reminded me about something. The comedian Pat Paulsen, a regular on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, first announced he was running for President in 1968 as the candidate for the Straight Talking American Government (STAG) Party. Throughout the campaign he repeatedly described himself as the "common ordinary simple savior of America's destiny." Other campaign slogans he used included "We cannot stand pat," "We can be decisive, probably," "United we sit," and "If elected, I will win." He responded to all criticism with the phrase "Picky, picky, picky."

Paulsen declared that "issues have no place in a presidential campaign." However, he did announce a position on a few issues. For instance, on the issue of gun control he favored letting everyone have guns but locking up the bullets.

Is that weird he would say that or what!

........Thank you Mark and Tom for sending this information to me. They both go together so well and make a good post on this. I am learning so much!!! I never knew about all of this before.

Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67

Tom
US Army Aviation
Vietnam 1966-68
US Army Special Forces
1970-72

Posted by Wild Thing at 07:50 AM | Comments (9)

Gun Advocates Ready for Battle on Federal Assault Weapons Ban

Gun Advocates Ready for Battle on Federal Assault Weapons Ban

FOX news

Get ready for a gunfight.

Attorney General Eric Holder is using the drug violence in Mexico to "confuse and mislead" Americans in an attempt to reinstate the expired Federal Assault Weapons Ban, gun advocates claim.

Holder revealed his intention to reinstate the ban last month while announcing more than 700 arrests in connection with a crackdown on Mexican drug cartels operating in the United States.

"As President Obama indicated during the campaign, there are just a few gun-related changes that we would like to make, and among them would be to re-institute the ban on the sale of assault weapons," Holder said. "I think that will have a positive impact in Mexico, at a minimum."

Holder said reinstating the ban would decrease the flow of guns from the U.S. into Mexico. He declined to offer a timeframe for any re-implementation; Justice Department spokesman Matt Miller also declined comment on Tuesday.

But Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association, told FOXNews.com that Holder's "argument in general is bizarre."

"It's a delusion to say that diminishing the Second Amendment in America is somehow going to stop these ruthless drug cartels in Mexico."

LaPierre called on Holder and Justice Department officials to uphold existing laws and focus on increasing enforcement along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border, rather than consider additional legislation.

"The answer is to enforce the law on both sides of the border," LaPierre said. "I reject the notion that the reenactment of that ban would have any impact on the Mexican drug cartels."

LaPierre, referring to the drug-related violence that killed more than 6,200 people in Mexico last year, accused Holder of trying to "put a failed political agenda on the back of a national tragedy."

Signed into law by President Clinton in 1994, the Federal Assault Weapons Ban prohibited the sale of ammunition clips with more than 10 rounds and 19 types of semi-automatic military-style guns, including AK-47s and AR-15s. The ban expired in 2004, and a 10-year extension proposed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., was voted down.

Michael Hammond, spokesman for the Gun Owners of America, said he was not surprised by Holder's comments.

"We expected the Obama administration, contrary to promises made during the campaign, to do everything it can to go after us," Hammond said. "It's no surprise to us that [Holder] is using a crisis as an argument to achieving his policy goals."

During a House subcommittee hearing last week, Chris Cox, executive director of the NRA's Institute for Legislative Action, warned against making U.S. gun owners "scapegoats" for the Mexican crisis.

"The message here is clear: According to some, the violence in Mexico is not the fault of the drug cartels or their American customers, nor is it the fault of decades of Mexican government corruption," Cox said in prepared remarks.

"In their view, the fault lies with American gun owners. This is an outrageous assertion."

Authorities should ramp up border security and continue targeting so-called straw buyers who do the cartels' "dirty work," Cox said.

But Tom Diaz, senior policy analyst at the Violence Policy Center, testified at the subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs on Thursday that the U.S. civilian gun market is fueling violence in Mexico and on both sides of its border.

