News Blog for social, fiscal & national security conservatives who believe in God, family & the USA. Upholding the rights granted by God & guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, traditional family values, "republican" principles / ideals, transparent & limited "smaller" government, free markets, lower taxes, due process of law, liberty & individual freedom. Content approval rests with the ARRA News Service Editor. Opinions are those of the authors. While varied positions are reported, beliefs & principles remain fixed. No revenue is generated for or by this "Blog" - no paid ads - no payments for articles.Fair Use Doctrine is posted & used. Blogger/Editor/Founder: Bill Smith, Ph.D. [aka: OzarkGuru & 2010 AFP National Blogger of the Year] Contact: editor@arranewsservice.com (Pub. Since July, 2006)Home PageFollow @arra
One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics
is that you end up being governed by your inferiors. -- Plato
(429-347 BC)
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Illinois TEA Party Blogger Attends Obama's Organizing for America Training
Bill Smith, Editor:John Ruberry (Marathon Pundit), an Illinois liberty loving conservative TEA Party member and conservative blogger received an received an e-mail from Barack Obama's political arm, Organizing for America. It invited him to a Camp OFA training session in Evanston, Illinois, just a few miles from his home. Rather than deleting the email, he signed up, under his real name via his OFA online account.
Ruberry said, "A few days later I received a Monday phone bank call (more on that later) from an enthusiastic volunteer from the Democratic Party of Evanston (DPOE) confirming my interest, and asking me if instead of attending the May 5 session I signed up for, would I be interested in attending a second meeting, one week later? It seems that response was so overwhelming, that this training session would have to be moved to larger quarters, in this case the Firehouse Grill on Chicago Avenue. Originally, the meeting was to be held at DPOE headquarters."
He opted to attend the meeting at the Firehouse Grill. John says: Evanston, which is the home of Northwestern University, is heavily Democratic. In the 2008 presidential election, the Obama/Biden ticket squeaked by with 87 percent of the vote."
Read John's story about his attending the meeting and learn about Obama's OFA planned activities and strategies. Maybe you and other conservatives may wish to attend these meetings to help with greater transparency. There are OFA meetings planned all over the country. No need to be antagonistic at the OFA meetings. Just listen, learn and then report. Shine some light on Obama's OFA. I appreciate John doing this and look forward to learning more about his and your future involvement with OFA. Tags:Organizing for America, OFA, John Ruberry, Marthon Pundit, Illinois, To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Ken Blackwell and Bob Morrison, Contributing Authors: When Bill Clinton's administration acted in 1995 and 1996 to deliberately reintroduce wolves into the 2.2-million-acre Yellowstone National Park, there were the predictable jokes about Clinton's wolf-whistling in the Oval Office. How could you get sympathy from Clinton, ranchers and Western cattlemen groused -- he's a wolf himself! Other bitter, politically incorrect jokes appeared on bumper stickers: "Smoke a pack a day" was the legend, with a picture of a wolf. It was and is a serious issue. Environmentalists strongly believe that the hunting of wolves to extinction that occurred in America has seriously unbalanced our ecology in the Western lands. By the 1930s, gray wolves were virtually unknown in the West.
Whether wolves constitute a danger to humans has been debated endlessly. Environmentalists repeated the claim that there are no documented cases of a human being killed by wolves in North America. In 2005, Kenton Carnegie, 22, an Ontario university student, was killed in remote Points North Landing, Saskatchewan. A coroner's jury verdict on the cause of his death became a flash point in the ongoing controversy. Searchers testified that they found young Carnegie's body "surrounded by wolves." But still, some experts denied that a wolf attack had killed him. More likely a black bear, they said. So what were those wolves doing at the site -- rubbernecking? The jury wasn't buying that expert's testimony. The jury ruled it a death by wolf attack.
The tragic death of young Kenton Carnegie thus became a turning point in history: His was the first documented case of healthy wolves killing a human.
This shocking story would not have surprised Will Graves. The former U.S. Agriculture Department staffer is an expert in infectious diseases. His life experience includes living in Mexico as a youth, traveling widely in Canada and the mountain states of the U.S., and, of vital importance, research and writing in Russia. Will Graves is an adept Russian linguist, a skill he learned in the U.S. Air Force. His book, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety through the Ages, is an important contribution to the debate over wolves. Graves shows how wolves communicate a host of deadly diseases -- including rabies, anthrax, and hoof-in-mouth disease. These are especially dangerous to American livestock. Even if the wolves do not kill the ranchers' herds, they can infect them. If you're tempted to romanticize a wolf pack, think of how romantic a rat pack is.
Russia has seen thousands of people killed by wolves over the centuries. Graves' book takes us back to Tsarist times. Then, the Russian government organized hunters' clubs to try to combat the wolf menace. They were pretty ineffectual. Under the Communists, of course, news of wolf attacks was suppressed by the Soviet government. But people in the rural areas knew the truth.
Why have wolf attacks been so severe in Russia? Graves points out that the Russian government -- under the despotic Tsars, under the tyrannical Communists -- never trusted the people with weapons. The rural peasants were never permitted "to keep and bear arms."
It's especially ironic that the first recorded victim of a wolf attack in North America should have been a Canadian. Canada certainly does not share Russia's centuries-long tradition of tyranny. But Canada nonetheless rejects the American ideal of an armed and free people. They are proud of having strict gun control in "the True North strong and free."
Homo homini lupus, goes an old Latin proverb: Man is wolf to man. For thousands of years in Western civilization, folk wisdom confirmed what we only recently have forgotten: The wolf is not our friend. Considering Russian experience, it's interesting to note that the twentieth century's two greatest wolf-men were Stalin and Hitler. Stalin was forever smoking his pipe and doodling. And he endlessly doodled cartoons of the volk -- the wolf. Another mass murderer, Hitler, was called "Wolf" by his intimates and liked to name his East Prussian military headquarters Wolfsschanze -- Wolf's Lair. And of course, Hitler's U-boats prowled the North Atlantic convoy routes in Wolf Packs.
