TEA Party Infiltrators - The Liberal Media

Lisa Benson: TEA Party Infiltrators - the liberal media.:

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Tags: Lisa Benson, political cartoon, TEA party, infiltrators, liberal, media
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Ballad of the Tea Party - Sung by Joel Pollak (R-IL-9)

The Ballad of the Tea Party [Video]
Written and Performed by Joel Pollak (R)
Nominee for Congress - 9th District, Illinois
Chicago Tax Day Tea Party - April 15, 2010

On a cold night in Boston, three ships in the dock With their valuable cargo still waiting to stock But the colonists wont pay the duty on tea And the governor wont let the ships out to sea Chorus: Sing - hey, hey, what do we say? American freedom is here to stay! Hey, hey, what do we say? Don't tax our freedom away! Now the Crown has been adding new fees by the score And the people don't think they can bear any more Yet they don't have a vote, so they don't have a say And they're starting to talk about breaking away (Chorus)

Now the people have gathered round the Old Meeting House If the governor listens, they'll still hear him out But Sam Adams, he reads the report with a frown So the people decide that the tea must do down (Chorus) So they don their disguises and clamber aboard And the governors tea is soon tossed overboard And the news spreads throughout the thirteen colonies That our country's new motto is Don't Tread On Me. (Chorus) Now today we have gathered--young, old, black, and white And we've all got the vote, so we don't need to fight But if Washington taxes our future away Then well throw them all out on Election Day! (Chorus)

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Tags: TEA Party, Ballad, Joel Pollak, Republican, song, video
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Part Two - Don't Tread on States' Rights - Arizona: The Epicenter of Federalism

Don't Tread on States RightsMomentum is growing to re-assert the proper boundaries around the federal government vis a vis states rights as put forth in the U.S. Constitution, particularly the 10th Amendment. The recent federal takeover of health-care has ignited the movement of 10th Amendment proponents. Addressing this issue below are: Utah Congressman Rob Bishop; Arizona Clint Bolick, director, Goldwater Institute Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation; Wyoming Benjamin Barr, Counsel for Wyoming Liberty Group; Virginia John Taylor, president, Virginia Institute for Public Policy; and a concluding summary by Merrill Matthews, resident scholar, Institute for Policy Innovation.

Part Two - Arizona: The Epicenter of Federalism by Clint Bolick: The Goldwater Institute has pioneered the use of state constitutions as a "federalism shield" against excesses of the national government. Two proposed state constitutional amendments will appear as referenda on our November 2010 ballot that can be used by other states to protect freedom.

Working with Dr. Eric Novack, the Institute helped develop the Health Care Freedom Act, which protects the right of individuals to be free from forced participation in a government-approved health insurance system, and to directly purchase lawful medical services outside such a system. This has been adopted as a model bill by the American Legislative Exchange Council. We have provided counsel to assist similar efforts in three dozen states.

The Institute also drafted Save Our Secret Ballot, which would protect the right to secret ballot in elections and designations of union representation. The amendment would safeguard that right against the pernicious federal "card-check" legislation that would recognize unions without a secret-ballot vote. The Act also will appear on the ballot in at least four states.

Goldwater's litigation center has pledged to defend such measures against inevitable legal challenges if the federal government attempts to violate those precious rights. We also will publish this year a federalism toolkit, offering ideas to protect freedom at the state level. Through this toolkit and other means, the Institute stands ready to assist SPN members to advance 10th Amendment protections in their states.

For those who despair that the federalism enterprise is hopeless, we offer this solace: After Arizona's voter-approved English immersion program was challenged as a violation of federal law all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, the scoreboard read Arizona-1, feds-0. Let's keep the freedom streak going.
Also See: Part One - Don't Tread on States' Rights - Federalism: A Key to Liberty

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Tags: 10 Amendment, SPN, State Policy Network, States Rights, Arizona, Clint Bolick, Federalism, liberty
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Part One - Don't Tread on States' Rights - Federalism: A Key to Liberty

Dr. Bill Smith, Editor: Think tanks often have their finger on issues and their noses to the research grindstone. However, thy also often fail to convert their finding into actionable items through citizen involvement. That is why I appreciate the efforts State Policy Network (SPN) which is dedicated solely to improving the practical effectiveness of independent, non-profit, market-oriented, state-focused think tanks. SPN’s programs enable these organizations to better educate local citizens, policy makers and opinion leaders about market-oriented alternatives to state and local policy challenges. For over a year and a half, we have linked to SPN under the Editor's Picks on the ARRA News Service. I hope you visit their site during or after reading the series of post identified below.

In SPN's April publication to its members, SPN addressed the relevant issue of States Rights. The article was scholarly, addressed information from multiple sources, and was thus very long. Therefore the original article is divided into a five part series and will be shared over the coming days with you.
----------Don't Tread on States RightsMomentum is growing to re-assert the proper boundaries around the federal government vis a vis states rights as put forth in the U.S. Constitution, particularly the 10th Amendment. The recent federal takeover of health-care has ignited the movement of 10th Amendment proponents. Addressing this issue below are: Utah Congressman Rob Bishop; Arizona Clint Bolick, director, Goldwater Institute Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation; Wyoming Benjamin Barr, Counsel for Wyoming Liberty Group; Virginia John Taylor, president, Virginia Institute for Public Policy; and a concluding summary by Merrill Matthews, resident scholar, Institute for Policy Innovation.

Part One - Federalism: A Key to Liberty by Utah Congressman Rob Bishop: Most school kids learn that the "separation of powers" refers to a "horizontal" balance of power between the three branches of government. This horizontal separation of powers ensures that each branch of the national government checks the other branches. A less known but equally important "vertical" balance of powers was established in the U.S. Constitution by the Founding Fathers to allow states to serve as a check to the national government and to help preserve individual liberty. This is known as federalism.

James Madison described how the vertical separation of powers or Federalism was to operate when he wrote in the Federalist Papers that Washington is responsible "principally [for] external objects" while state government is responsible for "all the objects, which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties and properties of the people." Similarly, the 10th Amendment to the Constitution reads, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." Unfortunately, states, and the people, have allowed many of their reserved powers to be swallowed by a power-hungry Washington.

The vertical balance of power concept has been seriously eroded in recent years. Power-hungry congressmen have dangled "free" national money in front of cash starved states for decades. Each piece of greenback-bait dangled before a state legislator was accompanied with the promise of financial salvation. When the bait was taken, the national government reeled in the states with mandates on everything from computer programs to motorcycle helmets. The national government has tipped the vertical separation of power in favor of Washington and endangered the individual and personal liberties of all Americans in the process.

