News Blog for social, fiscal & national security conservatives who believe in God, family & the USA. Upholding the rights granted by God & guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, traditional family values, "republican" principles / ideals, transparent & limited "smaller" government, free markets, lower taxes, due process of law, liberty & individual freedom. Content approval rests with the ARRA News Service Editor. Opinions are those of the authors. While varied positions are reported, beliefs & principles remain fixed. No revenue is generated for or by this "Blog" - no paid ads - no payments for articles.Fair Use Doctrine is posted & used. Blogger/Editor/Founder: Bill Smith, Ph.D. [aka: OzarkGuru & 2010 AFP National Blogger of the Year] Contact: editor@arranewsservice.com (Pub. Since July, 2006)Home PageFollow @arra
One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics
is that you end up being governed by your inferiors. -- Plato
(429-347 BC)
Friday, November 14, 2008
Michael Steele Speaks With Bloggers About His Bid for RNC Chair
Bill Smith, ARRA Editor: This afternoon, I joined other bloggers from across the nation in a conference call with Michael Steele who expressed to bloggers that he needed their help to improve the Republican Party’s technology capabilities should he be elected Chairman of the Republican National Committee. Below are excerpts from Steele’s blogger conference call:
“. . . Thanks for ‘blogging’ in… I think that the fact that I’m on the phone with you guys should give you some indication of where I want to take this party next. It has always amazed me that we have under-utilized an incredibly important resource and that is the men and women out here who blog, and who share information, collect information, and spread the word around. We have not, certainly at the national level, effectively utilized some of our strengths, effectively utilized certain strategies that will allow us to reach out with our message across this country. So, part of the parcel of what I want to do as chairman is to kick-start this in a different direction. Technology is my friend. I blog quite a bit. I’m usually on the net 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning which is crazy, but fun because I get a sense of what is going on around the world and tap into the thinking of a lot of our grassroots players out there and that includes you. So, it’s a real honor to welcome you all to this and let me just tell you this will be just the first of a series of conversations leading up to the election of the next chairman and one that process is done, many of you will be at the table in helping to shape an Internet strategy, a communication strategy, that will be second to none.”
. . . “When it comes to what you do as bloggers, now my understanding and appreciation of blogging is that this is something that Republicans really kind of started back in the Clinton era. There were a lot of guys and gals that started communicating amongst this thing so why did we let this enterprise drop? Why aren’t we actively engaging you to test ideas, to find out what’s going on in the streets, and sharing the information of what we’re doing on policy, on tactics, on all these things that get people excited and want to be a part of something . . .”
Steele also answered questions put to him by bloggers on his various policies. I encourage you to listen to Michael Steele's position on where the Republican Party needs to be headed in engaging the liberal elite and standing in the public square drawing a line between an Obama administration and the conservative public policy that facilitates the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness while also providing individuals the freedom to focus on their jobs, family and own interests. "A person must be able to do for themselves and their families before they can do for others." Listen to Michael Steele’s comments. Tags:bloggers, conservative, Michael Steele, RNC ChairmanTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Kimberley Strassel has a good column in today’s Wall Street Journal discussing the pitfalls facing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid as they try to juggle the conflicting interests of Democrat constituencies in attempting to craft a new bailout for US automakers.
Pelosi has been saying for over a month that the House would return for a lame duck session next week to pass what Democrats have referred to as an “economic stimulus” that could take the form of unemployment insurance or another loan for auto companies. Yet Roll Call reports today that what exactly the House will do is up in the air, reporting, “House Democratic leaders are still unsure how — or even whether — next week’s anticipated lame-duck session will play out.” This is, of course, after Pelosi said in early October that “What we can’t wait for is a stimulus package.”
So the question of the hour is: what will the Democrats do? Will they bother trying to pass any bill at all? And if they do, which group’s interests will get the most consideration? Detroit? The UAW? Environmental groups? Taxpayers? Warning - Congress may Return! The Senate is in recess until noon on Monday when it will return for a lame duck session to consider a lands bill and potentially a Democrat economic stimulus package, depending on House action. The House is expected to be called back into session on Monday to take up a second economic stimulus bill. Tags:Democrats, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, US Congress, Washington D.C.To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Tags:humor, Obama, political humor, Putin, Russia, White House, William WarrenTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Updated 11/14 -President Obama To Use Executive Orders To Bypass Congress And American People: Planned Parenthood head Cecile Richards says Obama is expected to rescind protections on taxpayer-funded abortions and abortion counseling immediately after he takes office. According to Richards, “We have been communicating with his transition staff….We expect to see a real change.” Opposes English-Only As Official Language - Obama is also likely to seek to strengthen a Bill Clinton Executive Order (EO 13166) that discourages English-only policies in federal programs. While campaigning, Obama told an audience: “Understand this: Instead of worrying about whether immigrants can learn English …. You need to make sure your child can speak Spanish.” . . .
According to NewsMax and other news sources, President-elect Barack Obama may reverse close to 200 administration actions and executive orders implemented during the Bush administration. According to The Washington Post, White House policies on climate change, stem cell research, reproductive rights and other issues could be undone soon after Obama takes office. Obama is expected immediately reverse:
• A limit on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.
