Politics et al

American Tyrants | FrontPage Magazine

2012-02-01T05:36:00.000-07:00

American liberalism has traveled a slightly altered road to get to the same place. But its place is still at the top and everyone else’s place is still at the bottom. Its persistent denial of this basic truth leads to the perennial absurdity of millionaires like Elizabeth Warren playing class warrior when the only class they represent is the class of people who work for the government.

The oligarchy which is busy bleeding the country dry does not represent any group of working people anywhere in the country. Not Protestant or Catholic, black or white, or of any other creed or identity. Like every ideology incarnated in a system, it represents its own interests. The Democratic Party is the government party. It exists to create jobs in government, to dispense government subsidies and to expand the power and scope of its organization. It is not fundamentally any different than Putin’s United Russia or Israel’s Kadima or similar political creatures around the world.

CBO Projects Fourth Year of $1 Trillion-Plus Deficits - CBO - Fox Nation

2012-01-31T17:27:00.000-07:00

CBO Projects Fourth Year of $1 Trillion-Plus Deficits - CBO - Fox Nation:

A new budget report released Tuesday predicts the U.S. government will run a $1.1 trillion deficit in the fiscal year that ends in September, the fourth year in a row over $1 trillion, though a slight dip from last year.

CBO report shows Obamacare’s ballooning costs | Campaign 2012 | Washington Examiner

2012-01-31T17:17:00.000-07:00

CBO report shows Obamacare’s ballooning costs | Campaign 2012 | Washington Examiner:

A new report from the Congressional Budget Office provides us with fresh insight into how much worse President Obama’s national health care law made our nation’s spending crisis.

Patterico's Pontifications � You Might Be a Racist If…

2012-01-31T12:41:00.000-07:00

Patterico's Pontifications � You Might Be a Racist If…:

The fact is, if you hear the n-word every time someone talks about our entitlement society, the person with the race problem is YOU. If you hear “American values” and think “bigot” then the person with the race problem is YOU. If talking about the Founding Fathers seems racist, the person with the race problem is YOU.

If everything sounds like racism to you, Juan Williams, you might be a racist.

oftwominds: Counterfeit Money, Counterfeit Policy

2012-01-31T12:36:00.000-07:00

oftwominds: Counterfeit Money, Counterfeit Policy:

What is the difference between printing money and counterfeiting? There is none.

The Republican Statist Party: part of the problem–still � Cold Fury

2012-01-31T10:39:00.000-07:00

The Republican Statist Party: part of the problem–still � Cold Fury:

Lots of good, if depressing, stuff crammed in between the segments I excerpted here; you really need to read all of it. You especially need to read it if you still harbor any illusions about the despicable Republican Statist Party being anything but hostile to real conservatism/classical liberalism/whatever. Because that is exactly what it is, despite their mealymouthed, disingenuous lip service to same.

They are no more to be trusted with the defense of our founding ideals than Romney himself is–or, for that matter, than Obama is. They might be made use of now and then–with the strict understanding that they need to be watched and ridden herd on as closely as a crackhead in a pharmacy–but they are entirely unworthy of the allegiance of anyone who still believes in Constitutional government. Some of us may not like hearing it, but all of us need to face up to it at long last.

Obama's vision puts America last | CURE - Star Parker

2012-01-31T09:18:00.000-07:00

Obama's vision puts America last | CURE - Star Parker:

An America built on government, as Obama sees it, severed from our roots as a free people under God, is surely an America built to be last.

They Have Islamist Fanatics, We Have Secularist Fanatics - Opinion - PatriotPost.US

2012-01-31T08:25:00.000-07:00

They Have Islamist Fanatics, We Have Secularist Fanatics - Opinion - PatriotPost.US:

The Muslim world is threatened by religious fanaticism. The Western world is threatened by secular fanaticism.

Both seek to dominate society and to use state power to do so. Both seek to eliminate the Other -- for Islamic fanatics, that means non-Muslim religions and secularism; for secular fanatics, it means Christianity and virtually any public invoking of God. The Islamists impose Sharia law; the American Civil Liberties Union and the left generally impose secular law

The Florida Smear Campaign | A Voice of Sanity - RobertRinger.com

2012-01-31T08:08:00.000-07:00

The Florida Smear Campaign | A Voice of Sanity - RobertRinger.com:

But the poisonous practice of irresponsible smears is an issue that is bigger than Gingrich, Romney or any other candidate of either party.

There have long been reports of people who decline to be nominated for federal judicial appointments because that means going before the Senate Judiciary Committee to have lies about their past spread nationwide, and the good reputation built up over a lifetime destroyed by politicians who could not care less about the truth.

The same practices may well have something to do with the public’s dissatisfaction with the current crop of candidates in this year’s primaries — and in previous years’ primaries. Character assassination is just another form of voter fraud.

There is no law against it, so it is up to the voters, not only in Florida but in other states, to punish it at the ballot box — the only place where punishment is likely to stop the practice.

ARRA News Service: The Culture War Continues

2012-01-31T07:01:00.000-07:00

ARRA News Service: The Culture War Continues:

The culture war is very real. While some on the right mistakenly call for a "truce" on values issues, the left has no intention of letting up until it has fundamentally transformed America on every level -- from taxes and spending to the values we will pass on to our children and grandchildren. This election will decide whether we stop this assault on family, faith and freedom or whether we continue "slouching toward Gomorrah."

Say Anything � The Occupiers Are Thugs And Criminals, Not Protesters And Demonstrators � Say Anything

2012-01-30T17:28:00.000-07:00

Say Anything � The Occupiers Are Thugs And Criminals, Not Protesters And Demonstrators � Say Anything:

Protests and demonstrations are inherently noble pursuits. Those words should not be tarnished by association with violent criminals who try to hide by hide our nation’s liberal allowances for speech while assaulting the property rights (among others) of their fellow citizens.

PJ Media � GOP-Governed and Right-To-Work States Saved the Economy’s Bacon in 2011

2012-01-30T10:32:00.000-07:00

PJ Media � GOP-Governed and Right-To-Work States Saved the Economy’s Bacon in 2011:

The government’s State and Local Employment and Unemployment report for December released on Tuesday showed that many red states, including most of the “newly-reds” where Republican governors replaced or succeeded Democrats after the 2010 elections, made meaningful progress in job growth and unemployment rate reduction last year. Many blue states didn’t do nearly as well. 2011 again saw right-to-work states significantly outperform those which are not.

New Academic Study Confirms Previous IMF Analysis, Shows that Lower Tax Rates Are the Best Way to Reduce Tax Evasion � International Liberty

2012-01-30T09:58:00.000-07:00

New Academic Study Confirms Previous IMF Analysis, Shows that Lower Tax Rates Are the Best Way to Reduce Tax Evasion � International Liberty:

Leftists want higher tax rates and they want greater tax compliance. But they have a hard time understanding that those goals are inconsistent.

Simply stated, people respond to incentives. When tax rates are punitive, folks earn and report less taxable income, and vice-versa.

When tax rates increase, sometimes they engage in tax avoidance, lowering their tax liabilities legally.
When tax rates change, sometimes they choose to alter their levels of work, saving, and investment.
And when tax rates go up, sometimes they resort to illegal steps to protect themselves from the tax authority.

GetLiberty.org >> Economy slowed down in 2011, debt close to topping economy

2012-01-30T09:00:00.000-07:00

GetLiberty.org >> Economy slowed down in 2011, debt close to topping economy:

The economy slowed down in 2011 to “a tepid snail’s pace,” says Americans for Limited Government President, according to new data released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).

In 2010, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) had grown at 3 percent in 2011, but only at 1.7 percent in 2011. The Bureau said the slowdown was on account of “a downturn in federal government spending, an acceleration in imports, and a larger decrease in state and local government spending.”

