Choosing The Right Lane To Follow

In pursuit of Constitutionally grounded governance, free markets and individual liberty

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"[T]he crisis is arrived when we must assert our rights, or submit to every imposition, that can be heaped upon us, till custom and use shall make us as tame and abject slaves." --George Washington (1774)

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Surprise! Jobless Claims Up 78,000 Week After Election; PA, OH Worst Hit

The Department of Labor has announced that new jobless claims rose by a staggering 78,000 in the first week after the election, reaching a seasonally-adjusted total of 439,000. Over the past year, and in the weeks leading up to the election, jobless claims were said to be declining, dipping as low as 339,000, with the media proclaiming that they had reached the "lowest level in more than four years." Now, suddenly, the news seems far less rosy. From the Department of Labor press release this morning:

In the week ending November 10, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 439,000, an increase of 78,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 361,000. The 4-week moving average was 383,750, an increase of 11,750 from the previous week's revised average of 372,000. Some of the new claims, especially in New Jersey, were due to Hurricane Sandy--but these were offset by a decline in claims filed in New York. The highest numbers of new filings came from Pennsylvania and Ohio, where there were thousands of layoffs in the construction, manufacturing, and automobile industries.  Both states had been targeted by the presidential campaigns. President Obama highlighted his record of job creation in Ohio in particular, focusing on the automobile industry. The state reported 6,450 new jobless claims in the week after the election--second-highest after Pennsylvania, which recorded 7,766 new claims.

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Medicare in lame duck Congress's cross-hairs

Election polling found women disproportionately concerned with what happens to Medicare, which is expected to be a major topic when the lame duck Congress meets Nov. 14.  When the lame duck Congress meets today, Nov. 14, Medicare--the old age public health program upon which women disproportionately depend--is expected to be in the cross-hairs. "Medicare will be front and center in the debate," predicted Susan Carroll, senior scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey in New Brunswick. "House Republicans don't view the Democrats' victories as a reason to retreat from their long-term position that any debt deal includes steep savings drawn from reforming all entitlements, including Medicare." Three female members of the House, all Democrats, are leaping to defend Medicare during the lame duck session.

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Sebelius Subpoenaed in House Obamacare Investigation

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has been subpoenaed by the House Ways and Means Committee in its investigation of how the White House is enacting Obamacare. Under the subpoena, Sebelius must provide documents and information on how taxpayer money has been spent on promoting the law from January 2008 to Wednesday, Politico reports. The investigation covers the department’s public relations, advertising, and message-testing efforts regarding Obamacare. The department has signed at least two contracts, one valued at $20 million, for public relations services, Politico reports.

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The secession petitions

The county-by-county election maps clearly revealed the geographical delineation between the Left-leaning urban centers and the Right-leaning rest of the nation. Naturally, I observed that this delineation formed reasonable lines for secession, and I recalled these words from Tennessean Nathan Bedford Forrest on the Second War for Independence (as it was known in the South): "I loved the old government. I loved the old Constitution. I do not hate it; I am opposing now only the radical revolutionists who are trying to destroy it."  Succession is not believable, but can only serve as ventilation of a strong conservative movement opposed to the Administrations sharp turn to the left.

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42% See Need for Big Cuts in Defense, Entitlements to Reduce Deficit, 31% Don’t

Voters still tend to think defense spending and entitlement programs need to go on the chopping block to reduce the record federal deficit, but they’re not overly confident that President Obama and Congress will reach a long-term agreement to make those cuts. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 42% of Likely U.S. Voters believe it is necessary to significantly reduce the cost of entitlement programs and military spending to reduce the long-term federal deficit. But 31% disagree and don’t see a need for major cuts in these areas.