• A rule barring international family-planning groups that receive U.S. aid from counseling women about the availability of abortion.
• The Bush administration's decision to deny California the authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles. Sources: • Obama Plans Overturning 200 Executive Orders • Obama to use executive orders for immediate impact • Obama executive orders will force abortion, embryonic stem cell fundingTags:abortion, auto emission standards, Barack Obama, California, carbon emissions, embryonic stem cell, executive orders, Mexico City policy, president-electTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Rapists & Chickens More Important Than Protecting Daughters & Babies in California
The Traditional Values Coalition: California Proposition 4, an initiative to save babies and to protect underage girls from male predators, sadly received 1,677,155 FEWER VOTES than Proposition 2 which sought to make life more comfortable for chickens. Yes, that is more than one and one-half MILLION votes more for protecting chickens than babies.Prop 4, which would have required parental notification for girls seeking abortions, lost by 553,824 votes! Apparently the comfort of egg-laying chickens is more important to California voters than being notified if their daughter is going to go to an abortion clinic to kill their grandchild.
Currently, more than 30 states have enacted parental notification laws for abortions. In these states there have been substantial reductions in pregnancies and abortions among minors. Sexually transmitted diseases among minors have also declined in states that have a parental notification law or even a consent law. Passage of Prop 4 would have exposed, and put to an end, the ongoing cover-up by abortion clinics. Currently, abortionists are being performed on minor girls without informing the parent(s) and also not reporting underage pregnancies (result of statutory rape) to authorities. The failure of Prop 4 leaves intact the ability for adult males to prey on young girls and not have their crime reported. Also, parents will not have the option of intervening; because current law thinks parents do not have the right to know.Prop. 2 could result in the bankruptcy of egg producing companies in California because it forces poultry farmers to provide larger cages for chickens to permit them to stand up, turn around or spread their wings. Prop. 2 also applies to farm animals, to pregnant pigs, egg-laying hens and to veal calves. It goes into effect in 2015.Tags:abortion, California, rapist, Tradional Family Values Coalition, TVCTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Michael Steele: “I want the gig. I'm ready to lead this party. I think we have been kind of wandering and doubting ourselves for far too long. I think this past election was the culmination of that self-doubt which has to end. We have a message, I think, of empowerment and ownership and opportunity that resonates with Americans. We just need to get back to that.”
Sean Hannity: “I'm supporting your candidacy.”
Steele Makes RNC Bid Official, By Amanda Carpenter: Former Maryland Republican Senate candidate and GOPAC Chairman Michael Steele has officially declared his candidacy for Republican National Committee Chairman."I want this gig," Steele said this evening on Hannity & Colmes. "And, Alan, I'm coming at you, baby, I'm coming at you!" Hannity said he would support Steele's candidacy and asked Steele if he would stand for conservatives as Chairman."I stand in the tradition of this party," Steele said. "I stand for the values we have fought for. The value of life, the value of the born and the unborn, the value of opportunity, the value of growth.""It's time to step up and I plan to be that leader to move us forward," Steele said.
Michael Steele to Run For RNC Chair,By Chris Cillizza: Former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele has decided to run for the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee, a move sure to shake up the evolving race for control of a party demoralized by broad losses at the ballot box earlier this month. Steele confirmed his candidacy in an interview today with The Fix and announced it formally during an interview on Fox News Channel's "Hannity and Colmes" show this evening.
"After two devastating election cycles, the party has reached a crossroads," said Steele comparing the Republican party to someone who has "hunkered down" in a corner with no idea what to do next. "I think I may have some keys to open the door, some juice to turn on the lights," Steele explained. . . .
The next chairman will be selected by 168 RNC committeemen and women during the organization's winter meeting in January. Steele seems virtually certain to be one of the frontrunners for the post no matter who else joins the race given his resume and his profile. Following a stint as chairman of the Maryland Republican Party, Steele was elected lieutenant governor of Maryland in 2002. In 2006, he embarked on a Senate bid . . . Since that loss, Steele has remained in the party mix as chairman of GOPAC, a national conservative organization designed to elect Republicans at the state and local level. He is also a frequent television presence as a contributor on Fox News Channel and the author of the now famous (infamous?) "Drill Baby Drill" line at the Republican National Convention.
Steele is also African American, a potentially powerful distinction in a party struggling for leaders that break out of the "old white guy" mold and badly in need of ways to broaden their coalition in future national elections. For his part, Steele rejected the idea that the color of his skin had anything to do with his chances at becoming RNC chair. "I am a Republican who happens to be African American," he said. Steele added that over the past few days he has been reaching out via phone to as many of the committee members as possible to make sure they know how important they are in this process. The people he has spoken with are "appreciative" of his candidacy, Steele said; "Even for those who have already committed to someone else they have been very enthusiastic," he noted.
In the interview Steele also made clear that in the current debate over whether the party should move to the middle or reaffirm its conservatives roots he falls clearly in the latter category. "The core values of our party should not change," Steele said. "We are the conservative voice in America.
