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this true, like K.I.S.S.
02-24-2017 passed on/ for joe cause he was in this business/ That's Amore by Dean Martin with Lyrics!!!!
Evie Simons
Evie Simons
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/06/29/people-inside-drop-house/
More Than 50 People Found Inside Drop House
Published June 29, 2010
PHOENIX -- Phoenix police and the Department of Public Safety are investigating the discovery of a drop house in southwest Phoenix.
DPS spokesman Bart Graves told The Associated Press Tuesday that Phoenix police followed a suspicious looking Chevrolet pickup truck
with a large piece of plywood in the truck bed.
Smugglers often use plywood to hide people in truck beds.
The driver and another occupant drove to a house in a newer Phoenix neighborhood near 83rd Avenue and Lower Buckeye Road.
Police followed and when they got to the house, officers discovered 46 men and seven women inside.
They were described as thirsty but in relatively good shape. It's unclear how long the group had been inside the U.S.
Graves said police are trying to determine if a smuggler or smugglers is mixed in with the group.
Obama Looks to Activists to Rally Support for Immigration Policy Overhaul
Published June 28, 2010
| Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- President Obama is enlisting activists and labor leaders in a push for comprehensive immigration legislation that will showcase Republican opposition and include a speech by the president.
The strategy was discussed during a meeting Monday by a range of prominent labor leaders and activist groups. Participants said Obama reiterated his support for immigration legislation but noted the political realities that have stalled it in Congress.
Latino leaders say they will work in coming months to pressure Republicans to give way and support an immigration bill -- and make opponents pay at the ballot box if they don't.
"We're going to make absolutely crystal clear who's at fault here," said Eliseo Medina, a leader of the Service Employees International Union.
Prospects for passage of comprehensive immigration legislation look bleak this election year, and even many Democrats are wary of wading into the hot-button issue. But Obama, who pledged as a candidate to make immigration reform a top priority during his first year in office, faces pressure from the Hispanic community to act -- or at least to try.
That's only intensified in the wake of Arizona's passage of a controversial law that requires police officers to question a person's immigration status if there's reason to suspect the person is in the country illegally. Obama has spoken out against the law and asked the Justice Department to examine its legality. Activists anticipate that the Justice Department will sue to overturn the law, but in Monday's meeting Obama said that decision would be left up to the department, and he didn't give a timeline, participants said.
Also Monday, high-ranking federal officials visited Arizona to brief the governor and others on Obama's recently announced plans to send National Guard troops to the border. The National Guard decision dismayed some activists, who said there were complaints in the meeting with Obama about the administration's emphasis on enforcement. But after talking with administration officials Monday, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, denounced the National Guard deployment as inadequate -- illustrating the divide facing Obama over immigration.
The White House said Obama would deliver a speech soon on "the importance of passing comprehensive immigration reform" but didn't give more details.
Given the difficulties of achieving a comprehensive bill, participants in the White House meeting said there was also discussion of attempting to pass smaller pieces of legislation -- such as a bill focused on agricultural workers, or one that would help illegal immigrant youths attend college.
Obama is to meet Tuesday with Hispanic members of Congress.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/06/28/obama-looks-activists-rally-support-immigration-policy-overhaul/
Obama vs. the Allies
By RICH LOWRY
Last Updated: 1:45 AM, June 29, 2010
Posted: 12:49 AM, June 29, 2010
A specter is haunting the world: the specter of Canada.
To hear President Obama's supporters tell it, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is a one-man economic wrecking crew. He led the charge at the G-8 summit to endorse the goal of advanced nations cutting their deficits in half by 2013. Obama only reluctantly went along, warning of the ill effects of what the intellectual architects of his stimulus package plaintively call "premature austerity."
This dreaded austerity has treated our friendly neighbors to the north quite well. If deficit spending is the engine of growth, Canada should be a nation of Hoovervilles. Although it adopted a temporary stimulus during the current recession, Canada drastically cut spending as a percentage of GDP from the mid-1990s to 2008.
In The Weekly Standard, Fred Barnes compares Canada's economic situation with that of America: "Its unemployment rate is lower, its budget deficit breathtakingly smaller (after nearly a decade of balanced budgets), its debt burden far lighter, its banks more stable." It's enough to put the most spectacularly boring phrase in journalism -- "worthwhile Canadian initiative" -- in a new light.
In contrast to Harper, Obama has become the world's great evangelist for debt. What he won't do for human rights, he'll do for red ink.
If President George W. Bush had as direct a clash with a European ally as Obama did with fiscally buttoned-up Germany during the G-8, he'd be condemned for his untoward unilateralism. The German finance minister was rude enough to point out that all of Obama's spending hasn't kept the US unemployment rate from rising above 9 percent and that "there is no empirical proof that deficits aid growth."
He could have gone further and noted that there's evidence that fiscal retrenchment stokes growth. As Harvard economists Alberto Alesina and Silvia Ardagna write in a 2009 study of fiscal policy in OECD countries, "We uncover several episodes in which spending cuts adopted to reduce deficits have been associated with economic expansions rather than recessions." In a recent review of the economic literature, American Enterprise Institute scholar Kevin Hassett concludes, "It is clear that fiscal consolidations can be stimulative."
Obama nonetheless mustered a coalition of the profligate, including such fiscal exemplars as France and -- of course -- the Japanese. After repeated failed stimuli over the course of the past decade, Japan's debt reached almost 200 percent of GDP in 2009. It's closer to bailed-out Greece than to the powerhouse that once fueled fears of Japanese economic hegemony.
Despite his jawboning at the G-8, Obama can no longer even count on his Democratic Congress for the requisite profligacy. Obama couldn't get a $110 billion "jobs" bill through the Senate ($30 billion of it financed through the deficit), even though it had been stripped down from its original price tag of $200 billion ($130 billion of it financed through the deficit).
It's not clear why even the larger figure would have made an appreciable difference in a $14 trillion economy. The theory is that more aid to the states will prevent them from draconian, growth-suppressing budget cuts. But public-sector employment is not a key to economic health, as both spendthrift California (12.4 percent unemployment) and New Jersey (9.7 percent) can attest.
Obama's evangelism for debt is in direct contrast to Clintonomics, the wonders of which once were extolled by liberals. Taking office after a (much milder) recession, Clinton decided to take steps to reduce a (much smaller) budget deficit to reassure markets. The economy continued to recover, and entered a rocket-booster period of growth soon after congressional Republicans instituted a serious regime of budget restraint.
The strong economy eventually wiped out the budget deficit, so Obama is not wrong to talk about the importance of growth. He's just foolish to think the best way to foster it is vast deficit spending now, to be followed inexorably by massive tax increases later. Even the Canadians can see that.
comments.lowry@ nationalreview.com
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/obama_vs_the_allies_65bXnxW6mt7eFtaJSYYQAN
High Court’s Big Ruling For Gun Rights
June 28, 2010 - 10:07 AM | by: Lee Ross
In its second major ruling on gun rights in three years, the Supreme Court Monday extended the federally protected right to keep and bear arms to all 50 states. The decision will be hailed by gun rights advocates and comes over the opposition of gun control groups, the city of Chicago and four justices.
Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the five justice majority saying "the right to keep and bear arms must be regarded as a substantive guarantee, not a prohibition that could be ignored so long as the States legislated in an evenhanded manner."
The ruling builds upon the Court's 2008 decision in D.C. v. Heller that invalidated the handgun ban in the nation's capital. More importantly, that decision held that the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms was a right the Founders specifically delegated to individuals. The justices affirmed that decision and extended its reach to the 50 states. Today's ruling also invalidates Chicago's handgun ban.
Backgrounder:
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court appears poised to issue a ruling that will expand to the states the high court's historic 2008 ruling that individuals have a federally protected right to keep and bear arms, following an hour-long argument Tuesday. If so, the decision would mark another hallmark victory for gun rights advocates and likely strike down Chicago's handgun ban that is similar to the Washington D.C. law already invalidated by the justices.
Tuesday's lively arguments featured lawyer Alan Gura, the same man who argued and won D.C. v. Heller in 2008. He now represents Otis McDonald who believes Chicago's handgun ban doesn't allow him to adequately protect himself. Gura argued the Heller decision which only applied to Washington D.C. and other areas of federal control should equally apply to Chicago and the rest of the country.
"In 1868, our nation made a promise to the McDonald family that they and their descendants would henceforth be American citizens, and with American citizenship came the guarantee enshrined in our Constitution that no State could make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of American citizenship," Gura told the Court.
He argued the language of the Constitution's 14th Amendment forces the states to protect the rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment. The Bill of Rights, which was adopted in the late 18th Century, was then commonly viewed as only offering protections from the federal government.
