Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Health Care Bill Could Face String of Legal Challenges

Organizations and lawmakers opposed to the health care reform package are getting their legal briefs in a bunch, threatening to challenge the constitutionality of the sweeping overhaul should it make its way to President Obama's desk.

Republicans have agreed to allow the Democratic-led Senate to move up the time for a final vote to 8 a.m. Thursday so that lawmakers and their staff can go home for Christmas. But GOP supporters aren't backing down on their threats to put a stop to the legislation using whatever legal means possible.

Two key issues seem to be attracting the bulk of the legal threats: a mandate for individuals to purchase health insurance and the special treatment that states like Nebraska are getting in the bill.

On the first issue, Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., on Tuesday renewed the call to examine the constitutionality of whether the federal government can require Americans to purchase a product.

"I don't believe Congress has the legal or moral authority to force this mandate on its citizens," Ensign said in a statement, raising what's known as a "constitutional point of order." Such procedural challenges are rare and typically lead to a vote.

The non-profit Fund for Personal Liberty, as well as a Virginia-based group called the 10th Amendment Foundation, already have threatened to file suit in federal court over this issue if the health care bill passes.

The Constitution allows Congress to tax, borrow, spend, declare war, raise an army and regulate commerce, among other things. Proponents of the insurance mandate point to the Commerce Clause in arguing that Congress is within its rights to require health insurance and dismiss such potential legal challenges.

But foes say the across-the-board requirement is too broad.

"I personally do not believe the Congress has the authority to enact an individual mandate requiring a person to purchase a product from a private seller," said Kent Masterson Brown, lead counsel with The Fund for Personal Liberty. "I don't think the power is there. This is not regulating anything."

He said his group would be joined by the Washington Legal Foundation in filing suit against the health care bill.

"This thing may be stillborn, even if it passes," he said.

Even though Obama argues that the mandate is similar to laws requiring drivers to obtain auto insurance, opponents cite several key differences. First, the auto insurance mandate is avoidable, since anyone who doesn't want to pay doesn't have to drive. Second, auto insurance is mandated in large part so that drivers carry liability insurance to cover damages to other people and cars -- not themselves. Third, auto insurance regulation occurs at the state level.

When the Congressional Budget Office considered the idea of a health insurance mandate back in 1994 under the Clinton administration, it concluded that the mandate would be "an unprecedented form of federal action." The only congressional mandate close to that was the draft, the CBO concluded.

Ensign cited that finding in his complaint.

Still, the legislation does provide for federal subsidies for those who might have trouble affording insurance coverage, and it provides for exemptions for some individuals.

Other legal objections are emerging in the wake of a concession that Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., won for his state as a condition for his support of the health care bill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid agreed to provide for full and permanent federal aid for Nebraska's expanded Medicaid population. It was only one of a slew of hand-crafted sweetheart deals for those senators who agreed to support the bill.

But the Nelson deal swiftly drew the ire of Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who has asked his state's attorney general to give the issue a legal review. He told Fox News on Tuesday that other states can probably bring a "constitutional challenge" over the issue. He said it's unfair for one state to get special treatment while others pick up the tab.

"I don't believe most senators believe this is OK," Graham said. "I think it stinks. I think it's sleazy."

Graham said his state could file an equal rights suit under the Constitution. The Constitution calls for "equal protection" of all citizens.

Likewise, two Republican state representatives from Tennessee on Monday asked their state attorney general to look into the issue -- they called the Medicaid expansion an "unfunded mandate."

Rep. Debra Young Maggart and Rep. Susan Lynn claimed the Nebraska deal was unfair to other states and asked that Attorney General Robert Cooper take "appropriate legal action" against the federal government if the bill becomes law.

"It is clear by the wording of the legislation itself that not every state would face a similar and equal burden," they wrote. "We see this as a violation of equal protection of the law, an affront to our sovereignty, and a breach of the U.S. Constitution."

The non-profit Liberty Legal Institute is poised to assist states that are considering filing suit against the government over the health care bill. The group would not disclose where the suits might come from, but claimed great interest in putting health care reform to the legal test.

"There are a lot of states that are concerned that this violated the 10th Amendment and they are weighing their options," Kelly Shackelford, chief counsel, said in a statement.

The 10th Amendment declares that powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution are "reserved" for the states or "the people."

Still another challenge is coming from Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., who on the Senate floor raised concerns about a section in the health care bill that appears to say that the Senate cannot make changes to it in the future.

"It shall not be in order in the Senate or the House of Representatives to consider any bill, resolution, amendment, or conference report that would repeal or otherwise change this subsection," the section says.

DeMint said he found that "particularly troubling."

"We will be passing a new law and at the same time creating a Senate rule that makes it out of order to amend or even repeal the law," DeMint said. "I'm not even sure that it's constitutional."

The overall section the senator referred to applied to the creation of an Independent Medicare Advisory Board.

But a senior Reid aide noted that the language restricting the repeal of the measure only applied to one subsection -- a subsection dealing with the manner in which the proposal for the board is introduced and considered in Congress. The aide said the language DeMint found "troubling" did not apply to board or its duties as a whole.

Plus the aide noted that the language can be waived by a 60-vote majority in the Senate.

"It's really a sign of desperation," the aide said.

