All presidents take time off to regroup, and this "elite" location has deep roots in African-American history.
Who can blame anyone for wanting to get away from the stormy, humid clime that is the norm in the nation's capital in August and repair to the quiet beaches, charming towns, delicious seafood and intimate parties that are mainstays of this island outpost off the Massachusetts coast?
Well, anyone except for Barack Obama. The president's in the house on Martha's Vineyard, and a question -- should he be? -- reverberates across the land, especially in Washington, D.C. Washington Post columnists Eugene Robinson and Colbert King, along with a host of pundits, pols and Republicans, say with certitude that the president should not, during these times of wild swings in the stock market, creeping inflation, high unemployment, mounting problems in the eurozone and the twists and turns in foreign events, spend even a day resting and relaxing in the comforts of a ritzy resort.
Chris Matthews of MSNBC has been on the president's case since long before the Obamas flew here Thursday. One of his guests, Ken Walsh of U.S. News & World Report, said he usually feels "everybody needs a break ... but this year, Martha's Vineyard is not the place to go ... hanging out with the elites." Predictably, right-wingers and Fox News hosts, along with Rush Limbaugh, have been beside themselves. Let's ignore Republican "presidential candidates" Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann. Mitt Romney criticized the president's choice while, ironically, he, Romney, will be in Edgartown, Mass., for a fundraiser. Edgartown is on Martha's Vineyard. How ridiculous can they get?
Many I talked to here on the Vineyard and back in Washington have mixed views, some agreeing with those who say Obama should have settled for his home in Chicago's Hyde Park -- as close to an elite suburb to be found anywhere (though it's really not Martha's Vineyard) -- or the quietude of Camp David in the Maryland mountains northwest of the capital, where he does spend some weekends, as have many other past chief executives.
Others feel the criticism is mainly politically motivated, rejecting the cost argument that taxpayers pick up the tab for security, staff, etc., which they would pick up no matter where in the world the president kicked up his heels, for work or pleasure. The Obamas have always paid for their vacations.
My own view is, let him and his family have fun wherever and whenever he can. The man is taking a beating daily, in the polls and from constant bombardment from the GOP campaigns. Look at his hair, how it seems more difficult for his barbers to conceal the gray. I get the feeling that some days he says, "Forget it. Let the gray show!" And I loved his answer to those who urged him to call senators and members of Congress back in session; I felt that it would be the worst thing for those who have been causing him and the country so much torment to return to town now, and he seemed to concur.
The president's choice of Martha's Vineyard is nothing new. He vacationed here before he was elected, and he has returned annually since. The family takes up residence for 10 days at the Blue Herron Farm, which rents for $50,000 a week.
He plays golf, and the family dines at local restaurants on Circuit Avenue in Oak Bluffs and along its waterfront. His daughters, Sasha and Malia, have stopped in at video and game shops, usually causing excitement among the young patrons. This year, young people have flocked to the arcade on Circuit, cameras in hand, hoping the Obama girls will make an appearance.
Last year my friends and I went to a restaurant the Obamas had just departed, and a tourist refused to give up the seat that the president had occupied.
The first family's visits always cause headaches for islanders, tourists and other visitors. Streets are blocked, and patrons at restaurants and other businesses are sometimes locked inside or temporarily barred by Secret Service agents protecting the Obamas. One street, East Chop, where White House Senior Adviser and Assistant Valerie Jarrett has a house, was blocked last year for about half an hour when the Obamas arrived for an outing, holding up guests attending other events in the tony neighborhood. But most people here, including those on East Chop, accept the slight inconveniences with glee.
Blacks on Martha's Vineyard are not new. Jill Nelson, the writer and journalist, calls it home and explains the black presence in her fine history, Finding Martha's Vineyard: African Americans at Home on an Island. She notes that "it is not a racial utopia, but it was and is better than most places." The book flap says the island "has provided respite and rejuvenation, community and contemplation for generations of African Americans." The Vineyard was settled by slaves and their descendants, who first came with their white employers and "established a haven and a community" for "black middle-class families who came each summer to escape the heat, hostility and racial tension of their hometowns; and generations of African-American professionals -- doctors, presidential advisors, writers, academics, and artists."
While Nelson and her family are longtime residents, the same groups of professionals continue to flock to the island for the reasons she chronicles. Rich? Some are, but most are not. Elite? That's a matter of opinion. I'm sure that some consider themselves elite; most would disagree. It seems to be what it always was: a place that welcomed us, where we felt comfortable when most vacation spots in America barred nonwhites from their premises.
Meanwhile, Walsh and others pointed out that past presidents were also criticized about their vacation choices and places to chill. Dwight Eisenhower spent way too much time at his Gettysburg, Penn., farm -- 365 days over six years -- leading Democrats to call him a "part-time president." Some were knocked for their stays at their preferred haunts: Richard Nixon for running off to Key Biscayne, Fla., and San Clemente, Calif.; George H.W. Bush to Kennebunkport, Maine; George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan to their ranches in Crawford, Texas, and Santa Barbara, Calif., respectively.
Bill Clinton, like Obama, chose Martha's Vineyard, but Chris Matthews noted that he was usually "seen with a big cigar, hanging out with Vernon Jordan." Clinton was also forced to cancel a trip to the Vineyard in 1995 because of poor economic conditions during his re-election campaign -- sound familiar? He instead went to Grand Teton National Park but never returned (hey, he's a Vineyard guy). Reagan, too, canceled a vacation in 1983 after the Russians shot down a Korean Air Lines passenger jet.
I have not seen any polls that show Americans are necessarily displeased with the Vineyard vacation. I think that most have more serious gripes with Obama at this point. They show that displeasure in his falling overall popularity; they are increasingly disgusted with his handling of foreign affairs. California Democrat Maxine Waters signaled that the Congressional Black Caucus is frustrated with Obama's failure to address severe problems among its constituents, as are growing numbers of other Americans.
Jonathan Capehart, a Washington Post editorial writer, said people are "angry and anxious," and he's absolutely correct. But they are not yet ready to deny the president quiet time at his venue of choice.
Paul Delaney regularly vacations on Martha's Vineyard.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Rubio goes Reagan
Yes, Sen. Marco Rubio still gets billed as a potential vice presidential candidate in 2012, and there are those who pine for him to run for president one day. And while the Florida Republican may not be acting presidential at the moment, he appears to be at least acting vice-presidential. Mr. Rubio journeys to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif. on Tuesday, the keynote speaker for the Reagan Forum, a public-affairs event that has in recent months featured Sen. Scott P. Brown of Massachusetts and Steve Forbes, among others.
“His remarks will focus on the role of government in America. This will be the second in a series of three major speeches by Rubio this year,” says spokesman Alex Burgos. “The first was his maiden Senate floor speech in June, and the third will be delivered in the fall and focus on the role of America in the world.”
That’s some serious speechifying. The Reagan Library notes that the Rubio-centric forum, which includes a buffet dinner, is sold out. And for Gipper fans, this just in: the official Ronald Reagan statue at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is due to be installed around Nov. 1, prominently located across from Terminal A.
TEA’S BREWING
The nation is in vacation limbo for the next week; our political leaders have deserted their posts, even as the U.S. economy languishes, the Middle East rattles, a hurricane looms and the citizenry frets. Few of our leaders appear to be on a working vacation.
“While campaigning in Iowa, President Obama said he had a budget plan that he would be offering in September. What is he waiting for? If he has a plan, let’s see it and get working on it,” says Mark Meckler, national coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots, the largest umbrella group for the grass-roots movement.
“And what about our lawmakers? Most working Americans don’t get a one-month vacation, why should Congress? When our country faces this continued debt crisis and an economy that is failing, why aren’t they working on the problems today?” Mr. Meckler demands.
“This president and this Congress are more concerned about campaigning for re-election in their districts than they are about solving the economic problems this country faces,” says fellow Patriots coordinator Jenny Beth Martin . “May history judge them as harshly as they deserve and may the electorate throw them out for not doing the job they were elected to do.”
THE READING LIST
When Inside the Beltway asked our brilliant readers to recommend some vacation beach reading for President Obama last year, a majority suggested he read the U.S. Constitution. Well, yeah. But the document did not turn up this year at Martha’s Vineyard, apparently.
The five books Mr. Obama does have with him to read at leisure:
“The Bayou Trilogy” (by Daniel Woodrell), “Rodin’s Debutante” (Ward Just), “Cutting for Stone” (Abraham Verghese), “To the End of the Land” (David Grossman) and “The Warmth of Other Suns” (Isabel Wilkerson).
MITT WHO?
Mitt Romney? Who’s Mitt Romney? Among tea partyers, he’s Mr. Three Percent. The presidential hopeful has irked tea partyers, at least according to a new online Republican straw poll from Tea Party Nation, another major national umbrella group for the movement.
It’s Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota who remains in the lead, garnering 36 percent of the vote, the poll found. Texas Gov. Rick Perry came in a strong second with nearly 29 percent. Herman Cain followed with 12 percent; Rep. Ron Paul of Texas drew 11 percent.
The other contenders ranked in the single digits.
“Perhaps the most interesting result of the poll is the total lack of support Mitt Romney has in the tea party movement. He drew 3 percent in this poll and 2 percent in the previous poll,” says Judson Phillips, founder of the group.
“In 2010, the tea party brought the GOP back. It would not be wise for the GOP to ignore the very group that saved it,” Mr. Phillips adds.
VALUE VOTERS PERCOLATING
On the radar. Already: The Value Voters Summit does not begin until Oct. 7, but the pro-life, pro-family event organized by Family Research Council Action is already bristling with Republican heavyweights.
Republican presidential hopefuls Rick Santorum and Reps. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and Ron Paul of Texas are confirmed speakers.
So are House Speaker John A. Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Steve King of Iowa, talk-radio gods Bill Bennett and Mark Levin , plus Virginia Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, RedState founder Erick Erickson, Hot Air stalwart Ed Morrissey, American Values President Gary Bauer and Heritage Foundation President Ed Feulner.
Incidentally, rumor has it that Heritage fellow Edwin Meese III will receive the 2011 Vision and Leadership Award. Stay tuned.
POLL DU JOUR
• 56 million children are enrolled in U.S. elementary through high schools this fall.
• 89 percent of that number has at least one parent or guardian who attends PTA meetings.
• 55 percent of that number report they are “highly engaged” and like school.
• 43 percent belong to a minority population.
• 23 percent have at least one foreign-born parent.
• 11 percent of that number are enrolled in private schools.
• 11 million speak “a language other than English at home.”
• $7.4 billion will be spent on new school clothes this fall.
• There are 98,700 public schools, 33,740 private schools and 4,694 public charter schools in the U.S.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau’s “Facts and Figures” for back-to-school statistics, released Aug. 19.
• Hue and cry, reading suggestions, vacation news to jharper@washingtontimes.com
© Copyright 2011 The Washington Times, LLC.
“His remarks will focus on the role of government in America. This will be the second in a series of three major speeches by Rubio this year,” says spokesman Alex Burgos. “The first was his maiden Senate floor speech in June, and the third will be delivered in the fall and focus on the role of America in the world.”
That’s some serious speechifying. The Reagan Library notes that the Rubio-centric forum, which includes a buffet dinner, is sold out. And for Gipper fans, this just in: the official Ronald Reagan statue at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is due to be installed around Nov. 1, prominently located across from Terminal A.
TEA’S BREWING
The nation is in vacation limbo for the next week; our political leaders have deserted their posts, even as the U.S. economy languishes, the Middle East rattles, a hurricane looms and the citizenry frets. Few of our leaders appear to be on a working vacation.
“While campaigning in Iowa, President Obama said he had a budget plan that he would be offering in September. What is he waiting for? If he has a plan, let’s see it and get working on it,” says Mark Meckler, national coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots, the largest umbrella group for the grass-roots movement.
“And what about our lawmakers? Most working Americans don’t get a one-month vacation, why should Congress? When our country faces this continued debt crisis and an economy that is failing, why aren’t they working on the problems today?” Mr. Meckler demands.
“This president and this Congress are more concerned about campaigning for re-election in their districts than they are about solving the economic problems this country faces,” says fellow Patriots coordinator Jenny Beth Martin . “May history judge them as harshly as they deserve and may the electorate throw them out for not doing the job they were elected to do.”
THE READING LIST
When Inside the Beltway asked our brilliant readers to recommend some vacation beach reading for President Obama last year, a majority suggested he read the U.S. Constitution. Well, yeah. But the document did not turn up this year at Martha’s Vineyard, apparently.
The five books Mr. Obama does have with him to read at leisure:
“The Bayou Trilogy” (by Daniel Woodrell), “Rodin’s Debutante” (Ward Just), “Cutting for Stone” (Abraham Verghese), “To the End of the Land” (David Grossman) and “The Warmth of Other Suns” (Isabel Wilkerson).
MITT WHO?
Mitt Romney? Who’s Mitt Romney? Among tea partyers, he’s Mr. Three Percent. The presidential hopeful has irked tea partyers, at least according to a new online Republican straw poll from Tea Party Nation, another major national umbrella group for the movement.
It’s Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota who remains in the lead, garnering 36 percent of the vote, the poll found. Texas Gov. Rick Perry came in a strong second with nearly 29 percent. Herman Cain followed with 12 percent; Rep. Ron Paul of Texas drew 11 percent.
The other contenders ranked in the single digits.
“Perhaps the most interesting result of the poll is the total lack of support Mitt Romney has in the tea party movement. He drew 3 percent in this poll and 2 percent in the previous poll,” says Judson Phillips, founder of the group.
“In 2010, the tea party brought the GOP back. It would not be wise for the GOP to ignore the very group that saved it,” Mr. Phillips adds.
VALUE VOTERS PERCOLATING
On the radar. Already: The Value Voters Summit does not begin until Oct. 7, but the pro-life, pro-family event organized by Family Research Council Action is already bristling with Republican heavyweights.
Republican presidential hopefuls Rick Santorum and Reps. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and Ron Paul of Texas are confirmed speakers.
So are House Speaker John A. Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Steve King of Iowa, talk-radio gods Bill Bennett and Mark Levin , plus Virginia Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, RedState founder Erick Erickson, Hot Air stalwart Ed Morrissey, American Values President Gary Bauer and Heritage Foundation President Ed Feulner.
Incidentally, rumor has it that Heritage fellow Edwin Meese III will receive the 2011 Vision and Leadership Award. Stay tuned.
POLL DU JOUR
• 56 million children are enrolled in U.S. elementary through high schools this fall.
• 89 percent of that number has at least one parent or guardian who attends PTA meetings.
• 55 percent of that number report they are “highly engaged” and like school.
• 43 percent belong to a minority population.
• 23 percent have at least one foreign-born parent.
• 11 percent of that number are enrolled in private schools.
• 11 million speak “a language other than English at home.”
• $7.4 billion will be spent on new school clothes this fall.
• There are 98,700 public schools, 33,740 private schools and 4,694 public charter schools in the U.S.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau’s “Facts and Figures” for back-to-school statistics, released Aug. 19.
• Hue and cry, reading suggestions, vacation news to jharper@washingtontimes.com
© Copyright 2011 The Washington Times, LLC.
'Supercommittee’ members get plenty of funds from lobbyists
Debt cutters got contributions in July
When congressional leaders earlier this month named six lawmakers from each party to a debt reduction “supercommittee,” investing unprecedented power in a tiny cadre to slash funding, they set off a wild scramble among special interest groups to gain access and protect their interests.
Yet many groups with the most at stake didn’t have to change their plans. Some members of the supercommittee received more campaign contributions in July from political action committees controlled by corporations, unions and other lawmakers than anyone else in Congress, disclosures filed this weekend show.
Rep. Dave Camp, Michigan Republican who chairs the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee and was named to the debt panel by House Speaker John A. Boehner, collected $134,000, largely from insurance and health-care-connected groups, more than anyone else in Congress, including party leaders.
Rep. Fred Upton, a fellow Michigan Republican who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee, received $92,000, ranking fourth among all lawmakers, in a span of a few weeks last month. Reps. Jeb Hensarling, Texas Republican, and Becerra Xavier, California Democrat, also ranked near the top in PAC contributions in July.
The bulk of the nearly half-million dollars given to supercommittee members came from PACs linke to the finance, insurance, real estate, and health industries — all of which stand to lose billions if committee members don’t protect their interests.
“They’ve already had longstanding relationships with these members and had them in their sights,” said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks political influence. Now, the supercommittee members are “going to attract donations by virtue of living.”
