The Right Lane update 2.13.13

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

"There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily." --George Washington

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

New Study Confirms Economy Was Destroyed by Democrat Policies

A new study from the widely respected National Bureau of Economic Research released this week has confirmed beyond question that the left’s attacks on the housing market (the Community Reinvestment Act–enacted under Carter, made shockingly more aggressive under Clinton) is directly responsible for imploding the housing market and destroying the economy. The study painstakingly sorted through failed home loans that caused the housing market collapse and identified an overwhelming connection between them and CRA mortgages. Again, let’s review:

-President Bush went to Congress repeatedly for years warning them that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were going to destroy the economy (17 times in 2008 alone). Democrats continuously ignored him, shut down his proposals along party lines and continued raiding the institutions for campaign contributions on their way down.

~~~~~~

Obama urging 'investments' in State of the Union, despite national mood souring on spending

President Obama, after delivering an inaugural address that focused on controversial social agenda items, plans to return to the economy in his State of the Union Tuesday -- but his prescription for growth is still at odds with that of the Republican Party, and many voters. The president is expected to revive his calls Tuesday for government "investments" in infrastructure and education -- meaning spending.  Watch and listen tonight to understand better and determine if you agree that more spending and taxation is the path to success for the Nation.

~~~~~~

~~~~~~~

WikiLeaks: Bin Laden’s Body Not Buried At Sea

The body of Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden was not buried at sea, according to leaked emails of intelligence firm Stratfor, as revealed by WikiLeaks. Stratfor’s vice-president for intelligence, Fred Burton, believes the body was “bound for Dover, [Delaware] on [a] CIA plane” and then “onward to the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Bethesda [Maryland],” an email says. The official version is that the body of Al-Qaeda’s top man, who was killed by a US raid in Pakistan on May 2, 2011, was buried at an undisclosed location at sea in a proper Muslim ceremony. “If body dumped at sea, which I doubt, the touch is very Adolph Eichman like. The Tribe did the same thing with the Nazi’s ashes,” Burton commented in another email. Eichman was one of the masterminds of the Holocaust by Nazi Germany. He was captured by Mossad agents in Argentina and, tried in Israel, found guilty and executed in 1962. His body was cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea over the Mediterranean.  Another conspiracy theory or believable?

~~~~~~

Many African-Americans concerned about Obama’s focus on immigrant rights  By William Douglas and Franco Ordonez

No sooner did President Barack Obama and a group of senators separately outline proposals to revamp the nation’s immigration system than the phone lines on several African-American-oriented talk radio shows heated up with callers blasting the plans. “Amnesty,” complained Frankie from Maryland recently on the nationally syndicated “Keeping it Real with Al Sharpton.”  A political payback to Hispanic voters that does little or nothing for African-Americans, reasoned Sam from Milwaukee on Wisconsin’s 1290 WMCS AM’s “Earl Ingram Show.” “Our issues are not being highlighted and pushed, and things like gay marriage and (immigration) are being pushed to the forefront,” the caller said. “Hispanics are effectively organized. For us not to be organized and for us not to hold our leadership accountable is disheartening.” Although the civil rights establishment, from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to the Urban League and Sharpton, squarely back Obama’s desire to tackle immigration, the president’s call has reignited complaints within the African-American community that he is addressing the specific needs of almost all major voting blocs – Hispanics, women, gays – except for the African-Americans who gave him 93 percent of their vote.

~~~~~~

Democrats Distort Sequestration - Anonymous

Now, the argument about the sequester is being obscured as well. And if you need proof, Bob Woodward has the proof in one of his books. The sequester was an Obama idea. But as usual Obama is acting as though it’s a Republican idea that has him imprisoned, so to speak. It’s a dastardly trick that was played on him, and the Republicans are up to their usual tricks ’cause all they want to do is take things away from people. "That’s all the Republicans ever want to do. They want to take away your gay rights. They want to take away your gay marriage. They want to take away your food stamps. They want to take away your dog. They want to take away your Social Security. They want to take away your Medicare. They want to take away your health care. They want to take away your house."  And sequestration is the dirty trick that they fooled Obama into agreeing with, and now that we’re about to get it, we can’t have it. Well, the fact of the matter is it was Obama’s idea. And one more time I’m going to explain what it is.

A year-and-a-half ago there was another one of these phony, artificial crises because we’re about to reach the end of our limit of our ability to borrow money to pay for what we’ve spent, called the debt limit. And so we had to raise it. Well, the Republicans were saying, “Look, we got to get some discipline here. We’re just spending money left and right that we don’t have. There’s got to be some limit.” So they wanted a promise of some spending cuts for Obama if they agreed to raise the debt limit, allowing to us borrow even more money. And the way those negotiations ended up was sequestration. “Okay, we’ll solve it,” but the debt limit’s going to come up again in a year-and-a-half, everybody knew, and the next time it comes up, which is in March, if a deal isn’t struck, then what happens is sequestration.  Now you know the real story, so what do you think?  Do you believe the Democrats want you to not remember?

