Obama bank rules mean no free checking for the poor
“Bank of America Corp. is working on sweeping changes that would require many users of basic checking accounts to pay a monthly fee unless they agree to bank online, buy more products or maintain certain balances,” The Wall Street Journal reports this morning.
“The search for new sources of income is especially pressing at Bank of America, where 2011 revenue dropped by $26.2 billion, or 22%, from its 2009 level.”Why is revenue dropping?
“The fee experiments exemplify some unintended consequences of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial-regulation overhaul, which clamped down on certain revenue sources of banks and motivated them to seek ways to make up the difference,” the Journal reports.
“The overdraft decision came just months before the Dodd-Frank law halved what financial institutions could charge merchants for accepting credit and debit cards. That took away $2 billion in annual revenue from the bank,” the Journal reports.
“The double hit prompted bank executives to look for new revenue ideas that could be fast-tracked because the outlook for the bank’s consumer operations was so bleak, said one person familiar with the planning. That was when it came up with the idea of a $5 monthly fee on certain customers who used their debit cards. It was a plan that could be implemented quickly and wouldn’t require a lot of new technology.”
Banks’ offers of free checking were intended to attract younger customers, but benefitted the poor at large. Banks continued to offer it despite the loss because many account holders kept their business at that bank once they became more affluent as they got older. Customers who once had free checking accounts would take out loans, purchase CDs and move up to charged checking accounts with more services. That’s where the banks made their money.
But unable under Dodd-Frank to make any more money off more affluent customers, which Obama saw as “profiteering,” banks are now forced to soak the young and poor to stay in business.
Thanks, Obama.
Suits in Strange Places: Take My Word For It, Gilhooley’s Is The Real Deal
Suits in Strange Places: Take My Word For It, Gilhooley’s Is The Real Deal: Gilhooley’s 221 9th St. San Leon, TX Eight line machine and a sailor's daughter Somethin' makes 'em crazy growin' up on t...
New ad mocks the failing, flammable Obama Volt
A new parody of the ad for the hideously expensive, poor-selling and oft-flammable Chevy Volt mocks the vehicle's massive government subsidies, its habit of bursting into flames and its ties to Barack Obama.
Go here to see the ad on YouTube, where it has already racked up over 300,000 views. That's about how many taxpayer dollars it costs to produce just one Volt.
Tweet or share this by clicking below.
Go here to see the ad on YouTube, where it has already racked up over 300,000 views. That's about how many taxpayer dollars it costs to produce just one Volt.
Tweet or share this by clicking below.
Obama Expensive Gas rule could hike gas prices by $0.25 a gallon
A new study by the independent consulting firm Baker & O'Brien finds a new Obama Expensive Gas Rule that Barack Obama is pushing through the EPA, which demanding the use of low-sulfur gasoline, would send gas prices skyrocketing, shut down as many as seven refineries, significantly decrease U.S. gasoline production and double reliance on foreign imports.
Along with the thousand of workers who would lose their jobs under the Obama rule, the study also finds gas prices could increase by as much as $0.25 a gallon, on top of the 200% increase in gas prices seen under the Obama administration.
"Obama's Expensive Gas Rule is a nuclear weapon in his ongoing war on your pocketbook," said American Tradition Partnership Executive Director Donald Ferguson. "Obama is pushing this through his EPA cronies, instead of through Congress, because he knows accountable lawmakers would never let him get away with exploding the price of gas."
"This is why American Tradition Partnership has made passing the REINS Act a top priority," said Ferguson.
"Under REINS, any proposed rule with an impact greater than $100 million would need to be voted on by Congress. The idea of having laws voted on my lawmakers instead of imposed by royal decree makes Obama and Gang Green explode with rage, but it's what the Constitution requires. There would be no Obama Expensive Gas Rule under the REINS Act."
Go here to chip in $10 or more to support ATP's efforts to stop the Obama Expensive Gas Rule.
You don't have to be a bitter hypocrite to be liberal, but it helps
Granholm 2012: "Blaming the President for high gas prices is like blaming Rudy Giuliani for 9/11." http://ow.ly/1hEyJ5
Granholm 2005: Granholm demands Bush lower gas prices http://www.michigan.gov/granholm/0,4587,7-168-23442_21974-126331--,00.html
Granholm 2005: Granholm demands Bush lower gas prices http://www.michigan.gov/granholm/0,4587,7-168-23442_21974-126331--,00.html
ATP wins yet another case against speech suppression by Mont. politicians
U.S. District court hands ATP latest legal victory, overturning vote record disclosure law
In American Tradition Partnership’s latest victory over Montana’s anti-speech campaign finances laws, in a Friday ruling U.S. District Judge Charles Lovell blocked Montana state laws requiring authors of political election materials disclose another candidate’s voting record. Under the law, any vote cited by a challenger to an elected official must also cite other votes around the same time, without defining what that may be. Intended to protect incumbents, it placed any challenger under threat of prosecution.
