Restoring Honor Rally, 8/28

What a day yesterday in Washington!  If the attendance yesterday on the Mall was any indication of the political sediment of Americans, the Left is in big trouble in early November.  From everything you read in or saw on the Mainstream Media, this rally was to be sparsely attended.  Gee, what a surprise!  The media grossly underestimated the attendance.  This photo looks like a few more than "5,000 radical racists and religious kooks" as predicted by the Left.  I'm sure we'll read and hear this week that Beck and Palin doctored the photo in Photoshop....

Empire State Bldg Not Lit For Mother Teresa Birthday

The Empire State Building was lit in red, white and blue on Thursday night for women's suffrage as more than 100 people protested a refusal by the iconic skyscraper's owner to mark Mother Teresa's 100th birthday.

Yet the colors that the Catholic League had requested in her honor were the most luminous against the darkened skyline: The building's 203-foot pinnacle blazed a brilliant blue, while the stories just below glowed a frosty white. A fading red was just visible underneath.

The colors chosen were intended to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which gave women the right to vote.

Nevertheless, more than 100 people led by the Catholic League protested the building owner's decision to deny the organization's request to change the colors of its lights to blue and white in honor of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning nun.

Illuminating the 102-story Manhattan skyscraper in different colors is a tradition. The building has been lit up for the release of Mariah Carey's album in 2008, for the 25th anniversary of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in 2009, for religious holidays such as the end of Ramadan and Easter and for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

But the building's owner, Anthony Malkin, declined the Catholic League's request to honor the ethnic Albanian nun, citing a policy of not illuminating the edifice for religious figures. Malkin did not respond to a phone message on Thursday requesting comment.

New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan said Mother Teresa, who was born Aug. 26, 1910, may not have approved of the brouhaha over the lighting of the skyscraper.

Dolan, speaking at St. Patrick's Cathedral with members of Mother Teresa's order in the pews dressed in the blue-and-white saris she favored, said she "might be a little unhappy."

"She was humility personified," he said. "She didn't like a lot of attention."

Mother Teresa died Sept. 5, 1997, at age 87. In 2003, she was beatified by the Roman Catholic Church — a step toward possible sainthood.

In her honor, billboards in Times Square were illuminated.

Virginia Able to Regulate Abortion Centers

In an opinion released late last week, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli states that the Commonwealth of Virginia can regulate abortion centers absent legislation by the General Assembly. This means that these centers can be regulated through the state’s normal regulatory process.

The opinion was sought by state Senator Ralph Smith (R-22, Roanoke) and Delegate Bob Marshall (R-13, Manassas).

Providing safety standards for Virginia’s abortion centers has been a legislative priority for The Family Foundation for many years. Until the mid 1980s centers were regulated but that ended due to constitutional concerns. Since that time, abortion centers have been seen by the state as doctor’s offices, which require no emergency equipment for resuscitation or hemorrhage. The Family Foundation has worked to improve safety standards in abortion centers to those required for ambulatory (outpatient) surgery centers. After all, abortion is an invasive, surgical procedure.

Of course, the abortion industry in Virginia, Planned Parenthood and NARAL, have fought with all their might against safety standards for their centers. They argue that the procedure is safe, despite the fact that the state doesn’t have any reporting requirements for complications to abortion (also fought against by the abortion industry) so there is no way to really know. They also argue that abortion centers shouldn’t be “singled out” for regulation. What they don’t say is that other outpatient surgery businesses are self-regulated through respected, national accreditation organizations that require significant safety measures for their seal of approval. No such respected accreditation group exists for abortion.

The Attorney General’s opinion gives Governor McDonnell’s administration the opportunity to create necessary regulations for abortion centers without approval from the General Assembly. Since state agencies such as the Board of Health already have the power to regulate medical facilities this is not a new policy or a policy change that should require legislation. Previous governors simply have not acted on this ability.

(Source:  Family Foundation)

Some Light Political Humor...

Father O'Malley rose from his bed. It was a fine spring day in his new Washington D.C. parish. He walked to the window of his bedroom to get a deep breath of air and to see the beautiful day outside. He then noticed there was a jackass lying dead in the middle of his front lawn.

He promptly called the U.S. House of Representatives for assistance. The conversation went like this: "Good morning. This is Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. How might I help you?”

”And the best of the day te yerself. This is Father O'Malley at St.Brigid's. There's a jackass lying dead on me front lawn. Would ye be so kind as to send a couple o'yer lads to take care of the matter?"

Speaker Pelosi, considering herself to be quite a wit, replied with a smarmy voice, "Well now father, it was always my impression that you people took care of last rites!"

