Sunday, March 13, 2011

Outstanding: National Labor Relations Board ruled Friday that threats of physical violence by union organizers 'aren't coercive'

If it hadn't been apparent before, it's now crystal clear that the Obama administration has declared open season on American businesses. Please consider Union-Controlled NLRB Approves Union Thuggery in Union Elections.

On Friday, in its continuing attempt to hand over the American workplace to union bosses at all costs, the union-controlled National Labor Relations Board has thrown employees’ rights under the bus once again. This time, however, the NLRB’s obedience to union bosses could cause employees to get hurt...

Under the National Labor Relations Act, employees are presumably free to choose to unionize or not to unionize free from coercion or interference. In previous cases, the National Labor Relations Board had considered threats (even by third parties) enough cause for an election to be overturned. This was the case even recently...

...Unbelievably, on Friday, the union-controlled NLRB ruled that threats of physical violence by pro-union supporters is not coercive.

On August 22, 2008 the NLRB conducted an election where, by a vote of 14 to 12, the red-shirted Communications Workers of America (CWA) won the vote. Following the election, the employer filed objections, requesting the NLRB to overturn the election based upon alleged threats of physical violence made by pro-union supporters to their co-workers.

Specifically, the objections cite a statement by prounion employee Anthony Hodges to employee Matthew Abel that Hodges could “whip [employee Dennis Sheil’s] a*s” or sabotage his work; an anonymous telephone threat to employee Lou Mays that the caller would “get even” with him if he “backstab[bed] us”; and statements by prounion employee Chris Verbal to a group of three or four employees that Verbal would “b*tch slap” two other employees (who were not present at the time) or “whip their f—in’ ass” if they “cost us the election,” and that he would “whip [supervisor] Eddie’s ass” if the Union lost.

According to the union-controlled NLRB, the above threats were approved because... well... they just weren’t bad enough.

...Given that the entire voting unit in this case was less than 30, it is hard to imagine that the threats from the pro-union supporters did not have some bearing on the outcome of the election—especially as the union only won by two votes.

We are now seeing the fabric of our institutions fray at their edges and begin to tear.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: the modern Democrat Party is operating lawlessly and without the slightest regard for America's past, present or future. I hope and pray that we can survive another two years of this president.


Linked by: Ace o' Spades. Thanks!

Good News: Progressives Now Trying to Destroy Private Financial Institutions in Wisconsin by Organizing Bank Runs

It would seem, despite what President Obama told us, that elections really don't have consequences -- at least when it comes to Democrats. When the electorate pitched out the progressive kooks in Madison, it was trying to bring some semblance of fiscal sanity to the state.

But apparently Democracy is an excuse for riots, death threats, incivility and -- now -- intentional destruction of private businesses.

M & I Bank of Wisconsin has committed an unpardonable offense. This bank took bailout funds and thanks to the magic of Citizens United our own tax dollars flowed through their executives hands into the coffers of Scott Walker's gubernatorial campaign. We haven't dug deeply yet, but I think when we do we're going to find that we no longer have Russ Feingold's voice in the Senate because of this as well.

The mainstream media isn't covering it, but I'd like to show you a few images of what poetic justice looks like ... ...What these pictures show are six hundred ordinary citizens descending on the M&I branch near the Wisconsin Capitol after learning of their purchase of the gubernatorial election last November. Two firefighters with old school ideas about saving had over $600,000 between the two of them and they demanded cashier's checks on the spot.

Not everyone has the purchase price of a couple of homes sitting in the bank, but if the 60% of Wisconsin that's sick to death of Scott Walker's behavior simply go close their accounts the bank will crash and they'll have stripped him of the funds he needs to fight the recall next January.

A couple of people have the documentation and my money is on @Karoli over at Crooks & Liars getting the job done first. I'll come back and post the first good piece I see. I'm trying to get this out and keep it tidy - look in one of the comments and I'll provide some of the links the researchers sent me, so those inclined to do their own digging can get started.

You know what really chaps my ass here? All week we've been seeing Tea Party trolls saying "It's not fair that public employees take our tax dollars and use them in elections."