Tags:candidate, Michael Steele, RNC, RNC ChairmanTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
♠by Bob Unruh,WorldNetDaily: A video of a 2006 interview with now-Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel for president-elect Barack Obama reveals plans for mandatory induction for all young adults into a civilian "force." In the interview, Emanuel was questioned whether participants in the proposed force would live in barracks. "Somewhere between the age of 18 to 25 you will do three months of training. You can do it at some point in your college time," he said. "There can be nothing wrong with all Americans having a joint, similar experience of what we call civil defense training or civil service."
Emanuel said the planned requiring service "will give people a sense of what it means to be an American." He said, of course, the plan at that point was flexible. "We propose three months [but] at the end of the day [if] someone says it should be four … I'm not going sit here and hold up [plans]," Emanuel said.
When the reporter questioned the commitment, Emanuel responded, "Guess what. We have a lot more challenges. We are going to need a lot to do it. If you're worried about are you going to have to do 50 jumping jacks the answer is yes." He chuckled at the reporters concerns. "Rather than figure out if whether you take a train ride or a barrack. … Think of it this way, it will be a common experience. "There will be a body of citizens who are ready, capable and trained," he said.
But the plan, especially its demand that Americans participate in a domestic "force," has been raising questions. The blogger Gateway Pundit called Obama's plan the "creation of his Marxist youth corps," and DBKP commented, "'Choosing' to serve should be approved by parents – not required by the government. No amount of good intentions can sugar-coat words like 'mandatory,' 'compulsory' or 'required.'"
Emanuel uses his book, "The Plan: Big Ideas for America," to specify that he would propose, for all Americans ages 18 to 25, that they "serve their country by going through three months of basic training, civil defense preparation and community service." PResident-elect Obama, meanwhile, also has yet to clarify what he meant during his July "Call to Service" speech in Colorado Springs in which he insisted the U.S. "cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we've set" and needs a "civilian national security force." [Emanuel volunteers Americans to do 'a lot'] Tags:civilian national security force, national security force, compulsory universal service, Rahm Emanuel, videoTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Fox News:Network runs correction on air after reporting an adviser to John McCain had identified himself as the source of an embarrassing story about Sarah Palin, information stemming from a hoax.
MSNBC was the victim of a hoax when it reported that an adviser to John McCain had identified himself as the source of an embarrassing story about former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, the network said Wednesday. David Shuster, an anchor for the cable news network, said on air Monday that Martin Eisenstadt, a McCain policy adviser, had come forth and identified himself as the source of a FOX News Channel story saying Palin had mistakenly believed Africa was a country instead of a continent.
Eisenstadt identifies himself on a blog as a senior fellow at the Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy. Yet neither he nor the institute exist; each is part of a hoax dreamed up by a filmmaker named Eitan Gorlin and his partner, Dan Mirvish, the New York Times reported Wednesday.
The Eisenstadt claim had mistakenly been delivered to Shuster by a producer and was used in a political discussion Monday afternoon, MSNBC said. "The story was not properly vetted and should not have made air," said Jeremy Gaines, network spokesman. "We recognized the error almost immediately and ran a correction on air within minutes." . . . Eisenstadt's "work" had been quoted and debunked before. The Huffington Post said it had cited Eisenstadt in July on a story regarding the Hilton family and McCain. Among the other victims were political blogs for the Los Angeles Times and The New Republic, each of which referenced false material from isenstadt's blog. And in July, Jonathan Stein of Mother Jones magazine blogged an item about Eisenstadt speaking on Iraqi television about a casino in Baghdad's "Green Zone." . . .
Just a minute, the victim here is Sarah Palin. MSNBC has again put in play the hoax perpetrated to damage Sarah Palin. According to the New York Times , a filmmaker named Eitan Gorlin and his partner, Dan Mirvish are responsible for the lies and deceit of the fictitious "Martin Eisenstadt." Give me break and hall these "butt heads" to jail! Tags:Fox News, hoax, MSNBC, Sarah Palin, slanderTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
NewsGuy2008: Violent homosexuals attacked a 75 year old California woman who was being interviewed on TV regarding the adoption of Proposition 8, which defines marriage as being between one man and one woman. The woman, bespectacled and kindly, was terrorized by homosexual activists - and all of it was caught on video!
KPSP CBS 2, Palms Spring, CA reports: A Palm Springs, California protest against the passing of Proposition 8 got heated Tuesday after homosexual activists attacked Phyllis Burgess, a 75-year old Christian woman carrying a cross. Local news KPSP CBS 2 caught the whole thing on tape. Despite the fact that the elderly ladydid not shout or intimidate the homosexuals and was clearly the victim of their anti-Christian hatred, the news anchor had the nerve to say “there was a lot of hate was on both sides.”
Washington Doctors, Hospitals Refuse to Take Part in New Assisted Suicide Law
by Steven Ertelt, LifeNews Editor: Voters in Washington may have made their state the second in the nation to legalize assisted suicide but that doesn't mean patients who want their physician's help in killing themselves will be able to get it. Doctors and hospitals are already speaking up saying they will refuse assisted suicide requests. Though voters approved I-1000 . . . the Washington State Medical Association says doctors have no obligation to participate in killing patients.
