Caption Of The Day

Some things need no explanation. (HT Marc Allen)

Congressional Black Caucus Caught In Between

The Current CBC Chair is on a slippery slope. (HT Wikipedia)

The Congressional Black Caucus is in a bind. The high unemployment number in the black community, currently at about 17 percent, is forcing the CBC to make a choice: Be more vocal in their criticism of President Obama, giving ammunition to the Tea Party, or stay silent and support the President and see their constituents continue to suffer. From the Miami Herald:

As the debate over jobs turns into the latest political tug-of-war, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri walks a careful but candid line.

As chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, he has been at odds with President Barack Obama over his administration's response to the soaring unemployment rate in the African-American community.

Nearing 17 percent, joblessness among blacks is at a three-decade high and almost twice the size of the overall unemployment rate. The black caucus wants the president to do more.

But the group's efforts are freighted with political sensitivities, given Obama's unique role as the first African-American occupant of the White House and the sometimes untethered animosity that his election has triggered.

"If (former President) Bill Clinton had been in the White House and had failed to address this problem, we probably would be marching on the White House," Cleaver said. "There is a less-volatile reaction in the CBC because nobody wants to do anything that would empower the people who hate the president."

Most folks don't hate the President personally. They don't support his policies because they are choking the economy. Zero job growth in August. People are hungry for jobs and income. Sadly, the CBC looks like they care more about President Obama's image than their constituents incomes. There's more:

As a former two-term mayor of Kansas City, the 66-year-old Cleaver knows something about the minefield of special interest politics. He also is a Methodist minister who still occasionally takes to the pulpit on Sundays when he is home.

In Congress since 2003, he has friends on both sides of the aisle and started the "Civility Caucus" several years ago to combat the deterioration of political etiquette in the House. It has nine members.

"He is a not a fire breather, that's not his style, and I don't think he is, or for that matter, the caucus is genuinely angry at Obama," said David Bositis, an expert on voting rights and black politics at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. "I think they know that Obama is doing everything he can."

Cleaver is a lifelong Democrat who prizes political loyalty, and the black unemployment dilemma has put him and the group he leads in the awkward position of criticizing the policies of a president they admire, but not the president himself.

"It's not personal," Cleaver said. "They're attacking his policies, or lack thereof, with regard to this gigantic unemployment problem among African-Americans. If we can't criticize a black president, then it's all over.

White House spokesman Kevin Lewis said that Obama shares the caucus's concerns and has pushed for programs to address them. He said that the unemployment insurance extension in the president's jobs bill, which caucus members have applauded, would help 1.4 million African-Americans, and his proposed payroll tax cut would help 20 million.

Lewis said Obama, who belonged to the caucus when he was a senator, has a good relationship with the group and will speak at its annual dinner next week.

Criticizing Obama's policies means criticizing Obama, Something the CBC is very reluctant to do. They should be angry about the High unemployment rate. Even Barbara Lee said it was unacceptable. Again, people want jobs more than unemployment benefits because those benefits just don't go far enough to cover monthly expenses. The Congressional Black Caucus will have to make a choice: Either be loyal to Obama and the Democrat Party, or their constituents who keep sending them back to Washington. They way things are going, they can't do both. Lastly, could the reason that Obama has done so little for the black community is because he feels he doesn't have to work for their votes?

Background Reading:

Miami Herald: Black caucus head treads line between criticizing, supporting Obama

Author Being Exposed As The Rogue

Palin Derangement Syndrome, an all to common mindset of the left, has resurfaced. (HT Michelle Malkin)

It seems there's another unauthorized book of fiction for sale. From BigGovernment.com:

After a week of universally scathing pans from the reflexively anti-Palin establishment media, McGinniss now faces the fight of his literary life: the accusation that he seems to have knowingly submitted a book to his publisher, Crown/Random House, that was filled with unproved “tawdry gossip” and rumors that lacked “factual evidence.”

In the email below, sent in January of 2011, McGinniss reveals that his manuscript, then under legal review at Crown/Random House, could not prove its most headline-grabbing allegations. And yet, many of these “salacious stories” that lacked “proof” (in McGinniss’s own words) ended up in the book, and on televisions everywhere during the author’s current media tour … without proper sourcing, and without any apparent new evidence to support them.

Was Random House aware that its prized author was making a desperate overtime bid to save face? And if so, why did it allow him to come forth with most of those tawdry accusations without proof or proper sourcing?

This would not be the first time McGinniss has found himself in trouble over accusations of unethical journalism. In 1987, McGinniss agreed to pay $325,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by the convicted murderer who was the subject of McGinniss’s book Fatal Vision. He has also admitted to having surreptitiously distributed a competitor’s manuscript about Palin that was handed to him by his own publisher. The leak allegedly damaged the commercial viability of that book.

In 2003, Random House released a larger-than-life, massive bestseller by James Frey entitled A Million Little Pieces. Later, it was revealed that the book was a fantastical literary hoax that made its way past some of the highest-paid and most respected editors and lawyers in the literary world. Doubleday/Random House felt compelled to offer full refunds to those who had bought the book.

Has history repeated itself?

From: Joe McGinniss
To: Jesse Griffin
Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2011 6:15 PM
Subject: I have to ask you for help

Jesse–

Legal review of my manuscript is underway and here’s my problem: no one has ever offered documentation of any of the lurid stories about the Palins. Shailey Tripp is the latest example.

APD and Sarah have denied that Todd had any involvement with her. To my knowledge, no one has provided any evidence that he did. TheEnquirer cites AlaskaWTF, which in turn cites the Enquirer: what good is that? I’m also told that the Enquirer is preparing to back off this story and save face by denouncing Ms. Tripp as an unreliable source who promised documentation she couldn’t provide.

She may be mentally unstable and prone to fabrication, delusion, or both. Her joint may be called Blue Hands Massage (brrrrr!), but she’s no Monica Lewinsky with a blue dress with a semen stain, that’s for sure.

Do you believe that Todd paid her for sex? If so, why do you believe that, other than that you wish it were true?

A lurid, sensational, defamatory story about Todd, based only on the account of a woman charged with prostitution, who is no doubt desperate for money, and who sold her story to the Enquirer, is a gift from heaven for Sarah.

Jesse, you can ridicule Sarah for calling in to the execrable Bob & Mark, but the fact is that as far as this story goes, there’s no there there. And rumors about what might come in weeks ahead are not facts. In fact, they’re garbage.

I’ve neither seen nor heard anything that indicates that Ms. Tripp’s story has any basis in fact. None of the endless crap Patrick posted about her before getting the boot from Palingates.com offers any substantiation.

And even you write frequently that you know things you can’t yet post, but that soon “all will be revealed.” This has been going on since I first became aware of your blog, but as far as I know you haven’t substantiated a single claim or provided verification for a single rumor that you’ve posted about Sarah’s personal life, or the personal lives of any Palin family members. Thus, she gets to denounce what she calls “lies.”

Neither from you, the Enquirer, AlaskaWTF, palingates.com or anyone else, have I seen a credible, identified source backing any of the salacious stories about the Palin family.

Thus–as Random House lawyers are already pointing out to me–nothing I can cite other than my own reporting rises above the level of tawdry gossip. The proof is always just around the corner, but that’s a corner nobody has been able to turn. Maybe Jeff Dunn has, in which case I’ll be the first to congratulate him. But frankly, at this point, I’m tired of it, and I’ve run out of time.

No one has ever provided factual evidence that:

a) Todd had sex with a hooker, or with anyone else outside his marriage.

b) Sarah had an affair with Brad Hanson, or anyone else.

c) Track was a druggie who enlisted in the army to avoid a jail term. Or that he vandalized Wasilla school buses.

d) Willow was involved in the vandalism of the empty house in Meadow Lakes. Or that Sarah rushed back from Hawaii to put the lid on that.

e) Trig is not Sarah’s natural born child.

f) Bristol was promiscuous as a high schooler and drank and used drugs, or became pregnant again after Tripp’s birth.

Jesse, you were going on and on about Bristol being pregnant while doing Dancing With The Stars. And, if I recall correctly, at the time of her brief glossy-magazine-payday “reunion” with Levi, you surmised that she was pregnant by Ben Barber, or at least by someone who wasn’t Levi. You’ve recently suggested she’s had an abortion, publishing photographs that show her chubby then and thin now. But doesn’t that seem a little “thin” to you, based on nothing besides magazine pictures?