Will Graves knows how America is different, in this as in so many ways. In the U.S., from our earliest days, rural men have been armed and capable of using weapons. Graves points out that wolves are opportunistic killers. They are highly intelligent, with an incredibly acute sense of smell. They can smell the gun oil used on rifles from miles away. They soon learn to associate that smell with humans -- and to stay away. In this way, America's hunting tradition protects even those hikers, campers, and environmentalists trekking through the woods who would never take up arms themselves!
Here's a quick question: How many members of the current Congress and the current administration have ever been hunting? My guess is very few. As the wolves gather in our national parks, two-legged wolves are gathering throughout the world.
Man is wolf to man. And we are being guarded by law professors. ----------------- Mr. Ken Blackwell is a conservative family values advocate. He submitted this article to the ARRA News Service Editor which also appeared in American Thinker. Blackwell is a former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission and is a senior fellow at the Family Research Council and American Civil Rights Union. He is the co-author of the book The Blueprint: Obama's Plan to Subvert the Constitution and Build an Imperial Presidency. Bob Morrison is senior fellow at the Family Research Council. Tags:Ken Blackwell, Bob Morrison, gathering wolves, wolves, global threats, protecting America, Washington, D.C.To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Tags:photo, Marine, veteran, We the People, presidentTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Thank you to all that have served and to those who are serving our country in the United States military! This below video is a tribute on the front lines is the story of true patriots, told by Lt, Colonel Oliver North at the NRA Annual Meetings in 2009. It's a stirring profile of the spirited, courageous guardians of our precious freedoms. It is worth viewing and remembering!
Tags:Armed Forces Day, US Military, veteransTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Will Senator Mark Pryor sit by while 40,000 jobs are destroyed in Arkansas?
[Photo - Sen. Mark Pryor and White House Chief of Staff Rham Emanuel]
Americans For Prosperity - Arkansas: The American people were clear when they said NO to the Cap-n-Trade Tax Scheme. Yet EPA bureaucrats are implementing this energy tax through regulation, without a vote of Congress!
The EPA’s energy regulations would certainly kill jobs across the economy and increase taxes, not only in Arkansas, but nationwide. Arkansas is predicted to lose almost 40,000 manufacturing jobs alone, not to mention the thousands of family budgets that will be impacted by high gas prices and “necessarily skyrocketing” energy prices.
Very soon the Senate will vote on the Murkowski Resolution to STOP this Cap-n-Trade Tax Regulation. Senator Blanche Lincoln has signed the resolution to stop this energy tax. Senator Mark Pryor must do the same.
Will you call Senator Mark Pryor right now and tell him to vote YES on the Murkowski Resolution? The devastating economic impacts of the EPA cap-n-trade tax regulations are easy to see. Tell Senator Pryor it is his responsibility as a member of Congress to stop out-of-control government regulation and save Arkansas jobs.
Click HERE to send Senator Pryor an email or phone him in Washington at (202) 224-2353, in Little Rock at (501) 324-6336, or toll free at (877) 259-9602.
We should all be able to agree that the EPA approach is a disaster, and any senator who votes against Murkowski’s resolution will have to explain to voters why they are outsourcing Arkansas’ jobs to other countries and their legislative responsibility to EPA bureaucrats. Tags:Senator, Mark Prior, Arkansas, AFP, Americans for Prosperity, lost jobs, cap-and-tradeTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Today in Washington, D.C. - May 14, 2010 - ObamaCare Breaking All Of Dems' Promises
Yesterday,Republican House Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) announced a new initiative project called YouCut. It is a first-of-its-kind project is designed to defeat the permissive culture of runaway spending in Congress. It allows the citizen to vote, both online and on your cell phone, on spending cuts that you want to see the US House enact. Read More about YouCut.
The Senate resumed consideration of S. 3217, the Dodd financial regulation bill. No votes are scheduled today. Yesterday, the Senate rejected by a vote of 42-58 an amendment from Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) to create bankruptcy proceedings for large financial institutions. Also rejected, by a vote of 40-55, was an amendment from Sen. John Thune (R-SD) to sunset the controversial and far-reaching consumer protection bureau created in the law after 4 years. Also yesterday the Senate approved amendments to the bill from Sens. Al Franken (D-MN), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and George LeMieux (R-FL).
Before the House voted on President Obama’s $2.6 trillion health care takeover House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (in)famously said, “[W]e have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it . . . .” Pelosi and the White House managed to twist enough arms to get the bill passed, but little did she know just how much we’d be finding out about the bill after it passed. There has been a steady stream of news stories and government reports over the last two months on the health care bill revealing that none of the promises that Democrats made about it will be kept. Thus, Americans are left with one basic question for Democrats in Washington: now that we’ve found out what’s in it, would you still vote for this?
One of the key selling points of the ObamaCare was that it will lower health care costs, was blown away by a study from the Obama administration’s own Health and Human Services Department. The analysis from the chief actuary at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services “found that the law falls short of the president's twin goal of controlling runaway costs, raising projected spending by about 1 percent over 10 years,” according to the AP. Indeed, “[t]he overhaul will increase national health care spending by $311 billion from 2010-2019.”
Democrats also spent a great deal of time touting the purported deficit reduction aspects of the bill. A number of House Democrats essentially based their vote for the bill on the promise that it would reduce the deficit. But this week a Congressional Budget Office report predicted the bill will cost “about $115 billion more in discretionary spending over ten years than the original cost projections,” according to Politico. This all but wipes out the deficit savings over ten years that Democrats were bragging about. Also, Politico noted, “The additional spending — if approved over the years by Congress — would bring the total estimated cost of the overhaul to about $1 trillion.”
Also this week, another HHS estimate said that another highly-touted provision of the bill, allowing young adults to stay on their parents’ health insurance until the age of 26 “will nudge premiums nearly 1 percent higher for employer plans,” according to the AP. Even Senate Democrats seem to recognize that health insurance premiums are going to go up despite their health care law (Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) admitted as such before the bill passed). The New York Times reported last month, “Fearing that health insurance premiums may shoot up in the next few years, Senate Democrats laid a foundation on Tuesday for federal regulation of rates, four weeks after President Obama signed a law intended to rein in soaring health costs.”
And what about President Obama’s oft-repeated promise that “If you like your current plan, you will be able to keep it”? Well, Fortune Magazine reported that according to documents Democrats in Congress demanded from companies noting how much the health care law will cost them, many companies are considering dropping health coverage altogether and simply paying a penalty instead, as it may be cheaper.
