Friday, May 28, 2010

Homeland Security Warning; Private Versus Government Pay; Obama the Warrior; Intimidation by Unions; Bailing out Teachers; and more

Perhaps Chris Matthews started worrying he was being out-shined in the tirade department by James Carville. Just ahead of President Obama’s press conference earlier today Matthews went on his own rant about how the Louisiana coast line is “part of our birthright, with the Grand Canyon, with Niagara Falls, with Yosemite.” And then he directed this zinger at Obama: The Gulf of Mexico is more important than a Presidency, and the president has not acted that way, he has not acted like this is more important than a fundraiser in California, or an interview about basketball with Marv Albert.  http://www.mediaite.com/tv/chris-matthews-the-gulf-of-mexico-is-more-important-than-a-presidency/
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The Department of Homeland Security is alerting Texas authorities to be on the lookout for a suspected member of the Somalia-based Al Shabaab terrorist group who might be attempting to travel to the U.S. through Mexico, a security expert who has seen the memo tells FOXNews.com.
The warning follows an indictment unsealed this month in Texas federal court that accuses a Somali man in Texas of running a “large-scale smuggling enterprise” responsible for bringing hundreds of Somalis from Brazil through South America and eventually across the Mexican border.  http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/05/26/terror-alert-mexican-border/
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Paychecks from private business shrank to their smallest share of personal income in U.S. history during the first quarter of this year, a USA TODAY analysis of government data finds. At the same time, government-provided benefits — from Social Security, unemployment insurance, food stamps and other programs — rose to a record high during the first three months of 2010.
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[You don't think that Obama is a warrior in the common definition of being strong against America's enemies and celebrating our allies?  Well, according to American thinker]: he actually is a warrior -- not in any military context, but rather in the classic parlance of the progressive movement. He is an aggressive, motivated, and dedicated soldier in the battle to remake America into a collectivist social welfare state. He struggles mightily to undermine the Constitution, destroy free-market capitalism, subvert traditional culture, and weaken the sovereign nature of the American republic. In this struggle, he belittles his opponents, pursues his objectives relentlessly and engages in elaborate feints and misdirection to confuse and demoralize the opposition.  [Change we can believe in?]   http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/05/obama_the_warrior.html
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Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick reiterated the accusation made last month by Time columnist Joe Klein: disagreeing with the legislative agenda of the Obama Administration is dangerously close to "sedition." (Snip) Mass GOP chairwoman Jennifer Nassour responded: "Apparently our First Amendment rights are only guaranteed if we agree with the tax-and-spend policies of Deval Patrick and Barack Obama." One might add that Obama is not a king, and disagreements over policy are part of the process established by the Constitution.  http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/05/governor_patrick_plays_the_sed.html 
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Writing for Fortune.com, Nina Easton relays her first-hand account of the uncivil disobedience and “mob”tactics exhibited by SEIU and the National People’s Action (NPA), as they terrorized a teenage child in his own home.
Baer’s teenage son Jack — alone in the house — locked himself in the bathroom. “When are they going to leave?” Jack pleaded when I called to check on him.
SEIU and NPA also loudly stormed into bank buildings, occupying and shutting down their lobbies.  How much would you like being in one of those bank lobbies during an SEIU-NPA Progressive Democrat hijacking of the property? How is anyone supposed to know that the loud angry mob coming through the front door isn’t there to rob it, or worse yet, burn it down?
Just an aside -  isn’t it against Federal law to purposely shut down the normal operation of Federally insured banking institutions? Or is that sort of thing being encouraged now?
This is all a part of an ongoing campaign which SEIU and NPA have titled “Showdown In America
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/20/nina-easton-fortune-colum_n_583023.html
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Education Secretary Arne Duncan is asking lawmakers to put aside “politics and ideology” as they consider a request for $23 billion in “emergency” funding for public schools – a measure Republicans reject as a massive federal bailout for the teachers’ unions. 
The federal Digest of Education Statistics tells us that in the 2007-08 school year (the latest with available data), US public schools employed more than 6.2 million teachers and other staff. Losing 300,000 of those jobs would only be a 4.8 percent cut -- unfortunate, perhaps, but hardly catastrophic.
And 300,000 is the worst-case scenario. The AASA figure of 275,000 would be just a 4.4 percent cut. The low end of Duncan's prediction, 100,000 positions, would constitute only a 1.6 percent trim. That's less than one out of every 60 public-school jobs.
Moreover, the projected cuts would be but a tiny step back after decades of spending and staffing leaps.
But that's not all the context that taxpayers deserve before Congress and the Obama administration stick them for another $23 billion. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act -- the "stimulus" -- already included about $100 billion for education, most of which was intended solely to keep educators employed.
So there is indeed a looming education catastrophe -- but it's not funding or job cuts. It is the bailout now moving through Congress that ignores the reality of inefficient public schooling, and adds to the already crushing burden of our federal debt.
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On the surface the news looked pretty grim for Garden State residents on Tuesday – thanks to an unanticipated drop in tax revenues of $402 million this year and $365 million next year.
But a new budget hole of nearly $800 million is not going to give Gov. Christie a single new white hair. At least this time, the governor's message is "gotcha covered."

"We're very confident we've been able to close the additional budget gap in (fiscal year) 2010 and in (fiscal year) 2011 we're going to be able to solve that problem without any new taxes at all and without any real significant cuts," Christie said.

Skipping the "fiscalese," what happened was the budget freeze imposed by Gov. Christie when he took office generated more savings than expected, enough to cover much of the lost tax money.   http://wcbstv.com/politics/chris.christie.new.2.1714647.html
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[Ever hear of Separation of Church and State?]  Fox News reports:  The president's council envisions the government and religion partnering to push the good news of global warming, climate change and green issues. Yes, the religion of environmental and social justice.
The council hopes the new EPA faith office will also help churches and other non-profits improve "access to financing," including "establishing revolving loan programs or working with utility companies to help finance greening building projects."
Obama is merging the EPA with churches to make it easier for churches to get loans to green up and push green initiatives on their parishioners. On the one hand, if you don't cooperate, your 501c3 status could be in jeopardy, but if you help with the administration's agenda, why the government could help you build a new chapel.
The administration's emphasis on faith goes beyond cap-and-trade. Nancy Pelosi is now asking churches to help her pass immigration reform:  http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,593123,00.html?mep
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As mentioned in Big Journalism the other day:  Congressman Sestak, if you are telling the truth about the job offer and not being forthcoming, you are covering up a possible crime.  If you are not telling the truth, it is a different issue: you are lying to your constituents and to all Americans. Which is it Congressman, Pennsylvania voters need to know — are you lying, or are you covering up a crime?

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