The contents of these articles are based on Fact and Truth. Challenges are invited.
The day’s top political news:
Democrats doubt deadline on healthcare
With Democrats scrambling to line up support and determine what to include in a final healthcare package, the March 18 target set by White House spokesman Robert Gibbs last week appears unlikely -- to the surprise of no one in Congress, where healthcare deadlines have been missed repeatedly.
"None of us have mentioned the 18th other than Mr. Gibbs," Steny Hoyer, the Democratic leader in the House of Representatives, told reporters. "We are trying to do this as soon as possible. That continues to be our objective."
Gibbs later told reporters he still thought the House could vote on the Senate's version of healthcare reform before President Barack Obama leaves on an overseas trip on March 18. "I've been given nothing that would change that advice that I was given last week," Gibbs said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6213R520100310?type=politicsNews
Governors, state school superintendents propose common academic standards
Several states are poised to adopt standards proposed Wednesday for what students should learn in English and math, a crucial step in President Obama's campaign to raise academic expectations across the country.
State boards of education are moving rapidly to take up the common-standards proposal made by governors and schools chiefs, the leader of a national association said, with many in the South eager to act within the next few months.
The far left NEA teacher’s union – actually an arm of the Democrat Party, has a major voice in educational decisions – as a result many text books are badly distorted – especially history books. “The truth often, is not in them”.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/10/AR2010031000024.html?hpid=topnews
Obama’s Stimulus bill saves at least one job
According to an unnamed source, Oregon State University Athletic Director Bob DeCarolis was considering firing their basketball coach, Craig Robinson, after an 8-11 start (2-5 in the Pac 10 conference).
When word of this reached Washington , Undersecretary of Education Martha Kanter was dispatched to Corvallis with $17 million in stimulus money for the university. The source now says that Craig Robinson's job is safe for this year.
For the record, Coach Robinson just happens to be Michelle Obama's brother.
Opinion:
Computer problems have kept me offline for several days – now back to work
A lot has been going on of late. To begin with, a liberal Democrat Congressman, Eric Massa captured headlines, resigned, then went on Glenn Beck’s program to prove he’s pretty much a flake. For those of you who missed it, Beck was moved to apologize to his audience for having wasted their time by putting the hapless Massa on for his entire Tuesday program.
Among the few Massa claims that rang true was his accusation of having been assaulted in the Congressional showers by White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel. Massa said Emanuel accosted him in the shower, punching a finger in his chest, and berating him for not supporting the Obama Health Care scheme.
It seems possible this is the naked truth, but don’t expect anyone to step forward to support poor Massa. For one thing, Emanuel is a ruthless denizen of the Chicago Democrat Machine. Political knee capping is not unheard of – especially if it goes against the strategy of people such as Emanuel.
In truth, Emanuel and his Chicago Machine associate David Axelrod, actually call the shots and pretty much run things in and around the Oval Office. Obama is the front man – the glossy political photo who can read a teleprompter well, and deliver the material on the teleprompter effectively.
I leave evaluations of Obama’s short comings in that regard to Dan Rather who may have proved over the week end that even a stopped watch can be right twice a day.
Now Emanuel can be expected to be punching a lot of Democrats in the chest – in and out of the shower. Obama’s team is desperate to get the Healthcare scheme passed and passed quickly – before incumbent Democrats leave for Spring Break and face their own voters who are furious with their extremism – especially with health care.
That means Emanuel will be using his punching finger over time – joining Pelosi in twisting arms, and dealing to get enough votes for the bill. Whether we even learn the truth or not – be assured more bribes are being made to secure votes – just as we all saw when the Senate struggled to get the votes there.
Democrats are in disarray, but they have dominating power. Even then, they are terrified of failure. Within the past 24 hours or so, the Democrat – appointed Senate functionary that deals with such things – has advised Democrat senators to avoid the Drudge Report because it is shot through with viruses.
Of course the accusation is a lie – but what else is new? The effort betrays just how nervous Democrats are. They read polls too – even if they spend a lot of time in denial of the results. Polling shows a majority of Americans are opposed to the Obama health plan and when they return home, many incumbent Democrats will feel the wrath of voters – just as they did last summer.
Stay tuned.
Buddy
The day’s top blogs:
1.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20100310/ts_csm/286257
Rahm Emanuel controversy: White House fights image of turmoil
Linda Feldmann
Washington – The media have long been fascinated by Rahm Emanuel.
Whether as a young but senior staffer in the Clinton White House, a member of the House leadership, and now chief of staff in the Obama White House, Mr. Emanuel has always been the take-no-prisoners politico about whom no story seems too far-fetched.
