House Republicans Tell Bush: No Bailout for Detroit
Wednesday, December 17, 2008 5:50 PM
By: David A. Patten
In letters sent from both House and Senate Republicans, President Bush has been warned not to give funds that Congress expressly appropriated for "financial institutions" to Detroit automakers.
The House letter also suggested such a move by Bush may be illegal and unconstitutional, noting that only Congress has the right to appropriate taxpayer funds.
Last week, Democrats suffered a major rebuke after their proposed bailout bill failed in the Senate. Senate Democrats could not muster enough voters to overcome a Republican filibuster of the bill.
Facing growing opposition from conservatives, President Bush may be backing away from a quick auto-industry bailout.
“I think you all led yourselves to believe that [the bailout] would be almost immediately,” White House Press Secretary Dana Perino told the White House press corps Tuesday. “We did not signal that it would be almost immediate.”
Bush faces a growing phalanx of conservative foes who staunchly oppose any use of federal bailout funds to help car manufacturers unless the United Auto Workers (UAW) union offers more concessions.
White House officials insist they remain committed to rescuing carmakers and are merely gathering more financial information to precisely gauge how much money the auto executives actually need.
On Monday, Bush received a letter signed by 26 House Republicans opposing the use of funds from the $700 Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to bailout the “Big Three” automakers. The TARP legislation, the representatives said, specified that the money was for “financial institutions.”
[To view the complete letter sent to the president by 26 members of the House of Representatives - Go Here Now]
The conservative congressmen opposing the presidential bailout are led by Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, and Rep. Thomas Price, R-Texas. Other signatories include GOP representatives Tom Feeney of Florida, Lamar Smith of Texas, and John Shadegg of Arizona.
American taxpayers, the congressmen insisted, “cannot afford to save every company facing financial peril.” Their letter urges Bush “not expand the use of TARP money to bailout American auto manufacturers” for the sake of “the long-term stability of our nation and our automotive manufacturers.”
The White House received more non-greeting card mail on Tuesday – this time a letter from seven Republican senators also urging President Bush not to use TARP funds to rescue carmakers.
Those GOP senators -- Jim DeMint of South Carolina, Jeff Sessions of Alabama, John Ensign of Nevada, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, John Cornyn of Texas , Michael Enzi of Wyoming, and Saxby Chambliss of Georgia -- noted that Congress rejected the bailout after “the United Auto Workers (UAW) union refused to agree to changes necessary to help the Big Three automakers become competitive.”
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., tried to broker a last-minute agreement, but the deal fell through after the UAW balked at lowering compensation to levels “at parity” with the pay of autoworkers employed by Japanese companies in the United States.
Without such an agreement, the senators wrote, “we do not believe any amount of money will succeed in saving these companies.”
When it became clear the $14 billion auto bailout bill had little chance of being passed in the Senate last week, President-elect Barack Obama urged President Bush to intervene.
“My hope is that the administration and the Congress will still find a way to give the industry the temporary assistance it needs, while demanding the long-term restructuring that is absolutely required,” Obama said.
The Bush administration promised it would act to halt a “precipitous collapse” of the U.S. auto industry.
TARP is thought to be the only source of funds sufficient to keep auto makers afloat, but authorities have already burned through most of the first $350 billion that can be spent without further authorization.
CBS News has reported that only about $15 billion remains unspent from the first $350 billion -- just enough to keep the Big 3 on the road to economic recovery without having to file for bankruptcy protection in coming weeks. Dipping into the second $350 will require further action by Congress.
There is no word yet on when the review of automakers’ financial needs by the Bush administration will be completed.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Why government is NOT the answer....
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jim@foodforlife.com
To: westcoastwest@verizon.net; mizmal2@verizon.net; musclemedics@hotmail.com; rockywinds@aol.com; brick9@hotmail.com; DKKAIN@aol.com; bmiller@imaginesystems.net; rachie01@rocketmail.com; dmcgreg1@mindspring.com; torr313@aol.com; wbarela@peakhotels.com; icrandall@peakhotels.com; pauletorres@yahoo.com; dtorres87801@yahoo.com; mtorres@beall-biehler.com; minniebtorres@hotmail.com; jay@foodforlife.com; gary@foodforlife.com; davidrnf@hughes.net; art@foodforlife.com; tony@foodforlife.com; charlie@foodforlife.com; jaci@foodforlife.com; danrealtyexec@sbcglobal.net; HMoore3284@aol.com; bajawinemaker@yahoo.com; oldmancorny@yahoo.com
Subject: FW: Why government is NOT the answer....
Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2008 07:59:54 -0800
From: OUT READER AND CONTRIBUTOR MINNIE TORRES
Subject: Fwd: Why government is NOT the answer....
Does anybody out there have any memory of the reason given for the establishment of the DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY during the Carter Administration? Anybody? Anything? No?
Didn't think so.
Bottom line . . we've spent several hundred billion dollars in support of an agency the reason for which not one person who reads this can remember.
Ready?
It was very simple, and at the time everybody thought it very appropriate.
The Department of Energy was instituted August 4, 1977 TO LESSEN OUR DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN OIL . HEY, PRETTY EFFICIENT, HUH?
AND NOW IT'S 2008, 31 YEARS LATER, AND THE BUDGET FOR THIS NECESSARY DEPARTMENT IS AT $24.2 BILLION A YEAR, THEY HAVE 16,000 FEDERAL EMPLOYEES, AND APPROXIMATELY 100,000 CONTRACT EMPLOYEES AND LOOK AT THE JOB THEY HAVE DONE!
THIS IS WHERE YOU SLAP YOUR FOREHEAD AND SAY 'WHAT WAS I THINKING?'
Ah yes, good ole bureaucracy. And now we are going to turn the Banking system over to them?
God Help us.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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From: Jim@foodforlife.com
To: westcoastwest@verizon.net; mizmal2@verizon.net; musclemedics@hotmail.com; rockywinds@aol.com; brick9@hotmail.com; DKKAIN@aol.com; bmiller@imaginesystems.net; rachie01@rocketmail.com; dmcgreg1@mindspring.com; torr313@aol.com; wbarela@peakhotels.com; icrandall@peakhotels.com; pauletorres@yahoo.com; dtorres87801@yahoo.com; mtorres@beall-biehler.com; minniebtorres@hotmail.com; jay@foodforlife.com; gary@foodforlife.com; davidrnf@hughes.net; art@foodforlife.com; tony@foodforlife.com; charlie@foodforlife.com; jaci@foodforlife.com; danrealtyexec@sbcglobal.net; HMoore3284@aol.com; bajawinemaker@yahoo.com; oldmancorny@yahoo.com
Subject: FW: Why government is NOT the answer....
Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2008 07:59:54 -0800
From: OUT READER AND CONTRIBUTOR MINNIE TORRES
Subject: Fwd: Why government is NOT the answer....
Does anybody out there have any memory of the reason given for the establishment of the DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY during the Carter Administration? Anybody? Anything? No?
Didn't think so.
Bottom line . . we've spent several hundred billion dollars in support of an agency the reason for which not one person who reads this can remember.
Ready?
It was very simple, and at the time everybody thought it very appropriate.
The Department of Energy was instituted August 4, 1977 TO LESSEN OUR DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN OIL . HEY, PRETTY EFFICIENT, HUH?
AND NOW IT'S 2008, 31 YEARS LATER, AND THE BUDGET FOR THIS NECESSARY DEPARTMENT IS AT $24.2 BILLION A YEAR, THEY HAVE 16,000 FEDERAL EMPLOYEES, AND APPROXIMATELY 100,000 CONTRACT EMPLOYEES AND LOOK AT THE JOB THEY HAVE DONE!
THIS IS WHERE YOU SLAP YOUR FOREHEAD AND SAY 'WHAT WAS I THINKING?'
Ah yes, good ole bureaucracy. And now we are going to turn the Banking system over to them?
God Help us.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Suspicious message? There’s an alert for that. Get your Hotmail® account now.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
--Israeli agent's advice & warning.
----- Original Message -----
From: Mrs M
Being prepared--Israeli agent's advice & warning.
Juval Aviv was the Israeli Agent upon whom the movie ' Munich ' was based. He was Golda Meir's bodyguard--she appointed him to track down and bring to justice the Palestinian terrorists who took the Israeli athletes hostage in 1972 and killed them during the Munich Olympic Games. (Aviv's bio is noted at end.) He predicted the London subway bombing on the Bill O'Reilly show on Fox News stating publicly that it would happen within a week. At the time, O'Reilly laughed and mocked him saying that in a week he wanted him back on the show. But, unfortunately, within a week the terrorist attack had occurred.
Now for his future predictions. He predicts the next terrorist attack on the U.S. will occur within the next few months. Forget hijacking airplanes, because he says terrorists will NEVER try and hijack a plane again as they know the people onboard will never go down quietly again. Aviv believes our airport security is a joke--that we have been reactionary rather than proactivein developing strategies that are truly effective.
For example:
1) Our airport technology is outdated. We look for metal, and the new explosives are made of plastic.
2) He talked about how some idiot tried to light his shoe on fire. Because of that, now everyone has to take off their shoes. A group of idiots tried to bring aboard liquid explosives. Now we can't bring liquids on board. He says he's waiting for some suicidal maniac to pour liquid explosive on his underwear; at which point, security will have us all traveling naked! Every strategy we have is 'reactionary.'
3) We only focus on security when people are heading to the gates. Aviv says that if a terrorist attack targets airports in the future, they will targ et busy times on the front end of the airport when/where people are checking in. It would be easy for someone to take two suitcases of explosives, walk up to a busy check-in line, ask a person next to them to watch their bags for a minute while they go to the restroom, and then detonate the bags BEFORE security even gets involved. In Israel, security checks bags BEFORE people can even ENTER the airport.
Aviv says the next terrorist attack here in America is imminent and will involve suicide bombers and non-suicide bombers in places where large groups of people congregate. (I. E., Disneyland, Las Vegas casinos, big cities ( New York , San Francisco, Chicago, etc.) and that it will also include shopping malls, subways in rush hour, train stations, etc., as well20as rural America this time ( Wyoming, Montana, etc.).
The attack will be characterized by simultaneous detonations around the country (terrorists like big impact), involving at least 5-8 cities, including rural areas. Aviv says terrorists won't need to use suicide bombers in many of the larger cities, because at places like the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, they can simply valet park a car loaded with explosives and walk away.
Aviv says all of the above is well known in intelligence circles, but that our U.S. government does not want to 'alarm American citizens' with the facts. The world is quickly going to become 'a different place,' and issue like 'global warming' and political correctness will become totally irrelevant.
On an encouraging note, he says the terrorists who want to destroy America will not use sophisticated weapons. They like to use suicide as a front-line approach. It's cheap, it's easy, it's effective; and they have an infinite abundance of young militants more than willing to 'meet their destiny.'
He also says the next level of terrorists, over which America should be most concerned, will not be coming from abroad. But will be, instead, 'homegrown' - having attended and been educated in our own schools and universities right here in the U. S. He says to look for 'students' who frequently travel back and forth to the Middle East . These young terrorists will be most dangerous because they will know our language and will fully understand the habits of Americans; but that we Americans won't know/understand a thing about them.
Aviv says that, as a people, Americans are unaware and uneducated about the terroristic threats we will, inevitably, face. America still has only a handful of Arabic and Farsi speaking people in our intelligence networks, and Aviv says it is critical that we change that fact - SOON.
So, what can America do to protect itself? From an intelligence perspective, Aviv says the U.S. needs to stop relying on satellites and technology for intelligence. We need to, instead, follow Israel's, Ireland 's, and England 's hands-on examples of human intelligence, both from an infiltration perspective as well as to trust 'aware' citizens to help.
