Monthly Archives: November 2011
Two Stories That Need To Be Viewed Together
Reuters posted a story today about the fact that Fannie Mae is has lost $5.1 billion in the third quarter of this year and needs $7.8 billion in federal aid to stay afloat. Meanwhile back at the ranch, Mary Katharine Ham at the Daily Caller posted a story today stating that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to whom taxpayers have already given billions, gave out $12.79 million in bonuses to its executives for meeting modest goals.
My husband works in the private sector. There was a year when he got no raise and no bonus because the economy was bad and the company he works for was trying not to lay anyone off and still stay profitable. I guess my question is how come a company that loses $5.1 billion in three months and is being subsidized by taxpayers is handing out bonuses amounting to $12.79 million.
This is a total misuse of taxpayer money and needs to be stopped. If the company was making a profit and operating on its own money, I would have no problem with any bonuses they wanted to hand out. However, this is taxpayer money and should be spent much more carefully.
What’s Wrong With This Picture
Jonah Goldberg posted an article at the New York Post yesterday about the riots on the Penn State campus when the firing of football coach Joe Paterno was announced.
Mr. Goldberg observes:
You have to wonder what’s wrong with our society when someone can say, “Of course we’re going to riot,” but not over the coverup of pedophiliac rape. Rather, students feel it is their obvious right, perhaps even duty, to throw violent temper tantrums when a multimillionaire football coach is fired, simply because the coach is part of their “college experience.”
If the students actually knew why Coach Paterno was fired, where in the world was their compassion for the victims of Coach Sandusky? What in the world are our children learning in college?
Mr. Goldberg concludes:
Most of the time, I find campus protest culture to be shallow and predictable. But I would have cheered it this time around, if only someone rioted for the alleged victims of Jerry Sandusky.
I linked to the Grand Jury testimony in a previous article (rightwinggranny). It is difficult to read the testimony. Coach Sandusky was caught in the act of raping a child and everyone in charge looked the other way–oh, wait, they didn’t look the other way–they told him he could no longer bring children into the athletic facility. Coach Sandusky’s activities continued for another ten years. There are some serious legal issues here–authorities of the school were required to report the incident to the police when it occurred–no one seems to have done that. Because the school was aware of the incident, I would think that children (now young adults) who were molested after the incident that was discovered could very easily sue to school. I hope they do. I won’t bring healing, but it might teach people in charge to fulfill their legal reporting obligations.
Common Sense From The Wall Street Journal
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Today’s Wall Street Journal posted an article entitled, “If Iran Gets the Bomb.” The article reviews some of the history of Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons.
The article reminds us of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report released this week which stated that Iran seems to be on a structured path to building a nuclear weapon. The article reminds us of the December 2007 National Intelligence Estimate which claimed that Iran had ended its work on nuclear weapons on 2003, thus assuring that the Bush administration would take no action against Iran. I suspect that when historians review that report, they will wonder why Americans let party politics interfere with their national security.
The article points out:
The serious choice now before the Administration is between military strikes and more of the same. As the IAEA report makes painfully clear, more of the same means a nuclear Iran, possibly within a year.
The article then examines the consequences of various possible decisions. The writers point out that “no war ever goes precisely as planned.” That applies to both boots-on-the-ground wars and aerial wars.
Iran’s going nuclear would trigger an arms race in the Middle East–the Saudis would want an atomic bomb, as would other countries. It is also a safe bet that a nuclear Iran would not hesitate to bully its neighbors. A nuclear Iran could seriously alter any stability in the Middle East that currently exists.
The article concludes:
Opponents of a pre-emptive strike say it would do no more than delay Iran’s programs by a few years. But something similar was said after Israel’s strike on Iraq’s Osirak reactor in 1981, without which the U.S. could never have stood up to Saddam after his invasion of Kuwait. In life as in politics, nothing is forever. But a strike that sets Iran’s nuclear programs back by several years at least offers the opportunity for Iran’s democratic forces to topple the regime without risking a wider conflagration.
