HEADLINES

Monday, December 13, 2010

Chinese Company Seeking $450M from U.S. Energy Dept. Stimulus Fund

from New Zeal: Security Risk? More Evidence of Mary Jo Kilroy's ...


Chinese Company Seeking $450M from U.S. Energy Dept. Stimulus Fund: "Major donors to Harry Reid and Barack Obama's campaigns are backing a Chinese company, A-Power Energy Generation Systems. A-Power is a small Chinese manufacturer, founded in 2007 as China’s interest in 'green energy' was beginning to take off.

Harry Reid with CEO of A-Power and USW vice president on the campaign trail

MSNBC reports. Yes you read that right, MSNBC reports,

The wind farm, first announced more than a year ago, would consist of 300 2-megawatt wind turbines, each perched atop a 26-story-tall steel tower and spinning three blades — each half the length of a football field. The farm would span three counties and 36,000 acres in West Texas land best known for its oil. Dubbed the Spinning Star wind farm, the project’s 600-megawatt capacity is, theoretically, enough to power 180,000 American homes and would be the sixth-largest wind farm in the country.
It is being planned by an unusual joint partnership between the U.S. Renewable Energy Group, a Dallas investment firm with strong ties to Washington and the Democratic Party, and A-Power Energy Generation Systems, an upstart Chinese supplier of wind turbines. Filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission indicate the Chinese are bringing financing and the turbines.
Besides the $450 million stimulus grant, A-Power’s SEC filings indicate the joint-venture also will pursue a Department of Energy-backed loan guarantee.

All too often the response from many who call themselves conservatives is, 'it will increase employment and help business, so stop complaining. Sure, it's not ideal to have the Government injecting capital to get the venture off the ground, but in the end it will be best for the economy.' But as I pointed out in a recent post, when we allow the Government to get involved with business deals, corruption is never too far away. And inevitably, market-failures will be propped up with tax-payer dollars, leaving struggling, hard-working business owners even worse off.

But it gets better. Key backers of this wind farm initiative are themselves major backers of the Democratic Party.

The investment group’s public face is often Cappy McGarr, a wealthy Texas philanthropist, investor and longtime fixture in Democratic politics, who has given heavily to Democratic candidates across the country and was an early backer of President Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. Joining McGarr in Dallas is Ed Cunningham, a former executive for several large Western entertainment companies in China, a 2002 Democratic senatorial candidate and a former member of Obama’s national finance committee.
Two registered lobbyists with a long history of involvement in Democratic politics, G. John O’Hanlon and Moses Boyd, are the group’s anchors in Washington. O’Hanlon has been a party operative since the 1980s — a protégé of Democratic heavyweight Terry McAuliffe — and has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Democratic causes. Boyd is a former senior Democratic Capitol Hill staffer turned lobbyist.
All told, these four and their spouses have given more than $1.8 million in campaign donations since 1990, with McGarr and his wife accounting for more than half of that. “That would place them among the top 100 donors of hard money overall...”
We had a very similar situation in New Zealand where Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings was filmed. Warner Brothers began preparation for filming of the NZ $670M two-part Hobbit movie, however unreasonable demands from New Zealand's actor's union caused Warner Brothers to reconsider shooting in New Zealand. However Prime Minister John Key met with Warner Brothers, agreeing to offset their costs by NZ $30M, and actually passing a law through Parliament to enable the film to be made here.

And in other Hobbit news, a casting agent for the movie was fired recently when she told a Hobbit wannabe of Pakistani heritage that her skin tone wasn't light enough. What next? A female seeks to audition for the part of Bilbo and then public outrage when she is turned away?
"

Alabama House committee votes to limit lobbying

from WVTM NBC13 Birmingham


Alabama House committee votes to limit lobbying: "A House committee has voted to put tougher spending limits on lobbyists and the people who hire them to influence public officials."

CNBC: Tax bill hits 60-vote level in Senate, enough to advance; roll call continues, vote not final - More on CNBC and CNBC.com

CNBC: Tax bill hits 60-vote level in Senate, enough to advance; roll call continues, vote not final - More on CNBC and CNBC.com

Breaking: Michael Steele To Run For 2nd Term As RNC Chairman

from Gateway Pundit

Breaking: Michael Steele To Run For 2nd Term As RNC Chairman: "

Fox News is reporting that Michael Steele will run again as RNC Chairman.


.

"

Judge Rules Obamacare Mandate Goes Beyond Letter and Spirit of the Constitution

from The Foundry: Conservative Policy News.


Judge Rules Obamacare Mandate Goes Beyond Letter and Spirit of the Constitution: "In the most significant decision to date involving the numerous challenges to Obamacare, a district court today ruled in favor of the Commonwealth of Virginia’s challenge, and declared the individual mandate portion of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act unconstitutional. The fact that the decision is based upon cross motions for summary judgment means [...]"

Audio: Chilling Message From Suicide Bomber to the Swedes - "Your Children Must Die"

from theblogprof



Audio: Chilling Message From Suicide Bomber to the Swedes - "Your Children Must Die": "Everyone must die.. for drawing a cartoon:
There you have it, read readers: the Religion of Peace. Related from HotAir: Explosions in Stockholm kill one, injure two
"

Michelle Obama on Child Nutrition: ‘We Can’t Just Leave It Up To The Parents’

from theblogprof


Michelle Obama on Child Nutrition: ‘We Can’t Just Leave It Up To The Parents’: "
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. -C.S. Lewis
Obama's bitter half is a food Nazi:
Can't 'leave it up to the parents?' What else is on that list? Totalitarian liberals already secretly take teens to get abortions but won't allow an aspirin in schools without parental permission. I don't what these people are more - evil or stupid. I'm hoping for the latter. More from Politico: Michelle Obama has new warning on obesity
“Military leaders … tell us that when more than one in four young people are unqualified for military service because of their weight,” the first lady says in the prepared remarks, “childhood obesity isn’t just a public health threat, it’s not just an economic threat, it’s a national security threat as well.'
A national security threat? Good freaking grief, woman! Get a grip!
"

Top Republicans Cantor and DeMint Weigh In on Court’s Federal Mandate Decision

from The Gateway Pundit


Top Republicans Cantor and DeMint Weigh In on Court’s Federal Mandate Decision: "

Top Republicans Rep. Eric Cantor and Senator Jim DeMint on the court’s decision today that declared Obamacare unconstitutional.