Meanwhile, Providence Health and Services, the largest medical system in eastern Washington, states it will prohibit doctors from killing patients at its medical centers, nursing homes and other facilities: "Providence will not support physician-assisted suicide within its ministries . . . This position is grounded in our basic values of respect for the sacredness of life, compassionate care of dying and vulnerable persons, and respect for the integrity of medical, nursing and allied health professions. We do not believe health care providers should ever be put in a position of aiding a patient in taking his or her own life." . . . Hospice of Spokane will also not participate in the law and says its mission is to provide care and support for patients, not kill them. . . . [Read More] Tags:assisted suicide, culture of death, doctors, hospice, physician, WA, WashingtonTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Talkshow hosts energized, fighting back for survival
by Wes Vernon, RA Analyst — Here's a preview of what we're in for in the next four years of the much-vaunted "spirit of bipartisanship": In the land of the free, we will witness the spectacle of commentators having to fight tooth and nail just to exercise their free speech rights under the First Amendment.
Rush Limbaugh and other popular hosts possess the best weapons with which to carry on the fight — their microphones. Conservative radio talkshow listeners can use their existing media watchdog groups to confront those who want to obliterate the First Amendment and opposition speech in the public square. Whether it will be necessary to go beyond that and form an independent political group — free of 501(c)(3) (tax exempt) constraints — to go after anti-free speech politicians is best left to those with better organizing experience than this column can offer.
Make no mistake: As this is written, the Obama team and its allies are laying the groundwork aimed at shutting down conservatives on the radio. President-elect Obama has chosen as his transition chief John Podesta, who is president of the Center for American Progress (CAP), a liberal think tank with a strong focus on getting conservative talk radio off the air. And as we explain below, this may involve something even more insidious than merely reviving the so-called "Fairness" (Stalinist) Doctrine. . . . [The enemies of free speech are on the march! ] Tags:fairness doctrine, free speech, Rush Limbaugh, talk radio, Wes VernonTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Two separate federal courts, one in San Francisco and the other in Los Angeles, just ordered the United States Navy to limit its use of sonar, the underwater radar essential for tracking enemy submarines and detecting the ocean floor. These rulings tie the hands of our Navy and are the latest outrage committed by judicial supremacists. The lawsuits were brought by environmental groups on behalf of whales and other sea creatures, using the claim that their ears and brains might be damaged by the sonar. The court rulings allow environmentalism to trump what the Navy needs to do to protect our national interest. These February rulings followed an anti-military ruling last November by the Ninth Circuit, which invited injunctions against the Navy to restrict its use of sonar . . .
Now the Supreme Court has ruled that that military training trumps protecting whales in a dispute over the Navy's use of sonar in submarine-hunting exercises off the coast of southern California. AP reports:
Writing for the majority in the court's first decision of the term, Chief Justice John Roberts said the most serious possible injury to environmental groups would be harm to an unknown number of the marine mammals the groups study. "In contrast, forcing the Navy to deploy an inadequately trained anti-submarine force jeopardizes the safety of the fleet," the chief justice wrote. He said the overall public interest tips strongly in favor of the Navy. The Natural Resources Defense Council and other environmental organizations had sued the Navy, winning restrictions in lower federal courts on sonar use.
Five Justices Ruled for the Majority: Chief Justice John Robert, Justices Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Souter dissented. Justice John Paul Stevens did not join the majority opinion, but said the lower courts had failed to adequately explain the basis for siding with the environmental groups. Justice Stephen Breyer would have allowed some restrictions to remain.
The Navy challenged restrictions that included shutting down sonar when a marine mammal is spotted within 2,200 yards of a vessel. The court said that federal courts abused their discretion by ordering the Navy to limit sonar use in some cases and to turn it off altogether in others. [More on SCOTUS Descision]Tags:Activist Judges, environmentalists, federal judges, National Defense, Phyllis Schlafly, SCOTUS, sonar, U.S. District Court, US Navy, US Supreme Court, whalesTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Obama Spokesman - ‘Obama Ready to TAKE POWER & RULE on Day 1′
Bill Smith, Editor:Hat Tip to Warner Todd Huston for alerting us to the arrogance of or gaffe by president-elect Obama's transition co-chair. But then again, the word is out (via leak-a-minute staffers) that Obama is willing to dictate more and serving less. Obviously, the American people do not elect kings, queens, regents or dictators. We expect Presidents to generically serve ALL the people and uphold the Constitution to the best of their ability. In light of Obama probable easy going familiarity with those around him during the campaign, Obama's new Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel (or even soon to be 1st Lady Michelle) would do well to brief the staff, take names, kick butt, and turn off the growing leak-a-minute and gaffe factory among the staffers, the transition team, and the pending administration. Emanuel how about some professionalism - the co-chair of the transitional team needs direction!
By Warner Todd Huston:The co-chair of Barack Obama’s Transition Team, Valerie Jarrett, appeared on Meet the Press this weekend and used, shall we say, an interesting word to described what she thinks Barack Obama will be doing in January when he’s officially sworn into office. She told Tom Brokaw that Obama will be ready to “rule” on day one. It’s a word that reflects the worst fears that people have for Obama the “arrogant,” the “messiah,” that imagines he’s here to “rule” instead of govern.