States have been abused, but are not blameless. Starting in the 1960s, states freely gave up their self-determination for the cheap fix of free national money and accompanying mandates. States should have been strong and declined the national fix, but they couldn't resist. Regardless of blame for this situation, the fact remains that individual liberty is threatened by the absence of equilibrium between state and national levels of government.

The time has come to take power back from Washington and return it to the people. Deep, systemic reform of the national government is needed.

I recently joined with other Members of Congress to form a 10th Amendment Task Force to push for this very sort of systemic reform. The goal of the Task Force is to disperse government power from Washington and empower states to try new and innovative programs. We are determined to re-establish the Constitutional vertical separation of powers and restore the proper equilibrium of power.

With national deficits exploding to historic levels and a growing public awareness that Washington is bloated and broken, now is an ideal time to restore the federal-state balance and strike a blow for individual liberty. Concerned citizens, community leaders, local officials and lawmakers must all partner together if we seek to return to the fundamental principles of a limited and balanced national government. I strongly encourage all SPN members who agree that our nation has strayed from key, liberty-enhancing principles to join me in this effort.

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Tags: 10 Amendment, SPN, State Policy Network, States Rights, Utah, Rob Bishop, Federalism,liberty
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Fractured America - Now A Two-Class Society - Those who Pay and Freeloaders

by Phyllis Schlafly, Eagle Forum: Income tax day, April 15, 2010, now divides Americans into two almost equal classes: those who pay for the services provided by government and the freeloaders. The percentage of Americans who will pay no federal income taxes at all for 2009 has risen to 47%.

That isn't the worst of it. The bottom 40 percent not only pay no income tax, but the government sends them cash or benefits financed by the taxes dutifully paid by those who do pay income tax. The outright cash handouts include the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which can amount to as much as $5,657 a year to low-income families. Other financial benefits can include child tax credits, welfare, food stamps, WIC (Women, Infants, Children), housing subsidies, unemployment benefits, Medicaid, S-CHIP, and other programs.

This is both a massive transfer of wealth and a soak-the-rich racket. The top 10% pay 73% of the income taxes collected by the federal government. Rep Paul Ryan (R-WI) has become the congressional leader in explaining details of the recently passed Health Control Law. He says that, based on Congressional Budget Office figures, taxes to pay for Obamacare will have to skyrocket to an 88% income tax rate within 30 years.

Although all wage-earners help fund their own Social Security and Medicare benefits, only federal income taxpayers pay the costs of running the federal government, and are responsible for paying off our $12.8 trillion national debt and for bailing out Social Security, Medicare, and Fannie and Freddie when they collapse. Even the recently passed Health Control Law contains financial subsidies to unmarried couples that are denied to married couples. This rewards the unmarried women who were the second largest demographic constituency that voted for Obama for President in 2008.

When Obama told Joe the Plumber he wanted to "spread the wealth around," Obama wasn't kidding. That's exactly what he is now doing: taking money from taxpayers and spreading it around to non-taxpayers.

Nor was Obama kidding when, on the eve of his election, he threatened, "We are going to fundamentally transform the United States of America." Converting the earnings of American workers into handouts for those who voted for Obama in 2008 is certainly a fundamental transformation. Obama's promise not to raise taxes on Middle Americans is already down the drain. Obama brought former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Paul Volcker out of obscurity to serve as chairman of an Economic Recovery Advisory Board and announce that we need to raise taxes.

Volcker was blunt in predicting that the new tax increase will be a Value Added Tax (VAT). That's the tax European Socialists love because its rates can be hidden and frequently raised, while producing rivers of revenue for the bureaucrats. Volcker claimed that a VAT is "not a toxic idea." It really is; Charles Krauthammer called it "the ultimate cash cow" because it transfers so much money from individuals to the government.

Having already co-opted the executive and legislative branches of government for his fundamental transformation, Obama now wants to use the judiciary, too. The retirement of Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens gives him this opportunity. On January 18, 2001 on Public Radio WBEZ-FM, Chicago, Obama complained that the Earl Warren Court "wasn't that radical" because "It didn't break free from the essential constraints placed by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution. . . . The Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth and serve more basic issues of political and economic justice in this society." Calling for the Supreme Court to participate in the "redistribution of wealth" is shockingly revolutionary. Any judicial nominee who agrees with Obama's theory should be rejected.

Obama's game plan to "fundamentally transform" America is based on both Saul Alinsky's modus operandi for community organizing and on the Cloward-Piven spending strategy. Saul Alinsky was a famous Chicago radical, and Richard Cloward and Frances Fox Piven were less-well-known Columbia University sociologists. The goal of all three of these agitators was the overthrow of the private enterprise system. The Alinsky strategy is to use community organizing and mass demonstrations by those he labeled the "Have Nots," and the Cloward-Piven strategy is to overload the bureaucracy with enormous demands for entitlements, thereby causing a financial crisis. Obama used Alinsky methods by taxpayer financing of ACORN and sub-prime mortgages. Obama used Cloward-Piven methods by massive deficit spending for entitlements for more and more millions of people.

Fortunately, hard-working, taxpaying Americans are beginning to understand how they are being ripped off and rushed into bankruptcy. The one way to save ourselves and our country is to elect a Congress in November pledged to stop the spending.

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Tags: America, Phyllis Schlafly, Eagle Forum, Two-class society, Payers, Freeloaders, taxes, federal spending
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Breaking News: White House To Senate Dems: Drop Bailout Fund From Dodd Bill

Sam Adams MMIV*: Breaking News from inside the beltway: All week, Democrats have insisted that Sen. McConnell’s point that the Dodd financial regulation bill perpetuates bailouts is untrue. Just a few minutes ago on Hardball, Dodd called it false and Chris Matthews called it dishonest.

Yet as described below, the White House apparently now agrees that this bailout fund should be dropped.

Treasury: Drop $50 billion fund from banking bill By Jim Kuhnhenn:

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration is urging Senate Democrats to drop a $50 billion bank liquidation fund from a financial regulation bill. The money has become a target of Republicans, who have branded the fund a Wall Street bailout.

A senior Treasury official said Friday the administration does not support the fund and that it is unnecessary. Under pending Senate legislation, large financial institutions would provide the $50 billion, which the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. would use to pay for dismantling giant failing firms.

Republicans are unified in their opposition to the regulation bill and say the fund would encourage banks to take excessive risks.

The administration instead wants the costs of liquidation to be paid by the financial industry after a firm has failed and been dismantled.

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[*Sam Adams MMIV is a pen name for an un-named beltway source.]

