Wednesday, November 30, 2011

CEO Calls Out Obama's Class Warfare Strategem





Obama’s class warfare strategy is growing a little thin; if not dangerous. Here is an open letter from a CEO to President Barack Obama. This job creator recognizes the veneer of a totalitarian, who will use naked political partisanship to achieve power.


OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

November 28, 2011

President Barack Obama

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President,

It is with a great sense of disappointment that I write this. Like many others, I hoped that your election would bring a salutary change of direction to the country, despite what more than a few feared was an overly aggressive social agenda. And I cannot credibly blame you for the economic mess that you inherited, even if the policy response on your watch has been profligate and largely ineffectual. (You did not, after all, invent TARP.) I understand that when surrounded by cries of "the end of the world as we know it is nigh", even the strongest of minds may have a tendency to shoot first and aim later in a well-intended effort to stave off the predicted apocalypse.

But what I can justifiably hold you accountable for is you and your minions' role in setting the tenor of the rancorous debate now roiling us that smacks of what so many have characterized as "class warfare". Whether this reflects your principled belief that the eternal divide between the haves and have-nots is at the root of all the evils that afflict our society or just a cynical, populist appeal to his base by a president struggling in the polls is of little importance. What does matter is that the divisive, polarizing tone of your rhetoric is cleaving a widening gulf, at this point as much visceral as philosophical, between the downtrodden and those best positioned to help them. It is a gulf that is at once counterproductive and freighted with dangerous historical precedents. And it is an approach to governing that owes more to desperate demagoguery than your Administration should feel comfortable with.

Just to be clear, while I have been richly rewarded by a life of hard work (and a great deal of luck), I was not to-the-manor-born. My father was a plumber who practiced his trade in the South Bronx after he and my mother emigrated from Poland. I was the first member of my family to earn a college degree. I benefited from both a good public education system (P.S. 75, Morris High School and Hunter College, all in the Bronx) and my parents' constant prodding. When I joined Goldman Sachs following graduation from Columbia University's business school, I had no money in the bank, a negative net worth, a National Defense Education Act student loan to repay, and a six-month-old child (not to mention his mother, my wife of now 47 years) to support. I had a successful, near-25-year run at Goldman, which I left 20 years ago to start a private investment firm. As a result of my good fortune, I have been able to give away to those less blessed far more than I have spent on myself and my family over a lifetime, and last year I subscribed to Warren Buffet's Giving Pledge to ensure that my money, properly stewarded, continues to do some good after I'm gone.

My story is anything but unique. I know many people who are similarly situated, by both humble family history and hard-won accomplishment, whose greatest joy in life is to use their resources to sustain their communities. Some have achieved a level of wealth where philanthropy is no longer a by-product of their work but its primary impetus. This is as it should be. We feel privileged to be in a position to give back, and we do. My parents would have expected nothing less of me.

I am not, by training or disposition, a policy wonk, polemicist or pamphleteer. I confess admiration for those who, with greater clarity of expression and command of the relevant statistical details, make these same points with more eloquence and authoritativeness than I can hope to muster. For recent examples, I would point you to "Hunting the Rich" (Leaders, The Economist, September 24, 2011), "The Divider vs. the Thinker" (Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal, October 29, 2011), "Wall Street Occupiers Misdirect Anger" (Christine Todd Whitman, Bloomberg, October 31, 2011), and "Beyond Occupy" (Bill Keller, The New York Times, October 31, 2011) - all, if you haven't read them, making estimable work of the subject.

But as a taxpaying businessman with a weekly payroll to meet and more than a passing familiarity with the ways of both Wall Street and Washington, I do feel justified in asking you: is the tone of the current debate really constructive?

People of differing political persuasions can (and do) reasonably argue about whether, and how high, tax rates should be hiked for upper-income earners; whether the Bush-era tax cuts should be extended or permitted to expire, and for whom; whether various deductions and exclusions under the federal tax code that benefit principally the wealthy and multinational corporations should be curtailed or eliminated; whether unemployment benefits and the payroll tax cut should be extended; whether the burdens of paying for the nation's bloated entitlement programs are being fairly spread around, and whether those programs themselves should be reconfigured in light of current and projected budgetary constraints; whether financial institutions deemed "too big to fail" should be serially bailed out or broken up first, like an earlier era's trusts, because they pose a systemic risk and their size benefits no one but their owners; whether the solution to what ails us as a nation is an amalgam of more regulation, wealth redistribution, and a greater concentration of power in a central government that has proven no more (I'm being charitable here) adept than the private sector in reining in the excesses that brought us to this pass - the list goes on and on, and the dialectic is admirably American. Even though, as a high-income taxpayer, I might be considered one of its targets, I find this reassessment of so many entrenched economic premises healthy and long overdue. Anyone who could survey today's challenging fiscal landscape, with an un- and underemployment rate of nearly 20 percent and roughly 40 percent of the country on public assistance, and not acknowledge an imperative for change is either heartless, brainless, or running for office on a very parochial agenda. And if I end up paying more taxes as a result, so be it. The alternatives are all worse.

But what I do find objectionable is the highly politicized idiom in which this debate is being conducted. Now, I am not naive. I understand that in today's America, this is how the business of governing typically gets done - a situation that, given the gravity of our problems, is as deplorable as it is seemingly ineluctable. But as President first and foremost and leader of your party second, you should endeavor to rise above the partisan fray and raise the level of discourse to one that is both more civil and more conciliatory, that seeks collaboration over confrontation. That is what "leading by example" means to most people.

Capitalism is not the source of our problems, as an economy or as a society, and capitalists are not the scourge that they are too often made out to be. As a group, we employ many millions of taxpaying people, pay their salaries, provide them with healthcare coverage, start new companies, found new industries, create new products, fill store shelves at Christmas, and keep the wheels of commerce and progress (and indeed of government, by generating the income whose taxation funds it) moving. To frame the debate as one of rich-and-entitled versus poor-and-dispossessed is to both miss the point and further inflame an already incendiary environment. It is also a naked, political pander to some of the basest human emotions - a strategy, as history teaches, that never ends well for anyone but totalitarians and anarchists.

With due respect, Mr. President, it's time for you to throttle-down the partisan rhetoric and appeal to people's better instincts, not their worst. Rather than assume that the wealthy are a monolithic, selfish and unfeeling lot who must be subjugated by the force of the state, set a tone that encourages people of good will to meet in the middle. When you were a community organizer in Chicago, you learned the art of waging a guerilla campaign against a far superior force. But you've graduated from that milieu and now help to set the agenda for that superior force. You might do well at this point to eschew the polarizing vernacular of political militancy and become the transcendent leader you were elected to be. You are likely to be far more effective, and history is likely to treat you far more kindly for it.

