Friday, April 23, 2010

Government Propagana, Sedition, and Ft. Hood Subpoena

Can't we all just get along?  No, I didn't think so...

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From Politico:  Rep. Darrell Issa, the top Republican on the House Oversight committee, is demanding a slew of documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission, asserting that the timing of civil charges against Goldman Sachs raises “serious questions about the commission’s independence and impartiality.”

Issa’s letter, addressed to SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro and signed by eight other House Republicans, asks whether the commission had any contact about the case, prior to its public release, with White House aides, Democratic Party committee officials, or members of Congress or their staff.

“[W]e are concerned that politics have unduly influenced the decision and timing of the commission’s controversial enforcement action against Goldman,” Issa writes.

Issa implied that the timing was a bit too convenient, saying President Barack Obama’s push on Wall Street reform “neatly coincided with the commission’s announcement of the suit.”
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AARP reports:  Cass Sunstein has favored the government using outside parties as government propaganda agents to paint their opposition as fringe and undermine their credibility.”  [Think Tea Party put-downs and disruptions.]
Astroturf is the act of professional interest groups designing campaigns that appear to be grassroots efforts, but are not. It is what the left has accused the tea parties of being. Only more and more it looks like the anti-tea party movement is truly astroturfing.
Writing on January 15, 2010, Glenn Greenwald at Salon noted Barack Obama’s new head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Cass Sunstein , had championed creating fake websites and using outside 501(c)(3) interest groups to act as alleged independent champions of government policy and to “cognitively infiltrate” opposition websites, etc.
In other words, Cass Sunstein has favored the government using outside parties as government propaganda agents to paint their opposition as fringe and undermine their credibility. Kind of like what has been happening with the tea party movement – lots of SEIU members pretending to be tea party activists causing violence in front of TV cameras.
Sunstein advocates that the Government’s stealth infiltration should be accomplished by sending covert agents into “chat rooms, online social networks, or even real-space groups.” He also proposes that the Government make secret payments to so-called “independent” credible voices to bolster the Government’s messaging
Considering Sunstein’s recommendations, it is not far removed to speculate the Obama administration is behind a new anti-tea party website called The Other 95 , which defends the government from tea party criticisms and attacks the tea party movement as fringe.
The website purports to be authentically grassroots, though one must wonder when the last time was any grassroots activist took the time to defend the government.
The designer is affilated with MoveOn.org and other leftwing sites and causes.
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On NBC's April 18 "The Chris Matthews Show," Time columnist Joe Klein all but accused former GOP vice-presidential nominee and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, along with Fox News host Glenn Beck of sedition.

"I did a little bit of research just before this show - it's on this little napkin here. I looked up the definition of sedition which is conduct or language inciting rebellion against the authority of the state. And a lot of these statements, especially the ones coming from people like Glenn Beck and to a certain extent Sarah Palin, rub right up close to being seditious."
[Proving that he is oh, so in touch with the values of Tea Party citizens], New York magazine's John Heilemann also suggested that the alleged up tick in militia activity is a result of the Obama presidency. Klein said it was not only the Obama presidency, but that he was "African-American," and had "Hussein" as a middle name, along with the "scary" economic crisis. [And I assume he thinks there is nothing inflammatory about these lies....]

Wednesday, April 21, 2010 Acorn CEO Bertha Lewis "Tea Party is a Bowel Movement", speaking at the Winter Conference of the Young Democratic Socialists on March 25, 2010.

The world now knows that ACORN is a dirty corrupt organization willing to break laws to make a buck by now but here is a video showing how Bertha Lewis (CEO of ACORN) really feels about Conservatives and the Tea Party Movement. If this doesn't give you an understanding of how our President feels about our Country nothing can turn you around. ACORN was Obama's family until he got into politics.  Part of her statements: "If any of you can say I'm young, I'm a Democrat, and I'm a Socialist" - Here she ardently claps... She added, "You’ve got to know, actually, we are living in a time that’s going to dwarf the McCarthy era. It is going to dwarf the internment of World War II. We are right now in a time that is going to dwarf the era of Jim Crow and segregation.
They are coming. And they are coming after you. And they are going to be brutal and oppressive. They’ve already shown it. … This is not rhetoric or hyperbole — this is real. … This tea party so-called movement — a bowel-movement in my estimation — and this blatant uncovering and ripping off the mask of racism." [I believe that any fair-minded person will see this as inflammatory speech, and none of it true.  I have heard black men and gays on the radio saying they have never been anywhere else where they are so warmly accepted and embraced as at Tea Parties - except for insults from black and gay anti-Tea Party protesters, of course.]
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Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Health Care Fines for Congress & Other Health Care Issues

