Friday, March 1, 2013

Ther Right Lane update 3.01.13



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
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The Democrat's Armageddon
The President and the Democrats are declaring today the Armageddon created by the Republicans.  If it was not of such importance, we could all have a good laugh at their expense.  Later (below) you will read about all the hysteria they have drummed up and by no means have you been unable to escape the drumbeat as we all march off into the abyss.  Remember this is coming from the same President and Democrat Congress that rammed Obamacare down the Americans throat.  The fact is that no matter what the Republicans tried to do, the Democrats passed a bill so huge that we are today still uncovering some of the disasters it contains.  So, you the voting public are to believe these same Democrats cannot put together ANYTHING that will put off the so called Armageddon that will occur tonight at midnight.  In truth, the government will spend approximately the same as they did last year and you are to believe the world as you know it will not be there when you wake up tomorrow morning.  So, sleep well, not to fear; all will be just fine.

The unanswered questions of Benghazi - Do you care?
Sharyl Attkisson of CBS News is among the few mainstream media reporters to pursue the Benghazi story seriously. On Wednesday evening, she used her Twitter account to run through the questions posed by CBS, but still unanswered by the Administration. She also reviewed the few questions that have been answered. The whole stream of messages has helpfully been collected here by Jimmie Bise, Jr.
Here are Attkisson’s unanswered questions of Benghazi:
1.     What time was Ambassador’s Stevens’ body recovered, what are the known details surrounding his disappearance and death, including where he/his body was taken/found/transported and by whom?
2.     Who made the decision not to convene the Counterterrorism Security Group (CSG) the night of the Benghazi attacks?  We understand that convening the CSG a protocol under Presidential directive (“NSPD-46”). Is that true? If not, please explain.  If so, why was the protocol not followed?
3.     Is the Administration revising the applicable Presidential directive? If so, please explain.
4.     Was the President aware of Gen. Petraeus’ potential problems prior to Thurs., Nov. 8, 2012?  And What was the earliest that any White House official was aware? Please provide details.
5.     What is your response to the President stating that on Sept. 12, he called 911 a terrorist attack, in light of his CBS interview on that date in which he answered that it was too early to know whether it was a terrorist attack?
6.     Is anyone being held accountable for having no resources close enough to reach this high-threat area within 8+ hours on Sept. 11?
7.     A Benghazi victim’s family member stated that Mrs. Clinton told him she would find and arrest whoever made the anti-Islam video.  Is this accurate?  If so, what was Mrs. Clinton’s understanding at the time of what would be the grounds for arrest?  If true, what is the Administration’s view regarding other videos or future material that it may wish were not published, but are legal?
8.     White House still will not respond to our request for any White House photos taken Benghazi night.
9.     Admin. still hasn’t provided Benghazi surveillance video originally promised for public release around last Thanksgiving.
10. Admin. hasn’t provided accounting of Benghazi survivors or the transcripts of their interviews done shortly after the attacks.
Attkisson also observed that “so far, not one piece of paper generated by [the NSA, State Department, Defense Intelligence Agency, or CIA] on Benghazi night is deemed a document the public is entitled to see.”  Does this make you angry?  It should!
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Maxine Waters Warns 170 MILLION Jobs Could Be Lost Due to Sequestration Cuts —There’s a Huge Problem With Her Estimate by Jason Howerton
If we had to vote for the biggest idiot serving in Congress, we would be hard put to pick only one. If Congress allows sequestration cuts to take effect, more than 170 million Americans could lose their jobs, according to Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.). “If sequestration takes place, that’s going to be a great setback. We don’t need to be having something like sequestration that’s going to cause these job losses — over 170 million jobs that could be lost,” Waters said. She went on to say cuts must be done “over a long period of time.” There’s just one problem with her estimation — and it’s a big one. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are only 134 million people working in the United States. So by Waters’ estimation, the sequester cuts would be so apocalyptic that nearly 40 million people who don’t have jobs would become even more unemployed. Keep in mind, Waters is the ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, which “oversees all components of the nation’s housing and financial services sectors including banking, insurance, real estate, public and assisted housing, and securities.” If Democrats should gain control of the House, she would become the chairwoman.
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Reid to Press: ‘You Guys Have an Obligation to Report’ that Democrats Are Right
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Thursday that the news media have an “obligation” to report that the Republicans are “unwilling to do what the American people want done” on looming automatic, across-the-board budget cuts. During a news conference on Capitol Hill held on the eve of implementation of the cuts, known on Capitol Hill as “The Sequester,” a reporter asked Reid: “Can you understand the frustration of the American people that you’re blaming the Republicans, the Republicans are blaming you and nobody is talking until the day that these cuts kick in?” Reid replied: “You know I read an editorial today, and I don’t know whether it was the Times or the Post, where the op-ed writer said, ‘You know, let’s call it the way it is. The Republicans aren’t willing to deal with the Democrats."  Make no mistake this idiot believes what he is saying!!
