Saturday, March 31, 2012

Obama's 2012 New England Fear Factor Tour

Obama’s 2008 Hope and Change Tour, has degenerated into the 2012 Fear Factor. The Anointed One is making the New England fund raising circuit – at taxpayer expense – denigrating Republicans and bastardizing history.

Raising campaign cash in Maine on Friday, March 30, Obama said Republicans want to return to economic policies that would let Wall Street play by its own set of rules and allow insurance companies to roll back health coverage.

"We won't win the race for new jobs and new businesses and middle-class security if we cling to this same old, worn-out, tired 'You're on your own' economics that the other side is peddling," Obama said.

"It was tried in the decades before the Great Depression. It didn't work then. It was tried in the last decade. It didn't work," he said. "You know, the idea you would keep on doing the same thing over and over again, even though it's been proven not to work. That's a sign of madness."


Madness is taking this man’s word as gospel, and we all know what he thinks about Christians. Anyone with a modicum of curiosity would cast aside the progressive’s rewriting of history, and question why the Great Depression lasted as long as did. And if you’re going to be honest with yourself, one must question the policies of FDR and the New Deal.

It’s the New Deal era program, Fannie Mae that brought about the housing bubble and economic crash that we are currently suffering under. Was it not President Clinton who instigated the subprime market? And wasn’t it the Democrats in Congress that belligerently bullied regulators who tried to warn the American people about the abuses of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?

Madness is ignoring history and trusting a self-serving politician whose policies are un-American.


Educators Are the New Millionaires?

In his weekly address, Barack Obama lamented the high cost of education. I wonder if he would be shocked to find out that today’s new millionaires are educators:

According to a report released last week by the Spectrem Group's Millionaire Corner, the number of millionaire households in the U.S. rose 2% last year to 8.2 million. And capturing the greatest number of millionaire households were ones that included a manager as a breadwinner.

But while managers are tops on the list, accounting for 17% of households with $1 million to $5 million in net assets excluding their primary residence, educators are close behind with 12% of the millionaire pie, according to the report.

That's right -- educators.

What gives these occupations their relatively large slice is that many are living in dual-income households, says George Walper, president of the Spectrum Group.

Compare that to other high-paying jobs such as attorneys, doctors, or dentists, which only account for 2% of the millionaire pool. People in those ultra-demanding occupations are often the sole breadwinners in their families, with spouses or partners holding down the fort at home. And when it's time to retire, the payout may be less.


Let’s just hope that dual-incomes are the reason for educators being ranked as the new millionaires. Public service is a calling; it shouldn’t be a profit center.





Obama: Central Planning is the Key to a Utopian Dream



It’s that time of the week when Dear Leader sits his condescending ass down before a camera and lectures the American people about how ungrateful and greedy we are. This week’s theme – as is almost every week – is about class warfare and those who aren’t paying enough to the federal government.

Over the last few months, I’ve been talking about a choice we face as a country. We can either settle for an economy where a few people do really well and everyone else struggles to get by, or we can build an economy where hard work pays off again — where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same rules. That’s up to us.

Today, I want to talk to you about the idea that everyone in this country should do their fair share.

Now, if this were a perfect world, we’d have unlimited resources. No one would ever have to pay any taxes, and we could spend as much as we wanted. But we live in the real world. We don’t have unlimited resources. We have a deficit that needs to be paid down. And we also have to pay for investments that will help our economy grow and keep our country safe: education, research and technology, a strong military, and retirement programs like Medicare and Social Security.


But this asshole sure as hell spends our “limited resources” on boondoggles like unproven alternative energy programs. That’s because Dear Leader considers guaranteed federal loans and grants to his campaign bundlers “investments.” They’re investments all right: his 2012 election war chest.



When Obama talks about everyone paying their “fair share,” he means everyone but his cronies and government henchmen. Do you hear of anyone in the federal government sacrificing for the common good? HELL NO! This president has once again presented a budget that no one in the House of Representatives voted in the affirmative. It was so outlandish, even the Democrats refused to vote yea. And yet, this man sits before us and pontificates on economics! Here is, once again, pushing the Buffet Rule:

If you make more than $1 million a year, you should pay at least the same percentage of your income in taxes as middle class families do. On the other hand, if you make under $250,000 a year — like 98 percent of American families do — your taxes shouldn’t go up. You’re the ones struggling with the rising cost of everything from college tuition to groceries. You’re the ones who deserve a break.

So Obama would have us believe that if the federal government confiscates more assets from the rich and redistributes it – most probably to his minions – the cost of living will go down. What an economic retard! It’s the policies of his administration and the antagonistic attitude that the D.C. apparatchiks have towards the America people that is running this country into the ground.

And to top it off, the commander-in-thief leaves us with this little Marxist ditty:

That’s not right. That’s not who we are. In America, our story has never been about what we can do by ourselves — it’s about what we can do together. It’s about believing in our future and the future of this country. So tell your Members of Congress to do the right thing. Call them up, write them a letter, pay them a visit, and tell them to stop giving tax breaks to people who don’t need them and start investing in the things that will help our economy grow and put people back to work.

That’s how we’ll make this country a little fairer, a little more just, and a whole lot stronger. Thank you

I’ve got news for you Barack, for many of us the American dream is vanishing, and it’s because of people like you. Your utopian machinations will not make this country fairer, more just, or stronger. But it will benefit the central planners and elitist scum like you. And that is not what America is about.

Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2012/03/31/weekly-address-passing-buffett-rule-so-everyone-pays-their-fair-sh#transcript

http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2012/mar/28/obama-budget-defeated-414-0/

An Idiot Abroad Marathon on April Fool's Day

On April Fool’s Day, the Science Channel will feature a marathon of one of its most successful shows: An Idiot Abroad. Karl Pilkington travels the world, while entertaining us with his unique commentary on the culture, cuisine, and uncomfortable situations that his “buddies” have planned for him. Steve Merchant and Ricky Gervais make the most on tormenting Karl. They are travel agents from hell.

If you haven’t seen the show, here is a taste:





So instead of watching the Idiot at home, watch an Idiot Abroad.
At least you’ll be crying of laughter, instead of anger.

Don't Be A North Korean. Celebrate Human Achievemnet 3/31/12

Today March 31, 2012 between 8:30 pm and 9:30 pm local time, the statist will celebrate North Korea Hour… I mean Earth Hour. The country’s communist will salute one of the world’s most oppressive regimes by turning their power off for one hour. Now, that’s dedication folks.

Don’t be a communist. Celebrate Human Achievement Hour. Turn on your lights. Turn on your blenders, radios, vacuums, washers and dryers. Don’t be a North Korean. Celebrate being an American.











Friday, March 30, 2012

Justice Stephen Breyer Uses Supremacy Clause to Enslave Us All

The ideologues on the Supreme Court are trying to justify Obamacare and its mandate that forces Americans to buy a product. Associate Justice Stephen Breyer harkened back to the Supremacy Clause and the ruling that foisted the corrupt Biddle’s Bank on the American people. CNS reported the following:

Alito had asked Verrilli if Congress could force young people to buy burial insurance because everyone is going to die someday. Roberts asked Verrilli if Congress could force people to buy cell phones because it would facilitate contacting emergency services in the event of an accident. And Kennedy asked Verrilli: “Can you create commerce in order to regulate it.”

“I'm somewhat uncertain about your answers to, for example, Justice Kennedy,” said Breyer. He “asked, can you, under the Commerce Clause, Congress create commerce where previously none existed.

“Well, yes,” said Breyer, “I thought the answer to that was, since McCulloch versus Maryland, when the Court said Congress could create the Bank of the United States which did not previously exist, which job was to create commerce that did not previously exist, since that time the answer has been, yes.

“I would have thought that your answer [to] can the government, in fact, require you to buy cell phones or buy burials that, if we propose comparable situations, if we have, for example, a uniform United States system of paying for every burial such as Medicare Burial, Medicaid Burial, Ship Burial, ERISA Burial and Emergency Burial beside the side of the road, and Congress wanted to rationalize that system, wouldn't the answer be: Yes, of course, they could,” said Breyer.

“And the same with the computers, or the same with the cell phones, if you're driving by the side of the highway and there is a federal emergency service, just as you say you have to buy certain mufflers for your car that don't hurt the environment, you could,” said Breyer.

“I mean, see, doesn't it depend on the situation?” said Breyer.

“It does, Justice Breyer,” said Verrilli, “and if Congress were to enact laws like that, we –”

“Would be up here defending it,” said Breyer.

Maybe the American people should educate Justice Stephen Breyer as to the fate of the 2nd Bank of the United States. Here is how Ohio responded to the famed McCulloch v. Maryland ruling:

The states ignored the ruling. Ohio imposed a $50,000-per-year-tax on each of the two branches in the state. The BUS refused to pay. Ohio sent its tax auditor to collect the money. The bank’s management wouldn’t comply, so the auditor leaped over the counter and helped himself. Needless to say, the BUS filed a federal lawsuit. The Ohio state legislature flipped the finger at the federal government with the following declaration:


We are aware of the doctrine, that the Federal courts are exclusively vested with jurisdiction to declare, in the last resort, the true interpretation of the Constitution of the United States. To this doctrine…we can never give our assent.


President Andrew Jackson also offered his opinion on the Supreme Court’s decision on BUS:

To this conclusion I cannon assent…Congress and the President as well as the Court must each for itself be guided by its own opinion of the Constitution. It is as much of the duty of the House of the Representatives, of the Senate, and the President to decide upon the constitutionality of any bill or resolution which may be presented…The opinion of the [Supreme Court] justices has no authority over Congress than the opinion of Congress has over judges, and on that point the President is independent of both. The authority of the Supreme Court must not, therefore, be permitted to control the Congress or the Executive…but to have only such influence as the force of their reasoning may deserve.


Andrew Jackson defied the courts and Congress when he vetoed their charter. Here is an excerpt from The Rise and Fall of the American Whig Party:

Jackson’s veto message denounced the Bank as an unconstitutional excess of national authority, as a monstrous concentration of power that favored the rich at the expense of the poor. The message tremendously enhanced Jackson’s credentials as a champion of republicanism and strict construction and as a foe of the corrupt and entrenched political establishment in Congress. Democratic newspapers and resolutions around the country praised Jackson for saving “the people from becoming enslaved by the corruptions of a moneyed aristocracy and desperate politicians.” The veto marked “the final decision of the President between the Aristocracy and the People – he stands by the People.” “The Jackson cause,” one paper summarized, “is the cause of democracy and the people, against a corrupt and abandoned aristocracy.”
If Justice Breyer and his confederates want to stand by McCulloch v. Maryland, than they had better be prepared for the resistance to follow.

Source: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/justice-breyer-can-congress-make-americans-buy-computers-cell-phones-burials-yes-course




















Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Obamacare Advocates Use 1792 Militia Act to Enslave Us All



The totalitarians are desperate in trying to justify Obamacare. The O’Reilly Factor had an advocate, or should I say subjugator, defend nationalized healthcare based on the commerce clause. Caroline Frederickson used the 1792 Militia Act as a vehicle to subvert our liberties. Her contention is that citizens, i.e. Militias were required to pay for their own armaments and ammunition; therefore the federal government has a right to dictate that we buy a product for the good of the nation.

