Fwd: CNSNews.com E-Brief

Today's Headlines Friday, February 5, 2010

Advertisement - Immigration Reform… Should the U.S. follow Arizona's lead? PersonalLiberty.com, America's #1 news site for independent-minded individuals is conducting an urgent immigration poll. We want to know if you think America should follow Arizona's lead when it comes to immigration reform. The results of the poll will be available to you after you submit your vote and we'll also share the poll results with major media outlets across the country. Thousands will vote, so take a moment right now to stand up and be counted... your opinion matters! Cast Your Vote! Hoyer: 'I Don't Think TEA Party Is Racist'; But House Dem Leader Not Sure 'Who the TEA Party Is' (CNSNews.com) - House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Tuesday that he does not think that the Tea Party is racist, but admitted that he also does not know "who the Tea Party is."... Brownback: Obama's Pick to Run Medicare, Medicaid 'Not a Person Who Should Be Appointed to This Job' (CNSNews.com) - Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) told CNSNews.com that Dr. Donald Berwick, who President Barack Obama recess-appointed to run the Center for Medicare and Medicaid, is "not a person who should be appointed" to the job... Obama Administration's Actions in Auto Bailout Added to Unemployment, Audit Says Washington (CNSNews.com) – The Obama administration's policies in steering the auto bailout drove unemployment up, according to an audit by the Office of Special Inspector General for the Troubled Assets Relief Program (SIGTARP)... Ban Ki-Moon in the Firing Line Over Leadership, Reforms (CNSNews.com) – The question of whether Ban Ki-moon will serve a second term as U.N. secretary-general is set to generate new debate, after the second leak of an internal document scathingly critical of the South Korean diplomat in less than a year... British PM Doesn't Plan Full Inquiry of Lockerbie Bomber Release or Alleged BP Connection Washington (CNSNews.com) – British Prime Minister David Cameron does not think there should be an inquiry into the release of the Lockerbie bomber and also does not believe that BP Global played a role in lobbying Scottish officials to free the terrorist... CNSNEWS.COM VIDEO Hatch: 'All Kinds of Pressure' by Democrats Not to Hold Hearings on Berwick Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), a member of the Finance Committee, said there is "all kinds of pressure" by the Democratic Caucus on Finance Chairman Max Baucus not to call in President Obama's recess-appointee to run Medicare and Medicaid, Dr. Donald Berwick, for hearings, which are constitutionally mandated.   OTHER CNSNEWS.COM HEADLINES A Lockerbie Timeline: From the Murder of 270 People in the Flight 103 Bombing through the Release of the Killer on 'Compassionate' Grounds Obama Job Approval Lowest Among 'Conservative' States Hatch: There's 'All Kinds of Pressure' by Democratic Caucus Not to Have Hearings on Berwick Supreme Court Police Told School Teacher It's 'Definitely Contrary to the Law' to Pray on Supreme Court Steps, Says Alliance Defense Fund Census Officials in New York Instructed Workers to Falsify Questionnaires, Says Inspector General 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!  COMMENTARY How Financial Reform Discriminates -- Unless Your Daughter Goes to Wellesley By Terence P. Jeffrey If your child is the correct gender and has the right grades, and you are poor enough to get financial aid or rich enough to pay the $49,898 in annual fees, your daughter can attend Hillary Clinton's alma mater of Wellesley and put herself in position to capitalize on a special provision in the financial reform bill that just passed Congress that mandates that the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve banks and all other federal financial regulatory agencies recruit people like her as workers... Making Americans Sick By Walter E. Williams Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius promised, "The U.S. government plans to increase funding to battle obesity and views healthcare reform as an opportunity to encourage better eating habits." Rather than spending money and attacking the food industry, the secretary and others concerned with the health of Americans ought to go after the U.S. Congress. Let's look at it... Dealergate: Destroying Jobs in the Name of 'Shared Sacrifice' By Michelle Malkin Everything you need to know about the nightmare of government-controlled businesses can be found in a damning new inspector general's report on Dealergate...

 

 

Fwd: Morning Bell: The Special Relationship Beyond BP

07/21/2010 The Special Relationship Beyond BP British Prime Minister David Cameron visited the White House for the first time as Prime Minister yesterday. At a time when the United States is engaged in a war in Afghanistan, when Iran is on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons, and while the world economy is teetering through a weak recovery, one would hope our press corps would focus on lasting issues of physical and economic security. Unfortunately the press conference and the media coverage focused exclusively on the Scottish government's release of the 1988 Lockerbie bomber and whether BP was involved in the decision. This must have been especially galling to Cameron, since as leader of the opposition party in Britain at the time, Cameron objected to the terrorist's release when it happened. As Cameron said yesterday, there is "violent agreement" between him and President Barack Obama on the issue, adding: "It was the biggest murder in British history, and there was no business letting him out of prison." Unfortunately Cameron parroted President Obama on another key issue as well, telling BBC News about Afghanistan: "People in Britain should understand we're not going to be there in five years' time, in 2015, with combat troops or large numbers because I think it's important to give people an end date by which we won't be continuing in that way." This echoes President Obama's mistaken decision to identify July 2011 as the beginning of U.S. withdrawal from the region. As long as we are being frank, we ought to acknowledge that the biggest problem with the President's entire strategy was setting that artificial timeline for withdrawal. That led our military leaders to question the strategy in Afghanistan and put tremendous, unnecessary pressure on our armed forces to accomplish the task at hand. It also gave a psychological advantage to the Taliban, who will convince their recruits that the American will is lacking and thus they can just "wait us out."