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Tags: Washington, D.C., US Senate, bank bailout, Treasury, White House
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Tax Day By The Numbers

Heritage Foundation Video: Each year on April 15, Americans file their taxes which go to subsidize a government that is increasingly reckless in its spending. This video takes a look at the numbers behind the taxes. For more on reforming America's tax policy, visit http://www.heritage.org.

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Tags: Tax Day, Heritage Foundation, excessive spending, federal spending, tax policy, National Debt, tax reform
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Today in Washington, D.C. - April 16, 2010 - WSJ: Dodd Bill Makes Financial Bailouts More Likely

Yesterday, the Senate voted 59-38 to pass an extension of unemployment benefits, COBRA, and the Medicare doc fix through the end of May, which adds $9.2 billion to the deficit. Prior to passage, Democrats rejected two more amendments from Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) to pay for the bill.

Also yesterday senators voted 85-13 to approve an amendment from Sen. John McCain expressing the sense of the Senate that a value-added tax should NOT be implemented.  Twelve Democrats and one Republican voted that maybe we should consider a VAT Tax.  Even Harry Reid (D-NV) up for election in Nevada vote yea.  Reid is either is running scared since he is far behind in the polls, or he missed the word "NOT" in the resolution, or the VAT proposal was run out early by the administration as a "red herring" to give the democrats who are up for election cover by being able to say we are not for the VAT tax. 

Regarding the financial regulation bill, The Washington Post details, “GOP leaders have continued to insist that the bill . . . is little more than a way to solidify the United States as a bailout nation. Behind all the fiery rhetoric lie serious policy disagreements over Dodd’s legislation. Senior Republican Senate aides on Thursday held a call with reporters to detail their arguments that the bill leaves open the possibility of future bailouts. They said the current language would allow the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to pay certain creditors above what they would have gotten in a bankruptcy proceeding. That provision, Republican aides said, could lead to ‘highly political’ decisions to favor certain creditors."

The Wall Street Journal editors note today:

"The main author of the Senate bill, Chris Dodd of Connecticut, says the latest draft of his bill to reform financial regulation ‘will end bailouts.’ We wish that were true. This evolving legislation still allows regulators to deploy unlimited sums to rescue financial giants, and with too much discretion. . . .

The bailouts of 2008 make it all the more important that any reform sends a clear message to bankers and creditors that excessive and mistaken risks will be punished with failure. The moral hazard that has built up in the system has to be addressed. The Dodd bill, instead, still gives regulators the authority to rescue essentially the entire financial industry. While much debate has centered around the FDIC’s new ‘resolution’ authority for failing firms, there’s been almost no discussion around a separate FDIC program under which the agency can guarantee corporate debts.

[What does this mean?] [It's] an even more explicit taxpayer backstop than anything Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac enjoyed during the housing bubble, and one that’s available to a virtually unlimited number of firms. Federal regulators can create a ‘widely available program’ to guarantee the debts of not just banks, but their parent companies as well, and all of their affiliates. Fannie and Freddie were rolling the dice with an implied backstop, but this legislation would allow regulators, without a vote of Congress, to explicitly put the full faith and credit of the U.S. government behind Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley, among others."

Sen. McConnell (R-KY) said on Wednesday, "It’s almost as if the people who wrote this bill took the pulse of the American people and then put together a bill that endorses the very things they found most repugnant about the first bailout. . . . It should go without saying that this isn’t the kind of approach most Americans want in Washington. And it’s not the kind of approach they were told they could expect from this administration."

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Tags: Washington, D.C., US Senate, bank bailout, unemployment benefits
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Tax Day!

by Gary Bauer, Contributing Author: Today is the day when Joe Biden thinks millions of Americans will perform their "patriotic duty" by scrambling to the nearest post office to mail a check to Uncle Sam. That quote was classic Biden. Here’s a classic Reagan quote: "Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but Democrats believe every day is April 15th."

The way Obama and the Democrat Congress are spending our tax money, every day will have to be April 15th if the American people don’t put an end to it. It’s difficult to overstate the threat our economy faces from Obama’s outrageous spending.

But listening to their rhetoric, you’d think Obama, Pelosi and Reid were champions of fiscal restraint. Virtually every Democrat yesterday rushed to the microphone to tell us how they have lowered taxes. The hypocrisy is stunning.

This Democrat president and this Democrat Congress have already passed more than two-dozen tax increases totaling nearly $700 billion, and they are planning even more, including massive cap and trade energy taxes and Nancy Pelosi’s VAT tax.

Obama and congressional Democrats want you to believe that only the "rich" will pay higher taxes, but here’s the truth: We cannot balance the budget on the backs of the "rich." Today's Washington Times points to an analysis by the Urban Institute and Tax Policy Center, which found that "without any serious efforts to cut spending, tax rates on the wealthiest people earning $200,000 or more … would have to rise to prohibitive levels of between 77% and 91%." That’s obviously not going to happen.

Now, here's a reality check for the Democrats: A recent Rasmussen poll found that 66% of likely voters feel they are overtaxed. A poll by the liberal Democracy Corps found that voters want spending cuts over tax hikes by a whopping margin of 71%-to-18%.

Taxes and spending are all about one thing – Big Government. The more government spends, the bigger it gets. The bigger government gets, the more resources it demands. And even as Obama was signing ObamaCare into law, a Rasmussen poll found that 63% of adults favored smaller government with fewer services, while just 25% supported bigger government with higher taxes.

The issues that motivate the Tea Party movement are taxes, spending and the size and scope of government. Yet polling finds that 71% of voters want spending cuts, 66% feel taxes are too high and 63% want smaller government. The Tea Party and conservative values of liberty and limited government are not a "fringe movement." In 201 days, CWF will do everything we can to teach Obama’s socialist congressional allies that lesson.
Gary Bauer is is a conservative family values advocate and serves as president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families. He submitted this article in an email to the ARRA News Service Editor. Bauer was a former Republican presidential candidate and served as President Ronald Reagan’s domestic policy adviser.

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Tags: Gary Bauer, Campaign for Working Families, Tax Day,
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Boehner Calls on President Obama to Direct Justice Dept. to Appeal Troubling National Day of Prayer Ruling

Today, a Carter-appointed federal judge sided with the Freedom From Religion Foundation and declared the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional. Congress established the National Day of Prayer in 1952 and established the first Thursday in May as a day for the president to call the people to pray for America. The decision underscores two important facts: elections have consequences, and men and women of faith must be involved in the fight to defend our values.

