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)
Saturday, January 03, 2009
As 111 Congress Begins, Four Senate Seats in Question
Paul Kane, Washington Post: As the gavel quietly fell yesterday on the final session of the 110th Senate, officials in several states sought to cut through the confusion surrounding a quartet of chamber seats whose future occupants remain undetermined amid succession fights and election recount disputes.
In Colorado, Gov. Bill Ritter (D) is expected to announce today that Michael F. Bennet, the superintendent of Denver's public schools, will succeed Sen. Ken Salazar (D) once Salazar is confirmed as interior secretary this month. In New York, Gov. David A. Paterson attempted to knock down reports that he has decided on Caroline Kennedy as his appointee to replace Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D) after she is confirmed as secretary of state, even as key state party officials continued to push for Kennedy's appointment.
In Illinois, Roland W. Burris, the selection of embattled Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) to succeed President-elect Barack Obama in the Senate, filed another legal motion yesterday to try to force state officials to recognize his appointment, which would allow him to take his fight to the Capitol in time for Tuesday's start of the 111th Congress.
Senate Republicans, meanwhile, declared that under no circumstances would they agree to seat Democrat Al Franken of Minnesota, who is clinging to a 49-vote lead in the recount of his race against Sen. Norm Coleman, if Coleman files a legal challenge. "It is the height of arrogance for any political leader in Washington, D.C., to tell the people of Minnesota whose vote should count and whose vote shouldn't count," Sen. John Cornyn (Tex.), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said in a conference call with reporters. . . .
When the new session begins Tuesday, the Senate is expected to have 98 members, without those from Illinois and Minnesota. One of those being sworn in to a new term will be Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.). In addition to winning the vice presidency on Nov. 4, Biden was also elected to a seventh term, requiring him to begin the new session that his replacement [Edward "Ted" Kaufman] will soon take over for the next two years. . . . [Full Story: As 111th Senate is Set to Begin, Four Seats Still Up in Air] Tags:Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, US Congress, US SenateTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
ARRA News Service has posted numerous prior stories about the former fugitive and infamous political fundraiser for the Democratic Party Norman Hsu. now it seems that president-elect Barack Obama's name be brought up at Norman Hus Ponzi Scheme fraud trial.H/T to eGopNews for letting us know about the following post by The Smoking Gun:
As if being linked to one high-profile criminal case weren't enough, President-elect Barack Obama's name may soon pop up in another federal prosecution, this one involving a massive Ponzi scheme (no, the other massive Ponzi scheme). In addition to the Rod Blagojevich pay-for-play probe, Obama could figure in the upcoming fraud trial of Norman Hsu, the disgraced Democratic fundraiser who was charged last year with operating a $60 million pyramid scheme. According to investigators, Hsu, a major Hillary Clinton fundraiser, pressured investors to donate money to political candidates with whom he was aligned. In a letter last week to U.S. District Court Judge Victor Marrero, Hsu's lawyer, Martin Cohen, requested a 60-day delay in the start of Hsu's trial, scheduled to open January 12 (Cohen cited the "extraordinary level of negative publicity" generated by the recent arrest of alleged Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff). In his December 22 letter, [linked here] , Cohen also noted that Hsu was already notorious for his political activities" and that it was "inevitable" that his client's "connections" to Bill and Hillary Clinton "and other democratic notables--including perhaps the president-elect--will be introduced at trial." Before becoming a key fundraiser for Hillary Clinton's presidential bid, Hsu co-hosted a 2005 California fundraiser for Obama's political action committee and introduced the Illinois Democrat to Marc Gorenberg, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist who later joined the Obama campaign's national finance committee. Prosecutors allege that Hsu directed his investors to donate money to specific candidates, and then reimbursed them in violation of federal campaign laws. Unswayed by Cohen's argument, Marrero declined to delay the trial, which will begin a week before Obama's inauguration.
Tags:Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Marc Gorenberg, Norman Hsu, Ponzi schemeTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
by Michelle Malkin: If you think the bad economy has "solved" America's immigration problems, welcome to your end-of-the-year reality check. It's certainly true illegal crossings from the south are down and that many foreign workers are returning to their native lands as work dries up. But border chaos, haphazard enforcement, massive backlogs and deportation negligence remain the order of the day.