Meanwhile, taxes will be going up.The Hill reported last month, “Taxpayers earning less than $200,000 a year will pay roughly $3.9 billion more in taxes — in 2019 alone — due to healthcare reform, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation, Congress's official scorekeeper.” And according to the AP, “Nearly 4 million Americans will have to pay a penalty if they fail to get health insurance when that element of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul law kicks in . . . .” And of course, “The vast majority of people paying the fine will be middle class, which would violate Obama's 2008 campaign pledge not to raise taxes on individuals making less than $200,000 a year and couples making less than $250,000.”
And to top it all off, the health care law is proving to be a jobs killer, just as Republicans warned it would. The AP reported a couple of weeks ago, “A new law that cuts banks out of the federal student loan business is costing 2,500 workers at Sallie Mae their jobs.” Recall that Democrats decided to add the student loan provisions to the health bill in part to entice more of their members to vote for it. But that’s not the only aspect harmful to employment. The Boston Herald reported recently, “A dire warning from Bay State medical-device companies that a new sales tax in the federal health-care law could force their plants - and thousands of jobs - out of the country has rattled Gov. Deval Patrick, a staunch backer of the law and pal President Obama.” And local news stations across the country have noted that new taxes in the bill are already hurting small businesses.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said this week, “Day after day, Republicans said the health care bill would raise taxes, raise premiums, and cut Medicare for seniors. We said it would increase costs, because it didn’t take an actuary to figure that you don’t save money on health care by spending more on it. And yet even in the face of the clearest proof that we were right on every single count . . . all these headlines are only confirming what the American people already believed, and what Republicans said, all along: that more government isn’t the solution to out-of-control health care spending any more than spending money we didn’t have on projects we didn’t need was the secret to robust job growth.” Tags:Poll, Washington, D.C., US Senate, US House, US Congress, Dodd Bill, financial regulation, Obamacare, government health care, debt, YouCut, vote to cut costsTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
GOP YouCut Initiative - Change the Culture of Federal Spending To a Culture of Saving
by Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), Republican Whip: Today I write first, to announce an exciting new project devised by the House Republican Economic Working Group. Second, to take another step in earning your trust by showing you that we understand that actions speak louder than words.
We all know that Washington has a spending problem – and both Democrats AND Republicans bear some responsibility. But as I wrote last week, America is at a crossroads and the choices we make at this critical time will determine what kind of country we want to be. To get back on the right path, Congress MUST start to make some choices that simply can’t be delayed any longer.
While we won’t be able to solve our deficit problems overnight or with one silver bullet, we CAN and we MUST begin to replace the culture of spending that now dominates Washington with a culture of savings. Just imagine if your government was as focused on saving money as it is on spending money. Imagine if Congress spent less time naming post offices – 62 and counting – and more time reducing wasteful spending. Sounds nice, doesn’t it?
Today, we are launching YouCut – a first-of-its-kind project designed to defeat the permissive culture of runaway spending in Congress. It allows YOU to vote, both online and on your cell phone, on spending cuts that you want to see the House – YOUR HOUSE – enact. That’s right, instead of Washington telling YOU how THEY will spend YOUR money, YOU can tell THEM how to save it. After several days of voting, on Monday, May 17th, we will announce the first winner and later that week House Republicans will call for an up-or-down vote on the spending cut. We will repeat this cycle every week for the rest of the year.
For the first week of voting, here are your choices:
Eliminate the Presidential Election Fund, a federal program that provides matching funds to political candidates during Presidential primaries, certain third-party candidates, and funds for political conventions. In the 2008 Presidential election the candidates raised over $1.3 billion from individuals and PACs; do they really need to supplement that with taxpayer money?
Prohibiting taxpayer-subsidized union activities by prohibiting federal employees from being paid by the government for performing union functions. Currently some federal employees spend up to 100% of their workweek, paid by taxpayers, doing work for their union. Federal employees unions collect millions in revenue each year and spend significant amounts on political activities and lobbying; should they also be subsidized by the taxpayer for their official functions?
Terminate the Department of Housing and Urban Development program that provides individuals with $25,000 stipends for completing their doctoral dissertations. Recently taxpayers have financed research on media strategies for housing policy and the use of eminent domain for urban redevelopment. Why should families who are struggling to pay for their children’s college also be asked to fund stipends from the government for those who want to write their dissertation on certain government-preferred policies?
Terminate the new alternative welfare program, recently created to incentivize states to increase their welfare caseloads without requiring able-bodied adults to work, get job training, or otherwise prepare to move off of taxpayer assistance. Reforming the welfare program was one of the great achievements of the Republican Congress in the mid 1990s, saving taxpayers billions of dollars and ending the cycle of dependency on welfare. This new program ushered in by Democrats is merely a backdoor way to undo those reforms.
Focus federal economic development assistance on areas of need. The Community Development Block Grant program currently funds a wide range of local economic development activities. While it is advertised as a way to help low-income communities, funds are also dispersed to communities with income well-above the national average. A recent study found that the community of Newton, Massachusetts, with a per capita income over twice the national average, was receiving $28 per person in CDBG funds. At the same time, other communities with income 25% below the national average were receiving $10 per person.
There they are: five simple ways to begin to talk about saving money.
You have a right to a federal government that doesn’t spend money that it does not have. Anyone who believes that President Obama, Senator Reid, Speaker Pelosi or the Democratic majorities are “concerned” about the deficit should take a look at how grossly they’ve increased spending. Make no mistake, they look at America’s massive debt and see a reason to raise taxes. But they are wrong. Our debt was born out of an addiction to spending. And if those same Democrats aren’t going to do anything to stop this addiction, we are. If those Democrats aren’t going to listen to you, we are.
As I wrote a few weeks back, a 178-seat minority isn’t going to win many legislative battles in the House. And we don’t have a lot of tools at our disposal. But I commit to you that we ARE going to use every means we have to hold them accountable. And this project is a start.
The time has come for Congress to finally show political courage. American families have been forced to face tough financial realities and make difficult but necessary decisions. Why should their government act any differently? This is not the same GOP as it was a few years ago, and with YouCut, we hope to force the Democrat-controlled Congress to begin to confront the difficult but unavoidable realities of our fiscal situation.