There was dead silence on the line for a long moment. Father O'Malley then replied: "Aye, that's certainly true, but we are also obliged to first notify the next of kin."

Reagan vs. The Current Left

Heard the audio track from this effective video produced by the House Republican Study Committee on the Mark Levin Show the other night.  This is must-see tv...

Wisconsin's Scott Walker Goes After the Obama Administration on Rail Transportation Stimulus Spending

In another chapter of a well orchestrated campaign, Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker recently launched another in a series of targeted strikes against his November opponent (Tom Barrett) as well as President Obama. 

Following his effective "Brown Bag Movement" series of ads, talking points, and speeches, Walker has now developed the "Stop the Train!" slogan.  Walker wrote the following letter to President Obama:

Dear President Obama:

Last month, U.S. Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood was in Wisconsin to release $46.7 million of the $810 million in federal stimulus money designated for a train line between Milwaukee and Madison. Releasing these federal funds now is both premature and irresponsible. Public support for the Madison-Milwaukee train has fallen to just 41% as weary taxpayers watch our roads and bridges crumble without sufficient funds to repair them.

Still, Secretary LaHood declared that: “High-speed rail is coming to Wisconsin," and "there's no stopping it."

I am drawing a line in the sand Mr. President: No matter how much money you and Governor Doyle try to spend before the end of the year, I will put a stop to this boondoggle the day I take office.

It’s outrageous for Secretary LaHood to suggest that your administration can force Wisconsin to continue building a train it doesn’t want and cannot afford. Almost as outrageous as the fact that the decision to saddle Wisconsin taxpayers with untold millions in operating and maintenance costs, forever, was never debated or voted on by the Wisconsin legislature. If it had been, this letter would not be necessary.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, my opponent in the race to replace Governor Doyle, has made the Milwaukee to Madison train the centerpiece of his economic development plan for Wisconsin. The Mayor tells us that spending $810 million on high-speed rail will create thousands of new Wisconsin jobs, but according to the federal government’s own estimate, the total number of permanent jobs created will be 55. That’s $14.5 million per job, not including any hidden costs!

As for hidden costs, no one in your administration, nor Governor Doyle or Mayor Barrett can provide an accurate estimate of what it will cost to operate and maintain the new rail line. Rail projects in numerous other areas have seen original cost estimates skyrocket once construction begins.

In addition, study after study shows that rail passenger fares are likely to cover only 20% of the operating costs. That leaves hardworking Wisconsin families to pick up the other 80% through higher taxes and fees.

It’s reckless of Governor Doyle and Mayor Barrett to commit to spending $810 million of our money on a boondoggle train when we can’t even afford to fix our roads and bridges. Our state is facing a $2.5 billion hole in next year’s budget and a list a mile long of transportation needs. If your administration is truly interested in helping Wisconsin build the transportation infrastructure it needs and desires, you should allow us to use this money for roads and bridges instead.

Governor Doyle and Secretary LaHood say we can’t stop the train. I say, just watch us.

Sincerely,

Scott Walker
Milwaukee County Executive
Republican Candidate for Governor

This "Stop the Train!" initiative has garnered national attention and exposure for Walker and shows voters in Wisconsin, once again, why he is the best candidate for the job.  The RC Blog applauds Walker and his staff for developing this effective piece.

Control Freaks - 7 Ways Liberals Plan to Ruin Your Life

Listened to C-SPAN on Friday morning and heard Terry Jeffrey, editor-in-chief of CNSNews.com, who recently released a book called, "Control Freaks - 7 Ways Liberals Plan to Ruin Your Life" (click here to order).  Sounds like a great book and Jeffrey had the Left-minded callers all up in arms!

Here is a recent review on Amazon.com:

This is a perfect book for the times. Terrence Jeffrey clearly explains what Obama, Pelosi, and Reid are trying to accomplish and demonstrates why their policies, actions, and legislative tactics are against our Constitution, our heritage as a nation, and the will of the majority of Americans. (Of course, I hope we correct this in 2010 and 2012.)

Chapter One shows how Obama, our disgraceful transportation secretary Ray LaHood (a nominal Republican from Illinois) are using the force of government to manipulate markets to force us out of our cars and even our homes to live in the "high density" housing environments they preferred we would inhabit. You see, they are not about enabling us to fulfill our dreams and live in freedom and liberty, but as far as they are concerned we exist to allow them to fulfill their dreams and visions.

