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, July 10, 2010
136 Years of Plantation Politics Controlling Arkansans
As identified in the below video, "for over for 136 years Arkansas has been ruled by Democrats. Arkansas Democrats feel they own our state. They have brought us Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, higher taxes and wasteful spending. But November is coming." The majority of Arkansans regardless of race, creed, religion or non-religion have suffered under a bondage of those who are supposed to serve but instead use their power and influence to control. The Plantation mentality from over 136 years ago has continued in Arkansas politics.
For much of this 136 years, a significant number of Arkansans were disenfranchised and not treated as equal citizens by the Democrats. Even now, we have forced upon us the memory of the abusive and immoral behavior by a former Democratic Governor each time he returns to Arkansas to promote a fellow Democrat or to support the Obama agenda.
But one of the great offenses by the Democrats has been the continual financial rip off of the people of Arkansas. For years, we were taxed in the name of the public good. But now, an accounting reveals the degree of waste by the Big House (Government) in Little Rock. They have practiced over taxation (political theft) by not returning significant surpluses to those who paid it. Instead, the Democrats perfected the ploy of buying votes via earmarks. They divided up the surplus between the Governor who gets most (half)of the money (after all, he heads the "Big House") and the remainder is divided between the State Senators and Representatives to hand out in their districts thereby influencing people to vote for them. But, the result has been a continual growth of big government with full-time Arkansas state government employment expanding 72% in the last 25 years.
As for Democrats sent to Washington to represent us, sometimes these Democrats represented themselves. For example, consider the farm subsidies pocketed by Rep. Marion Berry and by Senator Blanche Lincoln. In Washington, our Democrat Senators and Representatives have been "lap dogs' for Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. We will consider their voting records another time. For now, consider these key points 1) all 3 of our Democrat Representatives voted for Nancy Peloisi to be Speaker of the House, 2) our 2 Democrat Senators voted for Harry Reid to lead the Senate, and 3) the Democrats sold out by supporting the elitist programs of the East and West Coast and the liberal agenda of Obama, Reid and Pelosi. In reality, they ceased to have a heart for Arkansans.
Arkansans compared to most other States is considered a poor state. We have had enough problems supporting the Democrat programs in Little Rock. We can ill afford or even survive elected Democrats continuing to support the progressive elitist agenda of Reid and Pelosi. While the Democrats have their golden retirements, the rest of us are facing potential servitude under the Obama administration. After having had the Democrats running Arkansas for 136 years, it is critical to change the system by changing both the players and the philosophy. We can begin by electing Republican conservatives to the State offices. And, we must help stop the Obama, Reid, Pelosi take over of America by electing Republicans to Congress in November.
------------------------ Below is a recently released video by the Republican Party of Arkansas:
The Video's Script: 136 years ago you could purchase a dozen pairs of Levi’s for $13. 136 years ago Hawaii still had a king. And for 136 years Arkansas has been ruled by Democrats. Arkansas Democrats feel they own our state. They have brought us Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, higher taxes and wasteful spending. But November is coming…
This past weekend, as the Republican Party traveled to Independence Day celebrations in Northeast Arkansas, we ran into some trash talk as candidates from both sides of the aisle gave speeches to residents in Corning, Piggott and Portia. In Piggott, Democrat Congressman Marion Berry stood on stage and declared, “I listened to those earlier speeches by the minority party, and I haven’t heard that much trash since I bought a three dollar radio at the doughboy picnic in 1954.” Click here to watch the video!
Mr. Berry, it’s not trash to talk about the United States Constitution. It’s not trash to talk about lower taxes and smaller government. And it is certainly not trash to talk about what’s wrong with Obama’s liberal agenda, which by the way Congressman Marion Berry supports. The Republican Party of Arkansas wonders if his former Chief of Staff, Chad Causey, who is challenging Republican Rick Crawford, feels the same way…
Tags:Arkansas, politics, history, Democrats, 136 years, video, 2010 election, RepublicansTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Tags:I Am America, video, music, Krista Branch, unemployment chardTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Dick Morris Tours Arkansas With "November is Coming" Message
by Teresa Crossland-Oelke, Arkansas State Director: On July 14, 15, & 16, Dick Morris and others will be in Mountain Home, Jonesboro, Searcy, Little Rock, Hot Springs Village and Texarkana! Arkansas Citizens will gather to let big spending politicians know that their vote isn’t the only one that counts. November is coming! Big government programs, out-of-control spending, and dodging voters on key issues has to stop. Register for this free event at NovemberIsComingAR.eventbrite.com!
Join Americans for Prosperity Arkansas with special guest Dick Morris and others to let the politicians know that if they support big government programs or any other freedom-killing legislation, we will vote NO on them in November.