No U.S. President could undertake a strike on Iran except as a last resort, and Mr. Obama can fairly say that he has given every resort short of war an honest try. At the same time, no U.S. President should leave his successor with the catastrophe that would be a nuclear Iran. A nuclear Iran on Mr. Obama’s watch would be fatal to more than his legacy.
Israel will not sit quietly and let Iran go nuclear. That fact needs to be considered as our government decides what America should do. There are only two rational solutions I have heard to Iran going nuclear–the first is to overthrow the current government and replace it with a secular democracy, the second is an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack by either America or Israel. Neither solution is guaranteed, but a solution is necessary.
Happy 236th Birthday
United States Marine Corps
Some Interesting Thoughts On Peace In The Middle East
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William Levinson posted an article today at the American Thinker that had a very interesting perspective on peace in the Middle East.
In the article, Mr. Levinson cites a program used in the automotive industry:
The Automotive Industry Action Group’s CQI-10, “Effective Problem Solving Guideline,” includes a technique called “Is/Is Not.” This is “a process that distinguishes those aspects associated with a problem from those that might be, but are not” and adds the instruction to “Focus on FACTs, not Opinions.” If a manufacturing process made the same kind and quantity of defects before installation of a new machine as it did afterward, the machine is clearly not the root cause of the defects.
Obviously that is basic common sense, but somehow common sense never gets applied to the Middle East. Mr. Levinson points out that the premise that creating a Palestinians state out of land Israel gained in the 1967 war will result in peace in the Middle East does not hold up logically–the Arabs attacked Israel in May of 1948 as soon as it became a nation. The only disputed territory that was the basis for that attack was the nation of Israel itself.
Mr. Levinson further points out:
Even though Israel would not “occupy” Gaza, Judea, and Samaria for another nineteen years, its Arab neighbors then began a long litany of terroristic violence against it. The two-state argument therefore confuses cause with effect. The “occupation” is the consequence and not the cause of Arab violence, and it is past time to say this openly and without apology or equivocation. The Arabs did not conspire to attack Israel in 1967 because Israel had occupied their land any more than the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in retaliation for Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Mr. Levinson finally concludes:
The Allies could rehabilitate Germany and Japan economically only after they removed these countries’ warlords from power. If Israel cannot apply the same remedy to its attackers, it must put them down in such a way that they will never get up again. This is the only way to achieve lasting peace, and it is the only thing the world’s aggressors fear or understand.
These are lessons we need to apply to Iraq and Afghanistan, but we are choosing to ignore those lessons.
The Senate Campaign In Massachusetts Has Begun
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The election is a year away, but in Massachusetts the race for the Senate seat currently held by Scott Brown is already underway. I have seen ads on television from various groups. I have seen some of the snide remarks made in the debates between Democrat candidates. I guess it’s going to be a long year.
Massachusetts voters are responsible for the people they send to Washington and the impact those people have on the economy. I received the following press release in my email tonight on some recent statements by Democrat Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren:
Professor Warren Calls For Higher Payroll Taxes On Small Business Owners
In The Same Speech, She Hypocritically Blames Others For “Voting Against” Small Businesses
BOSTON – During a speech to the Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce yesterday, Harvard Professor Elizabeth Warren advocated raising payroll taxes on people making as little as $108,000 a year – a proposal that would impact the very same small businesses she accuses Republicans of “voting against.”
As reported in today’s Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Warren answered a question from an audience member about payroll taxes by saying:
Not shying away from point-blank questions from Gaudette Insurance Agency President Lee Gaudette about funding Social Security for the baby boom generation, Ms. Warren said that if income were taxed for Social Security at a flat rate, instead of having the taxable portion capped at $108,000, the program would pay for itself.
Earlier in her speech, however, Warren said that “small businesses are the crucial engine of job creation in Massachusetts and across the country” and went on to accuse Republicans of “voting against small businesses.”
“Professor Warren’s double-speak on small businesses is breathtaking,” said Nate Little, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Republican Party. “Her endorsement of a tax hike on those making $108,000 a year demonstrates how fundamentally out-of-touch she is with the concerns of entrepreneurs and small business owners. Next year’s election will be about the economy, and it’s clear that Professor Warren’s economic plans would crush the people she rightfully describes as the ‘engine of job creation.’”
