"...for the first time in months, Republicans now hold a slight edge on the issues of government ethics and corruption, 40% to 38%."
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
This is how liberals debate
From U.S. News and World Report's Paul Bedard:
Having worked at several conservative non-profits, I can tell you explicit death and bomb threats can be a near-daily occurance. When you're dealing with people who view Americans as nothing more than livestock that need to be herded and cared for by the state, they view any deviance from their views as an attack on the state -- one that must be neutralized by force, if necessary, for your own good.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
One of Washington's principal supporters of the Tea Party movement, former GOP Majority Leader Dick Armey's FreedomWorks, has been receiving death threats and profanity-laced phone calls as it gets involved in the fall elections. The number and intensity have reached such heights that the organization is leaving its downtown location near the FBI and moving to a high-security building near the U.S. Capitol...
...FreedomWorks provided some of the recordings of the threatening calls to Whispers and they include physical threats and profanity aimed at the group, Tea Party spokesmen and even conservative talkers. "You guys better watch it," says one caller. "Now, we are going to destroy and obliterate Rush [Limbaugh] and Sean Hannity," said another. "Those two guys are dead."
Having worked at several conservative non-profits, I can tell you explicit death and bomb threats can be a near-daily occurance. When you're dealing with people who view Americans as nothing more than livestock that need to be herded and cared for by the state, they view any deviance from their views as an attack on the state -- one that must be neutralized by force, if necessary, for your own good.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
Sandlin: Elect me and I'll stop the arrogant, liberal Democrats
Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin, running for Congress in South Dakota, has rolled out this ad where she vows she'll go to Washington to stop the arrogant, liberal Democrats who want to take away your guns, raise your taxes and grow the government.
The catch? She's Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin, incumbent Democrat. And she voted to give Nancy Pelosi the speaker's gavel and the power to take away your guns, raise your taxes and grow the government.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
The catch? She's Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin, incumbent Democrat. And she voted to give Nancy Pelosi the speaker's gavel and the power to take away your guns, raise your taxes and grow the government.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
Obama's drill ban helps lines Soros' pockets
The Obama administration predicts his ban on deep-sea energy development will kill 23,000 jobs, but all is not lost. It's predicted to be a financial windfall for Brazil, where a certain controversial foreign investor has made a near-billion dollar investment in their deep-sea energy reserves.
Manhattan Institute senior fellow Robert Bryce, writing in today's Washington Examiner:
As long as the Obama administration continues its moratorium on drilling in the deepwater in the Gulf of Mexico, Petrobras, the Brazilian national oil company, will continue to thrive...And by "foreign investors" I mean "George Soros," the Daddy Warbucks of the liberal movement whose billions laid the groundwork for the election of Barack Obama.
...Here’s the punch line: thanks to the moratorium in the Gulf, Petrobras will likely be able to get its hands on yet more deepwater offshore drilling rigs, at cheaper rates, than it could have prior to the Macondo blowout...
...The Brazilians are eager for rigs because their drilling programs have uncovered enormous reserves. In 2007, the company announced that its new offshore Tupi field may hold up to 8 billion barrels of oil equivalent. The field is the world’s second-largest oil discovery in the last 20 years.
Since then, Petrobras has been announcing new offshore discoveries on a regular basis. Within five years, the company hopes to double its oil production, to some 4 million barrels per day, an astounding amount of growth for a company that is already among the world’s biggest oil producers...
Bloomberg Financial News reports as of June 30, 2008, the radical left-wing Hungarian billionaire purchased an $811 million stake in Petrobras.
In just the last few years, Soros has funneled close to $100 million to various radical left-wing groups that support Obama and the radical environmentalist agenda.
After Soros purchased his Petrobras stock, Obama loaned the company $2 billion in taxpayer cash. Now, Obama's instituted an offshore energy ban the White House admits hurts 23,000 working families. The only person who seems to benefit is Soros.
If you still haven't put two and two together, Barack Obama is paying off a political debt by liquidating the Gulf Coast economy and mortgaging 23,000 American jobs.
Great moments in fail
ABC's "Top Line" hosted the spokesmen of the Republican and Democrat national committees to discuss the results of Tuesday's primaries, in particular Alaska where Tea Party conservative Joe Miller appears to have upset incumbent Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski.
DNC spokesman Brad Woodhouse (whom I criticized when serving as spokesman for the LNC for his bizarre Aug. 2009 claim the Tea Parties were a corporate-funded conspiracy carried out by plants) jumped on the opportunity, touting the possibility Democrats could now take the seat from Republicans.
Unfortunately for Woodhouse, he couldn't even name the Democrat nominee he was just seconds earlier claiming could win the election.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
DNC spokesman Brad Woodhouse (whom I criticized when serving as spokesman for the LNC for his bizarre Aug. 2009 claim the Tea Parties were a corporate-funded conspiracy carried out by plants) jumped on the opportunity, touting the possibility Democrats could now take the seat from Republicans.
