Iran's Nukes: The Russian Connection

by Michael Fenenbock, DeNuke Iran: Iran intends to become a nuclear power and Russia is their greatest enabler. This cannot come as news to anybody. So what's up with this summit in Moscow? President Obama just held talks with Putin and Medvedev and apparently never even mentioned Russia's support for Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Surely the President knows about the Russian connection. It's not like it's secret. I mean, here's some of what's public knowledge.

• Russia is responsible for construction of the Iranian nuclear power plant at Bushehr.
• Russia is supplying Iran with nuclear fuel with no provisions for dealing with spent nuclear fuel.
• Russia has provided "blueprints" for Iran's development of a heavy water nuclear reactor.
• Official Russia turns a blind eye while Iran obtains uranium mining and milling technology from Russian companies.
• Russia is Iran's close partner when it comes to delivery systems - building missiles. At least seven Russian companies expert in missile technology are operating in Iran.

President Obama says his principal foreign policy goal is to "remake America's image in the world." He wants to be liked. And to that end, while in Moscow, he delivered a "please like me" speech aimed at the Russian people. But this is Russia and in Russia you play by the Bear's rules. President Obama's speech was carried only on the least watched Russian TV channel (think C-Span). On the other hand, Mr. Putin's finger wagging lecture to Mr. Obama about the Cold War and American arrogance received extensive coverage on all Russian media.

In all honesty, Mr. President, I would rather America was respected and feared than liked. The regime in Tehran wants nuclear weapons. The Russians are helping them. See also: DeNuke Iran Activist Community

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Tags: Barack Obama, DeNuke Iran, Disarmament, Iran, Putin, Russia, Russian To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

The Democrats Have Total Control - 60 votes in Senate

Rob Jesmer, NRSC Executive Director: With U.S. Senator-elect Al Franken (D-MN) solidifying the Democrats' 60-member supermajority in the United States Senate, the Democrats have total control. No debate on their reckless liberal agenda. And no excuses for their failed policies. The Democrats own everything and have no one to blame now.

Now that Democrat Senate Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) finally has a filibuster-proof U.S. Senate majority, Reid can ram Democrat initiatives through Congress without a bipartisan debate, including card check, government-run health care, increased spending, and higher taxes. With no checks or balances, the Democrats now have a tight grip over Washington. This is now their debt, their tax hikes. Hold the Democrats accountable for their reckless fiscal policies by preparing to support Republicans so that essential checks and balances are restored in 2010.

Review the following video and share with friends:

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Tags: 60 seats, Al Franken, bailouts, cap-and-trade, Democrat, Excessive spending, Harry Reid, increased taxes, Nancy Pelosi, NRSC, stimulus, supermajority, US Congress, US Senate, video To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Today in Washington D. C. - July 7, 2009 - Empty Promises

Senate will begin consideration of the fiscal year 2010 Homeland Security appropriations bill, H.R. 2892. Sadly, Al Franken will be sworn in today as senator for the state of Minnesota. Yesterday, the Senate passed the fiscal year 2010 Legislative Branch appropriations bill, H.R. 2918, by a vote of 67-25 after refusing an amendment from Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) to strip an earmark from the bill providing money to a museum in Nebraska.

Socialized Health Care: As we learn more about the mistakes made when the administration and Democrats in Congress rushed the costly stimulus bill to approval, Americans are rightly concerned about a similar rush on health care legislation.

Today, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell reminded Americans about the way the stimulus bill was passed. “Earlier this year, advocates of the stimulus said that the bill had to pass right away, with minimal scrutiny and minimal bipartisan support. They gave the American people less than 24 hours to review one of the costliest pieces of legislation in history, and then they hoped for a good result. The reason for the rush is clear. Proponents of the stimulus were concerned that public support would start to fade if people got a closer look at the details. So they short-changed the debate and overpromised on results. And now their predictions are coming back to them.”

Back in February, Americans were told that the economy would face “catastrophe” without swift passage of the $787 billion stimulus bill. President Obama said, “if we don’t act immediately, then millions more jobs will disappear [and] the national unemployment rates will approach double digits . . . .” The administration predicted the unemployment rate would not exceed 8% if the stimulus passed, but it stands at 9.5% today. The administration predicted the stimulus would create up to 4 million jobs, but the AP writes, “Since Obama signed the $787 billion economic stimulus bill in February, the economy has shed more than 2 million jobs.” The administration promised “unprecedented responsibility” in stimulus spending, but Vice President Joe Biden admitted last month, “We know some of this money is going to be wasted … Some people are being scammed already.”

Asked about the promises made on the stimulus bill, compared to the economic reality on Sunday, Biden said, “We misread how bad the economy was.” Sen. McConnell added today, “These were costly mistakes, and we can’t take them back. . . . [N]ow that Americans are hearing the same kinds of arguments about health care that we heard about the stimulus, the taxpayer antenna should go up.” Indeed, the administration has already begun making promises it clearly cannot keep. Obama said last month, “[W]e must preserve what is best about our health care system, and that means allowing Americans who like their doctors and their health care plans to keep them.” But according to the AP, “[N]o president could guarantee such a pledge.” And several news outlets pointed out that Obama “had to concede” that “he wasn’t saying ‘no one’ will take away any American’s health insurance” under his government plan.

The Washington Post noted that despite assurances during the campaign that middle-class voters would not see a tax increase, the White House has refused to rule out “a tax hike on health insurance plans that would hit middle-income Americans.” And The Wall Street Journal noted, “A proposal in the Senate to limit tax deductions for medical costs would fall hardest on middle-income taxpayers who are uninsured and who come up against expensive health problems.” Bloomberg features a story today titled, “Obama’s Health Plan Sparks Unease Among Nation’s Middle Class.” The story includes Strawberry Point, Iowa resident Shelly Syverson’s observation, “The middle class always get stuck paying for everything.”

Sen. McConnell explained today, “Americans who are now waking up to headlines about the problems with the stimulus don’t want to be told a few months from now that the people who sold them a government-run health care system misread the state of our health care industry, or that the health care plan they’re proposing was based on faulty assumptions. . . . On the stimulus, Americans saw what happens when Democrats rush and spend. When it comes to health care, they are demanding we take the time to get it right.”

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Tags: economic stimulus, empty promises, Socialized medicine, 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!

Sarah Palin and “Blood Sport”

For the media, the race is clearly in full swing, especially in regards to Sarah Palin. Reports of Sarah Palin's political death are highly exaggerated and reflect more the biases of the prophets, soothsayers and media talking heads than it does the political reality. Sarah Palin is a force in the GOP and one of the most promising figures in American politics whether she is governor of Alaska or not. It is totally premature to interpret Sarah Palin's announcement as a withdraw from American politics. A year from now, a lot of pundits may be eating their words. - Gary Bauer

Gary Bauer, Campaign for Working Families: During her surprise weekend announcement, Sarah Palin bemoaned that American politics increasingly looks more like “blood sport” than it does legitimate debate. I agree. Thanks to figures like Saul Alinsky and his “Rules for Radicals,” the Left has put together a “kill machine,” funded by ideologues like George Soros, that is capable of destroying anyone who stands in the way. In recent months, Palin was the target of 15 ethics probes, all of them baseless, which cost her hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees to defend against.

