Can Big Government Be Rolled Back?

Michael Barone | American Enterprise Institute : It is a rare proposition on which liberals and conservatives agree: American history over the last hundred years has been a story of the growth of the size and powers of government. This growth has not been steady. Conservatives, with some bitterness, have embraced a theory of ratchets: in every generation, liberals succeed in ratcheting up the size of government and conservatives fail to significantly reduce it.

Liberal historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr., argued for a similar theory of cycles: we have periods when liberals succeed in expanding government and then periods when conservatives resist further expansion but do not roll back previous growth.  In Schlesinger’s view, each cycle of government growth begins with a major electoral victory for the Democratic party: Woodrow Wilson’s election in the three-way contest in 1912, the five consecutive victories of Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman from 1932 to 1948, the landslide for Lyndon Johnson in 1964, the victories of Bill Clinton in 1992 and Barack Obama in 2008.

The elections cited by Schlesinger can be taken as endorsements by voters of government expansion, though not unambiguously; note that Franklin Roosevelt in 1932 called for reducing federal budget deficits, and Bill Clinton in 1992 called for ending “welfare as we know it.” But other elections can be taken as repudiations of big-government policies. They include Warren G. Harding’s record-breaking winning percentage in 1920, the triumph of anti–New Deal Democrats and Republicans in 1938, the Republican congressional majorities elected in 1946, the significant Republican victories in 1966 and 1968, Ronald Reagan’s election in 1980, and the Republican congressional victories in 1994.

What follows here is an examination of the consequences of those elections. How successful or unsuccessful were the efforts to reduce the size and scope of government? What implications do these episodes have for those who seek to reverse the recent growth in government spending as a percentage of the economy, which rose from the 20–21 percent level in the years from the 1960s to 2007 to 24–25 percent today?
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Get Michael Barone's new book. Arthur C. Brooks is president of the American Enterprise Institute.

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Protecting the Second Amendment

"A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." - Second Amendment, The Constitution of United States

Rep. Rick Crawford (R-AR-01)

Rick Crawford: In the days and weeks following the horrific violence at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut politicians and activists groups have called for new gun laws and restrictions for gun owners. It is unfortunate that some would try to exploit this tragedy.

When I was sworn in to represent Arkansas’s First Congressional District in the House of Representatives, I took an oath to uphold the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens. The federal government should not compromise the ability of decent Americans to own a gun for protection or sport.

Since the founding of our country, “the right to keep and bear arms” has been a part of our nation’s fabric. Today, Second Amendment rights are most often associated with hunting and marksmanship. However, at the birth of our nation, the Second Amendment was added to the Constitution to ensure “a well-regulated Militia” could be formed to protect the “security of a free State.”

This week, the Obama Administration has indicated their willingness to use executive privilege to tighten gun laws. Instead of seeking to limit Constitutional rights, I am pushing for a thoughtful conversation about the steps that can be taken to protect our children. We must look at ways to improve identification, diagnosis, and treatment for people living with serious mental illnesses. There must be a national dialogue about the amount of violence that our children see in movies and video games and on television and the internet. We need to talk to gun owners about the importance of storing their firearms in secure and safe locations.

As a father of two young children, school safety is a major concern for my family. In Northeast Arkansas, we are all too aware of the reality of school shootings after the tragedy at Westside Elementary in Jonesboro in 1998. My thoughts and prayers continue to be with the families who lost their loved ones so close to the Christmas season. I hope you will join me in praying for the victims’ families so they might find peace after this shocking tragedy.
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Rick Crawford represents Arkansas’s First Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. Crawford serves on the Agriculture Committee and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. He and his family live in Jonesboro, Arkansas.

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Tags: 2nd Amendment, gun control, school shooting, Newtown, Connecticut, Jonesboro, Arkansas, Representative, Rick Crawfors, 1st Congressional District To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

The International Debt Crisis

Hillsdale College

Unfortunately, videos on forums like the following were not introduced early enough to make a difference in the November election. However, it is ever too late for people to be educated on issues to affect us and our responses to big government and politicians.

Speakers on this forum panel were:
Chair: Burton Folsom, Hillsdale College
Panelists:
“The State of the European Union”
Eamonn Butler, Adam Smith Institute

“The Debt Crisis in the U.S.”
Richard Rahn, Institute for Global Economic Growth

“The Role of China in the Debt Crisis”
James A. Dorn, Towson University
Hillsdale College, Free Market Forum :

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Time For Serious Action On Out Of Control Spending

U.S. Senator Deb Fischer Delivers Weekly Republican Address
‘The President will soon ask Congress to raise the nation’s debt limit—again. I believe we cannot agree to increase the borrowing limit without addressing our out-of-control spending. That’s why Nebraskans sent me here. That’s what the American people demand. And that’s what our children and our grandchildren deserve.’

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In the Weekly Republican Address, U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE) points out that with the tax debate over, Washington can now focus on the real source of our nation’s deficits: out-of-control Washington spending. Sen. Fischer calls on Congress to make the difficult decisions now: “It’s time for serious action. No more kicking the can down the road. No more using the threat of middle class tax hikes to force last minute deal-making. The debate over taxes and revenues is done. Tax increases barely pay for a few days of government spending and in all my years of public service, I have never had constituents ask me to raise their taxes. The problem is not that the American people are taxed too little; it’s that the federal government spends too much.”
Text of address:

“Hello, I’m Deb Fischer and I’m proud to represent the state of Nebraska in the United States Senate.

“For the past year and a half, I’ve traveled thousands of miles all across Nebraska visiting with community leaders and citizens to learn about their views and share my positions on issues. During that time, I’ve heard a single, consistent message over and over again: Washington must cut out-of-control spending.

“I agree and the American people are right to expect more accountability from their government.

“I recently saw a poll indicating three out of four Americans support spending cuts across the board. These hardworking taxpayers are tired of petty ‘beltway battles’ and they’re frustrated with the lack of progress from their elected leaders. In 2009, the President pledged to cut the annual deficit in half by the end of his first term. Instead, we have seen four straight years of trillion-dollar deficits and a national debt exceeding $16 trillion.

“Rather than cutting wasteful spending, the federal government added $4 billion each day to our gross national debt. This path is not sustainable. I support a more limited government that focuses on fulfilling its core duties and responsibilities. Only then can we identify the national priorities worthy of taxpayer funding.

“The Constitution clearly states that the top priority for Congress is to ‘provide for the common defense.’ Despite this core duty, nearly a trillion dollars in critical national security funding is slated to be dangerously cut from the defense budget over the next decade—all because some leaders in Washington can’t get their priorities straight.