Jarret told Brokaw that “given the daunting challenges that we face, it’s important that president elect Obama is prepared to really take power and begin to rule day one.”
Someone needs to get to Jarrett and inform her that American politicians are not Kings and do not “rule” from office. But if this is the attitude of Obama’s transition team, what does The One himself imagine he is about to unleash? Could the fears that Obama thinks he is being anointed America’s King be far off with this sort of talk flying about?
Tags:Arkansas News Bureau, Barack Obama, Democrats, Liberal Media, media bias, Politics, president-elect, Rahm EmanuelTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
AZ Supreme Court Chief Justice: Quit saying 'illegal aliens'
WorldNetDaily: Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Ruth McGregor stirred up a hornet's nest by endorsing a demand from the Hispanic Bar Association to censor words and phrases such as "illegal aliens" and "illegal immigrants" and substitute "foreign nationals" in court documents. When a blog at Judicial Watch reported on the instructions, court officials threatened to sue the government-watchdog organization, prompting its release of a statement defending the story. The original report said the chief justice had agreed to forward to judges the Hispanic Bar's demands to alter the language in court opinions and documents. . . .
Judicial Watch said, "In a strongly worded letter to the chief justice, Los Abogados' [Hispanic Bar Association] president says attaching an illegal status to a person establishes a brand of contemptibility, creates the appearance of anti-immigrant prejudice and tarnishes the image of courts as a place where disputes may be fairly resolved." The letter, according to Judicial Watch, criticized the state's high court for using the term "illegals" in at least two opinions and the term "illegal aliens" in dozens of others. Judicial Watch said the letter concludes with a list of acceptable and unacceptable terms relating to illegal immigration.. Among the terms the group wants banned are "immigration crisis,' "immigration epidemic,' "open borders advocates", "anchor babies" and "invaders." Acceptable terms are "foreign nationals," "unauthorized workers" and "human rights advocates" . . . . The report almost immediately was followed with a response from the court, Judicial Watch reported. "The Arizona Supreme Court has threatened to sue Judicial Watch for revealing that its chief justice agreed to enforce a Hispanic Bar Association demand to ban the terms 'illegal' and 'aliens' in all of the state’s courtrooms," the organization said . . . . [Court: Quit saying 'illegal aliens'] Tags:Arizona, free speech, illegal aliens, illegal immigration, judicial activism, Judicial Watch, AZ, Supreme Court, SCOTUSTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Kerby Anderson, Point of View: One of the lingering questions about the bailout is how long the government will have ownership of the banks. At the moment, the federal government is planning on purchasing $250 billion worth of shares in American banks. Is it possible that government will hold the bank shares indefinitely? Terrence Jeffrey of CNSNews.com believes that this could be an unintended consequence. Let me explain.
While the law doesn't say that government can buy ownership interest in banks, it does allow purchases in "any financial instrument that the secretary, after consultation with the chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, determines the purchase of which is necessary to promote financial market stability." This act also allows "such actions as is necessary, that the secretary might deem."
So how long can the treasury secretary hold these assets? Actually, the law sets no limits. A Treasury spokesman told CNSNews.com that: "We can hold them for as long as we want." Now, let’s be fair, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson does not envision the government having a permanent ownership stake in various banks. But let's also be realistic. He won't be the treasury secretary next year.
The plan that was drafted envisions the government selling the stock back to the banks. It also prevents elected officials from using government ownership of the banks for their own political advantage. This is oversight actually takes place through the Office of Thrift Supervision, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Now the plan does allow banks to buy back its shares from the government in the first three years, if it can raise 25 percent of the value of the shares by selling stock. But these are subject to the approval of the primary bank regulator. But the bottom line is this: banks are not guaranteed they can buy back their stock. Although Congress didn't intend for government to permanently own banks, it is possible they may do so anyway. I'm Kerby Anderson, and that's my point of view. Also See:Five Threats - facing America & New President[Summary: terrorist attack, actions by Russia, Iran & nuclear weapons, political chaos in Pakistan, and rising cost of energy and vulnerability of energy supply lines.] Tags:banks, currency, FDIC, Federal Reserve, Kerby Anderson, Point of View, US GovernmentTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
by Rep.Ron Paul (R-TX): The questions now being asked are: Where to go from here and who's to blame for the downfall of the Republican Party? . . . Now, in light of the election, many are asking: What is the future of the Republican Party? But that is the wrong question. The proper question should be: Where is our country heading? There's no doubt that a large majority of Americans believe we're on the wrong track. That's why the candidate demanding "change" won the election. It mattered not that the change offered was no change at all, only a change in the engineer of a runaway train.
Once it's figured out what is fundamentally wrong with our political and economic system, solutions can be offered. If the Republican Party can grasp hold of the policy changes needed, then the party can be rebuilt. In the rise and fall of the recent Republican reign of power these past decades, the goal of the party had grown to be only that of gaining and maintaining power -- with total sacrifice of the original Republican belief in shrinking the size of government.
Most Republicans endorsed this view in order to achieve victories at the polls. Limiting government power and size with less spending and a balanced budget as the goal used to be a "traditional" Republican value. This is what Goldwater and Reagan talked about. That is what the Contract with America stood for. The opportunity finally came in 2000 to do something about the cancerous growth of government. This clear message led to the Republican success at the polls.