So much has bubbled at the salacious rumor stage for more than two years, but no one has been able to take even one story further.

Jesse, if you can put me in touch with people who are willing and able to substantiate any of the above, now is the time to do so. Otherwise, I hope you won’t complain that there are no startling new revelations in my book. My publisher and I think it’s damning enough without airing the family’s dirty laundry, but because Sarah’s hypocrisy about her family is one of the things that galls me most, I’d like to be able to publish facts in regard to a) through f) above, but I emphasize facts.

Not malicious speculation or third-hand rumors relayed by those who hold a grudge.

For any or all of those who’ve told you they’ll speak out, but not yet, now is the time. My book represents the last best chance to put the truth about Sarah in front of the American people in a documented, verifiable way. But I need facts that I can rely on. I didn’t live this long and work this hard over so many decades to wind up as AlaskaWTF between hard covers.

as always, and looking forward to seeing you in spring or summer,
Joe

There could be very nice lawsuit settlements for Sarah Palin. Libel and slander from Joe McGinniss, slander against Crown/Random House, libel against any newspaper who jumped on board, slander against any TV show that aired unsupported rumors. Any TV show that gave McGinniss time to dish on the book is vulnerable to a lawsuit. This proves that the fear and loathing for Sarah Palin has not gone away.

Background Reading:

BigGovernment.com: Explosive Email Shows Anti-Palin Author McGinniss, Random House Likely Published Literary Hoax (Updated)

BigJournalism.com: Caught: Random House Published Palin Smears After Lawyers Allegedly Told McGinniss No Proof Existed

The Obamacare Cat Escapes The Bag Once Again

The Evidence for repeal continues to roll in. (HT Michelle Malkin)

More ammunition has been given to conservative who want Obamacare repealed. Here's what happened during a conversation between Howard Dean and former New York Gov. George Pataki on Morning Joe:

DEAN: The fact is, it is very good for small business. There was a McKinsey study, which the Democrats don't like, but I do, and I think it's true. Most small businesses are not going to be in the health insurance business anymore after this thing goes into effect. I think Obamacare is a huge help to small business.

PATAKI: The only way it's a help is if they dump coverage.

DEAN: That's right. That's what they should do.

PATAKI: And employees all of a sudden have to go on the government exchanges. Which is what, of course the president promised wouldn't happen.

DEAN: It is going to happen.

This is very significant. The Washington Examiner reveals why:

The reason Democrats fought so hard to dismiss the McKinsey survey when it was released is because its conclusion undermines two major claims Obama made during health care debate: "If you like your health plan, you can keep it" and "It will not add one penny to the deficit."

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) premised their Obamacare score on the assumption that only 7 percent of employers would drop their employee health plans. If the percentage is closer to the 30 percent, as the McKinsey survey results predict, Obamacare's price tag would rise by almost $1 trillion.

Bottom Line: Conservatives were proven right and President Obama was proven wrong. Elections matter. If America doesn't put a conservative in the White House, and send enough conservatives to congress to repeal this monstrosity, then the worse is yet to come regarding the implementation of Obamacare, or what I prefer to call socialized medicine.

Background Reading:

Washington Examiner: Dean: Employers will drop coverage under Obamacare

Rush Limbaugh: Howard Dean Admits: Obamacare Will Kill Private Health Insurance

Yet another tax increase to push back against. (HT AR15.com)

Once again President Obama has shown his true leftist colors. From the Associated Press:

In a sharp challenge to the GOP, President Barack Obama proposed paying for his costly new jobs plan Monday with tax hikes that Republicans have already emphatically rejected. The reception to his new proposal was no more welcoming, setting the stage for a likely new fight with Congress.

Flanked at the White House by workers he said the legislation would help, Obama declared, "This is the bill that Congress needs to pass. No games. No politics. No delays." He sent it to Capitol Hill saying, "The only thing that's stopping it is politics."

The president's proposal drew criticism from House Speaker John Boehner, who'd previously responded in cautious but somewhat receptive tones to the $447 billion jobs plan made up of tax cuts and new spending that Obama first proposed in an address to Congress last Thursday.The biggest piece of the payment plan would raise about $400 billion by eliminating certain deductions, including on charitable contributions, that can be claimed by wealthy taxpayers. Obama has proposed that in the past — to help pay for his health care overhaul, for example — and it's been shot down by Republican lawmakers along with some Democrats.

Yet by daring Republicans anew to reject tax hikes on the rich Obama could gain a talking point as the 2012 presidential campaign moves forward, if not a legislative victory.

At a Rose Garden event Monday, Obama brandished his jobs bill and surrounded himself with police officers, firefighters, teachers, construction workers and others he said would be helped by it. Adopting a newly combative tone that's been welcomed by dispirited Democrats, Obama demanded immediate action on the legislation, which the White House sent to Capitol Hill Monday afternoon.

"Instead of just talking about America's job creators, let's actually do something for America's job creators," he said.

Even the AP knows that this plan is costly. Obama wants more new spending, something Americans are sick of. He's not listening to the majority of voters, and the lamestream media can't figure out why his approval numbers are so low. Eliminating deductions means he wants to raise taxes. Again, Democrat = Tax Increase.

Then there's the people he surrounded himself with, "police officers, firefighters, teachers, construction workers". These are mostly public sector workers. Their union bosses would be the primary beneficiaries of this plan. This doesn't help job creators because the job creators are in the private sector. They're being hampered by heavy regulations from the EPA, Dept. of Agriculture, and the Interior Dept. among others. Again, the more people who have private sector jobs, the more people who can pay taxes, which increase treasury revenues.

If he's serious about helping job creators, then unleash the private sector. Lose the heavy handed regulations, lower corporate taxes and capital gains, especially for small businesses. That will allow companies to hire and expand. More people working means more people engaging in commerce which makes the economy grow. Zero job growth in August should tell you his economic policy is a disaster, and we have to reverse course.

Background Reading:

AP: Obama would raise taxes to pay for his jobs bill

IFT Digging In On School Day Issue

Their battle line is drawn. (HT IFT)

Illinois Federation of Teachers President Daniel Montgomery is disturbed about the way the Chicago Public Schools is seeking waivers that would approve longer school days. He feels that the "waiver provision in the contract “was not intended” to be used in the way CPS is trying to use it". Meanwhile, "Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel say waivers are allowed under the contract, and teachers at five schools have approved them by large margins."

Both Rahm Emanuel and the IFT are use to getting their way. It will be interesting to see who wins out. As usual, a big labor boss cries foul whenever they're asked to give more. It really makes me believe that they care more about their contract as opposed to the kids that they're paid to educate.

Something else caught my eye: "CTU President Karen Lewis also serves as executive vice president of the IFT." Looks like another case of a high ranking big labor official double dipping on the public dole. This is also a point of contention that taxpayers have with union bureaucrats. It makes them look like fat cats who are only out for themselves. I wonder what the CTU rank and file feels about that?

Background reading:


Chicago Sun-Times: Illinois teachers union official blasts CPS longer-day tactics

How Soros & Obama Became Buddies

Puppet & Puppeteer?? (HT PatDollard.com)



Let's dive right in. From Fox News:

"BILL O'REILLY, HOST: In "The Obama Chronicles" segment tonight: You don't get to be a presidential candidate without a lot of help. Barack Obama accumulated his power base in Chicago by allying himself with some very interesting characters, probably people you have never heard of.

Person No. 1: Bettylu Saltzman, a wealthy, committed left-wing philanthropist who can make or break a Chicago politician.

Person No. 2: Valerie Jarrett, currently a senior adviser to Barack Obama. She has been a close associate for 17 years.

Person No. 3: Penny Pritzker, whose grandfather founded the Hyatt Hotel chain. Another committed leftist. She is a top fund-raiser.

Joining us now from Chicago is a woman who knows all about Barack Obama's Chicago gang, Sugar Rautbord, who actually introduced the Senator to George Soros.

Wow. Why did you do that?

SUGAR RAUTBORD, OBAMA SUPPORTER: Well, because he was a Democrat, and he is rich, so that kind of makes sense. And when he was running, Barack, for the U.S. Senate, Paula and Jim Crown from the very important billionaire Chicago Crown family that owns Aspen, owns a lot of companies, very generous, very philanthropic, we were all working with Barack to run for the Senate, and I was going to host a dinner for George Soros, on a book tour here. And we persuaded him — and actually, George hosted...