The race begins.
Putting Elections Ahead Of Creating Jobs
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The Keystone Pipeline is a $7 billion pipeline, which would run from Alberta to the Gulf Coast. It would increase energy security in America and directly create more than 20,000 high-wage manufacturing jobs and construction jobs in 2011-2012 across the U.S.
Today’s Wall Street Journal is reporting that the U. S. Government is planning to delay any decision as to whether to allow the pipeline to be constructed until after the 2012 election. They didn’t exactly word it that way, but that is the outcome.
The article states:
State Department officials are expected to say as early as Thursday the U.S. will seek to re-route the pipeline away from an environmentally sensitive portion of Nebraska. Such a move will require an assessment of the new route’s environmental impact, a lengthy process that isn’t expected to be complete until at least the first quarter of 2013.
The problem this pipeline presents for the Obama administration is simple–the environmentalists oppose the pipeline and the unions support it (more jobs). The pipeline would increase the energy independence of America and make us less dependent on oil from countries that hate us.
The Making Of A Scandal
No, this is not an article about Herman Cain or Penn State–it’s an article about Solyndra.
In our electronic age, emails can be accessed and compared to exactly what people have said about anything. When the emails and the statements disagree, there is a problem. That is where we currently are in regard to Solyndra. George Kaiser, who was a bundler for Obama’s 2008 campaign and whose family foundation was the biggest investor in Solyndra, has stated that during his meetings with the President at the White House the subject of the stimulus loan to Solyndra never came up.
However, according to the Washington Examiner, one of Kaiser’s email stated:
BTW, a couple of weeks ago, when Ken and I were visiting with a group of Administration folks in DC who are in charge of the stimulus process (White House, not DOE) and Solyndra came up, every one of them responded simultaneously about their thorough knowledge of the Solyndra story, suggesting it was one of their prime poster children.
The Washington Examiner further concludes:
But now, with these emails, we’ve got Obama fundraisers saying false things about lobbying, and the White House passing on those false things. We’ve also got a senior energy department official pushing for this subsidy while his wife’s law firm represented Solyndra. Energy Department officials rewrote the law in order to aid Solyndra.
It doesn’t look pretty. Liberals can mock Solyndra, and MSNBC’s primetime shows can pretend it doesn’t exist, but that doesn’t mean no corruption happened.
This is taxpayer money that the taxpayers will never see again. It’s time that the White House and the federal government were held accountable for wasteful spending. How many other Solyndras are out there?
I Don’t Follow College Football–But This Is Disturbing
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John Ondrasik of Five for Fighting writes a column for Sports Illustrated. His latest column was about the scandal in the Penn State football program involving Jerry Sandusky. The article features a link to the Grand Jury report on Jerry Sandusky.
After reading the Grand Jury report, I would like to see the football program at Penn State suspended for at least ten years–that is how long the sexual abuse of young men was allowed to continue.
It is inappropriate to allow those who covered up the activities of Coach Sandusky continue in their current positions. There needs to be a total housecleaning of those who have overseen the football program for the past ten years and a suspension of the program for the next ten years.
Update On The Christmas Tree Tax
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ABC News just reported:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is going to delay implementation and revisit a proposed new 15 cent fee on fresh-cut Christmas trees, sources tell ABC News. The fee, requested by the National Christmas Tree Association in 2009, was first announced in the Federal Registry yesterday and has generated criticism of President Obama from conservative media outlets. The well-trafficked Drudge Report is leading with the story, linking to a blog by David Addington, a former top aide to then-Vice President David Addington, at the conservative Heritage Foundation assailing the president thus: “The economy is barely growing and nine percent of the American people have no jobs. Is a new tax on Christmas trees the best President Obama can do? And, by the way, the American Christmas tree has a great image that doesn’t need any help from the government.”
I guess there were too many people aware of the tax and saying they didn’t want it. At least someone was listening!
Today In 1989
On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall fell. Freedom won. It will continue to win despite the efforts of tyrants to usurp it.