A half-million citizenship applications have been pending for more than nine months. Some 700,000 illegal alien absconders -- fugitives from deportation like Barack Obama's aunt Zeituni Onyango -- are free. An estimated 4-5 million illegal visa overstayers from around the world remain in the country. Both Big Business and left-wing ethnic groups have colluded to prevent an employer verification program for workers' citizenship status from getting implemented nationwide. And the borders are still largely borders in name only.
In June, the White House pushed through a $1.6-billion border security spending plan ... for Mexico and Central America. While our own border fence remains incomplete, taxpayers shelled out for helicopters, surveillance equipment, computer infrastructure, expansion of intelligence databases, anti-corruption initiatives, human rights education and training, and anti-money laundering programs for our southern neighbors. So, how's the so-called Merida Initiative working out?
As terrorized citizens of Mexico will tell you, all hell has broken loose. Corrupt police officials and narco-insurgents have left a horrific trail of beheaded and bullet-ridden bodies in their wake on both sides of the border. Mexican Army incursions into U.S. territory are a regular occurrence. . . . Such lawlessness, Mexico has apparently realized, is a grave threat to its people. Without order, there can be no peace. And chaos, as I've argued endlessly since September 11, is an invitation for those with far more nefarious intentions. . . . One hopes the incoming Obama administration can learn from our neighbors to the south the hard lesson Washington has abandoned since 9/11: Immigration control is a national security issue. Blood-stained reality clarifies the mind. [Full Story] Tags:border control, Mexico, Michelle Malkin, open bordersTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
by William Warren, "Happy New Year (anyway)!" Our friends at the ALG News Bureau" Tags:ALG, Americans for Limited Government, economy, political cartoon, US Congress, William WarrenTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
by Chris Welch, CNN:Sen. John Cornyn, the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, is weighing in on Minnesota's close and still unresolved U.S. Senate race, saying Friday that no one should be seated until a winner is made official by both the Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie and Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Currently, Democratic challenger Al Franken holds a slight lead of about 50 votes over Republican incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman, but this number does not reflect what could be more than a thousand improperly rejected absentee ballots still to be tallied, which would sway results. Tags:Al Franken, Harry Reid, John Cornyn, Ken Blackwell, Minnesota, Norm Coleman, US SenateTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Cornyn, a Republican from the state of Texas, said a filibuster may be in order if Franken were seated before an official certificate is signed by Ritchie and Pawlenty. "There will be no way that people on our side of the aisle will agree to seat any senator provisionally or otherwise," he told reporters on a conference call. The new Congress will be sworn in Jan. 6, and it's unlikely a certificate would be signed by then. Speculation over what could happen in the interim included the possibility that the Democratically-controlled body would provisionally seat Franken if he remains in the lead. The Coleman campaign is hoping the Minnesota Supreme Court will intervene over the issue of the improperly rejected absentee ballots because they say there is no uniform standard for local officials and the campaigns to review and count them.
It's also possible for an election contest to be filed after the Secretary of State certifies the results. The Coleman campaign has hinted at the increasing likelihood that they'd again go to the high court, which could mean a resolution would still be weeks away. The secretary of states office is scheduled to tally improperly rejected absentee ballots this weekend and could have a result as early as Monday, though the meaning of any such result without a governor's signature remains to be seen. . . . [Full Story]
by David A. Patten, Newsmax: GOP leaders reacted angrily Wednesday to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's tactic of all but projecting Al Franken the victor over incumbent GOP Sen. Norm Coleman, even as Minnesota election officials continue to count the votes. "At this stage, it appears that Franken will be certified the winner by the State Canvassing Board,” said a statement Reid’s office released Tuesday. “We're keeping abreast of the situation and will make a decision with regard to Senate action at the appropriate point in the process."