O'REILLY: So you got them together. Soros, subsequently, became a big Barack Obama fan. But Soros is a far, far-left guy. And many people, I think, are very, very suspicious of George Soros for his past activities and his kind of crazy view on what the country should be. So if Barack Obama gets elected, we can blame you, Sugar, for putting the two together.

RAUTBORD: OK.

O'REILLY: All right. Let's go to Bettylu Saltzman. Bettylu Saltzman, big Chicago doyenne, correct?

RAUTBORD: Big Chicago doyenne. The daughter of Philip Klutznik, who was the secretary of Commerce, who was a major developer. And Bettylu, as we used to call them in my own Sarah Lawrence days, liberal — limousine liberals. Now we call them Lakeshore — after Lakeshore Drive — liberals.

O'REILLY: OK. She's loaded. And now, Bettylu Saltzman, I understand, was the one who said to Barack Obama, "You better — you better oppose the Iraq war. You better come out and say you're against it," and this was way back in 2002. Is that correct?

RAUTBORD: In October 2002, Betty was — Bettylu was the organizer for the anti-Iraq war that took place at Daley Federal Plaza, at which Obama made an important speech.

O'REILLY: Yes, and she said to him — he didn't want to — he was going, "I don't know whether I should do this." She said, "You'd better do it." And that's what I understand happened there.

RAUTBORD: That's true. And by a lot of the things — and I don't think a lot of people know this — Obama does a lot by consensus. He listens very closely to this circle of people that you mentioned."

So Ms. Rautbord was the one who arranged Obama and Soros to meet. I don't "blame" her for any of the President's actions since he's been in office, that's all on him, however, she was one of the folks in Chicago, along with Soros, who got the snowball rolling down the mountain by being a supporter for his campaigns.

Background Reading:

Fox News: 'The Obama Chronicles,' Part 4: People Who Helped Obama Rise in Power

A Hero Gets His Due

A reward for fighting the good fight. (HT AFP)



Score another victory against the terrorists. From AFP London:

"Corporal Dipprasad Pun, 31, said he thought he was going to die and so had nothing to lose in taking on the attackers who overran his checkpoint.

He was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross (CGC), which is given in recognition of acts of conspicuous gallantry during active operations against the enemy.

Pun fired more than 400 rounds, launched 17 grenades and detonated a mine to repel the Taliban assault on his checkpoint near Babaji in Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan, last September.

Surrounded, the enemy opened fired from all sides and for 15 minutes Pun remained under continuous attack, including from rocket-propelled grenades and AK47 guns.

At one point, unable to shoot, he used his machine gun tripod to knock down a militant who was climbing the walls of the compound.

Two insurgents were still attacking by the time he ran out of ammunition, but he set off a Claymore mine to repel them.

Pun was given his medal in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace in London on Wednesday.

The CGC is second only to the Victoria Cross -- the highest honour for bravery in the face of the enemy.

"There wasn't any choice but to fight. The Taliban were all around the checkpoint. I was alone," he said.

"I had so many of them around me that I thought I was definitely going to die so I thought I'd kill as many of them as I could before they killed me.

"After that I thought nobody can kill us now -- when we met the enemy I wasn't scared."

A man who's truly the master of his fate and the captain of his soul. God bless the soldiers fighting for our freedom everyday.

Background Reading:

AFP: Queen decorates Nepali for Afghanistan heroics

Public Sector Lunacy: Paid Fridays Off - For 17 Years??

Misconduct has once again reared its ugly head. (HT Wikipedia)



Another example of public sector misbehavior on the public dole has come to light. From WBEN:

"The former director of the state prison system’s food operations – who cheated state taxpayers out of a half million dollars using falsified travel and attendance documents – pleaded guilty to second degree grand larceny in Oneida County Court. Howard Dean, director of the Department of Corrections’ Food Production Center (DOCS) was paid huge sums for falsified travel reimbursement claims and fraudulently filed attendance records. He also failed to indicate he took every Friday off for 17 years. The discovery was made by New York State auditors and investigators, together with the State Inspector General’s office.

“There is never a good time to rip off the taxpayers,” said New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. “But taking every Friday off for 17 years – and getting paid for it – is particularly galling, especially at a time when so many New Yorkers are out of work. Mr. Dean didn’t show up for work, but he’ll have to show up for jail, and there are no Fridays off in prison. His sentence should send a message to any public official with sticky fingers: watch out – we will find you.”

As part of a plea deal, Dean is expected to be sentenced to 6 months in jail and five years probation. The probationary period begins at the time of sentencing and runs concurrent to the jail time. Dean has also agreed to pay $50,000 restitution at arraignment and an additional $50,000 restitution during the 5-year probationary period."

The sentence is a slap on the wrist. However, I'm all for making these people reimburse the taxpayers for the coin they pilfered. Hopefully all state governments have a task force in place to find and root out the bad apples.

Background Reading:

WBEN: State Worker Who Took Fridays Off For 17 Years Has Day In Court

American Corporate Tax Rates To Become Highest In The World

Something else that's going in the wrong direction. (HT Tax Prof Blog)



This won't help the recovery. From the Tax Prof Blog:

"There is increasing recognition in Washington that the U.S. corporate tax rate is out of step with the lower tax rates of most industrialized and emerging nations. Indeed, 2011 marks the 20th year in which the U.S. statutory tax rate has been above the simple average of non-U.S. countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

It is now well known that with a combined federal and state corporate tax rate of 39.2%, the U.S. has the second-highest overall rate among OECD nations. Only Japan, with a combined rate of 39.5%, levies a higher rate.

On April 1, both Japan and the United Kingdom are scheduled to lower their rates as well. Japan is planning to reduce its national rate by 4.5 percentage points, which will bring its overall rate to below 35%. The U.K. rate will fall from 28% to 27% as a first step of a multi-year plan to lower the British rate to 24% by 2014.

After the scheduled rate cuts in Japan and Great Britain take effect, the simple average of non-U.S. OECD nations will drop to about 25% percent and the weighted average will hit 29%. This will leave the U.S. rate a full 10 percentage points higher than the weighted average of our major economic competitors."

Unless our tax rates get lowered, Look for more jobs to go overseas as companies will look to invest elsewhere with regards to service centers, manufacturing plants, etc. It is becoming more evident that tax and spend is not a practical solution to the nation's economic woes. Tax cuts help everyone, not just "the rich".

Background Reading:

Tax Prof Blog: Tax Foundation: On April 1, U.S. Is #1 (World's Highest Corporate Tax Rate)

How Far Will The Left Go To Get Their Way??

My answer would be there are no limits. (HT Eyeblast.TV)



This is self explanitory. From Eyeblast.TV:

From: XXXX
Sent: Wed 3/9/2011 9:18 PM
To: Sen.Kapanke; Sen.Darling; Sen.Cowles; Sen.Ellis; Sen.Fitzgerald; Sen.Galloway; Sen.Grothman; Sen.Harsdorf; Sen.Hopper; Sen.Kedzie; Sen.Lasee; Sen.Lazich; Sen.Leibham; Sen.Moulton; Sen.Olsen
Subject: Atten: Death threat!!!! Bomb!!!!

Please put your things in order because you will be killed and your familes will also be killed due to your actions in the last 8 weeks. Please explain to them that this is because if we get rid of you and your families then it will save the rights of 300,000 people and also be able to close the deficit that you have created. I hope you have a good time in hell. Read below for more information on possible scenarios in which you will die.

WE want to make this perfectly clear. Because of your actions today and in the past couple of weeks I and the group of people that are working with me have decided that we’ve had enough. We feel that you and the people that support the dictator have to die. We have tried many other ways of dealing with your corruption but you have taken things too far and we will not stand for it any longer. So, this is how it’s going to happen: I as well as many others know where you and your family live, it’s a matter of public records. We have all planned to assult you by arriving at your house and putting a nice little bullet in your head. However, we decided that we wouldn’t leave it there. We also have decided that this may not be enough to send the message to you since you are so “high” on Koch and have decided that you are now going to single handedly make this a dictatorship instead of a demorcratic process. So we have also built several bombs that we have placed in various locations around the areas in which we know that you frequent.