Of course, Ms Fredrickson failed to reveal that the regulations only applied to male citizens between the ages of 18 and 45; and that government employees, along with specialized trades, such as ferryman, were exempt. But more importantly she omitted the fact that the Constitution explicitly states that Congress has an ENUMERATED MANDATE to regulate the militias under Article One, Section Eight:

To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;

To provide and maintain a Navy;

To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;

To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

The progressives, or should we say subjugators, will lie, cheat and steal to rule over us all. And universal health care is their vehicle.

Source: http://www.usconstitution.net/xconst_A1Sec8.html

http://constitution.org/mil/mil_act_1792.htm

Obama Will be Unleashed in Second Term



Charles Krauthammer couldn't be more right. If everyone thought Obama had a disdain for our Constitution, our elected representatives, and the people in geneneral; than we haven't seen anything until he has an unteethered second term.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Obamaville: Tales from the Darkside



Americans live in the sunlit world of what they believe to be reality. But there is unseen by most an underworld; a place just as real but not as brightly lit: Obamaville.


May the Lord Heal My Truck! Can I Get Amen? Praise be Jesus!



After the repair estimate on my Ford pickup, I may need a preacher to lay hands on my vehicle and HEAL that cost! May God, the Almighty, strike down the thought of buying another truck. The Lord knows I can’t afford another monthly payment.

Can I get an Amen?

Praise be Jesus!

Hollywood Liberals Attack Conservative Iconic Women

What in the hell is going on in Hollywood? Why are these socialist scumbags writing, producing and portraying iconic conservative women in their movies? It’s bad enough that they smeared Sarah Palin in the movie Game Change, now they’re going after Nancy Reagan. Variety Magazine reported the following:

In the midst of recruiting an all-star ensemble for his long-gestating passion project "The Butler," director Lee Daniels has tapped Jane Fonda to play Nancy Reagan.

Based on a Washington Post report by Wil Haygood, pic follows Eugene Allen, the White House butler whose career started with Harry Truman in 1952 and ended in 1986 with Ronald Reagan.

Forest Whitaker is closing a deal to play Allen, while Oprah Winfrey remains in talks to play his wife. David Oyelowo is in negotiations to play Allen's son, while Liam Neeson and John Cusack are circling presidential supporting roles as Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon, respectively. Fonda will appear in a handful of scenes as the first lady of the United States.

Hanoi Jane? Hanoi Jane! You’ve got to be kidding me! The cast of Game Change was a freaking joke. Look at the Obamabots in this production. Don’t these people have iconic, progressive women they can portray? I’m sure there has to be an audience for a Margaret Sanger, Emma Goldman, or an Ethel Rosenberg.











Come on Hollywood show some character and portray your icons with the same zeal you do with conservatives. Practice what you preach! Money isn’t everything. Or is it?

Source: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118051917?refCatId=13

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Goldman

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_and_Ethel_Rosenberg




Alan Grayson - the Human Pustule - is Running for Office Again!

Alan Grayson, the human pustule, is once again running for congress. I am amazed that this punk would have the nerve to show his face after the ass beating he received in the 2010 elections. But like a dormant virus, he flares up spewing his filth. How bad was the beat down on this stain of humanity? Here is the final result:

Democrat U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson — at the same time loved and hated by partisans across the country — was ousted from Congress on Tuesday by Dan Webster, a quiet conservative known to Central Florida voters after nearly three decades in the Legislature.

With 99 percent of precincts counted, Webster had 56 percent of the vote to Grayson's 38 percent.

The victory put a Republican back in Florida's 8th District, which had sent Republicans to the House for the past 26 years until Grayson was elected in 2008. It also adds another win to the GOP wave of victories across the country, and ends Grayson's tenure in Congress after a single, two-year term.


God forbid this jerk gets into office. Haven’t we had enough of his ilk?





Obama is BFF with Turkish Prime Minister

Barack Obama has nurtured a close relationship with Turkey’s radical Islamist prime minister. Normally, U.S. presidents befriend leaders who have the same goals and values. Considering Obama’s background, we shouldn’t be surprised that he would seek someone to whom he can relate.


“The bottom line is that we find ourselves in frequent agreement upon a wide range of issues… [and] because he has two daughters that are a little older than mine — they’ve turned out very well, so I’m always interested in his perspective on raising girls,” Obama said.


One of Erdogan’s two daughters, Sumeyye, is entering Turkish politics via her father’s Islamist party, according to the Turkish press.


She wears Islamist-style clothes that obscure her hair and shape.

In Sept. 2010, the then-29 year old met with her father and U2 singer Bono while wearing a scarf that covered her hair and throat, long-sleeves that covered her forearms and a baggy overcoat that hid her figure.

One of these days, when Obama’s daughters get married – without a doubt arranged as is custom – Prime Minister Erdogan will present their husbands with the following book:



I’m sure they’ll be just as appreciative as Obama.


There is no Irrational Fear of Islam



Here is a naturalized U.S. citizen who appreciates her adopted country. The best part of this interview is the last minute. I wish other immigrants had her attitude.

H/T: Bare Naked Islam

Barack Obama v. Barry Soetoro: The Conflict Continues



I guess you’d be screwed up too if you had his childhood.

Congressional Progressive Caucus Proposes Insane Budget

How delusional are Democrats? If the Congressional Progressive Caucus is any measure, they’re absolutely insane. The Hill reports their proposed budget:

Liberal House Democrats on Monday unveiled a 2013 budget that increases taxes by $4.7 trillion more than President Obama proposed in his own budget last month.