Jim DeMint said today’s ruling was the beginning of the end for Obamacare.

USA Today reported:


Top Republicans say a Virginia court’s ruling striking down a key part of President Obama’s health care law helps their push to repeal the measure.


Rep. Eric Cantor, the incoming House majority leader, says it’s now clear that the law to give more Americans health insurance coverage is unconstitutional.


“We must not burden our states, employers and families with the costs and uncertainty created by this unconsitutional law,” said Cantor, R-Va., who vowed that Republicans in the House will push for the law’s repeal when the party takes control in January.


Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., another opponent of the health care law, praised the court for siding with Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. DeMint said the Constitution does not give Congress or the president the right to require Americans to have health insurance.


“Today’s ruling should signal the beginning of the end for Obamacare,” DeMint said.

"

FLOTUS on Deciding What Kids Eat: “We Can’t Just Leave It Up to the Parents”

from The Gateway Pundit


FLOTUS on Deciding What Kids Eat: “We Can’t Just Leave It Up to the Parents”: "

CNS News reported:

Speaking at Monday’s signing ceremony for the “Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act”–a law that will subsidize and regulate what children eat before school, at lunch, after school, and during summer vacations in federally funded school-based feeding programs–First Lady Michelle Obama said of deciding what American children should eat:

“We can’t just leave it up to the parents.”


The law gives the federal government for the first time the authority to regulate the food sold at local schools, including in vending machines.



“When our kids spend so much of their time each day in school, and when many children get up to half their daily calories from school meals, it’s clear that we as a nation have a responsibility to meet as well. We can’t just leave it up to the parents. I think that parents have a right to expect that their efforts at home won’t be undone each day in the school cafeteria or in the vending machine in the hallway. I think that our parents have a right to expect that their kids will be served fresh, healthy food that meets high nutritional standards.”

"

Despite Record Freeze… John Kerry Says Now Is the Time to ‘Get Back In the Game” on Manmade Climate Change

from The Gateway Pundit


Despite Record Freeze… John Kerry Says Now Is the Time to ‘Get Back In the Game” on Manmade Climate Change: "

Southern Florida is experiencing record low temperatures this week.



Freeze Warnings were issued in western parts of Broward and Miami-Dade Tuesday and Wednesday when thermometer reading were about 20 degrees below average. (NBC Miami)


The Great Lakes region is buried in snow.

The Midwest is in a deep freeze.


But, John F. Kerry wants the US to get “back in the game” on manmade global warming junk science.

The Hill reported:


Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) said Sunday that the modest international climate change agreement signed in Cancun, Mexico, this weekend is a reminder that the United States must “get back in the game” to reduce its domestic greenhouse gas emissions.


Kerry, who co-authored a climate bill that stalled in the Senate this year, said last week that he expects a “huge energy debate” in the Senate early next year.


In a statement on the Cancun climate talks Sunday, he called on his colleagues to reject efforts by Republicans and some Democrats to block the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Republicans have vowed to target that agency, and Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) has proposed a two-year delay of EPA’s climate authority.


Kerry also said lawmakers should “make sure that climate policy is shaped by science, not political games.” The comment comes as a number of House Republicans, who are preparing to take over the chamber next year, have said they would like to see hearings on climate science.


John Kerry is a far left dunce.

"

Video Evidence: Community Organizers that Got Obama Elected Are Geeky ‘Tools’! Worst Song Parody Performance Ever at RootsCamp 2010

from The Blaze - Stories


Video Evidence: Community Organizers that Got Obama Elected Are Geeky ‘Tools’! Worst Song Parody Performance Ever at RootsCamp 2010: "


Editor’s note: At the beginning of the song the video freezes for awhile. Stick with it.


Here’s the original SNL song that is being parodied. Content warning applies.

"

Huckabee on Obama: ‘Amateurish’, ‘Head in the Sand’

from The Blaze - Stories


Huckabee on Obama: ‘Amateurish’, ‘Head in the Sand’: "

Former Arkansas governor, and possible 2012 presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee has some thoughts on President Obama’s angry press conference last week: he’s “amateurish” and he has his “head in the sand.”


“The most bizarre part of the whole process was watching President Obama self-destruct at the podium yesterday,” Huckabee told the National Journal in an interview published Monday.


“I was just stunned – I really couldn’t believe that a man that was elected president was as amateurish as he was, and essentially launched from the podium at some of his own, taking aim and mowing down everybody in D.C. and walking away having not understood that he just lost a lot of people,” he said.


He later went on to say that he thinks the president has his “head in the sand” when it comes to judging the will of the American people.


“He is a very ideologically left-of-center person who wants to take the country in a very dramatic direction, and I don‘t think that’s what people wanted,” Huckabee said.


(H/T: CNN)


Read the entire interview.

"

BREAKING: Federal judge STRIKES DOWN OBAMACARE!

from theblogprof


BREAKING: Federal judge STRIKES DOWN OBAMACARE!: "UPDATE: The video:
HELL! YES! From the AP: Federal judge in Va. strikes down health care law
A federal judge in Virginia has declared the Obama administration's health care reform law unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson is the first judge to rule against the law, which has been upheld by two others in Virginia and Michigan.

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli filed the lawsuit challenging the law's requirement that citizens buy health insurance or pay a penalty starting in 2014.

He argues the federal government doesn't have the constitutional authority to impose the requirement.

The U.S. Justice Department and opponents of the health care law agree that the U.S. Supreme Court will have the final word.
That's true. But 1) the US Constitution does not allow for Congress to FORCE people to buy anything, and 2) if the madate goes down, the entire law falls through the floor. From The Volokh Conspiracy via Instapundit: White House Concedes Individual Mandate is Not Severable
"

Flashback: Pelosi Asked Where Constitution Authorizes Congress to Order Americans to Buy Health Care (Audio)

from The Gateway Pundit


Flashback: Pelosi Asked Where Constitution Authorizes Congress to Order Americans to Buy Health Care (Audio): "

Do you remember this?

