Monthly Archives: January 2012

American, Your Property Rights Are Being Taken Away

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On Friday, CNS News reported the story of Michael and Chantell Sackett, an Idaho couple who bought a piece of land in Idaho in order to build their dream house. Unfortunately, their plans to build their dream house have become a nightmare.

The article reports:

The Sacketts, small business owners in Idaho, located a lot in the northern part of the state in a town called Priest Lake. According to court documents, the lot is less than an acre and is just 500 feet from Priest Lake on its west side. It is separated from the lake by a house and a road and has no standing water or any hydrologic connection to Lake Priest or any other body of water.

However, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) declared their lot a wetland, and the nightmare began.

The article further reports:

Following the EPA “compliance” order, the Sacketts hired a private engineer who, following an inspection of the property, provided a report stating that the property is not wetlands.The EPA did not relent.

On Monday (today) the case will go before the Supreme Court. This is a case to watch. The property was not listed on the EPA’s online wetland inventory, but the EPA declared it a wetland anyway. This sets a dangerous precedent. You can imagine local politicians getting involved in this sort of struggle and all sorts of money required to get the necessary permits. There is a very large chance for abuse if this arbitrary ruling is allowed to stand. I realize that we have an obligation to protect the environment, but we also have an obligation under our Constitution to protect private property rights.

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American Sentenced To Death In Iran–Accused Of Spying

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Sky News reported today that Amir Mirzaei Hekmati was convicted of being a CIA spy and sentenced to death by an Iranian court. Mr. Hekmati is a former U. S. Marine. One report stated that he was carrying his military identification. Do we really believe that the CIA would send in a spy with military identification? Mr. Hekmati’s parents have stated that he was there to visit his grandparents. Mr. Hekmati holds dual citizenship in American and Iran.

The article at Sky News puts the arrest and conviction of Mr. Hekmati in context:

Three American hikers were jailed in Tehran on spying charges in 2009 after they were arrested along the Iran-Iraq border.

Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, who spent more than two years in custody, were freed on a $1m bail deal last September.

Their friend Sarah Shourd was released on bail in 2010.

Hekmati’s trial took place as Washington announced new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme.

In December, Barack Obama signed into law sanctions that will cut off from the US financial system financial institutions that work with Iran’s central bank.

Unfortunately, Mr. Hekmati is the innocent player caught in a very nasty international chess game. Iran believes that Mr. Hekmati can be used as a hostage to prevent sanctions on Iran from being implemented. If that doesn’t work, they can collect a tidy ransom. This is the kind of thing that happens when America has a weak President.

 

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Why We Need To Stop Runaway Spending

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USA Today posted a story today that the U. S. National Debt is now equal to all goods and services produced by the entire U. S. economy in one year.

The article reports:

The amount of money the federal government owes to its creditors, combined with IOUs to government retirement and other programs, now tops $15.23 trillion.

The article includes a graph:

The graph shows how rapidly the national debt has risen in recent years.

The article concludes:

The White House and Congress agreed in August to cut about $1 trillion from federal agencies over 10 years. An additional $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts looms beginning next year if lawmakers can’t agree on a better way to do it.

Economist Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics says reaching the 100% mark shows “the grave need to address our long-term fiscal problems.”

We need to elect people in November who will stop the runaway spending.

  

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Upside Down Priorities

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Yesterday the Washington Examiner pointed out the lack of logic in two of President Obama’s recent decisions. Last week, President Obama announced drastic cuts to the military budget–cutting the number of troops and cutting the spending on new weapons and weapon systems.

The article reminds us:

First, Obama claimed that “even as our troops continue to fight in Afghanistan, the tide of war is receding.” What logically should have followed such an assertion was something about the surrender of an enemy and assurance that his defeat was so total and comprehensive that decades, if not centuries, will pass before he might again threaten the safety and security of the American people.

Obama could say nothing like that because no such surrender has been tendered, and it is clear to anybody with open eyes that the aggressors in the War on Terror are — Osama bin Laden’s death notwithstanding — planning lethal new attacks on Americans here at home and American interests around the world. It is as though FDR had said in April 1943 that the tide of World War II was receding and therefore it was time to slash American defense spending because American pilots had shot down a plane carrying Japanese Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto, chief planner behind the attack on Pearl Harbor. No matter that Japanese troops still occupied half of the Pacific and would continue to wage war against the U.S.