It wasn't until after the Civil War that the Supreme Court in a piecemeal fashion began to apply--or incorporate--parts of the Bill of Rights to the states. It has used the 14th Amendment's Due Process Clause to incorporate most of the Constitution's first amendments but has not yet done so for the Second Amendment. Gura argued that another part of the 14th Amendment would be a better vehicle for the justices to make their ruling but there didn't appear to be enough support from the bench on that front.
Chief Justice John Roberts was the most vocal advocate of using the Due Process Clause to extend the Second Amendment rights to the states. "I don't see how you can read -- I don't see how you can read Heller and not take away from it the notion that the Second Amendment...was extremely important to the framers in their view of what liberty meant."
The discussion over "liberty" was a major philosophical theme of the arguments. Gura and National Rifle Association lawyer Paul Clement argued that the rights articulated in the Second Amendment are fundamental freedoms and would exist to all Americans even if there was no law specifically saying so.
James Feldman, lawyer for the City of Chicago, defended his city's handgun ban and argued why the Heller decision's Second Amendment guarantee doesn't comport with the view that it represents a vital protection of liberty that needs to be expanded to the states.
"[T]he right it protects is not implicit in the concept of ordered liberty," Feldman said. "States and local governments have been the primary locus of firearms regulation in this country for the last 220 years. Firearms unlike anything else that is the subject of a provision of the Bill of Rights are designed to injure and kill."
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissented in Heller and wondered why the right to bear arms was necessary to extend to the states. "[I]f the notion is that these are principles that any free society would adopt, well, a lot of free societies have rejected the right to keep and bear arms."
Later in the arguments Roberts disputed that notion. "I do think the focus is our system of ordered liberty, not any abstract system of ordered liberty. You can say Japan is a free country, but it doesn't have the right to trial by -- by jury."
Roberts was part of the five member majority in Heller and there's a good chance Tuesday's case will result in a similar 5-4 outcome. All of the members of the Heller majority are still on the Court and at least one of them would have to rule against extending the Second Amendment protection in order for the opposing side to prevail.
Hey didn;t know you have a board, Nice.
change you can believe in
Michelle Obama Wears $540 Designer Sneakers to Feed the Poor
Reuters
April 29, 2009: Michelle Obama's sneakers - $540. Feeding the poor - priceless.
It's a first lady faux pas -- wearing expensive, high-fashion French designer sneakers to a food bank.
Michelle Obama wore the sneakers, made by Lanvin, while helping feed the poor at a Washington food bank on Wednesday. The pricetag on the footwear? A cool $540.
Keds, they're not.
The sneakers, which come in denim and satin, are a favorite of comic Ellen DeGeneres and rapper Kanye West -- and they're "certainly not a reflection of the poor economy," said FOX News' Noelle Watters, host of iMag Style.
"She paired the kicks with a much more reasonably priced cardigan from J. Crew similar to the one she's worn in the past," Watters said. "And quite honestly, the usually well-styled Michelle didn't match. While her over-priced designer sneaks were gray and pink, her sweater was a gold argyle style. A definite fashion faux pas."
According to the New York Daily News, the first lady of style likely got her sneakers through Ikram, the Chicago retailer that usually outfits her.
Obama's style helped catapult her into the 93rd spot of Maxim's "eyeball-searing, fantasy-fulfilling, brain-exploding" Hot 100 list, which was announced Friday.
The first lady's sense of fashion has received considerable media attention. During her trip to Europe last month to accompany President Obama to the G20 summit, her fashion choices and protocol-breaking touch of the Queen of England nearly received as much ink as the summit itself.
The White House did not return a message seeking comment.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,518652,00.html
yawn
POLITICAL BOARD No name calling will be tolerated one bit No belittling will be tolerated one bit..If you have a statement from the news put the URL with it or it will be deleted
be creative
bullnbear and onebug are ego duds
gets old fast
couldn't start a successful board on there own
if they were paid to do so..
be different
and it keeps getting better
'Right-Wing Extremism' Report Issued Despite Objections
Civil liberties officials at Homeland Security did not agree with some of the language in a controversial report on right-wing extremists, but the agency issued the report anyway.
AP
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/17/right-wing-extremism-report-issued-despite-objections/
WASHINGTON -- Civil liberties officials at the Homeland Security Department did not agree with some of the language in a controversial report on right-wing extremists, but the agency issued the report anyway.
The intelligence assessment issued to law enforcement last week said some military veterans could be susceptible to extremist recruiters or commit lone acts of violence. That prompted angry reactions from some lawmakers and veterans' groups.
Homeland Security spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said the report was issued before officials resolved problems raised by the agency's civil rights division. Kudwa would not specify what language raised the concerns.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano defended the report Thursday, but she said the definition of right-wing extremism that was included in a footnote should be changed.
In the report, right-wing extremism was defined as hate-motivated groups and movements, such as hatred of certain religions, racial or ethnic groups. "It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration," the report said.
"If there's one part of that report I would rewrite, in the word-smithing, Washington-ese that goes on after the fact, it would be that footnote," Napolitano said Thursday on FOX News.
The same definition was included in the agency's March 26 draft report on domestic extremism.
Both reports were marked "For Official Use Only." The department said the draft has been recalled and is being edited before it is sent to state and local law enforcement officials.
The report on right-wing extremists cites the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing by military veteran Timothy McVeigh as one instance of a veteran becoming a domestic terrorist.
Several lawmakers, the American Legion and Vets for Freedom took offense to the intelligence review. The Veterans of Foreign Wars defended it as an assessment, not an accusation.
Napolitano said, "We do not mean to suggest that veterans as a whole are at risk of becoming violent extremists."
She also said: "I apologize for that offense. It was certainly not intended."
The top Republican on the House intelligence committee, Michigan's Pete Hoekstra, has asked the director of national intelligence's ombudsman to investigate the Homeland Security report for "unsubstantiated conclusions and political bias."
The senior Democrat of the House committee with oversight of the department said the report raises privacy and civil liberty issues. "This report appears to have blurred the line between violent belief, which is constitutionally protected, and violent action, which is not," Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., wrote in a letter to Napolitano.
The department's definition of left-wing extremism in the March 26 draft report includes a reference to violence, stating these groups that embrace anticapitalist, communist or socialist beliefs seek "to bring about change through violent revolution rather than through established political processes."
These reports are part of the department's routine analysis of intelligence information to give to law enforcement agencies guidance on possible security threats.
In February, the department issued a similar warning about possible cyber attacks from left wing extremists. In September, the agency reported that right-wing extremists over the past five years had used the immigration debate as a recruiting tool.
Since September, the agency issued several reports on individual foreign and domestic extremist groups such as Al Qaeda and Hammerskin Nation, a skinhead organization. The Hammerskin assessment said many of the group's members received military training and fought in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The latest report has turned into a "political football," said Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif. Harman, who chairs a House subcommittee on intelligence and information sharing, said the report could have been written more artfully, but added that "it was a well-intended effort to describe to law enforcement what things to look for."
"If the result is to dumb down intelligence products that could prevent the next attack to the homeland, we will all
By the way I didnt take it very seriously,, you did,, I just played on it I guess that how the dems got you huh
You certainly didn't yesterday. You took it very seriously.
I think the entire country knows it was a joke except you
You might want to delete this post since it is totally bogus. Just a thought.
BORACULA -- MOTORS -- BORACULA BANKS WHATS NEXT -- UNDERWEAR
ALOT OF BS COMING I CAN FEEL WE JUST GOT THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG--
Cornerstone to the Obama Agenda
By Mark J. Fitzgibbons
Conservatives are big financiers of the spread of socialism by nonprofits. Bigger even than billionaire George Soros.
There are tens of thousands of liberal nonprofits on the public dole. Conservatives tend to focus attention and even outrage on a few large and notorious taxpayer-funded nonprofits such as ACORN, Planned Parenthood and AARP. That focus, though, is too myopic.
Liberals know how to use nonprofits to "change" America. With the daily bombardment against our free-market, constitutional senses by the Obama-Pelosi-Reid regime, we may be ignoring the nonprofit foundation of their comprehensive socialist agenda. And conservatives are helping to pay for it, both against our will and volitionally even if unwittingly.
Nonprofits have a unique and profound influence on the American people and culture. Think about the many roles of nonprofits in society and our families' daily lives: churches, educational institutions, unions, health and medical care charities, youth outlets such as Boys and Girls Clubs, pet rescue and placement groups, etc.
During our lifetimes most Americans voluntarily associate with, and are personally affected by, dozens of nonprofits, yet we tend to underestimate their impact on public policy and our other institutions. Nonprofits help shape nearly every aspect of American society.