Sincerely,

Leon G. Cooperman Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Omega Advisors




*bold print Coston's Complaint emphasis



Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Grand Jury Indicts Gov. Beverly Perdue's Campaign Team




North Carolina Democrats are notorious for corruption. Governor Easley, Jim Black, and John Edwards are some of the most prominent politicians that have been indicted. Now we can add Governor Beverly Perdue’s campaign team to that list. Carolina Journal reports the following:

Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby launched a criminal investigation of the Perdue Committee in October 2010. The same month Carolina Journal reported that Reichard and Stubbs were the key players involved in obtaining “aircraft providers” for the Perdue Committee.


Stubbs was charged with obstruction of justice and causing the campaign committee to file false campaign reports. Specifically he exceeded the $4,000 contribution limit by using his law firm to pay for more than $28,000 worth of flights during 2007 and 2008.


Stubbs is a registered Republican and a seasoned political donor who has made over 250 campaign contributions to political candidates or committees over the past two decades. He was a law partner of Perdue’s late former husband and often described as a close friend of Perdue.

Sitton was also charged with obstruction of justice and causing the campaign committee to file false campaign reports. Her indictments state that for 16 months, during 2007 and 2008, she worked full time for the Perdue Committee, but received $2,000 of her $5,000 monthly pay from a source outside the campaign committee.


Charles Michael Fulenwider, a Morganton businessman, funneled the undisclosed pay totaling $32,000 through Reichard’s firm, Tryon Capital Ventures LLC. Sitton was an attorney in private practice before working for the Perdue Committee. In 2009 Perdue named Sitton director of the Western Governor’s Office in Asheville. Sitton resigned from that position in August.


Reichard, who served as the campaign finance director, was charged with obstruction of justice for soliciting and accepting the $32,000 from Fulenwider to pay salary to Sitton that went unreported. Reichard served for six years as president of the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce. Perdue appointed Reichard to the North Carolina Economic Development Board in 2009. Late on Monday, Perdue's spokesman Mark Johnson told CJ that Reichard is no longer on the board.

Governor Perdue and her cronies are an embarrassment to this state. I’ll be surprised if she gets re-elected next year.

Source: http://www.carolinajournal.com/exclusives/display_exclusive.html?id=8521

Obamacare Reason for Michigan Company's Layoffs

A Michigan based company is reducing its workforce by 5% in anticipation of an Obamacare excise tax on medical equipment. Stryker Corporation gave the following explanation for the layoffs:

"The targeted [employee] reductions and other restructuring activities are being initiated to provide efficiencies and realign resources in advance of the new Medical Device Excise Tax scheduled to begin in 2013," Stryker announced in a November 10 press release, "as well as to allow for continued investment in strategic areas and drive growth despite the ongoing challenging economic environment and market slowdown in elective procedures."


Industry executives
believe that the 2.3 percent tax will cost $20 billion in revenue over ten years. "If this tax is implemented in 2013, it will undermine our industry's ability to create and maintain good jobs in the U.S., and worse, will lead to higher costs for patients, undercutting one of the primary goals of health care reform," the head of a major medical device industry trade group warned in July.


Stryker CEO Stephen MacMillan hinted at such a response to the Obamacare provision in September. "There is no doubt that we're already starting to think about actions that offset that additional tax," he said at a conference, according to
MassDevice.com. ""Here we are, one of the greatest industries in the country, and we're staring down on January 1st, 2013 and the addition of a 2.3 percent excise tax, while meanwhile on the other side all the discussion in Washington is about creating jobs," he added.


How’s that hope and change going for you Michigan?



Source: http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/mich-company-announces-obamacare-layoffs/226066

Illegal Alien Martyrs Himself for Amnesty




An illegal alien committed suicide. According to his family and letters that were left behind, Joaquin Luna despaired over his future and decided to “martyr” himself.

“He was actually doing this for the cause, mainly the Dream Act,” Mr. Mendoza said. “He was doing this to show politicians, to show that something had to be done because there are a lot of kids out there in the same situation.”

The case casts a dramatic spotlight on the hundreds of thousands of illegal-immigrant students who are caught between a decision their parents made when they were young and the realities of U.S. immigration law.

Immigrant rights advocates said politicians in Washington should take notice of
Luna’s act.

“His death is an indictment on the failure of this administration to move an inch forward on fixing a broken immigration system,” said
Jorge-Mario Cabrera, communications director for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, which has planned a commemoration on Friday for Luna.

The indictment should be on the callousness of his family who brought him here. They supposedly have legal status, but had they returned to their country, Joaquin Luna would not have despaired over his limited opportunities in the United States.

Now, the hyenas are using this kid’s death as a political tool to obtain amnesty. But of course they say that is not their intent.

“I certainly don’t want to give you the impression that we’re going to use his death as a football or anything like that. We need to honor his memory, and we need to remind other Americans what this young man was about - because that’s the kind of people we’re talking about,” Mr. Cabrera said.


So the final conclusion is the United States should have no border, and citizenship should be granted to anyone who makes it onto our soil. To have any semblance of an immigration policy is heartless and cruel. Screw our laws and sovereignty, when kids like Joaquin Luna martyr themselves for amnesty.

Source: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/nov/28/family-illegal-immigrant-student-martyred-himself-/?page=all#pagebreak

Alabama's Illegal Alien Law Defies Racial Profiling Naysayers



It looks like the naysayers have been proven wrong once again. Alabama’s new immigration law defied the handwringers who protested that Hispanics would be subjected to racial profiling. Just recently, a German executive was taken into custody because he didn’t have the proper identification when pulled over by the police.

Tuscaloosa Police Chief Steven Anderson told The Associated Press an officer stopped a rental vehicle for not having a tag Wednesday night and asked the driver for his license. The man only had a German identification card, so he was arrested and taken to police headquarters, Anderson said.

The 46-year-old executive was charged with violating the immigration law for not having proper identification, but he was released after an associate retrieved his passport, visa and German driver’s license from the hotel where he was staying, Anderson said
.

Is the German executive a Latino? I seriously doubt it. But that didn’t stop the criticism from the open borders crowd at the Charlotte Observer:

That get-tough immigration law Alabama passed last summer is working great. So great, in fact, that Tuscaloosa police arrested a Mercedes-Benz executive last week after he was pulled over because his rental car didn't have tags. Mercedes opened a plant in Alabama in 1993, and this executive had his German ID but not his passport; the new law forces police to arrest anyone they suspect may be in the country illegally.

"If it were not for the immigration law, a person without a license in their possession wouldn't be arrested like this," Tuscaloosa's police chief, Steven Anderson, told the Associated Press.

