April 30, 2010

Washington DC: “It’s all our money”

It’s getting scary out there folks.  We have GOT to get these lunatics out of office. – Poor Richard

Bailout Bill Would Require Banks to Track and Report Personal Checking Accounts to Feds

by Capitol Confidential

It’s amazing to watch the civil libertarians hide when Democrats propose the most sweeping intrusions of privacy in generations.  In addition to the litany of bad policies contained in the Dodd Financial Reform bill is this nugget on pages 1039-1040.

In short, it extends government reach to every deposit account of every citizen.

Subtitle G of the Dodd discussion draft bill requires that records be maintained and reported “for each branch, automated teller machine at which deposits are accepted, and other deposit taking service facility with respect to any financial institution, the financial institution shall maintain a record of the number and dollar amounts of deposit accounts of customers.”

What’s worse, banks will be required to submit these records to the new super regulatory agency called the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (page 1041).  The CFPA will be allowed to use this information for any purpose “as permitted by law” under CFPA rules—rules set by CFPA themselves.

So, lets get this straight—the law requires banks to snoop on its customers MOST PERSONAL INFORMATION and submit it to another government agency so it can be used anyway the CFPA see’s fit.

So, if the CFPA Czar see’s fit, information about your deposit account activity could be shared with the IRS, immigration officials, state officials, or any other entity that the Administration and their various Czar’s think beneficial.

Read the whole darned thing.

Filed Under: Czars, Finance, Outrage Leave a Comment
April 30, 2010

Abandoning Israel

Republicans, Democrats and Israel

By Caroline B. Glick * Jewish World Review April 29, 2010 / 15 Iyar 5770

Bipartisan support for Israel has been one of the greatest casualties of US President Barack Obama’s assault on the Jewish state.

Today, as Republican support for Israel reaches new heights, support for Israel has become a minority position among Democrats.
More…
JWR contributor Caroline B. Glick is the senior Middle East Fellow at the Center for Security Policy in Washington, DC and the deputy managing editor of The Jerusalem Post. Comment by clicking here.

Filed Under: Foreign Policy, National Politics, National Security, Opinion Leave a Comment
April 30, 2010

Casablanca comes to America

Musings by Poor Richard

Do you have yours?


Rick’s Letters of Transit from the movie Casablanca.  When the Right to Travel, and the Right to Work are placed in jeopardy, so too is the very fabric of American society.

Government must never have control over one’s ability to seek or keep employment. How many ‘Major Straussers’ are waiting in the wings to deny you passage or work?

Your life will be controlled by a database.  How many screw ups will occur daily?

What happens when your info is “accidentally” deleted because you owe more taxes?

Corporations cannot pass a single law.  Corporations cannot take away your freedom.  Corporations do not have guns.  That which can destroy a thing, controls a thing.

Fear a government with the power to destroy your life.  The evidence is piling up and for once, the ACLU is on the right side of something.

  • Obama and Congress pass $767 Billion Dollars in new taxes during recession;
  • Obama and Congress pass TARP, Bailouts, etc. increasing debt $14 Trillion;
  • Obama and Congress pass “Stimulus” to bloat government employment;
  • Obama and Congress keep SS/Medicare $107 Trillion Dollar liability unfunded;
  • Obama and Congress keep economy reeling from 17% unemployment;
  • Obama and Congress extraordinarily hostile to small business / private sector;
  • Obama and Congress ram Obamacare despite 60% opposition and $2.5T cost;
  • Obamacare mandates individuals purchase insurance or be subject to fines;
  • Obama creates 16,500 new IRS Agents to enforce Obamacare;
  • EPA seeks control over all the nation’s waterways whether navigable or not;
  • Congress seeks to increase Democrat power permanently with Puerto Rico 51 law;
  • Obama wants to decide when “you’ve made too much”‘;
  • Congress wants to pass immigration “reform” to import more democrat votes;
  • Obama’s secret corps of 80,000 troops can be used for domestic terrorists;
  • Tea Partiers, returning military veterans called domestic terrorists;
  • Obama calls SWAT team out to intimidate Quincy IL Tea Party free speech;
  • Congress call for National ID Card in order to work alarms everyone

Dems Spark Alarm with Call for National ID Card

By Alexander Bolton – 04/30/10 06:00 AM ET

A plan by Senate Democratic leaders to reform the nation’s immigration laws ran into strong opposition from civil liberties defenders before lawmakers even unveiled it Thursday.