"If one set out to design a 'legal' market conducive to the business of funneling guns to criminals, one would be hard-pressed to come up with a 'better' system that the U.S. civilian gun market -- short of simply selling guns directly to criminals from manufacturer and importer inventories," Diaz said in prepared remarks.

"The U.S. gun market not only makes gun trafficking in military-style weapons easy, it practically compels that traffic because of the gun market's loose regulations and the gun industry's ruthless design choices over the last several decades."

Citing February 2008 congressional testimony of William Hoover, assistant director of field operations at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)...

Diaz said military-style weapons like the Barrett .50-caliber rifle, the Colt AR-15 .223-caliber assault rifle and the AK-47 are "precisely the makes and models of firearms that have been carefully designed, manufactured or imported and heavily marketed over the last 20 years by the U.S. civilian gun industry."

More than 7,770 guns sold in the U.S. were traced to Mexico last year, up from 3,300 in 2007 and roughly 2,100 in 2006, according to ATF statistics. It was not immediately clear what percentage of those guns fell under the United States' federal assault weapons ban.

Diaz also cited ATF tracing data that shows Mexican drug cartels receive between 90 and 95 percent of their firearms from the United States.

Along with measures such as targeting Texas, Arizona and California -- the three primary states where firearms are illegally smuggled into Mexico -- Diaz called for the implementation of an "effective" federal assault weapons ban modeled on a bill introduced in 2007 by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y.

Diaz said manufacturers continued to sell assault weapons throughout the ban by making minor design changes. He also called for the passage of a bill introduced by Feinstein during the last session of Congress that would regulate .50-caliber sniper rifles under the National Firearms Act.

Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers like Alaska Sen. Mark Begich and Montana Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester have already informed Holder that they'll vigorously oppose any new gun restrictions the Obama administration may be considering.

In a letter to Holder shortly after his comments, all three senators urged the Justice Department to focus on enforcing existing laws.

And Arizona state Sen. Jonathan Paton, who testified at last week's hearing, said additional gun laws are just not the answer.

"It would actually hurt the problem rather than help it," Paton, a Republican, said of re-instituting the federal assault weapons ban. "They're not giving us the resources on the laws that we already have on the books. What makes me think they're going to give us the resources for new laws?"

Paton cited Mexico's far stricter gun laws as proof that new domestic laws in the United States won't deter criminals intent on trafficking arms.

"It's not going to solve the problem you have with M-16s and AK-47s; they're already banned and they're already going into Mexico at a feverish pace," Paton told FOXNews.com. "The day they start taking their border security as serious as we do, Mexico will cut down tremendously on its amount of guns."

Important Message From NRA Chief Lobbyist Chris W. Cox on Attorney General Holder's Recent Remarks Supporting Reinstatement of the Failed 1994 Gun and Magazine Ban

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Today in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, 65 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives, led by Congressman Mike Ross (D-AR), expressed their opposition to the reinstatement of the failed 1994 ban on semi-automatic firearms and ammunition magazines. These congressmen cited numerous studies that proved the 1994 ban was ineffective, and they strongly urged Attorney General Holder to stop his effort and instead focus on the enforcement of existing gun laws.

NRA would like to thank Congressman Ross for his leadership on this effort. We will continue to work with Members of Congress from both parties on this important issue.

Beck & Wayne LaPierre ( NRA ) discuss gun control and the 2nd Amendment on March 18, 2009

Wild Thing's comment........

“there are just a few gun-related changes that we would like to make...”

What a load of baloney.

They want to infringe on the rights of Americans to lower crime in Mexico???? Good grief! I think its another created crisis to use as an excuse to institute their commie plans. But then an oath and the Constitution mean nothing to these people.

Eric Holder wants to take away the very weapons that we need to defend ourselves from the murderous criminals who are invading our nation. The feds refuse to deploy forces to the border to control it, they refuse to build the fence to keep bad people out, and they want us to give up our ability to defend ourselves from said invaders. I guess this is “change we can believe in”. Eric Holder can go suck a lemon.

