In pursuit of Constitutionally grounded governance, free
markets and individual liberty
Information you can use
__________________________________________________________________________
AAA Urges Halt on
Sale of E15 Gasoline Blend
The AAA
says the Environmental Protection Agency and gasoline retailers should halt the
sale of E15, a new ethanol blend that could damage millions of vehicles and
void car warranties.
AAA, which issued its warning Friday, says just 12 million of more than 240
million cars, trucks and SUVs now in use have manufacturers' approval for E15.
Flex-fuel vehicles, 2012 and newer General Motors vehicles, 2013 Fords and 2001
and later model Porsches are the exceptions, according to AAA, the nation's
largest motorist group, with 53.5 million members. "It is clear that millions of Americans are unfamiliar with E15,
which means there is a strong possibility that many may improperly fill up
using this gasoline and damage their vehicle," AAA President and CEO
Robert Darbelnet tells USA TODAY. "Bringing E15 to the market without adequate
safeguards does not responsibly meet the needs of consumers." BMW, Chrysler, Nissan, Toyota and VW have
said their warranties will not cover fuel-related claims caused by E15. Ford,
Honda, Kia, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo have said E15 use will void warranties,
says Darbelnet, citing potential corrosive damage to fuel lines, gaskets and
other engine components. Gasoline blended with 10% ethanol has become standard at most of the nation's 160,000 gas
stations, spurred by federal laws
and standards designed to use more renewable energy sources and lessen the
nation's dependence on foreign oil. Pushed by ethanol producers, the EPA approved the use of
E15 -- a 15% ethanol-gasoline blend -- in June over objections from automakers
and the oil industry. It's been available at a handful of outlets in
Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska since July. EPA stickers affixed to gas station pumps
say E15 is safe for use in virtually all vehicles 2001 and newer. (USA TODAY
made repeated requests for EPA comment.) But AAA -- in an unusual warning for a
travel organization -- says the sale and
use of E15 should be stopped until there is more-extensive testing, better pump
labels to safeguard consumers and more consumer education about potential
hazards. Bob Dinneen, CEO of the
Renewable Fuels Association, says E15 is safe for virtually all post-2001
vehicles, based on extensive government-sponsored testing. "We think the
(EPA) warning label should be sufficient to notify consumers,'' Dinneen says.
"There are no corrosive issues with E15. If there's an issue with E15
(damaging vehicles) we're going to know about it, and the EPA is going to know
about it." But the American
Petroleum Institute says a three-year study conducted by automakers and the oil
industry found that E15 is a consumer safety issue for a majority of drivers
with pre-2012 vehicles. "Our testing of a range of ethanol levels at 15% to
20% has identified issues about engine durability,'' API group director and
engineer Bob Greco says. Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner has proposed
legislation requiring the EPA to authorize an unbiased study of E15, agrees
with the AAA. "(The) findings
affirm what we have already heard—E15 causes premature engine damage and voids
warranties, even on new models," the Wisconsin Republican says. "Concerns
about E15 are not diminishing, they are increasing. That is telling. When
an organization like AAA, a nationally trusted source for motorists, calls out
the EPA, you would think the (Obama) Administration would listen." News to you? This is your "statist government"
acting on crony capitalism that is not in your best interest!!
~~~~~~
Obama’s Most
Dangerous Tax Hike
President Obama proposed tax hike contains a
lot to dislike, but what hasn’t gotten much attention is the tax hike on
savings and investments. While the
marginal income tax rate will rise from 35% to 39.6% for top income-earners and
small business owners, the proposed tax hike on capital gains and dividends
could cause the most long-term economic damage. That’s not to downplay the
rise in marginal rates. It could cost hundreds of thousands of jobs over the
next few years. More universally
acknowledged by economists, however, is the economic harm that savings and
investment taxes do. In the Tax Foundation’s analysis of President Obama’s tax
proposals, they found that the capital gains and dividends tax hikes will be
almost five times as harmful in the long-run. What President Obama’s
proposal does is treat dividends income as ordinary income for the upper-income
tax rates. That means that we’d see a tax hike from 15% to 39.6% on dividends.
