The Day’s top political news:
Chaos and arm-twisting gives Nancy Pelosi a major win
Pelosi’s “Cap and Trade” is really a new tax on all Americans.
Pelosi and her top lieutenants spent hours whipping, cajoling, begging and browbeating undecided Democrats — and triple-checking their whip lists to decide who was a solid “yes” and who was prevaricating on the cap-and-trade legislation.
And whatever the fallout, aides say that both Pelosi and President Barack Obama now know that their majority can hold together — barely — when placed under withering pressure — which may bode well for the equally arduous trials on health care reform.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/24364.html
Despite Majority, Obama to Be Tested
Diverse Ideology Cuts Democrats' Edge
After a series of early and relatively easy victories on Capitol Hill, the White House appears certain to face a more difficult road when Congress returns to work next week.
Obama and his aides have proved adept at navigating the politics and eccentricities of the legislative branch. But as lawmakers attempt to navigate much trickier and more contentious issues in the second half of the year, the narrow margin of Friday's energy vote served as a warning: The higher the stakes, the tougher the challenge in finding consensus within what has become a diverse Democratic majority.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/29/AR2009062904175.html
The Rasmussen Tracking poll shows decline for Obama
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows that 31% of the nation's voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-three percent (33%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -2. That matches the lowest level yet recorded
Fifty percent (50%) favor passage of the health care reform proposal being crafted by Obama and Congressional Democrats. Forty-five percent (45%) are opposed.
Overall, 54% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance so far. Forty-six percent (46%) disapprove. Eighteen percent (18%) say that Congress is doing a good or an excellent job.
Opinion:
Time to begin an honest evaluation
We’ve seen a lot of email traffic about the recent passage of Obama’s new tax bill. The traffic assaults the eight Republican turncoats. Had those eight followed Party direction and voted “no”, the infamous bill would have been defeated and American families would have been saved from seeing their taxes rise into thousands of additional dollars.
Less attention is being paid Blue Dog Democrats – Congressmen generally expected to vote with Republicans on bill such as this recent tax measure. Among these Blue Dogs who voted with Obama is Allen Boyd who represents the Second District of Florida.
His district votes up to 70% Republican in presidential elections, but Boyd has slipped in by a lack of viable Republican opposition. A woman from Tallahassee was the last contestant with an apparent ability for defeating Boyd, but she ran a less than effective campaign and lost. I live in Panama City – in the western edge of the district, and the female candidates campaign failed to do much of anything in this area. This despite my offering her pro bono help. My efforts were to have been underwritten by a conservative Congressman from another state.
Boyd is opposed this year, but I know nothing regarding his opponent.
Body comes to Panama City today and there is an effort being put forward by those who organized the April 15 tea party protest here. That protest was very unorganized and didn’t even have speakers to address the crowd.
I doubt much has been done about the protest slated for today beyond emails to those who signed up at the April 15 outing. We’ll see.
I am expecting no more than a handful of protesters. This poor showing will send a message to the Congressman that he is not being damaged by his pro Obama vote. The assumption is wron…very wrong.
However, it will make no difference given the predictable coverage and reporting of the media. The effort will damage the campaign of Boyd’s opponent and will leave a pallor over the tea party movement.
Normal America cant allow such poor showings.
We’ll see how the test works here.
Buddy
The day’s top blogs:
1.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/06/enough_of_the_fluff_already_gi.html
Obama's 'high crimes and misdemeanors'
According to the provisions of the U.S. Constitution, Congress has the power to impeach and remove from office any President that is charged and found guilty of 'high crimes and misdemeanors.' The term encompasses felonies and other unlawful acts that are not considered felonies.
Barack Obama has a truckload of problems on his hands. He has enacted policies that fit the description of impeachable offenses. He can be thankful that Congress is controlled by his partners-in-crime, or else he would be facing serious charges.
(NOTE: Obama has many things for which he should answer. Perhaps not to the degree this author suggests, but wrong headed things none the less. The birth certificate issue is just one such offense. If Obama has a real certificate proving his place of birth was Hawaii, fine. Present it and end the discussion. To date, Obama has not only failed to do so, but has spent a million or two for a herd of lawyers working overtime to hide whatever reality exists.)
Let's take a look at some of his offenses, shall we?