This includes, your house, your car, the state capitol, and well I won’t tell you all of them because that’s just no fun. Since we know that you are not smart enough to figure out why this is happening to you we have decided to make it perfectly clear to you. If you and your goonies feel that it’s necessary to strip the rights of 300,000 people and ruin their lives, making them unable to feed, clothe, and provide the necessities to their families and themselves then We Will “get rid of” (in which I mean kill) you. Please understand that this does not include the heroic Rep. Senator that risked everything to go aganist what you and your goonies wanted him to do. We feel that it’s worth our lives to do this, because we would be saving the lives of 300,000 people. Please make your peace with God as soon as possible and say goodbye to your loved ones we will not wait any longer. YOU WILL DIE!!!!”

The Democrat party is not only the party of cut and run (with Democrats from Indiana and Wisconsin fleeing to Illinois), but it's also the party of union thuggery. The Wisconsin matter clearly proves that the Democrats have sold out to big labor, and are in bed with the unions.

It's really simple: If you want to keep unions in check and prevent them from raiding treasuries and bankrupting municipalities, states, and our nation, you cannot vote Democrat.

Background Reading:

Eyeblast.TV: Threatening Letter Sent to WI Republican Senators: “You Will Be Killed and Your Families Will Also Be Killed”Fox Nation: Wisconsin Republicans Get Death Threats

Political Caption Of the Day

Like I always say, know your enemy. This is what the left really thinks of Republicans and the Tea Party. So much for tolerance & civility. (HT Eyeblast.tv)

The Degeneration of Education

Do they educate or indoctrinate?? (HT Ysletateachers.org & Wikipedia)





At this point I'm leaning towards indoctrination. Right Wing News explains why:

"The United Nations was busy recently, deciding what every country in the world needs to be teaching their wards. Not wanting to be left out of any meeting that involves the programming of children’s minds, the National Education Association had a seat at the table.

They brought their sexualization of children packet and made the case for teaching, well, everything....... to middle school kids:

“Oral sex, masturbation, and orgasms need to be taught in education,” Diane Schneider told the audience at a panel on combating homophobia and transphobia. Schneider, representing the National Education Association (NEA), the largest teachers union in the US, advocated for more “inclusive” sex education in US schools, with curricula based on liberal hetero and homosexual expression. She claimed that the idea of sex education remains an oxymoron if it is abstinence-based, or if students are still able to opt-out.

Two things to note here. One, the NEA thinks sex education in America needs to be “more ‘inclusive,’” because kids just aren’t being indoctrinated enough, and two, choice is for abortion. These kids need to be forced to sit in this class.

Seriously though, this is stuff the NEA thinks students in grades 6-9 need to be forced to attend. Apparently, learning about oral sex will help them be less homophobic, or something:

“Gender identity expression and sexual orientation are a spectrum,” she explained, and said that those opposed to homosexuality “are stuck in a binary box that religion and family create.”

Read it again.

Yeah, you are reading that right. The NEA went to the UN and said this curriculum was needed, and every student needed to be forced to attend, in order to reprogram them out of the teachings they had learned from their religion and their family.

The parents of the child are of no consequence. The collective is supreme.

And you might not believe this, but the UN agreed:

A Belgian panelist at the same event explained how necessary it was to have government support when educating about anti-discrimination issues. He claimed that the “positive, pro-LGBT policies in Belgian schools are a direct consequence of liberal and open-minded legislation in Belgium,” and went on to stress the importance of states in providing relevant materials for students and schoolteachers. He also held up Belgium’s “gender in the blender” programs, which are discussion-based programs for Belgian teachers who want to discuss gender and transgender issues in their courses, as a model for other nations who wished to encourage their teachers to address these topics.

You know what this reminds me of? ”Brave New World,” by Aldus Huxley. In Brave New World, religion and family were destroyed. Sound familiar? One of the more bizarre things in Brave New World is the child sex. Oh, you may find it abhorrent, but in the book, it’s promoted.

Yes, I imagine to the Director, and the hierarchy of the NEA and UN, they were terrible. Good thing actions were taken so that children could be removed from the "binary box that religion and family create.”

They really care about the children don't they??

That's not all by a long shot. Here's a glimpse of what they can look forward to further down the line. From the Daily Northwestern:

"Northwestern students and administrators are defending an explicit after-class demonstration involving a woman being publicly penetrated by a sex toy on stage in the popular Human Sexuality course last week.

The optional presentation last Monday, attended by about 120 students, featured a naked non-student woman being repeatedly sexually stimulated to the point of orgasm by the sex toy, referred to as a "****saw." The device is essentially a motorized phallus.

The 600-person course, taught by psychology Prof. John Michael Bailey, is one of the largest at NU. The after-class events, which range from a question-and-answer session with swingers to a panel of convicted sex offenders, are a popular feature of the class. (I can't imagine why!!) But they're optional and none of the material is included on exams.

Last Wednesday, Bailey devoted six minutes of his lecture to addressing mounting controversy regarding the incident and articulating his educational intent. He told the class he feared the demonstration would impact the after-class events, which are sponsored by the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, and he explained the educational purpose of the events.

"I think that these after-class events are quite valuable. Why? One reason is that I think it helps us understand sexual diversity," he said, according to an audio file obtained by The Daily.

"Sticks and stones may break your bones, but watching naked people on stage doing pleasurable things will never hurt you," he said to loud applause at the end of his speech."

So it's "sexual diversity" now? Same smutty service with a different name. I'm not sure this is what some parents had in mind regarding higher learning for their kids.

The bottom line is summed up best by Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs:

"Looks like a class action suit would have to be filed immediately on behalf of all parents for child abuse, sexual molestation, trauma and sexual abuse against the Federal government, the teachers union, the city and any other sick pervert who had a hand in this. The decaying left, a pox on America's soul.

The NEA, the teachers unions, the public school curriculum, all irretrievably broken. They must be destroyed and relegated to the dustbin of history. Still snoozing, Americans?

HOMESCHOOL.

If this is where we are, we are finished. If this is what is taught at universities, then they should be vanquished. Nothing is sacred. Nothing is holy."

Background Reading:

Atlas Shrugs: NEA To UN: “Oral Sex, Masturbation, And Orgasms Need To Be Taught In Education
Right Wing News: NEA To UN: “Oral Sex, Masturbation, And Orgasms Need To Be Taught In Education
C-FAM: "Schools need to teach about orgasms" says NEA to UN
Daily Northwestern: Class sex toy demonstration causes controversy

A Side Effect Of Leftists Protests Exposed

The voters didn't want this tab for sure. (HT Wikipedia)



The taxpayers have another reason to have contempt for the public sector unions and their Democrat supporters. From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

"State officials said Thursday that damage to the marble inside and out the State Capitol would cost an estimated $7.5 million.

Cari Anne Renlund, chief legal counsel for the state Department of Administration, said in Dane County court that estimates of damage to marble includes $6 million to repair damaged marble inside the Capitol, $1 million for damage outside and $500,000 for costs to supervise the damage.

Much of the damage apparently has come from tape used to put up signs and placards at the Capitol.

It was not immediately clear how the estimates were made, though the state is apparently relying on opinions by historical architects, one of whom works for the U.S. Park Service.

One concern is the residue from tape that the state says is causing damage to stone and other surfaces inside the Capitol."

Leftists did the same thing last year at the mall in Washington, DC remember? A prime example of how they trash, damage, and destroy everything they touch.

This was a common scene at the Capitol. (HT Rush Limbaugh)



Here's an eywitness account from Wisconsin State Senator Glenn Grothman:

GROTHMAN: We're trying to keep some people out of the building because right now the building is becoming a pigsty. The building smells. We used to have nice little groups of fourth grade children walking through the building. There was something called the Senate Scholarship Program in which high school kids could track us around. All that's being shut down by a bunch of slobs taking up the building! We can no longer continue to have all these slobs in the building. College students who are having a fun party, that's largely who's in the building overnight -- and if you get up early and talk to who's in the building at seven a.m., you will find it is largely college students and hangers-on having a party in the state capitol.