Nearly all of the PAC contributions are in the thousands of dollars and come from groups aiming to further the mission of a trade group, corporation or labor union. The totals aren’t complete, because many groups report spending not on a monthly basis, but twice a year.
Doctors’ groups, whose business would be roiled by Medicare reform, gave tens of thousands of dollars to debt committee members; the PAC of the United Services Automobile Association, which sells insurance to military families, gave $27,000; the American Bankers Association gave $14,000; and two labor groups representing government employees even made donations to Republican supercommittee members.
Because of their positions as committee chairmen, Mr. Camp and Mr. Upton were likely picks for the debt committee before the appointments were announced.
But with the 12-person roster set in stone, as the group’s members prepare to cut billions from the federal budget, their new positions will be a boon for their own campaigns’ finances as interest groups with arms on the chopping block seek to curry favor with the lawmakers via all channels available.
Because they’ve enjoyed strong financial support from interest groups in the past, they can afford to “tone it down when it comes to fundraising” while still having the resources to run for re-election, said Mrs. Krumholz, which may have factored into party leaders’ decision to pick them.
But some have instead capitalized on the newfound demand for their attention.
Days before the supercommittee is scheduled to hold its first meeting, Sen. Patty Murray, Washington Democrat, will co-host a fundraiser at which those who pay thousands of dollars for tickets can mingle with her and other Senate Democrats.
On Oct. 4, the National Association of Realtors, which opposes proposals to recover funds by modifying the mortgage tax deduction, will host a reception for Sen. Max Baucus, Montana Democrat. And those who pay between $1,000 and $5,000 will get face time with Mr. Becerra at a Washington Nationals game Sept. 7, invitations obtained by the Sunlight Foundation show.
© Copyright 2011 The Washington Times, LLC
When congressional leaders earlier this month named six lawmakers from each party to a debt reduction “supercommittee,” investing unprecedented power in a tiny cadre to slash funding, they set off a wild scramble among special interest groups to gain access and protect their interests.
Yet many groups with the most at stake didn’t have to change their plans. Some members of the supercommittee received more campaign contributions in July from political action committees controlled by corporations, unions and other lawmakers than anyone else in Congress, disclosures filed this weekend show.
Rep. Dave Camp, Michigan Republican who chairs the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee and was named to the debt panel by House Speaker John A. Boehner, collected $134,000, largely from insurance and health-care-connected groups, more than anyone else in Congress, including party leaders.
Rep. Fred Upton, a fellow Michigan Republican who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee, received $92,000, ranking fourth among all lawmakers, in a span of a few weeks last month. Reps. Jeb Hensarling, Texas Republican, and Becerra Xavier, California Democrat, also ranked near the top in PAC contributions in July.
The bulk of the nearly half-million dollars given to supercommittee members came from PACs linke to the finance, insurance, real estate, and health industries — all of which stand to lose billions if committee members don’t protect their interests.
“They’ve already had longstanding relationships with these members and had them in their sights,” said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks political influence. Now, the supercommittee members are “going to attract donations by virtue of living.”
Nearly all of the PAC contributions are in the thousands of dollars and come from groups aiming to further the mission of a trade group, corporation or labor union. The totals aren’t complete, because many groups report spending not on a monthly basis, but twice a year.
Doctors’ groups, whose business would be roiled by Medicare reform, gave tens of thousands of dollars to debt committee members; the PAC of the United Services Automobile Association, which sells insurance to military families, gave $27,000; the American Bankers Association gave $14,000; and two labor groups representing government employees even made donations to Republican supercommittee members.
Because of their positions as committee chairmen, Mr. Camp and Mr. Upton were likely picks for the debt committee before the appointments were announced.
But with the 12-person roster set in stone, as the group’s members prepare to cut billions from the federal budget, their new positions will be a boon for their own campaigns’ finances as interest groups with arms on the chopping block seek to curry favor with the lawmakers via all channels available.
Because they’ve enjoyed strong financial support from interest groups in the past, they can afford to “tone it down when it comes to fundraising” while still having the resources to run for re-election, said Mrs. Krumholz, which may have factored into party leaders’ decision to pick them.
But some have instead capitalized on the newfound demand for their attention.
Days before the supercommittee is scheduled to hold its first meeting, Sen. Patty Murray, Washington Democrat, will co-host a fundraiser at which those who pay thousands of dollars for tickets can mingle with her and other Senate Democrats.
On Oct. 4, the National Association of Realtors, which opposes proposals to recover funds by modifying the mortgage tax deduction, will host a reception for Sen. Max Baucus, Montana Democrat. And those who pay between $1,000 and $5,000 will get face time with Mr. Becerra at a Washington Nationals game Sept. 7, invitations obtained by the Sunlight Foundation show.
© Copyright 2011 The Washington Times, LLC
Palin v. Obama
Gov. Rick Perry’s entrance into the presidential race has changed the complexion of the coming election season for the better in many ways. For one, his juggernaut-like ascent to the lead in the polls has all but guaranteed that moderates like Jon McHuntsman are wasting their time. Secondly, by so quickly drawing criticism from Obama he reminded us that the president is not only vulnerable, but very vulnerable. And lastly, but doing all these things long after others have already gotten into the race he reminded us that it’s still not too late for Gov. Sarah Palin to throw her name into the mix.
And as a matter of fact, even though Palin hasn’t officially entered the race she’s already running third in primary polls in Florida. (Wow – running third although she isn’t even a candidate yet.)
So what happens if she gets in and gets the nomination? What if the race ends up being Palin v. Obama?
If it does, Obama may find out how Walter Mondale felt after running against Reagan in 1984. But he will surely find out how Jimmy Carter felt when he faced Reagan in 1980.
Skeptics notwithstanding, this is so because Palin v. Obama will pit faith in the American people against faith in government. In so doing, it will allow Palin to tell us again and again of how this country is great because of salt-of-the-earth Americans who love their families, their God, and their country, while Obama stands on the other side of a teleprompter telling us everything will be fine if we just pass another stimulus bill, raise taxes, and allow government to reach even further into the private sector via increased regulation and oversight.
It’s so important to understand that Palin’s belief in the everyday American allows her to think America’s greatest days lie in front of us: that “we’re seeing a great awakening of the American public” even now.
On the other hand, Obama’s belief in government means he intuitively dismisses the ingenuity, courage, and goodness of the American people as he turns to Washington DC for solutions to problems that Washington DC created in the first place.
Perhaps the biggest contrast we’ll see, should Palin v. Obama come to pass, will be in the way the two candidates will speak to the voters when they campaign. Obama will certainly tell us of all the great things he can do for us if we’ll just give him four more years: as it was in 2008, so too in 2012 it will be all about him. But with Palin, you can already hear a different tone. Sure, she has things that recommend her to the job and qualify her for the job, but her focus is what Americans can accomplish if we get government out of the way rather than what she can use government to accomplish for us.
Thus, far from Obama’s ego-centric self-portrayal as some political miracle worker, Palin’s simple message to Americans will be “I believe in you.” (Which is why Iowans are already describing her as a “normal person” who is “down to earth” and “solid.”)
Palin is giving a speech to the Tea Party convention in Iowa on September 3rd. They’re expecting such a large crowd that they’ve already had to move the event to a larger venue. And while no one knows if she’s going to announce a run for the presidency then, you can bet the world will be watching. And you can also bet Obama will have a staffer or David Axelrod (or both) watching as well.
And that’s because Palin v. Obama will be a landslide (and Obama knows it).
And as a matter of fact, even though Palin hasn’t officially entered the race she’s already running third in primary polls in Florida. (Wow – running third although she isn’t even a candidate yet.)
So what happens if she gets in and gets the nomination? What if the race ends up being Palin v. Obama?
If it does, Obama may find out how Walter Mondale felt after running against Reagan in 1984. But he will surely find out how Jimmy Carter felt when he faced Reagan in 1980.
Skeptics notwithstanding, this is so because Palin v. Obama will pit faith in the American people against faith in government. In so doing, it will allow Palin to tell us again and again of how this country is great because of salt-of-the-earth Americans who love their families, their God, and their country, while Obama stands on the other side of a teleprompter telling us everything will be fine if we just pass another stimulus bill, raise taxes, and allow government to reach even further into the private sector via increased regulation and oversight.
It’s so important to understand that Palin’s belief in the everyday American allows her to think America’s greatest days lie in front of us: that “we’re seeing a great awakening of the American public” even now.
On the other hand, Obama’s belief in government means he intuitively dismisses the ingenuity, courage, and goodness of the American people as he turns to Washington DC for solutions to problems that Washington DC created in the first place.
Perhaps the biggest contrast we’ll see, should Palin v. Obama come to pass, will be in the way the two candidates will speak to the voters when they campaign. Obama will certainly tell us of all the great things he can do for us if we’ll just give him four more years: as it was in 2008, so too in 2012 it will be all about him. But with Palin, you can already hear a different tone. Sure, she has things that recommend her to the job and qualify her for the job, but her focus is what Americans can accomplish if we get government out of the way rather than what she can use government to accomplish for us.
Thus, far from Obama’s ego-centric self-portrayal as some political miracle worker, Palin’s simple message to Americans will be “I believe in you.” (Which is why Iowans are already describing her as a “normal person” who is “down to earth” and “solid.”)
Palin is giving a speech to the Tea Party convention in Iowa on September 3rd. They’re expecting such a large crowd that they’ve already had to move the event to a larger venue. And while no one knows if she’s going to announce a run for the presidency then, you can bet the world will be watching. And you can also bet Obama will have a staffer or David Axelrod (or both) watching as well.
And that’s because Palin v. Obama will be a landslide (and Obama knows it).
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Rules for Radicals (Democratic Tactics)
Saul Alinsky's
Rules for Radicals
(or understanding current Democratic tactics)
Rule 1: Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have
Rule 2: Never go outside the experience of your people.
Rule 3: Whenever possible, go outside the experience of the enemy.
Rule 4: Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.
Rule 5: Ridicule is man's most potent weapon
Rule 6: A good tactic is one your people enjoy.
Rule 7: A tactic that drags on for too long becomes a drag.
Rule 8: Use different tactics and actions and use all events of the period.
Rule 9: The threat is more terrifying than the thing itself.
Rule 10: Maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition.
Rule 11: If you push a negative hard and deep enough, it will break through into its counterside.
Rule 12: The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.
Rule 13: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, polarize it.
Rules for Radicals
(or understanding current Democratic tactics)
Rule 1: Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have
Rule 2: Never go outside the experience of your people.
Rule 3: Whenever possible, go outside the experience of the enemy.
Rule 4: Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.
Rule 5: Ridicule is man's most potent weapon
Rule 6: A good tactic is one your people enjoy.
Rule 7: A tactic that drags on for too long becomes a drag.
Rule 8: Use different tactics and actions and use all events of the period.
Rule 9: The threat is more terrifying than the thing itself.
Rule 10: Maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition.
Rule 11: If you push a negative hard and deep enough, it will break through into its counterside.
Rule 12: The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.
Rule 13: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, polarize it.
IS THERE ONE GOOD REASON TO RE-ELECT OBAMA?
I REALLY CAN'T THINK OF ONE GOOD REASON TO RE-ELECT OBAMA.
HE HASN'T ACCOMPLISHED ONE GOOD THING - EVEN IF IF YOU'RE A LEFTIST:
HE DIDN'T CLOSE GITMO.
HE DIDN'T END THE WAR IN IRAQ OR AFGHANISTAN - HE STARTED A NEW ONE IN LIBYA.
HE DIDN'T END THE BUSH TAX CUTS.
HE DIDN'T END BI-PARTISAN BICKERING IN WASHINGTON.
HIS PERFORMANCE IN THE BP OIL SPILL WASN'T ANY BETTER THAN BUSH'S KATRINA RESPONSE.
AND DESPITE SPENDING TRILLIONS WE DIDN'T HAVE ON HIS HAND-PICKED PROGRAMS, OBAMA DIDN'T LOWER UNEMPLOYMENT OR THE DEBT OR THE DEFICIT.
AND OBAMA PASSED IT ON A STRAIGHT PARTY-LINE VOTE.
OBAMA IS A MISERABLE FAILURE. JUST AS WE ON THE RIGHT PREDICTED.
I DID THIS PHOTOSHOP WITHIN WEEKS OF HIS INAUGURATION:
OBAMA IS THE WORST PRESIDENT EVER.
EVEN WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON
WAS A BETTER PRESIDENT -
AND HE WAS PRESIDENT FOR ONLY 32 DAYS!
I HOPE THIS NATION SURVIVES UNTIL 2012 SO WE CAN GET RID OF THIS BUM!
THE BEST WAY TO ENSURE WE DO MAKE IT TO THE NEXT ELECTION IS FOR OBAMA TO RESIGN OR ANNOUNCE HE WON'T SEEK A SECOND TERM.
HE HASN'T ACCOMPLISHED ONE GOOD THING - EVEN IF IF YOU'RE A LEFTIST:
HE DIDN'T CLOSE GITMO.
HE DIDN'T END THE WAR IN IRAQ OR AFGHANISTAN - HE STARTED A NEW ONE IN LIBYA.
HE DIDN'T END THE BUSH TAX CUTS.
HE DIDN'T END BI-PARTISAN BICKERING IN WASHINGTON.
HIS PERFORMANCE IN THE BP OIL SPILL WASN'T ANY BETTER THAN BUSH'S KATRINA RESPONSE.
AND DESPITE SPENDING TRILLIONS WE DIDN'T HAVE ON HIS HAND-PICKED PROGRAMS, OBAMA DIDN'T LOWER UNEMPLOYMENT OR THE DEBT OR THE DEFICIT.
AND OBAMA PASSED IT ON A STRAIGHT PARTY-LINE VOTE.
OBAMA IS A MISERABLE FAILURE. JUST AS WE ON THE RIGHT PREDICTED.
I DID THIS PHOTOSHOP WITHIN WEEKS OF HIS INAUGURATION:
OBAMA IS THE WORST PRESIDENT EVER.
EVEN WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON
WAS A BETTER PRESIDENT -
AND HE WAS PRESIDENT FOR ONLY 32 DAYS!
I HOPE THIS NATION SURVIVES UNTIL 2012 SO WE CAN GET RID OF THIS BUM!
THE BEST WAY TO ENSURE WE DO MAKE IT TO THE NEXT ELECTION IS FOR OBAMA TO RESIGN OR ANNOUNCE HE WON'T SEEK A SECOND TERM.
Immigration: A view from inside the department
I suppose the morons forgot they lost the war!
At a dinner last night night, talking to an acquaintance who works for the Department of Immigration, in a division known as "Detention and Removal ". Some insights:
On staffing: Unlike most government agencies, where hiring has increased in tandem with regulations, Immigration is understaffed by 37%. According to my source, the Obama administration intentionally withholds funding and uses other bureaucratic techniques to avoid filling these positions, in order to make the removal process harder for the department to implement and easier for the illegals to skirt.
On Chris Christie: My friend loathes him. And not for the usual "government employee" reasons. If the story I heard last night was accurate, in the 18 months leading up to Chris Christie's election as governor, valid New Jersey deportation cases slowed to a halt as his office (US Attorney General) refused to move any deportation cases along. Apparently, the governor feared being accused him of "anti-immigrant tendencies" during the campaign by either the media or Hispanic activists . I can't confirm the validity of this claim (although I am sure records are kept on the level of activity), but if this is true, it's another reason - along with his fealty to the "global warming" craze and his disturbing desire to rub elbows with power, including Barack Obama and Chinese dictators - why Christie is likely best off not entering the 2012 Republican presidential primaries.
Tilted playing field against the department: If US Immigration makes even the smallest mistake on any form or document - even spelling, in some cases - judges turn the illegals immigrants loose in an instant. Should said illegal make a mistake, however, he is told how to correct his form and allowed to re-enter his documents. No many how many times it happens.
The saddest thing I ever heard: "The case is not closed until the illegal alien wins."
It's a miracle these guys can wake up and go to work every day, trying to enforce the law, with the knowledge that their own government is working tirelessly to ensure that their work ends in failure...
At a dinner last night night, talking to an acquaintance who works for the Department of Immigration, in a division known as "Detention and Removal ". Some insights:
On staffing: Unlike most government agencies, where hiring has increased in tandem with regulations, Immigration is understaffed by 37%. According to my source, the Obama administration intentionally withholds funding and uses other bureaucratic techniques to avoid filling these positions, in order to make the removal process harder for the department to implement and easier for the illegals to skirt.
