Monthly Archives: October 2011
Please go help our friends at Conservative Hideout
They are asking for nominees for their Useful Idiot of the Month Award
Another analysis of Rick Perry’s tax plan
From the Blogmocracy. Read the whole thing, but here is a preview
When reading Rick Perry’s economic plan, it may seem very familiar to you. That’s because it is. For anyone who doubts Perry’s conservative bona fides, a review of this plan should immediately alleviate those fears. This plan is a comprehensive list of the very things we free marketeers have been saying for years. It is also very similar to what has been offered both by Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain. Right off the bat here are my main impressions of the plan, the highlights so to speak. Perry introduces his idea for a flat tax, proposes balancing the budget by statute and by cutting spending. He seeks to eliminate special tax breaks for behaviors approved by government, and a massive roll back of onerous regulation inflicted by a bloated Executive Branch. You may recall that yesterday I came out in favor of Newt Gingrich based on his 21st Century Contract With America, but I also hedged somewhat by stating that any of the Gingrich, Perry, Cain trio would be O.K. with me. With that in mind, I will give Perry’s plan an overall grade of A-. There is room for improvement, but all in all, it is Red Meat for us Conservatives.
TAXATION
Perry starts out by pointing to a little talked about government statistic. It costs American Taxpayers $483 Billion per year to comply legally with our current tax code. Remember that figure for later, it will be important. If you log onto the IRS website, you will see an estimation from the IRS as to what percentage of Americans who pay taxes, in fact overpay. This percentage usually hovers around 90%. According to the IRS’ taxpayer advocate in testimony before congress, this is due to the fact that the tax code has become too complicated for even the IRS to follow anymore.
Personal story:
Last year, I called a CPA on behalf of a client. I asked about a specific deduction a client wished to take. The CPA gave me a negative response, saying, “that’s ridiculous.” The client pressed on, so I called the IRS help line. The IRS told me sure, the deduction is good, and here is the publication that I found that info in. I called the CPA back, feeling somewhat not confident in the info, first being conflicted, and also the IRS’ own disclaimer about their answers not being guaranteed. As it happens, they were both wrong. The CPA, graciously followed up by reading the entire publication and not just the first paragraph, or even only the first sentence as I suspect. As it happens the deduction was allowed, but with very severe caveats. The client was not Warren Buffett, but an average American tax paying citizen.Why does this happen? Over the last decade, there have been 4428 changes in the tax code. There will be 350 changes for 2012. 60% of Americans employ the help of paid professionals to file their personal returns. One mistake Perry makes here is one that I have noticed personally. Many of the professionals hired have no actual training or expertise in tax law or preparation. There are a lot of people who operate tax preparation businesses with no more expertise than the software they purchased at their local book store. While I do not wish to disparage the fine software products being sold, It is not the same as paying for the services of a CPA or an Enrolled Agent.
Perry also points out that the Average Corporate Rate paid in the United States is the second highest rate of any industrialized nation. While most of the other industrialized nations around the globe are lowering their rate of confiscation, our government is seeking to increase our corporate tax rates. Perry has also done his homework and refers to a graph originally produced by Art Laffer. In this particular chart, Laffer pointed to the past, and noticed that no matter what tinkering occurred with the tax code, revenues were consistently around 18% of GDP. Fluctuations in tax rates only served to affect GDP in the long term, while increases or decreases in revenue were only affected by increases or decreases in GDP.
As I said go read the entire piece. This plan, along with Perry’s conservative stances on many other issues, guns, life, energy, small government, States rights, is a big reason I am endorsing Perry for president.
The top 25 Conservative voices in America
These are my choices of the top 25 Conservative thinkers/writers/speakers/political leaders in this nation. They are not ranked in any certain order, and yes, I thought about including Ed and myself, but my humility, or maybe my common sense got the better of me. Please share your thoughts
Walter Williams
Thomas Sowell
Dennis Prager
John Stossell
Robert Stacy McCain/Smitty (The Other McCain blog)
Rush Limbaugh
Michelle Malkin
Rep. Paul Ryan
Rick Perry
Allen West
Herman Cain
Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert
Andrew Klavan
Ed Morrissey (Hot Air)
Greg Gutfeld
Bob Belvedere (Camp of the Saints blog)
Michigan Rep. Thaddeus McCotter
Sarah Palin
Andrew C. McCarthy
Andrew Breitbart
Ann Coulter
Jim Hoft (Gateway Pundit blog)
Daniel Greenfield (Sultan Knish blog)
Mark Steyn
The truth about Fast and Furious
Rep. Joe Walsh lays it out. this was all about furthering gun control in America. H/T Doug Powers
Walsh sure seems to have a bead on what Fast & Furious was designed to accomplish:
Walsh added that Holder needs to explain to the American people what role he had in Operation Fast and Furious. “The American people deserve to know the truth regarding Attorney General Eric Holder’s knowledge and role in the Fast and Furious operation,” Walsh said. “This program was deliberately designed to attack law-abiding American gun owners and gun dealers. Why else would an anti-gun administration force licensed firearms dealers to sell guns to violent criminals?”
