Fwd: Check Out the New 2010 Budget Chart Book!

Check Out the New 2010 Budget Chart Book!   The recently enacted health care law appears to likely add to the federal budget's unustainable course, with red ink as far as the eye can see. With that kind of fiscal path, it's an especially important time for Americans to understand spending, taxes and debt. The Heritage Foundation's Budget Chart Book is a user-friendly way to learn about the federal budget in pictures. As Federal Spending Chart 1 shows, spending has been on the rise — even before the recession, stimulus bill and Obamacare — and will continue to climb steeply under President Obama. The Scoop Tweet of the Week: 60% Believe Obamacare will Increase the Deficit   Obamacare: No Friend of Small Business   Side Effects: Floridians Will Lose Medicare Advantage   Side Effects: Special Treatment for Congress   Entitlement Reform Would Eliminate Long-Term Deficits   Washington is planning to pay for this and more spending with tax hikes, but as Federal Revenue Charts 1 and 9 reveal, taxes are already a hefty burden and will reach unprecedented levels in the future. Yet spending continues to grow far faster than revenues, creating record deficits. President Obama's annual deficits will add more to the federal debt than every other president before him combined, causing the debt to skyrocket as Debt and Deficits Chart 3 illustrates. The main reason America finds itself on a precipice of disastrous deficits is from spending on the three major entitlements — Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. As Entitlements Chart 2 shows, these programs will double in size in a few decades. But Chart 10 explains spending cuts alone can't pay for entitlements, and the level of taxes, shown in Chart 8, required to pay for the programs would devastate the economy. Tough policy choices and strong entitlement reforms are necessary to get the budget back on track. The Budget Chart Book will help you appreciate the size and scope of the decisions policymakers must enact to protect America's fiscal future. Visit today to view the federal budget in pictures, download copies, view interactive charts, and share charts on your blog or social networks. forward message   or visit our website   The White House has launched a taxpayer-funded Web site to "reality check" credible criticisms and arguments. Problem is the Obama administration's videos "debunking" each "myth" are low on facts. Click here to see our response.   Facebook Twitter YouTube The Heritage Foundation - 214 Massachusetts Ave NE, Washington, DC Call us at 202 546 4400

Fwd: Justice Department: Border Patrol Agents Assaulted Daily, Kidnappings Every 35 Hours in Phoenix, 1 in 5 Teens using Drugs Supplied by Mexican Traffickers