The world is as dangerous (or more dangerous) as it was the day President Obama took office. Cutting our defense as Iran spreads its influence into Latin America and works to develop nuclear weapons is simply not smart.

At the same time he was cutting the jobs for thousands of our military, President Obama promised pay raises for federal employees. The raise is only a half-percent, but it is still a raise.

The article reminds us of a series of reports in USA Today by Dennis Cauchon in 2010. The article at the Washington Examiner states:

“The compensation gap between federal and private workers has doubled in the past decade,” Cauchon found. “Federal civil servants earned average pay and benefits of $123,049 in 2009, while private workers made $61,051 in total compensation, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The data are the latest available.” If anything, Obama should freeze federal pay indefinitely so private-sector employees can catch up with the bureaucrats.
 
It’s an election year, this is only the beginning.

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A Man Who Will Be Missed

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Today’s Washington Times reports that Tony Blankley, former editorial page editor of The Washington Times, died Saturday. Mr. Blankley was 63 and had been battling stomach cancer.

The article reports:

Mr. Blankley was editorial page editor of The Times from 2002 to 2007, and from 1990 to 1997 he served as press secretary and general adviser to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

I first became aware of Mr. Blankley when I started watching the McLaughlin Group. He was a regular on the program for a number of years and could be depended upon as a voice of sanity in a group where sanity was not always the rule of the day.

I was not aware that he had been a child actor. The article in the Washington Times reports:

Born in London, he became a naturalized American citizen after his parents moved to California after World War II. As a child, he acted in such television shows as “Lassie,” “Highway Patrol” and “Make Room for Daddy,” and he also appeared in movies with such stars as Humphrey Bogart and Rod Steiger.

Mr. Blankley was a gentleman with tremendous insight into the the American political scene. He will be missed.

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New Policy On Comments

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PLEASE NOTE!!!!!!!

Thank you very much for the kind words of encouragement many of you have left in the comments. They are truly appreciated, but it is time to move on. Recent articles are open for comments. Comments on the subject of the article are welcome–whether they agree or disagree. I would love to get a dialog started in the comments of articles. However, as much as I appreciate compliments and kudos, we do need to move past that. Any comments not relative to the subject of a recent article will not be posted. Please leave any related comment you would like on an article!

America’s Political Sage Sums Up The Debate

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Late last night, Michael Barone posted an article at the Washington Examiner analyzing the night’s debate in New Hampshire. Michael Barone is the main author of The Almanac of American Politics, which is published every two years. He a very knowledgeable political observer and very accurate predictor of future political events.

Mr. Barone states in the article:

At about 10:28pm tonight, as Mitt Romney pivoted from a question on tax loopholes and started in with, “the real issue is vision,” I had recorded this thought in my notes, “He just clinched the nomination.”

Romney said, as he often has, that Barack Obama has put America on the road to decline and is trying to make America more like Europe. He made reference to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, as he often has—which helps to explain why he polls about as well with supporters of the tea party movement, who revered and often reference the Founding documents, as with non-supporters—and proclaimed that the question in this election was whether America was going to remain “a unique nation”and whether it would “return to the principles on which it was founded.” To which Newt Gingrich then meekly concurred, adding some caveats.

The article goes on to detail the performance of each of the candidates in the debate. According to Mr. Barone, Mitt Romney moved forward in the debate, and Rick Perry positioned himself for the race in South Carolina. The other candidates pretty much stayed where they were before the debate.

I live in Massachusetts. I lived here when Mitt Romney was Governor. He did a good job considering the legislature he had to work with. I think Romneycare would have been a lot worse without Romney as Governor. I could easily vote for him in the 2012 election, although frankly he is not my first choice. I think his success in running against Barack Obama will largely depend on his choice of a running mate. There are a lot of very good options for him out there.

