Monthly Archives: October 2015

Is There Room For A Moderate In The Democratic Party?

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The stage for the Democratic Party held a declared socialist, an undeclared socialist, a former governor who taxed rainfall, someone whose issue was bringing the metric system to America, and a former Republican. Jim Webb is the former Republican. He is also known as a very common-sense politician who tends to be toward the middle of the political spectrum. USA Today posted an article today stating that Jim Webb has dropped out of the Democratic race for President and is considering a run as an independent.

So what are the implications of this? First of all, I suspect Jim Webb has already received a number of telephone calls from major Democrats asking him not to run as an independent. His running as an independent would give moderate Democrats an option in the Presidential race. If the Democrats feel sufficiently threatened by Jim Webb as an independent candidate, I am sure he will be told that he is a contender for Vice President.

I seriously doubt that Jim Webb will run as an independent. Although I respect him as an independent thinker, the amount of pressure brought to bear to prevent that run will, I believe, prevent him from running.

However, this has been a very unpredictable election cycle. Stay tuned.

The Political Left Has Finally Found A War It Wants To Fight–And Even Include A Draft

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Yes, it has happened. The political left has finally found a war it is wholeheartedly willing to fight–no holds barred–they even want to draft Americans to fight it. So what is that war?

Investor’s Business Daily posted an article today about a war the political left wants to fight.

The article reports:

The political left is ready to go to war, but not against any real threat. It wants to fight global warming — and of course that will require Americans to make sacrifices that just happen to align with the left’s objectives.

Al Gore popularized the phrase “fighting global warming” to underscore what he thinks is the seriousness of the matter. Though profoundly childish, the expression caught on and apparently inspired a Seattle-based writer to lay out in the Atlantic a plan for war.

According to Venkatesh Rao, “solving global warming” is going to be “like mobilizing for war.” And of course, war requires us to give up some things in the name of the effort.

…Rao says that “for ordinary Americans, austerities might include an end to expansive suburban lifestyles and budget air travel, and an accelerated return to high-density urban living and train travel.”

At the same time, businesses might need to rethink “entire supply chains, as high-emissions sectors become unviable under new emissions regimes.”

In this wartime, Rao is also demanding trust in “academic and energy-sector public institutions” as well as in “the integrity and declared intentions of institutions” that understand “the intricacies” of climate science.

Nevermind the false data that has been used to show climate change, never mind the growing ice caps that contradict the panicked claims of global warming. We have become so arrogant that we believe that we can control the climate outside and inside. Wow.

I would like to point out at this point that I support efforts made to make air and water cleaner. I support efforts to maintain the earth and correct previous mistakes made that had a negative impact on the environment,. However, I also believe that crippling the free market system (or what is left of it) in the world will simply cause more poverty, more pollution, and more misery. That is something I simply cannot support.

The Problem Is Not The Income

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The Wall Street Journal posted an article yesterday about the amount of tax revenue the federal government collected for fiscal 2015. The good news is that the government collected a record amount of money–$3.249 trillion. That is an 8 percent increase in revenues for the year. The bad news is that the government still managed to spend more than it took in. The budget deficit was $435 billion–a decline of $48 billion. The article notes that although the decline is small, it is huge for the seventh year of what the government claims is an expansion. The article also notes that inflation is growing by less than 2 percent.

The article reports:

The reason for the small decline is that spending for the fiscal year climbed 5.2% to $3.685 trillion. That increase came even though defense spending fell $16 billion, or 2.7%, thanks to the drawdown in Afghanistan.

The spending burst included a 16.1%, or $49 billion, increase in Medicaid for the first full year of ObamaCare. Medicaid spending has climbed $85 billion to $350 billion in two years, and that’s with 19 states declining to join.

The Congressional Budget Office also cites a $30 billion, or 51%, spending increase for the Department of Education—“mostly because of an $18 billion upward revision in the estimated net subsidy costs of student loans and loan guarantees issued in past years.” Translation: Mr. Obama’s takeover of the student-loan business is costing far more money than advertised, probably due to growing defaults.

Let’s put these numbers together. Inflation is less than 2 percent. There was an 8 percent increase in revenues collected by the federal government. There was a $435 billion deficit. These numbers are unsustainable. They will assure the destruction of America. We need to elect people to Congress and the White House who will cut government spending. It is a national disgrace to have an 8 percent increase in revenues and still have a deficit. It is time for any rational members of Congress to demand a spending cut.

The Pictures Tell The Story

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The map below shows the land originally given for the State of Israel in 1920:

The map below shows the changes made to that land in 1922:

As you can see, land was taken away from the land originally promised to Israel and given to the Arabs to form Trans-Jordan. The Jews were left with 23% of the land they were originally promised. They were willing to accept that–the Arabs were not.

The map below appeared on MSNBC this week:

MSNBC maps

This is totally misleading. There never was a country of Palestine–Palestine was the name given by the British to the Jewish land they occupied after the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

The Washington Free Beacon posted a story yesterday about the MSNBC map.

The article states:

MSNBC has admitted that highly controversial graphics aired on the network that depicted Israel as stealing land from the Palestinians were “factually wrong” and that the broadcast would be corrected on Monday, according to a network spokesperson.

The cable news network has been fighting off criticism after it aired the graphics and analysis, including a map linked to conspiracy groups branded as anti-Semitic, that portrayed Israel as existing on territory expropriated from Palestine.

The graphics garnered criticism from pro-Israel advocates and has now prompted the network to acknowledge that the graphics were highly misleading.

“In an attempt to shed light on the geographic context of the Israeli-Palestinian issue, we aired a map that was factually wrong,” the spokesperson said on Sunday.