In public policy, nonprofits advocate nationally, and lobby at the federal and state levels. Within local communities, liberal nonprofits indoctrinate school children towards socialism and away from free markets, organize illegal aliens and otherwise promote liberal agendas.
Through our tax dollars conservatives not only finance liberal advocacy by the nonprofits, but help pay the salaries of liberal nonprofit employees, enough of whom are Democratic activists off the clock and who disdain conservatives.
It's bad enough that conservatives finance the liberal agenda with tax dollars going to openly leftwing organizations. But what many conservatives may not know is the degree to which supposedly non-ideological charities to which we voluntarily contribute have become partners with and advocates for big government tax-and-spend politicians, and oppose conservative policies and goals.
American Enterprise Institute president Arthur C. Brooks writes conservatives tend to be more charitable in their contributions than liberals. The trouble is that many charities are now based in Washington, let politicians infiltrate their boards, and have become part of the liberal big-government establishment promoting agendas inconsistent with our beliefs and best interests.
Following passage of the record-breaking Stimulus Bill this year, for example, supposedly neutral charities such as American Heart Association, American Diabetes Association, Catholic Charities and others praised not just the bill, but even some of the politicians responsible for it.
Special interest groups representing charities advocate against repeal of the estate (death) tax and for higher income taxes. On issue after issue, they side with what they see as their natural allies in government.
Government money, in other words, has bought charitable allegiance and complicity with the liberal agenda. Rather than instruments of private association and independence described by de Toqueville as part of the fabric of American freedom, taxpayer-financed charities have become extensions of big, corrupt government.
This turn away from allegiance to private association and towards fealty to the State undermines the foundations of our democracy. Nonprofits historically have been one of the two institutional watchdogs and critics of bad government and corrupt politicians. The other -- the press -- largely abandoned that role long ago. Politicians, of course, take full advantage of this situation, and use taxpayer funding of charity as a means of political patronage and even personal benefit.
Almost weekly we read about politicians caught funneling taxpayer dollars to charities with ties to the politicians or for some other improper purpose. For example, in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, California, and North Carolina, state politicians have been caught in charitable scandals, yet these states have some of the most aggressive laws and bureaucracies regulating privately financed charities. There seems to be correlation between corruption and public (versus private) financing of charity. The reasons should be apparent to conservatives.
At the federal level, taxpayers have been funding liberal nonprofit factions for decades. Many of them preach the gospel of dependence on government. Those practices are about to accelerate.
President Obama's career prior to being elected to the White House involved spreading socialism using substantially conservatives' money. It's quite possible he does that better than anything else. As early as September 2008, Steven Malanga of the Manhattan Institute for Public Policy presciently described Barack Obama as "Organizer in Chief," and chronicles harm caused by his nonprofit agenda fomented by his ‘60s radical mentors.
The first major legislation he signed, the Stimulus Bill, includes an expanded infusion of billions of taxpayer dollars into the nonprofit sector, which as Congressman Ron Paul warned "will further insinuate the government into charity."
The Serve America Act will federalize volunteerism, and was described by Tammy Bruce as the Brownshirt Act. It will create boot camps for radicals like Obama-founded Public Allies.
President Obama was caught in the openly political attempt to move the census to White House control. Liberal surrogate nonprofits will instead receive federal funding for that ideological agenda.
Even Obama's proposal to limit charitable deductions aids the liberal agenda. Conservative nonprofits tend not to take taxpayer money; liberal nonprofits often are financed over 50 percent with government money. Reducing tax deductions will disproportionately hurt charities relying on purely private financing, a political maneuver little noticed except by some liberals, who understand it will help defund the right and ensure "government, not private donors . . . decide how tax dollars are allocated."
Conservatives need to rethink their charitable giving and stop contributing to charities that receive taxpayer money. Liberal nonprofits indoctrinate our youth and are helping move society towards socialism. Conservatives must not underestimate this subterfuge of free markets, private association and traditional values, nor this foundation to the entire Obama agenda of change towards socialism.
There are plenty of deserving causes that need our money, and won't insult and operate against conservative principles.
Mark Fitzgibbons is President of Corporate and Legal Affairs at American Target Advertising, Inc., a direct marketing agency in Manassas, VA.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/04/cornerstone_to_the_obama_agend.html
Isnt this might bit curious to anybody???
I have been watching the news all day and the only people that have been near Barakula is the other communist and his wife.. Looks to me as if not another world leader wants to be anywhere near them.. I mean the rest of the world leaders are there arent they??? I mean they did show up for it didnt they??? Or is it they know it is a waste of time as well
So much for liberal ethics huh??? this is disgusting
Police: New York Couple Arrested After School Finds Sons, 7 and 8, High on Drugs
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
CENTRAL SQUARE, N.Y. — A central New York couple are under arrest because, police say, their 7- and 8-year-old sons showed up at school stoned on marijuana.
Officials at Cleveland Elementary School notified authorities about the possible drug use last week.
On Wednesday, state police charged 33-year-old James Tyson and 34-year-old Christina Miczek, of Bernhards Bay, with endangering the welfare of a child. The misdemeanor is punishable by up to a year in jail.
Investigators say the boys smoked the marijuana after finding it at their home.
Troopers also charged a 15-year-old who made a smoking device for the boys. Troopers didn't release his name because of his age.
State police could not say if Tyson and Miczek have lawyers. Their phone number is no longer in service.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,512102,00.html
Obama Orders Chevrolet and Dodge Out Of NASCAR - Car News
With their racing budgets deemed “unnecessary expenditures,” GM and Chrysler are ordered to cease racing operations at the end of the season.
BY JARED GALL, ILLUSTRATION BY ERIC WOODWARD
April 2009
In a move sure to spark outrage, the White House announced today that GM and Chrysler must cease participation in NASCAR at the end of the 2009 season if they hope to receive any additional financial aid from the government. Companies around the globe—Honda and Audi, to name two—have drawn down racing operations, and NASCAR itself has already felt the pinch in the form of reduced team spending. A complete withdrawal from America’s premier racing series is expected to save more than $250 million between GM and Chrysler, a substantial amount considering the drastic measures being implemented elsewhere.
“Automakers used to operate on the principle of ‘win on Sunday, sell on Monday,’ but the Auto Task Force’s research just doesn’t validate that as true,” said the statement from President Obama. While fans have decried the Car of Tomorrow for heavily limiting what little personalization the cookie-cutter series had previously allowed to participating manufacturers, and drivers have slammed its brick-like aerodynamics and unpredictable handling, even the governmental oversight committee sees that the full-scale regulation of the cars leaves the manufacturers very little space for research and development. “NASCAR is a racing series that regulates down to the smallest detail of the cars, where a car badged a Chevrolet or Dodge differs only marginally from a Ford or a Toyota. There’s no technological development to speak of.”
The statement goes on further to say the same demand will be made of Ford if it asks for government assistance. “In order to receive this money, corporations must demonstrate they will spend it wisely. Racing has been said to improve on-road technology, but frankly, NASCAR almost flaunts its standing among the lowest-tech forms of motorsport. NASCAR is not proven to drive advancements that transfer from the racetrack to the road, and this nation’s way forward does not hinge on decades-old technology. We need new, and we need innovation.”
The President realizes this will be an unpopular call, but stands behind the decision, saying, “This is an obvious cut to make, but it is not an easy one. This administration is not ignoring the tremendous sentimental value and emotional appeal NASCAR holds for so many Americans. But now is not the time for sentiment and nostalgia; now is a time for decisive financial action. If our automotive industry is to emerge from this recession intact, then these difficult decisions must be made.”
Both Chevrolet and Dodge see the move as only temporary, and fully expect to resume racing in NASCAR as soon as they have stabilized and the government’s hand in their operations is minimized. “There is nothing really to say at this point,” said one representative, who wished to remain anonymous. “We’ve been doing this since the beginning, and we always assumed we’d be doing this until the end. Heck, nobody ever thought to think that there would be an end. But we ain’t done. As soon as this is over, we’re taking back our spot at the top.”
NASCAR officials remain tight-lipped about the call, but sources say series president Mike Helton and team managers are exploring several options, including other manufacturers to fill Chevrolet and Dodge’s vacated positions. Given the company’s recent interest in motorsport and the steady cash-flow and V-8 engine provided by its new Genesis sedan, sources indicate that NASCAR is pinging Hyundai to gauge the Korean company’s interest in occupying a spot in NASCAR. “Toyota was not well-received their first year in the sport, nor was their first season an easy one,” the source says. “But they learned, they applied the lessons, and they have proven very competitive this year.”