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Maybe Winning The Lottery Wasn’t So Great After All

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The front of a used Mark Six ticket

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There are a lot of people walking around dreaming of winning the lottery. I was in a local convenience store recently when a man came in and bought $10 worth of gasoline and $20 worth of lottery tickets. I thought his priorities might be a little off, but I suppose I should thank him–he’s paying money to the state that I don’t have to.

Most states now have state lotteries. Illinois is no exception. However, eighty-five of their recent lottery winners may not currently be feeling like winners.

Big Government reported today that $159,000 in checks to eighty-five lottery winners in Illinois bounced. Ouch.

Please follow the link to the article–the article is short and pretty much says what I have posted, but the comments are amazing.

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The Ever-Shrinking Labor Force

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Yesterday Jim Geraghty posted an article at National Review Online about the unemployment numbers released this week and the media’s celebration that unemployment is going down.

This is the chart from the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

As you can see, the civilian labor force is not increasing.  In January 2006, there were 150,214,000 Americans in the labor force. In December 2008, there were 154,626,000 Americans in the labor force. That is an increase of 4,412,000.

The article reports:

We’re still down 349,000 from the size of the labor force when Obama’s term began. The labor force hit its lowest point during that time in January 2011, at 153,250,000.

The economy may actually improve slightly this year, and the economy should not be the only issue in deciding who to support in November’s election. There are other issues (some of which affect the economy) such as national defense, Obamacare, government spending, tax policies, and over-regulation.. This will be an important election, we owe it to ourselves to consider carefully how we vote.

 

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A Few Things To Add To The Unemployment Picture

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Ed Morrissey at Hot Air posted an article today on the unemployment numbers released today. Everything is not quite what we are told it is.

Mr. Morrissey reports that the numbers are slowly going down–we are now at 8.5 percent. There is, however, a bit more to the story.

The article points out:

The civilian population participation rate hasn’t changed at all from the 64.0% of last month, which remains the lowest level since the Reagan years and which keeps the jobless rate artificially low. The civilian labor force — all the employed and all those seeking employment — actually declined by 50,000 people since November.  However, the U-6 measure of “real” unemployment dropped from 15.6% in November to 15.2% in December, which is the lowest in three years.

The economy is improving very slowly. It would improve much more quickly if we began to remove some of the choking regulations from businesses and if we revised our tax code down to one or two pages that were easily understood by average Americans. Hopefully, this year’s elections will give us leadership that will do that.

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Whoops! I Guess They Were Wrong Again

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The Register, a British website, reported today that scientists have now discovered that the increasing amount of fresh water being added to the Arctic Sea is not due to glaciers melting but to an eastward shift in the path of the Russian runoff through the Arctic Ocean.

The article reports:

The team attributes the redistribution to an eastward shift in the path of Russian runoff through the Arctic Ocean, which is tied to an increase in the strength of the Northern Hemisphere’s west-to-east atmospheric circulation, known as the Arctic Oscillation. The resulting counterclockwise winds changed the direction of ocean circulation, diverting upper-ocean freshwater from Russian rivers away from the Arctic’s Eurasian Basin, between Russia and Greenland, to the Beaufort Sea in the Canada Basin bordered by the United States and Canada. The stronger Arctic Oscillation is associated with two decades of reduced atmospheric pressure over the Russian side of the Arctic.

This is another example of the fact that we really don’t as much as we need to know about climate science and man’s impact on climate. That is another reason to be very careful about what we do to solve a problem that we do not fully understand. All the suggested solutions to ‘global warming’ involve a major redistribution of wealth in the world–oddly enough from free countries with private property rights to dictatorships with no private property rights. To take money from countries where people are free and give it to tyrants who rule countries where people are not free does not help global warming or anything else. It does nothing to address the needs of the poorest people in the world–it simply improves the lifestyles of the crooks that lead them.

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It’s All Smoke And Mirrors

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To claim that the cuts we will make in the defense will make us stronger is the defense equivalent of the emporer’s new clothes. National Review Online posted an article today about the impact of the nearly $500 billion in cuts.