I Feel Cuba: Narrated by Andy Garcia

Understand what it feels like to loose a country

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Video: Steve Crowder Asks Some Basic Questions

Friday, November 27, 2009

Send the ACLU a CHRISTmas Card

A couple days ago I got this fwd and thought it quite a "clever"! I'm sure it has been circulated before but had to share in case there are those out there that haven't seen it.

...................................................................................................................................................
Christmas cards. This message is coming early so that you can get ready to
include an important address to your list.

Want to have some fun this CHRISTMAS? Send the ACLU a CHRISTMAS CARD this
year.

As they are working so very hard to get rid of the CHRISTMAS part of this
holiday, we should all send them a nice, CHRISTIAN card to brighten up their dark, sad, little world..

Make sure it says "Merry Christmas" on it.

Here's the address, just don't be rude or crude. (It's not the
Christian way, you know.)

ACLU
125 Broad Street
18th Floor
New York , NY 10004

Two tons of Christmas cards would freeze their operations because they
wouldn't know if any were regular mail containing contributions. So spend
44 cents and tell the ACLU to leave Christmas alone. Also tell them that
there is no such thing as a " Holiday Tree". . . It's always been called a
CHRISTMAS TREE!

And pass this on to your email lists. We really want to communicate with the
ACLU! They really DESERVE us!!

For those of you who aren't aware of them, the ACLU, (the American Civil
Liberties Union) is the one suing the U.S. Government to take God, Christmas
or anything Christian away from us. They represent the atheists and others
in this war. Help put Christ back in Christmas!

Cartoons from Townhall





Dean of Harvard Medical School Gives Health 'Reform' a Failing Grade


The changes proposed by Congress will require more draconian measures down the road. Just look at Massachusetts.


By JEFFREY S. FLIER




As the dean of Harvard Medical School I am frequently asked to comment on the health-reform debate. I'd give it a failing grade.

Instead of forthrightly dealing with the fundamental problems, discussion is dominated by rival factions struggling to enact or defeat President Barack Obama's agenda. The rhetoric on both sides is exaggerated and often deceptive. Those of us for whom the central issue is health—not politics—have been left in the lurch. And as controversy heads toward a conclusion in Washington, it appears that the people who favor the legislation are engaged in collective denial.

Our health-care system suffers from problems of cost, access and quality, and needs major reform. Tax policy drives employment-based insurance; this begets overinsurance and drives costs upward while creating inequities for the unemployed and self-employed. A regulatory morass limits innovation. And deep flaws in Medicare and Medicaid drive spending without optimizing care.

Speeches and news reports can lead you to believe that proposed congressional legislation would tackle the problems of cost, access and quality. But that's not true. The various bills do deal with access by expanding Medicaid and mandating subsidized insurance at substantial cost—and thus addresses an important social goal. However, there are no provisions to substantively control the growth of costs or raise the quality of care. So the overall effort will fail to qualify as reform.


In discussions with dozens of health-care leaders and economists, I find near unanimity of opinion that, whatever its shape, the final legislation that will emerge from Congress will markedly accelerate national health-care spending rather than restrain it. Likewise, nearly all agree that the legislation would do little or nothing to improve quality or change health-care's dysfunctional delivery system. The system we have now promotes fragmented care and makes it more difficult than it should be to assess outcomes and patient satisfaction. The true costs of health care are disguised, competition based on price and quality are almost impossible, and patients lose their ability to be the ultimate judges of value.

Worse, currently proposed federal legislation would undermine any potential for real innovation in insurance and the provision of care. It would do so by overregulating the health-care system in the service of special interests such as insurance companies, hospitals, professional organizations and pharmaceutical companies, rather than the patients who should be our primary concern.

In effect, while the legislation would enhance access to insurance, the trade-off would be an accelerated crisis of health-care costs and perpetuation of the current dysfunctional system—now with many more participants. This will make an eventual solution even more difficult. Ultimately, our capacity to innovate and develop new therapies would suffer most of all.

There are important lessons to be learned from recent experience with reform in Massachusetts. Here, insurance mandates similar to those proposed in the federal legislation succeeded in expanding coverage but—despite initial predictions—increased total spending.

A "Special Commission on the Health Care Payment System" recently declared that the Massachusetts health-care payment system must be changed over the next five years, most likely to one involving "capitated" payments instead of the traditional fee-for-service system. Capitation means that newly created organizations of physicians and other health-care providers will be given limited dollars per patient for all of their care, allowing for shared savings if spending is below the targets. Unfortunately, the details of this massive change—necessitated by skyrocketing costs and a desire to improve quality—are completely unspecified by the commission, although a new Massachusetts state bureaucracy clearly will be required.

Yet it's entirely unclear how such unspecified changes would impact physician practices and compensation, hospital organizations and their capacity to invest, and the ability of patients to receive the kind and quality of care they desire. Similar challenges would eventually confront the entire country on a more explosive scale if the current legislation becomes law.

Selling an uncertain and potentially unwelcome outcome such as this to the public would be a challenging task. It is easier to assert, confidently but disingenuously, that decreased costs and enhanced quality would result from the current legislation.

So the majority of our representatives may congratulate themselves on reducing the number of uninsured, while quietly understanding this can only be the first step of a multiyear process to more drastically change the organization and funding of health care in America. I have met many people for whom this strategy is conscious and explicit.