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Obama to Make Sequestration Cuts as Nasty as Possible
The White House has an obligation to make sequestration cuts as nasty, painful, and inconvenient as possible. See, this fight has never been about what to cut, but whether to cut. If Americans see that Washington can be cut through sequestration without it being painful, Barack Obama loses. He must make it horrible on the public so that the public doesn’t ever want to cut spending again. It is in his interest to do so. His fear monger these past few weeks have been predictions of what he knows he will do so he can claim he was right and taxes must be raised while spending must never be cut.
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Media Turns Against Obama’s Sequester Narrative
Over the past weeks, President Obama has been running around the country like Chicken Little spreading falsehoods about sequester, all in the hopes of blaming a 2% budget cut (which he proposed and signed into law) for an anemic economy that might be headed into a double-dip recession. Simply put, the White House and its media are pushing this fabricated Narrative in the hopes of shifting blame away from Obama’s failed economic policies and onto the GOP and a lack of government largess. If our economy crashes, Obama wants to blame sequester; he wants to argue that our economic woes are caused by a government that isn’t big enough, and that he needs a Democrat-controlled House to correct that. It’s an audaciously dishonest plot, and it almost worked. The monkeys in the wrench, though, have been little things called facts, a Republican Party refusing to blink, and one brave and honest reporter. Now the Narrative is starting to collapse, and nothing signals that collapse better than this National Journal piece published today that blows the lid off the media’s and the White House’s sequester lies. Do you still believe the hype or have you done your own work to realize the lies are collapsing and the truth is winning the day?
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Washington Post Blasts Obama, Congress: They've 'Chosen Not to Govern' By Todd Beamon
The Washington Post on Thursday slammed both Congress and President Barack Obama for choosing “not to govern” and reaching a deal to avert the $85 billion in broad government cuts scheduled to take place on Friday. “To govern is to choose,” The Post said in an editorial. “Congress and President Obama have chosen not to govern. Instead, each side has concluded that its interest lies in letting the ‘sequester’ proceed as scheduled — and then trying to win the political blame game. “This abdication is bad public policy,” The Post said.  The newspaper attacked the idea of indiscriminate agency cuts — and how these cuts will lead to employee furloughs and loss of pay. In addition, sequestration will do little to solve the nation’s long-term budget issues. The editorial then discusses the failed bills that were voted on Thursday, including how one GOP proposal would have given Obama more flexibility in deciding where to make cuts. “And the GOP was just trying to ‘shift the focus away’ from its refusal to compromise,” The Post editorial said. “Washington has reached a strange place indeed when the opposition party offers the president more control over spending — and he refuses it,” The Post continued. “Apparently, in addition to its policy objections, the White House figured that a softened sequester couldn’t force Republicans to accept a long-term deal including higher revenue. It’s a gamble that the worse things might get now, the better they will get later. “A strange place, and a sad one,” The Post concluded.
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In America's Schools-Marines Are Offensive and Islamic Terrorists Are 'Freedom Fighters'
In one public school, a teacher orders a male student to change his shirt that honors marines because she said it violated school dress codes…. In another public school, a teacher forces students to wear burqas and refer to islamic terrorists as ‘freedom fighters’…  What is happening in our schools? I have walked the hallways of public schools and seen students with pink hair, stiff and pointed like spikes four inches straight up from their heads, others with piercings and foreign objects like small plates in strange places on their bodies, tattoos covering exposed skin, and jeans sagging so low you wonder what keeps them from falling to the floor.  These bizarre expressions of individualism, rebellion, or whatever they represent, seem to pass dress code standards yet, a simple green t-shirt with the word ‘Marines’ across the front and an emblem of crossed rifles is offensive and in violation?  This is political correctness in its most brutal form and it is destroying our country one mind at a time. We are allowing rogue teachers in our schools to brainwash our kids with their own political ideology.
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52% Want More Gun Control Laws; 10% Favor Handgun Ban
Just over half of voters think the country needs more gun control, but most feel safer living in a neighborhood where someone can own a gun for their own protection. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 52% of Likely U.S. Voters believe the United States needs stricter gun control laws. Forty-two percent (42%) disagree.  The left wing media blitz is working.  The GOP is losing again!
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Let's Speak Plain English About Spending Cuts A Commentary By Scott Rasmussen
To borrow a phrase, Mainstream America and Washington's Political Class have become two nations separated by a common language. This gap was highlighted by a recent Pew Research Center poll showing that "for 18 of 19 programs tested, majorities want either to increase spending or maintain it at current levels."