On Chris Christie: My friend loathes him. And not for the usual "government employee" reasons. If the story I heard last night was accurate, in the 18 months leading up to Chris Christie's election as governor, valid New Jersey deportation cases slowed to a halt as his office (US Attorney General) refused to move any deportation cases along. Apparently, the governor feared being accused him of "anti-immigrant tendencies" during the campaign by either the media or Hispanic activists . I can't confirm the validity of this claim (although I am sure records are kept on the level of activity), but if this is true, it's another reason - along with his fealty to the "global warming" craze and his disturbing desire to rub elbows with power, including Barack Obama and Chinese dictators - why Christie is likely best off not entering the 2012 Republican presidential primaries.
Tilted playing field against the department: If US Immigration makes even the smallest mistake on any form or document - even spelling, in some cases - judges turn the illegals immigrants loose in an instant. Should said illegal make a mistake, however, he is told how to correct his form and allowed to re-enter his documents. No many how many times it happens.
The saddest thing I ever heard: "The case is not closed until the illegal alien wins."
It's a miracle these guys can wake up and go to work every day, trying to enforce the law, with the knowledge that their own government is working tirelessly to ensure that their work ends in failure...
Who Was Really Responsible for the Norway Massacre?
The German journalist Michael Mannheimer draws conclusions about where the responsibility for the Oslo atrocities lies, based on the type of “logic” habitually employed by the MSM.
His observations were posted last month as a comment on a article at Politically Incorrect. Many thanks to JLH for the translation.
Why No Guilt Attaches to Islam Critics for the Massacre in Oslo
by Michael Mannheimer
Don’t let it make you crazy! The Mainstream Media and The Bleeding Hearts as well as the political establishment are being exposed by their attacks against Christianity and Islam-critical forums. Here are a few examples of their argumentation.
1. Despite a thousand kinds of exhortations to hatred, violence and murder from the texts of Islam and its contemporary apologists, the MSM argues in EVERY INSTANCE of the more than 17,000 (!) terrorist acts committed by Muslims nowadays that these acts have NOTHING to do with Islam, and that the majority of Muslims are moderate.
Now, however, with a SINGLE terrorist act by a non-Muslim — specifically a SINGLE Christian (!), that reasoning does not apply: Suddenly, Mainstream-Media-And-Bleeding-Hearts, Inc. holds all of Christianity responsible for it.
2. Over one million dead from the 17,000 Islamic terrorist acts VERSUS 90 dead from one isolated Christian terrorist strike. Such a difference could be represented on the page of a newspaper by an ordinary bar graph. Using one-tenth of a millimeter for each person killed, the bar for Islam would be one-hundred meters long; the bar for the Norwegian assassin would be all of 9 millimeters. If you still wanted to use this kind of bar graph, you would have to choose a measure of a thousandth of a millimeter for each person killed. This would yield a bar of ten centimeters for Islam. The bar for non-Islamic attacks would be visible only under a microscope.
3. According to the popular standard, cui bono? (who profits?), Islam and/or its Western supporters, in line with their characteristic mindset, should be identified as the beneficiaries of the Norwegian attack. Because both of them profit most from this terrorist act. I wager, however, that this time no one will be reading about any such conspiracy theories.
4. If the political establishment really wanted to push the guilt for the Norwegian attack onto the Islam-critical forums, then they should ask themselves why they have never yet proceeded against the countless Islamic hate forums. These, logically, should bear the guilt for Islamic terrorist acts. There is no escape for them from this logical defect in their argument without admitting that they had been secretly supporting Islamic terror against the West. Even if this were true, none of them would admit it. And if one of them did do that, he would be defamed by the Western political establishment as an “isolated instance” or “psychologically disturbed.”
5. Should the political establishment reproach Islam-critical forums with their contributing to hatred of Islam and therewith to this terrorist act, the establishment would be officially admitting for the first time that words do in fact lead to actions. In regard to Islam and especially in regard to some 2,000 calls from the Koran and the hadiths for the murder of all “infidels,” the political establishment has always denied this principle or equated it in the must rudimentary fashion by referring to the Mecca suras.
So if the political establishment should harass or forbid all Islam-critical forums, this should be supported without reservation… provided the political establishment is logically consistent enough to also forbid all Islamic forums as the cause of the entire problem. In which case, Islam-critical forums would be rendered obsolete.
6. The Norway massacre can also be portrayed as the act of a desperate person, whose rage at the cumulative degradation of Norway and its Western-Christian foundation was expressed in this terrorist act. If Palestinian terrorism can be justified by the “occupation” of Palestine by infidel Jews — and this is done especially by PC Norwegians — why then are they incapable of similarly understanding or explaining the terrorist act of an individual Christian directed against the occupation of his country by Islam?
The answer is clear. It is not that Islam is occupying Norway and the rest of Europe. Rather, the political establishment — against the will of their own populations — is allowing Muslims by the millions into Norway and the other countries of Europe. The chief responsibility for the universal Islamization of Western countries is attributable solely to the overwhelmingly leftist — although in the best case also Bleeding Heart — political establishment of those countries. They alone were and are the ones who in the last fifty years have brought into their lands millions of Muslims who are incapable of adapting to the indigenous culture and values. They were authorized to do this by no one but themselves.
7. You can, if you like, interpret this terrorist act as the long- foreseen beginning of a civil war in Europe… as the desperate act of a (still lone) indigenous citizen, using the tools of desperation to prevent Europe’s drift toward an Islamic caliphate. It is interesting that this act of terrorism pertained not only to Muslims, but also to parts of the political establishment. Not just the CIA but other Western secret services as well have long predicted this scenario. So Norway, 2011 is considered the prelude to a beginning civil war by indigenous citizens in defense of their continent. That need not mean that now all Europeans will reach for their weapons. But presumably the start has been made. No wonder the political establishment is taking fright.
In the Oslo terrorist act, the facts and the conclusions to be drawn from them are unrelated to one another, except that the defenders of Islam and the contemporary critics of Christianity (the “political establishment”) are united in combating and abolishing the West in general and Christianity in particular.
The defenders of Islam are collaborators with the Islamic ideology of hatred, they have brought Muslims by the million into their lands and have, in unprecedented measure, changed the face of Europe until it is unrecognizable. In doing so, they have oppressed the will of the majority of indigenous Europeans and are ipso facto responsible for the Norway massacre.
His observations were posted last month as a comment on a article at Politically Incorrect. Many thanks to JLH for the translation.
Why No Guilt Attaches to Islam Critics for the Massacre in Oslo
by Michael Mannheimer
Don’t let it make you crazy! The Mainstream Media and The Bleeding Hearts as well as the political establishment are being exposed by their attacks against Christianity and Islam-critical forums. Here are a few examples of their argumentation.
1. Despite a thousand kinds of exhortations to hatred, violence and murder from the texts of Islam and its contemporary apologists, the MSM argues in EVERY INSTANCE of the more than 17,000 (!) terrorist acts committed by Muslims nowadays that these acts have NOTHING to do with Islam, and that the majority of Muslims are moderate.
Now, however, with a SINGLE terrorist act by a non-Muslim — specifically a SINGLE Christian (!), that reasoning does not apply: Suddenly, Mainstream-Media-And-Bleeding-Hearts, Inc. holds all of Christianity responsible for it.
2. Over one million dead from the 17,000 Islamic terrorist acts VERSUS 90 dead from one isolated Christian terrorist strike. Such a difference could be represented on the page of a newspaper by an ordinary bar graph. Using one-tenth of a millimeter for each person killed, the bar for Islam would be one-hundred meters long; the bar for the Norwegian assassin would be all of 9 millimeters. If you still wanted to use this kind of bar graph, you would have to choose a measure of a thousandth of a millimeter for each person killed. This would yield a bar of ten centimeters for Islam. The bar for non-Islamic attacks would be visible only under a microscope.
3. According to the popular standard, cui bono? (who profits?), Islam and/or its Western supporters, in line with their characteristic mindset, should be identified as the beneficiaries of the Norwegian attack. Because both of them profit most from this terrorist act. I wager, however, that this time no one will be reading about any such conspiracy theories.
4. If the political establishment really wanted to push the guilt for the Norwegian attack onto the Islam-critical forums, then they should ask themselves why they have never yet proceeded against the countless Islamic hate forums. These, logically, should bear the guilt for Islamic terrorist acts. There is no escape for them from this logical defect in their argument without admitting that they had been secretly supporting Islamic terror against the West. Even if this were true, none of them would admit it. And if one of them did do that, he would be defamed by the Western political establishment as an “isolated instance” or “psychologically disturbed.”
5. Should the political establishment reproach Islam-critical forums with their contributing to hatred of Islam and therewith to this terrorist act, the establishment would be officially admitting for the first time that words do in fact lead to actions. In regard to Islam and especially in regard to some 2,000 calls from the Koran and the hadiths for the murder of all “infidels,” the political establishment has always denied this principle or equated it in the must rudimentary fashion by referring to the Mecca suras.
So if the political establishment should harass or forbid all Islam-critical forums, this should be supported without reservation… provided the political establishment is logically consistent enough to also forbid all Islamic forums as the cause of the entire problem. In which case, Islam-critical forums would be rendered obsolete.
6. The Norway massacre can also be portrayed as the act of a desperate person, whose rage at the cumulative degradation of Norway and its Western-Christian foundation was expressed in this terrorist act. If Palestinian terrorism can be justified by the “occupation” of Palestine by infidel Jews — and this is done especially by PC Norwegians — why then are they incapable of similarly understanding or explaining the terrorist act of an individual Christian directed against the occupation of his country by Islam?
The answer is clear. It is not that Islam is occupying Norway and the rest of Europe. Rather, the political establishment — against the will of their own populations — is allowing Muslims by the millions into Norway and the other countries of Europe. The chief responsibility for the universal Islamization of Western countries is attributable solely to the overwhelmingly leftist — although in the best case also Bleeding Heart — political establishment of those countries. They alone were and are the ones who in the last fifty years have brought into their lands millions of Muslims who are incapable of adapting to the indigenous culture and values. They were authorized to do this by no one but themselves.
7. You can, if you like, interpret this terrorist act as the long- foreseen beginning of a civil war in Europe… as the desperate act of a (still lone) indigenous citizen, using the tools of desperation to prevent Europe’s drift toward an Islamic caliphate. It is interesting that this act of terrorism pertained not only to Muslims, but also to parts of the political establishment. Not just the CIA but other Western secret services as well have long predicted this scenario. So Norway, 2011 is considered the prelude to a beginning civil war by indigenous citizens in defense of their continent. That need not mean that now all Europeans will reach for their weapons. But presumably the start has been made. No wonder the political establishment is taking fright.
In the Oslo terrorist act, the facts and the conclusions to be drawn from them are unrelated to one another, except that the defenders of Islam and the contemporary critics of Christianity (the “political establishment”) are united in combating and abolishing the West in general and Christianity in particular.
The defenders of Islam are collaborators with the Islamic ideology of hatred, they have brought Muslims by the million into their lands and have, in unprecedented measure, changed the face of Europe until it is unrecognizable. In doing so, they have oppressed the will of the majority of indigenous Europeans and are ipso facto responsible for the Norway massacre.
Electric Utilities Must Defy The EPA
Rarely is civil disobedience a course of action that should be taken when government agencies are running amok with regulations that threaten the very life blood of the American economy, electricity. But with the Obama machine in overdrive to shut down coal fired electric plants in a bad economy, utilities must decide what is better serving Washington or serving their customers.
In this case the latter is the responsible decision. Coal fired power plants and their owners should refuse to comply with federal regulations as it could cause an energy crisis with base loads of power dropping below demand, especially in the summer and winter and skyrocket energy costs to consumers. The EPA will levy fines and the utilities should refuse to pay. Make the EPA ask Obama to order the military in to shut down coal fired power plants and other utilities. Lets see how well that plays out?
Mines should continue to distribute coal to the power plants regardless of what Obama and his henchmen want. They should refuse to bow to the unlawful and dangerous regulations of the out of control government regulators.
States should refuse to implement and should interfere with any attempt by the Obama Administration to shut down any energy production within their borders, including coal fired power plants, and use whatever means are necessary to keep the lights on to state citizens and other customers these plants serve.
Utilities and mines should not wuss out by closing "non compliant" plants. They should not only keep them open but ramp up production to meet the needs of the people and business in spite of Obama's coercive attempts to shut them down.
Next he will be after natural gas plants and nuclear power. The President, his government, and the environmentalists are drunk with power. In my humble opinion if the President continues his crackdown on our power, it will be necessary to refuse to obey administrative rules legal or not. It will also be necessary to refuse to obey court orders state or federal that impede our ability to carry on the necessities of daily life.
We as citizens have a civil right and obligation to protect our ability to carry out activities of daily living and not have a government out of control turn off the lights to our businesses, homes, cities, and infrastructure. Obama wants to run up the power bills of everyone who will not bow to the sun god or windmill god. Enough is enough.
Martin Luther King Jr. provided us with the model of civil disobedience when all else fails. I hope it does not come to civil disobedience because that has its own costs to a nation of laws and order. But given obeying unjust laws which starve our economy, cost jobs, and cause power shortages, or disobeying these laws and keeping control of our lives, I will take the latter. It is time to take the crown away from the king.
In this case the latter is the responsible decision. Coal fired power plants and their owners should refuse to comply with federal regulations as it could cause an energy crisis with base loads of power dropping below demand, especially in the summer and winter and skyrocket energy costs to consumers. The EPA will levy fines and the utilities should refuse to pay. Make the EPA ask Obama to order the military in to shut down coal fired power plants and other utilities. Lets see how well that plays out?
Mines should continue to distribute coal to the power plants regardless of what Obama and his henchmen want. They should refuse to bow to the unlawful and dangerous regulations of the out of control government regulators.
States should refuse to implement and should interfere with any attempt by the Obama Administration to shut down any energy production within their borders, including coal fired power plants, and use whatever means are necessary to keep the lights on to state citizens and other customers these plants serve.
Utilities and mines should not wuss out by closing "non compliant" plants. They should not only keep them open but ramp up production to meet the needs of the people and business in spite of Obama's coercive attempts to shut them down.
Next he will be after natural gas plants and nuclear power. The President, his government, and the environmentalists are drunk with power. In my humble opinion if the President continues his crackdown on our power, it will be necessary to refuse to obey administrative rules legal or not. It will also be necessary to refuse to obey court orders state or federal that impede our ability to carry on the necessities of daily life.
We as citizens have a civil right and obligation to protect our ability to carry out activities of daily living and not have a government out of control turn off the lights to our businesses, homes, cities, and infrastructure. Obama wants to run up the power bills of everyone who will not bow to the sun god or windmill god. Enough is enough.
Martin Luther King Jr. provided us with the model of civil disobedience when all else fails. I hope it does not come to civil disobedience because that has its own costs to a nation of laws and order. But given obeying unjust laws which starve our economy, cost jobs, and cause power shortages, or disobeying these laws and keeping control of our lives, I will take the latter. It is time to take the crown away from the king.
Cain: Impeaching Obama would be "a Great Thing"
HurriCain:
Asked on a conference call with bloggers this evening why Republicans can't just impeach Barack Obama, Herman Cain answers that it's mostly a matter of legislative politics, POLITICO's Elizabeth Titus reports:
"That’s a great question and it is a great — it would be a great thing to do but because the Senate is controlled by Democrats we would never be able to get the Senate first to take up that action, because they simply don’t care what the American public thinks. They would protect him and they wouldn’t even bring it up," Cain said, citing the administration's position on the Defense of Marriage Act as an impeachable offense.
More from his answer: "So the main stumbling block in terms of getting him impeached on a whole list of things such as trying to pass a health care mandate which is unconstitutional, ordering the Department of Justice to not enforce the Defense of Marriage Act — that’s an impeachable offense right there. The president is supposed to uphold the laws of this nation … and to tell the Department of Justice not to uphold the Defense of Marriage Act is a breach of his oath. … There are a number of things where a case could be made in order to impeach him, but because Republicans do not control the United States Senate, they would never allow it to get off the ground."