So the union protest is turning into the march of the slobs. More from State Senator Grothman:

GROTHMAN: The people who are staying overnight are largely making a mess of our capitol. That's what you're addressing. Why are we keeping people out of the building? Because we do not want to have so many people there overnight defacing our beautiful capitol. If you would interview all the people who are creating a ruckus, the vast majority who are here today are not police officers or nurses. They're either college students or hangers on -- or unemployed people just looking for somewhere to hang on.

Bottom line: These "protesters" have done damage to the capitol as well as their own cause. The reason is this: they don't respect themselves, other people's property, and they certainly don't respect other people's money. The voters/taxpayers are fighting back against this narcissism, and they have a governor that's on their side.

Background Reading:

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: State says damage to marble at Capitol could hit $7.5 million
Rush Limbaugh: Union Slobs Soil WI Capitol; Teen Caller Sees Major Hypocrisy

Political Caption Of The Day

They can cut and run, but they can't hide. (HT Big government)

Possible 'Dissension In The Ranks' Amongst Wisconsin Democrats

We may have reached a tipping point. (HT Wikipedia)



Looks like some Democrats in Wisconsin are showing some wearing and tearing. From Fox Nation:

"State Sen. Julie Lassa (D) is pregnant and "extremely unhappy" about being on the run. State Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D) has been hit particularly hard by his paycheck being withheld. Wisconsin State Senate leadership is currently negotiating with eight of the fourteen to come home."

If you're out of money, your options will be limited. I can't even imagine being pregnant doing this. As we move into the long term, it's becoming more evident that the Democrats holdout won't last.



Especially when there's nowhere to hide. (HT Big Government)

Background Reading:

Fox Nation: Exclusive: AWOL Democrats Experiencing 'Dissension in the Ranks'
Big Government: Fox News Exclusive: ‘Dissension in the Ranks’ of AWOL Dems

Political Caption Of The Day

Like I always say, Know your enemy. Especially when they admit they're agitators. Courtesy of NYSUT, an afilliate of the AFL-CIO and NEA. (HT Michelle Malkin)

Public Sector Unions On The March In Denver

The Marxist rhetoric from the left continues. (HT Atlas Shrugs)



This latest astroturfed event was sponsored by your friends at Organizing for America, along with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Made possible by the union dues that the SEIU, amongst others, confiscated from their rank and file. From Atlas Shrugs:

"Teamsters and other workers were bussed in to the State Capitol in an increasing effort by the White House to interfere in relations between states and public sector unions.

Union protestors seemed to have taken to heart President Obama’s admonition to “get in people’s faces”. Thankfully, they did not act on Rep. Michael Capuano’s (D-Mass.) words to union members today, when he told them “Every once and a while you need to get out on the streets and get a little bloody when necessary.” If not for the presence of state troopers who controlled the howling union goons, this protest could have had a violent outcome.

Nonetheless, Obama’s supporters put on a disgraceful display of incivility and paranoia-fueled administration propaganda, which is exactly what Obama and Organizing for America have been encouraging."

Another prime example of the left being who they truly are. This is why they were shellacked in November. The biggest issue taxpayers have with public sector unions, is that im many cases, the results of their labor don't justify what they already have.

"Just about half of Colorado students in grades 3 through 10 are below proficient for their grade levels in writing test scores. And it’s worse than that for math. These union workers understand that their paycheck depends on getting money out of the productive sector of society. The more people are taxed, they believe, the more benefits and pay increases they can expect in the future. Unfortunately, what states like Wisconsin have discovered is that bloated bureaucracies and entitlements become unsustainable when you run out of other people’s money to spend."

The unions know full well the schools they run are underperforming, which is why they so viciously fight any efforts to implement merit based pay. Shouldn't parents be protesting them for such poor quality? Instead, they send their kids to other typs of schools, or homeschool their kids. Look for more of that in the future.

Of all the signs displayed at this union protest, this one stood out the most to me:



That's Collectivism Personified.

Background Reading:

Atlas Shrugs: Moochers and Looters vs. Producers In Denver
Colorado Springs Gazette: CSAP: Annual test results reveal poor writing scores

A Conundrum For Wisconsin Teachers & Democrats

The battleground. (HT Theguidetotheus.com)



The teachers unions in Wisconsin have put themselves in a bind. From National Review Online:

"So far the angry teachers of Wisconsin have not yet won over the public. They have not convinced the majority that, in an age of staggering budget deficits, they — or, indeed, public employees in general — must as a veritable birthright enjoy salary, benefits, and pensions on average far more generous than those of their private-sector counterparts, who make up the majority of taxpayers.

Teachers are right that the crisis transcends compensation. Yet why, others might ask, would teachers’ unions oppose merit pay? Why should someone who did not join the union still have to pay its dues? Why should the state have to collect the dues from employee paychecks on behalf of the union? Moreover, when these questions are posed amid a landscape of teachers skipping classes to protest, urging students to join them, and soliciting fraudulent doctors’ notes to cover their cancellations of classes — while their supporters in the legislature hide out to prevent a quorum and thereby subvert the democratic process reaffirmed last November — the public becomes further estranged from their cause."

The teachers went astray when they fibbed about calling in sick so they could protest and followed it up with those bogus doctors notices. Furthermore, did the teachers have the parents permission to have the students join them??

The conundrum gets deeper. From Hot Air:

"Given the disaster that union contracts and especially pension plans have become in most states, we can expect to see this fight take place everywhere in the nation, including on the federal level. Unions have a conundrum in this crisis as well; the more they flex their muscles to maintain their status quo and block the serious downsizing that most people want government to conduct, the more it will expose their grip on politicians and make it even more urgent to dismantle their grip on power.

We have finally come in Madison to the basic question: will voters control government and public policy, or will the unions? Don’t kid yourselves into thinking the unions don’t understand that, either. They know exactly what’s at stake in the Battle of Mad Town, and that’s why they’re throwing everything they have into winning it."

Which is why Democrats and unions must be defeated. Sarah Palin makes this plain:

"Hard working, patriotic, and selfless union brothers and sisters: please don’t be taken in by the union bosses. At the end of the day, they’re not fighting for your pension or health care plan or even for the sustainability of Wisconsin’s education budget. They’re fighting to protect their own powerful privileges and their own political clout. The agenda for too many union bosses is a big government agenda that only serves the union bosses themselves – not union members, not union families, and certainly not the larger community. Everybody else is just there to foot the bill; and if that bill eventually takes the form of thousands of teachers and other public sector workers losing their jobs because the state of Wisconsin can no longer afford to keep them on the payroll, that’s a risk the union bosses are willing to take as long as their positions are secure. Union brothers and sisters: you are better than this and you deserve better. Don’t be led astray."

Amen. Don't go down with the union bosses. They're not worth it.

Background Reading:

NRO: On Teachers and Others
Hot Air: Palin to Wisconsin: Do not let unions bully you

NEA Is About Power, Not The Children

Looks Like They're not "for the children" after all. (HT Ysletateachers.org)



Let's cut to the chase. Check out the comments made from the NEA’s annual meeting in July, 2009:

CHANIN: “Despite what some among us would like to believe it is not because of our creative ideas. It is not because of the merit of our positions. It is not because we care about children and it is not because we have a vision of a great public school for every child. NEA and its affiliates are effective advocates because we have power.”

“And we have power because there are more than 3.2 million people who are willing to pay us hundreds of millions of dollars in dues each year, because they believe that we are the unions that can most effectively represent them, the unions that can protect their rights and advance their interests as education employees.”

“This is not to say that the concern of NEA and its affiliates with closing achievement gaps, reducing dropout rates, improving teacher quality and the like are unimportant or inappropriate. To the contrary. These are the goals that guide the work we do. But they need not and must not be achieved at the expense of due process, employee rights and collective bargaining. That simply is too high a price to pay.”

So in other words, collective bargaining rights come first, and the children are on the back burner, if they're on the stove at all.

Here's the question I propose: What's the primary purpose of schools, to educate kids, or to provide jobs, benefits,and pensions for union workers? According to Bob Chanin, it's the latter. The taxpayers that pay his salary hwo want to reign in the unions believe it's the former. Given how schools for the most part have underperformed, with scandals involving some of the folks who run them, shouldn't somebody be protesting that??

Background Reading:

Fox News: Teachers Union Big Wig Says It's Not About Kids, It's About Power!