Two MSNBC broadcasters, Kate Snow and Martin Fletcher, “will address the map in a segmentMonday about agendas and disinformation on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” the spokesperson said.

Fletcher, a Middle East analyst, said on Sunday that the map and analyses were “dead wrong.”

If you don’t understand the history of Israel, it is easy to conclude that Israel is in some way responsible for the current wave of violence against Israel. Nothing is further from the truth. The violence is being agitated from the Gaza Strip and probably rooted in orders from Iran. Right now, Iran is pulling the strings in the Arab world. They are quite capable of causing all sorts of distractions from the nuclear agreement that is in the process of going into effect. The nuclear agreement Iran agreed to is not the same nuclear agreement that was signed in Vienna (rightwinggranny). It is quite possible that what is happening in Israel is being done to create a military response from Israel in order to give the Arab world an excuse to attack Israel. Remember, wars in the Middle East are as much about propaganda as they are about the military. That is what makes the showing of the erroneous map by MSNBC so egregious.

Religious Discrimination Is Still Illegal In America

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World Net Daily posted an article yesterday about a recent court case in Jacksonville, Florida. The case involved The Church of Our Savior in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. The church had been renting space to meet, meeting in homes, etc. and finally bought a piece of land to build a permanent place to meet.

The article reports:

Members bought land for a permanent meeting site, but city officials refused permission, citing the character of the neighborhood.

A court eventually ruled that the city, under federal law, must allow the church to use the land it bought. And now the Alliance Defending Freedom has announced an agreement in which the city must pay “$290,000 in attorneys’ fees and expenses the church incurred to defend its constitutionally and legally protected freedoms.”

The interesting part of this article is that fact that the city officials claimed to be protecting the ‘character’ of the neighborhood.

The article reports:

The church’s property is adjacent to an amusement park that offers water attractions, miniature golf and laser tag, and the plan was for a 7,400-square foot, one-story building for an estimated 200 worshipers.

The city’s Planning and Development Department had recommended permission be granted for the church to build.

But several neighbors objected, and one member of the planning commission “expressed his belief that the church was not consistent with the character of the neighborhood,” leading to a 5-0 vote to reject the plan.

I see nothing wrong with putting a church next to an amusement park–I think it is a great idea–encourage people to bring a change of clothes to church and visit the park afterwords. This could actually be a really good thing for the amusement park and for the neighborhood.

One thing I would like to note that the article mentioned:

“A city’s zoning restrictions cannot be used to single out churches for discrimination, so we are pleased at the outcome of this case,” said Daniel P. Dalton of the Michigan law firm Dalton & Tomich, an ADF affiliate.

He cited the court’s ruling that the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act meant the city couldn’t interfere with the church’s plans to build a facility.

Our laws protect Christians against the kind of discrimination that this city attempted. All of us need to be aware of our rights under the law.

In the past, anti-religious groups have used lawsuits to drain the finances of religious groups. Since the religious groups could not afford the legal costs, they often lost the rights the law gives them. In this case, because the city was forced to pay court costs, other groups may reconsider before attempting to infringe on the rights of Christians.

North Carolina Holds A Constitutional Caucus

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PRESS RELEASE

NEW BERN LOCATION

North Carolina TEA Party Constitutional Caucus

TEA Party Constitutional Caucuses were held in 9 locations in North Carolina today, and the results are in. In the Presidential Caucus, a total of 789 votes were cast across the state. Ted Cruz was the clear winner with 391 votes. This means that Ted Cruz took 50.13% of the vote. Since there was no limit on how many presidential candidates that could be nominated (so long as each was seconded), this was an impressive showing.

Ben Carson got 328 votes, or 42.05%. Another impressive showing, but Ted Cruz was the clear winner with more than 50%.

Constitutional conservatives in North Carolina who so choose can vote for Ted Cruz in the primary knowing their votes are likely to align with those of other Constitutional conservatives.  They can thereby use the caucus results to counter the RNC’s “spliter” strategy designed to split the conservative vote and get Jeb Bush elected.

Donald Trump got 31 votes, Rand Paul received 18, and Carly Fiorina got 6. Marco Rubio received 4 votes, and Bobby Jindal, 2.

Ninety five people participated in the Caucus in the New Bern Location. Locally, Cruz got 41 votes, Carson got 39, Trump got 11, and Paul, 1. There were 3 people who abstained from voting.

After a brief break in each location, the speeches, caucus, and voting process resumed. This time, the conservative choice for U.S. Senator from North Carolina was sought.

Statewide, Larry Holmquist got 169 votes (58.28%). Dr. Greg Brannon got 106 votes (36.55%). U.S. Representative Mark Meadows got 13 votes (4.48%). Incumbent, Richard Burr, got 1 vote.

In the New Bern location, Greg Brannon received 29 votes, Mark Meadows got 13, and Larry Holmquist, 2. Anecdotally, there was much conversation during the caucus period questioning whether Greg Brannon can be talked into running, and whether it might not be better to keep Mark Meadows where he is for now.

Statewide results can be seen at www.teacaucus.org

 

Breaking Faith With America’s Military

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The Military Times posted an article yesterday about cuts to military benefits included in President Obama’s 2019 Defense Authorization Bill. This is a disgrace.

If Congress goes along with this, it is because we don’t have enough men in Congress who have actually served in the military.

To begin with, according to a white paper written by the Cato Institute, a person on welfare makes more than $15 an hour. According to a site listing military base pay, an enlisted man in the Army makes less than $15 an hour. Admittedly, the soldier has benefits–health care and a housing allowance, but so does the person on welfare. Why not cut the benefits of the person who has not earned them rather than cut the benefits of the person who makes sacrifices every day to keep America safe?