Democratic leaders have proposed requiring every worker in the nation to carry a national identification card with biometric information, such as a fingerprint, within the next six years, according to a draft of the measure.

The proposal is one of the biggest differences between the newest immigration reform proposal and legislation crafted by late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

The national ID program would be titled the Believe System, an acronym for Biometric Enrollment, Locally stored Information and Electronic Verification of Employment.

It would require all workers across the nation to carry a card with a digital encryption key that would have to match work authorization databases.

“The cardholder’s identity will be verified by matching the biometric identifier stored within the microprocessing chip on the card to the identifier provided by the cardholder that shall be read by the scanner used by the employer,” states the Democratic legislative proposal.

The American Civil Liberties Union, a civil liberties defender often aligned with the Democratic Party, wasted no time in blasting the plan. More…

Filed Under: Corruption, Czars, National Politics, Opinion Tagged With: Leave a Comment
April 30, 2010

Momentum: State #16

I love it when a plan comes together.” – Poor Richard

Nevada to Join Suits Against Obamacare
by  Connie Hair
04/06/2010

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s home state of Nevada is expected today to join 15 other states that have filed suit to challenge the constitutionality of Obamacare.

Nevada Democratic Atty. Gen. Catherine Cortez Mastro has refused to challenge the law on behalf of the state at the request of the Republican Gov. Jim Gibbons. But Gibbons says he has found that a Nevada law restricting the governor from taking up the matter without consent of the attorney general has a giant loophole that will allow Nevada to join other states’ suits challenging provisions of the healthcare legislation.

“The law is clear that in the State of Nevada we cannot without her authority hire for compensation an attorney to represent the State of Nevada,” Gibbons told Fox News’ Neil Cavuto.  “The law is silent as to actions outside of the State of Nevada and having an attorney represent the State of Nevada for nothing, in other words pro bono.  We are assuming the law allows for that and we are going to move forward by joining the Florida lawsuit that’s outside the State of Nevada.  We have attorneys and firms that are doing it for nothing so there is no cost to the state.”

Attorneys General from Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington have already sued the federal government independently or have joined the State of Florida in their challenge. Louisiana’s Attorney General is the sole Democrat.

According to a new Rasmussen poll released yesterday, 57% of Nevada voters said that Obamacare is bad for the country.  Sen. Reid’s numbers are also dismal with all three of the possible Republican challengers leading in the poll, two of them by double digits.

More…

Hat tip Poor Richard.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Leave a Comment
April 30, 2010

Hating the Middle Class

Prelude
I lived in the bay area of northern California with my family for 5 years.  We made frequent trips to the Napa valley, Sonoma area, Russian River Valley, etc. and I got to know a little bit about wine.

When I moved to Austin 10 years later, I met a wine shop merchant who had a very erudite British accent.  He and I got to know each other, and I would ask his recommendation on wines.  He eventually figured out that I knew a bit myself.

By and by, I asked him what had brought him to America from Britain.  He told me that he had been an accountant there, sold his practice a few years ago, and he and his wife had moved to Austin because of something he had read on the internet.   They bought the wine shop and off they went.

I was a little taken aback, and asked him “So you weren’t in the trade before coming here?  You seem to know quite a lot about wine”  I will never forget what he said:

“B–, the difference between you, a layman, and me, a wine expert, is my accent” and here he held his thumb and forefinger a quarter inch apart “and this much knowledge.”

“Professionals” and “Experts” in most categories are us, with a 15 minute head start.

~ Texas Ranger

—————————————-

Just found this on Townhall.  Of course, I don’t limit my assessment to just the middle class.  Liberals hate anyone (other than themselves) who become successful, especially those who just want to or are about to.  In the liberal prison, there is only working for the state.  No time off for good behavior and no reprieve. If you “make too much” you are evil by definition.  Of course, that’s only if you’re one of the bad conservative rich. – P.R.

Hating the Middle Class

by Emmett Tyrrell * Thursday, April 29, 2010

WASHINGTON — The liberals hate the middle class. There, I said it, and I am glad. Once again I am a truth teller, in this case speaking truth to stone heads. So certain am I of the truth of my asseveration that I honestly doubt any liberal will take issue with me. Can you imagine a liberal coming forward and saying: “Wrong, Tyrrell! I love the middle class.” Well, I guess I can imagine it, because liberals are effortless liars.
…
The tea party movement is another perfectly middle-class phenomenon that sets off fires of indignation with the liberals. I could understand if they simply disagreed with the tea partyers. The tea partyers favor freedom, limited government, low taxes and addressing the staggering debt that government is piling up. These are values that liberals do not champion. But the liberals have to go further, depicting the tea partyers as violent racists. Once again we see how fluently the liberals lie, starting by lying to themselves.