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Authoritarianism vs. Liberty by Ron Paul

If authoritarianism leads to poverty and war and less freedom for all individuals and is controlled by rich special interests, the people should be begging for liberty. There certainly was a strong enough sentiment for more freedom at the time of our founding that motivated those who were willing to fight in the revolution against the powerful British government. During my time in Congress the appetite for liberty has been quite weak; the understanding of its significance negligible. Yet the good news is that compared to 1976 when I first came to Congress, the desire for more freedom and less government in 2012 is much greater and growing, especially in grassroots America. Tens of thousands of teenagers and college age students are, with great enthusiasm, welcoming the message of liberty. I have a few thoughts as to why the people of a country like ours, once the freest and most prosperous, allowed the conditions to deteriorate to the degree that they have. Read the  full article here...

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Petraeus: Echoes of King David? by Daniel Burke

It’s tempting to view the sex scandal surrounding retired Army Gen. David Petraeus through a religious lens. After all, most faiths forbid adultery, and even before his fall from grace, some Pentagon colleagues compared Petraeus to the biblical King David — another proud and powerful warrior. The comparison seemed even more apt after the former four-star general’s resignation from the CIA on Friday. “More than one officer cited the biblical adultery of King David and Bathsheba,” wrote The New York Times. The Bible says that David acted righteously and kept God’s commandments  –  except in the case of Uriah the Hittite, Bathsheba’s husband. “Will history remember David Petraeus with the same caveat?” asked Jim Denison, a Southern Baptist scholar in Dallas.

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Arab world condemns Israel

CAIRO, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- Egypt, Syria, Iran, Qatar and Turkey were among the countries Thursday that quickly condemned Israel's military offensive in Gaza. The Muslim Brotherhood called on Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi to sever ties with Israel and called for Egyptians to participate in protests across the country Thursday and following Friday prayers, Ahram Online reported. A statement released by the Muslim Brotherhood said the Egyptian government "cannot stand less than cutting all relations with the Zionist entity, since the Egyptian state needs to stand as a role model to Arabs and Muslims." Israel's "criminal aggressions" threatens regional stability, the statement said.

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Five porn sites among Top 100 in Egypt - Muslim Hypocrisy?

CAIRO, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- A company tracking online traffic patterns said Egypt's 100 most-frequently visited websites include five porn sites. Alexa, a division of Amazon.com, released the list amid an order last week by Egypt's prosecutor general for the ministries of telecommunications, interior and information to begin enforcing a ban on Internet pornography, al-Arabiya reported Wednesday. The company said the porn sites rank at numbers 15, 23, 29, 67 and 83 on the list of the 100 most visited sites in the country. Meanwhile, Alexa revealed seven porn sites appear in the Top 100 in Tunisia and five sites appear on the list for Lebanon.

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Krauthammer: White House May Have Used Petraeus Affair to Influence Benghazi Testimony

Government officials may have used former CIA director David Petraeus’ affair with Paula Broadwell as a bargaining chip to influence what he told Congress about the September 11th attack of the U.S. Embassy in Libya, Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer says “Here’s a man who knows the administration holds his fate in his hands,’’ Krauthammer told Fox News’ “Special Report’’ on Tuesday night. “And he gives testimony completely at variance with what the secretary of defense had said the day before, at variance with what he heard from the station chief in Tripoli, and with everything that we had heard. “Was he influenced by the fact he knew his fate was held by people in the administration at that time?” Krauthammer said he found it “shocking’’ Petraeus “thought and hoped he could keep his job.  “He thought that it might and would be kept secret, and then he could stay in his position. I think what that tells us is really important. “It meant that he understood that the FBI obviously knew what was going on. He was hoping that those administration officials would not disclose what had happen and therefore hoping that he would keep his job. “And that meant that he understood that his job, his reputation, his legacy, his whole celebrated life was in the hands of the administration. And he expected they would protect him by keeping it quiet.” Petraeus reportedly told congressional intelligence leaders days after the attack that he believed it was spontaneous. “That brings us to the ultimate issue, and that is his testimony on Sept. 13,” Krauthammer said. “That’s the thing that connects the two scandals. And that’s the only thing that makes the sex scandal relevant. Otherwise it would be exercise in sensationalism and voyeurism, and nothing else.’’