The article reminds us:

And all this in the name of what, exactly? Fiscal rectitude? In his remarks today, Secretary Panetta was absolutely right to note that debt is a national-security issue. And to be sure, in any bureaucracy as large as the Pentagon, there is room for cuts. But a bank looking to reduce overhead does not often start by firing guards and cutting corners on vaults. Nor should national defense be cannibalized in the name of itself.

Worse still, in a move that is cynical if not outright dishonest, neither the president’s strategy nor his expected FY2013 budget takes into account the additional $500 billion in automatic defense sequestrations and spending caps wired into the infamous “trigger” in last year’s debt deal. As is his wont, the president is punting to Congress on the business of avoiding or undoing these cuts, which Panetta himself knows are unconscionable. But sequestration remains the law of the land, and if nothing is done, Obama’s cuts will become gashes.

Military spending is not responsible for the deficit–entitlement programs are, but it is more politically expedient to cut the military than to deal with the actual problem. I hope our next President has more courage than this one.

 

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Refusing To Fund The Defense Of America

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Foolishness begins at the top.

Section 8 of the U. S. Constitution states:

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and
Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general
Welfare of the United States;

The budget cuts in the defense the President is enacting combined with the move to turn Afghanistan back over to the Taliban will make this nation more vulnerable to attack than we were before 9/11.

Investors.com posted an article on the defense cuts today.

The article reports:

In an unusual appearance at the Pentagon on Thursday, President Obama laid out his plans for a “leaner” military based on the need “to renew our economic strength here at home, which is the foundation of our strength in the world.”

In other words, failed domestic policies require us to cut our military in a dangerous world.

The article concludes:

As a chart produced by the committee shows, the cumulative cuts are real cuts, both in spending levels and in military capability. The Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, said in written statements released during his recent confirmation hearings, “National security didn’t cause the debt crisis, nor will it solve it.”

We would note that defense is a constitutional imperative — not an optional budget item — and that the question should be what do we need to defend ourselves and our interests, not simply what we can afford as the result of failed administration policies.

This is another move toward turning America into a European socialist country. The reason Europe has been able to spend the amount of money it spends on welfare programs is that America has always been the big guy on the block who would come to their rescue if needed. With America essentially stepping down from her role as a world leader, there is now no one able to protect the freedom of the free countries throughout the world. We may not like to role of defender of freedom in the world, but it was a role put on us because of the blessings we have been given. It’s amazing to me that the people who are always demanding more from the ‘rich’ don’t seem to understand that America is a rich country and has a responsibility to use a part of that wealth to defend freedom.

This is simply foolishness on the part of the President.

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Another Place The Federal Budget Could Be Easily Cut

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Remember the leaked e-mails from the University of East Anglia’s (UEA) which brought into question the validity of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s work, with the reported statements “hide the decline,” and “Mike’s Nature Trick.”? Remember IPCC claims that the Himalayan glaciers would melt by the year 2035, which the IPCC, in a statement, later admitted was based on inconclusive data? According to CNS News, the questionable reports of the IPCC released in recent years have been funded more than 50 percent by the U. S. taxpayers.

According to the article:

In a Nov. 17, 2011 report, “International Climate Change Assessments: Federal Agencies Should Improve Reporting and Oversight of U.S. Funding,”the GAO found that the State Department provided $19 million for administrative and other expenses, while the United States Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) provided $12.1 million in technical support through the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), averaging an annual $3.1 million to the IPCC over 10 years — $31.1 million so far.

The IPCC runs an annual budget of $7 million, according to the Wall Street Journal, making the United States a major benefactor for its global warming agenda.

This is one place we truly need to cut the budget.

The article further reports:

The $3.1 million annual U.S. funding goes towards the IPCC’s “core activities”: meetings of the governing bodies, co-ordination meetings, support for the developing country co-chairs, the IPCC Web site and Secretariat.  The IPCC assesses scientific information, but does not conduct any research of its own.

According to the U.S. Climate Change Science Program, the United States “has made the world’s largest scientific investment in the areas of climate change and global change research” with a total of nearly $20 billion over the past 13 years.