Former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, a leading contender for the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee, blasted Reid for politicizing the recount. "The American people will see right through Harry Reid’s crass partisan power grab,” Blackwell tells Newsmax. “He wants to manufacture a filibuster-proof majority to push through his liberal agenda. Americans expect fairness, but Reid is offering political games. There are over 1,300 disputed ballots in Minnesota that must be resolved before anyone is seated.” Adds Blackwell, "This is just another example of the sleazy political boss antics that has Harry Reid at risk of losing his own Senate seat in Nevada." . . . [Full Story]
Phyllis Schlafly Endorses Ken Blackwell for RNC Chairman
Washington, D.C.- Eagle Forum President and Republican National Coalition for Life National Chairman Phyllis Schlafly today endorsed the candidacy of Ken Blackwell for chairman of the Republican National Committee. Schlafly said,"Ken Blackwell is a solid social and fiscal conservative who is dedicated to the principles that brought the Republican Party to power in 1980 and can do so again. He has 13 successful campaigns under his belt. He has run for office himself and knows how to win.
"Ken Blackwell was first elected to the Cincinnati City Council and then as Mayor. He was the first African-American to win statewide office when he was elected Ohio State Treasurer. Subsequently, he was twice elected Ohio Secretary of State, later winning the Republican nomination for Governor of Ohio. He has managed and run large state agencies with many employees in a fiscally responsible manner. Ken Blackwell would bring to the office of RNC chairman a level of campaign experience unmatched by any other candidate.
"Ken Blackwell understands the many challenges facing our country both at home and around the world, having served as an undersecretary at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission.
"His replies to National Committeeman Morton Blackwell's questionnaire were comprehensive and impressive.
"Ken Blackwell served as vice chairman of the 2008 Platform Committee. He assures us that he fully supports the 2008 Republican National Platform and will work to see its principles implemented in public policy, adding that he is 'very proud of the document we adopted.' We are proud of the Platform and Ken Blackwell's commitment to it, and proud to support his candidacy for RNC chairman."Phyllis Schlafly has worked on Republican campaigns since 1946 and was a
Delegate to eleven Republican National Conventions. Tags:endorsement, Ken Blackwell, Phyllis Schlafly, Republican National Committee, RNC ChairmanTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
More than a dozen families filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging a new Arkansas law banning unmarried couples living together from becoming foster or adoptive parents. The Arkansas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on behalf of the families in Pulaski County Circuit Court seeking to overturn Act 1, which was approved by voters by over 56% in last month's general election.
The group filed the lawsuit on behalf of 29 adults and children who claim that the act's language was misleading to voters and that it violates their constitutional rights. The lawsuit was filed against the state of Arkansas, the attorney general, the Arkansas Department of Human Services and its director, and the Child Welfare Agency Review Board and its chairman.
Jerry Cox of the Arkansas Family Council, a conservative group that campaigned for the ban, said the council's president, said he had expected a lawsuit to be filed if the measure passed. "We are confident this lawsuit will fail and Act 1 will remain on the books," Cox said. The law will affect heterosexuals and homosexuals equally. Tags:ACLU, adoption, Arkansas, Arkansas Family Council, gay activistTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Atheists sue to take 'God' out of Obama inauguration
Audrey Barrick, The Christian Post: After failed attempts to remove prayer from George W. Bush's inauguration ceremonies, Michael A. Newdow, along with other atheists, has once again filed a lawsuit to take God and religion out of the upcoming swearing-in ceremony. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday by Newdow and 17 other individuals and 10 groups representing atheists who want the words "so help me God" and other religious references out of the president's oath of office, invocation and benediction. . . .
American Humanist Association, the Freedom from Religion Foundation and atheist groups from Minnesota, Seattle, Washington and Florida are among the groups that band together for the lawsuit. They are suing Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who will administer the oath of office to President-elect Barack Obama in January; several officials in charge of inaugural festivities; megachurch pastor Rick Warren, who will deliver the invocation; and the Rev. Joseph E. Lowery, who will deliver the benediction. Obama was not named in the suit. . . . [Full Story]Note: President-elect Obama has chosen to be sworn in with his hand on the Bible used for the inauguration of the first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln. See also:Fox News: Atheist Group Files Lawsuit Against Prayer at Presidential Inauguration Tags:God, lawsuit, Michael Newdow, oath, presidential inaugurationTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
This would have been at the very top of my Christmas wish list! But fortunately, there is an anniversary is coming soon.