Unfortunately for Woodhouse, he couldn't even name the Democrat nominee he was just seconds earlier claiming could win the election.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
Who's abandoning the White House this morning?
Left-leaning talk show host David Letterman:
“He’ll have plenty of time for vacations after his one term is done.”
The CEO of Intel:
"No country was more attractive for start-up capital... We seemed a generation ahead of the rest of the world in information technology. That simply is no longer the case."
Unionized government workers:
"Officials representing 7,000 members of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFL-CIO), National Council 118, in the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unanimously voted “no confidence” in ICE Director John Morton and ICE Assistant Director Phyllis Coven, who heads the agency’s Office of Detention Policy and Planning."
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
“He’ll have plenty of time for vacations after his one term is done.”
The CEO of Intel:
"No country was more attractive for start-up capital... We seemed a generation ahead of the rest of the world in information technology. That simply is no longer the case."
Unionized government workers:
"Officials representing 7,000 members of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFL-CIO), National Council 118, in the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unanimously voted “no confidence” in ICE Director John Morton and ICE Assistant Director Phyllis Coven, who heads the agency’s Office of Detention Policy and Planning."
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
One of the better story leads ever written
The Minneapolis city attorney's office has decided to pay seven zombies and their attorney $165,000.
Kudos, Randy Furst of the Star Tribune.
The cost of ObamaCare? So far, $70.5 million per patient.
The Obama administration sent $141 million in taxpayer funds to New Jersey to fund new health insurance coverage created under the ObamaCare system of government-controlled health care.
So far, two people have signed up for ObamaCare coverage.
That's $70,500,000.00 in spending per patient just for coverage, not actual care. Remember, ObamaCare was sold as a way of controlling the costs of health care.
Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Jersey spokesman Tom Vincz notes that 600 applications were downloaded. Even if every single one of them signs up (the actual number will be nowhere close to that) it still works out to $117,500.00 in taxpayer spending per patient just for coverage, not actual care.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
So far, two people have signed up for ObamaCare coverage.
That's $70,500,000.00 in spending per patient just for coverage, not actual care. Remember, ObamaCare was sold as a way of controlling the costs of health care.
Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Jersey spokesman Tom Vincz notes that 600 applications were downloaded. Even if every single one of them signs up (the actual number will be nowhere close to that) it still works out to $117,500.00 in taxpayer spending per patient just for coverage, not actual care.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
Helpful hint for Delta customers
Do not use the inflight sound system. On two different flights this morning the sound system randomly blasted extremely loud, painful static bursts into my ears. The woman sitting three seats over could hear it, even though we were in flight, she was busy reading and I was wearing earphones. Eight hours later and my ear is still killing me.
Teacher union bosses fail at subtraction
Government teacher union bosses have spent $6 million on ads since March attacking New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for wanting to cut runaway spending by schools instead of feeding their habit with yet more tax hikes, confident New Jerseyans back their agenda of bigger and endless spending.
Apparently pensions costs, budget numbers, tax rates and dropouts aren't the only government teacher union bosses can't keep a lid on. Christie's approval rating has jumped 17 points since April.
A new Quinnipeac poll finds 51 percent of voters approve of Christie's job performance, while only 36 percent disapprove. That's a significant leap from June, when 44 percent approved and 43 percent disapproved. Rasmussen Reports also has Christie's approval rating at 51 percent.
Back in April, around the time the union boss/taxpayer-supported attacks ads began airing, Christie's approval was at around 33 percent.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
Apparently pensions costs, budget numbers, tax rates and dropouts aren't the only government teacher union bosses can't keep a lid on. Christie's approval rating has jumped 17 points since April.
A new Quinnipeac poll finds 51 percent of voters approve of Christie's job performance, while only 36 percent disapprove. That's a significant leap from June, when 44 percent approved and 43 percent disapproved. Rasmussen Reports also has Christie's approval rating at 51 percent.
Back in April, around the time the union boss/taxpayer-supported attacks ads began airing, Christie's approval was at around 33 percent.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
What's Wrong?
Can you spot the two errors in this lead paragraph from Reuters?
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly climbed to a nine-month high last week, yet another setback to the frail economic recovery.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
ObamaCare already falling short of coverage promises, pushes employers to cut jobs and wages
The claim:
"The recent health reform package made 4 million small business owners eligible for a health care tax credit that covers up to 35 percent of premiums." - WhiteHouse.gov, Aug. 10, 2010
The truth:
"Supporters claim four million small businesses are eligible for the credit, but the fact is less than two million small businesses will receive it. And those that do receive a credit aren’t guaranteed a large check." - Bill Rys, tax counsel at the National Federation of Independent Business
And it gets better. ObamaCare include provisions encouraging employers to cut their employees' wages, stop hiring or lay people off so they can qualify for the handouts.