“There’s a reason American Tradition Partnership continues to win in court, and why Attorney General Bullock loses time and time again. The Constitution is on our side,” said American Tradition Partnership Executive Director Donald Ferguson. “The political establishment in Helena has written these laws to suppress criticism of elected officials, which flies in the face of our founding principles.”
“Why are Brian Schweitzer and Steve Bullock doing everything they can to pass laws restricting what you can say about elected officials? Could it have something to do with the endless tales of corruption and unethical behavior pouring out of their administration, which has seen one Commissioner of Political Practices forced to resign under investigation and another reprimanded by a federal court for the ‘petty bureaucratic harassment’ of conservatives?,” said Ferguson.
“There’s a reason every objective court sides with American Tradition Partnership. The law is on our side. We are fighting the corrupt political establishment strangling Montana. If Brian Schweitzer and Steve Bullock wants to get corruption out of Helena, they can start by cleaning up their own administration.”
The ruling was made in a suit brought against Attorney General Steve Bullock by American Tradition Partnership, a grassroots-based organization with wide membership across Montana. It was heard by Judge Lovell of the United States District Court for the District of Montana in Helena.
Last week the U.S. Supreme Court blocked enforcement of Montana laws prohibiting corporations from engaging in independent expenditures. ATP had won a victory on that suit in state court, only to see it overturned by the Montana State Supreme Court in a ruling that admittedly openly defied the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling. ATP appealed the state Supreme Court ruling to the Supreme Court and won an injunction.
PHOTOS, VIDEO: Santorum stands with Arlen at Specter's stridently pro-abortion 1996 presidential announcement
Santorum occupied the place of honor next to the podium at Arlen Specter's 1996 presidential campaign announcement, where Specter says he's running to "protect a woman's right to choose," proclaims his outright opposition to social conservatism and vocally declares he's running to make the GOP pro-choice.
Watch the video here.
 |
| Santorum, occupying the seat of honor next to the podium at Arlen Specter's stridently pro-choice 1996 campaign announcement (March 30, 1995). |
 | |
|
 |
| Santorum applauding in front of a "Republicans for Choice" sign. |
 |
| Santorum and a "Pro Choice - Pro Specter" sign at the speech intended to declare war on pro-lifers. |
Specter, with Santorum at his side:
"In 1996, I intend to win the other house -- the White House -- with ten commitments to America...to champion tolerance and freedom, including a woman's right to choose...
"...Even though we have this historic opportunity for these achievements, there are those in our party who would lead us down a different path -- and squander this unique moment in our nation's history -- by using our political capital -- to pursue a radical social agenda -- that would end a woman's right to choose -- and mandate school prayer.
"When Pat Buchanan calls for a Holy War in our society, -- I say he is wrong. We don't need holy wars, -- we need tolerance and simple humanity.
"When Ralph Reed says a pro-choice Republican isn't qualified to be our President, -- I say the Republican Party will not be blackmailed. I and millions of other pro-choice Republicans -- will not be disenfranchised.
"I believe there is an important place in public life -- for people with deep religious and moral convictions. I am one of them. When I look at teenage pregnancies, -- the high crime rate, -- the fact that many high school graduates cannot read their own diplomas, -- there is no doubt that people with deep religious and moral convictions must be active in the political process. But it is not Christian, -- or religious, -- or Judeo-Christian to bring God into politics; -- or to advocate the intolerance and exclusion.
"I think Jack Kemp put it best -- when he said when it comes to moral values -- we must seek to persuade rather than impose. I want to take abortion out of politics. I want to keep the Republican Party focused on the vital economic and foreign policy issues -- and leave moral issues such as abortion to the conscience of the individual. I believe abortion is an issue to be decided by women -- not by big government.
"I will lead the fight to strip the strident anti-choice language from the Republican National platform -- and replace it with language that respects human life, -- but also respects the diversity of opinion within our own Party on this issue. Let me say it as plainly as I can: Neither this nation -- nor this Party can afford a Republican candidate so captive to the demands of the intolerant right that we end up reelecting a president of the incompetent left.
(CROWD APPLAUDS. SANTORUM SMILES AND NODS)
"Ladies and gentlemen, that's a core line that bears repeating. Neither this nation -- it got the most applause -- nor this Party can afford a Republican candidate so captive to the demands of the intolerant right we end up reelecting a president of the incompetent left....I say it a third time. It got more applause the second time...."
