Sunday, May 31, 2009
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Health Care Crisis ... Part 1
Friday, May 29, 2009
White House: North Korea Not A Threat
Home Bible Study Is Illegal In San Diego
Pastor David Jones and his wife Mary have been told that they cannot invite friends to their San Diego, Calif. home for a Bible study — unless they are willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars to San Diego County. "On Good Friday we had an employee from San Diego County come to our house, and inform us that the Bible study that we were having was a religious assembly, and in violation of the code in the county." David Jones told FOX News. "We told them this is not really a religious assembly — this is just a Bible study with friends. We have a meal, we pray, that was all," Jones said. A few days later, the couple received a written warning that cited "unlawful use of land," ordering them to either "stop religious assembly or apply for a major use permit," the couple's attorney Dean Broyles told San Diego news station 10News. But the major use permit could cost the Jones' thousands of dollars just to have a few friends over. For David and Mary Jones, it's about more than a question of money. "The government may not prohibit the free exercise of religion," Broyles told FOX News. "I believe that our Founding Fathers would roll over in their grave if they saw that here in the year 2009, a pastor and his wife are being told that they cannot hold a simple Bible study in their own home." "The implications are great because it’s not only us that’s involved," Mary Jones said. "There are thousands and thousands of Bible studies that are held all across the country. What we’re interested in is setting a precedent here — before it goes any further — and that we have it settled for the future." The couple is planning to dispute the county's order this week. If San Diego County refuses to allow the pastor and his wife to continue gathering without acquiring a permit, they will consider a lawsuit in federal court.
Guess What's Offensive Now
Debbie McLucas comes from a patriotic family – her husband and both of her sons served in the U.S. military, and her daughter is currently deployed to Iraq on her second tour of duty as a combat medic. So when McLucas arrived at work at a Texas hospital last Friday, she was stunned to be told that the Stars and Stripes she had hung in her office in advance of Memorial Day were offensive, and that the flag had been removed. “I got into work, I was met by my supervisor and told that there had been multiple complaints, that people found the flag very offensive and it had been taken down," McLucas told FOXNews.com. "I went to the office to retrieve it and found the flag wrapped around the pole, sitting in the corner on the ground. I was speechless." McLucas, a supervisor at Kindred Hospital in Mansfield, Texas, had displayed the 3-by-5-foot flag in the office she shares with the hospital’s three other supervisors. McLucas said one of her colleagues, a woman who immigrated to the United States from Africa 14 years ago, complained about the flag to upper management, and the hospital decided to take down the flag. "I was told that as long as my flag offended one person, it would be taken down," McLucas said.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Another Obama Scandal Brewing
No More Americanization
America needs to continue to be a melting pot. I'm Melissa Clouthier. It is not Cloo-tee-ay. It is Cloth-ee-er. I'm American and proud of it.
Taxpayers Pay For Obama's Political Trip
President Obama has the star power to raise millions of dollars for the candidates and organizations he graces with his stump speech. But when the president hit the road Tuesday for a two-day fundraising tour to pack the party coffers, he also was racking up a $265,000 partisan bill for just one leg of the trip, according to a watchdog group -- part of which taxpayers, regardless of party affiliation, will have to pay. Obama started out in Las Vegas, where he stumped that night for state Democrats and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. On Wednesday night he was to attend a two-tiered donor dinner for the Democratic Party in Los Angeles. But sandwiched between political appearances, Obama squeezed in some quick public remarks on energy, ironically before burning fuel to Los Angeles, at Nevada's Nellis Air Force Base. It was a key stop, because it gives the entire trip an air of official legitimacy and allows the White House to write off part of the trip under rules governing travel, said Pete Sepp, vice president for policy and communications at the National Taxpayers Union. "You've got to have some official (business) in the trip somewhere. It becomes almost a game to find some official function to hang the trip on," Sepp said. The rest, though, is all politics. And, if history is any gauge, the American taxpayer will pick up a large portion of the tab. Sepp estimated that the purely political part of the trip -- the distance from Las Vegas to Los Angeles and back, with no public events -- would cost at least $265,000, just for air travel expenses. He said the minimum domestic travel package for the president consists of one Boeing 747, which serves as Air Force One, one back-up dummy plane and one C17 cargo plane. The cost estimate is based on past hourly operational costs for the three aircraft, adjusted for inflation. White House travel rules, which were developed under the Reagan