This ought to be obvious. The administration has been repeating the lie that lax gun laws here are to blame for the heavily armed drug cartels in Mexico. Apparently Team Obama is willing to sacrifice lives to achieve their Stalinist dreams of stricter gun control.
Daily Benefactor Columnists – The Solyndra Stonewall (Stephen Hayes) – More Op-Eds
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The Solyndra Stonewall – Stephen Hayes
About 24 hours after he recited the oath of office, Barack Obama addressed senior executive branch officials and cabinet secretaries at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. The new president promised that his administration would bring a new openness to Washington, with strict ethics requirements and a presumption in favor of public disclosure of, well, almost everything. “For a long time now, there’s been too much secrecy in this city,” he declared. “The old rules said that if there was a defensible argument for not disclosing something to the American people, then it should not be disclosed. That era is now over. Starting today, …this administration stands on the side not of those who seek to withhold information but those who seek to make it known.”
Think about that promise as you consider the Obama administration’s response to the congressional investigation of a $535 million loan guarantee to the bankrupt solar panel manufacturer Solyndra.
After the Department of Energy complied with an initial Solyndra document request from the House Energy and Commerce Committee in February 2011, the Obama administration became largely uncooperative. When there has been a defensible argument for not disclosing something, the administration has used it. Officials have withheld thousands of pages of documents. They have ignored requests for information as a matter of routine. In late June, the deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget did not show up at a congressional hearing for which he was the only witness. In late July, OMB failed to meet a deadline to provide documents that had been subpoenaed by the Energy and Commerce Committee. In October, after the head of the Department of Energy’s loan program resigned, the administration finally provided some of the requested documents—but did so late on a Friday of a three-day weekend and only after briefing select reporters in advance to spin the damaging materials.
These are the “old rules.” As questions surrounding the Solyndra loan grow more serious, the Obama administration is digging in. It’s not hard to see why.
Late last week, for instance, the administration muzzled a key figure in the developing controversy. The Department of Energy denied a request from the House Energy and Commerce Committee for a transcribed interview, under oath, with Susan Richardson, chief counsel to the Department of Energy program that granted the risky loan to Solyndra. Richardson is the author of two memos from earlier this year about the restructuring of that loan – changes which ensured that private investors, including several prominent Obama supporters, would be paid back before taxpayers in the event of a default.
The two memos are nearly identical except for their dates and, perhaps significantly, the addressees. The first, labeled “draft” and dated January 19, 2011, is a “Memorandum for the Secretary” – Energy Secretary Steven Chu – to be delivered “through Scott Blake Harris,” the department’s general counsel. A second version, dated February 15, 2011, is addressed directly to Harris, with no mention of Chu.
Why the difference? Perhaps Richardson, or someone in her employ, didn’t want to burden a busy Secretary Chu with more paperwork. Or maybe Richardson thought it was up to Harris to decide if the issue was important enough to be brought to Chu’s attention.
Those are the charitable explanations. Here’s another possibility: Richardson may have sought to protect Chu from the political fallout if an increasingly flimsy Solyndra collapsed. No one, after all, had been a bigger advocate for the Solyndra loan than Steven Chu. From the beginning, Chu sought to expedite the loan guarantee, even if that required changing the rules meant to protect taxpayers. In February 2009, for example, Chu complained to the Wall Street Journal that paperwork requirements were burdensome. “It might be too much,” he said.
A month later, Chu had apparently made some progress. The Solyndra loan application had been denied by the Bush administration in mid-January 2009. But the new rules yielded different results. “We’ve accelerated and streamlined the process and the loans are coming out,” he said. “We’re trying to streamline it so that the period of time will be reduced from a scale of four years to several months.”
Two years later, as Richardson was preparing her memo justifying the loan restructuring, the political implications of a Solyndra collapse were on the minds of top Obama administration figures. Officials at the Office of Management and Budget thought Solyndra so important, in fact, that they recommended having a top OMB representative raise the issue directly with Chu.
An email between OMB officials dated January 31, 2011, notes that an upcoming meeting about the loan program “might present an opportunity to flag to DOE [Department of Energy] at the highest level the stakes involved, for the Secretary to do as he sees fit (and be fully informed and accountable for the decision).”