~~~~~~

Perspective: Food Stamp Rolls in America Now Surpass the Population of Spain  By Elizabeth Harrington

Since taking office in 2009, food stamp rolls under President Barack Obama have risen to more than 47 million people in America, exceeding the population of Spain. “Now is the time to act boldly and wisely – to not only revive this economy, but to build a new foundation for lasting prosperity,” said Obama during his first joint session address to Congress on Feb. 24, 2009. Since then, the number of participants enrolled in food stamps, known as the Supplemental Assistance Nutrition Program (SNAP), has risen substantially. When Obama entered office in January 2009 there were 31,939,110 Americans receiving food stamps.  As of November 2012—the most recent data available—there were 47,692,896 Americans enrolled, an increase of 49.3 percent. According to the 2011 census, Spain had a population of 46,815,916.

Furthermore, between January 2009 and November 2012 the food stamp program added approximately an average 11,269 recipients per day. Did you hear the President explain how we (the U.S. are going to impact the cause of this?) in his speech?

~~~~~~

Poll: Americans Don't Really Like the Job Obama's Doing  By Susan Jones

When President Obama discusses the economy in his State of the Union Address Tuesday night, he will be dealing with an area in which the American public gives him relatively low performance ratings. The same thing applies to immigration, energy policy, guns, and taxes. On all of those issues, more Americans disapprove than approve of the job Obama is doing, according to a new Gallup Poll. Gallup found that President Obama is heading into his fourth State of the Union address Tuesday night with an overall job approval rating of around 50 percent. But in eight of the nine specific areas measured, more Americans disapprove than approve of the job he's doing.   Obama's Job Approval on 9 Issues:
National defense - 53% Approve, 44% Disapprove 
Foreign affairs - 46% Approve, 48% Disapprove
Immigration - 46% Approve, 48% Disapprove
Energy policy - 44% Approve, 46% Disapprove
Gun policy - 42% Approve, 54% Disapprove
Taxes - 41% Approve, 57% Disapprove
the economy - 39% Approve, 60% Disapprove
Middle East: Israelis/Palestinians - 36% Approve, 55% Disapprove
The federal budget deficit - 31% Approve, 65% Disapprove

So, what do you think about the above, which do you agree and which do you disagree?

~~~~~

Durbin: Obama’s Sequester Designed As a 'Threat’ to Get Tax Hikes By Matt Cover

Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said that President Obama originally designed the budget sequester as a threat to get Republicans to agree to raise taxes, never intending it to actually be policy.

“[S]equestration was designed as a budget threat, not as a budget strategy, Durbin said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday. “When the president proposed the sequester, it was as an incentive to those of us in Congress to work together on a bipartisan basis to solve these problems. It was supposed to be so awful that the super committee would finally reach a bipartisan agreement.”

