Alabama Right News: Dec 22, 2010

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Congress fails to pass whistle-blower rights bill

from Headlines from the Associated Press

Congress fails to pass whistle-blower rights bill: "WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congress failed to pass a bill before adjourning that would have barred most federal departments from punishing employees who report corruption, waste and mismanagement...."

Obama's Next Issue: How to Tackle Gitmo

from FOXNews.com by foxnewsonline@foxnews.com

Obama's Next Issue: How to Tackle Gitmo: "Obama administration is drafting an executive order that would call for a regular review process for detainees at Gitmo

Congress Passes 9/11 Responders Health Bill

First Responder Makes Case for 9/11 Health Bill

National Barack Channel NBC’s owner GE gets payoff in spending bill

from USACTION NEWS by Editor

National Barack Channel NBC’s owner GE gets payoff in spending bill: "

GE gets $430 million for an engine nobody wants. Defense Secretary Robert Gates opposes the GE engine as unnecessary and a waste of money.

It does not bode well for cutting spending when a bipartisan group pushes almost half a billion for pet contributors when the defense department itself says it does not want the GE engine. How will they cut anything of real significance?

GE is one of the most politically connected businesses in Washington. It also spends huge sums of money lobbying to get our money. In 2010 GE spent over $32 million lobbying giving funds to almost every congressman. In February 2009, GE head Immelt was appointed as a member to the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board. Is it any wonder Ge was able to get incandescent light bulbs banned so it could close its US factories and make CFL’s in China?

GE has funding in a multitude of congressional committees.Despite the myth that Republicans are for big business its the Democrats who are getting the most funding from GE but that could just be because Democrats are the ones in power now. GE also has 85 affiliates that dole out influence money including left wing Obama agenda pushing media outlets CNBC, MSNBC and NBC and their affiliates.

Barack Obama tops the list of recipients for 2009-2010 $513,730 and Hillary a distant second with $253,476 according to OpenSecrets.org. Rep. Howard McKeon, a California Republican who will lead the House Armed Services Committee when the 112th Congress convenes in January received $8,500 in 2010 and according to the Bloomberg story below authored a letter to Gates urging continued funding of the GE engine.

This is an interactive map from Muckety showing the myriad connections of Jeffrey R. Immelt head of GE:

Oh what a tangled web they weave. ~ Editor

Tony Capaccio at Bloomberg.com has the story:

EXCERPTS:

Lieberman, who has been a consistent opponent of the second engine, said it was “unconscionable” that the administration “would be forced to waste one more dollar on this unnecessary second engine” as the Air Force and the Navy struggle with tight budgets. He said he would continue to “fight to terminate” the engine between now and March 4.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers fought to include General Electric’s engine in the measure. “Congress has funded the engine program for 14 consecutive years, including the $430 million provided for continued development,” they wrote to Gates and Lew in a letter sent Nov. 29.

FULL ARTICLE

MSNBC Commentators Hide Their Corporate GE Bosses Fed Bailout

GE pushes its media outlets to protect Obama agenda

Leaked e-mail shows how GE profits from climate,energy bills

GE co-owned MSNBC a White House favorite, Fox not so much

Green slime – The people behind Obama’s war against fossil fuels

Stink in the air – Carnahan’s brother gets $107 million for wind farm

Lights Out

The Big Green machine – The Big Money & The Global Governance Agenda That Fuels Environmentalism

Endangered Species: Members of Congress fight to save the incandescent light bulb

NBC Favors Rich Over Poor

Turning Off the (Incandescent) Light of Liberty

Obama will make you an offer you can’t refuse

Federal Government Says Requiring Credit Checks for Employment is RACIST

from YID With LID by Jeff Dunetz

Federal Government Says Requiring Credit Checks for Employment is RACIST: "

When I got hired for my last job, before the job offer was final I had to submit to a drug test, and a background check which included a credit history. Employers look at a credit report for trustworthiness. They see the ability to pay bills in a consistent manner as an indication of whether you can be reliable in the workplace. It seems to be a fair and reasonable barometer, but not to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)-- they think its racist.

That's right, the Federal Government says, the practice is unlawful and violates a decades-old civil rights act that forbids hiring practices that have a racially discriminatory impact, according to a complaint filed this week by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Employers cannot screen out groups of people, even if it’s done “unintentionally,” said the government attorney handling the matter.

That's right the law is, it doesn't matter if you are trying to be racist or not, its the result (or perceived result that's important)

The case involves a chain of private, for-profit colleges and training schools known as Kaplan Higher Education Corporation. Kaplan is famous for many things including SAT prep courses. For several years the company, which has 34,000 employees and hundreds of locations in dozens of countries, has conducted background checks on job applicants that include credit histories for those who may deal with financial matters if hired.

'This practice (factoring credit histories into hiring) has an unlawful discriminatory impact because of race and is neither job-related nor justified business necessity,' the agency alleged in a suit it filed against the Kaplan Higher Education Corporation in the U.S. District Court for Northern Ohio in Cleveland.