Please drop byYOU CUTand vote to help us put Uncle Sam on a diet. Tags:YouCut, initiative, cut wasteful spending, Eric Cantor, Republican Whip, US House, vote to cut costsTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Of special interest in the conversational mix between Canto and Smith was the fact that Canto and his parents immigrated legally to the United States from Cuba and that Smith and his family had lived in Belgium and the Philippines subject to the laws of those countries. The show focused on border violence, the Arizona Law, the economic issues related to illegal aliens and rising crime, the need for a sane immigration policy, and the failure of the Federal Government to deal with securing the borders and protecting Arizona and other states. The show is archived and can be listened to at Let's talk about the Arizona law. You can even leave comments about Canto's "Let's Talk" shows. Tags:radio, talk radio, blogtalkradio, Arizona, immigration law, Silvio Canto, Bill Smith, border security, border violence, Federal government, illegal aliens, illegal immigrationTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
AG Holder Has Not Read The Arizona Immigration Law That He Criticized
Congressman Ted Poe (R-TX) questioning Attorney General Eric Holder about his knowledge of Arizona Senate Bill 1070 (commonly known as the Arizona Immigration Law). [Video]
Despite repeatedly voicing concerns about Arizona's new immigration enforcement law in recent weeks and threatening to challenge it, Attorney General Eric Holder testified today that he has not yet read the law. Congressman Poe pointed out that the bill was only 10 pages and offered Holder his copy of the bill to read. AG Holder appears to be playing to some kind of Obama agenda verses doing his duties as Attorney General. He has delayed the trials of terrorists, he has defamed Arizona actions to help protect themselves and and their financial interests without even reading the bill, and seems to be constantly boxed into a corner on issues by the administration. Tags:Congressional hearing, Eric Holder, AG, Attorney General, Ted Poe, Arizona, immigration law, illegal aliensTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Today in Washington, D.C. - May 13, 2010 - NBC/WSJ Poll Shows Americans Don't Trust Democrats; Turning To GOP Conservatives
The Senate reconvened and resumed consideration of S. 3217, the Dodd financial regulation bill. Votes on amendments are expected to continue today.
Yesterday, the Senate voted 63-36 for an amendment from Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) to require lenders to verify the borrower’s ability to repay a home loan but rejected an amendment from Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) for stricter down payment requirements by a vote of 42-57. Also yesterday, the Senate rejected an amendment from Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) to strike stringent derivatives language from the bill that could drive such transactions overseas.
A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll out today confirms once more that Americans disagree with key aspects of the Democrats’ agenda and instead prefer Republicans. The poll found that respondents believe the government’s number-one priority should be “job creation and economic growth.” But they don’t believe the $862 billion stimulus is meeting that need or will meet it in the future. For the first time in this poll, more respondents, 42%, said the stimulus bill “will not” help the economy than say it has (18%) or it will (20%) help the economy, combined.
Residents of Buffalo, NY, where President Obama is going to have yet another rally to promote his economic plans, are apparently frustrated enough with the economy to greet the president with a billboard reading, “I need a freakin job.” When is this President going to STOP running around the country spending OUR money promoting his agenda.
And what of President Obama’s signature health care law that was jammed through Congress on party-line votes? The Wall Street Journal writes today, “[D]espite White House predictions that passage of Mr. Obama's health-care bill would boost Democrats in November, the issue still appeared to be more of a drag on the president's party. Some 44% called the health plan a bad idea, compared to 38% who saw it as a good idea.” Asked about the effect of the Democrat health care law on the quality of their own health care, 36% of respondents said it would actually decrease that quality, and another 37% felt it would stay the same. Only 17% thought their quality of care would get better, the lowest number in this poll since last April.
Considering all that, it certainly makes sense that, as the WSJ points out, “Nearly one-third of respondents said they ‘almost never’ trust the government in Washington to do what is right—about triple the number who felt that way when the question was asked in October.”
While Democrats are finding themselves unwelcome at home, even incumbent Republicans who failed to remain fiscally sound in all there votes are now facing the wrath of their party in their primary elections. However,because of the Democrats’ misguided policies, it is clear that voters will be looking to Republican Conservatives (but not RINOs) in November. Indeed, The Journal notes, “nearly two-thirds [in the survey] said they were motivated by opposition to Mr. Obama and Democratic policies.” Further, “[t]he voters who said they were most interested in the November elections favor Republican control of Congress by a 20-point margin, with 56% backing the GOP and 36% backing Democrats—the highest gap all year on that question.” Tags:Poll, Washington, D.C., US Senate, US House, US Congress, Dodd Bill, financial regulation, 2010 electionsTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
by Gary Bauer, Contributing Author: Today is Jerusalem Day, an Israeli national holiday that commemorates the reunification of the city and the liberation of the Western Wall after the 1967 war. In Israel there will be parades, celebration and memorial services for soldiers who died in the battle for Jerusalem. But in the Obama White House I can say with certainty that today will be just another day to force Israel to accept the administration’s long-term plan to re-divide the city and turn at least half of it over to the Islamists who dream of a world with no Israel and no America.
Obama, ignoring history, seems to think that a land dispute is what keeps the Middle East in constant tension. The truth is that what strokes the fires of radical Islam is not that there are Jewish homes in a particular neighborhood, but rather that there are Jews alive anywhere.
Fifteen years ago, then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin spoke in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol here in Washington, D.C. In moving remarks about what Jerusalem means to the people of Israel, he said: “In Israel we all agree on one issue: the wholeness of Jerusalem, the continuation of its existence as capital of the State of Israel. There are not two Jerusalems. There is only one Jerusalem. For us, Jerusalem is not subject to compromise and there is no peace without Jerusalem.”
The audience, filled with Members of Congress from both parties, cheered his remarks. Today, Obama and the leftwing of his party are infuriated when Prime Minister Netanyahu takes the same position--that Jerusalem must remain the united capitol of Israel.
My ad on YouTube, “Keep Israel Safe,” has more than 20,000 views. We will continue to do everything we can to expose the anti-Israel agenda of the Obama Administration. Its efforts to curry favor with thugs in the Middle East is endangering the U.S. and Israel.