Today's Headlines Thursday, April 29, 2010

Justice Department: Border Patrol Agents Assaulted Daily, Kidnappings Every 35 Hours in Phoenix, 1 in 5 Teens using Drugs Supplied by Mexican Traffickers (CNSNews.com) - Three Border Patrol agents are assaulted on the average day at or near the U.S. border. Someone is kidnapped every 35 hours in Phoenix, Ariz., often by agents of alien smuggling organizations. And one-in-five American teenagers last year used some type of illegal drug, many of which were imported across the unsecured U.S.-Mexico border. These facts are reported in the recently released National Drug Threat Assessment for 2010, published by the National Drug Intelligence Center, a division of the U.S. Justice Department. Napolitano: U.S.- Mexico Border 'As Secure Now As It Has Ever Been' (CNSNews.com) - Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, the former governor of Arizona, told a Senate panel Wednesday that she knows the U.S.-Mexico border "as well as anyone," and "I will tell you it is as secure now as it has ever been." Some Democrats See Drugs and Border Security As 'Distraction' to Comprehensive Immigration Reform Washington (CNSNews.com) – Some congressional Democrats say concern about drug traffickers crossing the U.S.-Mexico border is distracting attention from the main issue of comprehensive immigration reform. "Sealing the border is not the entire issue," Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) told CNSNews.com. Other Democrats declined to discuss drugs or border security. "Got to go, sorry," one Democrat told CNSNews.com. Another Democrat told a CNSNews.com reporter who asked about drugs and border security it was a "punkish" question. House Committee Questions Legality of Drone Strikes against Terrorists (CNSNews.com) – The House National Security and Foreign Affairs subcommittee held a hearing on Wednesday to question whether using drones (unmanned military aircraft) to kill terrorists violates international law. The panel, comprised of four international law experts, was largely in agreement that the use of drones by both CIA and military personnel to kill terrorists is legal. Military is Muzzling Chaplains and Others Who Support 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Policy, Former Chaplains Say (CNSNews.com) – Arthur Schultz, a former Army chaplain who now is legal counsel to the National Conference of Evangelical Chaplain Endorsers, told reporters that servicemen overseas have been told not to speak in support of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." White House Says President 'May Not' Break Tax Pledge in Effort to Reduce Deficit (CNSNews.com) – Everything must be on the table to reduce the massive federal deficit, President Barack Obama on said Tuesday. However, Obama did not address his campaign pledge to avoid raising taxes on households earning less than $250,000, and White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the president "may not" break that pledge. Iran Hopes to Shift Focus to Israel at U.N. Nuclear Conference (CNSNews.com) – As President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad awaits a visa to attend next week's nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference in New York, Iran's fellow Non-Aligned Movement members are finalizing plans to use the event to focus on Israel, not on Iran. Egypt is leading the drive to force Israel to come clean and dismantle a nuclear weapons arsenal whose existence it neither confirms nor denies. CNSNEWS.COM VIDEO Harrison Ford to Green Critics: 'I'll Walk Everywhere When They Walk Everywhere' (CNSNews.com) - Actor, environmental activist and pilot Harrison Ford, who owns seven airplanes, told his environmental critics that he will "start walking everywhere when they start walking everywhere." Ford spoke on Capitol Hill Tuesday at an event sponsored by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. OTHER CNSNEWS.COM HEADLINES   Obama Says Congress May Not Have 'Appetite' for Immigration After Tough Year Democrats, Eyeing Midterm Elections, Want Border Security Before Legalization Millions of Seniors Are Not Choosing Quality Health Plans Republicans Relent on Bringing Financial Regulation Bill to Senate Floor Gunmen Attack Human Rights Caravan in Remote Southern Mexico, Killing Foreign Activists Lawsuit Seeks to Bar Enforcement of Arizona's New Immigration Law Obama Administration Approves Wind-Farm Project Off Nantucket; Lawsuits Coming BP Would Welcome U.S. Military Help in Containing Gulf Oil Leak Lawmakers Call for Restrictions on Political Ads Navy to Allow Women to Serve on Submarines Egypt Rejects Claims That It Gassed Gaza Smuggling Tunnels Donate Today! Please help CNSNews.com keep bringing you 'The Right News - Right Now!' Make a contribution to CNSNews.com today. It's fast, simple and secure. Help CNSNews.com and Donate Today!  NEWSPAPER ROUNDUP: Mass. bill to block public benefits for illegal immigrants fails by narrow margin White House seeks to soften Iran sanctions; Wants exemption for Chinese, Russian firms Insurance-plan coverage for infertility urged Classes of 35 may violate fire code, Chicago teachers union says Cape Wind OK'd in a first for the nation Cape Wind decision could mean more renewable-energy projects along Atlantic coast Six out of 10 Central American women raped while passing through Mexico to U.S. N.H. Senate keeps 200-year-old adultery law on the books Bill Clinton on immigration: New talent, tax money needed for aging America Women with suntans will be arrested, Iran police chief warns Boy Scouts offer new merit badge -- for video gaming Women seeking abortions could face forced ultrasounds in Florida Catholic bishop bans RI hospitals from pro-health reform group Republican Gov. McDonnell lets Va. troopers refer to Jesus in public prayer Federal court ruling gives boost to victims of Chinese drywall COMMENTARY Salt Tyrants By Walter E. Williams What the anti-tobacco zealots established is that government had the right to forcibly control our lives if it was done in the name of protecting our health. America's tyrants have now turned their attention to salt. DOJ Intel Report Downplays Terror Threat at Border By Terence P. Jeffrey A recent report by the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC), a division of the U.S. Justice Department, downplays the threat of terrorists crossing the U.S.-Mexico border even as it paints a picture of a border wide open to the smuggling activities of Mexican drug trafficking organizations. The NDIC's National Drug Threat Assessment for 2010, released on March 25, twice appears to assert that there have been no documented cases of terrorists illegally entering the United States across the Mexican border, an assertion contradicted by a 2009 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, a 2007 statement to the El Paso Times by then-Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell and 2005 testimony to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence by FBI Director Robert Mueller.

Fwd: MRC Alert: Couric Touts San Francisco as Proof of 'Backlash Against Arizona's New Immigration Law'

 

A daily compilation edited by Brent H. Baker, CyberAlert items are drawn from daily BiasAlert posts and distributed by the Media Research Center's News Analysis Division, the leader since 1987 in documenting, exposing and neutralizing liberal media bias.

