week in Review 6/19/10

Not Another Czar!

Big Government: In a “fireside chat” to quell concerns about the Gulf oil disaster, the president announced the appointment of an oil czar. Is more bureaucracy the answer to every problem?

The media elite just can’t comprehend the anger of the Tea Party movement. The New York Times this week enlisted a professor of philosophy to write an article with a resounding conclusion: “In truth, there is nothing that the Tea Party movement wants; terrifyingly, it wants nothing. .. . (T)hey are nihilists.”

In fact, the Tea Party movement is pretty clear about its demands, exemplified by a protester’s placard with a photo of a crying baby and the message, “Stop Spending My Money — I Haven’t Even Earned It Yet!” Read more.

Dem Lawmakers Challenge Pentagon on Afghan War

WASHINGTON (AP) — A schism deepened Wednesday between U.S. war leaders and Congress as lawmakers — crucial Democrats among them — challenged Pentagon assertions that progress is picking up in Afghanistan.

“I wouldn’t call it eroding,” Democratic Sen. Carl Levin said of once-solid Democratic support for President Barack Obama’s war strategy. “But there’s a lot of fair concern.”

Congressional hearings stepped up pressure on the Pentagon, with Defense Secretary Robert Gates complaining about negative perceptions taking root in Washington about the war. Another top military official acknowledged feeling “angst” about the conflict.

But military leaders said the U.S. effort is advancing. “I think that we are regaining the initiative,” Gates told a skeptical Senate panel. “I think that we are making headway.” Read more.

Obama’s Oil Spill Speech Turns to Energy Policy, Fueling Capitol Crossfire

President Obama tried Tuesday night in his Oval Office speech to rally the nation behind his efforts to tackle the Gulf oil spill, but by also highlighting his energy agenda, he set off reaction on Capitol Hill that could risk turning the disaster into a political football.

Obama, trying to take control of a crisis that has slowly eroded support for his administration, pointed to the relief efforts already under way and said the government would hold BP responsible. But later in his 18-minute speech, he turned his focus to the need to “seriously tackle our addiction to fossil fuels.”

“We can’t afford not to change how we produce and use energy, because the long-term costs to our economy, our national security, and our environment are far greater,” Obama said in the first Oval Office address of his presidency.

The speech came 57 days after the April 20 explosion at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that killed 11 workers and sparked the crisis, in which millions of gallons of oil already have spilled into the Gulf of Mexico. The speech also served as a prelude to Obama’s meeting Wednesday with BP executives at the White House.

Republicans accused the president for using the oil spill to push his legislative agenda. Read more.

Sestak silence worries Pa. officials

Four weeks after claiming the Pennsylvania Senate nomination, Rep. Joe Sestak continues to have an awkward relationship with many leaders of the state’s Democratic establishment — with the two-term congressman so far neglecting to check many of the boxes that ordinarily would be routine for a candidate trying to unify his party after a hard-fought primary.

It’s been nearly a month since the May 18 primary, and key local party leaders have not been in close contact with Sestak. His unorthodox campaign organization is unnerving Democratic officials, and his public comments suggest he hasn’t forgotten the rough treatment he received from the White House and the state party establishment, both of which worked furiously to deliver the nomination to party-switching Sen. Arlen Specter. Read more.

How’d we lose Brazil, Turkey and Lebanon?

After 17 months of diplomacy, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice was only able to get 12 of the 15 countries on the United Nations Security Council to vote to place increased sanctions on the Islamic Republic’s illegal pursuit of nuclear weapons. Yesterday, on Fox News Sunday, Rice jumped to defend the Obama Administration’s lackluster performance by claiming that previous Iran resolutions were not unanimous during the Bush Administration and that there were “abstentions”. Her strategy to minimize the Bush team’s performance in order to make her own poor performance look better isn’t factual. After so much hype about President Barack Obama’s foreign policy engagement strategy, the Obama UN resolution was remarkably weak, took too long to get and received less support than Bush’s team got in producing FIVE Security Council resolutions on Iran. Read more.

