Republikid

Obama wants Republicans Email Addresses for Campaign Prank, or Campaign Subterfuge?

2011-12-16T03:31:00.001-05:00

I'm no campaign strategist, but I think this little ploy by the Obama campaign is more sinister as it seems. There is a donation page up that asks you to have a little holiday fun at the expense of one of your Republican friends. When you donate, you input their name and email address and they will send them email saying how you(the recipient)inspired your friend to donate to Barack Obama's campaign for re-election.

Seems like it could be a funny holiday joke to play on your conservative friends. It's also a great way for the Obama campaign to get a hold of a large mailing list of Republican voters that they could later use to commit some campaign subterfuge. How about mass mailers from a fake conservative group begging all good conservatives to vote for Michelle Bachmann or Rick Santorum. Why would they do that?? Simple, to sabotage Mitt Romney's campaign. The Obama campaign is scared of a Mitt Romney nomination. If Romney gets the Republican nod, he is seen as a real threat to Obama's re-election chances. Maybe they'll be super sneaky and get everyone to vote for Ron Paul. Nah, that might backfire.

This could all be a lighthearted stunt, but with Democrats I refuse to take chances. If you must talk with your liberal friends this holiday season, get a throw-away email address. The only thing I hate more than spam, is welfare loving,big money spending, apologist, race baiting, two-faced, blame the other guy Democrat spam. Please don't send me anymore postcards in the mail, it leads to more Global Warming.

Ron Paul Surging in the Polls

2011-12-14T01:01:00.000-05:00

Photo by:Gage Skidmore

While the race for the Presidency is still too volatile to really make a call on who will get the nomination, it is becoming clear that the American people are getting pretty tired of the same old candidates talking about the same old politics. Herman Cain was a runaway train until he was derailed by a string of sexual harassment
and marital infidelity charges. He was popular because he was an outsider with different ideas and a far different angle on politics than most of his peers in the debates. Despite his effort, the MSM was effective at removing a real threat to the Obama regime.

What came next was predictable and expected. The only person who wasn't Mitt Romney began surging in the polls. Newt Gingrich has name recognition and he is a smooth talker. He kept his comfortable lead despite attack ads and his GOP opponents hurling bombs at him. Despite all of this, he refused to employ the same tactics, giving him the sense of being an honorable man. In some respects I don't doubt that he is. What I do know for sure is, he has repeatedly touted fresh sounding conservative ideals, all the while taking positions with, and publicly supporting bad policy decisions by Democrats and Republicans alike. He's a flip-flopper and a charlatan. I think the American people are starting to realize this.(God knows his ex-wives sure do.)

Something else the American people are starting to realize is that Ron Paul has been saying the things they have wanted a presidential candidate to say, without the sheen of a polished professional politician(that was not intentional, but it was funny.)They have heard him say it before, unfortunately they went with the same tired schtick and got shafted when their choice for POTUS got stomped flat by Barack Obama. The same man who would in three years do more damage and spend more money than the last three presidents combined(The total amount of deficit is far greater than all the presidents combined.) As things continue to sink, people have finally hit rock bottom and are finally opening their eyes.

Ron Paul was in the far back corner of the room looking mopey and sad, unable to reach double digits in the polls. His last couple of showings at the debates have, however had a dramatic effect on his numbers. He is now surging in Iowa, running just one point behind Gingrich in the most recent straw poll there. He has won the Cedar Valley Tea Party Presidential Straw Poll, and in Florida he had an overwhelming victory in Pasco County's first Republican Party straw poll. Drake University's first student straw poll saw Ron Paul winning with 35% of the vote, and Ron Paul won an Oklahoma straw poll a few days ago. I think it's safe to say people are noticing the man, even if the media continues to ignore and marginalize him.

With Paul within a point of Gingrich this close to the Iowa Caucus, and Iowans cooling to the Newtinator, Ron Paul may just pull a rabbit out of his hat and shove upset into the faces to the GOP poster boys. What about New Hampshire? Does he stand a chance, or will it go to the man with perfect hair, Mitt Romney. Perhaps Gingrich will sweep in and knock them both out with his flabby cheeks. Don't worry, that nightmarish image of Newt Gingrich slapping people with his fat guy cheeks will fade with time.

The real question though, is this...even if Ron Paul aces some of these caucuses and primaries, will the GOP still ignore him and go with one of their face first all-stars, or will they grow a pair and actually listen to the American people instead of ignoring their wishes and continually telling them what's best for them with another craptastical candidate who will lose to Barack Obama the same way John"Count Chocula" McCain did in 2008.

Republikid Android App

2011-12-08T21:30:00.001-05:00

The Official Republikid Android App is now available for download. You can get it here:
Republikid Android App

National Defense Authorization Act Controversy

2011-12-06T21:38:00.001-05:00

There has been a lot of controversy over the latest version of the NDAA(National Defense Authorization Act)H.R. 1540/S.1867. Two parts of this bill seem to stick out in many peoples minds, and with good reason. The first is Section(s) 1031 and 1032 which cover the use of military force and the detention of terrorist suspects. The controversy comes over some very vague wordings which could, it seems, be used to detain American Citizens indefinitely in a place like Guantanamo.

The bill is being hailed by many as the suspension of our constitutional rights. I don't think it's as bad as it's being made out to be, but at the same time we have seen to many abuses of power from our government and law enforcement over the last few years,to be at the very least worried that someone might take this out of context and abuse the vague wording.

SEC. 1031. AFFIRMATION OF AUTHORITY OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES TO DETAIN COVERED PERSONS PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF MILITARY FORCE.
(a) In General – Congress affirms that the authority of the President to use all necessary and appropriate force pursuant to the Authorization for Use of Military Force (Public Law 107-40) includes the authority for the Armed Forces of the United States to detain covered persons (as defined in subsection (b)) pending disposition under the law of war.

(b) Covered Persons – A covered person under this section is any person as follow:
(1) A person who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored those responsible for those attacks.
(2) A person who was a part of or substantially supported al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners, including any person who has committed a belligerent act or has directly supported such hostilities in aid of such enemy forces.

(c) Disposition Under Law of War – The disposition of a person under the law of war as described in subsection (a) may include the following:
(1) Detention under the law of war without trial until the end of the hostilities authorized by the Authorization for Use of Military Force.
(2) Trial under chapter 47A of title 10, United States Code (as amended by the Military Commissions Act of 2009 (title XVIII of Public Law 111-84)).
(3) Transfer for trial by an alternative court or competent tribunal having lawful jurisdiction.
(4) Transfer to the custody or control of the person’s country of origin, any other foreign country, or any other foreign entity.

(d) Construction- Nothing in this section is intended to limit or expand the authority of the President or the scope of the Authorization for Use of Military Force.

(e) Requirement for Briefings of Congress – The Secretary of Defense shall regularly brief Congress regarding the application of the authority described in this section, including the organizations, entities, and individuals considered to be ‘covered persons’ for purposes of subsection (b)(2).

SEC. 1032. REQUIREMENT FOR MILITARY CUSTODY.
(a) Custody Pending Disposition Under Law of War -
(1) IN GENERAL – Except as provided in paragraph (4), the Armed Forces of the United States shall hold a person described in paragraph (2) who is captured in the course of hostilities authorized by the Authorization for Use of Military Force (Public Law 107-40) in military custody pending disposition under the law of war.

(2) COVERED PERSONS – The requirement in paragraph (1) shall apply to any person whose detention is authorized under section 1031who is determined–
(A) to be a member of, or part of, al-Qaeda or an associated force that acts in coordination with or pursuant to the direction of al-Qaeda; and
(B) to have participated in the course of planning or carrying out an attack or attempted attack against the United States or its coalition partners.

(3) DISPOSITION UNDER LAW OF WAR – For purposes of this subsection, the disposition of a person under the law of war has the meaning given in section 1031(c), except that no transfer otherwise described in paragraph (4) of that section shall be made unless consistent with the requirements of section 1033.

(4) WAIVER FOR NATIONAL SECURITY – The Secretary of Defense may, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Director of National Intelligence, waive the requirement of paragraph (1) if the Secretary submits to Congress a certification in writing that such a waiver is in the national security of the United States.
(b) Applicability to United States Citizens and Lawful Resident Aliens -
(1) UNITED STATES CITIZENS – The requirement to detain a person in military custody under this section does not extend to citizens of the United States.
(2) LAWFUL RESIDENT ALIENS – The requirement to detain a person in military custody under this section does not extend to a lawful resident alien of the United States on the basis of conduct taking place within the United States, except to the extent permitted by the Constitution of the United States.

The bill also repeals a former military ban on sodomy. There is a problem with this one, the definition of sodomy also includes sex with animals. So now, if you are in the military you can have sex with another man, or that man's dog if you so choose.

"(a) Any person subject to this chapter who engages in unnatural carnal copulation with another person of the same or opposite sex or with an animal is guilty of sodomy. Penetration, however slight, is sufficient to complete the offense. (b) Any person found guilty of sodomy shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.”

This part of the bill has been repealed, effectively allowing Gay men to engage in consensual sex(a nice accent to the repeal of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy)But it also allows them to engage in coitus with livestock if they see fit. Kinda creepy if you ask me.

It is also bashed for limiting the Commander in Chief's ability to stop terrorists and will do more harm than good in the long term.

Only 7 of our elected senators voted against this bill, despite the widespread criticism of it by the general public. Many in the government have opposed this bill as well, including FBI Director Robert Mueller, the CIA, the military, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, the head of the Justice Department's National Security Division, the Director of National Intelligence, etc.

Michael Savage Dropped from 910 KNEW

2011-11-23T21:01:00.001-05:00

Earlier today a blog called Patriot Axom(Site now infinitely redirects to nothing, presumably down.)issued a statement saying that Conservative talk-show host Michael Savage had been taken "off the air" from his San Francisco-based flagship station, Talk 910 KNEW. Luckily the crows at Huffpost and Think Progress immediately picked up on the story and made sure to include remarks about how this is another good way to stop the spread of Michael Savage's hate filled rhetoric. Typical, but expected. The left must be elated that a blow to conservative talk-radio has been struck without having to wait for the "Fairness Doctrine" to get passed.

This was the statement issued on KNEW's blog: (Link is no longer working)

I’m going to answer the very first question many of you have.
“Why did you take Michael Savage off the air?”

Here’s your no-spin direct answer; we have decided to go in a different philosophical and ideological direction, featuring more contemporary content and more local information. The Savage Nation does not fit into that vision.

For those of you in the San Fransisco Area, you can still hear Michael Savage on KSTE 650.

Herman Cains Campaign Moves Forward Despite Harassment Scandal

2011-11-11T01:30:00.001-05:00

Photo by:Gage Skidmore

Herman Cain was at the outset of this presidential campaign cycle a long shot outsider, with no experience in holding political office. His straight talk and no-nonsense approach seemed to have a catalyzing effect on voters, they responded by sending him to the top of many national GOP polls and fueling his campaign with $9 million in donations in the fourth quarter of this year. Cain is the former CEO of Godfather's Pizza, former CEO of the National Restaurant Association and a board member of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. Herman Cain has also served on the boards of Aquila Inc, Nabisco, Whirlpool, Readers Digest, and AGCO Inc. While he has worked on some high-profile political campaigns, and has run for the presidency in 2000, and the senate in 2004, Cain has never served in public office.

Recently, a woman came forward and claimed that Cain had sexually harassed her during his tenure as CEO of the NRA(National Restaurant Association), Cain denied that there was a settlement, but did eventually admit that some sort of 'settlement' had been reached with the woman. Since that incident occurred in October of 2011, 3 more reports of sexual harassment have been publicized. Two of the four women have been identified as Karen Kraushaar, a registered Republican who donated money to the Democrats in 2009. Kraushaar also lodged a complaint of unfair treatment with her next employer. She later dropped her complaint. The second woman identified is Sharon Bialek. Bialek claims that Cain stuck his hand up her skirt and shoved her head towards his crotch after a meeting where she allegedly asked Cain for help finding work.

