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, March 07, 2009
People Seeking Consideration for Arkansas Republican Party Executive Director
Leslie Rutledge has now joined the crowded field of young, experienced, and energetic candidates. Rutledge certainly has a long resume of both Arkansas and Washington experience. She currently serves as the Deputy Legal Council for the Republican National Congressional Committee. However, most HuckaFans like me know her from her work onHuckabee’s Presidential Campaignwhere as a staff attorney she helped ensure he met all the various state primary qualifications to get on the ballot. She also worked as a legal council for Huckabee’s office when he was Governor. This past year Rutledge and I were fellow alternate delegatesto the Republican National Convention. She also has been very active with the Young Republican organizationserving in various offices on the state and national level. “The next few years are crucial for the Republican Party in terms of fundraising, candidate recruitment, communications, and Election Day operations” Rutledge tells the Tolbert Report. “It is important that the Party enhance its use of technology and new media in these areas to reach a broader base of supporters and to establish a stronger Republican brand. The Republican Party must actively seek out and cultivate young, articulate conservatives to become active spokespersons and candidates to challenge the Democrats on issues such as cutting taxes and offer real solutions to improve lives all across Arkansas. Republicans must recommit to our principles and update the strategy we use to communicate our message so that the Republican Party is the home of conservative Arkansas voters.”
Bryan Sanders has been attending various Republican Party meetings and is even speaking directly to members of the Executive Committee. Sanders confirmed , “Recently I have been traveling the state to meet with members of the Executive Committee and I am optimistic about the future of our party and the chance we have to improve our state.” He said he is “honored to be considered for the Executive Director position by the RPA Chairman and Executive Committee. It would be a tremendous privilege to serve under their leadership.” As a non-native Arkansan, Sanders has worked as a political adviser for various campaigns, most notably Mike Huckabee’s Presidential Campaign were Sanders served as field director in 16 states. He has also worked for various other campaigns such as Kansas Senator Sam Brownback and most recently as campaign manager for Brad Lager, the unsuccessful Republican candidate for Missouri State Treasurer in 2008.
Bryan Sanders is the boyfriend of Sarah Huckabee, Gov. Huckabee’s daughter and chairman of HuckPAC. Sanders discussed the direction he saw the Republican Party heading in Arkansas. “I have found a consensus that we can’t grow our party from the top down, we need to rebuild it from the ground up. The role of the RPA must be to serve and empower the local parties and candidates and not the other way around. If we commit to rebuilding the party from the ground up, recruit strong candidates, execute an aggressive finance plan, and effectively target our resources, we will win more races and steer Arkansas in the right direction.” Tags:Bryan Sanders, Leslie Rutledge, Republican Party of Arkansas, RPA, rumorsTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
On Wednesday, we shared Gary Bauer's article on Rush vs. The Radicals. Today, we take note of Bauer's latest comments on "GOP Leaders Defend Limbaugh." It is nice that this is happening but one thing is for sure, with or without the GOP Leaders, Rush Limbaugh is very capable of taking on the entire Obama staff. The entire intellectual reasoning of the Obama's liberal operatives hardly come up to the level of an average well balanced conservative and their trying to attack and isolate Rush Limbaugh is showing the Obama staff to be mental midgets. But Bauer does identify a significant point: Where are the civil libertarians now - they sure aren't screaming right now about freedom of speech and government oppression.by Gary Bauer, Campaign for Working Families: Republican leaders are hitting back at the Obama White House today over its attempt to smear Rush Limbaugh. Texas Senator John Cornyn, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, is charging that the coordinated attack on Rush “reeks of hypocrisy.” House Republican Leader John Boehner also weighed in with an opinion piece in the Washington Post. Limbaugh himself compared the Obama White House to the Nixon White House, which was well known for its infamous “enemies list.”
The controversy has helped Rush. In the last week his ratings have nearly doubled. But it is easy to see the goal of the White House strategy. Most Americans don’t listen to Rush Limbaugh and all they know about him is what the liberal media tell them. Republicans love him. Democrats hate him. Unfortunately, Independents tend to have a negative view of him too, and that is the group that the Carville/Begala/Axelrod/Emanuel gang is trying to influence.
In my view, every American, whether they like Limbaugh or not, should be concerned and outraged that government officials from the White House are engaged in a systematic effort to smear media personalities – Rick Santelli, Jim Cramer and Rush Limbaugh. Imagine if under President Bush there had been a concerted effort to “get” Keith Olbermann or Katie Couric? Every civil libertarian in the country would be screaming about freedom of speech and government oppression. Where are those civil libertarians now?
As I wrote earlier this week, this is more evidence of the Left’s totalitarian impulse to silence dissent. This White House is still in campaign mode -- attacking talk show hosts when it should be governing. You can read more of my thoughts on this controversy in my weekly column at Human Events.------------- Gary Bauer is is a conservative family values advocate and serves as president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families where his articles are shared. Tags:Gary Bauer, media smear, Obama operatives, Rush LimbaughTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Red flags for IRS audits: . . . the IRS still operates by the same basic principle: The more money you make, the more likely it will be that the IRS will want to do an in-depth study of your tax return. If your income is $100,000 or more, there is a 2 percent chance you’ll be audited. But one out of 16 people with an income of $1 million or more gets audited, . . . The IRS is also targeting “cash businesses.” For example, Knowles said, cash businesses are self-employed landscapers and house painters that often are paid by cash or check, where it is tougher to determine whether all income is reported. Also under more-intense scrutiny are “hobby losses.”
IRS Will Intensify Small-Business Audits: The Senate just passed an $800-billion-plus stimulus bill that, according to one analysis, directs a mere $6 billion to help small businesses (which create three-quarters of the jobs in the U.S.). That’s the bad news. Here’s the worse news: the IRS will decrease the number of corporate audits it performs and instead audit more small businesses. Thanks, Washington. Don’t forget to kick the dog on your way out. Tags:audits, cartoons, Dave Granlund, IRS, small businessTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Designer John Pszeniczny has come up with a classic. Follow John on Twitter H/T to Ackle on Twitter - a former liberal Dem who is now a Conservative seeker of truth. {Click to enlarge photo]
Gary Bauer in his Friday's newsletter had a related comment: "To be fair, the president is extraordinarily focused on one thing. Evidently, infatuated reporters have stopped staring at his hair long enough (yes, his graying hair got front page coverage in New York Times this week) to notice that Obama never does anything without his “crutch” or “safety net” – his teleprompter! " Tags:Barack Obama, John Pszeniczny, Obama prompter, teleprompterTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
by William Waren Tags:AIG, Barack Obama, Fiscal Crisis, Global New Deal, Gordon Brown, Political Cartoons, William WarrenTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
That is on top of 655,000 jobs lost in January and 681,000 jobs cut in December.