17 Year Old Gets The Wisconsin Issue

On Wisconsin. (HT 50States.com)



Something very interesting happened yesterday. From RushLimbaugh.com:

RUSH: We have Lena on the phone from Madison, Wisconsin, 17 years old. Am I pronouncing your name right, Lena? Is that it?

CALLER: Yes, you are.

RUSH: Thank you very much. Great to have you here.

CALLER: Yes. I'm so excited. I was at the capitol all week this week for a government leadership class, and as we were walking around the capitol one of the main signs that the union it printed out said, "Care about our educators the way they care about your children," and I found that incredibly ironic, since what they were essentially saying with all their other signs is -- other than your student will feel the brunt of this bill -- was that they weren't going to teach as well if they had to pay a minuscule amount of their pensions and their insurance costs. And I just found that ironic that they said that they cared about them so much that they wouldn't teach them as well if they didn't get as much money. I found that incredibly ironic. Also another thing I was saddened by was that one of the nights that they stayed overnight, they had doughnuts the next day, and they had such disrespect for our state constitution that they put their doughnuts and coffee on top of it. I was just so saddened by that, amazed that there they were saying that they were exercising their rights, but they didn't want their --

RUSH: So they actually...? I want to go back to the first part of your comment. They have signs that say, "Be as respectful of us as we are..."?

CALLER: "Care about our educators the way they care about your children."

RUSH: Well, but they don't care about the students! It's obvious! They're lying about calling in sick.

CALLER: Exactly!

RUSH: They're not sick. They're leaving you up for grabs, and you're not in school.

CALLER: I'm actually homeschooled, so I was just amazed. I'm like, "Really? You don't even care about them enough to give them your same work ethic even if you're not getting as much money?"

RUSH: Wow, that's amazing. This is encouraging. You're 17, did you say?

CALLER: I am, yes.

RUSH: You got teachers running around here. If they cared, if the teachers unions cared about the kids, their scholastic scores wouldn't be in the toilet. Your scholastic scores are pretty high, I'll bet.

CALLER: Mmm-hmm.

RUSH: You're doing well in your grades, right?

CALLER: I am.

RUSH: This is interesting. Well, look, I'm glad that you called. This is just wonderful to hear from you. She's 17 years old and she nailed it.

CALLER: (giggles) (garbled)

RUSH: Lena, you know, you're able to spot the irony, the hypocrisy right in front of you. Congratulations. I appreciate the time you've taken to call here. That's why when people say, "What can we do to involve the yutes," get 'em to tune in to this program. Homeschool them; get 'em to tune in to this program. Just like in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood wants Scott Walker to tear up the Wisconsin Constitution and write a new one. That's exactly what's happening here.

What stands out to me about Lena's comments was that she saw the hypocrisy in the union slogan, "Care about our educators the way they care about your children." Very perceptive. What also stood out is her noticing the Union protesters "disrespect for our state constitution that they put their doughnuts and coffee on top of it." They don't respect themselves, much less the law of the land.

My Take: The Unions care for the children is in doubt. Especially when graduation rates and test scores are low, scandals keep coming out about financial corruption amongst school board and union leaders, and teachers shutting down classrooms in part by lying about calling in sick so they can "protest".

Background Reading:

RushLimbaugh.com: Seventeen Year Old Nails It

Your Tax Dollars At Work: Another Vegas Junket, Baby!!!

What is it about this place?? (HT CBSChicago.com)



There's another Vegas Junket on the taxpayers dime to report. From CBSChicago.com:

"The Chicago Public Schools system is suffering from a $700 million budget shortfall. So why did some educators travel to Las Vegas just days after a travel restriction was ordered?

CBS 2′s Dave Savini and the Better Government Association investigated questionable spending of school tax dollars and how children are impacted.

Former Scammon Elementary School teacher Laura Hoffman is angry that 14 of her Chicago Public School co-workers went on an all-expense paid trip to a Las Vegas resort and spa for a conference last year.

“That’s what happened. Does it make sense? No,” Hoffman said. “I think parents need to be aware what is happening.”

Hoffman quit her job at Scammon Elementary last year and says school officials should not have spent the $15,000 on the conference in Las Vegas while city schools are hundreds of millions of dollars in debt.

The school’s principal, Mary Weaver, went on the trip with her staff and allegedly missed their own school’s report card pick up day.

Hoffman said that time is “the biggest night for teachers to talk with parents.”

That's pretty strong stuff. The usual school officials lavishing money on themselves trick. Then it gets twisted:

"Michael Presnell is one of the students who says he was not getting his services, until his family spent years fighting for them. He says he still is not getting all that he is supposed to get, but he is receiving more than other special education students.

“Some kids — they just ignore them,” said the teen, who added that some special education students were simply placed in a room where horrible things happened.

Edwina Meyer was in that room last fall when she says classmates repeatedly engaged in sex acts. Teachers back up her story and say the room lacked proper staffing."

Lacking proper staffing is the least of that school's problems. Yet, the CPS can't figure out why parents are angry all the time?? Now for the numbers:

"The Better Government Association’s Andy Shaw says action needs to be taken.

He says the entire Board of Education needs an intervention. An analysis of an internal CPS investigation found hundreds of thousands of dollars in wasteful spending by Chicago School Board members.

Tax dollars were spent on champagne costing $125 a bottle; thousands more on limousines, steak lunches and a food and liquor bill from a Soldier Field skybox event that alone cost more than $6,000.

“The Board of Education has to investigate this,” Shaw said. ”Someone is not doing their job.”

It's a lot more than just one person. Paraphrasing Ronald Reagan, we need to reduce the influence of teachers unions and school boards, and put the school back in the hands of the Principals, Teachers, and Parents.

Background Reading:

CBSChicago.com: Taxpayers Send Teachers To Vegas Resort

How Obamacare Repeal Could Get A Senate Vote

Looking forward to this funeral.



Now that the House has followed through on its promise to pass Obamacare repeal legislation, Democrats are now, quoting House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD), "open to better ideas." Even President Obama declared that "I'm willing and eager to work with both Democrats and Republicans to improve the Affordable Care Act. But we can't go backward."

Actually Mr President, passing this monstrosity was backward. Despite Senate Majority Leader Reid's resistance, an up or down vote on repealing Obamacare can hit the Senate floor. From the Heritage Foundation:

"Once the Senate receives the bill, any Senator can use Rule 14 to object to the second reading of the bill. This procedural objection will “hold at the desk” the House-passed bill and allow the Senate to act on the full repeal measure.

If the bill is referred to committee, it will never get to the Senate floor. This procedural objection by one or a number of Senators will stop the bill from being referred to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP). If the bill is referred to committee, there is little to no expectation that the committee will pass the bill, let alone have one hearing on the bill.

Objecting to Rule 14 would hold the bill at the desk of the Senate and would put H.R. 2 on the Senate calendar. This procedure could be done with a letter or call from one Senator to the party leader. This would allow the Senate Majority Leader to commence debate on the matter when he so chooses. It is unlikely that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D–NV) would move to proceed to the bill, yet there is a procedure that any Senator can use to force a debate.

Any Senator can use Rule 22 to commence debate on H.R. 2 if they have held the bill at the desk. Rule 22, the filibuster rule, states:

Notwithstanding the provisions of rule II or rule IV or any other rule of the Senate, at any time a motion signed by sixteen Senators, to bring to a close the debate upon any measure, motion, other matter pending before the Senate, or the unfinished business, is presented to the Senate, the Presiding Officer, or clerk at the direction of the Presiding Officer, shall at once state the motion to the Senate, and one hour after the Senate meets on the following calendar day but one, he shall lay the motion before the Senate and direct that the clerk call the roll, and upon the ascertainment that a quorum is present, the Presiding Officer shall, without debate, submit to the Senate by a yea-and-nay vote the question: “Is it the sense of the Senate that the debate shall be brought to a close?”

And if that question shall be decided in the affirmative by three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn—except on a measure or motion to amend the Senate rules, in which case the necessary affirmative vote shall be two-thirds of the Senators present and voting—then said measure, motion, or other matter pending before the Senate, or the unfinished business, shall be the unfinished business to the exclusion of all other business until disposed of.