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Irrefutable Data: Global Warming Stopped in 1997 Written by Gary North

The world stopped getting warmer almost 16 years ago, according to new data released last week. The figures, which have triggered debate among climate scientists, reveal that from the beginning of 1997 until August 2012, there was no discernible rise in aggregate global temperatures. This means that the ‘plateau’ or ‘pause’ in global warming has now lasted for about the same time as the previous period when temperatures rose, 1980 to 1996. Before that, temperatures had been stable or declining for about 40 years. The new figures mean that the pause in global warming has now lasted for about the same time as the previous period when temperatures rose, 1980 to 1996. . . . The new figures mean that the ‘pause’ in global warming has now lasted for about the same time as the previous period when temperatures rose, 1980 to 1996. The new data, compiled from more than 3,000 measuring points on land and sea, was issued  quietly on the internet, without any media fanfare, and, until today, it has not been reported. This stands in sharp contrast  to the release of the previous  figures six months ago, which went only to the end of 2010 – a very warm year. Ending the data then means it is possible to show a slight warming trend since 1997, but 2011 and the first eight months of 2012 were much cooler, and thus this trend is erased. . . . From the start of 1997 until August 2012, however, figures released last week show the answer is zero: the trend, derived from the aggregate data collected from more than 3,000 worldwide measuring points, has been flat. Not that there has been any coverage in the media, which usually reports climate issues assiduously, since the figures were quietly release online with no accompanying press release – unlike six months ago when they showed a slight warming trend.. . . But according to increasing numbers of serious climate scientists, it does suggest that the computer models that have for years been predicting imminent doom, such as  those used by the Met Office and the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, are flawed, and that the climate is far more complex than the models assert.  Full Article Here

This is not a Red state or Blue state issue.  It is an issue of election integrity that reflects the will of the people

22 Signs That Voter Fraud Is Wildly Out Of Control And The Election Was A Sham - Sad day for America

The following are 22 signs that voter fraud is wildly out of control and the election was a sham…

#1 According to the Election Protection Coalition, voters across the United States reported more than 70,000 voting problems by 5 PM Eastern time on election day.

#2 There were 59 voting divisions in the city of Philadelphia where Mitt Romney did not receive a single vote.  In those voting divisions, the combined vote total was 19,605 for Barack Obama and 0 for Mitt Romney.

#3 The overall voter turnout rate in Philadelphia was only about 60 percent.  But in the areas of Philadelphia where Republican poll watchers were illegally removed, the voter turnout rate was over 90% and Obama received over 99% of the vote.  Officials in Philadelphia have already ruled out an investigation.

#4 According to WND, one poll watcher in Pennsylvania actually claims that he witnessed voting machine software repeatedly switch votes from Mitt Romney to Barack Obama…

It was in Upper Macungie Township, near Allentown, Pa., where an auditor, Robert Ashcroft, was dispatched by Republicans to monitor the vote on Election Day. He said the software he observed would “change the selection back to default – to Obama.”

#5 Somehow Mitt Romney won 55 out of the 67 counties in the state of Pennsylvania and still managed to lose the entire state by a wide margin because of the absurd vote totals that Obama ran up in the urban areas.

#6 Barack Obama received more than 98 percent of the vote in 10 out of the 50 wards in the city of Chicago.

#7 Prior to the election, voters in the states of Nevada, North Carolina, Texas and Ohio all reported that voting machines were switching their votes for Romney over to Obama.

#8 There were more than 50 precincts in Cuyahoga County, Ohio where Mitt Romney received 2 votes or less.

#9 There were more than 100 precincts in Cuyahoga County, Ohio where Barack Obama received more than 99 times the votes that Mitt Romney did.

#10 Barack Obama also received more than 99% of the vote in a number of very important precincts down in Broward County, Florida.