Gulf fuels new energy-bill push

President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies plan a major new push for a broad global-warming bill, fueled in part by public outrage over the BP disaster, according to top aides.

Joel Benenson, a pollster for the Democratic National Committee and Obama’s presidential campaign, argues in a new briefing for top Capitol Hill officials that a comprehensive energy bill “could give Democrats a potent weapon to wield against Republicans in the fall.”

Read the briefing.

“The oil spill is intensifying the public’s desire for clean energy investments and increased regulation on corporate polluters,” Benenson writes in the briefing, which he prepared on behalf of the League of Conservation Voters.

“In the aftermath of the spill, people firmly believe Congress needs to do more than just make BP pay. Even when pressed with opposition messaging that now is not the time for some ‘job killing energy tax,’ people coalesce around comprehensive clean energy reform. Consequently, support for a comprehensive energy bill is very high. With the right messaging, that support holds strong in the face of harsh opposition attacks.” Read more.

Company Bidding to Help Manage Tower at Ground Zero Has Arab Ties

Nearly nine years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the bi-state agency that operates the World Trade Center is looking for a private partner to help manage the 1776-foot office tower that is being built at Ground Zero — and one of two companies under consideration may have ties to the Middle East.

The bidding process for private partners for the “Freedom Tower” has been whittled down to two companies: Durst Organization and Related Companies, Fox News legal analyst Peter Johnson Jr. reports.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will soon decide which partner will manage and help market the tower, which has been renamed One World Trade Center. The partner will invest at least $100 million onto the office tower and memorial building.

Related Co. is an international real estate group whose investors include Goldman Sachs; MSD Capital, LP; Mubadala Development Company; Kuwait Investment Authority; and Olayan Group, according to the company’s website. Read more.

Pakistan’s main spy agency still supports Taliban despite US pressure, says report

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s main spy agency continues to train, fund and arm the Taliban despite U.S. pressure to sever ties with the group that Islamabad helped rise to power in Afghanistan in the 1990s, said a research report released Sunday.

The findings could raise tensions between Pakistan and the U.S., which has provided billions of dollars in military assistance to Islamabad since 2001 to help fight the Taliban. U.S. officials believe Pakistan’s support is key to defeating the insurgency.

But the country’s powerful Inter Services Intelligence agency, or ISI, continues to work closely with the Taliban and is even represented on the group’s leadership council, said the report, which was issued by the London School of Economics and is based on interviews with more than a dozen unnamed Taliban commanders. Read more.

Obama pushes for $50b in local aid

President Obama Saturday asked Congressional leaders to “urge swift action” on legislation he called crucial to shoring up small businesses, and to averting “massive layoffs of teachers, police and firefighters.”

In a letter to Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnell and John Boehner, the president said that more spending is needed immediately to avert a devastating double dip recesssion, and that concerns about the deficit, while important, may have to wait. For now, he said, the federal government needs to spend money to provide immediate economic aid to the still-struggling economy, and especially to states that otherwise may have to lay off workers to fill their own budget holes. “We are at a critical juncture on our nation’s path to economic recovery,” Obama said, deeming it “essential that we… build momentum toward recovery, even as we establish a path to long-term fiscal discipline.” Obama called the extenders legislation the Senate is considering, along with small business legislation he’s proposed as well as rebates for home improvements and additional tax credits for clean manufacturing, “cost-effective ways of spurring job creation.” The total package of state and local aid the president is pushing Congressional leaders to pass would cost $50 billion, according to the Washington Post. Read more.

Week in Review 5/1/10

North Carolina cools on President Obama

President Barack Obama jets off Friday for a weekend getaway to a funky corner of Appalachia in North Carolina, a state that boosted his presidential chances and now offers him a more tepid political embrace.

Obama will ponder his Supreme Court candidates, tee it up on the golf course and add a fresh presidential element to the hippie-hillbilly mix of Asheville. The last time Obama was in the place Rolling Stone once named the “freak capital” of the United States was October 2008. He was at the Grove Park Inn preparing for his second debate with Sen. John McCain, and at a rally that week he promised 25,000 cheering supporters he’d be back to see their city – or at least the golf course. Read more.