Yes. That was the televised announcement and speech Rick Santorum was sitting next to the podium for.
Obama supporter: 'The Cost of President Obama's Keystone XL Dithering'
From U.S. News & World Report's Mort Zuckerman, an avowed Obama supporter who is no conservative.
"... in Machiavelli's dictum, the president has been willing to wound but afraid to strike. He has contrived an excuse to delay a decision yet again. An environmental impact statement was issued by the State Department on Aug. 26, 2011, the conclusion of three years of reviews and negotiation...
"...The original Keystone pipeline won approval after two years and is operational. But in 2013, the Keystone XL (extension) will be in its fourth year of review, a Great Dither not justified when the State Department conducted three consecutive environmental reviews to reach its conclusion of minimal environmental impact. In that time, there have been many public hearings to satisfy local communities and private property owners. More than a dozen alternative routes have been surveyed, and TransCanada Corp., the builder, agreed to 57 special conditions beyond current federal pipeline regulations.
"The president wants a relatively short section of the route from Alberta through Nebraska reconsidered. It means the State Department will have to agree to a new understanding with Nebraska and secure the governor's approval. Given the long history of Keystone XL, that is not a big deal. By all accounts, it could be done within a couple of months. Yet after three years of satisfying intense reviews, the president says that decision will not come until 2013. Hello? That wouldn't have anything to do, would it, with appeasing a particular left-wing environmental lobby until after the general election?
"It's a calculation which assumes that the voters concerned about the energy future that Obama paraded will be less active than the more extreme environmental lobbyists—who, in fact, will never be satisfied with anything to do with villainous Big Oil. Throwing a sop to the leftist anti-oil campaigners and "four more years" are apparently more important to the president and his campaign advisers than reducing our dependence on those unstable regions he mentioned and maintaining the momentum of the small improvement in the lamentable unemployment totals.
"Notably, the Great Keystone Dither does not appeal to labor or indeed to all Democrats. Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia put it well: "I'd rather buy from our closest ally and create jobs in America than push Canada to build a pipeline out to the West Coast of North America so that it ends up going to China. There is no question, this pipeline is a job creator with support of both labor and business. It needs to be built not for the benefit of one political party or one state, but for the benefit of America."
"A final go-ahead for the $7 billion shovel-ready project would have supported tens of thousands of jobs now: 20,000 in new, direct well-paid construction and manufacturing jobs, and roughly 100,000 in indirect jobs along the pipeline, according to the developer, TransCanada. But the president's political concerns seem more important than enraging the Canadians, than giving China more edge in economic competition, than the defense and national security interests of truly independent energy..."Read the full article here.
ObamaCare mandate forces Wash. residents to pay for abortions
"(Washington state) lawmakers passed a bill requiring health insurers covering maternity care to also pay for abortions," the Associated Press reports this morning.
"Supporters said the bill would ensure that existing abortion coverage will be preserved once federal health insurance rules come into effect under the Affordable Care Act in 2014."
That statement is misleading, however. Health insurers don't print their money, they get it from consumers.
So in reality, the employers and residents of Washington state are now forced to finance abortions.
First it was Obama threatening to shut down the entire federal government if even one penny of Planned Parenthood funding was touched.
Next, it was Planned Parenthood radicals bullying and threatening a women's cancer charity for suspending 0.07% of their billion-dollar empire, going so far to phone in death threats to cancer volunteers.
Now its leftists lawmakers forcing residents to finance abortions, a good chunk of which will find its way into the pockets of leftist lawmakers via the abortion industry's multi-million dollar political finance regime.
If we're learning one thing this year, it's that it's Democrats who are obsessed with social issues and willing to use force and threats to mandate compliance with their narrow (anti) religious views.
"Supporters said the bill would ensure that existing abortion coverage will be preserved once federal health insurance rules come into effect under the Affordable Care Act in 2014."
That statement is misleading, however. Health insurers don't print their money, they get it from consumers.
So in reality, the employers and residents of Washington state are now forced to finance abortions.
First it was Obama threatening to shut down the entire federal government if even one penny of Planned Parenthood funding was touched.
Next, it was Planned Parenthood radicals bullying and threatening a women's cancer charity for suspending 0.07% of their billion-dollar empire, going so far to phone in death threats to cancer volunteers.
Now its leftists lawmakers forcing residents to finance abortions, a good chunk of which will find its way into the pockets of leftist lawmakers via the abortion industry's multi-million dollar political finance regime.