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) issued the following statement calling on President Obama to direct the Justice Department to appeal a ruling issued today by U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb holding that the annual National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional:

"America has recognized national days of prayer dating back to the Second Continental Congress in 1775. These annual observances allow us to honor the important role prayer has played in our nation’s history and our daily lives. By celebrating a National Day of Prayer, we honor our Constitution’s protection of religious expression. While I am pleased to see that President Obama will still issue a proclamation recognizing this year’s National Day of Prayer, I hope that he will direct the Justice Department to appeal this troubling ruling. It violates both well-established legal precedent and the spirit of the principles on which our nation was founded."

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Tags: John Boehner, National Day of Prayer, DOJ
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Today in Washington, D.C. - April 15, 2010: Geithner, Other Experts Identify Bailout Problems In Dems' Financial Regulation Bill

Yesterday, we missed posting on activity in Washington, D.C.. Today, we incorporated some of the issues yesterday as well as looking at today. Yesterday, both houses of Congress observed a moment of silence for the president of Poland and all the Polish officials killed in a plane crash over the weekend. The Senate resumed consideration of extending unemployment benefits (H.R. 4851) that expired at the end of March by using deficit spending. The Senate voted 60-40 to waive pay-as-you-go requirements for the bill. Prior to that, the Senate voted 51-46 to reject an amendment from Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) to rescind $20 billion in unobligated federal funds to pay for the bill.

Today, following yesterdays votes, the Senate again resumed consideration of H.R. 4851. Votes on amendments are expected today. Last night, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed cloture on the bill. This morning, Attorney General Eric Holder began testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee which are being broadcast on CSPAN.org.

Americans agree that it’s imperative to prevent a repeat of what happened during the financial crisis of 2008 and that taxpayers should not again be expected to bail out Wall Street for corporations’ own mistakes. But the bill that Senate Democrats have put forward to address this issue actually allows for perpetual bailouts, something that is simply unacceptable to Senate Republicans.

Now it is noted that there is a law in the White House bill to regulated and bailout financial institutions -- instead of eliminating taxpayer bailouts of Wall Street, the bill actually creates a fund that would perpetuate them. As the AP explains in a fact check piece today, “The GOP’s position was once raised by none other than Obama’s own treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, and by some liberal critics of the Democrats’ proposed overhaul of Wall Street oversight — as well as by nonpartisan analysts. . . . In October, Geithner made a similar argument to House lawmakers, saying that instead of creating a fund in advance, the costs of liquidating a large firm should be assessed to other large financial institutions after the FDIC dismantles a company. ‘A standing fund would create expectations that the government would step in to protect shareholders and creditors from losses,’ he said then.”

Although Democrats were quick to defend the bill, it seems the White House and Democrat leaders are more interested in the issue as a partisan cudgel than in finding real bipartisan solutions. In March, The Wall Street Journal pointed out, “White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said, ‘We are not going to compromise on what we believe represents a very strong piece of legislation.’” And Politico reported, “Some Democrats… argue that the White House would be better off — politically, anyway — if Democrats could hit the campaign trail in the fall and blame Wall Street-friendly Republicans for blocking the reform bill.” Even The Washington Post editors see the partisanship at work. They write today, “Now the White House, convinced that it has a winning issue -- go ahead, Republicans, side with Wall Street if you dare -- is discouraging Democratic senators from working with any Republicans who might still be so inclined.”

In fact, the White House actually undermined a bipartisan deal between Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) on derivatives oversight, according to The Wall Street Journal. And earlier in the process, Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) pointed out that he felt Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) “was pressured by others in his party to cut off the negotiations.”

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), ranking Republican on the Banking Committee, summed up the situation: “I think that the Dodd bill, as Senator McConnell just alluded to, would enshrine the too-big-to-fail. I’ve pointed this out from the beginning, after the markup, and will continue to do this. But we can get a good bill, if they will meet us halfway. And they haven’t yet. . . . But we’re not open to a bad bill, because that would be continuing what we’re doing. It will not be in the taxpayers’ interests. It will not create jobs. It will not be in the people’s interest, period.”

Bloomberg News reported yesterday, “Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker said proposals in the House and Senate will not stop banks from becoming ‘too big to fail.’ The legislation ‘just perpetuates the dynamic that gave us “too big to fail” to begin with.’”

In addition, the AP story reported that “McConnell also maintains that the Democrats’ bill would sustain a cadre of financial behemoths considered ‘too big to fail’ by singling them out for special attention by a Financial Stability Oversight Council. ‘So a new government board based in Washington would determine which institutions would qualify for special treatment — giving unaccountable bureaucrats and self-appointed wise men in Washington even more power to protect, promote or punish companies at whim,’ he said. Simon Johnson, former chief economist for the International Monetary Fund and a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and others have argued from the left that Obama and the Democrats have done nothing to get rid of ‘too big to fail’ firms.”

As Sen. McConnell said today, “Republicans and Democrats alike believe that the flaws in the Democrat bill, flaws that would allow taxpayer dollars to bailout Wall Street banks, can and should be corrected.” But this can’t happen if Democrats decide on a take-it-or-leave-it approach to the bill and choose to have a political issue instead of a solution that protects taxpayers. For the Democrats, it is business as usual,ignoring a majority of American's concerns over bailout and many other areas of concern.

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Tags: Washington, D.C., US Senate, bank bailout, unemployment benefits
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Happy Tax Day

by William Warren:

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Tags: William Warren, political cartoon, Tax Day, government,
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April 15th - TEA Party Day - TEA Party Crasher Uncovered

Bill Smith, ARRA Editor: My mother used to quote as teenager Bill headed out the door, "Be Good, remember your sins will find you out." Of course, I grew up in the days when many Bible verses were embedded in the common conversation of people. Tomorrow, across the nation, citizens will gather together at TEA Parties. The influence of this grassroots effort has been blessed and continued to grow since it began a year ago. Even noted celebrities, or at least conservative celebrities, now make a serious attempt to be at or aligned with the TEA Party events and the message. Politicians on both sides of the isle have taken note. Some favor the efforts while others fear the efforts. And the liberal progressive democrat leadership in Washington, D.C despise "We The People."

Liberals who in years past have been active in grassroots efforts, maybe not so large but definitely more violent, hate the TEA Party movement. They skipped right over envy and have gone directly to hate. Others are fueled by the liberal media who verbally attack and accuse anything conservative as being hateful and racist even when the conservatives are black or some ethnicity other than "blanco." And progressive socialists and their minions hate the fact that over half of the Tea Party members are Democrats and Independents many of whom are tired of the DNC and the marxist-sociopaths that have "forgotten" the United States Constitution.