Plus, the Left has countless “volunteers” in Big Media and among the “chattering class” who are tireless in their efforts to smear conservative leaders. They have fired more of their barbs at Governor Palin than at anyone else in the GOP, while at the same time arguing that she has no chance to be president. If that’s so, why waste their ammo? Why are they so obsessed with her?

Even as she announced that she was stepping down as governor at the end of the month, the Left was at her throat. They even attacked, once again, her son Trig, who has Down syndrome. In her remarks, Palin commented on Trig by saying that we need more such children because they teach us about our own humanity and the worth and value of all babies, even those society deems “less than perfect.”

Within hours, the Huffington Post, the preeminent leftwing blog, had posted a piece under the guise of comedy claiming that Palin would run in 2012 on a “More Retardation platform.” The Huffington Post was not the only leftwing site to use that line of attack. The rhetoric was disgusting and I won’t dignify it by reprinting it. But you will notice that the “watchdogs” of Big Media – always ready to pounce on Rush Limbaugh for alleged mean-spiritedness – haven’t said a word about how mean-spirited these attacks on Palin and her son are.

Meanwhile, while everyone predicts her political death, Governor Palin made it clear in her own online communications that she intends to remain a leader in the battle for conservative ideas. She told supporters to “hang in there” as critics “feed false info” to the media. She promised she would try to build a national consensus around smaller government, a strong national defense, fiscal responsibility and energy independence.

I want to save my last word on this today for some fellow Republicans. Once again, I watched in disgust this weekend as Democrats were joined by some Republicans in taking shots at Governor Palin. Ed Rollins, a longtime GOP consultant and advisor to Mike Huckabee, said her announcement was “suspicious.” Mike Huckabee himself couldn’t resist a negative “analysis” by suggesting her announcement raises questions of whether she can take the heat. A lot of GOP pollsters and consultants also weighed in with their political knives out.

Their performance reminded me of the saying: “Liberals resurrect their dead, while conservatives bury their wounded.” Come on, guys! Let’s aim our fire at Obama and his socialist friends. Our first priority should be retaking Congress in 2010. There will be plenty time in 2011 and 2012 for the GOP presidential nomination to play out.

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Tags: Blood Sport, conservative, conservative democrats, Gary Bauer, Politics, Sarah Palin To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Honduras Outraged by Obama-Chavez Alliance

ARRA News Service previously posted the story In Honduras, Freedom Restored with subsequent story by Cliff Kincaid, Now, Kincaid provides a followup expressing concerns by the citizens of Honduras. This followup story highlights again the importance of our prior questions: Why is Mr. Obama not supporting the legal transfer of power in Honduras? Why is he siding with the Marxist governments in South America?

Cliff Kincaid writes [emphasis added]:

They are mystified that an American president would want to return this Chavez puppet to power in Honduras.

I continue to receive messages from Honduran citizens upset at the international media for their distorted coverage of the situation in the Central American country. The people support the ouster of Manuel "Mel" Zelaya, who is considered a puppet of Venezuelan Communist ruler Hugo Chavez. They are mystified that an American president would want to return this Chavez puppet to power in Honduras.

One Honduran wrote:

"The recent action taken by our Congress is highly supported by several organizations in support of peace and democracy: the State General Attorney, the Supreme Court, the Armed Forces, the private organizations and especially many young people. Mr. Zelaya broke the law on several occasions even after the Supreme Court stated that it was illegal. He had no respect for our laws and our Constitution.

"It's not a new fact to the international media what are Chavez intentions over Central and South America. And we in Honduras don't want that. We don't want to go back to socialism or communism. We still believe very strongly in our democracy and very strongly in our freedom... We should be an example to Central American countries as well as South American countries who have not yet been influenced by Chavez.

"May God bless our small but courageous country. And I hope the international media investigate very deeply. Send your people here and interview people from Congress and Supreme Court. Thank you again for reading our side of the story. We want a democracy, peace, freedom, and a president who doesn't believe he is above the law.

"Many people don't know where Honduras is, but after this, they shall remember that Honduras said no to socialism and communism.

"I'd also like to say that I am shocked by Mr. Obama's comments. Doesn't he know Mr. Zelaya is allied with Chavez? Doesn't he know that Mr. Zelaya wants to do in Honduras what Chavez did in Venezuela, Morales has done in Bolivia, Correa has done in Ecuador, Ortega in Nicaragua, as well as what Castro has done in Cuba?"

Another wrote:

"As you already know we are living in a horrible situation in our country and feel very disappointed and frustrated because we don't have the support of the international community.

"How is it possible that other governments support a liar, a corrupt man, a 'Chavez wannabe,' as he is called in some articles, who also has strong links to the drug dealing business?

"It's amazing. They have made him a martyr. We keep writing and writing and thankfully some people have responded. We now see articles in the Washington Post, Miami Herald, New York Post, Wall Street Journal to name a few, in favor or our actions and understanding it wasn't a coup. And to tell you the truth, they should have done this before! He was out of control.

"I'm asking you, what more can we do? How can we get more people to believe that what we did was the right thing? Have you seen his speeches? Do you notice how incoherent he is? Do you see how he lies? For us it is so obvious, and that is what I wonder... how is it possible that people so well-prepared, so educated like the people in the U.N. and the U.S. government believe him? How come they are now on the same side of Hugo Chavez? Hugo Chavez talking about democracy? It's unbelievable. And it hurts.

"I love Honduras and it hurts to see that we are alone. It hurts because we have witnessed how he has stolen, abused his power and how he has created a huge war between the Hondurans. By paying poor people and promising them false things, he does have their support. He speaks to them about God. It's amazing and sad. And now we see how this people who are badly influenced are vandalizing, destroying businesses when they protest. We had gone to marches, and they are all peaceful.

"We are a poor and small country, but we love our country and we support the Armed Forces as well as the new president. We don't want a corrupt puppet of Chavez. What more can we do?"

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Tags: Accuracy in Media, Barack Obama, Cliff Kincaid, constitution, Freedom, Honduras, Honduras Revolution, Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales, media bias, term limits, Zelaya Coup To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

SCOTUS Nominee Sonia Sotomayor Connection with Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund

Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, held a special blogger conference call today to discuss the upcoming hearings on President Obama’s nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy has scheduled the hearings to begin on July 13th, but Republicans believe that it’s important to take the time needed to look at Judge Sotomayor’s full record, rather than rush to meet arbitrary deadlines for a vote on her nomination.

To that end, Sen. Sessions wrote a letter to the White House last week asking about the 300 boxes of documents concerning Sotomayor’s time at the Puerto Rican Legal Defense Fund that hadn’t yet been made available to the committee. There are now some interesting press reports coming out about her time with the PRLDF that are worth reading.

Sen. Sessions discussed the the important issue of Judge Sotomayor relationship with the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (PRLDEF).

--PRLDEF is an activist legal organization that has taken highly controversial positions on a wide range of legal issues, including in cases remarkably similar to the New Haven Firefighters case.

--From 1980 through 1992, Judge Sotomayor served in a variety of leadership roles in PRLDEF, including Chairperson of the Litigation and Education Committees.

--According to the New York Times: “[f]or 12 years she was a top policy maker on the board of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund,” and was an “involved and ardent supporter of their various legal efforts,” “frequently meeting with the legal staff to review the status of cases.” J. Hoffman, A Breakthrough Judge: What She Always Wanted, The New York Times, Sept. 22, 1992.