If we're learning one thing this year, it's that it's Democrats who are obsessed with social issues and willing to use force and threats to mandate compliance with their narrow (anti) religious views.
Welfare state continues to expand, and it's not all Obama's fault
“And when Social Security, Medicare and unemployment benefits are included, nearly half of the nation lived in a household that received a government check, according to the analysis of third-quarter 2010 Census data done by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, a libertarian-leaning think tank. That’s more than 148 million Americans,” CNN reports.
The culprit? Democrat and Republican lawmakers, such as defeated Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, who supported George W. Bush’s budget-busting plan to buy votes with a new Medicare prescription drug entitlement.
“Whether we like it or not, we know it’s not fiscally sustainable,” Veronique de Rugy, senior research fellow at Mercatus, tells CNN. “The bigger these programs, the bigger the voting block is against reform.”
Why are independent voters turning libertarian?
Aside from the fact we're right on everything 100% of the time.
Matt Welch looks at the growing phenomenon of independent voters backing libertarian candidates in this month's issue of Reason.
He writes, in part:
But even after the initial Iowa caucuses, exit polls showed something extraordinary: Independents are making up for the enthusiasm gap created by the declining rolls of Republicans, and they are breaking hard for the only libertarian in the race, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas).
The Iowa Republican caucuses had virtually the same voter turnout this year (122,000) as in 2008 (119,000), leading to many headlines like “Why the GOP Still Has an Enthusiasm Problem” (as Talking Points Memo put it). If anything, the problem for Republicans is worse than those numbers suggest.
In 2008 exit polls showed that 86 percent of Iowa caucusers self-identified as Republicans. In 2012 that share was down to 75 percent. The difference? Again, independents, whose ranks grew from 13 percent to 23 percent. And who did they favor? By more than 2 to 1, Ron Paul.
Paul received 43 percent of the independent vote, compared to 19 percent for runner-up Mitt Romney. He also led the field among those who had never previously voted in an Iowa Republican caucus (33 percent, compared to Rick Santorum’s 23 percent) and dominated among voters under 30 (48 percent to Santorum’s 23 percent)...
...The bad news for this legacy GOP is that voters have fresh memories of what big-government conservatism looks like, and they disdain it. The good news for those of us who share that disdain is that our numbers are growing.
ATP lauds their attorney, Jim Bopp, for passing resolution exposing Agenda 21
WASHINGTON – American Tradition Partnership, America’s largest grassroots advocate of rational environmental and energy policy is lauding its attorney, Jim Bopp, for his role in passing a Republican National Committee resolution exposing the dangers of using of the United Nation’s “Agenda 21” scheme in federal, state and local land use planning.
Jim Bopp, a Republican National Committeeman for Indiana, is representing American Tradition Partnership in its U.S. Supreme Court appeal of a Montana Supreme Court decision overturning a lower court’s ruling declaring that state’s ban on independent political expenditures unconstitutional under the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United v FEC ruling.
“Agenda 21 was written by foreign nations where people are property, for foreign nations where people are property. It does not recognize, and if fact detests, your right to own a home, drive a car or have private property. It achieves the phony goal of ‘sustainable development’ by declaring much of the United States off-limits to human use,” said American Tradition Partnership Executive Director Donald E. Ferguson.
“It is radical environmentalism in its purest form, a guttural hatred of humanity expressed in international policy jargon. It has no place in any American state, county, city or town."
“Sustainable development is the new label they slapped over the old, faded word ‘socialism’ when it become too ugly to use,” said Ferguson. “So-called ‘sustainable development’ is just a plan to return the Earth to its Stone Age state by attacking modern nations through a campaign of intentional worldwide poverty.”
“This isn’t some dark conspiracy where UN lawyers drop into small town America and rewrite laws. This is typical liberalism, where American liberals look to socialist-leaning international bodies that share their hate of the American ideals of private property and individual prosperity and adopt their teachings. Incorporating U.N guidelines into their local planning authority is just their way of sneering down their noses at neighbors they consider inferior. It’s typical abusive liberal arrogance, and it’s targeting your right to own property, a home and a car.” said Ferguson.
Agenda 21 is a land use planning mechanism developed by the United Nations to guide national and local policymakers in creating so-called “sustainable development.”
It does not recognize private property rights, restrictions on government abuse of eminent domain or other restrictions on government power Americans enjoy under the United States Constitution.
Despite that, American policymakers at the national, state and local levels are inserting portions of the abusive plan into local land use planning frameworks. ATP staff and volunteer have defeated attempts to incorporate Agenda 21 language into local government plans in places like Sweet Grass County, Montana and Loudoun County, Virginia.