4.4 million -- Total jobs eliminated since the recession began in December of 2007.
The number of Americans reeling from the bad job market is staggering:
12.5 million Americans are actively looking for a job and cannot find even part-time employment.
Another 8.6 million Americans want a full-time job and have been forced to work part-time.
American workers in nearly every part of the economy were under seige in February:
Construction companies cut 104,000 jobs.
Factories cut 168,000.
Retailers cut nearly 40,000.
Professional and business services cut 180,000, with 78,000 jobs lost at temporary-help agencies.
Financial companies cut 44,000 jobs.
Leisure and hospitality firms chopped 33,000 positions.
BUT FEDERAL LEADERS SAY MORE FOREIGN WORKERS NEEDED - Following the lead of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Pres. Obama, Senate Majority Leader Reid and House Speaker Pelosi refuse to respond to the plight of unemployed American workers and consider a suspension of most immigration and foreign worker programs. . . . [Read More - 12.5 million officially unemployed Americans] Tags:Barack Obama, foreign workers, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, NumbersUSA, Roy Beck, unemployment insurance, jobs, job losses, To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
On Tuesday, March 3, MSNBC host Chris Matthews called pro-life groups and individuals "terrorists" because they oppose the Kathleen Sebelius nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Is it Mr. Matthews' opinion that pro-lifers are terrorists because they oppose a nominee with views that are diametrically opposed to most of America? A nominee so radical it is difficult--impossible--to find an instance when she stood up as an elected official in support of life.
Does Mr. Matthews want pro-life groups to remain silent on a nominee who voted to weaken and eliminate measures like parental notification and waiting periods? A nominee who directed funds away from programs that support women and towards abortionists like Planned Parenthood.
Mr. Matthews should know better. We have every right as citizens to object to a nominee who as governor hosted a private reception at the governor's mansion for the notorious late term abortionist George Tiller and his staff, and worked hard to block criminal charges against Tiller.
It is our duty to educate our fellow citizens about a nominee for an influential cabinet position whose views on abortion and health-care reform are radically outside the mainstream. Email Chris Matthews Today and Tell Him That Pro-Life Americans Are Not Terrorists!! Tags:action alert, Chris Matthews, Christians, Kathleen Sebelius, MSNBC, pro-life, terroristsTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Tony Perkins, FRC Update: While no date has been set yet for nomination hearings on Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius to become the new Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary, the opposition outside of Congress is growing fast. Today Governor Sebelius' own archbishop, Joseph Naumann, expressed his disappointment that the pro-abortion Catholic Mrs. Sebelius is being selected to take charge of U.S. health policy. This is not the first time Archbishop Naumann has publicly rebuked Governor Sebelius for her strong support of abortion. Last year he took the extraordinary step of asking her to refrain from taking communion in the "hope that it would motivate Governor Sebelius to reconsider her support for what is an intrinsic evil -- the destruction of innocent human life by abortion" and "to protect others from being misled by the Governor's public support and advocacy for legalized abortion." Unfortunately, among those being misled are many Republican senators who are putting political motivations in front of standing up for what is right. Governor Sebelius is also coming under fire in her home state for both cutting a deal that benefited a political crony of hers to the tune of $700,000 in taxpayer funds and for diverting money from programs that support pregnant women and towards groups like Planned Parenthood. Governor Sebelius has proven she is unfit to be HHS Secretary yet for the most part the U.S. Senate is quiet. Please contact senators today to oppose her nomination. See More:The Catholic Key Blog: Archbishop Naumann's Column on Sebelius Nomination; The Truth About Governor Sebelius and Her Anti-Woman Record;Playing Hardball with Mainstream America; andContact Your Elected OfficialsTags:abortion, FRC, HHS, kansas, Kathleen Sebelius, nominations, Tony PerkinsTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
More than 50 years after it was made official by a joint resolution of Congress, the National Day of Prayer is being threatened by a group of atheists. The Freedom From Religion Foundation has filed a federal lawsuit, saying the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional and creates a "hostile environment for nonbelievers." The Alliance Defense Fund will defend the National Day of Prayer Task Force.
“The lawsuit will not keep us from responding to our call to ask Americans to intercede in prayer for our nation’s leaders and their families,” said Brian Toon, vice chairman of the NDP Task Force. “We pray without fear of retribution.” The National Day of Prayer falls on the first Thursday of May — May 7 this year. Millions gather across the nation in stadiums, schools, town halls, state capitols, nursing homes and prisons. . . . CitizenLink - Read More Tags:CitizenLink, lawsuit, National Day of Prayer, prayerTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Last night, Senate Democrats were unable to get 60 votes to cut off debate and amendments to the omnibus bill, so amendments will continue to be offered today. Currently, the pending amendment is one from Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) to remove a provision designed to kill the D.C. school voucher program. Votes on amendments are scheduled to resume Monday evening.
The House is expected to pass a continuing resolution this morning to fund the government through Wednesday. The Senate resumed consideration of H.R. 1105, the fiscal year 2009 omnibus appropriations bill. The $410 billion bill combines the 9 unpassed appropriations bills from last year and funds the federal government through September. A continuing resolution passed last fall expires today.
Yesterday, the Senate rejected five Republican amendments to the omnibus bill. Among them were an amendment from Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) to prevent funds from going to any organization that supports coercive abortions or sterilizations and an amendment from Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) to delay the implementation of a regulation classifying polar bears as threatened by global warming.
