AMERICAN FREEDOM by BARBARA

2012-02-10T21:09:00.000-07:00

SCB Bank of Indiana Fails Under Weight Of Bad Loans
SCB Bank, Shelbyville, Indiana, was closed today by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency,which appointed the FDIC as receiver. Acting as receiver, the FDIC sold the failed bank to First Merchants Bank, National Association, Muncie, Indiana.
SCB Bank had been struggling under the weight of nonperforming loans since 2009. The Bank had a large concentration of its loan portfolio in commercial and industrial loans which were particularly hard hit since real estate values began collapsing in 2008.

On May 16, 2011, SCB Bank was issued a cease and desist order by the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) for operating in an unsafe and unsound manner. The Bank was cited for numerous operational and management deficiencies and ordered to raise additional capital. The weak financial condition of SCB Bank made it impossible to attract additional capital and regulators were forced to seize the Bank when it became critically undercapitalized.
All four branches of SCB Bank will reopen on Saturday as branches of First Merchants Bank. Depositors of SCB Bank will continue to be covered by FDIC deposit insurance up to the applicable limits. Over the weekend, depositors of SCB Bank will have full access to their money through checking, ATM and debit cards.
At December 31, 2011, SCB Bank had total deposits of $171.6 million and total assets of $182.6 million. In addition to assuming all deposits, First Merchants agreed to purchase all assets of the failed bank. This was the first purchase of a failed bank by First Merchants.
First Merchants, whose history goes back to 1893, has over $4 billion in assets and is the largest financial services company in Central Indiana with over 70 branches. First Merchants stock, which traded as high as $30 in 2008 closed on Friday at $10.19.

FRME - courtesy yahoo.com

The estimated loss to the FDIC Deposit Insurance Fund for the failure of SCB Bank is estimated at $33.9 million. SCB Bank is the 9th banking failure of 2012 and the first in Indiana. SCB Bank was owned by its holding company Blue River Bancshares, Inc.
Related posts:

2012-02-10T21:07:00.001-07:00

Charter National Bank and Trust of Illinois Closed By Regulators
Charter National Bank and Trust, Hoffman Estates, Illinois, was closed today by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, becoming the eight banking failure of 2012.
Charter National, a small 32 year old community bank, became overwhelmed by bad loans after real estate prices began to collapse in 2008. The latest reports on Charter National show a troubled asset ratio of 616% indicating that the Bank was under severe stress caused by loan defaults. Almost without exception, a bank with a troubled asset ratio of over 100% winds up failing.
Charter National Bank had been under regulatory scrutiny for almost two years. On April 29, 2010, Charter National signed a consent order with the OCC that required the Bank to raise additional capital which proved impossible to do.

The FDIC, appointed as receiver, sold the failed Bank to Barrington Bank & Trust Company, Illinois, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Wintrust Financial Corp.
Charter National’s two branches will reopen on Saturday as Hoffman Estates Community Bank, a branch of Barrington Bank & Trust. FDIC insurance coverage up to the applicable limits will automatically cover depositors of Charter National. Over the weekend, customers of Charter National will have full access to their money through checking accounts, ATM or debit cards.
At December 31, 2011, Charter National Bank had total assets of $93.9 million and total deposits of $89.5 million.
Barrington Bank agreed to assume all deposits and purchase all assets of failed Charter National. The assets purchased by Barrington are protected from losses through a loss-share agreement with the FDIC that covers $72.1 million of the asset pool purchased.
In a press release issued by Wintrust Financial, CEO Edward Wehmer said the purchase of Charter National would increase earnings per share. Wintrust Financial has now completed eight acquisitions of failed banks over the past two years.
Wintrust Financial is well capitalized, has over $16 billion in assets and operates 15 wholly owned community bank subsidiaries with over 100 branch locations. Wintrust Financial is one of the few banks that has seen almost a complete recovery in its stock price since the financial meltdown of 2008.

WTFC - courtesy yahoo finance

The loss to the FDIC Deposit Insurance Fund for the failure of Charter National Bank and Turst is $17.4 million. Charter National becomes the nation’s eight banking failure of the year and the first in Illinois.
Related posts:

2012-02-10T16:07:00.000-07:00

THE LEADER'S WEEKLY SCHEDULE
WEEK OF FEBRUARY 13, 2012

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13TH
On Monday, the House will meet at 1:00 p.m. in pro forma session.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14TH
On Tuesday, the House will meet at 12:00 p.m. for morning hour and 2:00 p.m. for legislative business. Votes will be postponed until 6:30 p.m.
Legislation Considered Under Suspension of the Rules:

1) H.R. 2079 - To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 10 Main Street in East Rockaway, New York, as the “John J. Cook Post Office” (Sponsored by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy / Oversight and Government Reform Committee)

2) H.R. 3247 - To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1100 Town and Country Commons in Chesterfield, Missouri, as the “Lance Corporal Matthew P. Pathenos Post Office Building” (Sponsored by Rep. Todd Akin / Oversight and Government Reform Committee)

3) H.R. 3248 - To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 112 South 5th Street in Saint Charles, Missouri, as the “Lance Corporal Drew W. Weaver Post Office Building"(Sponsored by Rep. Todd Akin / Oversight and Government Reform Committee)

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15TH, AND THE BALANCE OF THE WEEK
On Wednesday and Thursday, the House will meet at 10:00 a.m. for morning hour and 12:00 p.m. for legislative business.
On Friday, the House will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business. Last votes expected no later than 3:00 p.m.
H.R. 7 - American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act of 2012 (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. John Mica / Transportation and Infrastructure Committee / Natural Resources Committee / Energy and Commerce Committee / Ways and Means Committee / Oversight and Government Reform Committee)
Possible Consideration of Legislation Related to H.R. 3630 - Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011
Possible Motions to Instruct Conferees on H.R. 3630 - Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011
Members are advised that Conference Reports may be brought up at any time

COMMITTEE ACTIVITY OF THE WEEK
Financial Services Committee Markup of “H.R. 3606, a bill to increase American job creation and economic growth by improving access to the public capital markets for emerging growth companies”
(Thursday, February 16th, at 10:00 a.m.)

Printable PDF

2012-02-10T10:13:00.000-07:00

IN MEMORIAM: OUR CONSTITUTION

In my last article, “The State of the Constitution” I talked about how President Obama and his supporters in Congress and the federal judiciary are systematically destroying the delicate balance of powers that was set up by our founding fathers. Obama is forming the type of government that the framers of the Constitution feared, and had fought against, so they designed the Constitution to prevent that from happening. The scope and power of the Federal government was to be severely limited with most of the power remaining in the hands of the states and the people. That is no longer the case.

Barack Obama and the other elitists in Washington consider themselves superior beings that have not only the right, but the duty to control the rest of us. We are no longer considered free citizens of the United States, but subjects who must be taught to obey our rulers. As subjects we have no inherent rights, only those rights granted to us by the elitists, who in their infinite wisdom have the power and authority to limit or abolish those rights as they see fit. Unfortunately, while many Americans are blissfully unaware of it that is exactly what is happening.

The Bill of Rights that was designed to protect the God given rights of American citizens from intrusion by the Federal government and it is being shredded by the Obama administration. Every one of the first ten amendments to the Constitution is under assault with the First and Second amendments being among the prime targets. The current attack on the freedom of religion is a prime example.

In August of 2009 when I started this blog by writing my first article on HR 3200, the original version of Obamacare, I made the following observations: “The law does provide for rationing of health care, particularly where senior citizens and other classes of citizens are involved, free health care for illegal immigrants, free abortion services, and probably forced participation in abortions by members of the medical profession.”

I was immediately attacked by the left for making false claims about what was in the health care bills, yet everything I stated is taking place. Catholic Bishops around the country were convinced to support Obamacare because they were assured that there would be no abortions paid for by the government, and no religious institutions or individuals would be forced to violate their religious beliefs. Now, these same Bishops are up in arms because they have learned that they were lied to. Through the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, the Obama administration has informed Catholic hospitals, universities and other religious institutions that they must provide health insurance coverage to employees that will have to include contraceptive devises and abortion inducing medication with no co-pay.

This directly contradicts the teachings of the Catholic religion. Whether you agree with their position or not, the forcing of this on the Church is a direct violation of freedom of religion as guaranteed under the First Amendment of the Constitution. It is clearly only the first step. The next order will be to force Catholic hospitals, doctors, and nurses to provide abortions. Ironically, the health care bill itself does not contain this mandate. This is being done by Executive action by Obama and it is certainly something he has no authority to do under the Constitution.

Freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment is also under constant attack. After our victory over the bills pending in the U.S. House and Senate that would have given Obama a virtual “kill switch” allowing him to shut down the Internet, Obama has decided to bypass Congress and sign an international treaty pushed by the United Nations that will give him the same type of control. Of course, any treaty signed by the President must be approved by two thirds of the Senate. However, Obama has reportedly decided to ignore this Constitutional mandate and bypass the Senate. He claims he has the authority to do this under the so-called “Sole Executive Agreement” doctrine. No such doctrine is provided for in the Constitution.

There are also strong indications that Obama intends to invoke the same unconstitutional power to sign and enforce the U.N. Small Arms treaty. I have read the draft of this treaty and it is directly designed to force the disarmament of American citizens in violation of the Second Amendment to the Constitution. The Supreme Court ruled in 1957 that no treaty, even if signed by the President and ratified by the Senate can supersede the rights of U.S. citizens protected by the Constitution. Yet, clearly, Obama intends to ignore the U.S. Senate, the Supreme Court, and the Constitution to impose his will on us. I will state it bluntly, Obama is out of control. He considers himself a dictator.