The text of the resolution follows:
RNC Resolution Exposing United Nations Agenda 21
WHEREAS, the United Nations Agenda 21 is a comprehensive plan of extreme environmentalism, social engineering, and global political control that was initiated at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992; and,
WHEREAS, the United Nations Agenda 21 is being covertly pushed into local communities throughout the United States of America through the International Council of Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) through local “sustainable development” policies such as Smart Growth, Wildlands Project, Resilient Cities, Regional Visioning Projects, and other “Green” or “Alternative” projects; and
WHEREAS, this United Nations Agenda 21 plan of radical so-called “sustainable development” views the American way of life of private property ownership, single family homes, private car ownership and individual travel choices, and privately owned farms; all as destructive to the environment; and,
WHEREAS, according to the United Nations Agenda 21 policy, social justice is described as the right and opportunity of all people to benefit equally from the resources afforded us by society and the environment which would be accomplished by socialist/communist redistribution of wealth; and,
WHEREAS, according to the United Nations Agenda 21 policy National sovereignty is deemed a social injustice; now therefore be
RESOLVED, the Republican National Committee recognizes the destructive and insidious nature of United Nations Agenda 21 and hereby exposes to the public and public policy makers the dangerous intent of the plan; and therefore be it further
RESOLVED, that the U.S. government and no state or local government is legally bound by the United Nations Agenda 21 treaty in that it has never been endorsed by the (U.S.) Senate, and therefore be it further
RESOLVED, that the federal and state and local governments across the country be well informed of the underlying harmful implications of implementation of United Nations Agenda 21 destructive strategies for “sustainable development” and we hereby endorse rejection of its radical policies and rejection of any grant monies attached to it, and therefore be it further
RESOLVED, that upon the approval of this resolution the Republican National Committee shall deliver a copy of this resolution to each of the Republican members of Congress, all Republican candidates for Congress, all Republican candidates for President who qualify for RNC sanctioned debates, and to each Republican state and territorial party office.
Chief Sponsor:
Helen Van Etten
Republican National Committeewoman for Kansas
Co-Sponsors:Carolyn McLarty
Republican National Committeewoman for Oklahoma
Kim Lehman
Republican National Committeewoman for Iowa
Paul Reynolds
Republican National Committeeman for Alabama
Demetra DeMonte
Republican national Committeewoman for Illinois
Solomon Yue
Republican National Committeewoman for Oregon
Donna Cain
Republican National Committeewoman for Oregon
Cindy Costa
Republican National Committeewoman for South Carolina
John Sigler
Republican State Chairman for Delaware
Steve Scheffler
Republican National Committeeman for Iowa
Peggy Lambert
Republican National Committeewoman for Tennessee
Jim Bopp
Republican National Committeeman for Indiana
Bruce Ash
Republican National Committeeman for Arizona
DeMarus Carlson
Republican National Committeewoman for Nebraska
Okla. nannystater targets 'violence'...with force and redistribution
For one, to stop government bullies from using bullying to stop bullying.
Follow me, here.
Unfortunately-named Oklahoma State Rep. William Fourkiller believes video games are responsible for obesity, violent behavior and bullying among kids, and he's going to do something about it.
The Stilwell Democrat is proposing a one percent statewide tax on so-called "violent videogames."
The money he would forcibly take from Oklahomans through the threat of arrest of businessowners who don't comply would be used to expand the size of government...to combat bullies and obesity. Half of the money confiscated from Oklahomans would be funneled into the so-called “Bullying Prevention Revolving Fund.” The other half would be divvied up by bureaucrats in the “Childhood Outdoor Education Revolving Fund.”
He apparently doesn't recognize irony of using bullying tactics and obese government to battle bullying and obesity, but he does believe parents are incapable of raising their own children, and it's up to a larger army of taxpayer-funded bureaucrats to raise the state's children.
Fourkiller's real goal? To create new government employees who can be relied upon turn out to vote for more government, and to create new government paychecks that government employee unions can skim off of to fund pro-government political campaigns.
Fact-checking Obama's State of the Union energy lies
There’s a gulf of facts between what Barack Obama said last night, and what the truth really is. And like any gulf of resources, Obama doesn’t want you exploring it.
American Tradition Partnership drills down to the truth for you. Obama’s claims on energy are in bold, and they are all false. The truth follows his statements.
“Over the last three years, we’ve opened millions of new acres for oil and gas exploration, and tonight, I’m directing my Administration to open more than 75 percent of our potential offshore oil and gas resources.”