We need to engage and educate ourselves as citizens; however, our U.S. government continues to treat us, its citizens, 'like babies.' Our government thinks we 'can't handle the truth' and are concerned that we'll panic if we understand the realities of terrorism. Aviv says this is a deadly mistake.
Aviv recently created/executed a security test for our Congress, by placing an empty briefcase in five well-traveled spots in five major cities. The results? Not one person called 911 or sought a policeman to check it out. In fact, in Chicago, someone tried to steal the briefcase!
In comparison, Aviv says that citizens of Israel are so well 'trained that an unattended bag or package would be reported in seconds by citizen(s) who know to publicly shout, 'Unattended Bag.' The area would be quickly & calmly cleared by the citizens themselves.. But, unfortunately, America hasn't been yet 'hurt enough' by terrorism for their government to fully understand the need to educate its citizens or for the government to understand that it's their citizens who are, inevitably, the best first-line of defense against terrorism.
Aviv also was concerned about the high number of children here in America who were in preschool and kindergarten after 9/ 11, who were 'lost' without parents being able to pick them up, and about our schools that had no plan in place to best care for the students until parents could get there. (In New York City, this was days, in some cases!)
He stresses the importance of having a plan, that's agreed upon within your family, to respond to in the event of a terroristic emergency. He urges parents to contact their children's schools and demand that the schools, too, develop plans of actions, as they do in Israel .
Does your family know what to do if you can't contact one another by phone? Where would you gather in an emergency? He says we should all have a plan that is easy enough for even our youngest children to remember and follow.
Aviv says that the U S. government has in force a plan that, in the event of another terrorist attack, will immediately cut-off EVERYONE's ability to use cell phones, blackberries, etc., as this is the preferred communication source used by terrorists and is often the way that their bombs are detonated. How will you communicate with your loved ones in the event you cannot speak? You need to have a plan.
Aviv's Bio as follows:
He holds an M. A. in Business from Tel Aviv University and is President and CEO of Interfor, Inc., an international corporate intelligence and investigations firm. Interfor, Inc. is now based in New York , with offices around the world. It was founded in 1979 and provides foreign and domestic intelligence services to legal, corporate, and financial communities around the world. Interfor, Inc. also conducts investigations into terrorism, and Mr. Aviv now serves as a special consultant to the U.S. Congress, and other policy makers, here within the U. S. on issues of terrorism, fraud, and money laundering. Interfor's services encompass white-collar crime investigations, asset search and recovery, corporate due diligence, litigation support, fraud investigations, internal compliance investigations, and security and vulnerability assessments.
Since its inception, Interfor's asset investigation services have recovered over $2 billion worldwide for its clients.
A leading authority on terrorist networks, Mr. Aviv served as lead investigator for Pan Am Airways into the Pan Am 103-Lockerbie terrorist bombing. He wa s featured in the recent film, Munich, as the leader of the Israeli team that tracked down the terrorists who kidnapped the Israeli Olympic team. Before founding Interfor, Mr. Aviv served as an officer in the Israel Defense Force (Major, retired) leading an elite Commando/Intelligence Unit, and was later selected by the Israeli Secret Service (Mossad) to participate in a number of intelligence special operations, serving in many countries in the late 1960s and 1970s.
While working as a consultant with El Al, Mr. Aviv surveyed the existing security measures in place and updated El Al's security program, making El Al the safest airline in business today. Most recently, Mr. Aviv wrote a book entit led, 'Staying Safe: The Complete Guide to Protecting Yourself, Your Family, and Your Business.' (2004, Harper Resource)
He has been a featured guest on ABC Nightline, FOX News, CNN , BBC Newsnight, ZDF (German Nat ional Television), and RAI (Italian National Television)-and has been featured in numerous articles in major magazines and newspapers worldwide.
From: Mrs M
Being prepared--Israeli agent's advice & warning.
Juval Aviv was the Israeli Agent upon whom the movie ' Munich ' was based. He was Golda Meir's bodyguard--she appointed him to track down and bring to justice the Palestinian terrorists who took the Israeli athletes hostage in 1972 and killed them during the Munich Olympic Games. (Aviv's bio is noted at end.) He predicted the London subway bombing on the Bill O'Reilly show on Fox News stating publicly that it would happen within a week. At the time, O'Reilly laughed and mocked him saying that in a week he wanted him back on the show. But, unfortunately, within a week the terrorist attack had occurred.
Now for his future predictions. He predicts the next terrorist attack on the U.S. will occur within the next few months. Forget hijacking airplanes, because he says terrorists will NEVER try and hijack a plane again as they know the people onboard will never go down quietly again. Aviv believes our airport security is a joke--that we have been reactionary rather than proactivein developing strategies that are truly effective.
For example:
1) Our airport technology is outdated. We look for metal, and the new explosives are made of plastic.
2) He talked about how some idiot tried to light his shoe on fire. Because of that, now everyone has to take off their shoes. A group of idiots tried to bring aboard liquid explosives. Now we can't bring liquids on board. He says he's waiting for some suicidal maniac to pour liquid explosive on his underwear; at which point, security will have us all traveling naked! Every strategy we have is 'reactionary.'
3) We only focus on security when people are heading to the gates. Aviv says that if a terrorist attack targets airports in the future, they will targ et busy times on the front end of the airport when/where people are checking in. It would be easy for someone to take two suitcases of explosives, walk up to a busy check-in line, ask a person next to them to watch their bags for a minute while they go to the restroom, and then detonate the bags BEFORE security even gets involved. In Israel, security checks bags BEFORE people can even ENTER the airport.
Aviv says the next terrorist attack here in America is imminent and will involve suicide bombers and non-suicide bombers in places where large groups of people congregate. (I. E., Disneyland, Las Vegas casinos, big cities ( New York , San Francisco, Chicago, etc.) and that it will also include shopping malls, subways in rush hour, train stations, etc., as well20as rural America this time ( Wyoming, Montana, etc.).
The attack will be characterized by simultaneous detonations around the country (terrorists like big impact), involving at least 5-8 cities, including rural areas. Aviv says terrorists won't need to use suicide bombers in many of the larger cities, because at places like the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, they can simply valet park a car loaded with explosives and walk away.
Aviv says all of the above is well known in intelligence circles, but that our U.S. government does not want to 'alarm American citizens' with the facts. The world is quickly going to become 'a different place,' and issue like 'global warming' and political correctness will become totally irrelevant.
On an encouraging note, he says the terrorists who want to destroy America will not use sophisticated weapons. They like to use suicide as a front-line approach. It's cheap, it's easy, it's effective; and they have an infinite abundance of young militants more than willing to 'meet their destiny.'
He also says the next level of terrorists, over which America should be most concerned, will not be coming from abroad. But will be, instead, 'homegrown' - having attended and been educated in our own schools and universities right here in the U. S. He says to look for 'students' who frequently travel back and forth to the Middle East . These young terrorists will be most dangerous because they will know our language and will fully understand the habits of Americans; but that we Americans won't know/understand a thing about them.
Aviv says that, as a people, Americans are unaware and uneducated about the terroristic threats we will, inevitably, face. America still has only a handful of Arabic and Farsi speaking people in our intelligence networks, and Aviv says it is critical that we change that fact - SOON.
So, what can America do to protect itself? From an intelligence perspective, Aviv says the U.S. needs to stop relying on satellites and technology for intelligence. We need to, instead, follow Israel's, Ireland 's, and England 's hands-on examples of human intelligence, both from an infiltration perspective as well as to trust 'aware' citizens to help.
We need to engage and educate ourselves as citizens; however, our U.S. government continues to treat us, its citizens, 'like babies.' Our government thinks we 'can't handle the truth' and are concerned that we'll panic if we understand the realities of terrorism. Aviv says this is a deadly mistake.
Aviv recently created/executed a security test for our Congress, by placing an empty briefcase in five well-traveled spots in five major cities. The results? Not one person called 911 or sought a policeman to check it out. In fact, in Chicago, someone tried to steal the briefcase!
In comparison, Aviv says that citizens of Israel are so well 'trained that an unattended bag or package would be reported in seconds by citizen(s) who know to publicly shout, 'Unattended Bag.' The area would be quickly & calmly cleared by the citizens themselves.. But, unfortunately, America hasn't been yet 'hurt enough' by terrorism for their government to fully understand the need to educate its citizens or for the government to understand that it's their citizens who are, inevitably, the best first-line of defense against terrorism.
Aviv also was concerned about the high number of children here in America who were in preschool and kindergarten after 9/ 11, who were 'lost' without parents being able to pick them up, and about our schools that had no plan in place to best care for the students until parents could get there. (In New York City, this was days, in some cases!)
He stresses the importance of having a plan, that's agreed upon within your family, to respond to in the event of a terroristic emergency. He urges parents to contact their children's schools and demand that the schools, too, develop plans of actions, as they do in Israel .
Does your family know what to do if you can't contact one another by phone? Where would you gather in an emergency? He says we should all have a plan that is easy enough for even our youngest children to remember and follow.
Aviv says that the U S. government has in force a plan that, in the event of another terrorist attack, will immediately cut-off EVERYONE's ability to use cell phones, blackberries, etc., as this is the preferred communication source used by terrorists and is often the way that their bombs are detonated. How will you communicate with your loved ones in the event you cannot speak? You need to have a plan.
Aviv's Bio as follows:
He holds an M. A. in Business from Tel Aviv University and is President and CEO of Interfor, Inc., an international corporate intelligence and investigations firm. Interfor, Inc. is now based in New York , with offices around the world. It was founded in 1979 and provides foreign and domestic intelligence services to legal, corporate, and financial communities around the world. Interfor, Inc. also conducts investigations into terrorism, and Mr. Aviv now serves as a special consultant to the U.S. Congress, and other policy makers, here within the U. S. on issues of terrorism, fraud, and money laundering. Interfor's services encompass white-collar crime investigations, asset search and recovery, corporate due diligence, litigation support, fraud investigations, internal compliance investigations, and security and vulnerability assessments.
Since its inception, Interfor's asset investigation services have recovered over $2 billion worldwide for its clients.
A leading authority on terrorist networks, Mr. Aviv served as lead investigator for Pan Am Airways into the Pan Am 103-Lockerbie terrorist bombing. He wa s featured in the recent film, Munich, as the leader of the Israeli team that tracked down the terrorists who kidnapped the Israeli Olympic team. Before founding Interfor, Mr. Aviv served as an officer in the Israel Defense Force (Major, retired) leading an elite Commando/Intelligence Unit, and was later selected by the Israeli Secret Service (Mossad) to participate in a number of intelligence special operations, serving in many countries in the late 1960s and 1970s.
While working as a consultant with El Al, Mr. Aviv surveyed the existing security measures in place and updated El Al's security program, making El Al the safest airline in business today. Most recently, Mr. Aviv wrote a book entit led, 'Staying Safe: The Complete Guide to Protecting Yourself, Your Family, and Your Business.' (2004, Harper Resource)
He has been a featured guest on ABC Nightline, FOX News, CNN , BBC Newsnight, ZDF (German Nat ional Television), and RAI (Italian National Television)-and has been featured in numerous articles in major magazines and newspapers worldwide.
Emanuel Pushed Blagojevich to Appoint Obama Loyalists
Emanuel Pushed Blagojevich to Appoint Obama Loyalists
Wednesday, December 17, 2008 12:48 PM
By: David A. Patten Article Font Size
Incoming White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel pushed Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to appoint longtime Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett to fill Barack Obama’s Senate seat, and even gave Blagojevich’s staff a deadline by which an appointment was expected, according to a report in today’s Chicago Sun-Times.
Citing sources “with the Obama camp,” the Sun-Times report says Emanuel began to push for Jarrett to fill Obama’s seat “just days” after the Nov. 4 election.
That story also cites a source close to Emanuel admitting it is “possible” Emanuel discussed the appointment with Blagojevich chief of staff John Harris, and that a specific date for the appointment was given.