On behalf of all of us who work for a living, unlike those fools with their misspelled signs being bussed around by Koch Brothers I'd like to say ...

As an aside, we need to elect a lot more Tea Party Republicans like those in Madison.


Establishment GOP: yes, we'll fund Obamacare with our Continuing Resolution and, as an aside, do we get to call it BoehnerCare now?

I had serious concerns about the Republican establishment from the moment of victory in November. When selecting the House leadership team, it purposefully excluded one of the best-known Tea Party candidates -- Michele Bachmann -- who had done more to mobilize the 2010 landslide than John Boehner, Eric Cantor and the other "leaders" combined.

Now that it has become clear that the current Continuing Resolution will help cement Obamacare in place -- by establishing a $105 billion permanent funding mechanism -- the House leaders still refuse to excise the diabolical spending measure.

In other words, they're violating their first promise to you, the electorate that put them in office.

Congressional leaders predicted Sunday a proposal to cut federal spending by $6 billion would pass both chambers and keep the government funded through April 8... The growing bipartisan consensus behind the second stop-gap spending proposal means a showdown over a possible government shutdown will be delayed until next month...

...Leaders from both parties said the emerging agreement signals that Democrats and Republicans have begun to find common ground and expressed hope there would be a deal to approve a federal budget through the rest of the 2011 fiscal year... The current stop-gap spending measure will expire after March 18.

...House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that he’ll have enough votes to pass a three-week spending measure... "We will get it through," he said.

In other words, the old guard is twisting arms behind the scenes, trying to force Tea Party conservatives to abandon their promises.

Fortunately, a few individuals and organizations are standing tall against the House leadership's ridiculous behavior.

...a number of influential conservative groups have expressed their opposition to the bill, and are urging conservatives to pursue a long-term, comprehensive approach sooner rather than later. The leaders of Heritage Action, the Family Research Council and Club for Growth issued a joint press release Friday announcing their opposition to this (and any further) short-term resolution, and signaling to House conservatives that they are watching...

Led by Michele Bachmann and Steve King, conservative Rep. Tim Huelskamp and others have pledged to vote 'no' on the Continuing Resolution.

And well they should, given the recent disclosures of the diabolical fiscal time-bomb exposed by former Congressman Ernest Istook this week.

The massive 2,700-page health care law is deliberately designed to make defunding and dismantlement difficult. Although original estimates reported that it created 159 new government agencies, the Congressional Research Service later concluded that the actual number of new agencies, boards, etc., “is currently unknowable,” because so many of them are empowered to spawn additional entities, just as weeds grow by sending out runners and seeds.

...The new law attempts to bypass the normal appropriations process, another feature that makes defunding more difficult. By making advance appropriations for tens of billions of dollars up to the year 2019, these provisions of Obamacare seek to remove spending decisions from the reach of the current Congress and from future Congresses and Presidents...

...One largely unknown fact is that $6-billion or more was immediately appropriated in the new law and approximately $105-billion more was appropriated for FY2011 and beyond. That violates the typical Congressional process of appropriations. The normal process typically involves enacting authorization bills that authorize spending, and then follows those with separate legislation that actually appropriates
the money. This enables those to be balanced with other spending decisions. The PPACA contained large authorizations for future appropriations as well as containing these actual appropriations. That made it quite different from most bills, even major legislation.

...To de-fund Obamacare, it is insufficient simply to deny future funding. Until the full law can be repealed, at least the existing and advance appropriations need to be rescinded, just as the House last month voted to repeal billions of dollars from previous appropriations to 123 federal programs. An effort to restrict use of the funds appropriated within Obamacare was thwarted because the House did not waive the same point of order (House Rule XXI) as it waived to allow de-funding those 123 other programs. This was most unfortunate...

...in Obamacare, passed during FY2010, we find advance appropriations are made [until] 2019. That is ten years of appropriations... nobody has [ever] proposed that any Congress should make spending decisions trying to bind a future Congresses a full decade in advance... Making many years’ worth of advance spending decisions is an attempt to handcuff the current Congress and prevent it from determining current levels of spending.