A New Level Of Chutzpah
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The level of chutzpah in the Obama administration never ceases to amaze me. The latest example is Eric Holder’s recent testimony before the House of Representatives. Hot Air posted a story on the testimony yesterday, complete with a Townhall.com video of the actual testimony.
The article at Hot Air reports:
That means he (Eric Holder) not only called for tighter gun control regulations — he also accused the House of Representatives of keeping law enforcement in the dark “when individuals purchase multiple semi-automatic rifles and shotguns in Southwest border gun shops.”
There are no words…
Yes, It Really Is Cold Outside
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On Saturday, November 5, my favorite scientific site, wattsupwiththat, posted a story stating that the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) data shows that the United States has experienced cooler summers and colder winters in the past 10 years.
The article featured the chart below.
As anyone who regularly reads this blog knows, I hate cold weather. Now I know that the fact that I am convinced that I am freezing most of the time in New England is not just my imagination.
Please follow the link above to read the entire article. There are all kinds of charts showing changes in temperature in America over the past century. The bottom line is very simple–global warming is a myth. We don’t need to cripple the American economy due to junk science!
A Tax By Any Other Name
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Give a Democrat half a chance and he will raise taxes any time he can. He may call it a fee; he may call it a temporary increase (Massachusetts taxpayers still pay a temporary personal income tax increase passed in 1989); he may call it a surcharge, but Democrats love increasing taxes.
Heritage.org reported yesterday on President Obama’s new tax on Christmas trees.
The article reports:
President Obama’s Agriculture Department today announced that it will impose a new 15-cent charge on all fresh Christmas trees—the Christmas Tree Tax—to support a new Federal program to improve the image and marketing of Christmas trees.
My first question is, “Why do we need a federal program to improve the image and marketing of Christmas trees?” Don’t we already have enough federal programs?
The article at Heritage points out:
Acting Administrator Shipman had the temerity to say the 15-cent mandatory Christmas tree fee “is not a tax nor does it yield revenue for the Federal government” (76 CFR 69102). The Federal government mandates that the Christmas tree sellers pay the 15-cents per tree, whether they want to or not. The Federal government directs that the revenue generated by the 15-cent fee goes to the Board appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out the Christmas tree program established by the Secretary of Agriculture. Mr. President, that’s a new 15-cent tax to pay for a Federal program to improve the image and marketing of Christmas trees.
Nobody is saying President Obama doesn’t have authority to impose his new Christmas Tree Tax — his Administration cites the Commodity Promotion, Research and Information Act of 1996. Just because the Obama Administration has the legal power to impose its Christmas Tree Tax doesn’t mean it should do so.
A tax by any other name…
A New Political Low
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I understand that presidential primaries can be nasty, but sometimes things get totally out of hand. Recent events in Texas show how our political system can be manipulated to the detriment of our national security.
CBN News is reporting today that Mohammed Elibiary, an advisor to the Department of Homeland Security, was given access to sensitive government documents. Mr. Elibiary then leaked some of those documents to the media. Supposedly, his goal was to defeat the presidential campaign of Texas Governor Rick Perry by accusing him of “Islamophobia.”
The article reports:
Out of 26 members on the Department of Homeland Security’s Advisory Council, only Elibiary was granted access to a nationwide database that includes terror watch lists and sensitive FBI reports.
Mr. Elibiary is not an obvious candidate to be working with the Department of Homeland Security. The article reports:
In 2004, he spoke at a Texas conference honoring Iran’s notorious Ayatollah Khomeini as a “great Islamic visionary.”
He’s written in praise of one of the most influential Islamic radicals of the modern era: former Muslim Brotherhood leader Sayyid Qutb.
And he has spoken out against the prosecution of Hamas fundraisers in the U.S.
In a disturbing 2006 email exchange with a Dallas Morning News editor, Elibiary wrote: “Treat people as inferiors and you can expect someone to put a banana in your exhaust pipe or something.”
This really does not fit my definition of a ‘moderate’ Muslim. The good news here is that Mr. Elibiary’s access to the database of the Department of Homeland Security has reportedly been revoked.