As a government, we are broke. We are borrowing the dollars we are spending. We also need to realize that most of the solutions proposed by the climate change proponents involve crippling the American economy while not dealing with the countries that are actually creating more pollution than the United States. It’s not about climate change–it’s about the redistribution of wealth. There is a mentality among some of those involved in climate research that the rest of the world will be made richer if America is made poorer. It never occurs to them that if they would focus on working toward building their own country’s economy rather than tearing down America’s economy, they might actually accomplish something positive. It’s time for someone in Congress to put a stop to this.

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Why The Second Amendment Is Important

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Yesterday CBS News reported that Sarah McKinley, an 18-year-old widow, home alone with her 3-month-old son, shot and killed Justin Shane Martin, 24, when he broke down the door of her home and came after her with a knife in his hand. Sarah McKinley was on the phone for 21 minutes with the 911 Operator as the man (and an accomplice) were attempting to break into her house.

What story would we be reading if Mrs. McKinley did not own and know how to use a gun? What would be the future of the 3-month-old child if his mother was killed a week after his father had died of cancer? Twenty-one minutes is a very long time to wait for help after calling 911. Thank God that Mrs. McKinley was able to defend herself and protect her child.

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At Least They Got It Half Right

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Investors.com reported yesterday that the Congress has let the ethanol subsidies expire, but has not repealed the mandates requiring the use of ethanol. The money saved will go into the treasury–not to the taxpayers.

The article reminds us that ethanol is NOT good for the environment:

Farmers will do fine, but most taxpayers and consumers will not. The price of corn will remain high, continuing to be pushed higher by the forced use of ethanol in gasoline that has not expired. Food prices driven higher by this mandate will continue to rise, as will gas prices as the added cost to ethanol producers is passed down the line, paid ultimately by the consumer at the gas pump.

Ethanol was supposed to save the earth and pave the way to energy independence. It has done neither. We are more dependent more than ever on foreign sources of petroleum, used in a wide variety of products and processes as well as our cars, and increased biofuel cultivation has hurt the environment through increased use of pesticides, farmland expansion and agricultural runoff polluting our rivers and coastal waters.

It takes 1,700 gallons of water to produce one gallon of ethanol.

Each acre of corn requires 130 pounds of nitrogen and 55 pounds of phosphorous.

Increased acreage means increased agricultural runoff that is creating aquatic dead zones in our rivers, bays and coastal areas.

The article also points out that adding ethanol to gasoline results in poorer gas mileage than gasoline without ethanol. Ethanol is not good for the environment or the economy. We need to end the ethanol mandate as well as the subsidy.

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Are The Democrats Really The Champion Of The Middle Class ?

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The Canada Free Press posted an article today detailing the impact on Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and President Obama have had on the Middle Class since 2006, when the Democrats took over Congress.

The article cites a number of areas where life in the Middle Class has become much more expensive and less secure. Unemployment in 2006 was under 6 percent; now it is almost 9 percent (and higher if you count those who have stopped looking). Grocery prices are up due to the declining value of the dollar. In late 2008 gasoline in Florida was $1.50 a gallon; for the past year gasoline has been over $3 a gallon. Heath insurance rates have gone up since the passage of Obamacare. College tuition rates are also climbing rapidly. Real estate values are about the only thing that has gone down!

The article concludes:

In January, 2007, the federal debt stood at approximately nine trillion dollars. When President Obama was inaugurated in 2009, it was just under twelve trillion. In mid-November, it surpassed fifteen trillion and is already nearly twenty percent of the way to SIXTEEN. Per citizen, this amounts to nearly $50,000 ($48,542, to be exact). This is the amount owed by EVERY man, woman, and child in America today. Look at it another way: Every child born in the United States enters this world with a $50,000 liability. And this is before he or she has soiled his or her first diaper. When the Democrats came to power in 2007, this figure stood at around $30,000 which was, by anyone’s measure, an obscene number. But your “warriors for the middle class” have increased this by two-thirds all the while portraying themselves as your friends.

With friends like this, you do NOT need enemies!

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Our Schizophrenic Policy In Afghanistan

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Yesterday the Washington Times reported that the Taliban is opening a liaison office in Qatar as a step in negotiating peace in Afghanistan. The only problem with the peace talks that will be held in Qatar is that the negotiations totally shut out Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s government. Shades of Czechoslovakia in 1938.