...Spending decisions should be made by those who currently hold office, not by those who have resigned or been turned out by the voters.

...I am glad that the committee is looking legislation to pull back the funds previously appropriated for Obamacare, but I must caution you that timing and leverage are important parts of your effort. If it takes years to halt the funding stream, then meantime billions of taxpayer dollars will already have
flowed out of the Treasury. The underlying law will have sunk its roots deeper into the nation, making it more difficult to uproot. That is why I believe the appropriations process itself must also be used to extinguish these advance appropriations...

...defunding can be done and should be done, and internal Congressional protocols should not be used to block this.

Worse still, the GOP old guard appears either confused or woefully weak on defunding Obamacare. As Istook observed in his testimony the House struck billions in prior appropriations from 123 separate federal programs.

But Speaker John Boehner, interviewed by The Washington Times, couldn't even coherently explain why House leaders didn't remove Obamacare spending just as they did with the 123 other programs.

Mr. Speaker: there's a thing called leverage in negotiation. Either you want Obamacare, because you've become a power-hungry Beltway hack, or you don't. Right now, your Continuing Resolution tells me that you want to see ObamaCare implemented. After all, think about how much power you'll wield, what with all of those hundreds of billions in spending, and the thousands of lobbyists and corporations all trying to get their voices heard.

This message is not directed to the Republican old guard. This message is for the Tea Party conservatives: shut the government down. Hell, if you keep raising the debt ceiling, the whole system's going to collapse anyhow! Boehner's not a member of a Tea Party and could care less about Constitutional conservatism. He's too weak, too cowardly or too much of a power-hungry Beltway hack to act.

The Democrats are literally at war with America, and the Republican old guard won't even put up a fight.

Call your member of Congress now at 202.224.3121 and tell them, "Vote NO on the Continuing Resolution because it doesn't cut funding for Obamacare!" Be polite, but firm.

It's time to put our foot down and that foot is us*.

Hat tip: Mark Levin. *Hat tip: Dean Wormer. Linked by: Ace o' Spades. Thanks!

Larwyn's Linx: If Ya Can't Beat 'Em, Extort 'Em

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Nation

If Ya Can't Beat 'Em, Extort 'Em: Malkin (Powers)
WI Senate Leader Reminds Fleebaggers That They're Disgraces: WZ
Suspect ID'ed In Wisconsin GOP Death Threats: GWP

Lest We Forget... Taking Zac: Dewey
DOJ compels police to lower testing standards: WZ
Murkowski: I’m against defunding Planned Parenthood: Cubachi

Too Many White Guys: Former Spook
Allen West criticizes military diversity report: Cubachi
Santorum distinguishes himself: JihadWatch

Economy

Obama's Social Security Hoax: Hammer
Wis. Unions Bully Local Businesses With Ultimatum: NiceDeb
Predictable: MI Teachers' Union Plays Race Card: BlogProf

Rand Paul: About a woman's right to choose...: Cubachi
Outrage! US Government Funding La Raza with Your Tax Dollars: HE
Amazon cuts off IL suppliers to avoid new taxes: CanBiz

Japan

Japan just lost 20 percent of its electric generating capacity: Cringely
Second Reactor in 'Partial Meltdown': Ace
Japanese Officials Presume Two Partial Meltdowns Have Occurred: Patterico

Climate & Energy

The Green Dream Is an Economic Nightmare: AT
The lies of liberal Nancy Skinner: we can’t drill because 'we just don’t have the oil': RWN
Obama Blames Oil Companies For Lack Of Drilling: IBD

Media

Paul Krugman: America's Not Broke - We Can Still Borrow Money: NewsBusters
12 Death Threat Photos Against Gov. Walker and WI Republicans You'll Never See in Legacy Media: ProWis
Krauthammer vs. Totenberg: Why Does NPR Have to Live on ‘Tit of the State?’: Blaze

New York Times: What Did The Raped 11-Year-Old Girl Do To "Draw" These Men Into the Assault?: Ace
That temperament thing: Pundette
That was then, this is now: Sondrakistan