Kaplan has engaged in the practice since "at least 2008," according to an EEOC statement.The EEOC said it took the action on behalf of African American applicants denied jobs based on findings in their credit reports.

Now the EEOC is seeking lost wages and benefits 'for people who were not hired becuse of Kaplan Higher Education's use of job applicants' credit history.'

Oh Please!! This is going too far. Credit history should never be the sole determinant for employment, but there is nothing wrong with using it as a factor. It is a totally objective piece of information that is not racial in any way. The EEOC is making the suit to help some black people who did not get hired, what the government is not contending is that Kaplan does not have a racially or ethnically diverse work force.

In a recent letter to the agency, the Consumer Data Industry Association strongly defended using credit histories in hiring decisions. It told the agency that employers tried hard to create working environments that were free from fraud and theft.

In that letter, Eric J. Ellman, the association’s vice president for public policy and legal affairs, said, “In a climate of economic uncertainty, where employers are likely choosing from a large employment pool, they need to be critically careful about protecting their businesses and their customers.”

Mr. Ellman noted that the use of credit reports for employment purposes was legally protected and that “credit reports for employment purposes are reliable predictors of risk.”

“Many safeguards exist for employers to ensure that credit information is used where it is job-related and consistent with business necessity,” he concluded in his letter to the agency.

It seems as if the EEOC is not trying to "level the playing field" but instead trying to change the rules to skew the playing field, but under the Obama administration that is the way agencies are supposed to act. Just ask the DOJ.

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Obama: START Treaty Will Help Us Seek a World Without (American) Nuclear Weapons (Video)

from The Gateway Pundit by Jim Hoft

Obama: START Treaty Will Help Us Seek a World Without (American) Nuclear Weapons (Video): "

Our naive far left Commander in Chief celebrated a “world without nuclear weapons” today after the signing of the START Treaty with Russia. Of course, the only nuclear weapons he is worried about and can control are US nuclear weapons.

So far he has been unable to persuade Iran, Syria and North Korea to join him in making his childish wish a reality.

“This treaty will enhance our leadership to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and seek the peace of a world without them.”

Poor Muslim Child Traumatized & Can’t Get Out of Bed After Teacher Says “Ham” (Video)

from The Gateway Pundit by Jim Hoft

Poor Muslim Child Traumatized & Can’t Get Out of Bed After Teacher Says “Ham” (Video): "

The poor abused child.

A Spanish Muslim boy says he has a hard time getting out of bed and was traumatized after his teacher said “ham” during class.

“I said teacher would you not speak of the pig around me?”

U.S. Military Pushes Back After U.N. Agrees to Review WikiLeaks Suspect's Treatment

from FOXNews.com - Politics

U.S. Military Pushes Back After U.N. Agrees to Review WikiLeaks Suspect's Treatment: "

The U.S. military said Wednesday the United Nations had nothing to worry about after the world body agreed to look into a complaint about prison conditions for the Army private suspected of dishing secret military and diplomatic computer files to WikiLeaks.

House GOP to Require Legislation Meet Constitutional Standard

from FOXNews.com - Politics by Chad Pergram

House GOP to Require Legislation Meet Constitutional Standard: "

House Republicans introduced a draft set of House rules for the 112th Congress on Wednesday that seeks to offer a 'sea change' in the way the House operates – with greater openness, deliberation and efficiency.

WSJ: Net Neutrality Was Manufactured and Astroturfed Into Law

from The Gateway Pundit by Jim Hoft

WSJ: Net Neutrality Was Manufactured and Astroturfed Into Law: "

A new report today described how Barack Obama planned and illegally passed net neutrality into law.

John Fund at the Wall Street Journal report by John Fund reported that net neutrality movement was manufactured and then astroturfed into law.

“The Federal Communications Commission’s new “net neutrality” rules, passed on a partisan 3-2 vote yesterday, represent a huge win for a slick lobbying campaign run by liberal activist groups and foundations. The losers are likely to be consumers who will see innovation and investment chilled by regulations that treat the Internet like a public utility…

[S]ome of the same foundations that have spent years funding net neutrality advocacy research ended up funding the FCC-commissioned study that evaluated net neutrality research.

So the “media reform” movement paid for research that backed its views, paid activists to promote the research, saw its allies installed in the FCC and other key agencies, and paid for the FCC research that evaluated the research they had already paid for. Now they have their policy. That’s quite a coup.”

Let’s hope someone passes this on to Congressional Republicans who have already announced that they will block this power grab by Barack Obama.

Federal Judge Rules Illegal Aliens Can Sue Immigration Agents For Abuse

from Gateway Pundit by Jim Hoft

Federal Judge Rules Illegal Aliens Can Sue Immigration Agents For Abuse: "

A World Without Borders.

Judge Stefan Underhill (UVA Law)

A liberal federal judge appointed by Bill Clinton ruled that illegal aliens can sue US immigration agents for abuse.