"At most, the credit offsets 35 percent of the insurance costs of a small business. However, this percentage phases out as the number of employees rises above 10 or the average wage (not including the owner’s income) rises above $25,000. Importantly, both of these phase-outs operate simultaneously," writes Rys.
So not only does ObamaCare only offer tax credits to half the businesses the White House implied, businesses must limit their pay and hiring to be eligible and those that still don't qualify will struggle to stay in businesses as they face health insurance costs sent skyrocketing by government control.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
"Abortion is a womens' issue" debunked again. By women.
Some encouraging news from the latest Rasmussen Reports polling:
Well, clearly that's because men are anti-choice and skewing the polling! After all, isn't securing an unfettered right to an abortion a "woman's issue" and aren't candidates with pro-life views "throwing away the womens' vote?"
The poll finds "forty-nine percent (49%) of all voters describe themselves as pro-choice, while 43% say they are pro-life." I'd like to see a breakdown of the "pro-choice" and pro-life segment by what they define that as. Many people who describe themselves as pro-choice will, when asked to define that position, express outright opposition to the use of abortion as birth control, supporting abortion only in the cases of rape, incest and endangerment of the mothers' life, positions no "pro-choicer" would ever embrace -- except when it can be lumped in with their numbers to claim a "pro-choice" majority.
But looking again at the breakdown by sex,one of the reasons men are more "pro-choice" than women is because ending a pregnancy and leaving a woman without children makes her sexually available again. Male lions, for example, will often eat newborn cubs to "turn off" a lioness' maternal hormones and bring her back into heat for breeding again.
Could it be that abortion is simply an animalistic way for men to control women, and that supporting the right to life is the true "womens' agenda?" Scientific polling, and basic biology, seem to agree.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
Nearly half (48%) of U.S. voters continue to believe that an abortion is too easy to obtain in this country, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
Fifteen percent (15%) say it’s too hard to get an abortion in America, and 23% think the level of difficulty is about right. Fourteen percent (14%) are not sure.
This is in line with findings on this question in surveys for over four years now.
Well, clearly that's because men are anti-choice and skewing the polling! After all, isn't securing an unfettered right to an abortion a "woman's issue" and aren't candidates with pro-life views "throwing away the womens' vote?"
"Women (53%) feel more strongly than men (42%) that abortions are too easy to get...58% of women believe that abortion is morally wrong in most cases, compared to 49% of men.
The poll finds "forty-nine percent (49%) of all voters describe themselves as pro-choice, while 43% say they are pro-life." I'd like to see a breakdown of the "pro-choice" and pro-life segment by what they define that as. Many people who describe themselves as pro-choice will, when asked to define that position, express outright opposition to the use of abortion as birth control, supporting abortion only in the cases of rape, incest and endangerment of the mothers' life, positions no "pro-choicer" would ever embrace -- except when it can be lumped in with their numbers to claim a "pro-choice" majority.
But looking again at the breakdown by sex,one of the reasons men are more "pro-choice" than women is because ending a pregnancy and leaving a woman without children makes her sexually available again. Male lions, for example, will often eat newborn cubs to "turn off" a lioness' maternal hormones and bring her back into heat for breeding again.
Could it be that abortion is simply an animalistic way for men to control women, and that supporting the right to life is the true "womens' agenda?" Scientific polling, and basic biology, seem to agree.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
FactCheck: Obama lied. Republicans won't fix Social Security.
The Washington Examiner's David Freddoso points us to this gem from FactCheck. "The president claims Republican leaders are as eager to 'privatize' Social Security as they are to repeal his health care law. That's not true."
In other words, Obama was lying when he claimed Republicans of having small government principles. Not sure if the GOP should be excited about that one.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
We find the president’s claim to be mostly false.
■Few if any Republicans now in Congress have ever pushed for total "privatization" of Social Security. What President Bush proposed in 2005 was to allow workers under the age of 55 to invest a portion of their Social Security taxes in private accounts. Most of their taxes would have continued to go into traditional Social Security.
■Bush’s proposal to create private accounts had so little Republican support in 2005 — when the GOP controlled both the House and Senate — that it was never introduced as formal legislation. We’ve seen no evidence to suggest the idea is any more popular among Republicans now.
■Only one Republican "leader" is currently pushing publicly for Bush-style private accounts, as part of an overall budget plan. He is Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the senior GOP member of the House Budget Committee. His plan currently has only 13 cosponsors, none of them in the GOP House leadership.
In other words, Obama was lying when he claimed Republicans of having small government principles. Not sure if the GOP should be excited about that one.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
Where is the long-overdue economic recovery? Buried under a heap of Obama tax hikes
Why are more and more Americans needlessly unemployed? Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics and a Keynesian, points his usually government-spending-loving finger squarely at Barack Obama's love of punitive taxation.
Zandi is no free-market conservative. In fact, he's open to the long-discredited idea of spurring economic growth by exploding government spending. But Zandi says this economic slowdown is like few others.