An Open Microphone Is A Dangerous Thing
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Most of the mainstream American press has not yet covered this story. It will be interesting to see if they do. YNet News posted a story yesterday about a microphone left on after the G20 meeting that picked up a conversation between President Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy. The article reported:
The conversation apparently began with President Obama criticizing Sarkozy for not having warned him that France would be voting in favor of the Palestinian membership bid in UNESCO despite Washington’s strong objection to the move.
The conversation then drifted to Netanyahu, at which time Sarkozy declared: “I cannot stand him. He is a liar.” According to the report, Obama replied: “You’re fed up with him, but I have to deal with him every day!”
There goes the Jewish vote!
I don’t know much about Netanyahu. I know that he loves Israel and is doing his best to preserve it. I know that he lost his brother in the Entebbe Raid to free Israeli hostages. I know that he was treated very badly when he visited the White House in March 2010. I don’t know what President Obama has against Israel, but he obviously is not a supporter of the country.
Getting The Facts Out When The Story Has Not Been Told Correctly
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Normally our military SEAL teams are a rather quiet group. They don’t say much about who they are or what they do. However, when the story of one of their missions is inaccurately told, occasionally they speak out. Well, one did.
Yesterday the Daily Caller posted a story about the account of the killing of Osama Bin Laden as told by one of the SEALs involved.
The article reports:
“It became obvious in the weeks evolving after the mission that the story that was getting put out there was not only untrue, but it was a really ugly farce of what did happen,” said Chuck Pfarrer, author of Seal Target Geronimo: The Inside Story of the Mission to Kill Osama Bin Laden.
Two major discrepancies cited in the article:
1. The helicopter did not crash land. It went down later on–after the killing of Bin Laden.
2. Bin Laden was not unarmed–he was reaching for the AKSU rifle he kept by the headboard.
These are important details. It makes you wonder how much of the accounts of various events the White House relates is accurate.
Saturday Radio Appearance
If anyone would like to listen to my Saturday radio appearance, they can find it at DaTechGuy‘s website. I am on the last hour and a half of the show.
The Dinosaur Perspective
I grew up in the 50’s and 60’s, so I have very little understanding of how dating works today and how relationships work today. The latest accusation against Herman Cain frankly leaves me somewhat confused.
First of all, why is Gloria Allred involved? The history of this lawyer in terms of going after Republican candidates is well known. It seems odd to me that she would be involved in this situation where there is not an actual lawsuit or monetary settlement involved.
Secondly, according to a website called National Journal:
“He reached over and he put his hand on my leg under my skirt and reached for my genitals,” Bialek said, her voice breaking with emotion. “He also grabbed my head and brought it towards his crotch. I was very, very surprised and very shocked. I said, ‘What are you doing? You know I have a boyfriend. This isn’t what I came here for.’”
She said that Cain responded, “You want a job, right?” Bialek said she asked him to stop, and Cain complied. She then asked to be driven back to her hotel, and she said Cain promptly complied with that request as well.
This sounds more like a really bad date than a legal matter. I also find it very interesting that the woman involved lives in Chicago.
Is It Too Late To Deal With Iran’s Nuclear Program ?
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There are mixed reports on how much progress Iran has made on their nuclear program. The Washington Post reported yesterday that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is going to release a report this week on the Iranian nuclear program. The preview of the report states that Iran has continued its work on developing a nuclear bomb despite claims that the program had been stopped. The thing to keep in mind here is that the IAEA has pretty much been wrong on all of its previous reports on the Iranian nuclear program.
Meanwhile, the Washington Times posted an article by Reza Kahlili on October 27, 2011, stating that Iran already has nuclear weapons. Reza Kahlila is a former member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard who actually worked for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
A few things to remember when dealing with Iran:
1. There is a concept in Islam called taqiyya. Loosely translated it means lying for the sake of Islam. The concept is particularly applied to the idea of lying to infidels.
2. A video smuggled out of Iran in March of this year (see rightwinggranny) explains that the basis for the Iranian foreign policy is the quest for a world-wide caliphate. That is a long-term goal, although Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad believes he is charged with causing the chaos that will usher in the reign of the 12th Imam.