Like Elvis said, “A little less Conversation a Little More Action Please!” July 14th, 15th, and 16th WE are going to ACT! Phone calls and literature drops, working side by side with special guest Dick Morris and D.C. Morrison to protect freedom and liberty! There will be FREE food and FREE t-shirts! On July 14th, 15th & 16th join us in Mountain Home, Jonesboro, Searcy, Little Rock, Hot Springs Village and Texarkana! Get theevent time for all locations and register for this free event at NovemberIsComingAR.eventbrite.com! Tags:dick Morris, AFP, Arkansas, November is Coming, rally, Mountain Home, Jonesboro, Searcy, Little Rock, Hot Springs Village, TexarkanaTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Elitists Redefine Freedom of Religion - Constitutional Right Under Attack
Chuck Colson is sounding the alarm: The government—at the highest levels—may be attempting to redefine the very meaning of religious freedom. If what Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said in a recent speech reflects a new direction in government policy, it seems the aim is clear: To kick faith out of the public square, to send Christians into the closet. Video Follows:
Additional Reading:Freedom of Religion At Risk In The United States Tags:Chuck Colson, Charles Colson, Hillary Clinton, religious freedom, first amendment, freedom to worship, George Weigel, christian worldview, warning, To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
By Kevin Mooney, NetRight Daily — Under the guise of “net neutrality,” Obama’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is conspiring with a coalition of left-leaning media organizations to coerce and subjugate the online community. On June 17, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski joined with the four other commissioners to vote on a proposal to reclassify broadband regulations under Title II, which would allow for greater federal intrusion. In a party line vote, the FCC elected to move forward with the investigative process.
Conservative media outlets that have made smart use of Internet technology to balance out the influence of newspapers and televisions over the past few decades have good cause to be concerned. A federal appeals court has already ruled against allowing the FCC to have greater control over web traffic in case involving Comcast. Moreover, congressional figures in both parties have rebuked the chairman in formal letters.
Even so, it is now evident that Genachowski is operating at the behest of left-wing operatives who are working to undermine unfettered Internet traffic.
Seton Motley, president of LessGovernment.org, and a frequent Fox News contributor, has the goods on FCC perfidy and continues to keep tabs on the agency’s latest maneuverings. His blogs on RedState.com and BigGovernment.com are worth special attention now that an organization calling itself “Free Press” appears to be calling in its chips from the Obama Administration.
This much is made clear by a coalition letter released on June 29 arguing in favor of “net neutrality.” Some of the signatures are connected with smaller, inconsequential organizations so as to inflate the numbers. But are the few names that very suggestive of an ongoing effort to silence the conservative media. Motley has the story on RedState.
One of signers James Rucker, is the co-founder of ColorofChange.org. The other co-founder is Van Jones, an avowed Marxist whose obscene 9/11 “trutherism” rant made waves throughout the same Internet his organization is working to silence. “And then there’s Free Press,” Motley writes. “Which was co-founded by another avowed Marxist – Robert McChesney. McChesney is a master of the insidious written word. Here’s what McChesney wrote about “net neutrality”: "At the moment, the battle over network neutrality is not to completely eliminate the telephone and cable companies. We are not at that point yet. But the ultimate goal is to get rid of the media capitalists in the phone and cable companies and to divest them from control."
And from here it gets worse. Equating U.S. policy with terrorism while paying homage to Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez is very much in style on the left. The FCC log shows the agency has held 30 meetings between “Media Marxists” who masquerade as social justice reforms, Motley has noted. These include: Public Knowledge, Media Access Project, New America Foundation, Consumers Union, Consumer Federation of America.
With the left now in control of the White House and Congress, “Media Marxists” will pull out all stops to shut down media operations that take a critical view of their policy preferences. . . . Tags:BigGovernment, broadband, FCC, Hugo Chavez, Internet, James Rucker, Julius Genachowski, Media Marxists, Net Neutrality, Obama Administration, RedState, Robert McChesney, Seton Motley, Van Jones, NetRight Daily, Kevin MooneyTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
"Still More Popular" Cartoon by William Warren: Tags:Lindsay Lohan, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Obama Approval Rating, William Warren, Political CartoonsTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Businesses Sour On Democrats' "Anti-Business Agenda - Today in Washington, D.C. - July 9, 2010
Senate remains in recess until July 12th. When the Senate returns, it is expected to take up judicial nominations. Also possible is another cloture vote on the Democrats’ debt-extending “tax extenders bill,” H.R. 4213.
Politico yesterday reported that “The White House has launched a coordinated campaign to push back against the perception taking hold in corporate America and on Wall Street that President Barack Obama is promoting an anti-business agenda. . . . And it is more than just politics: Obama’s aides believe confidence in the general direction of White House policy has an effect on the willingness of corporations to hire, invest and push the economy toward a more solid recovery.”
As The Wall Street Journal editorializes today, “How in the world did anyone get that idea? Perhaps the feeling set in sometime between the President's public trashing of the Chrysler bond holders and his use of the insurer Wellpoint as a piñata to pass ObamaCare. Or maybe it was sometime after his Administration's fifth or sixth tax increase proposal, its disdain until recently for trade promotion, and its unleashing of new regulations across any industry you want to name.”
The WSJ also notes that one need look no further for proof than the recent unhappiness expressed by the Business Roundtable. The Washington Post noted recently that the Business Roundtable is “an association of top corporate executives that has been President Obama's closest ally in the business community,” but even the chairman of that group “accused the president and Democratic lawmakers . . . of creating an ‘increasingly hostile environment for investment and job creation.’” According to The Post, “Ivan G. Seidenberg, chief executive of Verizon Communications, said that Democrats in Washington are pursuing tax increases, policy changes and regulatory actions that together threaten to dampen economic growth and ‘harm our ability . . . to grow private-sector jobs in the U.S.’ ‘In our judgment, we have reached a point where the negative effects of these policies are simply too significant to ignore,’ Seidenberg said in a lunchtime speech to the Economic Club of Washington.”
And Politico pointed out a comment in the Financial Times, ''t a recent dinner in Rome, Jeffrey Immelt, chairman and CEO of General Electric, said 'business did not like the U.S. president and the president did not like business.'''