What does Keynesian Zandi prescribe?
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
The well-to-do appear unusually sensitive to changes in their finances, probably because their nest eggs are significantly smaller with the drop in stock and housing prices. Only the top 3 percent of households would have to pay higher taxes if the president got his way, but this rarefied group currently accounts for a fourth of consumer spending. If they pull back, even a bit, the recovery could be derailed.
Successful small-business owners, who power the nation’s job-creation machinery, make up one-third of these high-income taxpayers. They have set up their businesses so that their profits are taxed at personal rates. Raising marginal tax rates, even a little, on those who have suffered during the past several years would be a mistake.
Zandi is no free-market conservative. In fact, he's open to the long-discredited idea of spurring economic growth by exploding government spending. But Zandi says this economic slowdown is like few others.
What does Keynesian Zandi prescribe?
Past experience with fiscal austerity at home and overseas strongly suggests that it is best for the economy’s long-run performance to restrain government spending rather than raise taxes, but taxes must also be part of our national debate.
In this recession, the government has necessarily made a string of momentous economic policy decisions. Some have worked well; others have been a disaster. We can’t afford any more mistakes.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
James J. Kilpatrick, 1920-2010
James J. Kilpatrick, noted conservative commentator, author and columnist, sharp defender of federalism and states' rights and former segregationist who became a defender of a black handyman falsely convicted of murder, has passed away Sunday in Washington.
"Mr. Kilpatrick popularized interposition, the doctrine that individual states had the constitutional duty to interpose their separate sovereignties against federal court rulings that went beyond their rightful powers and, if necessary, to nullify them, an argument traced to the writings of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and John C. Calhoun," The New York Times reports in his obituary this morning.
Though he changed his once-segregationist views on race, Kilpatrick did not embrace the power of the federal government to impose policy on the states outside its constitutional limits, brilliantly defending the conservative point of view, mostly notably on "60 Minutes" "Point/Counterpoint" segment through the 1970s.
A patriot to the end, Kilpatrick's home in Virginia's Blue Ridge mountains flew two flags, that of the United States and that of the Revolutionary War's Culpeper Minutemen.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
"Mr. Kilpatrick popularized interposition, the doctrine that individual states had the constitutional duty to interpose their separate sovereignties against federal court rulings that went beyond their rightful powers and, if necessary, to nullify them, an argument traced to the writings of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and John C. Calhoun," The New York Times reports in his obituary this morning.
Though he changed his once-segregationist views on race, Kilpatrick did not embrace the power of the federal government to impose policy on the states outside its constitutional limits, brilliantly defending the conservative point of view, mostly notably on "60 Minutes" "Point/Counterpoint" segment through the 1970s.
A patriot to the end, Kilpatrick's home in Virginia's Blue Ridge mountains flew two flags, that of the United States and that of the Revolutionary War's Culpeper Minutemen.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
Marshall calls out McDonnell for yet more runaway spending
Months after signing off on a budget that funds Planned Parenthood and taking a tax surplus and handing it out to government employees instead of refunding overtaxed citizens, Bob McDonnell is once again jumping at the chance to make sure Virginia government doesn't go on a diet. McDonnell is happily accepting his share of Nancy Pelosi's government union bailout rather than challenge local school boards to stop their runaway spending on bloated administrations.
At least one Republican is doing the right thing -- calling out McDonnell.
"To spend this money is to tacitly accept that [Republican congressmen] voted against Virginia's better public interest and that [Democrats] cast the better vote for Virginians," says Marshall.
Marshall is right. Big, bloated, expensive government is not in the public interest. Neither is taking part in the Obama administration's plan to pump taxpayer money into Democrat campaigns this election season by laundering it through government unions.
Between this, giving away the tax surplus to government workers, the near-million dollars in stormwater pork, funding Planned Parenthood and his defending the unconstitutional road tax from a lawsuit by citizens, is there any runaway spending Bob McDonnell doesn't like?
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
At least one Republican is doing the right thing -- calling out McDonnell.
"To spend this money is to tacitly accept that [Republican congressmen] voted against Virginia's better public interest and that [Democrats] cast the better vote for Virginians," says Marshall.
Marshall is right. Big, bloated, expensive government is not in the public interest. Neither is taking part in the Obama administration's plan to pump taxpayer money into Democrat campaigns this election season by laundering it through government unions.
Between this, giving away the tax surplus to government workers, the near-million dollars in stormwater pork, funding Planned Parenthood and his defending the unconstitutional road tax from a lawsuit by citizens, is there any runaway spending Bob McDonnell doesn't like?
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
How out of touch are Democrats?
Liberals are calling the Republican opposition to a $26.1 billion bailout of government unions "the kind of vote to build an election around."
One problem. The American people overwhelmingly disagree.