The second chapter focuses on the lies that were used to create social security and why it is collapsing today. Mr. Jeffry shows why would all be better off caring for our own retirement and how to do it than allowing the control freaks to keep ripping us off. And no, none of this is about breaking our promises to those in or near retirement. The rip offs have gone on from the beginning. Did you now that Ida May Fuller, the first recipient of social security, retired at 65 after paying a 1% tax on her $900 salary as a secretary. She had paid in $49.50 from 1937 until her retirement in 1939. By the time she died in she had collected payments from 1940 until 1975. By her third check she had recouped everything from her "trust fund" and when on to collect a total of $22,888.92 of other people's money.

We next explore the way our Federal Constitution has been tortured and ignored by Congress, abetted by "living Constitutionalists" in the judiciary to accomplish an expansion of government to intrude into every aspect of our lives. "Freedom, what freedom? We just want the illusion of security! No matter if we ruin the country as long as I get mine!" is what too many of seem to be saying with our votes and inattention to what our government is really doing to us. It cannot and won't go on, my friends. Not much longer, anyway.

I found the chapter on the perversion of "public use" into "public purpose" and an analysis of the "Kelo" decision by the Supreme Court to be most interesting and useful. I think you will to. This is a huge threat to our lives and property. Of course, the Left doesn't much like the idea of Private Property. To them, everything belongs to the state and they allocated it as the 535 demigods in Congress, the Chosen One in the White House, and the 9 great priests in the Supreme Court see fit. What was it the Declaration says about government existing to protect our natural rights and what we should do if the government fails to protect us in our rights?

The chapter on the way the Left strives to control political speech is exasperating and yet we know from what we see on the news and read in the paper that it is absolutely true. They act as if our Founders wrote the First Amendment to protect pornography rather than political speech. Another chapter on health care and our right to life is also a very important read. Obama pretends that the notion of when life begins is "above his pay grade" when he is a candidate, but when he is in office as a state legislator, a federal Senator or our President, no one is more pro-Abortion than he. Wait until some bureaucrat decides you aren't worth the healthcare sources they would have to allocate to treat you. Even if you have your own money, they will withhold it from you. We have to fight this, folks. Seriously fight it and repeal it.

Which leads us to the culture war the Left wants to fight while preventing the opposition (you and me) from resisting their efforts to "fundamentally transform" our culture and our nation.

An excellent book and you will find you can read it quickly while getting good information you can look up and verify if you want to.

Please get and read this book.

More Damaging Information on Shirley Sherrod?

Take a look at the following information, which was provided to the RC Blog; no idea as to the originator of the write-up.  Very interesting stuff and worth reading and researching.

Andrew Breitbart is a media genius. He proved it originally with his brilliant handling of the ACORN ‘hooker’ scandal which he skillfully manipulated so that the corrupt media was forced, against its will, to broadcast corruption in one of Obama’s most powerful political support groups. But Breitbart’s handing of that affair is nothing compared to his brilliant manipulation of the Shirley Sherrod ‘white farmer’ scandal.

It all began last Monday, July 22, 2010.

As the country watched in horror, Breitbart released a snippet of a tape on his “Big Government” site which showed an obscure black female official of the Dept. of Agriculture laughing to a roomful of NAACP members about how she’d discriminated against a destitute white farmer and refused to give him the financial aid he desperately needed. As she smirked to the room, she’d sent him instead to a white lawyer – ‘one of his own kind’ – for help. The black woman was Shirley Sherrod – and almost immediately she became the center of a firestorm of controversy which exploded throughout the country.

Within a day of the release of that infamous tape, the head of the Dept. of Agriculture, spurred on by Obama, demanded – and received – Sherrod’s resignation. Breitbart had won.

But then seemingly Breitbart’s actions began to explode in his face. As Sherrod screamed in protest, FOX News released the entire text of her speech last March to the NAACP. And there on tape Sherrod was shown supposedly repenting of her racism against a white farmer and instead championing his fight to win funds to keep his farm afloat. Within hours of that entire tape being revealed, the entire world turned against Andrew Breitbart. Conservatives throughout the country were enraged that he’d endangered their reputations by releasing a ‘doctored’ tape. Breitbart, they thundered, had dealt a fatal blow to the conservative media.

I confess that I also was horrified at what I saw as the clumsiness and stupidity of Breitbart in ‘doctoring’ a tape to make a supposedly innocent woman look guilty. But now I discover I have been as guilty of haste to judgment of Breitbart as the Dept. of Agriculture was of Ms. Sherrod.