Regarding the Senate Democrats failing to get 60 votes last night to cut off debate and amendments on the $410 billion omnibus appropriations bill, The New York Times writes, “[t]he delay of the bill was an embarrassment for Democrats . . .” and Politico says, “the episode was a major embarrassment and leaves President Barack Obama exposed to another weekend of Republican calls on television news shows, demanding that he veto the $409.6 billion package.” The New York Times said: “The ability of the diminished minority to delay the bill signaled growing unease in Congress, among Democrats and Republicans, over the unprecedented levels of government spending in recent months and the staggering increase in the federal deficit.” The Times also points out, “The drama in the Senate came as some Democrats in Congress had voiced growing discomfort with the recent rise in government spending. Congress approved a $700 billion bailout for the financial system last fall and recently adopted a $787 billion economic stimulus package. With Mr. Obama’s $3.6 trillion budget for the 2010 fiscal year next on the agenda, the unease among some Democrats over the omnibus bill could be a warning to the White House.”
Indeed, Sens. Bayh (D-IN) and Feingold (D-WI) have already announced they can’t support the bill. Politicoreported earlier this week that 15 moderate senators met to discuss how to influence the level of spending in Obama’s massive $3.55 trillion budget. Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) said, “Right now. I’m concerned about the amount that’s being offered in [Obama’s] budget.” And Sen. Mary Landrieu said, “We want to give the president a chance, but our concern is going to be on the budget, looking forward.”
Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) said in hisresponse to the president’s radio address last week, “It’s long past time to show restraint and to make the tough choices that will help put our fiscal house in order. Generations of Americans past have often been called on to make great sacrifices for their country. . . . Is it not time for government to make sacrifices for future generations?” Hopefully, Democrats’ unease over this omnibus bill and the budget means that some of them may agree. Tags:Congressional Pork, Excessive spending, omnibus bill, US Congress, US House, US Senate, Washington D.C.To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
JED BABBIN — The patently unconstitutional bill to give the District of Columbia a voting representative in the House of Representatives was pulled off the House calendar because -- according to one House Republican leadership source -- they feared that the so-called Blue Dog Democrats would not support it. The bill was patently unconstitutional because under Article 1, Section 2, only states have representatives, and D.C. isn’t a state. (That idea is reinforced by the XXIII Amendment, under which D.C. voters are allowed to vote in presidential elections, and thus appoint electors to the Electoral College, “…equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State….”)The Blue Dogs, a group of supposedly conservative Dems who have usually marched to Speaker Pelosi’s drum, were fearful that the National Rifle Association would “score” -- i.e., use the vote to determine its annual rating of gun-friendly (and unfriendly) members the vote on the rule to bring the matter to the House floor. .[Full Article]Also See: The D.C. vote disgrace; D.C. voting rights advocates scramble to save House bill; Firearm provision blows up D.C. voting rights bill Tags:DC, US House, voting rights, Washington D.C.To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Arkansas Democrats Kill State Sovereignty Bill in Committee
[Update 3/5 - Tomorrow 3/6, HCR1011 is scheduled to be voted on again in the House committee; We hope those Democrats who voted against this resolution in committee yesterday will change their minds! Please call the switchboard 501-682-6211 in Little Rock and leave a message with the receptionist for two of the Democrats on the State Agencies Committee that voted against the bill. (You can leave a message for only two.) Ask them to change their vote on the State Sovereignty bill and vote YES for it.] Bill Smith, ARRA Editor: Arkansas Democrats voted the the straight party line in committee this morning and killed the Arkansas State Sovereignty Bill (HCR1011) in Committee. HCR 1011 was a "non-binding resolution" that evidenced the frustration with the intrusion of the Federal government into areas exclusively belonging to the States. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Debra Hobbs, R-Rogers, Rep. Jon Woods, R-Springdale, and Rep. Roy Ragland, R-Marshall. It read:
“That the State of Arkansas hereby claims sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States.”
“Whereas, the United States Supreme Court has ruled in New York v. United States, 505 U.S. 144 (1992), that Congress may not simply commandeer the legislative and regulatory processes of the states; and”
“Be it further resolved that this resolution serve as Notice and Demand to the federal government, as our agent, to cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated powers.”
The House Committee on State Agencies defeated the resolution with 8 Republicans voting "for" the bill and 10 Democrats voting against the bill; Republican Donna Hutchinson and Democrat Clark Hall were absent. The Arkansas Democrats didn't even have the gumption to proceed with a non-binding resolution reasserting the authority of the 10th Amendment of the US Constitution. As detailed, in the following video one Democrat committee member evidences her ignorance of the constitution, history and the role of government and tried to tie the bill to slavery and racism.
It very obvious, that just because a person is elected to office doesn't mean that they are there for your best interests and to protect your rights and the Constitution. In fact, many legislators are either ignorant or really believe in the unrestrained expansion of Federal government intrusion (liberalism) into our states, our local government, our schools, and our lives. It is now even clearer that Arkansas Democrats have surrendered the defense of individual liberty, choice, and opportunity and that they are not for limited government. They are for bigger government and greater access to money from all sources to expand that bigger government even if they have to give up some of your State's rights to get those funds. They do not believe that "The ultimate powers in a society rest in the people themselves, and that they should exercise those powers." The Democratic party has left the positions honored by my grandparents who were democrats.
The battle to defend individual liberty is not over unless you as person, a citizen, surrender those rights, freedom and self-worth to the government. Join (there is no cost) other concerned citizens turning activists atSovereignty Alliance. Finally, there are 10 Democrats that need to know your outrage and 8 Republicans that need your encouragement for standing for the rights of Arkansans today.
Jason Tolbert did a video-interview of Rep. Jon Woods on the State Sovereignty Bill failing in Committee this morning:
Tags:10th Amendment, Arkansas, conservative, Democrats, Freedom, loss of rights, State SovereigntyTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Bill Smith, ARRA Editor: I encourage readers to go to the below link and to read the complete post by Eric aka the Tygrrrr Express. I know Eric and I can assure you that if you met him, he would have you laughing. His article says what most conservatives clearly understand. It is something that the liberal news media or the Obama pundits and his White House staff will never understand. Extracted just a part, believe it or not, of his "most excellent" post. Be sure to take time to visit the link and read it all. Here are a few highlights:
. . . I respect Rush. I share his views on two-thirds of issues. I came to those conclusions without him. You see, contrary what is taught in our dreadful liberal public schools, conservatives are also born with a cerebrum, a cerebellum, and a medula oblongata. Unlike those on the left, we were also given a funnybone.
Rush Limbaugh appeals to the brain and the sense of humor. Yet if he never existed, we still would. We created him, not the other way around. He is not my leader. He is a follower, just like me, in a powerful movement known as conservatism.