More…

Filed Under: Uncategorized Leave a Comment
April 30, 2010

Citizens in Action News

Citizens in Action – Taking Action to Take America Back!
Help override the “no” votes in this poll concerning illegal immigration laws! Click here.

Poll is located in the center column. Please vote before it is removed!

Other news:

Citizens in Action has publicly announced its endorsement of Clay Thibodeau (CA’s 45th Congressional District) and Bill Parson (NV Senate) on two separate Blog Talk Radio programs. To listen to the archived copies of these shows, go to: blogtalkradio.com/cia-report

Please visit the websites of Clay Thibodeau http://www.clay4usa.com/ and Bill Parson http://www.parsonforsenate2010.com/
If possible, volunteer to help with their campaigns–making phone calls, going door-to-door–whatever is needed to get these two great Constitutional Patriots elected to office! Financial donations are also greatly appreciated! No amount is too small–every dollar helps and will be put to good use! Donations can be made through their websites.

We are still working on scheduling John Dennis and Chuck DeVore for interviews announcing CIA’s endorsement of their campaigns.

Citizens in Action’s Board of Directors is pleased to announce that after our interview with Larry Naritelli, Citizens in Action will be endorsing him and his campaign for Governor of California!

If there is a candidate running for office in your state that you would like us to consider for endorsement, please contact me (Elizabeth) so that we can discuss scheduling him or her for a vetting interview. Email me at: ecowan@ciausa.net

Thank you for joining in our fight for America!
Elizabeth, Barbara, Ron, Bruce, and Rosemary

Visit Citizens in Action here and be sure to check out their FREE Fax Center.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Leave a Comment
April 30, 2010

David Sibley Caught in a Lie

by Donna Garner

David Sibley is running against Brian Birdwell for a Republican seat in the Texas Senate (District 22).  It was disturbing enough when I added up David Sibley’s lobbying fees posted on the Texas Ethics Commission website — more than $13.5 Million in 7 years.  However, now we learn even more unsettling information about Sibley:  He gave campaign donations to some of the most liberal Democrat legislators in the Texas legislature — Hochberg, Rose, Herrero, and Shapleigh.

Texas Senator Eliot Shapleigh (El Paso) is closely associated with Texas Freedom Network/Planned Parenthood/Human Rights Campaign (homosexual organization) and led the fight to vilify publicly Don McLeroy, chairman of the Texas State Board of Education.  Because of Shapleigh and the liberal coalition, McLeroy ended up being driven out of his Board seat.

What was McLeroy’s crime?  He helped to lead the way for Texas students to study all sides (i.e., both strengths and weaknesses) of scientific theories, including evolution.  McLeroy also committed the “unpardonable sin” of leading the way for all public school students to become proficient in English!

By Sibley supporting the election of liberal Texas Senator Shapleigh, we have Sibley to hold accountable for Shapleigh’s damaging legislative activities.

When Sibley’s Democrat donations were brought to light by the Brian Birdwell campaign at the Waco Republican Women’s Club meeting last week, what did Sibley do?  He “misspoke” (i.e., lied) and tried to cover up his donations.

Here are excerpts from today’s Mike Hailey’s Capitol Inside.

Birdwell Rips GOP Rival in Senate Battle on Contributions in the Past to Democrats

By Mike Hailey, Capitol Inside Editor * April 30, 2010

…Birdwell, a retired Army officer who’s competing against Sibley and two other candidates in a special election next week for an open state Senate seat in Central Texas, contended that the former state senator [David Sibley] who wants his old job back told the Waco Republican Women club earlier this week that he’d never donated to Democratic candidates when they faced GOP opposition in political campaigns.

But Birdwell pointed to Texas Ethics Commission records that show that Sibley did give campaign cash to nine Democratic incumbents when they were running for re-election against Republican foes in competitive races during the past six years…

Birdwell, who was severely injured in the terrorist attack on the Pentagon nine yers ago, sought and obtained an opinion early this week from a retired judge who agreed that he’d been a resident of Texas for 37 years even though he’d been out of the state part of that time on military duty or when being treated for burns suffered on 9/11…

Six of the Democrats who received contributions from Sibley – State Reps. David Farabee of Wichita Falls, Abel Herrero of Corpus Christi, Scott Hochberg of Houston, Mark Homer of Paris, Jim McReynolds of Lufkin and Patrick Rose of Dripping Springs – accepted donations from the ex-legislator for contested general election races that were pivotal in the minority party’s push to reclaim the majority that it held in the lower chamber until the GOP seized control seven years ago.