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 the above 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. Tags:Gary Bauer, Campaign for Working Families, Jersalem, Israel, Unted States, videoTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
CBO: Cap-and-Tax Will Force Individuals Onto ObamaCare
According to a May 5, 2010, Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report, under cap-and-tax legislation such as the House-passed H.R. 2454 or the Kerry-Lieberman Senate bill, “some people would lose health insurance coverage associated with their previous employer” after they lose their job due to the national energy tax. However, CBO notes that “the recently enacted health care legislation provide new opportunities for individuals to purchase health insurance” — meaning they will effectively be forced into government-run health care. The CBO report goes on to list other consequences of cap-and-tax legislation for families and communities. The report states that, “In cases in which a shrinking industry was the primary employer in a community, the entire community could suffer.” Possible effects on an affected community include, according to CBO: The erosion of a local tax base as employment and economic activity drops.
--Homes could decline in value as laid-off workers sell their homes and move away in search of employment opportunities elsewhere. --People who lose their job tend to have more health problems later in life. --Losing a job can causefamily life to suffer. The question remains: Given the negative effects a national energy tax would have on health care, the real estate market, local economies, and family life according to the nonpartisan CBO, will Democrats push to pass cap-and-tax this year?
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Additional info from Obama himself regarding electricity rates - see picture above. Tags:CBO, Congressional Budget office, Cap-and-Trade, ObamaCareTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Today in Washington, D.C. - May 12, 2010 - List Of Failed Health Care Promises Grows By The Day
The Senate reconvened and resumed consideration of S. 3217, the Dodd financial regulation bill and then began a series of votes on amendments to the bill from Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Bob Corker (R-TN), and Kay bailey Hutchison (R-TX).
Yesterday, 56 Democrats killed an amendment from Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) which would have ended government control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in two years. The Senate instead approved a measure offered by Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) to simply study such a move. Also yesterday the Senate voted 96-0 to approve an amendment from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to audit the Federal Reserve and identify the banks that received emergency loans during the financial crisis.
Yet again, multiple news reports and government studies are confirming the warnings Republicans gave for months about Democrats’ massive, unpopular health care spending bill. Politico reported yesterday, “Congressional Budget Office estimates released Tuesday predict the health care overhaul will likely cost about $115 billion more in discretionary spending over ten years than the original cost projections. The additional spending — if approved over the years by Congress — would bring the total estimated cost of the overhaul to over $1 trillion.” The AP notes, “The costs were not in earlier estimates by the budget office, although Republican lawmakers argued that they should have been.”
Recall that President Obama sold the bill in part on promises it would reduce the deficit: “It will reduce our deficit by more than $100 billion over the next decade, and more than $1 trillion in the decade after that.” And Democrats in Congress endlessly touted a CBO study finding that the bill would shave around $118 billion from the deficit over ten years. But if the bill will cost $115 billion more than projected, that will essentially wipe out any savings from the bill.
The new CBO report on costs comes on the heels of a study released by the Department of Health and Human Services that found that “[l]etting young adults stay on their parents' health insurance until they turn 26 will nudge premiums nearly 1 percent higher for employer plans,” according to the AP. But Democrats had pledged their health care bill would bring down premiums for Americans.
Last week, Fortune magazine reviewed documents from companies requested by Congress and found that “many large companies are examining a course that was heretofore unthinkable, dumping the health care coverage they provide to their workers in exchange for paying penalty fees to the government.” That’s despite President Obama’s constant assertions during the health care debate that if you like your insurance plan, you can keep your plan.
As Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said earlier today, “The fact of the matter is, the list of failed promises is growing every day. . . . So when Speaker Pelosi said we’d have to pass this health care bill for people to find out what was in it, she knew what she was talking about. And what they’re finding out is that Republicans were right all along. For every promise that crumbles, another one of our warnings is vindicated. Day after day, Republicans said the health care bill would raise taxes, raise premiums, and cut Medicare for seniors. We said it would increase costs, because it didn’t take an actuary to figure that you don’t save money on health care by spending more on it.”
It’s getting easier by the day to figure out who told the truth during the health care debate. It’s unfortunate that so many Democrats decided to ignore what the American people knew would happen with the health care bill: it will raise deficits, raise premiums, and could even hurt the quality of care Americans get with their current health care plans. Americans wanted real health care reform to lower costs, but Democrats’ $2.6 billion spending spree was never the right solution. The health care law should be repealed and replaced.
Tags:Washington, D.C., US Senate, US House, US Congress, Dodd Bill, financial regulationTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
White House Talkers On Elena Kagan’s Nomination Examined: “Main Street,” “Moderate Liberal,” Recruited Conservatives To Harvard, “Acclaimed Legal Scholar,” Consensus Building Mirrors Obama
TALKING POINT #1:Kagan “Is Main Street,” Has “Real-Life Experience”
FALSE: Kagan’s Experiences “Distant From Most Americans”
“Obama Promised Judges With At Least A Passing Knowledge Of The ‘Real World,’ But Kagan’s Experience Draws From A World Whose Signposts Are Distant From Most Americans: Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Princeton University, Harvard Law School And The Upper Reaches Of The Democratic Legal Establishment.”(“Is Kagan From The 'Real World'?” Politico, 5/11/10)
FALSE: The White House’s Own Overseer Of The Selection Says “Elena Is Clearly A Legal Progressive”; In College She Lamented The Decline Of The Socialist Movement