NEW from DeWalt: 16-D Rapidfire Nail Gun Description: New Nail Gun, made by Dewalt. It can drive a 16-D nail through a 2 X 4 at 200 yards. This makes construction a breeze, you can sit in your lawn chair and build a fence. Just get the wife and kids to hold the fence boards in place while you sit back, relax with a cold drink. When they have the board in the right place just fire away. With the hundred round magazine, you can build the fence with a minimum of reloading. After a day of fence building with the new Dewalt Rapid fire nail gun, the wife will never ask you to fix or build anything else. Tags:humor, nail gunTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
If Caroline had been one of my students, she would not have passed! Just a minute, how much money does she have -- I mean could she pay for an C; I mean an A? Hat tip Cuffy at Perfunction -"You-Know!"
Tags:Caroline Kennedy, you knowTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Currently, individual rights may be more at risk as we address the potential of terrorist threats against the United States. The effects of the infamous terrorists attacks on 9-11 continue to ripple through our country. For example, in 2006, the John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 passed and was signed into law. The Act included a section titled "Use of the Armed Forces in major public emergencies." This section provided that "The President may employ the armed forces to restore public order in any State of the United States the President determines...." However, in 2008, Congress while passing the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act, restored the restrictions of Posse Comitatus. President George Bush signed the Act into law but he also attached an Executive Order identifying that the Executive Branch does not feel bound by the changes enacted by the repeal of the use of armed forces to restore public order in the United States. As previously presidents have done, Bush signaled that he does do not feel bound by Posse Comitatus.
We are now brought full circle to the announcement of the assignment of an Army brigade as well as other service units to enforce the will of the President and or the Department of Defense with regard to homeland security. Even if military units are not used for several years to respond to domestic threats and are not used in any way for several years to restrict the rights of Americans, the result will still be the continued implied transference of authority as troops continue to be assigned to a domestic charter and the leaders of these units develop a comprehensive doctrine designed to cope with domestic situations. Historically, the year 2008 may become identified as the year that the doctrine of Posse Comitatus ceased to have authority.
As detailed in the following new article, my warning and the warning by other new media "free" reporters appears to be making an impact. However, the present public appears focused on the potential actions of a new administration and the current potential economic crisis. They may still not be fully aware of the treat of our bothers and sisters in the military being requested and / or forced to threaten individual freedom and rights of American citizens.
by Carolyn Harris, Info Wars: The commander of NORTHCOM, Air Force General Victor E Renuart Jr., recently held a press conference regarding the deployment of troops in America. This new mission has made many in America not only concerned but worried and the General tried to dispel those fears. . . .
General Renuart explained that the new task force is “designed” to respond to chemical, biolocal or nuclear attacks and is “not meant to authorize the federal government to enforce martial law.” Such a statement may placate some but note the language - troops on the ground do not authorize martial law, the President does. And the President has not only Public Laws (Military Commissions Act and the John Warner Defense Authorization Act) on the books but Executive Orders under which he can declare an “emergency” and initiate martial law. [Full list of all Executive Orders here.] The General told the press, “It is not a force designed to go in and enforce laws. The national guard is empowered to do that through the states. This force is designed to go and render assistance and aid, as opposed to create security.” This is the not what was clearly stated in the Army Times article. See hereand here for additional information on deployment of troops under NORTHCOM and how theNational Guard is being assimilated into the federal military.
Despite his platitudes to the press and assurances to Congress that it would not require significant new funding from Congress, it is clear that the new task force’s deployment in the homeland most certainly is here to restore order in the event of civil unrest due to “unforseen economic collapse.” Unforseen? They are clearly here to prepare for widespread dissent and food riots due to the economic collapse. . . .
That the military would feel the need to backpeddle, despite the fact that the reports in mainstream media have pushed the approved talking points, shows that they monitor the alternative media and what information is being provided to warn the populace on this issue. It also shows their concern about the increasing number of people who are not comfortable seeing military in full battle gear in their town, as well as the groundswell of people who are buying out the gun shops around the nation.