How is disarming Texans going to protect them agains Mexican armed to the teeth coming across our undefended border!

......Thank you Lynn for sending this to me.

Posted by Wild Thing at 07:47 AM | Comments (12)

Republicans Consider Legal Action To Overturn Obama's ACORN 2010 Census

Census is supposed to be free of politics, but ACORN is now participating in 2010 Census

Power Grab: Republicans Consider Legal Action To Overturn Pres. Obama's 2010 Census / Part 2 of 4

Here are the other videos about this: These are ALL sooooo oGOOD to watch and listen to what they have to say.:

Power Grab: Republicans Consider Legal Action To Overturn Pres. Obama's 2010 Census / Part 1 of 4

Power Grab: Republicans Consider Legal Action To Overturn Pres. Obama's 2010 Census / Part 3 of 4

Power Grab: Republicans Consider Legal Action To Overturn Pres. Obama's 2010 Census / Part 4 of 4

Wild Thing's comment.........

This is illegal and it has to be highly unconstitutional.

What a disaster Obama has brought. Acorn is a domestic terrorist agency supported by obamanation!

An organization charged with election fraud should not be handling elections.

Posted by Wild Thing at 06:44 AM | Comments (4)

March 17, 2009

DOD Issues Directive About Sale of Military Brass To Ammunition Remanufactures

Minstrel Knight - 42 Riders These various movies came to mind as I was posting this information." Braveheart", " Rob Roy", "The 13th warrior" ~ Wild Thing

No Longer Just Paranoia

The Shooting Wire

For months, anyone who's proffered the position that the Obama Administration was anti-gun has been dismissed as being a variety of things, from sore loser to rampant paranoid. Nonetheless, since assuming office, members of the Obama administration have steadily- and stealthily- moved against firearms and ammunition.

Their only public blunder was Attorney General Holder's saying the "assault weapons ban" needed to be reinstated. Quickly, House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi - no friend of gun owners - went on record as opposing Holder's suggestion. She went as far as to parrot the words of pro-gun groups, saying the government should enforce the laws on the books today, rather than introducing new laws.

At the same time, the State Department notified Canadian authorities of plans to issue an export ban on "military caliber ammunition" to Canada. That proposed action would prevent the sales of .223, .308 and other military calibers.

When Canadian authorities protested - and notified several members of the American media, the U.S. State Department suddenly went silent. But they quietly reinstated other rules and charges firearms exports-retroactively.

While it seemed they had been headed off on one proposal, they had actually drawn attention away from other actions. If you're into incrementalism, that translates as a win.

Anything passed brings the ultimate goal that much closer.

Last Friday, the anglers and hunters were notified that the National Park Service planned to make all lands under their control totally lead-free by 2010. No lead in ammo or fishing tackle.

As we report in today's Outdoor Wire, that decision has kicked off howls of protests - and questions about the NPS trying to usurp states' rights by issuing their unilateral decision with no prior notification. It's definitely not going to be a decision without some serious discussions. That still doesn't mean the NPS will back off on their decision.

All these things are racing along on parallel tracks. Now, many observers - and not just those on the pro-gun side of the discussion - believe the country is hurtling toward a confrontation.

The catalyst might be any one of several flashpoint issues, but both groups seem to believe a reckoning is unavoidable.

For months, I've gotten reports of everything from re-tasking of military heavy assault units for domestic violence scenarios to calls for "committees of correspondence" designed to spread news the way word was spread by citizens of the then-British colonies.

In each instance, I've discounted the reports as internet hysteria that has produced breathless notices of "the real-deal on the new assault weapon ban"- or references to HR45 - a gun registration bill that is a prime example of "eyewash legislation". It's purpose has already been achieved.

Part of that discounting has been due to the fact that hot-blooded rhetoric seems to run along with firearms ownership.