But that doesn’t even get into the harm that the Obama administration and Democrats are doing to businesses large and small with the health care bill alone. Earlier this week, The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that restaurant chains like White Castle and IHOP will get hit hard with the penalties in the health care bill and might be forced to drop health coverage or even lay off employees. The New York Times reported in May that the tax penalties in the bill could hit as many as one third of employers across the country. Meanwhile, The Hill reported, “A study by the National Center for Policy analysis shows that tax credits in the new healthcare law could negatively impact small-business hiring decisions.” And according to CNNMoney, “An all-but-overlooked provision of the health reform law is threatening to swamp U.S. businesses with a flood of new tax paperwork.”
In response to President Obama flying around the country supporting Democrats like Harry Reid for re-election, he continues to jab House and Senate Republicans. Rep John Bohner responded yesterday, “On President Obama’s watch, more than three million Americans have lost their jobs and unemployment is near 10 percent. The American people continue to ask, where are the jobs? But the President keeps whining and indulging in childish partisan attacks. How out of touch can he get?” Tags:Democrats, anti-Democrats, business, Washington, D.C.To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Congress Goes Buck Hunting - Abortion Industry Giant Can't Account For Tax Dollars
FRC Washington Update: Babies aren't the only thing vanishing at Planned Parenthood clinics--so are taxpayer dollars! According to the latest Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports, the abortion giant can't puts its fingers on a cool $1.3 billion in federal funds. Of the $2.02 billion that the International Planned Parenthood Federation raked in between 2002-2009, only $657.1 million is accounted for. Twenty-six House members and five senators have filed an information request demanding to know where the missing money is.
With the government swimming in debt, you'd think that the administration would take keen interest in locating its lost billion. On the contrary, the White House's only response has been to give Planned Parenthood some control over its new grant program. Translation: "You've lost a billion dollars? Well, by all means, let's put you in charge of more!" Late last Friday (when the press is least likely to notice), the Department of Health and Human Services announced the creation of a Pregnancy Assistance Fund, a new grant program that's designed to help moms-to-be, particularly teenagers, with education, health care, child care, and housing costs. In an email from the President's Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, the White House claimed this program would fulfill the President's promise of finding "common ground on abortion." How can he find common ground on abortion if the Fund never mentions it?
Or does it? According to our sources inside HHS, Planned Parenthood actually helped draft the rules that decide who is and isn't eligible for grant money. In other words, look for the pro-abortion crowd to be at the front of the line, ready to cash in on even more taxpayer dollars.
As you know, FRC has been a leading voice for life-affirming pregnancy services (see our booklet, A Passion to Serve), but we strongly oppose the idea that these grant recipients should include any group that financially profits from abortions. See, there's a reason that Planned Parenthood performed 307,310 abortions in 2007 and only 4,912 adoption referrals that same year. (Hint: One of those services yielded more than $168 million in revenue?"and it wasn't the adoptions!) Asking Planned Parenthood to oversee where our money goes is a huge conflict of interest?"not to mention an irresponsible choice, given the group's massive failure to manage their own grants!
The only way to help these mothers and their babies is by funneling the $25 million to organizations that won't make a profit from their work, namely pregnancy resources centers. And if President Obama truly cared about these women, HHS would have issued real regulations--this time enforcing his Executive Order to strip abortion from the health care bill. More Washington Updates Tags:FRC, Family Research Council, Washington Update, US Congress, money, Planned Parenthood, abortion industry, abortionsTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
I do not like this Uncle Sam, I do not like his health care scam. I do not like these dirty crooks, or how they lie and cook the books.
I do not like when Congress steals, I do not like their secret deals.
I do not like this speaker Nan I do not like this 'YES WE CAN'. I do not like this spending spree, I'm smart, I know that nothing's free.
I do not like your smug replies, when I complain about your lies. I do not like this kind of hope. I do not like it. nope, nope, nope!
[Original Source Unknown]
Tags:Dr. Seuss parody , humor, political satire,To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Today in Washington, D.C. - July 8, 2010 - WSJ Blasts Berwick Recess Appointment
The Wall Street Journal editorializes today, “White House respect for the public’s health-care views dropped another notch yesterday, if that’s possible, with its recess appointment of Donald Berwick. Circumventing Senate confirmation to appoint the new Medicare chief is part of the same political willfulness that inflicted ObamaCare on the country despite the objections of most voters.
“Even Max Baucus, the Senate Finance Chairman [D-MT], issued a statement critical of this end-around. President Obama claimed Republicans were stalling the appointment ‘for political purposes,’ but Mr. Baucus hadn’t scheduled hearings and the nomination paperwork wasn’t even finished 11 weeks after he was named. Mr. Obama’s real calculation was to dodge a debate in election season over Dr. Berwick’s frequent praise for European health systems that ration care. The last thing most Democrats want now is to reprise the ObamaCare controversy.”
As the WSJ editors note, “[I]t doesn’t take an M.D. to understand the opposition to Dr. Berwick.” Indeed, he has a long history of controversial statements, the most famous of which may be his declaration last year that “The decision is not whether or not we will ration care—the decision is whether we will ration with our eyes open.” But that’s not all he’s said. In 1996, Berwick wrote, “I admit to my own devotion to a single-payer mechanism as the only sensible approach to health care finance I can think of.” He’s also said particularly concerning things about denial of care and end of life care as well.