Herman Cain and his campaign deny that Mr. Cain knows who this woman is, although it was reported by Sharon Bialek that she spoke with Cain recently at a Tea Party event, and the story was corroborated by radio talk show host Amy Jacobson. Here are some interesting facts from the website caintruth.com

The fact is that Ms. Bialek has had a long and troubled history, from the courts to personal finances – which may help explain why she has come forward 14 years after an alleged incident with Mr. Cain, powered by celebrity attorney and long term Democrat donor Gloria Allred.
In the courts, Ms. Bialek has had a lengthy record in the Cook County Court system over various civil lawsuits. The following cases on file in Cook County are:

2000-M1-707461 Defendant against Broadcare Management

2000-M1-714398 Defendant in lawsuit against Broadcare Management

2000-M1-701522 Defendant in lawsuit against Broadcare Management

2005-M1-111072 Defendant in lawsuit against Mr. Mark Beatovic.

2007-M1-189176 Defendant in lawsuit against Midland Funding.

2009-M1-158826 Defendant in lawsuit against Illinois Lending.

Ms. Bialek was also sued in 1999 over a paternity matter according to ABC 7 Chicago (WLS-TV). Source: WLS-TV, November 7, 2011
In personal finances, PACER (Federal Court) records show that Ms. Bialek has filed for bankruptcy in the Northern District of Illinois bankruptcy court in 1991 and 2001. The respective case numbers according to the PACER system are 1:01-bk-22664 and 1:91-bk-23273.
Ms. Bialek has worked for nine employers over the last seventeen years. Source: WLS-TV, November 7, 2011
Curiously, if Ms. Bialek had intended to take legal action, the statute of limitations would have passed a decade ago.

I wonder if she hopes to make a quick buck off of this scandal?? The other two women are as of yet still unknown, and their so are the details of their claims against Cain. So, two women, both Republicans(?) suddenly decide they want to dredge up old news about Herman Cain during well over a decade after these events supposedly happened, and two more mystery women are thrown in the mix to thicken the stew, and nobody smells a rat?? I sure do. But let the rat stink, I say, because so far it seems to be helping Herman Cain, not hurting him. His campaign has added 2.25 million dollars to their campaign coffers since the sexual harassment allegations first surfaced, and Cain appears unfazed by the controversy and made a very strong showing at the CNBC Republican debate on November 9th.

At this point in the race, most of the field is doing poorly with only Cain and Mitt Romney showing any chances of garnering the GOP nomination. Early on in the race Texas Governor Rick Perry and Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann were highly favorable candidates, with Bachmann being a Tea Party Favorite. Ron Paul, who seems to have a fervent cult following around him is slipping off the radar as well, that leaves Rick Santorum and John Huntsman to sit in the caboose of the nominee train and weep a little. As politics go, the GOP is likely to pick Mitt Romney as their candidate as he has the political clout and name recognition that they believe is essential to defeating Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election.

However, if the momentum we are seeing behind the Herman Cain campaign continues, the Republicans will have a hard choice to make. Ignore the will of the people and go with the candidate that you feel will get the job done, or go with the new guy that you probably don't care for, but know that if you don't choose the American people will see to it that anyone with an (R) next to their name never gets elected to office again. My personal opinion is that despite his lack of experience, it is doubtful that Herman Cain could do a worse job than Barack Obama, so let the man have his shot. We made history by electing the first "hAlfrican-American" president, now let's really make history, let it be known that the Republican Party will be the ones to elect the first black man to the highest seat of power in the United States. The Democrats will immediately declare that the GOP is racist anyway and claim that Herman Cain is actually a well tanned Frenchman and therefore not really black.

Anthony Weiner Photo - Penis (Uncensored)

2011-06-08T16:26:00.009-04:00

Since this whole controversy began, I have had a million jokes running through my head, all of which have probably been done by now. Anthony Weiner is already a joke just by his surname alone, but add to that the fact that he has been showing his 'wiener' around town and now you have a truly superb and over the top political scandal. Instead of boring you with rehashed dick jokes, I shall instead post the now infamous picture of Weiner's 'wiener' so you can decide for yourself if this scandal is as 'big' as everyone is making it out to be.

My personal opinion on this whole affair is this. If Anthony Weiner took pictures of his junk and posted them to all his girlfriends online from the privacy of his own home, I could care less. Liking to show off his package doesn't mean he's a lousy elected official. However, if he was taking pictures of his 'long' at work, than he should resign, or he should be booted from his position. In the end, this is just another silly scandal, made even bigger by the fact that people are always mesmerized by the actions of their fellow humans-especially the ones in Hollywood and Washington.

Anthony Weiner has made a habit out of showing his junk, everyday the amount of photos of Weiner's cock- pardon the pun, continue to grow. I think we should just give this guy a talk show and let him talk about his penis all day. Let's face it this man is obsessed with his own genitalia.

SEIU to Collapse Economy, Overthrow Government

2011-03-26T10:37:00.004-04:00

It appears the left has decided that the best way to overcome the power of the Tea Party movement is to steal non-existent tactics that the left claim the Tea Party movement employs, and use those fictional tactics to destabilize the economy and overthrow the United States government. During a March 19th forum, members of the SEIU(You know those union people who like to attack and berate black people for fun?)laid out a plan to destabilize the US economy by staging mass strategic defaults on mortgage and student loans, civil disobedience, strikes, disruption of shareholder meetings and large-scale protests.

Wait. Didn't we already have mass defaults on mortgages and student loans, civil disobedience, and strikes? The first was a direct result of Democratic tomfoolery that led to the collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the second is what liberals call the third. e.g. I got an education, and now I will not pay off my student loans in an act of civil disobedience. The strikes are what happens when overpaid brats that make outrageous claims like "We're teachers!" and "A labor contract isn't a contract at all, it's a right." The left is horrible at staging large scale protests as evidenced by the "One Nation Rally" and the "Rally to Restore Sanity." They didn't get nearly the numbers similar Tea Party events garnered, but boy could those hippies really throw garbage everywhere.

Now it seems the union thugs have decided the time is right to rally the troops, foment dissent, and have a good old fashioned revolt. Essentially they want to attack financial institutions while trying to make Wall Street tank with mass mortgage defaults. I could go into details about all of their plans, but I want to focus on the basic idea, and not bore you with all of the vile, anti-American lunacy that runs through the minds of socialist moonbats.

What are these Union screwballs trying to accomplish? A complete collapse of the American economy. Than what? Probably overthrow the government and install a socialist dictatorship. Sounds like things we have seen happen in history before, or the plot of a Tom Clancy Novel. It all sounds far fetched and fictional, right? Well not if your in the SEIU. The fact that someone could stand up in front of a crowd of people and nonchalantly explain that destroying the economy of the country you live in to make a point, or gain power is a reasonable course of action, is insane.

The actions of groups like Code Pink and the SEIU are clear indicators that the left is so frustrated with the success and effectiveness of the grassroots conservative movements in this country; and at the failures of their own community organizing efforts, that they are slowly losing their grip on reality, and willing to adopt the tactics that they claim to loathe. This is nothing new, the left enjoy wallowing in their own hypocrisy, and than accusing the right of all the things that they believe in, but refuse to acknowledge, and use subterfuge to hide.

I guess they point I am trying to make here is that the left are having a collective nervous breakdown and the American people, and our way of life are going to suffer greatly unless these malfunctioning units are given a very large dose of Conservative Prozac. I will be more than happy to administer the first dose. Does Prozac come in suppository form???

Paladino Memo to Dean Skelos

2011-03-20T17:40:00.000-04:00

PALADINO FOR TAX PAYER RELIEF

Tax Payers – Fight for Tax Relief

The Tax Payers Of New York Have Had Enough

The NYS politicians are once again preparing to pass a budget that maintains the status quo. The Tax Payers can’t let that happen – we must present our own proposal for tax payer relief

As you know, Carl Paladino has been relentless in his views on New York’s budget process. Below is his memo to Skelos – the senate majority leader. It is telling the republicans not to fold under Cuomo’s pressure. Cuomo’s Budget is the usual smoke and mirrors – it will NOT give NY tax payers ANY tax relief. In fact, it will result in higher taxes through “NEW” local and county taxes. (Read Carl’s full Press Release & Memo below)

We are preparing for a march to Albany – the New York Tax Payers will be presenting a Tax Payers budget proposal that includes Carl’s recommendations. This time the New York Tax Payers will be heard.

Please read the memo and pass this along to every New York Tax Payer you can.

Note: the media and hypocrites lie and slander Carl at every turn of the road. Carl is a no nonsense guy that tells it like it is. They fear the truth. Carl’s selfless courage to keep talking and continuing to take the bullets with nothing in it for himself proves it was, and is, Paladino For The People – pure and simple. Don’t believe the propaganda – Carl is a genuine all around good man and his ideas are the real deal for the taxpaying public. Please read below and support Carl’s hard working efforts to help US. Please get the facts straight and defend Carl and join us.

“Citizens 4 a Better New York”:

For future info as released get on the "budget info list" drop an email to: wethepeopleofny@yahoo.com

Also; Send one of the two messages below:

Message; I am interested in knowing what this movement is about and what the plans are. Please send info as released to my email address. To; glprespecta@yahoo.com

Message; I am interested in joining and I am willing to participate in a nonpartisan effort to return NYS to the grand state it use to be. I am ready willing and able to do my part. Please forward info on what I can do to help to my email address (include your Phone number in your response if YOU can). To; ngatlin46@yahoo.com

Please pass this message on to all New Yorkers

PRESS RELEASE:
FROM CARL P. PALADINO
MARCH 18, 2011 REV #3
RE: OPEN MEMO TO DEAN SKELOS

Dean, you are no longer just the Senate Majority Leader. You are the taxpayer’s “opposition” to the Cuomo/Silver cabal charged, as an experienced warrior negotiating from power, to attack the status quo. Below is a link to your interview with Liz Benjamin last week. It was not inspiring.

The taxpayers want jobs and big cuts in spending and taxes, which will help job retention and growth. They don’t care about getting a budget by April 1. The people struggled to give you a Senate majority. If the Senate doesn't change the status quo now, it won’t get another chance and we will lose it in 2012.

The $10 billion concocted deficit was actually more like $3 billion. With the bar on expected achievements [devoid of real tax cuts] set so low by the press and without any significant or organized opposition coming from any source and especially the Senate, Cuomo has created the perfect setting where he can’t lose. With a little smoke and mirrors and an easy buy in by the Senate he will resolve the deficit and be a hero for not raising taxes. The taxpayer will get the status quo and more agony. The tail is wagging the dog. You said to Liz that the Senate budget knocked a few bucks off of Cuomo's budget and you appear to want to call it a day.

New York taxpayers are fed up with being the highest spending and taxed State in the nation by almost 100% over the national average. Reducing spending and taxes and removing debilitating regulation creates jobs. A few months ago to win the election Cuomo said he was the only true agent of change, would upset the status quo, downsize government and confront the unions that have mortgages on our future generations. We knew it was all hollow rhetoric and he was the ultimate conman. If he were to change the status quo he would alienate the entitlement and union cabal that he needs to get elected president.

You have the unique opportunity at the perfect time to expose the fraud of the Cuomo/Silver culture, which nips around the edges of the salient issues. Your conference can expose his vague and phony budget and solve many of the other issues addressed below. By showing support for the executive budget when announced it appeared you were dancing the Albany 2 step with Cuomo but the taxpayer waited in patient but heightened anticipation for the Republican Conference's budget which they expected to severely attack the status quo and many of the essential issues described below.

When your conference finally presented its budget it was sickening. They are throwing the taxpayers under the bus. Nothing has changed. Secret and suspect “three men in a room” meetings are not the transparency the people expect. Staging debate and acrimony while cutting deals and piecing off members in the back room is theater. The Senate has the awesome responsibility to confront the demons and protect the taxpayers’ interests but appears ready to throw in the towel.