“As A History Major, Ms. Kagan Dove Into The Roots Of American Radicalism In A Senior Thesis Titled ‘To The Final Conflict: Socialism In New York City, 1900-1933.’ In the acknowledgments, she thanked her brother Marc, whose ‘involvement in radical causes,’ she wrote, ‘led me to explore the history of American radicalism in the hope of clarifying my own political ideas.’” (“A Pragmatic New Yorker On A Careful Path To Washington,” The New York Times, 5/11/10)
“In 153 Pages, The Paper Examines Why, Despite The Rise Of The Labor Movement, The Socialist Party Lost Political Traction In The United States — A Loss That She Attributed To Fissures And Feuding Within The Movement. ‘The Story Is A Sad But Also A Chastening One For Those Who, More Than Half A Century After Socialism’s Decline, Still Wish To Change America,’ She Wrote.”(“A Pragmatic New Yorker On A Careful Path To Washington,” The New York Times, 5/11/10)
TALKING POINT #3: To Improve The Harvard Faculty’s “One-Sided In Its Viewpoint” Kagan Recruited A Significant Number Of Conservatives
PRESIDENT OBAMA: “At A Time When Many Believed That The Harvard Faculty Had Gotten A Little One-Sided In Its Viewpoint, She Sought To Recruit Prominent Conservative Scholars And Spur A Healthy Debate On Campus.” (President Obama, Remarks, 5/10/10)
FALSE: Kagan Hired 43 Faculty Members At Harvard And Only Three Are Identifiably Conservative
“At Harvard, Kagan Won Praise From Conservatives By Hiring Several New, Right-Leaning Faculty Members To A School Known As A Liberal Bastion, Including Jack Goldsmith, An International Law Expert Who Was A Lawyer In The Administration Of George W. Bush; Adrian Vermeule, A Former Clerk To Justice Antonin Scalia; And John Manning, Onetime Clerk For Conservative Robert Bork, The Failed Supreme Court Nominee.”(“As Potential Pick For Court, Kagan Gets Fire From Left,” The Boston Globe, 4/15/10)
TALKING POINT #4:Kagan “An Acclaimed Legal Scholar”
DAVID BROOKS:“Her Publication Record Is Scant And Carefully Nonideological. She Has Published Five Scholarly Review Articles, Mostly On Administrative Law And The First Amendment. These articles were mostly on technical and procedural issues.” (David Brooks, “What It Takes,” The New York Times, 5/11/10)
PAUL CAMPOS: “Yesterday, I Read Everything Elena Kagan Has Ever Published. It Didn't Take Long: In The Nearly 20 Years Since Kagan Became A Law Professor, She's Published Very Little Academic Scholarship—Three Law Review Articles, Along With A Couple Of Shorter Essays And Two Brief Book Reviews.”(“The Next Harriet Miers?” The Daily Beast, 5/1/10)
TALKING POINT #5: Kagan’s Consensus Building Skills “Mirror Those Mr. Obama Sees In Himself.”
CORRECT: Poll Today Shows American Opinions Under President Obama To Be “The Most Polarized … In Gallup History”
“[Obama’s] First-Year Ratings Were The Most Polarized For A President In Gallup History, With An Average 65-Point Gap Between Republicans And Democrats. Obama's approval ratings have become slightly more polarized thus far in his second year in office, with an average 69-point gap between Democrats (83%) and Republicans (14%) since late January.” (“Obama Approval Continues To Show Party, Age, Race Gaps,” Gallup, 5/11/10)
Tags:Barack Obama, Elena Kagan, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, nominee, spin cycleTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
by Rep. Mike Pence and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rogers: US taxpayers will be helping to foot the bill for the Greek bailout, via the International Monetary Fund. And if the Obama administration doesn't draw a clear line, Uncle Sam may soon be on the line for even more and larger European "rescues." The Greek government, with its high taxes and profligate spending to support large bureaucracies and social programs, is bankrupt. Its bonds have been downgraded to junk status.
As economist Milton Friedman once said, "If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in five years there'd be a shortage of sand." Greece has run out of sand.
Concerned that the fiscal damage could spread throughout the EU and the world, other European Union members and the IMF have pledged $145 billion to bail out Greece. And since the United States is the largest contributor to the IMF budget, our government will be funneling billions of American tax dollars to Greece.
No one wants to see Greece fail -- the economic stability of Europe is important. But US taxpayers have funded bailout after bailout, and our country faces a debt crisis of its own. Our unemployment rate stands at nearly 10 percent. The public debt now stands at $9.2 trillion. The Congressional Budget Office predicts that America's debt held by the public will reach 90 percent of gross domestic product within 10 years under President Obama's budget. Without dramatic spending restraints, America is on a path like the one that led to Greece's financial catastrophe.
In fact, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke recently warned congressional leaders that, without significant spending restraints, the United States would soon face a debt crisis like the one in Greece. It is unfair and unwise to ask US taxpayers to fund bailouts for EU countries while America racks up huge deficits. And it's unlikely that Greece will be the last major EU member to seek financial help. High-debt Portugal, Spain and Italy could all face similar crises soon. Piero Ghezzi, an economist at Barclay's Capital, estimates that Spain may need a $450 billion bailout. Italy might well need more.
The United States pays 17 percent of total member contributions to the IMF; No. 2 Japan provides just 6 percent. That entitles us to a claim on the overall IMF balance sheet, not a share of any specific loan -- but it still means that our "share" of the $40 billion IMF package for Greece is equivalent to $6.8 billion. Last year, Congress passed another $100 billion line of credit to the IMF -- funds the IMF said will go "to forestall or cope with an impairment of the international monetary system or to deal with an exceptional situation that poses a threat to the stability of that system."
In other words, the "too big to fail" doctrine is being expanded to an international level -- with the United States as the primary stakeholder. While a $145 billion bailout will temporarily dull Greece's pain, it's still not clear that Athens will carry out the necessary vast cuts in government spending; Greece and the EU may be setting themselves up for an even larger financial crisis down the road.
The American people already know what the governments of Greece and other EU members must learn: A nation can't borrow, spend and bail out its way back to a growing economy. New Jersey faces a fiscal crisis, and Gov. Chris Christie is making tough choices without raising taxes or requesting aid from Washington, DC. If America isn't asking Europe for help with New Jersey, why should the EU ask the US for help with Greece?
The IMF executive board is scheduled to meet tomorrow to approve the bailout funding. We are urging the administration to use its seat on the IMF board to call for a formal vote and to oppose this bailout. America can't unilaterally stop this loan request, but a "no" vote would send a clear message: Europe needs to put its own fiscal house in order with spending restrictions, entitlement reform and pro-growth economic policies -- instead of looking to the US taxpayer to foot the bill for one more government bailout.