Once the Republicans were in power, though, the promises faded, and all policies were directed at maintaining or increasing power by trying to whittle away at Democratic strength by acting like big-spending Democrats. . . . what the Republican leadership didn't realize was that ALL spending is a tax on middle-class Americans through price inflation and that eventually the inevitable consequence is paying for the extravagance with a financial crisis. . . .
Opportunity abounds for anyone who can present the case for common sense in fiscal affairs, for protection of civil liberties here at home, and avoiding the senseless foreign entanglements which have bogged us down for decades and contributed so significantly to our fiscal and budgetary crisis. . . .
During the debates in the Republican Presidential primary, even though I am a 10-term sitting Representative Member of Congress, I was challenged more than once on my Republican credentials. The fact that I was repeatedly asked how I could be a Republican when I was talking a different language than the other candidates answers the question of how the Republican Party can slip so far so fast. My rhetorical answer at the time was simple: Why should one be excluded from the Republican Party for believing and always voting for:
• Limited government power
• A balanced budget
• Personal liberty
• Strict adherence to the Constitution
• Sound money
• A strong defense while avoiding all undeclared wars
• No nation-building and no policing the world
How can a party that still pretends to be the party of limited government distance itself outright from these views and expect to maintain credibility? Since the credibility of the Republican Party has now been lost, how can it regain credibility without embracing these views, or at least showing respect for them? I concluded my answer by simply stating the Republican Party had lost its way and must reassess its values. And that is what needs to be done in a hurry. The problems are easily understood and the answers are not that difficult. Abusing the rule of law and ignoring the Constitution can be reversed. If the Republican Party can grasp hold of the needed reforms, it can lead the way and regain its credibility. If power is sought for power's sake alone, the Party will never be able to wrench away the power of the opposition.
In the past two years, I found that when the young people heard the message of liberty, they overwhelmingly responded favorably, fully realizing the failure of the status quo and the need to once again endorse a system of self reliance, personal responsibility, sound money, and a non-interventionist foreign policy while rejecting the cradle-to-grave nanny state all based on the rule of law and the Constitution. To ignore the political struggle and only "hope for the best" is pure folly. The march toward a dictatorial powerful state is now in double time. All those who care -- and especially those who understand the stakes involved -- have an ominous responsibility to energetically get involved in the battle of survival for a free and prosperous America. [Extract from CNN Commentary by Ron Paul: GOP should ask why U.S. is on the wrong track] Tags:commentary, congressman, GOP, Republican, Ron Paul, TXTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Freedom is not free; it comes with a cost! Tags:academic freedom, America, cost, Jesus Christ, liberty, military, Sacrifice, United StatesTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
We missed this "news bit" but felt this "bite" was still woth sharing. NewsBuster's K. Daniel Glover identified that "As his days in the White House wind down, Barney is getting a bit snippy, literally, with the reporters who have made life miserable for President Bush. Today the Scottish terrier bit Reuters reporter Jonathan Decker." Finally, one resident at the White House shows how to deal with a liberal reporter.
Thank you to Nancy Colburn - she sent this to us via FaceBook. Tags:news, News Busters, video, White HouseTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
(AFRNS) – During Veterans Day, Nov. 11, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake calls on Americans to recognize the nation's 23.4 million living veterans and the generations before them who fought to protect freedom and democracy. "While our foremost thoughts are with those in distant war zones today, Veterans Day is an opportunity for Americans to pay their respects to all who answered the nation's call to military service,” said Secretary Peake. “Participation in Veterans Day can be as simple as putting out the porch flag or reminding youngsters of the story of a relative who served in the military.”
As part of the national Veterans Day observance, Secretary Peake will attend a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery. From stirring parades and ceremonies to military exhibits and tributes to distinguished veterans, major national observances also are scheduled at 33 sites in 20 states, serving as models for communities to follow in planning their own observances.
A guide to these major activities is included on VA's Veterans Day WebPage under "Regional Observances." The page includes a variety of resources, including a teacher’s guide, a poster gallery and links to information about the Arlington National Cemetery ceremony. Other commemorative activities range from sports events, restaurants offering discounts to military members and individual veterans wearing their military medals in public during the day as a gesture of pride in service.Tags:2008, Veterans Day, Arlington National CemeteryTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Hat Tip God Bless America:
The Embeded player we had for Veterans Day has been removed to avoid continuous playing and eliminating the delay in loading the ARRA News Service. Click on the above link to hear this great song! Tags:KIA, MIA, military, music, POW, They Died For Me, veterans, warTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
UK’s Gordon Brown Calls for the Creation of a Global Society
Faultline USA reports: Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown will give his annual foreign policy speech today at the Lord Mayor's Banquet. He will be calling for the reform of international financial institutions and the forging of a new world order.