“As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I’m 100 percent committed to both reducing spending and meeting my constitutional obligation to defend this nation. It is equally important to uphold America’s promises to active duty service members and veterans, those who have risked life-and-limb in defense of our nation. Keeping faith with these brave Americans is more than our responsibility; it is our honor to do so.

“It’s no secret that to cut spending, we must find ways to reduce the costs of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid—the primary drivers of our national debt. We must do so in a way that keeps our promises to America’s seniors, retirees, and those nearing retirement age. That is not a point for debate. But in order to save these popular programs, we must reform them. If not, they will no longer exist for future generations and will bankrupt us in the meantime.

“There is a general consensus that Congress must explore ways to act on entitlements, but there is little agreement on a way forward—and few credible solutions have been put on the table. As the 113th Congress begins, I challenge my colleagues to step off the sidelines and offer substantive ideas for real reform.

“Such reforms will require political courage and will demand strong leadership from the President and leaders of Congress. But without making these hard decisions, America will never rein in spending or achieve a balanced budget.

“The President will soon ask Congress to raise the nation’s debt limit—again. I believe we cannot agree to increase the borrowing limit without addressing our out-of-control spending. That’s why Nebraskans sent me here. That’s what the American people demand. And that’s what our children and our grandchildren deserve.

“It’s time for serious action. No more kicking the can down the road. No more using the threat of middle class tax hikes to force last minute deal-making. The debate over taxes and revenues is done. Tax increases barely pay for a few days of government spending and in all my years of public service, I have never had constituents ask me to raise their taxes. The problem is not that the American people are taxed too little; it’s that the federal government spends too much.

“While I may be new to Washington, I’m no stranger to making tough choices. I’m honored to serve the people of Nebraska, and I stand ready to work with the President and any of my colleagues—Republican or Democrat—to tighten Washington’s belt and cut the spending. Our economy and our nation’s future depend on it.

“Together, we can build a better America.

“Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.”

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Tags: U.S., Senator, Deb Fischer, out of control spending, federal spending, Republican address To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

The Height of Irresponsibility

WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell released the following statement regarding a letter from the Senate Democrat leadership to the President on the debt ceiling, and Washington’s out-of-control spending:“The Democrat leadership hiding under their desks and hoping the President will find a way around the law on the nation’s maxed-out credit card is not only the height of irresponsibility, but also a guarantee that our national debt crisis will only get worse.

“With the President asking Congress to raise the debt ceiling, Democrats in Washington are falling all over themselves in an effort to do anything they can to get around the law—and to avoid taking any responsibility for Washington’s out-of-control spending. Rather than offering any plan to break the spending habit that’s causing the problem, Democrats are looking at everything from the ridiculous (printing a trillion-dollar coin) to outright abdication of Congressional responsibility. But avoiding this problem will only make it worse, which is why many of us view the upcoming debt limit debate as a perfect opportunity to face up to Washington’s spending"

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Tags: President Obama, debt limit, Democrats, height of irresponsibility, To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Gore-y Details

by AF "Tony" Branco:

Big Albert does it again.  Albert Arnold (Al) Gore has proven to be scam artist on beyond belief.  And he continues to get away with it.  Selling his cable station, Current TV, to Qatar’s Al Jazeera, a  supportive of Muslim radical terrorists, for an reported $100 million evidences a new debt to his despicable character.

Gore said he "sold the network to Al Jazeera for ideological reasons. . .  . In a publicized internal memo announcing the sale . . . they sold Current TV to Al Jazeera, because “Al Jazeera was founded with the same goals we had for Current: . . "

And he didn't even assure his employees would be protected in the sale.  His prior Global Warming scam garnered him jointly held Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 -- he had to share it with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).  Gore said at the time that he would donate his share of the $1.5 million that accompanies the prize to the non-profit Alliance for Climate Protection. Thank providence, Al Gore never became president.

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Four Crisis On The Horizon Related To The Military

Military Officers of America (MOAA): The New Year’s Eve “fiscal cliff” scare might have passed, but any relief will be brief.

Over the next three months, the military community and the nation face four new and likely even more threatening fiscal confrontation deadlines:

• 1. Sometime in February: the president will send Congress his FY 2014 budget submission — we don’t know what to expect, but it could include proposals for significant new troop, pay, and benefit cutbacks.
• 2. Late February: the country is expected to hit the statutory ceiling on the size of the national debt. Many in Congress adamantly oppose an increase, but absent a deal to raise it, America would default on its debts; the last time Congress had a debt ceiling fight, America’s credit rating was downgraded, which tightened credit limits for individuals and companies. Any deal almost certainly will require more spending (including defense) cuts.
• 3. March 1: Sequestration (a $1 trillion, 10-year, across-the-board budget-cut) will go into effect unless Congress adopts an alternative for spending cuts/revenue increases. DoD would be required to absorb $41 billion in cuts before the end of October (a devastating cut in so short a time) and $450 billion more over the next 9 years.
• 4. March 27: The continuing resolution under which the federal government now is operating expires. Without an extension, the government will shut down. Here again, many legislators are talking about accepting a shutdown unless major spending cuts occur.

Any one of these problems would be a challenge for our rancorous Congress to address, but combine all four events converging in such a small amount of time, and it greatly increases the likelihood Congress and the administration will fail to reach agreements to successfully navigate all of these major pitfalls.

The consequences could be dire. Default on our debt, a government shutdown, or massive and immediate defense spending cuts could have a prolonged and negative effect — not just for currently serving and retired servicemembers and federal civilians — but also for America as a whole.

We have a seriously stormy few months coming before we learn whether increasingly fierce partisan acrimony can be overcome in the national interest or whether the divide is so severe our elected officials actually find “shooting the hostage” preferable to negotiating compromise solutions.
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MOAA is the nation's largest and most influential association of military officers. It is an independent, nonprofit, politically nonpartisan organization.

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Tags: military, crisis on horizon, funding, sequestration, pay, benefits, MOAA, To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Abandoning the Constitution

Editorial Cartoon by William Warren

by Bill Wilson: For much of its 236-year history, the federal government has accumulated new power by whittling away at the essential protections afforded to American citizens under the U.S. Constitution. In recent years this wholesale abandonment of our founding principles has rapidly gained momentum — accompanied by a skyrocketing government debt that now eclipses our nation’s annual gross domestic product.

“There’s a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics,” former U.S. President Ronald Reagan said in his farewell address to the nation in 1989. “As government expands, liberty contracts.”

No truer words have ever been spoken — yet in the last half-decade this nation has witnessed a stunning (and astronomically expensive) escalation of neo-fascism in America. And no political party, court nor ideological movement has proven able to blunt its building momentum.