Discussing Berwick’s views on rationing, The Wall Street Journal editors write, “The people who can write such things with a straight face believe there is no difference between rationing through individual choices and price signals and rationing through politics and bureaucratic omniscience. In an influential 1996 book ‘New Rules,’ Dr. Berwick and a co-author argued that one of ‘the primary functions’ of health regulation is ‘to constrain decentralized, individual decision making’ and ‘to weigh public welfare against the choices of private consumers.’”
These are seriously troubling statements from the man who will be tasked with implementing much of President Obama’s unpopular health care law, and especially the $500 billion in Medicare cuts it features. As Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said when the recess appointment was announced, “Just over three months after passage of this misguided law, with Americans’ worst fears about it being realized every day, the fact that this Administration won’t allow the man charged with implementing the President’s plan to cut $500 billion out of Medicare to testify about his plans for the care of our nation’s seniors is truly outrageous.” Tags:Barack Obama, recess appointment, Donald BerwickTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
BERWICK ON THE BRITISH NATIONAL HEALTH CARE SYSTEM
“I Fell In Love With The NHS…To An American Observer, The NHS Is Such A Seductress.”(Donald Berwick, “Celebrating Quality 1998-2008,” speech at London Science Museum, September 30, 2008)
“I Think The NHS Is One Of The Great Human Health Care Endeavors On Earth. It Can Be An Example For The Whole World, An Example, I Must Say, That The United States Needs Now More Than Most Other Countries Do.”(“Power” by Donald Berwick, speech to 17th annual National Forum on Quality Improvement in Health Care, December 2005)
“One Of The Reasons I Love The NHS Is Because It Is Political, Because The Political Voice Properly Owned Is The Voice Of The People.”(“A Case of US and Them—The HSJ Interview: Don Berwick” by Paul Dempsey, Health Service Journal April 10, 2003)
BERWICK ON SINGLE-PAYER HEALTH CARE
“I Admit To My Own Devotion To A Single-Payer Mechanism As The Only Sensible Approach To Health Care Finance I Can Think Of.”(Foreword to Quality in the Veterans Health Administration: Lessons from People Who Changed the System (Jossey-Bass, 1996) by Donald Berwick, p. xi)
BERWICK ON WHISTEBLOWER PHYSICIANS BRINGING ATTENTION TO DENIAL OF CARE
“Denying Patients A New Treatment: A Doctor Working In An NHS Trust Thinks It Is Wrong That His Patients Will Be Denied A New Treatment For Cancer. Should He Contact The Local Media? Should The Trust Punish Him If He Does? … The “Cooperation” Principle Suggests That The Doctor Should Cooperate With His Colleagues And Implies That Contacting The Media Would Not Be Helpful. But The “Openness” Principle Means That The Committee Should Be Open With Patient, Doctors, And The Community On Why It Is Denying Patients A Drug. ... If The Trust Has Lived By The Principles And The Doctor Has Not, Then It Might Be Legitimate To Punish Him.”(“Refining and Implementing the Tavistock Principles for Everybody in Health Care” by Donald Berwick et al., BMJ September 15, 2001, p. 618)
BERWICK ON END OF LIFE CARE
“Measurement Forces Upon Us Some Uncomfortable Awareness That In Our Multi-Attribute World We Face Choice: An 84-Year-Old Man Lies In Intensive Care On A Respirator, The Victim Of His Fourth Heart Attack. ‘It Is Time,’ Says The Surgeon, ‘For A Tracheostomy.’ ‘What Are His Chances?’ Asks His Wife. ‘One In A Hundred,’ The Surgeon Replies. ‘Please Go Ahead Then,’ She Decides, ‘He’s All I’ve Got.’ … What Do We Want? Is It Better Not To Measure, We Are Tempted To Say.”(“E.A. Codman and the Rhetoric of Battle: A Commentary” by Donald Berwick, Milbank Quarterly 1989, p. 264)
Tags:INSERT TAGSTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
While Arizona Fights, Arkansas Surrenders its State Sovereignty
Curtis Coleman, Contributing Author: Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel’s refusal to join 21 other state Attorneys General in suing the federal government over the recently passed health care law constituted an uncontested surrender of the State’s sovereignty. By supporting McDaniel’s decision, Governor Mike Beebe is complicit in the surrender. Consistent with his laissez-faire approach to state government, Beebe’s attitude toward state sovereignty was further revealed in his reaction to Secure Arkansas’ petition to deny government benefits to illegal aliens. Beebe’s abdicative response? “Congress should deal with immigration.”
This is an uncontested surrender of state sovereignty because, as Dr. Robert Moffit, Senior Fellow, Domestic and Economic Policy Studies for The Heritage Foundation, writes in his outstanding treatise, Revitalizing Federalism: The High Road Back to Health Care Independence, “Inaction by the states is an invitation to the federal government to take over their legitimate power when there is a popular demand for action.” (Emphasis mine.)
“Federalism.” Now there’s a word most Americans don’t use in their everyday vocabularies. For many Americans, a word association exercise for “Federalism” produces these: “federal”, “the federal government”, and “Washington.” But the word sounds the opposite from what it means. Federalism stands at the very heart of liberty – and very far from the halls of Congress.