The Military Times reports:

If the measure becomes law, troops would see growth in the Basic Allowance for Housing steadily shrink in coming years, to cover only 95 percent of average off-base housing costs. Tricare co-pays would rise on a host of prescriptions obtained through off-base retail pharmacies.

Troops are in line for a 1.3 percent pay raise in January, a full percentage point below expected growth this year in average private-sector wages — the third consecutive year that the military pay raise would fall below civilian levels.

…Lawmakers also want defense officials to offer a plan in coming months to completely wean the military commissary and exchange systems off taxpayer funding, potentially leading to fewer discounts or offerings at the stores.

“Over the last 10 years, the (military) community has fought hard to increase benefits to catch troops up to the private sector,” said Bill Rausch, political director for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. “Now, after all the battles we’ve won, we’re starting to see retreats. That’s concerning to us.”

There are much better places to trim the federal budget. We need a President and a Congress that will support our troops–not continually shrink their benefits.

Driving The Culture Through Comic Books

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A lot of people of all ages read comic books. I fondly remember Little Lulu and Archie. Back in the age of dinosaurs, many of the comic books contained lessons about not lying, being honest and other virtues. Well, I guess things have changed.

Twitchy.com posted an article today about some changes in the Captain America comic books. Captain America is fighting a conservative militia group protecting America’s southern border. Remember, the children reading this comic have no idea what the truth is–they are learning things from this comic book hero. We used to teach children to love their country. I don’t even want to think about what this is teaching them.

Bad News For The Western Hemisphere

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Russia has been flexing its muscles in the Middle East and in eastern Europe. Vladimir Putin may be ready to try his luck in the Western Hemisphere–after all, he’s gotten away with everything he has tried everywhere else.

Investor’s Business Daily posted an editorial yesterday about Cuban troops fighting in Syria for Russia. According the to editorial, there are two credible sources for this claim.

The editorial asks:

If so, Cuba has done a big favor for an old ally. More importantly now, what did Russia offer in return?

Here are some suggestions from the editorial:

Russia has been seeking land bases and sea ports in this hemisphere, and Cuba may be just what it needs to project power and serve notice the U.S. no longer dominates the Caribbean.

Rents from such a base could keep Cuba’s regime afloat as it awaits U.S. tourist dollars to carry the rest. Expect new calls from Cuba to release Guantanamo; Russia may be interested in moving in.

Please follow the link above to read the entire article. America has a weak President, and Russia does not. It’s that simple. Unfortunately the American people will be the ones to pay the price for the fecklessness of President Obama. If you love your country, please register to vote, and vote carefully next November.

Something The American Media Seems To Have Overlooked

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The U.K. Daily Mail posted an article today about some problems with HIllary Clinton‘s email server that have not been widely reported in the American mainstream media.

On the 60-Minutes news program on Sunday, President Obama stated that he did not know Clinton sidestepped security protocols with her a home-brew email setup while she was his secretary of state.

This is the part of the Espionage Act that applies to the situation:

Whoever, being entrusted with or having lawful possession or control of any document, writing, code book, signal book, sketch, photograph, photographic negative, blueprint, plan, map, model, instrument, appliance, note, or information, relating to the national defense, (1) through gross negligence permits the same to be removed from its proper place of custody or delivered to anyone in violation of his trust, or to be lost, stolen, abstracted, or destroyed, or (2) having knowledge that the same has been illegally removed from its proper place of custody or delivered to anyone in violation of its trust, or lost, or stolen, abstracted, or destroyed, and fails to make prompt report of such loss, theft, abstraction, or destruction to his superior officer—

Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.

Hillary’s email server totally violated this rule. She was obligated to inform the President of her computer set-up. However, I find it rather odd that the President never looked at the return address on an email from his Secretary of State. The question, of course, is whether or not she will ever be prosecuted.

The article reports:

 

A raft of FBI agents vented anonymously to the Times about seeing the White House step on their investigation. 

Ron Hosko, a retired senior F.B.I. official who now leads the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund, said it was wrong of Obama to ‘suggest what side of the investigation he is on’ while an investigation is still underway.

‘Injecting politics into what is supposed to be a fact-finding inquiry leaves a foul taste in the F.B.I.’s mouth,’ Hosko told the Times, ‘and makes them fear that no matter what they find, the Justice Department will take the president’s signal and not bring a case.’

Obama previously found himself in hot water with federal investigators following a Super Bowl Sunday interview in February 2014 when he downplayed a then-swirling scandal over the IRS targeting right-wing groups politically.

Asked while federal investigators were poring through documents whether mass corruption inside America’s tax-collection agency was a factor, he responded: ‘Not even mass corruption – not even a smidgen of corruption.’

Those remarks were widely seen as prejudicing an ongoing investigation, or sending a televised hint to the FBI that the Oval Office didn’t want to see any aggressive prosecutions. 

I think it is unlikely that the Obama Justice Department will do anything about Hillary Clinton’s emails as they have been totally politicized under the Obama Administration. However, the FBI may be another matter. This is far more serious than the charges against General Petraeus, and he was charged and convicted. We are about to see if equal justice under the law for all Americans will apply in the remaining day of the Obama Administration.

The Quote Of The Week

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From a DC Clothesline article posted last week.

First the background story of the quote:

Cindy Vinson is one such supporter (she supported President Obama in 2008). This month, like many Americans who have health insurance through their employer or private insurers, Vinson got an unwanted awakening to the reality of government sponsored wealth confiscation and redistribution:

Cindy Vinson and Tom Waschura are big believers in the Affordable Care Act. They vote independent and are proud to say they helped elect and re-elect President Barack Obama.