Sibley gave money as well to former House member Robby Cook of Eagle Lake in 2006 for his last winning bid against a Republican challenger in a battle for a Central Texas seat that the GOP captured two years later when he didn’t seek re-election. Sibley donated to State Rep. Chuck Hopson of Jacksonville in 2008 for a battle that a GOP challenger almost won in what turned out to be the incumbent’s last campaign as a Democrat before becoming a Republican himself a year later.

The list of Democrats who reported contributions from Sibley included State Senator Eliot Shapleigh, an El Paso lawmaker who took $1,000 from his former Senate colleague a month before he prevailed in a battle with Republican Dee Margo…

Sibley’s campaign acknowledges that he misspoke when telling the women’s organization that he hadn’t ever given money to Democrats for battles with Republican opponents…

But Republican National Committeeman Bill Crocker, who’s been a Birdwell supporter since he launched his bid to replace former Senate member Kip Averitt, said Sibley’s contributions to Democrats were still cause for concern among conservative voters in the heavily Republican SD 22.

“Lobbyist David Sibley’s pattern of supporting some of the most liberal Democrats in Texas is a serious matter for anyone who calls themselves a conservative,” Crocker said. “Despite David Sibley’s assurances that he had not supported Democrats against Republicans, the facts speak for themselves. This is troubling to those of us who have worked hard to build a Republican majority in this state.”

Sibley, who served in the Senate for 11 years before stepping down in 2002, had given to several dozen Democratic candidates for the Legislature after leaving the Legislature…

While the winner of the special contest will serve through the remainder of 2010 until Averitt’s unexpired term expires, the 10 county chairs for both major political parties will choose replacement nominees for the general election ballot if the former senator who won the Republican primary election in a re-election race he’s cancelled in January officially withdraws as the nominee before late August.

IMPORTANT: May 8, 2010, is the special election date to fill the Senate District 22 seat vacated by Sen. Kip Averitt.

The early voting period for this special election runs from April 26 to May 4, 2010.

Filed Under: Education, Elections, Texas State News Leave a Comment
April 30, 2010

Now that’s funny

Hat tip Poor Richard.

Filed Under: Cartoons, Texas State News Leave a Comment
April 30, 2010

Rude awakening to radical agenda

Heather Liggett: Janie is one of the Dallas leaders working to drive this SBOE mission to a final vote.  She is awesome and really did get attacked by some members of the SBOE who do not wish to have any conservative balance in the standards.

I would just like to add a personal anecdote related to the article below.  Following my testimony at the SBOE hearing in Austin in January, I was practically accosted by an “education expert” – a Hispanic social studies teacher who wanted to speak to me out in the hall.  She was very agitated and unhappy with my testimony denouncing socialism.  During our conversation, she said that other countries had better forms of government than ours. I asked which ones, and she gave France as an example, as it is a “social democracy”.   That is what they (the educrats) are working toward – the fundamental transformation of America (gee, where have I heard that before?).   I guess these are the kind of “education experts,” along with William Ayers, Kevin Jennings and other radicals, that we are supposed to defer to, according to our newly elected SBOE members.

Yes, we have much work to do. ~ Janie Brittain

Parents ‘Awakened’ to District Education Agenda

Education Reporter * Eagle Forum * April 2010

Hundreds of parents have a message for the Alpine School District (ASD) board in Utah: We want comprehensive change. A few already monitor curriculum, but many others were roused to action by a relative newcomer to their community.

Susan Schnell’s family moved to Utah hoping for a better education and environment for their five children. “I told my children . . . we didn’t have to fear indoctrination” in Utah schools like they had experienced in California. A year and a half later, Schnell wasn’t so sure.

It all began when Schnell’s 6th-grade daughter’s history teacher argued with the eleven-year-old that the United States is a democracy rather than a constitutional republic in class. He also told her the book of quotes from the Founding Fathers on her desk was “pure science fiction.”

Since her daughter was being taught historical fallacies, and wasn’t being challenged in other classes, Schnell decided to homeschool her for the rest of the year. She went to the district office to fill out the paperwork, and was shocked to see a 30-foot mural that read, “Enculturating the Young into a Social and Political Democracy.” Schnell wondered why the district’s motto emphasized politics instead of educational excellence.