--Also from the New York Times: “…Ms. Sotomayor stood out, frequently meeting with the legal staff to review the status of cases, several former members said. . . . And so across her 12 years on the board . . . she played an active role as the defense fund staked out aggressive stances on issues like police brutality, the death penalty and voting rights.” Hernandez and D. Chen, Nominee’s Links With Advocates Fuel Her Critics, The New York Times, May 29, 2009.

--As has been widely reported, Judge Sotomayor ruled against the New Haven Firefighters and sided with the City of New Haven’s decision to throw out their promotions. Judge Sotomayor did not provide a legal rationale for her decision. But, Judge Sotomayor was Chairperson of the PRLDEF’s Litigation Committee in 1987 when its active litigation docket included the following cases that may shed light on her judicial approach:

In Hispanic Society of the Department of Sanitation v. N.Y.C. Dep’t of Sanitation, the Fund represented the plaintiffs “in regard to a claim that the Supervisor Examination has a severe disparate impact upon Hispanic test-takers.” In support of its claim, the report noted that “Hispanics comprised 5.2% of the test-takers and only 3.8% of the passers[.]”

In Hispanic Police Society v. New York City Police Department, PRLDEF represented Hispanic police officers “challenging the examination of sergeant in the New York City Police Department as discriminatory and not job related.” Following discovery, the parties entered into a settlement that “provid[ed] for positions of sergeant consistent with the percentage of Hispanic test-takers.” To do so, the officers in question had to be advanced beyond others with higher scores.

In Hispanic Police Society v. New York City Civil Service Commission, PRLDEF represented the plaintiffs in a “Title VII employment discrimination case challenging the validity of the examination for lieutenant in the New York City Police Department.” The report indicated that the parties entered into a settlement “allowing plaintiffs the opportunity to participate in the preparation of a new lieutenant’s test.”

-- Judge Sotomayor supported the Fund’s efforts to oppose reinstatement of the death penalty in New York. The Fund based its opposition on factors including world opinion, the “inhuman psychological burden” it places on offenders, and the “evident racism” with which it is associated.

--The Fund has filed numerous briefs on abortion-related cases before the Supreme Court, and has consistently argued that it “opposes any efforts to overturn or in any way restrict the rights recognized in Roe v. Wade.” PRLDEF has also argued aggressively against limitations on the public funding of abortions.

--When New York Mayor David Dinkins criticized members of a radical Puerto Rican nationalist group and called them “assassins” because they shot members of Congress, the Fund criticized not the assassins, but the mayor. The President of PRLDEF, at a time when Judge Sotomayor was an active leader of the organization, claimed that it “lacked sensitivity” to call those individuals “assassins.” He also explained that for many people in Puerto Rico, these men were fighters for freedom and justice.

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Tags: bloggers, Jeff Sessions, PRLDEF, Puerto Rican legal Defense and Education Fund, Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Today in Washington D. C. - July 6, 2009 - Biden: Economic Stimulus is not Working!

The Senate reconvened today at 2 PM today and resumed consideration of the fiscal year 2010 Legislative Branch appropriations bill, H.R. 2918. At 5:30, the Senate will vote on an amendment to the bill from Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) to strip an earmark. Several other amendments will receive voice votes. A vote on final passage of the Legislative Branch appropriations bill is likely this evening. The Senate is then expected to begin consideration of the fiscal year 2010 Homeland Security appropriations bill, H.R. 2892.

VP Biden Speaks: Appearing on ABC’s “This Week” yesterday, Vice President Joe Biden was asked about the administration’s $787 billion stimulus package that was rushed through in February in light of the increasing unemployment rate. Biden said, “We misread how bad the economy was . . . .”

Except at the time the White House was pushing their massive spending bill, they were warning of catastrophic consequences if it wasn’t passed. On February 25th, Biden said on NBC’s “Today Show,” “[I]f we don’t do anything, every economist says we’re going to lose 4 to 5 million more jobs this year.” Speaking at a town hall meeting in Fort Meyers, Florida on February 10th, President Obama said, “[I]f we don’t act immediately, then millions more jobs will disappear; the national unemployment rates will approach double digits.” And a week earlier, Obama told House Democrats, “If we do not move swiftly to sign the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law, an economy that is already in crisis will be faced with catastrophe.”

Stimulus Fails: But, the AP points out, “Since Obama signed the $787 billion economic stimulus bill in February, the economy has shed more than 2 million jobs.” The unemployment rate has “approach[ed] double digits,” and now stands at 9.5%, the worst in 26 years.

When the stimulus bill was being debated, Republicans warned that it was not timely, targeted, or temporary. Yesterday, according to ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, Biden “argued more time is needed for the stimulus to work.” But if the stimulus was designed to prevent the problems we are now seeing, it clearly has not done its job, given that unemployment has already passed the level the administration predicted it would be at without a stimulus bill.

Now, some are already calling for a second stimulus package. The AP writes, “Economists and heavyweight Obama backers such as Warren Buffet already are calling for another stimulus, saying the recession proved to be deeper and more devastating than originally believed.” And of course the AFL-CIO’s policy director said, “We strongly believe we need another stimulus, and we need it now.” Stephanopoulos notes that Biden “didn’t rule out a second government stimulus package,” despite his reminder that much of the stimulus spending hasn’t yet taken affect.

Obama, Biden, and Democrats in Congress may or may not have misread “how bad the economy was.” However, they did issue an incorrect prescription for turning around the economy by spending nearly $1 trillion which was added to the debt.

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Tags: economic stimulus, Joe Biden, unemployment, US Congress, US House, US Senate, vice president, Washington D.C. To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

What's wrong with Obama's Independence Day Message?

America's Best Choice - Originally posted on America, You Asked For It!
by John M. Allison III: In his first Independence Day message to his supporters, the President demonstrated his fundamental misunderstanding of what is probably the most well known sentence of the Declaration of Independence. That's giving Obama the benefit of the doubt, because the alternative is he's intentionally misinterpreting the intent of the founders to manipulate the people and consolidate power.

From the Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

President Obama's interpretation seems to ignore that little word wedged between 'the' and 'of'--pursuit.

Now, it's important to remember this document wasn't put together in a day. It wasn't something Jefferson put together in one sitting on a cafe napkin. Jefferson and the other founding fathers carefully chose their words to ensure their message to the King and the world was communicated effectively. The phrase "pursuit of happiness," survived the editing process and became permanently etched in the final document that initiated the formation of what would become the greatest nation on Earth.

From the President's 4^th of July message:

Our country began as a unique experiment in liberty -- a bold, evolving quest to achieve a more perfect union. And in every generation, another courageous group of patriots has taken us one step closer to fully realizing the dream our founders enshrined on that great day.

Read that paragraph carefully.

The first sentence references the lead phrase in the US Constitution. Our founding fathers sought to form a more perfect union, but the current President seems to interpret this as the dream of the perfect union. Our wise founders, by inserting that little adverb "more" into this sentence, recognized that perfection is unachievable. Some may have believed such an achievement is unattainable due to the fallibility of man, others may have based their belief on the understanding that each man has a different definition of the "perfect" state. But one thing is clear--the editors of Jefferson's draft would have struck the word 'more' if they wished to communicate that they sought the perfect union.

Our founding fathers made clear their belief that the guarantee of personal freedom was the most important role of government. These great patriots recognized that the freedom to excel must be complemented by the freedom to fail. Their acknowledgment that man has an inalienable right to pursue happiness rather than attain happiness seems incomprehensible to our current President. The President and his Democratic lackeys in Congress believe the founders had it all wrong. In their minds, your personal freedom creates inequities in society that can only be corrected by regulation and legislation.