The Congressional Progressive Caucus said the taxes are necessary to fund $2.9 trillion in new stimulus spending to “put Americans back to work” and “rebuild the middle classes” while reducing the deficit. This new spending includes canceling the cuts in last August’s debt-ceiling deal between Congress and the White House.


The CPC budget will be offered as an amendment this week to the House GOP budget for 2013, which contains $2 trillion less in revenue than Obama has proposed over 10 years.

Liberals get $897 billion in tax revenue from imposing an energy tax on carbon fuels, and $849 billion from taxing Wall Street trades. Another $319 comes from a millionaires surtax. The CPC budget also ends Bush-era tax rates for the wealthy.



The budget creates new job corps programs and sets up an infrastructure bank to create jobs.

These people believe the American people are just a bunch of pawns; that we solely exist to exalt them are their utopian society. These so-called representatives are a danger to life, liberty and property.

Source: http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/budget/218167-house-liberal-budget-has-trillions-more-taxes-stimulus-than-obama-plan

Obama Colludes With Russians, Needs "Space" During Election




Once again, we Americans are reaffirmed in our suspicions that Barack Hussein Obama is constantly plotting and colluding with agents whose interest are not the same as ours. This time he was caught red handed secretly negotiating with the Russians:

SEOUL – President Barack Obama offered a private request Monday to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev for some “space” on missile defense ahead of November’s elections.

“On all these issues, particularly on missile defense, this, this can be solved but it’s important for him to give me space,” Obama said, referring to incoming Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a TV pool reporter who heard audio recorded by a Russian reporter who was in the room moments before the two leaders spoke to reporters after their 90-minute meeting.

“Yeah, I understand. I understand your message about space. Space for you,” Medvedev responded.

A U.S. pool video camera in the room caught part of the audio, but not the piece about missile defense.

“This is my last election,” Obama said in audio that could be heard on the TV pool’s recording and that POLITICO listened to. “After my election I have more flexibility.”

Medvedev told Obama he understood and “will transmit this information to Vladimir.”

Obama means he has more flexibility on selling out the American people during his second term. Hopefully, we’ll throw this Eurotrash out on his ass this coming November.

Source: http://www.politico.com/politico44/2012/03/obama-asks-russia-for-space-through-election-118623.html

Obamacare Violates Separation of Powers

Today, the Supreme Court finally begins its hearings on Obamacare. They will decide whether unelected bureaucrats at the Department of Human and Health Services have the power to legislate, mandate, and enforce healthcare prerogatives. Nine judges will determine if this law is constitutional.

If our "betters" still hold our founding fathers relevant, a determinate factor should be Madison’s Federalist Paper #47. It was these assertions that allayed some of the Anti-Federalist concerns about a consolidation of power, and helped the states ratify the Constitution. Here is an excerpt:



From these facts, by which Montesquieu was guided, it may clearly be inferred that, in saying "There can be no liberty where the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or body of magistrates," or, "if the power of judging be not separated from the legislative and executive powers," he did not mean that these departments ought to have no partial agency in, or no control over, the acts of each other. His meaning, as his own words import, and still more conclusively as illustrated by the example in his eye, can amount to no more than this, that where the whole power of one department is exercised by the same hands which possess the whole power of another department, the fundamental principles of a free constitution are subverted. This would have been the case in the constitution examined by him, if the king, who is the sole executive magistrate, had possessed also the complete legislative power, or the supreme administration of justice; or if the entire legislative body had possessed the supreme judiciary, or the supreme executive authority. This, however, is not among the vices of that constitution. The magistrate in whom the whole executive power resides cannot of himself make a law, though he can put a negative on every law; nor administer justice in person, though he has the appointment of those who do administer it. The judges can exercise no executive prerogative, though they are shoots from the executive stock; nor any legislative function, though they may be advised with by the legislative councils. The entire legislature can perform no judiciary act, though by the joint act of two of its branches the judges may be removed from their offices, and though one of its branches is possessed of the judicial power in the last resort. The entire legislature, again, can exercise no executive prerogative, though one of its branches constitutes the supreme executive magistracy, and another, on the impeachment of a third, can try and condemn all the subordinate officers in the executive department.

The reasons on which Montesquieu grounds his maxim are a further demonstration of his meaning. "When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person or body," says he, "there can be no liberty, because apprehensions may arise lest the same monarch or senate should enact tyrannical laws to execute them in a tyrannical manner." Again: "Were the power of judging joined with the legislative, the life and liberty of the subject would be exposed to arbitrary control, for the judge would then be the legislator. Were it joined to the executive power, the judge might behave with all the violence of an oppressor." Some of these reasons are more fully explained in other passages; but briefly stated as they are here, they sufficiently establish the meaning which we have put on this celebrated maxim of this celebrated author.



Congress has abdicated their responsibilities by conferring the legislative process unto the executive branch; therefore, Obamacare is unconstitutional. It violates the tenets of separation of powers. And if the Supreme Court rules in favor, than the judiciary have also abdicated their responsibility. We will in fact have a tyranny of the executive.

Secretary Sebelius demonstrated this tyranny when she mandated that the Catholic Church violate its conscious by providing contraceptives. And for the federal government to mandate anyone to purchase a product or be fined or thrown in jail is in fact tyranny.

But let’s face the facts. We haven’t followed the Constitution in over a hundred years. Stare decisis has replaced our founding documents. We are ruled by precedents rather than principles.