If Hyundai does indeed join the series, there will no doubt be a steep learning curve, and the move would leave Ford the lone domestic battling a pair of Asian makes in America’s most popular racing series. We wonder, however, how long NASCAR could hold that title without two of its most storied participants.
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_lists/high_performance/motorsports/obama_orders_chevrolet_and_dodge_out_of_nascar_car_news
I have said before that it will ba a matter of time before the dems hit nascar and here it is
Obama Orders Chevrolet and Dodge Out Of NASCAR - Car News
With their racing budgets deemed “unnecessary expenditures,” GM and Chrysler are ordered to cease racing operations at the end of the season.
BY JARED GALL, ILLUSTRATION BY ERIC WOODWARD
April 2009
In a move sure to spark outrage, the White House announced today that GM and Chrysler must cease participation in NASCAR at the end of the 2009 season if they hope to receive any additional financial aid from the government. Companies around the globe—Honda and Audi, to name two—have drawn down racing operations, and NASCAR itself has already felt the pinch in the form of reduced team spending. A complete withdrawal from America’s premier racing series is expected to save more than $250 million between GM and Chrysler, a substantial amount considering the drastic measures being implemented elsewhere.
“Automakers used to operate on the principle of ‘win on Sunday, sell on Monday,’ but the Auto Task Force’s research just doesn’t validate that as true,” said the statement from President Obama. While fans have decried the Car of Tomorrow for heavily limiting what little personalization the cookie-cutter series had previously allowed to participating manufacturers, and drivers have slammed its brick-like aerodynamics and unpredictable handling, even the governmental oversight committee sees that the full-scale regulation of the cars leaves the manufacturers very little space for research and development. “NASCAR is a racing series that regulates down to the smallest detail of the cars, where a car badged a Chevrolet or Dodge differs only marginally from a Ford or a Toyota. There’s no technological development to speak of.”
The statement goes on further to say the same demand will be made of Ford if it asks for government assistance. “In order to receive this money, corporations must demonstrate they will spend it wisely. Racing has been said to improve on-road technology, but frankly, NASCAR almost flaunts its standing among the lowest-tech forms of motorsport. NASCAR is not proven to drive advancements that transfer from the racetrack to the road, and this nation’s way forward does not hinge on decades-old technology. We need new, and we need innovation.”
The President realizes this will be an unpopular call, but stands behind the decision, saying, “This is an obvious cut to make, but it is not an easy one. This administration is not ignoring the tremendous sentimental value and emotional appeal NASCAR holds for so many Americans. But now is not the time for sentiment and nostalgia; now is a time for decisive financial action. If our automotive industry is to emerge from this recession intact, then these difficult decisions must be made.”
Both Chevrolet and Dodge see the move as only temporary, and fully expect to resume racing in NASCAR as soon as they have stabilized and the government’s hand in their operations is minimized. “There is nothing really to say at this point,” said one representative, who wished to remain anonymous. “We’ve been doing this since the beginning, and we always assumed we’d be doing this until the end. Heck, nobody ever thought to think that there would be an end. But we ain’t done. As soon as this is over, we’re taking back our spot at the top.”
NASCAR officials remain tight-lipped about the call, but sources say series president Mike Helton and team managers are exploring several options, including other manufacturers to fill Chevrolet and Dodge’s vacated positions. Given the company’s recent interest in motorsport and the steady cash-flow and V-8 engine provided by its new Genesis sedan, sources indicate that NASCAR is pinging Hyundai to gauge the Korean company’s interest in occupying a spot in NASCAR. “Toyota was not well-received their first year in the sport, nor was their first season an easy one,” the source says. “But they learned, they applied the lessons, and they have proven very competitive this year.”
If Hyundai does indeed join the series, there will no doubt be a steep learning curve, and the move would leave Ford the lone domestic battling a pair of Asian makes in America’s most popular racing series. We wonder, however, how long NASCAR could hold that title without two of its most storied participants.
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_lists/high_performance/motorsports/obama_orders_chevrolet_and_dodge_out_of_nascar_car_news
Has anybody been to the grocery store lately? Prices have almost doubled on everything Thank you Barakula and the dems The economists said this was going to happen and it is only the beginning
ARENT YOU SO GLAD YOU VOTED DEMOCRAT
How Socialized Medicine Could Save The US Billions
A new proposal being floated around Washington DC is called the Delayed Treatment Program (DTP) which could save the nation hundreds of billions in medical costs. Quite simply, treatment for cancer patients would be delayed until 60 days after their death. A patient would simply have to show a valid death certificate and within 60 days they'd recieve unlimited medical treatment for their cancer. The savings could triple the amounts of treatment that can go towards AIDs patients.
This system has been tried on a limited basis in some European socialist medical systems with promising results in cost savings. If this program is successful it can be expanded for cardiovascular and many other life threatening treatments.
Isnt socialism just gran
ARENT YOU SO GLAD YOU VOTED DEMOCRAT
Here is your truth now
cities and States Plan Strange New Taxes on Pretty Much Everything
The government is having a hard time making do with the meager trillions you're throwing their way, so they're pressing some controversial new customs to buy their way out. Here's a look at some of the more egregious new taxes you're sure to be seeing soon.
Behold, America: the taxman cometh.
Even as taxpayers are struggling to make ends meet in a crumbling, tumbling economy, your friendly neighborhood (and state and federal) government is having a hard time making do with the meager trillions you're throwing its way, so it's relying on an old maxim:
If it exists, it can be taxed.
New York's resident grinch, Gov. David Paterson, tried suggesting a kind of omnibus fun-busting budget that would have taxed New Yorkers for skiing, golfing, camping, being fat, being skinny, going to the movies, going to plays, wearing clothing, going to strip clubs and having more than six fingers or toes. The governor, who is up for re-election next year, came to his senses about three weeks ago and renounced the budget, perhaps when an adviser noted that political contributions aren't tax-deductible.
Things haven't been all downhill for the taxman, though: some surprising new tariffs, like supersizing the tax on AIG bonuses, have had a measure of popular support, but most are being opposed hand and foot over wallet.
Cigarette taxes are jumping so much on April 1 that it will soon be cheaper to run a tobacco farm than to buy a pack of cigarettes. So as you stockpile your smokes for the coming decade, here's a look at some of the more egregious new taxes you'll be seeing soon.
IT'S ELECTRIC
Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty has proposed a slew of new taxes (for taxes are no longer solitary creatures like wolves, but herd together in dangerous slews) to meet his city's massive deficit. His first target: budget-busting street lights, which Washingtonians will now fund with an extra $51 monthly tax. Bottom line: if you expect to be kept safe from monsters lurking in the District night, it's really going to cost you.
DO THE MASH
Kentucky is called the state of the "unbridled spirit," but when a new 6 percent tax hike on booze goes into effect April 1, that slogan might have to change. Lawmakers are going to be taxing their very own Kentucky bourbon, which is, along with Col. Sanders and the Bowie knife, among the greatest contributions of the Bluegrass State. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you.
OLD PROFESSION, NEW FEE
Nevada's hidebound lawmakers are finally going after prostitution in their state. Well, not really ... but one Las Vegas Democrat has proposed a $5 surcharge on all, ummm, transactions, which he says will boost the state's economy by $2 million. While you finish doing the math on how many rendezvous there are annually in Nevada (answer: a lot), it's worth noting that most bordellos charge a minimum of about $100 to $200 for their services, and don't object much to the suggested tax. Five bucks is a paltry thing next to the prices some people are willing to pay in the Silver State.
GET IN AND STAY OUT
Nevada has also raised its so-called bed tax, which isn't nearly as fun as it sounds. Its 3 percent hike was levied in March on travelers spending the night in Nevada hotels, most of whom end up in Las Vegas. Nevada isn't alone: nearly half of states have a hotel tax meant to punish suckers foolish enough to leave their own homes, but as more sign on there's danger of an interstate tax war. Once everyone has imposed a stiff nightly rate, who will be safe from harm?
STRIPPED BARE
Texas led the way in 2007 by levying a $5 tax on patrons of gentlemen's clubs, exotic dance parlors and all other places where women disrobe for money. Now Florida and New York are among states considering their own "pole taxes," which have already netted the Lone Stars $11.2 million in revenues. The money was supposed to be used to fund sexual assault services (and no, the irony is not lost on anyone). Only hitch: a Texas judge ruled the tax an unconstitutional infringement of free speech. Yes, stripping is free speech. Let freedom ring.
CASH CROP
Billions of dollars in the hole, California's legislature is considering a blunt proposal from a San Francisco assemblyman: taxing legalized marijuana sales at $50 an ounce, a move its sponsor thinks could net the state about $1 billion a year. Oregon is considering a similar measure, taxing medical marijuana at nearly $100 an ounce. The taxes could really help excite the states' economies, even if everything else gets sluggish for a while.