Where the founders believed in an individual's right to the fruits of his labors, Obama and his ilk would have you believe the role of government is to equalize the distribution of those fruits among the populace. In their world, the man who works overtime or even two jobs to afford a larger house, a newer car, better health insurance, or even to treat his family to a vacation once in a while should be brought down to the same economic status as the man who chooses to work part-time, or not at all, so that he can sit on the sofa and watch Oprah or Dr. Phil. Rather than allow each individual to strive for his definition of economic success, Obama and his Socialist pals want to define success and, through regulation and legislation, force all Americans to fit that mold.

Another paragraph from the President's message:

As free people, we must each take the challenges and opportunities that face this nation as our own. As long as some Americans still must struggle, none of us can be fully content. And as America comes ever closer to achieving the perfect Union our founders dreamed, that triumph -- that pride -- belongs to all of us.

There it is again--the perfect union. This is repetitive I know, but it seems our President can't grasp such a simple concept so I'll go on.

I don't know about you, but I'm not acquainted with anyone who hasn't struggled at some point in their lives. I'm sure they exist, but they're few and far between. Again, the founders' understanding that no such "perfect union" could exist is evidenced in the Constitution by the little adverb "more." They didn't dream of a perfect union in the Utopian sense, they dreamed of a "more perfect union"--meaning better than the one that existed at the time. To create a perfect union would require the existence of a perfect human being(s) and I believe the Bible when it says there is no such thing.

The President has described the Constitution as a document of "negative liberties" and he's right, if you believe the Constitution was written to guarantee rights to our federal government. However, the fact is the Constitution wasn't written to secure the rights of government, but the rights of the governed. It follows then, what the President views as "negative liberties" granted the federal government become simply "liberties" enjoyed by citizens.

Those liberties, especially the right to be as successful as one chooses, are precisely what allowed the United States to become the greatest nation--the most charitable, the most innovative, the most powerful--on Earth in less than 200 years. Remove those liberties, through taxation, legislation, or regulation, and we may well achieve economic equality for all. But at what price?

The cost of such equalization will be borne by all Americans. Innovation will evaporate. When the prospect of reaping the financial rewards for building a better mousetrap is stripped from our society, we'll be stuck with the mousetraps of today. Our health care system may be expensive, but we're paying for the innovation that continually increases the lifespan of our citizens. The President and his cronies are currently hyping a government system that will eliminate the financial rewards for such innovation and result in the stagnation of medical discoveries, thereby stifling advances that would continue to increase longevity in the future.

Obama's 4^th of July message implies that his reforms will move us closer to a "perfect" union, one in which all our countrymen are guaranteed an equal share of the nation's economic pie. The end result of such ideology will be a reduction in the size of that pie so that all Americans will have a smaller portion, but they'll all be equal. This was not the founders' intent.

The system envisioned in 1776 rewarded hard work and personal responsibility. The President and Democrats in Congress seek to reward the opposite by punishing those traits so valued by our founding fathers. It seems the founders, or at least Benjamin Franklin, knew this day would come.

"When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic."--Benjamin Franklin

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Tags: 4th of July, Barack Hussein Obama, constitution, Independence Day, John Allison III, liberty To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

The Glorious Fourth

by Tony Perkins, FRC Washington Update: In a letter to his wife Abigail, John Adams told her of the actions of the Continental Congress on July 2, 1776. "The second day of July, 1776 [the actual day the Declaration was signed], will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of the continent to the other, from this time forward forever."

As we celebrate Independence Day, as John Adams so aptly predicted, we must not forget nor overlook the intense struggle our Founding Fathers faced. Their Christian faith played a critical role in an era that altered the history of the world. There is not a better example of this seamless devotion to God and country than Samuel Adams. In his time, Sam was far more famous than his cousin, John. Sam was known as the last of the great Puritans and the father of the Revolution. It was Sam Adams who organized the Sons of Liberty and the Committees of Correspondence. (By the way, if you're going out to a Tea Party on Saturday, historians believe that the first tea party, the one in Boston, was organized by Samuel Adams. It was that Boston Tea Party that lit the fuse of the American Revolution).

When Sam Adams was elected to that First Continental Congress and traveled to the gathering of leaders in Philadelphia, he thought the Continental Congress needed to begin its work on its knees--in prayer. But when the motion was made to call in a local clergyman to lead the worship, John Jay of New York and Edward Rutledge of South Carolina objected. We are too diverse, they said. We could never agree on whose prayers to say.

Rising to his feet, Sam Adams spoke: "I am no bigot," he said, "I can hear the prayer of any man of piety and virtue who is a friend to his country." Deeply moved, the delegates voted to approve Sam Adams' idea. The next morning, amid reports of the British moving against the people of his hometown of Boston, Sam knelt in prayer with his fellow delegates, as the Rev. Jacob Duch? prayed. "Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me, and fight against them that fight against me."

That inspired move by Sam Adams did much to overcome suspicions among the delegates. Joseph Reed of Philadelphia called that prayer "a masterly stroke." Those Founding Fathers could now work together for liberty. Soon, Sam Adams would sign the Declaration of Independence. Alongside Sam Adams' name you can find that of Charles Carroll, a delegate from Maryland. Carroll was the richest man in Congress and the only Roman Catholic. Nowhere else on earth in 1776 could you find an Evangelical like Sam Adams pledge "his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor" alongside a Catholic like Charles Carroll. They both risked death by hanging for signing that great Declaration. But they served the King of Kings and had no fear of King George III.

In our efforts to maintain the freedoms won by our forefathers we must be like them--people of action and prayer. We must never sever our personal faith from our public stand for faith, family and freedom. After we celebrate our independence as a nation on Saturday, I invite you to join thousands of Christians from across the nation on Sunday as they fall on their knees in prayer as a part of FRC's Call2Fall, declaring their dependence upon God, just like our Founding Fathers.

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Tags: FRC, Independence Day, John Adams, Sam Adams, Tony Perkins, Washington Update To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Happy 4th of July! - Independence Day!

The ARRA News and the Arkansas Republican Assembly join you in celebrating our nation's 233rd Birthday - Independence Day. Many are attending Tea (Taxed Enough Already) Party Rallies. God Bless America and our armed service men and women.
The Fourth of July is a day that is usually a time when families get together for sunshine hot dogs, fun, and fireworks. Every American regardless of race, gender, income, and political party celebrates the day that the Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, spurring the start of the American Revolution. Like many other national holidays, the meaning can often be lost in the festivities. And so it is up to each of us to, in the words of Jefferson, "Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty."

The American system of government, with the Founding Father's emphasis on "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," has inspired almost every country in the world to rise up and take control of their own destiny. Constitutional Republics have spread throughout Europe, and just this year fellow freedom fighters as far away as Iran and as near to us as Honduras are standing up for their own independence much like our Founding Fathers did more than two centuries ago.

This is America's lasting legacy. Before 1776, only two Constitutional Republics even attempted to bring any form of freedom and liberty to mankind: The Greek and Roman Empires. But the people of these great nations became apathetic, not realizing, as John F. Kennedy wisely warned, "Complacency is the jailer of freedom."