How come MSNBC, Pelosi aren’t mocking Muslim Rep Keith Ellison for publicly crying at House hearing?: RWN
Activists in 23 States Coming Together in Texas to ‘True The Vote’: Publius
HuffPo Ends Its Liberal Soundtrack, Publishes Breitbart Essay Defending NPR Sting: Mediaite

World

Obama Closely Monitoring Japan, Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Wisconsin and Soaring Gas Prices: Powers
Believe it or not: Libya, Iran and the U.N. CSW condemn Israel's treatment of women: TPC
Chechnya: Muslims attack women with paintball guns for "immodest" dress: JihadWatch

We need more hearings on Islam: West
CAIR Demands Enforcement of Islamic Blasphemy Law (Sharia) in California: Atlas
Over a dozen states now moving to ban Islamic Sharia law: JihadWatch

Palestinian Terrorists Stab 3 Israeli Children and Baby to Death While They Sleep, Gazans Celebrate: WZ
Progressives Won't Condemn Savage Massacre of Jewish Family: AmPower (Caution: Graphic)
Egyptian Army Attacks Christian Monastery and Fires Live Ammunition At Monks: BigPeace

SciTech

Lost city of Atlantis, swamped by tsunami, may be found: Reuters
How Blogger Stung Undercover Federal Sex Sting: TSG
The Hectic Life of a Social Media Manager: Daily Infographic

Cornucopia

Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Nuclear Meltdowns, and Hockey: It’s All About the Wons: MOTUS
What Do We Do Now?: iOTW
Clyburn and Farrakhan -- In Concert Live, Together: WZ

Wait til your father gets home: Sondrakistan
The Onion spoofs Hot Air: Hot Air
The Kinks: Get Back in Line: Marathon

Image: iOwnTheWorld.
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Send a Couple o' Bucks to the Senate Conservatives Fund

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Horror: Before and After Pictures of Quake Zone

From CNN, via Ace.








If you have a couple of bucks to spare, you can donate to the American Red Cross Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund.

'Peter King on Steroids' [Dan from New York]

Dan from New York:

Watch this extraordinary speech by an Austrian MP. More evidence that, as I have said repeatedly, the Europeans will return to their anthropological roots and repel the Muslim tide threatening their way of life. In fact, with European heads of state declaring the “failure of multiculturalism,” it’s happening already.

Oh, and speaking of which: Arab Terrorists Murder Family in Samaria, Including Infant.

Photo: The Trumka Effect [Papa B]

Papa B:

This financial crisis is forcing State and local agencies to make some tough decisions. If things continue for much longer, there's a real risk that we may have to lay off Jose.

 

Obama: American oil production reached its highest level since 2003 if you count oil rigs that aren't producing anything

Perhaps President Obama isn't as "centrist" as John McCain likes to claim.

I say that because even Bill Clinton is blasting the President's ludicrous anti-drilling positions and, by implication, the stunning series of lies he recited in yesterday's 'press conference'.

...Clinton said there are “ridiculous delays in permitting when our economy doesn’t need it,” according to Noe and others... “That was the most surprising thing they said,” Noe said.

[Clinton and Bush 43] both generally agreed on the need to get offshore drilling workers back on the job... [they] also agreed on the need for more domestic shale gas production, with Clinton noting that it has been done safely for years in his home state of Arkansas.

Bush — who referred to oil and gas in the discussion as “hydrocarbons” — described the anti-hydrocarbon sentiment in Washington as “dangerous.” He said while there is a need to develop new energy technologies, “we have to be prosperous in order to afford those technologies and, in order to be prosperous, we need to drill,” according to Noe.

Precisely.

And, when queried about his anti-hydrocarbon policies during a so-called "press conference", Obama resorted to a series of bald-faced lies.

President Barack Obama said Friday that oil production out of the Gulf of Mexico is at a record high and that a rush to new drilling is not a long-term solution for a nation that consumes more than a quarter of the world's oil...

...With gas prices rising amid increased international demand and chaos in oil-rich Libya, Obama sought to debunk the notion that his administration was impeding domestic energy production.