The German manager was in the state on business. He was released after a colleague retrieved his passport, visa and German driver's license from his hotel room.

Consider this Exhibit 3,256 on why America needs comprehensive immigration reform, not a state-by-state patchwork of laws on a federal responsibility.

I wonder what the other 3,255 exhibits are. Of course, don’t expect the Charlotte Observer to enumerate any of them. Hyperbole is considered a fact at that rag. And if the federal government did its job, the states wouldn’t have to implement these kinds of laws.

It seems to me the citizens of Alabama made the right decision. Their unemployment rate has drastically dropped, and without a doubt the strain on social services is getting a reprieve. These are facts the Charlotte Observer obviously overlooked.

Source: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/11/26/2804720/the-negative-political-advertising.html#ixzz1f99GALL2

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/mercedes-benz-manager-from-germany-arrested-under-alabamas-strict-new-immigration-law/2011/11/18/gIQADDmYZN_story.html

http://dailycaller.com/2011/11/21/unemployment-drops-as-alabamas-immigration-reform-enacted/

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Newt Gingrich Proposes a Non-Citizen Underclass



Last night, Newt Gingrich made a proposition that would give legitimacy to millions of illegal aliens without conferring citizenship. This scheme would perpetuate an underclass who would reap the same benefits and privileges that all Americans have, except suffrage rights; basically, keeping the status quo. Of course, this would never hold up in a court of law.

Newt pulls on the heartstrings. He believes that illegal aliens, who have paid taxes, and raised families for the past 25 years, should be given de facto amnesty as long as they haven’t broken any laws. But, they have broken laws. The only way they could have paid federal taxes is by stealing an American’s social security number. And let’s not forget the violation of our nation’s immigration laws.

Newt is trying to be clever. And it will cost him at the polls.

Business Owner Refuses to Hire Until Obama is Gone




Wow! There is a lot of discontent out there. Just recently a hedge fund manager proclaimed that she was shutting down operations, because of Washington D.C. corruption. Now, a business owner is making it public that he will not hire anyone until Obama is out of office.

WACO, Ga. -- A west Georgia business owner is stirring up controversy with signs he posted on his company's trucks, for all to see as the trucks roll up and down roads, highways and interstates:

"New Company Policy: We are not hiring until Obama is gone."

"Can't afford it," explained the employer, Bill Looman, Tuesday evening. "I've got people that I want to hire now, but I just can't afford it. And I don't foresee that I'll be able to afford it unless some things change in D.C."

Looman's company is U.S. Cranes, LLC. He said he put up the signs, and first posted pictures of the signs on his personal Facebook page, six months ago, and he said he received mostly positive reaction from people, "about 20-to-one positive."

Someone reported this guy to the F.B.I. as a threat to national security.

Looman did receive some unexpected attention not long after he put up his signs and Facebook photos. He said someone, and he thinks he knows who it was, reported him to the FBI as a threat to national security. He said the accusation filtered its way through the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and finally the Secret Service. Agents interviewed him.

"The Secret Service left here, they were in a good mood and laughing," Looman said. "I got the feeling they thought it was kind of ridiculous, and a waste of their time."


It’s getting ugly out there … really ugly.

Source: http://www.11alive.com/news/article/214228/3/Company-Policy-We-are-not-hiring-until-Obama-is-gone


H/T: Ace of Spades

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

OWS Gives Obama a Pickle Barrel Reception





OWS crashed Obama’s speech at a New Hampshire high school. The Anointed One was treated with as much reverence as a pickle barrel in Zuccotti Park.




Just as the president started his speech, protesters, apparently from the Occupy Wall Street protest movement, used the “human mic” technique to amplify their voices. It was unclear what the protesters were saying, or what point they were attempting to make.

The president smiled through the disruption, saying: “No, it's OK,” as other parts of the crowd sought to hush the protesters by chanting his name and old campaign slogan, “Yes We Can.”

“OK, guys,”

Obama said after supporters drowned out the hecklers.

“I appreciate you guys making your point; let me go ahead and make mine,” Obama said before continuing his speech. “I'll listen to you, you listen to me, OK?”

A few minutes later, Obama acknowledged the Occupy protest movement again, saying: “You are the reason I ran for office.”

That’s right OWS. You’re Obama’s everything.

Source: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/195119-protesters-heckle-obama-at-new-hampshire-speech-on-payroll-tax

Unemployment Drops in Alabama After Passing Illegal Alien Law



The citizens of Alabama are reaping the benefits of its new illegal alien law. Since it was passed in June, unemployment has drastically fallen. Illegals are deporting themselves or leaving for other states. Businesses have no other choice but to hire Americans.


Unemployment rates have fallen in Alabama amid new legal pressure on companies to comply with a popular immigration reform law.

September was the first full month that the reform was in force, and the unemployment rate fell from 9.8 percent in September to 9.3 percent in October, according to a Nov. 18 report from the state government.

The rates fell from 9.9 percent to 9 percent in Etowah County, from 8.8 percent to 8.1 percent in Marshall county, and from 11.6 percent to 10.6 percent in DeKalb county.

“The latest fall in unemployment numbers is proof that American citizens will work, and continues to solidify [the evidence] that self-deportation [by illegal immigrants] due to the Alabama
Taxpayer & Citizen’s Protection Act is occurring,” said Chuck Ellis, a city council member in Albertville — the main town in Marshall County, northern Alabama.

Of course the Obama administration is fighting tooth and nail to scrap this law, and keep the citizens of Alabama subservient to the welfare state, while catering to a third world horde who have no regard for our laws and sovereignty. Senator Harry applauds the Justice Departments suit.





“The concern I’ve always had from the first time I heard about this Alabama legislation is it would create without any question racial profiling and that is something that we just don’t stand for in this country,” Reid says in the video.

The law has prompted a
federal lawsuit by the US Justice Department to have it ruled unconstitutional. It’s a move Reid supports.

“I also commend the Obama administration for filing a lawsuit about how unfair and unconstitutional this legislation is,” Reid said.



Harry Reid will tolerate depression era unemployment and the insolvency of states, just so he can lord his power over all of us. This kind of an attitude is an affront to all law abiding citizens. Lord Reid reminds me of European nobility. He tells Americans to eat cake, while he throws scraps to his illegal alien dogs.



Monday, November 21, 2011

N.C. Democrats Claim Redistricting Suppresses Women



Democratic women in North Carolina are complaining about the newly redrawn districts. They believe it’s about gender warfare, where they are the victims of an evil plot to suppress their voice.

“The Republican redistricting plan was another assault on women,” said state Rep. Deborah Ross in the video. “More women were put in a double bunking situation — which means either they were put with another Democrat or they were put in with a Republican — than we’ve ever seen.”