Recently, efforts have uncovered people intent on "Crashing" the TEA Parties by pretending to be TEA Party members and carrying out nefarious acts to embarrass and negate the efforts of the TEA Party members. This effort is designed to carry out actions that will "tar" all TEA Party members with the predetermined negatives espoused by the leftest media. Michelle Malkin has laid out some of this effort in "Crash course: Your illustrated guide to the Tea Party saboteurs." Malkin identifies:

Over the last week, conservative activists online have thoroughly exposed the loser behind an Internet call to "Crash the Tea Party." His name is Jason Levin. To follow his trail, check Free Republic here, Canada Free Press here, and Velvet Hammer here. After failing to cover his tracks, Levin is now basking in the glow of attention on his tpartycrasher Twitter page and on his personal Twitter page (where he brags that he has hit the big time and “gone viral:”). . .

Before them, it was Craig Varoga — a shady Democrat political operative and overseer of a convoluted, money-shuffling web of 527s. He launched "TheTeaPartyisOver.org” in January to target Republicans who supported the Tea Party movement and to prevent the "radical" and “dangerous” fiscal accountability agenda from “gaining legislative traction."

Fast forward a few days and we learn that a lot of bloggers and conservative geeks (yes we have our own geeks - freedom loving conservatives who come in all shapes, sizes, party affiliations, religions, non-religions, ethnicity, sex, sexual persuasions, etc.) have been digging around the internet. One thing that has united us even in our differences, is we love freedom and we do not like people taking our money and redistributing it to others. We like spending our money as we so determine and we love our freedom, our own choosing, and independence. Viva La Difference and Viva La Liberté! While digging, it was discovered that Jason Levin - Tea Party Crasher Is Under Investigation By Employer. Adam Bitely explains:

The founder of the CrashTheTeaParty.org, Jason Levin, is under investigation by his employer. Interestingly, this character has been exaggerating his job, among other things. He actually works in the media lab at Conestoga Middle School in Portland, Oregon.

Levin claimed in an interview with Talking Points Memo that he was a technology consultant. Apparently he is a public toad now facing an investigation for abusing the taxpayer dollar to organize his anti-Tea Party efforts.

Levin, who sought to demonize Tea Partiers by placing faux tea party activists at rallies across the nation that would portray the tea partiers as bigots and homophobes, has seemed to land himself in a great deal of trouble. Not only does the Tea Party movement gain more credibility because of this bozo, Levin may now find himself out of work.

Also, please enjoy the image of Jason Levin in his Star Wars outfit. Hat Tip to UnCoverage.net.

Jason Levin is dressed in the wrong Star Wars outfit unless his intent even in this garb signals his intent to infiltrate the good side. He should have dressed as a brainless storm trooper. My mother would say today based on the above article that Jason's sins (devious behavior - Is he using public school time and money?) have found him out.

So, tomorrow attend your TEA Party and shout and cheer. Be aware of potential infiltrators but don't fear. If you read this about Jason Levin before going, take time to remark that TEA Party Crashers like Jason Levin are full of Pelosi!

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Tags: TEA Party, crashers, APRIL 15, Tax Day, Jason Levin, Oregon, Michelle Malkin, Adam Bitely
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Flushed In November 2010

by William Warren:

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Tags: William Warren, political cartoon, satire, 2010, elections, US congress, 2010 Elections
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Waxman Cancels Hearing to Prevent Employers From Telling The Truth About Job-Killing Health Care Law

GOP Leader: “Now that Chairman Waxman has canceled this hearing, he should direct his efforts towards canceling this job-killing health care law altogether."

WASHINGTON, DC – House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) issued the following statement after House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) canceled a hearing scheduled for next week regarding the new health care law’s impact on the economy and jobs:

"House Democrats canceled this hearing because they don’t want to give America's employers a forum to tell the public how President Obama’s new health care law is already hurting our economy and hampering job creation. Chairman Waxman thought he could intimidate businesses into keeping quiet about this new job-killing health care law, but when they called his bluff by continuing to speak out, he chose to pull the plug.

"With 9.7 percent unemployment and Americans asking ‘where are the jobs?,’ Washington Democrats can’t hide from their job-killing agenda. The nation’s employers and small businesses will continue to alert the public to the impact of this job-killing health care law, and when they do, Congress should listen and heed their concerns, not try to interrogate and intimidate them. Now that Chairman Waxman has canceled this hearing, he should direct his efforts towards canceling this job-killing health care law altogether."

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Tags: John Boehner, US House, Henry Waxman, hearing, jobs, health care,
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ObamaCare Flatlines: Poll: 58% Want Health Care Reform Repealed

On March 31st, we identified 5 pools where Americans opposed ObamaCare: US Today/Gallup Poll - 64% oppose - costs too much; CNN - 56% oppose; Rasmussen Poll - 54% American's favor repeal; Mason-Dixon Poll - 54% of Floridians Against; The Washington Post - 50% Oppose!

Now a new study/poll reveals a continued trend of Americans opposing ObamaCare. Indiana University Center for Health Policy and Professionalism Research:

"Fifty-eight percent of Americans (96 percent of Republicans, 10 percent of Democrats and 54 percent of Independents) support repealing the health care reform legislation that was signed into law by President Barack Obama in March, according to a new national survey conducted April 6 - 10 by researchers from Indiana University’s Center for Health Policy and Professionalism Research (CHPPR)."

And The State of Georgia Couldn’t Agree More: Georgia is the first state to announce it doesn’t want to participate in ObamaCare’s high risk pools program. Georgia State Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine doesn’t want to burden his state with an unfunded mandate when the money runs out. ObamaCare provides $5 billion for high risk pools until December 31, 2013. (People who are sick and can’t qualify for health insurance are covered in high risk pools.)

Even Rick Foster, the chief actuary at CMS, thinks the $5 billion is not enough:

"We estimate that the creation of a national high-risk insurance pool would result in roughly 375,000 people gaining coverage in 2010, increasing national health spending by $4 billion. By 2011 and 2012 the initial $5 billion in Federal funding for this program would be exhausted, resulting in substantial premium increases to sustain the program; we anticipate that such increases would limit further participation."

H.R. 4038, the Republican alternative, provided $25 billion to stabilize existing high risk pools from the savings generated by medical liability reform.  Source and Source
For previous ObamaCare Flatlines:

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Tags: ObamaCare, polls, American people, government health care
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Your Taxes: Their Spending - Prepare for the Largest Tax Increases in History

Tomorrow is Tax Day, Earth Day and thank goodness for those opposed to all these taxes: a self-proclaimed TEA Party Day. The Obama Administration's spending in the past year has been unprecedented and Tax Day won't come and go quietly. In just over a year, Democrats in Washington have proposed trillions of dollars in new taxes on American Families -- and passed hundreds of billions in new taxes to pay for their government takeover of our health care. These new taxes affect you and your family -- every day.