The email further suggests that the OMB director “privately” point out the risks of restructuring and the potential political implications to Chu:
While the company may avoid default with a restructuring, there is also a good chance it will not. If Solyndra defaults down the road, the optics will arguably be worse than they would be today… [Q]uestions will be asked as to why the administration made a bad investment not just once (which could hopefully be explained as part of the challenge of supporting innovative technologies), but twice (which could easily be portrayed as bad judgment, or worse). In addition, the timing will likely coincide with the 2012 campaign season heating up, whereas a default today could be put in the context of (and perhaps even get some credit for) fiscal discipline/good government because the administration would be limiting further taxpayer exposure…).
Prescient words. The important question, however, is this: Did Richardson leave Chu off the February 15 memo to protect him? And if so, did someone tell her to do so?
We don’t know. Testifying under oath, however, would allow Richardson to answer those questions and others that might help shed light on the whole sorry mess. That the Obama administration is blocking her – and refusing to cooperate fully with congressional investigators – makes clear the president and his lieutenants are less interested in sharing the facts of the case than in hiding them. As President Obama put it in January 2009: “The way to make government responsible is to hold it accountable. And the way to make government accountable is make it transparent so that the American people can know exactly what decisions are being made, how they’re being made, and whether their interests are being well served.” He was right.
Click HERE For Rest Of Article
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Our Libyan Adventure – Andrew C. McCarthy
“Are you suggesting that we would be better off with the Qaddafi dictatorship still in effect?” asked Chris Wallace, browbeating presidential candidate Michele Bachmann.
And why shouldn’t he? After all, the Fox News anchor had just gotten Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Sen. Lindsey Graham to perform the requisite “Arab Spring” cartwheels over the demise of Libyan strongman Moammar Qaddafi. Apparently, when leading from behind ends up leading to a vicious murder at the hands of a wild-eyed mob, even folks who once got the sniffles over fastidiously non-lethal waterboarding can feel good about pulling out their party hats.
Click HERE For Rest Of Article
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If I Were A Liberal… – Ann Coulter
If I were a liberal, I would have spent the last week in shock that a Democratic audience in Flint, Mich., cheered Vice President Joe Biden’s description of a policeman being killed. (And if I were a liberal desperately striving to keep my job on MSNBC, I’d say the Democrats looked “hot and horny” for dead cops – as Chris Matthews said of a Republican audience that cheered for the death penalty.)
Biden’s audience whooped and applauded last week in Flint when he said that without Obama’s jobs bill, police will be “outgunned and outmanned.” (Wild applause!)
Click HERE For Rest Of Article
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ObamaCare Declares War On Doctors – Dick Morris And Eileen McGann
The worst fears about Obamacare are now being realized in a decision on Monday by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MPAC) established by the law to supervise $500 billion in Medicare cuts. MPAC, whose decisions have the force of law, has voted to impose drastic pay cuts on all doctors under Medicare and, by extension, under Medicaid (which tends to follow suit).
The cuts will effectively reduce the real pay for specialists by 50% over the next ten years – including a 25% reduction over the next three years – and cut general practitioners’ pay by one-third over ten years (and that assumes that inflation stays down at 3% a year).
Click HERE For Rest Of Article
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The Media And “Bullying” – Thomas Sowell
Back in the 1920s, the intelligentsia on both sides of the Atlantic were loudly protesting the execution of political radicals Sacco and Vanzetti, after what they claimed was an unfair trial. Supreme Court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote to his young leftist friend Harold Laski, pointing out that there were “a thousand-fold worse cases” involving black defendants, “but the world does not worry over them.”
Holmes said: “I cannot but ask myself why this so much greater interest in red than black.”
To put it bluntly, it was a question of whose ox was gored. That is, what groups were in vogue at the moment among the intelligentsia. Blacks clearly were not.
Click HERE For Rest Of Article
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Joe Biden: Beltway Bubble Boy – Michelle Malkin
Last fall, before the midterm shellacking, Vice President Joe Biden admonished rank-and-file Democratic voters to “stop whining.” Uncle Tough Guy should practice what he screeches. The 2012 campaign has barely begun, but Biden’s thin skin makes a spring roll wrapper look impenetrable.
Biden’s office is now calling for an official investigation of a young editor who dared to question His Highness. Jason Mattera of the conservative-leaning Human Events magazine confronted the veep last week on his hysterical claims that rape and murder would increase if Congress didn’t ram through the half-trillion-dollar White House jobs bill.
Click HERE For Rest Of Article
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American Imperialism? Please – Jonah Goldberg
And so it ends. The United States is leaving Iraq.
I’m solidly in the camp that sees this as a strategic blunder. Iraqi democracy is fragile, and Iran’s desire to undermine it is strong. Also, announcing our withdrawal is a weird way to respond to a foiled Iranian plot to commit an act of war in the U.S. capital. Obviously, I hope I’m wrong and President Obama’s not frittering away our enormous sacrifices in Iraq out of domestic political concerns and diplomatic ineptitude.