The Sun-Times’ revelations suggest that Emanuel was more deeply involved in discussions with Blagojevich and his staff than previously reported, and was more assertive in promoting a specific candidate.
Those conversations could have contributed to Blagojevich’s apparent belief that the Senate appointment held great political value.
“I’ve got this thing and it’s f**king golden,” Blagojevich told one of his advisers, according to the federal-wiretap transcripts. “I’m not just giving it up for f**king nothing.”
On Monday, Obama said that an internal review showed that his aides “did nothing inappropriate” concerning the search for his Senate replacement, but added that at the request of U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald details of the review will not be released until next week.
Blagojevich and Harris were arrested Dec. 9 after Fitzgerald released a 76-page criminal complaint alleging they conspired to sell Obama’s vacant Senate seat, and pressured the Chicago Tribune to fire editorial writers who had been critical of Blagojevich.
Shortly after the complaint was released, speculation began regarding the possible involvement of Emanuel, who filled the Fifth District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives that Blagojevich vacated in 2002 when he decided to run for governor.
Although Obama has generally avoided commenting on the investigation, sources close to Emanuel appear to be preparing the media for further revelations. The Chicago Tribune has cited sources who say Emanuel called Harris’ cell phone on Nov. 1, and presented a list of Senate replacements acceptable to Obama. Jarrett’s name was reportedly on that list.
Jarrett initially expressed an interest in serving in the Senate, but withdrew her name after accepting a position as a White House senior adviser.
According to the Tribune, Emanuel subsequently spoke with Harris and added another name to the Obama-approved list: Lisa Madigan, the Democratic state attorney general who has taken the lead in trying to push Blagojevich from office since his arrest.
Fitzgerald’s criminal complaint states that many conversations recorded by the listening devices have not yet been made public. There have been many reports that conversations involving Emanuel were recorded.
MyFoxChicago.com reporter Craig Wall, for example, has cited “a reliable source familiar with the investigation” that Emanuel and Blagojevich had direct discussions about the Senate seat, and that those conversations may have been caught on federal wiretaps.
At one point, according to the wiretap transcripts, Blagojevich issues a profanity-laced tirade because he states the Obama administration is refusing to give him anything other than its “appreciation” in return for the Senate appointment.
On Wednesday, Obama senior adviser David Axelrod offered a staunch defense of Emanuel on MSNBC.
“I’ve known Rahm ... for a very long time. I've worked with him closely. He is someone who I think has enormous integrity and unparalleled skill. And I think we're lucky to have him.
"I have no concerns about Rahm. He is an enormous asset to us and will be an enormous asset to the country, as he has been in the Congress," Axelrod said.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008 12:48 PM
By: David A. Patten Article Font Size
Incoming White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel pushed Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to appoint longtime Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett to fill Barack Obama’s Senate seat, and even gave Blagojevich’s staff a deadline by which an appointment was expected, according to a report in today’s Chicago Sun-Times.
Citing sources “with the Obama camp,” the Sun-Times report says Emanuel began to push for Jarrett to fill Obama’s seat “just days” after the Nov. 4 election.
That story also cites a source close to Emanuel admitting it is “possible” Emanuel discussed the appointment with Blagojevich chief of staff John Harris, and that a specific date for the appointment was given.
The Sun-Times’ revelations suggest that Emanuel was more deeply involved in discussions with Blagojevich and his staff than previously reported, and was more assertive in promoting a specific candidate.
Those conversations could have contributed to Blagojevich’s apparent belief that the Senate appointment held great political value.
“I’ve got this thing and it’s f**king golden,” Blagojevich told one of his advisers, according to the federal-wiretap transcripts. “I’m not just giving it up for f**king nothing.”
On Monday, Obama said that an internal review showed that his aides “did nothing inappropriate” concerning the search for his Senate replacement, but added that at the request of U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald details of the review will not be released until next week.
Blagojevich and Harris were arrested Dec. 9 after Fitzgerald released a 76-page criminal complaint alleging they conspired to sell Obama’s vacant Senate seat, and pressured the Chicago Tribune to fire editorial writers who had been critical of Blagojevich.
Shortly after the complaint was released, speculation began regarding the possible involvement of Emanuel, who filled the Fifth District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives that Blagojevich vacated in 2002 when he decided to run for governor.
Although Obama has generally avoided commenting on the investigation, sources close to Emanuel appear to be preparing the media for further revelations. The Chicago Tribune has cited sources who say Emanuel called Harris’ cell phone on Nov. 1, and presented a list of Senate replacements acceptable to Obama. Jarrett’s name was reportedly on that list.
Jarrett initially expressed an interest in serving in the Senate, but withdrew her name after accepting a position as a White House senior adviser.
According to the Tribune, Emanuel subsequently spoke with Harris and added another name to the Obama-approved list: Lisa Madigan, the Democratic state attorney general who has taken the lead in trying to push Blagojevich from office since his arrest.
Fitzgerald’s criminal complaint states that many conversations recorded by the listening devices have not yet been made public. There have been many reports that conversations involving Emanuel were recorded.
MyFoxChicago.com reporter Craig Wall, for example, has cited “a reliable source familiar with the investigation” that Emanuel and Blagojevich had direct discussions about the Senate seat, and that those conversations may have been caught on federal wiretaps.
At one point, according to the wiretap transcripts, Blagojevich issues a profanity-laced tirade because he states the Obama administration is refusing to give him anything other than its “appreciation” in return for the Senate appointment.
On Wednesday, Obama senior adviser David Axelrod offered a staunch defense of Emanuel on MSNBC.
“I’ve known Rahm ... for a very long time. I've worked with him closely. He is someone who I think has enormous integrity and unparalleled skill. And I think we're lucky to have him.
"I have no concerns about Rahm. He is an enormous asset to us and will be an enormous asset to the country, as he has been in the Congress," Axelrod said.
Auto Bail Out
Fw: Auto Bail Out, Abridged letter from Troy Clarke, President of General Motors
I can't believe the feedback I have gotten on it – I have customers asking if they can send it to everyone they know – I really just meant it to be a 2 line response, but found my spleen just flowing…Please do spread the word. Gregg
`````````````````````````````````````````
Abridged letter from Troy Clarke, President of General Motors - followed by a response from our son, Gregory Knox:
Dear Employee,
Next week, Congress and the current Administration will determine whether to provide immediate support to the domestic auto industry to help it through one of the most difficult economic times in our nation's history. Your elected officials must hear from all of us now on why this support is critical to our continuing the progress we began prior to the global financial crisis.......................As an employee, you have a lot at stake and continue to be one of our most effective and passionate voices. I know GM can count on you to have your voice heard.
Thank you for your urgent action and ongoing support.
Troy Clarke
President
General Motors North America
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From Gregory Knox,
In response to your request to call legislators and ask for a bailout for the United States automakers please consider the following, and please also pass this onto Troy Clark, the president of General Motors North America for me..
You are both infected with the same entitlement mentality that has bred like cancerous germs in UAW halls for the last countless decades, and whose plague is now sweeping the nation, awaiting our new "messiah" to wave his magical wand and make all our problems go away, while at the same time allowing our once great nation to keep "living the dream"…
The dream is over!
The dream that we can ignore the consumer for years while management myopically focuses on its personal rewards packages at the same time that our factories have been filled with the worlds most overpaid, arrogant, ignorant and laziest entitlement minded "laborers" without paying the price for these atrocities…and that still the masses will line up to buy our products
Don't tell me I'm wrong. Don't accuse me of not knowing of what I speak. I have called on Ford,GM ,Chrysler,TRW,Delphi,Kelsey Hayes, American Axle and countless other automotive OEM's and Tier ones for 3 decades now throughout the Midwest and what I've seen over the years in these union shops can only be described as disgusting.
Mr Clark, the president of General Motors, states:
There is widespread sentiment in this country, our government and especially in the media that the current crisis is completely the result of bad management. It is not…
You're right – it's not JUST management…how about the electricians who walk around the plants like lords in feudal times, making people wait on them for countless hours while they drag ass…so they can come in on the weekend and make double and triple time…for a job they easily could have done within their normal 40 hour week
How about the line workers who threaten newbies with all kinds of scare tactics…for putting out too many parts on a shift…and for being too productive (mustn't expose the lazy bums who have been getting overpaid for decades for their horrific underproduction, must we?!?) Do you really not know about this stuff?!?
How about this great sentiment abridged from Mr. Clarke's sad plea:
over the last few years …we have closed the quality and efficiency gaps with our competitors.
What the hell has Detroit been doing for the last 40 years?!?
Did we really JUST wake up to the gaps in quality and efficiency between us and them?
The K car vs. the Accord?
The Pinto vs. the Civic?!?
Do I need to go on?
We are living through the inevitable outcome of the actions of the United States auto industry for decades.
Time to pay for your sins, Detroit.
I attended an economic summit last week where a brilliant economist, Alan Beaulieu surprised the crowd when he said he would not have given the banks a penny of "bailout money". Yes, he said, this would cause short term problems, but despite what people like Troy Clark and the democratic house would have us believe, the sun would in fact rise the next day… and something else would happen…where there had been greedy and sloppy banks new efficient ones would pop up…that is how a free market system works…it does work…if we would let it work…
But for some reason we are now deciding that the rest of the world is right that capitalism doesn't work – that we need the government to step in and "save us"…save us, hell – we're nationalizing…and unfortunately too many of this once fine nations citizens don't even have a clue that this is what's really happening…but they sure can tell you the stats on their favorite sports teams…yeah – THAT'S important…
Does it occur to ANYONE that the "competition" has been producing vehicles, EXTREMELY PROFITABLY, for decades now in this country?...
How can that be ???
Let's see…
Fuel efficient…
Listening to customers…
Investing in the proper tooling and automation for the long haul…
Not being too complacent or arrogant to listen to Dr W Edwards Deming 4 decades ago
Ever increased productivity through quality, lean and six sigma plans…
Treating vendors like strategic partners, rather than like "the enemy"…
Efficient front and back offices…
Non union environment…
Again, I could go on and on, but I really wouldn't be telling anyone anything they really don't already know in their hearts
I have six children, so I am not unfamiliar with the concept of wanting someone to bail you out of a mess that you have gotten yourself into – my children do this on a weekly, if not daily basis, as I did at their age. I do for them what my parents did for me (one of their greatest gifts, by the way) – I make them stand on their own two feet and accept the consequences of their actions and work them through.
Radical concept, huh…
Am I there for them in the wings? Of course – but only until such time as they need to be fully on their own as adults
I don't want to oversimplify a complex situation, but there certainly are unmistakable parallels here between the proper role of parenting and government.
Detroit and the United States need to pay for their sins.
Bad news people – it's coming whether we like it or not
The newly elected Messiah really doesn't have a magic wand big enough to "make it all go away" I laughed as I heard Obama "reeling it back in" almost immediately after the vote count was tallied…"we might not do it in a year…or in four…" where was that kind of talk when he was RUNNING for the office
Stop trying to put off the inevitable …
That house in Florida really isn't worth $750,000…
People who jump across a border really don't deserve free health care benefits…
That job driving that forklift for the big 3 really isn't worth $85,000 a year…
We really shouldn't allow Wal-Mart to stock their shelves with products acquired from a country that unfairly manipulates their currency and has the most atrocious human rights infractions on the face of the globe…
That couple whose combined income is less than $50,000 really shouldn't be living in that $485,000 home…
Let the market correct itself people – it will. Yes it will be painful, but it's gonna be painful either way, and the bright side of my proposal is that on the other side of it is a nation that appreciates what is has…and doesn't live beyond its means…and gets back to basics…and redevelops the work ethic that made it the greatest nation in the history of the world…and probably turns back to God.