During the debate over “Obamacare” — a massive, budget-busting entitlement funded with money our country doesn’t have — former New Jersey Judge Andrew Napolitano pointedly challenged then-U.S. Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) regarding the constitutionality of this socialized medicine monstrosity.

Clyburn’s response?

“There’s nothing in the Constitution that says the federal government has anything to do with most of the stuff we do,” he said.

Therein lies the root of our problem. The overt contempt for our Constitution displayed by Clyburn and other elected officials is precisely why government has become so unruly, so fiscally unsustainable and so dangerous. Tragically for our Republic, the U.S. Supreme Court empowered this view in its Obamacare ruling — inventing a new taxing authority to accommodate this abomination rather than following the law and protecting our liberties.

Decades of legislative overreach, executive power grabs and judicial activism have steadily diminished our freedom and free markets — a disintegration which may have already reached the point of terminal velocity. Our nation now prints unlimited piles of money with no congressional oversight. It taps our phones and emails with no probable cause. It compels us to purchase products or face stiff fines. And now it wants to strip us of our right to keep and bear arms.

Yet even these egregious incursions are not enough for some members of the professional left.

In a recent column published by The New York Times, Georgetown University law professor Louis Michael Seidman argues for the wholesale abandonment of the U.S. Constitution, decrying “all its archaic, idiosyncratic and downright evil provisions.”

“We have to give up on the claim that we are a self-governing people who can settle our disagreements through mature and tolerant debate,” Seidman writes, “we ought to try extricating ourselves from constitutional bondage so that we can give real freedom a chance.”

“Real freedom?” From “constitutional bondage?”

These assertions are demonstrably illogical. Arguing one’s freedom would improve by allowing government to tighten its grip is like arguing one’s breathing would improve by allowing an Anaconda to do the same. Yet we are supposed to accept the ongoing suffocation of our freedom and free markets in the name of expediting a socialist agenda that is bankrupting our country? And give up more of our money — and our guns — to the new overlords?

Like so many ivory tower leftists whose anti-American views hold sway in Washington, D.C., Seidman sees the Constitution as something to be shaken off — like a bad cold. Of course what he fails to recognize is that his prescription for constitutional emasculation would kill the very source of the federal government’s power and legitimacy.

Absent the Constitution, there is no government — only anarchy. One cannot destroy our founding document without destroying the nation it created (or what’s left of it). And make no mistake — once freed from any real or implied constraint, government becomes the tyranny our Founding Fathers (and most present-day Americans) fear.

In other words, it ceases to be America.
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Bill Wilson is president of Americans for Limited Government. You can follow Bill on Twitter at @BillWilsonALG. The content of the above article was first shared in Investor.com and on NetRight Daily

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Tags: the Constitution, Constitution, We the People, weakening constitution, endangering American Freedom To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Air Force Eyes Return of Mobile Nuclear Missiles

Dr. Bill Smith, Editor: As an retired Air Force officer with two tours in Air Force Strategic Missile Wings, the following article caught my attention.  The topic addressed has been considered and revisited before.  When the United States had overwhelming numbers of ICBMs with MIRV warheads and record numbers of aircraft capable of delivering nuclear bombs from varied locations, the attempting to hide ICBM missile on mobile transport was not considered a plausible necessity within the United States.  Obvious with the severe draw down of nuclear weapons under the Obama administration and the rising numbers of antagonist countries with or close to having ICBM capability, a return to strategic mobile platforms may be needed.

U.S. Air Force's 1980s-era “Midgetman” mobile missile launcher.
The service is looking again at installing nuclear missiles
on mobile systems. (Wikipedia Photo)

By Bob Brewin, Global Security Newswire: WASHINGTON -- The Air Force has dusted off plans more than two decades old to place fixed nuclear missiles on rail cars or massive road vehicles to protect them from a surprise attack.

The service also wants to explore alternatives to traditional missiles to carry nuclear warheads, which could include hypersonic aircraft capable of crossing the Atlantic Ocean in an hour, said Phillip Coyle of the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation, a former associate director for national security and international affairs in the Obama administration’s Office of Science and Technology Policy.

On Monday, the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., kicked off a study on modernizing or replacing its current fleet of Minuteman 3 nuclear missiles housed in underground silos in Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming. The work includes potential upgrades to the command and control system.

The center said it wants industry and academic help in analyzing the future of its Minuteman 3 nuclear missiles. The options include no upgrades, incremental fixes, new missiles stored in silos, and new mobile or tunnel-based systems. . . .

In September 2011, the Center for Strategic and International Studies reported that China had developed a mobile missile system, the same month Russia indicated it planned to revive its rail car based missile program, which began in 1983 but was scrapped in 2006.

Coyle said he was concerned that proliferation of mobile missile systems could lead to another arms race. “The Air Force will need to be careful that they don't stir up a hornets nest with proposals for mobile basing or advanced concepts other than the traditional booster and re-entry vehicle. The former could cause Russia or China to redouble their efforts on mobile basing of ICBMs, set off a new kind of arms race, and weaken U.S. defenses,” Coyle said.

He added that if the Air Force decides to pursue hypersonic aircraft to deliver nuclear warheads, this could confuse nuclear-armed countries such as Russia, which would not be able to determine if supersonic aircraft traveling at 4,000 miles per hour were carrying conventional or nuclear warheads, and potentially react with a nuclear strike. . . . [Full Story]
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Global Security Newswire is a produced by the National Journal.

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Tags: ICBMs, Nuclear Weapons Programs, USAF, Unites States Air Force, National Security To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Illinois: Drivers Licenses for Illegal Immigrants

by Warner Todd Huston: After a vote on January 8, Illinois is set to join only two other states, New Mexico and Washington, to allow illegal immigrants to apply for state drivers licenses. A third state, Utah, allows illegals to drive on temporary permits.

The 65-46 vote where 11 Republicans, some in leadership positions, joined Democrats to extend legal licenses came after a long, heated debate (SB 957).

Conservative activist William J. Kelly criticized the law.

"This kind of legislation has spurred a serious fraud problem in New Mexico and other states where it has been enacted," Kelly wrote in the State Journal-Register. "Papers have been forged, auto repair shops have been regularly listed as places of residence, and more illegal driver’s licenses schemes have caused headaches for law enforcement as foreigners from other countries come to the state to fraudulently receive a U.S. driver’s license."
Indeed, New Mexico's Governor has been fighting to repeal her state's licenses for illegals law.

Safety concerns were foremost in mind of detractors of this bill. One of the biggest concerns was that fingerprinting is not included in the law.