3. Western cultures tend to look at events in terms of recent history. The Islamic mentality looks at events in the perspective of centuries. We plan for decades–they plan for centuries. There is an expression among Muslims in Afghanistan, “Americans have all the watches, but we have all the time.” We need to remember that.
I don’t know what the truth is, although I suspect Iran either has or is very close to having a nuclear weapon. We are coming to the point when the west has to make a decision as to whether it will allow Iran to become a nuclear nation. Aside from the obvious danger to Israel, Iran’s going nuclear will begin an arms race in the Middle East–not a place known for its peaceful tendencies.
Hold on to your seats!
Letting A Situation Get Out Of Hand
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Today’s Daily Caller posted a story on some of the events surrounding an Americans For Prosperity’s “Defending the American Dream Summit” at the Washington Convention Center on Friday night.
Videos from various news sources and people at the event are posted at The Blaze. A video posted by the Media Research Council at The Blaze showed a group of protesters fighting with convention center security guards and placing two children in the center of the scuffle. There is a lot of yelling and the children can be heard crying.
The people inside the Convention Center called 911 and asked for more police at the site. The 911 operators hung up on them four times.
The article reports:
“Last evening when we were in our dinner session, we actually noticed that there were protesters outside, and lined up on each corner,” (AFP’s director of Human Resources, Heather) de la Riva
said. “We were getting ready to dismiss activists and let out for the evening. So, I did place a call to 911 just giving them a heads-up that we were going to be leaving the convention area and that there were protesters outside. I did understand that there was already a police presence, but I was hoping that they would be able to calm the situation so that we didn’t run into any altercations. And, they [911] hung up.”
AFP volunteer Melissa Ortiz, who is wheelchair-bound, said she also called 911 to ask for help leaving the convention center. “I personally called 911,” Ortiz told TheDC. “They said, ‘are the police there?’ I said, ‘yes they are.’ Then, click.” They hung up on her too, she said.
This series of events does not reflect well on the District police department.
Fish vs Bugs
Sometimes we the people go a little overboard when we find a cause. Today’s Wall Street Journal has a wonderful example of this. The federal and California game officials want to restore the Paiute cutthroat trout to its previous home in Silver King Creek in the Sierra Nevada wilderness. Sounds pretty basic. Well, not so fast.
California is an interesting state in terms of environmentalists. The Central Valley, which used to be the breadbasket of America, is now a dust bowl because environmentalists are protecting the delta smelt. Some pictures of the valley taken in the summer of 2010 are posted at rightwinggranny. Americans are paying more for groceries and people are unemployed because the delta smelt (which may or may not be a separate species) is considered more important than people.
Anyway, the environmentalists in California are now in something of a quandary. Silver King Creek contains bugs that insect advocates say will be threatened by the fish fans’ proposal.
The article reports:
The result has been a war of words and court challenges between fish allies and bug allies.
“They’re nutty people,” says ichthyologist Robert Behnke, a retired Colorado State University professor and expert on North American trout who calls the bug advocates “obstructionists.”
Opponents allege the trout plan is a plot by anglers who just want to fish for rare species. “Part of the project is to expand the population of fish so they can fish for them,” says Nancy Erman, a retired University of California at Davis insect researcher who raised early objections to the proposal. Ms. Erman studied caddis flies, whose larvae live in cocoons of stream-bed debris.
“It’s a fishing agenda cloaked in environmental language,” says Ann McCampbell, a Santa Fe physician who sued the federal government over the plan.
The article concludes:
Bug advocates hailed the pro-bug ruling as a victory for under-appreciated animals. Insects need special protection because they don’t generate much sympathy, lacking the appeal of more alluring animals like trout, says Mr. Frost, the anti-toxin lawyer.
“Invertebrates aren’t sexy megafauna,” he says.
In a time when the federal budget is totally out of control, how much money is being spent on the plan to relocate the Paiute cutthroat trout and how much money is being spent to defend the relocation of the Paiute cutthroat trout? I just wonder why we can’t leave the fish where they are.