Wilson noted that spending at the federal level had actually increased last year. The slowdown, he said, proved “the ‘stimulus’ of 2009 and 2010 merely created some artificial demand for goods and services, which, once it ran out, did not create a virtuous cycle of growth as promised.”

He added, “The only thing that was apparently accomplished is that now the debt is nearly larger than the economy.” While the economy dithers, the national debt is growing at about 10 percent annually.

Creative Minority Report: Sometimes Prayer Is Not Enough

2012-01-30T08:53:00.000-07:00

Creative Minority Report: Sometimes Prayer Is Not Enough:

We are in a war. It is not a war of our choosing, but a war upon us none the less. And if we choose to act as if we are not at war, we will lose. We can pray for the end to war, but if we choose not to fight, we will lose. Prayer cannot help those who refuse to engage in the battle.

The word war seems like the exclusive domain of hyperbole, nobody really does war anymore after all. But whether we like to admit or or not, we are at war. War has been declared on us, open war. The only question is whether we have the will to fight.

I do not choose my words lightly. This is war, a war declared by the anti-Catholic, anti-Christian, militantly secularist Obama administration. And I worry whether or not we have the will to win.

The battle over the HHS contraception mandate is the latest battle in a war in which the primary tactic of the enemy is to more and more narrowly re-define freedom of religion as freedom of worship and as something you do in for one hour inside four walls. The rest of the time, you must worship the state.

This is where the soft tyranny of big government turns hard. This may well be the defining moment.

Crackup of the Catholic Left � First Thoughts | A First Things Blog

2012-01-30T07:28:00.000-07:00

Crackup of the Catholic Left � First Thoughts | A First Things Blog:

What’s going on with the Catholic left? Michael Sean Winters drew wide notice for his break with the Obama administration over its contraceptive and abortifacient mandate last week, and many eyebrows were raised when the fiercely liberal Cardinal Mahoney of Los Angeles began denouncing the administration for the same reason.

Now Richard Stith (a pro-union, Catholic Democrat who has opposed Republican calls to “repeal and replace” Obamacare) has very reluctantly declared his support for—of all things—right-to-work laws. The reason? Stith can’t bear the way that unions funnel money to pro-abortion candidates.

Brutally Honest: "The president isn't leading. The president isn't being truthful..."

2012-01-30T06:48:00.000-07:00

Brutally Honest: "The president isn't leading. The president isn't being truthful...":

"What we have learned with the president time and again is he is going to put some kind of poll-tested line in the State of the Union address and have no follow-up whatsoever," Ryan said. "We have learned already that the president who's had three years to try and propose real solutions to fix our fiscal crisis is ducking it. He hasn't put a plan on the table yet. He formed commissions and super committees, so he sort of outsourced the leadership only to decry their results."

BLACKFIVE: Obama's call for an Army of the Proletariat

2012-01-30T06:45:00.000-07:00

BLACKFIVE: Obama's call for an Army of the Proletariat:

Mr. President, just because you slid into the chair of the Commander in Chief doesn't mean you command the American people. So don't expect us to salute and move out smartly when you crank up the Internationale and start barking out orders.

Asia Times Online :: How America made its children crazy

2012-01-30T06:41:00.000-07:00

Asia Times Online :: How America made its children crazy:

America is the greatest country in the world, a unique and blessed land, while China remains under the rule of an authoritarian regime that alternates between benign and brutal. But we Americans have consigned our children to the purveyors of an alien ideology - the absurd doctrine that the brain is a machine - with consequences so devastating that the liberal establishment itself no longer can defend its core policies of the past half century. Worst of all, we have papered over our spiritual deficit by doping millions of our kids with amphetamines.

If China replaces us at the pre-eminent world power, it will happen because their children are smarter, more persevering, more ambitious and tougher than ours. And we will have no-one to blame but ourselves for handing our kids over to quacks and snake-oil salesmen.

Obama's Vision for a Spartan America - Jonah Goldberg - Townhall Conservative

2012-01-30T06:37:00.000-07:00

Obama's Vision for a Spartan America - Jonah Goldberg - Townhall Conservative:

President Obama's State of the Union address was disgusting.

The president began with a moving tribute to the armed forces and their accomplishments. But as he has done many times now, he celebrated martial virtues not to rally support for the military, but to cover himself in glory -- he killed Osama bin Laden! -- and to convince the American people that they should fall in line and march in lockstep.

He said of the military: "At a time when too many of our institutions have let us down, they exceed all expectations. They're not consumed with personal ambition. They don't obsess over their differences. They focus on the mission at hand. They work together. Imagine what we could accomplish if we followed their example. Think about the America within our reach."

That is disgusting.

What Obama is saying, quite plainly, is that America would be better off if it wasn't America any longer. He's making the case not for American exceptionalism, but Spartan exceptionalism.

ARRA News Service: No Moral Judgments

2012-01-30T05:47:00.000-07:00

ARRA News Service: No Moral Judgments:

He says that the students were essentially confused. The didn’t seem to know what to think. When they did speak, they went out of their way to avoid making any moral judgment. They said things like, “We might not like it, but maybe over there it’s okay.” Another said (with no awareness of the self-contradiction) that, “It’s just wrong to judge other cultures.”

This is what moral education has given us today. Students seem almost unable to make a moral judgment even in the face of a horrible action. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.

Pope: Some U.S. Cultural Trends 'A Threat Not Just to Christian Faith, But Also to Humanity Itself' | CNSnews.com

2012-01-29T16:33:00.000-07:00

Pope: Some U.S. Cultural Trends 'A Threat Not Just to Christian Faith, But Also to Humanity Itself' | CNSnews.com:

In the same address, the pope noted that: “Of particular concern are certain attempts being made to limit that most cherished of American freedoms, the freedom of religion.”

Chicago Boyz � Blog Archive � The End of “Moral Equivalence” and the Moral Bankruptcy of the Left

2012-01-29T14:02:00.000-07:00

Chicago Boyz � Blog Archive � The End of “Moral Equivalence” and the Moral Bankruptcy of the Left:

And yet there are no protests outside Russia or China’s embassies by the Left; this isn’t a battle that concerns them (Syria or Libya), because it doesn’t fit their narrative that all the governments are oppressive and of moral equivalence. There are no angry posts on left wing blogs about these issues. It doesn’t fit their pre-defined agenda that the US is an oppressive place since birth and that we are all the same.

That is the definition of moral bankruptcy.

The Telegraph: Barack Obama is trying to make the US a more socialist state :: Political News and commentaries :: Hyscience

2012-01-29T11:20:00.000-07:00

The Telegraph: Barack Obama is trying to make the US a more socialist state :: Political News and commentaries :: Hyscience:

Janet Daley, former leftist now right-leaning political commentator living in Britain, says the ideas the President outlined in the State of the Union are based on the very model that is causing the EU to implode, and that his plans call for the United States, a country that was invented to allow people to be free of domination or persecution by the state, to head straight to a catastrophic loss of purpose and identity -- as well as making a quite remarkably stupid and unnecessary mistake.

The Harm of Excessive Medical Regulation | The Weekly Standard

2012-01-29T10:38:00.000-07:00

The Harm of Excessive Medical Regulation | The Weekly Standard:

Yet, as regulators seek to weigh the potential benefits and risks of a new medicine, my own observation is that they tend to be both tentative and ultra-paternalistic; many seem to feel they must somehow protect doctors from themselves, and the result is that patients are systematically denied access to medicines that might be useful, and for whom the risk/reward, when fully understood and discussed with their physician, would be worth it.