We should not be making public policy in such a crucial area by keeping the electorate ignorant of the actual road ahead.

Dr. Flier is dean of the Harvard Medical School.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Steve Crowder on The REAL Gitmo--A Definite Must See!!

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Cartoons from Townhalll













Steve Crowder on Thanksgiving

Sarah Palin's "Going Rogue"...

...Outsells Hillary Clinton's Memoir in First Week

Sarah Palin, a favorite target of late night comedians and "Saturday Night Live" for more than a year, is having the last laugh. Her memoir, "Going Rogue: An American Life," has become the publishing sensation of the holiday season.

The 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate's autobiography has sold more than 700,000 copies in its first week of release -- including 300,000 on the first day alone.

Palin, a less-than-one-term Alaska governor, has even outstripped initial sales of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's memoir, "Living History." The former first lady moved 600,000 copies of her 2003 autobiography in its first week of publication. But Palin came up short against two-term President Bill Clinton, who sold 900,000 copies of his 1008-page tome, "My Life," in the first week.

On Tuesday, "Going Rogue" was the No. 1 bestseller on both Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com. It also was Amazon's No. 1 bestseller in several categories, including biography, history, and non-fiction. And after ordering an initial print run of 1.5 million, Palin's publisher HarperCollins said last week that it ordered an additional million copies.

"I think people want to hear her side of the story," Jim Milliot, the business and news director of Publisher's Weekly, told FoxNews.com. "There's a lot of back and forth about her in the media and they want to know what she's about."

Both online booksellers are offering the book at steep discounts: Amazon has reduced the title by 50 percent from its $28.99 list price to $14.50, while Barnes & Noble is offering it for $17.39.

Even at such discounted prices, HarperCollins has -- or soon will -- recouped the reported $5 million advance it paid the former governor. "I think it's safe to say this was a good investment for the publisher," says Milliot. Sales of "Going Rogue" will soon break the 1 million mark and even at discounted prices, the publisher will likely make at least $4 per book.

While Palin isn't likely to start collecting royalty checks soon -- HarperCollins has to recoup overhead costs including printing, manufacturing and promotion -- both publisher and author have reason to rejoice. And political insiders says the sales of "Going Rogue" bode well for Palin, possibly providing her the forum to relaunch her political career.

"This book has allowed her to reclaim her political narrative," says Robert Costa, a William F. Buckley Jr. Fellow at the National Review, who has been blogging about Palin's book. "She has reclaimed her own story by writing it."

But the 2012 presidential election is a long way off, and Palin's political ambitions are still up in the air. "It remains to be seen if these sales can be translated into votes," Costa said.

Sarah Palin on Greta

On Obama's Leadership



On The Relationship Between India, Pakistan and Afghanistan




On Visiting Fort Bragg Army Base

Friday, November 6, 2009

Taxpayer Money Hard at....Waste

Our Government hard at work...I mean, um, hello? Anyone there?

Why does she bother offering for "them" to "talk amongst themselves"?

She should probalby be nominated for an Oscar because I could have sworn at the beginning that there were actual people there she was talking too--clever little action looking at your watch.



What a waste of time, energy and resources!

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Know the Difference between a Cold and H1N1 Flu Symptoms

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Just a Funny To Brighten Your Day

Barack Obama at a recent rural elementary school assembly in East Texas ,
asked the audience for total quiet. Then, in the silence, he started to
slowly clap his hands once every few seconds, holding the audience in total silence.

Then he said into the microphone, 'Children, every time I clap my hands together,
a child in America dies from gun violence.'

Then, little Richard Earl, with a proud East Texas drawl, pierced the quiet and said:
''Well, dumb-ass, stop clapping!'

Friday, October 16, 2009

Cartoons of the Week; Global Warming, Nobel Peace Prize, Health Care, the Economy, etc.






















Polls, the Clean Informative Type


Only 18% Expect Final Health Care Plan To Be Bipartisan

Presidential Approval Index rating of -11


.....................................................................................................................................................

GOP 2012: Huckabee 29% Romney 24% Palin 18%


Twenty-nine percent (29%) of Republican voters nationwide say former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is their pick to represent the GOP in the 2012 Presidential campaign. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds that 24% prefer former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney while 18% would cast their vote for former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich gets 14% of the vote while Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty gets 4%. Six percent (6%) of GOP voters prefer some other candidate while 7% remain undecided.

These numbers reflect an improvement for Huckabee since July when the three candidates were virtually even. Huckabee’s gain appears to be Palin’s loss as Romney’s support has barely changed.

The numbers for Huckabee and Romney look even stronger when GOP voters were asked which candidate they would least like to see get the nomination. Pawlenty came on top in that category with 28%. Palin was second at 21% while 20% named Gingrich. Romney and Huckabee were in the single digits with 9% and 8% respectively.

Huckabee and Romney are viewed favorably by 78% of Republican voters, Palin by 75%. Gingrich earns favorably reviews from 69% while Pawlenty is less well known and gets a positive assessment from 45% of Republicans.

Other data from the survey, including head-to-head match-ups with individual candidates, will be released over the weekend.

Republican voters are very confident their nominee could be the next President of the United States. Eighty-one percent (81%) of the GOP faithful say that it’s at least somewhat likely the Republican nominee will defeat Barack Obama in 2012. Fifty percent (50%) say it’s Very Likely.