"Last year, American oil production reached its highest level since 2003," said the president. "Oil production from federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico reached an all-time high. For the first time in more than a decade, imports accounted for less than half of what we consumed. So any notion that my administration has shut down oil production might make for a good political sound bite, but it doesn't match up with reality."

"We are encouraging offshore exploration and production," said the president. "We're just doing it responsibly. I don't think anybody has forgotten that we're only a few months removed from the worst oil spill in our history."

Obama's fables were so outrageous that even the industry journal Energy Tomorrow called him on it.

Last week, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told Congress that oil production in the Gulf of Mexico "remained at an all-time high, and we expect that it will continue as we bring new production online." He claimed: "In 2009 there were 116 rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, in 2010 in February, 120, in February 2011, 126."

But Salazar's numbers distort the true number of working rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. According to Baker Hughes:

* Four days before the Deepwater Horizon accident there were 55 rotary rigs actually drilling offshore in the Gulf of Mexico.
* On May 28, 2010, when the administration announced the six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling, there were 46 rotary rigs operating in the Gulf.
* Last week, 25 rotary rigs were operating in the Gulf of Mexico.

So the fact that there is an "all-time high" number of rigs in the Gulf ignores the fact that most of those rigs are not working. Claiming an increase in idle rigs in the Gulf as a success story is like claiming the job market is great because a lot of people are unemployed and available to work.

In the same hearing, the Secretary also claimed that "the production has remained at an all-time high" within the Gulf of Mexico and there is no way to actually make this true. The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration reports that production in the Gulf of Mexico is in decline... EIA Petroleum Engineer Gary Long told trade publication E&E News that the rig count in the Gulf was cut in half after the Deepwater Horizon accident and that it wouldn't rebound to previous levels until the end of 2011 under the assumption that the permitting process is restored to historical rates. Further, since there is a lag time from the time an exploration permit is approved to the time of actual production, and since no only a handful of permits for new wells have been granted since April of 2010, it is likely that Gulf of Mexico production will continue to be hit hard in 2012 and beyond.

This President's policies and his statements are both disgraceful. And he may have hit another new low with his outrageous con-job of a press conference, which was designed solely to distract while he continues his intentional destruction of the American economy.


Linked by: Michelle Malkin. Thanks!

12 Death Threat Photos Against Gov. Walker and Wisconsin Republicans That You'll Never See in Legacy Media #wiunion #solidaritywi #newtone

Still waiting for President Obama to condemn the violent rhetoric coming from the union bosses and Organizing for America.

Oh. Right.












And don't hold your breath waiting for legacy media to cover this despicable behavior.


Hat tips: Secular Stupidest, Weasel Zippers. Linked by: Protein Wisdom and The Washington Examiner. Thanks!

Want to Earn a Little Cash For Yourself and Help Support Constitutional Conservatives? Join the Doug Ross @ Journal Advisory Board!

Don't say I never did nothin' for you. Biff Spackle and I have partnered with a market research group to establish the Doug Ross @ Journal Advisory Board. Serving on the Advisory Board helps put cash in your pocket and also helps fund conservative, Constitutional causes.

Here's how it works: you sign up and provide some basic demographic data about yourself (age, gender, etc.). Once in a while you'll receive a survey -- either from us or a market research firm. If you choose to respond to a survey -- usually they're short -- you can earn a little extra cash.

Isn't this better than playing Angry Birds or watching ESPN Classic during the NFL lockout?

We receive a small amount for each signup and each completed survey. This will help us support one of our favorite campaign committees -- Jim DeMint's Senate Conservatives Fund -- and, if they choose to run, the presidential campaign committees of Michele Bachmann, Jim DeMint, Sarah Palin, Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan, and/or Allen West (who did I miss?).

You can sign up here -- it'll take between a few seconds and a few minutes, depending upon how much info you want to provide. The more precise info you offer (nothing personally identifying, of course, the more research you'll be included in.

Once you've signed up, you can click the button at top right to log into Advisory Board Central at any time. Or just click on the link when you receive an email. Spackle tells me it's easy and it's fun. And the money goes to a good cause (a portion of the proceeds will also help fund Biff Spackle's beer tab at the local watering hole). And you can earn a little extra dough in your spare time. What's not to like? So sign up now and get started.