*He violated the law and the provisions of the Constitution by seizing control of GM and Chrysler without proper authorization from Congress. Although his unlawful cronies in Congress granted him the authority after the fact, his action to seize corporations was a violation of the law at the time it was implemented. The fact that the U.S. Supreme Court allowed this atrocity is no matter. Thomas Jefferson said it best when he articulated a key principle of liberty--any government that willfully violates the rule of law and encroaches on the rights of the people ceases to be a legitimate government. This government has violated the provisions of the 5th Amendment regarding due process and fair compensation at the very least.
*His use of ACORN as a campaign vehicle is a violation of the law. Entities such as ACORN are prohibited by the Federal Government from engaging in partisan political activity. It is clear to anybody with eyes and ears that this organization was an overtly pro-Obama entity, the goal of which was to do nothing but get out the vote for BO.
*His consistent and blatant pandering to America's sworn enemies in the Muslim world is tantamount to treason, the definition of which, according to the U.S. Constitution, is the aiding and abetting of America's enemies. Can there be any doubt that Obama should at least be charged with the offense, given his penchant for going out of his way to offend our allies such as Israel, Britain, France, and Germany, while implementing policies that favor Hamas, Iran, Egypt, Syria, and other terrorist hotbeds?
*He broke a law that he himself pushed and helped pass as a Senator that provides protections for Inspectors-General who do their jobs by investigating corruption, waste, and fraud in government programs. Yet when these government watchdogs get too close to the thuggery of Obama's friends, they get summarily fired for no good reason, such as Mr. Walpin.
*And then there are those who believe that Barack Obama has no valid U.S. birth certificate. At first such charges were dismissed as the musings of kooks. But increasingly many level-headed Americans are beginning to look closely, realizing that perhaps those who first broke this story are not kooks after all. So far, no valid copy of Obama's birth certificate has been produced, meaning that if he doesn't have one, he is not even eligible to serve, which can only point to yet another violation of the law--fraud.
*Several citizens have filed criminal complaints calling for the impeachment of Barack Obama based upon these and other issues. One of those issues is the illegal use of the military in Alabama to police the streets of a small town that had been hit with a crime wave.
Canada Free Press published an interview with one man who filed a criminal complaint against Obama based upon the illegal use of the military, his missing birth certificate, and his treasonous acts regarding America's enemies. Here is the reporter's introduction to the interview:
In light of the now almost daily bombardment of the US Constitution by the sitting US Commander in Chief, the question ‘is our Constitution still the law of the land?’ is increasingly being asked by We-the-People. The problem of Barack Hussein Obama seeming not to be a natural-born citizen is still an extremely salient issue—an issue that has led Obama to hire a team of lawyers to keep all information on his actual country of birth and all of his college records hidden. The latest estimate on the fees charged to do so is over $1Million.
This, coupled with Obama’s continued and strong apparent push to completely bankrupt the USA and turn it into his own personal totalitarian utopia has led to unprecedented actions by some US citizens.
Recently, retired Navy Commander Walter Francis Fitzpatrick III filed a criminal complaint of Treason against Barack Hussein Obama. This has prompted other individuals around the country to do the same. As our Republic now stands on the brink of complete collapse, I thought an interview of Commander Fitzpatrick was in order.
And here is an excerpt of this explosive interview:
Sher: For those who haven’t yet read the criminal complaint, please tell us what it entails.
Mr. Obama is named in the commission of the crime of TREASON by a commissioned officer in the U.S. military. TREASON is the only criminal act our Constitution records. Mr. Obama is described in the criminal complaint as a ‘foreign born domestic enemy and a traitor’. This simple declarative sentence is intended to state clearly Mr. Obama meets elements of the crime of TREASON by being an enemy of the United States and our constitutional form of government. It states also Mr. Obama adheres to other U.S. enemies and gives them aid and comfort (Obama’s criminal assistants).
Sher: After you filed the complaint against Obama, I understand that you were visited by the Secret Service. Can you tell me and my readers what transpired? And what legal reason did they give you as their justification to interrogate you?
Read the entire article to find out the conclusion of Mr. Fitzpatrick's 'visit' from the Secret Service.
The upshot of all of this is that a man occupies the White House who under normal circumstances would be facing impeachment hearings in Congress.
For more commentary on a variety of issues, please visit my blog, updated daily, at The Liberty Sphere.
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http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/3684/87/
THE COST OF DIVERSITY AT ANNAPOLIS
Dr. Bruce Fleming
The Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead announced in Annapolis recently that "diversity is the number one priority" at the Naval Academy, where I have been a Professor of English for 22 years.
