Choosing The Right Lane To Follow

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

Information you can use

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Sponge Alert: Obama Voters Love Socialism

Conn Carroll-  According to a December 2011 Pew Foundation study, while 60 percent of Americans view socialism negatively, a plurality of Americans ages 18 to 29 (49 percent to 43 percent) and a majority of African-Americans (55 percent to 36 percent) view socialism positively. Conversely, while a majority of Americans view capitalism positively (50 percent), again a plurality of Americans ages 18-29 (47 percent) and a majority of African-Americans (51 percent) view it negatively. Today, Gallup released a new poll confirming what Pew already found: Obama’s Democratic base loves socialism. Just look at this chart:

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Separation of Church and State?

We have been bombarded with the notion that the public MUST be protected from Christian public displays and acts of faith.  It now appears that Christians need protection from the Sate!

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who is Catholic, indicated on Friday that she supports forcing St. Mary’s Medical Center, the oldest continuously operating hospital in her San Francisco-based congressional district, to provide health plans to its workers that cover sterilizations, contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs free of charge even though the Catholic faith says this Catholic hospital may not do so because these things are intrinsically immoral. “We are committed to furthering the healing ministry of Jesus,” says the hospital’s mission statement. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius–who, like Pelosi, is Catholic–issued the sterilization-contraception-abortifacient mandate as a regulation under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, AKA Obamacare.

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Be Serious, Not Cavalier,  In Holding To Your Commitments

In his book "They Call Me Coach", legend John Wooden tells of being offered head basketball coaching positions at two top schools -- the University of Minnesota and UCLA.   Having made his final decision, he set up phone calls, an hour apart, with both Athletic Directors, to announce his choice.   The AD at Minnesota -- the school to which Wooden planned to accept -- missed his scheduled 6 pm call, and the AD from UCLA was right on time at 7.  So Wooden accepted at UCLA.   A short while later when the Minnesota AD finally called, Wooden gave him the news.  He was asked to reconsider, to un-do the deal, but wouldn't.  His commitment to UCLA -- his second choice -- made only minutes earlier -- was final. What would you have done?   Several years ago, good friends of mine made an offer on a beautiful home for sale, and it was accepted by the owner.  Shortly thereafter, they learned a second buyer knocked on the owner's door and beat the deal by offering more than the asking price. The owner didn't take it.  He called to say "Don't worry, I turned it down.  You and I have a deal." What would you have done?   Two stories of integrity, in which people honored a deal they made over a better one that came later.  Neither should be noteworthy -- that's how commitments are supposed to be treated. But sadly, far too many people are cavalier about commitments, treating them more like 'maybes' than firm promises.  Don't even get me started on politicians.

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What if Obama gets the tax increases he wants?
We will have enough money to operate the government for EAIGHT DAYS.  What more do you need to know.  It is a symbolic gesture to the liberal base that wants to punish, not make true progress.

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Obama: 'Insider threat.' -- columnist Doug Hagmann

"On the day before Thanksgiving, Barack Hussein Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum, or an unofficial directive to the heads of departments and agencies under the executive branch. This Presidential Memorandum, the text of which is only 183 words, directs agency and department heads to establish a program 'to deter, detect, and mitigate actions by employees who may represent a threat to national security.' ... [T]here appears to be a deliberate lack of specificity concerning the exact elements that constitute such an 'insider threat.' ... The key to understanding this memorandum is to understand that we are witnessing the greatest consolidation of power and control under the Executive branch of the government in recent U.S. history. This consolidation of power makes it possible for a select number of highly political 'czars' and appointed officials to observe, control and report on the activities of people within their various departments to the Executive branch. ... It's no longer about the rule of law and one's allegiance to the United States. It's now about allegiance to the agenda of the Executive branch, assured by active surveillance of government employees by Obama's hand-picked appointees."

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Voters Think Obama More Willing to Deal on ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Than GOP

As the “fiscal cliff’ draws nearer, voters are more confident that President Obama is willing to agree to a deal with both spending cuts and tax increases than Republicans in Congress are. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 42% of Likely U.S. Voters believe the president is willing to accept a deal that includes both his tax increases and significant cuts in government spending. Nearly as many (40%) think Obama will insist on tax increases only. 

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48% Recognize Need to Cut Entitlements, Defense to Reduce Federal Deficit

Recognition is growing among voters that reducing the deficit will require cuts in both defense and entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare. 

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Men Find Careers in Collecting Disability  By Michael Barone

Americans are very generous to people with disabilities. Since passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act in 1990, millions of public and private dollars have been spent on curb cuts, bus lifts and special elevators. The idea has been to enable people with disabilities to live and work with the same ease as others, as they make their way forward in life. I feel sure the large majority of Americans are pleased that we are doing this. But there is another federal program for people with disabilities that has had an unhappier effect. This is the disability insurance (DI) program, which is part of Social Security. The idea is to provide income for those whose health makes them unable to work. For many years, it was a small and inexpensive program that few people or politicians paid much attention to. In his recent book, "A Nation of Takers: America's Entitlement Epidemic," my American Enterprise Institute colleague Nicholas Eberstadt has shown how DI has grown in recent years. In 1960, some 455,000 workers were receiving disability payments. In 2011, the number was 8,600,000. In 1960, the percentage of the economically active 18-to-64 population receiving disability benefits was 0.65 percent. In 2010, it was 5.6 percent. More.....