So, while the Fourth of July has become a day of festivities (celebrating if nothing else, a day by the pool or at the beach), what Americans really are observing is the fact that a relative handful of courageous citizens lit a flame of liberty and installed a form of government that has governed over unprecedented prosperity and individual liberty. And even today, "the glow from that fire can truly light the world." [ [Original Source - Get Liberty blog - Americans for Limited Government is no longer available. Link Removed.]

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Tags: 2009, 4th of July, Arkansas Republican Assembly, ARRA, ARRA News Service, Independence Day, William Warren To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Romney Urges GOP to 'Stand Up' to Obama

FOX News' Carl Cameron & Jake Gibson - 7/1/09: Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney called on Republicans to "stand up" to President Obama and his policies on the economy, health care and energy . . . "I think Republicans have to stand up and make it very, very clear that we run the risk as a nation of having the entire world lose confidence in the currency of the United States and that would lead to something worse than a recession -- that would lead to an extraordinary slowdown globally that would hurt us more than any other. . . . When the stimulus bill is wrong, when it wastes money and threatens the viability of our currency long-term, you have to stand up and say 'no.' When a health care plan says we're going to have the government take over health care which is roughly a fifth of our economy, Republicans are going to have to say 'no' to that," he said. . . .

Though not playing it up, Romney isn't ruling out another run at American politics' biggest prize. "At this stage it's too early to try to see what's going to happen down the road," he said. "I haven't closed the door on my future, but I'm not walking through it either." According to a recent Pew poll, among Republicans Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin -- despite the unceasing drama surrounding her and her family -- is the GOP's most popular leader, with a 73% approval rating. Romney had 57% . . . .

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Tags: GOP, Mitt Romney, President Obama, Republican To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Palin to Resign as Alaska Governor on July 26

Updated Comments at the bottom.
Breaking News: Sarah Palin to Resign as Alaska Governor on July 26.
"I am determined to take the right path for Alaska even though it is not the easiest path" In a stunning decision, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) announced this afternoon she will resign as Governor of Alaska on July 26 and return to private life. Palin made the surprise announcement from her home in Wasilla, flanked by her husband, Todd, and family and state commissioners.

Palin said: "I look forward to helping others - to fight for our state and our country, and campaign for those who believe in smaller government, free enterprise, strong national security, support for our troops, and energy Independence. We are not retreating, we are advancing in a different direction. We know we can effect positive change outside government at this moment in time."

Bill Smith, ARRA Editor: "While many say this move was stupid, Sarah Palin has proven to be smart like a fox and as tough as a barracuda. She is a great speaker, rallies crowds and raises lots of money. If she plans to run for national office or even to just make a stand for the good of America, this may be the best move for all conservatives. I am not prepared to count her out of politics. She has a lot of faithful supporters throughout the lower 48."

U.S. Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford, NY) said the following on learning of her decision: "I don't know how you'd do it from Alaska. It's another world geographically, politically and media-wise... It would give her an opportunity to break loose from the chains of local politics and a very small population with a lot of ancient feuds, where you're bogged down by the Lilliputians there." She can be on a national stage more often, he said, adding: "She's a lightning rod. That can be good for her...We have a lot of boring people in the Republican party.... she certainly engages."

Updated 4:50 pm: Dr. Stephen Maloney, DraftPalin2012: Essentially, Sarah was being held "prisoner" in Alaska because of the endless whining that took place in The Anchorage Daily News and elsewhere whenever she ventured out-of-state. Sarah is a national figure with national aspirations, and it's in her best interest not to continue to serve as Governor. It's that simple folks. Some "conservative pundits," generally as idiotic as their liberal counterparts will express bogus horror that Sarah has "quit her day-job." Frankly, Sarah doesn't want to run for President on the state of Alaska's dime. Obama quit as his own day-job, as U.S. Senator -- or at least stopped performing it -- after serving less than a year. Nobody raised a peep.

5:46 pm: Gary Bauer, Campaign for Working Families: My reaction: Reports of her political death are greatly exaggerated. Yes, resigning as governor is high risk, and, yes, the Left's attacks on her have been savage enough to drive almost anyone out of office. But I don't believe she's running from a fight. This move frees her up to campaign in the lower 48 states, build a top notch political organization and improve her issue development work. In six months we will know whether the gamble worked, but I for one am hoping it does. Whatever happens, every day I am more convinced that working together we are going to get Barack Obama out of the White House.

Updated July, 4th: Pamela Geller - Paline in 2012! She did not quit. . . . Palin committed herself to fighting "for our state and our country, and campaign(ing) for those who believe in smaller government, free enterprise, strong national security, support for our troops and energy independence." . . . Palin, like all patriotic Americans, is shocked by what is happening. Obama is destroying this country. She knows it. We all know it. We need a leader.
Palin is that leader. On Friday she assumed the mantle. . . . She believes in and wants to fight for free enterprise, small government and national security. . . . . And best of all, she is not a product of the limp-wristed, spineless GOP of the Age of Obama. . . . She is outside the box. She has grit. She has guts. . . . She is principled, true, hard working, smart and honorable. She embodies all that is good and fine and decent – you couldn't have written a more charismatic, honorable character in a Victor Hugo novel.

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Tags: Alaska, Bill Smith, Chicago politics, Gary Bauer, Governor, Peter King, resigns, Sarah Palin, Steve Maloney To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Independence Day Tea Party Rally

Bill Smith, ARRA Editor: Tomorrow, on July 4th, people across America will rally in citizen organized TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party rallies. People will gather to promote individual liberty, free market ideals and Constitutional principles. Many are motivated by a 2009 budget which has grown to a deficit of $1.8 trillion, more than four times higher than last year’s all time high and 50% of total budget.

The massive growth of the federal government is threatening our individual liberties and future prosperity. With the national debt already out of control, 78,000 new government jobs to the federal payroll since he took office. This increase in the number of government employees will add hundreds of millions of dollars to our debt. If history is any measure, these jobs will never be eliminated. They will simply add to the mountains of debt we are leaving our grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Brad Marston, an organizer of the Boston Independence Tea Party Day, said, "higher taxes and greater federal control now and in the future will further strangle our economy and legislation is being rushed through Congress that effects every citizen and generations yet to be born threatens the Constitution." Government officials are ignoring their constituents and moving the country toward socialism.

Trying to avoid the holiday weekend, a few early Tea Party rallies have already been held. But the majority of rallies will celebrate Independence Day by rallying on the 4th of July. And, most of these events will be a little different with elected officials, political candidates and party leaders reamining on the ground an not on center stage as speakers. Ken Emanuelson is a member of the event's steering committee of America's Tea Party, Southfork Ranch, Texas, and Richard Caster is the organizer of the Ozark Independence Day Tea Party, Mountain Home, Arkansas. Both have identified that their tea party rallies will be "about the people talking to elected officials, not the elected officials talking to us." Emanuelson added, "Our ultimate goal is the building of neighborhood citizens groups across North Texas." Casted added, "if an elected official or politician wishes to respond after listening for for over an hour and half to the citizens of the Ozarks, we will give them each 3 minutes at the end to respond or agree with our concerns."

Have a great 4th of July -- take time to share with your children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews and anyone else who will listens the real story of Independence Day. If you would like to participate in history by attending a Tea Party rally, the following sites will aid you in locating one in your general area: Tea Party Patriots or Tea Party Day.