Sorry – don't cut my head off, I'm just the messenger sharing with you the "bad news"
Gregory J Knox
President
Knox Machinery, Inc.
Franklin, Ohio 45005
I can't believe the feedback I have gotten on it – I have customers asking if they can send it to everyone they know – I really just meant it to be a 2 line response, but found my spleen just flowing…Please do spread the word. Gregg
`````````````````````````````````````````
Abridged letter from Troy Clarke, President of General Motors - followed by a response from our son, Gregory Knox:
Dear Employee,
Next week, Congress and the current Administration will determine whether to provide immediate support to the domestic auto industry to help it through one of the most difficult economic times in our nation's history. Your elected officials must hear from all of us now on why this support is critical to our continuing the progress we began prior to the global financial crisis.......................As an employee, you have a lot at stake and continue to be one of our most effective and passionate voices. I know GM can count on you to have your voice heard.
Thank you for your urgent action and ongoing support.
Troy Clarke
President
General Motors North America
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From Gregory Knox,
In response to your request to call legislators and ask for a bailout for the United States automakers please consider the following, and please also pass this onto Troy Clark, the president of General Motors North America for me..
You are both infected with the same entitlement mentality that has bred like cancerous germs in UAW halls for the last countless decades, and whose plague is now sweeping the nation, awaiting our new "messiah" to wave his magical wand and make all our problems go away, while at the same time allowing our once great nation to keep "living the dream"…
The dream is over!
The dream that we can ignore the consumer for years while management myopically focuses on its personal rewards packages at the same time that our factories have been filled with the worlds most overpaid, arrogant, ignorant and laziest entitlement minded "laborers" without paying the price for these atrocities…and that still the masses will line up to buy our products
Don't tell me I'm wrong. Don't accuse me of not knowing of what I speak. I have called on Ford,GM ,Chrysler,TRW,Delphi,Kelsey Hayes, American Axle and countless other automotive OEM's and Tier ones for 3 decades now throughout the Midwest and what I've seen over the years in these union shops can only be described as disgusting.
Mr Clark, the president of General Motors, states:
There is widespread sentiment in this country, our government and especially in the media that the current crisis is completely the result of bad management. It is not…
You're right – it's not JUST management…how about the electricians who walk around the plants like lords in feudal times, making people wait on them for countless hours while they drag ass…so they can come in on the weekend and make double and triple time…for a job they easily could have done within their normal 40 hour week
How about the line workers who threaten newbies with all kinds of scare tactics…for putting out too many parts on a shift…and for being too productive (mustn't expose the lazy bums who have been getting overpaid for decades for their horrific underproduction, must we?!?) Do you really not know about this stuff?!?
How about this great sentiment abridged from Mr. Clarke's sad plea:
over the last few years …we have closed the quality and efficiency gaps with our competitors.
What the hell has Detroit been doing for the last 40 years?!?
Did we really JUST wake up to the gaps in quality and efficiency between us and them?
The K car vs. the Accord?
The Pinto vs. the Civic?!?
Do I need to go on?
We are living through the inevitable outcome of the actions of the United States auto industry for decades.
Time to pay for your sins, Detroit.
I attended an economic summit last week where a brilliant economist, Alan Beaulieu surprised the crowd when he said he would not have given the banks a penny of "bailout money". Yes, he said, this would cause short term problems, but despite what people like Troy Clark and the democratic house would have us believe, the sun would in fact rise the next day… and something else would happen…where there had been greedy and sloppy banks new efficient ones would pop up…that is how a free market system works…it does work…if we would let it work…
But for some reason we are now deciding that the rest of the world is right that capitalism doesn't work – that we need the government to step in and "save us"…save us, hell – we're nationalizing…and unfortunately too many of this once fine nations citizens don't even have a clue that this is what's really happening…but they sure can tell you the stats on their favorite sports teams…yeah – THAT'S important…
Does it occur to ANYONE that the "competition" has been producing vehicles, EXTREMELY PROFITABLY, for decades now in this country?...
How can that be ???
Let's see…
Fuel efficient…
Listening to customers…
Investing in the proper tooling and automation for the long haul…
Not being too complacent or arrogant to listen to Dr W Edwards Deming 4 decades ago
Ever increased productivity through quality, lean and six sigma plans…
Treating vendors like strategic partners, rather than like "the enemy"…
Efficient front and back offices…
Non union environment…
Again, I could go on and on, but I really wouldn't be telling anyone anything they really don't already know in their hearts
I have six children, so I am not unfamiliar with the concept of wanting someone to bail you out of a mess that you have gotten yourself into – my children do this on a weekly, if not daily basis, as I did at their age. I do for them what my parents did for me (one of their greatest gifts, by the way) – I make them stand on their own two feet and accept the consequences of their actions and work them through.
Radical concept, huh…
Am I there for them in the wings? Of course – but only until such time as they need to be fully on their own as adults
I don't want to oversimplify a complex situation, but there certainly are unmistakable parallels here between the proper role of parenting and government.
Detroit and the United States need to pay for their sins.
Bad news people – it's coming whether we like it or not
The newly elected Messiah really doesn't have a magic wand big enough to "make it all go away" I laughed as I heard Obama "reeling it back in" almost immediately after the vote count was tallied…"we might not do it in a year…or in four…" where was that kind of talk when he was RUNNING for the office
Stop trying to put off the inevitable …
That house in Florida really isn't worth $750,000…
People who jump across a border really don't deserve free health care benefits…
That job driving that forklift for the big 3 really isn't worth $85,000 a year…
We really shouldn't allow Wal-Mart to stock their shelves with products acquired from a country that unfairly manipulates their currency and has the most atrocious human rights infractions on the face of the globe…
That couple whose combined income is less than $50,000 really shouldn't be living in that $485,000 home…
Let the market correct itself people – it will. Yes it will be painful, but it's gonna be painful either way, and the bright side of my proposal is that on the other side of it is a nation that appreciates what is has…and doesn't live beyond its means…and gets back to basics…and redevelops the work ethic that made it the greatest nation in the history of the world…and probably turns back to God.
Sorry – don't cut my head off, I'm just the messenger sharing with you the "bad news"
Gregory J Knox
President
Knox Machinery, Inc.
Franklin, Ohio 45005
Rush Strikes Back at 'Turncoat' Colin Powell
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Rush Strikes Back at 'Turncoat' Colin Powell
Tuesday, December 16, 2008 12:07 PM
By: Phil Brennan
Talk show legend Rush Limbaugh wasted no time in answering Colin Powell after the former secretary of state said on CNN that the Republican Party should stop listening to the radio host.
On Monday, Limbaugh told his 20 million listeners that what Powell was doing was telling the GOP to throw them under the bus.
"I think Powell's premise is all wrong," Limbaugh said. "The Republican Party needs to stop listening to me. Basically, what that means is the Republican Party's gotta throw you overboard. The Republican Party can't win as long as it is defined by people like you and me, those of you in this audience."
Powell is a bit late in telling his party to stop listening to him, Limbaugh said, noting that the party had already stopped listening to him.
"The simple fact of the matter is, folks, what makes this funny to me is that the Republican Party's not listened to me in the last two years," he explained. "And you might even say in matters of policy and so forth, the Republican Party hasn't been listening to me for the last six years.
"And you might even say that the Republican Party is in the situation it's in precisely because of the people like Colin Powell and John McCain and others who have devised this new definition and identity of the party which is responsible for electing Democrats all over this country."
After recalling that Powell voted for Barack Obama, Limbaugh charged that the Bush administration's first secretary of state was upset because he said that Powell's endorsement of Obama was about race. "These things are supposed to go unsaid," Limbaugh said.
Limbaugh also took aim at GOP presidential candidate McCain.
"The Republican Party nominated Powell's perfect candidate. The guy's going after moderates, independents, Democrats, a guy who is not conservative at all, McCain, didn't stand up for much conservative [principles], and he's out there now saying he won't support Palin if she seeks the presidency again, or he might not."
Turning back to Powell, Limbaugh said Powell "insists that conservatives and Republicans support candidates who will appeal to minorities like I guess McCain who led the effort for amnesty. He insists that conservatives and Republicans move to the center like McCain, who calls himself a maverick for doing so.
"General Powell insists that conservatives and Republicans provide an open tent to different ideas and views, like I guess McCain, who repeatedly trashed Republicans and made nice with Democrats. I mean, their tent's big, they just don't want us in it."
Having been what Limbaugh described as Powell's ideal candidate, after McCain won the GOP at the last moment, Powell switched sides.
"Once McCain was nominated as the Republican candidate, largely by independents and Democrats voting in Republican primaries, Colin Powell waited 'til the last minute, when it would do the most damage to McCain and the Republicans, and endorsed Obama. And when I said it was largely about race, that's what set 'em all off. You're not supposed to say these kinds of things. This is supposed to go unspoken.
"Let me get this straight," Limbaugh said. "The guy who has supported the Republican candidate for president should be thrown out of the party. That would be me. But the guy who bolted and sabotaged the Republican nominee by endorsing the Democrat candidate should stay in and be part of the team that determines what the Republican Party is going to be. The turncoat, General Powell, is the one who the party is gonna listen to? McCain's a moderate. I supported McCain. Powell, who wants a moderate, did not support McCain."
Kessler:
Hispanic Leader: GOP Is in State of Emergency
Hirsen:
Paris Hilton's Blonde Spot
Jokes Links Advertise Cartoons Contact Shop Archives RSS
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Latest: Over 5000 Troops In Iraq Get Calling Cards for Christmas — Read More Here
Rush Strikes Back at 'Turncoat' Colin Powell
Tuesday, December 16, 2008 12:07 PM
By: Phil Brennan
Talk show legend Rush Limbaugh wasted no time in answering Colin Powell after the former secretary of state said on CNN that the Republican Party should stop listening to the radio host.
On Monday, Limbaugh told his 20 million listeners that what Powell was doing was telling the GOP to throw them under the bus.
"I think Powell's premise is all wrong," Limbaugh said. "The Republican Party needs to stop listening to me. Basically, what that means is the Republican Party's gotta throw you overboard. The Republican Party can't win as long as it is defined by people like you and me, those of you in this audience."
Powell is a bit late in telling his party to stop listening to him, Limbaugh said, noting that the party had already stopped listening to him.
"The simple fact of the matter is, folks, what makes this funny to me is that the Republican Party's not listened to me in the last two years," he explained. "And you might even say in matters of policy and so forth, the Republican Party hasn't been listening to me for the last six years.
"And you might even say that the Republican Party is in the situation it's in precisely because of the people like Colin Powell and John McCain and others who have devised this new definition and identity of the party which is responsible for electing Democrats all over this country."
After recalling that Powell voted for Barack Obama, Limbaugh charged that the Bush administration's first secretary of state was upset because he said that Powell's endorsement of Obama was about race. "These things are supposed to go unsaid," Limbaugh said.
Limbaugh also took aim at GOP presidential candidate McCain.
"The Republican Party nominated Powell's perfect candidate. The guy's going after moderates, independents, Democrats, a guy who is not conservative at all, McCain, didn't stand up for much conservative [principles], and he's out there now saying he won't support Palin if she seeks the presidency again, or he might not."
Turning back to Powell, Limbaugh said Powell "insists that conservatives and Republicans support candidates who will appeal to minorities like I guess McCain who led the effort for amnesty. He insists that conservatives and Republicans move to the center like McCain, who calls himself a maverick for doing so.
"General Powell insists that conservatives and Republicans provide an open tent to different ideas and views, like I guess McCain, who repeatedly trashed Republicans and made nice with Democrats. I mean, their tent's big, they just don't want us in it."
Having been what Limbaugh described as Powell's ideal candidate, after McCain won the GOP at the last moment, Powell switched sides.