Judicial Watch reported:

A Clinton-appointed judge has given a group of illegal immigrants the green light to sue the U.S. government for violating their constitutional rights during the operation that led to their apprehension.

Ruling that immigration agents and their supervisors can be sued for civil damages, Connecticut federal Judge Stefan Underhill cited the illegal aliens’ story that “defendant officers targeted a primarily Latino neighborhood, arrested people who appeared Latino, detained one plaintiff solely because he spoke Spanish and appeared Latino, and taunted one plaintiff’s girlfriend by saying the plaintiffs were being taken to see Mexican singer Juan Gabriel.”

The accusations are enough to “plausibly allege” that the federal immigration agents “were motivated by a discriminatory purpose,” Judge Underhill’s 43-page ruling goes on to say. Underhill refused to dismiss charges against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who captured the illegal immigrants as well as their supervisors, which at the time headed the agency under President George W. Bush.

Hat Tip Brian

Pelosi now seeking advice on liberal “branding” from … Steven Spielberg?

from Hot Air TV by tips@hotair.com (Hot Air Network, LLC)

Pelosi now seeking advice on liberal “branding” from … Steven Spielberg?: "

What could go wrong?

If you’re thinking “that makes no sense,” remember that this is the same woman who calls our widely reviled new health-care bill her greatest achievement. “Branding” lesson number one for Nancy: Stop describing widely reviled bills as great achievements. By the way, is this really the guy to help resuscitate a dying franchise? The director [...]

Read this post »

State of public ed: 40% of Chicago Public School Teachers Send Own Kids to Private Schools

from theblogprof by The blogprof

State of public ed: 40% of Chicago Public School Teachers Send Own Kids to Private Schools: "This makes me curious as to what percentage of Detroit teachers send their kids to private schools rather than their very own. After all, for as bad as the Chicago school system is, Detroit Public Schools (DPS) is even worse. DPS is in fact the worst school district in the nation bar none with a graduation rate of only 1 in 4. We already know that Detroit Rep John Conyers was caught using government payroll employees as indentured servants including driving his kids to the best private school in the area while his constituents' kids wallow in the filth of DPS. From Warner Todd Huston:

Liberals love to claim that the public school system is the shining success story of the American political system. And even when the schools break down in effectiveness, liberals double down on their support for them and insist that we spend ever larger chunks of the taxpayer's money to 'fix' them.

Of course, even as liberal politicians constantly extol the virtues of the public schools they are quietly sending their own kids to private schools. These hypocrites don't seem to mind sending the public's kids to subpar, failing schools but they'll be damned that they'll do so with their own kids.

Apparently it isn't just politicians that are admitting with their actions that the public schools are a failure, though. The Chicago Tribune had a shocking statistic in a recent report on the hypocrisy of politicians re the public schools.
As recently as 2004, a Thomas B. Fordham Institute study found that 39 percent of CPS teachers sent their own kids to private schools.

So unionized, failing schools for thee, but not for me. More proof that liberals don't even believe their own bs. How about these very teachers start fighting for the right of all parents to send their children to the school of the parents choice?

3 convicted in terror plot on Australian army base

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

3 convicted in terror plot on Australian army base: "MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Three men who believed Islam was under threat from western nations have been found guilty in an Australian court of plotting a suicide attack against a Sydney army base.
The men could face life in prison. A Victoria state Supreme Court jury convicted them on Thursday of conspiring to plot a terrorist [...]"

Soooo … Glenn Beck Was Sort of Right

from Big Journalism by P.J. Salvatore

Soooo … Glenn Beck Was Sort of Right: "

I can’t wait to see the Soros elves at MMfA scramble to spin this:

Remember Glenn Beck’s fuzzy math, which calculated that 10% of Muslims are actually terrorists? Well, according to one of those WikiLeaked diplomatic cables, the man may have been wildly underestimating. At least when it comes to British Muslim students, one-third of whom “believe killing in the name of religion is justified,” according to a survey reported in the Daily Mail.

The cable dates to early 2009 and refers to “a survey of 600 Muslim and 800 non-Muslim students at 30 universities throughout the UK conducted by the Centre for Social Cohesion.”

The same survey also says that 54% of respondents “wanted a Muslim party to represent their world view in Parliament,” while 40% “want Muslims in the UK to be under Sharia law.”

The revelation came from more Wikileaks cables. Unsettling stuff.

Around a third of young British Muslims favour killing in the name of Islam, according to a survey revealed by the WikiLeaks’ publication of U.S diplomatic cables.

[...]

The survey results, revealed by WikiLeaks’ release of thousands of U.S. diplomatic cables, suggests increasing radicalisation among Britain’s young Muslims.

A further U.S. cable, dated February 5 2009, said reaching out to Britain’s Muslim community there was a ‘top priority’ for U.S. embassy staff.

And the focus of the lapdog media’s attention is fixated on the people who publicize this, and not the issue itself.