And email me anytime with concerns, questions or comments. I thank you. Biff's bartender thanks you. And the Senate Conservatives Fund thanks you.


Larwyn's Linx: The ATF Lied, Mexicans Died

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Nation

The ATF Lied, Mexicans Died: TL in Exile
WI: Orgy of Death Threats and Pledges of Violence: RWN
Spencer Coggs – Socialist Affiliated Wisconsin State Senator: NR

Letter to Leadership to Defund ObamaCare Immediately: RedState
Tea Party group: CR must cut $105B from Obamacare: Hill
Bachmann increasingly serious about presidential bid: CNN

Moonbat Justice: Pedophile Cannibal Murderer Paroled: RWN
Palin's 'Weeks of Terror': Con4Palin
Cain: "What part of broke don’t they understand?": Cubachi

Economy

Wisconsin Unions Threaten Businesses: BigGovt
Jesse Jackson Jr. Violates His Oath of Office: RWN
A Good Summary of Government Unions: Boortz

Crony Capitalism: How a drug goes from $10 to $1,500: Howling
Government Shutdowns and Death Threats--Bring It On: NMJ
Homework: write letters supporting teachers' union: WyBlog

Japan

Meltdown May Be Underway; Reactor Containment Dome Blown Away: Ace
Red Alert: Nuclear Meltdown at Quake-Damaged Japanese Plant: Stratfor
Fears of meltdown calm after explosion at Japanese nuclear plant: Globe & Mail

Climate & Energy

Grist: Japanese Earthquake And Tsunami “What Climate Change Looks Like”: RWN
Greenie Tsunamania: Your Brain on Environmentalism: AmSpec
Pielke Defends Congress's legislated obsolescence of the incandescent light bulb: Cato

Media

Will Obama condemn the violent rhetoric by Wisconsin Democrats?: WashExam
Arianna Huffington to Bill Keller: Who you calling 'Oxpecker'?: CNet
The Smartest Administration in History: Driscoll

Michael Moore Film Used Non-Union Labor: S&L
A Wired World In Its Own Mirror: Belmont Club
Murkowski Lied, Now Babies Will Die: RedState

PolitiFact Has A Serious Problem, But I Repeat Myself: LegalIns
Author: ‘Third Terrorist’ Arrested in Quincy, Mass.: BMW
The Face Of Progressivism: Students Take Part In “I Have Sex” Video: RWN

World

A European's Warning to America: Hannan
Obama: Gee, it would be easier to be President of China: Hot Air
Horowitz takes on Muslim students at Brooklyn College: NoisyRoom

German authorities: fictional American 'atrocities', radical Islamic preaching led to Frankfurt shooting: PJM
Clapper Believes Russia, Not Terrorism, Poses 'Mortal Threat' To US: BlogProf
Bill Maher Debates Islam With Democratic Muslim Congressman: RCP

SciTech

My Visit to An American Rare Earth Metals Mine: PopSci
Did Chrysler overreact to accidental f-bomb tweet?: Ragan
Twitter tells third-party developers to stop building clients: CNet

Cornucopia

'Starting From Zero': Driscoll
The Objectivist with the Dragon Tattoo: PJM
Blacked up, bow tied: Eva Braun in party mood as ictures of Hitler's mistress are unearthed: Daily Mail (UK)

Image: Daily Bayonet.
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Seattle-area call for help: Help us search for Marizela Saturday

Friday, March 11, 2011

Rep. Pete King: It's Not Islamophobia, It's Explodaphobia

Let me ask you a question.

Does the federal government have counter-terrorism units devoted to unearthing Islamic extremists in the U.S.?

Oh. And did the federal government just punish nine individuals for "administrative and leadership failures relating to the career of Maj. Nidal Hasan" who killed more than a dozen soldiers at Fort Hood?

And did legacy media just devote significant coverage to the spread of radical Islam in U.S. prisons?

Yes. Yes. And yes.

Which makes the despicably dishonest testimony of the traitorous Keith Ellison (D-MN) and the horrific Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX) all the more egregious.