Supporters claimed that the bill would show Illinois to be a "welcoming" place for law-abiding illegal immigrants that just want to work and make a living.

"Our entire state would benefit from Senate Bill 957. If only half the 250,000 get [temporary licenses] and get insured, Illinois insurance policy holders would save $46 million per year," said Rep. Edward Acevedo (D-Chicago) on January 7. "Police officers would be able to know who they're stopping."

But at least one Illinois police chief disagreed with Rep. Acevedo. During the debate on the bill Hanover Park Police Chief David Webb told the House Transportation Vehicles & Safety Committee that there just weren't enough safety measures in the bill.

"Without these basic public safety and homeland security safeguards, this bill is unsafe," Chief Webb said.

Despite Rep. Acevedo's claim that more drivers will become insured with his law, the bill does not require proof of insurance before an illegal immigrant can get his license. Supporters say that such a requirement is unnecessary as the law already states that drivers have to be insured to drive in the Land of Lincoln. Further a provision in the law maintains that a police officer can confiscate the license if the illegal immigrant cannot produce proof of insurance on demand.
Detractors also point out that number of insured drivers did not materially increase in Washington or Arizona after those states passed their drivers licenses for illegals bills.

. . .  Read Full Story on Blogs For Borders

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Planned Parenthood And Cecile Richards's Group Made A Killing in 2012

Now that the country has maxed out its credit cards, the House is preparing to do battle over the debt ceiling. If Richards's group alone is blowing a half-billion dollar hole in our debt, here's a suggestion for GOP leaders. Make defunding Planned Parenthood a condition of raising the federal borrowing limit. What do conservatives have to lose -- except millions of future taxpayers if this madness doesn't stop? ~ Tony Perkins, Family Research Center

Greater Fitchburg for Life reported on Planned Parenthood's record number of abortions and on the Cecil Richard's Group making a killing at taxpayers expense. Following are excerpts of comments by Gary Bauer, president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families, and Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Center.by Gary Bauer: 2011 was a good year for the abortionists at Planned Parenthood, and a bad year for American taxpayers and innocent babies in the womb. According to various reports, Planned Parenthood performed a record number of abortions -- nearly 334,000 in 2011.

It also reported assets in excess of $1.2 billion, received a record $542 million in taxpayer funding -- 45% of its annual revenue -- and had more than $87 million in "excess revenue." That would be profits for a supposedly non-profit organization concerned about "women's health."

There is absolutely no moral justification for American taxpayers to be subsidizing the nation's largest abortion provider. But there is no economic justification either. Barack Obama has run trillion-dollar deficits every year of his administration. Yet, he was willing to shut down the government last year in order to keep your hard-earned tax dollars flowing to Planned Parenthood. This is madness. . . . Read Full Story

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by Tony Perkins: It's been 1,350 days since the Senate passed a budget, but the checks to Planned Parenthood keep flowing! While American companies suffer, business at Cecile Richards's group couldn't be better. According to the organization's latest annual report (FY 2011-12), it looks like the government helped Planned Parenthood to another record year. For the second time in as many years, Richards's "nonprofit" is celebrating more than a billion dollars in total revenue--and almost half of it came courtesy of U.S. taxpayers.

America's abortion provider managed to squeeze $542.4 million out of federal, state, and local governments last year--a $55 million bump from 2010. And judging by its $155 million profit, the organization hardly needed the money! Still, Congress insists on being Planned Parenthood's biggest benefactor--even if it means borrowing millions from China to pay for it. The government chipped in the lion's share of Richards's budget (45%) last year, and then raised taxes on us to keep the killing machine afloat. That should outrage every American, regardless of how they feel about abortion. The President complains about tax breaks for millionaires--while he supports welfare for billionaire organizations!

Fox News crunched the numbers and was shocked to find that government support for Planned Parenthood had jumped by 167% in the last 10 years alone. Of course, as more states aggressively step in to defund Planned Parenthood, the Left has been just as aggressive in filling the gap. They claim the money helps women, but based on this report, Planned Parenthood was too busy reelecting President Obama to help anyone! Cancer screenings (the theme of Richards's incessant election ads) dropped by a stunning 29% in 2011-12, and contraception services slumped 12%. Of course, the number of mammograms performed at Planned Parenthood stayed the same: zero.

While all of this "vital medial care" plunged, the group's primary moneymaker - abortion -- raked in more than ever. It was one of the bloodiest years in the organization's history, as unborn casualties climbed to 333,964 -- enough to fill Yankee stadium six and a half times. . . .  In just three years, Richards's group has claimed credit for 995,687 deaths through abortion -- and that doesn't include . . . women lost to botched abortions in the last 12 months. Perhaps the biggest misnomer about the organization is this: most people aren't planning parenthood when they visit these clinics; they're planning abortions. . . . Read Full Story

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Tags: Gary Bauer, Campaign for Working Families, Planned Parenthood, 2012, record year, abortion, abortions, Tony Perkins, FRC, Family Research Council To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

White House Gun Summit A Sham!

Beware politicians and others who attack
constitutionally protected individual freedoms.Fairfax, VA — Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement on today’s White House gun summit:“Today’s White House gun summit is nothing more than a sham.  Vice President Joe Biden’s vague threat issued in front of numerous anti-gun groups that Obama would bypass Congress and act using his ‘executive’ powers reveals that this Administration is not looking at violence, but rather at ways to impose even more restrictions on law-abiding Americans.

“The larger danger is that emboldened assaults on the U.S. Constitution and the protections it provides against a tyrannical government are accelerating.  A recent opinion piece by a Georgetown law Professor published by the New York Times argues for the wholesale abandonment of the U.S. Constitution, decrying ‘all its archaic, idiosyncratic and downright evil provisions.’

“Absent the Constitution, there is no government – only anarchy.  One cannot destroy our founding document without destroying the nation it created (or what’s left of it). And make no mistake – once freed from any real or implied constraint, government becomes the tyranny our Founding Fathers (and most present-day Americans) fear.

“In light of this growing mindset on the left, if Obama chooses to pursue a constitutionally questionable direction, one can expect a chorus of praise from the same voices who depend upon the constitutional protection of their right to express that view.  The missed irony is that if the Constitution is destroyed, everyone’s freedom is destroyed, not just the freedom of those who are currently fashionable to attack.”Americans for Limited Government is a non-partisan, nationwide network committed to advancing free market reforms, private property rights and core American liberties.