Asked on a conference call with bloggers this evening why Republicans can't just impeach Barack Obama, Herman Cain answers that it's mostly a matter of legislative politics, POLITICO's Elizabeth Titus reports:
"That’s a great question and it is a great — it would be a great thing to do but because the Senate is controlled by Democrats we would never be able to get the Senate first to take up that action, because they simply don’t care what the American public thinks. They would protect him and they wouldn’t even bring it up," Cain said, citing the administration's position on the Defense of Marriage Act as an impeachable offense.
More from his answer: "So the main stumbling block in terms of getting him impeached on a whole list of things such as trying to pass a health care mandate which is unconstitutional, ordering the Department of Justice to not enforce the Defense of Marriage Act — that’s an impeachable offense right there. The president is supposed to uphold the laws of this nation … and to tell the Department of Justice not to uphold the Defense of Marriage Act is a breach of his oath. … There are a number of things where a case could be made in order to impeach him, but because Republicans do not control the United States Senate, they would never allow it to get off the ground."
OBAMA'S CRIMINAL ACTIVITY FLOATING UP LIKE DEAD FISH
OBAMA'S CRIMINAL ACTIVITY FLOATING UP LIKE DEAD FISH
(MUST READ AND VISIT VARIOUS LINKS SHOWN BELOW)
Obama's alias "Harrison J. Bounel" Tied To Connecticut Social Security Number Now Scrubbed From Databases
From Albert "Al" Hendershot: There has been a development as it pertains to database records for and about Barack H Obama. As we well know I am the one who discovered the Harrison J Bounel alias.
Well, these records have been scrubbed from these databases as of yesterday. All other records are gone except the records belonging to the "chosen one".
BUT SCREENSHOTS STILL EXIST ON THE INTERNET!
1) Someone used a fake property identification number to secure a $1.34 million Fannie May/ Freddie Mac “poverty” loan on Barack Obama’s Illinois mansion.
2) Barack Obama’s mansion moved through a trust company called Northern Trust, and has had six (6) different property identification numbers. All real estate is supposed to have only one (1) PIN. Someone was trying very hard to conceal the train of ownership of Obama’s Illinois mansion.
3) The above mentioned property scheme is called “layered ownership.” The Illinois law firm Obama worked for specialized in “layered ownership”.
4) Evidently, Barack Obama, using the false identity “Harrison J. Bounel”, secured a loan and then “skipped” - i.e., disappeared with the intention of never paying the loan back.
From Carl Swensson: Spent yesterday with a credit investigator (skip tracer) who has very highly specialized search software available to only those in the business and highly protected…
In March of this year he was doing a lookup of BHO’s SSN number and came up with this anomaly. Harrison J. Bounel kept showing up as living at the “O’s” and using the same SSN # ???? Also showed up as a relative of Michelle’s?
As of yesterday, the same search yielded no reference to Bounel so here we go again, records scrubbed. This Gentleman (Albert) is working with Jerome Corsi to get this and some really damning evidence concerning tax evasion on the Chicago address of the Obama’s residence (can we say Capone) out to as many as possible.
Orly had one such investigator working, early on, with the SS numbers but I’m not sure if she tied that together with the voter fraud documents which show multiple fictitious and famous characters living at the addresses of all these BHO residences associated with that CN SSN from across the country. I now have copies of that as well. Anybody here live in Arkansas? Have some interesting leads for you.
I know that name (Bounel) has appeared before but the significance now is that it is being scrubbed as people like Albert find pockets of this info still out there in the virtual world.
I do hope Jerome and Albert can put the pieces of the tax fraud puzzle together in a way that’s easily understandable for the masses to understand. Good luck with that as Cook County, IL is an absolute cesspool of political corruption and does an absolutely excellent job of hiding underhanded political dealings involving land and taxes.
Key here is that sliver of land Rezko turned over to the Trust Co. that owned Michelle’s/Barry’s Chicago residence at 5046 S. Greenwood Ave that has every appearance of having avoided any taxes being paid on it. That and the fact that on the Obama’s 2009 tax return it shows taxes paid on real estate when, according to records, they owned NONE.
http://www.archive.org/details/BarackH.Obama-AkaHarrisonJ.Bounel-DeadbeatAndTaxFraud
Previous report from ORYR: The Plot Thickens: Debt Collector; Obama's Connecticut Social Security Number Also Tied To An Alias Harrison J Bounel. MORE HERE
Obama's Connecticut Social Security Number Also Tied To An Alias Harrison J Bounel
http://www.scribd.com/doc/55859063/Obama-s-Connecticut-Social-Security-Number-Also-Tied-To-An-Alias-Harrison-J-Bounel
http://obamareleaseyourrecords.blogspot.com/2011/08/obamas-alias-harrison-j-bounel-tied-to.html
http://obamareleaseyourrecords.blogspot.com/2011/05/plot-thickens-debt-collector-obamas.html
(MUST READ AND VISIT VARIOUS LINKS SHOWN BELOW)
Obama's alias "Harrison J. Bounel" Tied To Connecticut Social Security Number Now Scrubbed From Databases
From Albert "Al" Hendershot: There has been a development as it pertains to database records for and about Barack H Obama. As we well know I am the one who discovered the Harrison J Bounel alias.
Well, these records have been scrubbed from these databases as of yesterday. All other records are gone except the records belonging to the "chosen one".
BUT SCREENSHOTS STILL EXIST ON THE INTERNET!
1) Someone used a fake property identification number to secure a $1.34 million Fannie May/ Freddie Mac “poverty” loan on Barack Obama’s Illinois mansion.
2) Barack Obama’s mansion moved through a trust company called Northern Trust, and has had six (6) different property identification numbers. All real estate is supposed to have only one (1) PIN. Someone was trying very hard to conceal the train of ownership of Obama’s Illinois mansion.
3) The above mentioned property scheme is called “layered ownership.” The Illinois law firm Obama worked for specialized in “layered ownership”.
4) Evidently, Barack Obama, using the false identity “Harrison J. Bounel”, secured a loan and then “skipped” - i.e., disappeared with the intention of never paying the loan back.
From Carl Swensson: Spent yesterday with a credit investigator (skip tracer) who has very highly specialized search software available to only those in the business and highly protected…
In March of this year he was doing a lookup of BHO’s SSN number and came up with this anomaly. Harrison J. Bounel kept showing up as living at the “O’s” and using the same SSN # ???? Also showed up as a relative of Michelle’s?
As of yesterday, the same search yielded no reference to Bounel so here we go again, records scrubbed. This Gentleman (Albert) is working with Jerome Corsi to get this and some really damning evidence concerning tax evasion on the Chicago address of the Obama’s residence (can we say Capone) out to as many as possible.
Orly had one such investigator working, early on, with the SS numbers but I’m not sure if she tied that together with the voter fraud documents which show multiple fictitious and famous characters living at the addresses of all these BHO residences associated with that CN SSN from across the country. I now have copies of that as well. Anybody here live in Arkansas? Have some interesting leads for you.
I know that name (Bounel) has appeared before but the significance now is that it is being scrubbed as people like Albert find pockets of this info still out there in the virtual world.
I do hope Jerome and Albert can put the pieces of the tax fraud puzzle together in a way that’s easily understandable for the masses to understand. Good luck with that as Cook County, IL is an absolute cesspool of political corruption and does an absolutely excellent job of hiding underhanded political dealings involving land and taxes.
Key here is that sliver of land Rezko turned over to the Trust Co. that owned Michelle’s/Barry’s Chicago residence at 5046 S. Greenwood Ave that has every appearance of having avoided any taxes being paid on it. That and the fact that on the Obama’s 2009 tax return it shows taxes paid on real estate when, according to records, they owned NONE.
http://www.archive.org/details/BarackH.Obama-AkaHarrisonJ.Bounel-DeadbeatAndTaxFraud
Previous report from ORYR: The Plot Thickens: Debt Collector; Obama's Connecticut Social Security Number Also Tied To An Alias Harrison J Bounel. MORE HERE
Obama's Connecticut Social Security Number Also Tied To An Alias Harrison J Bounel
http://www.scribd.com/doc/55859063/Obama-s-Connecticut-Social-Security-Number-Also-Tied-To-An-Alias-Harrison-J-Bounel
http://obamareleaseyourrecords.blogspot.com/2011/08/obamas-alias-harrison-j-bounel-tied-to.html
http://obamareleaseyourrecords.blogspot.com/2011/05/plot-thickens-debt-collector-obamas.html
Obama Could Learn a Thing or Two From Jimmy Carter
Remember Jimmy Carter? 39th President. Billy Beer. Lust in his heart. Killer rabbits. That Jimmy Carter? Obama could learn a thing or two from Jimmy.
Remember the energy crisis of 1977? I know! There have been so many oil embargoes and crises, and still the government continues to hamstring energy producers. But, in 1977, President Carter took to the airwaves to rally the American people to conserve energy, "the moral equivalent of war".
Anyone here old enough to remember that speech? He sat there, looking into the camera sincerely, wearing a cardigan sweater, presumably, because he had turned down the thermostat in the White House to conserve energy. (As opposed to the current resident of the White House, who is known to keep his office quite toasty!) President Carter, long before Bill Clinton ever patented the line, was trying to communicate that he felt our pain, that he willingly shared in the sacrifice he was calling upon everyone to make. Now, it is possible that, after the cameras were turned off, he fired up the thermostat and ran around the Oval Office in his skivvies. (Sorry for the image!) But, at least Carter put up the appearance of empathizing with the people he was elected to lead.
Compare and contrast with a president who surrounds himself with all the trappings of power. Someone who doesn't deny himself a thing, but lives like a king or the dictator of some banana republic, throwing lavish parties for himself, hobnobbing with the rich and famous while the peasants beg for crusts of bread.
Think about it...other than his annoyance over not everyone doing what he wants them to do, have you seen any evidence at all in the last two and a half years, that Barack Obama is not really enjoying himself heartily? Parties, golf, lavish vacations, world travel, deluxe transportation, gourmet meals, (with chefs flown in from Chicago and Hawaii), people to wait upon his every whim, at his beck and call. Meanwhile, the country goes to Hades in a handbasket.
Obama talks the talk about 'shared sacrifice", but by that he means that others should share the sacrifice, not him personally. He doesn't walk the walk. He says his favorite Bible verse is Matthew 25:40 -
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
(Think millions of dollars in book royalties and a half brother who lives in a hut for $12 a year.)
No one begrudges protecting the president. Some think a fleet of million dollar "rock star" buses was over the top. No one begrudges the President in taking time off to be with his family. Spending millions of tax dollars to do so is over the top.
Say what you will about Jimmy Carter, he was either smart enough and humble enough not to rub people's noses in his good fortune while the rest of the country suffered, or at least he gave that appearance. Little Lord Barackleroy and his wife, spend the nation's money like drunken Congressmen and don't seem to be the tiniest bit embarrassed in flaunting and wasting the wealth and power entrusted to them by their fellow citizens.
Some presidents lead by example. Others show great moral courage and integrity.
And then, there's Barack...
Remember the energy crisis of 1977? I know! There have been so many oil embargoes and crises, and still the government continues to hamstring energy producers. But, in 1977, President Carter took to the airwaves to rally the American people to conserve energy, "the moral equivalent of war".
Anyone here old enough to remember that speech? He sat there, looking into the camera sincerely, wearing a cardigan sweater, presumably, because he had turned down the thermostat in the White House to conserve energy. (As opposed to the current resident of the White House, who is known to keep his office quite toasty!) President Carter, long before Bill Clinton ever patented the line, was trying to communicate that he felt our pain, that he willingly shared in the sacrifice he was calling upon everyone to make. Now, it is possible that, after the cameras were turned off, he fired up the thermostat and ran around the Oval Office in his skivvies. (Sorry for the image!) But, at least Carter put up the appearance of empathizing with the people he was elected to lead.
Compare and contrast with a president who surrounds himself with all the trappings of power. Someone who doesn't deny himself a thing, but lives like a king or the dictator of some banana republic, throwing lavish parties for himself, hobnobbing with the rich and famous while the peasants beg for crusts of bread.
Think about it...other than his annoyance over not everyone doing what he wants them to do, have you seen any evidence at all in the last two and a half years, that Barack Obama is not really enjoying himself heartily? Parties, golf, lavish vacations, world travel, deluxe transportation, gourmet meals, (with chefs flown in from Chicago and Hawaii), people to wait upon his every whim, at his beck and call. Meanwhile, the country goes to Hades in a handbasket.
Obama talks the talk about 'shared sacrifice", but by that he means that others should share the sacrifice, not him personally. He doesn't walk the walk. He says his favorite Bible verse is Matthew 25:40 -
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
(Think millions of dollars in book royalties and a half brother who lives in a hut for $12 a year.)
No one begrudges protecting the president. Some think a fleet of million dollar "rock star" buses was over the top. No one begrudges the President in taking time off to be with his family. Spending millions of tax dollars to do so is over the top.
Say what you will about Jimmy Carter, he was either smart enough and humble enough not to rub people's noses in his good fortune while the rest of the country suffered, or at least he gave that appearance. Little Lord Barackleroy and his wife, spend the nation's money like drunken Congressmen and don't seem to be the tiniest bit embarrassed in flaunting and wasting the wealth and power entrusted to them by their fellow citizens.
Some presidents lead by example. Others show great moral courage and integrity.
And then, there's Barack...
If the Rich Get Richer, So Do We
The liberal left believes that wealth is finite. They don't believe wealth is created. They believe that if someone gets rich at the top, somewhere at the bottom someone's life gets worse. That is why they say that the "fat cats" got rich on the backs of the poor.
It is all a lie.
In fact, I not only don't mind those fat cats getting rich. . . I want them to do even better!
As for them paying more taxes? They already pay most of the taxes! If you want somebody to pay their fair share, how about the over forty percent of Americans that don't pay taxes at all? How about those who suck off the system, but never put a penny back in? How about we spend less as a government, and get those entitlement folks to work so that they can get rich too?
This is a capitalist society where the free market reigns, and profit is a key motivator. People become rich without having to be a part of a powerful governmental regime, a monarchy, or a criminal. Here, in America, the rich often used to be just like you and me. The rich are simply people who decided to produce a lot!
In America, we are all created equally in the eyes of God, and the law. The rich, therefore, does not get special privileges. They simply have done well, and get what they deserve. They took a risk, or did something nobody else was willing, or able, to do, or they pursued a passion and it really worked out well for them.
The producers that receive wealth for their success are the ones that build the economy, create innovation, and employ people. When the rich get richer, more people become rich, inflation drops, interest rates drop, and the unemployment rate drops. Oh, and because there are more millionaires in such a scenario, revenue increases (especially when the taxes are cut, and it encourages more production).
Wealth is created. Then when wealth is created, more wealth is created through growing whatever it was that created the wealth in the first place. When the wealthy get more wealthy, the gain more wealth through investment. To grow their wealth to even higher levels, the producer finds out they need help, so he/she hires employees, which means the wealth that the wealthy are creating works its way to others as well. And as they produce, and others produce, and it grows the economy through a thriving free market, it encourages more people to invest aggressively and become rich too! And through all of that production more consumerism ensues, more innovative technologies are produced, credit is extended, and more people have access to bigger investments (like homes, cars, etc.).
We also have to take into consideration the parts of the system the rich use. For example: those private jets Obama rails against so much employ mechanics, pilots, airport personnel, and the workers that manufacture the planes and the parts for the planes. If the rich were to quit flying their fancy jets as Obama has suggested, it would merely add to the number of unemployed, and slow down the economy ever further.
Over taxing and hammering on the rich will hurt all of us. When they are deterred from becoming richer, it takes away jobs, reduces the number of products in the market, and the overall economic stability of the nation. We need them to get rich, and richer, because it makes all of us richer. Wealth is created, not redistributed. When you redistribute wealth, it destroys economies. It always has, and it always will. That is what killed the Soviet Union.
Let's all get rich. That is what America is about. We all have the opportunity if we want it bad enough. Even the slaves on entitlements can work their way out of government dependency, and into self-reliance, and ultimately a bundle of riches.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
Posted by Douglas V. Gibbs at 1:24 AM
Video: Obama Gets Welcomed on Vacation by "You Suck" and "Fix the Economy"
Video: Obama Gets Welcomed on Vacation by "You Suck" and "Fix the Economy"
Hard to tell if there was any more than this from more than just the one guy, but anyway:
Hard to tell if there was any more than this from more than just the one guy, but anyway:
Obama's (Gang)Green Jobs: Getting Back to the Garden?