Why Isn't Illinois A Bigger Story Than Greece? - The New Editor

2012-01-29T09:59:00.000-07:00

Why Isn't Illinois A Bigger Story Than Greece? - The New Editor:

... why aren't we more worried about Illinois? It's more or less the same size as Greece, its finances are in the same generally catastrophic shape, and its leaders are just as feckless and dishonest. It owes tens of billions of dollars to various investors and stakeholders and will clearly have to stiff many of them at some point.

Instapundit � Blog Archive � VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: What We Do Not Want To Hear Anymore. His conclusion: “Human nature and the l…

2012-01-29T09:13:00.000-07:00

Instapundit � Blog Archive � VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: What We Do Not Want To Hear Anymore. His conclusion: “Human nature and the l…:

“Human nature and the laws of physics, not technocratic liberalism, are still the best guides to the madness around us. Money borrowed has to be paid back or the debt eaten by someone, period. Poverty is defined by a want of material necessities, not by lacking the appurtenances that someone else better off enjoys. Gas and oil are miracle fuels and it is very hard to find alternate energies at comparable costs and reliability. And as a rule, the green class of environmental elites usually uses more fossil fuels per capita than do the muscular classes who mine and drill them out of the ground — and who do not jet, drive, or live in the comparable fashion of their critics.”

HolyCoast.com: An Inconvenient Truth: Global Warming Ended in 1997

2012-01-29T08:58:00.000-07:00

HolyCoast.com: An Inconvenient Truth: Global Warming Ended in 1997:

The supposed ‘consensus’ on man-made global warming is facing an inconvenient challenge after the release of new temperature data showing the planet has not warmed for the past 15 years.

The figures suggest that we could even be heading for a mini ice age to rival the 70-year temperature drop that saw frost fairs held on the Thames in the 17th Century.

Based on readings from more than 30,000 measuring stations, the data was issued last week without fanfare by the Met Office and the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit. It confirms that the rising trend in world temperatures ended in 1997.

Weasel Zippers � Blog Archive � Allen West To Obama, Reid, Pelosi, Wasserman Schultz: “Get The Hell Out Of The United States of America”…

2012-01-29T08:56:00.000-07:00

Weasel Zippers � Blog Archive � Allen West To Obama, Reid, Pelosi, Wasserman Schultz: “Get The Hell Out Of The United States of America”…:

“Take your message of equality of achievement, take your message of economic dependency, take your message of enslaving the entrepreneurial will and spirit of the American people somewhere else,” he continued. “You can take it to Europe, you can take it to the bottom of the sea, you can take it to the North Pole, but get the hell out of the United States of America.”

Spike Lee: The New Bill Cosby? | Via Meadia

2012-01-29T08:30:00.000-07:00

Spike Lee: The New Bill Cosby? | Via Meadia:

Bill Cosby has been pilloried for years by the radically chic who’ve disliked his efforts to get African-Americans to take more responsibility for their own success and education. Now Spike Lee seems to be picking up the torch for education, discipline and hard work.

Dr. Sanity: SAME OLD, SAME OLD USELESS RHETORIC FROM A USELESS PRESIDENT

2012-01-29T08:27:00.000-07:00

Dr. Sanity: SAME OLD, SAME OLD USELESS RHETORIC FROM A USELESS PRESIDENT:

Mickey Kaus says it was boring to read since he couldn't watch it. My response to that is that it would have been boring to watch if it hadn't been so infuriatingly empty of meaning and divisive; while all the time attempting to sound profound (8th grade profound?) and conciliatory (Presidential? Really? Really??)

Dr. Sanity: THE LIBERAL SOLUTION: FOSTERING DEPENDENCE

2012-01-29T08:25:00.000-07:00

Dr. Sanity: <strong>THE LIBERAL SOLUTION: </strong>FOSTERING DEPENDENCE:

The hysteria on the left regarding Newt Gingrich's calling President Obama the "Food Stamps President" and asserting that more people are no on food stamps than at any other time in history, is fascinating.

Tom Blumer says that Gingrich was factually correct, both narrowly and broadly, then goes on to document why. Blumer cites Gingrich's response to the Food Stamp question and the resulting charge of "racism" leveled at him:

When conservatives care about the poor and conservatives offer ideas to help the poor, and conservatives suggest that the poor would rather have a paycheck than a food stamp, the very liberals who have failed them at places like the New York Times promptly scream “racism,” because they have no defense for the failure of liberal institutions which have trapped poor children in bad schools, trapped them in bad neighborhoods, trapped them in crime-ridden situations. Liberal solutions have failed, and their only answer is to cry “racism” and hide.

The Libertarian Patriot: TLP Quik Hits: Illegal Immigrants Affecting Congressional Apportionment

2012-01-29T06:39:00.000-07:00

The Libertarian Patriot: TLP Quik Hits: Illegal Immigrants Affecting Congressional Apportionment:

The Progressives leave little doubt as to their end game.

With their calls for relaxed voting rules, their pandering to the illegal community and the push to have non-citizens counted in the census, they hope to swing the balance of power to their side in order to promote their socialist agenda.

Yes, we need to have comprehensive immigration reform in this country but the first step needs to be that we secure our borders and end the incentives for illegal immigrants to come here, which are provided by the welfare-state.

How will history judge this generation if we let our republic slip away? | SENTRY JOURNAL

2012-01-28T17:03:00.000-07:00

How will history judge this generation if we let our republic slip away? | SENTRY JOURNAL:

So this is where we are. How do we act? Do we take the painful and necessary steps needed to save the republic or do we take the path of least resistance? By the looks of who is leading in the polls we already decided. So much for keeping the republic our founders gave us.

As Obama demands rich Americans pay more in taxes, the IRS reveals 36 Obama aides are far behind in their taxes by Andrew Malcolm - Investors.com

2012-01-28T09:51:00.000-07:00

As Obama demands rich Americans pay more in taxes, the IRS reveals 36 Obama aides are far behind in their taxes by Andrew Malcolm - Investors.com:

A new report just out from the Internal Revenue Service reveals that 36 of President Obama's executive office staff owe the country $833,970 in back taxes. These people working for Mr. Fair Share apparently haven't paid any share, let alone their fair share.

Don't Mind the Inequality Gap - NYTimes.com

2012-01-28T09:48:00.000-07:00

Don't Mind the Inequality Gap - NYTimes.com:

But while Americans are hearing more and more about class conflict, there is little indication that they are increasingly divided along these lines. People don’t necessarily want to take money from the wealthy; they just want a better chance to get rich themselves. They care about policies that give everyone a fair shot — a distinction that candidates in both parties should understand as they head into the 2012 campaigns.

Obama follows the progressive president’s model of martial language - The Washington Post

2012-01-28T08:15:00.000-07:00

Obama follows the progressive president’s model of martial language - The Washington Post:

Well. The armed services’ ethos, although noble, is not a template for civilian society, unless the aspiration is to extinguish politics. People marching in serried ranks, fused into a solid mass by the heat of martial ardor, proceeding in lock step, shoulder to shoulder, obedient to orders from a commanding officer — this is a recurring dream of progressives eager to dispense with tiresome persuasion and untidy dissension in a free, tumultuous society.

Progressive presidents use martial language as a way of encouraging Americans to confuse civilian politics with military exertions, thereby circumventing an impediment to progressive aspirations — the Constitution and the patience it demands. As a young professor, Woodrow Wilson had lamented that America’s political parties “are like armies without officers.” The most theoretically inclined of progressive politicians, Wilson was the first president to criticize America’s founding. This he did thoroughly, rejecting the Madisonian system of checks and balances — the separation of powers, a crucial component of limited government — because it makes a government that cannot be wielded efficiently by a strong executive.