James Madison provided one of the best descriptions of federalism:
“The powers delegated by the proposed constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the state governments are numerous and indefinite…. The powers reserved to the several states will extend to all the objects, which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people; and the internal order, improvement and prosperity of the state.”[Federalist No. 45]
Federalism is the policy that limits the powers of the federal government and protects the powers and rights reserved to the states and the people. Federalism is the opposite of a powerful centralized federal government; it is the principle that guarantees the sovereignty of the states and the liberties of the people. Moffit also writes, “The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act represents more than a federal takeover of health care; it is a direct threat to federalism itself.”[Federalist No. 45] Moffit could have just as well written, “it is a direct threat to liberty itself.”
Federalism is the battleground for the revival of our commitment to the Constitution and the restoration of our liberties and freedoms being eroded one election, one bill and one vote at a time. Federalism and the freedoms and liberties it represents are under unprecedented attack. Why? Because socialism demands a powerful centralized government. And because globalization demands the demise of the sovereignty of the individual states.
How real is this attack? Twenty one states are suing the federal government. And the federal government is suing at least one state over its right to protect its borders and it citizens. Very real, I’d say. Perhaps Arkansas will be spared by the victory of 22 Attorneys General and Governors committed to the sovereignty of their states.
-------------------- Curtis Coleman is President of The Curtis Coleman Institute for Constitutional Policy, headquartered in North Little Rock, Arkansas. He submitted this article to the ARRA News Service Editor. Coleman is also the Cofounder and former President and Chief Executive Officer of Safe Foods Corporation. He lectures on team building and servant leadership in the Emerging Leaders program at the Center for Management and Executive Development, University of Arkansas Sam M. Walton School of Business. Tags:Curis Coleman, Arizona, Arkansas, Attorney General, Dustin McDaniel, Governor, Mike Beebe, Federalism, State Sovereignty, Us ConstitutionTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Today in Washington, D.C. - July 7, 2010 - Watch-out America, Rationed Health Care has Arrived!
Today, President Obama used a recess appointment to install Dr. Donald Berwick, a 63-year-old pediatrician as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services without a Senate vote. Berwick’s nomination has been controversial since President Obama first put his name forward because of effusive praise for the British National health Care system and for his comments suggesting health care needs to be rationed. President Obama again his determination to strip the American people of their constitution right to have their US Senators input and decide on this appointment.
Speaking on the Senate floor in May, Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) noted two of Berwick’s most controversial statements. “Dr. Berwick . . . is a huge fan, a major champion, and a contributor to the British national health care system called NHS. As a matter of fact, I have a quote of Dr. Berwick regarding the NHS. ‘I am romantic about the National Health Service; I love it. The NHS is not just a national treasure; it is a global treasure.’ . . . Now, why is this important? Because the NHS rations health care. The NHS denies and delays patient access to therapies in regard to breast cancer, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, kidney cancer, macular degeneration—this happens to be my favorite example: patients required to go blind in one eye first before they get treatment for the other eye—and brain tumors. . . . [Another] quote by Dr. Berwick is: ‘The decision is not whether or not we will ration health care—the decision is whether we will ration with our eyes open.’”
The New York Times noted, “As a recess appointee, Dr. Berwick will have all the powers of a permanent appointee. But under the Constitution, his appointment will expire at the end of the next session of Congress, in late 2011. . . . The recess appointment was somewhat unusual because the Senate is in recess for less than two weeks and senators were still waiting for Dr. Berwick to submit responses to some of their requests for information. No confirmation hearing has been held or scheduled.”
While this is true, the fact that there will now be no Senate hearing on Berwick, his controversial views on rationing health care, and how they relate to the Obama administration’s new health care law is particularly outrageous. Sen. Dr. John Barrasso (R-WY), one of only two doctors in the Senate, said, “This recess appointment is an insult to the American people. Dr. Berwick is a self professed supporter of rationing health care and he won't even have to explain his views to the American people in a Congressional hearing. Once again, President Obama has made a mockery of his pledge to be accountable and transparent.”
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell was no less outraged: “As if shoving a trillion dollar government takeover of health care down the throat of a disapproving American public wasn't enough, apparently the Obama Administration intends to arrogantly circumvent the American people yet again by recess appointing one of the most prominent advocates of rationed health care to implement their national plan. Democrats haven't scheduled so much as a committee hearing for Donald Berwick but the mere possibility of allowing the American people the opportunity to hear what he intends to do with their health care is evidently reason enough for this Administration to sneak him through without public scrutiny. Just over three months after passage of this misguided law, with Americans' worst fears about it being realized every day, the fact that this Administration won't allow the man charged with implementing the President's plan to cut $500 billion out of Medicare to testify about his plans for the care of our nation's seniors is truly outrageous.”
Dr. Donald Berwick can do a lot of damage in two plus years. While the lame stream media mocked Sarah Palin for identifying the elitist's agenda of rationed health care and death panels, we now note the formal rolling out of the rationed health care agenda by Obama's recess appointee. From history, we learn that before the German government moved against the Jews, Hitler had at his side his escort physician Dr. Karl Brandt who lead Hitler’s euthanasia programs.
Hitler, Brandt and others devalued life. Brandt created the organization for killing crippled children, and as National Health Commissioner ordered the murder of mental patients throughout the country. They killed the insane and the elderly under the disguise of economics. Then they moved onto other groups incarcerating them and killing them. Finally they actively pursued their "Final Solution" against the Jews while their country was falling in around them. After the war, Hitler had already committed suicide. Brandt and others were convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity and executed. What insanity are we allowing to be played out in America today? It was American Judges participated in judgment over these former crimes.