Romney leads all prospects among voters who attend church once a month or less. Huckabee leads among more frequent churchgoers. Huckabee holds a huge lead among Evangelical Christians with Palin in second and Romney a distant third. Huckabee and Romney are essentially even among other Protestants while Romney has the edge among Catholics.

Romney leads among Republicans earning more than $75,000 a year while Huckabee leads among those who earn less.

Proof that our Democracy is Dead: Murtha says F#*k You Constitution by Passing Bill Without Votes

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Daily Key Article with Brief Excerpts by Category

Politics:
President Obama's Trip to New Orleans Draws Criticism--Before He Even Arrives: ABC
Slightly more than four years after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, President Obama is traveling to New Orleans today to fulfill a campaign promise to survey first-hand the city's recovery. Obama will visit the Martin Luther King Charter School in the city's Lower 9th Ward, a neighborhood devastated by the floodwaters of Katrina after the city's levees were breached. The charter school was the first to be rebuilt following Katrina. On the second anniversary of the hurricane, former President George W. Bush visited the school and met with Louisiana education officials.

Obama Absent From Virginia Governor's Race as Democrat Trails
: Bloomberg
For Virginia, it’s not easy being purple. The state had shown signs of becoming Democratic territory when Barack Obama became the first presidential candidate of his party to win Virginia since 1964. The governor and both U.S. senators are Democrats, too. That trend may be in trouble.


Majority of Nobel Jury 'Object to Obama Prize': Google News
Three of the five members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee had objections to the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to US President Barack Obama, the Norwegian tabloid Verdens Gang (VG) reported Thursday.


Poll: Obama Personal Popularity At New Low: Examiner
A new Gallup poll shows that the number of people who have a favorable impression of Barack Obama has fallen to its lowest point since he became president. Fifty-six percent say they have a favorable impression of Obama, versus 40 percent who say they have an unfavorable impression. (Four percent say they have no opinion.) Historically, a president's personal favorable rating has often been higher than his job approval rating; right now, Gallup has Obama's job approval at 52 percent.



Military:
U.S. Troop Funds Diverted to Pet Projects: Washington Times
Senators diverted $2.6 billion in funds in a defense spending bill to pet projects largely at the expense of accounts that pay for fuel, ammunition and training for U.S. troops, including those fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to an analysis. Among the 778 such projects, known as earmarks, packed into the bill: $25 million for a new World War II museum at the University of New Orleans and $20 million to launch an educational institute named after the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat.



Health Care:

Obama calls for $250 payment to Seniors: MyWay
President Barack Obama called on Congress Wednesday to approve $250 payments to more than 50 million seniors to make up for no increase in Social Security next year. The Social Security Administration is scheduled to announce Thursday that there will be no cost of living increase next year. By law, increases are pegged to inflation, which has been negative this year.

Woman Saya Flu Shot Triggered Rare Disorder: WUSA
Many of you have been lining up to get the seasonal flu shot. But there is one Ashburn woman who wants you to hear her story before you do. Desiree Jennings is trapped in her body. Intellectually she's all there, but her muscles are fighting each other. She's been diagnosed with dystonia, an extremely rare and debilitating neurological disease.


Economy:
Foreclosures: 'Worst Three Months of All Time': CNN Money
Despite concerted government-led and lender-supported efforts to prevent foreclosures, the number of filings hit a record high in the third quarter, according to a report issued Thursday.


Foreign Affairs:

Deal May Return Zelaya: The Age
Honduran negotiators have reached agreement on ending a political crisis triggered by President Manuel Zelaya's ouster in a June coup. ''We have agreed in a document on point No. 6, which relates to the restitution of the powers of state to where they were before June 28, 2009,'' Mr Zelaya's representative said
.


Other:
Stockholm's Bunnies Burned to Keep Swedes Warm: The Local
The bodies of thousands of rabbits culled every year from the parks in Stockholm’s Kungsholmen neighbourhood are being used to fuel a heating plant in central Sweden.
The decision to use Stockholm’s rabbit cadavers as bioenergy to warm Swedes living in Värmland doesn't sit well with Stockholm-based animal rights activists.


Fmr Police Association Contractor Charged with Snooping on 'Joe the Plumber': Columbus Dispatch
A former contractor for the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police has been charged with rummaging through state computers to retrieve confidential information about "Joe the Plumber."

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Teacher, Teacher, Obama's Friends are Throwing Sand in the Sandbox Again!

The White House is taking some cheap shots and trying to punish the only news network that reports the truth- did they forget its the most watched Cable News Show? I thought Obama loved being in millions of homes at once!
......................................................................................................................................................................

White House Escalates War of Words With Fox News

Calling Fox News "a wing of the Republican Party," the Obama administration on Sunday escalated its war of words against the channel, even as observers questioned the wisdom of a White House war on a news organization.

"What I think is fair to say about Fox -- and certainly it's the way we view it -- is that it really is more a wing of the Republican Party," said Anita Dunn, White House communications director, on CNN. "They take their talking points, put them on the air; take their opposition research, put them on the air. And that's fine. But let's not pretend they're a news network the way CNN is."