The Muslim Brotherhood's "General Strategic Goal" For North America | Islam in America Right Side News

2012-01-28T07:59:00.000-07:00

The Muslim Brotherhood's "General Strategic Goal" For North America | Islam in America Right Side News:

In July 2007, seven key leaders of an Islamic charity known as the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) went on trial for charges that they had: (a) provided "material support and resources" to a foreign terrorist organization (namely Hamas); (b) engaged in money laundering; and (c) breached the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which prohibits transactions that threaten American national security. Along with the seven named defendants, the U.S. government released a list of approximately 300 "unindicted co-conspirators" and "joint venturers." During the course of the HLF trial, many incriminating documents were entered into evidence. Perhaps the most significant of these was "An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America," by the Muslim Brotherhood operative Mohamed Akram.

Phoenix Bishop Thomas Olmsted: Defy feds on birth control

2012-01-28T07:06:00.000-07:00

Phoenix Bishop Thomas Olmsted: Defy feds on birth control:

Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted of Phoenix has become one of the first Roman Catholic bishops in the nation to openly defy the Obama administration over new rules forcing employers to include access to contraceptives and sterilization procedures in health-insurance coverage.

Although the Catholic Church itself is exempt from the proposed regulations, Olmsted believes the federal government's decision is an attack on religious liberty. He is encouraging church members to actively oppose it.

Obama’s Gulf Drilling Announcement a Big Sham | The Lonely Conservative

2012-01-28T06:49:00.000-07:00

Obama’s Gulf Drilling Announcement a Big Sham | The Lonely Conservative:

Now that it’s an election year, and gas prices continue to rise, President Obama would like you to forget how his administration is making it all worse. So he came out and announced that he’s opening up millions of acres in the Gulf for drilling. He won’t mention that Bush had already done that. It was Obama that put the brakes on drilling.

Obama Administration Cannot Continue to “Hollow Out the Force”

2012-01-28T06:39:00.000-07:00

Obama Administration Cannot Continue to “Hollow Out the Force”:

The President may proclaim confidence in America’s status as a global power, as he did in his recent State of the Union address. However, as his Administration systematically reduces the size and scope of the military, this claim becomes increasingly dubious. The U.S. fosters international relationships, provides security assurances to countries around the world, and helps ensure the free flow of goods and information globally through its forward-deployed military presence. America cannot afford to return to the force levels it had under Clinton when the Army scrambled to perform missions like Kosovo and Bosnia, let alone have the ability to maintain significant ground operations.

U.S. forces are constantly maintaining America’s security around the globe. However, those forces are currently overburdened due to under-funded budgets that haven’t kept up with expanding and shifting demands. In the recently released Defense Strategic Guidance, the Pentagon has already begun reevaluating its requirements and how to meet them based on shrinking budgets. This guidance should be based on perceived threats to national security, not fiscal issues.

Climate Change | | The Daily Caller

2012-01-28T06:28:00.000-07:00

Climate Change | | The Daily Caller:

Sixteen scientists took to the pages of the Wall Street Journal Friday to argue that there is “no compelling scientific argument” for “drastic actions on global warming.”

According to the group, made up of scientists from around the world, while there has been a concerted campaign to incite concern and action to stop climate change, the science is not coming together in a fashion that would warrant economy-stifling changes.

“The lack of warming for more than a decade—indeed, the smaller-than-predicted warming over the 22 years since the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) began issuing projections—suggests that computer models have greatly exaggerated how much warming additional CO2 can cause,” they wrote. “Faced with this embarrassment, those promoting alarm have shifted their drumbeat from warming to weather extremes, to enable anything unusual that happens in our chaotic climate to be ascribed to CO2.”

In these scientists’ opinion, Carbon Dioxide is not a pollutant, but rather a key necessity for life — spurring the growth of plant life.

The group further condemned the climate of fear that has acted to trample dissenting view points of the “global warming is a crisis” message.

Articles: It's Not About Newt

2012-01-28T05:10:00.000-07:00

Articles: It's Not About Newt:

GOP voters are sending a clarion call to the party establishment, but it seems GOP leaders are not getting the message. The statement being sent to the GOP elite isn't about Newt, and it goes beyond even Romney. It is about a deep dissatisfaction that has been building for years within the Republican rank and file.

With the proclamations of Bob Dole and others against Newt Gingrich recently, it is clear the GOP establishment fears a Gingrich nomination. In truth, however, it is the GOP establishment's own ineffectual leadership that led to the recent surge of the former Speaker of the House.

The prevailing wisdom in Washington and the media is that Newt's re-birth in South Carolina is due to his fiery debate performances, which is true, but what happened in the polls goes far beyond clear articulation of conservative principles and debate prowess. Yes, the Republican voters want a fighter, someone who will take on President Obama, but Newt's boldness and passion resonated so well with the disaffected party base, they were willing to overlook his huge political and personal shortcomings. There is a larger lesson here.

Pundit Press: Obama Ratifies ACTA Without Congress

2012-01-27T18:59:00.000-07:00

Pundit Press: Obama Ratifies ACTA Without Congress:

Not only is this (likely) illegal and irrefutably unethical, ACTA is potentially worse than SOPA and PIPA combined.

Governor Palin: Cannibals in GOP Establishment Employ Tactics of the Left | Conservatives4Palin

2012-01-27T17:08:00.000-07:00

Governor Palin: Cannibals in GOP Establishment Employ Tactics of the Left | Conservatives4Palin:

But this whole thing isn’t really about Newt Gingrich vs. Mitt Romney. It is about the GOP establishment vs. the Tea Party grassroots and independent Americans who are sick of the politics of personal destruction used now by both parties’ operatives with a complicit media egging it on

American Power: Evidence Does Not Support Catastrophic Man-Made Global Warming

2012-01-27T15:20:00.000-07:00

American Power: Evidence Does Not Support Catastrophic Man-Made Global Warming:

In spite of a multidecade international campaign to enforce the message that increasing amounts of the "pollutant" carbon dioxide will destroy civilization, large numbers of scientists, many very prominent, share the opinions of Dr. Giaever. And the number of scientific "heretics" is growing with each passing year. The reason is a collection of stubborn scientific facts.

The Cato Institute

2012-01-27T14:45:00.000-07:00

The Cato Institute:

"The essential notion of a capitalist society … is voluntary cooperation, voluntary exchange. The essential notion of a socialist society is force." – Milton Friedman

Multiculturalism: The Chickens Are Coming Home to Roost - I Want a New Left

2012-01-27T14:28:00.000-07:00

Multiculturalism: The Chickens Are Coming Home to Roost - I Want a New Left:

I know that leftist critics will bristle at all this, insisting that they have little leverage over these cultures. But they do. In fact, this is another part of the left’s message of guilt to us Westerners, that we are cultural imperialists. Of course, what they are thinking of when they say this is that we swamp them with McDonald’s and bad television shows, but they also get the views of our leftist elites. In addition, those elites can determine, to some extent, who gets aid, who gets support in our media, and so on. People like me who want those societies to become more enlightened can’t make our views known in that part of the world, but our leftist elites can.

The problem for the left is that they are so used to criticizing the West that they have lost all perspective on things. To invert Matthew 7:3, they can see the speck in the West’s eye, but not the log in the Muslim world’s eye.

It’s time for a change.

Obama-backed electric car battery-maker files for bankruptcy - The Hill's E2-Wire

2012-01-26T13:29:00.000-07:00

Obama-backed electric car battery-maker files for bankruptcy - The Hill's E2-Wire:

An Indiana-based energy-storage company, whose subsidiary received a $118.5 million stimulus grant from the Energy Department, filed for bankruptcy Thursday.

Intergalactic Source of Truth: Mirror image.