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Obama Pushing New Cap-and-Trade Tax Plan as Fiscal Cliff Talks Stall  - What?!

As leaders in Washington obsess about the fiscal cliff, President Barack Obama is putting in place the building blocks for a climate treaty requiring the first fossil- fuel emissions cuts from both the U.S. and China. State Department envoy Todd Stern is in Doha this week working to clear the path for an international agreement by 2015. While Obama failed to deliver on his promise to start a cap-and-trade program in his first term, he’s working on policies that may help cut greenhouse gases 17 percent in 2020 in the U.S., historically the world’s biggest polluter. Obama has moved forward with greenhouse-gas rules for vehicles and new power plants, appliance standards and investment in low-emitting energy sources. He’s also called for 80 percent of U.S. electricity to come from clean energy sources, including nuclear and natural gas, by 2035. “The president is laying the foundations for real action on climate change,” Jake Schmidt, who follows international climate policy for the Washington-based Natural Resources Defense Council, said in an interview in Doha. “Whether or not he decides to jump feet first into the international arena, we’ll see.” Envoys from more than 190 nations are entering their second week of talks today at the United Nations conference working toward a global warming treaty. Their ambition is to agree to a pact in 2015 that would take force in 2020. It would supersede limits on emissions for industrial nations under the Kyoto Protocol, which the U.S. never ratified.

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GOP Demands Deep Spending Cuts as Debt-Ceiling Fight Looms

Republicans are renewing attempts to use a debt-limit increase to force deeper spending cuts, replicating the 2011 showdown that caused the U.S. to come within days of default and led to a credit-rating downgrade. As in 2011, many Republicans in Congress see the need to raise the $16.4 trillion limit on public debt in early 2013 as leverage to force President Barack Obama to cut entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. House Republicans view the U.S. budget deficit, which topped $1 trillion in each of the past four years, as a crisis requiring immediate action. “There has to be a reality out there that says we are in serious trouble,” said Representative Tim Walberg, a Michigan Republican. “We can’t just keep raising it because it’s been traditional to do it.” The prospect of another debt-ceiling showdown is complicating the stalled talks to prevent more than $600 billion of spending cuts and tax increases from taking effect in January. Republicans, who say they didn’t suffer politically from the 2011 fight, are reprising their tactics. The administration wants to include a debt limit increase in a fiscal cliff deal and prevent Congress from wielding default as a weapon in the future. Talks on averting the fiscal cliff are at a standstill. Democrats continue to demand higher tax rates for top earners, while Republicans want to cut spending on entitlements and other programs. Continue Reading ...

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Helping the Poor and Addicted Turn Their Lives Around

Strong marriage and family relationships are crucial to fighting poverty. This was the message shared by grassroots leaders at an anti-poverty conference sponsored by The Heritage Foundation and the Center for Neighborhood Enterprise this past September. These leaders shared firsthand experience and common-sense intuition about poverty reduction. They explained what sociological research and data continually underscore: that the intact family is the greatest weapon against child poverty, high-risk behavior, delinquency, and lower academic achievement. Among the attendees was Bishop Shirley Holloway, who has created three facilities for homeless men, women, and families. Many of those who find their way to her door are hardcore alcoholics and drug addicts. Holloway describes her work as providing “individuals that society has cast aside” with the “building blocks” to restore their lives. The root of addiction was summarized at the conference by Roman Herrera of the San Antonio-based Outcry in the Barrio ministry: “We live in a fatherless society…and there will always be a hole in a heart where that relationship is missing.” Government at all levels should take its cue from the wisdom of grassroots leaders’ firsthand experience, and support policies to promote and strengthen marriage. In addition, government should ensure that it does not hinder the work of grassroots leaders. While a social safety net may be able to provide short-term material relief, addressing deep-rooted human need is another matter. The relational work of organizations such as House of Help/City of Hope can have dramatic effects in healing broken relationships and thereby helping to cure a significant contributor to poverty.

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Barefoot man handed boots in viral NYPD video shoeless again

But what of the shoeless man?  For days, his bare feet — blistered and battered — were well known. Yet precise details about him proved elusive. His name is Jeffrey Hillman, and on Sunday night, he was once again wandering the streets — this time on the Upper West Side — with no shoes. The $100 pair of boots that Officer DePrimo had bought for him at a Skechers store on Nov. 14 were nowhere to be seen. “Those shoes are hidden. They are worth a lot of money,” Mr. Hillman said in an interview on Broadway in the 70s. “I could lose my life.” Mr. Hillman, 54, was by turns aggrieved, grateful and taken aback by all the attention that had come his way — even as he struggled to figure out what to do about it.