You told Liz that both Cuomo and Silver are opposed to withdrawing the Triborough Amendment and it would be a waste of time going through the motions. Not true. Binding arbitration expires this year and it is the hammer you need to rescind Triborough and reform pensions.

I gave you a roadmap for reform in the attached "TURN ALBANY UPSIDE DOWN" memo. You have the power to implement many of the reforms addressed therein. Cuomo/Silver can’t do anything without the Senate. The Senate must use all of its powers to the fullest to implement change. If Cuomo/Silver don't agree to reasonable change the taxpayers say let the government shut down except for critical services. It's that bad.

You have the once in a lifetime opportunity to use the power that the people gave to the Senate Republican Conference to fulfill dreams, keep promises, protect the family fabric, rid the state of the parasitic culture that has overcome Albany and stop the feeding frenzy at the public trough.

Remember those dreams you had as a younger man that you could leave a lasting mark and legacy. You can lead New York State to a better day. Do not forget that it is only in the budget process that you have the leverage to affect real change. Cuomo/Silver will tell you that they will deal with the important issues after the budget because then you will have no leverage to force change. The taxpayers don’t particularly care how long it takes to get a budget. This is your opportunity to show real leadership and get the job you are paid to do done.

I am sending a copy of this memo to all members of the Senate Republican Conference, Republican and Conservative County and State Chairs, the Assembly Republican Conference and key Tea Party coordinators throughout the state among others. I suggest you and your conference consider the organization of a rally in Albany at the kickoff announcement of the Senate Republican revised budget which we would need to circulate in advance.

Here are a few particulars the Senate should adopt in a revised Republican Senate Conference Budget:

1.] demand full transparency and disclosure. No three men in a room secret meeting between principals or staff. Insist that the taxpayer be able to look in the window at all deal making sessions.

2.] bring focus on issues that directly affect job retention and growth.

3.] address:

a. the financial and mandate burdens your budget places on local governments and school districts

b. the rescission of the MTA payroll tax.

c. Medicaid optional benefit cuts, the $10 billion/year of fraud, waste and abuse, withdrawal of the delegation of authority to the executive branch to implement rules for application or administration of benefits without specific legislation.

d. cuts in State agency and authority personnel not only to save cost but to actually become efficient and productive and do away with political and unnecessary jobs.

e. school and school services consolidation, downsizing the bloated and unnecessary State Education Department, restoring curriculum mandated to the local districts, rescission of 3020 a] of the education law and rescission of the Taylor Law for teachers. Who cares in the 21st century if they strike? We can put National Guard or other monitors in schools during strikes to alleviate the burdens on parents.

f. freezing all hiring for newly created positions and wages in State governments including state agencies and authorities and all local governments and school districts.

g. immediate reform of pensions to defined contribution plans for all exempt employees in local and State governments as proposed by Assemblyman Mike Fitzpatrick.

h. extension of binding arbitration for only critical including first responder State and local government employees after they agree to the rescission of Triborough and conversion of pension plans to defined contribution.

I. repeal of the taxpayer punishing Wick's Law.

j. the sale of unneeded prisons to private operators to give surplus corrections officers a job.

k. significant reduction or elimination of business taxes on manufacturing, creative and high tech industries including the New York State Corporation Franchise Tax and the minimum tax on small businesses.

l. eliminating green and other such general and selective subsidies.

m. merging the Thruway Authority and other bridge and transportation authorities including the MTA with DOT.

n. raising non-resident tuitions at SUNY to the actual cost of the education and enacting strict residency requirements.

o. implementation of the Lundine report recommendations for consolidation of local governments and districts.

p. consolidation of State government its agencies and authorities.

q. implementation of tort, workers comp and malpractice reform.

http://www.capitaltonight.com/2011/03/skelos-is-focused-on-a-3-way-budget-deal/

NPR Scandal. Two Schillers Resign. Media Ignores the Truth.

2011-03-15T01:10:00.003-04:00

James O'Keefe, I'm sure you remember him. He went undercover inside Planned Parenthood and got evidence that employees were willing to help underage girls falsify documents so they can get abortions, and accept donations from racist organizations to fund the genocide of minorities.

He made big waves when he broke wide open the corruption of ACORN in an undercover video sting operation that gave America a first hand look at how liberals look at child prostitution and tax evasion. O'Keefe and his colleague Hannah Giles, dressed as a pimp and a prostitute secretly filmed ACORN employees giving them some pretty bad advice about how to scam the IRS while keeping your house full of underage, illegal immigrant prostitutes a secret so as not to hurt your political future.

O'Keefe made the news again when he and three other men weaseled their way into the offices of Senator Mary Landrieu, and tried to wire-tap her phone lines. He walked away with probation and community service for that affair.

He kept busy by getting a temporary job with the U.S. Census Bureau. His employers didn't seem to care when he told them he was getting overpaid for three and a half hours worth of work that he did not even do.

O'Keefe also made a failed attempt to lure CNN correspondent Abbie Boudreau onto a boat supposedly containing "sexually explicit props", he than planned to make suggestive comments and pretend to try and seduce her while recording the incident with hidden cameras.(Oh, well they all can't be winners.)

Now he's making some big waves again, this time two of O'Keefe's cohorts, Simon Templar(his pen name) and Shaughn Adeleye posed as Arab businessmen with close ties to the Muslim Brotherhood(a known terror sponsoring group that fronts as a civil organization.)who wanted to donate 5 million dollars to NPR.

In a private meeting with then-senior vice president for fund-raising,Ron Schiller and one of his associates, Schiller is given some very leading questions. His responses are laced with anti-Semitic, anti-Christian, and anti-Tea Party statements. Most of it is the usual liberal parrot speak "Bwawk! Tea baggers are racists." "Bwawk! Tea baggers are all bible-toting Jesus Nazi's." Schiller then started to tell his two new Muslim friends how the "Jews control the media, but not at NPR."

Since this scandal broke both Ron Schiller and CEO Vivian Schiller have resigned their positions with NPR. Ron Schiller planned on taking a job with the Aspen Institute, but has ceded his position in the wake of this scandal. As usual, the main stream media has tried to spin this story, ignoring the context and focusing instead on the fact that NPR didn't take the fake 5 million dollars. I'm starting to think we should defund NPR. Let's give that money instead to James O'Keefe, and any other brave souls, few though they may be, who still have the desire to bring you the real news.

Venting a Little Steam on the State of our Country.

2011-03-01T23:12:00.004-05:00

There is almost too much to talk about in the news these days. Turmoil in the Middle-East, Obamacare, DOMA, the economy, government spending, Tea Parties, Union backed teachers acting like children. The list is enormous. We really need more good news. Any good news. The government is pretty much a steaming pile of jelly incapable of doing anything useful, at least in it's current form. The stock market is up, the stock market is down. It has more highs and crashes than Charlie Sheen.

The Middle-East is rapidly falling apart. Revolts in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Bahrain,Yemen...you get the idea. The general consensus is they want Democracy. BUAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH. Tell me another one, I haven't laughed this hard since Tiger Woods crashed his SUV while running from his wife. We are completely and utterly fucked. Once the dust settles, you will start to see the makings of a giant shit storm of terror and oppression. No, I'm not spouting Glenn Beck inspired diatribes of gloom and doom. But, to tell the truth...he's probably right.

Wisconsin, and other states are experiencing a backlash to their fiscal reforms, mainly from money hungry unions, and cry-baby teachers who don't know the difference between a contractual agreement and their "rights". You're rights are not being infringed upon, the state you living is canceling, or modifying your current contract and you can either A.suck it up and pay a little more for your health insurance and 401K(Like the rest of us.) Or B. Get a job working at McDonald's and STFU. P.S. If you ever try and take my kid out of school to help you protest the loss of your gold-plated benefits package, I will come down to where you are and pound each and every one of you into greasy wee spots on the pavement.

Our economic recovery is non-existent. Still far too many people out of work. Gas, food, and other essential items are climbing in price on an almost daily basis. The cost of goods and services of all kinds are becoming more expensive, and the White House says there is no inflation. By summers end, many of us will be unable to afford the costs associated with driving our cars, due mostly to the Middle-East meltdown we are currently experiencing. Yet our genius president continues to enforce his illegal, and unconstitutional drilling moratorium. You know the one a federal judge declared unconstitutional, Obama ignored, so the judge found the government in contempt, and Obama still ignored. Yeah, global warming is the cause of the price of gas. Excuse me, I need to go shovel about 18" of global warming out of my driveway.

Paladino Rips In To Donn Esmonde

2011-02-25T23:48:00.001-05:00

To: Donn Esmonde

Copy To: Everybody

From: Carl Paladino

Date: February 24, 2011

Re: Your idiocy

You are bi-polar and the lapdog of Stan Evans and Stan Lipsey.

You constantly write about how we don't need parking downtown and should support mass transit but you drive to work from North Buffalo everyday and park in your private parking lot on State land set aside specially by the Thruway Authority for Stan Lipsey.

You go on and on about promoting tourism and the cultural heritage of our area. Then you insult and attack our largest export partners because one of your bartender friends didn't get a tip. We would not have the Sabres but for our Canadian friends and you certainly don't speak for our community.

You express total shock and disgust when Chris Lee has a bad day. You're a hypocrite. You should have learned long ago that those who live in glass houses should not throw stones, because even you have another side which some of us are well aware of.

You write over 35 articles bashing Bass Pro, Larry Quinn and the Canal Side plan in our city's only newspaper and dribble on that it's the will of the people when a bunch of do-nothing blowhards bring a frivolous lawsuit against the project. Your short memory blames Bass Pro for backing out when in fact it was the ultimatum of our city's incompetent congressman Brian Higgins and the silly living wage nonsense in City Hall that put Johnny Morris's back to the wall, 30 days out from a final deal.

Why don't you just say to the people that you were instructed by the sneaky and spineless Stan Lipsey to kill the Bass Pro deal because Lipsey doesn't want the project next to his building? Conflict? Deja Vous? It sounds like the domed football stadium deal when Mrs. Butler pushed it out of downtown? Mark my words that the one-acre hole in the ground 3 stories deep will still be there 10 years from now.

Lipsey's career is over. He's washed up. He has no legacy. He now has his ace reporter Jim [the worm] Heaney all in a fluster ordered to defame and write more trash on me. That's typical Lipsey. He can't dig himself out of this hole because I don't particularly care what he wants to print and the people see right through it anyhow. The people in this community despise him and his rag newspaper.

Maybe you should take a break Donn. All the pressures of being the "voice of Buffalo" throughout Buffalo's years of decline must take its toll. Time means nothing to you and you are clueless of what our community needs. You're on your way out as your paper works its way to extinction. And by the way, tell Heaney to crawl back under his rock.

Andrew Cuomo's Medicaid Fraud

2011-02-25T23:37:00.005-05:00

By:Carl Paladino

Did anyone in the press notice the theater being played out by Andrew Cuomo and Sheldon Silver regarding Medicaid reform. They don’t want the Medicaid spigot turned off. The entitlement people are 99% democrat and they will vote for Cuomo for President. The professionals tell us that the fraud, waste and abuse in Medicaid costs the taxpayers $5 to $10 billion per year. You can apply by phone and there is no longer an asset test, which means that even though you have a million dollars in the bank that you inherited from grandma, if your income is only $25,000/yr you are eligible. Non-residents come to New York everyday to get costly medical procedures and no Liz, we are not 100% higher than the national average in cost per capita, we are 100% higher than the next highest state.

First Cuomo announced a commission to study how we can cut Medicaid costs but he appointed to it mainly stakeholder representatives [where were the county Medicaid representatives who deal with the problems everyday and know where the bodies are hidden?] There was no one on the commission for the taxpayers. Cuomo’s Medicaid guy was the chair. Cuomo then announced in his budget that the commission must find $2.85 billion to balance his budget and solve the deficit. We are the highest cost state in the union in spending and taxes, double the national average. Solving the deficit with smoke and mirrors means we will still suffer the status quo.