From Reason Magazine: Not only will members of Congress and their staffs lose their health care plans under ObamaCare, it now looks like they'll be fined millions for doing so: Congress may be fined tens of millions of dollars a year under its own health-care law, in part because the bill dumps members of Congress and their staffs from their current health-care plans. But no one really knows for sure what the bill does, not even the experts. For instance, exactly who qualifies as an “employer”—and therefore is subject to fines up to $3,000 per employee—is undefined in the bill.
If Congress were subject to a $3,000 fine for each of its employees, it would need to shell out approximately $50 million each year to Uncle Sam. Congress’s research arm, the Congressional Research Service (CRS), informally confirmed the possibility to Republican aides.
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Front Page Magazine reports: The UK Department of Health recently announced that it would loosen hygiene rules for Muslim and Sikh doctors and nurses. From now on, Muslim female staff will not need to wash their hands before procedures as it compromises their modesty. Instead, they will have the admittedly less sanitary option of wearing disposable plastic over-sleeves. Acknowledging the danger of microbes and death, a Department of Health spokesman said, “The guidance is intended to . . . balance infection control measures with cultural beliefs.” [Coming to a hospital in the USA someday?]
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Think tank analysts usually brim with pride when the president of the United States goes around claiming that his policies are based on their work. But when President Obama tries to sell his health-care law as a moderate approach that borrows ideas developed by the Heritage Foundation, we get incensed. (Snip) This is why we at the Heritage Foundation respectfully ask President Obama and his acolytes to stop misrepresenting our research. We think this massive health law is abominable and should be repealed. And until Congress repeals it, lawmakers should starve this monstrosity of taxpayer funds.
It began when President Obama told "Today" show host Matt Lauer on March 30 that "a lot of ideas in terms of the exchange, just being able to pool and improve the purchasing power of individuals in the insurance market, that originated from the Heritage Foundation."
First, Heritage did not originate the concept of the health insurance exchange. Furthermore, the version of the exchange we did develop couldn't be more different than that embodied in this law.
For us, the health insurance exchange is to be designed by the states. It is conceived as a market mechanism that allows individuals and families to choose among a wide range of health plans and benefit options for those best suited to their personal needs and circumstances. People would have a property right in their health policy, just like auto or homeowners' policies, and be able to take it with them from job to job.
Under the Heritage design, individuals could choose the health plan they want without losing the tax benefits of employer-sponsored coverage. The exchange we propose would be open to all state residents and -- very importantly -- be free of federal regulation.
The other charge -- repeated on this page and elsewhere -- is that the federal individual mandate in Obama's health-care plan came from us.
For the record, we think that the law's federal mandate is unconstitutional. Our legal center, led by former attorney general Edwin Meese III, notes that Congress has no authority to force an American to buy any good or service merely as a requirement of being alive.
Yes, in the early 1990s, we, along with other prominent conservative economists, supported the idea of such a mandate. It seemed the only way to solve the "free-rider" problem, in which individuals can, under federal law, walk into any hospital emergency room nationwide and rack up big bills at taxpayer expense.
Our research in the ensuing two decades has led us to realize our initial idea was operationally ineffective and legally defective. Well before Obama was elected, we dropped it. In the spring 2008 edition of the Harvard Health Policy Review, I advanced far better alternatives to the individual mandate to expand coverage, relying on positive tax incentives and other mechanisms to facilitate enrollment in private health insurance. This is what researchers and fact-based policymakers do when they discover new facts or conduct deeper analysis.
The president and his supporters invoke the Heritage Foundation to convince the American people that his health bill is somehow a middle-of-the-road approach. It isn't. So please, Mr. President, stop it.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/18/AR2010041802727_pf.html
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In an election year dominated by health care, dozens of candidates for Congress have a catchy campaign slogan at their disposal: Send a doctor to the House.
Forty-seven physicians — 41 Republicans and six Democrats— are running for the House or Senate this year, three times the number of doctors serving in Congress today, according to a USA TODAY review.
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On the most recent "Two Guys Named Joe" podcast from political consultants Joe DiSano and Joe Munem, U.S. Representative John Conyers, D-Detroit, repeatedly referred to tea party activists as "tea baggers" [Do you readers even know what a "tea bagger" is?  Suffice it to say, it is highly derogatory and lewd, and a misuse of tea party principles] and said that their "rational abilities" are "compromised" because of their anger.
"We are here now to understand the frustration of the tea baggers and the people who are angry," said Conyers. "Many times when you're angry, your rational abilities are compromised."
The comments came at the Michigan Democratic Party endorsement convention.
Conyers, who is Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, turned the conversation towards the tea parties and the recent health care bill after being asked how Democrats could remain in contention in Michigan.
"The facts are, many of the tea baggers that were hollering and being profane and screaming and using profanity...guess what?  They are going to be beneficiaries [of the health care bill]."  [Here's a news flash for Conyers - we actually put our country and our grandchildren before ourselves.  Imagine that!  Sound to me like something JFK once asked of us. We don't want his health care!]