Leaving aside any opinion on negotiating with the Taliban, what is the history of success of treaties that were not negotiated with the leaders of the countries they involved?

The article reports:

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said Tuesday that the office in Qatar will conduct negotiations only with the “international community.”

“There are two essential sides in the current situation in the country that has been ongoing for the past 10 years. One is the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and the other side is the United States of America and their foreign allies,” Mr. Mujahid said in an e-mailed statement, according to the Associated Press.

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan refers to the country’s name under Taliban rule

As a person with a family member who did two tours in Afghanistan, I can’t even find the words to express how disgusted I am with the fact that President Obama is abandoning the country and leaving it in the hands of the people who gave us 9/11. It may be time to leave Afghanistan, but we should at least include the Afghanistan government in the negotiations.

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Avoiding The Constitution When Necessary

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This is the Oath of Office the President of the United States takes when he assumes office:

I, <name>, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
 
Preserving, protecting, and defending the Constitution all imply that the holder of the office will honor the Constitution. Unfortunately, President Obama has recently chosen not to do that.
 
CNS News is reporting today that in a recess appointment President Obama has appointed Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Unfortunately for the President, Congress is technically not in recess.
 
The article at CNS News points out:
 
The Senate, in fact, is not formally in recess. It rejected a resolution of adjournment – required by the Constitution to end a congressional session – meaning that the current 112th session of Congress continues. The pro-forma sessions Pfeiffer referred to are short, formal sessions of Congress that typically last a few minutes or less and are not intended to conduct business. They are intended to keep Congress technically in session, specifically for the purpose of preventing the president from making recess appointments.

Both chambers of Congress have held pro-forma sessions every three days, in order to comply with the constitutional requirement that Congress not recess for more than three days during a session without the consent of both houses.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) called Obama’s decision on Cordray a “power grab,” saying that it would devastate the traditional balance of power between the Executive and Legislative branches.

 
Admittedly the pro forma sessions are part of the game routinely played in Washington. However, up this point, both sides have at least respected the rules.
 
The article further reports:
 
Cordray, former Attorney General of Ohio, was nominated over the summer, but was blocked by Senate Republicans who wanted to make the CFPB more accountable to Congress before it began its regulatory work. The Senate rejected Cordray’s nomination on December 8 when it failed to gain enough votes for it to be brought to the floor.

 
I don’t know what the options are for Congress at this point, but if the Congressmen think the Constitution means anything, I suggest they stand up for it.
 
Just to add to the confusion, The Hill reported today:
 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who previously held pro forma sessions to block recess appointments by President George W. Bush, said Wednesday he supported President Obama’s decision to ignore those sessions to push through one of his key nominees.

“I support President Obama’s decision,” he said in a statement.

This is one of the reasons I think most Democrats are sleazy–they have no defining principles–it’s all about politics. There is no respect for the Consitution–it’s all about the party–not the country.

    
 
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The Arab Spring Turns Into Winter

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On Sunday the Jerusalem Post reported that Dr. Rashad Bayoumi, the deputy leader of the Muslim Brotherhood party in Egypt, has stated that Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood will not recognize Israel “under any circumstance.”  The statement was made to the Arabic daily al-Hayat in an interview published on Sunday.

In the recent elections the Muslim Brotherhood party and the Salafi al-Nour Party (ultra conservative Islamists) received about 65 percent of the vote.

When asked during the interview whether the new government of Egypt should recognize Israel, Dr. Bayoumi replied, “This is not an option, whatever the circumstances, we do not recognize Israel at all. It’s an occupying criminal enemy.”

The two Islamist parties (the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafi al-Nour Party) will be writing the new constitution for Egypt. This is not good news for Israel or for peace in the Middle East.

The other thing to watch here will be the role of Saudi Arabia as Islamists take over the Middle East. Although Saudi Arabia is an Islamist state, the Saudi princes have held on to their power and have so far avoided the revolutions that have occurred around them. It will be interesting to see how the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood has taken over the governments all around them impacts their nation.

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Is This A Discussion We Need To Have ?