RUNNING ON EMPTY
If you live in America and your name starts with a letter, you're probably going to be seeing higher gas taxes soon. States and municipalities from Massachusetts to Michigan are planning gas hikes to help rev up their stalling fiscal engines. So any of you planning to travel across state lines to stock up on cigarettes before April 1 had better get on the road fast, before new highway taxes, raised tolls, speeding cameras and apocalyptic moths bar your way for good.
PORNOGRAPHY!
A Washington state representative was beaten back in February when he suggested taxing pornographic materials to save programs that serve the poor and disabled. A noble gesture indeed, which would have taxed adult magazines, adult photographs, adult videos, adult phone services and a few things even adults wouldn't want to talk about. The flesh lobby (and the rep's fellow Democrats in the state house) stopped the bill in its tracks, a rare win for anti-tax forces this season. The ACLU opposed the bill, too, arguing that taxing pornography is a tax on free speech. So what happens if you put it on mute?
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/03/31/cities-states-plan-strange-new-taxes-pretty/
Immigrants ravage U.S. infrastructure
Financial analyst: $1.6 trillion required to repair devastation
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: January 15, 2009
11:50 pm Eastern
By Chelsea Schilling
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
Edwin S. Rubenstein
The United States will need $1.6 trillion to repair damage to its infrastructure from a massive influx of immigrants, a new report reveals.
In his report titled, "The Twin Crises: Immigration and Infrastructure," prominent researcher Edwin S. Rubenstein examines 15 categories of infrastructure: airports, border security, bridges, dams and levees, electricity (the power grids), hazardous waste removal, hospitals, mass transit, parks and recreation facilities, ports and navigable waterways, public schools, railroads, roads and highways, solid waste and trash, and water and sewer systems.
Rubenstein, a financial analyst and former contributing editor of Forbes and economics editor of National Review, claims the nation is facing a crisis – with immigration responsible for at least 80 percent of spending needed to expand the U.S. infrastructure before the middle of this century.
"If the infrastructure crisis could be fixed by spending money, there would be no crisis," Mr. Rubenstein explained in a statement. "Since 1987, capital spending on transportation infrastructure has increased by 2.1 percent per year above the inflation rate. At $233 billion (2004 dollars), infrastructure is already one of the largest categories of government spending. Our infrastructure is 'crumbling' because population growth has overwhelmed the ability of even these vast sums to expand capacity."
While immigration policy has been hotly debated for a number of years, Rubenstein writes that its impact on infrastructure is rarely discussed.
Public schools
Immigrants make up 21 percent of the school-age population in the U.S.
"In California, a whopping 47 percent of the school-age population consists of immigrants or the children of immigrants," the report states. "Some Los Angeles schools are so crowded that they have lengthened the time between classes to give students time to make their way through crowded halls. Los Angeles' school construction program is so massive that the Army Corps of Engineers was called in to manage it."
According to the U.S. Department of Education, 18 percent of all schools are considered overcrowded, and 37 percent use trailers and portable structures to accommodate growing student bodies. Public facilities are an average of 40 years old. Cities with high populations of illegal aliens are spending large amounts of their budgets on constructing new schools.
"Our anticipated gains in the number of foreign-born students alone will require us to build one elementary school a month to keep up," Miami-Dade, Fla., school Superintendent Roger Cuevas said.
Hospitals
Rubenstein cites a recent construction boom among the nation's hospitals. As many as 60 percent of America's hospitals are either under construction or have plans for new facilities.
"But we have a two-tier hospital system in the U.S. Hospitals in poor areas – that serve primarily uninsured immigrants and Medicaid patients – cannot afford their facilities," he writes. "The uncompensated costs are killing them. In California, 60 emergency departments (EDs) have closed to avoid the uncompensated costs of their largely illegal alien caseloads."
Illegal aliens use emergency rooms more than twice as often as U.S. citizens, and providing their uncompensated care has been the death of many emergency departments.
In 2006, more than 46 percent of illegals did not have medical insurance. Although illegal aliens are not supposed to be eligible for Medicaid, they receive Emergency Medicaid and their children are entitled to all benefits that legal immigrants receive.
Because hospitals are forced to care for Medicaid recipients, the government program never covers full costs of service. It underpaid hospitals by $11.3 billion in 2006, he wrote.
(Story continues below)
Water and electricity
Rubenstein referenced immigration trends revealing that aliens often choose to live in cities with strained water supplies – especially near the border – and their sheer numbers have made conservation efforts nearly impossible.
"Cities like San Antonio, El Paso, and Phoenix could run out of water in 10 to 20 years," he writes. San Diego's water company has resorted to a once-unthinkable option: recycling toilet water for drinking."
Due to immigration, demand for water exceeds the California State Water Project's capacity. Now Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed building a $6 billion reservoir. Approximately one-fifth of the state's electricity is tied up in collection, storage and transportation of the water.
Electric utilities are expected to require an additional $142 billion to keep generator capacity at recommended levels before 2050 due to the increasing population.
National parks
Trash left behind by illegal aliens
America's national parks are also bearing the brunt of immigration. Illegals wear roads and paths through parks.
"Their fires, trash, and vandalism have despoiled thousands of acres of pristine parkland," he writes.
According to Rubenstein, illegals leave beer, water and milk bottles, personal hygiene items and medications, clothing and shoes, food and food cans, jewelry, paper trash, sanitary pads, disposable diapers, backpacks, blankets, towels, plastic bags, homemade weapons, disintegrating toilet paper and human feces on U.S. property while they journey into the country.
They damage vegetation, leave abandoned vehicles and bicycles, spray paint trees and boulders and create campfires that turn into wildfires.
Border security costs
Costs for securing the nation's borders are expected to increase 20.6 percent in fiscal year 2009. These include expenses for border patrol, electronic surveillance, the border fence and other security needs. President Bush allocated $44.3 billion for the Department of Homeland Security – a 4.5 percent increase from last year's budget of $42.4 billion.
"While the U.S. builds a fence across much of the border, many illegals are taking a different route. Underground," Rubenstein reveals. "Authorities have discovered dozens of illegal tunnels across the international border in recent years. Smuggling of drugs, weapons, and immigrants takes place daily through these underground passageways."
Illegal aliens also use drainage systems to travel across the U.S.-Mexico border – from El Paso to San Diego.
"One tunnel, actually a system of two half-mile passages connecting Tijuana with San Diego, is by comparison a superhighway," he wrote.
While the Border Patrol attempts to stop these underground incursions with steel doors, cameras and sensors, harsh weather conditions and human smugglers destroy the equipment and barriers.
These costs, and the expenses of providing "enhanced driver's licenses" as alternative passports for citizens, RFID chips, government databases and watch lists are expected to soar.
Fiscal burden
In his research, Rubenstein finds that the average immigrant household generates a fiscal debt of $3,408 after federal benefits and taxes are considered. At the state and local level, the fiscal debt amounts to $4.398 per immigrant household.
"There are currently about 36 million immigrants living in about 9 million households, so the aggregate deficit attributable to immigrants comes to $70.3 billion," he writes. "… Immigrants could deplete the amount of funds available for infrastructure by as much as $70 billion per year."
Rubenstein cites figures from the U.S. Census Bureau, projecting that the U.S. population will reach 433 million by 2050 – increasing 44 percent, or 135 million, from today's numbers.
A full 82 percent of this increase will be directly attributable to new immigrants and their U.S.-born children.
"The brutal reality is that no conceivable infrastructure program can keep pace with that kind of population growth," he wrote. "The traditional 'supply-side' response to America's infrastructure shortage – build, build, build – is dead, dead, dead. Demand reduction is the only viable way to close the gap between the supply and demand of public infrastructure."
He concludes, "Immigration reduction must play a role."
Edwin Rubenstein's complete report, "The Twin Crises: Immigration and Infrastructure," released Jan. 13, is available here.
http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=86243
And the dems just keep on showing us that this is about votes not the safety of this country
Another fiasco in Jersey
GIVE NJ ILLEGALS RIGHTS: PANEL
Illegal immigrants in New Jersey should be eligible for in-state tuition and be able to obtain drivers' licenses, a special panel says.
Those were two key recommendations of the governor's blue-ribbon panel studying immigrant policy.
Gov. Jon Corzine said yesterday he agrees that illegal immigrants should pay in-state tuition to attend New Jersey's public colleges. But he didn't endorse the panel's recommendation that illegal immigrants be extended state driving privileges, saying that's an issue for the federal government to decide
http://www.nypost.com/seven/03312009/news/regionalnews/give_nj_illegals_rights__panel_162148.htm
Iran, Syria Receive Millions of U.S. 'Peaceful Nuclear' Funds
Countries designated by the U.S. as terrorism sponsors reportedly received $55 million from a U.S.-supported program promoting the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
Four countries designated by the U.S. as terrorism sponsors, including Iran and Syria, received $55 million from a U.S.-supported program promoting the peaceful use of nuclear energy, according to a report by Congress's investigative arm.