I sincerely hope I am premature in declaring the Constitution dead. I will continue to fight for it, but obviously the President of the United States and his minions already consider it dead and buried. Americans must wake up now and take back our country!

Michael Connelly

mrobertc@hotmail.com

www.michaelconnelly.jigsy.com

www.constitution.jigsy.com

2012-02-10T07:27:00.001-07:00

Dependence on Government Highest in History

When John F. Kennedy was President, just over a quarter of federal spending went to fund programs paying for some 21.7 million Americans to be dependent on Uncle Sam. But as high as that spending and dependence on the federal government was then, it has exploded today, with one in five Americans -- more than 67.3 million -- depending on Washington for assistance.
The Heritage Foundation's 2012 Index of Dependence on Government shows an alarming trend under the Obama Administration of a level of dependence on our government that has never been seen before. Today, a full 70 percent of the federal government's budget goes to pay for housing, food, income, student aid, or other assistance, with recipients ranging from college students to retirees to welfare beneficiaries. Heritage's Patrick Tyrrell writes that other findings from the study show.

· Government dependency jumped 8.1 percent in the past year, with the most assistance going toward housing, health and welfare, and retirement.

The federal government spent more taxpayer dollars than ever before in 2011 to subsidize Americans. The average individual who relies on Washington could receive benefits valued at $32,748, more than the nation's average disposable personal income ($32,446).
At the same time, nearly half of the U.S. population (49.5 percent) does not pay any federal income taxes.
In the next 25 years, more than 77 million baby boomers will retire. They will begin collecting checks from Social Security, drawing benefits from Medicare, and relying on Medicaid for long-term care.
As of now, 70 percent of the federal government's budget goes to individual assistance programs, up dramatically in just the past few years. However, research shows that private, community, and charitable aid helps individuals rise from their difficulties with better success than federal government handouts. Plus, local and private aid is often more effectively distributed.

Representative Allen West (R-FL) writes on The Foundry that this disturbing trend does not bode well for our country and, in fact, will ultimately lead to an America where dependence -- not independence -- becomes the norm. And he says Washington must play a role in changing course while also encouraging charities and community groups to help lift up Americans who need support:

We in Congress need to do our part to aid the struggle for more personal responsibility. We need to reduce government spending levels so we are taking less from America's producers of economic growth. We need to take a long, hard look at these assistance programs, eliminating duplicative efforts and directing aid first to the neediest of our population.

We also have to embolden charities, local groups, and private-sector initiatives to empower individuals through programs that require more "skin in the game." Far too often, these good Samaritans are pushed aside by government zeal to provide inferior and bureaucratized services. And finally, we need to reform entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security so that they are viable for future generations without bankrupting our country.

With America about to witness the largest retirement of people in world history -- and with the number of "taxpayers" who pay no taxes only continuing to grow -- alarm bells should be ringing in Washington and across the country warning that the federal government is about to burst at the seams. The United States simply cannot afford to continue fostering a society where a growing number of people are dependent on the federal government and not themselves. What's more, if this trend continues, America will see increasing division between those who pay for programs that advance dependence, and those who unquestioningly accept--and expect--the assistance from those programs.

The Heritage Foundation's Saving the American Dream plan offers policy solutions to fix the debt, cut spending, reform entitlements, and restore prosperity, enabling the people of this country to thrive and succeed -- without depending on the government. And those kinds of reforms are desperately needed if America is to gain control over its $15 trillion debt and its exploding entitlement system so that the people can produce for themselves, not for Washington

2012-02-10T02:08:00.002-07:00

PERRY at CPAC 2012
Where was this Rick Perry on the Campaign Trail?

VIEW VIDEO

Perry to CPAC: "You Don't Have to Settle"

Bryan Preston, PJ Media

Texas Gov. Rick Perry offered a bold vision for America with oratorical fireworks and a crowd of conservatives that grew more excited with his every sentence.

You’d never know he wasn’t running for president anymore.

Perry was something of a rock star at CPAC this afternoon, praising the “foot soldiers in the revolution” and reaping hearty ovations from the same. He quipped that he had been running for the White House, but “the people of New Hampshire had a different idea.”

Texas A&M Aggies, he said, referring to his alma mater, “never lose, we just run out of time. So you could say that my presidential campaign ran out of time but not run out of ideals.”

The states’-rights champion vowed to be a...Read Full Article ›

2012-02-09T12:44:00.005-07:00

Andrei Cherny's interview on "Hair on Fire"

Listen to internet radio with Hair on Fire by Barbara on Blog Talk Radio

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 9, 2012

CONTACT:
Seth Scott
(480) 203-4622 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (480) 203-4622 end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (480) 203-4622 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (480) 203-4622 end_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting
seth@andreiforarizona.com

Cherny Launches Bid for Congress

‘We can put Washington to work for Arizona families’

PHOENIX – Former Clinton White House aide and Arizona prosecutor Andrei Cherny launched his bid for Congress today, and said he’ll fight the special interest takeover in Washington to put government back on the side of the middle class.
Cherny released a video to make the announcement, which can be viewed here. A complete transcript of Cherny’s video is below. VIEW VIDEO
His Web site is available at www.AndreiforArizona.com.

“The problem isn’t that Washington’s not working,” he said. “It’s that it’s not working for us. The truth is that Washington works great for the people with the campaign cash and the connections. Some big corporations don’t pay a dime in taxes while Congress tries to raise taxes on the middle class. We can change that but it won’t happen with politics as usual or the usual politicians.”

Cherny said the armies of lobbyists who control Congress have made advanced their own interests at the expense of middle class families – and that as a result, many are stuck in place or falling behind. He is running on his unique 15-year track record of delivering real results for the middle class.

Cherny will run in Arizona’s Ninth Congressional District – a new competitive district made up of north and central Phoenix, Arcadia, Ahwatukee, Tempe, Mesa, Chandler, and south Scottsdale.

About Andrei Cherny

Andrei Cherny is running for Congress to put our government back on the side of Arizona’s families. In Congress, he’ll stand up for the trampled middle class. He’ll hold Wall Street accountable. He’ll fight for investments in education, innovation, and clean energy so we can make Arizona “the Solar State.” And we know he’ll do it – because he’s been doing it all his life.

Andrei knows first-hand about the challenges facing middle class families. Growing up in a small upstairs apartment, he watched his immigrant parents struggle every day to make it into the middle class. “But unlike many families today, we weren’t alone,” says Andrei. “Unemployment benefits let us pay the rent and put food on the table when there was no work to be found. And because the people who came before me created public schools and public libraries and Pell Grants, I could go from being a kid whose parents didn’t speak much English to working in the White House for the president of the United States.”

‘Protecting Arizona Families from Corporate Crooks’

Andrei has dedicated his life to fighting for the values and interests of other middle class families. When home mortgage fraud artists schemed against Arizona families, Andrei took them on. As an Assistant Attorney General under Terry Goddard, he put corporate crooks, human traffickers and corrupt public officials where they belong – behind bars.

In 2007 – before the financial crisis took our economy into a tailspin – Andrei saw the need for reform on Wall Street. He joined forces with Elizabeth Warren to launch the push for a consumer watchdog agency to stop mortgage brokers and credit card companies from preying on working families. The forces of reform faced off against the largest army of Wall Street lobbyists ever assembled – and won. President Barack Obama signed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau into law on July 21, 2010.

‘A Progressive Reformer for the New Economy’

Working in the White House with Bill Clinton and Al Gore, Andrei was part of a team that passed the first balanced budget in 30 years, helped create millions of new jobs and made federal student loans more affordable for working families.

Since leaving the White House, Andrei has been a leader in the national debate over America’s economic future – putting forward new ideas to turn our economy around and make America more competitive. He’s served as a Senior Fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and at the Center for American Progress. In 1999, he wrote The Next Deal to offer a forward-thinking vision for our economy. And together with former Labor Secretary Robert Reich and others, he founded Democracy, and think tank and journal dedicated to new ideas for making the 21st century economy work for all Americans.

Andrei’s cutting edge ideas have earned high praise. He has been called a “superstar” by CNN, a “progressive reformer” by Washington Monthly, and one of America’s “top young thinkers” by the New York Times.

‘A Strong Leader for Arizona Democrats’

Andrei has dedicated himself to building a Democratic Party ready to meet the challenges of the future. As the Chair of the Arizona Democratic Party, Andrei stood up to the Russell Pearce Republicans – and led the successful fights to stop Pearce’s attempt to rewrite birthright citizenship, Tom Horne’s conflicted investigation of the Fiesta Bowl scandal, and Gov. Jan Brewer’s push to impeach the chair of the Independent Redistricting Commission. Under his watch, Arizona Democrats saw their grassroots strength grow and helped elect Democratic mayors in both Phoenix and Tucson for the first time in two decades.

Andrei was the chief negotiator of the 2000 Democratic Party platform on behalf of Al Gore and served as a policy advisor to Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign, where he co-authored the Obama campaign policy book, Change We Can Believe In.

In 2008, he was the author of the bestselling history, The Candy Bombers: The Untold Story of the Berlin Airlift and America's Finest Hour, which was described as like “Stephen Ambrose at his best” by historian Douglas Brinkley.