In the last two days, we have seen played out an interesting set of choreographed events by President Obama. First, President Obama moved to appease American liberal Jewish population by photo opting the scripted meeting with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who was at the same time not welcome to stay overnight in the White House. In this situation both Barry and Bibi needed something from each other and appeared before the public pleasantly engaged. In reality, Obama has no love for Israel as he does for the Muslim world. However he does need American Jewish voters and their money for this year's election. And Obama does not want to directly attack Iran, the home to one of the Muslim sects. Netanyahu the more experienced in global relationships was willing to suffer limited humiliation for the good of Israel. He needed cover for potential actions against Iran a threat to both Israel and the U.S.
As for the second, it was previously discussed. Obama moves today on the referenced recess appointment to install his own scripted representation of "Dr. Death." Watch-out America, Rationed Health Care has Arrived! Tags:Washington, D.C., US Senate, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, Iran, Barack Obama, recess appointment, rationed health care, Donald Berwick, Medicare, Medicaid Services, Germany, Hitler, Karl Brandt, euthanasiaTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
NASA Director Charles Bolden created a firestorm after telling Al Jazeera last month that President Obama told him before he took the job that he wanted him to do three things: inspire children to learn math and science, expand international relationships and "perhaps foremost, he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science ... and math and engineering." In the same interview, Bolden also said the United States, which first sent men to the moon in 1969, is no longer capable of reaching beyond low earth orbit without help from other nations.
Officials from the White House and NASA stood by Bolden's statement that part of his mission is to improve relations with Muslim countries -- though NASA backed off the claim that such international diplomacy is Bolden's "foremost" responsibility. White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said in a written statement that Obama "wants NASA to engage with the world's best scientists and engineers as we work together to push the boundaries of exploration.
Former NASA administrator Michael Griffin responded, "NASA ... represents the best of America. Its purpose is not to inspire Muslims or any other cultural entity." Griffin also said that collaboration with other countries, including Muslim nations, is welcome and should be encouraged -- but that it would be a mistake to prioritize that over NASA's "fundamental mission" of space exploration.
It appears that after President Obama closed down the Space Shuttle program and the Constellation program then moved to redistribute the focus and funding of NASA to the Muslim world. Bolden oversaw the cancellation of the agency's Constellation program, which was building new rockets and spaceships capable of returning astronauts to the moon. Stressing the importance of international cooperation in future missions, Bolden told Al Jazeera that the moon, Mars and asteroids are still planned destinations for NASA in partnership with the international community.
Obama's Plan for NASA : Forget Space, Improve Relations With Muslim World Tags:Global Warming, Charles Bolden, Barack Obama, Muslims, NASA, Political Cartoons, William Warren, political cartoon, video, Al JazeeraTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Governor: How Do You Plan To Repay That Federal Loan
Bill Smith, Editor: Is your state borrowing money from the Federal Unemployment Account(FTU)? Arkansans recently discovered that their State Government has borrowed from the FTU Account $390 million in advanced unemployment payments. Arkansas has a low population and incomes, and the payback of this debt is very significant. Today, the Republican Party of Arkansas asked Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe: How do you plan on repaying this loan while still complying with the Arkansas Constitution which requires a balanced budget?
To put the above debt in perspective, as of 2009 when Arkansas borrowed the money, it had a population of 2,889,450. Forty five percent (45%) of the population was under 18 or over age 65. Twenty percent (20%) of the population has a disability. In 2008, over 17% were below the poverty level which was 5% above the National poverty average. Arkansas per capita income was $16,904. [Source: Census Data]
The Arkansas Policy Foundation reported in March 2010, that full-time Arkansas state government employment has expanded 72% in the last 25 years. At the rate of growth, state employment will double from the present 57,179 employees by the end of the decade. In the last 25 years, Government Higher Education doubled and makes up for 44% of state employees while Social Welfare programs account for 18%. The Arkansas Department of Finance and Accounting doubled in size while the Arkansas Department of Corrections tripled in employees. Only one department, the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation, declined 3.4% in size.
To understand the full impact of government employment in Arkansas, one would have to add to the State Government totals the number of all elected politicians, county employees, city employees, state employees, elementary and secondary public school teachers and employees, and federal government employees (military bases, Corp of Engineers, Federal Courts, and all Federal offices in Arkansas). In Arkansas, government is the major employer which is paid for by varied forms of taxes, fees and charges. The impact of Government directly influences the number of lawyers, lobbyists, bonding agencies, government suppliers, and contract employees associated with government
In 2009, 43% of Arkansas population was employed and of the total people employed only 18% worked in tangible farming, construction, manufacturing, mining and logging jobs while the other 82% worked in government, professional, educational, financial and service jobs. It is time for Arkansas to change its dependency on Government for employment and to work to develop private employment jobs. While other states are on their way to bankruptcy, Arkansas still has time to shift direction. They can begin doing so at the polls in November.