Further investigation led to even more questions. The ASD mission statement is “Educating all students to ensure the future of our democracy.” Furthermore, the mission webpage linked to an essay titled, “America: Republic or Democracy?” by radical Green Party activist William P. Meyers of California. Meyers believes the Founding Fathers were “predatory elitists” who started the U.S. as a Republic for their own selfish gain, and that for two centuries people have been working to correct that “dangerous mistake” by transforming the nation to a Socialist Democracy.

Incensed and armed with more research, Schnell fired off an email alerting other parents. “These dangerous ideas are linked to . . . radical socialists who have discovered that the best way to change a nation is to indoctrinate — enculturate — our children and their teachers through ‘democracy’ training,” she wrote.

Schnell, who has a teaching degree, insisted that she does not believe school staff are intentionally trying to corrupt children. “The way I see it is that ASD is the keeper of the well. . . . They might not be the ones poisoning the water, but they have let the poison seep into . . . our schools by adopting false educational ideas which stem from radical progressives.”

More…

Filed Under: Uncategorized Leave a Comment
April 30, 2010

Arizona law puts American lives first, because our federal government won’t

April 29, 9:39 PM * Reno Conservative Examiner * by Kelly Anderson Wright

Forget the politicians’ clever sound bites and soulful promises: our federal government doesn’t care about us. Despite our pleading to five presidential administrations, the Feds have failed to protect our international border with Mexico. Arizona just can’t take it anymore.
Can you blame them? Arizonans have endured 25 years of steadily increasing border crime, violence, drug trafficking, kidnapping and murder. Arizona lawmakers finally took matters into their own hands and passed a state law that mirrors federal law, making it a crime to be an illegal immigrant in Arizona. Their logic is, if the Feds won’t enforce the immigration laws already on the books, they will, in their state. Arizona tienes cajones, hombre! (Translation: Arizona has balls, dude!)
Think Arizona has gone too far? According to our own federal Justice Department, 3 border patrol agents a day are attacked by foreigners deliberately entering our country illegally, and most are criminals fleeing Mexico. In Phoenix, 1 person is kidnapped every 35 hours by illegals.
For the past 15 years, Arizona has begged the federal government to secure their state’s international border, which is explicitly the Feds’ job, not Arizona’s.

More…

Filed Under: 10th Amendment States Rights, American Culture, Immigration, Law Enforcement Leave a Comment
April 30, 2010

GOP takes aim at MALC for “pretend” hearing

“If MALC wants to get in touch with their inner children, play dress up and have a pretend committee hearing, I’m sure they can rent a community center somewhere and have themselves a ball. But holding a blatantly political pep rally on the Texas taxpayer’s dime may be a little more serious. It may be an unethical and illegal use of state resources.” ~ Bryan Preston

Commentary by Donna Garner

From what I have heard, the first question out of a MALC member’s mouth after Texas Commissioner of Education Robert Scott gave a few summary statements was something like, “How come Thomas Jefferson was dropped from the Social Studes standards?”  That shows the lack of knowledge exhibited by the MALC members because the new Social Studies standards mention Thomas Jefferson more times than they mention George Washington.

The truth is that liberal Democrats fear the power of our ELECTED State Board of Education because the majority of the Board members are intent on putting our Texas public schools on the road to authentic education reform and to do so are rocking the boat of the status quo establishment.

TEXAS POLITICS — 4.29.10

GOP takes aim at MALC for “pretend” hearing

by Gary Scharrer

The Texas Republican Party takes a dim view of the special hearing called by the Mexican American Legislative Caucus Wednesday when a number of history professors and other specialists told lawmakers the proposed social studies curriculum standards were badly flawed.

Republicans called it a “pretend” hearing, contending the caucus had no legal standing to conduct such a hearing, which was broadcast live on the Internet from one of the Capitol’s legislative committee hearing rooms.

MALC is a political caucus, not a legislative committee, Texas Republicans pointed out while questioning the cost of convening such a hearing.

At least one state employee was used throughout the day in the “hearing” itself, party officials said in a news release Thursday.

“If MALC wants to get in touch with their inner children, play dress up and have a pretend committee hearing, I’m sure they can rent a community center somewhere and have themselves a ball,” said Texas GOP spokesman Bryan Preston. “But holding a blatantly political pep rally on the Texas taxpayer’s dime may be a little more serious. It may be an unethical and illegal use of state resources.”