2012-01-26T07:21:00.000-07:00

Intergalactic Source of Truth: Mirror image.:

Given a society of freely choosing individuals, the market is that which exists as a consequence . . . .

In a word, the free market is individual desire speaking in exchange terms … When the desires of people are depraved, a free market will accommodate the depravity. And it will accommodate excellence with equal alacrity. It is "servant alike to good … and evil.”

It is because the free market serves evil as well as good that many people think they can rid society of evil by slaying this faithful, amoral servant. This is comparable to… breaking the mirror so that we won’t have to see the reflection of what we really are.

The market is but a response to — a mirror of — our desires.

Instead of cursing evil, stay out of the market for it; the evil will cease to the extent we cease patronizing it. . . .

To slay this faithful, amoral servant [with government coercions] is to blindfold, deceive, and hoodwink ourselves…denying the market is to erase the best point of reference man can have.

An America divided | Nealz Nuze | www.boortz.com

2012-01-26T07:19:00.000-07:00

An America divided | Nealz Nuze | www.boortz.com:

How can people living in the same country view our state of the union so wildly different? The only explanation is that Americans now lack an understanding of our history and our values, and this is entirely the fault of our government education system. We are no longer a people bound together by our common belief in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We are now a country divided between those who embrace our founding principles and those who embrace government as a mechanism to control our lives and the lives of others. We were warned about this. Now is our chance to do something about this.

Schools of education | education, schools, center - Freedom Politics

2012-01-26T07:18:00.000-07:00

Schools of education | education, schools, center - Freedom Politics:

Larry Sand's article "No Wonder Johnny (Still) Can't Read" -- written for The John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy, based in Raleigh, N.C. -- blames schools of education for the decline in America's education.

Education professors drum into students that they should not "drill and kill" or be the "sage on the stage" but instead be the "guide on the side" who "facilitates student discovery." This kind of harebrained thinking, coupled with multicultural nonsense, explains today's education. During his teacher education, Sand says, "teachers-to-be were forced to learn about this ethnic group, that impoverished group, this sexually anomalous group, that under-represented group, etc. -- all under the rubric of 'Culturally Responsive Education.'"

Education majors are woefully lacking in academic skills.

Obama attacks handouts -- and then adds handouts | Campaign 2012 | Washington Examiner

2012-01-26T07:13:00.000-07:00

Obama attacks handouts -- and then adds handouts | Campaign 2012 | Washington Examiner:

When President Obama promised "no more bailouts, no more handouts" in his State of the Union address, and declared "it's time to apply the same rules from top to bottom," he was either prescribing a total reversal of his current industrial policy, or he was once again using words to mean something they've never meant before.

The rest of Obama's speech suggests the latter: He plans to continue his pattern of subsidizing, regulating, mandating and picking winners and losers, all the while calling it "fairness" and "a level playing-field."

When liberals speak of "fairness," conservatives tend to hear "redistribution" and "welfare," but Obama's fairness talk is not just code for liberal class warfare. He's also trying to tap into a broad sense that right now, the game is rigged -- that the insiders get special treatment and regular folks get short shrift. This is a real problem, and it's prudent to tap into this dissatisfaction. It's too bad all his policies just rig the game even more.

oftwominds: What Have We Learned in the Past 13 Years?

2012-01-24T09:50:00.000-07:00

oftwominds: What Have We Learned in the Past 13 Years?:

We have learned nothing since 1999 except the Central State and Central Bank will intervene in the market to bend price and risk to serve the Status Quo.

If we learn nothing, then we deserve to lose. This is not a popular concept in America at this point in its history, when monumental errors are denied, excused, rationalized or quickly absolved by those who committed them.

� Union Bosses Against School Choice - Big Government

2012-01-24T07:31:00.000-07:00

� Union Bosses Against School Choice - Big Government:

The National Education Association (NEA) and its state affiliates push an agenda that benefits union bosses at taxpayer expense. In America’s 28 forced-unionism states, teachers in NEA-organized schools who opt not to join must still pay dues, creating a huge pot of money for NEA to spend portraying teachers as victims and union bosses as their only friends.

MRC Study: The Real State of the Union, Big Three Networks Covering Up Obama's Failures | NewsBusters.org

2012-01-24T07:03:00.000-07:00

MRC Study: The Real State of the Union, Big Three Networks Covering Up Obama's Failures | NewsBusters.org:

By many measures, Barack Obama has left the State of the Union in tatters, but the liberal media, led by the highly rated Big Three network (ABC, CBS, NBC) news shows, have attempted to cover up those holes in the Union by mostly ignoring the Obama administration’s greatest failings. From record numbers of people on food stamps, to the administration’s support of failed energy companies while rejecting an oil pipeline that would result in thousands of jobs, the Big Three networks haven’t told their viewers the full story of Obama’s pathetic track record.

WashPost Ombudsman Won't Quibble: The Post Has a Liberal, Pro-Obama Bias | NewsBusters.org

2012-01-24T07:00:00.000-07:00

WashPost Ombudsman Won't Quibble: The Post Has a Liberal, Pro-Obama Bias | NewsBusters.org:

On Sunday, Washington Post ombudsman Patrick Pexton noted that Deborah Howell, Post ombudsman from 2005 through 2008, said at the end of her tenure that “some of the conservatives’ complaints about a liberal tilt [at The Post] are valid.” He added: “I won’t quibble with her conclusion. I think she was right.”

The Ever-Expanding Concept of “Bullying” Casts an Ominous Shadow Over Free Speech

2012-01-24T06:05:00.000-07:00

The Ever-Expanding Concept of “Bullying” Casts an Ominous Shadow Over Free Speech:

The Obama administration claims bullying is an “epidemic” and a “pandemic.” But in reality, bullying and violence have steadily gone down in the nation’s schools, as studies funded by the Justice Department have shown. The Obama administration’s StopBullying.gov website defines a vast array of speech and conduct as bullying: it classifies “teasing” as a form of “bullying,” and “rude” or “hurtful” “text messages” as “cyberbullying.” Since “creating web sites” that “make fun of others” also is deemed “cyberbullying,” conservative websites that poke fun at the president are presumably guilty of cyberbullying under this strange definition. (Law professors such as UCLA’s Eugene Volokh have criticized bills by liberal lawmakers like Congresswoman Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) that would ban some criticism of politicians as cyberbullying.)

“11 stunning revelations from Larry Summers’s secret economics memo to Barack Obama”

2012-01-23T16:44:00.000-07:00

“11 stunning revelations from Larry Summers’s secret economics memo to Barack Obama”:

1. The stimulus was about implementing the Obama agenda.
2. Team Obama knows these deficits are dangerous (although it has offered no long-term plan to deal with them).
3. Obamanomics was pricier than advertised.
4. Even Washington can only spend so much money so fast.
5. Liberals can complain about the stimulus having too many tax cuts, but even Team Obama thought more spending was unrealistic.
6. Team Obama wanted to use courts to force massive mortgage principal writedowns.
7. Team Obama thought a stimulus plan of more than $1 trillion would spook financial markets and send interest rates climbing.
8. Greg Mankiw, economic adviser to Mitt Romney, was dubious about the stimulus.
9. But the Fed was a stimulus enabler.
10. IPAB was there at the very beginning.
11. The financial crisis wasn’t just Wall Street’s fault.

Media Research Center Report: The Real State of the Union, Big Three Networks Covering Up Obama's Failures :: Political News and commentaries :: Hyscience

2012-01-23T16:10:00.000-07:00

Media Research Center Report: The Real State of the Union, Big Three Networks Covering Up Obama's Failures :: Political News and commentaries :: Hyscience:

From record numbers of people on food stamps, to the administration's support of failed energy companies while rejecting an oil pipeline that would result in thousands of jobs, the Big Three networks haven't told their viewers the full story of Obama's pathetic track record.