“There’s six women who serve in the Senate, three of us have been double-bunked,” said state Sen. Linda Garrou. In the House, of the 20 Democratic women, six were “double-bunked.”

“We’re losing half of the women who represent us,” bemoaned state Rep. Susan Fisher.

“All of these women were targeted and that’s disturbing,” added state Rep. Earline Parmon
.

Of course that is absurd. If anything this is an ideological battle and they lost. North Carolinians are sick of having the highest tax rates in the southeast and state budget that is a basket case, thanks to decades of democratic rule.

Here is an example of the stupidity of one of the complainers in the above video and one of the reasons why North Carolina overwhelmingly voted republican this past election:






Source: http://dailycaller.com/2011/11/21/dems-accuse-gop-of-waging-a-war-on-women-in-north-carolina/#ixzz1ePMRBRS3

Russian News Anchor Flips the Bird at Obama




A Russian news anchor flipped the middle finger during a broadcast. She flew the international symbol for contempt after mentioning our venerated president: Barack Hussein Obama.

That is something you’ll never see in an American mainstream media broadcast. If anything, they’ll have a bib tied around their neck and a jar of Vaseline situated just to the left of them.

Obama's Green Barons Shame 19th Century Robber Barons



Obama’s Green Barons make the Robber Barons of the 19th century look like a bunch of pikers. First of all, the derogatory term “Robber Baron” was used to portray early American capitalist as a bunch of heartless thieves exploiting the American people as if they were nothing but mere chattel. That kind of depiction is overall, historically inaccurate and has been a recurring anthem from the anti-capitalist and anti-corporatist to this day.



Author Thomas J. DiLorenzo writes:




It is a staple of history books to attach this derogatory phrase to such figures as John D. Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and the great nineteenth-century railroad operators — Grenville Dodge, Leland Stanford, Henry Villard, James J. Hill, and others. To most historians writing on this period, these entrepreneurs committed thinly veiled acts of larceny to enrich themselves at the expense of their customers. Once again we see the image of the greedy, exploitative capitalist, but in many cases this is a distortion of the truth.

As common as it is to speak of "robber barons," most who use that term are confused about the role of capitalism in the American economy and fail to make an important distinction — the distinction between what might be called a market entrepreneur and a political entrepreneur. A pure market entrepreneur, or capitalist, succeeds financially by selling a newer, better, or less expensive product on the free market without any government subsidies, direct or indirect. The key to his success as a capitalist is his ability to please the consumer, for in a capitalist society the consumer ultimately calls the economic shots. By contrast, a political entrepreneur succeeds primarily by influencing government to subsidize his business or industry, or to enact legislation or regulation that harms his competitors.

And there is no doubt that political entrepreneurs infest the Obama administration. The whole renewable energy movement is subsidized by the American taxpayers through DOE guaranteed loans. Many of these companies have filed bankruptcy. The corruption is so severe that analyst state a tsunami of green failures is heading our way. Peter Schweizer’s book, Throw Them All Out goes into detail on how crony capitalism has gone wild at the White House. Big Government.com writes:



The details of how the DOE loan scheme was apparently conducted are almost as shocking as the billions bagged by Obama’s backers.

Instead of appointing a team of scientists or engineers to direct the DOE’s loan program office, Schweizer contends, the Obama administration placed some of the president’s biggest fundraisers in control. For example, Steve Spinner, who served on the Obama campaign’s National Finance Committee and was himself a top bundler, was tapped as the “chief strategic operations officer” for the DOE’s loan programs. Spinner was joined at DOE by another Obama fundraiser, Sanjay Wagle, and by Democrat donor Jonathan Silver, who would serve as executive director of the program.

With the scientists and engineers effectively out of the way, and the President’s top backers at the levers of the DOE’s loan program, the Obama administration was able to funnel billions of taxpayer dollars back to green energy companies associated with the President’s political and financial patrons.

For members of Obama’s national finance committee, the returns on investing in Obama’s 2008 campaign were incredibly lucrative, according to Schweizer. For every dollar committee members raised, they received $24,783 in return in the form of DOE sweetheart loans, on average.







Future historians will say that the Obama administration is the most corrupt in American history and that his Green Barons shamefully exploited the United States treasury. Let’s just hope that is the only footprint that this president leaves.

Source: http://mises.org/daily/2317
http://biggovernment.com/whall/2011/11/17/shock-claim-energy-dept-kickbacks-make-obama-americas-biggest-crony-capitalist-ever/

Solyndra Employees Get Another Bailout




The Solyndra nightmare isn’t over yet. Now, the American people are getting another kick in the package from their employees.

The Labor Department today announced that it had approved Trade Adjustment Assistance for the former employees of the bankrupt solar panel maker Solyndra.

That means all of the firm’s 1,100 ex-employees are eligible for federal aid packages, including job retraining and income assistance. The department has valued packages at about $13,000 a head.

Taxpayers will have to cough up yet another $14.3 million as a result of Solyndra’s bankruptcy. They are already on the hook for $528 million in federal loan guarantees to the company that are unlikely to ever be paid back.

And how does the Obama administration justify paying his most favored company after they screwed the American people out of $528 million in guaranteed loans?

The TAA program offers help to domestic workers who have lost their jobs due to the trade practices of foreign countries. The assistance includes job retraining, allowances for job searching, health benefits and up to 130 weeks of income support. The average recipient gets about $13,000 in assistance

These guys didn’t lose their jobs because of foreign competition. They lost their jobs because a bunch of grafters started a company with a fraudulent business model.



Senator John Kerry Uses Veterans as Human Debt Shield




Senator John Kerry used veterans as a human debt shield on NBC’s “Meet the Press” by attacking republicans who signed a no-tax pledge.

"The other day, I went to Arlington Cemetery to visit the grave site of a college classmate of ours. ... I went with a bunch of my college buddies. As I was driving in there, and I went by that new flat area that's full of the graves of kids from Afghanistan and Iraq — some of whose funerals I've gone to over there — I've watched it grow," Kerry said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

"I asked myself as I was going through there — are we living up to the sacrifice — to the level of commitment that these guys made for us? Are we willing to put our political lives on the line for our country — do what we need to do because it's right?" Kerry said.

"And then I hear about this pledge — a pledge to a lobbyist that gets in the way of us living up to that sacrifice," Kerry went on. "The fact is, I took a pledge. My pledge is to the Constitution of the United States, to defend it."

And Senator John (I served in Vietnam) Kerry violated that pledge every waking day he’s been in office. This bastard has a lot of nerve to use soldiers to advance his sick, central government planning scheme.