US Senate Briefing, 12/22/10: FCC reaction

from Liberty Pundits Blog by Clyde Middleton

US Senate Briefing, 12/22/10: FCC reaction: "

Today’s Washington Post headline gives a good summary of the reaction to the FCC’s vote yesterday: “FCC approves net-neutrality rules; criticism is immediate.” The Post notes, “The regulations passed the Federal Communications Commission along party lines, with two Democratic commissioners reluctantly siding with agency Chairman Julius Genachowski in a 3-2 vote. The rules seek to uphold a principle called net neutrality, under which Internet service providers are supposed to give equal treatment to all legal Web content on their networks. But the measure met with swift opposition Tuesday. Republican lawmakers immediately promised to work to overthrow the rules, while analysts predicted that cable and telecom giants will file lawsuits challenging the FCC’s authority to regulate the broadband market.”

In an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal today, John Fund elaborates on just why the FCC’s decision is so troublesome. “The Federal Communications Commission’s new ‘net neutrality’ rules, passed on a partisan 3-2 vote yesterday, represent a huge win for a slick lobbying campaign run by liberal activist groups and foundations. The losers are likely to be consumers who will see innovation and investment chilled by regulations that treat the Internet like a public utility. There’s little evidence the public is demanding these rules, which purport to stop the non-problem of phone and cable companies blocking access to websites and interfering with Internet traffic. Over 300 House and Senate members have signed a letter opposing FCC Internet regulation, and there will undoubtedly be even less support in the next Congress. Yet President Obama, long an ardent backer of net neutrality, is ignoring both Congress and adverse court rulings, especially by a federal appeals court in April that the agency doesn’t have the power to enforce net neutrality. He is seeking to impose his will on the Internet through the executive branch.”

Indeed, as Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, ranking Republican on the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, explained in a floor speech following the vote, “The FCC pursuit of net neutrality regulations involves claiming authority under the Communications Act that they do not have. Congress did not provide the FCC authority to regulate how Internet service providers manage their network, not anywhere in the Communications Act nor any other statute administered by the Commission.”

Sen. Hutchison urged her fellow members of Congress to oppose the FCC’s new rules, saying, “This is a time for Congress to take a stand. These regulations will raise uncertainty about the methods and practices communications companies may use to manage their networks. Heavy-handed regulation threatens investment and innovation in broadband services, placing valuable American jobs at risk. . . . We will have a resolution of disapproval at the appropriate time in the next session of Congress.”

As Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said in a video responding to the ruling yesterday, “Our economy has benefited from the rapid growth of the Internet, and that’s due in large part to the lack of government involvement. . . . I, along with several of my colleagues, have urged the FCC Chairman to abandon this flawed approach. . . . The Internet is a valuable resource and it must be left alone.”

On The Floor

The Senate reconvened at 9 AM and resumed post-cloture consideration of the New START treaty, Treaty Doc. 111-5. The Senate may consider a pending amendment to the treaty from Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) and amendments to the resolution of ratification to accompany the treaty from Sens. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Jim Risch (R-ID), and John McCain (R-AZ).

If all post-cloture time is not used, a vote on ratification of the START Treaty could come this afternoon.

Senate Democrats have indicated they also want to take up a 9/11 responders health bill and several nominations, including that of James Cole to be Deputy Attorney General, before the Senate finishes its work in the lame duck session.

This morning, the Senate passed by unanimous consent H.R. 6523, the Fiscal Year 2011 Defense Authorization bill, which had been stripped of controversial provisions Democrats included that had prevented its passage earlier this year.

Yesterday, the Senate voted 79-16 to pass a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government through March 4^th. Prior to that vote, the Senate voted 82-14 to invoke cloture on the vehicle for the CR.

The Senate also voted 67-28 to invoke cloture on the START Treaty. Following that vote, the Senate rejected amendments to the treaty from Sens. John Ensign (R-NV), Jim Risch, and Roger Wicker (R-MS), and two amendments from Sen. Kyl.

From the Communications Center

Sen. McConnell: Change Has Come to Congress

ICYMI: SRCC: FCC’s New Rules Will Stifle Innovation, McConnell Warns

ICYMI: VIDEO: McConnell: “The Internet is a valuable resource and it must be left alone.”

Around the Hill

The Washington Post: FCC approves net-neutrality rules; criticism is immediate

John Fund: The Net Neutrality Coup

The Washington Post: Indefinite detention possible for suspects at Guantanamo Bay

The Wall Street Journal: Sebelius’s Price Controls

Politico: EPA to double down on climate

Politico: GOP unveils strict new House rules

ABC News: After Early Administration Denials, Director of National Intelligence Admits He Hadn’t Been Briefed on Alleged Terrorist Arrests in London

18 months, $100 million, 117 workers: Solar firm going dark

from Liberty Pundits Blog by Clyde Middleton

18 months, $100 million, 117 workers: Solar firm going dark: "

The 3d variant of “funny,” besides “ha ha” and “peculiar,” is “pathetic.” SpectraWatt, Inc., soaked up public and private investment as if it actually possessed an idea worth developing, capable of being marketed, and likely to turn a profit.