Monday, April 19, 2010

Abe Lincoln, The Right to Peaceably Assemble, A History Lesson, & Our Last Best Chance

 Abe Lincoln:
You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence.
You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.


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In February, President Obama signed a new Executive Order.  Although 88% of construction workers in America are NOT in a union, it requires contractors to sign union-only project labor agreements (PLAs) as a condition of performing work on federal and federally funded construction projects.The union workers are certainly getting their money's worth from this administration, and private enterprise is getting the short shrift.   The Card Check bill is the only step left, which mandates that workers must vote for or against unionization in public, not with a private ballot. Andy Stern, the most frequent visitor to the White House and the retiring President of SEIU must be so proud to be Obama's friend....
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 From the NYT: With the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing approaching, former President Bill Clinton last week drew parallels between the anti-government tone that preceded that devastating attack and the political tumult of today, saying government critics must be mindful that angry words can stir violent actions.  Mr. Clinton, who was in his first term at the time of the bombing, warned that attempts to incite opposition by demonizing the government can provoke responses beyond what political figures intend. “There can be real consequences when what you say animates people who do things you would never do"

My response to this is that our government should remember the Constitution and remember that they are our servants, not our dictators. If they actually govern in reasonable ways, the public would have no need to be so reactive. The Administration is now working full tilt on Cap and Tax, Amnesty for Illegals, and anything else they can pass before they lose the November elections. The fact that Obama has quadrupled the deficit in just one year, and the result will most likely be a VAT tax on top of all our other taxes, gives us reason to proclaim, as did a screaming Hillary Clinton during the last administration, "I'm sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and disagree with this administration, somehow you're not patriotic. We need to stand up and say we're Americans, and we have the right to debate and disagree with any administration."

President Clinton said about political disagreement:  "You can attack the politics. Criticize their policies. Don’t demonize them, and don’t say things that will encourage violent opposition.” Mr. Clinton called America a nation born out of protests, and said that he had no interest in reducing productive civic dialogue. Now that's a good thing.  We shall plead for a non-violent change in our government this November.

I would like to ask President Clinton if he was equally worried when Democrats to this day try to say that in spite of 3 or 4 recounts in Florida, George Bush was not a legitimate President.  Did he have a press conference or speech in which he decried the book and movie about President George Bush's death?  I know, you probably think I'm making this up.  However, here it is described: 
Bush's Assassination, a novella by Alien Cultist, was published in 2004 by Fiction Press and was listed as Fiction: Adventure/Parody:
I moved my aiming reticles back on Bush's head. Ugly little bugger. Then there was one click of the flashlight slowly, then a second, and a third, from which I then pulled the trigger. The noise of the shot was completely muffled by the crowd's applause for an idiot son of an asshole. Applause was quickly shifted to screams as the bullet rippled through his eye, and out the back of his head. He laid sprawled, and slightly twitching in his left leg, in his own pool of blood and brain tissue…."Pawn down," I smiled.
I wonder if President Clinton thought this to be inflammatory?
Or what about Harry Reid's proclamation that Bush was a liar?  Has he complained that from the very start, our government has repeatedly reported that Tea Party goers might be terrorists - or that we are dumb or racist or homophobic?  No, I didn't think so.
On NBC News last night a black man attending a Tea Party was asked by the reporter if he didn't feel rather lonely there.  His answer:  "No - these are my people.  They are Americans."


By the way, President Clinton, I imagine that what might have incited Timothy McVeigh 15 years ago were the debacles of your Administration, a show of awesome federal power over people: Waco, Ruby Ridge, and Elian Gonzalez......and it was a far left loon who went over the edge.  Keep in mind that conservatives like to keep things non-violent.  It was President Obama himself who said,  “If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun,” Obama said in Philadelphia last night. “Because from what I understand, folks in Philly like a good brawl. I’ve seen Eagles fans.”  And yet Clinton finds Sarah Palin's pledge to "reload" as dangerous....

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For those of you who don't remember, here's a bit of history about both events, each occurring during this
 President Clinton's time in office:
The Wall Street Journal, June 30, 1995, p. A14.
Ruby Ridge: The Justice Report
By James Bovard
The 1992 confrontation between federal agents and the Randy Weaver family in Ruby Ridge, Idaho, has become one of the most controversial and widely discussed examples of the abuse of federal power. The Justice Department completed a 542-page investigation on the case last year but has not yet made the report public. However, the report was acquired by Legal Times newspaper, which this week placed the text on the Internet. The report reveals that federal officials may have acted worse than even some of their harshest critics imagined.  http://www.stormfront.org/ruby.htm
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia  

The Waco Siege[3] began on February 28, 1993, when the United States ATM attempted to execute a search warrant at the Branch Davidian ranch at Mount Carmel, a property located nine miles (14 km) east-northeast of Waco, Texas. An exchange of gunfire resulted in the deaths of four agents and six followers of David Koresh. A subsequent 51-day siege by the Federal Bureau of Investigation ended on April 19 when fire destroyed the compound. Seventy-six people (24 of them British nationals)[4] died in the fire, including more than 20 children, two pregnant women, and Koresh himself.