The commission asked for suggestions and received many. They had a couple of meetings, generally discussed issues and advised staff {Cuomo’s people} to study and report back on what was achievable. They targeted this past Thursday to next Monday for meetings, vetting issues, discussions, etc. so their report could be submitted on time next week.

They showed up Thursday afternoon and were given 79 recommendations to study and then told to vote to approve all the issues at 4:00. There was no discussion, vetting or transparency. The commission of stakeholders was intimidated into voting for broad-brush recommendations for legislation to allow bureaucrats wide discretion to set out new rules, which may result in cost savings. As stakeholders, they were not about to confront the edict of the commission chair who will be making decisions on their personal issues so they all just put their tails between their legs and went home. Three legislators, apparently having an enlightened moment that they were being used, abstained saying the vote was rushed and they didn’t know what they were voting on. That was as much courage as there would be in Albany on Thursday.

The report only came up with $2.3 billion in vague cuts that a democratic legislator admitted were nebulous at best and certainly not achievable in the first year. Andrew Cuomo has admitted that the $10 billion deficit is a concoction. The real number is much less. Cuomo is playing with words and numbers because he can. The press just wants to hug and cuddle with him and the Republican Senate apparently just can’t find the words. Will they stand tall and pursue spending and tax cuts to save jobs and start to turn the state around? Will they speak up and expose Cuomo’s budget for the fraud that it is?

http://www.health.ny.gov/health_care/medicaid/redesign/docs/approved_proposals.pdf

http://www.tgbbj.com/Channels/HealthCare/tabid/160/itemid/14054/sourcemid/501/Business-groups-oppose-tax-proposal-from-Cuomo-s-Medicaid

Paladino Slams Cuomo, Hevesi, and Rattner

2011-02-25T23:31:00.002-05:00

PRESS RELEASE

FROM: CARL P. PALADINO

FEBRUARY 25, 2011

In the 2010 New York gubernatorial debate AG Andrew Cuomo declared, “If you break the law, you will go to jail.” Well, I don’t think so.

NYC Mayor Bloomberg’s personal financial advisor and Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver’s fundraiser Steve Rattner bribed a relative of a state official and Henry "Hank" Morris, bagman for disgraced State Comptroller Alan Hevesi, to obtain $150 million in state pension funds for investment. Despite his admission that Rattner took the Fifth Amendment 65 times while being questioned by his office, Cuomo gave Rattner immunity from criminal prosecution to testify in the Grand Jury. In December 2010, Cuomo civilly sued Rattner. Cuomo and Rattner then created the illusion of acrimony between them to set up the press and people for the fix.

On his last day as AG, Cuomo as prosecutor, judge and jury settled with Rattner for a $10 million fine {one tenth of his annual income) and a five-year prohibition from dealing with the Comptroller, allowing him to continue to bribe other state officials. The quid pro quo appears to include Bloomberg's endorsement in the election and future considerations from Sheldon Silver.

The pay-to-play pension fund probe also snared multi-million dollar lobbyist Patricia Lynch a/k/a the "bag lady", former top aide and confidant to Sheldon Silver. Lynch bought "preferred access" to the Comptroller with gifts, favors and campaign contributions enabling her steer State Pension fund investments to her clients.

New Yorkers didn’t know Lynch was under investigation until Cuomo, again playing prosecutor, judge and jury, announced in December that he settled for a $500,000 fine and a five-year ban from dealing with the Comptroller's office allowing her to offer "gratuities" elsewhere in State Government. Shelly Silver was the first to endorse Cuomo after he announced.

For our shallow press it was a one-day story. No one questioned a process that allows one person to make such ominous decisions without scrutiny. To this day the public does not know the facts of the Lynch case.

Cuomo’s career as a fixer started at HUD when, over the objection of the HUD Inspector General, he let Andrew Farkas skate on criminal charges and jail time with a penalty equal only to the amount he stole. Cuomo’s quid pro quo was a $1 million “consulting fee” from Farkas after he left HUD.

Hevesi, the sole trustee of the $130 billion Public Employee Pension Fund, and the most trusted officer in State government took over $1 million in known bribes for investing heavily in corrupt investment firms. The investigation netted many conspirators, with Hevesi at the top of the food chain.

Needing an election boost candidate Cuomo made a plea deal where Hevesi would serve no jail time in return for his "cooperation" with prosecutors. The New York Law Journal boldly wrote: [see Paladino for the People website], and later altered on their website, that Cuomo’s Hevesi deal required no jail time. Hevesi pled guilty October 7, 2010 and awaits sentencing now scheduled for March 10, 2011.

The AGs "sentencing recommendation" and the pre-sentence probation report have not yet been submitted. This is Hevesi's second felony conviction. Considering the facts known to the general public, Hevesi, as with Hank Morris, was undercharged with an E instead of a C felony. To recommend no jail time for “cooperation” from the man at the top of the food chain is a travesty beyond comprehension. What could he possibly be cooperating with if he was the central target of the investigation? Last week Hon. Lewis Bart Stone, JSC, sentenced Hank Morris who took over $19 million in bribes to the maximum 4 years for an E-Felony. He will be out in only 16 months.

AG Schneiderman must ask Judge Stone to reject the plea and recharge Hevesi with a C felony to make an example of the man who so boldly violated the public trust and to send a clear message to other state officials who might be tempted.

Charles Rangel received a little slap on the wrist from Nancy Pelosi and then mocked Congress. Cuomo arbitrarily gave him a pass on clear evidence of fraud and income tax evasion after attending a party in Rangel’s honor and getting caught trying to sneak out the back door.

Cuomo rejected the Inspector General’s referral of the Aqueduct scandal where leaders of the State Senate and other officials took bribes. The matter embarrassed Cuomo. His revenge was swift. On January 1, 2011 he replaced the man who so bravely went after the establishment's corruption with the Deputy Attorney General who handled the Rattner, Lynch, Hevesi and Morris “deals”.

All pigs are equal but some pigs [like Rangel, Rattner, Morris, Lynch and Hevesi] are more equal than others. Why? Just connect the dots. They are complicit with the parasitic ruling class, became careless gaming the system, got caught, know too much and might weaken in the face of imprisonment and seek to spill the beans on others in the friends and family club. Cuomo fixes the deal and in return gets endorsements and money from club members at election time for keeping the boys out of jail and the establishment and status quo alive and well in Albany.

Cuomo has breached the authority of his office, his oath of office and the public trust.

Remember, "If you break the law, you will go to jail."

Buffalo News Is A Propaganda Machine. By Mike Madigan

2011-02-21T20:47:00.001-05:00

The Buffalo News Employs Powerful Propaganda Methods to Push Political Agenda

By: Mike Madigan

The Buffalo News has again breached trust by placing an opinion piece on its front page above the fold and packaging it as a legitimate news story. The story was written by its propaganda and persuasion expert Jerry Zremski.

The Buffalo News is the primary printed news source for the Buffalo Area. Based on this monopoly for the printed news, The Buffalo News must be trusted not to inject propaganda and persuasion techniques on its readers to push its own political agenda, it has breached this trust. Below is a case summary of an article by Jerry Zremski where the Buffalo News and Zremski once again breach that trust:

On the front page above the fold The Buffalo News published on February 18, 2011 " GOP's bill to cut budget would hit WNY hard – Funding for state, city, UB imperiled by House push” By Jerry Zremski -This headline starts right out with an opinion and spin that belongs in the editorial section and not on a legitimate and unbiased newspaper front page.

A majority of those in WNY believe that lack of such cuts in the past has already hit WNY hard and devastated its once prosperous manufacturing base. This majority would believe that failure to make such cuts currently may actually have an even greater impact on its residents than the impact of making no cuts as Zremski suggests.

Zremski employs many of the classic methods of persuasion and propaganda in this article such as:

Zremski starts by suggesting the defunding of a luxury high speed rail (that is only a concept) will hit WNY hard. He omits the fact that it would have no impact currently in terms of jobs and the economy since it is only a concept.
Zremski claims the city of Buffalo and University at Buffalo would be “imperiled” by the loss of millions without detailing what programs would be impacted and how this creates any such peril as he claims. The lack of substance and details suggest these funds would be hard to justify so he chose not to list them. Omission of facts is a method employed for persuasion and propaganda as in this case. A legitimate news story must show the readers the facts and data so they can decide if these programs warrant funding and whether there truly is any impact or peril associated with their loss as Zremski strongly claims.
Zremski uses shock and awe by calling the relatively tepid proposed $60B cut as being massive and seeks to incite a negative response from readers against the cut. If a $60B cut in spending is massive then what term should be assigned to the 2011 $1.4 trillion deficit?
- To place this $1.4 trillion deficit in context, the total amount of income taxes collected in 2010 was less than $1 trillion. The only thing massive is the fact that the taxpaying public would have to increase their tax payments by 140% for 1 full year to pay it back. For every $1000 in income tax paid by the taxpayer an additional $1400 would be required to pay back this debt in 2011 alone (that is truly disturbing and massive).
Zremski next employs the tried and true propaganda method of suggesting “local youngsters” would be impacted (think of the children…) and in this same paragraph he refers to the defunding of abortion counseling as “defunding family planning”. The lack of details again prevent readers from being able to determine if taxpayer funding is warranted and whether it would impact WNY or imperil it as he suggests.

Zremski carefully selects certain quotes, words and phrases throughout his editorial to support his position and these selections are forms of propaganda and corrosive persuasion methods. These quotes, words and phrases are designed to incite fear, insecurity and to persuade the reader to take action in support of the writer’s position. Such methods do not belong in a legitimate news story and do not belong on the front page of a legitimate newspaper. Zremski is The Buffalo News expert in these persuasion and propaganda methods.

Quotes, phrases and words used for impact:

“…hit WNY Hard”,
“ …Imperil”
“House Republicans' hard line on spending”.
”and it will happen all at once”
“massive”,
“Republicans first stab at controlling…”
“Research cuts could gravely harm the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus”
“huge cut”
“The American people are not looking to completely cripple the federal government and leave the nation to the corporate elite,"

The above quotes and phrases were used to persuade and maximize the impact to the reader. They convey the perception of rashness in action and lack of responsibility in those actions. This was Zremski’s objective, to push his and The Buffalo News’ political opinion and agenda.

Zremski suggested there was a debate in his article but employed the tried and true persuasion method of presenting and re-enforcing only one side of the argument which thereby suggests that the other side of the debate is not valid or worthy of review. Zremski’s phrases and wording targeted the Republicans and sought to delegitimize them and their position.
- Zremski does nothing to discuss the fact that current deficits and out of control spending is not sustainable, as stated Thursday by the Fed Chairman, and that the growing debt crises impact may far exceed the impact these cuts may have on WNY residents.
- Zremski’s omissions are glaring throughout this editorial and reveal his bias.

Local representatives and leaders from all parties should act in the best interests of their constituents and demand that The Buffalo News conform to journalistic standards. The News must discontinue pushing its political agenda and return to accurate, factual reporting of the news. Save the spin and propaganda for the editorial and opinion page where it belongs.

The fact that The Buffalo News is a monopoly in the Buffalo market it must behave ethically and responsibly. Failure to follow appropriate journalistic standards by the News should warrant further action up to and including dissolution and replacement if necessary.

The following is the link to the referenced article:

http://www.buffalonews.com/city/politics/article345145.ece

For more information regarding the reform movement (all parties welcome) please visit the following sites:

For constituents from all parties that seek to interact with, support and hold their elected representatives accountable to their commitments please visit and join: http://www.teamwatch.us/ny/

Carl Paladino Turn Albany Upside Down

2011-02-15T20:08:00.000-05:00

February 14, 2011

Press Release

From Carl P. Paladino

“TURN ALBANY UPSIDE DOWN”

(Andrew Cuomo’s Executive Budget is Unacceptable)

We don’t want to believe that the policies articulated in the executive budget by “new born conservative” Andrew Cuomo are essentially the same old liberal elitist smoke and mirror game of the Albany insider establishment but, unfortunately, that is the case. It’s all rhetoric.