Besides healing the planet and returning the rising seas to their natural beds, then-Senator Obama promised that his administration would create beautiful green jobs: well paid, stable, abundant jobs, unionized, with full benefits and making the earth healthier and the American people richer. As President, he stayed on message: even after the truther-enabling “green jobs czar” Van Jones left the administration, green jobs have been one of the President’s signature policies for putting the American people back to work. _GWPF_WalterRussellMead
Something unexpected happened on the way to the Garden of Eden. Despite massive spending and stimulus, the green jobs revolution fizzled. Wind energy failed to meet expectations, as did solar. Electric vehicles were not ready for prime time, because electrical storage batteries are still 3 breakthroughs away from being up to the task. And the "smart power grid" is proving to be one more way that government and malicious hackers can monitor private activity, and shut it down.
Federal and state efforts to stimulate creation of green jobs have largely failed, government records show. Two years after it was awarded $186 million in federal stimulus money to weatherize drafty homes, California has spent only a little over half that sum and has so far created the equivalent of just 538 full-time jobs in the last quarter…
The Economic Development Department in California reports that $59 million in state, federal and private money dedicated to green jobs training and apprenticeship has led to only 719 job placements — the equivalent of an $82,000 subsidy for each one. _NYT_via_WalterRussellMead
Many of Obama's expensive green stimulus programs cost $1 million to $2 million per job -- mainly "hands-off" make-work administrative jobs, rather than the entry-level practical jobs as promised. Read the entire article at the link above.
The ongoing Obama recession has not helped the green revolution take off, of course. But if you look at the green revolution as just one more way for Obama to divert government spending from the private sector, into the pockets of friends and supporters, the entire effort makes a lot more sense.
...green trends suffer when a listless economy sends old-energy prices into a rollercoaster spiral.
This possibility is reflected in the less-than-impressive growth in the “green jobs” sector, which was supposed to lift America out of the recent recession. The New York Times’ Bay Citizen project surveyed the field and found some rather disappointing numbers in job growth, job training programs and even something as simple as weatherization projects. _PopSci
Perhaps the green revolution was always just about appearances, and not about results, like so many other aspects of the current US administration. Just enough hoopla! to satisfy the rubes, without the need to accomplish anything productive.
In the eyes of such political machinations, it is enough just to get re-elected. If the news on the street is not as good as the public wishes, a great communicator can always make enough excuses, cast enough blame in other directions, and toss out enough goodies, to keep the plantation operating.
Something unexpected happened on the way to the Garden of Eden. Despite massive spending and stimulus, the green jobs revolution fizzled. Wind energy failed to meet expectations, as did solar. Electric vehicles were not ready for prime time, because electrical storage batteries are still 3 breakthroughs away from being up to the task. And the "smart power grid" is proving to be one more way that government and malicious hackers can monitor private activity, and shut it down.
Federal and state efforts to stimulate creation of green jobs have largely failed, government records show. Two years after it was awarded $186 million in federal stimulus money to weatherize drafty homes, California has spent only a little over half that sum and has so far created the equivalent of just 538 full-time jobs in the last quarter…
The Economic Development Department in California reports that $59 million in state, federal and private money dedicated to green jobs training and apprenticeship has led to only 719 job placements — the equivalent of an $82,000 subsidy for each one. _NYT_via_WalterRussellMead
Many of Obama's expensive green stimulus programs cost $1 million to $2 million per job -- mainly "hands-off" make-work administrative jobs, rather than the entry-level practical jobs as promised. Read the entire article at the link above.
The ongoing Obama recession has not helped the green revolution take off, of course. But if you look at the green revolution as just one more way for Obama to divert government spending from the private sector, into the pockets of friends and supporters, the entire effort makes a lot more sense.
...green trends suffer when a listless economy sends old-energy prices into a rollercoaster spiral.
This possibility is reflected in the less-than-impressive growth in the “green jobs” sector, which was supposed to lift America out of the recent recession. The New York Times’ Bay Citizen project surveyed the field and found some rather disappointing numbers in job growth, job training programs and even something as simple as weatherization projects. _PopSci
Perhaps the green revolution was always just about appearances, and not about results, like so many other aspects of the current US administration. Just enough hoopla! to satisfy the rubes, without the need to accomplish anything productive.
In the eyes of such political machinations, it is enough just to get re-elected. If the news on the street is not as good as the public wishes, a great communicator can always make enough excuses, cast enough blame in other directions, and toss out enough goodies, to keep the plantation operating.
EPA Says That Freezing People In The Dark Is Good For Their Health
The head of the Texas Public Utility Commission expressed concern Friday that a new federal air quality rule, set to take effect Jan. 1, will cause disruptions in electric service.
If implementation of the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule is not delayed, “I have no doubt in my mind that this rule will result in reliability issues and rolling outages in Texas,” Donna Nelson said at the start of the commission’s meeting.
The rule, issued in early July by the Environmental Protection Agency, would require substantial reductions in emissions of nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide at power plants in 27 states.
The EPA says the rule will save and prolong lives by reducing harmful smog and soot pollution. Gina McCarthy, an EPA assistant administrator, said
http://www.star-telegram.com/
If implementation of the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule is not delayed, “I have no doubt in my mind that this rule will result in reliability issues and rolling outages in Texas,” Donna Nelson said at the start of the commission’s meeting.
The rule, issued in early July by the Environmental Protection Agency, would require substantial reductions in emissions of nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide at power plants in 27 states.
The EPA says the rule will save and prolong lives by reducing harmful smog and soot pollution. Gina McCarthy, an EPA assistant administrator, said
http://www.star-telegram.com/
10 of the 13 Gazans killed since Thursday were terrorists
In retaliation for Thursday's terror attack near Eilat, Israel has struck Gaza hard with airstrikes. Yet despite the pro-Hamas and leftist Tweeters claiming that Israel's airstrikes are aimed at Gaza infrastructure and civilians, even according to Arab sources most of them were clearly aimed at terrorists or terrorist infrastructure.
Fully 10 of the 13 killed since Friday were terrorists. From Thursday:
1- Kamal 'Awadh Mohammed al-Nairab (Abu 'Awadh), 43, PRC Secretary General;
2- 'Emad 'Abdul Karim 'Abdul Khaliq Hammad, 40, the leader of Nasser Saladin Brigades;
3- 'Emad al-Din Na'im Sayed Nasser, 46, a member of Nasser Saladin Brigades;
4- Khaled Ibrahim Salman al-Masri, 26, a member of Nasser Saladin Brigades;
5- Khaled Hamad Sha'at, 32, the leader of manufacturing unit of Nasser Saladin Brigades
A child who was with the above targets was killed as well.
From Friday:
6- Mohammed Fayez Mahmoud 'Enaya, 22, from the PRC, on a motorcycle
7- Samed 'Abdul Mo'ti 'Aabed, 25, "activist of the Palestinian resistance" on a motorcycle
8- Anwar Hassan Saleem, 23 and
9- 'Emad Fareed Abu 'Aabda, 23, "activists of the Palestinian resistance" both on a motorcycle
10- Mo'taz Bassem Quraiqe', 29, a leader of al-Quds Brigades (the armed wing of Islamic Jihad)
That last attack also killed Quraiqe's 2 year old son and a physician - who were on the same motorcycle or car with him.
Every single fatality in Gaza has been from airstrikes aimed at terrorists.
No one was killed on Saturday or so far on Sunday in Gaza.
All of this comes from the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (Thursday and Friday details).
Ma'an claims 14 have been killed; PCHR has no information on any other deaths though.
Fully 10 of the 13 killed since Friday were terrorists. From Thursday:
1- Kamal 'Awadh Mohammed al-Nairab (Abu 'Awadh), 43, PRC Secretary General;
2- 'Emad 'Abdul Karim 'Abdul Khaliq Hammad, 40, the leader of Nasser Saladin Brigades;
3- 'Emad al-Din Na'im Sayed Nasser, 46, a member of Nasser Saladin Brigades;
4- Khaled Ibrahim Salman al-Masri, 26, a member of Nasser Saladin Brigades;
5- Khaled Hamad Sha'at, 32, the leader of manufacturing unit of Nasser Saladin Brigades
A child who was with the above targets was killed as well.
From Friday:
6- Mohammed Fayez Mahmoud 'Enaya, 22, from the PRC, on a motorcycle
7- Samed 'Abdul Mo'ti 'Aabed, 25, "activist of the Palestinian resistance" on a motorcycle
8- Anwar Hassan Saleem, 23 and
9- 'Emad Fareed Abu 'Aabda, 23, "activists of the Palestinian resistance" both on a motorcycle
10- Mo'taz Bassem Quraiqe', 29, a leader of al-Quds Brigades (the armed wing of Islamic Jihad)
That last attack also killed Quraiqe's 2 year old son and a physician - who were on the same motorcycle or car with him.
Every single fatality in Gaza has been from airstrikes aimed at terrorists.
No one was killed on Saturday or so far on Sunday in Gaza.
All of this comes from the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (Thursday and Friday details).
Ma'an claims 14 have been killed; PCHR has no information on any other deaths though.
... If we would all just sit down and shut up...
The president addressed the nation’s jobs crisis by touring the rust belt in a caravan of foreign-made buses. Jobs are so important to him that he’s going on vacation.
Taking a page from European royalty of old (Please continue reading this with a high British accent), His Highness hopes that pictures of him and his family splashing in the sun will gladden the hearts of his poor downtrodden subjects. Not to worry you poor grubby blighters, blistering away in the teeming inner cities! He’s giving a jobs speech in September! Chin up!
Global Flash Mob
This globalization/I.T. revolution is also “super-empowering” individuals, enabling them to challenge hierarchies and traditional authority figures — from business to science to government. It is also enabling the creation of powerful minorities and making governing harder and minority rule easier than ever. See dictionary for: “Tea Party.” (Tom Fried man – A Theory of Everything)
Every now and then I actually agree with limousine liberal and Chinese Politburo fanboy Tom Friedman. He has a good point about how the democratization of technology is turning the tables, but then he went and blew it.
What’s the danger to America, according to the New York Times Davos men?
Not Philadelphia flash mobs, or people getting beat up at the Wisconsin state fair. Not an out of control government that has literally destroyed trillions of dollars of wealth… No. The Tea parties and, horror of horrors, that Texas gunslinger Rick Perry. They are the problem.
The European-North America Connection
I see a healthy young man standing in the Safeway parking lot with a cardboard sign announcing he's lost his job, his wife is pregnant and they are hungry. “Yeah right,” I think. Millions sneak across our southern border and easily find a job despite illegal status and limited ability to speak English.” The guys I see doing this appear to be in their early 20’s, in good shape, and white. And shameless? Or willfully useless?
Not so much different than England’s youth being aced out of employment by harder working higher skilled Eastern Europeans.
Our angry mobs and swarms of criminals are not so different than those of Europe. And we haven’t seen the worst of it yet, writes Walter Russell Mead in his article, Urban Warming and Racial Climate Change. He concludes that whether we like it or not, we will have to have a national dialog on race. Unfortunately, Obama and his “Justice” Department Poobah Eric Holder, have proved themselves incapable of dialog with us cowards.
Class Warfare isn't just for England
There have been numerous outbreaks of street violence across Europe, including in France and Greece. One can expect more in countries like Italy, Spain and Portugal, which will now have to impose the same sort of austerity measures applied by the Cameron government in London.
And how about the United States? Many of the same forces are at play here. The prospects for a widening class conflict are clear even in China, where social inequality is now among the world’s worse. (Joel Kotkin - Global Class War)
My Objectivist libertarian friends will hate his conclusion: Ayn Rand individualism will not get us out of this. Uneducated unskilled looters running off with sneakers and big screen TVs are acting in their rational self-interest.
Taking a page from European royalty of old (Please continue reading this with a high British accent), His Highness hopes that pictures of him and his family splashing in the sun will gladden the hearts of his poor downtrodden subjects. Not to worry you poor grubby blighters, blistering away in the teeming inner cities! He’s giving a jobs speech in September! Chin up!
Global Flash Mob
This globalization/I.T. revolution is also “super-empowering” individuals, enabling them to challenge hierarchies and traditional authority figures — from business to science to government. It is also enabling the creation of powerful minorities and making governing harder and minority rule easier than ever. See dictionary for: “Tea Party.” (Tom Fried man – A Theory of Everything)
Every now and then I actually agree with limousine liberal and Chinese Politburo fanboy Tom Friedman. He has a good point about how the democratization of technology is turning the tables, but then he went and blew it.
What’s the danger to America, according to the New York Times Davos men?
Not Philadelphia flash mobs, or people getting beat up at the Wisconsin state fair. Not an out of control government that has literally destroyed trillions of dollars of wealth… No. The Tea parties and, horror of horrors, that Texas gunslinger Rick Perry. They are the problem.
The European-North America Connection
I see a healthy young man standing in the Safeway parking lot with a cardboard sign announcing he's lost his job, his wife is pregnant and they are hungry. “Yeah right,” I think. Millions sneak across our southern border and easily find a job despite illegal status and limited ability to speak English.” The guys I see doing this appear to be in their early 20’s, in good shape, and white. And shameless? Or willfully useless?
Not so much different than England’s youth being aced out of employment by harder working higher skilled Eastern Europeans.
Our angry mobs and swarms of criminals are not so different than those of Europe. And we haven’t seen the worst of it yet, writes Walter Russell Mead in his article, Urban Warming and Racial Climate Change. He concludes that whether we like it or not, we will have to have a national dialog on race. Unfortunately, Obama and his “Justice” Department Poobah Eric Holder, have proved themselves incapable of dialog with us cowards.
Class Warfare isn't just for England
There have been numerous outbreaks of street violence across Europe, including in France and Greece. One can expect more in countries like Italy, Spain and Portugal, which will now have to impose the same sort of austerity measures applied by the Cameron government in London.
And how about the United States? Many of the same forces are at play here. The prospects for a widening class conflict are clear even in China, where social inequality is now among the world’s worse. (Joel Kotkin - Global Class War)
My Objectivist libertarian friends will hate his conclusion: Ayn Rand individualism will not get us out of this. Uneducated unskilled looters running off with sneakers and big screen TVs are acting in their rational self-interest.
UN peacekeeping force: Israeli forces crossed Egyptian border by land
UN peacekeeping force: Israeli forces crossed Egyptian border by land
Al-Masry Al-Youm
"Israeli troops crossed into Egypt by land on Thursday, which prompted Egyptian security personnel to clash with them, said a report issued Saturday by the UN peacekeeping force in Sinai.
Media reports had said an Israeli helicopter crossed the border to pursue suspected militants and then fired at Egyptian border guards, killing five and injuring two.
The peacekeeping force said that the Egyptians had not been targeted by an aircraft, however, and that Israeli forces in fact entered Sinai by land before clashing with the police unit at border point 79 and causing the deaths.
The peacekeeping force examined the boundary line where the clashes took place, recording several violations by Israeli troops.....
The report said the peacekeeping forces did not witness Palestinians crossing from Israel into Sinai....."
Al-Masry Al-Youm
"Israeli troops crossed into Egypt by land on Thursday, which prompted Egyptian security personnel to clash with them, said a report issued Saturday by the UN peacekeeping force in Sinai.
Media reports had said an Israeli helicopter crossed the border to pursue suspected militants and then fired at Egyptian border guards, killing five and injuring two.
The peacekeeping force said that the Egyptians had not been targeted by an aircraft, however, and that Israeli forces in fact entered Sinai by land before clashing with the police unit at border point 79 and causing the deaths.
The peacekeeping force examined the boundary line where the clashes took place, recording several violations by Israeli troops.....
The report said the peacekeeping forces did not witness Palestinians crossing from Israel into Sinai....."
Labor Department Announces Reduction in Vice Presidents Hours
Due to continuing bad economic numbers, slow growth in the job market, forecast of weak growth in the private sector during the coming year and a Vice President that stumbles through the darkness with an unlighted candle, the U.S. Labor Secretary announced yesterday a cut in Vice President Joe Biden's hours.
But late Friday, Biden was spotted eagerly greeting customers at the entrance of the Wal-mart in his home town of Dover Delaware where he has taken a part-time job.
Local media are quoted as reporting Biden was overheard trying to discuss foreign policy with an irritated and impatient elderly woman who just stopped to ask him where she could find the dishwashing detergent and anti-flatulent products. Biden told a local reporter he is proud of his service to the people of Delaware, representing them in Washington, and this part-time job at Wal-mart is no different. "Hey, this is a big f**king deal for ol' Joe, know what I'm saying?" the Vice President was heard whispering to the store manager, Kling Phree.