To the chagrin of industry officials, there's never a shortage of people willing to go on camera, get red-faced and spout "from my cold dead hands" phrases.

Admittedly, those people concern me, but more for their reinforcement of a negative stereotype to people who have no opinion one way or the other on firearms.

Today, however, a report that has nothing to do with rhetoric, hyperbole or rumor.

A very disturbing report that points to a very real assault on ammunition supplies.

The Department of Defense has issued a directive that bans the sale of military brass to ammunition remanufacturers.

Without that brass, a very large dent is put into civilian ammunition supplies.

New Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS) requirements call for the "mutilation of shell casings". Mutilation, incidentally, is the destruction of the property "to the extent that prevents its reuse or reconstruction".

Government officials will determine what constitutes "sufficient mutilation" but it's safe to say that it will no longer be suitable for remanufacturing.

The first word of this latest decision came over the weekend when Georgia Arms' Larry Haynie released a letter notifying him of the new requirement.

For a company with an order in for 30,000 pounds of expended military brass in .223, .308 and .50 BMG, that was not a pleasant notification.

Georgia Arms was remanufacturing more than one million rounds of .223 ammunition monthly; selling that ammo on the civilian market to resellers and to government agencies all over the country.

Tomorrow, Georgia Arms will start sending cancellation notices for .223 ammunition to law enforcement agencies across the United States. Haynie says he may have to layoff half of his sixty-person workforce.

A new welcome page posted on Georgia Arms' website (www.georgia-arms.com) says simply "Due to new government regulations concerning the purchase of surplus brass, we are removing sales of all 223 and all 308 until further notice."

From there, it directs visitors to the government website for contacting elected representatives.

All of us need to start contacting our elected representatives -and telling them, quite directly, that we're not going to put up with a move that not only curtails access to ammunition (nearly all .223 and .308 manufacturing capacity is tied up to satisfy the needs of the military) for civilians - but wastes taxpayers' money turning usable surplus into scrap metal.

Reducing the ammo brass to scrap reduces the value of the metal/surplus by nearly eighty percent. It also means that recast brass - in shippable form - may be shipped to China, one of the largest markets for U.S. metals on the world market.

If this is allowed to go unchallenged, anyone who owns a modern or traditional rifle in .223 or .308 calibers will see the impact- probably sooner than later.

"Anyone" in this context means everyone from recreational shooters to law enforcement trainers.

Pulling military brass out of the consumer supply chain means that all the manufacturing capacity being dedicated to meeting the military need will effectively become unavailable to civilians - forever.

Export rulings, lead bans, and brass mutilation orders from separate areas of the federal government look coincidental - on the surface. I'm not big on conspiracy theories - partially because I doubted the new administration would have gotten its collective act together so rapidly.

Seems I've been wrong on that one - and mistakenly using the word "hoard" when talking about the nearly-insatiable demand for ammunition that continues across the country. Today, laying up of ammunition might be better described as prudent preparation for possible problems.

States are beginning to serve notice to the federal government they will not enforce laws that violate individual rights. The federal government seems intent on creating a society with increasingly higher numbers of people dependent on the government for either sustenance or employment. Average citizens are beginning to grow tired of being asked to "tote the note" for others' irresponsibility.

These are, indeed, uncertain times.

Today, it's important that every reader take time to notify Congress that we - taxpayers - oppose this latest DOD move- and all the other not-so-subtle moves against gun owners.

You can contact your elected officials in Washington by going to this webpage http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml and following the links to your respective Senator or Congressman.

One key member of the United States Senate is Montana's Senator Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. Baucus could make a call to the Pentagon and let them know their budgets might be reexamined if they don't reconsider this latest directive. At that point, the directive might labeled a "misunderstanding" and rescinded.

But it is important that we keep pressure on Congress.

If that means phone calls, e-mails, and letters, let's get that done. If that doesn't produce results, we need to look beyond symbolic gestures like sending tea bags or bringing hundreds of thousands of gun owners to Washington and state capitols to protest.