In October CNS Newsasked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) where the Constitution authorized Congress to order Americans to buy health insurance–a mandate included in both the House and Senate versions of the health care bill.


In typical fashion, Pelosi dismissed the question by saying:

“Are you serious? Are you serious?”




Yes, Nancy he was serious.


So was U.S. District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson when ruled today that the federal mandate in Obamacare is unconstitutional.

"

Fwd: News Alert: Federal Judge Invalidates Key Provision of Health Care Law

>

> Breaking News Alert
> The New York Times
> Mon, December 13, 2010 -- 12:24 PM ET
> -----
>
> Federal Judge Invalidates Key Provision of Health Care Law
>
> A federal district judge in Virginia ruled on Monday that the
> keystone provision in the Obama health care law is
> unconstitutional, becoming the first court in the country to
> invalidate any part of the sprawling act and insuring that
> appellate courts will receive contradictory opinions from
> below.
>
> Judge Henry E. Hudson declined to freeze implementation of
> the law pending appeal, meaning that there should be no
> immediate effect of his decision. But the ruling is likely to
> create confusion among the public and further destabilize
> political support for the law.
>
> Judge Hudson wrote that the law's central requirement that
> most Americans obtain health insurance exceeds the regulatory
> authority granted to Congress under the Commerce Clause of
> the Constitution. The insurance mandate is central because
> insurers say they cannot afford treatment for expensive
> chronic conditions unless healthy people have policies as
> well.
>
> Read More:
> http://www.nytimes.com?emc=na
>
>
> About This E-Mail
> You received this message because you are signed up to receive breaking news
> alerts from NYTimes.com.
>
> To unsubscribe, change your e-mail address or to sign up for daily headlines
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>
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> 620 Eighth Ave.
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>
> Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company
>
>

Federal judge in Virginia declares Obama administration's health care law unconstitutional


Unique Roofing

Federal judge in Virginia declares Obama administration's health care law unconstitutional



By LARRY O'DELL | Associated Press
Story posted 2010.12.13 at 11:14 AM CST

19 News Now News

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A federal judge in Virginia has declared the Obama administration's health care reform law unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson is the first judge to rule against the law, which has been upheld by two others in Virginia and Michigan.

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli filed the lawsuit challenging the law's requirement that citizens buy health insurance or pay a penalty starting in 2014.

He argues the federal government doesn't have the constitutional authority to impose the requirement.

Other lawsuits are pending, including one filed by 20 states in a Florida court. Virginia is not part of that lawsuit.

The U.S. Justice Department and opponents of the health care law agree that the U.S. Supreme Court will have the final word.


Story posted 2010.12.13 at 11:14 AM CST


© 2004-2010 LSN, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

..



Sent from my iPhone

Liberal groups ready to take anonymous donations, disregarding Obama’s campaign rhetoric

from The Daily Caller - Breaking News, Opinion, Research, and Entertainment


Liberal groups ready to take anonymous donations, disregarding Obama’s campaign rhetoric: "Liberal groups ready to take anonymous donations, disregarding Obama's campaign rhetoric"

Virginia Judge Declares Health Care Mandate Unconsitutional

from Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion


Virginia Judge Declares Health Care Mandate Unconsitutional: "A Judge in Virginia has held the health care mandate to be unconstitutional.



More details to follow.



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"

BreakingNews: A federal judge in Virginia has found part of the Obama care law to be unconstitutional - NBC

from Breaking News (BreakingNews) on Twitter

BreakingNews: A federal judge in Virginia has found part of the Obama care law to be unconstitutional - NBC

Once Again… Media Ignores Obama’s Horrific Lie About GOP Wanting to Raise Taxes on Middle Class

from The Gateway Pundit


Once Again… Media Ignores Obama’s Horrific Lie About GOP Wanting to Raise Taxes on Middle Class: "

Once again, President Barack Obama repeated his outrageous lie that Republicans want to raise taxes on the middle class during a conference call last week.

USA Today reported:


In a conference call with political supporters, Obama said: “We are going to go right back at Republicans in showing why the things that they wanted in this compromise don’t make sense.”


One of those fights will be over the very thing that some Democrats are angry about: The two-year extension of George W. Bush-era tax cuts for the nation’s wealthiest Americans.


“When they expire in two years, I will fight to end them,” Obama said. “Just as I suspect the Republican Party may fight to end the middle-class tax cuts that I’ve championed and that they’ve opposed.”


When have Republicans opposed tax cuts for the middle class or anyone?

This guy is horribly dishonest. And, of course, the state-run media just continues to let him get away with it.


Fortunately, there are a few Republicans who are not afraid to challenge Obama on his lies.


Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) corrected the president after he made this same outrageous statement last week:


“He said for instance…that Republicans want to end middle class tax cuts. I thought ‘are you kidding me? The Republicans want to end middle class tax cuts?’ He said that it’s his job to grow the economy. He made one kinda odd statement after the other. And he said Republicans oppose various credits for the middle class. Those are flat out lies!”


Via FOX Nation:

Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com

It really is a shame that we have a president who is so careless and dishonest with his talking points.

"

Obamacare Heads to Court This Week

from - Big Government

Obamacare Heads to Court This Week: "

While the new Congress deliberates over ways to repeal or defund the Obama Administration’s “healthcare reform” law, twenty states and the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), have filed suit in federal court arguing that the law is unconstitutional and should be struck down immediately. This is the largest of several legal challenges to Obamacare across the country.



Lawyers for NFIB and the states will appear in a Pensacola, Florida federal court this Thursday, December 16th. They will ask U.S. District Court Judge Roger Vinson to rule that the heart of the law – and “individual mandate” that obligates private citizens to obtain health insurance whether they want it or not – is unconstitutional. NFIB and the states will accordingly ask that Judge Vinson to strike down Obamacare in its entirety.