"Once McCain was nominated as the Republican candidate, largely by independents and Democrats voting in Republican primaries, Colin Powell waited 'til the last minute, when it would do the most damage to McCain and the Republicans, and endorsed Obama. And when I said it was largely about race, that's what set 'em all off. You're not supposed to say these kinds of things. This is supposed to go unspoken.
"Let me get this straight," Limbaugh said. "The guy who has supported the Republican candidate for president should be thrown out of the party. That would be me. But the guy who bolted and sabotaged the Republican nominee by endorsing the Democrat candidate should stay in and be part of the team that determines what the Republican Party is going to be. The turncoat, General Powell, is the one who the party is gonna listen to? McCain's a moderate. I supported McCain. Powell, who wants a moderate, did not support McCain."
Homosexual High School for Chicago
ONE MORE OF OBAMA'S CABINET MEMBERS WERE IS MY COUNTRY GOING????
CNSNews.com
Obama’s Choice for Education Secretary Approved Homosexual High School for Chicago
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
By Matt Hadro
(Courtesy of Chicago Public Schools)(CNSNews.com) - Chicago Public Schools CEO Arne Duncan, who President-elect Barack Obama announced yesterday as his choice to be Secretary of Education, supported and approved plans for a special public high school for homosexuals.
Social Justice High School, Pride Campus was one of a number of projected public schools that Duncan approved for Chicago. The school was planned to open its doors to all students while offering support for homosexual and lesbian students and including notable gay and lesbian figures in its curriculum.
Duncan’s opinion of the planned school appeared in a Sept. 11 article in the Chicago Tribune.
“Given how large and diverse we are, I think there’s a niche there,” he said. “I think there will be more gay students in the school than other schools, but I wouldn’t be surprised if less than half the students are gay.”
Duncan approved the school in October and then said that he would ask the Chicago Board of Education to approve it as well.
“We want to create great new options for communities that have been traditionally underserved,” the Chicago Tribune quoted Duncan as saying in an Oct 9 article. “If you look at national studies, you can see gay and lesbian students with high dropout rates . . . I think there is a niche there we need to fill.”
Laurie Higgins, a spokeswoman for the conservative Illinois Family Institute, expressed concern over the selection of Duncan to be the future Secretary of Education.
“Our concern, of course, is that he’s going to take these values -- these arguable, unproven theories about homosexuality and how public schools should treat it -- and using his power and position, affirm that in some kind of more nationwide proposals, or policies,” Higgins told CNSNews.com.
“Nowhere in there did Arne Duncan express anything other than approval for this school,” Higgins said of the discussions that preceded the city school board’s vote on the school proposal.
This means, Higgins said, that “he necessarily has taken a position on what homosexuality is -- the nature of it, and its morality. In order to have curricula that affirm homosexuality, you have to have come to these prior conclusions.”
Cindy Crane, executive director of the Gay-Straight-Alliance for Safe Schools, was highly supportive of Obama’s choice of Duncan for the position.
“We very much support these sort of efforts,” Crane told CNSNews.com, “so from that perspective, we’re very happy that he has been offered this position.”
“We’re pleased that someone who established himself as understanding the special challenges of LGBTs (Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgendered) or sexual minorities within his own state is now in a federal position and will be able to influence legislation and budgets on a federal level,” she continued.
While the school’s design team eventually removed the plan from consideration by the school board, Duncan reportedly thought the original plan for the high school was “absolutely interesting and intriguing,” according to the Tribune.
Duncan reportedly hasn’t given up on the homosexual high school.
“The design team will take time to reconsider those ideas and come back with a stronger proposal,” Duncan told the Tribune. “This is a very healthy part of the process. There’s plenty of time. It’s more important to get it right.”
The high school, which is known officially as “Social Justice High School -- Pride Campus,” would be an offshoot of an existing school in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago, called Social Justice High School.
Duncan also supported that school, as well as the communal efforts to bring the school about.
In 2001, 14 members of the Little Village community went on a hunger strike, after plans for a new school in Little Village were put on hold once again, reportedly because of budget constraints in the district.
Duncan rose to the position of CEO of Chicago Public Schools shortly after the 19-day hunger strike ended. Soon, $5 million was promised for the school’s design and preparation.
“I support them,” Duncan said of the hunger strikers. “I solved the thing. I actually have a hell of a lot of respect for them.”
Four small schools comprising Little Village High School opened in 2005 --one of which was Social Justice High School.
“These schools reflect one of the central goals of our new school creation strategy,” he reportedly remarked after the opening of Little Village High School. “We want to create the kind of schools that our community wants and needs
CNSNews.com
Obama’s Choice for Education Secretary Approved Homosexual High School for Chicago
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
By Matt Hadro
(Courtesy of Chicago Public Schools)(CNSNews.com) - Chicago Public Schools CEO Arne Duncan, who President-elect Barack Obama announced yesterday as his choice to be Secretary of Education, supported and approved plans for a special public high school for homosexuals.
Social Justice High School, Pride Campus was one of a number of projected public schools that Duncan approved for Chicago. The school was planned to open its doors to all students while offering support for homosexual and lesbian students and including notable gay and lesbian figures in its curriculum.
Duncan’s opinion of the planned school appeared in a Sept. 11 article in the Chicago Tribune.
“Given how large and diverse we are, I think there’s a niche there,” he said. “I think there will be more gay students in the school than other schools, but I wouldn’t be surprised if less than half the students are gay.”
Duncan approved the school in October and then said that he would ask the Chicago Board of Education to approve it as well.
“We want to create great new options for communities that have been traditionally underserved,” the Chicago Tribune quoted Duncan as saying in an Oct 9 article. “If you look at national studies, you can see gay and lesbian students with high dropout rates . . . I think there is a niche there we need to fill.”
Laurie Higgins, a spokeswoman for the conservative Illinois Family Institute, expressed concern over the selection of Duncan to be the future Secretary of Education.
“Our concern, of course, is that he’s going to take these values -- these arguable, unproven theories about homosexuality and how public schools should treat it -- and using his power and position, affirm that in some kind of more nationwide proposals, or policies,” Higgins told CNSNews.com.
“Nowhere in there did Arne Duncan express anything other than approval for this school,” Higgins said of the discussions that preceded the city school board’s vote on the school proposal.
This means, Higgins said, that “he necessarily has taken a position on what homosexuality is -- the nature of it, and its morality. In order to have curricula that affirm homosexuality, you have to have come to these prior conclusions.”
Cindy Crane, executive director of the Gay-Straight-Alliance for Safe Schools, was highly supportive of Obama’s choice of Duncan for the position.
“We very much support these sort of efforts,” Crane told CNSNews.com, “so from that perspective, we’re very happy that he has been offered this position.”
“We’re pleased that someone who established himself as understanding the special challenges of LGBTs (Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgendered) or sexual minorities within his own state is now in a federal position and will be able to influence legislation and budgets on a federal level,” she continued.
While the school’s design team eventually removed the plan from consideration by the school board, Duncan reportedly thought the original plan for the high school was “absolutely interesting and intriguing,” according to the Tribune.
Duncan reportedly hasn’t given up on the homosexual high school.
“The design team will take time to reconsider those ideas and come back with a stronger proposal,” Duncan told the Tribune. “This is a very healthy part of the process. There’s plenty of time. It’s more important to get it right.”
The high school, which is known officially as “Social Justice High School -- Pride Campus,” would be an offshoot of an existing school in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago, called Social Justice High School.
Duncan also supported that school, as well as the communal efforts to bring the school about.
In 2001, 14 members of the Little Village community went on a hunger strike, after plans for a new school in Little Village were put on hold once again, reportedly because of budget constraints in the district.
Duncan rose to the position of CEO of Chicago Public Schools shortly after the 19-day hunger strike ended. Soon, $5 million was promised for the school’s design and preparation.
“I support them,” Duncan said of the hunger strikers. “I solved the thing. I actually have a hell of a lot of respect for them.”
Four small schools comprising Little Village High School opened in 2005 --one of which was Social Justice High School.
“These schools reflect one of the central goals of our new school creation strategy,” he reportedly remarked after the opening of Little Village High School. “We want to create the kind of schools that our community wants and needs
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Palin's Church Hit by Arson
Palin's Church Hit by Arson
Saturday, December 13, 2008 9:00 PM
Gov. Sarah Palin's home church was badly damaged by arson, leading the governor to apologize if the fire was connected to "undeserved negative attention" from her failed campaign as the Republican vice presidential nominee.
Damage to the Wasilla Bible Church was estimated at $1 million, authorities said Saturday. No one was injured in the fire, which was set Friday night while a handful of people, including two children, were inside, according to Central Mat-Su Fire Chief James Steele.
He said the blaze was being investigated as an arson but didn't know of any recent threats to the church. Authorities didn't know whether Palin's connection to the church was relevant to the fire, Steele said.
"It's hard to say at this point. Everything is just speculation," he said. "We have no information on intent or motive."
Steele would not comment on the means used to set the fire.
Pastor Larry Kroon declined to say whether the church had received any recent threats.
"There are so many variables," he said. "I don't want to comment in that direction."
Palin, who was not at the church at the time of the fire, stopped by Saturday. Her spokesman, Bill McAllister, said in a statement that Palin told an assistant pastor she was sorry if the fire was connected to the "undeserved negative attention" the church has received since she became the vice presidential candidate Aug. 29.
"Whatever the motives of the arsonist, the governor has faith in the scriptural passage that what was intended for evil will in some way be used for good," McAllister said.
The 1,000-member evangelical church was the subject of intense scrutiny after Palin was named John McCain's running mate. Early in Palin's campaign, the church was criticized for promoting in a Sunday bulletin a Focus on the Family "Love Won Out Conference" in Anchorage. The conference promised to "help men and women dissatisfied with living homosexually understand that same-sex attractions can be overcome."
The fire was set at the entrance of the church and moved inward as a small group of women were working on crafts, Steele said. The group was alerted to the blaze by a fire alarm.
Outside temperatures were minus 20 as firefighters battled the blaze.
Steele said a multi-agency task force was being assembled to investigate the fire.
Wasilla, the governor's hometown, is 40 miles north of Anchorage.
Saturday, December 13, 2008 9:00 PM
Gov. Sarah Palin's home church was badly damaged by arson, leading the governor to apologize if the fire was connected to "undeserved negative attention" from her failed campaign as the Republican vice presidential nominee.
Damage to the Wasilla Bible Church was estimated at $1 million, authorities said Saturday. No one was injured in the fire, which was set Friday night while a handful of people, including two children, were inside, according to Central Mat-Su Fire Chief James Steele.
He said the blaze was being investigated as an arson but didn't know of any recent threats to the church. Authorities didn't know whether Palin's connection to the church was relevant to the fire, Steele said.
"It's hard to say at this point. Everything is just speculation," he said. "We have no information on intent or motive."
Steele would not comment on the means used to set the fire.
Pastor Larry Kroon declined to say whether the church had received any recent threats.
"There are so many variables," he said. "I don't want to comment in that direction."
Palin, who was not at the church at the time of the fire, stopped by Saturday. Her spokesman, Bill McAllister, said in a statement that Palin told an assistant pastor she was sorry if the fire was connected to the "undeserved negative attention" the church has received since she became the vice presidential candidate Aug. 29.
"Whatever the motives of the arsonist, the governor has faith in the scriptural passage that what was intended for evil will in some way be used for good," McAllister said.
The 1,000-member evangelical church was the subject of intense scrutiny after Palin was named John McCain's running mate. Early in Palin's campaign, the church was criticized for promoting in a Sunday bulletin a Focus on the Family "Love Won Out Conference" in Anchorage. The conference promised to "help men and women dissatisfied with living homosexually understand that same-sex attractions can be overcome."
The fire was set at the entrance of the church and moved inward as a small group of women were working on crafts, Steele said. The group was alerted to the blaze by a fire alarm.
Outside temperatures were minus 20 as firefighters battled the blaze.