Iran received more than $15 million from 1997 to 2007 under the International Atomic Energy Agency's Technical Cooperation program, according to the Government Accountability Office report set to be released Tuesday. An additional $14 million went to Syria, while Sudan and Cuba received more than $11 million each, it said.
The U.S. is the largest funder of the United Nations body's program and provided $20 million in 2007, or about a quarter of the budget, the report said.
The Technical Cooperation program funds some projects with a direct connection to nuclear energy, but many other projects it funds have no such link. Recent examples include projects to improve livestock productivity and eradicate the tsetse fly in Africa.
The GAO said it was concerned that some of the projects could provide expertise useful both for peaceful purposes and for the development of nuclear-weapon capabilities. The U.S. Energy Department, which reviews these proposed projects for the State Department, examined 1,565 such proposals between 1998 and 2006 and found that 43 of them had some degree of proliferation risk. The IAEA approved 34 of them, the report found.
Iran says it is developing nuclear fuel for peaceful purposes, but the U.S. fears it is seeking a nuclear weapon. Syria is under investigation for alleged covert nuclear activities, and U.S. officials have said a Syrian site bombed by Israel in 2007 was a nuclear facility.
U.S. oversight of the IAEA program is weak, the report said. Officials at the State and Energy departments often know only the titles of proposed projects, it said. The State Department division dedicated to monitoring the program shrank in 2005 by two-thirds to five employees.
A top IAEA official at the Technical Cooperation program told the GAO that the program aims to engage as many countries as possible and "there are no good countries and there are no bad countries," the report said. The IAEA also said confidentiality agreements often prevent it from providing details about the projects for which countries are seeking aid.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/03/31/iran-syria-receive-millions-peaceful-nuclear-funds/
NEWS FLASH NEW CORPORATION IN THE COUNTRY
The OM motor company
That is OBAMA MOTORS
And here are some of the new models you will soon be able to enjoy
The Gore - powered by your own sense of self satisfaction.
The Pelosi - can be relocated to any city in the U.S. free of charge by the military.
The Biden - voice powered, gets 36 mpg per gaffe.
The Olbermann - just show your degree from Cornell & you get free gas.
The Matthews - Has a special interactive accelerator that gives you a "thrill up your leg" with every 100 carbon credits earned.
And it just doesnt stop
Obama to Propose $2.8 Billion in Military Aid to Pakistan
That money would be in addition to the civilian aid -- $1.5 billion a year for five years -- that the president called for Friday.
By Justin Fishel
President Obama plans to propose spending roughly $2.8 billion in aid for the Pakistani military, as he steps up the U.S.-led campaign to battle extremists along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
That money would be in addition to the civilian aid -- $1.5 billion a year for five years -- that the president called for Friday.
A defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told FOX News the money will be dedicated exclusively to "equipping, training, and building infrastructure directly related to counterinsurgency operations."
Gen. David Petraeus told FOX News in an interview Monday the plan will be called the "Pakistani Counterinsurgency Capability Fund".
Officials were quick to point out that U.S. commanders would have control over how the money is spent, and that none of it would be spent in a way that would give Pakistan a greater capacity to attack another country, such as India.
The money would be distributed over five years, with the first $400 million of it added to the fiscal year 2009 supplemental request for war fighting. Another $700 million would be in the fiscal 2010 base budget. Then $575 million would be spent each year from fiscal 2011 through 2013.
In his speech on Friday, President Obama described Pakistan's lawless border region as "the most dangerous place in the world."
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/03/30/obama-proposes-billion-military-aid-pakistan/
New York will definately be Republican next year
SETTING NY BACK 30 YRS.
ALBANY -- New York's ruling Democratic trium virate took a giant generational leap backward yesterday to the destructive days of John Lindsay, Abe Beame and Nelson Rockefeller.
The budget created by Gov. Paterson, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith is a monstrously bloated, tax-and-spend plan that, in one fell swoop, reverses a three-decade-long effort to strengthen business and prevent taxpayers from fleeing the state.
The wrecking ball of a new state budget, approved in Kremlin-like secrecy by the troika, also ranks as one of the biggest betrayals in process and substance by a governor in New York history.
The reform effort being reversed by Paterson & Co. began in 1975, when then-newly elected Democratic Gov. Hugh Carey, ending 16 years of Republican rule, famously declared that the "Days of Wine and Roses" were over.
Carey wasn't talking about Gov. Rockefeller's sybaritic lifestyle, just his fiscal policies that, along with Mayor Lindsay's, brought a fiscal crisis -- worse in some ways than the current national recession -- that nearly bankrupted the city and state.
Carey was followed by Mario Cuomo, who, in 1987, slashed the state's top income-tax bracket and even cut the capital-gains tax.
But Cuomo, like Paterson, sought to impose billions of dollars in new taxes and fees during a severe recession, worsening the state's economic climate and setting the stage for his defeat at the hands of George Pataki.
Republican Pataki, even with a $5 billion projected deficit on taking office in 1995, balanced the budget and cut the income tax's top rate once again.
Ironically, while Paterson's Democratic allies in the Legislature gleefully claim to be reversing Pataki's tax cuts for the wealthy, he cut tax rates for the highest earners less than they were cut under Democrats Carey and Cuomo.
"This budget basically represents a reversal of 30 years of New York tax policy," said the Manhattan Institute's E.J. McMahon.
"Beginning with Carey and stretching through the 1990s, there was a continuous effort by three governors, sometimes interrupted but not reversed, to reduce income-tax rates in bipartisan recognition that New York's economy had been really hurt by steep income tax rates put in place under Nelson Rockefeller."
Paterson, who succeeded the disgraced Eliot Spitzer just over a year ago, repeatedly pledged last summer and fall to continue the effort to revive business, reverse the loss of productive citizens to lower-tax states and revive the moribund upstate economy.
And he also promised a new era of governmental openness in place of Albany's notorious secrecy.
But last week, Paterson -- whose 19 percent job-approval rating has driven him into the arms of the leftist Working Families Party and public-employee unions he hopes will help him win election next year -- was openly mocking government accountability, claiming with breathtaking chutzpah that by keeping negotiations secret, he was following the wishes of the press.
Paterson's sense of humor once made him famous at the best parties at the Capitol.
His anything-but-funny budget could make him infamous for abandoning 30-plus years of economic progress.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/03312009/news/columnists/setting_ny_back_30_yrs__162152.htm
MAKING CITY HURT ALL OVER
NO ONE IS SAFE FROM TAX SMACK IN STATE BUDGET
March 31, 2009
We was robbed!
From the top of The Bronx to the bottom of The Battery, New Yorkers of all income levels will get socked in the wallet thanks to a taxing new state budget -- with some households plopping down thousands more, a Post analysis has found.
DICKER: SETTING NY BACK 30 YRS.
EDITORIAL: LABOR'S BIG PAYDAY
See How Much More You'll Have to Pay
A Big Apple family of five with a combined income of $450,000 will end up shelling out at least an additional $5,200 a year more under the budget agreed to by Gov. Paterson and legislative leaders.
A middle-class family of four with a $95,000 income could have to cough up over $850 more than they did a year earlier, according to The Post's calculations.
And a swinging single guy living in the city will likely put out another $336.72.
The hefty increase includes higher taxes slapped on staples like cigars and 12 packs of beer -- as well as expected hikes in subway fares, since the budget made no provisions for the cash-strapped MTA.
The heads of The Post's fictional family of five will pay the most in new taxes thanks to their income of $450,000.
They'll fork over $4,320 extra in state income tax alone thanks to the "millionaire's tax," which whacks households earning over $300,000 with a 1 percent hike.
The Post reached that number by adjusting their taxable income with $3,000 in deductions for their three children, and the $15,000 standard deduction.
As steep as their new bill is, their more affluent neighbors will be hit even harder. New Yorkers who earn over $500,000 will see their personal income tax rate jump from 6.85 percent to 8.97 percent.
Those hikes -- which are supposed to expire after three years -- are expected to raise around $4 billion this year.
The Post's middle-class family will also be slapped with a slew of new taxes and fees.
While their income tax remains the same, they will be stung with new fees on sundries as well as a steep $100 surcharge on their electric bill and another $90 on their HMO fees.
In Albany, Paterson and legislative leaders called a press conference yesterday to tout the $132 billion budget as fiscally prudent, despite a spending increase of 9 percent and a $4 million income-tax hike he had repeatedly called a "last resort."