Following 9/11, Andrei enlisted and served for eight years in the United States Navy reserve. He is an honors graduate of Harvard College and earned his law degree from the University of California, Berkeley. He serve on the City of Phoenix’s Industrial Development Authority and Commission on Housing and Neighborhoods as well as the board of the Arizona League of Conservation Voters. Andrei and his wife, Stephanie, live with their two children in Phoenix.

Cherny Announcement Video Transcript and Fact Check

The promise of America is that if you work hard enough, you can get ahead. But in neighborhoods like this all across our community, families are struggling. Working longer hours, spending less time with their families, and finding themselves stuck in place or falling behind.

I’ve seen that American promise first hand. I grew up the son of two immigrants in a small upstairs apartment, and I watched them work so hard every single day. But we weren’t alone. When times were tough it was unemployment benefits that put food on the table and helped us pay the rent. And because of public schools and public libraries and Pell Grants I was able to go from being a kid whose parents didn’t speak much English to working in the White House for the president of the United States.

And ever since then I’ve devoted myself to working for families just like mine. In the Clinton White House, we overcame tough opposition to balance the budget and create millions of new jobs. I became an Arizona prosecutor to take on the corporate criminals and mortgage fraud artists and put them where they belong – behind bars.

And with a little known law professor named Elizabeth Warren, we launched the push for the new consumer watchdog agency to stop the mortgage brokers and the credit card companies from preying on working families. [Source: The Journal Behind the CFPB, Politico, July 21, 2011; How Andrei Cherny Helped Inspire the New Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Recovering Politician, Aug. 11, 2011]

We faced off against the biggest army of Wall Street lobbyists ever assembled – and we won.

But today too many politicians have broken faith with the promise of America.

Some big corporations don’t pay a dime in taxes while Congress tries to raise taxes on the middle class. [Source: General Electric Paid No Federal Taxes in 2010, ABC News, March 25, 2011; ExxonMobil Paid No Federal Taxes in 2009, ThinkProgress.org, April 6, 2009]

Washington spends billions to bail out irresponsibility on Wall Street but won’t help the families whose homes are under water. [Source: Too Little, Too Late: Banks Finally Sanctioned For Violating Anti-Foreclosure Program, ThinkProgress, June 9, 2011; Mortgage Modifications Dwindle Further, Huffington Post, Sept. 1, 2011]

Retirement accounts shrink while the too big to fail banks get even bigger.

Don’t tell me Washington is broken. The truth is it works great for the folks with the campaign cash and the connections. [Source: 29 Companies That Paid Millions For Lobbying (And Didn't Pay Taxes), Forbes.com, Dec. 14, 2011; How Corporations Pay More for Lobbyists Than in Taxes, Public Campaign, December 2011]

The problem is not that Washington’s not working, it’s that it’s not working for us. [Source: Middle Class May Be Losing Political Influence, The Arizona Republic, Sept. 4, 2011]

But we can put government back on our side again. But I need your help. Because this campaign isn’t about me – its about citizens coming together to do something bigger than ourselves. Rebuilding the ladder of opportunity. Creating jobs by making Arizona the Solar State. Breaking the chain between Wall Street and Washington. Saving the middle class.

It won't happen through politics as usual or the usual politicians. But it can happen. We can make Washington work for the people again. And we can start right here – at home.

###

2012-02-09T10:45:00.000-07:00

SANTORUM THE BIG GOVERNMENT CANDIDATE…

VOTING RECORD

Who was also voted one of the most corrupt congressman…2 years in a row...

Video Pro and Con on Tea Party What will he say next?

Santorum may be more conservative on social issues than Democrats, but when it comes to tax and spend he’s right up there with the liberal Democrats in Congress.

NEA

Voted for taxpayer funding of the National Endowment for the Arts.
Voted against a 10% cut in the budget for National Endowment for the Arts.

Bankruptcy
Voted for a Schumer amendment to make the debts of pro-life demonstrators not dischargeable in bankruptcy.
Defense and Foreign Policy

Voted for the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).
Voted against requiring the President to certify that the CWC is effectively verifiable.

Voted against requiring the President to certify that that Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, North Korea, China, and all other countries determined to be state sponsors of terror have joined CWC prior to submitting the instrument of ratification.

Voted for the START II Treaty
Voted to allow the sale of supercomputers to China.
Voted to ban antipersonnel landmines
Voted against increasing defense spending offset by equivalent cuts in non-defense spending.
Voted to require that Federal bureaucrats get the same payraises as uniformed military.
Voted to allow food and medicine sales to state sponsors of terror and tyranical regimes such as Libya and Cuba.
Voted to limit the President’s authority to impose sanctions on nations for reasons of national security unless the sanctions were approved by a multilateral regime.
Voted against requiring Congressional authorization for military action in Bosnia.
Voted to give $25 million in foreign aid to North Korea
Voted to weaken alien terrorist deportation provisions. If the Court determines that the evidence must be withheld for national security reasons, the Justice Department must still provide a summary of the evidence sufficient for the alien terrorist to mount a defense against deportation.
Voted against delaying the India Nuclear until the President certified that India had agreed to suspend military-to-military exchanges with Iran.
Voted against the Conventional Trident Missile Program

Nominations
Voted for Richard Paez to the 9th Curcuit (cloture)
Voted for Sonia Sotomayor, Circuit Judge
Voted for Richard Holbrooke to be Ambassador to the UN
Voted for Margaret Morrow to be District Judge
Voted twice for Marsha Berzon to the 9thg Circuit
Voted for Mary McLaughlin to be District Judge
Voted for Tim Dyk to be District Judge
Voted for James Brady to be District Judge

Labor
Voted against National Right to Work Act
Voted against Real of Davis-Bacon Prevailing union wages
Voted for Alexis Herman to be Secretary of Labor
Voted for mandatory Federal child care funding
Voted for Trade Adjustment Assistance.
Voted for Job Corps funding
Voted twice in support of Fedex Unionization
Voted against allowing a waiver of Davis-Bacon in emergency situations.
Voted for minimum wage increases six times here here here here here and here
Voted to require a union representative on an IRS oversight board.
Voted to exempt IRS union representative from criminal ethics laws.
Voted against creating independent Board of Governors to investigate IRS abuses.
Guns

Voted to require pawn shops to do background checks on people who pawn a gun.
Voted twice to make it illegal to sell a gun without a secure storage or safety device
Voted for a Federal ban on possession of “assault weapons” by those under 18.
Voted for Federal funding for anti-gun education programs in schools.
Voted for anti-gun juvenile justice bill.

Reform

Voted for funding for the legal services corporation.
Voted twice for a Congressional payraise.
Voted to impose a uniform Federal mandate on states to force them to allow convicted rapits, arsonists, drug kingpins, and all other ex-convicts to vote in Federal elections.
Voted for the Specter “backup plan” to allow campaign finance reform to survive if portions of the bill were found unconstitutional.
Voted to mandate discounted broadcast times for politicians.
Voted for a McCain amendment to require State and local campaign committees to report all campaign contributions to the FEC and to require all campaign contributions to be reported to the FEC within 24 hours within 90 days of an election.

Immigration
Voted against increasing the number of immigration investigators
Voted to allow illegal immigrants to receive the earned income credit before becoming citizens
Voted to give SSI benefits to legal aliens.
Voted to give welfare benefits to naturalized citizens without regard to to the earnings of their sponsors.
Voted against hiring an additional 1,000 border partrol agents, paid for by reductions in state grants.

Taxes
Voted against a flat tax.
Voted to increase tobacco taxes to pay for Medicare prescription drugs
Voted to increase tobacco taxes to fund health insurance subsidies for small businesses.
Voted to increase tobacco taxes to pay for an $8 billion increase in child healh insurance.
Voted to increase tobacco taxes to pay for an increase in NIH funding.
Voted twice for internet taxes.
Voted to allow gas tax revenues to be used to subsidize Amtrak.
Voted to strike marriage penalty tax relief and instead provide fines on tobacco companies.
Voted against repealing the Clinton 4.3 cent gas tax increase.
Voted to increase taxes by $2.3 billion to pay for an Amtrak trust fund.
Voted to allow welfare to a minor who had a child out of wedlock and who resided with an adult who was on welfare within the previous two years.
Voted to increase taxes by $9.4 billion to pay for a $9.4 billion increase in student loans.
Voted to say that AMT patch is more important than capital gains and dividend relief.

Welfare
Voted against food stamp reform
Voted against Medicaid reform
Voted against TANF reform
Voted to increase the Social Services Block Grant from $1 billion to $2 billion
Voted to increase the FHA loan from $170,000 to $197,000. Also opposed increasing GNMA guaranty from 6 basis points to 12.
Voted for $2 billion for low income heating assistance.

Waste
Sponsored An amendment to increase Amtrak funds by $550 million
Voted to use HUD funds for the Joslyn Art Museum (NE), the Stand Up for Animals project (RI) and the Seattle Art Museum’s Olympic Sculpture Project (WA)
Voted to increase spending on social programs by $7 billion
Voted to increase NIH funding by $1.6 billion.
Voted to increase NIHnding by $700 million
Voted to for a $2 million earmark to renovate the Vulcan Monument (AL)
Voted for a $1 billion bailout for the steel industry
Voted against requiring that highway earmarks would come out of a state’s highway allocation
Voted to allow Market Access Program funds to go to foreign companies.
Voted to allow OPIC to increase its administrative costs by 50%
Voted against transferring $20 million from Americorps to veterans.
Voted for the $140 billion asbestos compensation bill.
Voted against requiring a uniform medical criteria to ensure asbestos claims were legitimate.
Voted to increase community development programs by $2 billion.

