op ed review 9/22
THIS WEEK’S NEWS
Real Median Income
Down $2,627; People in Poverty Up 6,667,000; Record 46,496,000 Now
Households on Food
Stamps Now Outnumber All Households in Northeast U.S.
After 5 years of Obama, the gap in employment rates between
America´s highest- and lowest-income families has stretched to its widest
levels since officials began tracking the data.
A large number of Americans continue to adamantly oppose the
nation’s new health-care law and believe it will produce damaging results,
according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
The Republican Study Committee in the House of
Representatives will unveil a healthcare bill Wednesday that would replace
Obamacare. The bill, titled the Republican Study Committee’s American
Healthcare Reform Act, “dramatically opens up options for families, and
dramatically lowers costs” compared to the Obamacare law,
A CIA employee who refused to sign a non-disclosure
agreement barring him from discussing the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attack in
Benghazi, Libya, has been suspended as a result and forced to hire legal
counsel, according to a top House lawmaker.
Democrats walk out and refuse to listen to the testimony of
families of Benghazi
victims. Like “spitting on their graves.”
“If you have any doubts that President Obama’s handling of Syria
is an utter debacle, witness the embarrassing spectacle this morning as his top
aides scramble to place blame for it at their boss’s feet.”
Newly uncovered IRS documents show the agency flagged political
groups based on the content of their literature, raising concerns specifically
about "anti-Obama rhetoric," inflammatory language”,
"emotional" statements”, and "propaganda."
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/09/17/irs-tea-party-target-list-propaganda/2825003/
why we cling: While the next few weeks will invariably
bring out the same cavalcade of charts, graphs, and statistics purporting to
explain either how the United States is the most violent nation in the world or
how more gun ownership actually helps make us less violent, the gun-control
debate has moved well past statistics and into much deeper matters of family,
morality, and political culture. We simply speak different cultural languages,
and these languages are rooted in choices that go far beyond the decision to
own a gun. Do you live in a rural or urban community? Were you raised around
firearms?
Leadership sources tell me the House GOP will soon vote on a
continuing resolution that simultaneously funds the federal government and
defunds Obamacare. Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor are
expected to announce the decision at Wednesday’s closed-door conference
meeting. This means the conservatives who have been urging Boehner to back a
defunding effort as part of the CR have won a victory, at least in terms of
getting the leadership to go along with their strategy. But getting such a CR
through the Democratic Senate and signed into law will be very difficult — and
many House Republican
Huh?
Raising the debt ceiling doesn't increase the nation's debt, Pres. Obama
declared in a speech.
What a concept: A
bill has passed in the Michigan Senate that would require those receiving
public assistance to do some “volunteer” work. Another bill, which passed the
House Commerce Committee, requires drug testing, revoking benefits for welfare
recipients who refuse the test or who test positive.
A Tennessee high school has
decided to revise its field trip policy after a group of freshmen were taken to
an Islamic mosque where they were given copies of the Koran and while a student
who opted out of the trip was given a worksheet that alleged Muslims treated
their conquered people better than the United States treated minorities.
“White House full of vermin.” Obama's Roach Problem. As in cockroaches.
The Huffington Post assessed the "dramatic toll"
that recent pro-life laws have taken on abortion clinics, with Arizona leading the way.
Meanwhile, the abortion battle has gone digital as more states ban abortions by
telemedicine.
For its foreign editions this week, Time magazine
features a picture of contented-looking Russian president Vladimir Putin,
complete with a black background and a damning caption that declares “America’s
weak and waffling, Russia’s rich and resurgent.” But for the USA
edition, Time’s editors are shielding Americans from the demoralizing picture,
putting a cheerful, sky-blue photo on the covers of magazines distributed in
the United States.
“It’s time to pay college athletes,” says the chirpy, non-political U.S. cover,
which shows a ball-carrying football player with arm outstretched.
Starbucks Flip-flop:
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has asked customers to no longer bring
firearms into the stores, even in states where they are legally permissible to
carry. He notes that this is not a "ban" on guns, but rather a
request.
_______________________________________________________________________________
THIS WEEK’S FEATURED COLUMN
Dr. Ben Carson 9/19
I have been interested in the political atmosphere of our
country since my preteen years. It has been particularly interesting to observe
the political shenanigans adopted by many of those wishing to obtain or
maintain power. Fortunately, there have also been many who were truly
interested in serving the people who put them in office. Looking at one’s life,
voting record and words can provide significant insight into which of the
aforementioned categories a political figure fits.
In the 1960s, John F. Kennedy wrote a book titled
“Profiles In Courage,” which was very inspiring, as he examined the lives of
individuals who had enough daring to go against the flow and make a real
difference in society. As a young, very intelligent president of our country,
he was faced with many daunting problems, not the least of which was an attempt
by the Russians to supply Cuba
with nuclear weapons, which would have been situated just 90 miles off of our
shores.