"None of this makes sense," Paterson said. "We don't want to tax the wealthy. We don't want to put these taxes in and raise fees. We don't want to hold our school budgets at zero increase. We don't want to lay workers off. This is a response to a crisis."
Paterson blamed the budget's record-breaking $10.5 billion surge on an influx of federal stimulus money and praised lawmakers for making what he said was $6.5 billion in cuts.
But Mayor Bloomberg and business groups said the lack of restraint shown by Albany would hurt the state economically. Lawmakers hope to begin passing the budget bill today.
"The state is going to have to raise taxes," Bloomberg said. "They don't seem to have a lot of stomach for cutting back expense, and they've got to meet their bills."
In addition, many business groups were outraged with the budget, claiming it was stuffed with thousands of pet projects.
"What it says about the attitude is really troubling," said Manhattan Institute analyst E.J. McMahon. "In the most severe recession in 70 years, they are stuffing the pork barrel as if it's business as usual."
Earmarks include $6,500 to Utica Curling Club and $5,000 to the Urban Yoga Foundation, according to the Manhattan Institute.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/03312009/news/regionalnews/making_city_hurt_all_over_162175.htm
Now Obama has fired and replaced the CEO of General Motors, Rick Wagoner. He says he has good reasons for doing this, but we are not allowed to ask him what those reasons are. Something about how the company has not made any money lately, and maybe the guy at the top is the one who should be held responsible.
But what I object to is that the time is not quite right, and the way he fired him was just uncalled for. There were a couple of deals that were not finished, and Rick Wagoner should have been given the time to complete them. No matter that Wagoner had done nothing positive for the company in a few years, he should still be CEO because he was an important guy for General Motors, and just because. Also because we don't quite know how the new guy is.
But. When the guy on top is a failure, you replace him. Today. No matter what. Right? Aren't presidents supposed to fire CEOs of major corporations? And, by the way, guarantee all the vehicle warranties while he is at it? That's the twenty eighth amendment, right?
The hits just keep on coming
Now you see it and now you don't accounting by our big banks!
American Express said in its annual report that if the amended FAS 140 goes through, the company would have to bring onto its books $29 billion of card loans and set aside an additional $1.8 billion in loss reserves, according to figures as of Dec. 31. American Express' loss reserves totaled nearly $3.4 billion at the end of 2008.
Citigroup, using figures as of Dec. 31, would have to take onto its books $98.2 billion of card loans, according to its annual report. The altered FAS 140 will have a "significant impact" on its financial statements, the company said in the regulatory filing. Discover currently estimates that it will have to assume $20.6 billion of card loans on its balance sheet.
What a bunch of crap... bust out the billions as unemployment skyrockets.
Derb
White House moves dramatically on auto industry
White House moves dramatically on autos, GM's Wagoner ousted, Chrysler must merge with Fiat
Steven R. Hurst, Associated Press Writer
Monday March 30, 2009, 8:30 am EDT
Buzz up! Print Related:Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corporation, Northrop Grumman Corporation
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House was stepping into America's industrial sector with a force not seen in generations, as President Barack Obama planned Monday to tell the nation why he forced the chief at crippled General Motors to retire and gave Chrysler a month to hook up with Italy's Fiat SpA.
Related Quotes
Symbol Price Change
F 2.84 0.00
GM 3.62 0.00
NOC 45.02 0.00
{"s" : "f,gm,noc","k" : "c10,l10,p20,t10","o" : "","j" : ""} Dating to his days as a presidential candidate, Obama had been openly warning the U.S. auto industry of his deep dissatisfaction with the way it has done business. As the country's economic recession deepened and the auto giants sought more taxpayer money, the president acted to force fundamental changes in the industry.
On Sunday, his administration acted as the Tuesday deadline approached for General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC to submit acceptable restructuring plans in return for billions more dollars they said was needed to stay in business. The struggling companies were already being kept afloat with huge emergency government rescue loans. GM had received $13.4 billion; Chrysler $4 billion.
The president was to explain that the companies, which employ about 140,000 workers in the United States, were preparing to hand in proposals that did not merit continued taxpayer help and needed to do much more. Tens of thousands more workers jobs could be in jeopardy in associated industries and businesses.
Ford Motor Co., the third of the industry's Big Three, has taken no government money and is not affected.
In return for the forced resignation of CEO Rick Wagoner and a shake-up in the auto giant's board, the administration will provide GM 60 days of operating money to work out an acceptable restructuring in the face of an inevitable bankruptcy should it fail.
Chrysler will get up to $6 billion and 30 days to complete an alliance with Fiat. Chrysler and Fiat have been in talks, but Obama forced the issue Sunday, setting the deadline and adding as a sweetener the promise of $6 billion more in government assistance if the deal is done on time. If a Chrysler-Fiat union cannot be completed, Washington plans to walk away, leaving Chrysler destined for a complete sell-off. No other money is available.
At GM, president and chief operating officer Fritz Henderson took over as CEO, the company said in a statement released early Monday. Board member Kent Kresa, the former chairman and CEO of defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp., was named interim chairman of the GM board.
New directors will make up the majority of GM's board, the statement said. The directors who will be replaced have not yet been named.
Fiat executives have talked to the White House auto task force about a proposal to acquire a 35 percent stake in Chrysler in exchange for small car technology, transmissions and other items that Chrysler has valued at $8 billion to $10 billion, according to administration officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to make details public.
General Motors, meanwhile, would have a limited window to work with the United Auto Workers union, bondholders and other stakeholders and would receive an undisclosed amount of "interim financing" over 60 days to restructure the company. The officials said the administration would determine how much GM would need in "permanent capital" during the 60-day period.
If GM failed to reach the concessions needed, some type of bankruptcy could be used at the end of 60 days, the officials said.
The administration planned to send a team to Detroit to help with the restructuring during the next 60 days. With Wagoner's departure, new management would be decided by General Motors' board of directors in consultation with the government. An official said a majority of the GM board was expected to step down.
Obama, in an interview with CBS television broadcast Sunday, said the companies must do more.
"We think we can have a successful U.S. auto industry. But it's got to be one that's realistically designed to weather this storm and to emerge -- at the other end -- much more lean, mean and competitive than it currently is," Obama said.
Obama said the government would require a "set of sacrifices from all parties involved, management, labor, shareholders, creditors, suppliers, dealers. Everybody's gonna have to come to the table and say it's important for us to take serious restructuring steps now in order to preserve a brighter future down the road."
Both companies are trying to reduce their debt by two-thirds and persuade the UAW to accept several cost-cutting measures.
Very little was being done in negotiations with debtholders and the union ahead of Obama's announcement, a person briefed on the GM talks said Sunday. This person did not want to be identified because the negotiations are private.
Under the terms of a loan agreement reached during George W. Bush's administration, GM and Chrysler are pushing the UAW to accept shares of stock in exchange for half of the payments into a union-run trust fund for retiree health care. They also want labor costs from the union to be competitive with Japanese automakers with U.S. operations.
Neither GM nor Chrysler have deals with the union on the trust funding or concessions from their debtholders and the administration has been trying to accelerate those efforts.
GM and Chrysler, which employ about 140,000 workers in the U.S., face a Tuesday deadline to submit completed restructuring plans, but neither company is expected to finish its work. The administration's plan would be designed to accelerate those efforts.
GM owes roughly $28 billion to bondholders. Chrysler owes about $7 billion in first- and second-term debt, mainly to banks. GM owes about $20 billion to its retiree health care trust, while Chrysler owes $10.6 billion.
AP Auto Writer Tom Krisher in Detroit and AP writers Philip Elliott and Ken Thomas in Washington contributed to this report.
Come on through to the Traders of the Caribbean Board... Our goal is to "Shine in 09"
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its ok no promblem here boracula can give some more dineros to them
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Other Markets | Bonds | CREDIT DEFAULT SWAPS ___CDS
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Posted by: THE WOOGSTER Date: Monday, March 30, 2009 10:39:33 PM
In reply to: None Post # of 260
Feds Probing Cassano's Role at AIG
POSTED: 03:41 PM ET, 11/26/2008 by Derek Kravitz
TAGS: AIG, Wall Street, federal bailout, finance
Federal investigators are looking into whether former American International Group Inc. executive Joseph J. Cassano "misled auditors and investors on subprime mortgage-related losses," Bloomberg reports.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn and the Justice Department are also working with the Securities and Exchange Commission in related investigations into New York-based AIG's activities.
Auditors at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP have been questioned about memos sent last year challenging the firm's financial controls, Bloomberg reports. At a Dec. 5, 2007, investment meeting, Cassano told shareholders at New York's Metropolitan Club "not to fear losses on AIG's portfolio," telling investors that the "losses will come back."