Dems’ work is cut out

RALEIGH — North Carolina Democrats gathered for their annual rite of spring Saturday, facing a far more difficult political scenario for their mid-term elections than most could have imagined two years ago.

A broad range of public opinion polls have shown that the Democrats have lost ground since the 2008 elections, when the Tar Heel Democrats pulled off a rare political hat trick, winning the governorship, a U.S. Senate seat and carrying the state for Barack Obama.

But since then, the Democrats have been bleeding support, particularly among independent swing voters. North Carolina independent voters now favor GOP legislative candidates by a 47-18 margin, and GOP congressional candidates by a 46-19 margin – figures that could produce “disastrous results” for Democrats in the fall, according to Public Policy Polling, a Democratic-leaning polling firm based in Raleigh. Read more.

Panel says U.S. can’t grow its way out of deficits

(Reuters) – The United States cannot grow its way out of budget deficits and both revenue increases and spending cuts will be needed to stem the flow of red ink and create a brighter financial outlook, top members of a newly created budget commission said on Sunday.

The independent National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform created by President Barack Obama is to hold its first meeting on Tuesday. The co-chairmen of the 18-member panel told “Fox News Sunday” that everything had to be on the table as it considers ways to reduce huge deficits and mounting debt.

“We’re not going to say we’re going to grow our way out of this,” said former Republican Senator Alan Simpson. “Hell, we could have double (-digit) growth for 30 years and never grow our way out of this.” Read more.

One Top Obama Goal, Climate Bill, at Risk

WASHINGTON—A dispute between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) over the timing of a climate bill is threatening the already-weak prospects for congressional action this year on the bill, one of President Obama’s top priorities.

Lawmakers and interest groups who want action on climate and energy legislation scrambled Sunday to resolve their differences. The climate fight also raises doubt about the Obama administration’s ability to enlist Mr. Graham’s support for an overhaul of immigration laws.

In an interview Sunday, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I., Conn) said he was hopeful that the rift on climate legislation could be mended after talks with both Messrs. Reid and Graham. But Mr. Lieberman said he didn’t know how soon he and Sen. John Kerry (D., Mass) would introduce climate and energy legislation that they have been working on for months with Mr. Graham. Read more.

ObamaCare Mulligan

When President Obama signed his health-care reform last month, he declared it will “lower costs for families and for businesses and for the federal government.” So why, barely a month later, are Democrats scrambling to pass a new bill that would impose price controls on insurance?

In now-they-tell-us hearings on Tuesday, the Senate health committee debated a bill that would give states the power to reject premium increases that state regulators determine are “unreasonable.” The White House proposed this just before the final Obama- Care scramble, but it couldn’t be included because it violated the procedural rules that Democrats abused to pass the bill. Read more.

Campaign Rivals Accuse Reid of Using Immigration Push to Help Senate Bid

Harry Reid’s campaign rivals are accusing the Senate majority leader of pivoting toward immigration legislation in Washington in order to save his political hide back home in Nevada.

All three of Reid’s top Republican challengers accused him on Monday of having an ulterior political motive in pulling immigration to the front-burner. With polls showing the Nevada Democrat trailing in his race for re-election this November, challengers said Reid is trying to shore up his Latino voter base — while dragging all of Washington along with him.

“He’s seeing that his voting base is waning and he’s getting desperate to try to do something and turn it around,” Danny Tarkanian, a former college basketball star and local businessman vying for the GOP nomination, told FoxNews.com. Read more.

Governor Perdue’s Budget Plan Increases Spending Again During “Great Recession”

On April 20, Governor Bev Perdue released her recommended adjustments for the fiscal year 2010-11 North Carolina state budget. Included in her recommendations are an increase in spending over the current year’s expected appropriations, the elimination of roughly 600 mostly vacant state positions, a cut to public education and public safety, and a misguided attempt to “create jobs” via credits aimed at small businesses.