And what sacrifices has this asshole made? What commitment has FrankenKerry made, besides bankrupting this country? If this freakish looking monster wants to impress everyone, I suggest he donate his wife’s fortune to the national treasury. Now, that’s a sacrifice and commitment we can all appreciate.


Super Committee is a Super Failure



The super committee is a super failure. Did anyone expect a different outcome? Here is their joint press release:


In a joint news release, Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction Co-Chairmen Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) said they concluded today that they will not be able to make “any bipartisan agreement” public before the deadline.

The brief statement was mostly positive and forward-looking, saying the co-chairmen were “disappointed” at the failure but “hopeful” that Congress would act in its place.

“Despite our inability to bridge the committee’s significant differences, we end this process united in our belief that the nation’s fiscal crisis must be addressed and that we cannot leave it for the next generation to solve,” the statement said.

The two also said they hoped Congress could “build on this committee’s work.”


Build on what, centralizing more power in that cesspool town? What we need is a structural change, and that can only happen if we repeal the 14th, 16th, and 17th Amendments. Until that happens, we are on the road to Greece.

Source: http://www.rollcall.com/news/super_deficit_committee_failed_co_chairman-210501-1.html

Saturday, November 19, 2011

"Patriotic Millionaires" Not So Patriotic




The Daily Caller exposed these so-called patriot millionaires for what they are: frauds. Given the chance to donate to the federal government to reduce our national debt, they passed.

No, these patriots want to force others through means of taxation than "invest" their money into a corrupt blackhole that is the D.C. bureaucratic machine.

A round of thanks should be given to the Daily Caller.

Nigel Farage Excoriates Eurozone Weenies




This guy is a pleasure to watch.

Goldman Sachs Corrupting Tentacles Extends to Italy and Greece

Goldman Sachs is well known for its corrupting influence at the highest levels of federal and state governments in the United States. Many of their numbers have infested the Federal Reserve, the office of Secretary of Treasury, or became governors of states. Now, they are taking over foreign governments. The Guardian reports the following:

Democratic accountability has become a secondary virtue, desirable but expendable. In Italy and Greece, the former Goldman Sachs bankers Mario Monti and Lucas Papademos, having been parachuted into highest political office, are set to raise retirement ages and cut state spending without having to canvass for a single vote. George Papandreou's attempt to hold a Greek referendum over a new bail-out package led to his ejection from office before the ballot date was even set. In Rome, Monti has not even bothered to include a single elected politician in a cabinet which must perform the most painful economic transformation in Italian postwar history.

The restlessness is already palpable. Whistles and jeers, from both right and left, greeted Monti as soon as he took his prime ministerial seat. Italians are bemused at the speed and nature of the "takeover", however much they delight in the fall of
Silvio Berlusconi.

Goldman Sachs is a key player in this whole financial mess. God only knows how far their corruption extends. And I seriously doubt that it ends in Italy and Greece.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/nov/20/eurozone-crisis-european-union-plans

A Trifecta of Stupidity




I have a joke for you. What do you get when you combine a democratic politician, a representative of mainstream media, and a university professor? A trifecta of stupidity.

Drum roll please.

Not that funny? Well, neither are these yahoos who have power over our lives, education, and source of news. Here we have Al Sharpton, Rep. Schakowsky, and Professor Melissa Harris of Tulane University expound the virtues of centralized government, taxation, and a limited “free market”.

Watch the above video in wondrous amusement as they ponder economic inequality, class warfare, entrenched interest, and meritocracy. And at the same time exempt themselves from the totalitarian system, which they advocate. The end result is an entitlement class who campout in public parks demanding handouts from others who bother to get up in morning and go to work.

Hedge Fund Manager Damns Obama and His Crony Capitalist

Americans have innately felt that something is wrong; dare I say corrupt. A hedge fund manager has just confirmed everything we’ve suspected about the Obama administration and his democratic cronies. Their style of capitalism has rendered the market place dysfunctional and destroyed the confidence of those who have been in business for decades.

Here is an excerpt from a letter by the manager of Barnhardt Capital Management:

The reason for my decision to pull the plug was excruciatingly simple: I could no longer tell my clients that their monies and positions were safe in the futures and options markets – because they are not. And this goes not just for my clients, but for every futures and options account in the United States. The entire system has been utterly destroyed by the MF Global collapse. Given this sad reality, I could not in good conscience take one more step as a commodity broker, soliciting trades that I knew were unsafe or holding funds that I knew to be in jeopardy.

The futures markets are very highly-leveraged and thus require an exceptionally firm base upon which to function. That base was the sacrosanct segregation of customer funds from clearing firm capital, with additional emergency financial backing provided by the exchanges themselves. Up until a few weeks ago, that base existed, and had worked flawlessly. Firms came and went, with some imploding in spectacular fashion. Whenever a firm failure happened, the customer funds were intact and the exchanges would step in to backstop everything and keep customers 100% liquid – even as their clearing firm collapsed and was quickly replaced by another firm within the system.

Everything changed just a few short weeks ago. A firm, led by a crony of the Obama regime, stole all of the non-margined cash held by customers of his firm. Let’s not sugar-coat this or make this crime seem “complex” and “abstract” by drowning ourselves in six-dollar words and uber-technical jargon. Jon Corzine STOLE the customer cash at MF Global. Knowing Jon Corzine, and knowing the abject lawlessness and contempt for humanity of the Marxist Obama regime and its cronies, this is not really a surprise. What was a surprise was the reaction of the exchanges and regulators. Their reaction has been to take a bad situation and make it orders of magnitude worse. Specifically, they froze customers out of their accounts WHILE THE MARKETS CONTINUED TO TRADE, refusing to even allow them to liquidate. This is unfathomable. The risk exposure precedent that has been set is completely intolerable and has destroyed the entire industry paradigm. No informed person can continue to engage these markets, and no moral person can continue to broker or facilitate customer engagement in what is now a massive game of Russian Roulette.


Now, if that isn't damning enough, just read the following:

Finally, I will not, under any circumstance, consider reforming and re-opening Barnhardt Capital Management, or any other iteration of a brokerage business, until Barack Obama has been removed from office AND the government of the United States has been sufficiently reformed and repopulated so as to engender my total and complete confidence in the government, its adherence to and enforcement of the rule of law, and in its competent and just regulatory oversight of any commodities markets that may reform. So long as the government remains criminal, it would serve no purpose whatsoever to attempt to rebuild the futures industry or my firm, because in a lawless environment, the same thievery and fraud would simply happen again, and the criminals would go unpunished, sheltered by the criminal oligarchy.

Wow! That is jaw dropping. If this were a republican administration, the mainstream media would run this story nonstop until election day. But everyone knows that is not going to happen.