The release stated: “MALC tried to badger State Board of Education Chairman Gail Lowe, R-Lampasas, into attending the spectacle, even though as a political caucus, MALC has no power to hold hearings whatsoever.”

The criticism didn’t cause MALC Chairman Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, to wilt at complaints from what he considers “the extreme right-wing faction of the Republican Party.”

“Rather than be part of the solution, the GOP has decided to hurl baseless insults aimed at distracting Texans from the real problems facing the SBOE,” Martinez Fischer said. “Talking out of both sides of his mouth, GOP spokesman Bryan Preston decries MALC’s hearings as politically one-sided and then bemoans MALC for “badgering” Chairwoman Gail Lowe to attend.”

Martinez Fischer noted the GOP spokesman failed to acknowledge that a letter from Republican Appropriations Chairman Jim Pitts was entered into record as was testimony from Gov. Rick Perry appointee and TEA Commissioner Robert Scott and Republican nominee for SBOE, District 9, Thomas Ratliff.

“You can’t have it both ways. You can’t decline an invitation to give testimony, and then call the proceedings one-sided. MALC is proud of its bi-partisan record, and our accomplishments speak for themselves” said Martinez Fischer. MALC sponsored the hearing along with the Legislative Study Group, Texas Legislative Black Caucus and Senate Hispanic Caucus.

“If the Republican Party spent as much time building up minority groups, as they do tearing them down– maybe they wouldn’t have to explain why there is not one single Latino Republican in the Texas House or Senate,” Martinez Fischer said.

Republicans are unlikely to address the absence of GOP Hispanics or African Americans in the 181-member state Legislature.

They prefer to focus on the “politics” of the special hearing.

“The hearing featured a grandstanding political speech by Michael Soto, the Democratic Party’s nominee for SBOE Place 3. The usual assortment of leftwing interest groups, from the Texas Freedom Network to the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund (MALDEF), got their moment in the sun to talk up leftwing anti-SBOE talking points,” according to the GOP news release.

“It became clear that MALC’s liberal agenda is to abolish the elected State Board of Education, and replace it with unelected bureaucrats. The Texas Democrats evidently agree with that agenda, since they have been cheerleading MALC’s dress-up party from the sidelines,” the GOP statement said.

Original source.

Filed Under: Education, Immigration, Texas State News Tagged With: , Leave a Comment
April 30, 2010

51

The bastards did it. We can only hope this latest bad bill will die in the Senate.  The Democrats are loathe to tell the truth about anything and stack the deck at every opportunity.  If they were gamblers in Dodge, U.S. Marshall Wyatt Earp would have either shot them or tarred and feathered them, then run them out of town on a rail.  – RP

Here’s the ROLL CALL VOTE Link
Doggett – YEA

House Approves Puerto Rico Bill

Posted by: Meredith Jessup at 10:08 PM
Thursday, April 29, 2010
From Fox News:

The House of Representatives voted Thursday to allow Puerto Ricans to decide their own political future and relationship with the United States.

The vote was 223 to 169. Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., voted present.

The bill introduced a two-step ballot measure for Puerto Rico to decide if its residents want to change their current relationship with the United States. If they vote to change their status, they can then choose to become a state, pursue independence, or seek some other “political association between sovereign nations.” ?? ??….

The issue divided Democrats and Republicans alike as liberal Democrats with ties to Puerto Rico teamed with conservative Republicans to oppose the measure.

The chasms were particularly stark among members of the House Republican leadership team. House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, voted against the legislation. Meantime, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., and Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence, R-Ind., voted in favor.

Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuno (R) cobbled together more than 50 Republican sponsors in favor of the package.

Puerto Rican immigration cartoon

Filed Under: Uncategorized Leave a Comment
April 30, 2010

Puerto Rico and Immigration Reform

Commentary by Poor Richard

Puerto Rico advanced for the simple reason that Republicans lacked the political will to stop it in the House.  H.R. 2499 is a transparent sham designed to split the vote and allow a small minority of left leaning Puerto Ricans the best possible advantage to obtain statehood, thus adding a heavily Democratic (read Welfare) State star to the national flag.  That the vast majority of Puerto Ricans like their country just as it is and do not want the added financial burdens of Statehood speaks volumes.  And this is no one-shot deal.  According to the bill, Puerto Rico will be forced to have this rigged vote every year, until they DO pass statehood.  Add this to the list of bills to be amended or reformed in Nov.

That the Democrats, (with 58 RINOs in tow), so desperate for votes now with the failure of Immigration Reform in an election year, would pass such a stacked-deck bill to “force” a false choice also speaks volumes.