Updated Video on Jul 19, 2010 - Peter Roskam

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Tags: increase taxes, Democrats, Washington. D. C., increased Federal spending, Tax Day, Peter Roskam
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Outer Banks Insights: Change We May Be Getting

Bill Smith, ARRA Editor: We do not know how long this following video and article will be running on the front page of the online "Outer Banks Newspaper." Therefore, we have reposted it in full below. We Hat Tip the Outer Banks Newspaper editors for posting the article on their site which promotes information for visitors to the North Carolina Outer Banks. Warning: the video's audio is from a movie clip and uses "G-d**" toward the end of the video to express frustration of the situation which parallels our present day predicament. We understand a majority of people are very frustrated and many are unwilling to "take it anymore." However, we support first turning to God in our anger to seek His wisdom and then getting involved in various groups to let your voice be heard and support Conservatives candidates in 2010 that will help to stop or to delay the draconian takeover of our lives and freedoms by the liberal progressive socialists in Congress and the Obama Administration.

Outer Banks Newspaper (NC):

The political landscape of America may change in a way our parents and grandparents never dreamed possible; but the founding fathers warned of, if the hard won independence was taken for granted instead of protected.

My grandfather fought the Germans and then the Russians during WWI. He was also one of the many who fought again in WWII. Our freedom and liberty has never been free. 80 million people died in WWII to secure freedom and liberty. There have always been evil and power hungry people in the world no matter how much a state of kumbaya is desired.

Change We Need" was the rally cry used during the 2008 presidential campaign and change we may be getting. By the power of the vote, we place a tremendous amount of trust in those who serve public office. The vote tally for the 2008 race was Mr. Obama 69,456,897, Mr. McCain 59,934,814 and the swearing in of a Democrat majority in the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.

Here listed are a few of the actions the "Our Trusted is gifting the American people.

• Government controlled health care - Is the law of the land that is being contested by many states' attorney generals on behalf of the people's (state's) rights. Sound familiar?

H. R. 3590 is the recently passed health care bill. If the U. S. Supreme Court rule that H. R. 3590 is unconstitutional; there are two little-known twin bills called "MedPac Reform of 2009" waiting for vote on the sideline.

MedPac S.B. 1110 and H.R. 2718accomplish the same thing as H. R. 3590 by transferring rule setting processes to the executive branch bypassing the will of the people. Think EPA in terms of the people having no control over the beast created. more info

• H.J.RES.5 No limits on how many terms a president may serve - After Mr. Obama won the presidential election - On 1/6/2009 Rep Jose Serrano introduced H.J.RES.5 proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to repeal the twenty-second article of amendment, thereby removing the limitation on the number of terms an individual may serve as President. more info

• Illegal Alien Amnesty - Comprehensive immigration legislation to make legal status possible for up to 40 million illegal immigrants, was promised to be a priority in President Obama's first year in office and may in the coming months become a reality. Polls have shown for the past year that health care reform is not popular, the stimulus and TARP bailouts are not popular and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are not popular with the American voter to date. All of which have had no impact on the tens of millions of potential amnesty voters. The Latino vote turned out strongly for Mr. Obama in the election. Considering statics show more than one thousand illegal aliens cross our southern border into the United States daily and the vote tally for the 2008 race, a no limits presidency may be more of a promise than a proposed amendment.

• Security - Barack Obama surrenders to Russia on Missile Defense. 'For all who care about the US commitment to the transatlantic alliance and the defense of Europe as well as the United States. It represents the appalling appeasement of Russian aggression and a willingness to sacrifice American allies on the altar of political expediency. Nile Gardiner is a Washington-based foreign affairs analyst and political commentator. more info

• Obama Adds Troops Details Exit Date - Sends 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan while vowing to start bringing American forces home in the middle of 2011. more info

• Obama: No Nukes, Even in Self-Defense - Did we forget about Iran and how they maimed Americans and mutilated their bodies and drug the dead American bodies through their streets. And! Three seals are facing court martial for allegedly slapping one of the terrorist. Where is President Obama's amnesty pen in this case? more info and more info

• The U.S. Constitution - Obama Judicial Nominee has over 117 omissions from record to include that Goodwin Liu is a supporter of revising the Constitution and slavery retribution.more info and more info

• Obama Hollywood Tax - Taxing the rich - Hollywood celebrities and the rich and famous were on the front lines of the '08 campaign. With amnesty to rock the vote, are they on the bus or have they been thrown under the bus too?
• Income tax rates go to 39.6 percent
• Capital gains tax will rise to 20 percent and rise to 23.8 percent in 2013
• The health-care bill also increases the employee’s share of the Medicare payroll tax levied on wages to 2.35 percent in 2013.
• Increases related to the health-care legislation will apply to individuals who earn more than $200,000 annually and couples who file jointly and make more than $250,000. more info

• VAT - With budget deficits soaring and President Obama pushing a trillion-dollar-plus expansion of health coverage, some Washington policymakers are taking a fresh look at a money-making idea long considered politically taboo: a national sales tax. more info
• U. S. National Debt Clock - When the debt reached $10 trillion on Sept. 30, 2008, it ran out of digits.
• Before health care; every man woman and child in America now owes $41,373.00 and $350,032.00 in un-funded debt each. more info

Many of us have traveled across the Atlantic to see the sites, eat the food, buy the souvenirs and take photographs of the parts of old buildings that do not have graffiti on them. Whether there for the summer, as a rite of passage, or a long awaited trip of a lifetime; the one thought that probably never crosses ones mind is why we can so freely go to the airport and catch that flight back home to the good old USA. It isn't kumbaya that guarantees our freedom to come home. It is the power and might of the U.S. Military. It is the tested sacrifice of American men and women in uniform who place their lives in harms way to guarantee your freedom.

Change we [are] may be getting in America. Ready or not.

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Tags: video, Outer Banks, North Carolina, change, Obama Administration,
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CNN Poll - Potential Republican Presidential Candidates - 2010 Election

CNN Opinion Research has just released a new poll that placed former Governor Mike Huckabee in the lead.  It is interesting that this poll which was across party lines had different results than the recent Southern Republican Leadership Conference. The following chart summarizes the polling results:

Huckabee	24%
Romney	20%
Palin	15%
Gingrich	14%
Paul	8%
Santorum	3%
Pawlenty	2%
Pence	2%
Barbour	1%
Someone else	5%
None/No one	5%
No opinion	1%

The poll interviewed 1,008 adult Americans, including 907 registered voters, conducted by telephone by Opinion Research Corporation on April 9-11, 2010. The margin of sampling error for results is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points for registered voters.