------------ Rep. Mike Pence (Ind.) and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash.) are the chairman and vice chair of the House Republican Conference. Tags:Mike Pence, Cathy McMorris Rogers, Greece, Europe, United States, IMF, bailout, US TaxpayersTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Entire Health Care Law's Projected Savings Wiped Out
CBO Now Estimates Health Law Will Cost $115 Billion More Than Original Projections, Wiping Out Savings Projections, And Putting CBO’s Current Price Tag For Law Over “$1 Trillion”
“Congressional Budget Office Estimates Released Tuesday Predict The Health Care Overhaul Will Likely Cost About $115 Billion More In Discretionary Spending Over Ten Years Than The Original Cost Projections.”(“CBO Ups Health Care Cost Projections,” Politico, 5/11/10)
“The Congressional Budget Office Expects The Federal Agencies To Spend $10 Billion To $20 Billion Over 10 Years On Administrative Costs To Implement The Overhaul. The CBO Expects Congress To Spend An Additional $105 Billion Over 10 Years To Fund Discretionary Programs In The Overhaul.”(“CBO Ups Health Care Cost Projections,” Politico, 5/11/10)
President Sold The Bill By Saying It Would “Reduce Our Deficit” By More Than $100 Billion
President Obama: “It Will Reduce Our Deficit By More Than $100 Billion Over The Next Decade, And More Than $1 Trillion In The Decade After That.” (President Obama, Remarks, 3/22/10)
“CBO And JCT Previously Estimated That Enacting H.R. 3590 By Itself Would Yield A Net Reduction In Federal Deficits Of $118 Billion Over The 2010-2019 Period...”(CBO Director Doug Elmendorf, Letter To Rep. Nancy Pelosi, 3/18/10 (P.2) Tags:health care, deficit, CBO, no savings, To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
by William Warren:
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Note: In a time of war and escalating radical Islamic threats, Supreme Court Justice Nominee Elena Kagan shamelessly disregarded the safety of our country to promote her personal politics. Kagan was the Dean at Harvard Law School when she kicked military recruiters off campus because of the "don't ask don't tell policy," which bars individuals who are openly gay or bisexual from joining the military.
Kagan was not thinking about the impact another terrorist attack would have on our country when she banned our honorable military members from even setting foot on Harvard's campus. Kagan was ultimately unsuccessful in her liberal quest to boot servicemen and women who are America's best and brightest heroes, not threats, off of Harvard's campus. The Supreme Court (including all the liberal justices) did not buy her argument and voted against her liberal activism 9-0. Not even one liberal Justice agreed with her anti-constitutional argument. WE CANNOT EXPECT KAGAN TO UPHOLD OUR CONSTITUTION Tags:Barack Obama, Elena Kagan, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, nominee, William Warren, political cartoonTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Rick Santelli Rips Paul Kanjorski (D-PA) For Ignoring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Reform
Rick Santelli speaks out for the taxpayers! In the following video, Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-PA) appears on CNBC and says that Fannie and Freddie are too complicated to address. Fannie and Freddie have now cost taxpayers $145 billion to bail them out, and the Democrats are ignoring the need to reform the GSEs. CNBC Rick Santelli fires back to Kanjorski: "You think taxpayers that go to work to pay the money you are subsidizing, it will end up a half a trillion, do you think they think complicated is an excuse?" Paul Kanjorski ranked with Jack Murtha (now deceased) as democrats from Pennsylvania most needing replacement. The above head shot of Rep. Barney Franks and Paul Kanjorski brings to mind a myriad of thoughts concerning why Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have remained unreformed and a constant source for ripping off the American taxpayers. Kanjorski has served on the Financial Services Committee since he entered Congress in 1985 and has helped Fannie and Freddie remain unreformed. PA-11 district has an opportunity in November to replace Kanjorski with fiscal conservative Lou Barletta.
Tags:CNBC, Rick Santelli Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Democrats, ignoring reform, Paul Kanjorski, PA-11, Pennsylvania, Lou BarlettaTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Today in Washington, D.C. - May 11, 2010 - SCOTUS Nomination & One time Audit the Fed
The Senate resumed consideration of S. 321, the Dodd financial regulation bill. Today there was was an 80 minutes of debate on amendments from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) to audit the Federal Reserve which was approved 96-0. This is a one-time audit of the Federal Reserve’s emergency actions during and after the 2008 financial crisis and is to scrutinize some $2 trillion in emergency lending that the Fed provided to the nation’s biggest banks.
Later today, votes are possible on an amendment from Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) to end government control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in two years and on an expected Democrat alternative.
After President Obama announced yesterday that Solicitor General Elena Kagan will be his nominee to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, the White House and Democrats in Congress began making the case that she has moderate views and her lack of judicial experience means she would bring lots of “real life” experience to the Court. The problem, though, is that based on what we already know about Kagan’s background shows the White House talking points don’t match reality.
Yesterday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy (D-VT) took pains to explain that Kagan has “real life experience” outside the courtroom. This morning, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said of Kagan, “She has fresh ideas. She’s been out in the real world recently.” And earlier today, Vice President Joe Biden said on Good Morning America, “She is Main Street … She's deeply rooted in what you might call the ‘old neighborhood.’ This is a woman who's lived in the real world.”
But Politico features a whole story today asking, “Is Kagan From The ‘Real World’?” The article points out, “Obama promised judges with at least a passing knowledge of the ‘real world,’ but Kagan’s experience draws from a world whose signposts are distant from most Americans: Manhattan’s Upper West side, Princeton University, Harvard Law School and the upper reaches of the Democratic legal establishment.” And Politifact notes, “[I]t's fair to say that Kagan has spent the bulk of her professional career in academia at the University of Chicago and Harvard Law School, and at various positions inside the Beltway.” Also worth noting is a USA Today report from last month that said Kagan “was a member of the Research Advisory Council of the Goldman Sachs Global Markets Institute” between 2005 and 2008. Recall that Democrats have spent most of the last month trying to define Goldman Sachs as the opposite of Main Street.
Another theme going around today is the idea that Kagan holds moderate political views. Yet the very person who oversaw the selection process, Biden chief of staff Ron Klain, said, “Elena is clearly is legal progressive.” And The New York Times reports that her college thesis “dove into the roots of American radicalism.” According to The Times, “In 153 pages, the paper examines why, despite the rise of the labor movement, the Socialist Party lost political traction in the United States — a loss that she attributed to fissures and feuding within the movement. ‘The story is a sad but also a chastening one for those who, more than half a century after socialism’s decline, still wish to change America,’ she wrote.”