Classic Obama sleight of hand. Like his radical Gang Green campaign bankrollers, Obama opposes energy development. But he knows that position will kill his campaign. His solution? Open land to permission to develop so he looks pro-jobs, but refuse to grant the permits so he shuts down jobs.
“…last year, we relied less on foreign oil than in any of the past sixteen years.”
As even the reliably liberal Washington Post notes, “The Energy Department cited a host of reasons why foreign oil imports have declined, noting the main reason was “a significant contraction in consumption” because of the poor economy and changes in efficiency that began “two years before the 2008 crisis” — i.e., before Obama took office.”
“But with only 2 percent of the world’s oil reserves, oil isn’t enough.”
A lie. Many experts say the U.S. has around 10 percent of the world’s reserves, and American oil is often of a higher quality and easier to develop than other countries. The U.S. has enough oil to last over a century.
“This country needs an all-out, all-of-the-above strategy that develops every available source of American energy – a strategy that’s cleaner, cheaper, and full of new jobs.”
Through shutting down granting of permits on land, a moratorium on deep-sea development followed by a virtual moratorium by not approving permits and now attempting to kill the Keystone energy pipeline, Obama has consistently opposed oil and gas development, our most efficient source of energy and a key driver of new jobs and prosperity.
“We have a supply of natural gas that can last America nearly one hundred years, and my Administration will take every possible action to safely develop this energy.”
Obama has worked to stop the permitting of gas wells, and his EPA cronies are working to outlaw the 60-year-old safe practice of “clean water extraction,” known as “fracking.”
“And by the way, it was public research dollars, over the course of thirty years, that helped develop the technologies to extract all this natural gas out of shale rock…”
Clean water extraction, or “fracking” is a 60-year-old technology. It is not a product of Jimmy Carter-era government spending.
“Because of federal investments, renewable energy use has nearly doubled. And thousands of Americans have jobs because of it.”
So-called “renewable” energy relies almost solely on “federal investments” (spending of taxpayer money) because it is too inefficient and expensive to be a practical source of power. Being forced to double wasteful spending to keep it alive and enrich his campaign donors is noting to brag about.
And research has shown so-called “green power,” backed only by government mandates and spending, destroys more jobs than it creates.
“We have subsidized oil companies for a century. That’s long enough. It’s time to end the taxpayer giveaways to an industry that’s rarely been more profitable, and double-down on a clean energy industry that’s never been more promising. Pass clean energy tax credits and create these jobs.”
The so-called “oil subsidy” he refers to is the business equipment depreciation deduction that ALL businesses get. What he proposes is to monkey with federal tax law to target just oil companies for a tax hike, then redistribute their money to his campaign bankrollers in the “green” energy racket.
“Of course, the easiest way to save money is to waste less energy. So here’s another proposal: Help manufacturers eliminate energy waste in their factories and give businesses incentives to upgrade their buildings.”
Like many of Obama’s failed proposals, he assumes private businesses do not know how to create profits, but his government planners do. In reality, this is just a scheme to transfer taxpayers’ money to his campaign supporters who have invested heavily in failed green businesses.
That's the truth. Help me hold Obama accountable for his job-killing campaign of lies.
Sincerely,
Donald Ferguson
Executive Director
American Tradition Partnership
P.S. Help me hold Obama accountable to voters. Go here to chip in $10 to stop Obama’s campaign of job-killing radicalism.
NCAA Baseball Preseason Rankings (A&M #7)
Texas A&M baseball will start the season ranked #7, according to Baseball America.
The Aggies start the season Feb. 17 against Illinois-Chicago at a renovated Olsen Field. They start their final season in the Big 12 as the conference's top-ranked preseason team.
Baseball America's 2012 NCAA Baseball Preseason Rankings
1. Florida
2. Stanford
3. South Carolina
4. Arkansas
5. Arizona
6. Rice
7. Texas A&M
8. Louisiana State
9. North Carolina
10. Vanderbilt
11. Georgia
12. Georgia Tech
13. Texas
14. UCLA
15. Texas Christian
16. Clemson
17. Arizona State
18. Miami
19. Oklahoma
20. Florida State
21. Central Florida
22. Mississippi
23. Oregon State
24. Louisville
25. Cal State Fullerton
The Aggies start the season Feb. 17 against Illinois-Chicago at a renovated Olsen Field. They start their final season in the Big 12 as the conference's top-ranked preseason team.