Enter Eric Massa, the just-resigned Democratic member of Congress who claimed, on his way out the door, that Emanuel confronted him in the shower at the House gym for not supporting President Obama’s policies. Mr. Massa also claimed that Democratic leaders forced him out of Congress because he opposed healthcare reform. House majority leader Steny Hoyer called Massa’s accusation “absurd.”
On Fox News’s “Glenn Beck” show late Tuesday afternoon, Massa said that, in fact, he was not “forced out.” He said he “forced himself out.” “I failed,” he said. “I didn’t live up to my own codes.”
The White House broke its silence on the matter Tuesday morning, when spokesman Robert Gibbs declared on ABC that “the whole story is ridiculous.”
According to The Washington Post, allegations against Massa that he sexually harassed a male staffer verbally now include alleged physical harassment of multiple male staffers. In his Fox appearance, Massa described tickle fights with staffers but said he “did nothing sexual.”
As the scandal around Massa grows, the Emanuel angle may recede. But the larger – and ultimately much more consequential – narrative of the future of the Obama presidency, as the White House makes its final push to pass healthcare reform, features Emanuel as a central character.
Two dominant, competing story lines have spun out in the press: In one, Emanuel is the shrewd tactician whom Mr. Obama should have heeded more closely in his first year, on issues such as healthcare reform (the bill should have been smaller) and on the pledge to close the Guantánamo Bay prison camp in one year (bad idea). In the other, it is Emanuel who has made a hash of Obama’s first year in office and should get the boot.
Usually, when competing blind quotes start showing up all over Washington media, that’s a sign of a once-well-oiled White House machine in need of a tuneup. During the presidential campaign, Team Obama was indeed a well-oiled machine. Emanuel was not part of the campaign. But, analysts say, that does not necessarily mean Emanuel is the problem. It just proves, once again, that it’s harder to be president than run for president.
How does “no-drama Obama” feel about all the turmoil? Mr. Gibbs says, “The president is not focused on palace intrigue.” But there have also been reports that Obama has asked his senior advisers to quit the “finger-pointing and intrigue.”
The salacious details of the Massa mess have only served to further distract attention from Obama’s efforts to drive home health reform. He delivered a rousing campaign-style address in Philadelphia on Monday, and on Wednesday, he heads to St. Louis for another healthcare speech. But the cable chatter has been all about the retired Navy man with a penchant for admitted “salty language,” and perhaps more.
If Obama succeeds in passing healthcare reform, the palace intrigue will die down. If not, let the media feeding frenzy begin.
2.
http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_170712.asp
Roy Exum: SunTrust Nicked Me
Roy Exum
Once long ago, when my football buddy Lou Holtz was still in coaching, he arrived around midnight at the O'Hare Hilton and presented his tired self at the front desk. He explained he was worn-out and asked for the room that had been reserved in his name.
The clerk told Lou that he was sorry, that the hotel was already full. "You don't understand, I have a reservation," said Lou, to which the clerk coldly responded, "No, you're the one who doesn't understand ... I got the keys ... and you are not staying here tonight."
Well, as the future Hall of Fame football coach wearily bent to pick up his bags and find lodging elsewhere, he made the desk clerk a promise. "Alright, you win today, but I'll leave you with this; I make about 100 speeches and talks a year. I will now give you my pledge that for the next calendar year I'll tell every audience I address to never stay at the O'Hare Hilton!" Lou kept that promise, much to the delight of laughing audiences spread from New York to San Francisco, and I thought about that yesterday when a SunTrust Bank just "got me" for $5.00. Within only a few short days, I'll figure a way to tell the world that the SunTrust Bank in Chattanooga, in my opinion, just stole some money that I had earned. I'll also suggest to everybody I know this might be a dandy time for them to start banking at a more respectable financial institution.
Let me explain: I am a writer and one of the publications where I peddle my verbiage uses SunTrust Bank as its revenue repository. On Tuesday, when I took one of their SunTrust checks to a local branch, the teller informed me that in order to cash a SunTrust check written by that publishing company, she would charge me a $5.00 "check-cashing fee" since I had no account with SunTrust.
"No, ma'am, you misunderstand," I responded. "The check is a SunTrust check. I'm just the ‘payee.’" The teller, who I'll admit was suddenly a pawn for my anger and only just trying to do her job, told me that, no, I was the one who misunderstood. But, she offered an "out;" if I wanted to open an account, there would be no fee in the future. Are you kidding me, who wants to be forced to deal with a bank such as SunTrust? I'll never go in another one again.
