There is a growing rift within the Democrat party as the far left’s aversion to compromise led the House to reject Barack Obama’s deal with the Republicans to extend the Bush tax cuts for two years.
This is what Nancy Pelosi had to say in rejecting the president’s attempt at coming to a bipartisan agreement to extend both the tax cuts and unemployment benefits:
We will continue discussions with the President and our Democratic and Republican colleagues in the days ahead to improve the proposal before it comes to the House floor for a vote
There isn’t much news to report on Ward Bird–the New Hampshire man jailed for three years for defending his property–but the support for his plight is growing and spreading throughout the state.
There are now several fundraisers scheduled to help Ward Bird and his family with legal expenses that you can read about here, and paperwork for a pardon review have been filed with the New Hampshire Attorney General. I can only hope that a pardon makes it to the desk of John Lynch, and I can only hope that John Lynch does what is right and pardons Ward Bird.
Ward Bird is an outstanding citizen and Boy Scout leader who was sentenced under the mandatory sentencing guidelines to three years in jail for defending his property even though he had no prior record, and did nothing wrong other that think he actually had second amendment rights.
This is a travesty of justice which has led me to rethink my support for mandatory sentences. Ward Bird is gaining support from fellow citizens of New Hampshire; we are a citizenry who takes our right to keep and bear arms very seriously, in fact the New Hampshire constitution reaffirms a person’s right to bear arms even more clearly than does the United States constitution–the New Hampshire constitution declares that a person has the right to defend his property, yet Ward Bird has been jailed for doing just that.
Governor Lynch–FREE WARD BIRD!
Food safety and GITMO included in spending bill
While reading this article about the end of the year “catch-all” spending bill which the House passed yesterday I noticed two aspects of this bill that captured my attention. It turns out that this bull is a little more than just a spending bill as Democrats look to push through a couple of controversial issues unbeknownst to the American people.
The first issue I would like to write about is GITMO; the Congress blocked Barack Obama’s plan to close GITMO and bring the terrorists held there to American soil for imprisonment and trial by denying the regime the funding to do so. (The same can be done to defund healthcare reform next year.) This could signal the death blow to Barack Obama’s campaign promise to shut down GITMO.
But I thought the Democrats wanted compromise?
By now everyone has heard about the Bush tax cut deal that Barack Obama negotiated with the Republicans–he agreed to extend all of the tax cuts for two more years in exchange for another extension of unemployment benefits. Both sides agreed to something that they did not agree with in order to get something done–this is called bipartisanship and it has been very rare in Washington these days.
Both sides have people who are upset with the deal, but by and large the most vocal critics of this deal seem to be coming from the left. Many Democrat politicians and voters alike are livid at the fact that Barack Obama agreed to extend the Bush tax cuts on the rich in return for extended unemployment benefits. Their anger is understandable as Barack Obama campaigned on the promise to let the Bush tax cuts expire on the richest of Americans, but what they don’t seem to understand is how the idea of compromise works. Sure, they talk a good game, but that is all they do.
ObamaCare: 222 companies have now been granted healthcare waivers
The ObamaCare fallout continues:
The healthcare reform law set minimum amounts of coverage that healthcare plans must meet in order to be acceptable to the Obama regime. Many large companies carry plans called “mini-med” plans which set limits on how much money they will pay out in a given year, but these limits will be phased out over the next couple of years, meaning that the companies which carry this type of plan will be in violation of the healthcare reform law.
As I first wrote here, over 100 large multi-million dollar companies were granted waivers to shield themselves from the new law after they threatened to drop healthcare insurance altogether because they decided it would be much cheaper for them to pay the government a fine than incur astronomical healthcare cost increases.
Pearl Harbor Day: We Will Remember You
After censure, Charlie Rangel is being investigated for yet another ethics violation
On the heels of being censured last week for numerous ethics violations, Charlie Rangel is once again under investigation for yet another possible ethics violation. The Federal Election Commission is now investigating a claim that Charlie Rangel illegally used monies that he raised with his National Leadership PAC to fund his defense against the original ethics violations.
It is becoming all too clear that either Charlie Rangel does not give a damn about the rules he is supposed to operate under–feeling that he is above the rules, or he simply does not understand the rules. Either way, I think that it is becoming abundantly clear that Charlie Rangel’s day has come and gone, it is time for him to resign. He is embarrassing himself more and more every day and he would be doing himself–and the country–a favor by leaving the public spotlight once and for all.
Hillary Clinton jokes about WikiLeaks
WikiLeaks founder–Julian Assange–has been a very busy man lately, releasing secret United States documents, and he is threatening that if he is captured, or if WikiLeaks is shut down, he will release a poison pill–he calls this the “doomsday file”–which he claims will pose “a possible security risk for coalition partners around the world.” He has made a clear threat to the United States of America–pursue me at your own peril.
Mitch McConnell is now calling Julian Assange a “high tech terrorist” and while when I first heard Peter King claim that WikiLeaks should be classified as a foreign terrorist organization, I thought that was hyperbole and just a little over the top, I now realize that this man poses an immediate and serious threat to the United States of America, and yes he is a high tech terrorist whose aim is bringing down this great country. And he must be stopped as soon as possible by any means necessary.
This man represents a serious threat to the United States and everyone understands that Assange is not fooling around, he wants to destroy the United States of America, and he will do whatever it takes to accomplish his goal even if it means he is making himself a target.
Everyone realizes how serious this threat is; everyone that is except the Secretary of State–Hillary Clinton–because she obviously feels that this is a laughing matter. While hosting a reception for the people who will receive the Kennedy Center Honor awards this year, she thought it was appropriate to laugh about the WikiLeaks situation stating that “I am writing a cable about it, which I’m sure you’ll find soon on your closest website.”
In Julian Assange we have a man whose goal it is to embarrass the United States of America and bring down this great republic, and in Hillary Clinton we have a Secretary of State who feels it is appropriate to laugh about it. I for one do not find anything funny about this situation, and I do not find anything funny about Hillary Clinton’s lack of seriousness on this issue. She may have been trying to make light of a serious situation by showing that she remains calm in the face of this threat, but this was inappropriate to say the least. Hillary Clinton should be ashamed at herself for taking a threat to our national security so nonchalantly. I will be waiting anxiously for her apology.
During his campaign for president, Barack Obama railed against the Bush administration’s policy of warrantless wiretapping, but soon after taking office he adopted and defended President Bush’s wiretapping policy. This change of position seemed to draw little ire from the left as they suddenly seemed willing to support warrantless wiretapping once it was learned that Barack Obama would be the one conducting the warrantless wiretaps, showing us that the left really didn’t give a damn about the right to privacy, but rather, they opposed the person who was committing this intrusion.
Now we have learned from this article that the Obama regime is not only listening to calls from American citizens without a warrant, but the federal government is also tracking Americans usage of credit cards without obtaining a warrant for probable cause. In fact, government officials are being allowed to write their own subpoenas in order to track credit card use in real time before applying for a warrant after the fact.
Big Brother is watching…..or is at least listening, if Michael Copps–the head of the FCC–has his way. What is the big deal you may be asking? After all, isn’t it the job of the FCC set broadcast standards and ensure that stations are living up to them? Yes, but this news should be a little concerning to everybody; Michael Copps wants to set up a “Public Value Test” which a station must pass every four years in order for that station to keep its licence.
This will be done under the guise of trying to save “traditional media” which Copps has declared is in “grave peril,” but it is nothing more than another way to pass a version of the Fairness Doctrine. Here is what Michael Copps had to say about this idea during a recent speech: Read more…
America's Watchtower 