Before the raid, Rick Ross advised the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) that arresting Koresh at Mt. Carmel in the presence of his followers would likely provoke a violent response. Joyce Sparks, an investigator from the Texas agency responsible for child protective services also advised ATF against such action.

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And who can forget Janet Reno, Attorney General to Clinton, and Elian Gonzalez?   I do wonder if any of these government oversteps are noted in current history books.  And we don't need to wonder if these actions might have upset some of those on the fringe.  What President Clinton might have said is that government overreach is once again inflammatory - this time in a grassroots peaceful way.
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Attorney general Janet Reno ordered the return of Elián to his father and set a deadline of April 13, 2000, but the Miami relatives defied the order. Negotiations continued for several days as the house was surrounded by protesters as well as police. The relatives insisted on guarantees that they could live with the child for several months and retain custody, and that Elián would not be returned to Cuba. Negotiations carried on throughout the night, but Reno stated that the relatives rejected all workable solutions. A Florida family court judge revoked Lázaro's temporary custody, clearing the way for Elián to be returned to his father's custody. On April 20, Reno made the decision to remove Elián González from the house and instructed law enforcement officials to determine the best time to obtain the boy. After being informed of the decision, Marisleysis said to a Justice Department community relations officer, "You think we just have cameras in the house? If people try to come in, they could be hurt."[12][13]
In the pre-dawn hours of April 22, pursuant to an order i issued by a federal magistrate, eight SWAT-equipped agents of the Border Patrol's elite BORTAC unit as part of an operation in which more than 130 INS personnel took part[14] approached the house; they knocked, and identified themselves. When no one responded from within, they entered the house. Pepper-spray and mace were employed against those outside the house who attempted to interfere. Nonetheless, a stool, rocks, and bottles were thrown at the agents.[15] In the confusion Armando Gutierrez called in Alan Diaz, of the Associated Press, to enter the house and entered a room with Elián, his great uncle's wife Angela Lázaro, her niece, the niece's young son, and Donato Dalrym ple (one of the fishermen who had rescued him from the ocean). They waited in the room listening to agents search the house. It was later falsely claimed by Marisleysis Gonzalez, that once they found the locked door to the room, agents kicked it down; however, photos taken by Alan Diaz prove that the door was intact and the damage to it, as well as damage that Marisleysis claimed was done to the room and to Elián's bed, had all been done after the INS agents had left, most likely by the residents of the house.[16]
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I am deeply offended by this Administrations' attempts to diminish what is truly an American right - to peacefully assemble and to disagree with our government.  Words like Obama's, Pelosi's and Clinton's will not quell our vigor to defend what is America's greatness!  It is Obama's friend William Ayers (who actually bombed buildings in rebellion against government) whom President Clinton should have referenced, perhaps.
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Following is what I wrote to the local newspaper.  I am surprised they printed it.
We deserve to hear the truth.  The people who attend Tea Party functions are not violent – they are trying to get their words heard by a Congress who doesn’t seem to care what they think.  Many are taking a peaceful, energetic stand for the first time in their lives.  The reason there is such high “rage” against this health care bill is that this law was passed by flaunting the precedents set by Social Security with yeas and nays of both houses at 449 to 39, and Medicare passage with yeas and nays of 377-130.  Whenever Congress forces onto us a bill of this magnitude with absolutely no bi-partisanship, the Founding Fathers are being ignored and the citizens are entitled to be outraged – and energized. 
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Democrats will make fun of us, marginalize us, demonize us, ignore us, and underestimate us - at their own peril - come November.  We are not giving up because they want us to, or because they threaten us in various ways to quell our influence.  For there is nothing so powerful as the Silent Majority finally deciding they've had enough!
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Please!  We now have less than 7 months to make a difference. I truly believe that this is our last best time to right what is wrong with government, to prevent a VAT tax, to defund or repeal the healthcare bill, to stave off Cap and Tax, amnesty for illegals (along with their always democrat votes), and perhaps even the government take-over of our (401)Ks (yes, that is now being considered).  It is time for  most Americans to once again be engaged by paying at least a small income tax (currently only less than 50% actually pay taxes, with some getting money because they don't pay taxes).  Please send my blogs on to your email lists.  You are MY group of possible influence.  Please consider developing your own group by informing your contacts of the truth. With apologies to my family for not having as much time with them til November - I am redoubling my efforts.  What can you do?