Via London (Reuters) from an excerpt from his speech, Brown calls on the alliance between Britain and the U.S. and “more broadly between Europe and the U.S” to lead global efforts to build a “stronger and more just international order.” Brown will meet with other world leaders in Washington next week for an economic summit to discuss long-term economic solutions to the current financial crisis. According to a summary of the speech Brown will say:
"Uniquely in this global age, it is now in our power to come together so that 2008 is remembered not just for the failure of a financial crash that engulfed the world but for the resilience and optimism with which we faced the storm, endured it and prevailed, . . . "...And if we learn from our experience of turning unity of purpose into unity of action, we can together seize this moment of change in our world to create a truly global society."
Brown will set out five great challenges the world faces and he will identify five stages for tackling the economy. Brown wants immediate action to stop the spread of the financial crisis to middle-income countries, a new facility for the International Monetary Fund, an agreement on a global trade deal, and reform of the global financial system. Tags:Britain, financial institutions, foreign policy, Gordon Brown, international, new world order, Prime Minister, UKTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
I have heard that the Republican Party is broken, and that we have to remake ourselves in order to come back to the good graces of the voting public. Balderdash. The Republican Party does not have to remake itself, or become more like the Democratic Party, or have a ‘bigger tent’ or become more tolerant, or any of that foolishness. The Republican Party needs to do seven things in order to retake its place as the leaders of our nation.
We need to self police and purge our Party of the corruption that seeped into the ranks during our years of power. From the halls of Congress, to the living rooms where local Party officials meet, the people who have used political power to advance personal prosperity, illegally and unethically, need to be stripped from their positions of leadership, and censured or prosecuted as the situations dictate. Sarah Palin set a standard for us in how she hit hard against entrenched corruption in
Alaska, and we would do well to heed her example.
We need to go back to the basics of what makes our Party great. We need to embrace the foundations of our party’s history, such as constitutional constructionism, federalism, individual responsibility, and conservative fiscal policy. We need cast off this idea that it is our job to include all points of view in our Party, and instead set a steadfast standard that others can look up to and join with as they see and understand the superiority of the Conservative Republican Platform.
We need to learn from the success of the Democratic Party and use their methods to teach conservative values from the bottom up. We need to become ‘community organizers’ in our own right, and work hard to make sure that our values are taught in our preschools, in our grade schools, our middle schools, our high schools, and ultimately in our colleges and our universities. We need to create our own educational programs to counter the liberal programs that have become entrenched in the liberal controlled education systems. We need to promote and support conservative community programs and charities, and take advantage of any chance to promote conservative social efforts wherever we see them.
We have to find strong, honest, charismatic, conservative leaders to take control of the current Republican Caucus in Congress. We cannot afford to have congressional leaders who cannot relate to the national constituency. The chosen leaders have to be able to articulate our congressional objectives, and communicate their importance to the American people. A Democratic majority can stonewall a Republican minority, but they cannot stand against a resolute American public that demands results. When the inevitable political infighting begins in the now too powerful Democratic Party, a calm, steadfast Republican minority can show America what leadership should look like.
We have to recruit, promote, and support good conservative leaders at all levels of local and statewide government. The first, and most important, place we can do this is on school boards nationwide. If we can shift the political balance of our education system, we can begin to take the control of our classrooms out of the hands of the far left.
We have to recruit, promote, support good conservative candidates to challenge the Democrats for control of Congress in 2010. The Democrats have two years ahead where they will have control of the White House and both houses of Congress, and we can take advantage of those two years to recruit candidates and build successful campaigns. The political infighting of the Democratic Party is inevitable, and a unified Republican Party can take advantage of that to make huge gains in congressional seats.
We have to find a great, young, ambitious, charismatic, conservative leader, who has a bulletproof past, who has a grand vision for our nation, to lead our party to victory in the 2012 Presidential race. I know this is asking a lot, but our Party needs a young Ronald Reagan — male, female, black, white, latino — it doesn’t make a difference. If we put forth anything less, then we will be trying again in 2016.
That's it. My seven steps to reclaim conservative values in America. Of course there are a million details buried in those seven steps, including specific platforms, plans, and policies. Will it happen? I don’t know. If the Republican Party can find the right leadership, then I think it can happen. If they want me to come do it for them in Washington, they can always give me a call. Otherwise, I'll be here in Wyoming working on it at the local level.
I think our conservative readers will have to agree, there is a whole lot of "wisdom" coming out of Wyoming. Tags:conservatives, GOP, Republican Party, wisdom, WyomingTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Matthews: My ‘Job’ Is To Make Obama Presidency A Success
Video via Breitbart.tv. Chris Mqatthews: "I want to do everything I can to make this thing work, this new presidency work." Obviously, accurate reporting certainly won't be one of those things.
Tags:Barack Obama, Chris Matthews, media bias, videoTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Bill Smith, ARRA Editor: Rod Eccles is a true American. He is the son of a career military man and has lived and / or visited lots of places in the USA and Europe. He believes in the Constitution of the United States and believes the Federal government should limit itself to that. He is also an African American and offers a unique juxtaposition of the present situation that affects us all.
by Rod Eccles, The Liberty Cafe: Some time ago, there was a man who came to us with the vision of freedom and equality for all. No, I am not talking about Barack Obama. Although you would think that Obama, at first glance, would be a champion of freedom and liberty. But then you hear his words. His words like "spread the wealth around" are not the words of freedom. They are words of oppression.