Source: http://constitution.org/fed/federa47.htm

Charlotte Observer Dances with Glee Over Tara Servatius Resignation

The print Nazis at the Charlotte Observer are dancing with glee. The only thing missing is a stage, glitter, and a musical number. What is the big celebration? Tara Servatius, a former talk show radio host at WBT, resigned from the John Locke Foundation after posting a questionable photo of Barack Hussein Obama. Peter St. Onge at the Disturber published the following:

Tara Servatius has long seemed to revel in low-level discourse, so we suspect it wasn't conscience that prompted her to resign from the conservative John Locke Foundation this week after posting a truly detestable photo of President Barack Obama in chains and high heels with a bucket of fried chicken.

Now that’s laughable. The Charlotte Observer has the audacity to lecture others on low-level discourse. The editors at this leftist rag continuously advance their socialist agenda by publishing scurrilous cartoons denigrating their conservative opponents on a weekly basis. They have edited news articles from other publications and at times outright lied. But somehow they are above the fray. Or are they? Read the following, and tell me that Mr. St. Onge isn’t wallowing in the mud:

As for Servatius, once one of Charlotte's most dogged reporters: The former WBT talk radio host/Meck Deck blogger is running out of platforms to belch from. The beauty of the First Amendment is that she can rev up a new blog anytime she wants, maybe even for an employer willing to laugh at her next Obama joke. The rest of us can applaud the John Locke Foundation - whether we agree with its politics or not - for affirming that even in this open, raucous exchange of voices we treasure, there are still places we don't want to go.

Peter St. Onge

Well, Mr. St. Onge your belches are just as offensive. What’s even more repugnant is your platform is considered mainstream journalism. It’s too bad someone of repute doesn’t edit your bilge.

Source:

http://obsdailyviews.blogspot.com/2012/03/in-this-no-limits-era-welcome-limit.html

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/national/south/view.bg?articleid=1061119516&format=&page=2&listingType=natsouth#articleFull

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Obama is Crumbling the American Dream



Barack Obama is once again pushing for another federal government boondoggle. No amount of debt is too daunting for this president. The Senate passed a transportation bill that is designed to fix the infrastructure problems our nation faces. The bill is held up in the House. I could have sworn that the 2009 $800 billion Stimulus Bill was supposed to solve that problem. But I digress.

I’ll tell you what is crumbling – the American Dream. The democrats in the Senate haven’t passed a budget in three years! They refuse to fulfill their constitutionally mandated obligation. In the meantime, Obama and his statist minions have piled up a record amount of debt and expanded the government bureaucracy by 23%. And they still aren’t satisfied.

The Democrats contend that this transportation bill will provide thousands of jobs in the construction, manufacturing and associated trades. But at what cost to the taxpayers? Is it in the country’s best interest to keep feeding this leviathan? How much money is this parasitic bureaucracy devouring as a percentage in dollars?

The Journal of Libertarian Studies published this report in 2004:

THE COSTS OF PUBLIC INCOME REDISTRIBUTION
AND PRIVATE CHARITY


Robert L. Woodson (1989, p. 63) calculated that, on average, 70 cents of each dollar budgeted for government assistance goes not to the poor, but to the members of the welfare bureaucracy and others serving the poor. Michael Tanner (1996, p. 136 n. 18) cites regional studies supporting this 70/30 split.

In contrast, administrative and other operating costs in private charities absorb, on average, only one-third or less of each dollar donated, leaving the other two-thirds (or more) to be delivered to recipients. Charity Navigator (www.charitynavigator.org), the newest of several private sector organizations that rate charities by various criteria and supply that information to the public on their web sites, found that, as of 2004, 70 percent of charities they rated spent at least 75 percent of their budgets on the programs and services they exist to provide, and 90 percent spent at least 65 percent. The median administrative expense among all charities in their sample was only 10.3 percent.

The study further states:

One implication of the high cost of government income redistribution comes into focus when costs are understood correctly as alternative opportunities forgone. If a government agency delivers only one-third of each dollar budgeted to it as subsidy to its target population, then it must be budgeted three dollars for each dollar so delivered. Assuming that the cost of collecting the tax revenues to be budgeted to redistributive agencies is zero, then for each dollar delivered to a subsidy recipient, whether in the form of rent subsidy, food stamps, welfare, prescription medicine, or whatever, the taxpayers who had earned that money productively in the market must be deprived of three dollars worth of the things they want.

This model is about redistribution of wealth through the welfare bureaucracy. I believe the same can be applied to other federal agencies and the teat squawkers who depend on taxpayer largess. If the 70/30 split is accurate, than I believe we can find more efficient means to provide our transportation needs.



Source: http://mises.org/journals/jls/21_2/21_2_1.pdf

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Allies Laugh at Obama's Suck Up



Remember how the progressives constantly worried about President George W. Bush embarrassing the United States. To them Obama’s election was a redeemable event. They believed the Messiah is their gift to the world. According to them, the Anointed One is the most intelligent man who ever resided in the White House.

Obama has been in office for three years. He now has a record. The above video is a small example of how the world looks upon our most venerated president. After all, Obama is the most intelligent being that has ever graced the American people with his existence, and demands the respect of one and all.

Friday, March 23, 2012

Road to Repeal Obamacare Rally Washington D.C. 3/24/12

A big anti-Obamacare rally is scheduled for 3/24/12 in Washington D.C. Hopefully, the press will cover it, because they sure as hell didn’t mention it to the lead up. Wish I could be there. I hope they have a huge turnout. Good luck and God bless.





Sen. Dick Durbin Wants to Central Plan National Football League

Is there any circumstance or situation that Democrats in the United States Senate will not stick their nose into? Sen. Dickhead Durbin from the corrupt state of Illinois wants to conduct a hearing on the NFL.

A Senate Judiciary subcommittee will hold a hearing on the bounty system allegedly used by several National Football League teams – one day after top coaches from the New Orleans Saints were suspended as punishment for a program that awarded players with cash if they injured their opponents.


Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who will chair the hearing, said Thursday the committee will also investigate whether federal sports bribery laws need to be changed to include sports bounty programs. The date for the hearing has yet to be announced, but Durbin said it will occur after the Easter recess.


“We will have a hearing and put on the record what sports leagues and teams at the professional and collegiate levels are doing to make sure that there’s no place in athletics for these pay-to-main bounties,” Durbin said on the Senate floor Thursday. “I want to hear the policies and practices in each of the major sports and collegiate sports that are being put in place.”

How is this any business of the United States government? But, I am reminded that today is the anniversary of Obamacare. A day when liberty died and we all became subjects of the central planners in Washington D.C. So, I guess it is appropriate that our lords and masters would stick their noses into one of America’s most beloved sport. Nero would have approved.


The Irony: Patrick Henry's 'Give me Liberty or Give Me Death' Speech Same Day as Obamacare Law

How ironic is it that the monstrosity known as Obamacare would become law on the same day that a patriot stood before his fellow citizens in the year 1775, and declared that he would rather die than live under a tyrannical government. Patrick Henry made his famous speech 235 years ago on March 23, 1775. It was a seminal moment in American history; one that all Americans should remember.

St. John's Church, Richmond, VirginiaMarch 23, 1775.

MR. PRESIDENT: No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the House. But different men often see the same subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen if, entertaining as I do, opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely, and without reserve. This is no time for ceremony. The question before the House is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfil the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offence, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the majesty of heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings.

Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it.

I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided; and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years, to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves, and the House? Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received? Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with these war-like preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled, that force must be called in to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation; the last arguments to which kings resort. I ask, gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us; they can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging. And what have we to oppose to them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer upon the subject? Nothing. We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication? What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves. Sir, we have done everything that could be done, to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament. Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne. In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free² if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending²if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained, we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of Hosts is all that is left us!

They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance, by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. Three millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations; and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable²and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.

It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace²but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death.


I ask is Obamacare worth the price of chains and slavery? May almighty God forbid it.


2nd Anniversary of Obamacare: A Day That Shall Live in Infamy

March 23, 2010 is a day that shall live in infamy. It was the day when our elected representatives discarded our federalist system; shat on our Constitution; and spat in the eye of their fellow citizens. Today marks the second anniversary, when Americans are no longer citizens, but subjects to be ruled. This anniversary marks the day when federal bureaucrats will forever lord their directives without the consent of the citizens or States. Today marks the death of individual liberty. Today is the anniversary of Obamacare.



We shall never forget how the Democrats deceitfully manipulated data in order to sell this monstrosity. Even then, they were not successful. We knew they were selling us a bill of goods, and the Congressional Budget Office confirmed it last week. And every day we are finding out what is in Obamacare, as promised by Nancy Pelosi.



But it doesn’t end there. We have bureaucrats in the DHHS who have an open ended mandate that gives them the authority to issues directives without our consent. These Obamabots expect we citizens to tuck tail and OBEY.



Our founding fathers would be appalled at the attitude these D.C. politicians have curried over us. Our founders would have harkened to Montesquieu and warned these totalitarians of the road they are leading us down.

“There are two sorts of tyranny: a real one, which consists in the violence of the government, and one of opinion, which is felt when those who govern establish things that run counter to a nation’s way of thinking.”

And Obamacare runs counter to America’s principles and ideals.


Source: http://blog.heritage.org/2012/03/23/morning-bell-obamacares-dreadful-anniversary/

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Supreme Court Ruling Smacks Down EPA in Epic Property Rights Battle

One of the fundamental tenets of our founding principles is the right to property. The Environmental Protection Agency is the antithesis of that principle. I will go even further and state that the EPA is the embodiment of the arrogance and disdain that all central planners have for a free people who value liberty, life and the pursuit of happiness. This agency has run roughshod over our federalist system; and the Sackett Saga is proof in point:

Four years ago the Sacketts were filling in their lot with dirt and rock, preparing to build a simple three-bedroom home in a neighborhood where other houses have stood for years. Then three federal officials showed up and demanded they stop construction. The agency claimed the .63-acre lot was a wetland, protected under the Clean Water Act.


The Sacketts say they were stunned. The owners of an excavation company, they had secured all the necessary local permits. And Chantell Sackett says that before work began, she drove two hours to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, to consult with an Army Corps of Engineers official. She says the official told her orally, though not in writing, that she didn’t need a federal permit. “We did all the right things,” she says.


The EPA issued an order requiring the Sacketts to put the land back the way it was, removing the piles of fill material and replanting the vegetation they had cleared away. The property was to be fenced off and the Sacketts would be required to submit annual reports about its condition to the EPA. The agency threatened to fine them up to $32,500 a day until they complied.


Give credit to the Sacketts. They didn’t tuck tail and run. They stood up to this authoritarian agency – at great expense, and demanded that they get their day in court. The only problem is they had to go to the Supreme Court to get justice:

The justices unanimously ruled Chantell and Mike Sackett can appeal a compliance order that said wetlands on their residential lot were improperly filled with rocks and dirt. A building permit was then revoked.

"Since the agency's decision was final and since the Sacketts have no other adequate remedy in a court, they may bring their suit" under federal law, said Justice Antonin Scalia


Of course, critics are aghast that citizens should have the right to challenge the EPA. They believe that a non-cowering populace would interrupt their totalitarian ambitions. If property owners are able to defend themselves against the abuses of an overbearing bureaucrat, it would eventually undermine the authority of the EPA; and by extension their “authority.”