Because North Carolina works on a two-year budget cycle, the governor’s proposal represents recommended changes to the second year of last year’s authorized budget bill. Read more.

Blagojevich wants to subpoena Obama

CHICAGO (AP) — Ousted Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has asked a federal judge subpoena the president to testify at his corruption trial.

In a motion filed Thursday with U.S. District Judge James Zagel, Blagojevich attorney Sam Adam says President Barack Obama has direct knowledge of allegations made in the indictment.

It would be extremely unusual for a sitting president to testify at a corruption trial.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office, Randall Samborn, had no comment on the 11-page motion. The filing contained several sections blacked out, apparently because they refer to material that the court has placed under seal.

Blagojevich has pleaded not guilty to charges that accuse him of scheming to sell or trade the Senate seat left vacant by Obama’s election as president.

Glenn Beck: Puerto Rican Statehood Ahead?

I want to talk to you about the fundamental transformation of America. It could happen tomorrow.

But first, you have to understand progressives. What is it that progressives believe?

• Big government, power and control: It’s not about Democrats or Republicans, people. It’s power and control. You can’t choose for yourself. You’re too dumb, so progressives will choose and regulate everything for you

• Democratic elections: This is important to progressives. You’ll hear it “democratically elected” to refer to leaders like Hitler, Chavez and Castro — all democratically elected

• Social justice: Collective redemption through the government: Call it socialism, Marxism, whatever — it’s all about the redistribution of wealth Read more.

Senator calls on FTC to tackle social-net privacy

en. Charles Schumer of New York has come out swinging against new announcements by Facebook that modify how much member data is shared with third-party companies, suggesting that the Federal Trade Commission needs to promptly address the issue of social-network privacy.

A press release from Schumer’s office announced that he has written to the FTC to ask that the agency “examine the privacy disclosures of social-networking sites to ensure they are not misleading or fail to fully disclose the extent to which they share information…(and) provide guidelines for use of private information and prohibit access without user permission.” Read more.

GOP Aims to Push Joe Sam Queen Out of Office

RALEIGH — A county commissioner, a mayor, and a self-described native mountain woman are lined up to take on state Sen. Joe Sam Queen, a Democrat from Haywood County.

Queen has represented Senate District 47, a Republican leaning district in the mountains and foothills, since 2004. He won his last bid for re-election by a 54 percent to 46 percent margin, and the results were even closer four years ago. In statewide races, though, voters opt for the GOP. Read more.

Are Washington-Beijing relations back on track?

U.S. President Barack Obama’s first year in office has been characterized by concerted efforts at accommodation when it comes to Washington-Beijing relations. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton perhaps best summed this up when she described the two powers as being in the same boat and weathering the same storms together.

Clinton’s comment reflects the philosophy and approach of the Obama foreign policy team to mainland China. It came as the U.S. emerged from the global financial crisis and sought the mainland’s assistance in achieving international economic recovery, breaking up terrorist plots and building consensus in the fight against global warming.

This conciliatory approach prohibited the U.S. from calling mainland China a currency manipulator and criticizing its human rights records. It also restrained Obama from receiving Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama before he departed on a state visit to the mainland. Read more.

Week in Review 03/20/10

3/13/10 – Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) Delivers Weekly GOP Address on Health Care

“Jihad Jane”: American citizen, white, a woman and a terrorist

In the ongoing war on terror, one new and extremely troubling battle involves the rise of those who are citizens of the United States, that for one reason or another choose to conspire with terrorists. They then plan and attempt to implement attacks in this country or overseas.

Homegrown Terrorists Initially Raise Fewer Red Flags

Holding United States citizenship, a passport allowing for much less scrutiny at borders and in many cases not fitting into the profile that intelligence agencies would consider for an Islamic terrorist, these people pose a real and present risk to the homeland security of our country. It is not until they either slip up or get caught in the surveillance net of other suspects that they are stopped. Until that time they will have the ability to move, recruit and plan under the radar. Read more.