The Naval Academy superintendent, Vice Adm. Jeffrey Fowler, echoed him. Everyone understands that "diversity" here means nonwhite skins.
Fowler insisted recently that we needed to have Annapolis graduates who "looked like" the Fleet, where enlisted people are about 42 percent nonwhite, largely African American and Hispanic.
The stunning revelation last week was that the Naval Academy had an incoming class that was "more diverse" than ever before: 35 percent minority.
Sounds good, only this comes with a huge price tag. It's taxpayers who bankroll the military. Yet nobody has asked us if we're willing to pay this price. Instead we're being told there is no price to pay at all. If you believe that, you probably also believe in the Tooth Fairy.
(NOTE: Hmmm the Chief of Naval Operations says that "diversity is the number one priority" at the Naval Academy. It seems this Naval Officer needs to have the real mission of the Academy explained to him. The “Number one priority” of the Naval Academy should be producing top leadership for our Naval forces. “Diversity” the buzz word of the day for liberals, should play no part in this process. Certainly there should be no discrimination involved, but to suggest “diversity” in itself, is important, is beyond absurd. Seems we need a new Chief of Naval Operations – one who understands the real duties. If he is this stupid about the mission of the Academy, what other irresponsible decisions is he promoting?)
A "diverse" class does not mean the Naval Academy recruits violinists, or older students (they can't be 23 on Induction Day), or gay people (who are thrown out) or foreign students (other than the dozen or so sent by client governments).
It means applicants checked a box on their application that says they are Hispanic, African American, Native American, and now, since my time on the Admissions Board of the Academy, Asians.
Midshipmen are admitted by two tracks. White applicants out of high school who are not also athletic recruits typically need grades of A and B and minimum SAT scores of 600 on each part for the Board to vote them "qualified." Athletics and leadership also count.
A vote of "qualified" for a white applicant doesn't mean s/he's coming, only that he or she can compete to win the "slate" of up to 10 nominations that (most typically) a Congress(wo)man draws up. That means that nine "qualified" white applicants are rejected. SAT scores below 600 or C grades almost always produce a vote of "not qualified" for white applicants.
Not so for an applicant who self-identifies as one of the minorities who are our "number one priority." For them, another set of rules apply. Their cases are briefed separately to the board, and SAT scores to the mid-500s with quite a few Cs in classes (and no visible athletics or leadership) typically produce a vote of "qualified" for them, with direct admission to Annapolis. They're in, and are given a pro forma nomination to make it legit.
Minority applicants with scores and grades down to the 300s with Cs and Ds (and no particular leadership or athletics) also come, though after a remedial year at our taxpayer-supported remedial school, the Naval Academy Preparatory School.
By using NAPS as a feeder, we've virtually eliminated all competition for "diverse" candidates: in theory they have to get a C average at NAPS to come to USNA, but this is regularly re-negotiated.
All this is probably unconstitutional. That's what the Supreme Court said about the University of Michigan's two-track admissions in 2003.
Once at Annapolis, "diverse" midshipmen are over-represented in our pre-college classes, in lower-track courses, in mandatory tutoring programs and less challenging majors. Many struggle to master basic concepts. (I teach some of these courses.)
Of course, some minority students are stellar, but they're the exception. Despite being dragged toward the finish line, minorities graduate at about a 10 percent lower rate than the whole class, which of course includes them (so the real split is greater).
Don't want to believe me? Have a lawyer sit in on a year's worth of Admissions Board deliberations. Or better still, pray that one of the stellar white students rejected to give a seat to a "diverse" candidate sues us. That's the only way taxpayers will ever fully understand the price to them of "putting diversity first."
Dr. Bruce Fleming has been a Professor of English at the US Naval Academy since 1987. He is the author of 15 books, the latest being Annapolis Autumn.
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MORE BLATHER FROM UNLAWFUL IMMIGRATION ADVOCATES
Frosty Wooldridge
“Near the Border, a trail of tears” 6/14/09
Denver Post “New roadblock for immigration?” DP editorial 6/28/09
Tina Griego “Westside to write its own story” Denver Post 6/23/09
As you can see by the aforementioned articles, the Denver Post publishes endless sympathy stories to support perpetual unlawful immigration. You might think the editors and journalists take their pay from Mexican sources.