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Sheila Jackson Lee: ‘Who Wants to Make a Fuss About Social Security When It's Solvent?' By Elizabeth Harrington

Another idiot from the fringe! Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) says entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare are not an issue, when it comes to the fiscal cliff: “Who wants to make a fuss about Social Security when it's solvent?” she asked on Friday. “And then who wants to make a fuss about Medicare when it's solvent until 2024?” Social Security will exhaust its trust fund reserves in 2033.  However, according to an April 2012 report from the Social Security and Medicare Board of Trustees, in 2010-2012 the entitlement program ran deficits for the first time since 1983, meaning that payroll taxes fell short of benefit payouts. “Social Security’s expenditures exceeded non-interest income in 2010 and 2011, the first such occurrences since 1983, and the Trustees estimate that these expenditures will remain greater than non-interest income throughout the 75-year projection period,” the report said. “Redemption of trust fund assets from the General Fund of the Treasury will provide the resources needed to offset the annual cash-flow deficits.” In other words, Social Security must dip in to the Treasury’s General Fund – which is already running a deficit – to make up the difference between the benefits promised to retirees and the taxes it collects from current workers.

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Grand Canyon: How Do You Get a River Over a Mountain? By David Coppedge

One would think that the Grand Canyon, one of earth’s most prominent geological features, studied by geologists for 140 years, would be well understood.  Wrong.  That’s how Joel Pederson (Utah State) began the cover article in GSA Today this month,¹ a bimonthly journal of the Geological Society of America.  The mystery he investigated is how the Colorado River ran over a mountain: the Kaibab uplift. The Kaibab uplift is the broad southern end of the Colorado Plateau through which the Grand Canyon has been carved.  Rivers do not normally flow uphill.  The upper Colorado River, roaring from Rocky Mountain snow melt, faces this obstacle; yet here the Grand Canyon cuts right into the plateau at a steep monocline that extends north-south through Utah, and manages to run westward through the high province till merging from the Grand Wash Cliffs at the west edge of the plateau.  There, at modern Lake Mead, the river suddenly enters the Basin and Range province of Nevada.  It flows onward to the southwest, emerging at the Gulf of California (a nice tour to take in Google Earth).  Another example of beware when you read "Experts say....."

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Liberal Compares Obama’s Push for Tax Hikes to Lincoln Wanting to End Slavery by Gary DeMar

On an NPR broadcast, E. J. Dionne and David Brooks were discussing the “fiscal cliff” that we may or may not go over. Dionne, an op-ed writer for the uber-liberal Washington Post, compared President Obama’s resolve in pushing for more taxes to Abraham Lincoln who “stood his ground on the fundamental principle that we needed the 13th Amendment and needed to ban slavery.” In the Lincoln-Douglas debates, Lincoln stated that every person has the natural right “to eat the bread which he has earned by the sweat of his brow.” While this phrase was not unique to Lincoln, nevertheless, he was right.

Income is the result of people working or investing. Taxation takes some of that hard-earned money. Some taxes are necessary and equitable; most are not. For example, the gasoline tax is equitable and does not violate the 13th Amendment since the money (supposedly) goes to build roads and bridges that we travel on. If we don’t drive, we don’t pay the tax that’s levied on every gallon of gasoline sold. Of course, the tax is paid by people who don’t drive but in an indirect way. Goods and services that travel over roads have the cost of fuel built into the price of those goods or services (e.g., repairmen, UPS and FedEx deliveries, etc.). No involuntary servitude is in view. But in terms of taxation as a form of wealth redistribution, taxation is a form slavery. Money is taken from people who work and then given to people who don’t work. More than 6000,000 Americans died to end that form of wealth distribution, so it’s rather remarkable that Mr. Dioone would make such an outrageous comparison.

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Hillary Clinton Displays Ignorance and Insults Israel by da Tagliare

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy this past Friday.  She started out by praising Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.  Then she said something that showed complete lack of understanding of the nation and people of Israel. 

Clinton said: “I’m not making excuses for the missed opportunities of the Israelis, or the lack of generosity, the lack of empathy that I think goes hand-in-hand with the suspicion.” “So, yes, there is more that the Israelis need to do to really demonstrate that they do understand the pain of an oppressed people in their minds, and they want to figure out, within the bounds of security and a Jewish democratic state, what can be accomplished.”

I’m not Jewish, but I feel insulted by her statements.  Does Clinton not know anything about the history of Israel?  Does she not know that they fought long and hard to become a nation.  Does she not understand that every nation that surrounds Israel has not only threatened to annihilate the Jewish people, but most of them have promised to do so?  Does she not understand that the 6 Day War was not started by Israel, but the small nation did end it with a decisive victory over their enemies?  Does she not understand how important the city of Jerusalem is to the Jewish people? Obviously, Clinton has no concept of what the Israeli people have endured when she said they lacked generosity and empathy for the Palestinians who continually vow to wipe the Jewish people off the face of the earth.  In lieu of her ignorant and thoughtless comments, I’m glad that Clinton is resigning from her position as Secretary of State.  I only hope and pray that whoever Obama appoints to take her place will have a little bit more knowledge and understanding of Israeli history, but with Obama’s Muslim affinity, I doubt the next Secretary of State will be any better.

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A popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or, perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives - James Madison, letter to W.T. Barry, August 4, 1822