Cuomo’s target is only to resolve the deficit, which will result in the status quo, which means we are still the highest spending and taxing state per capita and the least attractive state for job retention and growth in America. The people want a cost productive, efficient, apolitical government serving only them. Contracting with his father as a consultant is symbolic of how he and the elitist ruling class are addicted to feeding at the public trough.

Texas has no state income tax. Property taxes and utility costs are a fraction of those here. They don’t regulate their businesses to death. Texas created 500,000 new jobs over the past five years. New York lost 280,000 last year. New Yorkers won’t be appeased with a half loaf. They demand and will get a better place to live and work.

Cuomo talks the talk emphasizing key words, which are interpreted by a shallow, uninformed and disinterested press eat it hook, line and sinker. Unfortunately, the “accepting” press won’t challenge the status quo and fails to connect the dots for the people.

We teach our children to preserve the family fabric; honor and care for their parents and grandparents who will teach their grandchildren lessons a parent can’t teach. We suffer their ups and downs in life and sadly after graduation we must tell them to go elsewhere for a job to fulfill their dreams. Meanwhile, Uncle John has one of those no show political patronage jobs. People can't connect the dots.

Special interests control our government. The political class feeds off that reality. All people are special but some are more special than others.

The executive budget is shallow and fails to address issues critical to putting New York on a path competitive for job retention and growth. It doesn’t call for cutting any taxes. It then should at least call for tort reform, workers compensation and malpractice reform, which will save taxpayers and businesses billions in premiums. New Yorkers didn't vote for the most liberal social welfare system in the world. Cuomo calls for less than $1 billion in Medicaid cuts because he knows that 99 percent of those on entitlements will register and vote as Democrats.

The progressive political culture revolves around access, political jobs and favors without regard for values, vision and competent leadership. They act entitled because we sadly have let them act that way.

Resolving the deficit does not address salient change of status quo issues into the budget process where the Governor uniquely has the final say under our executive strong Constitution. He can shut the government down April 1, 2011. Saying Cuomo’s budget is the beginning or a step in the right direction is the same old “change comes slowly” establishment rhetoric, unacceptable in a State falling into the abyss at a staggering pace.

Cuomo’s staff of “experienced” Albany insiders are pros at gaming the system. They wrote the book. The press admired Cuomo’s vague budget summaries with big numbers and big words. There is no line-by-line budget, no plan for transparency, no defined effort to fire a political patronage class holding jobs that have no real function, no plan to actually allow the people to look in the window of the real decision making meetings and no rejection of three men in a room and restoration of a Constitutional government.

Cuomo fails miserably. It is what is not said in his budget that is glaring. But, didn’t he say he was for “change?" He pledged not to take campaign contributions in excess of $10,000. He then changed his mind. He said, “If you commit a crime you will go to jail.” He didn’t mean it. He didn’t send to jail Andrew Farkas, Steve Rattner, Pat Lynch, Charles Rangel or, if the judge follows Cuomo's recommendation, Alan Hevesi, who held the most trusted office in the state and took over $1 million in bribes.

We must stop the flight from New York of our middle class and educated youth now, not on a 20-year plan. The people want their government grounded, honest and strong. They want hope.

Cuomo proposes:

1) To eliminate "with as few layoffs of State workers as possible" (including attrition) a maximum 11,000 jobs. The Paterson administration ordered a “hard” hiring freeze in State government on June 30, 2008 declaring that only “absolutely essential” positions be filled but nevertheless hired 51,464 people, many in high paying jobs, at a cost to taxpayers of more than $1 billion,

2) A 2% cap to slow the rate of increase in local government spending, [rather than cut spending and taxes] which, after Sheldon Silver finishes the Albany two step will have loopholes that you can sail an aircraft carrier through. Cuomo will tell us how necessary it was to compromise, kicking the reform can further down the road,

3) To have 733 local school districts find $2.85 Billion (the State education funding savings is actually $1.54 Billion) instead of assisting the School Districts by:

a] Consolidating operations and administration or in some cases entire districts,

b] Freezing compensation, forcing pension reform and rescinding the Taylor law for teachers,

c] Cutting the out of control and bloated State Education Dept. where faceless progressive minded bureaucrats arbitrarily impose ill conceived and irresponsible unfunded mandates, against the will of the people,

4) To freeze the pay of state workers but neglects to:

a] Freeze all-hiring,

b] Freeze State contributions to health and other benefits of State workers,

c] Freeze the pay and benefits of workers in Authorities, local government and school districts,

5) Nothing to even address specific goals in reform of State pensions,

6) Nothing to change the pensions of exempt public employees including political appointees of the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary. These employees number approximately 25 percent of all State Agency, Authority and local government employees whose pensions are not protected by Constitutional language. A change from the present defined benefit to a defined contribution plan as proposed by Assemblyman Mike Fitzpatrick would be critical to any effort to cajole the unions to follow suit in contract negotiations for State contracts that expire in April, 2011,

7) Nothing to recognize that binding arbitration under the Taylor Law expires in April 2011 and the question of extension will be an effective tool in:

a] Convincing Union leaders to waive their Constitutional right to the defined benefit pension plan that soon will bankrupt New York,

b] Compelling arbitration by the judiciary rather than the ultra liberal Cornell educated PERB arbitrators who have a history of throwing the taxpayers under the bus,

c] Rescinding the taxpayer busting Triborough Amendment "continuation of terms" requirement,

8) Nothing about amending the Taylor Law to cover only State and local first responders, correction officers and other such critical personnel (who cares if other non-critical government agency and authority workers chose to strike),

9) To lower Medicaid spending [$53 billion last year] by only $2.5 billion [which year over year is actually less than $1 billion] still maintaining the most expensive such program in the world by a margin 100 percent higher per capita than the next highest State and rejecting the will of the people who don’t want to:

a] Be the keeper of all the poor and disenfranchised of the world,

b] Pay the cost of medical procedures for non-residents

c] Pay for the waste, fraud and abuse, which accounts for $5 to $10 billion per year that Cuomo decided was insignificant and not deserving of more resources of the Attorney General’s office,

d] Allow delegation of legislative authority to bureaucrats who legislate by promulgating liberal progressive regulations that allows applicants to apply by phone without reasonable identification and without a means test of assets looking only to income,

e] Pay the cost of unnecessary ultra liberal optional benefits,

10) Nothing to abolish the $1 billion patronage ridden and corrupted Division of Housing and Community Renewal,

11) Nothing to merge the few effective activities of political agencies like the Adirondack Park Agency with the State Parks Department, the Corrections Commission with the Corrections Department or bring the wasteful and corrupt MTA back under State government control for a cleansing and restructuring, etc.,

12) Nothing to repeal the socialistic Wick's Law which punishes the taxpayer with additional costs of 25 to 50 percent to pay back the Trade Unions for their political financial support by requiring prevailing wages on all government contracts denying non-union contractors and tradesmen (80 percent of the trade workforce) the opportunity to compete in a market economy,

13) $100 Million to ease the transition for communities that will suffer the closure of prisons but doesn't speak to:

a] The sale of prisons to private prison operators as a new industry when prisons nationally are overcrowded,

b] A cleansing and restructuring of Corrections supervisory, administrative and professional personnel and waste in vehicles, housing, purchasing, payroll, health care services, etc.,

14) Nothing to pursue the reduction or elimination of business taxes on manufacturing, creative and high tech industries including the New York State Corporation franchise tax, and the New York State minimum tax on small businesses struggling to stay alive, which would equitably and fairly encourage an atmosphere conducive to job retention and growth by not spending over a billion dollars on:

a] Green subsidies supported by a small minority of irresponsible taxpayers,

b] Political patronage "development" personnel,

c] Empire and other such zones, Brownfield subsidies, NYSERTA subsidies and other such general and selective subsidies,

15) Nothing to eliminate the policy of rehiring retired employees on consulting contracts denying other State residents a job and costing the taxpayer for those who double dip,

16.) Nothing about merging the political N.Y. State Thruway Authority with DOT and the highly political, corrupt and twisted N.Y. Power Authority into the Economic Development Dept. which would save millions in political patronage, waste and redundant supervision and administration,

17] Nothing to revise SUNY non-resident student tuition rates which are subsidized by the taxpayers over 50% the first year and even more after that when they are treated as residents,

18] Nothing to implement Lundine Report recommendations for consolidating local services and governments,

19] To create 10 regional panels to “compete” for $200 million in development subsidy money creating more patronage jobs to staff offices with incompetent political parasites. What happens in those areas that lose the politicized competition to a political friendly? Do they miss out on economic development? The only fair and equitable way to stimulate the economy is to cut taxes uniformly. Not one tax is cut in Cuomo’s budget.

The above identifies a few of the many issues crucial to job creation and fiscal stability.. We can’t delay turning the status quo upside down. The self-serving wheeling and dealing of the past must end. There comes a time when enough is enough.

Increased taxes and fees were $5.5 billion in 2010 and $10.3 billion in 2009. Spending in 2009 was $8,076 per capita, 41% higher than the National average. The year over year deficit, by Cuomo’s own admission, is a small percentage of the published $10 billion.

Change will be difficult for the political ruling class, which continues to defy the Constitutional principle that public servants are elected to serve only the nineteen million citizens of New York. Gluttony is a tough habit to break. The deterioration of the state’s economy, the impaired quality of life of its citizens, 9.5% unemployment and the highest spending and taxes per capita of any state is not an accident or bad luck. Our younger generation feels it can’t control its destiny and is relegated to accept the status quo in life.

Only cutting spending, taxes and regulation and comprehensively, deliberately and with a vengeance turning Albany upside down will send a real message of change to our people and businesses.

We can’t bear four more years of the status quo.

Code Pink Calls For The Death Of Clarence Thomas and Fox News Execs.

2011-02-03T23:01:00.002-05:00

Andrew Breitbart immersed himself in a crowd of Code Pink protesters and gathered video footage of some of the most hate-filled morons ever to be birthed spewing violent rhetoric that goes above beyond anything the left has ever falsely accused the Tea Party of being responsible for. Assassination, lynching, dismemberment, and a return to slavery were all part of the love-in at the recent “Uncloaking the Kochs” rally in Palm Springs.

Clarence Thomas was a target. Protesters shouted that Thomas should be "put back in the fields." and gracefully described him as a "Dumb-Shit Scumbag." This same Protester proclaimed that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito should "Go back to Sicily." A pleasant young woman in the audience said that Clarence Thomas should have his fingers and toes cut off, and that he should be force-fed the dismembered digits.

It was clear from the video footage that at least some in the crowd were high, including an elderly woman who claimed to be armed with two pistols, one a glock, and that she was waiting on Glenn Beck to take her up on her challenge to have a duel. The footage goes on to show more protesters wishing all sorts of ills on Justice Thomas, his wife, and justice Antonin Scalia. Again some of these protesters are clearly high and as such are willing to say things that sober people would not be stupid enough to exclaim.

The most interesting part of the video is in the first 30 seconds where there is some priceless footage of a woman claiming that the hatred and violence in this country is all the fault of the "racist Tea Party". I guess no one told her it's a bad idea to call conservative minded Americans "racist" in a crowd of white liberals shouting racially charged hatred at a sitting Federal Judge. Code Pink is famous for doing incredibly stupid things. Apparently the calls for lynchings, murder, and bodily mutilation were not enough for these moonbats. Some of them decided to go to Egypt and chill with the protesters there as well.

Michael Caputo Vs. The Tea Party Battle Over Andrew Cuomo's Fiscal Policy

2011-02-01T22:28:00.003-05:00


Michael Caputo

Recently, some controversy erupted over a letter written by Carl Paladino's former campaign manager, Michael Caputo. He presented a letter that he intended to around 10,000 like minded New Yorkers addressing Andrew Cuomo's sudden case of 'Fiscal Conservatism'. He discussed this letter at length with colleagues, than again at a private Tea Party gathering in Oneonta, NY. In the letter he asks for New Yorker's to stand behind Cuomo's policies, even if you can't stand behind him. Some New York Tea Party leaders felt that this letter was in poor taste, and some went so far as to call it a betrayal against the Tea Party.