A few minutes later, at the gas station, I was told that SunTrust regularly bilks "the working man" with the $5.00 check-cashing fee. I was also informed, in my informal poll at the pumps, that it makes no difference if an employer issues payroll checks in good faith, the workers are then nicked in the teller's line, each taking the $5.00 lick on the chin off the other end of the transaction.
Several days ago it was reported by the Associated Press that the chairman and CEO of SunTrust Bank, some Atlanta magnate named James M. Wells III, was paid "about $5.9 million last year," this after the bank reported losing $1.73 billion, or $3.98 per share, for 2009, compared with a profit of $741 million, or $2.12 per share, in 2008.
Well, I recognize that "Jimmy the Third" could care less about a non-customer’s plight and is obviously only interested in increasing the number of $5.00 "fees" but, my goodness, how long do hard-working people have to endure such flagrant fleecing? Is that what banking is now about, “Jimmy the Third” tacking down almost $6 million while people like myself get nicked?
As I am still formulating my "get even" plan and just beginning my search for contact information for each of the U.S. Senators who muscled the $710 billion bailout for our beleaguered financial institutions, it dawns on me that many of the South's employers, those who unfortunately have commercial accounts at SunTrust, surely have no idea the bank is "double dipping," getting a sizable fee up front for the company to process the company checks, but coldly adding insult to injury by nicking each employee as well at every payday.
I don't know whether other area banks are in on the shameful practice, but no other bank in town has ever done me wrong. As far as I'm concerned, my fight is focused on behalf of many others, especially the less fortunate who don't have accounts with SunTrust. Banks talk a lot about "principal" ... well, this is also about "principle." It's wrong, pure and simple, to gouge both ends of a transaction, again this in my opinion.
I am now telling any of my clients and friends that I will no longer accept a SunTrust check for my services. They, in turn, may tell me to go jump in the lake, to swim among hungry predators (wouldn't that be ironic?), but I'll take "The Lou Holtz Pledge" on this one and wherever I go, wherever I can, I'll urge people to please not bank at SunTrust. Why? This isn’t the way you treat people.
People have a choice where they bank. There are many really good banks within an easy reach that have been nice to me. So if you know "Jimmy the Third" in Atlanta, you might send word that when his tellers nick people like me for $5 to cash a SunTrust check, that's neither honest nor honorable.
But tell him not to worry, I'll soon figure a way to get my money's worth.
Perspective
The Dems' Deafening Silence On Tax Cuts
CESAR CONDA AND J.T. YOUNG
Who killed the economy? Those on the left want to frame the previous administration, with George Bush fronting every lineup and most scenarios implicating the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003.
This gives us the chance to play detective and prove not just the innocence of the tax cuts, but also their efficacy.
Liberal leaders want us to believe Bush's tax cuts weakened the economy and created a climate of avarice. This fostered the speculative bubble that eventually burst, bringing down the financial sector and triggering the latest recession.
But just the opposite is true. The 2001 tax cuts quickly ended the downturn that took hold at the end of 2000. The economy began the first quarter of 2001 in decline. Yet during those three months, it was plain that tax relief was on the way, and by the second quarter bipartisan tax relief had arrived.
Negative growth did not return until Sept. 11, 2001. But despite the lack of momentum coming out of 2000, and the terrorist attacks that ushered in the third quarter of 2001, the economy still never registered two straight quarters of negative growth.
The failure to match that recessionary rule of thumb, and the short and shallow downturn that ensued, made that dip unique among post-World War II slowdowns.
Data from the end of 2001 to the latest recession bear this out. The economy started expanding again in the fourth quarter of 2001 and grew for 25 consecutive quarters. After enactment of the 2003 tax cut, which lowered the marginal effective tax rate on new investment, gross domestic product surged 7.5% in the third quarter, the fastest pace since 1984. And for 26 straight months unemployment stayed below 5%.
The Bush tax cuts also led to increases in tax revenues, and after 2004 the revenues grew faster than the economy. The ratio of tax receipts to GDP rose to 18.8% in 2007, above the 40-year average, and the deficit was just 1.2% of GDP.
From 2004 to 2008, capital gains realizations grew by 60%; from 2004 to 2007, corporate tax receipts nearly doubled, adding a full point to the revenues-to-GDP ratio.
As for the first charge in liberals' "frame-up" — that the economy would have been better off with a higher tax burden after 2000 — it's hard to accept such a premise.
The economy crested in 2000's fourth quarter under the highest federal tax burden (20.6% of GDP) since WWII. It's hard to see how sustaining such a burden would have aided economic recovery prior to 9/11, let alone after it.
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