Pimping their “CrystalBlue” solar cell, their website informs us:

SpectraWatt is a U.S. based manufacturer of crystalline silicon solar cells focused on delivering innovative products of superior quality. Our state of the art, fully-automated, cell manufacturing process along with our extensive research and development capabilities are ideally suited to meet the ever-growing needs of the solar industry.

It turns out, however, that the “ever-growing needs” are growing enough to keep the company business. From its start in April 2009, they just announced that the plant is closing and their 117 workers will be laid off in March 2011.

Predictable? Yeah. One cannot subsidize an industry into being. A lot of the start-up money came from Intel, but that was feel-good investment to appease Obama. When the training wheels are removed, and the company needs to stand on its own, reality hits. Here, the reality is that they are a private company pimping a product in the private marketplace. The private marketplace doesn’t want their product – there just aren’t enough swimming pools to heat.

Just pathetic. Throwing money after concepts is so progressive.

This oughta be fun: WikiLeaks and Gorbachev Team Up For Russian Document Dump

from Liberty Pundits Blog by Clyde Middleton

This oughta be fun: WikiLeaks and Gorbachev Team Up For Russian Document Dump: "

We’ll start with this cut:

Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta will team up with WikiLeaks to expose corruption in Russian government, reports Bloomberg BusinessWeek.

“Assange said that Russians will soon find out a lot about their country and he wasn’t bluffing,” Novaya Gazeta said. “Our collaboration will expose corruption at the top tiers of political power. No one is protected from the truth.”

The newspaper has been given full access to the Wikileaks database and will begin publishing documents next month.

But quickly jump here … note the last seven words:

Novaya Gazeta is a weekly newspaper run by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and billionaire Alexander Lebedev, known as an independent and critical alternative to the state-run papers. It was home to Anna Politkovskaya, the journalist who wrote about civil rights abuse in Chechnya and corruption in Putin’s Kremlin and was assassinated on Putin’s birthday in 2006.

Thump. Watch yourself, Julian. You’re playing with the big boys now.

Progressive Vision of Borderless US: Rep Keith Ellison — ‘God Willing…Border Will Become an Irrelevancy’

from The Blaze - Stories by Naked Emperor News

Progressive Vision of Borderless US: Rep Keith Ellison — ‘God Willing…Border Will Become an Irrelevancy’: "

Barney Frank: Not Allowing Gays and Straights to Shower Together is ‘Discrimination’

from The Blaze - Stories by Jonathon M. Seidl

Barney Frank: Not Allowing Gays and Straights to Shower Together is ‘Discrimination’: "

Not allowing gay military personnel to shower with straight military peronnel would be “discrimination.” That’s the position of Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), an openly gay member of Congress who is a proponent of banishing the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

Frank told CNSNews.com that the idea that people might be concerned over gays and straights showering together, and the possible disruption it could case, is a “silly issue”:

“To accept the principle that homosexuals can’t shower with other people is a degree of discrimination that goes far beyond this. We don’t get ourselves dry cleaned. We tend to take showers when we go to the gym; when we play sports,” Frank said.

Mass. School Requires Permission Slips to Recite Pledge of Allegiance

from The Blaze - Stories by Jonathon M. Seidl

Mass. School Requires Permission Slips to Recite Pledge of Allegiance: "

A public school in Brookline, Massachusetts is bringing back the Pledge of Allegiance. Except now, in a move that suggests the recitation and its words are controversial, the school is requiring parents to sign a permission slip so their kids can participate.

“It’s uncomfortable. The pledge is a promise, and I’ve always taught my kids to think very carefully before making any promise. It’s not a decision I want to make for them,” parent Judi Puritz Cook, who has two sons at Devotion School, told the Brookline Tab.

According to a letter sent to parents last week by Principal Gerardo Martinez, the school is implementing the Pledge in order to comply with state law.

“In order to meet the state legal mandate for public schools and to support our learning expectations, I will, once a week, as part of my morning announcements, recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag,” he wrote in the letter. “Under our Constitution, neither teachers nor students can be mandated to participate in this exercise.”

“I urge you to have a conversation as a family to help your children understand why I will be reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and to support them in feeling comfortable and confident in the decision on whether or not to participate,” Martinez added.

According to the Tab, it seems many parents aren’t upset that the school is requiring special permission to recite the Pledge, but rather they are concerned the slips could mean parents are imposing their beliefs on their children.

Superintendent Bill Lupini said that won’t be the case: no student will be compelled to participate or not participate simply based on how a parent filled out a permission slip.

“We’re celebrating diversity and including people… and then to be the one sitting there, waiting for the pledge to finish, [that] doesn’t feel inclusive,” said one parent who checked “No” on the slip. “Yeah, it’s weird. That’s the right word for it.”