The military brass are clearly concerned about how the homeland missions are being perceived and that their public relations campaign is not going as well as planned. Look for major incidents in the near future to justify their presence. Many in law enforcement and the military are deeply patriotic and are not aware of why they are being federalized, much less that it is universal and that they are becoming part of the control grid. One thing that patriots can do to educate the military that you know or happen to see is to give this incredibly powerful document: Operation Vampire Killer (.pdf). It is written by police for police and military and educates them not only about the New World Order, but exhorts them to think deeply about whether or not they will obey the command if and when they are told to disarm or fire upon fellow Americans. . . . [full article: Military Backpeddles on Troops in America ]
Tags:Posse Comitatus, military, Unites States, DOD, local law enforcement, military force in United States, NorthCom, police, police state, President, US Government To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Keynesian Economics Is Wrong: Bigger Gov't Is Not Stimulus
Cato Institute: Based on a theory known as Keynesianism, politicians are resuscitating the notion that more government spending can stimulate an economy. This mini-documentary produced by the Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation examines both theory and evidence and finds that allowing politicians to spend more money is not a recipe for better economic performance. Video features Daniel J. Mitchell, Senior Fellow, Cato Institute; and Stephen J. Entin, President and Executive Director, Institute for Research on the Economics of Taxation:
Tags:Cato Institute, Center for Freedom and Prosperity, Dan Mitchell, economic stimulus, government, Keynes, keynesian, spending, stimulusTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
By Lisa BensonTags:2008, ending 2008, cartoons, Lisa Benson, political cartoonTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Jason Tolbert on the Tobert Report today ends year 2009 reporting on an Arkansas version of "Chicago style" politics. In summary, we have an elected constitutional officer who is Arkansas Chief Law enforcement officer advocating for and paying for a defeat of constitutional amendment in the past and now espousing that he can defend the very same amendment in a court case now challenging the amendment passed by the citizen's of Arkansas. And we thought their was no shame in Little Rock when Bill Clinton was AG.Below Jason explains about the latest "Dustin dust-up":
After seeing this photograph from the Arkansas Timesof Attorney General Dustin McDaniel at a fundraiser for Arkansas Families First, the group formed to oppose Initiated Act 1, I decided to go down to the Arkansas Ethics Commission on my lunch break and take a look at their financial disclosure statements. My hunch was right.
The McDaniel Leadership PAC contributed $1,000 on October 28, 2008 to support Arkansas Families First in their campaign against Initiated Act 1. According to the PAC’s filing with the Arkansas Secretary of State, Dustin McDaniel serves as chairman of this PAC. (As a side note, fellow blogger Blake Rutherford serves as the treasurer.)
This is significant because as the Attorney General for Arkansas, McDaniel’s office now serves as the defense attorney in representing the state of Arkansas against the ACLU’s court challenge of Initiated Act 1. McDaniel’s Chief Deputy Attorney General Justin Allen told the Associated Press yesterdaythat his office will still be the ones defending the lawsuit.
I cannot help but wonder how someone who has contributed financially for a measure’s defeat can now be the advocate for the people of Arkansas in defense of that passed measure. I am certainly not a lawyer but referring to a borrowed copy of Howard Brill’s “Arkansas Professional and Judicial Ethics,” this appears to be a violation of Rule 1.7 defining a conflict of interest. The rule states “A concurrent conflict of interest exists if …. there is a significant risk that the representation of one of more clients will be materially limited … by a personal interest of the lawyer.”
Is this circumstance not a clear example of this definition? The rule goes on to discuss several requirements for a lawyer to overcome this conflict including if “each affected client gives informed consent, confirmed in writing.” The clients in this case would be a people of Arkansas, particularly the 586,248 Arkansans who voted for the Act. I am not sure how McDaniel is going to pull that one off.
Tags:amendments, Arkansas, Attorney General, ballot initiatives, conflict of interest, Dustin McDaniel, PoliticsTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is giving a committee consisting only of Democrats first crack at the yet-to-be-put-together economic stimulus package. The Steering and Policy Committee, which is co-chaired by two Democrats close to Pelosi, will hold the first hearing on a stimulus when Congress convenes next week, Pelosi announced. No Republicans sit on the panel.