The Constitution does not allow Congress to force Americans to purchase a product solely because they are alive and the federal government’s claim of such authority contradicts more than two hundred years of Supreme Court precedent. Yet the individual mandate, which would obligate private citizens to obtain health insurance whether they want it or not, does just that.


Counsel for NFIB and the states will make the following arguments:


1) The Individual Mandate in Unconstitutional


Under the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, Congress has the power to regulate people when they engage in an economic activity that affects interstate commerce.


The Obama Administration argues that choosing not to purchase something (like a health insurance policy) is somehow an “activity” that affects the economy. The federal government’s theory that a decision to do nothing is “activity” that may be regulated by Congress under the Commerce Clause is unprecedented. The Administration’s lawyers have been unable to identify a single pre-Obamacare decision upholding a law that forces a private individual to enter into a market for goods or services against their will.



NFIB and the states believe that the Administration’s position stretches the Commerce Power beyond recognition – and beyond the scope of the Constitution, which grants Congress only limited and enumerated powers.


NFIB and the states will urge Judge Vinson to rule that the Commerce Clause empowers Congress to regulate only economic activity and does not allow Congress to regulate individuals’ private decisions not to participate in a market. Otherwise, there would be virtually no limits on what Congress could force individuals to do. Laws forcing us to join gyms and buy GM cars would be possible and probable if there is no constitutional back stop to Congress’ Commerce Power. And that is a frightening thought.


2) Severability


Recognizing that the Individual Mandate may well be struck down as unconstitutional, Obamacare’s defenders insist that even if the mandate falls, the rest of the law should remain intact. But Congress intentionally decided not to include a severability clause in the healthcare reform law. A severability clause provides that the balance of a law will remain valid if a particular provision is ruled unconstitutional. Congress stripped the severability clause from earlier drafts of the healthcare reform bill because its supporters knew the constitutionality of the individual mandate was suspect. They took a calculated risk that the courts would not want to overturn such a politically charged piece of legislation. Congress’ attempt to play chicken with the courts should backfire.


Without a severability clause, any judge who strikes down the individual mandate also has the option of striking down all, or some, of the rest of the law, if he concludes that Congress would not have enacted the rest of its provisions except as part of a package with the mandate.


We expect Judge Vinson’s decision to be issued early in 2011. At the district court level, there are several possible outcomes: Judge Vinson could strike down all of Obamacare or only some parts. He could, of course, also rule the law constitutional.


Much will be at stake in court this week: the ultimate outcome of this case will determine whether the federal government will remain one of the few and enumerated powers as the founding fathers intended and as is crucial to the liberty of us all.



"

Government Unions vs. Taxpayers

from - Big Government


Government Unions vs. Taxpayers: "

Governor Pawlenty in today’s Wall Street Journal:


When Americans think of organized labor, they might think of images like I saw growing up in a blue-collar meatpacking town: hard hats, work boots, tough conditions and gritty jobs. While I didn’t work in the slaughterhouses, I did become a union member when I worked at a grocery store to help put myself through school. I was grateful for the paycheck and proud of the work I did.


The rise of the labor movement in the early 20th century was a triumph for America’s working class. In an era of deep economic anxiety, unions stood up for hard-working but vulnerable families, protecting them from physical and economic exploitation.


Much has changed. The majority of union members today no longer work in construction, manufacturing or “strong back” jobs. They work for government, which, thanks to President Obama, has become the only booming “industry” left in our economy. Since January 2008 the private sector has lost nearly eight million jobs while local, state and federal governments added 590,000.



Federal employees receive an average of $123,049 annually in pay and benefits, twice the average of the private sector. And across the country, at every level of government, the pattern is the same: Unionized public employees are making more money, receiving more generous benefits, and enjoying greater job security than the working families forced to pay for it with ever-higher taxes, deficits and debt.


How did this happen? Very quietly. The rise of government unions has been like a silent coup, an inside job engineered by self-interested politicians and fueled by campaign contributions.


Public employee unions contribute mightily to the campaigns of liberal politicians ($91 million in the midterm elections alone) who vote to increase government pay and workers. As more government employees join the unions and pay dues, the union bosses pour ever more money and energy into liberal campaigns. The result is that certain states are now approaching default. Decades of overpromising and fiscal malpractice by state and local officials have created unfunded public employee benefit liabilities of more than $3 trillion.


Read the whole thing here.


"

Japan Shifts Military Posture to Defend Against Chinese Threat

from American Power


Japan Shifts Military Posture to Defend Against Chinese Threat: "I like it.

At New York Times, '
Japan to Shift Its Military Toward Threats From China':
TOKYO — In what would be a sweeping overhaul of its cold war-era defense strategy, Japan is about to release new military guidelines that will reduce its heavy armored and artillery forces pointed northward toward Russia in favor of creating more mobile units that can respond to China’s growing presence near its southernmost islands, Japanese newspapers reported Sunday.

The realignment comes as the United States is making new calls for Japan to increase its military role in eastern Asia in response to recent provocations by North Korea as well as China’s more assertive stance in the region.

The new defense strategy, likely to be released later this week, will call for greater integration of Japan’s armed forces with the United States military, the reports said. The reports did not give a source, but the fact that major newspapers carried the same information suggested they were based on a background briefing by government officials.

The new guidelines also call for acquiring new submarines and fighter jets, the reports said, and creating ground units that can be moved quickly by air in order to defend the southern islands, including disputed islands in the East China Sea that are also claimed by China and Taiwan. These disputed islands are known as the Senkakus in Japanese and the Diaoyu in Chinese.

Details of the realignment, which had been delayed a year by the landmark change of government in September 2009, have been leaking out since large joint military drills earlier this month between Japan and the United States that included the American aircraft carrier George Washington.
More at the link.