Spending and Entitlements
Voted to make Medicare part B premium subsidies an new entitlement.
Voted against paying off the debt ($5.6 trillion at the time) within 30 years.
Voted to give $18 billion to the IMF.
Voted to raid Social Security instead of using surpluses to pay down the debt.

Health Care
Voted to allow states to impose health care mandates that are stricter than proposed new Federal mandates, but not weaker.
Voted twice for Federal mental health parity mandates in health insurance.
Voted against a allow consumers the option to purchase a plan outside the parity mandate.

Education
Voted to increase Federal funding for teacher testing
Voted to increase spending for the Department of Education by $3.1 billion.
Voted against requiring courts to consider the impact of IDEA awards on a local school district.

Energy

Voted to allow the President to designate certain sites as interim nuclear waste storage sites in the event that he determines that Yucca Mountain is not a suitable site for a permanent waste repository. Those sites are as follows: the nuclear waste site in Hanford, Washington; the Savannah River Site in South Carolina; Barnwell County, South Carolina; and the Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee.

Voted to make fuel price gouging a Federal crime.

2012-02-09T10:10:00.000-07:00

U.S. Reaches Mortgage Deal

The U.S. government and five of the country's largest banks reached a $26 billion agreement (NYT) to provide mortgage relief to around two million U.S. homeowners who were affected by the bursting of the housing bubble in 2008.

GUATEMALA: A special United Nations investigative unit, composed of international investigators and prosecutors, said it would remain in the country for another three years to continue its successful prosecution of drug-related crimes (WSJ).

United States, Japan Revise Plans for Military Base

The U.S. and Japanese governments agreed to suspend a plan to build a new U.S. Marine Corps base in Okinawa (WSJ) in the face of local opposition, but will move forward with transferring thousands of marines from the current Okinawa base to Guam.

MYANMAR: Authorities allowed the ethnic Mon community (al-Jazeera) to celebrate its national holiday on Wednesday for the first time in fifteen years. The decision followed a series of political reforms implemented by the country's military-backed government.

Source

2012-02-09T09:59:00.000-07:00

In The Latest Example Of Stimulus Funded Boondoggles, The Port Of Los Angeles Drops Taxpayer Dollars Upgrading Their Luxury Yacht...

$489,000 Of Taxpayer Federal Stimulus Money “That Is Supposed To Go Create Jobs” Was Spent On The Port Of Los Angeles’ Luxury Yacht, The “Angelena.”

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"With The City Going Broke You May Be Surprised To Find Out That Los Angeles Is The Proud Owner Of A Million Dollar Yacht And It Is About To Undergo Hundreds Of Thousands Of Dollars In Renovations At Taxpayer Expense." (David Goldstein, "Taxpayer Money Used To Maintain Million-Dollar Yacht," KCAL-TV [Los Angeles, CA], 2/6/12)

IN LOS ANGELES, STIMULUS FUNDS WERE SPENT ON A CITY YACHT, CREATING NO JOBS BUT WASTING TAXPAYER MONEY

Click To Watch

$489,000 Of Taxpayer Federal Stimulus Money "That Is Supposed To Go Create Jobs" Was Spent On The Port Of Los Angeles' Luxury Yacht, The "Angelena." "The port is using $489,000 in federal taxpayer stimulus money that is supposed to go create jobs, plus another $200,000 coming from the port - totaling $689,000 for new engines." (David Goldstein, "Taxpayer Money Used To Maintain Million-Dollar Yacht," KCAL-TV [Los Angeles, CA], 2/6/12)

The Money Was Spent Installing New Hybrid Engines On The Yacht Because The Old Engines "No Longer Meet California Emissions Standards." "The engines have been removed because they no longer meet California emissions standards. They will be replaced by low-emission hybrid motors. The port is using $489,000 in federal taxpayer stimulus money that is supposed to go create jobs, plus another $200,000 coming from the port - totaling $689,000 for new engines." (David Goldstein, "Taxpayer Money Used To Maintain Million-Dollar Yacht," KCAL-TV [Los Angeles, CA], 2/6/12)
The Yacht Is Used For VIP Tours Of The Harbor, Many Of Which Have Nothing To Do With Port Business. "The port bought it in 1988. It is used for public relations tours of the harbor, which run about two hours long. They are free of charge for just about any group, like one we observed for students of Banning High. We obtained the ship's logs for the past two years, which show cruises with as many as 48 passengers at a time. We also obtained the names of thousands of people who have been on-board. More than 4,000 took the cruise just last year. Some of the people do business with the port, but many have nothing to do with it." (David Goldstein, "Taxpayer Money Used To Maintain Million-Dollar Yacht," KCAL-TV [Los Angeles, CA], 2/6/12)

"'It's Not Helping To Create Any Real Jobs,' Said Tom Schatz With Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW)." (David Goldstein, "Taxpayer Money Used To Maintain Million-Dollar Yacht," KCAL-TV [Los Angeles, CA], 2/6/12)

"It's A Big Waste Of Money Both For Taxpayers Across The Country And For Los Angeles Residents." "'It's a big waste of money both for taxpayers across the country and for Los Angeles residents, who clearly aren't all going to benefit from this and are spending money at a time when the city is more than $70 million in the red,' Schatz said." (David Goldstein, "Taxpayer Money Used To Maintain Million-Dollar Yacht," KCAL-TV [Los Angeles, CA], 2/6/12)

STIMULUS MONEY HAS BEEN SQUANDERED ACROSS THE COUNTRY, DESPITE OBAMA'S PROMISES OF OVERSIGHT

THEN: Obama Claimed All Stimulus Projects Received Funding "Based Solely On Their Merits." OBAMA: "And I just want to point this out -- there has never been a program of this scale, moved at this speed, that has been enacted as effectively and as transparently as the Recovery Act. I'm grateful that Congress agreed to my request that the bill include no earmarks, that all projects receive funding based solely on their merits." (President Barack Obama, Remarks On The One-Year Anniversary Of The Signing Of The Recovery Act , Washington, D.C., 2/17/10)

NOW: Obama Thought "Even The Worst Kind Of Boondoggle" Was Stimulative. "For the Obama transition teams and their allies on the Hill, three questions loomed large in designing the package. The first was whether the proposed spending was economically stimulative: Did it save or create jobs, and thereby put money in people's pockets? It turned out that economists believed almost any spending met this criterion. In a recession even the worst kind of boondoggle is stimulative, a fact that critics had a hard time comprehending." (Jonathan Alter, The Promise, Simon & Shuster, 2010, p. 84)
In A Rush To Put Together A Stimulus Package, The White House Sacrificed Impact, Creativity And Competence. "With precious little time for innovative policymaking, it became a trade-off of speed over impact, speed over creativity, and, no doubt, speed over competence. Obama believed there was a steep cost to delay; if talks on the stimulus dragged into the spring or summer the recession would get much worse." (Jonathan Alter, The Promise, Simon & Shuster, 2010, p. 85)

THEN: Obama Pledged That Joe Biden Would Lead An "Unprecedented Oversight Effort" For The $825 Billion Stimulus, "Because Nobody Messes With Joe." OBAMA:"Here in Washington, we've all seen how quickly good intentions can turn into broken promises and wasteful spending. And with a plan of this scale comes enormous responsibility to get it right. That is why I have asked Vice President Biden to lead a tough, unprecedented oversight effort - because nobody messes with Joe." (President Barack Obama, Address To Joint Session Of Congress , Washington, DC, 2/24/09)

NOW: There Have Been 298 Criminal Convictions Related To Fraudulent Spending Of Stimulus Funds. " To date, there have been 298 criminal convictions and $7.2 million in Recovery losses, according to our latest figures. Part of oversight, of course, is making sure that recipients comply with the law and publicly submit reports on their spending each quarter. When we started collecting data, recipients failed to submit 4,359 reports. This was unacceptable so the Board created what we describe internally as a "Wall of Shame,'' a listing of those non-compliers on Recovery.gov." (Press Release, "Devaney, In Final Column, Urges Taxpayers To Press Data Reforms," Recovery Accountability And Transparency Board, 12/14/11)
At The Energy Department Alone, Over 100 Criminal Investigations Have Been Launched Into The Way Stimulus Money Was Spent. "The Energy Department's inspector general has launched more than 100 criminal investigations related to 2009 economic stimulus spending. In written testimony prepared for delivery to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee today, Inspector General Gregory Friedman said the investigations have involved 'various schemes, including the submission of false information, claims for unallowable or unauthorized expenses, and other improper uses of Recovery Act funds.'" (Darius Dixon, "DOE IG: 100+ Stimulus-Related Criminal Probes," Politico, 11/2/11)

More Examples Of Stimulus Waste

$1.5 Million Of Stimulus Money Was Spent On Eight Homes That Ended Up Worth Less Than $1 Million. "In an effort to stabilize the city's real estate market, a federal stimulus program has spent nearly $1.5 million on eight Modesto homes that ended up being worth less than $1 million. Example: Taxpayers paid $223,641 to buy and fix up a foreclosed south Modesto house that was built in 1992. But when the city's 16-month renovation project was done, the home appraised and sold for only $114,000. The government lost $109,641 on that just completed deal. Taxpayers also have spent $109,494 to buy and renovate a 1948-vintage two-bedroom home in Modesto's airport neighborhood. That house has appraised for only $55,000, and a buyer has yet to be found. The federally funded Neighborhood Stabilization Program is being managed by the city of Modesto, which plans to resell an additional 18 or more rehabilitated homes this year." (J.N. Sbranti, "Modesto Renovates Homes Expensively, Doesn't Recoup Money In Sales," The Modesto Bee, 1/14/12)