Still, there’s an upside. Obama’s decision to leave Iraq should deal a staggering blow to America’s critics at home and abroad.
Click HERE For Rest Of Article
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10 Arrested In $1 Billion L.I.R.R. Disability Scheme
10 Arrested In $1 Billion L.I.R.R. Disability Scheme – New York Slimes
Eleven people, including two doctors and a former union president, were charged on Thursday in a “massive fraud scheme” in which hundreds of Long Island Rail Road workers made false disability pension claims that could have cost a federal pension agency about $1 billion, according to court papers.
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A total of 10 of the defendants – seven former railroad workers charged with making false pension claims, the former union president, a former federal railroad pension agency employee who helped the workers file the claims, and one of the doctors – were taken into custody in the early morning hours at their homes by F.B.I. agents and state investigators, officials said. The other doctor is expected to surrender in the coming days.
All were charged with mail fraud and conspiracy to commit health care fraud, according to a criminal complaint filed in the case. The defendants in custody were expected to be arraigned later on Thursday in Federal District Court in Manhattan.
The federal investigation developed out of reporting by The New York Times for a series of articles published in 2008 that revealed systematic abuses of Railroad Retirement Board pensions by Long Island Rail Road workers. The charges involving the railroad come at a time when public workers’ unions across the country have faced heavy criticism for negotiating pension obligations that have led many government agencies to slash services and lay off teachers, police officers and other workers.
The United States attorney in Manhattan, Preet Bharara, and the head of the New York F.B.I. office, Janice K. Fedarcyk, were expected to announce the charges Thursday afternoon at a news conference along with two inspectors general: Barry L. Kluger of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which is the parent agency of the railroad, and Martin J. Dickman from the retirement board. The federal prosecutors and the F.B.I. were assisted in the investigation by the inspectors general at the two agencies.
The Times articles reported that virtually every career employee of the railroad was applying for and receiving disability payments, giving the Long Island Rail Road a disability rate of three to four times that of the average railroad. The Times found that retired railroad employees who had successfully claimed disability were regularly playing golf at a state-owned course without charge – another perquisite of their disability.
Indeed, the railroad’s retirement rate was particularly striking when compared with the number of disability pensions at Metro-North Railroad, another M.T.A. subsidiary that serves commuters to New York City and has a work force of similar size and composition.
The articles revealed that a network of doctors and facilitators were helping the workers file papers claiming they were disabled.
The 74-page complaint in the case, which was sworn to by Adam M. Suits, a special agent with the Railroad Retirement Board inspector general’s office, lays out the scheme in detail and says that, as a result, the doctors received millions of dollars in corrupt payments from patients and insurance companies.
“And based my analysis of the data, including but not limited to the percentage of L.I.R.R. applicants handled by the three doctors discussed in this complaint and actual disability payouts to date, I further estimate that the fraudulent scheme could cause the R.R.B. to pay unwarranted occupational disability benefits exceeding $1 billion dollars if disbursed in full,” the complaint said.
The two doctors charged in the case, Peter J. Ajemian and Peter Lesniewski, and a third one who recently died but whose conduct was detailed in the complaint, were responsible for 86 percent of the disability applications filed before 2008, running what amounted to “disability mills,” the complaint said. They prepared false medical assessments and so-called illness narratives for the retirees to file with the retirement board, the complaint contends. Dr. Ajemian was taken into custody on Thursday; Dr. Lesniewski is expected to surrender soon.
Between 1998 and 2008, Dr. Ajemian recommended more than 839 Long Island Railroad employees for disability while Dr. Lesniewski recommended at least 222, according to the complaint. Both were board-certified orthopedists. Dr. Ajemian was assisted by his office manager, Maria Rusin, who was also charged in the case, the complaint said.
The doctors were paid – often in cash – between $800 to $1,200 for each phony assessment and narrative, in addition to the millions of dollars in health insurance payments they received for unnecessary medical treatments and fees for preparing false medical records to support the disability claims, the complaint said.
The disability claims made by the seven people who are accused of obtaining their pensions fraudulently were in stark contrast to their lifestyles, according to the complaint. One of the defendants, Gregory Noone, who receives $105,000 in pension and disability payments each year, plays tennis several times a week and played golf more than 100 times in less than a year despite supposedly suffering severe pain when gripping objects with his hands, bending or crouching, the complaint said.
Another defendant, Regina Walsh, an office worker for the railroad, who collects $108,000 a year in pension and disability payments and complained of significant neck, shoulder, hand and leg pain when standing for more than five minutes, was seen under surveillance shoveling heavy snow and walking with a stroller for a long period of time, the complaint said.