These are, indeed, uncertain times. But the time for uncertain actions may be passing.

We'll keep you posted. In the meantime, maintain situational awareness.

--Jim Shepherd

I got this from one of our nephews in my email:

An Important Message From Gun Owners Of America
Land grab bill coming back, again

Monday, March 16, 2009

Do you agree with people like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, who treat the Second Amendment as if it were written only to protect your ability to go hunting and target shooting?

Or do you agree with Gun Owners of America, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, who believe that the Second Amendment protects a pre-existing fundamental right that is essential to the preservation of liberty?

Well, a whole lot of people in Congress are claiming to protect your Second Amendment rights, but all they’re really doing is protecting your hunting season.

We’re talking about the Omnibus Public Lands Act. You helped to defeat this bill last week in the House, but Congressional leaders have vowed to bring it up again soon.

S. 22 is an enormous package of over 190 bills lumped together with a price tag of $10 billion. The bill will greatly expand the amount of land controlled by the National Park Service, thus spreading the agency’s unconstitutional gun regulations to more areas.

Fear of upsetting gun owners — who helped elect many members of Congress from both parties — kept this bill off the floor for several weeks.

Then, in a meeting last Tuesday, not held in an open committee hearing but behind closed doors, House leaders brokered a deal with some supposedly pro-gun Democrats.

They said they were concerned about your gun rights. They said they were going to “fix” the bill.

But they did not address the NPS anti-gun regulations that prohibit carrying a firearm for self defense without a government issued concealed carry permit.

What did they do? They added language to the bill to say you can still go hunting.

That’s right. Many Congressmen claimed to be protecting the Second Amendment, when all they were really doing was thumbing their noses at self defense.

Here is the entire “pro-gun” amendment that was considered in the House. Judge for yourself if this really protects your Second Amendment rights:

“Nothing in this Title shall be construed as affecting the authority, jurisdiction, or responsibility of the several States to manage, control, or regulate fish and resident wildlife under State law or regulations, including the regulation of hunting, fishing, trapping, and recreational shooting. Nothing in this Title shall be construed as limiting access for hunting, fishing, trapping, or recreational shooting.”

They may as well have called it the “Elmer Fudd Protection Act.”

A lot of people who voted for this bill campaigned for office as champions of gun rights. They said “Send me to Washington; I’ll fight for the Second Amendment.” And this is what we get? Pathetic.

But let’s be clear. The issue is not just about the NPS gun restrictions, as bad as they are. And whether or not you personally use federal land is not the point.

What is important is the disdain with which legislators hold your Second Amendment rights.

It is imperative that you speak up on this issue. The outcome of this battle will be a preview of what we can expect for the next two years.

Will your gun rights be comprised away little by little? Or will we stand together and hold legislators accountable to their campaign promises to uphold the Second Amendment?

This week there may be several votes in both the Senate and House on the Omnibus Land bill.

Congressional leaders plan to act quickly in an attempt to ram this down the throat of the American people without a fair and open process. They desperately want to avoid any amendment that would truly protect your gun rights.

Congress hopes to leave the gun ban in place, and enlarge the areas affected by it. For example, the bill expands existing park land, creates new national trails that will fall under the gun restrictions, and authorizes the federal government to buy more land adjacent to national parks and trails.

House and Senate leaders plan to move on this bill rapidly, although they are ambiguous about the process.

But our message to Congress is simple: Stop playing around with our Second Amendment rights!

We don’t care about the process. We care about the Second Amendment. And we mean ALL of the Second Amendment, not just hunting.

Tell Congress you expect them to protect your right to keep and bear arms without compromising. Please take a few seconds and send the pre-written message below.

When you’re done, become a force multiplier. Send this alert to a few friends.

It is important that you take this action because right now GOA is the only gun rights organization speaking out for ALL of your Second Amendment rights.