The non-legislative committee — which does not mark up legislation and holds few hearings — will meet on Wednesday, Jan. 7, to consider “the state of the economy and the need for a comprehensive jobs and economic recovery package,” . . . “This hearing will build upon the stimulus package the House passed in September and the numerous hearings held by our other committees, to ensure we make the necessary investments in an innovative and bold way to strengthen the economy,” Pelosi said in a statement announcing the move.
Pelosi and congressional Democrats have committed to crafting a stimulus bill ahead of President-elect Obama’s swearing-in on Jan. 20. Democrats want the massive economic stimulus and jobs bill — which could be as much as $800 billion — on Obama’s desk the day he takes office, and have been working behind the scenes for weeks on the bill’s particulars.
Tags:Democrats, economic stimulus, Nancy PelosiTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Florida state Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer says he is considering adding his name to what is already a half-dozen potential candidates for the Republican National Committee chairmanship. Greer did so in an e-mail sent out to Tuesday to his fellow national GOP committee member. And in an interview today, he said he expects to make his decision after attending RNC events early next week in Washington, including a debate Monday between several of the other hopefuls, in which he will not take part. The party is set to choose its national chairman Jan. 30th in Washington, D.C. . . . . [Greer Considering Run for RNC Chair] Tags:chairman, GOP, Republican National Committee, RNC ChairmanTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Taking Climate “Change” Hysteria with a Grain of Salt
by William Warren Tags:political cartoon, climate change, global warming, William WarrenTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Eric Odom offers his perspective on gains and losses related to the regards to 2008 and the right online and addresses the growth and relationship building within the the conservative new media during 2008. Generally, he finds many successes that build a foundation to move forward:
Relationships, Relationships, Relationships! I think 2008 has been a tremendous year for networking and relationships on the right. With groups like the Sam Adams Alliance and Americans for Prosperity actively engaging the blogosphere and hosting events where face to face conversation occurs, we’ve seen great advances towards a more personal network of activists.
In fact, I would go as far as saying that I’ve met at least 300 bloggers this year that I didn’t know until 2008. Many of those bloggers were meeting other bloggers for the first time in their lives. We saw state based blogger networks come together under one roof for the first time ever in several states. These bloggers now know each other personally, and are far more willing to work together in promoting a message.
Not only are bloggers getting to know one another, but every day eActivists are now networking like never before. This is all happening thanks to social networks and micro-blogging platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Groups, etc.
In 2007, the center-right movement was virtually non-existent in these realms, but going in to 2009 one might argue that the conservative/libertarian presence in social networks is far more powerful than anyone would have predicted. Indeed, 2008 has been a strong year for the right online.
I think we’ve seen more action within the right online in 2008 than we’ve seen in all previous years combined. Sure, very little of it has actually translated in to offline success, but we’re not ready for that just yet. 2008 was our “foundation building” phase. We needed a foundation build of people, and we’re now getting that in place. I believe 2009 will be the year for that foundation to prove its value. I believe that in 2009 the right online will move mountains.
Tags:2008, conservatives, new media, Right OnlineTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
by Conn Carroll, Morning Bell, The Heritage Foundation: When Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) first came to power she promised, “the most honest, most open, and most ethical Congress in history.” She has since flagrantly and repeatedly broken this promise. It is part of the reason Congress has record low approval ratings. Now President-elect Barack Obama is also making grand promises to create a more open and transparent government. We hope that, unlike Pelosi, Obama chooses to keep his promise to the American people. But so far the signs are not encouraging.
Scientists who have been skeptical about manmade global warming have been called traitors or handmaidens of big oil. The Washington Post asserted on May 28, 2006 that there were only “a handful of skeptics” of manmade climate fears. Bill Blakemore on Aug. 30, 2006 said, “After extensive searches, ABC News has found no such (scientific) debate on global warming.” U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer said it was “criminally irresponsible” to ignore the urgency of global warming. U.N. special climate envoy Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland on May 10, 2007 declared the climate debate “over” and added “it’s completely immoral, even, to question” the U.N.’s scientific “consensus.”