Stimulus Money Sent To North Carolina Schools Was Used On "Tickets For Movies, A Water Park, Fast Food, And Other Entertainment." "In our review of documents, we found evidence that in addition to paying teachers a total of $17,270 in salaries, HAWS also used ESEA Title I funds to pay for STEP activities that included other salaries and field trip-related expenses, including tickets for movies, a water park, fast food, and other entertainment." ("GAO Review Of LEA Controls Over And Uses Of Recovery Act Education Funds [Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools]," Government Accountability Office, 7/9/10)

72,000 Stimulus Checks Sent To Dead People. "The Social Security Administration sent about 89,000 stimulus payments of $250 each to dead and incarcerated people - but almost half of them were returned, a new inspector-general's report has found. The inspector general found that about 72,000 payments were sent by electronic-transfer and as checks to people who would have qualified to receive them - had they still been alive. The report said that of these payments, about 55,000 were sent because the recipients had died recently, and the Social Security Administration had not been informed of their deaths by states, families or funeral homes at the time the payments were sent. The remaining 17,000 of the mistaken payments were attributed to the SSA failing to properly process death records that it did have." (Louise Radnofsky, "Maybe You Can Take It With You: Stimulus Checks Sent To The Dead," The Wall Street Journal's "Washington Wire," 10/7/10)

Stimulus Money Went To Study Young Adults Who Drink Malt Liquor And Smoke Marijuana. "The State University of New York at Buffalo won $390,000 to study young adults who drink malt liquor and smoke marijuana." (Alexander Bolton, "Mark Penn's Two Firms Awarded Millions From Stimulus For Public Relations Work," The Hill,12/09/09)

$54 Million In Stimulus Funds For Napa Valley Wine Train. Jonathan Karl: "The Napa Valley wine train, to tourists a great way to see America's most celebrated wine region, to others exhibit A in what's wrong with the stimulus." Sen. Tom Coburn: "What that is, is a situation where you see the wealthy or well connected get taken care of and the community suffers." Jonathan Karl: "He's talking about the Napa Valley wine train relocation project, $54 million stimulus dollars to build a new rail bridge, elevate and relocate 3,300 ft of tracks and put flood walls around the train's main station." (ABC News' "Good Morning America," 2/2/10)

$3 Million In Stimulus Funds For Turtles. "A report due to be released today by a Republican senator contends the Obama administration's stimulus program is fraught with waste and incompetence - evidenced by a turtle crossing in northern Florida that will cost more than $3 million." (Peter Nicholas, "Stimulus Program Fraught With Waste Report Says," The Los Angeles Times , 6/15/09) Source

2012-02-09T09:26:00.000-07:00

Philippines seeks US muscle on South China Sea...

By Mary Kay Magistad
PRI's The World [h/t LA]

Several countries have overlapping territorial claims in the South China SeaSarah Osorio is bubbly and beautiful, and she is enjoying her reign as both Miss Palawan and Miss Kalayaan - the name of a contested chain of tiny islands in the South China Sea.

"That's me!" said the 18-year-old, showing a video of the beauty contest, where she struts down the runway beaming and wearing a red bikini.

Miss Palawan, Sarah Osorio, says she wants to
make a point about disputed islands

Ms Osorio said she joined the pageant to make a serious point - about the Kalayaan Islands, where her father is an elected member of the municipal council. Her chance came when she was asked on stage what she would do if she won.

"I will focus on the biggest problem of our municipality, which is that other countries are claiming my municipality," she replied. "Because my municipality is for the Philippines only." The crowd went wild

and the crown was hers.

The Kalayaan Islands are some of the thousands of islands, atolls and reefs in the South China Sea, where China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have overlapping territorial claims. Beneath and around them are believed to be rich reserves of oil and natural gas.

China's claim includes almost the entire South China Sea, well into what the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea recognises as the 200-mile-from-shore Exclusive Economic Zones of other claimants. That has led to occasional flare-ups and to competition to occupy islands, reefs and sandbars.

The Philippine army has a few men living on a rusting boat docked on one atoll. There is not room for anything else.

Kalayaan's main island, Pag-asa - about 650 metres in diameter - is spacious by comparison. Many of its 60 residents are in local government.

"We're a small island - no activities, no entertainment," Ms Osorio said. "You can fish during the day and at 6pm, no electricity, sleep." Still, she says, people choose to live there "to show it's ours, that we have that island for the Philippines".

Coastal clashes Read Full Article

2012-02-09T09:00:00.004-07:00

CPAC: Mardi Gras for the Right?
Robert Stacy McCain "The Other McCain" is ready for what he thinks will be "the best CPAC ever"

The Thursday CPAC speaker lineup: Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, John Boehner, Herman Cain.

Indeed, this is exactly what my friends and I have in mind when CPAC convenes Thursday. In between attending speeches, seminar panels and cocktail parties -- where our "elite puppet masters" will exhort us to perpetuate their "imperialist ideologies" -- we'll make occasional visits to the Marriott lobby, hoping to catch an entertaining glimpse of the clashes between police and smelly hippies from the Occupy DC encampments. What could be more fun than watching left-wing scum getting tased, pepper-sprayed and hauled away in handcuffs by the Metropolitan Police?

CPAC is, as I have called it, "Mardi Gras for the Right," a three-day annual festival celebrating everything conservatives hold dear, including free-market capitalism. And it is entirely fitting that this year's CPAC should be held at the posh Marriott Wardman Park, considering that two heirs to the Marriott fortune are among the billionaires who have donated money to Republican "super PACs." Alas, the Marriott brothers are supporting Romney, but we won't begrudge them that while we party with our friends in the VIP suites, gazing down from the balconies -- champagne glasses in hand -- at the Occupy DC protesters waving signs, chanting slogans and shivering in the cold on the sidewalks behind the police barricades.

Source

2012-02-09T05:56:00.000-07:00

Roland Martin Is Not GLAAD

February 9, 2012

Raynard Jackson

I originally had absolutely no intention of writing about the recent flap surrounding TV personality Roland Martin, but because of the unfair treatment he has received; and his seeming inability to defend himself, I feel compelled to speak out.

Martin is a syndicated newspaper columnist, a political analyst for CNN, and host of his own TV show on TV One. During last Sunday’s Super Bowl, he tweeted: “Ain’t no real bruhs going to H&M to buy some damn David Beckham underwear! ..If a dude at your Super Bowl party is hyped about David Beckham’s H&M underwear ad, smack the sh@t out of him! ” and “I bet soccer fan Piers Morgan will be in line at H&M in the morning to get his hands on David Beckham’s underwear line! LOL.”

This was in reference to a TV ad with soccer star David Beckham shown wearing nothing but his underwear.

But, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (better known as GLAAD) had to rear its ugly head and do what they do best—defame others! According to GLAAD’s website, their mission, in part is:…”promotes understanding, increases acceptance and advance equality.”

Allow me to interpret what they mean. They want to promote understanding as long as they agree with your viewpoint; increase acceptance of their lifestyle; and advance equality that provides them a “special” legal status before the law!

GLAAD’s knee-jerk response to anyone who is a public figure that says anything that they disagree with is to call on that person to be fired; and then request that person meet with them. Why would anyone that you made lose their job be interested in meeting with you?

But doesn’t that go against their very mission—“to promote understanding?” Isn’t it more logical to call for a meeting with a person before you demand that their employer fire them? Shouldn’t you dialogue with a person before you start questioning their motives and intensions, if your true goal is to “advance understanding?

In the immortal words of semanticist, S.I. Hayakawa, “meanings are in people, not in words.” In short, words have no intrinsic meaning other than meanings that are internalized by each individual. For example, if I walked up to a female and told her that her dress was “stupid,” she would be either flattered or insulted. If she understood the language of Hip-Hop, she would be flattered; if she didn’t, then she would be insulted. “Meanings are in people, not in words.”

Just as disturbing as GLAAD’s demand for Martin’s firing was CNN’s suspension of Martin indefinitely. According to CNN, “Roland Martin’s tweets were regrettable and offensive. Language that demeans is inconsistent with the values and culture of our organization, and is not tolerated. We have been giving careful consideration to this matter, and Roland will not be appearing on our air for the time being.”

But most disturbing is the loud silence from within the Black community, I know first hand that many of the so-called Black “leadership” were quick to call Roland to get on his TV show or to get him to write a supportive newspaper column about one of their causes. But, now that he is in trouble not one voice is to be heard supporting him. Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Ben Jealous, Marc Morial, the Congressional Black Caucus—your silence is so loud!

They have allowed a few vociferous people to tar and feather one of their own. This is the real tragedy of this whole incident. I am totally embarrassed by the lack of courage from these Black “leaders.”

Roland, you are now learning who your real friends are and they are not as many as you thought. I am totally disappointed that you even issued an apology (but we all know that CNN forced your hand on that). Do you really need the money from CNN that bad that you are willing to back away from your own innocent words? If you do, I understand. I don’t like it, but I understand.

Just a side note here; why is it that GLAAD called on CNN to fire Martin, but did not make the same request from TV One, the network he has his own show on. Could it be that since TV One is a Black owned network, that somehow it is not viewed as having any value? Just a question!