We’ve all forwarded jokes or funny pictures to our friends. How about forwarding a message to help protect our God-ordained constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms?

And please do not think your voice won’t be heard. Remember, this bill failed to pass the House by just two votes last week because people like you took action.

Congressmen need to know that their votes in the coming days will impact YOUR vote next year. But if they don’t hear from you and they think you’re not looking, many will treat your rights with contempt.

We’re not alone in this battle. In the Senate, pro-gun champions such as Sens. Tom Coburn and Jim DeMint are prepared to lead the fight against this bill.

In the House, Reps. Paul Broun, Rob Bishop and Doc Hastings are among those fighting hard for your gun rights.

In fact, there are many in Congress willing to stand up for the Second Amendment, but they are repeatedly squashed by the anti-gun leadership or undermined by pro-gun compromisers. Pro-gun Congressmen who want to
repeal the gun ban are being told, in effect, to “Shut up and vote!”

Friends, we know we’ve asked for a lot of action from you already this year.

Unfortunately, that is not going to stop. But we will all draw the line at some point. Let’s work together and do it now.

Thank you for working with Gun Owners of America. Our effectiveness in Washington depends on your activism. PLEASE try to get your pro-gun friends and family involved. Now more than ever, every voice is critical.

ACTION: Please use the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at
http://gunowners.org/activism.htm to tell your Representative and Senators to reject the lands bill (S. 22) unless your Second Amendment rights are protected. Per usual, a
pre-written letter is provided for your convenience.

Pre-written message

The Omnibus Public Land Act of 2009 is expected to come to the floor soon.

I urge you to oppose this bill if, as expected, the leadership does not allow an amendment to repeal the anti-gun regulations of the National Park Service.

Recent changes made by the Interior Department only allow persons with a concealed carry permit to possess a self-defense firearm on NPS land. Non-permit holders are still prohibited from carrying a firearm for their protection.

And please don’t be fooled by a supposedly pro-gun amendment to “fix” the bill that was brought up last week during the House debate on S. 22. That language only modestly protects hunting and recreational shooting.

While protecting the rights of sportsmen is important, the Second Amendment is NOT about hunting rights. I am more concerned about my ability to defend my life, and the lives of my loved ones, than I am about plinking cans.

Congressional leaders have been ambiguous about how this legislation will come to the floor, but my message to you is clear: protect ALL of my Second Amendment rights.

Please OPPOSE final passage on any land bill that does not repeal the NPS gun ban.

Sincerely,

Once you have contacted your legislators, please consider checking out GOA Executive Director Larry Pratt’s recent appearance (along with noted author Dr. John Lott) on Judge Andrew Napolitano’s show “Freedom Watch.”
Fox has posted the video on YouTube .

Judge Andrew Napolitano's show called Freedom Watch airing every Wednesday from 2pm - 3pm. Larry Pratt, Executive Director of Gun Owners of America and John Lott, Author of "More Guns, Less Crime" discuss the Second Amendment.

Wild Thing's comment.........aka "The cold dead handers"........

Whew they sure are are drunk with power, I hope they back away and don't do this, but the one element that can restrain them is the media and they are too busy have fantasies about their Obama, although that is wanning a tad lately, thank goodness. .

Only the King’s men shall have weapons. Only the King’s men shall be able to use the King’s lands. No game shall be taken from the King’s lands. This takes me back the better part of a millenium to Merrie Olde England.

I think these people doing this are forgetting about the millions of us across this awesome land that are imo the kind of citizens that obey the laws, are not causing trouble, know what our Constitution says and live the kind of lives that prefer not to have big government. Like it has been said law abiding citizens. I would not want to mess with that kind of person and I am one of them. And um well , how shall I put this, we know how to use a weapon, we want to be able to protect our loved ones, our property and that is something maybe one needs to be a-hem reminded of especially now. I sure can hardly wait for 2010 to get here!!!! OH and we also believe in honest elections not the kind that Obama's ACORN runs.

