1775: Founding of the Marine Corps. A legacy is born
During the American Revolution, many important political discussions took place in the inns and taverns of Philadelphia, including the founding of the Marine Corps. A committee of the Continental Congress met at Tun Tavern to draft a resolution calling for two battalions of Marines able to fight for independence at sea and on shore. The resolution was approved on November 10, 1775, officially forming the Continental Marines. [Happy Birthday USMC!…ed]
Liberal Concedes Health Care Bill Will Create New Entitlement “Impossible to Rescind”
Like most liberals, the John Cassidy supports the passage of health care legislation. But, unlike most liberals, he’s honest about the costs and consequences of passing it. Via WSJ, I see this item Cassidy recently wrote. While the substance should not surprise anybody who is a regular reader of this blog, it is rather startling coming from the pages of the New Yorker. “[W]e will be dealing with its consequences for decades to come, and I think it’s important to be clear about what the reform amounts to,” Cassidy wrote. He goes on to confess that, “The future cost savings that the Administration and its congressional allies are promising to deliver are based on wishful thinking and sleight of hand. Over time, the reform, as proposed, would almost certainly add substantially to the budget deficit, thereby worsening the long-term fiscal crisis that the country faces.” [This isn’t news to anybody who has been paying attention to what is going on with this ObamaCare crap…ed]
Lieberman on Public Option Health Care: ‘I Have No Other Choice … I’ve Got To Stop It’
Senator Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said he has “no other choice” but to filibuster a health care bill that contains a government-run health insurance option, adding that while reform is needed, the public option would be harmful to America’s future and that he would use his right as a senator to try “to stop it.” “I have no other choice,” Lieberman told several reporters on Capitol Hill on Tuesday. “I’ve got to use the right I have as a senator to stop something that I think is going to be terrible for our future, which is the public option, not health care reform. I want to vote for health care reform.” [This man has flip flopped on so many issues over the years one has to wonder just what he is REALLY up to with all this talk about opposing the government takeover of our healthcare system…ed]
Dems Rejected 11 Amendments Requiring Congress to Enroll in Gov’t-Run Health Plan
More than 200 amendments were rejected by the House Rules Committee ahead of Saturday’s vote on the Democrats’ health care bill, including 11 that would have required members of Congress and other government officials to be enrolled in the same federal insurance plan proposed for the American people. Critics of the health care bill said they offered the 11 amendments – including some that would require the president, vice president, and Supreme Court justices to give up their Federal Employees Health Benefit Program (FEHBP) to enroll in the ‘public option’ or Medicaid – to showcase the problems with the massive legislation. “If Congress forces our constituents into a public option plan over time, then members of Congress should be expected to do the same,” Rep. Howard McKeon (R-Calif.) told CNSNews.com. [Odd that Democrats would refuse to be a part of this ObamaCare mess they are attempting to force the rest of us into…ed]
Interview with the President: Jail Time for Those without Health Care Insurance?
During an exclusive interview with ABC News’ Jake Tapper today, President Obama said that penalties are appropriate for people who try to “free ride” the health care system but stopped short of endorsing the threat of jail time for those who refuse to pay a fine for not having insurance. “What I think is appropriate is that in the same way that everybody has to get auto insurance and if you don’t, you’re subject to some penalty, that in this situation, if you have the ability to buy insurance, it’s affordable and you choose not to do so, forcing you and me and everybody else to subsidize you, you know, there’s a thousand dollar hidden tax that families all across America are — are burdened by because of the fact that people don’t have health insurance, you know, there’s nothing wrong with a penalty.” [It has already been established that the possibility of jail time for refusing to go along with ObamaCare is a reality even if the fibber in chief refuses to admit it…ed]
U.S. swine flu response dismal at best
Few seem to want to say so, but this nation has mounted a dismal response to the swine flu epidemic. By dismal I mean this: There’s not nearly enough swine vaccine to go around, there are conflicted messages about when the doses and antiviral supplies will arrive and half of all Americans are reporting they are too afraid to get the vaccine even if they are able to find it. [This is why the majority of Americans, and the VAST majority of INFORMED Americans, oppose all efforts to allow the federal government to run the nation’s healthcare system…ed]