Yet, like many other Bay Area residents who pay for their own medical insurance, they were floored last week when they opened their bills: Their policies were being replaced with pricier plans that conform to all the requirements of the new health care law.

Vinson, of San Jose, will pay $1,800 more a year for an individual policy, while Waschura, of Portola Valley, will cough up almost $10,000 more for insurance for his family of four.

…

“I was laughing at Boehner — until the mail came today,” Waschura said, referring to House Speaker John Boehner, who is leading the Republican charge to defund Obamacare.

“I really don’t like the Republican tactics, but at least now I can understand why they are so pissed about this. When you take $10,000 out of my family’s pocket each year, that’s otherwise disposable income or retirement savings that will not be going into our local economy.”

Both Vinson and Waschura have adjusted gross incomes greater than four times the federal poverty level — the cutoff for a tax credit. And while both said they anticipated their rates would go up, they didn’t realize they would rise so much.

This is the Quote of the Week:

“Of course, I want people to have health care,” Vinson said. “I just didn’t realize I would be the one who was going to pay for it personally.”

Bernie Sanders supporters, take note.

I’m Feeling A Little Insecure

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Yesterday Infowars posted an article about some changes the Department of Justice is making in fighting the war on terror at home. I think fighting the war on terror at home is a really good idea–particularly since we have no way of vetting the refugees from Syria that the United Nations is sending us (rightwinggranny). However, I guess the Department of Justice does not necessarily see things the same way I do.

The article reports:

The DOJ announced it will appoint a “domestic terrorism counsel” to focus on who the Obama administration and the controversial Southern Poverty Law Center considers “extremists.”

“Looking back over the past few years, it is clear that domestic terrorists and homegrown violent extremists remain a real and present danger to the United States,” the DOJ’s John Carlin said on Wednesday.

But the Justice Dept. and the Department of Homeland Security previously characterized libertarians, conservatives and constitutionalists as militia-inspired “domestic extremists.”

“Militia members most commonly associated with third-party political groups,” a 2009 Missouri Information Analysis Center report stated. “It is not uncommon for militia members to display Constitutional Party, Campaign for Liberty or libertarian material.”

“These members are usually supporters of former presidential candidates Ron Paul, Chuck Baldwin and Bob Barr.”

Even more concerning, the MIAC report encouraged law enforcement to scrutinize Americans who oppose abortion, illegal immigration and the rapid growth of the government, all of which are views shared by a plurality of Donald Trump supporters.

I guess we have come to the point where not totally agreeing with the Democratic Party agenda puts you under suspicion as a ‘domestic terrorist.’ Meanwhile the Justice Department is ignoring the obvious threat that is currently invading our country, both as legal refugees and illegal aliens. At some point I hope the voters in America will hold these people accountable for what they are doing–they are not only putting our national security at risk, they are creating divisions among Americans that weaken us as a nation, This is not the way to bring America together.

Now The True Cost Of ObamaCare Begins To Show

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This was posted on Twitchy today:

ObamaCareBill2015

This is the bill that an Indiana man named Benjamin Miller received because he did not have health insurance. He failed to purchase health insurance because under ObamaCare his previous insurance was cancelled and his premiums increased by over $1,000 a month, which he could not afford. I guess I am curious how the government expects people who can’t afford health insurance to pay a fine for not having it.

Notice that the penalty for not having health insurance is called an unpaid shared responsibility payment–not a tax. Also, think about this for a moment. If the man needs medical attention, the hospital is required by law to provide it. Because he has no health insurance and probably not a lot of money (because he couldn’t afford health insurance), chances are the hospital will lose money on the deal. Logically, the hospital should be the one getting the ‘shared responsibility payment’ because they are incurring the expense. However, in the true form of government overreach, the money from the ‘shared responsibility payment’ will go to the government to be lost in the abyss of government spending. If you ran a business that way, you would be arrested.

A Chilling Description

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Politichicks posted an article today about socialism. The article was written by Dr. Sarah Condor.

This is her biography:

Sarah P. Condor-Fisher, Ph.D., Esq., LL.M. grew up in communist Czechoslovakia. When she was 17, she was apprehended crossing the border, cross-interrogated by the Secret Police (KGB) and jailed. She studied MA in philosophy at University College London, she holds BA and MA in English and Ph.D. in American Literature and Literary Criticism. She is also a practicing California attorney with her own law firm. Dr. Condor-Fisher published over 50 books of non-fiction, fiction and poetry. She is also a former Olympic swimmer, Miss World and Miss USA in natural bodybuilding (INBA).

Here are some of the highlights of the article:

Socialism consists of:

1) censorship, total control of speech, political correctness regulated by the government,
2) central planning, by design from above, based not on the needs of the people but on what the demagogue in power says that (his) people need,
3) limited freedom of movement,
4) limited ability to achieve and prosper (speak of Pursuit of Happiness, ha!), and
5) regulated market, thus limited economy and ability of the state (GDP, prosperity) to grow.

…Let me tell you about the “state of equality.” Socialism desires equality. Equality consists of a state of equal outcome, where everything is based on the NEED for an equal outcome. If you are a doctor and work twelve hours a day, your salary is the same as that of a shop assistant who works eight hours a day. As a shop assistant once told my mother (a physician who spent seven years of her life working shifts as a nurse while studying medicine at night): “We all have one mouth and two hands, why should you get paid more than I?” Teach that to two generations of people and it will take four generations to alter their (children’s children’s) thinking – if ever.