It is High Time to Reform the TSA | A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days

2012-01-23T15:49:00.000-07:00

It is High Time to Reform the TSA | A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days:

I personally have little doubt that Senator Paul’s story is substantially accurate. The TSA is doing little to nothing to actually preserve and enhance airport security. It seems to think that the more it needlessly irritates and harasses passengers, the safer we will be. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Conservatism Set Me on the Pro-Life Path - By Adam Hasner - The Corner - National Review Online

2012-01-23T09:13:00.000-07:00

Conservatism Set Me on the Pro-Life Path - By Adam Hasner - The Corner - National Review Online:

And yet I still arrived at the conclusion that every life is sacred from conception until natural death. That is because we cherish life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in this country, and those rights should extend to every life, born and unborn.

Federal Workers Owe $1.03B In Unpaid Taxes | Sweetness & Light

2012-01-23T09:08:00.000-07:00

Federal Workers Owe $1.03B In Unpaid Taxes | Sweetness & Light:

Meanwhile, just like in 2009, all federal workers are going to be given another raise, despite Obama’s earlier solemn promise to freeze their salaries.

Say Anything � Poll: Americans Think Federal Government Is Too Big And Unethical Under President Obama � Say Anything

2012-01-23T09:07:00.000-07:00

Say Anything � Poll: Americans Think Federal Government Is Too Big And Unethical Under President Obama � Say Anything:

And oh yeah, they’re upset about the state of the economy too:

The Decline of Decline | Via Meadia

2012-01-23T08:17:00.000-07:00

The Decline of Decline | Via Meadia:

Over on his Foreign Policy blog, Dan Drezner skewers the newly fashionable notion that America is in decline. It’s a refreshing and badly needed corrective to the chorus of naysayers who start at every shadow. There is a kind of hypochondria of power that is all too prevalent among US pundits; part of it is simple ignorance of history and the nature of US aims and capabilities, part is a general pessimism about capitalism and the human condition, and part is a healthy concern for trends that, left unchecked, could well result in big problems down the road. And there are all those people who confuse the ongoing decline of the blue social model with the health of the United States.

NetRight Daily � Stop Bailing Out Europe

2012-01-23T07:52:00.000-07:00

NetRight Daily � Stop Bailing Out Europe:

Contrary to the rhetoric of our leaders, U.S. taxpayers are still subsidizing an ongoing bailout of the flailing Eurozone. This expansive financial commitment — components of which have been cleverly disguised as currency swaps — comes at a time when our country can least afford it.

Entering 2012, the federal government’s debt stood at roughly $15.2 trillion — an amount that is projected to climb to at least $16.4 trillion in the coming year. This will be the fifth consecutive year in which the federal government has spent more than $1 trillion in money that it didn’t have – and yet lawmakers in both parties are still refusing to make long-overdue cuts. Even worse, they’re still refusing to address the unsustainable entitlement excess that’s fueling this soaring debt.

In such an environment Washington simply cannot afford to pump more taxpayer money into bailouts at home or abroad — whether through loans, direct appropriations or clever “liquidity swaps” like the one exposed recently by Gerald O’Driscoll of the Cato Institute.

Yes, Liberalism IS a Mental Disorder | NewsBusters.org

2012-01-23T07:20:00.000-07:00

Yes, Liberalism IS a Mental Disorder | NewsBusters.org:

The Mayo Clinic defines NPD as “a mental disorder in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance and a deep need for admiration.” This seems in tune with the fact that liberals, along with their degenerate offspring, the Occupy Wall Street movement, believe their policies and platforms fall in the majority - or the 99% if you will - despite being outnumbered by conservatives at a 2-1 clip.

Articles: Gingrich v. Leftism

2012-01-23T06:34:00.000-07:00

Articles: Gingrich v. Leftism:

The endorsement of Newt Gingrich by Rick Perry, as well as the virtual endorsement of Gingrich by Sarah Palin, forms the battle lines for the Republican nomination. Look quickly for Santorum and Bachmann to line up behind Gingrich as well, just like Huntsman has endorsed Romney. In a three-man race with Gingrich representing historic conservatism, Paul embracing constitutional libertarianism, and Romney representing the pragmatic political wing of the party, Gingrich should wrap up the nomination relatively quickly.

The left, of course, will try to destroy Gingrich, just as it has been trying to destroy him since he forced Speaker Jim Wright into disgraceful retirement in 1989. Today, the attack will be on his personal life -- this by the same leftists who loved Bill Clinton, who ignored the ghastly behavior of John Edwards, and who since JFK have said that the private life of a political leader is not important -- but the left's real fear of Gingrich comes from Gingrich's understanding of the weaknesses of leftism and the ways to defeat it.

Articles: The Self-Destruction of the Mainstream Media

2012-01-23T06:32:00.000-07:00

Articles: The Self-Destruction of the Mainstream Media:

For the past forty years the mainstream media has become increasingly liberal and more overt in promoting the policies of the Democratic Party. This evolutionary process reached its zenith in 2008 when the media were instrumental in Barack Obama being elected President. Many journalists dropped any pretense of objectivity and became not only cheerleaders but active de facto members of the campaign. What has their loyalty and prostration achieved for the journalism community? During the past two decades no other sector of the economy has experienced such overwhelming financial and employment devastation.

Yet the vast majority of the media do not understand why theirs is a declining and failing business model. They are still in denial and cannot accept the reality of the marketplace, as their actions have prompted the American public to lose all confidence in their objectivity and integrity.

Articles: On the Intellectual Inferiority of Liberalism

2012-01-23T06:31:00.000-07:00

Articles: On the Intellectual Inferiority of Liberalism:

Liberalism used to be a respectable position for intelligent, well-meaning, and informed people. That was a long time ago. No longer.

Today the "liberal" faith requires an extraordinary act of ignorance, purposeful forgetting, and constant spinning. To be a faithful "liberal" today you have to forget the whole 20th century, and its 100 million victims of the radical left -- that is, victims of Obama's brand of leftism. You have to shut out of your mind the fact that Obama hails from today's Chicago Machine, the most storied and undemocratic political machine since Boss Tweed.

You have to ignore the bloody history of black nationalism in America, where Obama's hero Malcolm X was assassinated by the followers of Elijah Muhammed. You have to ignore the racial blackmail that has controlled American politics since the rise of the post-MLK "civil rights" movement, when all the heroic actions of a few civil rights campaigners like Martin Luther King, Jr., was taken over by dangerous racial demagogues like Rev. Al, the Rev. Wright and the radical left.

Europe’s Fiscal Crisis Is Caused by too Much Government, and Deficits and Debt Are Merely Symptoms of that Problem � International Liberty

2012-01-22T15:52:00.000-07:00

Europe’s Fiscal Crisis Is Caused by too Much Government, and Deficits and Debt Are Merely Symptoms of that Problem � International Liberty:

I don’t expect a good outcome to the European fiscal crisis, largely because nobody seems to understand that the real problem is excessive government spending.

HolyCoast.com: When Obama Rejects the Keystone XL Pipeline He Rejects American Success

2012-01-22T10:33:00.000-07:00

HolyCoast.com: When Obama Rejects the Keystone XL Pipeline He Rejects American Success:

Short of announcing it outright, President Obama could not have signaled in stronger terms than he did Wednesday how little he cares for the plight of the American public.

With the news that the White House is definitively rejecting approval of TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline, a project that has the potential to employ 20,000 Americans almost immediately, the president has made clear that he’d rather placate a small group of environmental radicals than offer real relief to unemployed Americans struggling to pay constantly rising gas prices.