I have never met Mr. Limbaugh. I have never spoken with him, or interviewed him. Yet I am proud to have him stand shoulder to shoulder with me because he shares my conservatism. He understands that liberalism is a scourge. It must be defeated everywhere it rears its head. . . .
When I would express a conservative thought, I would often be confronted with the nasty reply that “I took my marching orders from Rush Limbaugh.” There was one problem with this theory. I had no idea who this Limbaugh fellow was! Most liberals were comparing me to a man I had never met, or even heard. . . .
So how could I possibly understand conservatism without a radio talk show host to guide me? By thinking for myself. I saw what liberalism did to people. It destroyed them and ripped their insides out. It trapped them in failed schools, condemned to misery. It would turn out that no matter what the political issue, liberalism equaled misery. Only a liberal could possibly want that. . . .
Yet despite not having heard Mr. Limbaugh’s program in years, I still maintain my conservative credentials. Apparently my brain still functions. Liberals might want to try this. After all, they are the ones that bow before their anointed ones, who teach them to be bipartisan and spread peace through anger, rage, hatred, and violence toward anybody they disagree with.
The only lesson Mr. Limbaugh truly gets across that I sometimes forget on my own is the importance of optimism. As he says, we “should be of good cheer.” When all is said and done, I still think Rush Limbaugh is fabulous. Yet our brief associations are of want, not of need. We both succeeded without the other one. . . .
So thank you Mr. Limbaugh for your agreeing with me. I anybody asks, I will tell them the truth. I did not tell you what to say to CPAC. You said what was in your heart, mind, and soul, and it was right. Had I given the speech, your response would have been “ditto.” We are both that good, and so is every conservative that pays attention and agrees with us. We get it. Liberals never will, because if they did, they would be conservatives. . . . [Full article: Rush Limbaugh, CPAC, and Me]
Tags:CPAC, conservatives, critical thinking, right thinking, Rush Limbaugh, Tiger ExpressTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
The Senate resumed consideration of H.R. 1105, the fiscal year 2009 omnibus appropriations bill. The $410 billion bill combines the 9 unpassed appropriations bills from last year and funds the federal government through September. The previous continuing resolution expires Friday. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed cloture on the bill last night. A number of Republican amendments are still pending to the bill and votes could occur on those today.
Yesterday, the Senate rejected four amendments from Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK). Two of the amendments voted down would have required competitive bidding in contracts awarded from funds in the bill, shifted money to funding unsolved civil rights crimes, which Democrats made a big deal about last year and then never funded. Two more would have stripped a number of earmarks from the bill.
This morning's Chicago Tribune editorialaccurately frames the situation in Congress, “The Obama administration and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate are blowing the lid off of spending restraint. But they’re finally meeting some resistance within their own party.” The editorial goes on to note yesterday’s Wall Street Journal op-ed by Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) and Politico’s report of a meeting of 15 uneasy Democrats. There are even more Democrats, though, beginning to show concern with the bloated omnibus spending bill and perhaps the Obama administration’s budget.
Dow Jones reported yesterday, “Senate Democrats may be facing a tougher-than-expected fight to approve a $410 billion spending bill to fund the federal government through the rest of the current fiscal year after at least two Democratic lawmakers indicated Wednesday they intend to oppose the bill.” The story went on to note that beyond the opposition of Bayh and Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) “has some serious reservations about the level of earmarks in the package.”
And the AP reported last night, “Democratic Sens. Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Bill Nelson of Florida are considering whether to oppose the legislation because it would ease rules on travel to Cuba and make it easier for Cuba to pay for imported food and medicine.” CongressDaily pointed out Feingold’s comments yesterday: “‘I’m not voting for this,’ Feingold said, citing about $8 billion in earmarks in the measure. ‘I’ve typically not voted for omnibus bills because they always end up like this.’”
Of course, it’s not just the omnibus bill. The Chicago Tribune editorial summarized the main problem: "A $787 billion ‘stimulus’ package. A $410 billion spending bill. A $3.55 trillion budget. Their reasoning: we need to do this in response to the economic crisis. But it’s sure sounding like business as usual in Washington. When in doubt, spend. When not in doubt ... spend."
As Sen. Bayh wrote yesterday, "The economic downturn requires new policies, not more of the same. Our nation’s current fiscal imbalance is unprecedented, unsustainable and, if unaddressed, a major threat to our currency and our economic vitality. . . . The solution going forward is to stop wasteful spending before it starts. Families and businesses are tightening their belts to make ends meet -- and Washington should too."Tags:the economy, US Congress, US Senate, Washington D.C.To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
ARRA Editor Encourages Others to Promote the "Stop the Bailout" Petition
Dr. Bill Smith, Editor, ARRA News Service has partnered with Adam Bitely, Director of New Media at Americans for Limited Government to assist ALG in promoting their "Stop the Bailout" petition. A new advertising image has been developed and embedded on the ARRA News Service site with a link to the petition. Smith is concerned, along with millions of other Americans, about the continued use or bailouts and stimulus programs which are creating massive National Debt which will place at risk both the present generation and numerous future generations. Unfortunately, many concerned Americans are not yet aware of efforts by various groups seeking to bring pressure on Congress and the Obama Administration to return spending back to acceptable parameters.
Dr. Smith joins with other concerned citizens who seek to address the run away process that is not following the requirements in Article 1, Section 9, the U.S. Constitution which says "No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law..." This process is not being openly and honestly followed. The public learns daily of another earmark, pork project, government waste, or fraud in the administration of a government program be it by public and private agencies or organizations that have obtained and used Federal money. Money paid for by other responsible Americans.
It is time to slow the rush to destruction and to return sanity to the Congressional funding process. We need to return to the authorization and appropriation process. And that process need to be open to all legislators giving them adequate time to review, comment and vote. In addition adequate time should be provided to interested taxpayers and the oversight agencies they support for access, review and comment to their representative or senator. The Americans for Limited Government's Stop the Bailout petition offers a reasonable beginning approach and helps the reader express themselves and to express to Congress and the Administration the views and concerns of Americans over this runaway train to nowhere with our money.