 

Tracking Liberal Media Bias Since 1996
Thursday April 29, 2010 @ 09:44 AM EDT

1. Couric Touts San Francisco as Proof of 'Backlash Against Arizona's New Immigration Law'
A night after ABC and NBC championed the supposed "growing national backlash" against Arizona's new anti-illegal alien law, the CBS Evening News caught up as anchor Katie Couric teased her Wednesday newscast by trumpeting a move by a far-left enclave: "The backlash against Arizona's new immigration law. San Francisco bans official travel to that state as pressure grows for a national immigration reform law." After Couric noted "a new travel warning today. This time it's Mexico warning its citizens to be careful if they visit Arizona," reporter Nancy Cordes saw controversy "spreading to all corners of the country" as evidenced by how "San Francisco's Mayor just banned official travel to Arizona. City councils in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles are considering similar measures."

2. MSNBC's Tamron Hall Frets Over Arizona Becoming 'the Most Conservative State' in the U.S.
MSNBC's Tamron Hall on Wednesday worried that Arizona may be turning into the "most conservative state in the nation." A graphic on the liberal cable network chided, "Arizona Too Conservative?"

3. NYT Editor Sam Tanenhaus: 'Extremist,' Know Nothing Tea Partiers Like Birchers
In a friendly chat with left-wing MSNBC host Rachel Maddow, New York Times Book Review/Week in Review editor Sam Tanenhaus compares the Tea Party movement to the John Birch Society, proclaims "there are no serious ideas left on the right," and says today's conservatives are led by extremists: "We see who the great idea people are, the ones who pretend to be - Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh and all the rest. This is about as good as it's getting now..."

4. CBS Touts Democratic Strategy Labeling GOP 'Party of Wall Street'
On Wednesday's CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith lamented Republican opposition to the Democrats' financial reform legislation: "The Senate is expected to vote for a third time on financial reform. Republicans blocked the previous two attempts. President Obama says he can't understand why, and plans to make his case once again later today." n the report that followed, White House correspondent Chip Reid described the Democratic strategy against Republicans: "Democrats are doing everything in their power to portray Republicans as the party of Wall Street."

5. Lauer and Dem Levin Gang Up on GOP Senator on Today
On Wednesday's Today show, NBC's Matt Lauer invited on Democratic Senator Carl Levin and Republican Senator Susan Collins to have what was, ostensibly, a bipartisan discussion about the Goldman Sachs hearings, but the Today co-anchor tilted the balance of that discussion when he accused the Republicans of trying to have it both ways by claiming they wanted to fix the problems on Wall Street, but kept blocking debate. Lauer even asked Levin, with Collins standing right beside him, "I don't mean this as a personal comment but Senator Levin, it sounds a bit schizophrenic to me. Does it sound that way to you?"

6. Today Warns About Ads Geared To Kids...Then Breaks for Ad Geared To Kids
NBC's Matt Lauer, on Wednesday's Today show, previewed a segment about an FTC campaign to urge teachers to warn their tween-aged students about the evils of marketing, (something apparently parents are ill-equipped to do themselves) as he alerted viewers: "Plus the barrage of ads our kids see every day and what's being done to protect them from the urge to buy, buy, buy!" Amusingly that teaser, over a video clip of an Apple Jacks ad featuring animated characters, came right before the Today show broke for an actual cereal commercial featuring -- you guessed it -- animated characters.

Fwd: Morning Bell: The Ahmadinejad Victory Tour

04/29/2010 The Ahmadinejad Victory Tour Yesterday, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley confirmed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had submitted an application for a visa to attend the United Nations nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty conference in New York next month. Since Crowley also confirmed that Ahmadinejad is likely to be awarded the visa, the Iranian President can now look forward to witnessing first hand the failure of President Barack Obama's Iran policy. At first the White House believed that President Barack Obama's sheer power of personality and persuasion would be enough to convince the Iranian regime to give up their nuclear program. So the President gave a conciliatory speech in Cairo, sent a direct message to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and opened up direct talks with the Iranian regime. The results have been crystal clear: the Iranian regime has only accelerated its nuclear program, accelerated its ballistic missile program, and further crushed internal dissent, all while the Obama administration remained silent as the Green Revolution was brutally crushed. Now the Obama administration is seeking "crippling" sanctions on Iran through the U.N. Security Council. This is another Obama fantasy that plays right into Iran's "cheat, retreat, and delay" nuclear strategy. Whatever goodwill the Obama administration hoped to get from Russia by caving into their New START demands has not paid off. With help from Turkey, China and now Egypt, Iran's rope-a-dope U.N. diplomacy will render any U.N. sanctions regime completely toothless.