Leftist blogger Steve Benen, writing for Washington Monthly this morning, clucks:
"The public is probably pretty accustomed to Republican lawmakers balking at every piece of legislation, and this jobs bill fit into the larger pattern -- 98.8% of House Republicans opposed the measure, as did 95% of Senate Republicans....the campaign ads seem to write themselves in a situation like this. Indeed, this is a debate to build an election around -- with a struggling economy, Democrats proposed a fiscally-responsible plan to save hundreds of thousands of jobs..."
What Benen refers to as a "jobs bill" is, in fact, what "the public is probably pretty accustomed to" -- Democrats shoveling billions of dollars into the pockets of political organizations that cut checks to Democrats, specifically government unions, with an important midterm election just 83 days away.
But that aside, is Benen correct is his assumption Americans back Democrats on this union bailout?
Absolutely not. Name one bailout bill Americans support.
But Benen is correct in one sense. This is "the kind of vote to build an election around." By calling House members back from their districts to funnel billions of taxpayer money to their campaign supporters, Democrats have perfectly crystallized the case against them -- explosive Big Government spending that only gets results for Democrat campaign treasurers.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
One problem. The American people overwhelmingly disagree.
Leftist blogger Steve Benen, writing for Washington Monthly this morning, clucks:
"The public is probably pretty accustomed to Republican lawmakers balking at every piece of legislation, and this jobs bill fit into the larger pattern -- 98.8% of House Republicans opposed the measure, as did 95% of Senate Republicans....the campaign ads seem to write themselves in a situation like this. Indeed, this is a debate to build an election around -- with a struggling economy, Democrats proposed a fiscally-responsible plan to save hundreds of thousands of jobs..."
What Benen refers to as a "jobs bill" is, in fact, what "the public is probably pretty accustomed to" -- Democrats shoveling billions of dollars into the pockets of political organizations that cut checks to Democrats, specifically government unions, with an important midterm election just 83 days away.
But that aside, is Benen correct is his assumption Americans back Democrats on this union bailout?
Absolutely not. Name one bailout bill Americans support.
But Benen is correct in one sense. This is "the kind of vote to build an election around." By calling House members back from their districts to funnel billions of taxpayer money to their campaign supporters, Democrats have perfectly crystallized the case against them -- explosive Big Government spending that only gets results for Democrat campaign treasurers.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
WTP phones 35,000+ Loudoun voters ahead of Board worksession
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Contact: Donny Ferguson, 703-200-3669 or donny.f@westerntradition.org
WTP phones 35,000+ Loudoun voters ahead of Board worksession
Residents warned of tax hikes, loss of property rights under Chesapeake Bay Act
ALEXANDRIA, VA - The nation’s largest grassroots advocate of property rights and opponent of radical environmentalism phoned over 35,000 Loudoun County voters Saturday afternoon, warning them of a plan by the Board of Supervisors the media report will lead to higher taxes, more regulation and a loss of property rights.
“The Chesapeake Bay Act was never meant to be adopted here, but the local radical green activist community that controls the Board has found it to be a convenient weapon in their War on Loudoun. It means big tax hikes and the loss of jobs and tax revenue to surrounding counties not controlled by radical greens. Worst of all, it means the total loss of your right to enjoy your home or business,” said Donny Ferguson, Western Tradition Partnership’s National Director of Media and Public Relations.
“The misapplication of the deeply flawed Chesapeake Bay Act, with as little citizen review or input as possible, is a deliberate attack on the property rights of Loudoun homeowners. It is, in fact, a harsh Home Improvement Tax intended to make Loudoun inhospitable,” said Ferguson. “Decades ago, radical environmentalists declared war on suburbia, promising ‘if you build it we will burn it.’ Realizing that using Molotov cocktails means prison time, they now prefer to use draconian legislation and massive tax hikes to carry out their agenda.”
“If you look at the list of wealthy radical groups pushing this Home Improvement Tax, it’s a who’s-who of the ‘get out of Loudoun’ crowd,” said Ferguson. “This is all about driving out human development and providing a safe habitat for hordes of new bureaucrats and tax-gobbling government employees.”
WTP issued an automated phone call to over 20,000 Loudoun homes Saturday evening warning residents of the June 15 Board meeting on the plan. The call briefly quotes a May 31 Leesburg Today editorial critical of the Board’s planning process that warned the Board’s actions could lead to higher taxes and lost jobs. Over 20,000 homes means roughly over 35,000 voters were contacted.
Residents in the Blue Ridge, Catoctin, Leesburg, Potomac and Sugarland Run districts were urged to call their supervisor at home. Residents in the Broad Run and Sterling districts, whose supervisors have already registered their opposition, were urged to instead contact County Chairman Scott York at home.
Roughly 5,300 Dulles District residents represented by the frequently-moving Supervisor Stevens Miller, whose business phones have been cut off and does not list a reliable home phone number, were urged to contact him on his cell phone.