Steele said a multi-agency task force was being assembled to investigate the fire.
Wasilla, the governor's hometown, is 40 miles north of Anchorage.
New York Deserves A Qualified Senator
New York Deserves A Qualified Senator
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Tuesday, December 16, 2008 4:20 PM PT
Elitism: Is Democratic New York Gov. David Paterson his own man? If he is, he'll appoint an accomplished leader as senator. If he isn't, he'll kowtow to the party bosses and pick . . . a Kennedy.
When the Empire State's legally-blind governor made a huge stink this week about an NBC "Saturday Night Live" skit that lampooned him, was he just conniving to convince New Yorkers how independent and determined he is — prior to caving in on Caroline Kennedy?
In the days since Gov. Paterson was depicted by comic Fred Armisen as confused and disoriented, holding charts upside down and wandering into the following sketch, our nation's touchy advocates for the disabled have taken umbrage at "SNL's" impudence and demanded an apology.
Paterson himself called it a "third-grade depiction of people and the way they look" that could lead people to think "disability goes hand-in-hand with an inability to run a government or business."
If he had any sense of humor — and really was as self-deprecating as his friends claim — he would show up on the set of the next "SNL" taping and take the sketch a step further.
Getting mad at comedians in an attempt to curry special-interest favor is no proof that Paterson, who replaced the disgraced Eliot Spitzer, makes his own decisions.
But the answer to the question of whether New York's chief executive takes orders from his party's power brokers, or acts on behalf of the people of his state, will come when he makes his decision on who will replace Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton.
Is this U.S. Senate seat, once held by such men of principle as Daniel Patrick Moynihan, James L. Buckley, and, yes, Bobby Kennedy, just a political football?
When the Democratic Party bosses in New York, like the now-scandal-plagued House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, decided during the waning days of the Clinton administration that the first lady would be handed the state's Democratic senatorial nomination as a stepping stone to the presidency, others had to step aside.
New York Democrats who had actually done things for the state over the course of many years, like Westchester Rep. Nita Lowey, agreed to put their ambitions on hold for the sake of a non-New Yorker. Nearly a decade later, will prominent New York Democrats once again be asked to do the same as a favor to the Kennedy family?
What an insult to the former state comptroller and gubernatorial nominee Carl McCall, as well as to New York City-born Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, veteran Manhattan/Queens Rep. Carolyn Maloney, the state's popular current comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr., and longtime Bronx Rep. Jose Serrano.
Apart from Maloney, all the above major players on the New York political scene are either black or Hispanic.
It would also be a snub to state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, son of the former governor and ex-husband to one of Bobby Kennedy's daughters, who conducted an aggressive and even-handed investigation last year of fellow Democrat and ex-Governor Spitzer's misuse of the state police to spy on his chief Republican rival, State Senate Majority leader Joseph Bruno.
Caroline Kennedy has no qualifications to serve as a member of the nation's highest elective body. Her achievements amount to: organizing a rock concert in Central Park to raise private money for New York City public schools (to augment the zillions in taxes they already get); serving on the board of a ballet company; and writing a memo to Barack Obama comparing possible running mates.
Caroline has now dug into the deep Kennedy pockets to hire a top New York political consultant to both Democrats and Republicans, Josh Isay.
The ailing Sen. Ted Kennedy's appearance at the Democratic National Convention this summer has apparently brought the politically glamorous Kennedy family back into fashion.
But does New York's governor really want his legacy to be that he served as the hired help at Camelot?
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By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Tuesday, December 16, 2008 4:20 PM PT
Elitism: Is Democratic New York Gov. David Paterson his own man? If he is, he'll appoint an accomplished leader as senator. If he isn't, he'll kowtow to the party bosses and pick . . . a Kennedy.
When the Empire State's legally-blind governor made a huge stink this week about an NBC "Saturday Night Live" skit that lampooned him, was he just conniving to convince New Yorkers how independent and determined he is — prior to caving in on Caroline Kennedy?
In the days since Gov. Paterson was depicted by comic Fred Armisen as confused and disoriented, holding charts upside down and wandering into the following sketch, our nation's touchy advocates for the disabled have taken umbrage at "SNL's" impudence and demanded an apology.
Paterson himself called it a "third-grade depiction of people and the way they look" that could lead people to think "disability goes hand-in-hand with an inability to run a government or business."
If he had any sense of humor — and really was as self-deprecating as his friends claim — he would show up on the set of the next "SNL" taping and take the sketch a step further.
Getting mad at comedians in an attempt to curry special-interest favor is no proof that Paterson, who replaced the disgraced Eliot Spitzer, makes his own decisions.
But the answer to the question of whether New York's chief executive takes orders from his party's power brokers, or acts on behalf of the people of his state, will come when he makes his decision on who will replace Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton.
Is this U.S. Senate seat, once held by such men of principle as Daniel Patrick Moynihan, James L. Buckley, and, yes, Bobby Kennedy, just a political football?
When the Democratic Party bosses in New York, like the now-scandal-plagued House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, decided during the waning days of the Clinton administration that the first lady would be handed the state's Democratic senatorial nomination as a stepping stone to the presidency, others had to step aside.
New York Democrats who had actually done things for the state over the course of many years, like Westchester Rep. Nita Lowey, agreed to put their ambitions on hold for the sake of a non-New Yorker. Nearly a decade later, will prominent New York Democrats once again be asked to do the same as a favor to the Kennedy family?
What an insult to the former state comptroller and gubernatorial nominee Carl McCall, as well as to New York City-born Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, veteran Manhattan/Queens Rep. Carolyn Maloney, the state's popular current comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr., and longtime Bronx Rep. Jose Serrano.
Apart from Maloney, all the above major players on the New York political scene are either black or Hispanic.
It would also be a snub to state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, son of the former governor and ex-husband to one of Bobby Kennedy's daughters, who conducted an aggressive and even-handed investigation last year of fellow Democrat and ex-Governor Spitzer's misuse of the state police to spy on his chief Republican rival, State Senate Majority leader Joseph Bruno.
Caroline Kennedy has no qualifications to serve as a member of the nation's highest elective body. Her achievements amount to: organizing a rock concert in Central Park to raise private money for New York City public schools (to augment the zillions in taxes they already get); serving on the board of a ballet company; and writing a memo to Barack Obama comparing possible running mates.
Caroline has now dug into the deep Kennedy pockets to hire a top New York political consultant to both Democrats and Republicans, Josh Isay.
The ailing Sen. Ted Kennedy's appearance at the Democratic National Convention this summer has apparently brought the politically glamorous Kennedy family back into fashion.
But does New York's governor really want his legacy to be that he served as the hired help at Camelot?
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Detroit Did All That?
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Tuesday, December 16, 2008 4:20 PM PT
Economy: Taxpayers are being told that the middle class itself may be in peril if they don't bail out the auto industry. Look behind that tall claim and you'll find a liberal creation myth.
As the fate of General Motors, Chrysler and maybe Ford continues to hang in the balance, we hear increasingly dire talk about what might ensue if any of these companies has to seek protection under bankruptcy laws.
These companies would fold, millions of jobs would be lost, and America would lose a national-security linchpin. To top it all off, the survival of the middle class may be at stake, or so we're told.
Michigan's senior senator, Carl Levin, acknowledged on National Public Radio earlier this month that taxpayers may be reluctant to bail out Detroit. But he added: "I think everybody wants the middle class to survive, and the manufacturing centers of this country — wherever they are — have been a great source of the middle class to this country."
Fellow Senate Michigander Debbie Stabenow has said: "To fundamentally have a middle class in this country, we need to support the people who started the middle class: the automakers."
Both Levin and Stabenow may be taking a cue from UAW President Ron Gettelfinger, who has told union delegates that "the real issue is the backbone of America — an industry that does more for the economy than any other industry and, quite frankly, made the middle class what it is today."
Did Detroit really do all that? If so, then America had no middle class to speak of until the early 20th century.
Most historians would find that idea strange, but it springs from a view of history that seems widely held in the labor movement and the Democratic Party. This is the theory that unions essentially created the modern middle class in the mid-20th century by boosting the wages and benefits of millions of manufacturing workers.
You might call this the liberals' Middle Class Creation Myth. The auto industry is central to that tale not because of its bosses but because of the UAW, whose lavish contracts set the standard for the rest of organized labor. So all the talk today about saving the auto industry in order to save the middle class is really about preserving those union contracts.
The Big Three could survive and maybe even thrive by cutting their wage and benefit costs to the levels enjoyed by Toyota, Honda and other foreign companies that make cars in the U.S. Bankruptcy protection (or a similar government-supervised process) would release Detroit from its current UAW contracts and enable it to speed up the process, now far too slow, of closing that labor-cost gap.
We doubt if that is what Stabenow and Levin want. It's certainly not what Gettelfinger would want. But it's what Detroit needs to become competitive again. It's also what autoworkers need if they want to keep their jobs for the long term.
History teaches a couple of lessons here. One is that, as the labor movement boasts, wages and benefits did indeed rise in the late 1940s and 1950s, when private-sector unions were at their maximum strength.
But another lesson is that American industry had unusual advantages during that time, when Europe and Japan were still rebuilding and offered no serious competition. It was a phase that could not last, and unions could not stem the drain of jobs out of the U.S. manufacturing sector.
No fact makes this point better than the UAW's own dramatic shrinkage, from 1.5 million members in 1979 to fewer than half a million today. Such is the downside to a strategy of raising wages through collective muscle. When labor gets priced to a point where a machine can do a job more cheaply than a worker, the worker is out of a job.
So there has to be a better way to build an enduring middle class. In fact, there is. Long before the UAW was founded or the first car rolled off the assembly line, Americans were working their way into the middle class through education and individual initiative. Many have made that move up by way of Detroit. But Detroit is only one of myriad routes that the enterprising can choose.
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By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Tuesday, December 16, 2008 4:20 PM PT
Economy: Taxpayers are being told that the middle class itself may be in peril if they don't bail out the auto industry. Look behind that tall claim and you'll find a liberal creation myth.
As the fate of General Motors, Chrysler and maybe Ford continues to hang in the balance, we hear increasingly dire talk about what might ensue if any of these companies has to seek protection under bankruptcy laws.
These companies would fold, millions of jobs would be lost, and America would lose a national-security linchpin. To top it all off, the survival of the middle class may be at stake, or so we're told.
Michigan's senior senator, Carl Levin, acknowledged on National Public Radio earlier this month that taxpayers may be reluctant to bail out Detroit. But he added: "I think everybody wants the middle class to survive, and the manufacturing centers of this country — wherever they are — have been a great source of the middle class to this country."
Fellow Senate Michigander Debbie Stabenow has said: "To fundamentally have a middle class in this country, we need to support the people who started the middle class: the automakers."
Both Levin and Stabenow may be taking a cue from UAW President Ron Gettelfinger, who has told union delegates that "the real issue is the backbone of America — an industry that does more for the economy than any other industry and, quite frankly, made the middle class what it is today."
Did Detroit really do all that? If so, then America had no middle class to speak of until the early 20th century.
Most historians would find that idea strange, but it springs from a view of history that seems widely held in the labor movement and the Democratic Party. This is the theory that unions essentially created the modern middle class in the mid-20th century by boosting the wages and benefits of millions of manufacturing workers.
You might call this the liberals' Middle Class Creation Myth. The auto industry is central to that tale not because of its bosses but because of the UAW, whose lavish contracts set the standard for the rest of organized labor. So all the talk today about saving the auto industry in order to save the middle class is really about preserving those union contracts.
The Big Three could survive and maybe even thrive by cutting their wage and benefit costs to the levels enjoyed by Toyota, Honda and other foreign companies that make cars in the U.S. Bankruptcy protection (or a similar government-supervised process) would release Detroit from its current UAW contracts and enable it to speed up the process, now far too slow, of closing that labor-cost gap.