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Tags: 4th of July, Arkansas, Independence Day, Massachusetts, Ozarks, taxed enough already, tea party, Texas To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

CBS feeling “controlled” by Obama administration

Perhaps the press honeymoon is coming to a close for the President. CBS’ Chip Reid and Helen Thomas challenge Robert Gibbs on Obama’s commitment to transparency and control of the press. [Source: John Allison, III, America You Asked for It]

Thomas to Gibbs: “I’m amazed…I’m amazed at you people who call for openness and transparency and then control…[interrupted by Gibbs]“ Gibbs kept saying lets have this discussion AFTER the meeting. Helen Thomas accused the White House of "controlling the press." She said almost all White House/Obama events are "prepackaged." She accused the White House of not "having any answers." She identified that the press is called the night before regarding the asking of questions.

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Tags: America You Asked for It, CBS, Chip Reid, Helen Thomas, Obama Townhall, press, Robert Gibbs, transparency, video, White House To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Academy Award Winner Jon Voight Gives Free Speech a Boost

Jennifer Harper of the Washington Times reports: Free speech got a loud boost from Hollywood on Wednesday. Jon Voight has responded to accusations from a critic sympathetic to the American Communist Party, who said the actor had used hate speech and threatened the well-being of President Obama during a recent appearance before Republicans in Washington.

Mr. Voight denied both charges, saying that those who speak out against the Obama administration are "demonized" and "attacked," often with hate speech. The Academy Award winner's speech before the National Republican Congressional Committee on June 7 was both a political and cultural moment. As a paragon of a new Hollywood conservatism, Mr. Voight spoke bluntly of Republican strategies for 2012 and what he sees as the shortcomings of the Obama administration.

Yet the actor also ignited a public discussion about bitter partisan rivalries and what constitutes threatening language. Toward the end of his speech, Mr. Voight lauded a list of 23 high-profile Republicans, saying "Let's give thanks to them for staying on course to bring an end to this false prophet, Obama." The phrase "bring an end" was quickly caught in the echo chamber of news reports and Op-Eds in the aftermath, framed out of context. Mr. Voight's words brought criticisms from the New York Times, activists and bloggers. But they particularly troubled Teresa Albano, editor of the People's Weekly World -- a Chicago-based publication sympathetic to the Communist Party.

"I don't want to equate what Jon Voight said as expressing a conservative opinion on politics. It went way beyond that. He made a threat against the president of the United States to a crowd at a GOP fundraiser and got a good response from the Senate minority leader and other powerful people. And that is scary," Ms. Albano, editor of the publication, said at the time. An editorial also said his speech was a form of "home-grown terrorism." [Imagine a communist supporting President Obama.]

ARRA News: Inserted this video so readers can see for yourself that Teresa Albano and the other left-wing pundits objecting to Jon Voight's comments are just trying to scam the American public and to provide cover for their guy - Barack Obama.

[Excerpts of Article continued] Mr. Voight did not take the characterization lightly. "America is a country of freedom -- which means we, as American citizens, can voice our disagreements, if necessary, against a regime that seems to be destroying our great nation. . . . But everyone who speaks out against Obama's policies is immediately demonized and attacked in a way that becomes dangerous to them. Teresa Albano had targeted me with vicious, harmful lies. She is igniting hate against me. I never did, nor would I ever, threaten the president of the United States. I did say President Obama's policies must fail because they are creating a socialist America," he said.

. . . In conservative and Republican circles, the speech Mr. Voight gave that night in early June is still reverberating. It inspired Op-Eds framed as a bold step toward the reinvention of the GOP as the party looks to 2012. "The left will flail as they attempt to marginalize him and diminish his stellar reputation and award-winning career," said Big Hollywood.com columnist Andrew Breitbart. "His analysis of how President Obama got elected will eventually be the accepted truth once sober and dispassionate journalists re-enter the mainstream media. I predict there will be more 'Jon Voights' in the next election cycle, thanks to his courageous, trailblazing spirit." . . . [Read More]

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Tags: An American Carol, Barack Obama, free speech, Hollywood, Jon Voight To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Texas Appellate Court Deals Blow to Islamist -- Upholds Free Speech Rights of Internet Journalist; Muslims Appeal #CALH

Thomas More Law Center: ANN ARBOR, MI – Yesterday ( 7/1/09), seven Texas-area Muslim organizations filed an appeal of the unanimous ruling of the Texas Second Court of Appeals at Forth Worth, which protected the free speech rights of internet journalists and at the same time dealt a blow to the legal jihad being waged by radical Muslim groups throughout the United States. The Court ruling authored by Justice Terrie Livingston, dismissed the libel lawsuit filed against internet reporter Joe Kaufman by the seven Muslim organizations.

The lawsuit against Kaufman was funded by the Muslim Legal Fund for America. The head of that organization, Khalil Meek, admitted on a Muslim radio show that lawsuits were being filed against Kaufman and others to set an example. Indeed, for the last several years, Muslim groups in the U.S. have engaged in the tactic of filing meritless lawsuits to silence any public discussion of Islamic terrorist threats. This tactic, referred to by some as Islamist Lawfare uses our laws and legal system to silence critics and promote Islamic rule in America.

The Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan provided the lead attorney to represent Kaufman, at no charge. The Law Center attorney, Brandon Bolling, was assisted by Texas attorney Thomas S. Brandon, Jr. who acted as local counsel, and Los Angeles, CA attorneys William Becker, Jr. and Manuel S. Klausner.

Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, commented, “This frivolous lawsuit is an example of the legal jihad being waged by radical Islamic organizations throughout our nation. These lawsuits are aimed at stifling the free speech rights of Americans who dare to expose their agenda. They intentionally file lawsuits to intimidate reporters who seek to expose their agenda. By making it costly to defend against their lawsuits, they hope journalists will refrain from writing about the threat to our nation.”

Kaufman, a full-time investigative reporter, has written extensively on Radical Islamic terrorism in America. He was sued because of his September 28, 2007 article titled “Fanatic Muslim Family Day” published by Front Page Magazine, a major online news website. Kaufman’s article exposed the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) and the Islamic Association of Northern Texas (IANT) ties to the radical terrorist group Hamas.

Kaufman’s article called ICNA a radical Muslim organization that has ties to Al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood. According to Kaufman, ICNA is an umbrella organization for South Asian-oriented mosques and Islamic centers in the United States created as an American arm of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) of Pakistan.

A 1991 internal memorandum of the Muslim Brotherhood laid out their plan to destroy America from within: “[The Muslim Brotherhood] must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and ‘sabotaging’ its miserable house by their hands and the hands of believers so that it is eliminated and Allah’s religion is made victorious over all other religions.”

According to former FBI agent John Guandolo, who worked several years in the Bureau’s Counter Terrorism Division, every major Muslim organization is controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood. Significantly, neither ICNA nor IANT, which were mentioned in Kaufman’s article, sued Kaufman. It is speculated that ICNA and IANT were afraid of being subjected to pretrial discovery.

On the other hand, none of the seven plaintiffs that sued Kaufman were even mentioned in his article. The seven Muslim organizations that sued Kaufman are the Islamic Society of Arlington, Texas, Islamic Center of Irving, DFW Islamic Educational Center, Inc., Dar Elsalam Islamic Center, Al Hedayah Islamic Center, Islamic Association of Tarrant County, and Muslim American Society of Dallas. All are affiliated with CAIR, one of the unindicted co-conspirators in the successful federal prosecution of the Holy Land Foundation.