And I don't call Ellison a traitor because he's Muslim. I call him a traitor because he is one. There can be no other explanation for his behavior or that of the kook named Sheila.

Rep. Pete King is Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security; and he's holding public hearings on terrorism, not Islam.

Peter King isn't Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who imprisoned innocent Japanese-Americans during World War II.

Peter King isn't falsely accusing Islamists of an incessant series of terror attacks against the United States.

Peter King isn't holding secret hearings in some sort of "star chamber".

He's publicly investigating the known radicalization of young Americans in mosques.

The outrageous, anti-American rhetoric of Ellison and Jackson-Lee should be aired repeatedly in campaign commercials during the 2012 election cycle. They should be defeated and sent packing. Preferably to Somalia for a few months, after which they might appreciate this country a little more.

It's not paranoia if they really are trying to kill you.


Photos: As Day Breaks in Japan, Full Extent of Devastation Becomes Clear

As day breaks in Japan, Reuters reports on the shocking scene in northeastern Japan.

...Daybreak revealed the full extent of damage from Friday's 8.9 magnitude earthquake -- the strongest in Japan since records began -- and the 10-metre high tsunami it sent surging into cities and villages, sweeping away everything in its path.

...The government warned there could be a radiation leak from nuclear reactors in Fukushima whose cooling system was knocked out by the quake. Prime Minister Naoto Kan ordered an evacuation zone expanded to 10 km (6 miles) from 3 km. Some 3,000 people had earlier been evacuated.

...In one of the worst-hit residential areas, people buried under rubble could be heard calling out for rescue, Kyodo news agency reported. TV footage showed staff at one hospital waving banners with the words "FOOD" and "HELP" from a rooftop.

In Tokyo, office workers who were stranded in the city after the quake forced the subway system to close early slept alongside the homeless at one station. Scores of men in suits lay on newspapers, using their briefcases as pillows.

Kyodo said at least 116,000 people in Tokyo had been unable to return home on Friday evening due to transport disruption.

The northeastern Japanese city of Kesennuma, with a population of 74,000, was hit by widespread fires and one-third of the city was under water, Jiji news agency said on Saturday... The airport in the city of Sendai, home to one million people, was on fire, it added... TV footage from Friday showed a muddy torrent of water carrying cars and wrecked homes at high speed across farmland near Sendai, 300 km (180 miles) northeast of Tokyo. Ships had been flung onto a harbour wharf, where they lay helplessly on their side.

... The earthquake was the fifth most powerful to hit the world in the past century. It surpassed the Great Kanto quake of Sept. 1, 1923, which had a magnitude of 7.9 and killed more than 140,000 people in the Tokyo area.

The 1995 Kobe quake caused $100 billion in damage and was the most expensive natural disaster in history. Economic damage from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was estimated at about $10 billion.











Please donate to the Red Cross relief efforts here.

Did you know that a bill was introduced this week that would begin to save Social Security from financial collapse? Neither did I.

That's the genius of our legacy media: they don't tell us stuff that we don't need to know.

Consider, if you will, Lummis Bill Tackles Entitlement Reform.

U.S. Representative Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) has introduced H.R. 867, Alex’s Law. Alex’s Law, named after a four-year-old child of a member of Representative Lummis’ staff, helps ensure Social Security remains viable for all generations of Americans by slowly raising the retirement age starting in 2024.

...America’s debt has surpassed an astounding $14 trillion – and [f]or the first time since its reform in 1980, the Congressional Budget Office announced in January that [Social Security] is now permanently in the red. The Social Security trust fund goes broke in 2037, which means Americans will see a 22 percent cut in benefits, and the cuts will get worse if Washington continues to look the other way.

... In 2010, payroll taxes fell $37 billion short of what was required to pay out benefits. The Congressional Budget Office projects permanent Social Security deficits until the Social Security trust fund is exhausted in 2037. At that point, the Social Security Administration trustees estimate that Social Security payroll tax revenues will only be able to support 78 percent of benefits, leading to a 22 percent cut in benefits for all retirees.