Post editors support “Comprehensive Immigration Reform” without informing citizens of the mind-numbing costs estimated to be well over $3 trillion, the overpopulation ramifications of adding 100 million people to the USA in 30 years, and the destruction to our language, culture and sustainability as a civilization.
In other words, let’s try to pour three gallons of water into a one gallon pale. Let’s go on a six our flight over water with only three hours of fuel. Let’s dump endless third world poverty stricken immigrants into this society and pretend we can educate them, medicate them and thrust them into our first world culture—without any problems! One look at present day France, England or Holland might give you a clue as to how unworkable the concept of multiculturalism manifests.
You rarely see articles supporting America’s immigration laws or ‘tear-jerker’ stories how Coloradans suffer from unlawful workers residing in Denver. You hear Colorado suffers $384 million debt, but not a word as to causes!
(NOTE: Frosty Wooldridge is a major activist on immigration issues. From his home base in Colorado, Frosty wages and unrelenting assault on such issues. He is frequently published and quoted in the Denver Post and other publications.)
DRAMATIC PROBLEMS GET PRESS WHEN:
Unless, of course, an unlawful immigrant kills, rapes or runs over a Coloradan! At that point, the Denver Post cannot help but report on yet another unlawful immigrant act of carnage such as executing Denver Officer Don Young, or running over Dale Englerth, or two older women and a three year old boy mowed down by a drunk driving Francis Hernandez, or the unlawful worker Navi who dragged his girlfriend to death behind his pickup truck, etc.
The Denver Post hides the hidden costs of unlawful immigration at all costs. The Post does not want to upset the apple cart by exposing the expanding network of unlawful employers that break every law on the books. At the same time, we taxpayers subsidize this 21st century slave labor. We pay for their education, medication and incarceration at $1.1 billion annually. (Source: www.cairco.org)
I call on the Denver Post to publish stories on the devastating effects caused by unlawful immigrants and unlawful workers. I call on them to expose the big employers that thumb their noses at our laws. I call on the Denver Post to interview roofing companies, hotel and restaurant, landscape, meat packing, construction and fast food employers to see ‘how’ they avoid following our laws. Discover why ICE hasn’t made any busts on employers! Explore how landlords break our laws by renting to unlawful immigrants. Why and how to 700,000 unlawful immigrants maintain themselves in Colorado without fear of our laws?
Their actions break all federal laws found in USC 8, 1374, 274, 275, 276, 277 and other statutes: “It is against federal law to aid, abet, assist or in any way support, house or transport an illegal alien within the United States no matter what your personal convictions…at a fine of $2,000 to as high as $10,000 per illegal alien and up to five years in federal prison.”
Yet Tina Griego supports unlawful immigrants with every stroke of her quill. Chandra Russo, coordinator for “Colorado [illegal} Immigrant Rights Coalition” enjoys columns in the Post. Denver Post editorial writers beg for more Mexican workers.
Hey folks, we suffer 20 million unlawful aliens within our country already! Exactly how many more do we need? From Edwin Rubestein’s latest report, those unlawful immigrants cost taxpayers $346 billion annually. (Source: www.thesocialcontract.com, spring 2009, Contract Quarterly) And you folks down at the Denver Post want to import more to pick ‘cotton’?!
Russo sells us a ‘trail of tears’ but forgets that unlawful immigrants can stay in their own country to work out their own problems. We cannot continue as the “International Kleenex” for the world. Griego, Mexico’s biggest advocate for unlawful aliens—needs to get a life—instead of demeaning America’s laws with her sob stories about life on boring “Border Street.”
We suffer 15 million unemployed Americans. A whopping 32.2 million Americans subsist on food stamps in June 2009. We suffer 1.5 million homeless Americans and 13 million children live under the poverty line in the USA. Our nation drowns in $10.3 trillion debt. California hit $24 billion in debt last month, but no one exposes their $10.2 billion annual costs for unlawful immigrants running over four million.
How much worse does it have to become before the Denver Post allows and promotes our laws, our people, our English language and our American culture? What about our laws? Our people? Our way of life?
Frankly, I am sick and tired of sob stories for unlawful immigrants. They caused their own pain and their own problems by coming to our country unlawfully. It’s time they stop breaking our laws and change their own country for their own futures. They might start with birth control for a ‘better life’!
No, we don’t have to mass deport them. Just enforce ours. They will leave our country one by one just like how they arrived!
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