But late Friday, Biden was spotted eagerly greeting customers at the entrance of the Wal-mart in his home town of Dover Delaware where he has taken a part-time job.
Local media are quoted as reporting Biden was overheard trying to discuss foreign policy with an irritated and impatient elderly woman who just stopped to ask him where she could find the dishwashing detergent and anti-flatulent products. Biden told a local reporter he is proud of his service to the people of Delaware, representing them in Washington, and this part-time job at Wal-mart is no different. "Hey, this is a big f**king deal for ol' Joe, know what I'm saying?" the Vice President was heard whispering to the store manager, Kling Phree.
S & P Downgrades MSNBC Host's IQ
In light of resent idiotic statements, Standard and Poor’s took the unprecedented action today of downgrading media personality Special Ed Schultz IQ. While the effects of such an extraordinary measure are hard to predict, experts say the IQ downgrade could result in Schultz having difficulty completing sentences, drooling or operating a television remote.
Ed & Edith Shultz (circa 2011 Romper Room)
Insiders at MSNBC, the unruly little bastard brother of the once respected NBC News, says Schlutz recent psychotic outbursts and rambling diatribes against anyone on the right is in some part his attempt to remain ahead of the networks newest ratings sensation, the always eloquent cultural pundit and International Geopolitical expert, Al Sharpton. At this writing, they seem to be in a heated race to the bottom of the cable ratings.
Schultz's twin sister Edith Schultz Hayes, wife of Marvin Ashcott Hayes, the heir to the Tampon fortune told Diogenes the family all think Ed is "very special", but fear he may pop a tube right there on the air. "Eddy and I grew up poor" she said, and that Ed was sometime forced to wear Edith's clothes. "That and eating his boogers kinda made Ed a little twisted, ya know."
(Stretchmarks from excessive consumption of bullshit)
Ed & Edith Shultz (circa 2011 Romper Room)
Insiders at MSNBC, the unruly little bastard brother of the once respected NBC News, says Schlutz recent psychotic outbursts and rambling diatribes against anyone on the right is in some part his attempt to remain ahead of the networks newest ratings sensation, the always eloquent cultural pundit and International Geopolitical expert, Al Sharpton. At this writing, they seem to be in a heated race to the bottom of the cable ratings.
Schultz's twin sister Edith Schultz Hayes, wife of Marvin Ashcott Hayes, the heir to the Tampon fortune told Diogenes the family all think Ed is "very special", but fear he may pop a tube right there on the air. "Eddy and I grew up poor" she said, and that Ed was sometime forced to wear Edith's clothes. "That and eating his boogers kinda made Ed a little twisted, ya know."
Home prices in lackluster markets return to 1997 levels
Real estate prices in a few U.S. markets are back to levels not seen in a decade, according to data released by John Burns Real Estate Consulting on Friday.
In a report titled, "Back to the Future: Median Home Prices Mirror Years Past," the study's author Gregory Tsujimoto says prices in Atlanta, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Oakland have fallen back to 1997 levels, while healthier markets throughout Texas are hovering at 2006 levels, suggesting the state's brighter employment prospects are preventing steep drops.
The markets performing the best include Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio.
All other markets fall somewhere in between the two extremes, with prices hanging somewhere between 2002 and 2004 levels.
In the past few months, several markets did experience an increase in the median home price, creating a situation where affordability is beginning to decline slightly in some areas.
Even still, home prices are at extreme lows, while the cost of renting has increased, according to Tsujimoto's housing market update.
Consumer behavior in the past month remained unchanged, with John Burns Real Estate grading consumer sentiment at the D-plus level. Overall consumer sentiment decreased in July even as consumer debt levels improved, the research firm said.
In a report titled, "Back to the Future: Median Home Prices Mirror Years Past," the study's author Gregory Tsujimoto says prices in Atlanta, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Oakland have fallen back to 1997 levels, while healthier markets throughout Texas are hovering at 2006 levels, suggesting the state's brighter employment prospects are preventing steep drops.
The markets performing the best include Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio.
All other markets fall somewhere in between the two extremes, with prices hanging somewhere between 2002 and 2004 levels.
In the past few months, several markets did experience an increase in the median home price, creating a situation where affordability is beginning to decline slightly in some areas.
Even still, home prices are at extreme lows, while the cost of renting has increased, according to Tsujimoto's housing market update.
Consumer behavior in the past month remained unchanged, with John Burns Real Estate grading consumer sentiment at the D-plus level. Overall consumer sentiment decreased in July even as consumer debt levels improved, the research firm said.
“You can’t conquer a free man.”
I’m not gonna let Glenn get all the good Heinlein quotations.
When any government, or any church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, “This you may not read, this you must not see, this you are forbidden to know,” the end result is tyranny and oppression, no matter how holy the motives. Mighty little force is needed to control a man whose mind has been hoodwinked; contrariwise, no amount of force can control a free man, a man whose mind is free. No, not the rack, not fission bombs, not anything — you can’t conquer a free man; the most you can do is kill him. — Robert A. Heinlein
When any government, or any church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, “This you may not read, this you must not see, this you are forbidden to know,” the end result is tyranny and oppression, no matter how holy the motives. Mighty little force is needed to control a man whose mind has been hoodwinked; contrariwise, no amount of force can control a free man, a man whose mind is free. No, not the rack, not fission bombs, not anything — you can’t conquer a free man; the most you can do is kill him. — Robert A. Heinlein
Obama Administration’s Eyes Are Closed on Completely Predictable Middle East Crises
by Barry Rubin
A Hollywood mogul once explained that he didn’t get headaches, he gave headaches to others. President Barack Obama’s determination not to give headaches to America’s enemies guarantees that he brings them onto U.S. interests. Here are examples happening right now and certain to blow up before the November 2012 elections.
Iraq and Afghanistan: Obama plans to withdraw U.S.combat troops by December 31 from Iraq and next year from Afghanistan. A “logical” American official, not understanding how things work in the Middle East, would say:
Well, of course they know we are leaving so they will be quiet and let us withdraw.
But that’s not how the Middle East works. Knowing that U.S. forces are leaving, revolutionary Islamists in both Iraq and Afghanistan are stepping up offensives now to make this look like a U.S. retreat due to defeat. Their purpose is to build morale and support among their own people. The Taliban will say:
We drove out the Russians and the Americans. We defeated both superpowers. See, Allah is on our side! Join us. Our victory is inevitable.
So in both Iraq and Afghanistan the Obama administration has to choose between extending the withdrawal deadline and keeping in troops or sticking to it while the situation deteriorates. In both places the government is hinting that it wants the Americans to stay longer. There are already hints that American troops will be in Afghanistan for many years. At any rate, to coin a mixed metaphor, the constantly signalled weakness is coming home to roost.
Palestinians: Palestinian Authority (PA) leader Mahmoud Abbas is touring the region telling everyone that he’s having no problem with the Obama administration regarding the PA’s internationally supported campaign to break all of its previous commitments to Israel and the United States and to go for unilateral independance and UN recognition. Is he telling the truth?
I think the basic answer is “yes.” Some PA officials are frightened that the Obama administration might react toughly and cut aid as well as other forms of support. Sssh! Let’s not tell them the truth that they have nothing to worry about.
In contrast, though, a time bomb is going to go off in late September or October when the Obama administration vetoes the Palestinian bid and all hell breaks loose as Muslims and Arabs proclaim that Obama is worse than his predecessor! All the president’s apologies and all the president’s courting won’t put his (alleged) popularity together again.
Indeed, Marwan Barghouti, the Fatah leader who started the bloody 2000 intifadah, is warning that a U.S. veto would be an act of “terrorism” that would wreck Palestinian relations with the United States. All that money and diplomatic support doesn’t count. Unless you do 100 percent of what they want — very detrimental to U.S. interests–it amounts to zero percent in their eyes. And he is openly threatening anti-American terrorism.
So here are coming crises that are just not being discussed in the Western policy debate, to which one can add the Egyptian elections in November or afterward and the growing mess in Syria which is hardly resolved by the Obama administration finally announcing that it wants a revolution there.
Everyone knows that jobs and the economy will be the number-one issue in the 2012 elections. But with the likelihood of several major crises in the region during the next year, will foreign policy in the Middle East be number two? And if not, certainly it will be number three on the issues list.
A Hollywood mogul once explained that he didn’t get headaches, he gave headaches to others. President Barack Obama’s determination not to give headaches to America’s enemies guarantees that he brings them onto U.S. interests. Here are examples happening right now and certain to blow up before the November 2012 elections.
Iraq and Afghanistan: Obama plans to withdraw U.S.combat troops by December 31 from Iraq and next year from Afghanistan. A “logical” American official, not understanding how things work in the Middle East, would say:
Well, of course they know we are leaving so they will be quiet and let us withdraw.
But that’s not how the Middle East works. Knowing that U.S. forces are leaving, revolutionary Islamists in both Iraq and Afghanistan are stepping up offensives now to make this look like a U.S. retreat due to defeat. Their purpose is to build morale and support among their own people. The Taliban will say:
We drove out the Russians and the Americans. We defeated both superpowers. See, Allah is on our side! Join us. Our victory is inevitable.
So in both Iraq and Afghanistan the Obama administration has to choose between extending the withdrawal deadline and keeping in troops or sticking to it while the situation deteriorates. In both places the government is hinting that it wants the Americans to stay longer. There are already hints that American troops will be in Afghanistan for many years. At any rate, to coin a mixed metaphor, the constantly signalled weakness is coming home to roost.
Palestinians: Palestinian Authority (PA) leader Mahmoud Abbas is touring the region telling everyone that he’s having no problem with the Obama administration regarding the PA’s internationally supported campaign to break all of its previous commitments to Israel and the United States and to go for unilateral independance and UN recognition. Is he telling the truth?
I think the basic answer is “yes.” Some PA officials are frightened that the Obama administration might react toughly and cut aid as well as other forms of support. Sssh! Let’s not tell them the truth that they have nothing to worry about.
In contrast, though, a time bomb is going to go off in late September or October when the Obama administration vetoes the Palestinian bid and all hell breaks loose as Muslims and Arabs proclaim that Obama is worse than his predecessor! All the president’s apologies and all the president’s courting won’t put his (alleged) popularity together again.
Indeed, Marwan Barghouti, the Fatah leader who started the bloody 2000 intifadah, is warning that a U.S. veto would be an act of “terrorism” that would wreck Palestinian relations with the United States. All that money and diplomatic support doesn’t count. Unless you do 100 percent of what they want — very detrimental to U.S. interests–it amounts to zero percent in their eyes. And he is openly threatening anti-American terrorism.
So here are coming crises that are just not being discussed in the Western policy debate, to which one can add the Egyptian elections in November or afterward and the growing mess in Syria which is hardly resolved by the Obama administration finally announcing that it wants a revolution there.
Everyone knows that jobs and the economy will be the number-one issue in the 2012 elections. But with the likelihood of several major crises in the region during the next year, will foreign policy in the Middle East be number two? And if not, certainly it will be number three on the issues list.
Animated Video: Obama versus Reagan on the role of government
Barack Obama has found a new angle by invoking the name of Ronald Reagan into his rhetoric about government, but what would Ronald Reagan think about that?
And what would Ronald Reagan think about Barack Obama?
I have said it before and will say it again in the months leading up to the 2012 presidential election that the rhetoric and platitudes from Barack Obama cannot cloud the reality of the record that he has created.
Actions speak louder than words!
The Rise and Decline of the Millionaires (Table of Statistics)
More on Warren Buffett's "Mega-Rich"
Tax Returns with $10 Million Income or More
Year Number AGI ($1,000s) Taxes Paid ($1,000s) Share of Total Taxes
2002 5,309 $129,421,399 $33,738,065 4.2%
2003 6,126 $159,126,113 $35,416,509 4.7%
2004 9,677 $256,932,933 $54,202,568 6.5%
2005 13,776 $376,274,843 $78,268,719 8.4%
2006 15,956 $452,475,087 $91,013,554 8.9%
2007 18,394 $561,612,712 $110,843,388 9.9%
2008 13,480 $399,968,770 $83,558,216 8.1%
2009 8,274 $240,133,885 $53,790,324 6.2%
Source: IRS Publication 1304, Table 1.1
The chart above shows some federal income tax data for "mega-rich" Americans, those with annual income of $10,000,000 or more. Note the following:
1. When the economy was booming before the recession started, the number of "mega-rich" Americans reporting income of $10,000,000 or more reached a peak of 18,394 in 2007, almost double the number in 2004 just three years earlier. In 2007, the "mega-rich" represented only 0.0129% of American taxpayers (a little more than 1/100 of 1%), or just one in 7,773 taxpayers. And yet that small group of "mega-rich" paid nearly 10% of all federal income taxes paid that year. It seems like this elite group should be honored as national heroes for shouldering such a hugely disproportionate share of the national tax burden, and not vilified or accused by Warren Buffet of being "coddled" and "protected" by a "billionaire-friendly Congress" and being "spared from the shared sacrifice" that the rest of society supposedly suffers from.
2. From the WSJ's recent editorial "Millionaires Go Missing":
"Those with $10 million or more in reported income fell to 8,274 in 2009 from 18,394 in 2007, a 55% drop. As a result, their tax payments tanked by 51% (see chart, from $110.8 billion in 2007 to only $53.7 billion in 2009). These disappearing millionaires go a long way toward explaining why federal tax revenues have sunk to 15% of GDP in recent years. The loss of millionaires accounts for at least $130 billion of the higher federal budget deficit in 2009."
3. From the Tax Foundation blog:
Mr. Buffett wanted those making more than $10 million per year to pay even more [in taxes]. The table below exhibits the effect of imposing a 100% effective rate on these individuals (MP: Instead of paying $53.7 billion taxes as they actually did in 2009, we now assume that their entire $240 billion of income (AGI) was confiscated through taxation, raising an additional $186 billion in tax revenue):
Even taking every last penny from every individual making more than $10 million per year would only reduce the nation's deficit by 12 percent and the debt by 2 percent. There's simply not enough wealth in the community of the rich to erase this country's problems by waving some magic tax wand."
Bottom Line: As the WSJ points out, "If Warren Buffett wants to reduce the deficit, he should encourage policies to create more millionaires, not campaign to tax them more."
What we really want is to double the number of "mega-rich" taxpayers back above 18,000 like in 2007, so that tax revenues from that group would double to more than $100 billion again, and their share of total taxes paid would increase back up to 10%. That would be a much more effective way to address our fiscal problems than raising marginal tax rates on Buffett and his super-rich friends. Raising tax rates simply increases the "membership fee" of joining Buffett's elite group and reduces the number of Americans willing and able to enter the "mega-rich" club.
Tax Returns with $10 Million Income or More
Year Number AGI ($1,000s) Taxes Paid ($1,000s) Share of Total Taxes
2002 5,309 $129,421,399 $33,738,065 4.2%
2003 6,126 $159,126,113 $35,416,509 4.7%
2004 9,677 $256,932,933 $54,202,568 6.5%
2005 13,776 $376,274,843 $78,268,719 8.4%
2006 15,956 $452,475,087 $91,013,554 8.9%
2007 18,394 $561,612,712 $110,843,388 9.9%
2008 13,480 $399,968,770 $83,558,216 8.1%
2009 8,274 $240,133,885 $53,790,324 6.2%
Source: IRS Publication 1304, Table 1.1
The chart above shows some federal income tax data for "mega-rich" Americans, those with annual income of $10,000,000 or more. Note the following:
1. When the economy was booming before the recession started, the number of "mega-rich" Americans reporting income of $10,000,000 or more reached a peak of 18,394 in 2007, almost double the number in 2004 just three years earlier. In 2007, the "mega-rich" represented only 0.0129% of American taxpayers (a little more than 1/100 of 1%), or just one in 7,773 taxpayers. And yet that small group of "mega-rich" paid nearly 10% of all federal income taxes paid that year. It seems like this elite group should be honored as national heroes for shouldering such a hugely disproportionate share of the national tax burden, and not vilified or accused by Warren Buffet of being "coddled" and "protected" by a "billionaire-friendly Congress" and being "spared from the shared sacrifice" that the rest of society supposedly suffers from.