In what should be welcomed news to internet journalists, the Appellate Court specifically rejected the Plaintiffs’ contention that Kaufman is not a “media defendant.” The Court held that the Texas statute that gives procedural protections to traditional electronic and print media, including the right to a pretrial appeal, also covers internet journalists. Thus, the Texas Statue entitled Kaufman the right to appeal the lower court’s denial of his motion to dismiss the frivolous libel claim before a time-consuming and expensive trial. Most parties have to wait until after a trial before they can appeal an unfavorable lower court ruling.
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The Thomas More Law Center defends and promotes America’s Christian heritage and moral values, including the religious freedom of Christians, time-honored family values, and the sanctity of human life. It supports a strong national defense and an independent and sovereign United States of America. The Law Center accomplishes its mission through litigation, education, and related activities. It does not charge for its services. The Law Center is supported by contributions from individuals, corporations and foundations, and is recognized by the IRS as a section 501(c)(3) organization. You may reach the Thomas More Law Center at (734) 827-2001 or visit our website at http://www.thomasmore.org/.

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Tags: 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, bloggers, free speech, internet journalists, Joe Kaufman, lawsuit, Muslim, Muslim Brotherhood, radical Muslim, Texas, Thomas More Law Center To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Bloodhounds Follow the Stimulus Trail Searching from Jobs

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) released a new video targeting the failure of Washington Democrats trillion-dollar stimulus bill and asking where are the jobs? This is a lighthearted web video, but the underlying point is no laughing matter, Boehner said. At a time when Americans are looking to Washington for leadership, the trillion-dollar stimulus has been a wasteful failure. Americans were promised the stimulus would keep the unemployment rate from going above eight percent. Its now at 9.4% and rising. Where are the jobs?

In the video, job-sniffing bloodhounds follow the stimulus money trail across the nation in search of the millions of jobs the Obama Administration promised to save or create if the trillion-dollar spending bill were enacted. The trail takes them to AIG Headquarters in New York City, where stimulus funds were used to pay big bonuses to top executives; to Wisconsin, where stimulus funds are paying for repairs to a bridge that reportedly carries about 260 cars per day, many to a place called Rustys Backwater Saloon, according to a June 16 report in the Wall Street Journal; and to North Carolina, where stimulus funds were reportedly used by one town to hire a new worker whose job is to apply for more stimulus funds from Washington.

A real stimulus would help small businesses across America get back on their feet and create jobs. Washington hasnt tried that yet. Instead weve made government bigger, wasted taxpayers money, and piled new debt on our children and grandchildren, Boehner said. Republicans have put forth a better solution a plan that recognizes small business, not government, is the engine of the American economy. We hope Washington Democrats will work with us in the months ahead to make it a reality.

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Tags: America, bloodhounds, congress, jobs, Joe Biden, John Boehner, Nancy Pelosi, President Obama, Republicans, video To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Today in Washington D. C. - July 2, 2009 - Economic Minister of Propaganda Speaks on Unemployment

The AP reports today, “Employers cut a larger-than-expected 467,000 jobs in June, driving the unemployment rate up to a 26-year high of 9.5%, suggesting that the economy's road to recovery will be bumpy. . . . All told, 14.7 million people were unemployed in June. If laid-off workers who have given up looking for new jobs or have settled for part-time work are included, the unemployment rate would have been 16.5 percent in June, the highest on records dating to 1994.”

And folks this is not Bush's recession - this is Obama's recession. So - what about the administration’s $787 billion stimulus bill that was pushed through Congress in February on promises to mitigate or reverse the affects of this downturn? This morning Fox News’ Bill Hemmer asked White House economic advisor Christina Romer if today’s unemployment numbers show that the stimulus bill isn’t working. Romer responded, “No, absolutely not,” explaining that it just means it’ll take some time for recovery and no one anticipated things would be this bad. Romer is Obama's "economic minister of propaganda" with the demeanor of a"Julia Child"styled talking head. However, Julia Child made us chuckle while she demonstrated her expertise, whereas Romer looks us in the eyes, smiles, chuckles at us, and attempts to dissuade Americans from the facts of reality.

Remember, the administration used a report co-written by Romer in January to help sell its stimulus bill. The report claimed, “Certain industries, such as construction and manufacturing, are likely to experience particularly strong job growth under a recovery package that includes an emphasis on infrastructure, energy, and school repair.” However, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics today, “Job losses were widespread across the major industry sectors, with large declines occurring in manufacturing, professional and business services, and construction. . . . [I]n June, employment in construction fell by 79,000, with losses spread throughout the industry . . . [and] [e]mployment in manufacturing fell by 136,000 over the month . . . .”

Clearly the jobs that Obama and Romer promised would result from adding hundreds of billions of dollars to the deficit have NOT materialized. House Republican Leader John Boehner took his bloodhound to look for the promised stimulus jobs but unfortunately wasn’t able to come up with anything.

In summary, quoting Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky), “[I]f the American people learned anything from the stimulus, it’s that we should be suspicious when we’re told that we need to spend trillions of dollars without having the proper time to review how the money will be spent or what effect it will or won’t have.” Americans should be cautious given that the administration is taking a similar approach to selling its plans for health reform, urging swift action on trillion-dollar government-run insurance plans.

So far, the Obama/Romer Stimulus has be de-stimulating the economy resulting in greater economic fear and increasing unemployment. If Obama was not reneging on his promise to bring the military home rather than his redeploying the military from Iraq to Afghanistan, we would have even higher unemployment as the national guard and regular military, retained under "stop-loss" programs, returned home to "no jobs." Imagine, fighting for your country one day and coming home to no job the next. Obama send your economic minister of propaganda packing - we've had enough stimulus. Should we now trust the Obama administration with nationalized health care and cap-and-trade {one big tax on everyone]?

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Tags: Barack Obama, cap-and-trade, Christiina Romer, economic stimulus, jobs, military, nationalized health care, Obama administration, propaganda, recession, unemployment, Washington D.C. To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Meeting Curtis Coleman - Campaign Launch Parties for U.S. Senate Race

by John Allison, III: Last week I had the pleasure of attending one of Curtis Coleman's "Campaign Launch Parties" at the home of his daughter and son-in-law. This wasn't a huge gala with party big-wigs, lobbyists, and press, but an opportunity for concerned citizens to get to know, personally and politically, the man who plans to defeat Blanche Lincoln in November 2010. In fact, it was a simple reception with cheese cake and soft drinks held in the living room of his daughter's home. Other than Mr. Coleman, his wife, daughter and son-in-law, there were 10 others who attended to learn more about the man who may be the next Senator from Arkansas. Coleman gave a presentation introducing himself and his political positions on key issues. The presentation was followed by a question and answer session that was more open than I thought possible from dialogue with a politician. But then again, Coleman isn't a typical politician, he's a businessman seeking political office.

I came away with the impression that Mr. Coleman is a true conservative who will stand firm against liberal Democrats and even his own party when its leadership goes against his conservative ideology.

His presentation began reminding everyone in attendance that he's still "exploring" the feasibility of a Senate run for strategic reasons, but that he's serious about running. He explained that a formal announcement would place him in a completely different status with the Federal Elections Commission. When asked if he knew approximately when a formal announcement would come, he said he had two prior commitments he planned to follow through on - one project at his company, Safe Foods, and his commitment to serve as chairman of the Central Arkansas Cityfest with Luis Palau - before officially throwing his hat in the ring. Originally he thought his commitment to these projects would be wrapped up by October, but informed us that things were progressing and other events occurring that might push that timeline up to sometime this summer.