Baseball America's 2012 NCAA Baseball Preseason Rankings
1. Florida
2. Stanford
3. South Carolina
4. Arkansas
5. Arizona
6. Rice
7. Texas A&M
8. Louisiana State
9. North Carolina
10. Vanderbilt
11. Georgia
12. Georgia Tech
13. Texas
14. UCLA
15. Texas Christian
16. Clemson
17. Arizona State
18. Miami
19. Oklahoma
20. Florida State
21. Central Florida
22. Mississippi
23. Oregon State
24. Louisville
25. Cal State Fullerton
Bruins goalie skips Obama event, blasts GOP, Dems for violating freedom
In a statement on his Facebook page Thomas blasted both the Republican and Democrat parties for violating individual liberty, writing:
“I believe the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties, and Property of the People.
“This is being done at the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial level. This is in direct opposition to the Constitution and the Founding Fathers vision for the Federal government.
“Because I believe this, today I exercised my right as a Free Citizen, and did not visit the White House. This was not about politics or party, as in my opinion both parties are responsible for the situation we are in as a country. This was about a choice I had to make as an INDIVIDUAL.
Thomas, who wears a goalkeeper’s mask emblazoned with “Don’t Tread On Me” is a native of Michigan and represents the United States in the Olympics.
“This is the only public statement I will be making on this topic. TT”
Predictably, the mainstream media are attacking Thomas for speaking out in defense of his fellow citizens. You can let him know you support him on his Facebook page.
This segment brought to you by slap-in-the-face irony
Today's hilarious moment:Ed Schultz dedicates an entire segment of his show to ranting that Romney's Bain Capital threw people out of work and didn't create jobs.
Cut to commercial.
Staples.
Schultz owes his own paycheck to a Bain-rescued company.
Cut to commercial.
Staples.
Schultz owes his own paycheck to a Bain-rescued company.
Rand Paul detained by TSA after refusing invasive body search
United States Senator Rand Paul (R-Kent.) was detained by Transportation Security Administration personnel in Nashville this morning after refusing an invasive body search following a body scan.
Paul communications director Moira Bagley tweeted around 10 a.m., ET, “Just got a call from @senrandpaul. He’s currently being detained by TSA in Nashville.”
According to TSA personnel, they noticed an “anamoly” during a body scan of Paul as he attempted to meet his flight. He refused an invasive body search. After a standoff, Paul was forced to book a later flight and possibly miss 4:30 p.m. votes.
Libertarian National Campaign Committee Chairman Wayne Root wrote about the TSA in Nov. 2010, suggesting it be privatized to avoid violations of civil liberties such as Paul’s:
There are two simple solutions to this TSA mess. First and most importantly, hand airline security over to the private sector. Let airlines manage their own security, with their own private security forces. Get government out of the way. Government isn’t the solution, they are the problem.
We must put Delta, American, U.S. Air, Southwest and all the other airlines in charge of their own security — just like all other private sector companies. That puts incompetent bumbling order-takers, creeps and perverts, some of whom could be TSA agents, on the sidelines. By the way, I’m sure most TSA agents are good people. They are being placed in a bad position by government. They are forced to follow idiotic rules, or lose their jobs in the middle of a depression. If the truth be told, I actually feel sorry for many of these people placed in such a no-win situation.
Putting airline security in the hands of the airlines themselves, also ensures the usual private sector positive results. American business usually gets it right. Businesses will weigh the right amount of security versus customer privacy, civil rights, and satisfaction. And if they fail we as consumers can simply stop using that airline and choose another. The ones who get it right will succeed. The ones who don’t will fail. That’s called the power of free markets. Capitalism works. Perhaps the U.S. government should allow for it sometime.
Ferguson statement on ethics violations by Commissioner David Gallik
American Tradition Partnership Executive Director Donald Ferguson released the following statement Monday morning in response to The Great Falls Tribune report on Montana Office of Political
Practices personnel exposing unethical behavior by Commissioner David Gallik:
“As citizen-powered activists committed to holding public officials accountable, we are disturbed by the allegations of Office of Political Practices (OPP) personnel that Commissioner David Gallik has been using the office for personal benefit.
“We’ve long been concerned about the practices of OPP commissioners and other Montana officials, some of which are described in our lawsuits.
“ATP has been required to sue OPP over its efforts to limit and punish ATP for political speech protected by the First Amendment. This latest information is just one more sign of an out-of-control agency that needs to be made accountable to the public.
“As such, we and our many grassroots supporters across Montana encourage Commissioner Gallik, Attorney General Bullock and Governor Schweitzer to cooperate with a full, fair and impartial investigation of these documented allegations of wrongdoing made by nonpartisan public servants, no matter how serious the criminal implications.”