And a third defendant, Steven Gagliano, who receives more than $75,000 in payments annually and claimed to be suffering from severe and disabling back pain, went on a 400-mile bike tour around New York State, the complaint said.
Also charged in the case were the former railroad union president, Joseph Rutigliano, and Marie Baran, who served as the Railroad Retirement Board’s district office manager in Westbury, N.Y., until she retired in 2006, according to the complaint. Her husband retired from the L.I.R.R. with a disability pension based on an assessment performed by Dr. Lesniewski, the complaint said.
Mr. Rutigliano, a former L.I.R.R. conductor, retired in 1999, after a year in which he worked over 500 hours of overtime and took no sick leave, according to the complaint.
He then applied for and received disability benefits upon his retirement.
Others who were charged with falsely claiming they were unable to work and receiving disability benefits were Sharon Falloon, Gary Satin and Richard Ehrlinger, according to the complaint.
The defendants all face a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted.
Topless, Drunken Woman Leads Cops On 128 MPH Car Chase (Video)
Topless, Drunken Woman Leads Cops On 128 MPH Car Chase – The Blaze
A high-speed chase turned into a wide-eyed arrest in Bainbridge, OH earlier this month. That’s because when the woman behind the wheel stepped from the car at the end of the ordeal, she was wearing nothing but fishnet stockings, a g-string, and high heels.
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The woman, 28-year-old Erin B. Holdsworth, led the cops on the wild chase on October 11. She was only stopped after cops used spike strips to disable her tires. It was then that the officers got quite the surprise. Fox 8 in Cleveland explains:
When officers approached her vehicle, according to Bokovitz, they discovered that she was topless and wearing only a fishnet stocking body suit, g-sting panties and high heels.
Holdsworth’s docket filed in Chardon Municipal court says she has been charged with one count each of OVI, refusing a blood alcohol content test, fleeing and alluding, criminal damaging, driving under a suspended license, speeding and reckless operation.
Irony Alert: #OWS Socialists Protest Fixing Food For Freeloaders
Irony Alert: #OWS Socialists Protest Fixing Food For Freeloaders – Gateway Pundit
You just can’t make this up…
The squatters at Camp Poopstock are protesting that they are wasting their time, energy and resources preparing gourmet meals for ex-cons, homeless people, drug addicts and other freeloaders. Welcome to the real world.
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The New York Post reported:
The Occupy Wall Street volunteer kitchen staff launched a “counter” revolution yesterday – because they’re angry about working 18-hour days to provide food for “professional homeless” people and ex-cons masquerading as protesters.
For three days beginning tomorrow, the cooks will serve only brown rice and other spartan grub instead of the usual menu of organic chicken and vegetables, spaghetti bolognese, and roasted beet and sheep’s-milk-cheese salad.
They will also provide directions to local soup kitchens for the vagrants, criminals and other freeloaders who have been descending on Zuccotti Park in increasing numbers every day.
To show they mean business, the kitchen staff refused to serve any food for two hours yesterday in order to meet with organizers to air their grievances, sources said.
As the kitchen workers met with the “General Assembly’’ last night, about 300 demonstrators stormed from the park to Reade Street and Broadway, where they violently clashed with cops.
Officers made at least 10 arrests when rowdy demonstrators refused to get out of the street and stop blocking traffic. A dozen cops on scooters tried to force them back to the sidewalk.
Registered Sex Offender Jailed After Engaging In Lewd Act With Pharmacy Ad Display
Registered Sex Offender Jailed After Engaging In Lewd Act With Pharmacy Ad Display – Weekly Vice
Charlie J. Price, a 57-year-old registered sex offender has been jailed again after he allegedly made sexual contact with a cardboard cut-out of a woman who posed for a point-of-sale pharmacy advertisement.
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According to Pittsfield Police, Price walked into a Rite Aid pharmacy Saturday evening and began to kiss and fondle a cardboard image of a woman that was used to advertise sunglasses.
Price “hugged it tightly and then began to lick and kiss the face of the female party on the display,” according to the arrest report.
Price continued to molest the signage for about a minute, before falling to the floor. He then hopped back to his feet and began screaming and yelling at customers.
Witnesses “actively” fled the store in an effort to get away from him, stated the arrest report.
Price, who is a level 3 sex offender, pleaded guilty to disturbing the peace and was ordered to pay a $200 fine.
He was previously convicted in 1991 for indecent assault and battery of a child under 14. He was convicted again last year for open and gross lewdness and lascivious behavior.
Daily Benefactor News – DOE “Green” Loan To Russian Steel Tycoon Under Scrutiny
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DOE “Green” Loan To Russian Steel Tycoon Under Scrutiny – Pajamas Media
Another controversial U.S. Department of Energy “green” loan is coming under scrutiny.