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Tags: White House, gun summit, a sham, Bill Wilson, Americans for Limited Government To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

FBI: More People Killed with Hammers, Clubs, Each Year than Rifles

NFRA: According to the FBI annual crime statistics, the number of murders committed annually with hammers and clubs far outnumbers the number of murders committed with a rifle.

This is an interesting fact, particularly amid the Democrats' feverish push to ban many different rifles, ostensibly to keep us safe of course.

However, it appears the zeal of Sens. like Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) is misdirected. For in looking at the FBI numbers from 2005 to 2011, the number of murders by hammers and clubs consistently exceeds the number of murders committed with a rifle.

Think about it: In 2005, the number of murders committed with a rifle was 445, while the number of murders committed with hammers and clubs was 605. In 2006, the number of murders committed with a rifle was 438, while the number of murders committed with hammers and clubs was 618.

And so the list goes, with the actual numbers changing somewhat from year to year, yet the fact that more people are killed with blunt objects each year remains constant.

For example, in 2011, there was 323 murders committed with a rifle but 496 murders committed with hammers and clubs.

While the FBI makes is clear that some of the "murder by rifle" numbers could be adjusted up slightly, when you take into account murders with non-categorized types of guns, it does not change the fact that their annual reports consistently show more lives are taken each year with these blunt objects than are taken with Feinstein's dreaded rifle.

Another interesting fact: According to the FBI, nearly twice as many people are killed by hands and fists each year than are killed by murderers who use rifles.
The bottom line: A rifle ban is as illogical as it is unconstitutional. We face far greater danger from individuals armed with carpenters' tools and a caveman's stick.
And it seems fairly obvious that if more people had a gun, less people would be inclined to try to hit them in the head with a hammer.
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National Federation of Republican Assemblies (NFRA) Note: We reprinted the full text of "FBI: More People Killed with Hammers, Clubs, Each Year than Rifles" by Awr Hawkins from Breitbart.com. Readers encouraged to visit the original.

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Tags: killed, murder, hammers, clubs, Crime, Gun Control, Gun rights, Self defense, Violence, NFRA, National Federation of Republican Assemblies To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Americans for Prosperity Responds to December Jobs Report

Unemployment remains stubbornly high at 7.8%

Arlington, VA – Americans for Prosperity, the nation’s foremost advocate for economic freedom, released the following statement from AFP President Tim Phillips:

“The December jobs report is a testament to the resilience of the American people, who continue a slow march to recovery hindered by the Obama administrations’ higher taxation and increasing regulation. Devastatingly, more than 4.8 million Americans have been without work for longer than 27 weeks and more than 12 million are unemployed. With this dismal pace of job creation the Great Recession jobs gap will not close until 2025.

“The President’s attempts to spend the economy back into recovery aren’t working. The $620 billion in new taxes in the fiscal cliff bill does nothing to address the underlying cause of our economic problems: overspending.” [Source]

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Tags: AFP, Americans For Prosperity, December Jobs Report, unemployment To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Who Is Really for Election Reform?

by Phyllis Schlafly, Eagle Forum: A top priority of Democrats nationwide is to try to expand early voting even beyond the more than 40-plus million votes that were cast on days other than Election Day in 2012 or by mail. The present system balkanizes and deprives our nation of the unifying value of one Nation on Election Day.

The Democrats know that their massive use of early voting was a major factor that enabled them to pile up the winning votes to reelect Barack Obama. Obama enthusiastically supports early voting; he urged 10,000 fans at his campaign speech in Urbandale, Iowa to vote right now “starting Sept. 27 … you don’t have to wait until Nov. 6 to vote.”

On the first day of the new Congress, the House Democrats showed what they think is really important by pushing (fortunately, unsuccessfully) for a new federal law that would require 10 hours a day of early voting for 15 days before any federal election. The bill also would have invented a new voting “right” that no one has to stand in line more than one hour.

Republicans think the goal of voting reform should be honest elections, not convenience, plus maintenance of safeguards against voter fraud and coercion of voters. Republicans want to make sure that only U.S. citizens can vote, that Voter-ID is used in every state, and that ballots from our armed forces abroad are really counted.

Early voting bypasses many safeguards for voting integrity such as having Poll Watchers from both political parties to monitor everything going on to deter polling-place monkey business. It’s expensive and nearly impossible to secure Poll Watchers for the many days of early voting that were allowed in Ohio (35 days) and other swing states.

Early voting is a liberal gimmick that disenfranchises Election Day voters by determining the outcome before Election Day and, contrary to liberal propaganda, early voting decreases overall voter turnout. Early voting increased substantially in Ohio in 2012, but overall turnout decreased significantly.

Early voting violates federal law, which for more than a century has required national elections to occur on the same day. Early voting adds heavy costs to the taxpayers and to the candidates because it significantly lengthens the campaign.

Early voting is unfair because it prevents voters from changing their minds up until Election Day. Early voting encourages uninformed voting because many voted before the presidential debates were held.

Early voting makes campaigns more expensive; it lengthens the time period for advertising. It harms third-party candidates who lack a political organization to get out early voters.

Early voting is a misnomer. More precise names would be premature voting, uninformed voting, or political machine voting.

What if jurors were allowed to decide they are tired of a lengthy trial and want to vote to convict a defendant midway through the trial and go home? Isn’t it just as important for voters to hear all the facts about candidates before voting?

Absentee voting provides another big opportunity for election fraud because it deprives many voters of our precious secret ballot. Here is one way that absentee voting works.

An Arkansas state legislator, Rep. Hudson Hallum, bribed voters with money and food to cast their absentee ballots for him, obtained and distributed ballots to those voters, and then collected them in unsealed envelopes. If the ballots were marked for Hallum’s opponent, Hallum pitched them. Hallum pled guilty to election fraud.

Mail-in ballots are subject to the same problem. Most of them are probably not secret ballots but are cast without traditional safeguards of secrecy and freedom from coercion, and you don’t know who is looking at them before they are dropped in the ballot box

Obama’s margin of victory was only a few hundred thousand votes in the four swing states of Florida, Ohio, Virginia and New Hampshire. That was far less than the number of mailed-in ballots cast.

Another easy way this racket works is to take absentee ballots to nursing homes and assisted-living institutions. The campaign worker “helps” the physically or mentally disabled senior citizens choose for whom they want to vote, marks the ballot, and then turns it in.

The Democrats’ party line is that voter fraud is a myth, but that illusion was dispelled by another stunning case of fraud by a prominent incumbent. The son and field director of U.S. Rep. Jim Moran, who has been in office for 22 years representing Virginia’s Washington suburbs, was filmed by videographer James O’Keefe advising an undercover reporter how to bypass Virginia’s Voter-ID law. The method was exquisitely ingenious: it called for creating fake utility bills on the internet to substitute for Voter-ID.