“We weren’t sure which one of Miller’s homes he’s declaring residency in this week. It was just easier to ask 5,300 people to call his cell,” said Ferguson.
“The people have a simple message for their supervisor and chairman. You’re wrong to raise my taxes and you’re wrong to take away my property rights. There are more of us than there are of you, and you’d better change your position,” said Ferguson. “Unlike the activists who get paid by rich donors to push these radical green crackdowns on private property, the people targeted for these Home Improvement Taxes have to work on weekdays. We hope they can show up and voice their opposition.”
Ferguson served as a Board staff aide to Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio from 2002 to 2007. Delgaudio had no involvement in or input into WTP’s lobbying effort. “This is what I did for nine years before working for the Board, it’s what I’ve done for three years since working for the Board, it’s what WTP has successfully done at the county and state level for two years now and it just so happens this Board is adopting the very kind of radical legislation we oppose,” said Ferguson.
WTP is a fast-growing, grassroots-supported non-profit organization advocating rational, responsible natural resource development and land use policy. WTP is an IRS-approved 501(c)(4) public information and citizen lobbying organization founded in 2008. Unlike radical environmental groups funded by a small cabal of rich activists, WTP is supported by a broad, diverse national membership making generally small donations.
For more information on WTP, go to http://www.westerntradition.org. For more information on this issue, or to schedule an interview, contact Donny Ferguson at 703-200-3669 or at donny.f@westerntradition.org.
# # #
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Contact: Donny Ferguson, 703-200-3669 or donny.f@westerntradition.org
WTP phones 35,000+ Loudoun voters ahead of Board worksession
Residents warned of tax hikes, loss of property rights under Chesapeake Bay Act
ALEXANDRIA, VA - The nation’s largest grassroots advocate of property rights and opponent of radical environmentalism phoned over 35,000 Loudoun County voters Saturday afternoon, warning them of a plan by the Board of Supervisors the media report will lead to higher taxes, more regulation and a loss of property rights.
“The Chesapeake Bay Act was never meant to be adopted here, but the local radical green activist community that controls the Board has found it to be a convenient weapon in their War on Loudoun. It means big tax hikes and the loss of jobs and tax revenue to surrounding counties not controlled by radical greens. Worst of all, it means the total loss of your right to enjoy your home or business,” said Donny Ferguson, Western Tradition Partnership’s National Director of Media and Public Relations.
“The misapplication of the deeply flawed Chesapeake Bay Act, with as little citizen review or input as possible, is a deliberate attack on the property rights of Loudoun homeowners. It is, in fact, a harsh Home Improvement Tax intended to make Loudoun inhospitable,” said Ferguson. “Decades ago, radical environmentalists declared war on suburbia, promising ‘if you build it we will burn it.’ Realizing that using Molotov cocktails means prison time, they now prefer to use draconian legislation and massive tax hikes to carry out their agenda.”
“If you look at the list of wealthy radical groups pushing this Home Improvement Tax, it’s a who’s-who of the ‘get out of Loudoun’ crowd,” said Ferguson. “This is all about driving out human development and providing a safe habitat for hordes of new bureaucrats and tax-gobbling government employees.”
WTP issued an automated phone call to over 20,000 Loudoun homes Saturday evening warning residents of the June 15 Board meeting on the plan. The call briefly quotes a May 31 Leesburg Today editorial critical of the Board’s planning process that warned the Board’s actions could lead to higher taxes and lost jobs. Over 20,000 homes means roughly over 35,000 voters were contacted.
Residents in the Blue Ridge, Catoctin, Leesburg, Potomac and Sugarland Run districts were urged to call their supervisor at home. Residents in the Broad Run and Sterling districts, whose supervisors have already registered their opposition, were urged to instead contact County Chairman Scott York at home.
Roughly 5,300 Dulles District residents represented by the frequently-moving Supervisor Stevens Miller, whose business phones have been cut off and does not list a reliable home phone number, were urged to contact him on his cell phone.
“We weren’t sure which one of Miller’s homes he’s declaring residency in this week. It was just easier to ask 5,300 people to call his cell,” said Ferguson.
“The people have a simple message for their supervisor and chairman. You’re wrong to raise my taxes and you’re wrong to take away my property rights. There are more of us than there are of you, and you’d better change your position,” said Ferguson. “Unlike the activists who get paid by rich donors to push these radical green crackdowns on private property, the people targeted for these Home Improvement Taxes have to work on weekdays. We hope they can show up and voice their opposition.”
Ferguson served as a Board staff aide to Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio from 2002 to 2007. Delgaudio had no involvement in or input into WTP’s lobbying effort. “This is what I did for nine years before working for the Board, it’s what I’ve done for three years since working for the Board, it’s what WTP has successfully done at the county and state level for two years now and it just so happens this Board is adopting the very kind of radical legislation we oppose,” said Ferguson.