Last July the Obama administration issued a $730 million low interest “green” loan to Russia’s second largest steel company, whose chief executive is a Russian tycoon personally worth $18 billion and who has close ties to Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
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An influential House oversight chairman is now questioning why taxpayer funds from the Department of Energy are being used to assist the highly capitalized foreign-based steel company.
The DOE renewable energy loan was awarded this summer to Severstal North America to produce high strength steel at its Dearborn, Michigan facility. Steel is not in short supply in the United States and current U.S. steel plants are operating under capacity.
The DOE loan is part of a controversial $40 billion renewable energy loan program organized under its Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Program called ATVM. The program is supposed to help financially starved companies in the green auto manufacturing field by providing taxpayer-supported low interest loans.
In a letter to Energy Secretary Steven Chu obtained by PJ Media, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform committee has asked the Secretary to provide information to justify his department’s decision to issue the loan to the Russian firm. Issa said that Severstal appears to have “ample means to carry out the project” on its own without U.S. funds.
The firm is a subsidiary of OAO Severstal led by Russian oligarch Alexei Mordashov. Mordashov is one of the richest men in Russian. In 2011 Forbes ranked Mordashov as the 29th wealthiest man in the world. He officially was an official delegate for Vladimir Putin when he first ran for President in 2004.
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The decision to issue a below market loan to Severestal appears odd. Prior to the government loan the firm had sold its steel plants in Ohio, West Virginia, and Maryland, reaping at least $1.2 billion. The ATVM program is designed to help companies involved in green cars or in the auto component industry. Severstal is a steel company not involved in either field.
It is also the second time in a week that a DOE loan has surfaced that financed foreign companies. The Finnish company Fisker received a $500 million loan for it’s all-electric sports car in that Norwegian country. Congressional investigating committees are looking into this Obama loan.
The ATVM program has also come under fire for its loans to auto manufacturers Tesla Motors for $465 million loan for a NASDAQ company owned by a Democratic donor and whose financier is was a $500,000 campaign bundler for President Obama as previously reported by PJ Media. Today Presidential Republican candidate Mitt Romney called for an investigation into both Tesla and Fisker.
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Obama Buys Votes By Easing College Loans
Obama Buys Votes By Easing College Loans – Sweetness & Light
From an uncharacteristically honest Associated Press:
Obama college loan plan aims at an old voting bloc
By KIMBERLY HEFLING, AP Education Writer
October 25, 2011WASHINGTON (AP) – Seeking to shore up support among cash-strapped college graduates and students struggling with rising tuition costs, President Barack Obama is outlining a plan to allow millions of student loan recipients to lower their payments and consolidate their loans.
Well, to its credit, the AP reporter here does not sugarcoat why Obama is doing this. He is using taxpayer money to buy the votes of college students and graduates.
Which is why Obama gave himself dictatorial power over the student loan process in the first place.
Outside of mortgages, student loans are the No. 1 source of household debt. Young voters were an important bloc in Obama’s 2008 campaign, and student loan debt is a common concern among Occupy Wall Street protesters.
After all, these poor kids were duped into making these loans by those evil colleges banks.
Obama’s announcement, to take place Wednesday in Denver, comes the same day a new report is being released by the College Board. It shows average in-state tuition and fees at four-year public colleges rose $631 this fall, or 8.3 percent, compared with a year ago. Nationally, the cost of a full credit load has passed $8,000, an all-time high.
Given that we are told there is no inflation, why should college costs be constantly going up? Could it be that the (largely unionized) teachers are getting higher and higher wages?
It seems to us that other countries throughout history have been able to indoctrinate their youths fairly inexpensively.
Meanwhile, as we have previously noted, many colleges, such as the Ivy League, are making out like bandits on evil Wall Street, getting over 20% yearly returns on their investments. And they don’t even have to pay taxes. (But don’t tell the OWS protesters.)
The White House said Obama will use his executive authority to provide student loan relief in two ways.
First, he will accelerate a measure passed by Congress that reduces the maximum repayment on student loans from 15 percent of discretionary income annually to 10 percent. The White House wants it to go into effect in 2012, instead of 2014. In addition, the White House says the remaining debt would be forgiven after 20 years, instead of 25. About 1.6 million borrowers could be affected.
Hilarious. So these kids won’t have to keep paying off their loans after 20 twenty years instead of 25. That will make them vote for Obama for sure.
(The sad thing, though, is that few of them will ever read past the headlines. If they even read the headlines.)
Second, he will allow borrowers who have a loan from the Federal Family Education Loan Program and a direct loan from the government to consolidate them into one loan. The consolidated loan would carry an interest rate of up to a half percentage point less than before. This could affect 5.8 million more borrowers…
The White House said the changes will carry no additional costs to taxpayers.
Apparently, it will come out of the hides of the evil banks that were stupid enough to make college loans in the first place. That will teach them!