…The free healthcare you get in socialism is worth precisely what everything else you get “for free” is worth. You had better study medicine yourself or have a doctor in the family – else, in any case, just hope that you never need socialist healthcare. I did have an advantage, as I say, my mother being a physician, but we still had to bring bribes to the office and they could only do so much in terms of the communist market cures and medication…

The article concludes:

In a two party representative government, the danger of democracy turning into a totalitarian regime is much greater than in a multi-party parliamentarian system, where all powers and factions are kept in check by all the other powers and factions. As freedom is indispensable to democracy and it is also “to a faction as air is to fire” (as James Madison says in Federalist 10), we must treat democracy not as a stable system, a huge majestic animal without any natural enemies, but as a fragile, beautiful creature, a gentle lady, who can be swayed and lured, led astray and – violated – by a mob.

A mob is what people become in the hands of a socialist demagogue. There is no more “We the People.” People do not matter. Mottoes and icons matter, banners and slogans which you must shout too – or else…

I shiver when I see it, I can smell it a thousand miles away. When you have seen the Heart of Darkness, it alters you forever. “We the Mob, We the Mob!” is ringing in my ears. Ah, but that was not the old communist T.V. – that was NBC. Really? Just think in silence, do not let it out; for If you refuse to be subdued, suppressed, refuse to conform and give away your rights and liberties for some larger abstract “good,” off to the mine with you! Make no mistake about it: an individual “makes no difference!”

That is what socialism is about. Believe me, I have been there before – and I am not going back.

This is the road many of our young people want to take. They have no concept of history or of the values that created America. Our schools and colleges have not taught them what they need to know to become diligent citizens, protecting their nation from the evil that socialism represents. God help us.

Amendments Matter

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On Tuesday, Breitbart News reported that the Iran deal approved by the Iranian lawmakers is not the same deal that was negotiated in Vienna.

The article reports:

New York Post columnist Amir Taheri has explained in a series of social media posts that Iran’s version of the deal calls for the cancellation of sanctions against the regime in Tehran.

He also noted that Iran’s version of the nuke deal calls for the dismantling of Israel’s nuclear weapons program, citing Iranian parliamentarian Kazem Jalali.

The Middle East Media Research Center (MEMRI), a regional watchdog organization, has confirmed that Iran did not pass the deal agreed upon in July. They instead voted to pass the  amended version by a vote of 161-59.

Iranian lawmakers tried to unilaterally amend the deal to strip the United States’ ability to “snapback” sanctions should the Tehran regime cheat the agreement. They also replaced the language to ensure that the deal will “cancel” sanctions forever, instead of “suspending” them, MEMRI reported.

The Middle East monitoring group added that the decision to amend the deal unilaterally came at the behest of Iran’s dictator, Ali Khamenei, who on September 3 promised not to honor the agreement with Obama.

Okay, folks, what do we do now? Meanwhile, Iran is testing missiles and holding American citizens prisoners. Why in the world would we even consider lifting economic sanctions on Iran until they release the Americans they are holding hostage? If they won’t play nice, we shouldn’t play with them.

Borrowed From A Friend On Facebook

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Australian Gun Law Update

Here’s a thought to warm some of your hearts….
From: Ed Chenel, A police officer in Australia
Hi Yanks, I thought you all would like to see the real
figures from Down Under.

It has now been 12 months since gun owners in Australia were forced by a new law to
surrender 640,381 personal firearms to be destroyed by our own
government, a program costing Australia taxpayers
more than $500 million dollars.

The first year results are now in:
Australia-wide, homicides are up 6.2 percent,
Australia-wide, assaults are up 9.6 percent;
Australia-wide, armed robberies are up 44 percent (yes, 44 percent)!
In the state of Victoria…..
lone, homicides with firearms are now up 300 percent.(Note that
while the law-abiding citizens turned them in, the criminals did not
and criminals still possess their guns!)

While figures over the previous 25 years showed a steady
decrease in armed robbery with firearms, this has changed drastically upward in the past 12 months, since the criminals now are guaranteed that their prey is unarmed. There has also been a dramatic increase in break-ins and assaults of the elderly, while the resident is at home.

Australian politicians are at a loss to explain how public
safety has decreased, after such monumental effort and expense was expended in successfully ridding Australian society of guns….’ You won’t see this on the American evening news or hear your governor or members of the State Assembly disseminating this information.

The Australian experience speaks for itself. Guns in the
hands of honest citizens save lives and property and, yes, gun-control laws affect only the law-abiding citizens.
Take note Americans, before it’s too late!
Will you be one of the sheep to turn yours in?
WHY? You will need it.

Fact Checking The Democratic Debate

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My Way reported the Associated Press fact check of the Democratic debate.

Some highlights:

Hillary Clinton saying that she did not support the Trans Pacific trade agreement.

THE FACTS: Clinton did not say anything about mere hope in her speeches around the world in support of the trade deal. She roundly endorsed the deal taking shape.

In a November 2012 speech in Australia, she declared the Trans-Pacific deal “sets the gold standard in trade agreements,” a sentiment she echoed in many venues.

Clinton said in the debate that when she looked at the final agreement last week, “it didn’t meet my standards.”

The final agreement, however, dropped or changed some provisions that liberal activist groups — the wing of the party she is assiduously courting at this stage of the campaign — had strongly criticized.

Bernie Sanders complaining that almost all new wealth is going to the top 1%.

THE FACTS: Sanders appears to be relying on outdated data. In the first five years of the economic recovery, from 2009 through 2014, the richest 1 percent of Americans captured 58 percent of income growth, according to Emmanuel Saez, a University of California economist whose research Sanders uses. While certainly a large gain, that is a lot less than “almost all.”