WTP is a fast-growing, grassroots-supported non-profit organization advocating rational, responsible natural resource development and land use policy. WTP is an IRS-approved 501(c)(4) public information and citizen lobbying organization founded in 2008. Unlike radical environmental groups funded by a small cabal of rich activists, WTP is supported by a broad, diverse national membership making generally small donations.
For more information on WTP, go to http://www.westerntradition.org. For more information on this issue, or to schedule an interview, contact Donny Ferguson at 703-200-3669 or at donny.f@westerntradition.org.
# # #
Obamanomics in action: Private sector pay at all-time low, welfare handouts at all-time high
"This what change looks like." - Barack Obama
From USA Today, as reported on Ben Hart's "Escape Tyranny." Click here for the full story.
America's slide to a welfare state has been put on greased skids under the Obama administration. Income from the private sector has nosedived to an all-time historical low, while "income" from government welfare benefits has exploded to an all-time historical high under Obama.
And liberals are tickled about it. "It's the system working as it should," crows liberal economist Paul van der Water.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
From USA Today, as reported on Ben Hart's "Escape Tyranny." Click here for the full story.
America's slide to a welfare state has been put on greased skids under the Obama administration. Income from the private sector has nosedived to an all-time historical low, while "income" from government welfare benefits has exploded to an all-time historical high under Obama.
And liberals are tickled about it. "It's the system working as it should," crows liberal economist Paul van der Water.
Paychecks from private business shrank to their smallest share of personal income in U.S. history during the first quarter of this year, a USA TODAY analysis of government data finds.
At the same time, government-provided benefits — from Social Security, unemployment insurance, food stamps and other programs — rose to a record high during the first three months of 2010.
Those records reflect a long-term trend accelerated by the recession and the federal stimulus program to counteract the downturn. The result is a major shift in the source of personal income from private wages to government programs.
The trend is not sustainable, says University of Michigan economist Donald Grimes...
...The shift in incomeshows that the federal government's stimulus efforts have been effective, says Paul Van de Water, an economist at the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
"It's the system working as it should," Van de Water says. Government is stimulating growth and helping people in need, he says. As the economy recovers, private wages will rebound, he says.
Economist Veronique de Rugy of the free-market Mercatus Center at George Mason University says the riots in Greece over cutting benefits to close a huge budget deficit are a warning about unsustainable income programs.
Economist David Henderson of the conservative Hoover Institution says a shift from private wages to government benefits saps the economy of dynamism. "People are paid for being rather than for producing," he says.
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
Obama blasts lack of controls on Internet, much like...
Barack Obama lashed out at citizen journalism in a college commencement address Sunday, in comments that sounded strangely familiar. From this morning's AFP wire story:
US President Barack Obama lamented Sunday that in the iPad and Xbox era, information had become a diversion that was imposing new strains on democracy, in his latest critique of modern media...
..."You're coming of age in a 24/7 media environment that bombards us with all kinds of content and exposes us to all kinds of arguments, some of which don't always rank all that high on the truth meter," Obama said at Hampton University, Virginia...
...He bemoaned the fact that "some of the craziest claims can quickly claim traction," in the clamor of certain blogs and talk radio outlets.
"All of this is not only putting new pressures on you, it is putting new pressures on our country and on our democracy."
Sound familiar? From Reuters, Mar. 14:
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, who is criticized by media freedom groups, called on Saturday for regulation of the Internet and singled out a website that he said falsely reported the murder of one of his ministers.
"The Internet cannot be something open where anything is said and done. Every country has to apply its own rules and norms," Chavez said...
...Social networking web sites like Twitter and Facebook are very popular among Venezuela's opposition movements to organize protests against the government. Chavez has complained that people use such sites to spread unfounded rumors...
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
Will the media breathlessly report on this gender gap?
I would think not.
Radio host Michael Graham, writing in today's Wall Street Journal. Click here for the full column:
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
Radio host Michael Graham, writing in today's Wall Street Journal. Click here for the full column:
If Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. And if you've been to a tea party, you know Momma ain't happy at all.
Forget "angry white men." In the male-dominated world of conservative politics, the tea party stands out as a movement of energized and organized women. In particular, moms...
...a recent Quinnipiac poll of voters found a majority of tea party supporters—55%—are women. To put that in perspective, only 48% of women voted for George W. Bush in 2004. And just two years ago, President Obama won 56% of the female vote...
...When I asked Christen Varley, the Boston tea party leader, she said it's because moms tend to be "the CEO's of our households. We do the shopping, bill paying, budgeting, etc. We know less money means less freedom. Maybe if the president and Congress did the grocery shopping, they'd know why we're mad."
Dana Loesch, talk host and co-founder of the St. Louis tea party, believes the tea party movement is the modern conservative version of "the personal is political."
"Motherhood itself has become a political act," says Ms. Loesch. "And the tea parties are an extension of our need as moms to protect the future for our children."