Smith encourages other new media sites to copy and promote the image with the link to the Stop the Bailout Petition thus offering their readers encouragement to get involved with easy access and encouragement to visit and sign the petition. Also, all readers of this release are encouraged to sign the petition and to pass this information on to their family and friends.Tags:auto bailout, bailout, bailouts, fraud, government waste, mortgage bailout, National Debt, pork-barrel spenders, state government, Stop the Bailout, union bailouts, US CongressTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
by Gary Bauer, Campaign for Working Families: Yesterday, I noted that the dustup between Rush Limbaugh and the Republican Party was a “coordinated” effort that clearly benefits the Left. Today, there is proof, and it is more evidence that this White House has embraced “the politics of personal destruction,” as best defined by the “godfather” of radical politics, Saul Alinsky.
One of Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals,” (the title of his famous book), was, “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.” A lengthy report from Politico notes the extent to which the Left has developed a strategy to “personalize and polarize” Rush Limbaugh as the face of the Republican Party, American conservatism and, thus, the “enemy.”
According to Politico, the plot was hatched by Democrat political hack James Carville in October 2008. With Newt Gingrich gone, Tom DeLay gone, George W. Bush gone, Obama in the White House and Democrats in control of Congress, the Left was desperate to find someone to demonize and blame for its mistakes, when its policies (like the subprime mortgage meltdown) ultimately fail.
When Rush made his “I hope he fails” statement, regarding Obama and his radical policies, the Left immediately swung into action. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and leftwing groups such as the Center for American Progress and Americans United for Change began running ads featuring Rush’s remarks and attacking Republicans. This weekend, the Obama White House started piling on, with Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel attacking Rush by name on CBS’s Face The Nation. Today, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe has an op-ed in the Washington Post criticizing Rush and the Republican Party.
All this anti-Limbaugh activity isn’t coincidental. Politico reports, “A senior White House aide has been tasked with helping to guide the Limbaugh strategy,” noting that independent groups and the Democrat National Committee are “driving the message, in close consultation with the White House.” While Rush is at the top of the White House’s “Enemies List,” he’s not alone. In recent weeks, White House spokesmen have attacked CNBC’s Rick Santelli and MSNBC’s Jim Cramer.
This is just one more manifestation of the Left’s totalitarian impulse – a dangerously disturbing pattern, whether it’s “hate crimes” laws, repealing conscience clause protections or the so-called “Fairness Doctrine,” to intimidate, punish and silence dissent. Tags:left-wing, Republicans, Rush LimbaughTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
MIAMI - President Barack Obama told AFL-CIO union leaders Tuesday in a videotaped address that the controversial Employee Free Choice Act will pass, signaling his full backing for legislation that makes union organizing easier.
We will pass the Employee Free Choice Act," President Obama told more than 100 top labor officials in a closed-door meeting at the labor federation’s winter gathering in Miami, according to people at the meeting.
The bill would make it easier for unions to recruit workers because it would let them join unions simply by signing cards rather than through secret-ballot elections in which companies can campaign against the union. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business organizations have been campaigning against the legislation.
The president’s remarks were taped on Feb. 20, according to a White House spokesman. Following his remarks, AFL-CIO officials held a meeting with Labor Secretary Hilda Solis.
So, there you have it. A promise from the Head of State that Card Check will be passed this year. This is a straight-up attack on the secret ballot rights of American workers which can’t be explained away.
Here is a brief list to bring you up to date on some major events in the controversy of Card Check and Sen. Lincoln:
The November rejection of the liberal policies of Mr. Obama by the people of the State of Arkansas.
The December declaration from Mrs. Lincoln that strengthening the nation's economy means "not focusing on the Employee Free Choice Act."
TheJanuary promiseby Vice President Joe Biden (who will visit Arkansas to raise funds for Mrs. Lincoln's 2010 re-election) that Card Check will pass this year, only to be disavowed by a 1600 flack within hours.
The February pressureby House members of the Blue Dog Coalition on Speaker Nancy Pelosi to punt the Card Check legislation to the Senate so that they would not be saddled with two votes that will hack off people back home, and Pelosi"s agreement to punt.
And now that we are in March, we have Mr. Obama's promise to pay back union special interests with a bill that will allow unions to publicly intimidate workers into agreeing to join a union so that the union’s can increase their take from union members which, surprise, ends up in the coffers of Democrat political campaigns.
UPDATE - And in the era of breaking news, my columnist friend in Arkansas, David Sanders, writes that Mrs. Lincoln may be shifting into the “Nay” column (which will bring plenty of attention to the good Senator from union folks).
Even though Lincoln hasn't officially signaled which way she intends to vote, she may be edging closer to voting against it.
The senator’s campaign staff has been busy making phone calls trying to round up support for her second re-election campaign in anticipation her March 14 fund-raiser with Vice President Joe Biden. At least two times when individuals who were called expressed apprehension about Lincoln’s indecisiveness on EFCA, they were told in response not to worry about that.
END UPDATE - Readers of this blog know that Mrs. Lincoln has been circumspect at best on whether she would vote for Card Check - and we have video proof:
I credit Mrs. Lincoln with her deft parry when asked if she would vote for Card Check today. After all, what better non-answer can you have about a piece of legislation that has no support of her own Democratic governor of her own right-to-work state than the fact that the bill "hasn't been marked-up" yet?
Too bad for Mrs. Lincoln and her staff is the fact that folks like me, and reporters back home, can look things up. Specifically:
In the last Congress, Mrs. Lincoln voted for cloture on HR 800, the most recent version of the Card Check bill.
In the Congress before that, Mrs. Lincoln co-sponsored S 842, yet another version of the Card Check bill.
Voters in Arkansas can look at history to see that Sen. Lincoln has, in the past, carried a torch for union special interests to the detriment of the economic interests of Arkansans. Of course, the fact that there was no chance that the previous president would sign such a bill if it ever passed likely made Sen. Lincoln&'s choice to kowtow to unions much more palatable to her political brain trust.
Sen. Lincoln's demonstrable history of supporting stripping secret ballot rights of American workers puts her in the precarious position of being hoisted upon her own petard. She can no longer play politics with this issue, now that we have a promise by Mr. Obama to make union intimidation the law of the land.
In a Senate that doesn't have a 60-vote Democrat majority, and will go first in moving Card Check to Mr. Obama's desk, what will Mrs. Lincoln do? Will she stand up for Arkansans, or be intimidated by union thugs and a president who lost her state by 20 points? We will be watching . . . Tags:Arkansas, Barack Obama, Blanche Lincoln, Card Check, UnionTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity,gas and oil, as well as current market conditions, the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off.