2. From the WSJ's recent editorial "Millionaires Go Missing":
"Those with $10 million or more in reported income fell to 8,274 in 2009 from 18,394 in 2007, a 55% drop. As a result, their tax payments tanked by 51% (see chart, from $110.8 billion in 2007 to only $53.7 billion in 2009). These disappearing millionaires go a long way toward explaining why federal tax revenues have sunk to 15% of GDP in recent years. The loss of millionaires accounts for at least $130 billion of the higher federal budget deficit in 2009."
3. From the Tax Foundation blog:
Mr. Buffett wanted those making more than $10 million per year to pay even more [in taxes]. The table below exhibits the effect of imposing a 100% effective rate on these individuals (MP: Instead of paying $53.7 billion taxes as they actually did in 2009, we now assume that their entire $240 billion of income (AGI) was confiscated through taxation, raising an additional $186 billion in tax revenue):
Even taking every last penny from every individual making more than $10 million per year would only reduce the nation's deficit by 12 percent and the debt by 2 percent. There's simply not enough wealth in the community of the rich to erase this country's problems by waving some magic tax wand."
Bottom Line: As the WSJ points out, "If Warren Buffett wants to reduce the deficit, he should encourage policies to create more millionaires, not campaign to tax them more."
What we really want is to double the number of "mega-rich" taxpayers back above 18,000 like in 2007, so that tax revenues from that group would double to more than $100 billion again, and their share of total taxes paid would increase back up to 10%. That would be a much more effective way to address our fiscal problems than raising marginal tax rates on Buffett and his super-rich friends. Raising tax rates simply increases the "membership fee" of joining Buffett's elite group and reduces the number of Americans willing and able to enter the "mega-rich" club.
Whom is Egypt fighting against in Sinai?
Egypt's al-Masry al-Youm reports on the Egyptian army's operation in Sinai. After going through this lengthy article, it's not clear to me just whom the Egyptians are fighting. One thing seems certain: Letting them send more troops and equipment into Sinai in violation of the Camp David treaty is asking for trouble.
Moussa al-Delh, a member of Sinai’s influential Tarabeen tribe, was a fugitive before Egypt’s uprising began in January, accused of inciting violence against Egyptian security forces in the peninsula. Now he sits at a café in the center of Arish, the capital of North Sinai Governorate, and praises the army’s “purging” campaign.
“It is important to understand that the army is mainly targeting Islamists in Sinai, and not Bedouin outlaws, like some claim,” he says, adding that “outlaw” is a pre-revolutionary concept created by the much-resented State Security apparatus.
Little is known of whom exactly the army is now fighting in Sinai or why the fight is taking place.
...
Infiltrations from the Gaza Strip have also caused concerns about a rising Islamist insurgency in Sinai. Palestinian factions competing with Hamas’s control of Gaza are chased out and driven into Sinai by way of tunnels that bypass the tightly controlled border.
“Both Hamas and the military intelligence here in Arish have full information about all groups infiltrating into Egypt from Gaza. No one can expand and form a whole armed movement here, because they are well tracked,” says a Palestinian living in Arish who requested anonymity. He used to work in Gaza as a policeman under Mohammed Dahlan, the former head of Hamas’s rival Fatah, who ruled the Strip with a notoriously iron fist. Dahlan was chased out of Gaza when Hamas took over in 2007.
Dahlan’s “men” were mentioned by Arish’s military commander in an interview with Egyptian state-run TV as possibly implicated in the chaos in North Sinai, including the police station incident and the repeated bombings of a pipeline that carries Egyptian natural gas to Israel.
“I worked with Dahlan for 13 years. He is a patriotic man of institutions. How can he be accused of such irrelevant acts such as attacking a police station?” said the policeman, who is among some 350 officers who worked under Dahlan and fled to Egypt in 2007. “We have no operational links to any group. We are just ousted from Gaza and wish we can go and work in the West Bank at some point, but the Palestinian Authority didn’t offer us any job there.”
Dahlan has been accused of supporting radical Islamists in Gaza linked to Al-Qaeda in order to weaken Hamas’s control over the strip. He has also been ousted from his party, Fatah, after disputes with fellow partisans who accused him of being an agent of the United States.
...
Before the attacks in Israel on 18 August, Egyptian security forces were quick to call the operation a success. Deputy Interior Minister Ahmad Gamal Eddin said at a press conference last week that the campaign has so far managed to arrest members of al-Takfeer wal-Hijra and to collect arms and illegally acquired military uniforms. The assailants in the 18 August attack in Israel were reportedly wearing Egyptian army uniforms.
Security sources have also told local media that Palestinian members of the militant group Islamic Jihad were among those were arrested, some of whom were previously detained in Egyptian prisons and fled during the chaos of last winter’s uprising.
Local media have also reported on coordination between Hamas and the Egyptian army to monitor the movement of potential infiltrators to Sinai from Gaza through the tunnels, particularly from the Army of Islam and a little-known group Jaljalat. Both claim ties to Al-Qaeda.
Some experts on Islamist movements, such as Khaled al-Berry, suggest that the Army of Islam has loose ties to the Syrian regime, which is currently facing massive protests calling for its downfall.
Berry, who classifies groups like the Army of Islam as not strictly ideologically motivated and easily employed by political players, warns of possible chaos in Sinai being sponsored by an embattled Syrian regime trying to prove its strategic importance to the region.
But in the end, it seems, the threat came from none of those groups. The attack on southern Israel on Thursday that killed eight people was, according to Israel, perpetrated by insurgents from Palestinian Resistance Committees based in Gaza who infiltrated Sinai through tunnels.
The incident led Israeli officials to condemn Egypt’s unsuccessful military campaign in Sinai. Some Israeli commentators even suggested that the Israeli army move into Sinai and establish a security perimeter near the border.
According to Bedouin tribesmen in Sinai, some members of the Bedouin community are aiding military intelligence by providing them with information for the campaign. Delh, of the Tarabeen tribe, believes that Islamist groups do exist in Sinai, but he doesn’t see their threat as an imminent one. “I don’t know why the army was that alarmed. Those are issues for the rulers. But what I am sure of is that the tribal fabric outside of the cities has not been penetrated by any of those groups.”
For Ayoub, the Salafi sheikh and former member of al-Takfeer wal Hijra, the military campaign is an excessive show of force without a clear reason. “I don’t think there is a danger that requires having 2000 troops, 250 tanks and four planes in Sinai,” he says.
Islamists in Sinai suggest that the military operation is a show of force to secure support from the United States, which already provides the Egyptian military with more than US$1 billion per year.
Ali, the university administrator in Arish, however, supports the operation. “I am not sure Islamists are here for real, but either way, Sinai does need some purging and only the army can do it,” he says. “When I found the army in the streets of my town, I felt I am in my country.”
Can you keep track of whom the Egyptian army is chasing? I can't. And that's the problem - I don't think anyone, including the Egyptian army, has the slightest clue what they are doing there.
Read the whole thing. Especially those Israelis who insist on visiting Sinai. Maybe you'll realize how lucky you are to be alive and will not insist on visiting Sinai again.
Moussa al-Delh, a member of Sinai’s influential Tarabeen tribe, was a fugitive before Egypt’s uprising began in January, accused of inciting violence against Egyptian security forces in the peninsula. Now he sits at a café in the center of Arish, the capital of North Sinai Governorate, and praises the army’s “purging” campaign.
“It is important to understand that the army is mainly targeting Islamists in Sinai, and not Bedouin outlaws, like some claim,” he says, adding that “outlaw” is a pre-revolutionary concept created by the much-resented State Security apparatus.
Little is known of whom exactly the army is now fighting in Sinai or why the fight is taking place.
...
Infiltrations from the Gaza Strip have also caused concerns about a rising Islamist insurgency in Sinai. Palestinian factions competing with Hamas’s control of Gaza are chased out and driven into Sinai by way of tunnels that bypass the tightly controlled border.
“Both Hamas and the military intelligence here in Arish have full information about all groups infiltrating into Egypt from Gaza. No one can expand and form a whole armed movement here, because they are well tracked,” says a Palestinian living in Arish who requested anonymity. He used to work in Gaza as a policeman under Mohammed Dahlan, the former head of Hamas’s rival Fatah, who ruled the Strip with a notoriously iron fist. Dahlan was chased out of Gaza when Hamas took over in 2007.
Dahlan’s “men” were mentioned by Arish’s military commander in an interview with Egyptian state-run TV as possibly implicated in the chaos in North Sinai, including the police station incident and the repeated bombings of a pipeline that carries Egyptian natural gas to Israel.
“I worked with Dahlan for 13 years. He is a patriotic man of institutions. How can he be accused of such irrelevant acts such as attacking a police station?” said the policeman, who is among some 350 officers who worked under Dahlan and fled to Egypt in 2007. “We have no operational links to any group. We are just ousted from Gaza and wish we can go and work in the West Bank at some point, but the Palestinian Authority didn’t offer us any job there.”
Dahlan has been accused of supporting radical Islamists in Gaza linked to Al-Qaeda in order to weaken Hamas’s control over the strip. He has also been ousted from his party, Fatah, after disputes with fellow partisans who accused him of being an agent of the United States.
...
Before the attacks in Israel on 18 August, Egyptian security forces were quick to call the operation a success. Deputy Interior Minister Ahmad Gamal Eddin said at a press conference last week that the campaign has so far managed to arrest members of al-Takfeer wal-Hijra and to collect arms and illegally acquired military uniforms. The assailants in the 18 August attack in Israel were reportedly wearing Egyptian army uniforms.
Security sources have also told local media that Palestinian members of the militant group Islamic Jihad were among those were arrested, some of whom were previously detained in Egyptian prisons and fled during the chaos of last winter’s uprising.
Local media have also reported on coordination between Hamas and the Egyptian army to monitor the movement of potential infiltrators to Sinai from Gaza through the tunnels, particularly from the Army of Islam and a little-known group Jaljalat. Both claim ties to Al-Qaeda.
Some experts on Islamist movements, such as Khaled al-Berry, suggest that the Army of Islam has loose ties to the Syrian regime, which is currently facing massive protests calling for its downfall.
Berry, who classifies groups like the Army of Islam as not strictly ideologically motivated and easily employed by political players, warns of possible chaos in Sinai being sponsored by an embattled Syrian regime trying to prove its strategic importance to the region.
But in the end, it seems, the threat came from none of those groups. The attack on southern Israel on Thursday that killed eight people was, according to Israel, perpetrated by insurgents from Palestinian Resistance Committees based in Gaza who infiltrated Sinai through tunnels.
The incident led Israeli officials to condemn Egypt’s unsuccessful military campaign in Sinai. Some Israeli commentators even suggested that the Israeli army move into Sinai and establish a security perimeter near the border.
According to Bedouin tribesmen in Sinai, some members of the Bedouin community are aiding military intelligence by providing them with information for the campaign. Delh, of the Tarabeen tribe, believes that Islamist groups do exist in Sinai, but he doesn’t see their threat as an imminent one. “I don’t know why the army was that alarmed. Those are issues for the rulers. But what I am sure of is that the tribal fabric outside of the cities has not been penetrated by any of those groups.”
For Ayoub, the Salafi sheikh and former member of al-Takfeer wal Hijra, the military campaign is an excessive show of force without a clear reason. “I don’t think there is a danger that requires having 2000 troops, 250 tanks and four planes in Sinai,” he says.
Islamists in Sinai suggest that the military operation is a show of force to secure support from the United States, which already provides the Egyptian military with more than US$1 billion per year.
Ali, the university administrator in Arish, however, supports the operation. “I am not sure Islamists are here for real, but either way, Sinai does need some purging and only the army can do it,” he says. “When I found the army in the streets of my town, I felt I am in my country.”
Can you keep track of whom the Egyptian army is chasing? I can't. And that's the problem - I don't think anyone, including the Egyptian army, has the slightest clue what they are doing there.
Read the whole thing. Especially those Israelis who insist on visiting Sinai. Maybe you'll realize how lucky you are to be alive and will not insist on visiting Sinai again.
Facebook Apologizes for Deleting Arizona Governor's Post
Talk about an about-face:
Facebook issued an apology Saturday for deleting a post by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer that criticized President Obama over his administration's new policy on prioritizing deportations of illegal immigrants.
Brewer's picture and a statement that accompanied it were removed Friday from Facebook, apparently because they "violated Facebook community standards."
"The post was removed in error," Andrew Noyes, Manager of Public Policy Communications at Facebook said in a statement. "We apologize for any inconvenience."
Before the photo's removal from the popular social networking site, it had garnered over 10,000 "likes" and comments, Brewer said in a follow-up post that included a reprint of Thursday's original deleted post.
Facebook Removes Arizona Governor Jan Brewer's Post Criticizing New Immigration Policy Set By President Obama's Administration
Paul Davenport
Associated Press
PHOENIX (AP) - Facebook said Friday it mistakenly removed a post in which Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer criticized a controversial policy decision by President Barack Obama's administration to limit deportations of illegal immigrants.
The Republican governor had said in a post Friday that Facebook censored the item she posted Thursday because it apparently violated Facebook's community standards.
Brewer didn't elaborate in her post, but she said Friday in an interview that an email she received from Facebook said the post was removed because of an included illustration.
The email, which she read aloud, didn't specify how the illustration violated standards.
"I'd like to know why it happens,'' she said of the removal.
Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes responded to a query by The Associated Press by saying in a brief email that Brewer's post was removed in error and that Facebook was sorry.
Noyes did not provide further details, including whether the removal of the post on Thursday resulted from complaints received from other Facebook users.
Brewer reposted the item Friday, saying the original post was ``censored'' by Facebook. Both versions included a statement in which she criticized the Obama policy decision and the illustration, a color drawing of Brewer in a Rosie the Riveter pose.
Brewer used the drawing in her 2010 election campaign. Its headline of ``doing the job the feds won't do'' refers to Brewer's clashes with Obama's administration on immigration and border issues.
"Something that's been posted on there a lot of times,'' Brewer said of the illustration during the interview.
Obama's administration said Thursday it would allow many illegal immigrants facing deportation the chance to stay in the United States and apply for a work permit. Deportations would focus on convicted criminals and those who might be threats to national security or public safety, the administration said.
"I think many of you will agree with me - Obama's backdoor amnesty plan violates American standards of following the rule of law and the U.S. Constitution,'' Brewer's latest post said.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Associated Press
PHOENIX (AP) - Facebook said Friday it mistakenly removed a post in which Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer criticized a controversial policy decision by President Barack Obama's administration to limit deportations of illegal immigrants.
The Republican governor had said in a post Friday that Facebook censored the item she posted Thursday because it apparently violated Facebook's community standards.
Brewer didn't elaborate in her post, but she said Friday in an interview that an email she received from Facebook said the post was removed because of an included illustration.
The email, which she read aloud, didn't specify how the illustration violated standards.
"I'd like to know why it happens,'' she said of the removal.
Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes responded to a query by The Associated Press by saying in a brief email that Brewer's post was removed in error and that Facebook was sorry.
Noyes did not provide further details, including whether the removal of the post on Thursday resulted from complaints received from other Facebook users.
Brewer reposted the item Friday, saying the original post was ``censored'' by Facebook. Both versions included a statement in which she criticized the Obama policy decision and the illustration, a color drawing of Brewer in a Rosie the Riveter pose.
Brewer used the drawing in her 2010 election campaign. Its headline of ``doing the job the feds won't do'' refers to Brewer's clashes with Obama's administration on immigration and border issues.
"Something that's been posted on there a lot of times,'' Brewer said of the illustration during the interview.
Obama's administration said Thursday it would allow many illegal immigrants facing deportation the chance to stay in the United States and apply for a work permit. Deportations would focus on convicted criminals and those who might be threats to national security or public safety, the administration said.
"I think many of you will agree with me - Obama's backdoor amnesty plan violates American standards of following the rule of law and the U.S. Constitution,'' Brewer's latest post said.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Green tax hike hits businesses - Telegraph
Green taxes will make up more than a third of the price of electricity by the end of the decade, pushing up prices to new highs by 2020.
Figures from Utilyx, the energy consultants and traders, forecast a 58pc rise in the cost of power by 2020, largely driven by the impending avalanche of green taxes due to come into force over the next 10 years.
The consultants estimate that 18pc of the current electricity price relates to climate change policies – or £15 per megawatt-hour out of a £82 per megawatt-hour average.
However, green taxes and new infrastructure costs will constitute 38pc of the charges, or £50 per megawatt-hour out of £130 per mega-watt hour, by 2020.
Consumers and businesses are already facing much higher prices this year because companies have put up power bills by 7pc to 16pc, blaming volatile wholesale prices.