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
Congress loans Greece $6.8 billion...borrowed from China
From Senator Jim DeMint, run by The Daily Caller. Click here to read the full column.
Greece collapsed because it pursued a massive welfare entitlement system funded by runaway spending on lavish private and public employee benefits and a government-directed health care system -- all policies pursued by Democrats.
So who will bail us out when Democrats cause our collapse?
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
Congress didn’t learn their lesson after the $700 billion failed bank bailout and let world leaders shake down U.S taxpayers for international bailout money at the G-20 conference in April 2009. G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors asked the United States, the IMF’s largest contributor, for a whopping $108 billion to rescue bankers around the world and the Obama Administration quickly obliged.
Rather than pass it as stand-alone legislation, President Obama asked Congress to fold the $108 billion into a war-spending bill to send money to our troops...
...Right now, 17 percent of the IMF funding pool that the $40 billion bailout is being drawn from comes from U.S. taxpayers. If that ratio holds true, that means American taxpayers are paying for $6.8 billion of the Greek bailout. Although the $108 billion extra that Congress approved for the IMF in 2009 hasn’t yet gone into effect, you can bet that once it does Greek bankers will come to the IMF again with their hat in hand. And, if other European Union countries see free money up for grabs they could ask the IMF for bailouts when they get into trouble, too. If we’ve learned anything from the Wall Street bailouts it’s that just one bailout is never enough.
To hide the bailout from Americans already angry with the $700 billion bank bailout, Congress classified it as an “expanded credit line.” The Congressional Budget Office only scored it as $5 billion because IMF agreed to give the United States a promissory note for the rest of the bill...
...Of course, money isn’t free and there are member nations of the IMF that won’t be in a hurry to pay it back. Three state sponsors of terrorism, Iran, Syria and Sudan, are a part of the IMF. Iran participates in the IMF’s day-to-day activities as a member of its executive board.
If the failed bank bailout and stimulus bill wasn’t enough to prove to Americans the kind of misguided, destructive spending that goes on in Washington this will: The Democrat Congress, aided by a few Republicans, used a war spending bill to send bailout money to an international fund that’s partially-controlled by our enemies.
Greece collapsed because it pursued a massive welfare entitlement system funded by runaway spending on lavish private and public employee benefits and a government-directed health care system -- all policies pursued by Democrats.
So who will bail us out when Democrats cause our collapse?
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
Letter to the editor - Leesburg Today
In his Apr. 19 response to local resident Debora Lavin attacking programs aimed at helping the incarcerated, local activist Jonathan Weintraub inaccurately characterizes a lawsuit brought against the state of Iowa by an activist group that hopes to outlaw public expressions of religious faith.
Weintraub’s creative wording and only partial retelling of the case seems intended to mislead the reader. The material he apparently drew his information from never uses “prosecuted” to describe a routine First Amendment challenge. Having successfully sued one government body and currently suing another on First Amendment grounds, I have never used the term “prosecuted” to describe such suits as it would mislead newspaper readers.
And while Weintraub made sure to quote the initial 2006 U.S. District Court injunction he never mentioned the appeals court ruling just months later tossing it out and allowing the program to operate. That decision was made by former United States Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and two respected appellate judges, Judges Roger L. Wollman and Duane Benton.
While Weintraub attempts to paint a lavish fictionalized portrait of a vengeful federal prosecutor striking down those Weintraub disagrees with in a scene out of a Hollywood movie, the reality is the highly-regarded program was in fact upheld by a former Supreme Court justice and two respected federal judges, and PFM still provides much-needed assistance to Iowa’s prison inmates.
For yet another week, Weintraub’s colorful conspiracy theories and attacks on those different than he prove to be more subterfuge than substance.
Donny Ferguson
Alexandria
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
Weintraub’s creative wording and only partial retelling of the case seems intended to mislead the reader. The material he apparently drew his information from never uses “prosecuted” to describe a routine First Amendment challenge. Having successfully sued one government body and currently suing another on First Amendment grounds, I have never used the term “prosecuted” to describe such suits as it would mislead newspaper readers.
And while Weintraub made sure to quote the initial 2006 U.S. District Court injunction he never mentioned the appeals court ruling just months later tossing it out and allowing the program to operate. That decision was made by former United States Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and two respected appellate judges, Judges Roger L. Wollman and Duane Benton.
While Weintraub attempts to paint a lavish fictionalized portrait of a vengeful federal prosecutor striking down those Weintraub disagrees with in a scene out of a Hollywood movie, the reality is the highly-regarded program was in fact upheld by a former Supreme Court justice and two respected federal judges, and PFM still provides much-needed assistance to Iowa’s prison inmates.
For yet another week, Weintraub’s colorful conspiracy theories and attacks on those different than he prove to be more subterfuge than substance.
Donny Ferguson
Alexandria
http://DonnyFerguson.blogspot.com
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