This is especially interesting since I've been blogging East Asian security issues. Japan issued some of the most forceful statements on the recent North Korean artillery attacks, for example. And this discussion of Japan's emerging posture reminds us of realists argument on the constraining and shaping forces of international power dynamics. China's growth is clearly triggering some strategic thinking in Tokyo, and the growth of Beijing's power --- combined with the ambiguity surrounding the intentions of the Chinese leadership --- is pushing Japan even tighter into its alliance with United States. I've written more often on regime change North Korea, and not to mention some reflections on China's influence on the peninsula, but I just saw this recent piece from Elizabeth Economy, and it makes Japan's moves look quite natural considering: '
The End of the 'Peaceful Rise'?'
"

Hip Hop Cupcakes

from American Power


Hip Hop Cupcakes: "Are racist.

Surprised?

Hardly: '
Duncan Hines Pulls Offensive 'Hip-Hop Cupcakes' Commercial.'

The offensive commercial. The horrors:

"

Pamela Geller, American Thinker: The Theft of Ground Zero

from Atlas Shrugs


Pamela Geller, American Thinker: The Theft of Ground Zero: "

Please read my latest article over at The Thinker. It is a very important argument that must be made. Forward it. Think about it. And join us tomorrow to protest the Ground Zero mosque at 12:45 pm in front of 250 Broadway. Bring signs and flags and love of country, respect for the fallen.



At zeroDecember 13, 2010


The Theft of Ground Zero By Pamela Geller

The most egregious aspect of the Ground Zero mosque controversy is something that people don't think or talk about: the incalculable theft involved in this second wave of the 9/11 attacks. These Islamic supremacists are grifting the system big time. And yet the biggest theft of all is one that everyone has overlooked.


The biggest theft of all is that they have stolen Ground Zero itself from America like thieves in the night. They have ripped it from our collective soul and national psyche.


Now, whenever anyone mentions Ground Zero, it has nothing to do with the largest attack ever on American soil. Whenever anyone speaks about Ground Zero now, it is never about the thousands of lives lost that day. It is never about the hundreds who jumped to their deaths because the alternative was worse. It is never about the horrified, terrified people on the planes who watched in indescribable horror as they crashed into these buildings to the wail of Allahu akbar.

Imam Rauf and Daisy Khan have stolen Ground Zero. They have kidnapped it. Hijacked it. Before these heartless Islamic supremacists declared their stealth jihad, Ground Zero was like Pearl Harbor or Antietam or Gettysburg: the site of a catastrophic loss of life through an unprecedented act of war. Ground Zero was the site of the largest attack on American soil in our history. Ground Zero was where we would mourn our dead. Ground Zero was where moms, dads, aunts, uncles, kids, construction workers, stockbrokers, waiters, postmen, and other ordinary Americans became the infantry -- soldiers without uniforms. Ground Zero was hallowed ground.


But no more. Not since these raiders came in the dark of night with their fifteen-story mega- mosque. They have succeeded in stealing our memory, our cherished remembrance of that horrible day. They stole Ground Zero. Before the advent of Daisy Khan and Feisal Abdul Rauf, Ground Zero was just that: it was September 11. But now Ground Zero is all about a mosque. It has morphed (like the Ground Zero mosque controversy itself) into an angst-ridden conflict about insensitivity toward Muslims, "backlash" against Muslims, and American attitudes toward Islam.


Now, Ground Zero is all about the earnest, unctuous, smug, and deceitful faces of Imam Rauf and Daisy Khan, and about their concern over imaginary "Islamophobia."

Remember also that Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf has been unmasked as a New Jersey slumlord. He just had his slum buildings placed in receivership despite getting taxpayer dollars to make repairs. Rauf snagged more than $2 million in public financing to renovate low-income apartments; he kept the money and never made the repairs. He took the money and forced good people to live with vermin and in dilapidated conditions.


Yet not once did any American media outlet ask him where all that money went.


There is more. Rauf and his wife Daisy listed their one-bedroom apartment as a mosque in order to conduct what appears to amount to tax fraud. Rauf sought "church status" -- to avoid paying taxes. He got the wildly valuable tax-exempt status for his Muslim organization after deceiving the IRS by claiming that as many as five hundred of its members prayed in that tiny one-bedroom apartment (which was also listed as Daisy's residence).


Meanwhile, we, the American people, fund Rauf's State Department junkets to terror states -- and now the Ground Zero mosque organizers want even more tax money. Yet Daisy Khan said recently on ABC News that "we don't want use taxpayer money." This was yet another outrageous lie. In fact, Daisy Khan and Imam Rauf may float public debt to raise the money for the Ground Zero mega-mosque . And outrageously, they have applied for a $5-million grant from the 9/11 fund to rebuild lower Manhattan. The language of morality is in such grave disorder today that it is Daisy Khan and Feisal Abdul Rauf who are lauded and venerated, revered, and respected, despite their long record of dishonesty and deceit. Rauf is even a nominee for Time Magazine's Person of the Year, while those few who dare speak about the real meaning of Ground Zero and why it disrespectful and dishonorable to build a giant mosque there are kicked to the curb like so much rubble -- to paraphrase Rauf's description of the human remains at the World Trade Center.


How dare they?

How dare they steal our children and our parents and our loved ones, those we lost on 9/11, from us?

And why haven't our political elites and our media shamed them into crawling back under the rock from which they emerged?


"

Pain At The Pump, Where’s The Media?

from Big Journalism


Pain At The Pump, Where’s The Media?: "

Oh, the activists in the old media commit sins of omission and sins of commission, sometimes both in the same story.


Take those pesky little ol gas prices that have now skyrocketed to more than $3.00 a gallon. For months the media had just omitted the story altogether like they hadn’t even noticed, while during the Bush administration they couldn’t stop doing stories on “Pain At The Pump” and they worked overtime to point the nozzle directly at the White House.



Here are a couple of examples, there are many others.


This story from 2006 on MSNBC blasts Bush for doing little to stop the rising gas prices.


This story from 2008 talks about how Bush and Evil Big Oil were conspiring against us all to raise prices and how Dear Leader Obama was going to come in and save us all from high gas prices and our dependence on foreign oil.


Whoops.



The media has finally figured out that gas prices are going up, but most stories in 2010 that deal with Pain At The Pump ignore Obama like they don’t even know he’s president. Mr. Teflon can’t be touched by this messy little inflation thing going on right now (of course, it’s not just gas prices either.)