Barclay clears way for Hoffman

Republican Assemblyman Will Barclay isn’t running for the House this year, he said Sunday. Barclay’s decision leaves former Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman as the heavyweight among the Republicans hoping to challenge Democratic Rep. Bill Owens. Barclay said his duties in Albany would prevent him from spending time campaigning, and while he considered resigning from the state Assembly, he said that ” fate has it that this is not a good time for someone who thinks his sort of common sense and sound judgment are badly needed right where he is to just walk away.”

The radical left’s latest attack on Glenn Beck

The radical leftists are after Glenn Beck. That’s not unusual, but this time they are using hearsay and have the help of apostate clergy in their attacks.

On his television show, Mr. Beck rightly pointed out that the term “social justice” is code for socialism. He also pointed out that the socialists, and statists have infiltrated some churches as well as other areas of society and rightly suggested that if people were in a church with an apostate clergy that is preaching “social Justice”, they should leave that church.

The reaction from the left wing nut jobs and from the apostate clergy was immediate and fierce. One of the apostate “ministers”, a radical leftist, Jim Wallis, has been especially vocal in his attacks, appearing on TV and radio with every leftist, kook, and talking head, and his written rants are on the almost all of the radical left’s blogs attacking Mr. Beck. Read more.

NC US Senate candidates back health care reform

DURHAM — The Democratic Senate candidates voiced strong support for President Barack Obama’s health care proposal Monday night, separating themselves from the man they hope to replace, Republican Sen. Richard Burr.

The Senate hopefuls said the current health insurance caused too many people with illness to lose their insurance or to go broke paying their medical bills, was too expensive for many small businesses and provided too little competition for private insurers who raise rates at will.

“We have to act now to pass a comprehensive health care reform with a public option,” said Ken Lewis, a Chapel Hill lawyer. “We are closer than we have been in 60 years to getting health care reform …Now is the time to put the pedal to the medal.” Read more.

MoveOn.Org Pledge: DO not Support Dems voting Against Obamacare

Dear MoveOn member,

Health care reform is in serious danger in the House of Representatives: with a handful of conservative Democrats wavering, we don’t yet have the votes to pass the final bill.

So we’re asking every MoveOn member: will you pledge to support progressive primary challengers to House Democrats who side with Republicans to kill health care reform?

With the big vote happening as early as this Friday, conservative Democrats need to know the stakes if they choose to side with Big Insurance over the voters on health care reform. Our pledge will send that message loud and clear. We’ll publicize the amount pledged, and make sure the media and every wavering representative know about it. Read more.

New Glossary Guides People Through Harmful Planning Jargon

RALEIGH — Government planners distort terms such as “affordable housing” and “stakeholders” to attack basic individual freedoms. That’s a key message a John Locke Foundation expert sends with the new planning jargon glossary he’s compiled.

The glossary applies specifically to a new document prepared in connection with Raleigh’s 2030 Comprehensive Plan. Raleigh residents can hear public presentations tonight or Tuesday on that document, “Raleigh’s New Development Code: Diagnostic & Approach Report.”

“This glossary is necessary to help Raleigh’s citizens decipher what planners really mean when they talk about open space, sustainability, best practices, and other terms common in planning reports,” said report author Dr.Michael Sanera, JLF Research Director and Local Government Analyst. “The John Locke Foundation provides this glossary as a public service. Without it, the Diagnostic & Approach Report would be virtually indecipherable. It’s written in ‘PlanningSpeak.’” Read more.

Plan to Take Back NC State Assembly

New conservative 527 group plans to target swing NC state legislative districts throughout 2010 with strategic advertising to inform citizens about state Democrats’ shift to the political left. With liberals on the canvass, we can’t afford NOT to keep the pressure on in NC’s swing state legislative districts – even through the primary season and summer — straight through to November. That is the most sensible way for common-sense conservative values to take back control of our state government. That is our mission.