Roland, remember these are the same Blacks who said absolutely nothing when Jim Clyburn was forced out of the House leadership to make room for Steny Hoyer. Again, the people he and you helped the most, said the least when you needed support

Gays don’t deserve special protection because of their sexual preference, but they do deserve equal protection because of their humanity.

GLAAD talks about promoting understanding and equality and at the same time set out to destroy any public figure who disagrees with them. Roland has never done this!

I have sometimes criticized Roland for some of his liberal positions on issues, but he is a very decent person and has worked for years to bring equality to those whose voices many times go unnoticed. There are two things for sure; I am not happy and Roland Martin is not GLAAD.

Raynard Jackson is president & CEO of Raynard Jackson & Associates, LLC., a D.C.-public relations/government affairs firm. He is also a contributing editor for ExcellStyle Magazine (www.excellstyle.com), Freedom’s Journal Magazine (www.freedomsjournal.net), and U.S. Africa Magazine (www.usafricaonline.com).

2012-02-08T19:53:00.000-07:00

Debt-stricken Greece to pay back debts with solar power

by: Delanna Hudson

Greece is engrossed in debt. This debt crisis is said to be a serious threat to the existence of the eurozone and a worldwide economic meltdown worse than the one set out by the disintegration of Lehman Brothers in 2008. Solar energy is being recommended as one of the debt solutions to the besetting Greece. In accordance to the plan, Greece will utilize upcoming earnings from its "Helios" solar energy scheme to repay at least $21 billion in debt. A number of European leaders, particularly the Germans like the plan. However, in order to make it possible, Greece needs to draw investors to set up at least 10 gigawatts of solar panels by 2050.

Gunther Oettinger, the EU's energy commissioner, Horst Reichenbach, the head of the EU's Athens task force and Philip Lowe, the director general for energy have talked about the idea of helping Greece to pay back a part of its debts to EU member states, like Germany, by presenting them with solar energy.

EurActiv has come to know that the energy directorate general of EU has been requested to look into the idea’s potential, which is so far hindered by the lack of keenness from UN countries. According to a senior source, numerous German organizations have revealed their curiosity in the idea, but it would be more interesting if several member nations were engaged. Spokesperson for the energy commissioner Gunther Oettinger, Marlene Holzner, validated that discussions were going on. She informed EurActiv that the European Commission comprises a task force where energy specialists probe into the question of how energy could aid Greece to develop financially.

According to the Greek energy department, Greece gets 50% more solar emission than Germany, but its solar energy productivity is nearly 80 times lesser. During the earlier part of this month, Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, asked her nation’s solar energy grants to be condensed and clean energy to be traded in from countries like Greece instead. Philipp Rösler, the German economy minister, went to Athens with 60 business leaders with an aim to discover investment opportunities.

Since 2010, the Greek economy has been facing serious problems. A sequence of multi-billion euro bailout enclosures and serious measures has failed to please the global banking sector. In the month of September, Athens declared Project Helios. It is a prospective plan for a considerable expansion of Greece’s solar power output from 206MW to 2.2GW by 2020, and next 10GW by 2050.

Delanna Hudson is a financial expert associated financial communities. She also holds honorary posts in some websites ovlg.com as a financial advisor where she advises on debt management,debt consolidation,credit counseling and taxes.

2012-02-08T18:16:00.000-07:00

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9TH

On Thursday, the House will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business.

First and last votes expected: 10:00 - 11:00 a.m.

One Minute Speeches (5 per side)
House Amendment to S. 2038 - STOCK Act (Suspension, 40 Minutes of Debate) (Sponsored by Sen. Joseph Lieberman / Judiciary Committee / House Administration Committee / Oversight and Government Reform Committee / Financial Services Committee / Agriculture Committee / Rules Committee)
Postponed Vote on Democratic Motion to Instruct Conferees on H.R. 3630 - Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 (Offered by Rep. Timothy Bishop)
Special Order Speeches

COMMITTEE ACTIVITY OF THE DAY
Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health Hearing on “Review of the Proposed Generic Drug and Biosimilars User Fees and Further Examination of Drug Shortages”
(Thursday, February 9th, at 10:00 a.m.)

Printable PDF

2012-02-08T15:14:00.000-07:00

What's Up with Republicans and the Presidency?
Extremely Loud and Increasingly Chaotic

by: Dr. Ada Fisher Date: 2/8/2012

If Republicans don’t quit shooting themselves in the foot, there may be no candidate left standing to carry our mantle for freedom, liberty and the US Constitution. Who knew Reagan is less important than who has the right skill set to lead a nation. Who has the big ideas may be a good consideration as would making sure those ideas are pragmatic. Who passes a moral litmus test though not important to some, does play well to the evangelicals and conservative crowds while possibly writing off a large number of independents, but does it square with the rest of America? Is it compassionate to deny amnesty for illegal immigrants appreciating as did Eisenhower and Truman in sending millions home that our first priority should be putting citizens back to work?

Though many have wanted to be President based on domestic issues, it is foreign

policy that intricately affects the dynamics of all administrations. No candidate can candidly state what he would do as President without publicly compromising the nation’s international leverage. Only one soldier is left standing among those vying for the presidency and the media as well as some conservatives have tried to marginalize Ron Paul’s views as unacceptable. On the domestic front, the willingness to legislate the womb and birth control practices of citizens for many is seen as a slap in the face of women, especially in having legislators and a candidate whose personal behavior with the fairer sex has been less than sterling.

Meanwhile Israel has gotten or should have the attention of the world with its posture that it may bomb Iran to prevent their access to nuclear weapons. Unleashing such a preemptive attack in the cauldron of a very unstable Middle East could herald the advent of WWIII. Still on that side of the world Greece still threatens to implode and other European nations remain quite shaky. No matter what happens, it should be clear that the USA will be asked to again become bail out specialist of first resort.

Behind the bubbling uptick in the numbers employed is the pressure cooker’s dampening of the heat by economic forces still lingering in housing, manufacturing and growth of new industries. A serious plan to reduce the national debt below its present $16 million dollars ceiling (which is probably higher) portends the desire of many to live on Michael Jackson’s ‘Neverland’ estate while most wonder are those elected for real and do they have a clue?

In the 2012 election it really becomes a question in the game of trust—“Who do you trust” with the nation’s national security and economic well-being.

Dr. Ada M. Fisher is a PHYSICIAN, author, gifted public speaker, licensed teacher for secondary education in mathematics and science, previously elected school board member, AUTHOR and IS THE nc rEPUBLICAN nATIONAL cOMMITTEEWOMAN. Contact her at P. O. Box 777; Salisbury, NC 28145; DrFisher@DrAdaMFisher.COM Pending book Common Sense Conservative Prescriptions Solutions Good For What Ails Us, book I from Amazone.com

2012-02-08T13:19:00.000-07:00

Multiple Experts Find the ‘Official’ Unemployment Rate Is Missing A Whole Lot of Unemployed People

1. Congressional Budget Office (January 31, 2012)

“The unemployment rate would be even higher than it is now had participation in the labor force not declined as much as it has over the past few years….Had that portion of the decline in the labor force participation rate since 2007 that is attributable to neither the aging of the baby boomers nor the downturn in the business cycle (on the basis of the experience in previous downturns) not occurred, the unemployment rate in the fourth quarter of 2011 would have been about 11⁄4 percentage points higher than the actual rate of 8.7 percent.”

2. Ezra Klein, The Washington Post (January 6, 2012)

“Unemployment is 8.5 percent — and, if not for the millions of discouraged workers who have left the labor force since 2008, it would be nearer to 11 percent. It’s nice to add 200,000 jobs in a single month, but, as this graph from the Hamilton Project shows, at that rate, it will take well over a decade to fully recover from the Lesser Depression.

3. Jay Cost, The Weekly Standard (February 8, 2012)

“The job growth over 2011 only kept up with population growth, so if the labor force had remained constant (relative to population) over the last year, the unemployment rate would have stayed the same. But we all know that didn’t happen, meaning the number of people in the labor force, as a share of the adult population, declined. The result is that the unemployment rate gives the false impression that the labor market is actually getting better, when in fact it has only stopped getting worse. If we correct this by assuming a constant level of participation in the labor force, we get a very different picture. The following graph holds labor force participation constant, as it was in January 2009 (when Team Obama produced that infamous graph showing the unemployment rate never rising above 8 percent). That is the ‘shadow’ rate, which is compared to the official rate.”

4. Hamilton Place Strategies (January 2012)

“How is labor force participation looking today? At 64 percent, it is well below the peak of 67 percent during the dotcom bubble, and significantly below the steady state of 66 percent we saw during the 2000s. Given the Baby Boom retirement and other demographic shifts, CBO projections expected it to be declining – 65.3 percent at the beginning of 2012. We are now 1.3 percentage points below that demographic estimate, the equivalent of 3.2 million “missing” workers. If the “missing” people were in the labor force, the unemployment rate today would be 10.4 percent, not the current 8.5 percent.”

5. Nomura Global Economics (January 2012)

“In the grey line, Nomura economists have adjusted the unemployment rate for the number of discouraged workers who have left the labour force and therefore count as unemployed in this alternative measure.”