We apologize for the inconvenience,
The BHO "Hope" Division Tags:Barack Obama, economy, federal budget, Hope, humor, marketTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
A Tobacco Prohibition?? Why Care - You Better Care!
Bill Smith, ARRA Editor: A source at the Americans for Limited Government in Washington D.C. called my attention to a dangerous piece of legislation that is working its way to the floor of the House of Representatives. This bill would restrict your rights as never before. Simply put, this would legislate that the Government could take an industry and slaughter it! And that is the least of the powers that they will gain if this is allowed to pass.
Left wing extremist, Henry Waxman and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce is set to vote on legislation that would place tobacco products under the authority of the FDA. The bill could be on the President’s desk as soon as this Summer. While I am not a smoker nor do I even support smoking in general, one does not have to agree with smoking to see that this bill only serves to further centralize government authority over our daily lives. Through classifying tobacco as a drug under the authority of the FDA, the Government then can force people to do as they say, and as a result, put thousands of people out of work and block new proven smokeless products from entering the market.
Instead of helping to fix the problem, the government will use force and coercion to influence the change that they want. They are gaining power to influence your daily life, and do not think for one second that they will not exploit this for their own benefit.
Although the ears of the Arkansas and other Blue Dogs democrats appear to have been clipped by Speaker Peloisi, if they don't stand up soon for against the continued onslaught of centralized government authority, they will become totally co-opted by Pelois' liberal cronies. As for Arkansas Vic Snyder, no need seek help since he represents the liberal extreme interests. And as much as I would like to ask "former" blue dog Marion Berry, he appears to be out for nap most of the time.
But I am going to plead with the one able minded Arkansas Blue Dog congressman who in the past has taken stands for his Arkansas constituents. That Congressman is Representative Mike Ross of Arkansas' 4th Congressional District. So here goes: Congressman Ross, please do not support legislation that would restrict liberty and freedom. As long as people are not restricting the liberties of their neighbor, there exists no need to punish them. It is not the job of the Government to tell people how to live their lives, rather, it is the job of the government to defend us from those who would restrict liberty. Congressman Ross protect our liberty and freedom. We are all watching and hoping! Join me andContact your representatives! Tags:Blue Dogs, FDA, Freedom, Henry Waxman, liberty, limited government, Mike Ross, tobacco, tobacco productsTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Today in Washington D. C. - March Feb 4, 2009 - Brown, Polar Bears, Future Debt being discussed
At 11 AM, the Senate joins the House for an address a Joint Session of Congress by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown where he will promote not only good relations between Britian and the U.S., and he will also promote his global socialist cooperative agenda. It is announced, he will speak about Sen Edward Kennedy (D-MA) being granted an honorary "knighthood." Excuse me but Kennedy is no Knight in shining armor; remember Mary Jo Kopechne.
The Senate resumed consideration of a series of amendments to H.R. 1105, the fiscal year 2009 omnibus appropriations bill. The $410 billion bill combines the 9 unpassed appropriations bills from last year and funds the federal government through September. Included are several from Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) to eliminate various earmarks. Also expected to be considered is an amendment by Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Mark Begich (D-AK) to allow the Secretary of the Interior to change a rule listing the polar bear as threatened. The former continuing resolution passed last fall expires Friday.
Yesterday, the Senate rejected a substitute amendment from Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) which would have frozen funding for most agencies at 2008 levels through October. Also voted down were motions to send the bill back to committee by Sens. John Ensign (R-NV) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX). Sen. Ensign’s motion would have instructed the committee to cut $22 billion from the bill and Sen. Hutchison’s would have instructed the committee to increase non-security spending by just the rate of inflation.
After voting for nearly $1 trillion in spending over the last month, it appears a few Democrats are beginning to show some unease with their leaders funneling more billions of dollars of taxpayer money into bloated spending bills.
In an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal today, Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) criticizes the $410 billion omnibus appropriations bill, saying it “lacks the slightest hint of austerity from the federal government or the recipients of its largess.” Bayh urges the Senate to reject the bill and President Obama to veto it if it is passed: “[T]he bloated omnibus requires sacrifice from no one, least of all the government. It only exacerbates the [debt] problem and hastens the day of reckoning. Voters rightly demanded change in November's election, but this approach to spending represents business as usual in Washington, not the voters' mandate. . . . [W]hat ultimately matters are not meetings or words, but actions. Those who vote for the omnibus this week -- after standing with the president and pledging to slice our deficit in half last week -- jeopardize their credibility.”
Roll Call reports this morning that liberal Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) “said Wednesday that he would vote against the $410 billion omnibus spending bill which he charged was rife with wasteful spending and 8,500 earmarks.” It’s not just the omnibus bill that is giving certain Democrats heartburn. Politico reports, “Moderate and conservative Democrats in the Senate are starting to choke over the massive spending and tax increases in President Barack Obama’s budget plans and have begun plotting to increase their influence over the agenda of a president who is turning out to be much more liberal than they are.” Following a meeting of 14 Democrats and one independent senator yesterday, “some in attendance made plain that they are getting jitters over the cost and expansive reach of Obama’s $3.6 trillion budget proposal.”
Democrats troubled by the Obama budget plan certainly have good reason to be. The Las Vegas Review Journal, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s hometown paper, criticized “the president’s gargantuan budget” in an editorial today: “The global warming tax the administration proposes for U.S. companies will result in higher energy costs for all consumers and businesses, not just the rich. And even if we are to believe the administration's rosy economic projections, is it wise to raise taxes on well-off individuals who invest and create jobs at a time when the economy finally shows signs of life?”
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) laid out the big picture: “All of this spending is reason to carefully consider and pare back this massive spending bill – particularly in these areas which contain funding for 122 programs which were already funded in the stimulus bill. . . . This current spending bill is only one step in the spending process. It doesn’t include the President’s budget, the housing proposal, or untold trillions to stabilize financial markets and other programs Our children and grandchildren can’t afford this level of spending. And they will be the ones left to pay off the federal government credit card that Democrats in Congress are busy maxing out.”Tags:Gordon Brown, omnibus bill, US Congress, US House, US Senate, Washington D.C.To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Start the revolution to take back the House with the special election for New York’s 20th Congressional District! The congressional seat vacated by Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), who New York Governor David Patterson (D)appointed to fill Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat is up for grabs in a special election on March 31, 2009.Favored is the Republican, Jim Tedisco, the Minority Leader in the NY State Assembly. Winning this seat will send yet another message to Pelosi and Obama that the people are in revolt against the socialist makeover they are planning for America. Can you help?