administration, state that the Air Force pays all costs for the use of the aircraft, but that the government must be reimbursed for airfare, food, lodging and other expenses incurred during whatever portion of the trip is political. White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said the Democratic National Committee is paying its share for this trip. "The DNC is paying 100 percent of the legally mandated costs for the trip from Nevada to California, and we are complying fully with all legal requirements," Vietor wrote in an e-mail to FOXNews.com. But reimbursement for political activities involves a tricky formula, and actual reimbursements typically come nowhere close to compensating the government for the cost of such trips. Secret Service costs, for one, are always footed by the government. A 2006 report for the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform found that during 2002, political campaigns reimbursed the federal government for $198,000 of the $6.5 million in flight expenses racked up by campaign-related stops made by President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. That's 3 percent of the total cost. Taxpayers paid the remaining $6.3 million. "The president and vice president can legally participate in campaign and fundraising events for candidates," the report said. "But when they do so, the taxpayer bears most of the cost." That Obama is raising funds while in office is hardly unusual. Both Bush and Bill Clinton made similar political trips in their presidencies. Watchdog groups don't suggest that the president shouldn't travel, or even that the president should not travel to political events. Rather, they say the White House should be more forthcoming with its travel expenses and details and establish a more equitable reimbursement program. "You can't keep the president from traveling. That's what he does. ... No one would suggest he not travel," said Leslie Paige, media director for Citizens Against Government Waste. "What is most important for taxpayers is how much is it costing for this stuff." "Having more realistic reimbursement rules for political legs of these trips would be quite helpful," Sepp said. Paige said more transparency is needed, noting it's "very hard" to pry the full costs of these trips from any administration. The DNC did not respond to a request for comment; Sepp said any DNC reimbursement for Obama's trip this week would be minimal. Of course this all is being ignored by the MainStreamMedia, even though they made huge deal out of Sarah Palin spending money during a recession to travel to Indiana for a pro-life speech. That trip was NOT paid for by any tax dollars at all. It is also interesting to note that those on the left criticized Bush for being gone too much. Every time he travelled, there was criticism from the left about Bush not being in the White House. Obama, thus far, has been gone more than Bush, yet the left seems to think his travel is "necessary."
Sign Angers Neighbors
A Lodi woman has been getting a lot of attention lately for a sign in her yard that reads, "Hit a cat, I'll hit your kid." Early Friday morning, Tina Teixeira said a driver who was speeding down Elm Street hit one of her eight cats. Teixeira said the driver did not even stop to help. "I can't just let her die in vain for nothing," Teixeira said. "Someone needs to stand up to these people." Teixeira said yelling and screaming at speeding drivers wasn't working, and she needed to take a different, more shocking approach to get people to slow down and pay attention. Teixeira's sign is definitely getting attention now. "If a cat can't walk in a bike lane in front of its own house, what do you think is going to happen to your kids one of these days?" Teixeira said. While some neighbors are pleased that something is being done to slow down drivers on this residential street, others are angered and offended that this resident is equating children and pets.
Who Said This?
- Now, the test for a qualified judicial nominee is not simply whether they are intelligent. Some of us who attended law school or are in business know there are a lot of real smart people out there whom you would not put in charge of stuff. The test of whether a judge is qualified to be a judge is not their intelligence. It is their judgment.
- The test of a qualified judicial nominee is also not whether that person has their own political views. Every jurist surely does. The test is whether he or she can effectively subordinate their views in order to decide each case on the facts and the merits alone. That is what keeps our judiciary independent in America. That is what our Founders intended.
- Unfortunately, as has been stated repeatedly on this floor, in almost every legal decision that she has made and every political speech that she has given, Justice Brown has shown she is not simply a judge with very strong political views, she is a political activist who happens to be a judge.
- Judicial decisions ultimately have to be based on evidence and on fact. They have to be based on precedent and on law. When you bend and twist all of these to cramp them into a conclusion you have already made -- a conclusion that is based on your own personal ideology -- you do a disservice to the ideal of an independent judiciary and to the American people who count on an independent judiciary.
- Because of this tendency, and because of her record, it seems as if Justice Brown's mission is not blind justice but political activism.