Today is a good day for liberty. It will be a better day, when the EPA no longer exists.


Obama's Ambassador to the United Nations Admits U.S. Doesn't Have the Same Gravitas it Once Had

The Obama administration has once again poked a finger in Congresses eye. Last fall, the United Nations agency UNESCO recognized the Palestinians by admitting them as a member. Current U.S. law mandates defunding of any U.N. organization that formally recognizes this terrorist sponsored state. But that didn’t stop the usurpers in the White House from budgeting UNESCO.


(CNSNews.com) – The Obama administration’s envoy to the United Nations argued on Capitol Hill Tuesday that defunding the United Nation’s cultural agency because it admitted “Palestine” hurts America’s interests more than it does those of the Palestinians.

Appearing before the House Appropriations’ subcommittee responsible for foreign operations, Susan Rice was questioned about the administration’s fiscal year 2013 request for $79 million for the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

She described UNESCO as “essentially an anti-extremist organization,” saying that it does “essential work, from girls’ education to tsunami warning, that serve U.S. interests.”

Members of the United Nations know our law. Yet, this agency purposefully admitted “Palestine” knowing full well that defunding would be the consequence. It seems they - like this president - are willfully testing the resolve of the American people.


Obama’s U.N. ambassador admits that in today’s world, the standing of the United States doesn’t have the gravitas it once had:

But Rice disputed the notion that the 1990 and 1994 laws serve as a successful deterrent today.


When the laws were created, she told the panel, “the world was a very different place – the process of pursuing a negotiated two-state solution was, you know, in a very different place.”


Back then, Rice said, the law did have the deterrent effect, as intended.


“It no longer does,” she said, noting that “the Palestinians and the rest of the world knew about the legislative restrictions before they took the vote in UNESCO” and went ahead anyway.


Should the P.A. decide to go ahead with applying to join other U.N. bodies, Rice continued, the law’s existence would likely not deter a majority of U.N. member states from voting to admit “Palestine.”


In the case of UNESCO, Rice suggested that the Palestinians achieved both membership and the additional benefit of seeing the decline of U.S. influence in the agency. (Once a UNESCO member is two years in arrears, it loses its voting rights.)

The world is a different place today, because we have a president who is a self-loathing American; and the whole world knows it. Worse, they know Obama will defy our Constitution and elected representatives. Why is that? Because he has done it before. They are betting he will fund UNESCO against our will.

Source: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/us-ambassador-un-defends-obama-s-decision-restore-unesco-funding

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Wisconsin Judges Violate Ethics Code; Call for Recall of Gov. Scott Walker

Wisconsin has a strong tradition of progressive politics. So much so, that these irresponsible brats almost bankrupted the state. It took a band of grownups to set the ship aright. Governor Scott Walker and his republican majority in the General Assembly had the courage to confront the teat squawkers whose insatiable appetite almost killed the cow. The public sector unions were bleeding the state dry.

The nation watched the antics of these adolescent cry babies. These socialist converged on the state capitol. They trashed it; defiled it. The damage cost the taxpayers of Wisconsin millions of dollars. And where were the Democrats? Their senators fled to Illinois in order to prevent a quorum. What a manly thing to do.

So, when the republicans were finally able to pass a law curbing the power of the unions, what did the democrats do? They found a judge who was commiserate with the unions and struck it down. But Governor Scott Walker and his stalwart republicans prevailed.


The socialist wouldn’t be denied. They tried to recall senate republicans and failed. But the saga isn’t over. Now, the scum are trying to recall Governor Scott Walker. And as can be expected, they found judges who are sympathetic to their cause:

Among the thousands of people who signed petitions to trigger a recall election of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker are 29 judges from 16 counties in the state.

The total represents 12 percent of the state's approximately 250 county-level judges, according to a Gannett Wisconsin Media
analysis. None of the state's 16 appeals court judges or seven Supreme Court justices signed the petitions.

Wisconsin's Code of Judicial Conduct says that
judges cannot participate in activities of a political party or candidate and should "avoid the appearance of impropriety."

As Jim Alexander, executive director of the Wisconsin Judicial Commission told the Associated Press, however, the code does not specifically address recall petitions.

Monroe County Judge J. David Rice said he called Alexander before signing the petition and he had raised no objections.

"He said in his opinion that didn't violate the judicial ethics, so I relied on that in signing," Rice said.

"I concluded that by signing a recall petition I wasn't advocating for a particular party;
I was advocating for the recall process, which I thought was completely separate and apart," said Brown County Judge Mark Warpinski, who also signed the document.

What a load of crap! Ethics are as meaningless to a progressive as teats are on a boar hog. I wonder if it’s possible to recall a bunch of shameless judges. The citizens of Wisconsin cleaned house in their state capitol; it looks like they need to do the same at the bench.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/19/scott-walker-recall-29-judges_n_1362784.html?ref=politics

Obama's Algae Cronies Skim Taxpayers Wallets

When Barack Obama brought up his algae solution to our energy needs, many of us laughed. But deep down inside, we all knew something was up. We all had a gut-feeling that another one of his scummy cronies was about to skim the taxpayers of their hard earned money. I’ll be damned if that didn’t happen.

President Obama’s most recent green energy fixation—algae—may suffer from the accusations of cronyism that have plagued his broader effort to promote non-fossil fuel energy sources through massive federal subsidies.

Solazyme, a San Francisco-based firm that
specializes in the plant matter, has received more than $25 million in federal grants and contracts as part of Obama administration’s controversial stimulus package, and is poised to receive millions more as part of the president’s recent efforts to promote green biofuels such as algae.

The firm employs a former
member of the Obama-Biden transition team who, according to one online bio, “played a key role in developing the energy provisions in the economic stimulus bill.”