# # #
Ferguson blasts Obama Keystone decision
Decision to kill Keystone “victory for terrorist regimes, Communist aggressors and Obama’s wealthy left-wing activist base” but “not a permanent one”
WASHINGTON – American Tradition Partnership Executive Director Donald Ferguson released the following statement Wednesday afternoon:
“Barack Obama decided long ago to side with his radical liberal base and the Gang Green billionaires who fund his campaign by killing the Keystone jobs pipeline.
He thought he could avoid responsibility by hiding his views until after the election. Voters have a right to know where he stands on jobs and energy. Today he showed voters where he stood – in the pocket of the multi-billion dollar Gang Green environmentalist lobby.
This decision was anything but rushed or arbitrary. Our Canadian allies and hundreds of thousands of American workers have waited patiently for three years for a decision that could have been made long ago. Obama simply sat on it because he didn’t want to face an pre-election choice between creating jobs to please union members, or slaughtering hundreds of thousands of jobs to please his Gang Green campaign bankrollers. In the end, he chose campaign cash over the jobs of Americans.
There was no reason for Obama to kill the jobs pipeline, other than blind adherence to a radical liberal ideology that has already killed millions of jobs and thwarted economic renewal for nearly four years now.
Obama’s decision to kill the jobs pipeline is a punch in the teeth to the unemployed, working families and Americans who need clean, reliable and affordable energy.
At the expense of working Americans Obama just handed a victory to anti-American regimes in Iran, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. His decision to kill the Keystone jobs pipeline makes us more dependent on foreign oil.
At the expense of working Americans Obama just handed a victory to Communist China. With the United States pipeline killed by his hand, the oil will be sold to China. Their Communist regime will make billions that could have been paid to American workers. Instead, Barack Obama has told Communist China to reap massive profits refining our own North American oil and selling it back to us.
But this victory for terrorist regimes, Communist aggressors and Obama’s wealthy left-wing activist base is not a permanent one. The fight to build the Keystone jobs pipeline has just begun.
American Tradition Partnership’s large and growing grassroots army will spent 2012 engaging millions of voters, informing them of Obama’s destructive Gang Green-led policies. Together ATP and millions of voters will change American jobs and energy policy in Congress and in the White House. Americans deserve the good jobs and clean, affordable energy the Keystone jobs pipeline will deliver.
The Keystone pipeline will be approved by the next administration, whether it be a humbled Barack Obama or a new president.
Tomorrow morning I will leave D.C. for Southeast Texas, where much of the Keystone pipeline’s safe, clean North American energy will be delivered. There I will begin ATP’s national effort to engage voters and change policy.
Obama slapped voters in the face today by carrying out a job-slaughtering decision he made long ago. However, he will learn that voters will strike back even more forcefully.”
ATP does not advocate the election or defeat of candidates. Supported by grassroots members, ATP is a fast-growing, grassroots-supported non-profit organization dedicated to fighting environmental extremism and promoting responsible development and management of land, water, and natural resources. The citizens’ group educates the public and lobbies legislators on issues of environmental extremism and promoting responsible development and management of land, water, and natural resources.
# # #
Yet another Montana ‘Political Practices’ commissioner caught in ethics snare
“The state’s top campaign ethics officer has resigned. Helena attorney Dave Gallik stepped down from his position as the Commissioner of Political Practices effective immediately,” Missoula’s KPAX Channel 8 reports.
“Staff in his office issued a statement Wednesday saying they have concerns over what appears to be unethical conduct violations by Gallik.”
It’s the latest in a long string of ethics and legal failures by the Office of Political Practices, which has been condemned by federal courts for the “petty bureaucratic harassment” of citizens opposed to the policies and practices of Gov. Brian Schweitzer and Attorney General Steve Bullock. ATP has long called for a reform of the corrupt agency.
‘How fracking lies triumphed.’ Clean energy ‘unjustly maligned’
Robert Bryce, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, exposes the lies of Gang Green in this guest editorial in the New York Daily News.
'Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them.'
John Stossel finds Republican-run Florida has no sense of irony.
The Florida Department of Revenue has a law on the books requiring the owners of vending machines to post a notice that said law exists, or face a $250 fine.
That's the only thing the law requires, a notice that the owner is required by law to put up a notice he's required to post this notice. Even if he is in compliance with all other laws and regulations, failing to post the "this notice required by law" notice required by law means a $250 fine.
Citizens who report vending machine owners who fail to post the "this notice is required" notice can get cash rewards from the government.
So why enact a completely meaningless regulation?
Spokeswoman Renee Watters tells Stossel: "A vending machine operator that does not place the notice on the machine presumably is not in compliance with the other requirements such as registration and payment of the tax."
In other words, Florida lawmakers made up a completely meaningless law just to catch peaceful citizens breaking it so they can shake them down for cash.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)