Andrew Horstead, risk analyst at Utilyx, said this should cause “alarms bells to ring within Government, at a time when its measures to stimulate investment in low carbon generation will also feed through to higher prices”.
Figures from Utilyx, the energy consultants and traders, forecast a 58pc rise in the cost of power by 2020, largely driven by the impending avalanche of green taxes due to come into force over the next 10 years.
The consultants estimate that 18pc of the current electricity price relates to climate change policies – or £15 per megawatt-hour out of a £82 per megawatt-hour average.
However, green taxes and new infrastructure costs will constitute 38pc of the charges, or £50 per megawatt-hour out of £130 per mega-watt hour, by 2020.
Consumers and businesses are already facing much higher prices this year because companies have put up power bills by 7pc to 16pc, blaming volatile wholesale prices.
Andrew Horstead, risk analyst at Utilyx, said this should cause “alarms bells to ring within Government, at a time when its measures to stimulate investment in low carbon generation will also feed through to higher prices”.
Inequality Grows in Massachusetts: Blue State Failure
Between haves, have-nots, an ever greater gulf
The state's poorest make less than in 1979, new study finds, while upper incomes climb
NORTH ADAMS - Economic inequality has grown across Massachusetts, but no one has to tell Mindy Shoestock that.
Laid off several years ago from a $12-an-hour job as a housekeeping supervisor at a ski lodge, she took a job at a local McDonald’s, where she earns just $9 a hour. Cable TV and a phone are luxuries she simply cannot afford; some months she runs out of money to buy food for her two children.
“I feel like I’m going backwards,’’ Shoestock said, hot and tired after a recent shift. “Sometimes I feel like I work just to work.’’
Shoestock, 29, is part of a forgotten economy. While family incomes across Massachusetts have generally risen over the past three decades, the state’s poorest residents have fallen behind. And nowhere have they fallen farther than here in Western Massachusetts, where families in the bottom fifth of the income scale have seen inflation-adjusted earnings drop below 1979 levels, according to a new study by University of Massachusetts economists.
The study paints a stark picture of two commonwealths, in which the gap between rich and poor, east and west is growing. For example, the inflation-adjusted median income of affluent families in Greater Boston has grown 54 percent since 1979, to $230,000 from $150,000 a year, largely due to high-paying technology jobs.
In Berkshire County and the Pioneer Valley, where decades of plant closings have left hollowed-out economies, the inflation-adjusted median income of the poorest families fell 24 percent, from $21,000 a year in 1979 to $16,000 - on par with some of the most impoverished parts of Appalachia.
“No real income growth over three decades is what we’re seeing - no improvement in the standard of living,’’ said Michael D. Goodman, one of the study’s authors. “It’s a lost generation of families.’’
Those families live in places like North Adams, in the shadow of Mount Greylock along the state’s westernmost edge. North Adams’s population has declined every decade since 1950 as mills and other manufacturers disappeared. Rising poverty and the recent recession took another toll when bedrock employers, such as the local hospital and city government, laid off workers.
Mayor Richard J. Alcombright described the financial condition of the city, on a scale of great to horrible, as “just a little below horrible.’’ The unemployment rate here was 9.7 percent in June; by contrast, Waltham, an industrial city near Boston, had a 6.3 percent jobless rate.
One-fifth of North Adams households make less than $20,000 a year, and about half of those earn less than $10,000 annually. One economic bright spot, if it can be called that, is the potential expansion of a Wal-Mart, which could bring about 20 new jobs.
Such problems are hardly evident to tourists, who drive along the heights of the Berkshires and look down at the city’s steeples and picturesque beauty.
From a distance, “you think this is a place held in the palm of God’s hand,’’ the mayor said. “But there are struggling families in this community, and many of those folks are working.’’
It would be hard for McDonald’s customers to imagine Shoestock’s precarious financial situation after seeing her on the job, where she efficiently directs workers and was promoted to shift manager a year ago. Yet her $360-a-week paycheck (before taxes) does not cover her monthly bills. Her July rent ($575 a month), child care ($900), and car insurance ($75) alone consumed almost all her earnings even before factoring in food, electricity, and gas costs.
She survives by putting off creditors, negotiating installment plans, and taking advantage of government programs. When her sons, Unique Dudley, 8, and Jazz Dean, 11, return to school in few weeks, she will eliminate the summer’s day-care expense. But in October, the single mother will begin paying as much as $500 a month to heat her drafty apartment in an old wooden tenement.
Any unforeseen expense - a car repair or medical problem - can plunge a difficult financial situation into crisis. Shoestock learned last spring that, because her pay went up after her promotion, she no longer qualified for $400 a month in food stamps, a lifeline that helped keep her family fed. She has since had the benefit restored.
On a recent weekday, she came home from her shift to a sweltering apartment, two hungry sons, and an empty refrigerator. She gets a free meal during each McDonald’s shift and handed her sons french fries she had saved.
“When I say I have no food, I have no food,’’ she said, exposing an empty freezer. “What are we having for dinner tonight? Whatever they have at the food pantry.’’
Al Bashevkin, executive director of the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition, a community organizing group, said Shoestock’s story is not uncommon in an area that is largely overlooked. The state recently shuttered its unemployment office in North Adams, forcing residents to travel to Pittsfield, a $20 round trip by bus.
“Rarely do we talk about jobs to help these people,’’ Bashevkin said. “They just move from jobs at McDonald’s to Dunkin’ Donuts to Burger King to a motel and back to McDonald’s.’’
Greg Bialecki, state secretary of Housing and Economic Development, said the state is building infrastructure in Western Massachusetts - such as a $75 million effort to expand broadband access - and is hoping to bring the “innovation economy’’ and jobs to the region. The state also offers job training programs for low-income residents.
“We also realize in some parts of the state that are particularly challenged, it is important to fight for and try to grow some of the lower-skill, lower-wage kinds of jobs,’’ Bialecki said.
Shoestock began her career at a disadvantage: Pregnant at 16, she completed a GED program for teen parents and was trained as a receptionist. When she could not find work answering phones, she took low-wage jobs in a warehouse and McDonald’s until landing a housekeeping position at Jiminy Peak ski lodge in Hancock. She was elevated to supervisor and paid $12 an hour until her employer lost the contract.
Shoestock was laid off. McDonald’s, where she had worked years earlier, hired her back.
After her promotion, she said she must complete a McDonald’s manager training workshop to be eligible for pay increases and bonuses. She has been waiting a year for the company to send her.
The money is sorely needed: She recently learned she is pregnant with her third child.
Lightly-freckled with long hair in braids and a pierced tongue, Shoestock sat in a booth after a recent shift, her face still flush from kitchen heat. Her children, she said, are one of her few joys in life. And although not yet 30, she said she had worried that she would soon be too old to have another baby. “Sometimes I feel like I’m 45,’’ she said.
Shoestock dismissed the idea that she could move someplace with better opportunities because higher living expenses would absorb any pay increase. Such a move would also separate her from a fragile network of relationships, like Tina, an upstairs neighbor who lets Shoestock use her Internet and phone, or Aleta, a former social worker who rallied her church to donate money for Christmas presents for Shoestock’s sons.
Shoestock left work on a recent afternoon and, still wearing her McDonald’s uniform, headed to a food pantry in a church basement near her apartment. She was still wrangling with a state caseworker over her food stamps eligibility at the time, and her children needed to be fed.
Shoestock and her 8-year-old left with two bags of bread, cereal, canned vegetables, and other items that will have to last at least a week. She was especially excited to receive two cans of Chef Boyardee ravioli, instead of the usual one.
“I just wonder,’’ she said, “will I ever be financially stable?’’
Megan Woolhouse
The state's poorest make less than in 1979, new study finds, while upper incomes climb
NORTH ADAMS - Economic inequality has grown across Massachusetts, but no one has to tell Mindy Shoestock that.
Laid off several years ago from a $12-an-hour job as a housekeeping supervisor at a ski lodge, she took a job at a local McDonald’s, where she earns just $9 a hour. Cable TV and a phone are luxuries she simply cannot afford; some months she runs out of money to buy food for her two children.
“I feel like I’m going backwards,’’ Shoestock said, hot and tired after a recent shift. “Sometimes I feel like I work just to work.’’
Shoestock, 29, is part of a forgotten economy. While family incomes across Massachusetts have generally risen over the past three decades, the state’s poorest residents have fallen behind. And nowhere have they fallen farther than here in Western Massachusetts, where families in the bottom fifth of the income scale have seen inflation-adjusted earnings drop below 1979 levels, according to a new study by University of Massachusetts economists.
The study paints a stark picture of two commonwealths, in which the gap between rich and poor, east and west is growing. For example, the inflation-adjusted median income of affluent families in Greater Boston has grown 54 percent since 1979, to $230,000 from $150,000 a year, largely due to high-paying technology jobs.
In Berkshire County and the Pioneer Valley, where decades of plant closings have left hollowed-out economies, the inflation-adjusted median income of the poorest families fell 24 percent, from $21,000 a year in 1979 to $16,000 - on par with some of the most impoverished parts of Appalachia.
“No real income growth over three decades is what we’re seeing - no improvement in the standard of living,’’ said Michael D. Goodman, one of the study’s authors. “It’s a lost generation of families.’’
Those families live in places like North Adams, in the shadow of Mount Greylock along the state’s westernmost edge. North Adams’s population has declined every decade since 1950 as mills and other manufacturers disappeared. Rising poverty and the recent recession took another toll when bedrock employers, such as the local hospital and city government, laid off workers.
Mayor Richard J. Alcombright described the financial condition of the city, on a scale of great to horrible, as “just a little below horrible.’’ The unemployment rate here was 9.7 percent in June; by contrast, Waltham, an industrial city near Boston, had a 6.3 percent jobless rate.
One-fifth of North Adams households make less than $20,000 a year, and about half of those earn less than $10,000 annually. One economic bright spot, if it can be called that, is the potential expansion of a Wal-Mart, which could bring about 20 new jobs.
Such problems are hardly evident to tourists, who drive along the heights of the Berkshires and look down at the city’s steeples and picturesque beauty.
From a distance, “you think this is a place held in the palm of God’s hand,’’ the mayor said. “But there are struggling families in this community, and many of those folks are working.’’
It would be hard for McDonald’s customers to imagine Shoestock’s precarious financial situation after seeing her on the job, where she efficiently directs workers and was promoted to shift manager a year ago. Yet her $360-a-week paycheck (before taxes) does not cover her monthly bills. Her July rent ($575 a month), child care ($900), and car insurance ($75) alone consumed almost all her earnings even before factoring in food, electricity, and gas costs.
She survives by putting off creditors, negotiating installment plans, and taking advantage of government programs. When her sons, Unique Dudley, 8, and Jazz Dean, 11, return to school in few weeks, she will eliminate the summer’s day-care expense. But in October, the single mother will begin paying as much as $500 a month to heat her drafty apartment in an old wooden tenement.
Any unforeseen expense - a car repair or medical problem - can plunge a difficult financial situation into crisis. Shoestock learned last spring that, because her pay went up after her promotion, she no longer qualified for $400 a month in food stamps, a lifeline that helped keep her family fed. She has since had the benefit restored.
On a recent weekday, she came home from her shift to a sweltering apartment, two hungry sons, and an empty refrigerator. She gets a free meal during each McDonald’s shift and handed her sons french fries she had saved.
“When I say I have no food, I have no food,’’ she said, exposing an empty freezer. “What are we having for dinner tonight? Whatever they have at the food pantry.’’
Al Bashevkin, executive director of the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition, a community organizing group, said Shoestock’s story is not uncommon in an area that is largely overlooked. The state recently shuttered its unemployment office in North Adams, forcing residents to travel to Pittsfield, a $20 round trip by bus.
“Rarely do we talk about jobs to help these people,’’ Bashevkin said. “They just move from jobs at McDonald’s to Dunkin’ Donuts to Burger King to a motel and back to McDonald’s.’’
Greg Bialecki, state secretary of Housing and Economic Development, said the state is building infrastructure in Western Massachusetts - such as a $75 million effort to expand broadband access - and is hoping to bring the “innovation economy’’ and jobs to the region. The state also offers job training programs for low-income residents.
“We also realize in some parts of the state that are particularly challenged, it is important to fight for and try to grow some of the lower-skill, lower-wage kinds of jobs,’’ Bialecki said.
Shoestock began her career at a disadvantage: Pregnant at 16, she completed a GED program for teen parents and was trained as a receptionist. When she could not find work answering phones, she took low-wage jobs in a warehouse and McDonald’s until landing a housekeeping position at Jiminy Peak ski lodge in Hancock. She was elevated to supervisor and paid $12 an hour until her employer lost the contract.
Shoestock was laid off. McDonald’s, where she had worked years earlier, hired her back.
After her promotion, she said she must complete a McDonald’s manager training workshop to be eligible for pay increases and bonuses. She has been waiting a year for the company to send her.
The money is sorely needed: She recently learned she is pregnant with her third child.
Lightly-freckled with long hair in braids and a pierced tongue, Shoestock sat in a booth after a recent shift, her face still flush from kitchen heat. Her children, she said, are one of her few joys in life. And although not yet 30, she said she had worried that she would soon be too old to have another baby. “Sometimes I feel like I’m 45,’’ she said.
Shoestock dismissed the idea that she could move someplace with better opportunities because higher living expenses would absorb any pay increase. Such a move would also separate her from a fragile network of relationships, like Tina, an upstairs neighbor who lets Shoestock use her Internet and phone, or Aleta, a former social worker who rallied her church to donate money for Christmas presents for Shoestock’s sons.
Shoestock left work on a recent afternoon and, still wearing her McDonald’s uniform, headed to a food pantry in a church basement near her apartment. She was still wrangling with a state caseworker over her food stamps eligibility at the time, and her children needed to be fed.
Shoestock and her 8-year-old left with two bags of bread, cereal, canned vegetables, and other items that will have to last at least a week. She was especially excited to receive two cans of Chef Boyardee ravioli, instead of the usual one.
“I just wonder,’’ she said, “will I ever be financially stable?’’
Megan Woolhouse
Two shot after 49ers-Raiders game; one critical
-- A man wearing a "F- the 49ers" T-shirt was shot outside Candlestick Park shortly after the end of Saturday night's preseason game between the Raiders and 49ers, a police sergeant said.
He was taken to San Francisco General Hospital, where his condition was called critical as of 10 p.m. Saturday.
Police detained a suspect shortly after the shooting - a man wearing Raiders apparel who was found on a party bus in an RV section of the parking lot, according to San Francisco police Sgt. Frank Harrell. Harrell spoke to reporters outside the stadium.
A second shooting victim was found near Pole V in the parking lot, Harrell said, and had superficial wounds to his face. He was listed in stable condition at S.F. General.
In addition, according to Bay City News, a San Rafael man, 26, was assaulted and knocked unconscious in a restroom at Candlestick during the game, police said. He was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Of the shooting victims, the victim in critical condition appeared to have been shot two to four times in the stomach, according to Harrell. He was discovered when he drove a pickup truck to the Gate A parking lot entrance and stumbled out of the truck.
Police believe all three men attended the game. A police statement said the man in critical condition was 24 and the other shooting victim was in his 20s.
The two shooting victims were found separately and any link between them, or between either of them and the suspect, had not been established.
This article appeared on page B - 9 of the San Francisco Chronicle
He was taken to San Francisco General Hospital, where his condition was called critical as of 10 p.m. Saturday.
Police detained a suspect shortly after the shooting - a man wearing Raiders apparel who was found on a party bus in an RV section of the parking lot, according to San Francisco police Sgt. Frank Harrell. Harrell spoke to reporters outside the stadium.
A second shooting victim was found near Pole V in the parking lot, Harrell said, and had superficial wounds to his face. He was listed in stable condition at S.F. General.
In addition, according to Bay City News, a San Rafael man, 26, was assaulted and knocked unconscious in a restroom at Candlestick during the game, police said. He was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Of the shooting victims, the victim in critical condition appeared to have been shot two to four times in the stomach, according to Harrell. He was discovered when he drove a pickup truck to the Gate A parking lot entrance and stumbled out of the truck.
Police believe all three men attended the game. A police statement said the man in critical condition was 24 and the other shooting victim was in his 20s.
The two shooting victims were found separately and any link between them, or between either of them and the suspect, had not been established.
This article appeared on page B - 9 of the San Francisco Chronicle
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