L-R:Gary Perry, Sheryl Thomas, Al Belardinelli

I was present at the even in Oneonta, where close to 60 Tea Party and other 'Liberty' group leaders met in a relaxed setting to discuss unifying the parties in a way that does not lead to crushed ego's and loss of individual identity. While we were able to agree on most issues, including the prospect of unity, occasionally one of the speakers would spark a heated debate by having a slightly different view on a particular topic. All in all the event amounted to some solid networking, and hopefully laid the framework for New York liberty groups to unify to have greater success in the upcoming elections.

I have spoken to event organizer Al Belardinelli, and to Michael Caputo. Both men feel strongly about their positions, and knowing, and respecting both of these men, I decided to reserve judgment and let you the reader decide. Below is the letter Michael Caputo released. I will also include links to a New York Times article that mentions the letter and the Oneonta event, and a link to another article that features rebuttals from Mr. Belardinelli, Sheryl Thomas of Orange Sullivan 9/12 and Team Watch New York, and co-organizer Gary Perry.

January 31, 2011
Dear Fellow New Yorker:

First, please accept my family's wishes for a happy and prosperous new year. As Carl Paladino's former campaign manager, I know the campaigns of 2010 were exhausting for all of us. I wanted to drop you a note of thanks for your support for Carl's candidacy.

We lost at the polls, but we might still see a policy victory: today, Governor Andrew Cuomo is talking like a fiscal conservative. His ideological shift - if it is for real - can be attributed to two factors: New York's economic reality and the chorus of grassroots protest.

I am writing you today because it may be up to the grassroots to deliver conservative fiscal reform that can cut our taxes and save our State.

So far, Gov. Cuomo has proposed a series of reforms that sound an awful lot like Carl Paladino:

An annual cap on the growth of local and school district property taxes at two percent, or 120 percent of the inflation rate, whichever is lower. (http://nyti.ms/e4seDy)

Layoffs of 10,000 to 12,000 state workers, about five percent of the workforce. (http://on.wsj.com/es4ohu)

A "storm" of real budget cuts, the first in far too long. One reporter thinks Cuomo "would exceed the $7 billion in cuts proposed by Carl Paladino." (http://bloom.bg/hBJVRX)

Closing a $10 billion budget deficit with no new taxes, fees, or borrowing. (http://nydn.us/ep0uqc)

Sure, Gov. Cuomo is "talking the talk." But will he "walk the walk" of fiscal responsibility? We'll soon find out. His State of the State speech will be televised on Tuesday, February 1st and budget talks will begin thereafter.

But we already have some indications of his resolve.

This month, Cuomo stood his ground on the property tax cap, resisting Democrat Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's push to link the cap to reauthorizing a state law controlling rents for a million New York City apartments.

Cuomo said no. He wants the two issues dealt with "on their own merits," and he's right.

Cuomo has no draft legislation yet, but the Albany horse-trading has begun. Any tax cap bill must include mandate relief, and mandates are Speaker Silver's lifeblood. The Governor must make deep, unilateral cuts to major programs, such as Medicaid, in his first budget proposals. If he compromises and excludes bloated mandates, a tax cap will be only a fig leaf to hide this administration's shortcomings.

More leaves worth reading: an onerous State income tax surcharge on New Yorkers making more than $200,000 - worth more than a billion in state revenues annually - is set to expire. Much to the chagrin of Speaker Silver, Cuomo insists the surcharge must sunset, otherwise it's "a new tax and therefore I'm against it."

I know - you really have to pinch yourself. What's next, a pit bull and a baseball bat?

Like you, I oppose the Democrat Party's progressive agenda. Like you, I fought like Hell to stop Andrew Cuomo's campaign for Governor of New York State. I don't much like him; I'm still angry about his dirty campaign against Carl.

But, at the risk of a localized lightning strike, I must admit the Governor's early fiscal moves are conservative, responsible and absolutely necessary.

I think we all agree: we don't need tax caps - we need tax CUTS. That was a key contrast in Cuomo v. Paladino, and we must never stop calling for tax cuts. But if the new Governor is unable to show strength when cutting spending, slashing mandates and enacting a property tax cap, he will never work for tax cuts.

"A property tax cap is the place to start," said Sandy Parker, president and CEO of the Rochester Business Alliance, and a co-founder of Unshackle Upstate. "It forces the conversation that has been put off for far too long."

Ms. Parker is right. So here is the question that has kept me awake at night: should Carl's grassroots supporters cross battle lines and help Cuomo push a conservative fiscal agenda?

If you are engaged in the political arena only to advance the Republican Party, you might say no.

If you are active in politics because you desire a fiscally responsible government, you must say YES.

I am a die-hard Republican who fought in the trenches for Ronald Reagan, Jack Kemp and Carl Paladino. I'm as conservative as you can get, and last year I spent most of my time criticizing Andrew Cuomo.

It is starting to look like I may end up eating a few of my words. But I would happily sit for that meal if the Governor delivers real fiscal reform.

In fact, I am writing to tell you I will work to push Cuomo's fiscal agenda.

Right away, I will contact my legislators and ask them to vote for the two percent property tax cap, but only if it includes mandate relief for local governments. I'll ask them to cut spending, not raise taxes, to balance the budget. And I am writing to encourage you to do the same.

Nobody asked me to do this; nobody has hired me to help. Just because Carl Paladino lost doesn't make far more responsible fiscal policies any less urgent. I am doing this on my own accord, at some risk to my conservative credentials.

If you want to stop the rocketing rise of your taxes, I invite you to join me and start by backing budget cuts and real mandate relief under a two percent property tax cap.

Please telephone, email and FAX your New York State legislators demanding budget cuts and a property tax cap with fundamental mandate relief. You can easily track down your representatives' contact information here: http://nymap.elections.state.ny.us/nysboe/.

I also urge you to talk with your family, your neighbors, your co-workers, your grassroots activist friends, and every New Yorker you come in contact with in the days ahead. Tell them we have a decent chance that spending cuts - not tax hikes - will balance our budget and there's a chance for a property tax cap that reigns in runaway State mandates. But only if they contact their legislators TODAY.

Crossing party lines is what separates partisans from ideologues. I'm a lifelong loyal Republican, but New York State is dying for tax relief. Spending cuts are first steps and a property tax cap is just a start, but if we don't start today we'll never achieve our shared goals of broader fiscal responsibility.

Tax and mandate relief: it's what we believe in. So let's get off the sidelines fight for it. Thank you for your time and consideration of this vital matter.

Sincerely,

Michael R. Caputo
Buffalo, NY

PS: The lines are being drawn right now in the battle to save our State. Please take a few minutes out of your day to gain control of your tax burden: contact your New York State Assemblymember and Senator today via Web at http://nymap.elections.state.ny.us/nysboe/. I've pasted an example letter below:

---

Assemblymember/Senator NAME
New York State Legislature
Albany, New York

Dear New York Assemblymember/Senator NAME:

New York State faces the most serious financial crisis in our state's history. The upstate economy is in especially bad shape and people are leaving our state to find jobs and opportunity elsewhere.

We have the highest taxes and the largest health care, energy and education costs of any state in the nation. Today New York is unaffordable for the average worker and unattractive to business. On top of these problems, our state faces a huge budget deficit because our government has spent beyond its means for a decade.

I did not support Andrew Cuomo in this past election, but as Governor he has announced a good plan to gain control of our state finances and fix our economy. I know he cannot get conservative fiscal reform through a progressive legislature alone. He needs citizen support - and he needs you and the other members of the state legislature to back his plans.

The time has come to fix what is broken in Albany. As your constituent, I hope and expect you will actively support spending cuts to close the $10 billion budget deficit - no new taxes, fees, or borrowing to balance. I also urge you to lock in mandate relief as a property tax cap requirement - any cap is a sham without mandate relief.

We all need to work together to get New York back on track. With your leadership, we can create new jobs, control spending and grow our economy. Please keep me informed on what you are doing to accomplish the two objectives noted above.

Thank you for your time and service.

Sincerely,

YOUR NAME
ADDRESS
CITY, NY ZIP

New York Times: Ex-Paladino Aide Now Backing Cuomo Fiscal Plan
The Daily Star: Area Tea Party Supporters Express Anger Over Email

New York Tea Parties Must Unite

2011-02-01T22:03:00.001-05:00

Unity and social networking are essential to the Liberty movements in the United States if they hope to build on their earlier successes. While it is true that most Tea Party style groups are fiercely independent and fear being placed under the banner of a larger national movement that does not carry the same 'grassroots' feel of their smaller, homegrown groups.

The problem we run into when we try to remain in our isolated camps is that we are sometimes unable to effect the level of change that we want. For example, candidate A is from Smithville. He is running for a statewide senate seat in the upcoming election. The local tea party groups in Smithville put forth an enormous amount of effort to get him elected. They perhaps correspond with a few other groups who do the same. In the end Candidate A is not elected because he could not carry enough of the counties that were largely in favor of his opponent.

These counties went to his opponent largely because their either wasn't any Tea Party support in that area, or those areas were largely unaware of the candidate. There are currently over 100 tea party groups in New York State. If the majority of these groups were given clear and detailed information about the candidate that is running, have adequate campaign materials, and are able to band together with other local groups so they can cover their own areas, and areas that have little or no support for the candidate, then they should be able to sweep across the state and give this candidate more than enough exposure to create a clearer path to victory.

Now this is of course an over simplified explanation of how the process would work, but, I wanted to try and show unity in action. This joint effort didn't require any of the groups involved to lose any part of their individual identity, but it did allow them to effectively promote a candidate in a way they would not be able to achieve had they not been unified in this one endeavor. Candidates in New York that have core American values and share the principles that we espouse need our help more than just about anywhere else in the country(except perhaps, California).

In 2010 the liberty groups across New York helped lay the framework for the future of politics in the Empire state. In 2011 and especially 2012, we need to become an unstoppable machine of real change, and elect representatives that understand how to create constitutionally sound legislation. We must remained focused, and we must put aside our egos. Only through unity can we achieve these results. It will not be easy, especially in the Democrat stronghold known as NYC, or in the areas surrounding ultra-liberal colleges like Cornell and Binghamton Universities. With a strong resolve, much planning, and a unified front, we can overwhelm New York with a surgical strike of Tea Party patriotism.

UC Irvine Celebrates Martin Luther King Day with Chicken and Waffles Lunch

2011-01-27T19:47:00.001-05:00

The University of California-Irvine decided to do something special for Martin Luther King Day. A last minute decision by the cafeteria staff led to the serving of a very special MLK feast. Chicken and Waffles.... They whipped up this racially insensitive smorgasbord and placed a sign out in front of the Pippin Commons cafeteria that read "MLK Holiday Special: Chicken and Waffles" Frankly, that sounds kind of tasty. I lived in Tennessee for some time and King was from Atlanta, Ga and traveled to Tennessee often. I don't know what those states looked like in his day, but now there is a fried chicken place or a Waffle House on almost every corner.

Let's face facts folks. People from different parts of the country eat different things. In the south chicken, pork,collard greens, fried okra, and yes, even waffles are quite common dishes. We need to stop thinking that food defines your race. It can, but in this particular case, this ill-conceived lunch defined geographical location, and not race. But hey, what do I know, I'm a racist, homophobic, bigoted, Nazi conservative who wants to kill babies and old people by taking away their health care.

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Shot in Arizona

2011-01-08T15:52:00.012-05:00

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) was shot a point blank range in the head by a gunman outside of a Safeway convenience store Saturday morning. At least 6 others were also shot at a “Congress on Your Corner” rally, killing five of them, one of her aides is among the dead. NPR is reporting that a man ran up to Giffords and her aides and opened fire.

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head by a gunman at a public event in Tucson on Saturday. There are conflicting reports about whether she was killed.