On the surface, those results appear to support the Political Class conceit that voters like spending cuts in the abstract but not in specific programs. That's the way it was reported by most media outlets.
But the reality is quite different. The Pew results actually show support for what official Washington would consider massive spending cuts. Just to be clear, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the Pew poll questions or results. The raw numbers are similar to what we find at Rasmussen Reports. The problem is with the way the numbers were reported. The questions were asked using the language of America, but they were reported using the language of the Political Class.

To most Americans, maintaining spending at current levels would mean spending the same amount in 2013 as we spent in 2012. However, to those experienced in the mysterious ways of Washington, maintaining spending at current levels means spending $3.5 trillion this year and $4.5 trillion in five years. To most Americans, that's a trillion dollars in spending growth.  The Political Class, on the other hand, would consider holding spending unchanged at current levels to be a massive spending cut. Why? Because it wouldn't allow for the trillion dollar spending growth that is already built into the budget.  With this understanding, the numbers from Pew take on an entirely different tone. Consider the Pew numbers for roads and infrastructure projects: 38 percent want more spending, and only 17 percent favor a spending cut. But a plurality (43 percent) wants to hold infrastructure spending steady. Since the Political Class would consider holding spending steady to be a "cut" in spending, 60 percent in the Pew poll favors what official Washington calls cuts.

It's worth noting that when you get to specific spending cuts, public support is even higher than it is for cutting abstract categories like "infrastructure." Most voters, for example, want to stop subsidies for Amtrak and are ready to freeze highway spending until the economy is stronger.  Using this understanding, the Pew data shows that voters prefer what the politicians call budget cuts in 17 out of 19 programs.  Some in the Political Class may simply be confused themselves. Others, however, are being intentionally deceptive. They are more interested in protecting government spending than in representing the American people.

Clearly, it would be a challenge to hold federal spending constant when so much growth is already baked into the budget for future years. Fortunately, though, as highlighted in my book "The People's Money," the American people are willing to support specific cuts when reasonable alternatives are presented.  So when politicians claim that sound polling data like the Pew study shows a lack of public support for spending cuts, they're either wrong or deliberately trying to deceive us. Voters shouldn't need a translator to understand what the Political Class is saying. But those in the Political Class bubble just don't speak plain English anymore.
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