If any Senator can gather 16 signatures on a cloture petition, then they could file that petition with the clerk of the Senate. This would commence a proceeding that would end with a vote requiring 60 votes to shut off debate on a motion to proceed to a full repeal of Obamacare within two days of the filing of the petition. It is expected that Senate liberals would use Rule 22 to filibuster a full repeal of Obamacare. This would put many Senate Democrats in the interesting situation of voicing support for so-called “filibuster reform” while at the same time using the filibuster rule to block an up or down vote on Obamacare.

Once a bill is held at the desk, they can gather 16 signatures, then wait until the appropriate time to file cloture. They could do so next week or next year. If the courts continue to declare parts of Obamacare unconstitutional and the American people continue to despise this law, then the probability of full repeal may go up over time. At a minimum, Senators have the power to force a vote on full repeal of Obamacare if they have the will to do so."

So this vote can happen whether Harry Reid wants it or not. I believe that Sen. Reid is afraid of a vote. Some reasons come from The Liberal Lie, The Conservative Truth:

"If Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid ignores the call for a vote, if he refuses even to debate the issue, there will be hell to pay... Currently, in 2012, the Democrats are expected to have 23 seats up for election, including 2 Independents who caucus with the Democrats, The Republicans are expected to have 10 seats up for election. Based on the results from the last election, the Democrats lost far more than the Republicans. If the issues are the same in 2012 (and I believe they will be...) and the Democrats become the "Party of NO" by denying debate and votes on bills in the Senate. Then the Dems will suffer for it badly, possibly even worse than they did this last go around. Also, there is the issue of redistricting which will also make re-election for Obama or for any Democrat in 2012 more difficult. So, in short, it isn't pointless. Victory is not measured just in clear wins in floor votes, but in what potential damage can be done to the opposition long term. Having worked in several campaigns, you learn those things... It's political jujitsu..."

In short, Democrats, especially in red states, have a lot to lose with this vote, because they'll be on record for the 2012 elections. When Obama vetoes it, he'll also be on record.

Background Reading:

WSJ: The Repeal Vote
Heritage Foundation: How to Repeal Obamacare in the Senate
The Liberal Lie, The Conservative Truth: Harry Reid Fears Repeal Vote In Senate

Will Public Sector Unoins Take Responsibility?

There's at least one who won't. (HT WSEU-24.org)



Looks like AFSCME won't take responsibility for their role in the States' financial crisis. From the NY Times:

"Policy makers are working behind the scenes to come up with a way to let states declare bankruptcy and get out from under crushing debts, including the pensions they have promised to retired public workers.

Still, discussions about something as far-reaching as bankruptcy could give governors and others more leverage in bargaining with unionized public workers.

“They are readying a massive assault on us,” said Charles M. Loveless, legislative director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. “We’re taking this very seriously.”

Mr. Loveless said he was meeting with potential allies on Capitol Hill, making the point that certain states might indeed have financial problems, but public employees and their benefits were not the cause."

I totally disagree. Public sector union workers salaries, benefits and pensions make up a great deal of the states budget. In many cases, these same workers on average earn at least double what their counterparts in the private sector make. The private sector and state governments are no longer willing to foot the bill. For Example:

"New York’s new Democratic governor, Andrew M. Cuomo, is expected to call for a one-year salary freeze for state workers, a move that would save $200 million to $400 million and challenge labor’s traditional clout in Albany.

Republican lawmakers in Indiana, Maine, Missouri and seven other states plan to introduce legislation that would bar private sector unions from forcing workers they represent to pay dues or fees, reducing the flow of funds into union treasuries. In Ohio, the new Republican governor, following the precedent of many other states, wants to ban strikes by public school teachers.

Some new governors, most notably Scott Walker of Wisconsin, are even threatening to take away government workers’ right to form unions and bargain contracts.

“We can no longer live in a society where the public employees are the haves and taxpayers who foot the bills are the have-nots,” Mr. Walker, a Republican, said in a speech. “The bottom line is that we are going to look at every legal means we have to try to put that balance more on the side of taxpayers.”

But it is not only Republicans who are seeking to rein in unions. In addition to Mr. Cuomo, California’s new Democratic governor, Jerry Brown, is promising to review the benefits received by government workers in his state, which faces a more than $20 billion budget shortfall over the next 18 months.

“We will also have to look at our system of pensions and how to ensure that they are transparent and actuarially sound and fair — fair to the workers and fair to the taxpayers,” Mr. Brown said in his inaugural speech on Monday.

Many of the state officials pushing for union-related changes say they want to restore some balance, arguing that unions have become too powerful, skewing political campaigns with their large war chests and throwing state budgets off kilter with their expensive pension plans.

Bottom Line: The private sector is tighening its belt. It's now time for the public secotor to do the same. The Unions must either adjust, or face the consequence of having contracts expire, voided, or even have the states try to deploy a union busting campaign.

Background Reading: (Thanks TD for the Link!)

NY Times: A Path Is Sought for States to Escape Their Debt Burdens

NY Times: Strained States Turning to Laws to Curb Labor Unions

Global Citizens Show Obama Love

What gradually happened over time. (HT AR15.com)



Global citizens everywhere showered the Obamas with lovingkindness during their first year in the White House. From MSNBC:

"Saudi Arabia's king was the most generous gift-giver, according to documents released by the State Department on Tuesday.

Saudi King Abdullah gave Obama, his wife and daughters nearly $190,000 in luxury baubles in 2009, including the single most valuable gift reported to have been given to U.S. officials that year: a ruby and diamond jewelry set, including earrings, a ring, a bracelet and necklace, for the first lady worth $132,000.

But don't be looking for the first lady to be wearing the dazzling gems anytime soon. By law, most gifts to U.S. officials must be turned over to the government and the jewelry has already been sent to the National Archives.

Other gift-givers:

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was a distant runner up to King Abdullah, with gifts for the first family worth a little under $33,000. The Italian haul included silk ties, a gold watch, a crystal table and candlesticks. Berlusconi also gave nearly $2,000 worth of ties and scarves to members of Congress in 2009, including the speaker of the House at the time, Nancy Pelosi.

Chinese President Hu Jintao gave Obama a $20,000 silk embroidery of the first family.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife sent perfume and a $4,500 black Christian Dior handbag.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown gave the president a pen and holder made from the wood of the warship HMS Gannet, which played a role in Victorian era anti-slavery efforts, along with two biographies of Winston Churchill with a total value of $16,510.

Israeli President Shimon Peres, with an apparent eye toward peacemaking, gave Obama a bronze statue of a girl releasing doves, worth $8,000.

Pope Benedict XVI gave the president a gilt-framed mosaic of St. Peter's Square, a decorative gold coin with the pontiff's profile and several books valued at $7,905.
Britain's Queen Elizabeth presented Obama with framed portraits of herself and her husband, Prince Philip, worth $775.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas offered the U.S. leader $521 in gifts, including the least expensive item listed by the State Department: a $75 bottle of olive oil."

Given the current state of affairs, the love and adoration has waned over time. Particularly from the Vatican, Israel, and France. Eastrern Europe feels like their not getting support from America, especially with regards to the Russians. The scene here in the United States is well documented. He looks more and more like a one term president.

Background Reading:

MSNBC: Foreign gifts piled up for Obamas in first year

The Big Shock: Update: Certain Teacher Unions Say Pensions Don't Payout Enough

They sure have the nerve. (HT IFT)



Upon futher review (always wanted to say that!) adjustments had to be made. See comments section for details.

Teacher unions insatiable appetite for cash continues unchecked. This time it's in the form of the Illinois Federation of Teachers. From ChampionNews.net:

"One of the top legislative priorities of the (Illinois Federation of Teachers)is a plan they call "80, 30 and out." It would allow teachers to retire after 30 years with a pension equal to 80% of their salary. This is in contrast to the current plan of 35 years at 75% of salary.

If implemented the "80, 30 and out" plan would mean a teacher (or administrator) could retire at age 51 with full pension equal to 80% of the average of his last four years salaries.

Here's the quote from the IFT-AFT website:

* An increase in the ceiling from 75% to 80% of earnings for all retirement systems
* A "30 years and out" with no penalty retirement option for all systems

Even the Teachers Retirement System, a state agency under the Department of Insurance, supports retirement at age 55 with 30 years. This should come as no surprise since 6 of the 13 members of the Board of Trustees is required to be a teacher or former teacher. Democratic governors appointed the other seven members of the board after receiving millions of dollars in political contributions from the teacher unions. Blagojevich alone received over $1.7 million from the teachers including checks for $300,000, $300,000, $250,000, $225,000 and $200,000.