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Tags: Election Reform, Democrats, Republicans, election fraud, absentee ballots, early voting, Voter-id, voter identification, Eagle Forum, Phyllis Schlafly To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

What Being a Conservative Means for Jim DeMint

by Katie Nielsen, Heritage Foundation: Being a conservative, Sen. Jim DeMint says, means preserving the ideas and principles that work.

But being conservative doesn’t mean you can’t change and modernize to keep up with the times, he says. Rather, it means identifying and recognizing the policies that make life better and the country stronger, and preserving them and integrating them into new models as things change. It’s the principles behind the policies that work that are timeless.

In an interview for the forthcoming Heritage Members News, The Heritage Foundation’s president-elect said he believes Heritage is integral in preserving these timeless principles. Through our research, we have demonstrated that these policies have worked in the past and can work in the future.

The challenge, however, is that conservative ideas aren’t always well-marketed. The perception of conservative ideas diverges from their reality, says DeMint, who starts in April as Heritage’s president. This is a familiar problem for DeMint, who worked as a marketer before running for Congress. In marketing, facts don’t really matter to the consumer. What matters is what they perceive: perception is reality in this case, not truth.

Unfortunately, we live in a time in which people will ignore the facts and sound arguments. Instead, too many Americans believe the fantasies told to them:
"The other side, through fabrications and fantasies, has convinced a lot of Americans that policies that hurt them are really good for them. We as The Heritage Foundation have got to use our research and analytical capabilities to better understand perceptions that Americans have toward conservatism, so that we can figure out how to convince them that our ideas will make their lives better. We need to focus on 100 percent of Americans. It’s ironic to me that the people our policies help the most, such as the poor and minorities, are least likely to support our ideas. We’ve got a big job ahead of us– convincing these groups that our ideas work– and we are going to be ready to lead."Heritage’s role, DeMint argues, is to enlighten the American people by proving the failure of liberal ideas and the enduring strength of the conservative alternatives.

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Watch the new Heritage Foundation video to learn more about why Jim DeMint values work and family. Raised by a single mother, DeMint says he learned that work is a blessing that teaches self-reliance. Through work, he explained, you learn that “I can do anything I want to do if I just work at it.”
Additional Videos:
Part 1: DeMint on the Future of Conservatism
Part 2: DeMint on Success and Failure

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Tags: Heritage Foundation, Jim DeMint, conservative, conservatism, first principles, video, INSERT TAGS To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Griffin: USGS Nat Gas Report an ‘Inconvenient Truth for Those Who Seek to Ban Fracking’

Report: ‘No effects from gas-production activities’ found in groundwater samples

Rep. Tim Griffin

LITTLE ROCK – Congressman Tim Griffin (AR-02) issued the following statement after the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) released a report earlier today on the safety of natural gas production in Arkansas:“Today, I was briefed by the USGS on their study entitled, Shallow Groundwater Quality and Geochemistry in the Fayetteville Shale Gas-Production Area, North-Central Arkansas, 2011 [pdf]. Arkansas is an energy-rich state, and the Fayetteville Shale play has helped fuel our state’s economy.  Today’s report concludes that there is ‘no indication of systemic, regional effects on shallow groundwater quality from shale-gas production.’  The report is additional evidence that natural gas production is safe for our environment and communities.  While we must always seek to ensure that energy development is done responsibly, this report is an ‘inconvenient truth’ for those who seek to ban fracking."The USGS study’s conclusion was that “water quality [in the Fayetteville Shale play] is derived from… natural processes with no effects from gas-production activities.” [emphasis added]

The purpose of the study was to “describe general water quality and geochemistry of shallow groundwater in the Fayetteville Shale gas-production area in north-central Arkansas and evaluate the potential effects, if any, from activities related to shale-gas drilling and production.”  This yearlong study examined the water quality of 127 shallow domestic wells in the Fayetteville Shale play.

Two of the study’s authors are hydrologists with the USGS; the remaining authors are researchers at Duke University.  The report was prepared in cooperation with the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission, Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission, Duke University, Faulkner County, Shirley Community Development Corporation, and the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, and the USGS Groundwater Resources Program.  Read more about the report here.

The Fayetteville Shale play spans approximately 4,000 square miles and is one of the most productive shale plays in the country.  It is estimated that the Fayetteville Shale contains up to 20 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

According to the University of Arkansas, the average annual pay in the oil and gas extraction industry in Arkansas was $74,555 in 2010, twice the average pay of all industries in the state.  Further, the Fayetteville Shale play supports over 20,000 jobs and has added $12 billion to Arkansas’s economy since 2008.
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Congressman Tim Griffin was re-elected as the representative of Arkansas’s Second Congressional District. For the 113th Congress, he is a member of the House Committee on Ways and Means while also serving as an Assistant Whip for the majority.

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Tags: USGS, Natural Gas Report, Inconvenient Truth, Fracking, Rep Tim Griffin To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Supply Side's Back: The New A-Team Arrives

by Ralph Benko, Contributing Author: Washington, quietly, is re-orientating.  To be sure it still is sorting out what caused the financial crisis, the Great Recession, and the disorders that have ensued (from the application of bad medicine like bailouts and stimulus).  But there’s just occurred a dramatic changing of the guard in the GOP and in the leadership of its intelligentsia.

The Republican Party appears ready to put behind it the snakebit political era of the 2012 presidential cycle and the 111th and 112th Congress’s fixation on fruitless answers to problems besetting job creation and deficit reduction.  Approaches attempted in the past four years by well-intended Supercommittees, Gangs of Six, Hyphenated Commissions, the presidentially ambitious, and partisan bloggers are, obviously, except to the most stubbornly dogmatic politicos (such as President Obama), thoroughly discredited.

To paraphrase The Angels:  “Hey la, hey la, Supply Side’s back.” Outgoing Cato chief Ed Crane and the Brothers Koch together recruited John Allison as new president of the Cato Institute. And “he’s kinda big and he’s awful strong.”  Allison is no ordinary public intellectual.  He built a small regional bank, BB&T, into a triple-digit-billion dollar national titan — and without unjustly enriching himself.

Last year, Allison telegraphed his message in The Financial Crisis and the Free Market Cure: How Destructive Banking Reform is Killing the Economy.  As Allison is no ordinary public intellectual this is no ordinary book.  It is a reform blueprint with deep integrity.

The twelfth of ur-Tea Partier Saul Alinsky’s Rules teaches: “The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.” Allison’s constructive alternative has unimpeachable credibility. He authoritatively provides the policy community this crucial missing piece.