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Tags: 2012 Election, Presidential poll, Republicans, CNN
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Two VERY Different Indiana Congressmen

Pence on Fox News: “Only in Washington, D.C. Would You Celebrate the Second Largest Deficit in American History.” [Video]


Dem Rep. Baron Hill: ObamaCare Opponents Are “Tired Old People” and he and Obama are “Changing the World.”
The Hoosierpundit Reports: Baron Hill spoke at the annual Democratic Party dinner in Jefferson County over in Madison earlier this month.

Baron has previously called his opponents "political terrorists", snarled at a young girl for questioning him, told a town hall that he wouldn't let the people "tell me how to run my Congressional office", and proclaimed "so be it" when asked about his possible electoral defeat for casting an unpopular vote for ObamaCare.

But he was in rare form in Madison, and the Madison Courier (the article is now in their archives, where you have to pay to view it) caught some of it in their story . . . [Full Article]

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Tags: Republicans, Democrats, Mike Pence, Baron Hill, Indiana, Obamacare, Federal Deficit
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White House Derails Potential Bipartisan Deal On Wall Street Regulations

Bipartisan Deal Reached On “Derivatives Oversight”“Committee Chairman Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) And Ranking Member Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) Plan To Shepherd a Bipartisan Bill Through Their Committee” On “Derivatives Oversight.” (“Lawmakers Revisit Derivatives Regulation,” The Washington Post, 4/2/10)

White House Objected To The Bipartisan Agreement“White House Officials Have Raised Objections To A Potential Compromise Between Democrats And Republicans On The Senate Agriculture Committee Regarding Rules Governing Derivatives Trading, Senate Aides Said.” (“Hurdle Emerges To Financial Revamp,” The Wall Street Journal, 4/13/10)

“The Pressure From The White House And Treasury Department Could Complicate The Broader Congressional Effort To Rework Financial Regulation, As It Could Derail A Bipartisan Deal.” (“Hurdle Emerges To Financial Revamp,” The Wall Street Journal, 4/13/10)

Previously The Democrat Banking Chairman “Was Pressured By Others In His Party To Cut Off The Negotiations”“Corker, The Lead Republican Negotiator, Said He Felt That The Connecticut Democrat Was Pressured By Others In His Party To Cut Off The Negotiations.” (“Corker: Health Care Fight Shut Down Financial Talks,” National Journal, 3/11/10)

White House Says “We Are Not Going To Compromise” While Democrats Speculate That They “Would Be Better Off” Campaigning On The Issue Rather Than A Bipartisan Accomplishment“White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs Said ‘We Are Not Going To Compromise On What We Believe Represents A Very Strong Piece Of Legislation.’” (“Corker Says He Can't Back Financial Overhaul,” The Wall Street Journal, 3/30/10)

“Some Democrats… Argue That The White House Would Be Better Off — Politically, Anyway — If Democrats Could Hit The Campaign Trail In The Fall And Blame Wall Street-Friendly Republicans For Blocking The Reform Bill.” (“Dems Bristle At Financial Reform Deadline,” Politico, 4/5/10)

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Tags: compromise, bipartisan deal, democrats, republicans, Wall Street Regulators
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Higher Taxes, Higher Premiums – Is That Health Reform?

Despite Promises, “Taxpayers Earning Less Than $200,000 A Year Will Pay Roughly $3.9 Billion More In Taxes”; “Already Moving To Boost Premiums”
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL): “And If You're A Family Making Less Than $250,000 A Year, My Plan Won't Raise Your Taxes One Penny -- not your income taxes, not your payroll taxes, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes.” (Barack Obama, Remarks, Orlando, FL, 8/3/08)

HIGHER TAXES FOR MIDDLE CLASS AMERICANS
“Taxpayers Earning Less Than $200,000 A Year Will Pay Roughly $3.9 Billion More In Taxes -- In 2019 Alone -- Because Of Healthcare Reform, According To The Joint Committee On Taxation, Congress' Official Scorekeeper For Legislation.” (“Healthcare Law Socks Middle Class With A $3.9 Billion Tax Increase,” The Hill, 4/12/10)

“Once The Law Is Fully Implemented In 2019, The JCT Estimates The Deduction Limitation Will Affect 14.8 Million Taxpayers -- 14.7 Million Of Them Will Earn Less Than $200,000 A Year. These taxpayers are single and joint filers, as well as heads of households.” (“Healthcare Law Socks Middle Class With A $3.9 Billion Tax Increase,” The Hill, 4/12/10)

PRESIDENT OBAMA: “No Longer Would They Be Able To Arbitrarily And Massively Raise Premiums Like Anthem Blue Cross Recently Tried To Do In California -- Up To 39 Percent Increases In One Year In The Individual Market.  Those Practices Would End.” (President Obama, Remarks On Health Care Reform, 3/3/10)

HIGHER PREMIUMS
“Public Outrage Over Double-Digit Rate Hikes For Health Insurance May Have Helped Push President Obama's Healthcare Overhaul Across The Finish Line, But The New Law Does Not Give Regulators The Power To Block Similar Increases In The Future.” “Healthcare Overhaul Won't Stop Premium Increases,” Los Angeles Times, 4/13/10)

“And Now, With Some Major Companies Already Moving To Boost Premiums And Others Poised To Follow Suit, Millions Of Americans May Feel An Unexpected Jolt In The Pocketbook.” (“Healthcare Overhaul Won't Stop Premium Increases,” Los Angeles Times, 4/13/10)

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Tags: higher taxes, higer premiums, government health care, Obamacare
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Today in Washington, D.C. - April 12, 2010: ObamaCare Broken Promises: Can't Prevent Premium Hikes; Congress May Lose Its Health Plan

Last night, the Senate voted 60-34 to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to H.R. 4851. So, the Senate will resume post-cloture consideration of the motion to proceed to H.R. 4851, a bill to extend unemployment benefits that expired at the end of March, financed with deficit spending. In the afternoon, all post-cloture time on the motion will be yielded back, and the Senate will proceed to the unemployment extension bill so senators can offer amendments. Votes on amendments are possible today.

Prior to the two week recess, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell offered an extension that was paid for with unspent stimulus money (S. 3153). Democrats voted it down 59-40. Democrats also rejected an amendment from Sen. Chuck Grassley to the health care reconciliation bill (H.R. 4872) that would have done the same thing.