To further support the idea Kagan as a moderate, President Obama emphasized, “At a time when many believed that the Harvard faculty had gotten a little one-sided in its viewpoint, she sought to recruit prominent conservative scholars and spur a healthy debate on campus.” But according to news reports, Kagan added 43 faculty members during her time at Harvard, of which The Boston Globe only identified 3 as clearly conservatives in a recent story: Jack Goldsmith, a former Bush administration attorney, and former clerks for Justice Scalia and Judge Robert Bork.
The White House talking points apparently need some work. More importantly, as Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said yesterday, “Judges must not walk into court with a preconceived idea of who should win. Their job is to apply the law ‘without respect to persons,’ as the judicial oath states; it is not to pick winners or losers.” Kagan has been a progressive activist; the question is will the Republicans in the Senate stand together to block her confirmation.
There’s nothing that requires the President to replace a liberal with a liberal but apparently, that’s what he is doing. House Judiciary Committee Member Lamar Smith (R-TX) reflected, "With no judicial experience to evaluate, the Senate must conduct a thorough investigation into all areas of her record to determine her commitment to the Constitution. For example, during her tenure as Dean of Harvard Law School, Kagan supported banning military recruiters on campus because of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. The Supreme Court unanimously rejected the arguments of Ms. Kagan and other academics. I hope the Senate will assess every aspect of Ms. Kagan’s record to ensure she will serve the Constitution above all else, including her own political views and the policies of President Obama.” Tags:Elena Kagan, Washington, D.C., US Senate, US House, US Congress, Dodd Bill, financial regulation, Audit the FedTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Americans for Prosperity: Americans for Prosperity urges citizens to call their representatives and ask them to stop the FCC's takeover of the Internet. View Dominos Ad - Stop the Internet Takeover
Tags:Americans for Prosperity, AFP, Net Neutrality, No Internet Takeover, FCC, new rules, regulationTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
The Jihadists' Deadly Path to American Citizenship
Excerpts from Article by Michelle Malkin: America's homeland security amnesia never ceases to amaze. In the aftermath of the botched Times Square terror attack over the weekend, Pakistani-born bombing suspect Faisal Shahzad's U.S. citizenship status caused a bit of shock and awe. . . . wake up and smell the deadly deception.
Shahzad's path to American citizenship -- he reportedly married an American woman, Huma Mian, in 2008 after spending a decade in the country on foreign student and employment visas -- is a tried-and-true terror formula. Jihadists have been gaming the sham marriage racket with impunity for years. And immigration benefit fraud has provided invaluable cover and aid for U.S.-based Islamic plotters, including many other operatives planning attacks on New York City . . . :
-- El Sayyid A. Nosair wed Karen Ann Mills Sweeney to avoid deportation for overstaying his visa. He acquired U.S. citizenship, allowing him to remain in the country, and was later convicted for conspiracy in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing that claimed six lives.
-- Ali Mohamed became an American citizen after marrying a woman he met on a plane trip from Egypt to New York. Recently divorced, Linda Lee Sanchez wed Mohamed in Reno, Nev., after a six-week "courtship." Mohamed became a top aide to Osama bin Laden and was later convicted for his role in the 1998 United States embassy bombings in Africa that killed 12 Americans and more than 200 others.
-- Embassy bombing plotter Khalid Abu al Dahab obtained citizenship after marrying three different American women.
-- Embassy bombing plotter Wadih el Hage, Osama bin Laden's personal secretary, married April Ray in 1985 and became a naturalized citizen in 1989. Ray knew of her husband's employment with bin Laden, but like many of these women in bogus marriages, she pleaded ignorance about the nature of her husband's work. El Hage, she says, was a sweet man, and bin Laden "was a great boss."
-- Lebanon-born Chawki Youssef Hammoud, convicted in a Hezbollah cigarette-smuggling operation based out of Charlotte, N.C., married American citizen Jessica Fortune for a green card to remain in the country.
-- Hammoud's brother, Mohammed Hammoud, married three different American women. After arriving in the United States on a counterfeit visa, being ordered deported and filing an appeal, he wed Sabina Edwards to gain a green card. Federal immigration officials refused to award him legal status after this first marriage was deemed bogus in 1994. Undaunted, he married Jessica Wedel in May 1997 and, while still wed to her, paid Angela Tsioumas (already married to someone else, too) to marry him in Detroit. The Tsioumas union netted Mohammed Hammoud temporary legal residence to operate the terror cash scam. He was later convicted on 16 counts that included providing material support to Hezbollah.
-- A total of eight Middle Eastern men who plotted to bomb New York landmarks in 1993 -- Fadil Abdelgani, Amir Abdelgani, Siddig Ibrahim Siddig Ali, Tarig Elhassan, Abdo Mohammed Haggag, Fares Khallafalla, Mohammed Saleh, and Matarawy Mohammed Said Saleh -- all obtained legal permanent residence by marrying American citizens.
A year after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, homeland security officials cracked a massive illegal alien Middle Eastern marriage fraud ring in a sting dubbed "Operation Broken Vows" . . . which stretched from Boston to South Carolina to California. But marriage fraud remains a treacherous path of least resistance. The waiting period for U.S. citizenship is cut by more than half for marriage visa beneficiaries. Sham marriage monitoring by backlogged homeland security investigators is practically nonexistent.
. . . Jihadists have knowingly and deliberately exploited our lax immigration and entrance policies to secure the rights and benefits of American citizenship while they plot mass murder -- and we haven't done a thing to stop them. Tags:Jihadists, terrorists, sham marriages, visa, US, American, citizenship, To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
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John Ruberry (Marathon Pundit), an Illinois liberty loving conservative TEA Party member and conservative blogger received an received an e-mail from Barack Obama's political arm, Organizing for America. It invited him to a Camp OFA training session in Evanston, Illinois, just a few miles from his home. Rather than deleting the email, he signed up, under his real name via his OFA online account. 
[Photo - Sen. Mark Pryor and White House Chief of Staff Rham Emanuel] 
Concerned that the fiscal damage could spread throughout the EU and the world, other European Union members and the IMF have pledged $145 billion to bail out Greece. And since the United States is the largest contributor to the IMF budget, our government will be funneling billions of American tax dollars to Greece. 
Rick Santelli speaks out for the taxpayers! In the 