In just the first three years of the recovery, from 2009 through 2012, the richest 1 percent did capture 91 percent of the growth in income. But part of that occurred because of impending tax increases on the wealthiest Americans that took effect in 2013.

Many companies paid out greater bonuses to their highest-paid employees in 2012 before the higher tax rates took effect. Those bonuses then fell back in 2013. And in 2014, the bottom 99 percent finally saw their incomes rise 3.3 percent, the biggest gain in 15 years.

Tax policies influence the actions of businesses and the people that run them.

Hillary Clinton claimed that she has been transparent about her emails.

THE FACTS: Clinton has yet to explain how the server was set up and serviced, whether she informed the State Department about her decision to use the private system and, most important, how it was protected from hacking attempts.

Russia-based hackers tried at least five times to trick her into infecting her computer system with malware in 2011, The Associated Press learned, and her server was hit by attempted cyber intrusions in 2014 from China, South Korea and Germany.

Her server also was connected to the Internet in ways that made it more vulnerable to hackers. But her campaign has repeatedly declined to address these details.

The article mentions that the free college tuition programs espoused by Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders would shift the burden of the cost of a college education from the student to the taxpayer. It would do nothing to lower the cost of that education.

Please follow the link to the article to read the details on the other lies told by the Democratic frontrunners.

Borrowed From Buck Sexton On Facebook

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WORDS/PHRASES THAT WERE NOT SAID A SINGLE TIME IN THE DEMOCRAT DEBATE:

LIBERTY
PATRIOTIC
STRENGTH
FOUNDING FATHERS
NATIONAL DEBT
ENTITELMENTS
ABORTION
FREE MARKETS
INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS
LOVE
***(Specifically in the context of loving America, or love for God or fellow human beings. Clinton did say, however, “I love Denmark”)
GOD
***(Clinton referred three times to “God-given potential, but said nothing about God in the sense of belief, and none of the other candidates said God in any context at all.)

WORDS SAID ONLY 1 TIME:

CONSTITUTION
FREEDOM

WORDS SAID A LOT:

WALL STREET- 25 TIMES
MIDDLE CLASS- 12 TIMES
TUITION (as in free, or in state for illegals) – 11 TIMES

Some Random Thoughts On The Democratic Debate Last Night

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I will post more detailed comments on the debate, but these are just my initial reactions:

  1. It was interesting to hear millionaires complain about income inequality. Are they planning on redistributing their own wealth? Bill and Hillary Clinton’s combined net worth is $121 million; Bernie Sanders‘ average net worth is $528,014. Bernie Sanders is not a millionaire, but he is in no way struggling economically. Are the Democrats on the stage prepared to pay the higher taxes needed to pay for all the free things they are suggesting?
  2. Let’s take a look at income inequality for a moment. An entrepreneur starting his own business may work as many as 80 hours a week. In the beginning of the business, his hourly pay rate will probably be well below the minimum wage. After a few years of hard work, he may build a million dollar company and make some drastic changes in his lifestyle. The income inequality there is the result of work-effort inequality. The government cannot (and should not) guarantee income equality–what the government needs to protect (not guarantee) is equality of opportunity. Equal opportunity is more likely to be achieved by the government getting out of the way than by the government interfering.
  3. The biggest threat to America’s security is not global warming. Global warming has not been proven to exist–much less to be man-caused. I suggest checking Watts Up With That, one of the best scientific websites on climate for specifics.
  4. Before we decide that the issue of Hillary Clinton’s emails are a partisan issue, we might want to take a look at the laws broken and the national security compromised. There is sufficient evidence in those emails that Sidney Blumenthal was working closely with Hillary Clinton (after she was told by President Obama not to hire him)–even naming a CIA-operator in an email that was on the private server. Scooter Libby went to jail for less.
  5. The National Rifle Association (NRA) is a lobbying group (also a gun safety education group) similar to many liberal lobbying groups. They are  not villains–they are simply protecting the Second Amendment.
  6. If the rich are evil (as was implied) and gained their wealth at the expense of everyone else, how do the millionaires on the stage explain their wealth? Was it also evil or was it okay because it was theirs?

Overall, the Democratic debate was a circus. If the Democrats will the next election, it will be because Americans have totally abandoned their Constitution.

In Case You Were Wondering About The Source Of The Recent Violence In Israel

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The Jerusalem Post is reporting today that the army will be helping protect Israelis from the recent wave of attacks by Palestinians.

The article reports:

Israel will instruct its military to bolster police forces currently patrolling cities that have been rocked by Palestinian attacks against Jewish passersby, Channel 2 reported on Tuesday.

The IDF will enlist soldiers to aid police in city centers throughout Israel, the security cabinet resolved on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened senior government officials and defense chiefs to discuss possible steps to take after another day in which three Israelis were killed and over 20 were injured by Palestinian assailants.

If you would like to know why there is this sudden outpouring of violence against Israelis, The Middle East Media Research Institute has posted a transcript of a recent sermon preached in Gaza.

This is the transcript:

Rafah Cleric Brandishes Knife in Friday Sermon, Calls upon Palestinians to Stab Jews

In an October 9 Friday sermon delivered at the Al-Abrar Mosque in Rafah, the Gaza Strip, Sheikh Muhammad Sallah “Abu Rajab” brandished a knife, calling upon his brothers in the West Bank: “Stab!” “Oh young men of the West Bank: Attack in threes and fours,” he said, and “cut them into body parts.”