Part of Washington’s approach to the whirlwind it reaped in 2008 was to … sow more wind: Dodd-Frank.  As described by the National Center for Policy Analysis:

At least 10 federal agencies will be tasked with ensuring compliance with roughly 300 new rules created by Dodd-Frank, says the Congressional Research Service.  Several new agencies were created.  One of them, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), opened its doors recently.  The head of the CFPB will be appointed for a five-year term.  Once confirmed by the House and Senate, he or she will have free rein to spend $500 million without interference from Congress, since the CFPB is funded by the Federal Reserve, rather than congressional appropriations.

Dodd-Frank is Washington nakedly asserting power over a key sector of the American economy.  No good can come of this. Dodd-Frank is vague, burdensome, of no protective value, and anti-growth. Yet for all of that it is insufficient merely to rail against it.  America needs a constructive alternative.  Enter Allison.

Allison divides the causes of the financial sector’s meltdown into three parts: the Fed as primary cause, the FDIC as the background cause; and government housing policy as the proximate cause.

“What is interesting,” writes Allison, “is that the economists at the Fed know that bureaucratic price setting is a total failure.  They have observed this phenomenon in all socialist and communist economies.  They would not claim the ability to set the right price for an automobile, but they somehow believe that they can establish the proper interest rate for a highly complex economy in a globally integrated environment. …

“One reason for this phenomenon is that being a key decision maker in the Federal Reserve is intoxicating.  After all, the Fed is one of the most powerful economic bodies in the world.  Alan Greenspan is a classic example.  Before he became chairman of the Fed, he argued in Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal that the Fed should be abolished and the United States should go to a gold standard.”

Allison brings thoughtful solutions to the problems besetting both the banking industry and the American economy.  Many of our problems derive from inefficient, oppressive, and counterproductive regulation of credit markets.  Nor does Allison neglect the heart of darkness, our bureaucratic monetary policy:

“The most fundamental cure for this crisis and future financial crises would be to eliminate the Federal Reserve.  … Between 1870 and 1913, the United States experienced the greatest economic boom in history without a central bank.  …  While there were economic corrections during this period, none were as destructive as the Great Depression or even the lingering Great Recession. …  If the Fed cannot be closed and a private banking system created for political reasons, then the second best solution is to make the dollar convertible in a fixed exchange rate to a quantity of gold.  The conversion ratio would be based on current market prices with time allowed for the market to adjust to the announcement.”

The 2012 presidential election now is behind us.  In retrospect it feels as if the GOP had a nervous breakdown.  Its presidential candidates peripatetically alighted, weirdly and ineffectually, on such issues as vaccine scaremongering, secession, repealing the direct election of Senators, unspecified spending cuts, hinted disapproval of connubial acts between husbands and wives, even moon colonies.  The Republicans finally settled on a candidate who campaigned on the pathetically insufficient quality of non-Obamaness.  All this disappointed voters keen for recipes for economic growth, good job creation, and a champion for their constitutional rights and values.

In the campaign many of the presidential aspirants touched, if insufficiently, on the importance of reforming American monetary policy. The call for monetary reform developed so much momentum that the party placed a plank calling for a monetary commission in its national platform.  This resonated.  It continues to do so.

Each of the presidential aspirants, when touching on monetary reform experienced some electoral loft. National polling by Scott Rasmussen and regional polling undertaken by the American Principles Project (with which this columnist professionally is engaged) showed gold standard advocacy extraordinarily popular.

The GOP’s nervous breakdown recedes into the past.  A new, solid, generation of Republican leaders is taking the field.  The new GOP leadership actively seeks to replicate the hot growth exemplified by Reagan and Clinton.  That job growth came from policies — most notably lower marginal tax rates and good monetary policy — associated with one Rep. Jack Kemp.

The Washington Post fixates on the party’s institutional leadership — its Generals such as John Boehner and Mitch McConnell.  Just beneath that surface, the House GOP has invested its operational policy leadership — its committee chairmanships — in a rising generation of principled free market Supply Siders.  In the House these GOP “Colonels” — the ones setting the agenda — include the new JEC Chairman (and prime sponsor of the Sound Dollar Act) Kevin Brady, House Financial Services Committee Chairman (noted foe of Dodd-Frank and champion of good monetary policy) Jeb Hensarling, and exceptionally respected rank-and-file Members such as Jim Jordan.

In the Senate, Marco Rubio widely, and for good reason, is considered the most likely next Republican presidential nominee.  Tea Party Ted Cruz, dubbed by Mother Jones as the “Republican Party’s Barack Obama,” is proving a media magnet. These, plus the Senate’s number two Republican, John Cornyn, all have signed on to serious monetary reform.

A major lesson of 2012 is dawning on the new GOP A-team: the centrality of an economic growth (and constitutional rights) message and the excitement it produces among voters — conservatives, libertarians, tea partiers and independents.  Monetary reform, as anchored in the party platform, is the most obvious place to look to get the economy growing well again.  Bonus: monetary reform is an uncontaminated issue where Democrats, whether Blue Dog or Progressive, can, without violating principle, participate as equals.

Monetary reform is coming to the fore among the base and from public intellectuals such as the American Principles Project and the Lehrman Institute (both of which this columnist professionally is associated), Atlas Economic Research Foundation’s Judith Shelton, Reagan counselor and attorney general Edwin Meese’s influential Conservative Action Project (which recently called for the formation of a national monetary commission as one of its major Congressional priorities for the 113th Congress), and other figures such as Forbes.com’s own John Tamny and the New York Sun’s Seth Lipsky. Cato Institute, led by John Allison, is certain to be at the forefront.

The new GOP leadership team has a new generation of thought leaders formulating up-to-date prescriptions for doubling the growth rate from 2% to 4%, the prescription upon which both job growth and deficit reduction depend. John Allison’s The Financial Crisis and the Free Market Cure: How Destructive Banking Reform is Killing the Economy is an excellent resource to advance the renewal of equitable prosperity.
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Ralph Benko is senior advisor, economics, to American Principles in Action’s Gold Standard 2012 Initiative, and a contributor to the ARRA News Service. His article first appeared in Forbes

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Tags: Ralph Benko, Supply Side, GOP A-team, A-Team, conservative organization, conservatives To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Does Everyone Have the Right to Experience Life?

Dr. Bill Smith, Editor: We get so focused on the politics of the day, the news cycle filled with tragedy and mayhem, and the rapid pace of time and circumstances, that we often forget to look at the important questions like, Is There a God. Yes, I know that some have settled this question in their lives with a negative. But most of us are still asking, hoping, or have found an answer. However, this is not the question in the question being asked today.