- Supreme Court Justice Scalia is not somebody with whom I frequently agree. I do not like a lot of his judicial approaches, but at least the guy is consistent. Justice Scalia says that, generally speaking, the legislature has the power to make laws and the judiciary should only interpret the laws that are made or are explicitly in the Constitution. That is not Justice Brown's philosophy. It is simply intellectually dishonest and logically incoherent to suggest that somehow the Constitution recognizes an unlimited right to do what you want with your private property and yet does not recognize a right to privacy that would forbid the Government from intruding in your bedroom. Yet that seems to be the manner in which Justice Brown would interpret our most cherished document.
- Moreover, I am not somebody who subscribes to the view that because somebody is a member of a minority group they somehow have to subscribe to a particular ideology or a particular political party. I think it is wonderful that Asian Americans, Latinos, African Americans, and others are represented in all parties and across the political spectrum. When such representation exists, then those groups are less likely to be taken for granted by any political party.
- I do not think that because Justice Brown is an African-American woman she has to adhere to a particular political orthodoxy, something that has been suggested by the other side of the aisle. Just as it would be cynical and offensive that Justice Brown be vilified simply for being a Black conservative, it is equally offensive and cynical to suggest that somehow she should get a pass for her outlandish views simply because she is a Black woman.
- I believe if the American people could truly see what was going on here they would oppose this nomination, not because she is African American, not because she is a woman, but because they fundamentally disagree with a version of America she is trying to create from her position on the bench. It is social Darwinism, a view of America that says there is not a problem that cannot be solved by making sure that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. It requires no sacrifice on the part of those of us who have won life's lottery and does not consider who our parents were or the education received or the right breaks that came at the right time.
- Today, at a time when American families are facing more risk and greater insecurity than they have in recent history, at a time when they have fewer resources and a weaker safety net to protect them against those insecurities, people of all backgrounds in America want a nation where we share life's risks and rewards with each other. And when they make laws that will spread this opportunity to all who are willing to work for it, they expect our judges to uphold those laws, not tear them down because of their political predilections. Republican, Democrat, or anyone in between. Those are the types of judges the American people deserve. Justice Brown is not one of those judges. I strongly urge my colleagues to vote against this nomination.
It's A Good Thing...
Vauxhall and Opel Rescue in Chaos Over GM Demand for Extra State AidTalks to secure thousands of jobs in Vauxhall and Opel have broken down in acrimony after the German Government accused the US parent company, General Motors, of "scandalous" behaviour by requesting extra state aid.
GM Days from Chapter 11 FilingBondholders' overwhelming rejection of General Motors' debt-for-equity offer virtually ensures GM will file for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection within days. The filing will probably come around the government's Monday deadline for GM to finish restructuring or enter court protection.
General Motors to Announce 14 Plant Closures MondayA person briefed on General Motors Corp.'s plans says the company on Monday will identify the 14 factories it will close as it heads toward a likely Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing. About 21,000 jobs will be lost in addition to the jobs lost as a result of closing dealerships.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Rock the Vote
"Elections are the foundation of democracy. If not for our political beliefs, we must vote to show our desire to rule our own land. Our desire to choose our own leaders must be illustrated through our active participation and not through silence.Every four years we have the constitutional right to vote. Many believe that such a system is futile. They believe that candidates do not represent their views, or that their vote is not significant enough to count.Your vote does matter. It can bring about change, and yes, you do have a choice. You have the choice to use your right to vote that has been given to you by the constitution, to push the country towards the right path or to decline this right and have the consequences of your inaction affect your country and your life directly for the next four years.There are less than 20 days left to election day. I urge you, as one of your countrymen who seeks a bright and free future to read about the candidates, increase your knowledge of the stands and their economic and political agendas. I beg you with all that I have to go to the polls on Election Day and cast your vote. I beg you this because it is important to me. I believe our actions will write our country's path in history, and our actions will bring a better future for years to come.Is one day every four years too much to ask to put aside for your country?"
Burris and Blago Update
A Quick Thought On Sotomayer
If the Obama administration has shown us anything, it has shown us how to not pick nominees. That said, the first question on everyone's mind about Sonia Sotomayer should not be her race or her stance on constitutional issues. The first question on everyone's mind should be "How much in back taxes does she owe, and how will she explain it?"
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