Only now am I realizing the real purpose for Breitbart’s release of that tape snippet. It was to allow him to cunningly trick the media into exposing one of the most shocking examples of corruption in the federal government – a little known legal case called “Pigford v. Glickman”.

http://pajamasmedia.com/zombie/2010/07/27/pigford-v-glickman-86000-claims-from-39697-total-farmers/?singlepage=true

In 1997, 400 African-American farmers sued the United States Department of Agriculture, alleging that they had been unfairly denied USDA loans due to racial discrimination during the period 1983 to 1997.” The case was entitled “Pigford v. Glickman” and in 1999, the black farmers won their case. The government agreed to pay each of them as much as $50,000 to settle their claims. But then on February 23 of this year, something shocking happened in relation to that original judgment. In total silence, the USDA agreed to release more funds to “Pigford”. The amount was a staggering $1.25 billion. This was because the original number of plaintiffs – 400 black farmers – had now swollen in a class action suit to include a total of 86,000 black farmers throughout America. There was only one teensy problem. The United States of America doesn’t have 86,000 black farmers.

According to accurate and totally verified census data, the total number of black farmers throughout America is only 39,697. Oops. Well, gosh – how on earth did 39,697 explode into 86,000 claims? And how did $50,000 explode into $1.25 billion? Well, folks, you’ll just have to ask the woman who not only spearheaded this case because of her position in 1997 at the “Rural Development Leadership Network” but whose family received the highest single payout (approximately $13 million) from that action – Shirley Sherrod. Oops again.

Yes, folks. It appears that Ms. Sherrod had just unwittingly exposed herself as the perpetrator of one of the biggest fraud claims in the United States – a fraud enabled solely because she screamed racism at the government and cowed them into submission. And it gets even more interesting. Ms. Sherrod has also exposed the person who aided and abetted her in this race fraud. As it turns out, the original judgment of “Pigford v. Glickman” in 1999 only applied to a total of 16,000 black farmers. But in 2008, a junior Senator got a law passed to reopen the case and allow more black farmers to sue for funds. The Senator was Barack Obama.

Because this law was passed in dead silence and because the woman responsible for spearheading it was an obscure USDA official, American taxpayers did not realize that they had just been forced in the midst of a worldwide depression to pay out more than $1.25 billion to settle a race claim. But Breitbart knew. And last Monday, July 22, 2010, he cleverly laid a trap which Sherrod – and Obama – stumbled headfirst into which has now resulted in the entire world discovering the existence of this corrupt financial judgment. Yes, folks – Breitbart is a genius.

As for Ms. Sherrod? Well, she’s discovered too late that her cry of ‘racism’ to the media which was intended to throw the spotlight on Breitbart has instead thrown that spotlight on herself – and her corruption. Sherrod has vanished from public view. Her ‘pigs’, it seems, have come home to roost. Oink!

Reports of Former U.S. Senator Ted Stevens, former NASA head O’Keefe Aboard Crashed Plane In Alaska

DILLINGHAM, ALASKA (BNO NEWS) -- A plane carrying eight to nine people crashed near the city of Dillingham in Alaska on late Monday, officials said on Tuesday. Reports said former U.S. Senator Ted Stevens, as well as former NASA official Sean O'Keefe were on board.

The 1957 DeHavilland DHC-3 Otter aircraft went down about 20 miles north of Dillingham on Monday evening, but the exact time of the accident was not immediately known. The Alaska Air National Guard responded to the scene at around 7 p.m. AKDT after another aicraft spotted the wreckage.

The Anchorage Daily News reported that friends of former U.S. Senator Ted Stevens fear he could have been aboard the aircraft. However, there was no immediate confirmation from his family or his staff.

A spokesman for the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company N.V. (EADS) said its North American CEO, Sean O'Keefe, was also on the aircraft. "Local authorities are reporting that there are survivors and a rescue operation is underway," said Guy Hicks, a spokesman for EADS North America.

EADS North American is the North American operation of EADS, an aerospace corporation based in the Dutch city of Leiden. It develops and markets civil and military aircraft, as well as communications system, missiles, space rockets, satellites, and other systems.

Sean O'Keefe is best known as the former Administrator of NASA and led the space agency from December 2001 to February 2005.

Maj. Guy Hayes, a spokesman for the Alaska Air National Guard, told the Anchorage Daily News that there are fatalities, but also survivors. "From what I'm told, there are survivors on this aircraft. I don't know how many could be fatalities at this point," he said.

Political Cartoon...

Social Security Trustees Report Just Released

According to the Trustees report, Social Security will run a cash flow deficit of $41 billion (0.3 percent of GDP) this year, will return to small surpluses in 2012-2014 of a few billion dollars a year, and then will begin running increasing deficits from 2015 onward. By 2020, the system will run a cash flow deficit of over $100 billion (0.4 percent of GDP) and by 2030 it will have a shortfall of nearly $460 billion (1.2 percent of GDP).