Under H.R. 867, the retirement age increase would phase-in slowly over time:

• Today’s 50-year-olds and those older: NO CHANGE FROM CURRENT LAW

• Today’s 49-year-olds – Retirement age increase: 1 month

• Today’s 35-year-olds – Retirement age increase: 1 year

• Today’s 19-year-olds – Retirement age increase: 2 years

• Today’s 4-year-olds – Retirement age increase: 3 years

Let me guess: if the media bothers to cover this, Democrats will demagogue these trivial but important changes.

Because that's what they do.


Michele Bachmann's Letter to the House Leadership: Defund ObamaCare Immediately

Rep. Michele Bachmann posted an article at RedState this afternoon that all Americans should read. I am going to crib it in its entirety for one reason: to get the message out. It's that important.

Letter to Leadership to Defund ObamaCare Immediately


Last night my colleague Rep. Steve King (IA-05) and I drafted a letter to Speaker Boehner, Majority Leader Cantor and Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers urging them to include language to defund ObamaCare and rescind the $105,464,000,000 in funds already appropriated to implementing the health care law.

Next Wednesday the House will consider another Continuing Resolution. Including language to defund ObamaCare is our opportunity to stop the flow of funds to ObamaCare once and for all. Our suggested language is, “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the funds made available by this or any previous Act with respect to any fiscal year may be used to carry out the provisions of Public Law 111-148, Public Law 111-152, or any amendment made by either such Public Law.”

All members of Congress are encouraged to contact my office to join us in the effort to prevent taxpayers’ money from going to the implementation of this unconstitutional program.

The letter reads as follows:

Dear Speaker Boehner, Leader Cantor, and Chairman Rogers,

We very much appreciate your leadership in bringing H.R. 2 to the floor, which resulted in a unanimous Republican vote to repeal ObamaCare. This was an essential step in achieving our universal Republican goal to bring about the final, 100 percent repeal of this law. No strategy to accomplish this goal could succeed without this House vote.

From the moment legislation to repeal ObamaCare was first introduced, it has been widely discussed that a successful repeal strategy would center on first winning a Republican majority in the House, then holding a clean, up or down vote on repeal, and then prohibiting funding for the implementation or enforcement of ObamaCare. We must ensure that this strategy remains on track and on schedule.

The success of our effort to shut off funding for ObamaCare will hinge on the leverage points of this first session of the 112th Congress - namely the CR, which expires on March 18th, and the vote on raising the debt ceiling. We recognize the work to defund ObamaCare began with the inclusion of language in H.R. 1 to restrict annual appropriations from being used to implement the law. However, we also recognize that even this language, if enacted, leaves on the table $105.5 billion in automatically appropriated funds for the law’s implementation. We cannot successfully defund ObamaCare without shutting off these automatically appropriated funds.

While some have argued that our defunding efforts in the CR should be limited only to those annual funds actually provided by the CR, we disagree. If we do not stand our ground on the CR, leverage it as the “must pass bill” that it is, and use it to stop the $105.5 billion in automatically appropriated funds, ObamaCare will be implemented on our watch. We will also have conceded a significant amount of ground on this issue and will find it difficult, if not impossible, to regain the strategic advantage in future legislative vehicles.

Consequently, we ask that the following language, or more effective language, be added to the FY11 CR to cut off both the annual and automatic appropriations for ObamaCare’s implementation: “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the funds made available by this or any previous Act with respect to any fiscal year may be used to carry out the provisions of Public Law 111-148, Public Law 111-152, or any amendment made by either such Public Law.”

It is essential that the above language be included in the CR. We, the undersigned, will not vote in support of a continuing resolution that is void of this crucial funding prohibition.

Sincerely,

Steve King Michele Bachmann

God Bless Reps. Bachmann and King.

They are, if you'll forgive the chauvinistic euphemism, manning up to face the most dire economic challenge this country has ever experienced.

Call your member of Congress now at 202.224.3121 and tell them, "Vote NO on the Continuing Resolution because it doesn't cut funding for Obamacare!" Be polite, but firm.

It's time to put our foot down and that foot is us*.


Hat tip: Mark Levin.
*Hat tip: Dean Wormer