NC’s swing legislative districts are mostly in affordable media markets where efficient and targeted TV advertising, beginning now while liberals are on the run, can prevent their big government machine from dusting off their candidates, reinventing them and loading them up with millions in cash. Please Donate Now.

U.S. Criticism of Israel Ignites Firestorm

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration’s fierce denunciation of Israel last week has ignited a firestorm in Congress and among powerful pro-Israel interest groups who say the criticism of America’s top Mideast ally was misplaced.

Since the controversy erupted, a bipartisan parade of influential lawmakers and interest groups has taken aim at the administration’s decision to publicly condemn Israel for its announcement of new Jewish housing in east Jerusalem while Vice President Joe Biden was visiting on Tuesday and then openly vent bitter frustration on Friday.

With diplomats from both countries referring to the situation as a crisis, the outpouring of anger in the United States, particularly from Capitol Hill, comes at a difficult time for the administration, which is now trying to win support from wary lawmakers — many of whom are up for re-election this year — for health care reform and other domestic issues. Read more.

To fight terrorism, follow the money

On Christmas Day, a man allegedly armed with explosives slipped through our defenses and boarded a plane for the United States. But Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the man charged with planning this attack, was not the only threat. A sophisticated network — Al Qaeda — allegedly turned him from a lone man with violent desires into a grave threat to U.S. security.

While America remains vigilant in defending against such dangers, we must do more than just stop bombers. We must extinguish the source of their threat: the terrorist networks that recruit, train and arm them in the first place.

To do so, we must deny these networks the dirty money that is their lifeblood. Regardless of where our terrorist enemies are — Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia or the next place — we must follow their money and execute a battle plan to target and attack it. Read more.

Biden Slips, Honors Memory of Irish PM’s Mother — While She’s Alive

WakeUp America.com asks Obama: “What’s so FUNNY.”

Vice President Biden added to his lengthy list of gaffes Wednesday when he took a moment to honor the memory of the Irish prime minister’s mother — a woman who’s very much alive.

“God rest her soul,” Biden said as he introduced Brian Cowen and President Obama at a St. Patrick’s Day celebration at the White House Wednesday.

The vice president was quick to correct the mistake, noting that it’s Cowen’s father who is no longer living. Read more.

Quartet blasts Israel over East Jerusalem settlements

The Middle East quartet has strongly denounced Israeli moves to build 1,600 new homes in East Jerusalem and urged the Israeli government and Palestinians to resume peace negotiations.

In a hard-hitting statement after a meeting in Moscow, the UN, the EU, Russia and the US condemned Israel’s “unilateral” construction plans and said the status of Jerusalem could only be resolved through negotiations between both parties.

The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, said: “The quartet condemns the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem.” Read more.

Iran to Bam: Shove your olive branch

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s supreme leader sharply denounced the United States yesterday, accusing it of plotting to overthrow Iran’s clerical leadership, in a chilly response to an overture by President Obama for better ties. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei did not outright reject the offer, saying Iran would monitor US intentions. But the supreme leader said that so far, Washington’s offers of engagement have been a deception.

The exchange was a sign of how Obama’s hopes for dialogue have broken down over Tehran’s rejection of Western demands regarding Iran’s nuclear program and its crackdown on the opposition after disputed presidential elections last June. In his message, released Friday, Obama told Iranians that Americans want better cultural exchanges — but also criticized the Iranian leadership for “turning its back” on US overtures.

Week in Review 12/26/09

Obama And His Appointees Dismantling US

President Barack Hussein Obama is proceeding to destroy America and has opened up a six-front war to do so:

1. He has a Democratic controlled Congress that is willing to rubber-stamp his wildest schemes, without even reading them…as we’ve already seen. The Democratic Party is now aiding and abetting the demeaning and destruction of America and has become the voice of leftist extremism. The moderates have disappeared or been transformed, issuing only occasional squeaking and whining before following the liberal party line drawn by Mr. Obama. Where have all the Democratic moderates gone?