When Obama entered the White House gas prices averaged $1.81 per gallon. Evil Bush/Oil must’ve done something to make those prices fall – but there’s no time in the 10 hours a day that local TV stations do in their newscasts to mention this little fact. They’re out of space in the New York Times to provide context for this story.


Of course, Obama’s reaction has been to close off-shore drilling and restrict more US land to drilling. The Bush actions of allowing more drilling and increasing US independence led to those low prices of 2008. Yes, policies in the White House can make a difference and are making a difference today to the rising prices.


Gas prices have nearly doubled under Barack Obama, meanwhile the media watches from the sidelines and complains without pointing out where this problem lies. Do you think they don’t know, or do you think they are protecting Dear Leader?


Just for the record, in June 2008 Obama said that he had no problem with higher gas prices, just that they had to rise with a “gradual adjustment.”


Welcome to Obama’s America and the gradual adjustment of gas prices. Things seem to be right on schedule for this president and the activist old media acts sits there and wonders why all of this is happening. Poor Obama having to have to deal with this, I’m sure he’s working hard to help the average American family. I heard him say so in his last speech.


Fill ‘er up!

"

Muslim Congressman Advocates Economic Terrorism

from Moonbattery


Muslim Congressman Advocates Economic Terrorism: "

The Muslim–moonbat alliance has an avatar in the person of Keith Ellison, the leftist Nation of Islam alumnus Minneapolis sees fit to send to Congress. An interview with his fellow progressives at Minnesota Public Radio offers a glimpse of our first Muslim Congresscritter's mentality. Here's why he doesn't like the tax compromise Comrade Obama struck with Republicans:



'I think that we need to create a real crisis here so that the Republicans will have to answer for denying Americans unemployment benefits on the eve of the Christmas holiday,' Ellison said. 'We let them off the hook, in my opinion.'


Rhymes With Right pulls the lever on an irony alert:



Now let me see — the goal of the Democrats must be to create a crisis in order to force the GOP to enter new negotiations? Doesn't that mean that Ellison is proposing that the Democrats take America hostage — and to subject the American people to harm? After all, to paraphrase the words of President Barack Obama,


"It's tempting not to negotiate with hostage takers unless the hostage gets harmed… In this case, the hostage [is] the American people."


I wonder — will Obama stand up and call these folks hostage takers?


I doubt it. But he might hide behind Michelle's ample skirt while Slick Willie bites his lip and does it. We could call it Sister Souljah II.



keith-ellison-roadblock.jpg

Keith Ellison, human roadblock.


On a tip from J. Hat tip: Hot Air.

"

Wal Mart Partners With Homeland Security

from New Zeal: Security Risk? More Evidence of Mary Jo Kilroy's ...


Wal Mart Partners With Homeland Security: " This could have a very dark side.

"

Morning Bell: Liberals Leave The Reservation

from The Foundry: Conservative Policy News.

Morning Bell: Liberals Leave The Reservation: "

Any piece of legislation must be both constitutional and improve the condition of the American people. When President Obama and Congressional Republicans first announced their tax deal early last week, our reaction was to hold our noses against its bad elements; on balance, we thought the extension of the current tax rates was laudable. Now, however, the full text of the bill has been released and we see all the bad things that were in the original deal. Meanwhile, liberals in Congress are walking away even from that deal, and are holding the country hostage to their hatred of those they call “the rich.” The tax cut deal, we now know, has been so freighted with liberal special interest tax giveaways that true conservatives cannot support it in good faith.


The blame for this state of affairs will be on the left. Tax rates will go up on all Americans on Jan. 1, hitting a country beset with 10 percent unemployment and a stagnant economy. It’s baffling that, two decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the left has held fast to its belief that penalizing success will somehow incentivize hard work and produce wealth.


If House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority leader Harry Reid engineer this massive a tax increase in a faltering economy, they will join two Republicans — Reed Smoot of Utah and Willis Hawley of Oregon — in the pantheon of economic fools. Before they do so, Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Reid should consider that history has still not forgiven their predecessors for the Smoot-Hawley tariff that led to the Great Depression.


Of course, the pain of an Obama-Pelosi-Reid tax hike would be somewhat lessened by the fact that they would hopefully be temporary. As Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) said on Fox News Sunday yesterday, the first order of business next month for the incoming Tea Party House of Representatives will be to undo the tax hikes the Lame Duck Congress may be about to pass this week. (We would have preferred to have seen that first order of business to be the repeal of Obamacare, but given the circumstances, throttling that unbearable act must move to the second spot.)


We recognize that having taxes go up, and then down, will increase volatility, which never helps businesses, investors and families. It was that concern that led us to be initially open to the extension of the current tax rates, even though it was only for two years and was accompanied by other onerous measures such as a 35 percent death tax. All along we have shared the concerns of such friends as Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), who said in a Thursday speech at Heritage that the line “this is the best deal we can get” has been used to justify too many bad deals in the past.


Now that we see what is in the full text of the bill, we have serious reservations even about the original deal. So just to be clear, what The Heritage Foundation wants is a plain extension of the current tax arrangements. Congress should have a straight up or down vote on full extension, including the AMT. It can have a straight up and down vote on the unpaid for unemployment benefits, too, if progressives want that.


If this cannot be had without other hurtful additions, it is time to look forward. The new 112th Congress will have to pass new tax legislation that holds the line against all the other negative provisions of the current deal, such as yet another unpaid-for extension of unemployment benefits (which perversely only helps perpetuates long-term unemployment).


Ditto for all the goodies progressives in the Congress are now busily adding, such as subsidies for windmills in California (already in the tax extenders – or you need to say even larger ethanol subsidies). All this came on the back of the extension of stimulus tax credits, which expanded the refundability of the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit, and created the new refundable American Opportunity Tax Credit.