So what motivated Coleman to run? He told us he spoke to the Republican Party of Arkansas soon after last year's November election and asked them, "Who do we have to run against Blanche in 2010?" At the time, their response was, "No one, why don't you run?" He returned home upset. He didn't want to run and it didn't appear anyone else would take up the conservative colors and lead the charge either. When he realized that he was upset with others for not doing what he wasn't willing to do, he changed his mind and began to seriously consider stepping up to the plate. Ultimately, his concern for the country his children and grandchildren will inherit pushed him over the edge and into the race.

On the issues, Coleman took on the Obama administration's tax and spend policies. Coleman equates paying taxes with sacrificing personal liberty. "Your paycheck represents your personal liberty as much as any one thing you have." While recognizing some taxes are necessary to fund defense, maintain civil order, and fund basic government services, he believes we're taxed enough. Though the President often claims he won't increase taxes on anyone making less than $250,000 per year, Coleman recognizes the administration's out-of-control-spending will mandate tax increases at some point in the future. To evidence his commitment to not increasing taxes on Americans, the prospective Senator has signed the Americans for Tax Reform's Taxpayer Protection Pledge which Lincoln refuses to sign.

He believes TARP, Obama's stimulus, auto industry bailouts, mortgage relief, and Cap and Trade are more about ideology than the economy and environment – all are part of a strategy Coleman dubs "The March to Mediocrity," intended to bring the highest wage earners down and the lowest wage earners up to meet somewhere in the middle. He sees these supposed "stimuli," imposed on the American people by Obama and Congressional Democrats, as components of Obama's scheme to "redistribute the wealth" and understands such efforts are more likely to bring everyone down to the level of those at the lower end of the scale.

Citing Congressional Budget Office figures, he pointed out that a 20-year-old will pay $114,000 in interest - just on the debt arising from the 2010 budget - over his/her working life. This, Coleman says, "is why we're suffering the most egregious erosion of our personal liberties in history . . . turning our dreams into our children's nightmare."

Coleman lays the bulk of the blame for the nation's current economic woes directly at the feet of the US Congress for passing legislation that forced banks to make bad loans. He lays out the case for pinning the housing implosion on the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977. This law required banks' loan portfolios to represent the demographics of their lending area or face losing their FDIC insurance. He points out that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae became involved during the Clinton administration, and began to insure these subprime mortgages. "It didn't come from Wall Street, it came from Congress," Coleman says of the US mortgage crisis.

Curtis Coleman appears the quintessential conservative. He supports tax cuts and responsible spending - government living within its means. He recognizes government policy that creates onerous demands on business and industry force prices up and our standard of living down, effectively restricting our personal liberty. He's unapologetic about his pro-life stance. And, he's confident enough with his positions that he'll stand before his constituents and answer their questions without subterfuge.

It was heartening to see a potential candidate for the Senate sit down and discuss the issues with ordinary Arkansans and Coleman promised that, if elected, he'll be sure to have at least one event like this in each county in Arkansas every year he's in office. Early in his presentation he explained he wanted us to participate - to ask questions and give our opinions. His words - "I don't learn anything when I do all the talking." He also informed us he's willing to host five of these Campaign Launch Parties each week until he officially declares his candidacy. If you're interested in hosting one in your home, contact Coleman . Curtis Coleman's blog; Twitter.

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Tags: 2010, Arkansas, Blanche Lincoln, business, Curtis Coleman, John Allison III, pro-life, Republican Party of Arkansas, RPA, US Senate To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / l2010, Arkansas, Blanche Lincoln, business, Curtis Coleman, John Allison III, pro-life, Republican Party of Arkansas, RPA, US Senateink to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Enough About Obama

By William Warren:

Spanish version

English version

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Tags: Barack Obama, Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, political cartoon, William Warren To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Vic Snyder's National Energy Tax

Democrats "Cap and Trade" legislation is nothing more than a tax and energy rate increase that will harm all Americans. And Arkansas U.S. Rep. Vic Snyder failed to vote for his Arkansas constituents and voted to raise Arkansans' utility cost, petroleum cost and taxes in numerous forms!

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Tags: Arkansas, cap-and-trade, energy bill, increased taxes, national energy tax, Vic Snyder To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Today in Washington D. C. - July 1, 2009 - Obama Baffles With B.S.

Well President Obama is at it again - holding his second town hall forum on health care in as many weeks. As a Senator, Obama was never good at voting on all the issues, but then again maybe he was to narcissistic to to vote for anything that wasn't his own idea. A couple old saws are being demonstrated again with his second "set-up" "pre-formated" forums: "If you can't win, change the rules, if you can't change the rules, ignore them." -Anonymous. "If you can't impress them with intelligence, baffle them with BS." - Frank Anderson.

CNN has a new poll out showing that Americans remain skeptical of Democrats’ approach to health reform. A majority in the poll, 54%, believe their insurance premiums will go up under the Obama plan, and only 17 percent believe their costs will go down. Further, 35% believe their family will be “worse off” under the President’s plan and only one in five believe their family “will be better off” if the President’s plan becomes law.

The CNN story claims that arguments about the pitfalls of a government-run insurance plan may not be registering with Americans. But previous polls have shown that when Americans hear about the consequences of government running health insurance, they don’t support such a plan. Last week an ABC/Washington Post poll found that if a government plan “caused many private insurers to go out of business because they couldn't compete -- as critics charge -- support plummets to 37 percent.”

That’s not the only problem with such a plan. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) explained to the New Haven Independent why he is skeptical: “If we create a public option, the public is going to end up paying for it. And that’s a cost we can’t take on.” Indeed, the federal government is facing at least two years of deficits exceeding $1 trillion and President Obama’s budget would double the public debt in five years and triple it in ten. Lieberman further explained, “My fear is...[health care providers] would end up getting levels of reimbursement from the public plan...comparable to what they get today from Medicaid. . . . And Medicaid only pays them about 70% of their costs.”

President Obama has made a lot of assurances about his plan, including that it won’t add to the debt and that Americans won’t lose their current health coverage. But as Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell pointed out last week, "[W]hen Democrats predict their health care plan won’t cause people to lose their current insurance and won’t add to the national debt, Americans are right to be skeptical. They made the same kind of predictions about the stimulus bill. They said the money wouldn’t be wasted. Yet we’re already hearing about $3.4 million turtle tunnels and $40,000 to pay the salary of someone whose job is to apply for more stimulus money. The administration also predicted that if we passed the stimulus, the unemployment rate wouldn’t rise above 8%. Now they say unemployment will likely rise to 10%."

Folks - do you trust the government to run a nationalized health care program correctly? Do you trust government NOT to mess up the world's premier medical programs? Remember Social Security? Social Security payments do not come from a "trust" fund. There is no money in a "trust" fund. The government consumed all the funds. Now, benefits are paid out of current tax receipt including payroll taxes. It's like one giant Madoff ponzi scheme. The government is NOT designed to operate business ventures efficiently or effectively.

President Obama was challenged during the presidential campaign to debate in unscripted town hall forums. Obama couldn't operate "off script" back then nor can he do so today. When he goes off the teleprompter, he does so in a controlled and well scripted environment. Obama has perfected the art of baffling people with BS.

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