6. Joint Economic Committee Republicans (January 24, 2012)

“The unemployment rate declined to 8.3% in January from 8.5% in December. However, much of the recent decline in the unemployment rate can be attributed to a decline in labor force participation. Labor force participation dropped to 63.7% in January. This is the lowest labor force participation rate in nearly three decades. Labor force participation stood at 66.0% at the beginning of the recent recession. If the participation rate had remained at the pre-recession level, the unemployment rate would be approximately 11.4%.”

7. Ways and Means Committee Republicans (February 2012)

The chart above, frequently updated by Ways and Means Committee Republicans, shows the current 8.3% “official” unemployment rate compared with the 10.9 percent rate including the “invisible unemployed” who have “stopped looking for work,” as former Obama economic advisor Austan Goolsbee put it in 2003. Meanwhile, as shown in the blue line, the Administration in January 2009 predicted that under its 2009 stimulus plan the official unemployment rate today would be 6.1 percent, or effectively at full employment.

2012-02-08T11:46:00.000-07:00

Congress Moves To Prevent FHA Collapse With “FHA Emergency Solvency Act”
Source
The latest FHA Single-Family Outlook report from the FHA shows that serious delinquencies continue to plague the FHA.
The number of seriously delinquent FHA loans increased by 18.9% from last year to a record number of 711,082 mortgage loans. FHA loans classified as seriously delinquent amount to 9.6% of all FHA insured mortgages.
A seriously delinquent loan is defined by the FHA as loans that are in foreclosure, bankruptcy or 90 days or more delinquent. Statistically, once a loan reaches the “seriously delinquent” stage, the end result is foreclosure for the homeowner and huge losses for the FHA.
Making matters even worse, almost 1 out of every 8 FHA mortgages is 60 days or more past due. As of December 31, 2011, an incredible 17.8% of all FHA mortgages were 30 days or more delinquent. Any bank with this many loans in default would quickly be declared insolvent by regulators.
According to analyst Edward J. Pinto of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), the FHA is deeply insolvent and hides this fact through lax accounting standards. Mr. Pinto notes that if the same standards were applied to the FHA as are applied to private institutions, regulators would be forced to shut it down.
One example of the fantasy land accounting used by the FHA, according to Mr. Pinto, relates to the FHA estimate on future housing prices. Falling home prices helped to put Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into bankruptcy and are also causing huge losses at the FHA. The latest statistics on home prices show that values continue to drop and many analysts expect further declines. Yet the FHA is inexplicably forecasting that housing prices will rise by 4% per year over the next nine years! At the same time, as noted above, FHA delinquencies continue to explode upwards.
Nationwide, foreclose inventories remain near record levels and the regulatory imposed slowdown on foreclosures seems to be prolonging the housing crisis.

The dubious estimates of future home values allows the FHA to reduce loss expectations, giving the agency the appearance of solvency. The FHA insurance fund, which covers losses on borrower defaults, is already almost completely depleted. The capital ratio of the FHA insurance fund is only 0.12%, way below the Congressionally mandated level of 2.0%. As recently as 2006, the FHA insurance fund had a capital ratio of over 7%.
The AEI summed up the FHA’s situation as follows:

In other words, using private-sector regulatory accounting for mortgage insurers, the FHA would be deeply insolvent today and have an estimated total capital shortfall of $35 billion under the FHA’s current capital requirement—and nearly $20 billion more under the 4 percent PMI capital requirement. In addition, based on the deterioration between September and December’s results in its effective capital position, it would be experiencing a negative trend of about $15–20 billion per year. If it were a private mortgage insurer, the FHA’s fund would have been taken over by its regulator long ago.

The AEI also notes that FHA mortgages are high risk due to low downpayments and the approval of borrowers who have high debt to income ratios, often above 45%. The FHA, as the last government mortgage agency standing, was seen as the “savior” to the housing industry. Borrowers flocked to the FHA since it had the easiest underwriting standards in the industry. From a portfolio of only $350 billion loans in 2007, the amount of FHA insured loans has ballooned to over $1 trillion today. Making matters even worse, under intense pressure by lobbyists from the National Association of Realtors, Congress allowed the loan limits for FHA loans to remain at $729,750, a level that was supposed to decline under the Dodd-Frank legislation.
Recognizing the urgent need to take action to prevent a collapse of the FHA, the House Financial Services Committee approved the FHA Emergency Solvency Act. The legislation will try to shore up the FHA insurance reserves by establishing minimum annual mortgage insurance premiums, improving FHA internal controls and disclosures, banning unscrupulous lenders from participating in the FHA lending program and requiring that lenders who commit fraud be required to reimburse the FHA for losses.
Unless home prices bottom and begin to rapidly increase in price, the FHA Emergency Solvency Act has come too late and the FHA will soon join Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in bankruptcy.

Related posts:

2012-02-08T11:09:00.000-07:00

Foster Friess: the Man Atop the Horse bankrolling Rick Santorum

Christian billionaire funding Santorum's campaign presents himself as a preserver of traditional 'founding father' values...

James Meikle

guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 8 February 2012 07.35 EST

Article history

Excerpts from Article: Read Full Article

When Rick Santorum gave his victory speech following Tuesday's unexpected triumphs in Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri, he was flanked by his wife Karen – and by Foster Friess, a Christian billionaire who has been the prime bankroller of his resurgent campaign.

Friess, a 71-year-old mutual fund manager, presents himself as a preserver of traditional "founding father" values.

The small-government, anti-tax investment manager from Wyoming –Man Atop the Horse, as he is called on the website promoting his views and picturing him, saddled up, in a rainslicker against a mountain landscape – set up the Red, White and Blue Super Pac (political action committee) which has so far spent $2.2m (£1.4m) in promoting Santorum's cause, according to the Centre for Responsive Politics

One of Foster's favourite causes is to "help peaceful Muslims transcend the seventh-century ideology of coercion, intimidation, and violence that threatens us and them" according to Man Atop the Horse.

"This is the most threatening movement in the world today," Friess says on the website. "In fact, due to the growing numbers of teenage and pre-adolescent Muslims that are being recruited and trained in its anti-American ideology on a daily and weekly basis, this threat to our western way of life is more powerful than nazism or even communism ever was in the 1900s."

Source

2012-02-07T20:13:00.000-07:00

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8TH

On Wednesday, the House will meet at 10:00 a.m. for morning hour and 12:00 p.m. for legislative business. First votes expected: 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. Last votes expected: 3:30 - 5:00 p.m.

One Minute Speeches (15 per side)
H.R. 3521 - Expedited Legislative Line-Item Veto and Rescissions Act of 2011 (Structured Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. Paul Ryan / Budget Committee / Rules Committee)

The rule provides for one hour of general debate and makes in order the following amendments:

Reps. Paul Ryan / Chris Van Hollen Manager’s Amendment (10 minutes of debate)
Rep. Rodney Alexander Amendment (10 minutes of debate)

Democratic Motion to Instruct Conferees on H.R. 3630 - Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 (One Hour of Debate) (Offered by Rep. Timothy Bishop)
Special Order Speeches

COMMITTEE ACTIVITY OF THE DAY
Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power Hearing on “The American Energy Initiative: What EPA’s Utility MACT Rule Will Cost U.S. Consumers”
(Wednesday, February 8th, at 10:00 a.m.)

Printable PDF

2012-02-07T14:52:00.001-07:00

Rick Santorum's two sides to the Tea Party movement.
One Pro, One Con. What will he say next?
Depends on Place, Date and Time.

VIEW VIDEO

Santorum under scrutiny, the impression one gets is that of an embarrassed faux conservative who is shuffling off to the left as fast as he can. This shuffle left was actually a pamphlet put out by the Santorum campaign called "50 Things You May Not Know About Rick Santorum."

Among those 50 things is the aforementioned strong support for legislation raising the minimum wage. In addition to being a shameless union measure, this hurts the free market. A sample of the other items include:

Sponsoring FAIR CAIR act to force companies to pay benefits to laid-off workers.
Working with John McCain on campaign finance reform.
Bragging about bringing home federal tax money for clean energy projects.
Working with Bono to spend tax money on poverty in the third world.
Working with Bono to spend tax money on AIDS.
Sponsoring legislation to regulate gas prices.
Authoring the Pet Animal Welfare State Bill. (Huh.)
Voting for record tax funding of Pennsylvania public schools.
Authoring The Care Act: funding for Non Profits.
Working with Joe Lieberman on Working Families Act.
Supported increased tax funding for Chesapeake Bay.
Voted to fund an indoor Rain Forest in Iowa

2012-02-07T12:06:00.001-07:00

CONGRESS and EARMARKS...

The Washington Post report also concluded that 16 members of Congress directed taxpayer dollars to “companies, colleges, or community programs where their spouses, children or parents work as salaried employees or serve on boards.”