Following are excerpts:

Muhammad Salah “Abu Rajab”: Brothers, we must constantly remind the world, and everyone who has forgotten… The world must hear, via these cameras and via the Internet: This is Gaza! This is the place of trenches and guns! This is the West Bank! This is the place of bombs and daggers! This is Jerusalem… Jerusalem is the code word… This is Jerusalem… Much can be told about Jerusalem. This is where the soldiers of the Prophet Muhammad are. This is the grace of Allah. The soldiers of the Prophet Muhammad are here. Brothers, this is why we recall today what Allah did to the Jews. We recall what He did to them in Khaybar.

[…]

Today, we realize why the [Jews] build walls. They do not do this to stop missiles, but to prevent the slitting of their throats.

[…]

“Abu Rajab” brandishes a dagger and makes stabbing motions

My brother in the West Bank: Stab! My brother is the West Bank: Stab the myths of the Talmud in their minds! My brother in the West Bank: Stab the myths about the temple in their hearts!

[…]

Today, we have declared a curfew [in Israel]. Listen to what the Jews are saying to one another: Stay at home, or go outside to your death. They have no alternative. Oh men of the West Bank, the first phase of the operation requires stabbing in order to bring about a curfew.

[…]

Now, we are imposing a curfew with daggers, and in the next phase, which is Allah willing, about to be realized… We shall not send you back to Russia, Bulgaria, the Ukraine, or Poland. We shall not send you back there. You have come here… The Islamic military court has ruled… This court, presided over by the Prophet’s Companion Sad Ibn Mu’adh, has ruled… Sa’d Ibn Mu’adh has reappeared – in the West Bank. Sa’d Ibn Mu’adh is now in the streets of Jerusalem, Afula, Tel Aviv, and the Negev. The Islamic military court has made the divined ruling: You will get nothing in our land except for slaughtering or stabbing. Why? The world will say that we are terrorists, that we incite. Yes! “Oh Prophet, sufficient for you and for whoever follows you of the believers is Allah. Oh Prophet of Allah, incite the believers to fight.” Why? Oh America, oh Crusader aggressors, oh Arab Zionists, oh Zionists from among the criminal Jews: Are we aggressors? You have come of your own volition to be slaughtered on our land.

[…]

“When the promise of the Hereafter comes, We shall gather you from various nation.” Allah has brought the Jews, His enemies and the enemies of humanity, who have destroyed our homes in Syria, Iraq, Egypt, and everywhere.

[…]

Oh people of Al-Abrar Mosque and the people of Rafah – from this mosque of yours, you have the honor of delivering these messages to the men of the West Bank: Form stabbing quads. We don’t want just a single stabber. Oh young men of the West Bank: Attack in threes and fours. Some should restrain the victim, while others attack him with axes and butcher knives.

[…]

Do not fear what will be said about you. Oh men of the West Bank, next time, attack in a group of three, four, or five. Attack them in groups. Cut them into body parts.

I may be naive, but somehow I don’t see this as a recipe for peace.

Sometimes Media Bias Is Very Subtle

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One way the mainstream media is showing its favoritism toward Democrat candidates is the way the debates are conducted. A website called bizpacreview posted a story today about CNN’s plans for the debate.

This is the quote that says it all:

As much as CNN “trumped” up their Republican debate to get the candidates digging at each other, the network will handle the Democrats with kid gloves.  And nobody is expecting sparks to fly, with Rush Limbaugh calling it “a dryball.”

Moderator and CNN host Anderson Cooper said in a Sunday interview, “Going into the Republican debates, you pretty much knew there were a number of candidates who were willing to [attack each other].” He added, “That’s not the case, so far as we’ve seen, on the Democratic side.”

“I’m always uncomfortable with that notion of setting people up in order to kind of promote some sort of a face off,” Cooper continued, contradicting the entire format of the Republican debate CNN hosted.

CNN’s Jake Tapper seemed very comfortable getting the GOP candidates to face off against each other.

Translated loosely, what is being said here is simple–we are hoping that the Republican Presidential candidates will destroy each other and we can appear to be objective. However, we don’t want the Democratic Presidential candidates attacking each other, as that would provide ammunition for the Republicans during the actual Presidential campaign.

The article reports Rush Limbaugh’s comments on Monday:

So it’s Anderson Cooper who’s just out front here saying, sorry, we’re not gonna do that, we’re not gonna pit these people against each other…  [They] certainly don’t think they have to be critical of people on their own side for credibility, which, sadly, is what many Republicans still believe.  That the only way you can be credible as a Republican or as a conservative media person is to be critical of your own team.  That proves that you’re not biased.  That proves you are not afraid to criticize your own people.  Except it never happens on the left.  CNN would never, ever, do anything. Now, the candidates might, but CNN’s not gonna do anything to make any of these people look bad.  They rally the troops. They circle the wagons. They do everything they can to protect.

The political parties (and the people in them) are entitled to act in any way they please. It is just a shame that the mainstream media chooses to take sides and the American voters do not get a clear picture of their choices.

This Is True–I’m Just Amazed Someone Said It

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The Daily Caller is reporting an amazing (but totally obvious) quote from Ben Carson today.

The article reports:

Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson used a Sunday campaign stop in Georgia to accuse politicians of using poverty to bolster their voting constituencies. In his eyes, open-ended welfare has not only perpetuated poverty, its sustained a loyal voting bloc for certain politicians.

“False compassion is patting them on the head and saying, ‘You can’t take care of yourself and I’m going to give you food stamps, a housing subsidy and free health care,’” Carson said according to the Gainesville Times. “And all the things you need so you can stay dependent and vote for me.’”

His criticism of welfare is not new. During the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February, Carson also said welfare makes people dependent on government. At the time he blamed Democrats for being the ones who use welfare to buy votes. He has said a better approach would be a system that provides people with the tools to get themselves out of poverty.