They will try to make the use of arms prohibitively expensive, or useless in some other way through a war of taxation and attrition, and the hyper regulation of munition factories (laws regardining workers around lead).

There are approx 60 million gun owners in this country. There are 1 million active military at best...who is going to do the eliminating?

"The tree of Liberty needs to be watered from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." - Thomas Jefferson

Posted by Wild Thing at 06:48 AM | Comments (10)

Rham and Obama and Guns

"Our task of creating a socialist America can only succeed
when those who would resist us have been totally disarmed."-Sarah Brady

Rahm Emanuel Speaks at the Brady Center's Stand Up For a Safe America (DC)

Biden thinks gun owner should have his head examined

Video Script:
The right to bear arms is one of the fundamental ideals on which our nation was founded.

Hardworking, law-abiding Americans have for generations enjoyed this freedom in their communities and with their families.

But Barack Obama believes that many Americans simply 'cling' to guns in times of economic distress. Speaking behind closed doors to an audience of San Francisco donors Barack Obama said "they cling to guns or religion .... as a way to explain their frustrations"

Obama's anti-gun record is long.

In 2004, he voted against legislation drafted to protect homeowners from prosecution in cases where they used a firearm to halt a home invasion.

In 2003, he voted in support of legislation that would have effectively banned most of the privately held hunting shotguns, target rifles, and black powder rifles in Illinois.

And in 1996, Obama supported a ban on the manufacture, sale and possession of handguns.

Wild Thing's comment........

Obama and Rahm are total idiots. I wish it were that simple, but I fear the correct description is they are a bunch of Communists.

Posted by Wild Thing at 06:47 AM | Comments (11)

March 15, 2009

Obama's H.R.1388, "The Give Act" to Reform the National Service Laws

Obama Requires American's to SERVE, H.R.1388, "The Give Act" to reform the National Service Laws

HR 1388, will hit the House floor on Tuesday.It is called the Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act (The Give Act.) The House is scheduled to Rule this week. Sponsored by Democrat Representative Carolyn McCarthy (NY), Education and Labor Committee. The objective is to reauthorize and reform the national service laws.

Democrat Rep. McCarthy is sponsoring the bill with 25 co-sponsors, ALL Democrats, including Charlie Rangel.

You can CLICK HERE......The Library of Congress Thomas

And CLICK this one too

From clicking on the link above: ( these are just a few of the things)

* Government the right to require individuals to give 3 years service under the guise of “volunteer” service

* It talks about uniforms and “camps.” They revise the word “camps” and call it “campus.” There is language about Seniors and Community organizations.

* “leverage Federal investments to increase State, local, business, and philanthropic resources to address national and local challenges

* encourage national service efforts to address pressing national challenges, such as improving education for low-income students, increasing energy conservation, and improving the health, well-being, and economic opportunities of the neediest individuals in the Nation;

* expand and strengthen service-learning programs through year-round opportunities, including during the summer months, to improve the education of children and youth and to maximize the benefits of national and community service, in order to renew the ethic of civic responsibility and the spirit of community to children and youth throughout the United States;

* increase service opportunities for our Nation's retiring professionals

* encourage members of the Baby Boom generation to partake in service opportunities

* Civilian Community Corps shall be called the "National Civilian Community Corps"

* the Director determines appropriate "Uniforms"

**** Take note of the Miscellaneous Section (Title VI) of the Bill. Very Strange!!!
From the Misc. section, #6104: (6) Whether a workable, fair, and reasonable mandatory service requirement for all able young people could be developed, and how such a requirement could be implemented in a manner that would strengthen the social fabric of the Nation and overcome civic challenges by bringing together people from diverse economic, ethnic, and educational backgrounds.
MANDATORY!