How the left uses “bullying” to restrict free speech that offends them � Wintery Knight

2012-01-22T09:53:00.000-07:00

How the left uses “bullying” to restrict free speech that offends them � Wintery Knight:

It’s very important to understand what liberals mean when they say “bullying” and how they use it to silence those who might offend them. It’s using government power to force individuals to accept the morality of the state. There’s a word for that.

Boehner Calls Obama Policies 'Pathetic' - Alexandra Jaffe - NationalJournal.com

2012-01-22T09:35:00.000-07:00

Boehner Calls Obama Policies 'Pathetic' - Alexandra Jaffe - NationalJournal.com:

Anticipating the president's State of the Union address on Tuesday, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, called Obama's policies “pathetic” and implored him to “go in a new direction” to improve the economy.

“It sounds to me like the same old policies,” Boehner said on Fox News Sunday. “More spending and higher taxes and more regulations—the same policies that haven’t helped our economy, they’ve made it worse. And if that’s what the president’s going to talk about Tuesday night, I think it’s pathetic.”

Boehner brandished a list of 30 jobs bills passed by the House that he says Obama should consider folding into his agenda for the upcoming year, and he blamed Congress’ inactivity on the Senate, which hasn’t taken up any of those bills.

What’s More Compassionate for the Poor, Dependency or Self-Reliance? � International Liberty

2012-01-22T09:10:00.000-07:00

What’s More Compassionate for the Poor, Dependency or Self-Reliance? � International Liberty:

As a taxpayer, I get upset about these examples. But as a public policy economist, I’m much more worried about the fiscal and economic impact of the program.

As a human being, though, my primary concern is the way redistribution saps the spirit of self reliance and traps people into lives of dependency. That’s the very first point I make in this debate on CNBC.

Quotation of the Day…

2012-01-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

Quotation of the Day…:

Thus to enforce the equality of possessions it is necessary to institutionalize inequality of rights.

Destroying America by Denying Access to Energy | Energy and Environment Right Side News

2012-01-22T03:06:00.000-07:00

Destroying America by Denying Access to Energy | Energy and Environment Right Side News:

It is the crime of the century that America, home to some of the world’s greatest reserves of coal, natural gas and oil, is being deliberately destroyed by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of the Interior as they do everything in their power to restrict access and drive energy producers out of business.

Charles Murray on the New American Divide - WSJ.com

2012-01-21T14:30:00.000-07:00

Charles Murray on the New American Divide - WSJ.com:

When Americans used to brag about "the American way of life"—a phrase still in common use in 1960—they were talking about a civic culture that swept an extremely large proportion of Americans of all classes into its embrace. It was a culture encompassing shared experiences of daily life and shared assumptions about central American values involving marriage, honesty, hard work and religiosity.

Over the past 50 years, that common civic culture has unraveled. We have developed a new upper class with advanced educations, often obtained at elite schools, sharing tastes and preferences that set them apart from mainstream America. At the same time, we have developed a new lower class, characterized not by poverty but by withdrawal from America's core cultural institutions.

Drug War Sanity in NJ? | Via Meadia

2012-01-21T13:40:00.000-07:00

Drug War Sanity in NJ? | Via Meadia:

For years, one of the primary criticisms of America’s expensive and self-destructive drug war has been that it leads to the incarceration of large numbers of nonviolent youths, harming their reputations and future job prospects for the rest of their lives. In his State of the State address this past week, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie unveiled a new drug policy that addresses these concerns. The Wall Street Journal reports that Christie’s new plan aims to replace jail terms for nonviolent drug offenders with a stint in drug rehabilitation centers, while increasing jail penalties for violent drug dealers.

How Will The Shocking Decline Of Christianity In America Affect The Future Of This Nation? | Culture Wars Right Side News

2012-01-21T13:20:00.000-07:00

How Will The Shocking Decline Of Christianity In America Affect The Future Of This Nation? | Culture Wars Right Side News:

The-Christian-Faith-In-AmericaWithout a doubt, America is becoming a less "Christian" nation. This has staggering implications for the future of this country. The United States was founded primarily by Christians that were seeking to escape religious persecution. For those early settlers, the Christian faith was the very center of their lives, and it deeply affected the laws that they made and the governmental structures that they established. So what is the future of America going to look like if we totally reject the principles that this nation

Courts Have No Business Interfering with Redistricting - Ricochet.com

2012-01-21T11:52:00.000-07:00

Courts Have No Business Interfering with Redistricting - Ricochet.com:

These decisions are inherently and wholly political, and the courts undermine their commitment to neutrality and fairness when they decided to enter this field. The best thing that federal judges could do is declare all of it a political question and leave it to those best suited to answer it under the Constitution: politicians.

Catholic Bishop: Obama's Birth Control Plan 'Direct Attack On Religion' - Birth Control - Fox Nation

2012-01-21T09:54:00.000-07:00

Catholic Bishop: Obama's Birth Control Plan 'Direct Attack On Religion' - Birth Control - Fox Nation:

Awesome: U.S. Catholic Bishops Slam Obama’s “Direct Attack On Religion” As “Literally Unconscionable”…

Brutally Honest: "We understand that you are no longer a press that is free, but one that is enthralled to its own ideologies"

2012-01-21T09:48:00.000-07:00

Brutally Honest: "We understand that you are no longer a press that is free, but one that is enthralled to its own ideologies":

I'll admit to wishing that it was someone with less baggage than Newt who could and would take the fight to a media so blatantly biased against conservative thought but I'll also admit that Newt seems to be the best equipped at this time to do so. Battle on Newt.

CARPE DIEM: Frack Away, There's No Reason Not To, Even Though It's Not the "Government's Energy"

2012-01-21T08:04:00.000-07:00

CARPE DIEM: Frack Away, There's No Reason Not To, Even Though It's Not the "Government's Energy":

"Frack away, there's no reason not to. Two of the main objections to "fracking" for shale gas have been blown out of proportion, according to British geologists.

CARPE DIEM: Nat Gas: A Foundational Fuel for the Economy With A Surplus That Will Keep Prices Low for Years

2012-01-21T08:01:00.000-07:00

CARPE DIEM: Nat Gas: A Foundational Fuel for the Economy With A Surplus That Will Keep Prices Low for Years:

Historically low natural gas prices, resulting from a glut in global reserves, have caused home heating bills to plummet to levels not seen in a decade. Experts anticipate the prices dropping further before they self-correct, with expectations that a long-term surplus could keep prices cheap for years.

CARPE DIEM: Why Does Obama Want the U.S. To Be Energy Poor?

2012-01-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

CARPE DIEM: Why Does Obama Want the U.S. To Be Energy Poor?:

"One of the reasons the unemployment rate has been stuck above 8 percent for years is because the Obama administration is actively blocking the private sector from creating jobs. Approving the Keystone XL pipeline, now in its third year of review, would have gone a long way toward boosting American job creation and strengthening our energy security. But the President prefers the politics of energy poverty and has sided with environmentalist radicals over hardworking Americans and their families.

The reality at the White House has nothing to do with protecting the environment -- it’s about reinforcing a myth of energy scarcity on the United States and driving up the price of energy.

Bypassing the Feds: TransCanda rerouting Keystone from Montana to Gulf | The Right Scoop

2012-01-20T13:29:00.000-07:00

Bypassing the Feds: TransCanda rerouting Keystone from Montana to Gulf | The Right Scoop:

Basically, it looks like TransCanada may build the pipeline from Montana to the Gulf sending Montana’s Bakken Shale through the pipeline and it won’t require federal permission to do so. And then, and I’m guessing here, once we have a new administration, they apply for approval to connect the pipeline to Canada.