The Pima County, Ariz., sheriff's office told member station KJZZ the 40-year-old Democrat was killed. At least nine other people, including members of her staff, were injured.

The suspect attempted to flee, but was tackled by a bystander. He was arrested and taken into custody. Witnesses from the even said the man was in his late teens to early twenties, no name has been released at this time.Law enforcement officials on the local, state and federal level are all investigating this shooting.

House Speaker John Boehner condemned the attack.

"An attack on one who serves is an attack on all who serve," he said in a statement. "Acts and threats of violence against public officials have no place in our society."

Newt Gingrich tweeted: Please pray for Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and every person shot in this tragic attack, as well as for their families.

As of the writing of this post Rep. Giffords is still alive and in surgery. No name has been released as of yet, but it has been released that the gunman was born in 1988, making him at most 22 years old. Live coverage on the Washington Post has just reported 5 people are confirmed dead now.
Check back throughout the day for more updates.

Update:Here is an interesting picture of a blog post that was written, than deleted from DailyKOS

Update 2: The gunman is being identified as Jared Laughner, 22.

Update 3: U.S. District Court Judge John M. Roll was among those who was shot and had died.

Update 4:Here is Jared Lee Loughner's Youtube page

Update 5:Here is a screenshot of Jared Lee Loughner's Myspace Page before it was removed.

Update 6: Here is a picture of Jared Lee Loughner from the Arizona Daily Star:

Update 7:Another screenshot of Jared Lee Loughner's Myspace Page.

Update 8:Here's another screenshot of Jared Lee Loughner's now deleted Myspace Page.

Update 9: It's looking like Jared Lee Loughner was sort of a far left communist type. His videos on youtube, coupled with his interesting list of favorite books definitely puts him on the weirdo list.

Books:

I had favorite books: Animal Farm, Brave New World, The Wizard Of OZ, Aesop Fables, The Odyssey, Alice Adventures Into Wonderland, Fahrenheit 451, Peter Pan, To Kill A Mockingbird, We The Living, Phantom Toll Booth, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Pulp,Through The Looking Glass, The Communist Manifesto, Siddhartha, The Old Man And The Sea, Gulliver's Travels, Mein Kampf, The Republic, and Meno.

Yeah,I'm going to go ahead and say this clown is a freakshow of epic proportions. Hmmm, this is odd....he seems to have forgotten "Catcher in the Rye." Oh well, I guess he was to busy planning a mass murder at a convenience to store to remember. I would also like to point out that this shooting is going to destroy the credibility of a supermarket that calls itself "Safeway". Gabrielle Giffords wasn't 'safe' at your store, so might I suggest you go ahead and change your name to something a little more appropriate. How about "Shootaway" or "Deathmart". Honestly, I'd totally shop at a place called Deathmart.

I am at least glad that this Jared Lee Loughner was not a right-wing nutbag, this would have been another excuse for extremist Liberals to accuse the Conservative Tea Party of being filled with gun-toting lunatics.
I hope that this kind of tragedy never happens again. Despite the fact that I disagree with many politicians on both sides of the aisle, most of them have never angered me to the point where I would wish them harm, and even if they did, it would never be worth losing my freedom over to take such drastic action against another human being.

From CNSNEWS

His exact motivation was not clear, but a former classmate described Loughner as a pot-smoking loner who had rambling beliefs about the world. Federal law enforcement officials were poring over versions of a MySpace page that belonged to Jared Loughner and over a Youtube video published weeks ago under an account "Classitup10" and linked to him.

The MySpace page, which was removed within minutes of the gunman being identified by officials, included a mysterious "Goodbye friends" message published hours before the shooting and exhorted his friends to "Please don't be mad at me."

In one of several Youtube videos, which featured text against a dark background, Loughner described inventing a new U.S. currency and complained about the illiteracy rate among people living in Giffords' congressional district in Arizona.

"I know who's listening: Government Officials, and the People," Loughner wrote. "Nearly all the people, who don't know this accurate information of a new currency, aren't aware of mind control and brainwash methods. If I have my civil rights, then this message wouldn't have happen (sic)."

Carl Paladino To Liz Benjamin "Read It Again"

2011-01-03T23:39:00.004-05:00

Carl Paladino sent a letter to Capital Tonight anchor Liz Benjamin trashing her for a recent interview with Governor Andrew Cuomo. Paladino sends a clear message to this liberal media goof-ball-You are a hack and your as biased as the rest of the media. Apparently, thoroughly trashing her once didn't seem to have the desired effect. So Carl sent her the same letter again. This time he gives her a "Civics Lesson" She will not soon forget.

Here is the transcript of that letter.

Re: Civics Lesson #2
Dear Liz:
Enclosed is a copy of my last letter. Try reading it again. Get over the shallow rhetoric with your round table of “know it all” talking heads. Do you want to be a journalist or a celebrity groupie? Educate yourself. Here’s the latest:

1) You had your sunglasses on again. Pat Lynch, the former Chief of Staff, protégé and confidant of Sheldon Silver is a charter member of the friends and family club. She’s another untouchable like Hevesi, Rattner and Rangle.

The first that the public heard about a probe of Pat Lynch was when Andy announced the settlement. Tragically, the press thinks this is legal and proper. The public only knows what Andy chooses to tell them. There is no indictment or statement of facts. How can the people judge whether or not Andy’s actions are judicious? Lynch will not complain. The resolution kept her out of jail. What about the rights of the people to have wrongdoers properly punished and to send a clear message to others? Andy is not only prosecutor, but also jury and judge. He alone determines whether criminal or civil charges will be brought and if and when he’ll settle and for how much. He has conflicts everywhere and the press has given him a pass. The public has a right to know and judge whether or not Andy is fixing deals

Lynch apparently gave a bribe. Andy gave her a slap on the wrist financial settlement and he alone determined the fine. He said she couldn’t lobby the Comptroller’s office but its okay for her to lobby the rest of the government. Andy buys chips and future considerations. Andy protects the Albany establishment and the status quo.

For that reason, by copy of this letter, we are asking the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District to review the Attorney General’s activities in the Lynch, Rattner and Hevesi cases.

2) As predicted, the Rattner fix was completed Thursday. Rattner, the big money briber, was given immunity from criminal prosecution and the little guy bribee was sent to jail. In the final settlement, which you will note I predicted in my first letter to you, there was no admission of guilt for bribing a public official. Andy Cuomo who said, “If you break the law you go to jail” and that ethics reform is his top priority on his last day as Attorney General, gave Rattner, the privileged establishment insider, a slap on the wrist $10Mil [chump change] fine. They also agreed that for 5 years Rattner can’t deal with the Comptrollers office but he can still deal with, and presumably bribe, any other officials in State government. All the banter of the last few weeks between the two was playacting to set the stage for the fix. Andy is the poster child for ethics reform. There it is again Liz. In New York all pigs are equal but some pigs are more equal than others. I’m attaching Greta Van Sustern’s Greta Wire on the topic.

3) Hevesi is still walking the streets. His sentencing was scheduled for December 17th and is now adjourned until February 1st. Did my letter scare somebody? Andy undercharged him and then took a plea to get the political announcement during the campaign. He recommended no jail time for the man who held the most trusted position in State government and took $1 mil in bribes. Hopefully Judge Stone will put Hevesi behind bars for a long time to send out a clear message to other public officials that if you breach the public trust you go to jail.

4) What does a Jewish liaison in the Governor’s office do for $150,000/year? Is there a job description? Do we have an Italian liaison? A Polish liaison? A Muslim liaison? How many liaisons do we have? Also what does a $150,000/yr public policy advisor do in the Comptroller’s office?

5) Read the Medicaid commentary written by Gregory Blass and John Imhoff. Bureaucrats carelessly and with reckless abandon expand Medicaid costs on the taxpayer’s backs by imposing regulations that should only be authorized by elected officials accountable to the people. They now allow mere attestations in the place of documentation in a program wrought with fraud. No positive proof of identity is required to apply.

Dropping a “means test” that considered assets and solely considering the applicants income is ridiculous. Medicaid was created for individuals below the poverty level. It has now been expanded in N.Y. to include just about all of the middle class creating an unsustainable expansion of costs that if properly revealed to the taxpayers, would cause an insurrection and cost everyone in Albany their jobs.
This wasteful and abused program has cost New York hundreds of thousands of jobs and the flight of its middle class. We spent $53BIL or $2,360/person on Medicaid, twice that of the national average of $1,077. Medicaid consumes 45-100% of the County land real property tax levy. A carelessly loose application and administration process managed by un-elected bureaucrats with far too much discretion in Medicaid decisions and policy making fosters creative fraud.

6) You completely missed the fact that the government can and should immediately pass legislation to convert to a 401k plan for the exempt non-union employees in State and local governments which number approximately 20%. This includes the State and local legislatures and all their aides, all political appointees and all the people in management of the various Agencies and Authorities of the governments.

The constitution protects the pension rights of only union civil service employees. By quickly enacting a defined contribution plan for exempt employees, the State would set the stage for demanding from the unions a stipulated release from the Constitutional protection that would allow a capping of the present defined benefit program and conversion for the future to a 401 k plan for all State and local government employees. Attached is a copy of N.Y.S. Senator Mike Fitzpatrick’s excellent op-ed article of January 2 on the topic.

The hammer available to a Governor with the intestinal fortitude to extract such an agreement from the unions is that most union contracts and the binding arbitration provisions of the Taylor law expire in 2011. The Taylor law needs to be amended to reflect a continuation of binding arbitration limited only to first responders and other critical employees such as correction officers, probation, health, etc, in return for rescission of the Triborough Amendment covering continuation of terms and a capping of the present defined benefit plans and conversion for the future to a 401-K plan for all government employees. As to the other non-essential employees of the State and local governments [i.e.: teachers], no one cares if they go on strike.

If Andy and the Legislature, in all their wisdom, sign an extension of binding arbitration without using it as leverage to force substantive change as stated above they will have abrogated their responsibility to serve the people of New York State.

It’s as simple as that Liz.

Very truly yours,
Carl P. Paladino
CPP/pg
Cc: Hon. Lewis Bart Stone, J.S.C., Part 31, N.Y.S. Supreme Court
Hon. Richard Hartunian, U.S. Attorney, Northern District
Hon. William Hochul, U.S. Attorney, Western District

Carl Paladino Letter To Liz Banjamin #2

As always Paladino makes some great points, and puts into perspective just how corrupt both the New York State government and the media are. Paladino may have lost his bid for governor, but he certainly hasn't lost his straight forward, in your face, no hold barred attitude when it comes to politicians and members of the press. I have a feeling Carl Paladino will be lurking in the shadows, waiting for the right time to pounce, acting as a one man 'checks and balances', putting Andrew Cuomo and the rest of the corrupt Albany insiders in their place. A true New Yorker.

Democrats Force Legislation before 2011

2010-12-27T17:05:00.001-05:00

As the year comes to close, the Democrats are working extra hard to ram through a gaggle of bills before they lose their majority in the House come January. Despite the fact that lame duck sessions are usually,well, lame, the Democrats have had quite a successful run so far.

Don't ask, Don't tell was successfully repealed; and a joyous Nancy Pelosi gloated like a drunken Caesar after another country fell to the power of Rome. The bill itself was just a tad bit confusing from the start, but now that it's gone I have to wonder what the point was in the first place. The only instance in which I can see this being an issue is if in the coming months, soldiers now openly serving find themselves the victims of assault or god forbid, murder. If such incidents arise, we can all point at Nancy Pelosi and laugh, otherwise, a quick golf clap for a job well done and we move on.

The next contestant on the "bill is passed" is the START treaty. This is a new arms control treaty with Russia, that for some reason the president was just itching to pass. I don't even know why. Anyone else think that Russia is such a major threat that we should try and get them to reduce the size of their nuclear arsenal? With the exception of a couple of small incidents in the Eastern Bloc, all of Russia's problems have been internal and nothing anyone should care about.