Last year, Congress passed a law that lowered the repayment cap and moved all student loans to direct lending by eliminating banks as the middlemen…
And giving all power to the Obama administration. Now we know why.
Increases in federal aid have helped ease the burden on students dealing with tuition increases, the White House Council of Economic Advisers said in a report Wednesday.
“Despite large increases in the published price of college over the past four years, the average student has not seen commensurate increases in the net price of college, defined as the published price minus grants, scholarships and tax benefits,” the report said…
In other words, Obama is only to happy to funnel more an more money into the Democrat indoctrination machine known as ‘higher education.’ And why not? It’s a great investment for the party, and its only taxpayers (and Chinese) dollars.
Oh, and another thing we should not tell the kids of the OWS. As we noted a couple of weeks ago, Obama is also stepping up harassment of those who are not paying back their government loans on time. After all, that money is his. And re-election time is rolling around.
Ed’s NFL Week 8 Picks – 2011
Arizona Cardinals @ Baltimore Ravens – Ravens
Minnesota Vikings @ Carolina Panthers – Panthers
Jacksonville Jaguars @ Houston Texans – Texans
Miami Dolphins @ New York Giants – Giants
New Orleans Saints @ St. Louis Rams – Saints
Indianapolis Colts @ Tennessee Titans – Titans
Washington Redskins @ Buffalo Bills – Bills
Detroit Lions @ Denver Broncos – Lions
New England Patriots @ Pittsburgh Steelers – Patriots
Cincinnati Bengals @ Seattle Seahawks – Bengals
Cleveland Browns @ San Francisco 49ers – 49ers
Dallas Cowboys @ Philadelphia Eagles – Eagles
San Diego Chargers @ Kansas City Chiefs – Chargers
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——— Week 7 Picks ——— 8 Wins – 5 Losses ———
Washington Redskins @ Carolina Panthers – Panthers
Seattle Seahawks @ Cleveland Browns – Browns
Atlanta Falcons @ Detroit Lions – Lions
Denver Broncos @ Miami Dolphins – Broncos
San Diego Chargers @ New York Jets – Chargers
Chicago Bears @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Buccaneers
Houston Texans @ Tennessee Titans – Texans
Pittsburgh Steelers @ Arizona Cardinals – Steelers
Kansas City Chiefs @ Oakland Raiders – Raiders
St. Louis Rams @ Dallas Cowboys – Cowboys
Green Bay Packers @ Minnesota Vikings – Packers
Indianapolis Colts @ New Orleans Saints – Saints
Baltimore Ravens @ Jacksonville Jaguars – Ravens
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——— Week 6 Picks ——— 10 Wins – 3 Losses ———
Carolina Panthers @ Atlanta Falcons – Falcons
Indianapolis Colts @ Cincinnati Bengals – Bengals
San Francisco 49ers @ Detroit Lions – Lions
St. Louis Rams @ Green Bay Packers – Packers
Buffalo Bills @ New York Giants – Bills
Jacksonville Jaguars @ Pittsburgh Steelers – Steelers
Philadelphia Eagles @ Washington Redskins – Eagles
Houston Texans @ Baltimore Ravens – Ravens
Cleveland Browns @ Oakland Raiders – Raiders
Dallas Cowboys @ New England Patriots – Patriots
New Orleans Saints @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Saints
Minnesota Vikings @ Chicago Bears – Bears
Miami Dolphins @ New York Jets – Jets
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——— Week 5 Picks ——— 9 Wins – 4 Losses ———
Philadelphia Eagles @ Buffalo Bills – Eagles
New Orleans Saints @ Carolina Panthers – Saints
Oakland Raiders @ Houston Texans -Texans
Kansas City Chiefs @ Indianapolis Colts – Colts
Cincinnati Bengals @ Jacksonville Jaguars – Bengals
Arizona Cardinals @ Minnesota Vikings – Vikings
Seattle Seahawks @ New York Giants – Giants
Tennessee Titans @ Pittsburgh Steelers – Steelers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ San Francisco 49ers – 49ers
San Diego Chargers @ Denver Broncos – Chargers
New York Jets @ New England Patriots – Patriots
Green Bay Packers @ Atlanta Falcons – Packers
Chicago Bears @ Detroit Lions – Lions
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——— Week 4 Picks ——— 13 Wins – 3 Losses ———
Carolina Panthers @ Chicago Bears – Panthers
Buffalo Bills @ Cincinnati Bengals – Bills
Tennessee Titans @ Cleveland Browns – Titans
Detroit Lions @ Dallas Cowboys – Lions
Pittsburgh Steelers @ Houston Texans – Texans
New Orleans Saints @ Jacksonville Jaguars – Saints