Remember, the U. S. Parks Department puts out the following signs to discourage people from feeding animals in our parks.

<b>Dont</b>-<b>feed-the-animals</b>.jpg

It is unfortunate that dependence on welfare robs people of their initiative, but it also has some other, more negative effects. A child will never learn that he is expected to get up and go to work in the morning if he never sees a mother or father model that behavior. A child growing up in a home dependent on government handouts will never understand the feeling of accomplishment that comes with earning something. A family on welfare will always be economically limited by the amount of money or benefits the government is willing to give them. They will never have the satisfaction of setting an economic goal and achieving it. We are not doing anyone any favors by giving them money from the government–we are depriving them and our society of the talents and contributions they could make to our society.

How’s That Government Healthcare Working For You?

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On Saturday, Forbes Magazine posted a story about the current state of ObamaCare. Basically, the article reports that the government is not very good at running anything and should be discouraged from doing so whenever possible.

The article reports:

The two largest state health insurance co-operatives created as part of a grand ObamaCare experiment have announced they are closing at the end of this year, joining others that have failed and even more that are insolvent and likely to fail.

The Kentucky Health Cooperative announced on Friday it is going out of business and will not enroll new members next year, leaving 51,000 members to find other coverage.  It had the second-largest co-op enrollment in the country, garnering 75% of people who enrolled in coverage through the state’s health exchange.

It joins Health Republic Insurance of New York—the largest health co-op with more than 150,000 members—which announced last month that it was folding.  That follows the declaration of insolvency by CoOportunity Health in Iowa and Nebraska and the failures of the Louisiana Health Cooperative and Nevada Health Co-Op.  A total of 400,000 citizens are being impacted—so far.

Wasn’t ObamaCare the program the newly elected Republicans promised to get rid of if the voters gave them the House and the Senate in 2014? Then the Republicans elected the same leadership and the promise was broken.

It is very obvious that ObamaCare is a bloated government program that is not working very well. It is time for some elected official to develop enough of a backbone to say that it should not be funded. It is time to end the Continuing Resolutions and actually act like men (and women) with principles and pass a budget.

I realize that in defunding ObamaCare, Congress faces a Presidential veto and a government  shutdown. Either one of these events should be laid at the feet of the President. President Obama is a failed President in so many areas, this might be the time to challenge him on another failed policy.

Please follow the link to the Forbes Magazine article to see how badly ObamaCare has failed.

A Lie Told Often Enough Is In Danger Of Being Accepted As Truth

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One of the nastiest aspects of the mainstream media’s attacks on George Bush’s was the charge that he had gone AWOL from the National Guard. These charges were made by CBS Correspondent Dan Rather, who eventually was removed from his job because of the fraud involved.  Documents which the accusers of the President claimed to be the original documents involved were produced to illustrate the fact. The fact that the ‘original’ documents were written in a type font that did not exist at the time of their creation was overlooked by much of the media. Now the political left is at it again. They are bringing back the story in the form of a movie called, “Truth.” The movie would more accurately be named “Lies.”

In January 2005, The Weekly Standard posted an article relating to “Rathergate,” as the scandal eventually became known.

The article reported:

Appendix 4 of the CBS report (Compiled by independent investigators Dick Thornburgh and Louis D. Boccardi) details the panel’s inquiry into the technical aspects of the memos. It relies heavily on the testimony of Peter Tytell, a forensic document examiner with impressive qualifications, including having once been called a “famous typewriter detective” by CBS’s own Andy Rooney.

Like Newcomer, Tytell came to some quick conclusions. He told the panel that even while watching the September 10 CBS Evening News broadcast at home, he’d known “within 5 seconds” that something was wrong with the documents CBS was showcasing as newly discovered memos from 1972. In fact, on September 10–the same day Newcomer sent his essay to members of the media–Tytell had contacted CBS to explain “in detail why he believed the Killian documents were likely fakes.”

Eventually, the panel hired Tytell to serve as its document expert. He examined the Xeroxes carefully and came to three conclusions: (1) Previously released Texas Air National Guard documents from the early 1970s had been created on an “Olympia manual typewriter.” (2) The four disputed Killian memos “were not produced on an Olympia manual typewriter.” And (3) “The Killian documents were produced on a computer in Times New Roman typestyle.”

Why was Tytell so sure? The Killian memos had proportional spacing, a superscript “th”, and a serif typestyle. Tytell consulted the Haas Atlas–the typesetter’s bible–looking for a typewriter model that could have produced these features in 1972, and “did not find a single match with the Killian documents.”

Now some in the movie industry are trying to reclaim Dan Rather’s reputation at the expense of George Bush. I suspect that many of the people who see the movie will be too young to actually know the truth of the events depicted. It is a shame that the movie industry finds it necessary to lie to the American people and call it “Truth.”

When Good People Have Guns

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The Daily Caller reported yesterday that a customer with a legal concealed carry gun permit prevented an armed robber from robbing a Waffle House in North Charleston, South Carolina, preventing employees and customers from being injured.

The Post and Courier also reported the story, stating:

The Waffle House crew was busily going about its typical early-morning ritual — smothering and scrambling breakfast, clanking through the dirty dishes — when a robber jolted them out of their routine.

A customer decided he was having none of that and opened fire in the North Charleston eatery, thwarting the holdup Saturday by fatally shooting the suspect.

The young man who tried to rob the restaurant was rushed to Medical University Hospital, but he later died, police spokeswoman Angela Johnson said.

…A restaurant employee expressed gratitude for the customer’s action.

“He saved us, that’s what he did.”

We are all safer when good people have guns.