We doubt if that is what Stabenow and Levin want. It's certainly not what Gettelfinger would want. But it's what Detroit needs to become competitive again. It's also what autoworkers need if they want to keep their jobs for the long term.
History teaches a couple of lessons here. One is that, as the labor movement boasts, wages and benefits did indeed rise in the late 1940s and 1950s, when private-sector unions were at their maximum strength.
But another lesson is that American industry had unusual advantages during that time, when Europe and Japan were still rebuilding and offered no serious competition. It was a phase that could not last, and unions could not stem the drain of jobs out of the U.S. manufacturing sector.
No fact makes this point better than the UAW's own dramatic shrinkage, from 1.5 million members in 1979 to fewer than half a million today. Such is the downside to a strategy of raising wages through collective muscle. When labor gets priced to a point where a machine can do a job more cheaply than a worker, the worker is out of a job.
So there has to be a better way to build an enduring middle class. In fact, there is. Long before the UAW was founded or the first car rolled off the assembly line, Americans were working their way into the middle class through education and individual initiative. Many have made that move up by way of Detroit. But Detroit is only one of myriad routes that the enterprising can choose.
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Treasury: ‘No Decision’ Yet On Bailout Money
Treasury: ‘No Decision’ Yet on Using Financial-Industry Bailout Money to Bailout Auto Industry
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
By Matt Cover
U.S. Sen. Carl Levin addresses the media in Detroit, Monday, Dec. 15, 2008. (AP Photo)(CNSNews.com) – The Treasury Department is reviewing information from U.S. automakers and advising the White House about the possibility of using funds from the $700 billion financial bailout, passed in October, to bail out the car giants following the failure to pass a $14 billion bill in the Senate last week.
“We continue to assess and review the information we have received from the automakers,” Treasury spokesman Brookly McLaughlin told CNSNews.com. “(We) are providing the White House with regular briefings on our thinking.
“No decisions have been made,” she said.
House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) opposes a bailout of American automakers, with or without using part of the $700 billion in the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP).
“Leader Boehner is against any taxpayer-funded bailout of the auto industry, whether it uses billions of dollars from TARP or billions of dollars from another source of taxpayer funds,” Boehner spokesman Michael Steel told CNSNews.com.
“TARP money has (already) been used in a manner that is much different than how the program was described before it passed through Congress, and that’s a matter of significant concern,” Steel said.
However, Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said that the TARP was always intended to save large, troubled industries.
“It was always the intent of the TARP program to assist industries whose collapse would have a major impact on the economy, including the financial sector,” Levin said in a press release Friday. “The effort to provide emergency bridge loans to U.S. automakers is still very much alive.”
Under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, signed into law on Oct. 3, the Treasury may only use funds from the Troubled Assets Relief Program to aid “financial institutions.”
“The Secretary is authorized to establish the TARP to purchase troubled assets from any financial institution,” the law reads. It further says: “The term ‘financial institution’ means any institution, including, but not limited to, any bank, savings association, credit union, security broker or dealer, or insurance company.”
This means that automakers cannot receive bailout money, according to Heritage Foundation Senior Legal Analyst Andrew Grossman.
“I don’t think it’s legal,” Grossman told CNSNews.com. “If you look at the statute the way the courts look at a statute, you’ll see that the ‘financial institutions’ definition simply could not include the automakers.”
“The power-granting phrase in the (bailout) law is pretty broad,” Grossman said. “The only limiting term that is in there is ‘financial institutions.’ If you look in the definition of ‘financial institution,’ it’s not just those things (named in the law) – it’s things like those things. You don’t read it as saying it could be ‘anything.’
“It can’t possibly mean just any institution – such as an automaker – because then it wouldn’t mean anything (at all),” said Grossman. “The statute is not ambiguous on this point. There might be close cases, (but) whether an automaker is a financial institution, however, is not a close case. It isn’t.”
Treasury has spent nearly all of the first $350 billion in TARP money, leaving only $15 billion before it must return to Congress and ask for the remaining $350 billion.
The bailout plan that failed in the Senate last week called for $14 billion in emergency funding as well as an unspecified amount to finance the restructuring of U.S. automakers, suggesting that Treasury would need to request the remaining $350 billion if it tried to use TARP to prop up the auto industry.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
By Matt Cover
U.S. Sen. Carl Levin addresses the media in Detroit, Monday, Dec. 15, 2008. (AP Photo)(CNSNews.com) – The Treasury Department is reviewing information from U.S. automakers and advising the White House about the possibility of using funds from the $700 billion financial bailout, passed in October, to bail out the car giants following the failure to pass a $14 billion bill in the Senate last week.
“We continue to assess and review the information we have received from the automakers,” Treasury spokesman Brookly McLaughlin told CNSNews.com. “(We) are providing the White House with regular briefings on our thinking.
“No decisions have been made,” she said.
House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) opposes a bailout of American automakers, with or without using part of the $700 billion in the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP).
“Leader Boehner is against any taxpayer-funded bailout of the auto industry, whether it uses billions of dollars from TARP or billions of dollars from another source of taxpayer funds,” Boehner spokesman Michael Steel told CNSNews.com.
“TARP money has (already) been used in a manner that is much different than how the program was described before it passed through Congress, and that’s a matter of significant concern,” Steel said.
However, Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said that the TARP was always intended to save large, troubled industries.
“It was always the intent of the TARP program to assist industries whose collapse would have a major impact on the economy, including the financial sector,” Levin said in a press release Friday. “The effort to provide emergency bridge loans to U.S. automakers is still very much alive.”
Under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, signed into law on Oct. 3, the Treasury may only use funds from the Troubled Assets Relief Program to aid “financial institutions.”
“The Secretary is authorized to establish the TARP to purchase troubled assets from any financial institution,” the law reads. It further says: “The term ‘financial institution’ means any institution, including, but not limited to, any bank, savings association, credit union, security broker or dealer, or insurance company.”
This means that automakers cannot receive bailout money, according to Heritage Foundation Senior Legal Analyst Andrew Grossman.
“I don’t think it’s legal,” Grossman told CNSNews.com. “If you look at the statute the way the courts look at a statute, you’ll see that the ‘financial institutions’ definition simply could not include the automakers.”
“The power-granting phrase in the (bailout) law is pretty broad,” Grossman said. “The only limiting term that is in there is ‘financial institutions.’ If you look in the definition of ‘financial institution,’ it’s not just those things (named in the law) – it’s things like those things. You don’t read it as saying it could be ‘anything.’
“It can’t possibly mean just any institution – such as an automaker – because then it wouldn’t mean anything (at all),” said Grossman. “The statute is not ambiguous on this point. There might be close cases, (but) whether an automaker is a financial institution, however, is not a close case. It isn’t.”
Treasury has spent nearly all of the first $350 billion in TARP money, leaving only $15 billion before it must return to Congress and ask for the remaining $350 billion.
The bailout plan that failed in the Senate last week called for $14 billion in emergency funding as well as an unspecified amount to finance the restructuring of U.S. automakers, suggesting that Treasury would need to request the remaining $350 billion if it tried to use TARP to prop up the auto industry.
Pay $450 Billion Just to Cover Interest on National Debt
Uncle Sam Will Pay $450 Billion This Year Just to Cover Interest on National Debt
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
By Josiah Ryan, Staff Writer
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Dec. 15, 2008. (AP Photo)(CNSNews.com) - A November Treasury Department report states that the interest payment on the federal debt for Fiscal Year 2009 will be about $450 billion, making it the fourth largest expense in the federal budget behind Medicare-Medicaid, Social Security and defense spending.
The federal fiscal year runs from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30. The Treasury Department report presents the budget estimates for the full fiscal year 2009, which the interest payment and federal department budget projections are based upon.
If President-elect Barack Obama and the Democratic congressional leadership enact a proposed $1 trillion stimulus plan in early 2009, it could add about $50 billion to those annual interest payments, budget experts told CNSNews.com on Monday.
According to the Treasury Department report, released on Dec. 10, the federal government expects to pay $449,070,000.00 in interest on Treasury debt securities for FY 2009.
The Health and Human Services budget, which includes Medicare and Medicaid, will cost $739,241,000.00 for the fiscal year; Social Security Administration, $699,976,000.00; and the Defense Department-Military budget, $656,722,000.00. (Estimates by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget are nearly identical.)
Chris Edwards, director of tax policy studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, told CNSNews.com on Monday that the money paid by the Treasury for interest is different than other expenditures, because it does not directly benefit taxpayers.
“It represents money that can’t be used for tax reduction or spending programs,” said Edwards.
If the Obama administration is able to enact a $1 trillion stimulus package, taxpayers can expect to see $50 billion added to the annual payment, because the federal government usually borrows at an interest rate of about 5 percent, said Edwards and Brian Riedel, the latter who is a senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that Obama's team is considering a stimulus package for the faltering U.S. economy that could reach $1 trillion over two years.
“The fact that we are borrowing a trillion dollars means that someone has to pay that back,” said Edwards. “The economic fact is that while Americans are consuming a trillion more in stuff this year, people in later years will have to pay for it.”
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
By Josiah Ryan, Staff Writer
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Dec. 15, 2008. (AP Photo)(CNSNews.com) - A November Treasury Department report states that the interest payment on the federal debt for Fiscal Year 2009 will be about $450 billion, making it the fourth largest expense in the federal budget behind Medicare-Medicaid, Social Security and defense spending.
The federal fiscal year runs from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30. The Treasury Department report presents the budget estimates for the full fiscal year 2009, which the interest payment and federal department budget projections are based upon.
If President-elect Barack Obama and the Democratic congressional leadership enact a proposed $1 trillion stimulus plan in early 2009, it could add about $50 billion to those annual interest payments, budget experts told CNSNews.com on Monday.
According to the Treasury Department report, released on Dec. 10, the federal government expects to pay $449,070,000.00 in interest on Treasury debt securities for FY 2009.
The Health and Human Services budget, which includes Medicare and Medicaid, will cost $739,241,000.00 for the fiscal year; Social Security Administration, $699,976,000.00; and the Defense Department-Military budget, $656,722,000.00. (Estimates by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget are nearly identical.)
Chris Edwards, director of tax policy studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, told CNSNews.com on Monday that the money paid by the Treasury for interest is different than other expenditures, because it does not directly benefit taxpayers.
“It represents money that can’t be used for tax reduction or spending programs,” said Edwards.
If the Obama administration is able to enact a $1 trillion stimulus package, taxpayers can expect to see $50 billion added to the annual payment, because the federal government usually borrows at an interest rate of about 5 percent, said Edwards and Brian Riedel, the latter who is a senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that Obama's team is considering a stimulus package for the faltering U.S. economy that could reach $1 trillion over two years.
“The fact that we are borrowing a trillion dollars means that someone has to pay that back,” said Edwards. “The economic fact is that while Americans are consuming a trillion more in stuff this year, people in later years will have to pay for it.”
Monday, December 15, 2008
Robin Williams - American Plan for Peace
I've been saying this same thing for years now!!!!!!!!!!
Robin Williams - American Plan for Peace
YA, GOTTA LOVE HIM....A MUST READ...PLEASE DO YOURSELF A FAVOR...READ THIS!
The Plan for President
Robin Williams, wearing a shirt that says 'I love New York ' in Arabic.
You gotta love Robin Williams......Even if he's nuts! Leave it to Robin Williams to come up with the perfect plan. What we need now is for our UN Ambassador to stand up and repeat this message.
Robin Williams' plan...(Hard to argue with this logic!)
'I see a lot of people yelling for peace but I have not heard of a plan for peace. So, here's one plan.'
1) 'The US will apologize to the world for our 'interference' in their affairs, past & present. You know, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Tojo, Noriega, Milosevic, Hussein, and the rest of those 'good 'ole' boys'; we will never 'interfere' again.