As with all left-wing agendas, the outcome is already in sight.  They’ll settle for incremental advances in the meantime.  Immigration may be dead this year, but Puerto Rico’s votes are waiting in the wings…It’s only a matter of time.

With or Without You – U2

Obama takes immigration reform off agenda

By SUZANNE GAMBOA, AP – Thu Apr 29, 7:07 pm ET

WASHINGTON – Immigration reform has become the first of President Barack Obama’s major priorities dropped from the agenda of an election-year Congress facing voter disillusionment. Sounding the death knell was Obama himself.

The president noted that lawmakers may lack the “appetite” to take on immigration while many of them are up for re-election and while another big legislative issue — climate change — is already on their plate.

“I don’t want us to do something just for the sake of politics that doesn’t solve the problem,” Obama told reporters Wednesday night aboard Air Force One.

More…

Related: Congress OKs referendum giving Puerto Ricans a two-step path on their political future

Filed Under: Elections, Immigration Tagged With: Leave a Comment
April 29, 2010

Pennsylvania Patriot

“Freedom is the only gift we must earn.”

Hat tip Angela Young Lash.

Filed Under: Elections, Tea Party USA Tagged With: 2 Comments
April 29, 2010

THE FORT HOOD ATTACK COVER-UP

Pamela Geller sez:This is all part of Obama’s Jihad. He took an oath to protect and defend the US against all enemies foreign and domestic, and he is both. This is legally actionable but who will do it. Who will lead us out of this nightmare?

The Fort Hood Attack: Unresolved


By Congressman John Carter

Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical Al-Qaeda leader from the Washington, D.C. area but now hiding in Yemen, played a role in the 9-11 attacks, along with attempted attacks in 2006 on the Canadian Parliament and in 2007 against U.S. soldiers at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Then on November 5, 2009, he succeeded in helping instigate the deadly attack on Fort Hood, Texas leaving 14 Americans dead and 30 wounded.

Al-Awlaki then dispatched a second assassin to bomb a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day, which attempt fortunately failed. Awlaki has since released a video claiming credit for the Fort Hood and airliner attacks, acknowledging his role, and praising the attackers.

Yet the Obama Administration continues to deny the Fort Hood attack was terrorism, failed to grant the casualties the same status as that given casualties from the 2001 Pentagon attack, conspicuously omitted even mention of the words “radical Islamic terrorism” in the official DOD report on the shootings, and will not acknowledge the role of political-correctness in stifling whistleblower warnings of the impending attack.

Now the Administration is refusing to fully comply with a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee subpoena that the Pentagon share documents and witnesses concerning the incident.

Senate Homeland Security Chairman Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Ranking Minority Member Susan Collins (R-MA) issued the subpoena after the Administration refused to provide those documents on the request of the committee.

The Administration bases their denial on the argument that releasing the information might endanger their prosecution of Major Nidal Hasan.

More…

Filed Under: Law Enforcement, Military, National Security Leave a Comment
April 29, 2010

Local School Board Elections on May 8th

Inside Scoop

Hello All–

Many have been asking about the local school board elections on May 8th and Michele Samuelson with RPT has done some research for us. The local school board races are non partisan and it can be difficult to know who will restore truth and traditional values to our schools. Hopefully Michele’s research will help us all as we hit the polls next month…..and I do expect you all to vote on or before May 8th! A 3% turn out in the run-offs is pathetic…PLEASE GO VOTE….and lets Take Back Our Schools!

From Michele Samuelson—–

I’ve written up some things about a few of the candidates running for ACC Board of Trustees.
http://blue-dot-blues.blogspot.com/2010/04/thoughts-on-acc-board-of-trustees-races.html

I also wrote up a post with voting history for the ISD and ACC candidates that we were able to dig up.

http://blue-dot-blues.blogspot.com/2010/04/primary-voting-history-for-isd-trustee.html

Early voting started on Monday and goes through next Tuesday, and election day is Saturday, May 8. These are all non-partisan races!

Michele

Filed Under: Education, Elections, Texas State News Tagged With: , Leave a Comment
April 29, 2010

The People’s Lawsuit against Obamacare

Underdog GOPer candidate suing Obama, Democratic leadership over health-care

By Alex Pappas — The Daily Caller | Published: 04/27/10 at 3:51 PM

For an unknown country lawyer running for Congress in Tennessee, Van Irion sure knows how to grab headlines. The Tea Party backed Republican first made news by carrying a pitchfork with him to campaign events, a symbol of his commitment to cleaning the manure out of Washington and a gimmick that made the Glenn Beck look-a-like stand out in a crowded field of candidates.