Additionally, the capital-gains tax rate would increase from 15% to 20%. Considering
the pure size of the dividend tax hike, it might be most harmful. President
Obama’s former economic advisor Larry Summers, along with James Poterba,
pioneered important research in the 1980s suggesting that dividend taxes
constitute a form of a double-tax on corporations – one of the most harmful
kinds of taxes that a government can levy.
~~~~~~
Cattle in fracking
areas show side effects
Scientists
have been unable to diagnose the reason why livestock near oil- and
gas-drilling zones across the country are sick and dying. NBC News reports
scientists believe chemicals used in drilling and hydrofracking operations are
poisoning animals nearby, but a direct cause has not been determined. In 2009,
cattle from a North Dakota ranch adjacent to a drilling site experienced weight
loss from 60 to 80 pounds in a week. The animals were unable to produce milk
for their calves and were limping on swollen legs. Cattle from the ranch were
infected and their tails mysteriously dropped off. The owner of the ranch,
Jacki Schilke, lost five of the cattle. The remaining livestock have recovered,
but she’s not selling them because she’s concerned with the safety of the meat
they’d produce.
~~~~~~
Obamacare Fallout:
Hospitals Will See Massive Layoffs
Hospitals
are expected to cut some 93,000 jobs in 2013 in anticipation of ObamaCare. A former
presidential candidate and conservative advocate says America needs to prepare
for major changes in the medical industry. Orlando Health, a not-for-profit
network of community and specialty hospitals, is just one example of the
massive layoffs expected in the coming year. Officials with the Central
Florida-based healthcare services provider announced on Monday that the largest
staff reduction in its nearly 100-year history will result in cutting up to 400
jobs, starting immediately. Gary Bauer,
president of Washington DC-based American Values, warns that this is only the
beginning of an economic catastrophe that will impact America for years. “The
ripple effects, the negatives on our economy, are going to be playing out for
not just months, but for years,” he says. “And I doubt we will ever be able to
totally measure the complete cost in manpower and in money — in addition to
taxes — that ObamaCare will end up costing the American people, proving once
again there is no such thing as a free lunch, and there is no such thing as
free healthcare.”
~~~~~~
West Point Chapel
Hosts Its First Homosexual Wedding
Cadet Chapel, the landmark Gothic church that
is a center for spiritual life at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point,
hosted its first same-sex wedding Saturday. Penelope Gnesin and Brenda Sue
Fulton, a West Point graduate, exchanged vows in the regal church in an
afternoon ceremony, attended by about 250 guests and conducted by a senior Army
chaplain. The two have been together for 17 years. They had a civil commitment
ceremony that didn’t carry any legal force in 1999 and had long hoped to
formally tie the knot. The way was cleared last year, when New York legalized
same-sex marriage and President Barack Obama lifted the “Don’t ask, don’t tell”
policy prohibiting openly gay people from serving in the military. The brides
both live in New Jersey and would have preferred to have the wedding there, but
the state doesn’t allow gay marriage.
~~~~~~
Sen. Hatch: Obama
Fiscal Proposal ‘Classic Bait and Switch’
The top-ranking Republican on the Senate
Finance Committee accused President Obama of pulling a “bait and switch” this
week with the administration’s proposed deal to avert the so-called “fiscal
cliff.” “What [Obama] proposed this week
was a classic bait and switch on the American people—a tax increase double the
size of what he campaigned on, billions of dollars in new stimulus spending and
an unlimited, unchecked authority to borrow from the Chinese,” Sen. Orrin
Hatch (R-Utah) said in Saturday’s weekly GOP address. “Maybe I missed it but I don’t recall him asking for any of that
during the presidential campaign. These ideas are so radical that they have
already been rejected on a bipartisan basis by Congress.” On Thursday,
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner was dispatched to Capitol Hill to share Obama’s
plan with House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate GOP Leader Mitch
McConnell (R-Ky.) The deal included $1.6 trillion in tax hikes, $50 billion in
economic stimulus spending and $400 billion in spending cuts. Republicans
have demanded more severe spending cuts – including entitlement reform – to
begin a discussion on raising taxes.