Although there have been many attempts to rewrite the
history of the Cuban missile crisis, the bottom line is that Kennedy had the
necessary backbone to stand up to Nikita Khrushchev and avert an enormous
detrimental shift in the power structure of the world while enhancing America’s
international image. Some readers are probably already irritated that I have
said something positive about someone who is not a member of their political party.
It is my belief that if JFK were alive today, advocating personal
responsibility and patriotism, he might find his views at odds with many in the
Democratic Party.
Perhaps it is time to de-emphasize political affiliations
and labels, and instead concentrate on the philosophies that define one’s
beliefs and actions. The direction of our country is not good, and “we the
people” — not we the Democrats or we the Republicans — are in desperate need of
courageous leadership, guided by an understanding of our
Constitution.
Our divided government was formed by diligent men who had
studied the history of governmental structures throughout the world and wanted
to design a system that would not succumb to the temptation to continuously
expand its size and scope at the expense of the people. An important concept
was the separation of powers with checks and balances among the three branches
of government. It was a rather ingenious idea to invest each of
the three branches of government with enough power to check unwarranted power
grabs by the others.
There is, however, a breakdown in this system when
officeholders are more concerned about their legacy or their re-election than
they are about the proper functioning of government. Our Founders were most
concerned about the possibility of the executive branch seizing power and
disregarding constitutional constraints.
I suspect they would have been horrified to witness the
manipulative and secretive strong-armed techniques utilized by the current
administration to push through Obamacare. I’m sure they would also be shocked
to see an administration that picks and chooses the laws it wishes to enforce,
thereby diminishing the power of the legislative branch of government.
This practice in some ways resembles that of the centralized
government system that swept the Soviet Union,
whose notorious founders wrote that it was sometimes necessary to force ideas
on a populace that will eventually come to accept and endorse the ideas.
Similarly, our current leadership is certain that Americans will eventually see
the wisdom of governmental oversight in almost every aspect of their lives.
If we are to pass a free and prosperous nation on to our
progeny, it is imperative that the legislative branch of government exhibit the
courage to exercise the check function it possesses. Lawmakers cannot be afraid
that they will be blamed for a government shutdown if they defund Obamacare. They
have the ability to separate the health care law from the rest of the federal
budget and fund one without funding the other. In doing so,
they need to make it abundantly clear that they are willing to fund the
government and its essential functions, but they feel that Obamacare is
detrimental to the future economic health of America.
If the Democrat-controlled Senate reattaches the law, or if
the executive branch makes the decision to fund Obamacare at the expense of
other vital national functions, the electorate must take notice and act
decisively in 2014. Many say that those who want to restore constitutional
restraints are fighting a useless battle, but we must remember that freedom is
reserved only for those willing to fight for it.
I am confident that the people will awaken from their apathy
and vigorously support whoever has the backbone to stand up for them.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/sep/18/carson-a-moment-that-defines-courage/#ixzz2fMjMcdj1 ________________________________________________________________________
FROM OTHER COLUMNS
“[G]overnment bureaucrats create the official definition of
poverty, and they do so in ways that provide a political rationale for the
welfare state – and, not incidentally, for the bureaucrats' own jobs. … There
is nothing mysterious about the fact that most people start off in entry level
jobs that pay much less than they will earn after they get some work
experience. But, when minimum wage levels are set without regard to their
initial productivity, young people are disproportionately unemployed – priced
out of jobs. … Minorities, like young people, can also be priced out of jobs.
In the United States,
the last year in which the black unemployment rate was lower than the white
unemployment rate – 1930 – was also the last year when there was no federal minimum
wage law. … In 1948 the unemployment rate of black 16-year-old and 17-year-old
males was 9.4 percent. This was a fraction of what it would become in even the
most prosperous years from 1958 on, as the minimum wage was raised repeatedly
to keep up with inflation. Some ‘compassion’ for ‘the poor’!”
-Thomas Sowell
________________________________________________________________________
BOOKS, FILM, TV
“My friend and colleague Steve Grammatico is out with his
new book, “You Hear Me, Barack?” a collection of his mordant, satirical takes
on President Obama and his extended family of zany, lovable characters,
including the First Lady, the vice president and a host of other comic-opera
Public Enemies currently adored by the collection of circus clowns known as the
White House Press Corps.”
On being a Duckhead:
“The liberal elites can demean the "duckhead" phenomenon and
act as if this type of entertainment is beneath them, but the numbers don't
lie, whether it's the show's ratings or its merchandise sales. Apparently, a
large segment of America
loves the ideas expressed on this show that humbly emanates from the swamps of Louisiana; as opposed to
the figurative swamp we call the entertainment industry. Hey, Republican
establishment, you could also learn a thing or two about messaging from the
show's style and presentation. In this
day and age, when we need more Walton's on television and less South Park,
more Mike Brady's and fewer Miley Cyrus', the Robertson family and "Duck
Dynasty" are a breath of fresh air in the swamp that is television today.