Attempting To Rewrite American History
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America is a country that has Christian roots. If you read some of our founding documents–the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution–you find God acknowledged in all of them. The respect for God and the need for prayer are part of America’s tradition–the first Thanksgiving Proclamations were issued by the Continental Congress between 1777 and 1784. George Washington issued the first Presidential Thanksgiving Proclamation in 1789.
That is part of who we are, but not everyone is happy about that. Fox News reported on Thursday that the Obama administration has announced its objection to adding President Franklin Roosevelt’s D-Day prayer to the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.
The article reports:
…Robert Abbey, the director of the Bureau of Land Management, said any plaque or inscription of the prayer would “dilute” the memorial’s central message and therefore “should not be altered.”
D-Day was one of the major events of the war. It was the beginning of the end of the war and the beginning of the allied victory. It was a totally risky undertaking, and when you read the reports of the time, it was not assured that the landing would be successful. I have said on this blog before that my father was one of the people who went ashore that day (on Utah Beach), so this is very important to me.
As a conservative, I am not FDR’s biggest fan, but his prayer was earnest and needed to alert the American people to the gravity of the situation and unite them behind our soldiers. That prayer is an important part of our war effort and belongs at that monument.
I have posted FDR’s prayer in the past–this is the link: rightwinggranny.
About That “Pass The Bill” Statement
At times, facts are inconvenient things. They can easily get in the way of actually winning an argument (or an election). The election of 2012 is going to be, among other things, an indication of how many Americans are believing everything the Obama administration tells them and how many Americans are actually checking the facts. One place where the rhetoric and the facts are in total opposition is the most recent jobs bill put forth by President Obama.
First of all, the Republicans are not blocking the bill–the Republicans do not have enough votes in the Senate to stop anything without Democrat votes. Second of all, the House Republicans have passed a number of bills to help cut unemployment and those bills have not made it through the Senate.
GOP.gov has posted a list of bills passed in the House of Representatives that are aimed at job creation that have gone nowhere. I realize this is a really long list, but take a look:
The “Forgotten Fifteen”
1) H.R. 872—Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act: The bill would amend the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) to clarify that the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or a state may not require a permit under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act for the application of pesticides regulated under FIFRA. By removing duplicative requirements, the bill would reduce overlapping and unnecessary regulation on pesticides that are already regulated, thereby reducing costs to both farmers and small business owners.
2) H.R. 910—Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011: H.R. 910 would prohibit the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases to address climate change under the Clean Air Act. More specifically, the bill would prohibit the EPA from regulating: water vapor; carbon dioxide; methane; nitrous oxide; and any other substance subject to regulation, action or consideration under the Clean Air Act to address climate change. The bill would prevent a needless increase in energy prices for American households and businesses.
3) H.J.Res. 37—Disapproving the rule submitted by the Federal Communications Commission with respect to regulating the Internet and broadband industry practices: The bill would prohibit the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from implementing a net-neutrality rule which would prohibit Internet providers from slowing or blocking legal websites or Internet services because of concerns over bandwidth. In May 2010, seventy-four House Democrats sent a letter to FCC Chairman Genachowski making the case that net-neutrality rules will “jeopardize jobs” and “should not be done without additional direction from Congress.”
4) H.R. 1230—Restarting American Offshore Leasing Now Act: H.R. 1230 would require the Department of the Interior (DOI) to auction offshore oil and gas leases in the Central and Western Gulf of Mexico, as well as in an area off the coast of Virginia. The bill would help to reduce energy prices and promote job creation by expediting offshore oil and natural gas exploration in the Gulf of Mexico and the Virginia coast.
5) H.R. 1229—Putting the Gulf of Mexico Back to Work Act: H.R. 1229 would direct the Secretary of the Interior to require that any lessee operating under an approved exploration plan obtain a permit before drilling any well, and obtain a new permit before drilling any well of a design that is significantly different than the design for which an existing permit was issued. The bill would prohibit the Secretary from issuing a permit without ensuring that the proposed drilling operations meet all critical safety system requirements (including blowout prevention), and oil spill response and containment requirements.
