Today's Headlines Monday, July 12, 2010
New Financial Regulations Create Diversity Czars for All Federal Financial Regulators
(CNSNews.com) – The financial regulations package recently passed by the House of Representatives would create a new diversity overseer at each of the major federal financial regulatory agencies, including the new ones created by the legislation itself. This new office, called the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion, would be responsible for making sure that each of the major federal financial regulators is hiring enough minorities and women, and contracting with enough minority-owned and women-owned businesses.
Government's New $25-Million Fund to Help Pregnant Teens May Benefit Abortion Providers, Pro-Family Advocates Say
(CNSNews.com) – The Department of Health and Human Services is now accepting applications for a new grant program that will help states provide support services to pregnant teens and women. But some pro-life and pro-family advocates point out that pregnancy resource centers have provided similar support services for decades -- without government funding. The pro-life advocates see the new grant program as a way for the Obama administration to funnel more taxpayer dollars to pro-abortion groups such as Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America.
86 Percent of Afghan Army Recruits Cannot Read and Write, Complicating U.S. Efforts to Train Self-Sufficient Security Force
(CNSNews.com) – A low literacy rate is one of the "biggest" obstacles to training Afghan National Security Forces, according to Col. John Ferrari, deputy commander for the NATO training mission in Afghanistan. Only about 14 percent of the Afghan recruits are literate, meaning they can both read and write, according to the U.S. Defense Department.
China Bristles at Prospect of U.S. Aircraft Carrier in the Yellow Sea
(CNSNews.com) – Plans for joint U.S.-South Korean naval exercises that may involve an American aircraft carrier are drawing growing criticism in China, where many view the drill as insulting to their country despite its intended goal of deterring North Korean aggression. Initially scheduled for several weeks ago, the exercises were postponed in late June until after the U.N. Security Council finalized its response to the sinking of the Cheonan. As China's naval power has grown it has become increasingly resistant to U.S. military movements in waters to its south and east.
Oil Spill Gives Obama Administration an Opening to Push 'Access to Needed Services'
(CNSNews.com) – Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius visited the Gulf Coast of Louisiana on Friday as part of her department's ongoing efforts to address the public health and mental health aspects of the Gulf oil spill. "We are committed to working with state, local, and community partners to ensure people here have access to needed services," she said.
Poll: 75 Percent of Americans Blame Politicians for State Budget Woes
(CNSNews.com) - A Rasmussen Poll released on Thursday shows that 75 percent of Americans place responsibility for their state's budget problems on politicians' unwillingness to cut government spending. Only 13 percent attribute state budget woes to the unwillingness of Americans to pay more taxes.
CNSNEWS.COM VIDEO
Census 'Successfully Completed' Work to Date Despite 'Shaky' Computer Problems, Census Director Says
(CNSNews.com) - The director of the U.S. Census Bureau, Dr. Robert Groves, told CNSNews.com that the Census has "successfully completed" all operations to date, despite a "shaky" information technology system that affected the early weeks of door-to-door counting. Groves said he does not have any evidence that the IT problems had a "quality impact" on the accuracy of the population count, but he encouraged people to wait for a final report from the Commerce Department's inspector general to "see what he has to say."
OTHER CNSNEWS.COM HEADLINES
Debt Commission Leaders Paint Gloomy Picture; Nation's Debt 'Is Like A Cancer'
U.S. Should Better Define Islamic Extremism in Order to Fight It, Report Says
Obama's Spokesman Says Democrats Could Lose House
Eric Holder Raises Question on Death Penalty for Sept. 11 Mastermind
International Court Charges Sudan President With Genocide
Twin Explosions Kill Dozens in Uganda As Crowds Watched World Cup Final
Spain Beats Netherlands 1-0 for Its First World Cup
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NEWSPAPER ROUNDUP
White House: Berwick recess appointment key to 'move forward'
NRA takes flak for ties with left
Jesse Jackson: Cavs owner sees Lebron James as 'runaway slave'
Liberals analyze their Obama 'despair'
Democratic governors worried about Obama's lawsuit against Arizona
Holder hints of second lawsuit against Arizona
General sees drop in IED attacks by year's end
Women's groups press for passage of international anti-violence-against-women bill
Lawmakers tuck their earmark requests in obscure corners of their Web sites
COMMENTARY
The Useless U.N.
By Rich Galen
On March 26, 2010, North Korea sank a South Korean naval vessel sank in the waters off the western coast of the Korean peninsula. North Korea denied any responsibility for the sinking, of course, and it took the United Nations from March 26 to July 9 to negotiate a statement which condemned the sinking of the naval vessel but, in spite of overwhelming evidence, refused to condemn the country that launched the attack. The United Nations is a great idea -- on paper. In reality it is worse than useless, because it allows rogue nations like North Korea to commit an act of war and get away with it.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Fwd: Today's Headlines Monday, July 12, 2010 New Financial Regulations Create Diversity Czars for All Federal Financial Regulators
Fwd: National Security Update – “The New START Treaty: It’s Enough to Make You Go Ballistic”
Issue in Depth:
The New START Treaty
Dueling op-eds last week by Senator John Kerry (D-MA) and former Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA) have brought the debate over the new START Treaty back to center stage. After ten hearings in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee it has become abundantly clear that this treaty is the wrong course for U.S. national security policy. It puts Russia on par with the U.S. as a nuclear power as if we were back in the days of the Cold War. More concerning, is the reduction in our ability to track and verify the Russian nuclear arsenal. Under this treaty, both the number and types of on-the-ground inspections will decrease compared to the original START Treaty. This will greatly reduce our knowledge of current and future plans regarding Russia's nuclear program. Most worrisome is the fact this treaty, despite administration claims otherwise, will impose restrictions on the U.S. missile defense system. Please see our most recent research on the new START Treaty in this week's National Security Update.