And, to be sure, including goodies for the whole liberal power base that were already there as part of the annual tax extenders package: the Indian employment tax credit; the railroad track maintenance credit; the seven-year recovery period for motorsports entertainment complexes; the expensing of environmental remediation costs; the deduction allowable with respect to income attributable to domestic production activities in Puerto Rico and the tax incentives for investment in the District of Columbia.


Is there a progressive protected group that hasn’t been laden with pork in this deal?


The new Congress that assembles in January should give enactment of the permanent tax relief top priority. The recently elected conservatives, who will arrive in January with a commitment to cut spending, deficits, debt and taxes, should provide the foundation for building momentum in Congress to make the tax relief permanent. But, of course, in the absence of tax relief, the Pelosi-Reid tax hikes will be in effect, doing their damage to the economy, while the conservatives work to get legislation through Congress to make the tax cuts permanent.


Do they hate successful Americans more than they profess to love the jobless and others who need our help?


You can follow Mike Gonzalez on Twitter @Gundisalvus


Quick Hits:


"

House and Senate Cloakroom: December 13-17, 2010

from The Foundry: Conservative Policy News.

House and Senate Cloakroom: December 13-17, 2010: "

House Cloakroom: December 13-17, 2010


Analysis:



The House is scheduled to be in session this week but the agenda is unclear as a waiting game ensues to see what action the Senate takes on the proposed tax relief deal framework proposed by the Obama administration. Right now there is no sealed tax deal in place and many contentious issues must be resolved if there is a chance of the bill being able to move through the House & Senate next week as both sides of the aisle have significant disagreements. Work must also be completed in the Senate with the House version of the continuing appropriations through the end of the fiscal year bill that was passed last week by the House. More than likely, an overarching omnibus measure drafted by Senate appropriators will be substituted for the text of the House passed bill. Reports are saying that the omnibus bill in the Senate will provide funding at level in line with the president’s FY 2011 request, which would total approximately $1.13 trillion as opposed to $1.09 trillion in the House-approved CR.

Major Floor Action


HR 4853 <http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-111hr4853eah/pdf/BILLS-111hr4853eah.pdf> – Middle Class Tax Relief Act of 2010

HR 3082 <http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-111hr3082eah/pdf/BILLS-111hr3082eah.pdf> – Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011



Major Committee Action:



  • The House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on the legal and constitutional issues of Wikileaks. See Heritage’s latest research on this issue here.

  • The House Judiciary Committee will also hold a full hearing on the causes and effects of the foreclosure crisis.


Senate Cloakroom: December 13-17, 2010


Analysis:


The Senate will reconvene after the weekend on Monday, with a cloture vote on the “Tax Deal” bill scheduled for 3pm that day. Assuming cloture is invoked, the Senate will likely consider the tax bill for the majority of the week, and might move towards the continuing appropriations bill if time allows at the end of the week.


Other issues that might come before the Senate before Christmas include a possible stand-alone bill that repeals the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, military policy, the New START treaty, or even the DREAM Act, (cloture on the DREAM Act failed last week, but it’s possible Leader Reid might try again in the lame duck).



Major Floor Action:


"

The Lesson of the Tax Deal and the Deficit: Teach Your Kids Chinese

from USACTION NEWS

The Lesson of the Tax Deal and the Deficit: Teach Your Kids Chinese: "

Our recent political history suggests that we will keep on punting our spending/deficit problems down the road. If that is the case, we may want to have our children and grandchildren learn Chinese. For the Chinese will be our economic masters.


By Richard Baehr at American Thinker


EXCERPTS:


On the other hand, Charles Krauthammer thinks the GOP was rolled and that the deal will help Barack Obama in his reelection bid for the one job the president truly has always been concerned about preserving.


Obama is a true class warrior, and he had to be angered to see his signature tax stance — higher rates for the rich — go down the tubes, along with pretty much the rest of his domestic agenda, given the November election results.


The compromise tax bill that was agreed to by GOP leaders and the White House has just added one trillion in new federal debt over the next two years. It is amazing, the difference a week makes in Washington.


The net effect of this compromise is a substantial increase in annual deficits and a much more rapidly accumulating federal debt.


FULL ARTICLE


RELATED ARTICLES:


DEBT CLOCK


Washington Orders Another Free Lunch


GOP loses the first round


Frankenstein fuel may be part of tax deal


A Born Again Bush Booster and the Stealth Stimulus


Obama’s Emerging Enabling Act


Reid offers bribes to fellow Democrats to sweeten tax deal


The Obama Stimulus Impact? Zero


Teaparty leader warns GOP on give away tax deal


2nd senator speaks of imminent financial collapse


Jobless Recovery?: 25 Unemployment Statistics That Are Almost Too Depressing To Read


Put Uncle Sam on an Allowance


Fact, Fiction & Finally the Fix


The con of the century – Federal Reserve made $9 trillion in short-term loans to only 18 financial institutions. Since 2000 the US dollar has fallen by 33 percent. The hidden cost of the bailouts.


Job trend worse than people think


Mises on the solution


We’re rotting


A Plan to Cut Spending and Balance the Federal Budget


History Tells Us Why The Deficit Reduction Effort Is Doomed To Fail


Why Spending Must be Cut

"

Hands off the First Amendment!- FCC wants control of what you hear

from USACTION NEWS


Hands off the First Amendment!- FCC wants control of what you hear: "

The Federal Communications Commission think their job is to regulate the speech of individuals, and of the press.


By Henry Lamb at Canada Free Press


EXCERPTS:


“Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press…,” but the progressives on the Federal Communications Commission think their job is to do just that – regulate the speech of individuals, and of the press. Speaking to the Columbia School of Journalism, FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, spelled out his idea for a “community values test” to be applied to media outlets with every license-renewal application.


Copps is also bent out of shape because there are not as many black and Latino owners of broadcast stations as he thinks there should be. He wants the licensing process to insure that the distribution of ownership opportunities meets his requirements, even if it means taxing successful broadcast stations to provide a subsidy for new minority operators.


Could it be that Copps believes that the FCC is not limited by the First Amendment? Could it be that Copps thinks that requiring broadcast outlets to present content dictated by the FCC is not really “abridging” the freedom of the press? Or, could it be that he just doesn’t give a damn what the Constitution says?