In July 23, 2007, CNN’s Miles O’Brien said, “The scientific debate is over.” Earlier he said that scientific skeptics of manmade catastrophic global warming “are bought and paid for by the fossil fuel industry, usually.” The global warming scare has provided a field day for politicians and others who wish to control our lives. After all, only the imagination limits the kind of laws and restrictions that can be written in the name of saving the planet.
Recently, more and more scientists are summoning up the courage to speak out and present evidence against the global warming rope-a-dope. Atmospheric scientist Stanley B. Goldenberg of the Hurricane Research Division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said, “It is a blatant lie put forth in the media that makes it seem there is only a fringe of scientists who don’t buy into anthropogenic global warming.”
Dr. Goldenberg has the company of at least 650 noted scientists documented in the recently released U.S. Senate Minority Report: “More Than 650 International Scientists Dissent Over Man-Made Global Warming Claims: Scientists Continue to Debunk ‘Consensus’ in 2008.” The scientists, not environmental activists, include Ivar Giaever, Nobel Laureate in physics, who said, “I am a skeptic … Global warming has become a new religion.” Dr. Kiminori Itoh, an environmental physical chemist, said warming fears are the “worst scientific scandal in the history … When people come to know what the truth is, they will feel deceived by science and scientists.”
“So far, real measurements give no ground for concern about a catastrophic future warming,” said Dr. Jarl R. Ahlbeck, a chemical engineer at Abo Akademi University in Finland, author of 200 scientific publications and former Greenpeace member. Atmospheric physicist James A. Peden, formerly of the Space Research and Coordination Center in Pittsburgh, said, “Many (scientists) are now searching for a way to back out quietly (from promoting warming fears), without having their professional careers ruined.”
The fact of the matter is an increasing amount of climate research suggests a possibility of global cooling. Geologist Dr. Don J. Easterbrook, Emeritus Professor at Western Washington University says, “Recent solar changes suggest that it could be fairly severe, perhaps more like the 1880 to 1915 cool cycle than the more moderate 1945-1977 cool cycle. A more drastic cooling, similar to that during the Dalton and Maunder minimums, could plunge the Earth into another Little Ice Age, but only time will tell if that is likely.”
Geologist Dr. David Gee, chairman of the science committee of the 2008 International Geological Congress, currently at Uppsala University in Sweden asks, “For how many years must the planet cool before we begin to understand that the planet is not warming? For how many years must cooling go on?”
That’s a vital question for Americans to ask. Once laws are written, they are very difficult, if not impossible, to repeal. If a time would ever come when the permafrost returns to northern U.S., as far south as New Jersey as it once did, it’s not inconceivable that Congress, caught in the grip of the global warming zealots, would keep all the laws on the books they wrote in the name of fighting global warming. Personally, I would not put it past them to write more. See also:Whatever happened to global warming? Tags:fraud, global cooling, global warming, Walter E. WilliamsTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Internet Surpassed Newspapers as American News Source
The internet surpassed newspapers as the main source for national and international news for Americans, according to a new Pew Research Center survey released Dec. 23. 2008:
The internet, which emerged this year as a leading source for campaign news, has now surpassed all other media except television as a main source for national and international news.