~~~~~~
Jay Carney:
Spending Cuts Are Deeply Irresponsible, or Something
Q: One of the things
Speaker Boehner said this morning was that any increase in the debt limit would
have to be matched by or exceeded by further spending cuts. That's the same
kind of rhetoric that we heard in 2011. Are you concerned that that is being
used as leverage again in a way that could be damaging to the United States? JAY CARNEY: That's a good question, I
was struck by that myself. I'd say two things about that: Asking that a
political price be paid in order for Congress to do its job to ensure that the
United States of America pays its bills and does not default for the first time
in its history is deeply irresponsible. It was deeply irresponsible in the
summer of 2011 and it would be deeply irresponsible if we were to see that kind
of approach taken again. The President absolutely expects Congress to do its
job, and one of the jobs that Congress has is to make sure the United States
government pays its bills as the greatest economy and the greatest country on
earth -- we pay our bills. So this is what happens when we have morons running
the country. So, not only does President Obama want the
debt limit eliminated, his press secretary believes spending cuts that match a
debt limit increase are "deeply irresponsible."
~~~~~~
Standing Up to
Liberal Tyranny in the Age of Obama by David L. Goetsch
I have written often at this site on the subject of liberal bias in America’s
colleges and universities. With the re-election of Barack Obama we
can expect gleeful liberal professors to
shift into high gear in advancing their Marxist agendas. In my book, Liberal
Tyranny in Higher Education, I challenge the suppressive practices of colleges and universities that confuse
advocacy with scholarship. I also question the viability of such
“academic” programs as women’s studies, black studies, queer studies, Chicano
studies, and victim studies (e.g. disability studies, fat studies, white
studies, men studies, etc.). I do not question allowing these subjects to be pursued as research
topics in legitimate college courses. For example, a sociology
major might choose to write a research paper on any of these topics, but
awarding college degrees to students who spend four or more years studying
nothing more substantial than how it feels to be black, female, queer,
Chicano, disabled, or fat undermines the credibility of higher education. Speaking
of feelings, I have often felt alone in my quest to restore higher education in
America to its academic roots and wrest it from the destructive grasp of
radical liberals who are fast turning colleges and universities into
intellectual gulags dedicated to mind control, indoctrination, and the
suppression of free thought, inquiry, and speech. The National Association
of Scholars (NAS) is a non-profit organization consisting primarily of
academicians whose goal is to challenge liberal bias in colleges and
universities and to restore the concept of academic freedom to its original and
intended meaning. The NAS opposes multiculturalism and affirmative action
while fostering intellectual freedom, reasoned scholarship, and civil debate. The
NAS has set its sights on—among other issues—four major areas of concern to
those of us who believe that higher education has been hijacked by the left for
nefarious purposes: 1) The sharp increase in faculty members who self-identify
not just as liberals, but as radicals; 2) Curricula that promote political
activism and advocacy of leftwing causes rather than legitimate scholarship; 3)
Elimination of the western tradition from history courses and programs; and 4)
Suppression of free speech.
~~~~~~
Obama Acts Like His
Tax Plan Is the Only Gig In Town By Tim Brown
Yesterday Barack
Obama made remarks in a visit to Rodon Group Manufacturing Facility in Hatfield
Pennsylvania that demonstrate that he has no intention of making a deal with
Republicans and thinks that his tax plan, commonly referred to as the ‘fiscal
cliff,’ is the only solution to the problem. As he addressed the people in
Pennsylvania, Obama said: The Senate has already passed a bill to keep income
taxes from going up on middle-class families. That’s already passed the Senate.
Your member of Congress like Allyson and Chaka, other Democrats in the House,
they’re ready to go. They’re ready to vote on that same thing. And if we can
just get a few House Republicans on board, we can pass the bill in the House.
It will land on my desk, and I am ready — I’ve got a bunch of pens ready to
sign this bill. The problem is that Obama did not mention what the House did
back in August. That’s right, they have already passed legislation that would
extend the Bush era tax cuts on income, capital gains and dividends through
2013. In fact, there was bi-partisan support for it as 20 Democrats joined with
Republicans to have a 256-171 vote. Politico
reported:
The bill has no chance of advancing in the Senate, which is controlled by
Democrats who passed their own bill last week that would only extend the breaks
for individuals earning less than $200,000 and married couples making less than
$250,000.