Fox News senior vice president Michael Clemente, who likens the channel to a newspaper with separate sections on straight news and commentary, suggested White House officials were intentionally conflating opinion show hosts like Glenn Beck with news reporters like Major Garrett.

"It's astounding the White House cannot distinguish between news and opinion programming," Clemente said. "It seems self-serving on their part."

In recent weeks, the White House has begun using its government blog to directly attack what it called "Fox lies." David Gergen, who has worked for President Bill Clinton and three Republican presidents, questioned the propriety of the White House declaring war on a news organization.

"It's a very risky strategy. It's not one that I would advocate," Gergen said on CNN. "If you're going to get very personal against the media, you're going to find that the animosities are just going to deepen. And you're going to find that you sort of almost draw viewers and readers to the people you're attacking. You build them up in some ways, you give them stature."

He added: "The press always has the last barrel of ink."

Gergen's sentiments were echoed by Tony Blankley, who once served as press secretary to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

"Going after a news organization, in my experience, is always a loser," Blankley said on CNN. "They have a big audience. And Fox has an audience of not just conservatives -- they've got liberals and moderates who watch too. They've got Obama supporters who are watching. So it's a temptation for a politician, but it needs to be resisted."

Nia Malika Henderson, White House correspondent for the Politico newspaper, also questioned the White House offensive against Fox.

"Obama's only been a boon to their ratings and I don't understand how this kind of escalation of rhetoric and kind of taking them on, one on one, would do anything other than escalate their ratings even more," she said.

Dunn used an appearance on CNN's "Reliable Sources" over the weekend to complain about Fox News' coverage of the Obama presidential campaign a year ago.

"It was a time this country was in two wars," she recalled. "We'd had a financial collapse probably more significant than any financial collapse since the Great Depression. If you were a Fox News viewer in the fall election, what you would have seen would have been that the biggest stories and biggest threats facing America were a guy named Bill Ayers and something called ACORN."

Ayers was co-founder of the Weather Underground, a communist terrorist group that bombed the Pentagon and other buildings in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1995, Ayers hosted Obama at his home for a political function and the two men later served together on the board of an anti-poverty group known as the Woods Fund.

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), which once had close ties to Obama, has been accused by a variety of law enforcement agencies of voter fraud. In recent weeks, the Democrat-controlled Congress moved to sever funding to ACORN after Fox News aired undercover videotapes of ACORN employees giving advice on how to break the law to a pair of journalists disguised as a pimp and prostitute.

As for Dunn's complaint about Fox News' coverage of the Obama campaign, a study by the Pew Research Center showed that 40 percent of Fox News stories on Obama in the last six weeks of the campaign were negative. Similarly, 40 percent of Fox News' stories on Obama's Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain, were negative.

On CNN, by contrast, there was a 22-point disparity in the percentage of negative stories on Obama (39 percent) and McCain (61 percent). The disparity was even greater at MSNBC, according to Pew, where just 14 percent of Obama stories were negative, compared to a whopping 73 percent of McCain stories -- a spread of 59 points.

Although Dunn accused Fox News of being a "wing of the Republican Party," she said the
network does not champion conservatism.

"It's not ideological," she acknowledged. "I mean, obviously, there are many commentators who are conservative, liberal, centrist -- and everybody understands that."

Still, Obama refused to appear on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace on Sept. 20, the day he appeared on five other Sunday shows. At the time, the White House characterized the snub as payback for the Fox Broadcast Network's decision not to air an Obama prime time appearance. But last weekend, Dunn blamed Fox News Channel's coverage of the administration for Obama's snub of Fox News Sunday.

"Is this why he did not appear?" Dunn said. "The answer is yes."
Wallace has called White House officials "the biggest bunch of crybabies I have dealt with in my 30 years in Washington."

Dunn was asked by CNN's Howard Kurtz whether Obama would grant an interview to Fox News by the end of the year.

"Obviously, he'll go on Fox, because he engages with ideological opponents and he has done that before, he will do it again," Dunn replied. "I can't give you a date, because frankly I can't give you dates for anybody else right now."

But last week, Fox News was informed by the White House that Obama would grant no interviews to the channel until at least 2010. The edict was relayed to Fox News by a White House official after Dunn discussed the channel at a meeting with presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs and other Obama advisers.

"What I will say is that when he (Obama) goes on Fox, he understands he's not going on it really as a news network, at this point," Dunn said on CNN. "He's going on to debate the opposition. And that's fine. He never minds doing that."

Dunn also strongly implied that Fox had failed to follow up on a New York Times story about a scandal swirling around GOP Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, although Fox News broadcast the stories on numerous shows, including Special Report with Bret Baier.

Clemente questioned the motives of the White House attack, which comes in the wake of an informal coffee last month between Fox chairman Roger Ailes and Obama adviser David Axelrod.

"Instead of governing, the White House continues to be in campaign mode, and Fox News is the target of their attack mentality," he said. "Perhaps the energy would be better spent on the critical issues that voters are worried about."

Blankley suggested the war on Fox News is unpresidential.

"It lowers the prestige," he said. "If you're president or speaker, at a certain level, you don't want to be seen to be engaging that kind of petty bickering. If you're just a congressman, maybe you can do it."