CO-SPONSORS(25), ALPHABETICAL

Rep Altmire, Jason [PA-4] - 3/12/2009
Rep Andrews, Robert E. [NJ-1] - 3/9/2009
Rep Clarke, Yvette D. [NY-11] - 3/12/2009
Rep Courtney, Joe [CT-2] - 3/9/2009
Rep Fattah, Chaka [PA-2] - 3/12/2009
Rep Grijalva, Raul M. [AZ-7] - 3/9/2009
Rep Hare, Phil [IL-17] - 3/9/2009
Rep Hinojosa, Ruben [TX-15] - 3/9/2009
Rep Hirono, Mazie K. [HI-2] - 3/9/2009
Rep Holt, Rush D. [NJ-12] - 3/12/2009
Rep Kildee, Dale E. [MI-5] - 3/9/2009
Rep Klein, Ron [FL-22] - 3/12/2009
Rep Kucinich, Dennis J. [OH-10] - 3/12/2009
Rep Maloney, Carolyn B. [NY-14] - 3/12/2009
Rep Miller, George [CA-7] - 3/9/2009
Rep Payne, Donald M. [NJ-10] - 3/12/2009
Rep Polis, Jared [CO-2] - 3/9/2009
Rep Rangel, Charles B. [NY-15] - 3/12/2009
Rep Sablan, Gregorio [MP] - 3/9/2009
Rep Sestak, Joe [PA-7] - 3/9/2009
Rep Shea-Porter, Carol [NH-1] - 3/12/2009
Rep Tonko, Paul D. [NY-21] - 3/9/2009
Rep Van Hollen, Chris [MD-8] - 3/12/2009
Rep Welch, Peter [VT] - 3/12/2009
Rep Woolsey, Lynn C. [CA-6] - 3/12/2009

Part of Title VI says:
SEC. 6107. POWERS OF COMMISSION.

(a) Hearings and Sessions- The Commission may, for the purpose of carrying out this title, hold public hearings, sit and act at times and places, take testimony, and receive evidence as the Commission considers appropriate.

b) Powers of Members and Agents- Any member or agent of the Commission may, if authorized by the Commission, take any action which the Commission is authorized to take by this section.

(c) Obtaining Official Data- Upon request of the Chairperson, the head of any department or agency shall furnish information to the Commission that the Commission deems necessary to enable it to carry out this title.

(d) Physical Facilities and Equipment- The Architect of the Capitol, in consultation with the appropriate entities in the legislative branch, shall locate and provide suitable facilities and equipment for the operation of the Commission on a nonreimbursable basis.

Wild Thing's comment.........

Mandatory military service is practiced in Israel and Switzerland and maybe some other countries I am not aware of. But that is military and different then what Obama has planned.

If I get this right he wants the regular military as we know it but to pump up a civilian one and make them as he said as powerful or MORE powerful then our military. THAT is alarming to me. And their desire to change the words of Camp to Campus is a clear indication that they are trying to camoflauge their intentions.

"The first step in community organization is community disorganization. The disruption of the present organization is the first step toward community organization. Present arrangements must be disorganized if they are to be displace by new patterns.... All change means disorganization of the old and organization of the new." -Saul Alinsky,p.116, Rules for Radicals

From Obama's campaign speech's.

‘My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you’ll join with me as we try to change it."- Barrack Obama

"We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we've set. We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded." -Obama

"People of all ages, stations, and skills will be asked to serve."- Obama

Michelle Obama said:

"Barack Obama will require you to work. He is going to demand that you shed your cynicism. That you put down your divisions. That you push yourselves to be better. And that you engage. Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual, uninvolved, uninformed."

The Second American Revolution, by Thomas Paine, author of "Common Sense"

Posted by Wild Thing at 05:55 AM | Comments (40)

Chief Justice Roberts in Idaho

BORN IN THE USA?

Chief justice publicly accepts WND's eligibility petition

Attorney Orly Taitz talks to Roberts, who agrees to read Obama-birth docs