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I understand that politics as currently engaged in is a blood sport. Anyone who runs for office is fair game on any level. I don’t like that, but it is a fact of life. It also may explain why many good people choose not to run for office–they don’t want to put their families through the wringer that seems to come with a political campaign. The most recent example of this is Rick Santorum and his wife and their handling of the death of one of their children shortly after the child was born.

Senator Santorum has stated that his wife was a neo-natal nurse who was familiar with the grieving process when a family loses a child. One of the steps to healing after the death of a child is to have the other children see the child and participate in the grieving process. Frankly I don’t see this as significantly different from the old Irish Wake or some other customs practiced in other religions in the past.

I really don’t think it was proper to attack Senator Santorum on his handling of the death of his child, but I do think the discussion might cause us to take a look at how much we value a life, regardless of the circumstances of that life.

The article that is the source of my information on this subject is at Fox News Chicago.

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Is This An Example We Want Anyone To Follow ?

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Breitbart TV posted a video of Cindy Sheehan speaking to Occupy Rose Bowl. She states that she has told her credit card companies that she will not be paying them anymore and that she has not paid her income tax for eight years. Good grief!  Credit card bills occur when people buy things. If you don’t buy things, you don’t have a credit card bill. When you buy something with a credit card, you take on the obligation of paying that bill. If you don’t want the bill, don’t buy the stuff! As for the income taxes–I guess the George W. Bush Administration was simply not political enough to have Ms. Sheehan audited.

Oh, how I long for the good old days!

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Evaluating The Pictures You See On The News

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Power Line posted a story today examining the role of journalists in reporting a story and the influence they have. Please follow the above link to the story to view the video included in the story (I’m sorry–I can’t figure out how to download the video!).

The video is by Italian photojournalist Ruben Salvadori covering the tension between Israel and the Arabs in the West Bank.

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The Dangers Of Pushing Green Technology Before It Is Ready For Prime Time

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Fisker Karma @ Detroit Auto Show.

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On Friday the New York Times reported that Fisker Automotive is recalling all 239 of its 2012 Karma luxury plug-in hybrid cars because of a fire hazard.

The article reports:

In a report filed recently on the agency’s Web site, Fisker said some hose clamps were not properly positioned, which could allow a coolant leak. “If coolant enters the battery compartment an electrical short could possibly occur, causing a thermal event within the battery, including a possible fire in the worse case,” the company told the safety agency.

I am not mechanical, but don’t car hoses leak and break occasionally under normal circumstances? I am not sure I would want to drive a car where a radiator hose leak could result in a fire. I don’t think that is a problem on combustion engine cars.

I am not opposed to cars fueled by alternative fuel–what I am opposed to is the government subsidizing and pushing a technology that has not yet been proven safe and economical.

The article at the New York Times has a list of other recent recalls in the automotive industry. Please follow the link to read the entire article.

 

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I Love Happy Endings But I Wish I Knew The Entire Story

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Морковь - Carrot

Image via Wikipedia

The Local (Sweden’s news in English) posted a wonderful story on Friday. In 1995, Lena Påhlsson lost her wedding ring after placing it on the counter during holiday baking. Lena had designed the ring herself and was heartbroken after losing it. She and her husband looked everywhere in the kitchen and had given up hope of ever finding the ring.

The article reports what followed:

But as Lena was about to gather the last of the carrots from the family vegetable patch last October, she pulled out a carrot that had something attached to it.

As the carrot was so small, she was about to throw it away when she realized what it was that appeared to be “growing” around the finger-sized vegetable.

“Our daughter Anna was at home at the time and she heard an almighty scream from the garden,” Ola Påhlsson told The Local, recalling the day of the miraculous find.

Anna thought Lena had hurt herself and went running to her mother.

She instead found Lena sitting on a chair looking rather shocked.

“It was Lena’s wedding ring that had been missing since 1995 after Lenas annual Christmas baking. It had surfaced, wrapped around a carrot. Quite amazing,” said Ola.

Needless to say, there has been a lot of speculation on how the ring got to the vegetable patch. Please follow the link to the article to read the various scenarios.

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