Durbin is referring to the congressional committee created by the 2011 Budget Control Act (BCA) and assigned the task of cutting $1.5 trillion from the deficit. Under the BCA, if the committee – colloquially dubbed the Super Committee – failed to achieve the cuts, they would happen automatically. These automatic cuts are known as the sequester. Durbin said that Democrats want to avoid sequestration, but insist that Republicans agree to raise taxes even more – despite the GOP agreeing to allow rates on wealthier Americans to rise in January as part of the fiscal cliff deal.

~~~~~~

U.S. Spent a Whopping $2.2 Billion Last Year on Phones

The U.S. government spent about $2.2 billion last year to provide phones to low-income Americans, but a Wall Street Journal review of the program shows that a large number of those who received the phones haven’t proved they are eligible to receive them. The Lifeline program—begun in 1984 to ensure that poor people aren’t cut off from jobs, families and emergency services—is funded by charges that appear on the monthly bills of every landline and wireless-phone customer. Payouts under the program have shot up from $819 million in 2008, as more wireless carriers have persuaded regulators to let them offer the service. Suspecting that many of the new subscribers were ineligible, the Federal Communications Commission tightened the rules last year and required carriers to verify that existing subscribers were eligible. The agency estimated 15% of users would be weeded out, but far more were dropped. A review of five top recipients of Lifeline support conducted by the FCC for the Journal showed that 41% of their more than six million subscribers either couldn’t demonstrate their eligibility or didn’t respond to requests for certification. The carriers—AT&T T +0.48% Inc.; Telrite Corp.; Tag Mobile USA; Verizon Communications VZ -0.02% Inc.; and the Virgin Mobile USA unit of Sprint Nextel Corp. S +0.95% —accounted for 34% of total Lifeline subscribers last May. Two of the other largest providers, TracFone Wireless Inc. and Nexus Communications Inc., asked the FCC to keep their counts confidential. Results for the full program weren’t available. The program is open to people who meet federal poverty guidelines or are on food stamps, Medicaid or other assistance programs, and only one Lifeline subscriber is allowed per household. The program, which is administered by the nonprofit Universal Service Administrative Co., has grown rapidly as wireless carriers persuaded regulators to let people use the program for cellphone service. It pays carriers $9.25 a customer per month toward free or discounted wireless service.  Americans pay an average of $2.50 a month per household to fund a number of subsidized communications programs, including Lifeline.

~~~~~~

Voters Think Obama Should Emphasize Economy in State of the Union Speech

Most voters plan to follow news about President Obama’s State of the Union speech even though they don’t expect it to lead to much. Voters hope the president in his speech emphasizes the economy, job creation and government spending over other issues.  The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 74% of Likely U.S. Voters say they are at least somewhat likely to watch or follow news reports about the president’s State of the Union address. This includes 46% who are Very Likely to do so. Just 24% say they are not very or Not At All Likely to watch or follow news reports about the speech.  Sad, only 75%.  Wonder if they will continue to complain?

~~~~~~

Letting Entrepreneurs Get Rich is Good for Economy

Americans overwhelmingly believe that it’s not only fair for entrepreneurs to get rich, it’s good for the economy. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 86% of Likely U.S. Voters believe it is fair for those who build very successful companies to get very rich. Only 10% see it as unfair. Those figures include 56% who see such rewards as Very Fair and two percent (2%) who say they’re Not at All Fair. 

~~~~~~

Biden: We’re counting on ‘legitimate media’ for successful gun control effort

During a press conference on gun safety in Philadelphia, Vice President Joe Biden said that any reports that suggest that he was trying to take weapons away from gun owners was a “bunch of malarkey.”

"I know that's a word that you've never heard before, although it's now in the dictionary," Biden boasted. Biden said that it was important for the media to dissuade the American public from the idea that the Obama administration was prepared to do something unconstitutional on guns.  [Really?]  “To be very blunt with you, we’re counting on all of you, the legitimate news media to cover these discussions because the truth is that times have changed,” Biden added, warning that people would continue to “misrepresent” the White House's plans for gun control.

"The social media that exists out there, the tragedies that have occurred, the Supreme Court decision affirming that it's an individual right to bear arms - all give a lie to the argument that what we're trying to do is somehow unconstitutional, or somehow goes after the legitimate right to own and bear arms and to hunt and protect yourselves," Biden added. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~