Now he’s suing President Obama, Sen. Harry Reid and Speaker Nancy Pelosi over the constitutionality of the recently passed health-care law, and nearly 30,000 people have signed up to be part of the class-action lawsuit.

His knack for creative campaign techniques has helped the underdog get his message out — and bring in much needed dollars from across the country for the campaign coffers.

“We thought we were doing well. Now we know we’re doing well,” Irion said during an interview at The Daily Caller offices in Washington D.C., fresh off a trip to New York to tape an interview with Judge Andrew Napolitano at Fox News.

Unlike other challenges to the law specifically over the mandate requiring individuals to purchase insurance, Irion’s case claims the government legislating health-care at all to be unconstitutional. He’s suit alleges Obama, Pelosi and Reid, in their official capacities, abused their authority by exceeding the authority granted to them. They also are in violation of the 10th amendment, Irion said, and of breaching their oath of office by not protecting and defending the Constitution.

Read more…

Filed Under: 10th Amendment States Rights, Health Care, Tea Party USA Tagged With: Leave a Comment
April 29, 2010

Historian Makes Major Admissions at MALC Hearing

by Bargain Citizen
Though Barbara Cargill and The Liberty Institute have issued official statements on yesterday’s MALC hearing, I wanted to share some personal observations as well. I was present for approx. five hours.

- Dr. Francisco de la Teja ( Prof. of History at TSU and Texas’ first official state historian) – I thought his testimony was generally fair and balanced. I found it interesting that in his testimony, he acknowledged that many of the left’s accusations of minority exclusion were unfounded. He actually read a partial list of some of the minority figures and organizations who were added. It was fascinating to see the MALC members presiding over the hearing to not show any real interest in such testimony, nor dispute his assertions. Conversely, whenever any testimony was critical of the SBOE majority, they were visibly interested and engaged. Another interesting tidbit was that as a member of the curriculum review committee, he mentioned being dismissed of his duties during the process. Rep. Liebowitz (presiding) curiously asked who dismissed him. Prof. de la Teja made clear that the TEA dismissed him along with the other review committee members. Yet, continually, throughout the day, MALC members and their leftist allies who were invited to provide testimony inferred it was the SBOE who dismissed them, ignored their expertise, input, etc.

- Dr. Keith Erekson ( Asst Prof of History at UTEP) – Though Erekson along with Emilio Zamora (UT-Austin) were apparently the authors or original signatories of the letter which has been signed by hundreds of other professors and is being used as a weapon against us, his testimony made clear that his position is not consistent with most of our adversaries. His criticisms are primarily based on two points; that the SBOE standards focus on a “laundry list” of historical figures rather than an approach that emphasizes “critical thinking skills”, and the 40% increase in content which is overwhelming and detrimental to teachers and students. (While I personally agree with Dr. Erekson’s observations, it’s impossible to make the case that it is the conservative majority of the SBOE that bears sole responsibility for this.)

- Dr. John M. Morris (Assoc Prof of Geography at UTSA) – I’m not sure if this gentleman was offering testimony or attempting a failed comedy routine. It might as well have been Bill Maher up there…very derisive, insulting and overly dramatic. Just mentioning in case someone wants to keep their eye on him…what a hack!

- Dr. Kirsten Gardner ( Assoc Prof of History – UTSA) – Frankly, another hack. Though Prof. de la Teja had already disputed many of the left’s assertions, her testimony was largely based on the same old failed narrative.

- Kathy Miller (TFN) – I thought my head was going to explode! I found her to be every bit as shrill as I had heard she was. The presiding members absolutely ate her testimony up. Clearly she was viewed, even held up, as an expert on all things SBOE. She offered a long list of accusations, most of which had nothing to do with the matter at hand. She was particularly critical of Dr. McElroy, even accusing him of totally ignoring the English Language Arts curriculum (2007 battle?) and subverting/replacing the review committee’s work by changing much of it on his own and then distributing “his version” by slipping it under the hotel doors of fellow conservative members the night before the final vote.

All in all, I was surprised at how little many of the MALC members seemed to know about the SBOE curriculum processes and content.

Many more observations from Jonathan Saenz here.

Filed Under: American Culture, American Heritage, Education, Globalization, Immigration, National Politics, Opinion, Texas State News Leave a Comment
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