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Dede Scozzafava, the woman who has become the symbol of moderate Republicanism, is taking a shot at former Republican vice presidential hopeful Sarah Palin, the woman who has become the darling of the Republican Party’s conservative grassroots. In a new interview, the state assemblywoman also lets loose on former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who chose to endorse Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman over Scozzafava, her party’s official nominee, in the closely-watched race in New York’s 23rd congressional district. [Would the lamestream media refer to a Democrat who was pro smaller government, pro life, pro Second Amendment, anti ObamaCare, anti Obama stimulus and endorsed a Republican for a Congressional seat “moderate”? Scuzzanut is a left wing loon nobody that nary a soul will remember a month from now. Palin on the other hand will be around for quite some time as a leader in the conservative movement…ed]
Golf balls: ‘Humanity’s signature litter’
Research teams at the Danish Golf Union have discovered it takes between 100 to 1,000 years for a golf ball to decompose naturally. A startling fact when it is also estimated 300 million balls are lost or discarded in the United States alone, every year. It seems the simple plastic golf ball is increasingly becoming a major litter problem. The scale of the dilemma was underlined recently in Scotland, where scientists — who scoured the watery depths in a submarine hoping to discover evidence of the prehistoric Loch Ness monster — were surprised to find hundreds of thousands of golf balls lining the bed of the loch. [The newest threat against humanity, freakin’ golf balls….ed]
L.V. housing program hasn’t led to purchases
An 8-month-old program aimed at stabilizing Las Vegas Valley neighborhoods by allowing local governments to buy, renovate and then sell homes to low-income families hasn’t resulted in any families moving into homes yet. The U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department gave Las Vegas Valley municipalities $64.3 million this year to buy homes. The Las Vegas Sun reported Sunday that only five homes been purchased by local governments. Officials say the primary obstacles hampering local governments in launching the program have been ongoing changes in rules and the volatility of local real estate due to investors suddenly taking interest. [Another stupid wasteful government program intended to spread the wealth in this country is a resounding failure…ed]
Daily Gut: Backlash Against the Backlash
So, denying the role militant Islam played in the Fort Hood atrocity is like staring at a shark bite and thinking, “bicycle.” When a fundamentalist kills thirteen innocent people while shouting “allahu akbar,” Islam isn’t just a small player – it’s got a starring role. And now that U.S. intelligence admits Hasan tried to contact al Qaeda, it should make it increasingly hard for anyone to say otherwise. I say it “should,” but it won’t. Look at the news. Over at Time, thoughtful types speculate over a “secondary trauma” that could have driven Hasan to kill. Never mind terror – one news network tells us we should focus more on “a backlash against Muslim soldiers.” On a major website, they want us to ponder the “next McVeigh.” And our very own Homeland Security secretary says she’s hard at work preventing “a possible wave of anti-Muslim sentiment.” [Greg Gutfield is so politically incorrect…ed]
“U.S. Homeland Security officials are working with groups around the United States to head off any possible anti-Muslim backlash following the shootings at Fort Hood in Texas.” The Department of Homeland Security is in good company in its confusion. Gen. George Casey, the Army’s top general, also worried that “this increased speculation could cause a backlash against some of our Muslim soldiers. And I’ve asked our Army leaders to be on the lookout for that.” And President Obama cautioned against “jumping to conclusions.” The backlash trope is trotted out after every episode of terrorist violence. But it is as false as it is dangerous. This image of a nation on a hair trigger for violence against Muslims is a calumny. [Calumny= the act of uttering false charges or misrepresentations maliciously calculated to harm another’s reputation…ed]
‘Muslim Mafia’ author ordered to remove documents from Web
A federal judge has taken the rare step of ordering self-described anti-terrorism investigator Paul David Gaubatz to remove from his Web site some of the 12,000 documents that his son allegedly stole from the Council on American-Islamic Relations. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly also ordered Gaubatz to return documents used in his book, “Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That’s Seeking to Islamize America,” which was co-authored by Paul Sperry and portrays the council as a subversive organization that’s allied with international terrorists. [Another left wing activist judge sides with the anti American muslim group CAIR…ed]
Climate bill’s ’emergency provision’ gives Obama strong-man powers
Both the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade energy approved earlier this year and the version just okayed by Sen. Barbara Boxer’s Senate Environment and Public Works Committee’s Democrats (Republicans boycotted the vote) contains an obscure but nasty bureaucratic provision that requires President Obama to act like Venezuelan strong man Hugo Chavez. Here’s how: The bills require a federal declaration of a “climate emergency” if world greenhouse gas levels reach 450 parts per million. Guess what? The Pacific Northwest National Lab says it is a virtual certainty that level will be reached within a few months. The bill then requires the president to “direct all Federal agencies to use existing statutory authority to take appropriate actions…to address shortfalls” in achieving needed greenhouse gas reductions. [Congress also recently passed legislation giving the White House the power to unplug networks from the internet when THEY decide there is an “emergency.” If this was a Republican administration the howling from the lamestream media and leftists would be deafening…ed]