Source: http://www.federalobserver.com/2011/11/18/the-entire-system-has-been-utterly-destroyed-by-the-mf-global-collapse-presenting-the-first-mf-global-casualty/#more-13907

Obama Shills for General Electric in Indonesia



It’s that time of week when Barack Hussein Obama gives his weekly presidential address. This time from a country that shaped his formative years: Indonesia.

Today, I’m speaking to you from Indonesia as I finish up my trip to the Asia Pacific – the region where we do most of our trade and sell most of our exports. And over the past week, the progress we’ve made in opening markets and boosting exports here will help create more jobs and more growth in the United States.

Here in Indonesia, I was proud to join leaders from some of our nation’s top companies as they announced trade deals that will support nearly 130,000 American jobs and potentially increase U.S. exports by up to $39 billion. Boeing, for example, will sell more than 200 planes to Indonesia that are built with parts from suppliers in more than 40 states. And a deal to export GE engines will support jobs at plants in Ohio and North Carolina.

These agreements will help us reach my goal of doubling American exports by 2014 – a goal we’re on pace to meet. And they’re powerful examples of how we can rebuild an economy that’s focused on what our country has always done best – making and selling products all over the world that are stamped with three proud words: “Made In America.”

Notice how he pointed out North Carolina and Ohio. These are the two states that he desperately needs in the next general election. And isn’t it shameful that this guy has reduced the presidency to a lowly salesman and shill for General Electric.

If Obama really wanted to attract businesses and create jobs in the United States he would revamp the tax code and get rid of burdensome regulations by disbanding whole federal agencies that have been the bane to the prosperity of all Americans. And let’s not forget that monstrosity that is the signature of the Anointed Ones presidency: ObamaCare.

But none of that will happen, because it’s not in his DNA. No, we will have to wait until the next election when this man faces a shameful ass beating at the polls.

Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2011/11/19/weekly-address-creating-economy-built-last#transcript

Friday, November 18, 2011

Tea Party Foils Sen. Chuck E. Schumer: Super Genius




Arrogance runs abound in that cesspool known as Capitol Hill. But there is one man, who believes he is smarter than everyone else and that is Sen. Chuck E. Schumer: Super Genius. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had that moniker blazoned on his business cards, stationary, and website. And after the stunt he played on the tea party the other day, I’m sure he’s basking in the glow of his own brilliance. The Daily Caller reported the following:

New York Democrat Chuck Schumer was the U.S. senator who decided that a group of tea partiers couldn’t meet in a Capitol hearing room with lawmakers on Thursday, new video shows.

“The chairman tells us this event has to be moved,” Lynden Armstrong, the chief clerk of the Senate Rules Committee told Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee in the video.

When Lee then asked Armstrong who the chairman is, the staffer replied: “Schumer.”

The
meeting that Schumer said couldn’t happen in the Russell Senate office building had long been scheduled for tea party activists and lawmakers to discuss the results of the “Tea Party Debt Commission,” a project of the tea party-aligned FreedomWorks organization.

But that’s okay Chuck E. Schumer: Super Genius. The tea party thwarted your little stunt and held their meeting elsewhere. It looks like you’ve been foiled again.









Source: http://dailycaller.com/2011/11/18/chuck-schumer-ordered-tea-partiers-out-of-capitol-video/#ixzz1e76t5Gkt

The ACLU Tries to Co-opt Tea Party

The ACLU is trying to co-opt the tea party movement. It looks like the dirty, freeloaders known as OWS is leaving a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. So, this leftist organization wants to cozy up to responsible citizens, who when protesting respect the rule of law; don’t defecate in public and basically cause a general stench in the lives of other people.

American Civil Liberties Union President Susan Herman says she’s concerned about her organization being branded as left-wing and went so far as to draw parallels between the civil rights group and the tea party movement.

“The ACLU is non-partisan. We’re not Democrats, we’re not Republicans,” Herman told POLITICO in an interview to promote her new book, “Taking Liberties.” “Probably more of our positions happen to coincide with more progressive, Democratic or liberal organizations, in terms of number of issues. But what I can tell you is that there are places where we agree with people who are right-wing libertarians.”

The ACLU’s positions not only coincide with the progressive’s, they receive most of their funding from these fascist, anti-federalist organizations. DiscovertheNetworks.org enumerates their biggest contributors:

The ACLU has received funding from the Open Society Institute, the Arca Foundation, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Columbia Foundation, the Nathan Cummings Foundation, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. Macarthur Foundation, the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, the Minneapolis Foundation, the Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation, the Open Society Institute, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Scherman Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Columbia Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the JEHT Foundation, the Joyce Foundation, the Lear Family Foundation, the Public Welfare Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Woods Fund of Chicago.





And if that isn’t bad enough, the ACLU says they respect the Constitution just as much as the tea party.




In some ways, Herman said, there was even an overlap between the ACLU and the tea party – at least in rhetoric.

“I think we are in total agreement with the tea party that the Constitution is our governing document. Our rhetoric is going to be very similar to the tea party’s in that we say we should get back to our fundamental constitutional principles,” said Herman. “We just have different interpretations of what the Constitution means.”

The U.S. Constitution was designed to limit the power of the federal government and to respect private property rights and natural law. The ACLU proclaims they want to get back to the fundamental principles of the constitution. It’s too bad their guiding principles are founded in the old Soviet Union's.






Source: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/68592.html#ixzz1e6y3k7Yl
http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6145

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Newt Gingrich Embarrasses the Media



This is classic.

Obama's Corruption Extends to Smallpox Drug




The scandals keep a rollin from the Obama administration. The Department of Energy isn’t the only purveyor of crony capitalism; the Department of Health and Human Services is also raiding the treasury for Barack Hussein Obama’s buddies, as reported by the Los Angeles Times:

Over the last year, the Obama administration has aggressively pushed a $433-million plan to buy an experimental smallpox drug, despite uncertainty over whether it is needed or will work.

Senior officials have taken unusual steps to secure the contract for New York-based Siga Technologies Inc., whose controlling shareholder is billionaire Ronald O. Perelman, one of the world's richest men and a longtime Democratic Party donor.


When Siga complained that contracting specialists at the Department of Health and Human Services were resisting the company's financial demands, senior officials replaced the government's lead negotiator for the deal, interviews and documents show.


When Siga was in danger of losing its grip on the contract a year ago, the officials blocked other firms from competing.


Siga was awarded the final contract in May through a "sole-source" procurement in which it was the only company asked to submit a proposal. The contract calls for Siga to deliver 1.7 million doses of the drug for the nation's biodefense stockpile. The price of approximately $255 per dose is well above what the government's specialists had earlier said was reasonable, according to internal documents and interviews.

That price is reasonable when you donate hundreds of thousands of dollars to Barack Obama and the Democratic Party; after all, they didn’t work for that money.