Unions are out of touch but not out of money.

The teacher unions in Illinois have more money available to spend than any other Illinois political group. They have contributed over $45 million to Illinois politicians since electronic records began in the 1990's. To see which politicians got how much see "Golden Handcuffs..." Their 160,000 members keep sending in their dues every payday (they are deducted automatically and submitted to the local union by the school districts.) Since we know teachers' salaries go up every year by 7%, the union dues keep stacking up in the union's bank account. The (IFT) itself had revenue of more than $47 million in 2009.

The teacher unions are inherently political organizations because only by political means can they increase transfers of wealth from the private sector taxpayers to their members. Increases in teacher salaries, benefits and pensions come about by the political assignment of an ever-increasing percentage of available tax revenues to the benefit of the teachers at the expense of less powerful political groups such as the poor and the elderly. How can the poor and the elderly compete with the teacher union's $45 million in political contributions?

That is how teachers at Avoca District 37 can sign a contract for 35% salary increases (minimum) over the next five years with political approval while politicians, at the same time, cut $90 million from the Department of Human Services, money originally earmarked for the handicapped, mentally ill and poor seniors. This is how $45 million in political contributions begets $100,000 salaries for 9-month part-time public employees. Too bad the poor don't contribute more maybe then they would get increases too."

Here's how Illinois citizens can beat back this greed:

"First, instead of increasing pensions the governor should revert the pensions back to where they were when they were "guaranteed" by the state constitution in 1980. That would be 60% at age 60 growing to a maximum of 70% at age 66.

Second, he should also insist on a sharing of risk between employees and employer. If the pension funds do not earn a rate of return assumed by the trustees then the cost should be split 50/50. Currently the entire investment risk lies with the taxpayers.

Third, the maximum pension any public employee could earn cannot exceed the average family income for Illinois currently about $75,000/yr.

Fourth, replace as many pension trustees as possible with accountants, actuaries and businessmen so we can have an honest, taxpayer friendly appraisal of investments and benefits.

Fifth, use Wisconsin's K-12 system as a model for pay and benefits reform in Illinois. See WI - IL comparison here.

Illinois taxpayers are ready for comprehensive pension reform. We'll have to defeat the Springfield establishment/Illinois Combine to get it. It will be worth it so we can have a future for our families.

Background Reading:

ChampionNews.net: Teacher Unions Say Pensions Are Too Low

Public Sector Lunacy: Pensions

Here we go again. (HT 50States.com)



In recent weeks, there has been growing sentiment against public sector employees with bloated salaries and gold plated benefits. This post will fan those flames. From ChampionNews.Net:

"How is it possible in this time of want, where the Illinois Department of Human Services is cutting $90 million from services for poor children and the needy elderly, we still feel obligated to take taxpayer dollars and fund public pensions at 200% of a public employee's salary?

We have this false idea that all corruption involves illegal actions. As we know the public pension system in Illinois was constructed in a legal framework of unlikely premises and assumptions that basically had no chance of long-term success. Instead, career politicians used it to reward long-term campaign contributors.

In effect the pension system is a form of money laundering, whereby those who give money to politicians get their investment back many times over in salaries and benefits. That is how $45 million in political contributions by Illinois teachers K-University resulted in a $45 billion TRS pension deficit, 1,000 times the contributions received.

State employees who work a normal 45-year career will retire on more income than when they worked.

State employees are a group we haven't talked much about but on the whole they have the best pension deal in the state. A state employee who works from age 21 to age 66 (like most of us do in the private sector) will retire on take-home pay 20% or greater than when he worked.

That's because he gets 75% of his pay plus Social Security. So if he was making $80,000 and retired after 45 years he would get $60, 000 state pension and about $24,000 in Social Security or $84,000/yr. Additionally upon retirement he does not pay Social Security (7.65%) or pension contribution (4%) or state income tax (3%). Therefore his take-home pay goes from $68,000 to $84,000. Yes his retirement take-home exceeds his working salary.

Notice that by paying only 4% into the state pension he gets $5,000/mo retirement income while paying 6.2% into Social Security he gets $2,000/mo. He pays less and gets more thanks to the generosity of the Illinois taxpayer.

How many private sector employees do you know who will be retiring on more than they made when they worked? Not many I would bet."

Now here's what Gov. Quinn should do, but won't because he's a big government Chicago Democrat:

"The next governor should campaign on the theme "Hit the reset button on pensions."

Let's take all public retirement benefits back to where they were in 1970 when the p1ensions were guaranteed. Get rid of early retirements, get rid of free health care and let's start over from that point.

How could the public employees complain? That is what was guaranteed, so that's what you will get. All the upgrades and increases folded into the plans in exchange for political contributions since then will be reversed.

In February this year (2010) there were two non-binding referendums on funding public pensions.

Here is the exact question asked: "Shall the Illinois General Assembly and the Governor take immediate steps to implement meaningful pension reform which will relieve the unsustainable burden on local taxpayers?"

By overwhelming margins of 87% and 91% voters approved implementing "meaningful pension reform." In November at least 12 more communities will vote on this exact issue. I predict that the outcome will result, once again, in overwhelming approval of "meaningful pension reform."

That should prove beyond a doubt that comprehensive pension reform is supported by a large majority of Illinois taxpayers and any successful politician is going to be out front in implementing this most important of reforms."

If Illinois is to get out of this mess, the public sector must be held in check. That includes tax and spend Chicago Democrats in Springfield.

Background Reading:

ChampionNews.Net: Pension Insanity: $75,000 Salary Turns Into $155,000 Pension for One Kindergarten Teacher

Illinois: Land Of Larceny

How I long for the land of Lincoln and Reagan. (HT 50States.com)



As we've entered a new year, Illinois continues to move in the wrong direction thanks to Springfield. From The Northwest Herald:

"Land of Lincoln? Land of Larceny.

Democrat Gov. Pat Quinn of Chicago, House Speaker Mike Madigan of Chicago, and Senate Majority Leader John Cullerton of Chicago – see a theme? – shut Republicans out of discussions and then complained that no Republicans supported their monstrosity. They showed contempt toward their Republican colleagues and the millions of citizens they represent.

The governors of Indiana and Wisconsin appeared on Illinois radio stations soon after the vote and crowed about their states’ controls on spending and taxes – and welcomed businesses to move to their states, which many no doubt will.

Our so-called representatives said they had to lift another $7 billion from our wallets to fix Illinois’ $15 billion budget deficit, which has been years in the making. Yet in doing so they promised to spend $1 billion more on “education” over the next four years, demonstrating they don’t represent “us” so much as narrow constituencies that send Democrats campaign cash and votes.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin’s new governor, Scott Walker, has called government employees “haves” and private-sector workers “have-nots” and wants to take health insurance and pensions out of collective bargaining and rework the remainder of contracts with government workers. He also supports business tax cuts.

Because of our lawmakers’ disrespect for the state Constitution and the laws they enact – a disrespect that until Wednesday was bipartisan – Illinois has the nation’s worst unfunded pension liability, conservatively estimated at more than $80 billion. We also have the worst credit rating among the 50 states, and the worst budget deficit as a percentage of total spending.

Tax hikes almost always fail to generate the expected revenue, because people do what they can – including moving to other states – to avoid them.

Even if by some near-miracle Illinois sees the promised take from the tax hikes, the core problems remain. We’ll still have a multibillion-dollar deficit, climbing Medicaid costs, soaring employee pension and health insurance costs, rising debt loads, etc.

If tax hikes worked, there’d be no budget crisis: Illinois has repeatedly raised taxes, fines and fees. Tax hikes haven’t worked because lawmakers spend whatever money comes in and more.

In 1990, Illinois had 21 congressional districts. That’s about to fall to 18 because Illinois has lost population relative to other states.

The 2010 Census showed states with no income tax or other low taxes have enjoyed the strongest growth in jobs and population. Those states are gaining congressional seats at our expense.

Illinois ranks 48th among states in net population growth, job growth, and economic performance, according to the American Legislative Exchange Council. Expect Illinois soon to rank last in all those categories."

I will have to check if the recall option is available. We have to reverse course.

Background Reading:

Northwest Herald: Today’s Illinois more like ‘Land of Larceny’