If people choose not to listen to progressive commentary, then Copps and his buddies will force them to listen, by requiring broadcast outlets to meet their “community values” test.


President Obama’s Information Czar, Cass Sunstein, wants the government to “abridge” free speech even further. In a radio interview he describes how he wants Congress to require internet websites that post political commentary to also post a link to opposing views. Sunstein says it would be better if people would do this voluntarily, but since they won’t, Congress should mandate it.


It’s hard to imagine a more effective way to destroy a free society than to empower government to control the flow of information available to its citizens. The crowd now in power in Washington seems to want this power – badly. They will take it, unless they are stopped.


FULL ARTICLE


RELATED ARTICLES:


Al Sharpton Wants IMPLICIT ‘OFFENSE’ Standard For FCC License


Why are Democrats always wanting to control media?


Here comes the Obama regime thought police


FCC to move on net neutrality despite opposition from congress


Net ‘Neutrality’ and the destruction of free speech


Did They Really Think We Wouldn’t Fight to Keep the Internet Free?


FCC Partners With Socialist Allies to Push Internet Takeover


Rush finally waking up to Net Neutrality push by FCC


Soros-funded group urges media run by government


The Neomarxist who is helping to influence Obama’s media policy


Leftist groups want FCC to police hate speech on talk radio, cable news networks as a way to censor free speech


Congress about to limit political speech of bloggers?


The end of free speech in America – that is Obama’s change!


Did They Really Think We Wouldn’t Fight to Keep the Internet Free?


Here comes the official propaganda channel -taxpayer funded


FCC Partners With Socialist Allies to Push Internet Takeover


Team Obama Keeps Pushing to Take Over the Internet


Danger at the FCC: More Government control through regulation without representation


Time for Government takeover of radio stations like Venezuela?


Could a Chavez-Style Media Crackdown Be Coming Our Way? – Bet on it!


Van Jones: self avowed communist and Obama staffer & other czars


In suggestions eerily similar to Chavez’s takeover of media, Mark Lloyd has pushed for reinstatement of the “fairness” doctrine and called for crippling taxes on privately owned media to fund “diversity” in media.


Venezuelans Protest as Chavez Closes Another TV Station


Obama’s FCC appointee Mark Lloyd praised Chavez for an “incredible democratic revolution.”

"

Democrat Mythology, Part I: Tax Rates and Revenue

from USACTION NEWS






Democrat Mythology, Part I: Tax Rates and Revenue: "

There have been four major tax reductions since the implementation of the income tax, and every one of them has been followed by increased tax revenue.


by John Hayward at Human Events


EXCERPTS:


This leads to the important myth about tax reduction causing deficits. No belief is more crucial to the Democrat voter. It’s a lie, and giving it up is like unplugging themselves from the Matrix. There have been four major tax reductions since the implementation of the income tax, and every one of them has been followed by increased tax revenue. Yes, that includes the unspeakable Bush tax cuts, as reported in such right-wing propaganda rags as… The New York Times.


Revenue increase after tax relief is strongly influenced by who gets the tax relief. Here’s where the 2006 revenue surge came from, according to the New York Times: “Corporate tax payments are expected to exceed $300 billion, up from $131 billion three years ago. The other big increase is an extraordinary jump in individual taxes that were not withheld from paychecks, usually a reflection of taxes on investment income and executive bonuses.” That’s right, kids – corporations, investors, and executives. In other words, The Evil Rich.


FULL ARTICLE


RELATED ARTICLES:


Will 2011 Be The Year The Von Mises Prophecy Comes True?


The Lesson of the Tax Deal and the Deficit: Teach Your Kids Chinese


Washington Orders Another Free Lunch


2nd senator speaks of imminent financial collapse


Jobless Recovery?: 25 Unemployment Statistics That Are Almost Too Depressing To Read


Put Uncle Sam on an Allowance


Fact, Fiction & Finally the Fix


Mises on the solution


We’re rotting


A Plan to Cut Spending and Balance the Federal Budget


History Tells Us Why The Deficit Reduction Effort Is Doomed To Fail


Why Spending Must be Cut


The Dollar Meltdown: Surviving the Impending Currency Crisis with Gold, Oil, and Other Unconventional Investments


Factors that will Determine the Future


What’s Next? Buckle Up


The Great Weaponless Conquest of America


My Name’s America and I’m a Debt-a-holic


DEBT CLOCK – See how fast its growing and what your share is


Not an Economic Problem, A Constitutional One


Hyperinflation Forecast


The US $200-Trillion Debt Which Cannot Be Named


A Society of Beggars? Obama Battles Reagan


Mad Fed Should Beware Unquantifiable Outcomes


Burning your money?


Global food crisis forecast as prices reach record highs


The Fed is lying about inflation


Dollar fall sparks stability warnings


Fed Wants to Hoodwink Public, Only Fools Itself: Caroline Baum


For Orderly Dissolution Of The Fed, Before It Does Us Even More Harm


Will the Fed Burn More of Your Money?


The Disgraceful State of Our Government


A good audio interview with Rick Santelli


Is Keynesianism a socialist Maneuver?


Economic Forecasts and Why They Should Not be Trusted


Gold at $8,250?


Three Horrifying Facts About the US Debt “Situation”


Obama and Ben Bernanke Have Us Facing the Abyss


Bernanke Tells the Truth: The United States is on the Brink of Financial Disaster


Greenspan Says U.S. Creating `Scary’ Deficit as Borrowing Rises


Interview with Garland Tucker on “The High Tide of American Conservatism”


Fed Officials Mull Inflation as a Fix


The Psychopathology of Government and its Agents


A fair warning of where we are headed


Illinois Deficit Forecast Grows as Financial Ills Deepen, Comptroller Says


The Feds’ Disease: Spending! (Part 1)


IMF Warns Western Economies Mired in ‘Near Depression’


With Obama taxes are about ideology not economics


Understanding the roots of Obama’s rage


Government-run, taxpayer-funded, anti-poverty programs do not work

"

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