General Motors Bailout Cost Taxpayers an Additional $9 Billion



American taxpayers just received another round of good news. General Motors and the Treasury Department just screwed everybody out of $9 billion.

The Treasury Department dramatically boosted its estimate of losses from its $85 billion auto industry bailout by more than $9 billion in the face of General Motors Co.'s steep stock decline.

In its monthly report to Congress, the Treasury Department now says it expects to lose $23.6 billion, up from its previous estimate of $14.33 billion.

The Treasury now pegs the cost of the bailout of GM, Chrysler Group LLC and the auto finance companies at $79.6 billion. It no longer includes $5 billion it set aside to guarantee payments to auto suppliers in 2009.

The big increase is a reflection of the sharp decline in the value of GM's share price.

The current estimate of losses is based on GM's Sept. 30 closing price of $20.18, down one-third over the previous quarterly price.

GM's stock closed Monday at $22.99, up 2 percent. The government won't reassess the estimate of the costs until Dec. 30.

The government has recovered $23.2 billion of its $49.5 billion GM bailout, and cut its stake in the company from 61 percent to 26.5 percent. But it has been forced to put on hold the sale of its remaining 500 million shares of stock.

Why not sell those shares to the UAW? I’m sure they’ll give the Obama administration an offer they can’t refuse.



Congratulations America! You're $15 Trillion in Debt!

Congratulations America! You’ve just reached a milestone that nobody thought possible. This country is $15 trillion in debt. And we couldn’t have done it without you Congress.

The deficit has ballooned to nearly $48,000 for every man, woman and child in the U.S. This year alone, the U.S. will spend $1.3 trillion more than it takes in.

The debt has expanded at an alarming pace, from $7.5 trillion in 2004 and $5.6 trillion in 2000. At the current rate, Debtclock.org reckons that the debt will top $23 trillion in 2015, though the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office puts the estimate at $17.6 trillion.

Back in August after a protracted fight, Congress voted to raised the national-debt ceiling by $2.7 trillion to $17 trillion, while requiring $2.7 trillion in deficit reduction by 2021.

Compared with other developed nations, the U.S. has a debt to GDP ratio of 85 percent, compared with Germany at 74 percent and Japan at a whopping 194 percent.
World debt clocks can be found here.

Congress has just shamed every irresponsible teenage girl with daddy’s credit card. So pop the corks and pat your socialist backs. Watch out Europeans, these spendthrifts on Capitol Hill will make you guys look like a bunch pikers.


Department of Energy Bails Out the Kennedy Green Baron




Where would a government boondoggle be without a Kennedy? The Department of Energy adds Camelot to its menu of corruption; and Teddy’s favorite item (a waitress sandwich) isn’t even listed. No, this time Robert Kennedy Jr. steps up to the plate and gorges himself on $1.4 billion of taxpayer money.

Peter Schweizer’s new book Throw Them Out details this and a myriad of other D.C. scandals. Big Government.com writes the following:

The details of how BrightSource managed to land its ten-figure taxpayer bailout have yet to emerge fully. However, one clue might be found in the person of Sanjay Wagle.

Wagle was one of the principals in Kennedy’s firm who raised money for Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. When Obama won the White House, Wagle was installed at the Department of Energy (DOE), advising on energy grants.

From an objective vantage point, investing taxpayer monies in BrightSource was a risky proposition at the time. In 2010, BrightSource, whose largest shareholder is Kennedy’s VantagePoint Partners, was up to its eyes in $1.8 billion of debt obligations and had lost $71.6 million on its paltry $13.5 million of revenue.

Even before BrightSource rattled its tin cup in front of Obama’s DOE, the company made it known publicly that its survival hinged on successfully completing the Ivanpah Solar Electrical System, which would become the largest solar plant in the world, on federal lands in California.

In its Securities and Exchange Commission filings, BrightSource further underscored the risky nature of the Ivanpah venture and, more broadly, the
company’s viability:

Our future success depends on our ability to construct Ivanpah, our first utility-scale solar thermal power project, in a cost-effective and timely manner… Our ability to complete Ivanpah and the planning, development and construction of all three phases are subject to significant risk and uncertainty.



But what is certain, if you have the right connections at the Department of Energy, you can get a taxpayer funded guaranteed loan.








Saturday, November 12, 2011

Islam is All or Nothing



Islam is all or nothing. Tennessee state Rep. Womick sums it up. This is a must see video for all who question that quasi-religion.

DNC Outsources 2012 Convention Jobs



RedState.com has done an excellent job on reporting the union vs. non-union fiasco at the DNC convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. Hotel workers were told they’ll be furloughed during that week in deference to union labor. This gives a whole new meaning to being outsourced.





The charges against the Democratic National Committee are so credible that legal services are being offered to defend small businesses and employees against blatant discrimination.

Charlotte, NC (November 9, 2011) – The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, which helps victims of forced unionism, is offering free legal aid to workers who refrain from union membership and may be ordered off their jobs or prevented to work during the 2012 Democratic National Convention scheduled for August 2012 in Charlotte.

In response to media reports, the Right to Work Foundation is offering free legal assistance for nonunion Time Warner Cable Arena, surrounding venue, local hotel, and other area workers who may lose work in favor of unionized workers in the lead up to and during the convention.

Discriminating against workers who exercise their right to refrain from union membership is a clear violation of North Carolina's Right to Work law and the federal National Labor Relations Act.

The Foundation encourages workers to learn about their rights and request free legal advice and aid at its website: www.nrtw.org.


"It appears Big Labor officials and the Democratic Party are preparing to commit violations of North Carolina's popular Right to Work law and federal law," said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation. "Despite Democratic officials' rhetoric about jobs, it appears they plan to force workers off the job to appease their Big Labor benefactors"


"Not only is this outrageous, it is illegal," added Mix. "Workers who feel their rights may be violated are encouraged to contact the National Right to Work Foundation for legal assistance."

You would think the local media would have broken this story. But the Charlotte Observer decided to run blocker for their master.

Democratic convention officials Tuesday awarded contracts worth $7 million to overhaul Time Warner Cable Arena and outfit the Charlotte Convention Center as a media workspace.

In announcing the event's biggest contracts, officials touted the participation of local and minority-owned companies as well as the promise of jobs in a still-sluggish economy.
Convention CEO Steve Kerrigan said the contracts also would "maximize union labor." But he declined to say to what extent union workers are expected to participate.


Appearing with Kerrigan at a news conference, Democratic Mayor Anthony Foxx said the new contracts represent "hundreds of high-paying jobs."

Maybe the Charlotte Observer should talk to the employees of the Ritz-Carlton.