Religious Liberty - The Latest Target of Obamacare :: Political News and commentaries :: Hyscience

2012-01-20T13:25:00.000-07:00

Religious Liberty - The Latest Target of Obamacare :: Political News and commentaries :: Hyscience: Let there be no doubt whatsoever, this is indeed dangerous to the very fabric of our society, and a crucial reason why the whole health law, with its centralized control over health-care decisions, must be repealed.

Say Anything � Over A Decade And $356 Million Later, The Justice Department’s Wireless Systems Still Suck � Say Anything

2012-01-20T12:53:00.000-07:00

Say Anything � Over A Decade And $356 Million Later, The Justice Department’s Wireless Systems Still Suck � Say Anything:

Somehow, problems like this rarely seem to plague companies operating in the private sector.

But don’t worry, the federal government can totally make your health care cheaper and more efficient.

Rejecting the Keystone pipeline is an act of insanity - The Washington Post

2012-01-20T11:28:00.000-07:00

Rejecting the Keystone pipeline is an act of insanity - The Washington Post:

President Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico is an act of national insanity. It isn’t often that a president makes a decision that has no redeeming virtues and — beyond the symbolism — won’t even advance the goals of the groups that demanded it. All it tells us is that Obama is so obsessed with his reelection that, through some sort of political calculus, he believes that placating his environmental supporters will improve his chances.

Head Start A 50 Year Flop? Say It Ain’t So, Joe | Via Meadia

2012-01-20T11:21:00.000-07:00

Head Start A 50 Year Flop? Say It Ain’t So, Joe | Via Meadia:

The bigger story, though, is that the fundamental assumptions behind decades of government policy in education are coming unglued. The tools we’ve been using to address some of our most serious social problems don’t work. The money we’ve spent has been wasted.

It isn’t the just the Tea Party and Ayn Rand acolytes saying these things. It’s President Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services. It’s Time magazine.

A paradigm is falling apart.

NetRight Daily � Are we over the edge?

2012-01-20T11:18:00.000-07:00

NetRight Daily � Are we over the edge?:

I don’t come to the conclusion lightly. But, If those Americans who take more in benefits from the government than they produce have not already overwhelmed the system to form an effective majority, they are perilously close.

As early as elementary school, I wondered how the Roman Empire fell and could not understand it. I learned something of the dole system that was established to help make the poor dependent upon the Imperial government, but did not fully understand the correlations.

Now, America is on the verge of putting itself on auto-pilot to insignificance, crushed under the weight of debt to support those who have the political numbers to protect themselves from the necessary spending cuts that would save our country.

The government itself has grown so large that too many Americans look at it as the founder of their feast rather than a necessary evil.

So, while the people will rise up on issues that affect their entertainment like the Wikipedia led outrage over the Internet piracy bill, they are sanguine on real issues that cut to the heart of our nation’s survival.

Brutally Honest: "They want us to tolerate them but they don’t want to tolerate us"

2012-01-20T11:04:00.000-07:00

Brutally Honest: "They want us to tolerate them but they don’t want to tolerate us":

They want us to tolerate them but they don’t want to tolerate us. They want to use the power of the state and civil rights laws to force the church into accepting homosexuality. They give lip service to religious freedom while at the same time setting up the legal system to empower homosexual coercion of the church. This is not marriage equality. It is the setup for a knockdown. They already have equality but that is not what they actually want. They want to force the church to accept homosexuality.

Eagle Forum Blog: "Progressive" Means National Control

2012-01-20T10:06:00.000-07:00

Eagle Forum Blog: "Progressive" Means National Control:

The view of the liberals and progressives is that the education of children is simply too important to be left to parents or the states. So the liberals have been trying for years to impose national content standards on the schools, and to achieve this they tie those demands to grants of federal money. The liberal agenda is to intercept parents' rights to transmit their values to their children by changing the kids' values while they are in school.

HolyCoast.com: Economic Quote of the Day

2012-01-20T07:10:00.000-07:00

HolyCoast.com: Economic Quote of the Day:

"I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. In my youth I travelled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer."

That would be Benjamin Franklin, one of our Founding Fathers, writing in "Management of the Poor". Truth is truth, even if it's over 200 years old.

Strange How the Media Didn’t Care About Infidelity in 1992 and 2008 | Jammie Wearing Fools

2012-01-20T06:44:00.000-07:00

Strange How the Media Didn’t Care About Infidelity in 1992 and 2008 | Jammie Wearing Fools:

Say what you will about Newt Gingrich and his numerous wives and affairs, and it’s already become an obsession with the media that will do anything to derail the GOP and re-install Obama in the White House. Back in 1992 all it took was a “60 Minutes” interview with the Clintons and that was the end of the Gennifer Flowers story.

In 2008 it was already well known John Edwards was cheating on his wife, but the media gave him a free pass. Why? Because he’s a Democrat, of course. Democrats can do no wrong, but if you’re a Republican with any infidelities in your past then you’re fair game. This isn’t to excuse Gingrich. Let’s just see what the left always clamors for: Fairness.

70% of American Voters Disagree With Obama – Favor Increased Access to Oil and Gas Resources | The Gateway Pundit

2012-01-19T19:04:00.000-07:00

70% of American Voters Disagree With Obama – Favor Increased Access to Oil and Gas Resources | The Gateway Pundit:

Seventy percent of American voters favor increased access to U.S. oil and natural gas resources, and similar numbers believe more oil and natural gas development would provide major benefits to the nation, including more U.S. jobs, according to a new poll released today.

“Voters know developing more of America’s homegrown energy makes sense for our economy and our energy security,” said API President and CEO Jack Gerard. “Our economy will demand large amounts of oil and natural gas for at least several more decades even as the role of alternative energy increases. Common sense says we should have Americans producing that oil and gas here at home as much as possible.”

In defence of capitalism, the most virtuous economic system yet devised – Telegraph Blogs

2012-01-19T18:44:00.000-07:00

In defence of capitalism, the most virtuous economic system yet devised – Telegraph Blogs:

There’s nothing selfish about capitalism. Like every economic model, it is a matrix within which individual actors can behave morally or immorally. But here’s the thing: no one has yet come up with a system that rewards decent behaviour to the same extent.

In an open market based on property rights and free contract, you become wealthy by offering an honest service to others. I am typing these words on a machine developed by the late Steve Jobs. He gained from the exchange (adding fractionally to his net wealth) and so did I (adding to my convenience).

Under the various forms of corporatism tried by fascist and socialist regimes, by contrast, someone else – generally a state official – gets to allocate the goodies, guaranteeing favouritism and corruption.

Pope: America is “increasingly hostile to Christianity” | LifeSiteNews.com

2012-01-19T16:53:00.000-07:00

Pope: America is “increasingly hostile to Christianity” | LifeSiteNews.com:

“Today that consensus has eroded significantly in the face of powerful new cultural currents which are not only directly opposed to core moral teachings of the Judeo-Christian tradition, but increasingly hostile to Christianity as such,” he said.

Court Ruling Broadening Americans with Disabilities Act Will Harm Taxicab Safety and Cost Hundreds of Millions

2012-01-19T16:31:00.001-07:00

Court Ruling Broadening Americans with Disabilities Act Will Harm Taxicab Safety and Cost Hundreds of Millions

The court’s unduly expansive interpretation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is backed by the Obama Justice Department, which filed a brief supporting the lawsuit. The Obama administration is busy reinterpreting federal labor, employment, disabilities-rights, and discrimination laws in ways that impose costly new burdens on businesses and consumers. The Obama EEOC recently sued Pepsi for doing criminal background checks on job applicants, forcing it to pay $3.1 million to settle the lawsuit. The EEOC is also threatening employers who require high-school diplomas with lawsuits under the ADA.