We do have Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, a string of Dictatorships in Africa,the list goes on and on. None of these countries are major super powers, but it's not for lack of trying. North Korea and Iran both have nuclear ambitions, and seem quite intent on using them on their neighbors. If Russia was a threat, we would already have seen quite a few of those Cyrillic branded missiles in the hands of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, or Kim Jong Il.

Congress was able to pass a bill updating the FDA's powers and authorities. I'm confident this bill will allow the FDA to continue to approve death inducing pharmaceuticals that they deem safe, only to ban a few years later. Continue their push to ignore any product on the market that didn't come from Pfizer, or another laboratory willing to throw billions of dollars at them. They will also continue to warn us(along with the DEA) about any substance that people find to be 'fun' or 'beneficial'. They will do 'studies' that deem the product unsafe, despite six studies to the contrary, all the while managing to allowing medications whose side-effects are things that we have already released drugs to treat, thus insuring we will be medicated to death so pharma's can continue to get rich.

We finally saw some health care for the 9/11 first responders. Many of whom have been suffering and dying due to the toxic cocktail of chemicals they inhaled while saving lives so almost 10 years later our government can deny that we are fighting Islamic Extremists, and the liberal nut jobs can smear their good name by spewing ridiculous conspiracy theories and ignoring the facts all for the sake of making George Bush look bad. I am not going to go on any long tirade here, I am glad that this bill got passed. The Republicans who were trying to block this need to be booted out of office as badly as the ones who side with the Democrats on the issues that Conservatives feel most strongly against.

Everyone has heard already about the passage of the Bush Tax cut extension coupled with more unemployment relief. There are many critics of this bill, I for one found it to be a win/win situation. Keeping taxes low will help the economy recover, whereas the tax hikes we are facing will slow economic growth to a halt. The unemployment extension, I feel was a necessary evil. I lost my job with a major defense contractor in February, and I just now at the end of December will be returning to work..at a lower rate of pay, and with a larger workload than my previous job. Hey guys, I''m one of you!, by blocking unemployment, you f***ed me too!

On a happier note, the DREAM act was rejected. Since it is near impossible for an American citizen to travel across borders, or even board a plane without being sexually assaulted, I feel that passing this bill sends the signal that obeying the law will be punished, but breaking it will get you a scooby snack. I have no problem with immigrants, I do however have a problem with criminals, drunks, and violent, drug selling gang members invading this country on a daily basis and our government refusing to stop it, and actually encouraging it by trying to pass laws that vindicate the law breakers.

As the new year approaches I have a mixed reaction to what I am expecting to see in 2011. I am disillusioned by the Republicans, the Democrats, and even the Libertarians. No one seems to be getting anything of any use done, and we continue to allow our Republic to crumble all for the sake of a fake sense of progress. If we can not reconcile our differences and get this country back on track, pretty soon all the 'Tea Parties' in the world won't be able to right this sinking ship. Did I mention the ship is filled with rats, and some of them are carrying diseases?

Internet Censorship and the War On Wikileaks

2010-12-11T10:00:00.001-05:00

There are politicians on both sides of the aisle who seem content to dabble in the notion that the internet is the 'exception to the rule' and if therefore ripe for exploitation. Exploitation in the form of ubiquitous, or infringing legislation in the guise of protecting the American people from bad things that they have no control over. In recent years we have seen several pieces of proposed censorship..err, I mean legislation that in one way of the other gave the United States, or some arm thereof, the power to dictate how business is conducted, and information is transmitted across the internet.

The first piece that most of you hear about now and again is 'Net Neutrality'. Net neutrality is defined as free and equal access for all. The bill is designed to block service providers from limiting or restricting access to sites or applications for any reason so that all internet users are treated equally. This would include P2P applications, torrents, and a host of other applications like instant messaging, or even email. On the surface this sounds like a great idea, however opponents of the bill have a different take on it.
From Wikipedia:

Network neutrality regulations are opposed by noted Internet engineers, such as professor David Farber and TCP inventor Bob Kahn.^[8]^[51] Robert Pepper is senior managing director, global advanced technology policy, at Cisco Systems, and is the former FCC chief of policy development. He says: "The supporters of net neutrality regulation believe that more rules are necessary. In their view, without greater regulation, service providers might parcel out bandwidth or services, creating a bifurcated world in which the wealthy enjoy first-class Internet access, while everyone else is left with slow connections and degraded content. That scenario, however, is a false paradigm. Such an all-or-nothing world doesn't exist today, nor will it exist in the future. Without additional regulation, service providers are likely to continue doing what they are doing. They will continue to offer a variety of broadband service plans at a variety of price points to suit every type of consumer."^[52]
Bob Kahn, one of the fathers of the Internet, has said net neutrality is a slogan that would freeze innovation in the core of the Internet.^[8]

What I gather from these arguments is this: A seemingly innocuous bill that on the surface appears to be a striking victory for free internet advocates, P2P enthusiasts, and torrent aficionados, is actually designed to guarantee that these technologies stagnate, and that the propagation of new technologies is stunted or altogether halted. I would love to believe this bill on it's surface, I really would. I truly believe that it is inherently wrong for Internet Service Providers to limited bandwidth or access to any technology because of possible legal concerns that may arise from it's use.

Usenet, P2P, torrents, websites, forums, and file storage sites all can and are used to spread illegal or copyrighted materials across the internet.Your ISP may attempt to block one of more of these avenues, but in the end, the information still gets found. The real problem is that legitimate information is passed around using these technologies as well, so blocking one, blocks the other and now you are committing censorship. Linux and game manufacturers have been using torrent to distribute their products for years, and will continue to do so for as long as the technology is viable.

The second initiative on the table is ACTA(Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) is a proposed agreement that would establish an international network of countries, who could voluntarily join to establish standards for intellectual property rights. This organization would operate outside of existing standards organizations such as
World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) or the United Nations. This new organization would not be held to the same standards of checks and balances as would other groups of this nature. EFF(Electronic Frontier Foundation)has expressed concerns as to the possible effect of this agreement being forged.
From EFF:

While little information has been made available by the governments negotiating ACTA, a document recently leaked to the public entitled "Discussion Paper on a Possible Anti-counterfeiting Trade Agreement" from an unknown source gives an indication of what content industry rightsholder groups appear to be asking for – including new legal regimes to "encourage ISPs to cooperate with right holders in the removal of infringing material", criminal measures, and increased border search powers. The Discussion Paper leaves open how Internet Service Providers should be encouraged to identify and remove allegedly infringing material from the Internet. However the same industry rightsholder groups that support the creation of ACTA have also called for mandatory network-level filtering by Internet Service Providers and for Internet Service Providers to terminate citizens' Internet connection on repeat allegation of copyright infringement (the "Three Strikes" /Graduated Response), so there is reason to believe that ACTA will seek to increase intermediary liability and require these things of Internet Service Providers.

It seems abundantly clear, at least according to the leaked document that this organization could have powers far beyond what most Americans would consider favorable in the context of the liberties provided by our Constitution. This clearly degrades our own sovereignty, and leaves the ability to access information on the internet in the hands of an international organization that doesn't necessarily have to obey the laws of any one of it's host nations. Kind of the failure we now have with the United Nations, one of the most worthless piles of tripe ever conceived. Let's hope this monstrosity never gets off the ground.

The third piece of unholy censorship is S. 3804 Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act. This bill has so far overcome all hurdles, including bi-partisan opposition to be passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee. This bill, which essentially allows the attorney general to turn off any website he so chooses, and gives Homeland Security, and ICE unprecedented over internet websites and their owners. Even before the bill got this far, Homeland Security/ICE had shut down dozens of websites, and caused many torrent sites to scurry to web hosts outside the United States.

Opponents of this bill have made it clear that it is such a bad piece of legislation that Obamacare could be considered an epic piece of awesomeness compared to CIOCA. Detractors say the bill is unconstitutional, is outright censorship, gives to much power to the government, and would stifle innovation. Some even claim that this bill could effectively "break" the internet. EFF and other online advocates for internet freedom are up in arms over this horrendous piece of sludge. If you haven't figured out what COICA could do, just look at the case of Wikileaks.

Since Wikileaks lost it's hosting on Amazon, had their donation accounts on PayPal and moneybookers suspended, and Mastercard also shut down any kind of monies going to Wikileaks through their financial network, the online community responded in kind, launching attacks on some of these sites, and having some success. The reason this online war is waging is solely because groups like Amazon and Paypal denied Wikileaks their rights to operate and receive donations based solely on a perceived notion that they were committing illegal acts. Under COICA, the United States government could shut down any website they want based on those same conceived notions.

In my opinion, this is a war that will not be cut and dry. Their is actually a faction of hackers that attacked wikileaks for posting those secret cables online. This attack, couple with the actions of Amazon and Paypal caused another group, known as "Anonymous" to launch a counter-attack. In the end, Wikileaks is now operating on 1697 mirror sites across the internet(As of 2010-12-10) and it's supporters are continuing to donate money and do everything they can to keep Wikileaks operational. While I disagree with much of the community surrounding Wikileaks(mostly anti-war liberal nutjobs)I am torn because I myself believe that the internet, and the free flow of information it represents should not, under any circumstances be controlled by any group or government, and that it is the duty of those of use who believe in those principles to rise up and to thwart any such attacks on the greatest bastion of free thought the world has ever known.

SOURCES
Wikipedia:Network Neutrality
Electronic Frontier Foundation:ACTA

New Pelosi-Same as old Pelosi

2010-11-29T22:16:00.001-05:00

Nancy Pelosi, the defeated former speaker of the house may not be able to rely on her own words, as it appears her own colleagues want her to to keep Obama in check, and make sure he doesn't work too closely with Republicans. While this is not surprising news, it does lend more weight to critics assertions that with the Republican majority in the House, and only five seats shy of a majority in the Senate that gridlock will ensue when the 112th Congress convenes.

After the crushing defeat the Democrats suffered on November 2nd, there were calls from the left side of the aisle espousing a new era of unity and bipartisanship. The president expressed his feelings on working with the Republicans in the new Congress, a sharp turn from two years ago when he told Republicans "I won." during a private debate on tax policy in January of 2009. Nancy Pelosi herself said just after the November elections "Democrats will strive to work with the new Republican majority to create jobs, strengthen the middle class and reduce the deficit." and in an Op-Ed piece she stated "Republicans and Democrats must work together, with President Obama, to prepare for our nation for the 21st century while creating clean energy and infrastructure jobs."

But, as a recent AP headline suggests "Pelosi's new mission: Limit Obama deals with GOP" her job, at least according to her peers, will be to stand over the president with a ruler and whack his knuckles when he tries to read any piece of legislation whose author has an (R) by their name.God forbid Obama approves of anything that the GOP is doing. In my mind Barack Obama needs to start working with his foes across the aisle, or he guarantees himself a single term as president. It is still unclear just how much influence the Democrats expect Pelosi to have over the anointed ones dealings with congress, but it is clear that she is being tapped for her past performance as a staunch taskmaster, and not because she has a sterling image with the American people.

The more that we look at the situation, we realize that nothing's changed from two years ago when Barack Obama took office giving control of all three houses to the Democrats. Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and the rest of the stooges in Washington are committed to using their new found power to push through a slew of bills that are not good for the American people, and not good for America. Luckily two years of this nonsense cost and great awakening in the American people, we saw the rise in the Tea Party movement, and in November that energy and momentum gave control of the house back to the Republicans and put them within five seats of a majority in the Senate as well.

Obamacare, a host of new taxes, the gestapo like tactics of the TSA, and the recent crackdown of alleged counterfeit product sites across the Internet by ICE and Homeland Security even without the actual authority that would have been given to them in the COICA Bill currently in the Senate are all part of the agenda that the Democrats are ramming down the throats of the American people before they lose their power in January. I am confident that we will see more garbage like cap and trade, a possible resurgence of the fairness doctrine, and other socialist policies put on the table and hastily passed before the Obama train comes to a crashing halt next year. And running interference for the Democrats will be none other than minority leader Nancy Pelosi making sure that president Obama has limited contact with the Republicans.