In the short-term, the health of the Social Security program deteriorated compared to last year's estimates, due to worse economic conditions. Over the longer-term, it improved somewhat, due to the effects of higher tax revenues resulting from more compensation in the form of cash wages as opposed to heath care benefits, resulting from health care reform.

Due mainly to aging and an expanding retired population, costs are expected to increase from 4.8 percent of GDP today to 6.1 percent of GDP by 2030. These costs are generally in line with last year's projections of 4.9 percent of GDP this year to 6.1 percent by 2030. Meanwhile, revenues are expected to be slightly higher than last year's projections, rising from 4.6 percent of GDP today, to 4.9 percent by 2020, and stabilizing at around that level through the 2030s before dropping down to 4.6 percent by 2080.

Over the next 75 years, on top of the $2.5 trillion in government bonds which are currently in the Social Security Trust Funds and which must eventually be repaid, the program still faces an average shortfall of 1.92 percent of taxable payroll-below last year's projected 2 percent shortfall, but a significant imbalance nonetheless.

(Source: Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget)

U.S. Economy Continues to Falter

The Federal Government reported this morning that U.S. employment fell for a second straight month in July as more temporary census jobs ended while private hiring rose less than expected, pointing to an anemic economic recovery.

The unemployment rate was unchanged at 9.5 percent in July for a second straight month, just below market expectations for a rise to 9.6 percent. The steady jobless rate largely reflected a drop in the labor force as discouraged workers gave up the search for jobs.  Glad to see that the Stimulus really worked.  Once the Census jobs are gone, the numbers will look even worse.

In addition to this great economic news, the WH announced late yesterday that another Obama economic "expert" is leaving.  Christina Romer, one of Obama's most vocal supporters of the Stimulus, will be heading back to California where she will teach economics at Berkley.  I'm sure she'll be welcomed with open arms at the epicenter of the Left.

Judicial Travesty In California

A Federal judge in San Francisco yesterday ruled that same-sex marriage is a Constitutionally-protected right under the 14th Amendment's Due Process and Equal Protection clauses.  Forget the fact that the ban is part of an amendment to the state's constitution, adopted by the people of the state.  This has been an issue where Federal courts, including the Supreme Court (Lawrence v Texas regarding sodomy), have been flat wrong over the last decade.  In Lawrence v Texas, Justice Scalia wrote in the dissent that the Supreme Court's decision regarding sodomy and the 14th Amendment would lead down the path of legally arguing in favor of same-sex marriage, which was the result of yesterday's decision in California.

The 14th Amendment has nothing to do with sex -- homosexual or heterosexual!  The Left continues to throw out the phrase "privacy in the bedroom" as a legal argument, which is completely ridiculous.  You can't kill someone in the privacy of your bedroom or take drugs in the privacy of your bedroom.  Yesterday's decision was nothing more than another step in the Federal Government's continual push to take away our ability as citizens to decide how much it can control our lives.  At some point, "We the People" have to stand up and decide who is going to decide our future -- Federal judges or us.  Next stop on this issue for California is the Supreme Court.  Sadly, previous rulings on this topic by the high court are pointing to a 5-4 decision in favor of same-sex marriage.
 

Cuccinelli on Greta Explaining Judge's Decision on Heathcare Lawsuit

Last night, Virginia AG Ken Cuccinelli appeared on Fox New's "On the Record with Greta" to explain the decision against the Federal Government's attempt to dismiss Virginia's lawsuit against ObamaCare.  Current score:  Cuccinelli 1, Obama 0 after the first inning.  Big first step, but a long way to go....

Virginia Wins First Step In Obamacare Lawsuit!

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli made the following announcement minutes ago:

In a decision released this morning, Virginia survived the federal government's motion to dismiss. This is the first of many hurdles we will be facing - but this is a huge victory nonetheless.

As you all know - how this case turns out will have huge ramifications for the cause of liberty and even Federalism itself. While we are still reviewing the 32-page ruling, I would still like to point your attention to one of the concluding paragraphs in the judge's ruling:

While this case raises a host of complex constitutional issues, all seem to distill to the single question of whether or not Congress has the power to regulate- and tax- a citizen's decision not to participate in interstate commerce. Neither the U.S. Supreme Court nor any circuit of appeals has squarely addressed this issue. No reported case from any federal appellate court has extended the Commerce Clause or Tax Clause to include the regulation of a person's decision not to purchase a product, notwithstanding its effect on interstate commerce. Given the presence of some authority arguably supporting the theory underlying each side's position, this court cannot conclude at this stage that the complaint fails to state a cause of action.

The secretary's motion to dismiss will therefore be denied. Resolution of the controlling issues in this case must await a hearing on the merits.

A copy of the entire decision can be downloaded by clicking here.