6) H.R. 1231—Reversing President Obama’s Offshore Moratorium Act: H.R. 1231 would require that each five-year offshore oil and gas leasing program offer leasing in the areas with the most prospective oil and gas resources, and would establish a domestic oil and natural gas production goal. The bill would essentially lift the President’s ban on new offshore drilling by requiring the Administration to move forward on American energy production in areas estimated to contain the most oil and natural gas resources.
7) H.R. 2021—The Jobs and Energy Permitting Act of 2011: H.R. 2021 would eliminate needless permitting delays that have stalled important energy production opportunities off the coast of Alaska. The bill would also eliminate the permitting back-and-forth that occurs between the EPA and its Environmental Appeals Board. Rather than having exploration air permits repeatedly approved and rescinded by the agency and its review board, the EPA will be required to take final action – granting or denying a permit—within six months.
8) H.R. 2018—Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act of 2011: H.R. 2018 would a restrict the EPA ability to issue a revised or new water quality standard for a pollutant whenever a state has adopted and EPA already has approved a water quality standard for that pollutant, unless the state concurs with the EPA Administrator’s determination that the revised or new standard is necessary to meet the requirements of the Clean Water Act. The bill would prevent unilateral actions by the EPA that second-guess the decisions of the state regulatory agency.
9) H.R. 1315—Consumer Financial Protection & Soundness Improvement Act: H.R. 1315 would improve consumer protection and provides greater economic stability by allowing the Financial Stability Oversight Council to vote to set aside any harmful federal regulation.
10) H.R. 1938— North American-Made Energy Security Act: H.R. 1938 would direct the President, acting through the Secretary of Energy, to coordinate with all federal agencies responsible for an aspect of the President’s National Interest Determination and Presidential Permit decision regarding construction and operation of Keystone XL, to ensure that all necessary actions are taken on an expedited schedule. The bill would promote job creation and energy security by ending the needless delay of the construction and operation of the Keystone XL pipeline.
11) H.R. 2587—Protecting Jobs From Government Interference Act: H.R. 2587 would prohibit the National Labor Relations Board (NRLB) from ordering any employer to close, relocate, or transfer employment under any circumstance.
12) H.R. 2401—Transparency In Regulatory Analysis Of Impacts On The Nation: H.R. 2401 would require analyses of the cumulative and incremental impacts of certain rules and actions of the Environmental EPA. Specifically, the bill would require the President to establish the Committee for the Cumulative Analysis of Regulations that Impact Energy and Manufacturing. The Committee would be charged with analyzing and reporting on the cumulative and incremental impacts of covered rules and actions of the EPA concerning air, waste, water, and climate change. The bill would establish the interagency committee to evaluate the economic impacts of EPA regulations and delay the final dates for both the maximum achievable control technology (Utility MACT) standards and the cross-state air pollution rule (CSAPR) until the full impact has been studied. Both regulations would cost consumers and businesses $184 billion from 2011-2030 and would cause electrical prices to skyrocket.
13) H.R. 2681—Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act: H.R. 2681 would provide a legislative stay of three EPA emissions standards that apply to cement manufacturing plants and are known as the “Cement MACT rules.” The bill would also provide for the implementation of effective regulation that protects communities both environmentally and economically.
14) H.R. 2250—EPA Regulatory Relief Act: H.R. 2250 would provide a legislative stay of four interrelated EPA rules, commonly referred to as the “Boiler MACT rules,” that govern emissions of mercury and other hazardous air pollutants from approximately 200,000 boilers and incinerators nationwide. The bill would remove this excessive regulatory burden placed on employers by the EPA’s Boiler MACT rules, potentially costing companies $14 billion and 224,000 American jobs, and replace them with sensible, achievable rules that do not destroy jobs.
15) H.R. 2273—Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act: H.R. 2273 would utilize the framework and requirements of an existing federal regulatory program developed by the EPA under the Solid Waste Disposal Act (RCRA) as the basis for enforceable minimum federal standards for the regulation of a waste stream known as coal ash. The bill would include enforceable federal standards, but would leave regulation and enforcement to the states. The bill would also provide consistent, safe management of coal combustion residuals in a way that protects jobs and encourages recycling and beneficial use.
It seems to me that the Senate could have passed at least one of these bills. I am not convinced that it is the Republicans playing political games with the economy.