In an interview over the summer, Obama made clear that Fox News has gotten under his skin.
"I've got one television station that is entirely devoted to attacking my administration," he told CNBC's John Harwood. "You'd be hard pressed if you watched the entire day to find a positive story about me on that front."

At the White House Correspondents Dinner in May, Obama even mocked the media for supporting him.

"Most of you covered me; all of you voted for me," Obama said, spurring laughter and applause from the assembled journalists. "Apologies to the Fox table."

Gergen said the White House should delegate its attacks to outside support groups.

"Why don't they take this over to the DNC, over to the Democratic National Committee, and have their struggles like that fought out over there and not out of the White House?" Gergen
said. "I have real questions about that strategy."

Protesters at the B.Bernice Young School- Finding a Way to Be Heard

Obama song video prompts protests at NJ school

BURLINGTON TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) - Protesters brought some different songs Monday to an elementary school where students sang in praise of President Barack Obama, bringing criticism from conservative commentators who said children were being indoctrinated.

About 70 protesters stood on a sidewalk across the street from the B. Bernice Young School waving flags and homemade placards, singing "God Bless America" and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," and chanting slogans such as "No indoctrination" and "Free children, free minds."

A smaller group of counter-protesters watched and occasionally heckled them.

The school is in a diverse suburb 15 miles northeast of Philadelphia and landed in an uncomfortable national spotlight last month when the video, shot last school year during an author's visit, surfaced. In it, second-graders sang a medley that began, "Mmm, mmm, mmm, Barack Hussein Obama/He said that all must lend a hand/To make this country strong again."

Some critics of the president say the song was overtly political and follows a pattern of Obama being viewed as an idol rather than a politician.

Monday's 90-minute protest, held while the school was in session and attended largely by members of anti-tax organizations from around the state, was an outgrowth of that sentiment.
"We should continue protests like this to prevent this from happening again," said Robert Gordan, 66, a retiree from Middletown.

Karen Flowers, a 43-year-old state government social worker, was there to protest the protesters.

"I don't have any problem with the first African-American president, the children singing about it," Flowers said. "They're making a lot out of nothing."

Jim and Gina Pronchick, who were among the few protesters who have children in the school, said they were upset that their son was in the video without their permission—and that school officials hadn't fully explained the context of the song.

The song was performed in February during an assembly that celebrated a number of occasions, from Black History Month to Dental Health Month, the township Board of Education said in a statement Monday. The lyrics were sent home to parents in advance, the board said.

The video was made a month later when Charisse Carney-Nunes, who wrote the children's book "I Am Barack Obama," visited the school and children sang the song again, school officials said.
"There was no intention to make any political statement or promote a political agenda at all," Superintendent Christopher Manno said in the statement.

The teacher who oversaw the class has retired.

Obama's Name Carved into 18th Hole--with Swastika





LAKEVILLE, Mass -- Police along with the Secret Service are investigating after a local country club discovered a symbol resembling a swastika carved into the green.

Lakeville County Club workers discovered the vandalism early Monday morning.

Carved into the green on the 18th hole was a swastika look-a-like next to President Barack Obama's name.

The vandals snuck in at night and carved their message of hate, according to the owner of the country club.

"We don't know if they did it with some type of cleated shoe, or they had some type of tool and this time of year to have that happen, it's a problem it's much harder to fix now," said Lou Mincone, the assistant manager of the Lakeville Country Club.

The manager is trying to figure out the best way to get rid of it.

Workers attempted to cover it temporarily with green spray paint; however, the symbol was carved too deep. They will now try to get turf from another area to fill in the message.
Work is scheduled to begin on Tuesday morning.

Obama quietly sends more troops to Afghanistan-- Careful Mr. Prez your Nobel Peace Prize might be Rebuked

In defense of Obama's Nobel Peace Prize Thorbjoern Jagland, Nobel Committee Chairman, says that Obama reached out to the Muslim world.

Wonder if he meant this?

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Obama Quietly Authorizes Up to 15,000 More U.S. Troops for Afghanistan

In an unannounced move, President Obama is dispatching up to 15,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan beyond the 21,000 he announced in March.

The additional troops are primarily support forces -- such as engineers, medical personnel, intelligence experts and military police.

A Washington Post report published Tuesday said Obama dispatched 13,000 additional troops, but an unnamed defense official familiar with the process told Fox News that the number is closer to 15,000.

"Obama authorized the whole thing. The only thing you saw announced in a press release was the 21,000," a defense official, speaking anonymously, told the Washington Post.
But in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, a defense official refuted that the dispatch was "unannounced," saying the decision to send 15,000 additional troops was part of a larger move to reach 68,000 troops in Afghanistan by year's end -- a move that Defense Secretary Robert Gates cleared with Obama in March, the official said.


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Guess he took a small step in the direction that is best for the American people instead of following the liberal, tree-hugging, kum-bay-yah International Community.

Thank God our boys and girls over there are getting a little extra boost! God Bless Them!

Monday, October 12, 2009

Key Articles by Category with Brief Excerpts

Health Care:
White House Tries to Strike Down Insurance Industry Criticism Ahead of Key Vote: Fox News
The White House fired back Monday at the health insurance industry for issuing a study that claims the health care reform bill working its way toward a key vote Tuesday will raise the cost of individual coverage by hundreds of dollars a year.