Tags:candidate, Jim Tedisco, Nancy Pelosi, New York, US HouseTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
H/T NetRight Nation: By Dick Morris & Eileen McGann: President Lyndon Johnson's administration was known for his War on Poverty. President Obama's will become notable for his War on Prosperity. We're speaking, of course, of Obama's plans to hike income taxes on the most wealthy 2 or 3%of the nation. He's not just raising the top rate to 39.6%; he's also disallowing about one-third of top earner's deductions, whether for state and local taxes, charitable contributions or mortgage interest. This is an effective hike in their taxes by an average of about 20%.
And soon the next shoe will drop - he'll announce that he's keeping yet another of his campaign promises: to apply the full payroll tax to all income over $250,000 a year. (Right now, the 15.3% Social Security tax only applies to the first $106,800 of income - you neither pay the tax on income above that, nor accumulate added benefit.) For many taxpayers in this bracket, this hike will raise their total taxes by about half.
Finally, he's declaring war on investors by raising the capital-gains-tax rate to 20%. These increases are politically insignificant: The top 2% of the nation casts only about 4% of the votes, barely enough to attract the notice of even the most meticulous pollsters. But they have enormous economic significance. Those who earn more than $200,000 pay almost 60% of America's income taxes and account for a third of its total disposable income. If these spenders and investors are hunkering down, waiting for the revenuers to beat down their doors, their confidence will be anything but robust. Their spending will drop; they'll be unlikely to invest (except in new tax shelters).
Franklin Roosevelt's presidency was marked by an emphasis on recovery in his first term and class warfare (which he called "reform") in his second. Campaigning for re-election in 1936, FDR famously declared, "I should like to have it said of my first administration that in it the forces of selfishness and of lust for power met their match. I would like to have it said of my second administration that in it these forces met their master."
Obama seems to have skipped the first-term FDR program and jumped right into the class divisions and warfare of the second. But the president would do well to remember that Roosevelt's assault on the rich led directly to the recession of 1937-39 - when unemployment soared back up to 19%. (It was brought down only by World War II.)
Obama must realize that his tax hikes will dampen investment and consumer spending and prolong and deepen the economy's woes - this is presumably why he's postponing most tax hikes until 2011. But taxpayers, particularly wealthy taxpayers, are not dumb: They'll know what's coming, and look to secure the hatches in advance by sitting on their money.
But then, Obama must also realize that his stimulus package, with its massive growth of government, is going to kindle huge inflation in coming years. And he surely realizes that he can't expand government health insurance as massively as he intends introducing rationing of medical services. He must know, but not care.
Here is a president who would rather redistribute income than create wealth. He thinks it more important to grow government than to fight inflation. He believes that it is crucial to expand health care to the young and middle aged, even if it means cutting it back for the elderly. He's more committed to effecting "broad change" in his first term than he is to winning a second one.
We have a president, in short, who will stand on his principles. Unfortunately, they're bad ones. Tags:Barack Obama, big government, Capital Gains Tax, Dick Morris, Eileen McGann, FDR, limited government, Lyndon Johnson, NetRight Nation, prosperity, Welfare StateTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
From Senate Sources: The Senate resumed consideration of H.R. 1105, the fiscal year 2009 omnibus appropriations bill. The $410 billion bill combines the 9 unpassed appropriations bills from last year and funds the federal government through September. A continuing resolution passed last fall expires Friday. The Senate will vote on a substitute amendment from Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) which would replace the bill with a continuing resolution funding the government at last year’s levels until October, essentially a spending freeze. More votes are expected later in the day.
More of the problems of Washington Democrats’ spending spree are becoming clearer as the Senate begins voting on amendments to the $410 billion omnibus spending bill today.
The most immediate is an issue that Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell identified yesterday: the bill includes double-dip spending provisions. Accounts and programs that will receive billions from the recently-passed $787 billion stimulus bill are set to receive billions more in funding from the omnibus bill. In fact, 122 accounts funded in the stimulus are set to get more funding in the omnibus. For instance, the stimulus provides $1 billion for ACORN-eligible block grants, and the omnibus gives an additional $3.9 billion to the very same account. Other double-dip spending includes hundreds of millions for arts endowments, the census, fish and wildlife resource management, and the National Institute for Standards and Technology.
Sen. McConnell said last week, “Back in January, I suggested to the Democratic leadership that we take up the omnibus appropriation bill first. And I did that because I wanted to make sure that we were not engaged in duplicate spending when we finally went to the stimulus.” It’s now March, and sure enough there is a bill on the floor of the Senate with duplicate spending for 122 federal accounts.
Meanwhile, other issues with the Democrats’ spending plans are (believe it or not) being explored by the press today. President Obama said in his address to Congress last week, “Over the next two years, this plan [the stimulus bill] will save or create 3.5 million jobs. More than 90% of these jobs will be in the private sector . . . .” Today, though, The Washington Post reports, “President Obama's budget is so ambitious, with vast new spending on health care, energy independence, education and services for veterans, that experts say he probably will need to hire tens of thousands of new federal government workers to realize his goals.” Indeed, The Post notes that estimates of the number of government employees that would need to be added range from 100,000 to a quarter of a million. According to The Post, “If the outside estimates are realized, Obama could spur a government hiring spree on a scale unseen since President Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society agenda in the 1960s.”
Sen. McConnell emphasized the big picture in this morning: “What all this means is that at a time when most Americans are tightening their belts, Washington is going out and buying a bigger one. . . . [C]onsider some of the recent spending we’ve done or are contemplating doing around here: Some of us are still dizzy from the $1 trillion Stimulus. We’re trying to conceptualize the $3.6 trillion budget the President sent us last week. We’re bracing for the potentially quarter trillion Housing plan that goes into effect tomorrow. And we’re thinking about the $1 to $2 trillion we expect to be asked to spend on the financial sector.”