2. Mr. Obama has immense executive authority, which he has already used to damage the country. One notable example is his decision to try terrorists in New York City, thereby giving the terrorists the premier platform to broadcast their propaganda and recruit Islamic radicals to their cause. Another example is cap and trade by fiat of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), rather than Congressional action.

Read More

GOP leader vows to stay to February

With victory finally in sight, Senate Democrats want to ram health care reform through the chamber with as little debate as possible. Republicans say they’ll slow the votes down as much as the arcane rules will allow — until 7 p.m. on Christmas Eve, under current plans.

Three votes are required to get the bill off the Senate floor. All could be done in one day, but Republicans say they’re going to do what in union terms would be called “working to the rule” — requiring 30 hours (including one “intervening day”) before the votes. Read more.

Poll: GOP has best chance since 94 to win NC

House and Senate

A new survey by Raleigh-based Public Policy Polling shows Republicans in their best position in years to take over one or even both chambers in the N.C. General Assembly next year.

The poll by the Democratic-leaning company shows voters evenly split when asked whether they’ll vote for a Republican or Democrat next year. Read more.

Senate Democrats Work to Advance Health Bill Following ‘Big Victory’

Democratic senators worked toward making health care reform their Christmas gift, reconvening on Capitol Hill Monday buoyed by the success of the first in a series of votes on the sweeping overhaul.

Senate Democrats and President Obama touted the momentum behind the package, which is set for a Christmas Eve vote. Senate leaders also won the endorsement Monday from the American Medical Association — the doctors group supported prior versions of the legislation, but the endorsement applied to the latest one unveiled over the weekend. Read more.

Stalemate: How Obama’s Iran Outreach Failed

Having concluded that President Obama’s outreach has failed to halt Iran’s nuclear program, the final weeks of 2009 find his Administration focused on mustering support for new sanctions against the Islamic Republic. Iran’s rejection of the terms offered thus far by the U.S. and its partners has prompted Obama to largely revert to the Bush Administration’s approach of ultimatums backed by sanctions — with little obvious prospect of producing a substantially different result.

Obama campaigned for the presidency promising a game-changing diplomatic outreach, noting that President Bush’s efforts had failed to prevent Iran from achieving a capacity to enrich uranium. But, under pressure at home and abroad from skeptics of engagement who insist that Iran is drawing perilously close to nuclear weapons capability, Obama gave his engagement effort only until the new year to change the game. With that deadline fast approaching, Iran’s pushback against a deal that would require it to ship out most of its current enriched-uranium stockpile for conversion abroad into harmless reactor fuel has prompted many in Washington to score Obama’s outreach effort a failure. “I don’t think anyone can doubt that our outreach has produced very little in terms of any kind of positive response from the Iranians,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said last week. Read more.

The Price Is Right? Payoffs for Senators

Typical in Health Care Bill

Sen. Ben Nelson’s hardly the only lawmaker extracting sweetheart deals out of the health care reform bill.

While the Nebraska Democrat got a particularly juicy concession in exchange for a “yes” vote on the 10-year, $871 billion package — permanent and full federal aid for his state’s expanded Medicaid population — support from a slew of other senators likewise came with a price.

Western states got more money for hospitals that serve Medicare patients. Louisiana got up to $300 million in Medicaid benefits. The list goes on. Read more.

Immigration Enforcement Fuels Spike in U.S. Cases

Federal prosecutions reached a record high in the 2009 fiscal year, with the surge driven by a sharp increase in cases filed against immigration violators.

The 169,612 federal prosecutions were a jump of nearly 9 percent from the previous year, according to Department of Justice data analyzed by a research center at Syracuse University in a new report. Immigration prosecutions were up nearly 16 percent, and made up more than half of all criminal cases brought by the federal government, the report said. Read more.

Admin short on money for Thomson

Obama administration officials think they are unlikely to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay and move terrorism suspects there to Illinois until 2011 at the earliest, The New York Times reports.

The administration is having trouble finding money to replace the Guantanamo prison, and the delay puts Obama’s national security policy on a “far slower timeline,” the Times says. Read more.