Read the Health Bill! Not as Easy as you Think: Yahoo News
Read the bill! It was a rallying cry at angry health care town halls this summer and has evolved into something of a political movement. Many Americans are demanding that lawmakers actually read the comprehensive legislation they've written — or at least make it publicly available — before voting on it.


CVS, Walgreen Have Spot Flu-Vaccines Shortages as Demands Surge: Bloomberg
CVS Caremark Corp. and Walgreen Co., the two largest U.S. drugstore chains, are experiencing spot shortages of seasonal-flu vaccines because of increased demand. CVS MinuteClinics in Austin, Texas, and New York ran out of the seasonal-flu vaccine within the past week before restocking, according to calls to 13 stores by Bloomberg News. Calls to eight Walgreen stores in Manhattan on Oct. 5 determined none had it at the time. There are also shortages in the South and Southeast, said James Cohn, a Walgreen spokesman.

CDC Officials Downplay Risks of Swine Flue Vaccine: MyWay
A top U.S. health official says the risks from not getting the swine flu vaccine are greater than any potential risks associated with the vaccine. Dr. Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says she's surprised by all the misinformation going around about the new vaccine. She says a good safety record from past vaccines bodes well for the swine flu vaccine now becoming available.


Economy:
Top Economist Says Unemployment Could Peak at 10.5 Percent: Fox News
Unemployment will continue to rise and could peak at 10.5 percent, one of the nation's top economists said Sunday. Mark Zandi, co-founder of Moody's Economy.com, warned on "FOX News Sunday" that the recovery will continue to be "halting" and "fragile," backing up estimates from other economists that show unemployment peaking next summer and hovering above eight percent four years down the road. New figures released last week showed unemployment rose to 9.8 percent in September, the highest since 1983.


Dollar facing 'power-shift' analysts : Breitbart
A report last week in The Independent claiming that China, Russia and Gulf States are among nations prepared to ditch the dollar for oil trades has heightened the uncertainty surrounding the US currency's future.
The dollar's position as the world's leading reserve currency faces increased pressure as the financial crisis allows emerging economies greater influence on the world stage, analysts said.

Dollar Reaches Breaking Point as Banks Shift Reserves: Bloomberg
Central banks flush with record reserves are increasingly snubbing dollars in favor of euros and yen, further pressuring the greenback after its biggest two- quarter rout in almost two decades. Policy makers boosted foreign currency holdings by $413 billion last quarter, the most since at least 2003, to $7.3 trillion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.


Obama Fails to Win Nobel Prize in Economics
: WSJ
In a decision as shocking as Friday's surprise peace prize win, President Obama failed to win the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences Monday. While few observers think Obama has done anything for world peace in the nearly nine months he's been in office, the same clearly can't be said for economics.


Recession-Hit Britain to Sell Off State Assets: Prime Minister:
Breitbart
The government is to sell off 16 billion pounds (25.4 billion dollars, 17.2 billion euros) of assets, Brown was to say, according to extracts from a keynote speech to be given London setting out his vision for "enduring and sustainable growth." The British government will sell off a raft of state assets, Prime Minister Gordon Brown was to say Monday as he bids to reclaim the initiative on reducing recession-hit Britain's debt.



Politics:
Pelosi Key to GOP 2010 Playbook: Fox News
Republicans are stepping up attacks on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, deciding that a major part of their 2010 electoral strategy will be linking Democratic candidates to her.


Report: Obama's White House Counsel Has 'No Plans' to Resign: Fox News
President Obama's White House counsel Gregory Craig said he has no intention of resigning from his position as the administration's top in-house lawyer -- despite widespread reports that he may step down over his role in the closing of the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, The National Law Journal reported.


Whats with all the @#%! Language?: Politico
President Barack Obama called rap star Kanye West “a jackass.” Vice President Joe Biden told a senator to “Gimme a f—-ing break!” Economic adviser Christina Romer declared that Americans had yet to have their "holy s—-” moment over the economy. Those who pay attention to political rhetoric say an unusual amount of profanity has emanated from this White House – even without counting famously colorful White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.

Chavez Says Obama did "nothing" to Deserve Nobel
: Reuters
Venezuela's socialist leader Hugo Chavez said on Sunday that U.S. President Barack Obama had done nothing beyond wishful thinking to earn the Nobel Peace Prize. Chavez, who has mixed praise for Obama personally with criticism of his government's "imperialist" policies, said he thought it was a mistake when he read the U.S. leader had won.


Nobel Committee Defends Obama Choice: Financial Times
Leaders of the Norwegian Nobel Committee have leapt to the defense of their choice of Barack Obama for the 2009 Peace Prize amid criticism that the award is premature and politically biased. Geir Lundestad, secretary of the committee, said the US president fulfilled the criteria set out in Alfred Nobel’s will better than most winners for his commitment to multilateral diplomacy, nuclear arms reduction and tackling climate change.



Foreign Affairs:
UK halts Business with Iran Firms on Nuclear Fears: Yahoo News
Britain froze business ties with an Iranian bank and state-run shipping firm Monday, citing fears that they were involved in helping the Islamic Republic to develop nuclear weapons. Irannuclear bombs, saying any threats or deadlines would have no impact.