I don’t believe I’ve ever witnessed an administration as shameless as this. It must be a Chicago thing.

Source: http://freebeacon.com/algae-alimony/

Monday, March 19, 2012

Muslims Cast a Covetous Eye on Rome

Here is another Jihadist casting a covetous eye on the West. This time it’s Rome:

Following are excerpts from an address by Egyptian cleric Salem Abu Al-Futouh, which aired on Al-Nas TV on December 30, 2011.

Salem Abu Al-Futouh : The Prophet Muhammad told us that Islam would spread. He told us about the Islamic conquest of Constantinople - Turkey of today - and indeed, it was conquered. He also told us about the conquest of Rome, which is Italy. People find this strange. "How can we conquer Italy?" they say. "We are too weak." You should consider the number of Muslims in that great Christian center - another person converts to Islam every day. Check on the Internet how many people want to convert to Islam in the very heart of that papal center of Christianity, on their own turf.

Brothers and sisters, Islam spread by means of the power of Allah, because it is the religion of Truth. When a Westerner whose heart is not filled with the hatred of Islam, someone who has not been raised on the hatred of Islam, begins to contemplate all the religions, he finds no other religion that respects human rights, and is in keeping with equality, justice, freedom, and democracy.

There is no democracy in America. Don't think that there is. Did you see the demonstrators in Wall Street? By God, they dragged them through the streets. Dragged them! The footage on TV was clear, and blind people could hear it on the radio.

Where is the freedom? Where are the human rights? Where are all those things about which you've given us a head ache? People do not enjoy any human rights in the West. Real rights are provided by Islam.

They keep telling us what they’re going to do. When will we take their word for it?


North Carolina Illegal Alien Interlopers Want Part of the Decision Making Process

A couple of weeks ago, three illegal aliens disrupted North Carolina’s General Assembly by shouting down our elected representatives. They screamed, “Undocumented, unashamed, and unafraid.” All three were arrested. Two were released, and one was detained due to a criminal record.



The brazenness of these young people is an indictment of how broken our system is. We have foreigners openly laughing at our laws, citizens and our country. We are a joke to these people. And to make matters worse, they act like they’re victims. Here is what the offender had to say:

"My name is Uriel Alberto. I am undocumented, unafraid and unashamed. I refuse to be bullied and intimidated by this committee and choose to empower my community," he shouted. As Alberto and two other protesters were escorted out of the room, some audience members shouted expletives at them and told them to "go home."

So, it is we - the citizens - who are bullying him and his “community.” Notice how he emphasized his ‘community.’ But victimization doesn’t stop with him; apparently it runs in the family:

"We didn't ask to be brought here," said Cristina Alberto, 25, his sister. "We're from a very small town in Mexico. Now, the possibility of going back to Mexico — I can't even find words for it. This (North Carolina) is all I know.

I’ve got news for you Cristina Alberto: We didn’t ask you to come here. You and you’re family are interlopers. And what really pisses me off is this:

"I think anybody in El Cambio and Dream Team will say, 'Yeah, well, you tell us where we can have our voices heard and how we can go about doing this,' " Alberto said during the interview in jail.


"I mean, we haven't been invited to speak by the committee. Have we? No. So, in that case, we will make our own time to speak," he continued. "If they're going to ignore us and keep us out of the decision-making, what are our options?"

I’ve got news for you Alberto: You’re not entitled to the decision making process! You are an illegal alien!


Of course the victimization continues in this puff piece.

"I'm a man without a country … unfortunately," Alberto said. "All my life, I've seen myself as a Mexican Southern. I'm Mexican by birth, and I'm Southern, North Carolinian, by experience. I like the South. This is my land."

Hey Alberto, you have a country. It’s called Mexico! Gather your illegal alien family; pack your bags and leave!


Where do American Citizens Go to "Speak Out Against Obama's Bullies"

Any time Obama and his leftist minions lecture the American people on a particular issue, you can damn well bet that’s exactly what they’re doing. The latest – do as I say, not as I do – dictum is Obama’s anti-bullying initiative:

President Obama opened up a 30-minute documentary on childhood bullying for Cartoon Network this evening, continuing awareness initiatives he set into motion last year.

The minute-long introduction, which was pre-taped, featured the president speaking directly to the camera for the documentary titled “To SPEAK UP Against Bullying,” a 30-minute special broadcast that aired Sunday on Cartoon Network.

“Bullying is not a rite of passage or harmless part of growing up,” Obama said. “It’s wrong. Its destructive and we can all prevent it.”


Well, we American’s spoke up in November 2010. But this bastard and his totalitarian minions disregard our elected representatives. The Democrats dominate the Senate. They refuse to pass a budget. Obama and his bureaucratic regime pass executive orders and directives imposing their will upon the States and the American people. Where in the hell do we go “To SPEAK UP Against Obama's Bullying?”

Here are some examples:


Labor Department bullies farmers from hiring local kids


Department of Justice bullies States into catering to illegal aliens


Department of Justice bullies certain States from passing laws to protect the sanctity of the vote


Bullying the States into setting up “State Insurance Exchanges”


Bullying citizens into buying insurance or pay a penalty


Bullying the Catholic Church into violating their religious principles


Bullying the citizenry by indebting generations of Americans with ridiculous stimulus spending, and providing his campaign contributors with government grants and guaranteed loans.

Bullying Tea Party organizations with IRS audits


And that is just from the top of my head. Again, I ask where we go to speak out against Obama’s bullies. Our liberties are at stake. If he wins in November, it’s over.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/03/obama-introduces-bullying-documentary-on-cartoon-network/