A good start this year would be for Arkansans to elect fiscal conservatives to all office, especially to the state offices. It is time to replace the liberal elitist Democrats who continue to expand government and in-debt it citizens. It is critical for Arkansans to be on a safe secure basis while the rest of the country flounders. The allegiance of the Governor, Lt Governor and others should be solely to Arkansas and not to the Obama administration and the Federal Government. In November, Arkansans have the opportunity to choose a path of freedom and prosperity verses the path established by elitist which expands government spending, creates higher taxes and expanded debt and restricts the exercise of individual freedoms. Tags:Arkansas, Governor, Mike Beebe, federal loan, debt, unemployment payments, government jobs, employment, Republican, Democrat, 2010 ElectionTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Today in Washington, D.C. - July 6, 2010 - Obama & DOJ Sue Arizona - Pelosi Creates Slush Fund for California in Military War Bill - Jobs Lost Due To ObamaCare
DOJ at President Obama insistence is suing Arizona over the state's immigration law. At the same time, the President Obama and his administration have ignored the invasion of America on our Southern borders especially on Dept of Interior lands in Arizona where murder and rape are occurring. It is obvious that Obama is playing politics verses being the President of the LEGAL (lawful) citizens of the Unites States. Both Arizona's Senators Jon Kyle and John McCain were aghast at DOJ suing Arizona. Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell said, “Suing the people of Arizona for attempting to do a job the federal government has utterly failed to execute will not help secure our borders. If the President wants to make real progress on this issue, he can do so by taking amnesty off the table and focus his efforts on border and interior security. It is long past time for this administration to prioritize solving a crisis over imposing an agenda and the first step is to recognize that attorneys and amnesty are not acceptable alternatives to border security and job creation.”
Yesterday the editor of ARRA News Services addressed Speaker Pelosi pushing action to attach a document to the House proposed War Supplemental Bill which is "Deeming Budget Passed Without A Budget." Now we learn that Speaker Pelosi also attached a $10 billion political slush fund identified as state education funding to the pending war supplemental bill last week. The proposed funds would be used to bail out bankrupt states like California and New York that refuse to make necessary cuts to balance their budgets, and whose teacher unions have run up an unsustainable tab for taxpayers. Bill Wilson of Americans for Limited Government responded: " Nancy Pelosi's House is willing to put the mission in jeopardy by holding the supplemental hostage to a bailout of their favored political constituency. This is unacceptable to the American people, who expect troops in harm's way to be funded without controversy. The Senate must do its part to remove any public union bailouts and pass a clean war supplemental."
It’s been a few days since the last story detailing the negative consequences of President Obama’s massive, unpopular health care law, which was the costly tanning tax hitting small business owners across the country going into effect last week. But sure enough, there’s another today. The Cleveland Plain Dealer has a must-read article explaining how restaurants across the country, and especially Ohio-based White Castle are going to have much higher expenses face fines, and may even be forced to lay off workers thanks to the health care bill.
The Plain Dealer reports, “The White Castle hamburger chain fears that a health insurance reform law adopted earlier this year will put its profits on a downward slide. The Columbus-based family owned restaurant chain . . . says a single provision in the bill will eat up roughly 55 percent of its yearly net income after 2014. Starting that year, the bill levies a $3,000-per-employee penalty on companies whose workers pay more than 9.5 percent of household income in premiums for company-provided insurance. White Castle, which currently provides insurance to all of its full-time workers and picks up 70 to 89 percent of their premium costs, believes it will likely end up paying those penalties. The financial hit will make it hard for the company to maintain its 421 restaurants, let alone create new jobs, says company spokesman Jamie Richardson. White Castle employs more than 10,000 people nationwide, and more than 1,200 in Ohio.”
But it’s not just Ohio restaurants that are going to be hit with all these new costs. National Council of Restaurants “vice president Scott Vinson says the entire restaurant industry will have trouble dealing with costs the bill imposes in 2014, including a $2,000-per-worker penalty that companies with more than 50 employees must pay if their workers end up purchasing federally subsidized insurance rather than getting insurance from their employers. ‘There is the expense of actually providing the insurance, then the expense of not providing insurance,’ says Vinson. ‘It will be expensive either way.’”
The Plain Dealer also spoke with George Ebinger of New Jersey, who owns a number of IHOP restaurants. “He figures he will have to raise prices and possibly lay off workers to come up with the $220,000 he anticipates the penalties will cost. ‘We are still figuring out how to deal with this,’ says Ebinger. ‘Ultimately, either businesses will close or consumers will pay more.’”
Reacting to the White Castle news, House Republican Leader John Boehner, who also hails from Ohio said, “The irony is that in the name of expanding health care coverage, the administration is making it harder than ever for unskilled workers to get started in the workforce.”
The Plain Dealer also notes, “White Castle, which began offering health insurance to workers in 1924, is also examining whether it would make financial sense for the company to eliminate health insurance coverage altogether and have all its employees buy insurance on the federal exchange, says Richardson.” And White Castle isn’t the first employer to contemplate doing so.
Wasn’t health care reform supposed to save money on health care? Didn’t Democrats repeatedly promise that if you like your health care plan, you can keep it? Every week Americans are seeing more and more the negative impacts of Democrats’ health care law, which a majority opposed to begin and continue to view unfavorably. It should be repealed and replaced before any more damage is done to the economy and out health care system. Tags:Washington, D.C., US Senate, US House, US Congress, War Supplemental Defense bill, Nancy Pelosi, earmarks, waste, health care law, job losses, Barack Obama, DOJ, suing Arizona,To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Pelosi Black Magic: Deeming Budget Passed Without A Budget
By Bill Smith / Ozark Guru: Many are aware that the proposed War Supplemental Bill in the House Democrats is loaded with 61% non-military earmarks. More info on this at Democrats Load Troop Funding With Pork-Barrel Spending.