The ACLU agrees. “I think that’s really strange that they’d do that… even children don’t lose their right of expression simply by walking into a schoolhouse’s doors,” said ACLU attorney Sarah Wunsch, who lives in Brookline.

“It suggests that this is a decision for parents alone. Are they going to enforce that?” she asked.

Also strange is a breakdown of the Pledge included in the permission slip. It explained every phrase, and what the school thinks it means. Next to the fragment “under God,” the school says, “there is one Supreme entity for every citizen.”

It was later revealed that the principal included that portion without official permission.

Read the full report from the Brookline Tab.

This story has been updated.

Update: WH Admits Nat’l Intel Director Not Briefed on UK Arrests

from The Blaze - Stories by Jonathon M. Seidl

Update: WH Admits Nat’l Intel Director Not Briefed on UK Arrests: "

After initially blaming Diane Sawyer and an “ambiguous” question for National Intelligence Director James Clapper’s inability to answer a question on recent UK terror arrests, the White House has now admitted that Clapper was not briefed on the issue prior to the interview.

The arrests had taken place the morning of the interview, and had been popular news on all the major networks. Still, Clapper had no idea about them when Sawyer asked him about their implications for the U.S.

“Director Clapper had not yet been briefed on the arrests in the United Kingdom at the time of this interview taping,” said ODNI spokeswoman Jamie Smith in a statement.

She explained that Clapper had been “working throughout the day on important intelligence matters, including monitoring military and political developments on the Korean Peninsula, providing answers to questions concerning the ratification of the START nuclear treaty, and other classified issues. He wasn‘t immediately briefed on London because it didn’t appear to have a homeland nexus and there was no immediate action by the DNI required. Nevertheless, he should have been briefed on the arrests, and steps have been taken to ensure that he is in the future. The intelligence community as a whole was fully aware of this development and tracking it closely.”

ABC’s Jake Tapper broached the issue during a White House press briefing today, Smith’s position was repeated by White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan, who was present during the Sawyer interview.

“[Clapper] was working on developments in the Korean Peninsula, in terms of political/military developments,” Brennan said. “He was focused on trying to provide support to the Congress as far as the START treaty deliberations were concerned. He was engaged in a variety of classified matters.”

Brennan then tried to spin the gaffe into a positive, by suggesting that it was a good thing Clapper wasn’t watching the news:

Should he have been briefed by his staff on those arrests? Yes. And I know there was breathless attention by the media about these arrests, and it was constantly on the news networks. I‘m glad that Jim Clapper is not sitting in front of the TV 24 hours a day and monitoring what’s coming out of the media. What he is doing is focusing on those intelligence issues that the president expects him to focus on and to make sure that we don’t have conflict in different parts of the world.

Take comfort.

Morning Bell: Merry Christmas, Moscow

from The Foundry: Conservative Policy News. by Conn Carroll

Morning Bell: Merry Christmas, Moscow: "

In the spring of 2009, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton handed Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov a plastic button that was supposed to read “reset” on both sides, once in English and once in Russian. But while the Obama Administration got the English part right, the State Department got the Russian word for “reset” wrong, instead emblazoning the button with the word “overload.”

With the Senate set to ratify New START sometime today, that error might just prove prophetic as already identifiable flaws in the treaty grant the Russians numerous opportunities to pressure for restrictions to American missile defense capabilities. The Senators voting for this treaty should be vigilant to resist any further erosion of our sovereign right to self-defense.

The first order of business will be to ensure that President Barack Obama follows through on the promises he made in his letter to the Senate to fully develop a U.S. missile defense system in Europe. Senators should also monitor any new rounds of nuclear and defense arms negotiations with Russia to make sure they do not repeat the mistakes of New START. Already there are troubling reports of negotiations about further U.S. reductions of launchers and warheads. With the rise of China and other nuclear states, the U.S. should not undertake any further nuclear reductions that would favor Russia as strongly as New START does or would increase U.S. vulnerability to those that possess nuclear weapons now or in the future.

Unfortunately, further undoing the viability of our nuclear arsenal appears to be exactly what is next on the foreign policy agenda. The New York Times reports today that the White House plans to press ahead with President Obama’s campaign promise to bring the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) up for another vote. President Bill Clinton first brought the CTBT to the Senate in 1999, where it fell more than 15 votes short of ratification. The Senate rejected ratification in 1999 for good reasons, and the ratification of New START only makes those reasons more pertinent today. The effectiveness of the U.S. nuclear deterrence posture has declined in recent years through atrophy within the weapons complex, and the United States has no margin for error. Ratification of the CTBT, on top of New START, would be nothing less than gambling with the survival of the United States.

The Obama Administration will certainly take even more unilateral steps toward nuclear disarmament. Their combined nonproliferation and nuclear disarmament policy is now clear: The policy requires that the U.S. take an additional unilateral step toward nuclear disarmament in order to prove its good intentions in response to each additional adverse development in the realm of nonproliferation. This misguided policy will significantly increase the likelihood of the use of nuclear weapons against both the U.S. and its allies.

