Cloward and Piven, in action on poverty measures; The Keystone Pipeline decision; Congressmen put pressure on what tv shows they expect a company to advertise; Biomass business to shut down due to expense; Voter fraud matters to voters; Keystone may pass with no tax hikes; Obama wants to control our nation in order to redistribute its wealth

Now THIS is what poor looks like in Africa........
 
[Just as the Cloward and Piven strategy directs, more and more people are now on the government dole, an effective way to collapse the system and have people begging for government to take over...]

Traditionally, a U.S. household was considered “low income” or “near poor” if it had income below 200 percent of the official poverty income thresholds. The Obama administration has raised those income thresholds and thereby transformed the way the government measures poverty and near poverty.
Under President Obama’s new definitions, a family of four in Oakland is “near poor” if their annual pre-tax income is less than $89,700 plus medical insurance. In metropolitan Washington, D.C., the near-poverty line became $80,500. In New York, it’s now $78,500; in Boston, $68,900; and Chicago, $68,600.
One result: The income level for “near poverty” is now very close to the median household income in most communities. (Median income means half the households have more income and half have less.)
So it should be no surprise that, with these new standards, the Census Bureau “discovered” that almost half the U.S. population lives in or “near” poverty. The system is designed to produce that result.
The Obama administration’s new poverty measures are high-octane political propaganda. By dramatically expanding the definition of poverty (and near poverty), the administration furthers the president’s agenda to “spread the wealth.” By artificially inflating the number of Americans counted as poor or near poor, the administration expects to generate political pressure to expand the welfare state and raise taxes
Obama already has permanently increased welfare spending by nearly a third. http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/286046/how-obamas-other-half-lives-robert-rector
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The Hill reports: Republicans want to jam Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on the Keystone oil sands pipeline and the Democratic leader will have a tough time resisting given support within his caucus for the project.
GOP leaders have made clear to Reid that they will not approve an extension of the payroll tax holiday unless it includes language to speed up construction of the pipeline.
Senate Republicans estimate as many as 14 Senate Democrats support the project. Labor unions have also voiced strong backing, complicating Reid’s endgame talks with GOP leaders. http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/199995-gop-counts-on-democratic-support-as-it-tries-to-jam-reid-on-keystone-pipeline
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Mlive writes: [So now we can expect our government to tell us just who can and cannot advertise on tv shows?  I ask what business it is of Congress to even be discussing tv advertising... And now a US Congressman is considering the boycott of an Amerian company.] US Representatives Hansen Clarke (D-Detroit), Gary Peters (D-Bloomfield Twp.) and John Dingell (D-Dearborn) were among 32 congressmen who authored a letter asking Lowe's chairman and chief executive to reconsider his advertising decision regarding "All-American Muslim."
The home-improvement chain pulled its advertising from the TLC show, which examines the lives of five Muslim families in Dearborn, after pressure from right-wing groups.
Loew's has said it does not plan to reconsider its decision, which hasn't stifled nationwide outrage.  In an unrelated political move, California Senator Ted Lieu has said he is considering calling for a boycott of the corporation.http://www.mlive.com/tv/index.ssf/2011/12/congressmen_hansen_clarke_gary.html
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Biomass Magazine reports: Cliffs Natural Resources, Inc. said it plans to shut down and sell a biomass production plant in Marquette, MI because it has failed to perform at levels that justify continued operation.  The facility was built to make high-energy, low-emissionbiofuel cubes from sustainable collected wood and agricultural feed stocks.

After just a few months of production, Cliffs Natural Resources Inc.’s biomass cube production facility in Michigan could close its doors, a result of the plant’s performance not reaching design capacity and expected production levels.
Cliffs’ board of directors is contemplating idling and selling the plant, with an expected financial impact of about $30 million, according to the company. The plant, operated by Cliffs’ subsidiary Renewafuel LLC, is in the Telkite Technology Park near Sawyer International Airport in Marquette, Mich., and just began production in the first half of this year. The plant delivered its first commercial supply of biofuel cubes, made from locally sourced wood and agricultural feedstocks, to the Marquette Board of Light and Power in July, according to Cliffs.  [I guess they weren't smart enough to get one of those Obama stimulus package bailouts or investments...]   http://biomassmagazine.com/articles/5830/renewafuel-biomass-cube-production-plant-could-shut-down
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Powerline writes: We have been covering the Democrats’ effort to improve their 2012 electoral position by beating back the efforts of numerous states to prevent voter fraud. Eric Holder is the point man for the Democrats in this campaign. While stirring racial division may help energize the Democrats’ base, it appears that the anti-ballot integrity movement will not be popular with the broader electorate. Scott Rasmussen finds that an overwhelming 75% support photo ID requirements. Eric Holder, meanwhile, is increasingly unpopular, with 19% favorable/43% unfavorable ratings among likely voters. This probably relates mostly to Fast and Furious, but Holder is not a strong figure to carry the anti-ballot security message.
The Democrats also hope to stir up their base by attacking state efforts to curb illegal immigration. Here, too, they are paddling the canoe uphill, as likely voters say, by a 52%/34% margin that they would like their state to enact an immigration law like Arizona’s.
Finally, President Obama’s Iowa speech of a week ago signaled that the Democrats will make inequality their big campaign theme in 2012. This would make more sense if Obama hadn’t been president for the last three years, but I suppose you could say that about nearly any issue. The problem, once again, is that while railing against the “rich” may fire up the far left, it doesn’t do much for most voters. Gallup finds that growing and expanding the economy is given high priority by 82% of Americans and increasing equality of opportunity for people to get ahead if they want to is considered very important by 70%, while only 46% attribute high priority to reducing the income gap between rich and poor.  http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2011/12/dems-still-on-the-losing-end.php

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Townhall writes: A senior GOP source tells me that Democrats have agreed to a two-month extension of the temporary payroll tax cuts -- plus unemployment benefits and the "doc fix" -- with some extra Christmas goodies for conservatives.  Quote: "Two-month extension, PLUS Keystone.  Fully paid for; no tax hikes.  Hallelujah."  Rumors are flying that the president is preparing to retreat from his ill-advised veto threat over Keystone, as conservatives, Democrats, and labor unions have rallied around it:  http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2011/12/16/victory_ii_democrats_cave_on_keystone_in_payroll_tax_cut_deal
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American Thinker opines: In 1776, King George III dictated to a group of colonies separated from him by great distance.  Today, we have a president who preaches at (not even to) us, who is totally out of touch with reality.  Like King George, the president is separated greatly from his subjects, but his isolation is due to ideological blinders.
The president blames the rich -- not his policies -- for all our national woes.  He wants to control the nation in order to redistribute its wealth.  We the People want to be independent and free.  We, the creators of wealth, want to become the rich, not destroy them.  As true liberals and therefore followers of John Locke, we deplore being dependent on the government and resent control by the government.  Like the Founding Fathers, we will resist.

In 1776, the monarchy -- the government -- controlled our lives, our liberty, our property, and our precious honor.  In response, we declared a Bill of Rights, which was not a list of rights at all.  It was a list of constraints against the government imposing its will on us.  Our nation was founded in defense of one single right for Americans: to be free.
There is one huge difference between 1776 and today.  Then, we were powerless unless and until we took up arms.  Today, we do have power: the power of a single vote multiplied by hundreds of millions.

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/12/we_need_not_repeat_1776.html#ixzz1gnRfIXuP

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