But there is greater travesty related to this bill which clearly defines why Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats need to be replaced in Congress. Previously, we noted that the House Democrat leaders were failing (refusing) to introduce a required Congressional Budget for 2011 and a planned "deeming ploy" might occur. Democrats did not want to be on record with a proposed budget for 2011 which they would have to defend with their constituents before the November 2010 elections. Also, they did not want to comply with their own Democratic "Pay Go" rules which requires them to define where they are going to get the funding (new money or cuts in spending in other government programs) for budgeted items. Without a budget, Congress would be forced to fund existing government programs by passing continually resolutions and the growth of government would be debated and likely restricted.
In the land of Fairy tales, we expect to find the Wicked Witch of the West and unreal things to happen. But on July 1st, in the US House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi took on the roll of the Wicked Witch of the West and with her entourage of big spending liberals used "black magic" to "Deem" a 2011 budget into existence. They called for a procedural vote to attach a non-relevant document to the War Supplemental Bill needed to fund our military in a war. The document "deemed as passed" a non-existent $1.12 trillion 2011 budget. Pelosi and her cohorts took fiction and deemed it to be true. They "deemed" a budget to be both real and passed without the budget having existed or having been voted on by the House of Representatives. The execution of the "deeming" document will allows Democrats to start spending money for Fiscal Year 2011 without the constraints of having to introduce or pass a tangible real budget which can be read by the public and debated by your elected representatives.
The "deeming" document passed by 5 votes with 215 Democrats voting in favor and 210 voting against (172 Republicans and 38 Democrats). Connie Hair of Human Event summed up the situation: "Never before -- since the creation of the Congressional budget process -- has the House failed to pass a budget, failed to propose a budget then deemed the non-existent budget as passed as a means to avoid a direct, recorded vote on a budget, but still allow Congress to spend taxpayer money."
House Budget Committee Ranking Member Paul Ryan (R-WI) warned: "Facing a record deficit and a tidal wave of debt, House Democrats decided it was politically inconvenient to put forward a budget and account for their fiscal recklessness. With no priorities and no restraints, the spending, taxing, and borrowing will continue unchecked for the coming fiscal year. "The so-called ‘budget enforcement resolution’ enforces no budget, but instead provides a green light for the Appropriators to continue spending, exacerbating our looming fiscal crisis." A full Republican Budget Committee staff analysis of the Majority’s Budget Deemer: "An Admission of Fiscal Failure" Tags:US House, Speaker, Democrats, no budget, deeming, Nancy Pelois, wicked witch, lies, speaker of lies, deceptive practicesTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today released a new web video challenging President Obama to focus on the American people's priorities after the release of yet another disappointing jobs report. The video, entitled "What About The Country, Mr. President?," features questions posed by Boehner to President Obama regarding jobs, spending, the financial meltdown, and the Gulf oil spill:
SCRIPT: "WHAT ABOUT THE COUNTRY, MR. PRESIDENT?" House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH): "This week, President Obama traveled to Racine, Wisconsin -- a city with 14 percent unemployment -- and used his time there to attack me. But I'd ask the President several questions:" President Obama: "In the Gulf, we don't yet know what caused the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig." Boehner: "Why aren't you focused on stopping the oil spill in the Gulf and getting the Gulf cleaned up?" President Obama: "The second thing we've got to do is make sure that we've got regulations in place so that people don't get tricked into buying homes that they can't afford again." Boehner: "Why aren't you focused on reforming Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?" President Obama: "The debt is getting bigger, the deficit is getting bigger. How do we get government spending under control?" Leader Boehner: "Why aren't you focused on cutting spending now?" President Obama: "So if I had been just thinking politics I would have sent you one big check with my picture on it." Leader Boehner: "Why isn't the President focused on creating jobs that the American people are asking for?" Leader Boehner: "Mr. President, what about the country?" Tags:Barack Obama, John Boehner, important questions, videoTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
The ARRA News Service and the Arkansas Republican Assembly join you in celebrating our nation's 234rd Birthday - Independence Day. God Bless America and our armed service men and women.
Tags:2010, 4th of July, Arkansas Republican Assembly, ARRA, ARRA News Service, Independence Day, William WarrenTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Personal Tweets by the editor: Dr. Bill - OzarkGuru - @arra
#Christian Conservative; Retired USAF & Grad Professor. Constitution NRA ProLife schoolchoice fairtax - Editor ARRA NEWS SERVICE. THANKS FOR FOLLOWING!
To Exchange Links - Email: editor@arranewsservice.com!
Comments by contributing authors or other sources do not necessarily reflect the position the editor, other contributing authors, sources, readers, or commenters. No contributors, or editors are paid for articles, images, cartoons, etc. While having reported on and promoting principles & beleifs beliefs of other organizations, this blog/site is soley controlled and supported by the editor. This site/blog does not advertise for money or services nor does it solicit funding for its support.
Fair Use: This site/blog may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such material is made available to advance understanding of political, human rights, economic, democracy, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a 'fair use' of such copyrighted material as provided for in section Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 of the US Copyright Law. Per said section, the material on this site/blog is distributed without profit to readers to view for the expressed purpose of viewing the included information for research, educational, or satirical purposes. Any person/entity seeking to use copyrighted material shared on this site/blog for purposes that go beyond "fair use," must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Bill Smith, Editor: Is your state borrowing money from the Federal Unemployment Account(FTU)? Arkansans recently discovered that their State Government has borrowed from the 