Source: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/10/26/2721297/dnc-awards-contracts-worth-7-million.html#ixzz1dYMiCJDJ

http://www.redstate.com/laborunionreport/2011/11/09/charlotte-workers-offered-free-legal-aid-to-fight-dnc-convention-discrimination/

http://www.nrtw.org/en/press/2011/11/2012_DNC_Legal_Notice_11092011

Does Human Trafficking and Slavery Give Bill Clinton the Creeps?



What seems like a no-brainer to those of us who value American citizenship, others see a complicated morass; even to the point of tolerating illegal activity, because of political correctness. Bill Clinton demonstrated that earlier this week:

"It makes my skin crawl when they attack Rick Perry for one of the best things he did," Clinton says, that is, his support of a Texas law that grants in-state college tuition to illegal immigrants brought to the state as children. "What would they like?" Clinton demands. "Would they like the kid to stand on a corner and sell dope or something?"

Of course, Clinton’s tenure as president was rife with all sorts of questionable activity; many borderline illegal, if not outright criminal; so, it comes as no surprise that this man would endorse a program that grants favor to others who have no regard for our laws or sovereignty. After all, he feels their pain.

I find it disturbing that Slick Willy would grant sanctuary to children of illegal aliens by advocating a de facto amnesty, because he would rather have them in school than selling dope on street corners. But what this short-sighted politician doesn’t see is the side effect of turning a blind eye to illegal immigration: human trafficking and slavery.

North Carolina has become a magnet for illegal aliens and with it the horrors that accompany it. Women and children are brought into this country to serve as sex slaves.

North Carolina authorities have designated January as Human Trafficking Awareness Month, hoping to raise awareness about a criminal enterprise that generates an estimated $32 billion annually worldwide. ICE works with state and local law enforcement to shut down groups involved in trafficking immigrants for purposes of exploitation, whether in the sex trade or as virtual forced labor, Richburg said.

"They sell big lies," he says of the migrant smugglers. "The traffickers seek out teenagers in remote towns in Latin America with the promise of getting jobs in restaurants or caring for children. On arriving here, they keep them captive and isolated."

The traffickers usually take the migrants' identification and travel documents and threaten to harm them or their families if they try to escape. Besides finding and prosecuting human traffickers, says Eddie Agrait, ICE Charlotte Resident Agent in Charge, "our job is offering the victims a stable situation and immigration protection."

"Last year alone, ICE at the national level worked on 650 cases and arrested 300 people for this crime," Richburg said. "In North Carolina we have various investigations in progress."

Human trafficking isn’t just for the sex trade; farm workers are also sold into slavery:

Caitlin Ryland, an attorney with Legal Aid of North Carolina, says human trafficking does not always involve the sex trade. Some people are forced to perform other labor, such a farm work.

“Essentially, individuals are held somewhere against their will, and through force, fraud or coercion are forced to perform a commercial sex act or do labor,” Ryland said.

“Human trafficking is real, it’s here, it’s in North Carolina,” she added.

Douglas Coasey says he has worked on three farms in North Carolina and lived in labor camps where workers slept on the floor or in unsanitary beds with bed bugs. They also lived with leaky roofs and had rudimentary bathroom facilities and little access to food. The camps are often deep in the woods where workers are isolated and have no transportation to leave.

“They promise you these different things, but you don’t ever get it,” he said. “You end up sleeping on the floor. You end up taking a bath outside in the woods because of the crowdedness.”

Coasey says he finally left farm work last year and went into construction. He snuck away when his boss left the farm and was able to call a friend to help him escape from the camp.

“The only thing they know are dollar signs – how they make a dollar over you,” he said. “You make $5. They make $25.”

Illegal immigration begets illegal activity. Human trafficking and slavery should make all of our skins crawl.


Source: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2011/01/21/human-trafficking-immigrant-women-girls-rise-north-carolina/#ixzz1dY0u4Fim

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2011/11/bill-clinton-rick-perry-presidential-election-/1

http://www.wral.com/news/local/wral_investigates/story/10306854/

Friday, November 11, 2011

SEIU and Michigan Democratic Party Shakedown Medicaid Recipients



If you want an example of a corrupt relationship between the unions and their state oprichniki; just take a gander at Michigan. SEIU and their democratic familiars have concocted a scheme that fleeces Medicaid recipients of their money by automatically deducting union dues from their checks:

Michigan Department of Community Health Director Olga Dazzo explained the process in to her members of her staff. "MQC3 basically runs the program for SEIU and passes the union dues from the state to the union," she wrote in an email obtained by the Mackinac Center. Initiated in 2006 under then-Gov. Jennifer Granholm, D-Mich., the plan reportedly provides the SEIU with $6 million annually in union dues deducted from those Medicaid subsidies.

“We're not even home health care workers. We're just parents taking care of our kids,” Robert Haynes, a retired Detroit police officer,
told the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. “Our daughter is 34 and our son is 30. They have cerebral palsy. They are basically like 6-month-olds in adult bodies. They need to be fed and they wear diapers. We could sure use that $30 a month that's being sent to the union.”


SEIU gets $6 million a year from this scam? Wow! And let’s not forget the cut the Michigan Democratic Party gets from this money laundering scheme. If these guys are willing to screw the neediest amongst us, you have to wonder what other pies these grubs have their fingers into.

Source: http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/seiu-siphons-dues-mich-medicaid-payments

N.C. Republican Legislators Fight Implementation of Obamacare

North Carolina’s republican state legislators are fighting Obamacare tooth and nail. Besides filing a friend–of -the court brief that challenges the constitutionality of the individual mandate that requires all Americans to buy insurance, they have also tabled any discussions on the $12.5 million in federal grant money that is designed to setup state exchanges:

Lawmakers dropped discussion of the $12.4 million grant from the Oct. 27 agenda of a high-powered group called the Joint Legislative Committee on Governmental Operations. Agencies must consult with the committee, which House Speaker Thom Tillis and Senate leader Phil Berger run, before spending grant money in certain circumstances.

The money is for the state to do prep work for a health benefit exchange that the federal health insurance law would require of all states by 2014. With no grant money to support it, most of the work at the state Department of Insurance and the N.C. Institute of Medicine on the exchange has stopped.



The health exchanges are a central piece of the new federal health overhaul, which calls for states to set up marketplaces where small businesses and people without health insurance through their jobs will shop for coverage.

These state exchanges are designed to undermine and ultimately drive private health care providers out of business. And if any state refuses to setup one up, the federal government will do it without them; subverting the 10th Amendment and dictating to the states what they can and can’t do. You would think that is unconstitutional. But we are in the age of Obama where that document is merely laughed at.

Source: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/11/11/1634969/federal-money-waits-to-be-used.html#ixzz1dS1sXQqR