To mitigate the harm done by New START, Congress should insist on reversing this President’s cuts to missile defense programs, expediently move to build comprehensive missile defenses, and commit to developing a new generation of nuclear weapons suitable to meet U.S. security needs as rapidly as possible.

Quick Hits:

The EPA is expected to roll out costly greenhouse gas regulations for power plants and refineries as soon as today.

HHS announced its new health insurance price control policies yesterday.

The National Association of State Budget Officers warns that Medicaid is about to push state budgets “for a cliff in July.”

The White House is preparing an executive order that would formalize indefinite detention without trial for detainees at Guantanamo.

Al-Qaeda is attacking our food.

Environmentalists New Plan Same as Old Plan: Higher Energy Costs, Fewer Jobs

from The Foundry: Conservative Policy News. by Conn Carroll

Environmentalists New Plan Same as Old Plan: Higher Energy Costs, Fewer Jobs: "

The Washington Post‘s Juliet Eilperin reported yesterday that “U.S. environmentalists are engaged in their most profound bout of soul-searching in more than a decade” and are planning to “redirect strategies” in the coming year. Faced with the failure of cap and trade and the defeat of “many of their political allies on both the state and federal level” the enviros are shifting focus away from “the toxic partisanship of Washington” and back to “the grass roots.” And just what type of grass roots activism will the left be pursuing at the local level? Eilperin reports:

The Sierra Club, meanwhile, is bolstering its long-standing campaign to block the construction of power plants across the country, assembling a team of 100 full-time employees to focus on the issue in 45 states.

Our national unemployment rate is 9.8% and the Sierra Club is investing their resources in blocking new power plan construction. The Sierra Club is blocking not only the jobs needed to build power plants, but they are also ensuring hiring energy costs for the entire economy. No wonder “many of their political allies on both the state and federal level” got shellacked at the polls last month.

But really, this strategy is no different than the one they pursued in Washington over the past two years. Both cap and trade and renewable energy standards, the two biggest environmentalist pushes on Capitol Hill, are premised on the same idea: decreasing carbon emissions by raising energy costs. As the Center for Data Analysis has documented both polices would kill millions of American jobs over the next 25 years.

According to the CDA, cap and trade would cause:

1) Net annual job losses of 1.9 million in 2012 and 2.5 million by 2035

2) Single-year GDP losses reaching $400 billion by 2025 and will exceeding $700 billion by 2035;

3) 90% higher household electric rates and 58% higher gas prices

According to the CDA, a renewable electricity standard would:

1) Raise electricity prices by 36 percent for households and 60 percent for industry;

2) Cut national income (GDP) by $5.2 trillion between 2012 and 2035;

3) Cut national income by $2,400 per year for a family of four;

4) Reduce employment by more than 1,000,000 jobs; and

5) Add more than $10,000 to a family of four’s share of the national debt by 2035.

Oregon proves raising taxes on rich lowers revenues

from USACTION NEWS by Editor

Oregon proves raising taxes on rich lowers revenues: "

Oregon voted to raise taxes on the top 2% of earners last year and saw revenues drop by one third.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

“In 2009 the state legislature raised the tax rate to 10.8% on joint-filer income of between $250,000 and $500,000, and to 11% on income above $500,000. Only New York City’s rate is higher. Oregon’s liberal voters ratified the tax increase on individuals and another on businesses in January of this year, no doubt feeling good about their “shared sacrifice.”

Congratulations. Instead of $180 million collected last year from the new tax, the state received $130 million. The Eugene Register-Guard newspaper reports that after the tax was raised “income tax and other revenue collections began plunging so steeply that any gains from the two measures seemed trivial.”"

And it seems Oregon is not unique in its results. WSJ adds:

“All of this is an instant replay of what happened in Maryland in 2008 when the legislature in Annapolis instituted a millionaire tax. There roughly one-third of the state’s millionaire households vanished from the tax rolls after rates went up.

If Salem officials want to find where the millionaires went, they might start the search in Texas, the state that leads the nation in job creation—and has a top income and capital gains tax rate 11 percentage points lower than Oregon’s.”

The voters in Oregon and Maryland may have actually thought that they could fill their budget gap with more revenues from the ‘the wealthy’ who already pay a disproportionate share of the tax burden but the more likely reason for such tax increases is ideology.

Both states are very ‘blue’ meaning mostly Democrats. Obama reflected the tax ideology of the typical Democrat in his 2008 campaign when he said he would raise the capital gains rate even though it has always proved to result in LESS revenues to the treasury. His reasoning? “For purposes of fairness’”. He said so in a Democrat debate with Hillary.

A Gallup poll recently showed that Democrats and liberals are mostly socialists:

“A majority of 53% of Democrats have a positive image of socialism, compared to 17% of Republicans.

Sixty-one percent of liberals say their image of socialism is positive, compared to 39% of moderates and 20% of conservatives.””

There are many examples showing that liberals and Democrats today are socialists. Socialism is defined as:

“(in Marxist theory) the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles.”

In Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto the number two measure needed to eliminate capitalism and establish communism is “A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.” Its all about ‘fairness’ not raising revenues. Liberals and Democrats want to punish those who may have worked harder and been more successful. They especially want to punish those who have engaged in commerce instead of a career in academia or public employee unions.

This is also the attitude of the Obama administration and majorities of both houses of the 111th congress. The facts don’t matter. They continue to spend the US into bankruptcy in some utopian hope of punishing anyone who succeeded in capitalistic endeavors to prove to themselves that their failed philosophy of ’spreading the wealth’ and ‘fairness’ also known as socialism works when it never has and never will.

Alan Greenspan summed it up well when he said “Deficit spending is simply a scheme for the confiscation of wealth.”

~ Michael Whipple, Editor usACTIONnews.com

Raising tax rates on the ‘rich’ lowers the tax revenues

Obama on capital gains tax rates:

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Democrat Mythology, Part I: Tax Rates and Revenue

Late-Stage Animal Farm

The Modern Left (Unmasked)

Democrats’ Policies Based on Dogma, Hopes, Dreams, not Reality

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Exposing Un-American Activities

Why Barack Obama doesn’t much care for Britain

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Marxist Obama: Why The Media Has Been Silent

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America’s Ruling Class — And the Perils of Revolution

Black liberation theology, Marxism and the 2nd killing of Christ

Obama’s Communist Mentor

Why Obama IS anti-business

Progressive Politics and Marxist Class Warfare

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The Marxist Roots of Obama’s Rage, Part One

The Marxist Roots of Obama’s Rage, Part Two

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The Marxist Roots of Obama’s Rage, Part Two

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The list of organizations offering their official endorsements for Saturday’s “One Nation” rally reads like a who’s who of the far-left in America

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AN APE OF A COLD GOD- KARL MARX

AFL-CIO Head Calls for “Popular Control Over Private Corporations”

Barbara Lee is a pro-socialist Democratic member of Congress

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Progressive Politics and Marxist Class Warfare

The Midterm Elections and the Communist Manifesto

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Red Maxine Waters

Progressives in a nutshell

Black liberation theology, Marxism and the 2nd killing of Christ

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Obama’s Destruction Of Capitalism

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A Democrat warns of socialist takeover in the Democratic Party

Why Nazism Was Socialism and Why Socialism Is Totalitarian

The Federal Reserve: Aging Magician of the Welfare State

from USACTION NEWS by Editor

The Federal Reserve: Aging Magician of the Welfare State: "

We hear of no “Plan B” to address the contradiction in terms that we may actually face: a welfare state bereft of an effective central bank.

By Mikiel de Bary at American Thinker

EXCERPTS:

Almost two years ago, still in the early months of the financial crisis, money supply growth started to falter, frustrating Federal Reserve Board policy. Soon this turned into tenacious rates of decrease. This little discussed development could profoundly affect the course of our history.

Not to put too fine a point on it, unrelenting money supply expansion was from the start a financial drug, which came to be administered in steadily increasing doses. Not just in recent years, but over several decades, the provider of the drug, the Fed, has effectively cooked the nation’s books and, crucially to our theme, contributed mightily to tax collections while substantially easing the strain of financing government debt increases at all levels.

Can the Fed engineer a recovery in broad money supply growth? Possibly, but it has not yet, despite trying now for about two years. To expand the money supply in the traditional way, the Fed needs a general optimism, a broad-based confidence, to take hold.

Paradoxically, the very possibility of the Fed’s somehow regaining its money-producing powers should be a source of unease rather than hope, for a resurgent Fed would imply resumption in the growth of the welfare state, which is to say an intensification of governmental burdens on the private sector.

It was “no accident” that the golden age of Fed money production — 1960, say, to “peak money” in 2009 — was an era that encompassed the long build-up of welfare state entitlement programs. Unless the Fed soon recaptures its money boosting dexterity, its days as the great financial wizard of our welfare state may be over. Without a Fed able to create the appearance of more economic success than is actually occurring, more Americans will question government largesse at their expense.

No serious proposals for dismantling the most fiscally threatening welfare state entitlements have been so much as hinted at. All proposals aim at salvaging them.

HEADLINES

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

GE gets $430 million for an engine nobody wants. Defense Secretary Robert Gates opposes the GE engine as unnecessary and a waste of money.

This is an interactive map from Muckety showing the myriad connections of Jeffrey R. Immelt head of GE:

Oh what a tangled web they weave. ~ Editor

Tony Capaccio at Bloomberg.com has the story:

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Oregon voted to raise taxes on the top 2% of earners last year and saw revenues drop by one third.

~ Michael Whipple, Editor usACTIONnews.com

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Obama on capital gains tax rates:

We hear of no “Plan B” to address the contradiction in terms that we may actually face: a welfare state bereft of an effective central bank.

By Mikiel de Bary at American Thinker

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Who runs America? ……….. Gold at $8,250?