#11 Wood County, Ohio (which Obama won) has a voting age population of 98,213, but somehow 106,258 voters were registered to vote on election day.

#12 Ten counties in the swing state of Colorado have a voter registration rate of more than 100%.

#13 Barack Obama did not win in a single state that absolutely requires a photo I.D. in order to vote.

#14 In Ohio, two election judges were caught allowing unregistered voters to cast ballots.

#15 Many Ohio voters that showed up at the polls on election day were surprised when they were informed that they had already voted.

#16 In fact, there were reports all over the nation of people being unable to vote because records showed that they had already voted.

#17 According to U.S. Representative Allen West, there were numerous “voting irregularities” in St. Lucie County, Florida on election day…

“The thing that spurred our curiosity in our race was the fact that at 1 o’clock in the morning on Election Night, all of a sudden there was a 4,000-vote swing that took me from being ahead to put the lead into my opponent’s hands.”

#18 In Wisconsin, there were allegations that Obama voters were actually being bussed in from out of state…

The Democrats stationed a self described “BIG Chicago pro bono attorney” as one of their two observers at this small polling place. He remained at the polling place from 7:00 a.m. until well after 8:p.m. …..A high priced CHICAGO attorney, sitting in a Sheboygan WISCONSIN polling place, observing wards comprised of 1500 voters? …. WHY???
Why would someone from Chicago be observing in Sheboygan Wisconsin? And WHY at such a small polling place? Finally, isn’t it interesting that this would occur at the VERY polling place in which all of the above described events ALSO occurred? AGAIN WHY WOULD A CHICAGO ATTORNEY BE OBSERVING AN ELECTION POLLING PLACE WITH FEWER THAN 1500 VOTERS IN IT, IN SHEBOYGAN WISCONSIN? Of all the places where there has been suspected voting irregularities, and OUTRIGHT FRAUD throughout the ENTIRE United States, WHY HERE? WHY SHEBOYGAN? WHY THIS SMALL WARD?  This lawyer spent the day running in and out making, and taking calls, which coincidentally then coincided with influxes of groups of individuals by the van and bus loads, coming in to register, AND VOTE, using what appeared to be copied Allient energy bills. These individuals often did not have photo I.D.’s, could not remember their own addresses without looking at the paper, and became easily tripped, confused and annoyed when questioned.  Many of these same individuals, just so happened to be dressed in/wearing CHICAGO BEARS apparel, and whom openly discussed “catching busses back to Chicago” with each other, with poll workers, via their cell phones in the lobby area just outside the polling place, as well as in the parking lot, both before and AFTER registering and voting. One woman was dressed head to toe in CHICAGO BEARS apparel including perfectly manicured BEARS fake fingernails! She complained because registering was taking too long and she had to hurry up to catch her bus back to Chicago. We have photos of these people in vehicles with plates from different states, photos of them leaving the polls, and other irregularities.

#19 Prior to election day, an Obama for America staffer was caught on video trying to help someone register to vote in more than one state.

#20 It is being alleged that unions in Nevada have been registering illegal immigrants and pressuring them to vote.

#21 According to townhall.com, there was a systematic effort by the Obama campaign to suppress the military vote because they knew that most military votes would go against Obama…

Aiding Obama’s win was a devious suppression of the conservative vote. The conservative-leaning military vote has decreased drastically since 2010 due to the so-called Military Voter Protection Act that was enacted into law the year before. It has made it so difficult for overseas military personnel to obtain absentee ballots that in Virginia and Ohio there has been a 70% decrease in requests for ballots since 2008. In Virginia, almost 30,000 fewer overseas military voters requested ballots than in 2008. In Ohio, more than 20,000 fewer overseas military voters requested ballots. This is significant considering Obama won in both states by a little over 100,000 votes.

#22 According to the Naval Enlisted Reserve Association, it appears that thousands of military votes from this election will never be counted at all.

So what do you think about all of this?  Do you still believe that elections in America are fair and honest?  Better yet, what will you do?