It hasn’t even been a month since President Obama signed his unpopular $2.6 trillion health care takeover into law, and yet almost every day there’s a new story about how the bill isn’t and won’t live up to the promises made by Democrats in Congress and the White House in their attempts to sell it to a presciently skeptical American public.

Today, the Los Angeles Times reports, "Public outrage over double-digit rate hikes for health insurance may have helped push President Obama's healthcare overhaul across the finish line, but the new law does not give regulators the power to block similar increases in the future. And now, with some major companies already moving to boost premiums and others poised to follow suit, millions of Americans may feel an unexpected jolt in the pocketbook. Although Democrats promised greater consumer protection, the overhaul does not give the federal government broad regulatory power to prevent increases."

But at the beginning of March, Obama pledged in a speech that his bill would “end the worst practices of insurance companies. . . . No longer would they be able to arbitrarily and massively raise premiums like Anthem Blue Cross recently tried to do in California -- up to 39 percent increases in one year in the individual market.  Those practices would end.”

That’s apparently not the case, according to the LA Times: "At least in the short term, regulators will be able to do little more than require insurers to publicly explain why they want to raise rates. Consumer advocates think that will not be an effective deterrent against premium increases such as the 39% hike that Anthem Blue Cross sent some California customers last year."

Those who watched the debate play out surely recall repeated assurances from the president that "If you like your plan, you can keep your plan.  If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor." (Incidentally, that quote is from the same March speech.) Obama already had to walk that promise back last June though he eventually returned to making it, over and over again.

Today, though, The New York Times reports that members of Congress and their staff may not even be able to keep their health care plans under the new health care bill. "In a new report, the Congressional Research Service says the law may have significant unintended consequences for the ‘personal health insurance coverage’ of senators, representatives and their staff members. For example, it says, the law may ‘remove members of Congress and Congressional staff’ from their current coverage, in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, before any alternatives are available."

“The confusion raises the inevitable question,” the Times writes, “If they did not know exactly what they were doing to themselves, did lawmakers who wrote and passed the bill fully grasp the details of how it would influence the lives of other Americans?”

Considering just the last few weeks of news coverage, it’s clear they did not. From costs to major employers of up to $1 billion for prescription drug coverage, to small business owners across the country being socked with new taxes, to young adults facing premium increases of up to 17%, to communities in many states facing job losses, news reports are just scratching the surface of the apparently unintended consequences of passing this massive health care bill.

Americans were rightly skeptical of such a project, with the overwhelming majority rejecting this bill since last summer. But Democrats refused to listen and passed the bill anyway and now ordinary Americans will suffer the consequences while their children and grandchildren are stuck with the bill. The health care bill needs to be repealed and replaced.

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Tags: Washington D.C., US Senate, Obamacare, broken promises
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Message for America by Jon Voight

Jon Voight on Mike Huckabee Show had a powerful message for America. Watch this video!

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Tags: Jon Voight, America, TEA Party, Alinsky, Socialism, Progressive, Conservative, Radicals, Democrats, Congress, White House, Obama, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Leftist, Mike Huckabee, video
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Healthcare Law Creates $3.9 billion Tax Increase On Middle Class

Jay Heflin, The Hill: Taxpayers earning less than $200,000 a year will pay roughly $3.9 billion more in taxes -- in 2019 alone -- because of healthcare reform, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation, Congress' official scorekeeper for legislation. The new law raises $15.2 billion over 10 years by limiting the medical expense deduction, a provision widely used by taxpayers who either have a serious illness or are older.

Taxpayers can currently deduct medical expenses in excess of 7.5 percent of their adjusted gross income. Starting in 2013, most taxpayers will only be allowed to deducted expenses greater than 10 percent of AGI. Older taxpayers are hit by this threshold increase in 2017. Once the law is fully implemented in 2019, the JCT estimates the deduction limitation will affect 14.8 million taxpayers -- 14.7 million of them will earn less than $200,000 a year. These taxpayers are single and joint filers, as well as heads of households.

“Loss of this deduction will mean higher taxes for 14.7 million individuals and families making under $200,000 a year in 2019,” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told The Hill. “The new subsidy for health insurance would not be available to offset this tax increase for most of these households.” The healthcare law contains tax breaks for individuals purchasing health insurance, but phase out for those making $88,000 a year. Grassley is the ranking member on the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee and voted against the health reform bill.

Couples earning less than $250,000 will also nicked by the tax, but the exact number is unclear. The JCT lumps this income level in with those making at least $500,000. Joint Tax estimates that 58,000 taxpayers earning between $200,000 and $500,000 annually will pay $74 million more in taxes in 2019. About 5,000 taxpayers earning over $500,000 a year will pay $43 million more in tax because of the limitation.

The JCT figures were supplied by Senate Republican staffers. The numbers were calculated in December, but have not been materially altered. The JCT does not comment to the press on their calculations.

President Obama in his Saturday radio address said the healthcare law keeps his campaign pledge to not raise taxes on the middle class. On the trail he promised individuals earning less than $200,000 and joint filers earning less than $250,000 would not see a tax increase under his watch. [Interesting comment as he should not be President in 2019 when the full force of the taxes go into affect.]

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Tags: increased taxes, middle class, healthcare law,
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Secure Arkansas to File Complaint in Federal Court on ObamaCare

Secure Arkansas -(April 12, 2010 - Little Rock, AR) After meeting with their legal team, Secure Arkansas will file a lawsuit against the federal government in response to the illegal healthcare bill that was recently passed by congress. Secure Arkansas is currently working on the Federal Complaint and will file within the next 14 days.

Secure Arkansas Chairman, Jeannie Burlsworth, summed up the group's decision by saying, "It is clear that Governor Beebe and Attorney General Dustin McDaniel are more concerned about staying in the good graces of the Barack Obama, Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi than they are with protecting the citizens of Arkansas from this unconstitutional healthcare bill. It's clear that the inaction of our Democrat-controlled state leadership has left Secure Arkansas the duty of representing the vast majority of like-minded Arkansans who oppose the bill based on its unconstitutional mandates."

Due to the limited time for collection of signatures, Secure Arkansas will not be resubmitting the ballot initiative titled "Freedom of Choice for Health Care Amendment," rejected last week by Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, nor will they petition the Arkansas Supreme Court to review the opinion of the Attorney General. Burlsworth concluded by saying, "Now is the time for Arkansans to take a stand against an ever encroaching Federal Government, and Secure Arkansas is proud to be leading that fight."

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Tags: Secure Arkansas, Arkansas, Federal Government, health care, Obamacare, Jeannie Burlsworth, Jeannie Burlsworth
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