Minnesota Vikings @ Kansas City Chiefs – Vikings
San Francisco 49ers @ Philadelphia Eagles – 49ers
Washington Redskins @ St. Louis Rams – Redskins
New York Giants @ Arizona Cardinals – Giants
Atlanta Falcons @ Seattle Seahawks – Falcons
Denver Broncos @ Green Bay Packers – Packers
New England Patriots @ Oakland Raiders – Patriots
Miami Dolphins @ San Diego Chargers – Chargers
New York Jets @ Baltimore Ravens – Ravens
Indianapolis Colts @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Buccaneers
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——— Week 3 Picks ——— 9 Wins – 7 Losses ———
New England Patriots @ Buffalo Bills – Patriots
Jacksonville Jaguars @ Carolina Panthers – Panthers
San Francisco 49ers @ Cincinnati Bengals – Bengals
Miami Dolphins @ Cleveland Browns – Browns
Detroit Lions @ Minnesota Vikings – Lions
Houston Texans @ New Orleans Saints – Saints
New York Giants @ Philadelphia Eagles – Eagles
Denver Broncos @ Tennessee Titans – Titans
New York Jets @ Oakland Raiders – Jets
Kansas City Chiefs @ San Diego Chargers – Chargers
Baltimore Ravens @ St. Louis Rams – Ravens
Green Bay Packers @ Chicago Bears – Packers
Arizona Cardinals @ Seattle Seahawks – Cardinals
Atlanta Falcons @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Falcons
Pittsburgh Steelers @ Indianapolis Colts – Steelers
Washington Redskins @ Dallas Cowboys – Redskins
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——— Week 2 Picks ——— 13 Wins – 3 Losses ———
Oakland Raiders @ Buffalo Bills – Bills
Green Bay Packers @ Carolina Panthers – Packers
Kansas City Chiefs @ Detroit Lions – Lions
Cleveland Browns @ Indianapolis Colts – Browns
Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Minnesota Vikings – Vikings
Chicago Bears @ New Orleans Saints – Saints
Jacksonville Jaguars @ New York Jets – Jets
Seattle Seahawks @ Pittsburgh Steelers – Steelers
Baltimore Ravens @ Tennessee Titans – Ravens
Arizona Cardinals @ Washington Redskins – Redskins
Dallas Cowboys @ San Francisco 49ers – Cowboys
Cincinnati Bengals @ Denver Broncos – Broncos
Houston Texans @ Miami Dolphins – Texans
San Diego Chargers @ New England Patriots – Patriots
Philadelphia Eagles @ Atlanta Falcons – Eagles
St. Louis Rams @ New York Giants – Giants
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——— Week 1 Picks ——— 10 Wins – 6 Losses ———
New Orleans Saints @ Green Bay Packers – Packers
Pittsburgh Steelers @ Baltimore Ravens – Steelers
Atlanta Falcons @ Chicago Bears – Falcons
Cincinnati Bengals @ Cleveland Browns – Browns
Indianapolis Colts @ Houston Texans – Texans
Tennessee Titans @ Jacksonville Jaguars – Jaguars
Buffalo Bills @ Kansas City Chiefs – Chiefs
Philadelphia Eagles @ St. Louis Rams – Eagles
Detroit Lions @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Lions
Carolina Panthers @ Arizona Cardinals – Cardinals
Minnesota Vikings @ San Diego Chargers – Chargers
Seattle Seahawks @ San Francisco 49ers – 49ers
New York Giants @ Washington Redskins – Giants
Dallas Cowboys @ New York Jets – Jets
New England Patriots @ Miami Dolphins – Patriots
Oakland Raiders @ Denver Broncos – Broncos
.
Occupy Chicago Leaders Are Under Investigation By FBI For Links To Terrorism
Occupy Chicago Leaders Are Under Investigation By FBI For Links To Terrorism – Gateway Pundit
Yup. They’re just like the tea party.
……………
That’s right. The leaders of the Occupy Chicago protests are under investigation by the FBI for links to terrorists.
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Today’s Occupy Chicago march against Mayor Emanuel was led by a guy in a death mask, follow by two guys carrying a Palestinian flag.
If two klansmen carrying a confederate flag marched against Obama, it would be called racist. What is it called when radicals march against a Jewish Mayor while carrying a flag of the people who have vowed to wipe you off the face of the earth?
Also leading the march, SEIU local 73 member Joe Iosbaker. He’s the guy who’s under investigation by the FBI for potential involvement with terrorists. And Andy Thayer, is also under investigation by the FBI for links to terrorists. Both of the men are tied to Obama’s New Party.
Rottie Refugees has more on these two Chicago radicals.
Time for some cool pics
OK enough serious postings, for now anyway. Check out these great pics at The Chive Here is just one
Gatordoug
darcprynce
Dave C