At an October congressional hearing, PricewaterhouseCoopers, the company's auditor, complained of a lack of access to Cassano and his London-based unit.
Cassano, 53, ran the company's financial products division, which trafficked in relatively risky credit-default swaps. During congressional testimony, Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) called him "the golden boy of the casino in London." The New York Times has noted that Cassano's "freewheeling little 377-person unit ...flourished in a climate of opulent pay, lax oversight and blind faith in financial risk models."
But as the mortgage derivative market started to unravel, Cassano's division began racking up losses -- $11 billion by last February.
During his eight years at AIG, Cassano earned $280 million and, after leaving the company in March, was slated to receive $1 million a month as a consultant through the end of 2008, Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said at the October hearing.
Cassano's contract was terminated the day before the hearing on AIG's collapse. (Waxman called the government's $123 billion bailout of AIG a "direct result" of the losses incurred by Cassano's department.)
Cassano's lawyer, F. Joseph Warin, has defended his client's reputation, saying that determining values for the swaps in a rapidly changing market is complex.
He also said that Cassano has been cooperating with investigators, according to Financial Week. "He provided full and complete information to investors, his supervisors and auditors."
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dems is looking for the next gold rush --
NOW THIS IS JUST TO FUNNY
Clinton: Administration Has Stopped Using 'War on Terror' Term
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tells reporters that the Obama administration has quit using that line to describe the effort to fight terrorism around the world.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- The phrase "global war on terror" is finished, at least as far as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is concerned.
The top U.S. diplomat told reporters Tuesday that the Obama administration has quit using that line to describe the effort to fight terrorism around the world.
"The administration has stopped using the phrase and I think that speaks for itself," Clinton said.
Clinton spoke as she headed to Europe for a week of diplomatic meetings. The phrase "war on terror" is widely disliked in Europe and elsewhere overseas, where even close U.S. allies suggested it was overly militaristic and perhaps counterproductive.
It is also now associated with a range of Bush-era policies such as harsh interrogation practices that Obama has pledged to abandon.
Clinton was asked about the phrase as she headed to Europe for a week of diplomatic meetings.
She said the absence of the "war on terror" language speaks for itself. Pundits have noted the absence, but top administration figures have had little to say on the subject before now.
"I haven't heard it used. I haven't gotten any directive about using it or not using it, it's just not being used," Clinton said.
Then-President George W. Bush used the phrase as a rallying cry after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attack
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/03/30/clinton-administration-stopped-using-war-terror-term/
« Did Anybody Bother to Read These Documents? TARP Already Explicitly Gives Treasury The Power They’re Asking for Now
March 27, 2009 2:14PM
Obama and Bankers “Work Together” to Continue Stealing From Depositors
By Cody Willard
Last night on America’s Nightly Scoreboard with my mentor David Asman, I put up the following graphic on the telestrator and went all John Madden on it:
The upshot is this — we’ve spent more than $10 Trillion protecting people who were rich enough but stupid enough to risk their own money:
1. owning bank stocks that have the rights to profits from the banks,
2. buying worthless real estate and derivative insurance as alpha-seeking bets or as hedges against the money that they were risking in the real estate markets
3. lending stupid bank executives and their companies trillions of dollars to make those risky real estate bets and get paid lots of interest for taking those risks
But we’ve spent less than 1/10 of 1% of that much money (less than $50 billion so far) guaranteeing that the people who simply didn’t want to risk their money and instead have been saving their money at the bank at below inflation rates…and I thought those were the only people were actually supposed to be protecting? And only the FDIC is designated to protect anybody’s money, right?
And here’s the kicker…again, we’ve already spent more than $10 trillion in outright welfare capital infusions and welfare debt guarantees and welfare counterparty payoffs and they still say they’ve got to have access to more welfare. You know how much the TOTAL deposits in banks insured by the FDIC is? Only $7 trillion.
Meanwhile, those idiot bank executives got to sit down with the President of the United States to “work together” to continue these policies of protecting their asses with welfare diapers from the US taxpayer.
PS. If you’ve watched the show, you know the drill. If you haven’t watch any of the Big 3 videos down the right side of this page and check it out.
At any rate, my first two bullet points tonight will be taken from questions from you guys. In 40 words or less — ask me anything. (Let’s keep the questions to mostly about the economy, politics, business, stocks, investing, please!)
http://cody.blogs.foxbusiness.com/2009/03/27/obama-and-bankers-work-together-to-continue-stealing-from-depositors/
Investor confidence is just dying here/// That is what happens when the fuhrer dictates to private business
this should be fun here ----- bring all u want to the table-- open forum-------
WHAT DEMS ARE 'UP' TO -- $132B
10% BUDGET BOOST AMID TAX HIKES
March 30, 2009
ALBANY -- Open your wallets extra-wide, New Yorkers.
Democratic leaders yesterday released details of a state budget deal that would push spending to a staggering $132 billion next year -- an increase of 10 percent -- while they ask residents to fork over a record-breaking $7.8 billion in taxes and fees.
The huge spending plan is $10.7 billion higher than the bare-bones plan Gov. Paterson released less than four months ago in a call for fiscal austerity.
It comes in the wake of a $4 billion soak-the-rich income-tax hike, the elimination of a $1.5 billion property-tax rebate plan, and $2.3 billion in new and extended business taxes and nuisance fees.
Among other things, the budget would add nickel deposits to bottled water, ratchet up taxes on beer and cigars, and raise income taxes at least 14.5 percent on families making more than $300,000 a year.
But Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) and Majority Leader Malcolm Smith (D-Queens) refused to give up even a dime of the notorious $170 million slush fund lawmakers use to dole out grants to favored nonprofits and community groups.
Meanwhile, lawmakers restored about a third of the spending cuts proposed by Paterson. They rolled back 70 percent of the governor's proposed health-care savings, but accepted some reforms in the way the money gets doled out.
They added $405 million in school aid, which Paterson had hoped to cut by $698 million. In all, they made a record $5.2 billion in program cuts.
Paterson said much of the overall spending increase is due to an influx of federal stimulus funds, and he insisted the budget's architects made "tough choices."
"We have produced a budget that provides a solid foundation to move forward and address the challenges ahead," the governor said.
The budget would restore $328 million in aid to New York City, as well as a popular tax credit to film and TV productions.
A Paterson-backed proposal to roll back limits on attorney awards in medical malpractice suits, reported by The Post last week, was struck from the final bill.
The budget was forged entirely behind closed doors, without a single official statement about its size or content from the Democratic governor -- a secretive process even by Albany's standards.
In a nod to the outcry over secrecy, Paterson has said he will not waive the required three-day waiting period before lawmakers can vote on the bills.
That gives Republicans, special-interest groups and the press 72 hours to pore over every painful cut or tax.
One Senate Democrat compared the situation to leaving a bucket of dead fish to rot on a sun-soaked dock
http://www.nypost.com/seven/03302009/news/regionalnews/what_dems_are_up_to____132b_162030.htm
Michigan Governor Calls GM's Wagoner a 'Sacrifical Lamb'
Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm says Rick Wagoner was trying to turn General Motors around before the Obama administration forced him out as chairman and CEO of the company.
FOXNews.com
Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm on Monday called the chairman and CEO of General Motors a "sacrificial lamb" after the White House asked Rick Wagoner to step down as a precondition for government aid.
Interviewed Monday on NBC's "Today" show, Granholm noted that Wagoner has worked for GM for more than 30 years and was trying to turn the company around.
She said that Wagoner agreed to step aside for the good of the carmaker and its workers.
U.S. Rep. Thad McCotter, R-Mich., also said Wagoner's resignation amounts to a "political offering."
In a written statement released Sunday night, McCotter complained that the Obama administration was applying tougher standards to Detroit than Wall Street as both continue to seek government assistance.
"Now Mr. Wagoner has been asked to resign as a political offering despite his having led GM's painful restructuring to date," McCotter said. "Mr. Wagoner has honorably resigned for the sake of his company's working families. When will the Wall Street CEO's receiving TARP funds summon the honor to resign? Will this White House ever bother to raise the issue? I doubt it."
The Obama administration announced late Sunday that neither GM nor Chrysler has come up with acceptable business plans to merit receiving additional federal bailout money. The two automakers were each given a short deadline to try one last time to persuade Washington they're worth saving.
Administration officials denied Wagoner was asked to leave as a condition for receiving more government aid.
"We wanted to start GM with a clean sheet of paper. We felt the change in leadership would assist that," one official said.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/03/30/michigan-governor-calls-gms-wagoner-sacrifical-lamb/
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