Odd Couple Demands Probe of Rahm Emanuel at Freddie as More Money Rolls In

WASHINGTON — Two strange bedfellows have asked Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate President Obama’s right-hand man, chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, for his potential role in the near collapse of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The letter by Jane Hamsher, founder of the liberal Firedoglake Web site, and Grover Norquist, Americans for Tax Reform Chief, was sent Wednesday, one day before the Treasury Department announced that it will lift the $400 billion financial cap on loans to the government-sponsored enterprises to make sure they stay afloat. Read more.

SBI looks into possible witness tampering in RC Soles case

The State Bureau of Investigation is looking into possible witness tampering in the case against State Senator RC Soles. Sources tell WWAY, two of the people involved in the shooting at the Senator’s house have been spotted following him around Tabor City.

A Columbus County grand jury has asked prosecutors to seek an indictment on Soles for assault with a deadly weapon for shooting 22 year old Kyle Blackburn. The shooting happened in August. Read more.

Federal Debt Limit Hike Wins Final

Congressional Approval

WASHINGTON (Reuters) –A divided U.S. Senate gave final congressional approval Thursday to a $290 billion hike in the federal debt limit, enough to finance the record U.S. deficit for another two months while the United States digs out from the worst recession since the 1930s.

On a largely party-line vote of 60-39, the Democratic-led Senate approved legislation for the increase. One Republican voted yes and one Democrat voted no. Read more.

Republicans Look for Mechanisms to Halt Health Insurance Bill

The Senate battle may be over for now, but Republicans are vowing the war is not yet lost.

Congress may be gone for several weeks enjoying a winter holiday, but Republicans say they will keep up the pressure on Democrats who succeeded in getting their Senate health insurance overhaul bill passed before Christmas — if just barely.

Several GOP lawmakers say they are still hoping to peel back support for the bill among budget-minded Democrats who are certain to hear from furious constituents over the long break about the overwhelming cost of the $871 billion, 10-year legislation. Read more.

Federal Health Care “Reform” Proposal Would Add $600 Million to N.C.’s Already Strained Budget

North Carolina’s state budget is already at the breaking point. In order to “balance” the current year’s spending plan, lawmakers grasped at a patchwork list of revenue, including more than $1 billion in state tax hikes, $1.4 billion in federal “stimulus” funds and nearly $100 million from various state “trust funds.”

Yet even as states such as North Carolina are struggling to cover their spending commitments, a central part of the federal health care “reform” effort is to further expand the second-largest state-funded program: Medicaid.
North Carolina’s Medicaid program covers about 20 percent of the entire state population. The program is funded by both state and federal appropriations, and North Carolina’s funding share is typically the largest state spending commitment behind only public education. Because of North Carolina’s budget woes, the federal stimulus plan gave the state $857 million this year to help close the budget gap for the Medicaid program – increasing federal matching funds from $2 to $3 for every state dollar spent. ARRA funds, however, are quickly running out and it appears inevitable that the state will need to find yet more money to fund the $10 billion dollar program. Read more.

Read the constitution and get back to basics

Source: Chicago Daily Herold

Wake up America. This great country was founded on a document created by leaders who had escaped from a tyrannical government and came to a new land to give all men freedom; and equality.

It is the constitution of the United States of America. Most of the freedoms included, were freedom from the government. This document has served over the years to make America what it is: the land of the free, and the home of the brave. Now we have come to a testing of that document. Read more.

We are NOT going to Take it Anymore

Do you remember the scene? The Senate. Barbara Boxer hearing from a Brigadier General? Silly General! He addresses Barbara as “Ma’m”, and she CORRECTS him, telling him she’s “worked SO hard to earn the title, “Senator”, so please to use that when speaking to her.

Get a load of this letter!

Read the letter sent to Sen. Barbara Boxer from an Alaskan Airlines pilot below. Many of us witnessed the arrogance of Barbara Boxer on June 18, 2009 as she admonished Brigadier General Michael Walsh because he addressed her as “ma’am” and not “Senator” before a Senate hearing. Read more.