I am talking about a great man. A man who did not live to see his DREAM become a reality. I am talking about a man who wanted us all to be equal under the laws of God. I am talking about a man who did not raise his fist in anger but in glory and power and peace. I am talking about Martin Luther King. Jr. He had a dream. I have a dream. Do you have that dream?
Higher taxes are not the result of free men. Spreading the wealth around is not the action of a free man. The Fairness Doctrine is not a doctrine of free men. No, my fellow Americans that is not freedom. We have gotten to the crest of that Mountain that Dr King envisioned. We have climbed long and hard to reach that mountain top. We have struggled and we have fought. We have suffered injury and casualty yet we still fought and we still climbed. We have overcome many an obstacle. We have fought back oppression and regression. We have stood in the face of evil and beat it back.
But now we come to the mountain top to see our freedom. To realize the dream. Only to have someone for whom that dream was meant, be raised to a position to strip that dream from us. We are so close, yet we are so far. It is as if that mountain was thrust upward another mile into the sky. But yet we will continue that climb.
We will rise above all that which wants to keep us low. We will climb. We will fight for all that is good and just. We will climb. We will have the holy wind of God at our backs even though the evil fire of Satin himself blows in our face. Yes, we will climb. We will climb that mountain. And when we reach that mountain top again, we will not let anyone keep us in the fog. No we will climb to a clear mountain top where the sky is bright and clear and we will see that freedom which all men long for. We will see the freedom that God intended for all men. We will see and fulfill that dream. The dream that Dr. King had. The dream that he passed on to his children. The dream that was given to him by God.
And when that day comes, we as a nation, as a people will sing "We are free at last, Thank God Almighty, we are FREE at last."
Tags:Dr. King, equality, Freedom, God, Martin Luther King Jr, Mountain Top, videoTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Bill Smith, ARRA Editor: As conservatives especially those who are the heart of the Republican Party wrestle with the issues, lesson learned, and planned actions in the aftermath of Election 2008, it is importance that we maintain balance in our actions and decisions. It is easy to point fingers while forgetting that we have four fingers pointed right back us. As identified in the following excellent piece by Leslie Cabone, "Ronald Reagan once said, 'I wasn't a great communicator, but I communicated great things.' Those great things are true, and they don't change." Let's not forget the great things for expediency, bias or to enhance numbers. Unlike the soon to be imbued administration who called for "change," we cannot been drawn into the rabbit trap but remember that great things (i.e., principles and ideals) do not change!
by Leslie Carbone: This has been such an encouraging week. Out of the wreckage of the Republican Party, so many voices have risen to speak for the need to return to our core principles. From the ashes, a conservative renaissance is leading the way back to the foundation on which Ronald Reagan built the Party during 1964-89.
But naturally, like any movement rooted in truth and hope, it has its nay-sayers. One theme that these nay-sayers echo is the idea that the world has changed so much over the last 20 years that the principles that worked for Ronald Reagan won't work any more.
Hogwash.
Yes, the world has changed, in some good ways, and in some bad ways. But not in any way that affects long-term fundamentals.
Economic and political freedom, individual responsibility, and finite government are not matters of personal preference. Nor are they matters, as the wealth-spreaders like to claim, of greed, unfairness, or un-neighborliness. They are principles that work. They foster prosperity, in the full sense of the term.
If this understanding has diminished, if these principles have lost some luster over the last two decades, that's in no small measure due to the big-government Republicans who gave them lip service while collaborating with liberals in undermining them. And this craven collaboration is part of why the world faces economic trouble.
Republicans can continue to kow-tow to the whiners who want government to kiss away all their boo-boos, to bail them out of the consequences of their own irresponsibility, to regulate life into comfort and fairness.
And they will continue to lose. The dream of life enveloped by state-sponsored cushions is more than just the cop-out of weak and cowardly souls who think everyone else is responsible for taking care of them. It's a prescription for impoverishment. When government micro-manages peoples' lives, when it spreads the wealth around, when it overturns the natural justice that rewards virtue and punishes vice, it makes life worse; it dampens the human spirit, and human flourishing diminishes.
When government adheres to its proper, finite mission, the people prosper. A party that leads the way to prosperity is a party that can win. Ronald Reagan once said, "I wasn't a great communicator, but I communicated great things." Those great things are true, and they don't change.
----------- Leslie Carbone is the author of Slaying Leviathan: The Moral Case for Tax Reform (Potomac, 2009). Her works have appeared in The Weekly Standard, The American Enterprise, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The San Francisco Chronicle, and the National Review Online. She has appeared on more than 200 radio and television talk shows, been quoted in national newspapers including The Wall Street Journal and USA Today, and lectured at more than 100 campuses. Ms. Carbone has served as the Director of Family Tax Policy at Family Research Council and was the Speechwriter for U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. Tags:conservative, Election 2008, Leslie Carbone, reflection, renaissance, Republicans, Ronald ReaganTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
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Bill Smith, ARRA Editor: This afternoon, I joined other bloggers from across the nation in a conference call with Michael Steele who expressed to bloggers that he needed their help to improve the Republican Party’s technology capabilities should he be elected Chairman of the Republican National Committee. Below are excerpts from Steele’s blogger conference call: 