US and UK Downplay Pakistan Fears:
Financial Times
The US and Britain tried to bolster confidence in Pakistan’s ability to retain control of its nuclear arsenal on Sunday in the wake of an audacious weekend attack by militants on the headquarters of the country’s army – previously described as impregnable. The Taliban in Pakistan on Monday claimed responsibility for the attack.


Clinton Downplays Threat to Pakistan Nuke Arsenal:
MyWay
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday the Taliban siege of Pakistan's army headquarters showed extremists are a growing threat in the nuclear-armed American ally, but she contended they don't pose a risk to the country's atomic arsenal.



Afghanistan:

Senators Escalate Call for Obama to Send More Troops to Afghanistan: Fox News
Top Republican senators escalated their call Sunday for President Obama to grant Gen. Stanley McChrystal's request for more troops in Afghanistan, and one prominent Democrat warned that a failure to do so could jeopardize U.S. forces.


Key Senators Says Afghanistan Mission in Jeopardy:
Yahoo News
Saying the U.S. mission in Afghanistan is in "serious jeopardy," the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee says more troops are needed to combat an increasingly potent Taliban. Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein's views on the issue are more closely aligned with those of key Republicans than members of her own party, including Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of Senate Armed Services Committee. He wants to hold off on new troops pending revision of U.S. strategy for Afghanistan.


Partisan Divie Persists on US Troop Surge for Afghanistan:
Breitbart
US Republican Senator John McCain warned Sunday that a failure to dispatch more US troops to Afghanistan would be "an error of historic proportions" but Democrats expressed caution about any surge. "I think the great danger now is not an American pullout," McCain told CNN television. "I think the great danger now is a half-measure... trying to please all ends of the political spectrum."


Social Issues:
Gay Rights Advocates March on D.C., Demand That Obama Keep His Pledge: Fox News
Thousands of gay and lesbian activists marched Sunday from the White House to the Capitol, demanding that President Obama keep his promises to allow gays to serve openly in the military and work to end discrimination against gays.


Rep. Frank: Gays should Lobby Elected Officials: Yahoo News
Rep. Barney Frank, an openly gay member of Congress, says he'd rather see gay rights supporters lobbying their elected officials than marching in Washington this weekend, calling the demonstration "a waste of time at best." Frank said in an interview with The Associated Press that he considers such demonstrations to be "an emotional release" that does little to pressure Congress.


Gays Question Obama 'don't ask, don't tell' Pledge: MyWay
President Barack Obama restated his campaign pledge to allow homosexual men and women to serve openly in the military, but left many in his audience of gay activists wondering when he would make good on the promise. "I will end 'don't ask-don't tell,'" Obama said Saturday night to a standing ovation from the crowd of about 3,000 at the annual dinner of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay civil rights advocacy group. He offered no timetable or specifics and he acknowledged some may be growing impatient.



Environment:
What happened to Global Warming?: BBC News
This headline may come as a bit of a surprise, so too might that fact that the warmest year recorded globally was not in 2008 or 2007, but in 1998. But it is true. For the last 11 years we have not observed any increase in global temperatures. And our climate models did not forecast it, even though man-made carbon dioxide, the gas thought to be responsible for warming our planet, has continued to rise.


Gore Upbeat On Climate Bill: Wisconsin State Journal
Former Vice President Al Gore shared his optimism about the "shifting momentum" of the climate change debate with about 500 environmental journalists Friday in Madison. "We're very close to that political tipping point," Gore said at the Society of Environmental Journalists annual conference at the Madison Concourse Hotel. "Never before in human history has a single generation been asked to make such difficult and consequential decisions."


Soros aims to Invest $1B in Green Tech
: Reuters
Billionaire George Soros said on Saturday that he would invest $1 billion in clean energy technology as part of an effort to combat climate change. The Hungarian-born U.S. investor also announced he would form and fund a new climate policy initiative with $10 million a year for 10 years.

Energy Crisis is Postponed as New Gas Rescues The World
: Telegraph
America is not going to bleed its wealth importing fuel. Russia's grip on Europe's gas will weaken. Improvident Britain may avoid paralysing blackouts by mid-decade after all. The World Gas Conference in Buenos Aires last week was one of those events that shatter assumptions. Advances in technology for extracting gas from shale and methane beds have quickened dramatically, altering the global balance of energy faster than almost anybody expected.

Other:
Obama Takes to Basketball Court With Cabinet Members, Lawmakers: Bloomberg
President Barack Obama wanted to hold court with LeBron James. He made do yesterday with Cabinet officials and lawmakers. In perhaps the most exclusive after-work, backyard basketball game ever, the president recruited players from the ranks of the executive branch and Congress to play on the converted tennis court on the White House’s South Lawn.


Director Polanski Feels Depressed in Jail Reports His Lawyer: Yahoo News
Director Roman Polanski is feeling depressed two weeks after his arrest in Switzerland to face U.S. extradition for a 1977 case involving the rape of a 13-year-old girl, his lawyer was quoted as saying on Sunday. "I found him to be tired and depressed," Herve Temime told the Sonntag newspaper, one of two newspapers he talked to after visiting the Oscar-winning director in a Zurich prison
.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Just for a Good Laugh- Anesthetists Singing and they actually aren't horrible

"The Laryngospasms, a group of practicing Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists that create & perform medical parodies for audiences throughout the United States."

Cartoons: Sept 7-9












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