Oh that’s why! In case anyone missed it, it’s
because of Democrats in control of the Senate and the
fact that they do not want to deal fairly with all Americans. They are hell bent to make, in their words, the rich pay “their fair
share,” all the while, the rich are paying their fair share. When the House
and Senate are at loggerheads and the President is giving the marching orders
to the Senate, well then it is no wonder that Speaker John Boehner said that
when it comes to the fiscal cliff talks, “no substantive progress” has been
made. So what is to be done? My suggestion for Republicans is to follow Grover Norquist’s advice and get these fiscal cliff talks
on C-SPAN, not behind closed doors where things can be manipulated afterwards by
the Democrats. We are a free society and this doesn’t involve national
security. In fact, this entire issue involves us and should be as transparent
as possible, but I’m not holding my breath that Obama or the Senate Democrats
will allow for these talks to be televised.
~~~~~~
Rich Paid 23% More
Under Bush Plan: Called ‘Middle Class Cuts’ for a Reason
Obama is doing his Twitter to Media tour
promising that we can fix the giant hole in the economy he caused by abolishing
the Bush tax cuts that favored the 1 percent. But did
they really? As John Merline at IBD shows us, the 1 percent paid more money
under the Bush tax cuts, while the middle class paid less. That is why they were called middle class tax cuts.
It’s been more than 10 years since President Bush signed his first round of tax
cuts into law. And in the years since, those cuts have been the source of
constant attacks. Critics charge they gave away too much to the rich,
exploded the deficit, contributed to income inequality, did little to spur
economic growth, and so on. President Obama has for years attacked the Bush
cuts, and demanded that the top two income tax brackets return to Clinton-era
levels. The rich paid more. Despite endless claims by critics that Bush’s
tax cuts favored the rich, the fact is the rich ended up paying more in taxes
after they went into effect. In fact, IRS data show that the richest 1% paid
$84 billion more in taxes in 2007 than they had in 2000 — that’s a 23% increase
— even though their average tax rate went down.
~~~~~~
Obama
Administration "Fake" tax cuts
~~~~~~
Obama Slaps States
That Don't Comply With Obamacare By Sandy Fitzgerald and Martin Gould
Residents of states
that refuse to set up health insurance exchanges under Obamacare are set to be
hit with higher premiums under new rules announced by the Health and Human
Services Department.
Insurance companies will be charged 3.5 percent of any premiums they sell
through the federal exchanges, the department announced Friday. And insurers
are likely to pass that surcharge on to clients, leaading to higher premiums. The
only states to be affected are those that refuse to set up their own exchanges
because of opposition to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. They
are almost certain to be those under Republican control. In those states, HHS
will set up the exchanges. For those of too young to remember, "tax
policy" has always been utilized for political purposes in a way that
"forces" the markets and individuals to respond as the politicians
wish. In this case, it is the work of a
statist regime!!
~~~~~~
Krauthammer:
Obama's Fiscal Cliff Deal Worse than Robert E. Lee's Terms at Appomattox By Stephen Feller
Charles Krauthammer
on Thursday called an offer to fix the fiscal cliff from the White House,
presented to House Republicans by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, “not just a
bad deal, this is really an insulting deal.” “What Geithner offered, what you
showed on the screen, Robert E. Lee was offered easier terms at Appomattox, and
he lost the Civil War,” Krauthammer said on Fox News on Thursday. “There are not only no cuts in this, there's an
increase in spending with a new stimulus. I mean, this is almost unheard of.
What do they expect? They obviously expect the Republicans will cave on
everything. I think the Republicans ought to simply walk away.”
~~~~~~
This is the tendency of all human governments. A departure from
principle becomes a precedent for a second; that second for a third; and so on,
till the bulk of society is reduced to mere automatons of misery, to have no
sensibilities left but for sinning and suffering... And the fore horse of this
frightful team is public debt. Taxation follows that, and in its train
wretchedness and oppression." - Thomas Jefferson
No comments:
Post a Comment