After analyzing the holdings of all 535 members of Congress and comparing them to their earmarks for pet projects since 2008, the Washington Post found numerous eye-opening instances of potential self-enrichment at taxpayers’ expense, including:

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS): obtained a $900,000 earmark to resurface roads where he and his daughter own two homes. “I didn’t say, ‘Do the street that I live on,” Rep. Thompson protested when the Washington Post confronted him. “The earmark went to the county. It had no designation on it whatsoever, and that was it.”
Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett (R-MD): secured approximately $4.5 million for an interstate interchange that leads to Rep. Bartlett’s home, his 104-acre farm, and rental properties that earn him $150,000 annually. “He was being an advocate for what was presented to him as the highest priority,” the congressman’s press secretary Lisa Wright said. “Coincidentally, this was around two miles from his farm.”
Rep. Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX): bagged $665,000 in taxpayer funds to expand a road 600 feet away from his family’s food processing plant, H&H Foods. “It helps everybody,” Rep. Hinojosa told the Washington Post. “The only way it made sense to handle this tremendous population growth and avoid problems for the school buses that go through that intersection was to widen it.”
Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA): scored $750,000 for a new bridge three blocks away from a 7,000-square-foot building he and his wife own as well as Columbia Basin Paper & Supply, a janitorial supply company he previously owned that is now run by his brother. “It never crossed my mind,” Rep. Hastings told the Washington Post. “Every business in Pasco will benefit by that.”
Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MA): landed a $187,000 earmark to replenish a shoreline 90 miles away from his home district near a beach that, coincidentally, he and his wife own two condominiums by that generate $15,000 in rental income. Rep. Ruppersberger said questioning the proximity of his properties to the project was “ridiculous.” “That’s a stretch to say that thing’s going to benefit me.”
Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA): secured $6.3 million to replenish a beach 900 feet away from a $142,900 cottage he owns. “It’s absurd to suggest that this benefits me,” Kingston protested to the reporters. “The beach doesn’t improve the real estate of a house, unless it’s on the beach. The only thing that changes in value is the beachfront property.”
Rep. John W. Olver (D-MA): obtained $5.1 million in earmarks to restructure a road 209 feet from Rep. Olver’s 15-acre home and several adjoining properties he and his wife own. “I had no monetary interest whatsoever in this project,” Rep. Olver said. “I had nothing to with the design. I was never notified of any of the hearings. I had no involvement whatsoever.”
Rep. Candice S. Miller (R-MI): obtained a $486,000 earmark that helped add a 14-foot bike lane within walking distance of her house. “People earmark for all kinds of things,” Rep. Miller said when asked about the project. “I’m pretty proud of this; I think I did what my people wanted. Should I have told them, ‘We can never have this bike path complete because I happen to live by one section of it’? They would have thrown me out of office.”
Rep. Harold Rogers (R-KY): secured $7 million in earmarks, a portion of which went to overhaul streets around the corner from a bank where he is director emeritus and owns a $1-$5 million stake in the bank’s holding company and also narrowed the street he lives on to slow traffic. “Congressman Rogers sees no conflict of interest in helping local community leaders achieve their goals for growth,” the congressman’s chief of staff Michael R. Higdon told the Washington Post.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D - Calif). Over the past decade, the House minority leader helped secure $50 million in earmarks toward a light-rail project that provides direct access to San Francisco's Union Square and Chinatown for neighborhoods south of Market Street. Pelosi's husband owns a four-story commercial building blocks from Union Square.
Sen. Harry Reid (D- Nev). In 2004 and 2005, the Senate majority leader secured $21.5 million to build a bridge over the Colorado River, linking the gambling resort town of Laughlin, Nev., with Bullhead City, Ariz. Reid owns 160 acres of undeveloped land in Bullhead City.
- Rep. Steve Israel (D - N.Y). The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair - In 2008, Israel earmarked $490,000 to study a bypass road to ease congestion along a busy commercial corridor that borders the congressman's neighborhood in Dix Hills.

The practice of earmarks continues to be a source of angst for conservatives and citizens concerned with out-of-control federal spending. In 2010, a record high 11,230 earmarks accounted for $32 billion in federal spending.

2012-02-07T10:44:00.000-07:00

Top Trending eRumors on TruthOrFiction.Com:

ABC on-air policy about wearing American flags-Truth!
American Aircraft Manufacturer Excluded From Bidding on Air Force Contract-Truth! & Unproven!
American flag removed from the tail of Obama's campaign plane-Truth!
Associated Press Story About Obama Citizenship Case Reaching Supreme Court- Fiction!
"Brain Surgeon" Reveals Obamacare Strategy on Mark Levin Radio Program-Fiction!
Florida is Requiring Drug Testing of Welfare Recipients-Truth!
Fox News Investigates Friends of Barack Obama Truth! Fiction! & Unproven!
General Electric is Moving X-Ray Division to China-Truth!
George Soros' Evil Plan of Buying Up American Gun and Ammunitions Companies- Fiction!
Health Care Bill Establishes Dhimmitude, Which Exempts Moslem From Participating -Fiction!
If You Sell Your House After 2012 Expect to Pay a 3.8% Sales Tax - Mostly Truth!
Iraqi statue honoring American soldiers-Truth!
Medicare Premiums Predicted to Increase While Congress is Getting Pay Raises-Truth! & Fiction!
Barack Obama Explains Why He Didn't Follow Protocol During the National Anthem-Fiction!
Obama is Overwhelming the Economy to Destroy Capitalism in the U.S.- Commentary!
Opinion Piece Called "We Noticed" about President Obama by Sherry Hackett- Incorrect Authorship!
Photo From a Moose Hunting Trip That Went Wrong-Fiction!
President's Campaign Bus Was Made In Canada at a Cost of $1,100,000-Truth! & Fiction!
President's Dog, Bo, and Handler Flew Alone in a Separate Plane to Maine-Fiction!
President Obama Enacted the Dream Act by Executive Order-Fiction!
Questions About Barack Obama's status as a "natural born citizen"
Questions about President Obama Long Form Birth Certificate
Postage Stamps Commemorate Two Muslim Holidays-Truth! & Fiction!
Target stores won't donate to Vietnam vet projects-Fiction!
Video of President Obama Kicking a Door-Fiction!
Walter Reed Medical Center has Banned Religious Items-Truth! But Rescinded!

2012-02-07T09:09:00.001-07:00

Charles Sykes Makes the Case That We Are a ‘Nation of Moochers’

by John Nolte
Charles Sykes is a longtime Milwaukee talk-radio host and the prolific author of a number of books that helped to shape my personal political worldview, including 1988’s eye-opening “Profscam,” and 1993’s “A Nation of Victims,’ two works as timely today as they were decades ago.
“A Nation of Moochers: America’s Addiction to Getting Something for Nothing” (St. Martin’s Press) was just released, and the fact that I’m writing this at the very moment President Barack Obama is announcing yet another government plan (his fourth, I think) to “bail out” those “victims” who bought homes they couldn’t afford, makes this informative and engaging page-turner feel about as urgent and timely as any author could hope for.

What you need to know up front is that “Moochers” isn’t an attack on the poor or needy or, for that matter, a specific political party. In fact, from beginning to end, Sykes makes clear that as a country we have an obligation to feed the hungry and offer shelter to the homeless. Moreover, he isn’t even targeting a particular group, which would be impossible without a sawed-off shotgun anyway, because America’s moochers come from every level of our society.
What Sykes is targeting is a mentality, a dangerous and un-American mentality that infects almost every aspect of our culture, and one that is currently being bred into our children by those on both the left and right who are empowered by fomenting and excusing the dependence, greed, and selfishness of others. From corporate welfare to school lunches for the well-to-do to Wall Street bailouts to paying millionaires not to grow crops to tax breaks for Hollywood gajillionires to unending unemployment benefits to disaster relief for those who haven’t suffered disasters to TARP, and finally, to the shameless who walk away from mortgages they can afford to pay — what Sykes is exposing is that we are on the march to becoming Greece. Not just a European welfare state, but the kind of welfare state where the populace has been engineered by a nanny state to riot at the very thought of not being able to mooch the life to which they have become accustomed.

A large part of the problem is that thanks to those who control the levers of our media and culture, the only thing we’re taught to be ashamed of anymore is the act of attempting to shame someone. As a result, those who “want” instead of “need,” are openly and proudly grabbing all the goodies they can get their shameless hands on, and doing so at the expense of others. Worse still, those others have even been born yet.
Sykes’ examples are not only legion, they’re also dispiriting. There have always been moochers, grifters, and leeches willing to live off of the productive, but they used to creep in the shadows knowing that if their behavior was exposed they would be shunned and shamed. Today, those who live off the productive have no reason to hide. Self-respect isn’t something you earn anymore. It’s all about self-esteem now. Everyone gets a trophy, so why not brag about how you’re getting something for nothing. It’s not a sin, it’s an accomplishment!

Today, public schools in upper-middle-class neighborhoods openly push to increase their free breakfast and lunch programs; graduate students take food stamps to Whole Foods; 25 year-old boys no longer want to be men and choose instead to live with their parents for as long as they can; and then there’s those truly awful public employees who somehow think it’s a virtue to make public spectacles of themselves when faced with the prospect of having to share a standard of living closer to those of us who pay for their exorbitant pensions and benefits.
Sykes also points out that what’s happening is just the opposite of compassion, that there’s nothing moral or virtuous about creating spoiled, dependant crybabies with no self-respect. It’s bad enough Republicans and Democrats alike are bankrupting the country with addictive drugs labeled tax loopholes, subsidies, and freebies — but as a nation we’re losing that all-American pride that used to make the very thought of accepting a handout unbearable — even if we truly needed it. There will always be awful politicians trying to buy votes. But what Sykes sees (and meticulously documents) is a growing market of those willing to be purchased, and that’s something a country simply cannot survive.
Included in this must-read are some common sense solutions that include Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan’s “Roadmap.” It’s also going to take politicians from both parties who care more about their country than their personal power and parents willing to lead by example.
But the very best place to start at curing this cancer, is by educating yourself with Skyes’ excellent primer on the subject. Source

2012-02-07T06:52:00.000-07:00

The European Union was created today in 1992 when the Maastricht Treaty was signed. Now they are considering disbanding the union.