Not enough about him? Barack Obama skips Berlin Wall ceremonies
There was one world leader absent for today’s commemorations marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Surprisingly enough, it’s President Barack Obama, who found time last year to give a campaign speech there last year, which Der Spiegel summed up as “People of the World, Look at Me”. The White House has cited a packed schedule, though looking at it he had nothing much on yesterday (brief chat to reporters about healthcare – by far his biggest priority) and just blah briefings and a bill signing today until a metting this evening with Benjamin Netanyahu. This time, Der Spiegel has reported it as “Barack Too Busy”. [Narcissistic personality disorder is a personality disorder defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the diagnostic classification system used in the United States, as “a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and a lack of empathy.”…ed]
Justice Dept. Asked For News Site’s Visitor Lists
n a case that raises questions about online journalism and privacy rights, the U.S. Department of Justice sent a formal request to an independent news site ordering it to provide details of all reader visits on a certain day. The grand jury subpoena also required the Philadelphia-based Indymedia.us Web site “not to disclose the existence of this request” unless authorized by the Justice Department, a gag order that presents an unusual quandary for any news organization. Kristina Clair, a 34-year old Linux administrator living in Philadelphia who provides free server space for Indymedia.us, said she was shocked to receive the Justice Department’s subpoena. (The Independent Media Center is a left-of-center amalgamation of journalists and advocates that – according to their principles of unity and mission statement – work toward “promoting social and economic justice” and “social change.”) [The Justice Dept. didn’t “ask” for this information they subpoenaed it and this is a LEFT WING site! Imagine what’s coming for those who OPPOSE the policies of this administration…ed]
Plan to imprison 9-year-old killer prompts outcry
What’s to become of a 9-year-old boy who pleaded guilty in connection with a murder? That question has twisted the Apache County justice system in knots for nearly a year as attorneys, psychiatrists, victims, probation officers, a judge and residents of St. Johns consider the fate of Christian Romero. What sentence would best serve the interests of justice, the community and the child? The query remains unanswered, compounded by small-town dynamics and financial obstacles. In the past few weeks, those issues erupted in controversy at Apache County Juvenile Court. First, Judge Michael Roca announced that he was going to reject a plea agreement that calls for probation, instead sentencing Christian to the state’s Department of Juvenile Corrections. [The kid lies in wait for his father to come home then guns him down inside his own home. The kid then shoots a family friend to death in the front yard. Where’s the rope?…ed]
State to fund loan to save ailing newspaper
The state of New Hampshire last week agreed to guarantee 75 percent of a $250,000 loan from an Upper Valley bank to the new owner of the Eagle Times, an unusual deal because it involves a daily newspaper and the government it covers. The Executive Council on Wednesday unanimously approved without debate the “working capital loan guarantee,” which would be administered by the New Hampshire Business Finance Authority. Under the deal, the BFA and the state would be liable to pay up to $187,500 to Connecticut River Bank if Eagle Printing & Publishing LLC defaulted on the $250,000 line of credit it would receive from the bank. [So what is the upside for the state taxpayers shouldering the risk for this nonsense?…ed]
Denmark to pay immigrants £12,000 to go home if they ‘can’t or won’t’ assimilate
Denmark is boosting cash incentives to entice immigrants to return to their homelands if they ‘can’t or won’t’ assimilate into society. The offer now on the table is close to £12,000 for every person who takes up the offer to leave. Critics of the measure say it sends the wrong message to foreigners but the centre-right government in Copenhagen is forging ahead with the plan. The financial carrot is ten times more than that previously offered under a scheme which as been law since 1997. [Somehow I think they’re talking about muslims here…ed]
Quote of the day.
Well, look, we — we have seen, in the past, rampages of this sort. And in a country of 300 million people, there are going to be acts of violence that are inexplicable. Even within the extraordinary military that we have — and I think everybody understands how outstanding the young men and women in uniform are under the most severe stress — there are going to be instances in which an individual cracks. I think the questions that we’re asking now and we don’t have yet complete answers to is, is this an individual who’s acting in this way or is it some larger set of actors? You know, what are the motivations? Those are all questions that I think we have to ask ourselves. Until we have these answers buttoned down, I’d rather not comment on it.
-Barack Obama, who had no problem declaring that the Cambridge Massachusetts police acted “stupidly” for arresting his good buddy Henry Gates Jr. before he had any “answers buttoned down.”