Latest Research:The Heritage Foundation: New START is a Non-Starter
With Herculean-like effort, the Obama Administration continues to insist that the New START treaty between the United States and Russia will not limit U.S. ballistic missile defense or the strategic options available to the President. However, numerous limitations and other problematic issues have continued to be exposed throughout the treaty.The Heritage Foundation: New START: Potemkin Village Verification
An assessment by the New START Working Group concludes that New START's verification measures are less rigorous than in its predecessor treaty, simply called START. This is particularly worrisome because as deployed U.S. strategic nuclear warheads come down under New START, national security demands that verification become more, not less, reliable.The Heritage Foundation: Another Limit Imposed by the New START Treaty
By alluding to the New START accountable first stages, General O'Reilly's statement inadvertently implies that the treaty imposes additional specific limitations on the U.S. missile defense program—restrictions that so far have not received adequate attention by some U.S. Senators.The Heritage Foundation: President Obama Should Give the Senate Access to the Negotiating History of New START
Ambiguous language on strategic missile defense in the preamble of the recently signed strategic arms reduction treaty (New START) has prompted some Senators to request access to the negotiation records for the treaty. However, the Obama Administration and Democrat Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have denied all such requests, claiming precedent for not providing such access.More Blogs:
The Foundry: Fact Checking the Fact Checker: A Response to Senator Kerry
Senator Kerry (D–MA) penned an op-ed in the Washington Post making the case that ratification of the New START Treaty is in the best interest of U.S. national security. His article is in response to former Governor Mitt Romney's (R–MA) recent op-ed calling the treaty Obama's biggest foreign policy mistake.The Foundry: Five Reasons to Hate New START
Tim Starks recently penned a piece for Congressional Quarterly titled "Republicans Take Pause at START Accord's Missile Defense Implications." His bottom line: "No matter how often Democrats or Obama administration witnesses try to sway them, Republicans continue to express doubts about whether a new arms treaty would constrain U.S. missile defense plans." Who can blame them?The Foundry: Guys with all the Right Stuff
Eleven members of the Senate Armed Services Committee released a letter to the chairman and ranking member of the Committee, Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) in anticipation of the hearings on the New START Treaty.
More Events: July 20, 2010, 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
Location: Washington, DC
The Heritage Foundation: Stopping Terrorists at the Front Door: How the Visa Waiver Program Enhances U.S. Security
Join us as panelists Marc Frey and C. Stewart Verdery, Jr. discuss the security benefits as well as the future of the Visa Waiver Program.
July 29, 2010, 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Location: Washington, DC
The Heritage Foundation: Skating on Stilts: Why We Aren't Stopping Tomorrow's Terrorism
Drawing on his experience, former Homeland Security official Stewart A. Baker argues for building prudent new security measures around these key information networks.The Heritage Foundation | 214 Massachusetts Ave NE, Washington, DC 20002 | 202.546.4400
Fwd: Morning Bell: Oil Spill Response is "Stuck on Stupid"
07/12/2010
Oil Spill Response is "Stuck on Stupid"
If you only listened to President Obama, you wouldn't even know an oil spill is occurring in the Gulf. He hasn't spoken publicly about the oil spill since June 22 when he announced it was on a laundry list of items discussed at a cabinet meeting. Before that, on June 16, he spoke briefly after negotiating his secret liability deal with BP. Other than those two instances, the president hasn't spent another public moment focusing on the spill since he began fighting the "battle" against "the worst environmental disaster America has ever faced" from the Oval Office four weeks ago.
The media not only haven't asked him a question about the crisis, they have been complicit in its degradation, allowing the president to ignore the plight of his fellow Americans without journalistic oversight. In less than two weeks, we'll hit Day 100, and the media will regain focus for the arbitrary and news-friendly date, but what will they cover on Day 101? And imagine BP manages to cap the leak – as we all pray occurs – without the streaming video of oil gushing, how much attention will the national media and the president give to the remaining environmental and economic crisis?
The Heritage Foundation sent a team of experts to Louisiana last week to see first-hand the crisis and the coordinated response. Based on earlier reports, our expectations were low. However, the federal government's involvement turned out to be so much worse.
Fwd: Energy & Environment Update: Heritage Visits the Gulf
When it comes to the oil spill, the Obama administration continues to offer no visible signs that they are taking it seriously. Just last week, their big announcement was that First Lady Michelle Obama would visit the region, soon, in the next couple weeks, maybe mid-July. The attitude of this White House is clear – 'we don't care'.
To see for ourselves the potential damage of their inattention, we sent a team of energy, environment, homeland security and response experts to the Gulf. Within a few hours of landing in Louisiana, it was evident; the federal government is simply asleep at the switch when it comes to responding to this disaster. Our team was in Baton Rouge getting briefed by the National Guard, talking to officials in St. Bernards and Lafourche parishes, touring Port Fourchon, Grand Isle and more. Click below and check out the links to the side to see what the Heritage experts found.
>> Click here to read the full report
For information on cap and trade, visit Heritage's Rapid Response page, which features research, commentary, blog posts, charts and additional policy resources.
Tap into your network on Facebook and invite your friends and family to join The Heritage Foundation as we educate more Americans about the dangers of a cap-and-trade system that will tax most forms of energy. Get started today at NoEnergyTax.com.
The Heritage Foundation | 214 Massachusetts Ave NE, Washington, DC 20002 | 202.546.4400