Fwd: Why We Honor the Tea Party Movement

New Common Sense Applying First Principles to the Issues of Today At Heritage How do Heritage experts apply First Principles to economic policy? Let's ask William Beach, Heritage's Director of the Center for Data Analysis. What makes America Exceptional? Around the Country Does science give us definitive policy solutions? What is the future of American Free Enterprise? Is ordered liberty possible in Haiti? Check Out Houston Baptist University's The City, a free journal on faith, learning, and the critical issues of the times. Who is America's Ruling Class? Angelo Codevilla, a Senior Fellow at the Claremont Institute, explains its unique origin and influences. Quick Thoughts The Senate Judiciary Committee votes today on the latest nomination to the Supreme Court. Tony Blankley asks who they will choose: Abraham Lincoln or Elena Kagan? America is not in the heyday of the Progressives and the New Dealers. Michael Barone argues that we are a republic of property owners. What We're Reading: Decline and Fall: Europe's Slow Motion Suicide by Bruce S. Thornton. Watch his Heritage lecture.   Reclaiming America: Why We Honor the Tea Party Movement Remember when Conservatism was supposed to be dead, and America was primed for a New New Deal? Well, a funny thing happened on the road to the latest iteration of progressive liberalism—The Tea Party Movement. The Tea Party Movement has been one of the most significant citizen efforts in our times to revive America's founding principles. Across the country, people who had before never been engaged in politics—people like Billie Tucker of The First Coast Tea Party—began to attend rallies with homemade signs begging for fiscal common sense and a return to constitutional government. These individuals were not organized by one person or group. Their motive was not one policy issue or partisan agenda. Instead, it was a deepening commitment and advocacy of the truths of the Declaration of Independence and the basic principles of the United States Constitution. The Tea Party Movement has been much maligned and rarely honored for their activities. Until now. At The Heritage Foundation's 2010 Resource Bank, the Tea Party Movement received the Henry Salvatori Prize for American Citizenship, which is annually given to American citizens who uphold and advance America's principles, embody the virtues of character and mind that animated America's Founders, and exemplify the spirit of independence and entrepreneurial citizenship in the United States. The funding from the Salvatori Prize has been used to help meet the tremendous demand for educational materials from tea party organizations across the country. So far, 265 Tea Party Movement leaders from every state and the District of Columbia have received a collection of First Principles resources, monographs, and books: including copies of We Still Hold These Truths: Rediscovering Our Principles, Reclaiming Our Future, The Heritage Guide to the Constitution, and How to Read the Federalist Papers. An even greater number of groups has received bulk copies of the pocket Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and Heritage fact sheets to distribute at their events. Like their 18th century brethren, today's Tea Party Movement faces an impetuous vortex of government that everywhere extends its sphere of activity. But, as Matthew Spalding reminds us in his address, "Reclaiming America: Why We Honor the Tea Party Movement," there is a key difference between those early patriots and the movement today: "Those early patriots had to establish their independence and to start anew. Our task is different. It is not about fixed bayonets but fixed principles; not about bullets but ballots. Our task is not to overthrow; it is not revolution; it is renewal and restoration of those self-evident truths of constitutional government at the heart of America." Keep Reading about Why Heritage Honors the Tea Party Movement                        Forward this message to a Friend!   Quote of the Week                            Every child in America should be acquainted with his own country. He should read books that furnish him with ideas that will be useful to him in life and practice. As soon as he opens his lips, he should rehearse the history of his own country; he should lisp the praise of liberty, and of those illustrious heroes and statesmen, who have wrought a revolution in her favor. ~ Noah Webster, On the Education of Youth in America For more quotes, visit westillholdthesetruths.org About The Heritage Foundation Founded in 1973, The Heritage Foundation is a research and educational institute -- a think tank -- whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense. The Heritage Foundation | 214 Massachusetts Ave NE, Washington, DC 20002 | 202.546.4400

Fwd: Morning Bell: White House Admits Obamacare's Individual Mandate is a Tax

07/20/2010 White House Admits Obamacare's Individual Mandate is a Tax Throughout his presidential campaign, then-candidate Barack Obama promised the American people: "If you're a family that's making $250,000 a year or less, you will see no increase in your taxes." After he became President, Barack Obama reiterated that pledge, promising the American people in his September 9th health care press conference: "The middle-class will realize greater security, not higher taxes." But Obamacare does contain tax hikes. Tons of them. From taxes on tanning beds to taxes on employment and investments, Obamacare is a certified job-killing machine. None of these taxes touches the lives of every American as closely as the individual mandate to purchase health insurance. For the first time in American history, Obamacare forces all Americans to purchase a product or face sanction from the Internal Revenue Service. This is clearly a tax, as pointed out by ABC News' George Stephanopoulos during a September 20th interview with the President himself. In an exchange that can only be described as "Clintonesque" Stephanopoulos pressed President Obama to admit his individual mandate was a tax. But President Obama refused to acknowledge reality and denied it. Stephanopoulos was forced to read the definition of "tax" straight from Merriam Webster's Dictionary. But even then Obama refused to come clean: "George, the fact that you looked up Merriam's Dictionary, the definition of tax increase, indicates to me that you're stretching a little bit right now. … Nobody considers that a tax increase." Well nobody but President Barack Obama's Justice Department.