Today's question is "Does Everyone have the right to experience life?" And, to present practical heartfelt answer to this question, I give you Carol,  who says,

Let’s talk about life. Let’s talk about these mornings when you feel like you’re the only person awake in the entire world. Let’s talk about the sound of a clear voice singing. Let’s talk about about the red color you get on your cheeks after being out on a cold winter day. Let’s talk about the sun warming your back at the beach. Let’s talk about the first cry of a baby.

Life is truly beautiful. It’s not always obvious or expected, but you can find the beauty of life in everything if you look for it. I love life and constantly search for these small beautiful things. I believe a lot of other people do that as well. Every time I find them, I feel blessed and rewarded.

I think there are very few people on this planet that wish they were never born, and if they did try to look for the beautiful things in life, they probably wouldn’t regret being born. Life on this planet is a privilege, but that privilege is a privilege to everyone. It’s not up to anyone else to dictate whether or not it’s yours.

I’m not saying this out of religious aspects, believe it or not, but it comes straight from my heart. . . .
Hope Carol's comments now have your attention. Please click to read her complete response to today's question.

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Tags: question, life, experiencing life, right to experience life, Does everyone have the right to Experiences life, To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Al Gorzeera - A Convenient Hypocricy

AF "Tony Branco:

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Tags: Al Gorzerra, Al Gore, Al Jessera, Glen Beck, TV deal, a convenient hypocrisy, Arab oil, hate Israel, Enemy of my enemy is my friend, editorial cartoon, AF Branco To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

There Are At Least 13 Tax Increases in 2013

Editor: In the past, we have shared numerous articles on tax increases that would affect the lives of Americans. Well the taxman cometh! We have passed the date for implementation - January 1, 2013. Below is a Heritage Foundation based article via one of its blogs, the Morning Bell.   Editorial Notes Added in [ ].
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Curtis Dubay, Morning Bell: New Year’s Day was tough for taxpayers. Thirteen tax increases kicked in. The deal that Congress and President Obama struck that finally — but only partially — avoided the fiscal cliff resulted in seven tax increases.

Those hikes combined with six tax increases from Obamacare that also began on New Year’s Day.

13 Tax Increases That Started January 1, 2013
 
Tax increases the fiscal cliff deal allowed:

1. Payroll tax: increase in the Social Security portion of the payroll tax from 4.2 percent to 6.2 percent for workers. This hits all Americans earning a paycheck—not just the “wealthy.” For example, The Wall Street Journal calculated that the “typical U.S. family earning $50,000 a year” will lose “an annual income boost of $1,000.”  [While this is an increase from the former day's rate, really, it is only a return to the established level of contribution to social security which Obama had pushed to be temporarily lowered to gain more votes and an attempt to stimulate the economy by ripping of the contributions to the security fund.]

2. Top marginal tax rate: increase from 35 percent to 39.6 percent for taxable incomes over $450,000 ($400,000 for single filers).

3. Phase out of personal exemptions for adjusted gross income (AGI) over $300,000 ($250,000 for single filers).  [Why should  these people be treated fairly, obviously they must make too much money  to be a reasonable human being.]

4. Phase down of itemized deductions for AGI over $300,000 ($250,000 for single filers).

5. Tax rates on investment: increase in the rate on dividends and capital gains from 15 percent to 20 percent for taxable incomes over $450,000 ($400,000 for single filers).

6. Death tax: increase in the rate (on estates larger than $5 million) from 35 percent to 40 percent.

7. Taxes on business investment: expiration of full expensing—the immediate deduction of capital purchases by businesses.  [Another penalty on small businesses which are not C-corps.  They cannot retain  a reserve of non-taxed income to make future purchases of equipment or buildings and are often denied the ability to pay on time thereby using future earnings.]

Obamacare tax increases that took effect:

8. Another investment tax increase: 3.8 percent surtax on investment income for taxpayers with taxable income exceeding $250,000 ($200,000 for singles).  [So, those who paid (invested their money) for their own future retirements now have to not only have to pay 85% on their social security because they have too much income but they also have to pay a penalty tax above the income tax on their investment income.]

9. Another payroll tax hike: 0.9 percent increase in the Hospital Insurance portion of the payroll tax for incomes over $250,000 ($200,000 for single filers).

10. Medical device tax: 2.3 percent excise tax paid by medical device manufacturers and importers on all their sales.  [Talk about stealing needed funds from Granny and GrandPa! Along with the cost  needed of medial supplies (devises), they now have to pay a penalty tax for living and not only on wheelchairs, adjustible medical beds, pacemakers, etc. but they will be pating a tax for all items labeled by DHHS as medical devises but right down to very smallest of items.  Looks like Government is unmecifully taxing the sick and the infirmed.]

11. Reducing the income tax deduction for individuals’ medical expenses.  [Sorry, if it costs you to much to live.  If  you have to pay all or most of your income on medical, too bad, Government wants the money.]

12. Elimination of the corporate income tax deduction for expenses related to the Medicare Part D subsidy.

13. Limitation of the corporate income tax deduction for compensation that health insurance companies pay to their executives.  [It is time for members of Congress, the President, Vice president, justices and judges and all other appointed and employed federal employees to be limited in their medical care on the same pro-rated basis as those in the private sector are limited. The only exemption are active duty and retired military who are forced to accept what ever medial services are offered.  And while were at it, let's tax Government elected and appointed officials and senior level government employees on their "platinum" benefits programs.]

Each of these 13 tax increases will slow the economy, meaning that businesses will create fewer jobs. Fewer jobs will make it even more difficult to land a job than it already is for the more than 12 million Americans looking for work. 

President Obama demanded these higher taxes. Obama’s tax increases, in Obamacare and through the fiscal cliff deal, will not curb deficits and debt, because growing spending is driving America’s budget crisis. Congress needs to immediately turn its attention to the actual cause of our deficit and debt problem: too much spending. The proper way to address this problem is through reforms to entitlement programs.

President Obama promised the American people a “balanced approach” of tax increases and spending cuts to reduce deficits and debt. He has achieved the tax increase portion of that approach. Now Congress needs to force him to follow through on the spending cuts portion.

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Tags: Barack Obama, businesses, capital gains, death tax, deductions, dividends, economy, estate tax, excise tax, fiscal cliff, income tax, investment, investment income, jobs, marginal tax rate, medical device tax, Medicare Part D, Morning Bell, Obamacare, payroll tax, social security, tax hikes, tax increases, Tax Rates, taxes, taxpayers, Wall Street Journal, workers To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!