2) We will withdraw our troops from all over the world, starting with Germany , South Korea , the Middle East and the Philippines . They don't want us there. We would station troops at our borders. No one allowed sneaking through holes in the fence
3) All illegal aliens have 90 days to get their affairs together and leave. We'll give them a free trip home. After 90 days the remainder will be gathered up and deported immediately, regardless of whom or where they are. They're illegal!!! France will welcome them.
4) All future visitors will be thoroughly checked and limited to 90 days unless given a special permit!!!! No one from a terrorist nation will be allowed in. If you don't like it there, change it yourself and don't hide here. Asylum would never be available to anyone. We don't need any more cab drivers or 7-11 cashiers.
5) No foreign 'students' over age 21. The older ones are the bombers. If they don't attend classes, they get a 'D' and it's back home baby.
6) The US will make a strong effort to become self-sufficient energy-wise. This will include developing non-polluting sources of energy but will require a temporary drilling of oil in the Alaskan wilderness. The caribou will have to cope for a while
7) Offer Saudi Arabia and other oil-producing countries $10 a barrel for their oil. If they don't like it, we go someplace else. They can go somewhere else to sell their production. (About a week of the wells filling up the storage sites would be enough.)
8) If there is a famine or other natural catastrophe in the world, we will not 'interfere .' They can pray to Allah or whomever, for seeds, rain, cement or whatever they need. Besides most of what we give them is stolen or given to the army. The people who need it most get very little, if anything.
9) Ship the UN Headquarters to an isolated island someplace. We don't need the spies and fair-weather friends here. Besides, the building would make a good homeless shelter or lockup for illegal aliens.
10) All Americans must go to charm and beauty school. That way, no one can call us 'Ugly Americans' any longer The language we speak is ENGLISH..learn it, or leave. Now, isn't that a winner of a plan?
'The Statue of Liberty is no longer saying 'Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses.' She's got a baseball bat and she's yelling, 'you want a piece of me?' '
If you agree with the above forward it to friends. If not, and I would be amazed, DELETE it!!
Robin Williams - American Plan for Peace
YA, GOTTA LOVE HIM....A MUST READ...PLEASE DO YOURSELF A FAVOR...READ THIS!
The Plan for President
Robin Williams, wearing a shirt that says 'I love New York ' in Arabic.
You gotta love Robin Williams......Even if he's nuts! Leave it to Robin Williams to come up with the perfect plan. What we need now is for our UN Ambassador to stand up and repeat this message.
Robin Williams' plan...(Hard to argue with this logic!)
'I see a lot of people yelling for peace but I have not heard of a plan for peace. So, here's one plan.'
1) 'The US will apologize to the world for our 'interference' in their affairs, past & present. You know, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Tojo, Noriega, Milosevic, Hussein, and the rest of those 'good 'ole' boys'; we will never 'interfere' again.
2) We will withdraw our troops from all over the world, starting with Germany , South Korea , the Middle East and the Philippines . They don't want us there. We would station troops at our borders. No one allowed sneaking through holes in the fence
3) All illegal aliens have 90 days to get their affairs together and leave. We'll give them a free trip home. After 90 days the remainder will be gathered up and deported immediately, regardless of whom or where they are. They're illegal!!! France will welcome them.
4) All future visitors will be thoroughly checked and limited to 90 days unless given a special permit!!!! No one from a terrorist nation will be allowed in. If you don't like it there, change it yourself and don't hide here. Asylum would never be available to anyone. We don't need any more cab drivers or 7-11 cashiers.
5) No foreign 'students' over age 21. The older ones are the bombers. If they don't attend classes, they get a 'D' and it's back home baby.
6) The US will make a strong effort to become self-sufficient energy-wise. This will include developing non-polluting sources of energy but will require a temporary drilling of oil in the Alaskan wilderness. The caribou will have to cope for a while
7) Offer Saudi Arabia and other oil-producing countries $10 a barrel for their oil. If they don't like it, we go someplace else. They can go somewhere else to sell their production. (About a week of the wells filling up the storage sites would be enough.)
8) If there is a famine or other natural catastrophe in the world, we will not 'interfere .' They can pray to Allah or whomever, for seeds, rain, cement or whatever they need. Besides most of what we give them is stolen or given to the army. The people who need it most get very little, if anything.
9) Ship the UN Headquarters to an isolated island someplace. We don't need the spies and fair-weather friends here. Besides, the building would make a good homeless shelter or lockup for illegal aliens.
10) All Americans must go to charm and beauty school. That way, no one can call us 'Ugly Americans' any longer The language we speak is ENGLISH..learn it, or leave. Now, isn't that a winner of a plan?
'The Statue of Liberty is no longer saying 'Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses.' She's got a baseball bat and she's yelling, 'you want a piece of me?' '
If you agree with the above forward it to friends. If not, and I would be amazed, DELETE it!!
The Day After (Inauguration)
The Day After (Inauguration)
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Monday, December 15, 2008 4:20 PM PT
Climate Change: The Associated Press warns that the new administration won't have much time to save the planet from a global warming apocalypse. Never mind that the "ticking time bomb" is a dud.
The temperature at Denver International Airport dropped to 18 below zero on Sunday, breaking the previous record of 14 below set in 1901. White Sulphur Springs, Mont., reported 29 below to the National Weather Service, breaking the record of 17 below set in 1922. Meanwhile, ice storms ravage the Northeast and the upper Midwest.
This is not a local phenomenon. Hong Kong had the second-longest cold spell since 1885. Cold in northern Vietnam destroyed 40% of the rice crop and killed 33,000 head of livestock. The British Parliament debated climate change as London experienced the first October snow since 1934.
Presumably this has all been reported by the Associated Press. But according to a weekend AP report, this is all an illusion and "2008 is on a pace to be a slightly cooler year in a steadily rising temperature trend line." Rather than being "evidence of some kind of cooling trend, it actually illustrates how fast the world is warming." Oh.
The report, which includes no comments from any skeptic, says global warming "is a ticking time-bomb that President-elect Obama can't avoid." It warns "warming is accelerating. Time is running out, and Obama knows it." Especially if he relies on AP wire reports.
Problem is, nature didn't get the memo. Geophysicist David Deming found that for the first time since the 18th century, in the days before SUVs, Alaskan glaciers grew this year instead of retreating. Fairbanks had its fourth coldest October in 104 years of records.
U.S. Geological Survey glaciologist Bruce Molnia reported: "On the Juneau Icefield, there was still 20 feet of new snow on the surface of the Taku Glacier in late July." It was the worst summer he'd seen in two decades.
As the Anchorage Daily News reports, "Never before in the history of a research project dating back to 1946 had the Juneau Ice Field witnessed the kind if snow buildup that came this year. It was similar on a lot of other glaciers too."
The consequence of melting glaciers and sea ice is supposed to be rising sea levels. The poster children for this phenomenon are low-lying coral islands such as the Maldives and Tuvalu. Again, the facts are ignored in the quest for headlines.
The satellite record shows the sea level has actually fallen four inches around Tuvalu since 1993, when the $100 million international TOPEX/POSEIDON satellite project record began.
As in other places around the world, sea-level changes have many natural explanations, including geologic changes in the land.
The atolls of Tuvalu rest on sinking volcanic rock on top of which new coral grows to replace the coral die-off that occurs as the volcanic rock sinks deeper into the ocean where coral does not survive. Sand is excavated for building material on Tuvalu. Excavation for building material has eroded the beach, thus giving to the casual, or biased, observer the impression of rising sea levels.
The strong El Nino of 1997-98 caused the sea level surrounding Tuvalu to drop just over one foot.
Patrick Michaels, a research professor of environmental sciences at the University of Virginia and visiting scientist with the Marshall Institute in Washington, D.C., notes that Tuvalu is near the epicenter of a region where the sea level has been declining for nearly 50 years. He has written that the decline has been so steep that, even accepting the U.N.'s median estimates of global warming over the next hundred years, Tuvalu would not return to its 1950 sea level until 2050, much less disappear under the sea.
None of this, of course, matters to the warming zealots and some major media outlets. If it's too dry or too wet, too hot or too cold, everything is caused by global warming. We believe, as do many reputable scientists, that the warming and cooling of the earth is a natural phenomenon dictated by forces beyond our control, from ocean currents to solar activity. We needn't worry about one day mooring our boats to the Washington Monument.
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By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Monday, December 15, 2008 4:20 PM PT
Climate Change: The Associated Press warns that the new administration won't have much time to save the planet from a global warming apocalypse. Never mind that the "ticking time bomb" is a dud.
The temperature at Denver International Airport dropped to 18 below zero on Sunday, breaking the previous record of 14 below set in 1901. White Sulphur Springs, Mont., reported 29 below to the National Weather Service, breaking the record of 17 below set in 1922. Meanwhile, ice storms ravage the Northeast and the upper Midwest.
This is not a local phenomenon. Hong Kong had the second-longest cold spell since 1885. Cold in northern Vietnam destroyed 40% of the rice crop and killed 33,000 head of livestock. The British Parliament debated climate change as London experienced the first October snow since 1934.
Presumably this has all been reported by the Associated Press. But according to a weekend AP report, this is all an illusion and "2008 is on a pace to be a slightly cooler year in a steadily rising temperature trend line." Rather than being "evidence of some kind of cooling trend, it actually illustrates how fast the world is warming." Oh.
The report, which includes no comments from any skeptic, says global warming "is a ticking time-bomb that President-elect Obama can't avoid." It warns "warming is accelerating. Time is running out, and Obama knows it." Especially if he relies on AP wire reports.
Problem is, nature didn't get the memo. Geophysicist David Deming found that for the first time since the 18th century, in the days before SUVs, Alaskan glaciers grew this year instead of retreating. Fairbanks had its fourth coldest October in 104 years of records.
U.S. Geological Survey glaciologist Bruce Molnia reported: "On the Juneau Icefield, there was still 20 feet of new snow on the surface of the Taku Glacier in late July." It was the worst summer he'd seen in two decades.
As the Anchorage Daily News reports, "Never before in the history of a research project dating back to 1946 had the Juneau Ice Field witnessed the kind if snow buildup that came this year. It was similar on a lot of other glaciers too."
The consequence of melting glaciers and sea ice is supposed to be rising sea levels. The poster children for this phenomenon are low-lying coral islands such as the Maldives and Tuvalu. Again, the facts are ignored in the quest for headlines.
The satellite record shows the sea level has actually fallen four inches around Tuvalu since 1993, when the $100 million international TOPEX/POSEIDON satellite project record began.
As in other places around the world, sea-level changes have many natural explanations, including geologic changes in the land.
The atolls of Tuvalu rest on sinking volcanic rock on top of which new coral grows to replace the coral die-off that occurs as the volcanic rock sinks deeper into the ocean where coral does not survive. Sand is excavated for building material on Tuvalu. Excavation for building material has eroded the beach, thus giving to the casual, or biased, observer the impression of rising sea levels.
The strong El Nino of 1997-98 caused the sea level surrounding Tuvalu to drop just over one foot.
Patrick Michaels, a research professor of environmental sciences at the University of Virginia and visiting scientist with the Marshall Institute in Washington, D.C., notes that Tuvalu is near the epicenter of a region where the sea level has been declining for nearly 50 years. He has written that the decline has been so steep that, even accepting the U.N.'s median estimates of global warming over the next hundred years, Tuvalu would not return to its 1950 sea level until 2050, much less disappear under the sea.
None of this, of course, matters to the warming zealots and some major media outlets. If it's too dry or too wet, too hot or too cold, everything is caused by global warming. We believe, as do many reputable scientists, that the warming and cooling of the earth is a natural phenomenon dictated by forces beyond our control, from ocean currents to solar activity. We needn't worry about one day mooring our boats to the Washington Monument.
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