Given the unprecedented amount of spending being contemplated here, would it not be prudent to slow down a bit and more closely scrutinize some of it? Taking a second look at spending double-dips would be a good place to start.Tags:federal spending, omnibus bill, US Congress, US Senate, Washington D.C.To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Tony Perkins, Family Research Council: While the nation's capital tries to dig out from its biggest winter storm in three years, President Obama is hoping that the latest news on his Cabinet stays buried in it. Confirming the weekend rumors, President Obama officially tapped Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) to lead his charge for government-controlled health care as Secretary of HHS. Sebelius's nomination, which came one month after Tom Daschle's withdrawal, drew immediate fire from pro-lifers and Kansas state leaders. Not only has Sebelius proven to be more radical on abortion than Daschle but the Governor is dogged by an unimpressive state record on the very health care policies she is being asked to implement nationally.
During her two terms as governor, Sebelius struggled to decrease the number of the uninsured and lower health care costs. As locals point out, the number of Kansans without health care actually grew seven times faster under her watch than the national average. According to a statement from the Kansas GOP, "Since the Governor took office, the number of people covered by commercial health insurance has decreased by approximately 15%. [That's] not reform."
The appointment of Sebelius will have lasting implications for the culture of life as HHS's $700 billion budget makes it one of the largest government agencies. If confirmed, the Governor's record suggests that she wouldn't hesitate to inject her views on abortion that are far outside mainstream. As a state representative, Sebelius voted against parental notification on abortion, informed consent, and abortion waiting periods. Nothing could be more troubling to America's families that to put someone in charge of overhauling the healthcare system who is on record saying the government knows what's better for minor children than their parents. She followed up on her notoriety in the Kansas House by vetoing bills as governor that would regulate abortion clinics and protect pregnant mothers.
How ironic that Sebelius, who would be the fourth woman in Obama's Cabinet, has paved her road to HHS by actively defeating bills that promote the well being of women. In the fight to safeguard health, women and children deserve better. See also:FRCBlog: Change Watch Backgrounder: Kathleen SebeliusTags:abortion, Barack Obama, FRC, health care, kansas, Kathleen Sebelius, nominee, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Tony Perkins, Washington UpdateTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
MSNBC: Conservative evangelical leader James Dobson resigned as chairman of Focus on the Family but will continue to play a prominent role at the organization he founded more than three decades ago. Jim Daly, the group's president and chief executive officer, Dobson, 72, will continue to host Focus on the Family's flagship radio program, write a monthly newsletter and speak out on moral issues.
While Focus on the Family emphasizes that it devotes most of its resources to offering parenting and marriage advice, it is best known for promoting conservative moral stands in politics. On political matters, Dobson "will continue to speak out as he always has — a private citizen and not a representative of the organization he founded," said Gary Schneeberger, a Focus on the Family spokesman. He said the nonprofit ministry and Focus on the Family Action — an affiliate set up under a different section of the tax code that permits more political activity — will continue to be active on public policy.
Daly said there is no timetable for Dobson to leave the radio program, and the group will "look for the next voice for the next generation" while Dobson remains on the air. That will likely mean not one person behind the microphone but several speaking on their respective areas of expertise, Daly said. The organization, anticipating a post-Dobson era, for several years has tried out different voices on the broadcast and in giving media interviews on hot-button social issues.
Dobson's wife, Shirley, also resigned from the Focus board. The new board chairman is retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Patrick P. Caruana, a longtime board member and a former executive with defense contractor Northrop Grumman. Tags:Focus on the Family, James Dobson, resigns, traditional family, traditional family valuesTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Phyllis Schlafly Speaks Out For Women & Opposes ERA Amendment
It is time hear again the wise words of a woman who has represented women throughout her entire life. Phyllis Schlafly testified against the Equal Rights Amendment previously in Arkansas and detailed why the ERA Amendment is NOT good for women and is an effort that will damage the position of women in society. Unfortunately, a majority of Arkansas State democrat representatives did not heed the warnings set forth by Schlafly. At the moment women are free to fully participate in all avenues of American society. The US Constitution is written sex neutral. But, with the ERA, women would find loose the protected position in varied situations in American society.
Action: Please view the video and then phone your Arkansas State Senator at (501) 682-2902 and tell them to vote NO on ERA. Tags:Arkansas, Equal Right Amendment, ERA, Phyllis Schlafly, testimony, WomenTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Barbara Rademacher of Bentonville, Arkansas shares news about colleges preparing for returning military from Iraq. Although many of the troops in Iraq are or will redeploy to Afghanistan thus not be coming home, many others will be returning. Rademacher writes:
In the wake of the announcement that Iraq troops will be returning home soon, Northwest Arkansas Community College administrators are looking forward to and preparing for the flood of returning Iraq veterans in the Fall. "Arkansans make up a disproportionate part of the military burden," says Robert Mock, Vice Chancelor for Student Affairs of the University of Arkansas, at a workshop on Friday, February 27. "We can expect to see a disproportionately large number of returning veterans as college students." With the moribund job market and increases in the GI Bill, most returning veterans may begin appearing on U.S. college campuses as early as this Fall. View the video:
Tags:abstinence education, Arkansas, college education, GI Bill, Iraq, veteransTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
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Leslie Rutledge has now joined the crowded field of young, experienced, and energetic candidates. Rutledge certainly has a long resume of both Arkansas and Washington experience. She currently serves as the Deputy Legal Council for the Republican National Congressional Committee. However, most HuckaFans like me know her from her work on Huckabee’s Presidential Campaign where as a staff attorney she helped ensure he met all the various state primary qualifications to get on the ballot. She also worked as a legal council for Huckabee’s office when he was Governor. This past year Rutledge and I were fellow alternate delegates to the Republican National Convention. She also has been very active with the Young Republican organization serving in various offices on the state and national level. “The next few years are crucial for the Republican Party in terms of fundraising, candidate recruitment, communications, and Election Day operations” Rutledge tells the Tolbert Report. “It is important that the Party enhance its use of technology and new media in these areas to reach a broader base of supporters and to establish a stronger Republican brand. The Republican Party must actively seek out and cultivate young, articulate conservatives to become active spokespersons and candidates to challenge the Democrats on issues such as cutting taxes and offer real solutions to improve lives all across Arkansas. Republicans must recommit to our principles and update the strategy we use to communicate our message so that the Republican Party is the home of conservative Arkansas voters.”