Remember the media's account of Matthew Shepard's torture
and murder in Wyoming
for being a homosexual, peddled to curry public favor for gay rights? . Thanks to a new book by a homosexual
journalist, much of this meme turns out to be an outlandish hoax.
__________________________________________________________________________
GLOBALONEY
Dialing Back the Alarm on Climate Change A forthcoming IPCC report lowers estimates on
global warming.
“Wind farms and renewable energy:
a modern version of a medieval scam….. It is not the opponents of
wind farms that are backward looking and atavistic, but those who champion
them. It is difficult to think of a more medieval technology than wind mills.
They were cutting edge when Henry II was king and Richard the Lionheart was launching
crusades.”
Earth Gains A Record Amount Of Sea Ice In 2013 — ‘Earth has
gained 19,000 Manhattans of sea ice since this date last year, the largest
increase on record’
________________________________________________________________________
ISLAM
A former top Clinton Foundation official is also a senior
Muslim Brotherhood official who has just been arrested for inciting violence in
Egypt.
__________________________________________________________________________
ARTICLES
Obamacare’s Useful Idiots:
“The “leaders” of the CHA, Big Pharma, the AMA and the AFL-CIO
constitute but a sample of the useful idiots exploited by the President and his
congressional accomplices in order to foist Obamacare on the American public.
The list of dupes goes on and on. They got presidential pens and photos of
themselves grinning at the man who took them in. If they have any capacity for
introspection, they also feel shame. Some have publicly repented of their
support for Obamacare. Most still pretend they did the right thing. It may be an
insult to the intellectually impaired to elevate such people to the level of
“idiot.”
It’s easy for conservatives to write off college campuses as
impenetrable liberal strongholds and to regard women students in particular as
a lost cause. But three efforts to reach young women with conservative ideas —
a magazine, a speaker recruitment, and a campus-based organization —
demonstrate that conservatives can make some headway. Conservatives should be
emboldened by these successes and use the lessons from them to develop more
ways to influence the experience of college students today.
Media Buries Psychiatric Drug Connection to Navy Shooter: Despite every indication that Navy Yard
shooter Aaron Alexis was on SSRI drugs that have been linked to dozens of
previous mass shootings, the mainstream media has once again avoided all
discussion of the issue, preferring instead to blame the tragedy on a
non-existent AR-15 that the gunman didn’t even use.
Ann
Coulter: “There’s been another mass
shooting by a crazy person, and liberals still refuse to consider
institutionalizing the dangerous mentally ill. The man who shot up the
Washington Navy Yard on Monday, Aaron Alexis, heard voices speaking to him
through the walls. He thought people were following him. He believed microwave
ovens were sending vibrations through his body…..But Alexis couldn’t be
institutionalized because the left has officially certified the mentally ill as
“victims,” and once you’re a victim, all that matters is that you not be
“stigmatized.”
It is claimed that the Navy shooter was a Buddhist. “CNN, among other media outlets, expressed
shock that a Buddhist like Alexis could be responsible for the Navy Yard
massacre.” Explanation: “Buddhism lacked the power and substance to
civilize him. As a non-judgmental, navel-gazing religion, it asks little of its
adherents and accommodates all sorts of wild contradictions, producing not a
holy fear of God but sometimes just emboldened self-indulgence and a frantic
search for fulfillment through willy-nilly negation. There is a reason why
nihilistic and hedonistic Hollywood stars love
Buddhism. It appears to have appealed to Alexis not in spite of his
world-hating aggression but because of it. As G.K. Chesterton pointed out, it
is a religion particularly well-suited to a modern world on the verge of mental
collapse: “He who does not climb the mountain
of Christ does indeed
fall into the abyss of Buddha.””
_______________________________________________________________________
NOTEWORTHY WEBSITES
“The Idiots Guide to Defunding
Obamacare”
The 25 Most Influential People on the Right For 2013
The NSA's secret org chart
_________________________________________________________________________
WISE WORDS
“Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of
ignorance, the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of
misery.”
-Winston Churchill
“Property is surely a
right of mankind as real as liberty….The moment the idea is admitted into
society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is
not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny
commence.”
-John Adams
“Speak seldom, but to important subjects, except such as
particularly relate to your constituents, and, in the former case, make
yourself perfectly master of the subject.”
-George Washington
_________________________________________________________________________
LATE NITE
Leno……USA Today had a big front-page feature on the new
health care law, and said that the opposition to ObamaCare is at an all-time
high. In fact, it’s gotten so bad the president’s now calling it BidenCare
posted by gary at
6:21 PM
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