However, television was the preferred medium for Americans; 70% of the 1,489 people surveyed said television is their primary source for national and international news. Forty percent said they get most of their news from the internet, up from 24% in September 2007, and more than the 35% who cited newspapers as their main news source. Only 59% of people younger than 30 years old prefer television,, down from 68% in the September 2007 survey. Tags:international news, Internet, national news, news, newspapers, Pew ResearchTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Former Border Patrol agents seek last-minute help from Bush
by Anna M. Tunsley, Star-Telegram: Two Border Patrol agents convicted of shooting a Mexican drug smuggler in Texas in 2005 are among the thousands of people seeking last-minute leniency from President George W. Bush before he leaves office Jan. 20. The case of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean has drawn attention as lawmakers and others have asked Bush to commute their prison sentences. . . . Several members of Congress, including Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who said the agents’ imprisonment was a "miscarriage of justice," have asked Bush to pardon the agents or commute their sentences. . . . Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., sent Bush a letter this month telling him that the justice system failed Compean and Ramos and asking him to commute their sentences and give them pardons. Rep. Dana Rochbacher, R-Calif., wrote in HumanEvents.com that "the American people cannot seem to reconcile how two law enforcement officers whose job was to protect our borders from illegal aliens, drug smugglers, human traffickers, and terrorists could end up sitting in solitary confinement . . . for shooting and wounding an illegal alien in the process of smuggling over a million dollars worth of drugs across our Southern border in Texas." . . .(more) See also:Bush springs drug dealers, leaves border agents to rot Tags:border guards, Ignacio Ramos, Jose Compean, President George Bush, presidential pardonsTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Arkansas: On the front line of protecting worker’s votes.
by K. Ryan James, Washington D.C: Possibly to the chagrin (we think, but are not sure) of Arkansas’s senior senator, the chairman of the state’s Joint Budget Committee, State Sen. Gilbert Baker, is trying to get the right of workers to a secret ballot enshrined in the state constitution.
The proposed phrasing of this amendment is as follows, with my capitalizations offered for emphasis: “The right of individuals to vote by secret ballot is fundamental. Where state or federal law requires elections for public office or public votes on initiatives or referenda, or designations or AUTHORIZATIONS OF EMPLOYEE REPRESENTATION, the right of individuals to vote by secret ballot shall be guaranteed.”
No word from Sen. Blanche Lincoln, yet, on whether the people of Arkansas, via the petition process, should be focusing on fixing the economy instead of focussed on union voting, as per her belief on what the United States Senate should be doing. (Also, no word to date on whether she would blue-slip it.)
Speaking of priorities, it would appear that the Teamsters are privy to the word that Card Check may not make it in the first 100 days.“
We’re hearing [EFCA] probably won’t happen right away, and we feel good about that,” said Leigh Strope, spokeswoman for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union. “It maybe will not happen in the first 100 days, but we don’t take that as a bad signal.”
Gerald McEntee, president of the influential American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, told The Washington Times in an interview that EFCA was “payback” for the labor movement’s massive campaign effort for Mr. Obama and the Democrats. But he acknowledged the Republican Senate roadblock and the need for Mr. Obama’s coalition to “be more interested in the bigger picture.” But unions expect a full-throttle effort in time on EFCA, he added.
“I think our people have to be able to see that the Democrats, including Obama, are fighting … for these kinds of things and not backing off or backing away,” Mr. McEntee said.
So that means Sens. Lincoln and (Mark) Pryor of Arkansas may get a bit of a reprieve. Per the Washington Times:
There are early signs that conservative Democrats and moderate, labor-friendly Republicans may not be anxious for an early fight in 2009 over EFCA, at least in its current form. Sens. MarkPryor and Blanche Lincoln, both Arkansas Democrats, have expressed doubts about the need for quick passage of EFCA.
Sen. George V. Voinovich, an Ohio Republican facing a potentially tough 2010 re-election battle, had been thought a possible Republican vote for cloture. But he told The Hill newspaper this month that he was standing firm against the union bill.“It’s undemocratic,” he said.
I am also sure that the any Democrat votes in support of the undemocratic Card Check bill might come up in the 70, or so, threatened Democrat seats in the House, as per the chair of the DCCC. I applaud Sen. Baker for his efforts at protecting the rights of workers to a secret ballot. I hope to have the opportunity to vote on amending my home state constitution one day. I also hope to hear from the Democratic members of the Arkansas congressional delegation on whether or not they would support the vote of the people to protect the votes of the workers back home. I shan’t be holding my breath. Tags:American workers, Arkansas, Blanche Lincoln, Card Check, civil unions, Mark Pryor, union activism, voting rightsTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
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Paul Kane, Washington Post: As the gavel quietly fell yesterday on the final session of the 110th Senate, officials in several states sought to cut through the confusion surrounding a quartet of chamber seats whose future occupants remain undetermined amid succession fights and election recount disputes.
