[Click the date before an article of interest to view the original article on the Web for an item published since 8/6/11  (rather than the headline itself that is the link to the original article on the Web for earlier dates). Click here to go to the index in which clicking a headline link now consistently accesses a particular article's giac2002.org article quotation summary. [Clicking an index date accesses the original article on the Web. Then the back arrow will return  to the index.]

 

Notice: Barack Obama Documentary [his background] Sunday January 29 at 9 p.m. EDT,  Fox News

 

1/27/12 Cannibals in GOP Establishment Employ Tactics of the Left by Sarah Palin, FaceBook.com

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1/27/12 Santorum Hammers Romney on Obamacare Rush Limbaugh Show Transcript Segment

RUSH: Santorum, I think, did the best job of hitting Romney on Romneycare that has been done. It stood out,primarily because Newt and Romney were all caught up in the back-and-forth of who made money where and invested money where and consulted where and stuff that, frankly, at this stage nobody cares about. And, frankly, at this stage, this back-and-forth, personal-attack criticism is not working. It's not what anybody on our side is interested in; it's not influential. It's not gonna change anybody's minds about anything, because it's irrelevant to what the people of this country are concerned about.

  The people of this country right now are willing to overlook a lot of personal flaws in anybody they think can stop the destruction and the transformation of this country. That's way up there on the ladder, way up there on the priority list. And who made what from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and who invested in their blind trust or not is not anywhere near the top on the priority list. And Romney said something. Santorum was scoring so well in the debate last night, Romney said, "Hey, hey, it's not worth getting angry about," and it is! It's worth being angry about, it's worth getting angry about, it's worth staying angry about.

  Because Obamacare is ballgame in terms of regulations, in terms of government being in your home, government having control over every decision you make. Once the precepts of Obamacare are fully implemented, and if they're established as constitutional, then the Constitution doesn't mean anything anymore, and neither does our freedom or liberty. It's that crucial. Santorum, of all the people on that stage, is the only guy who is credible and convincing when he first describes it and when he then says what he wants to do with it: Get rid of it. Everybody else does what conservatives and Republicans do frequently: Take premise advanced by the left, say, "We can do it better." . . .

  During this back-and-forth Newt-Romney on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Santorum said, (paraphrasing) "You know what?  Can we stipulate, Romney's made a lot of money?  I wish I had that much.  Newt worked at whatever he did, great Speaker of the House, but can we stipulate that stuff and get back to the issues that matter here?"  And the place erupted. . .

SANTORUM:  Governor Romney was the author of Romneycare, which is a top-down, government-run health care system, which, I read an article today, has 15 different items directly in common with Obamacare.  Everything from the increase in the Medicaid program, not just that government is gonna mandate you buy something as a condition of breathing, mandate that you buy an insurance policy. Something that Governor Romney agreed to at the state level. Something that Congressman Gingrich for 20 years advocated that the federal government can force each and every person to enter into a private contract. Something that everyone now, at least up on this stage, says is radically unconstitutional, Congressman Gingrich supported for 20 years.  This is the top-down model that both of these gentlemen say they're now against, but they've been for, and this does not provide the contrast we need with Barack Obama if we're gonna take on that most important issue. We cannot give the issue of health care away in this election.  It is too foundational for us to win this election.

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1/27/12 Pressure Mounts for Limbaugh Endorsement Rush Limbaugh Show Transcript Segment

RUSH: My brother, David, he's tweeting out there that he would vote for Santorum if he could.

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1/27/12 Gingrich professes shock at Romney’s ‘dishonest’ debate performance

By Amy Gardner and Philip Rucker, The Washington Post

  "MIAMI — Former House speaker Newt Gingrich spent Friday struggling to fend off the perception that his presidential campaign has stalled after a flat debate performance on Thursday and fresh polling data showing his support slipping in Florida.

  "Gingrich began the day with a new round of attacks against Mitt Romney, his top rival for the Republican presidential nomination, by launching a tough new TV ad accusing Romney of distortions and deceptions 'just to win an election.'

  "In an interview with The Washington Post, Gingrich said he was stunned by Romney’s debate performance the previous evening, which he characterized as 'the most blatantly dishonest performance by a presidential candidate I’ve ever seen.' . . .

  "Gingrich said he was less combative during the debate because he was shocked by Romney’s 'totally dishonest' answers.

  "On several occasions during the debate, Gingrich leaned away from his lectern and looked down at his feet. That was because he was so stunned by some of Romney’s statements, he said. He didn’t engage at the time, he said, because 'I wanted to fact-check. I wanted to make sure he was as totally dishonest as I thought he was.'

  "Gingrich charged that Romney was lying when he said he didn’t know about an ad his campaign is running that accuses Gingrich of calling Spanish a 'ghetto' language [Wolf Blitzer, to his credit, returned to the stage later in the debate and said that he had checked the ad that said exactly what Romney denied--followed with the ritual: 'I'm Mitt Romney and I approve this ad.']

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1/27/12 Tea Party "kingmaker" DeMint focuses on Senate races By Nick Carey, Reuters

  "At a convention of the conservative Tea Party movement in Myrtle Beach on Sunday, DeMint made clear, however, they could all stop holding their collective breath.

  "The Republican lawmaker, who had refused to endorse anyone, said he was definitely staying on the sidelines.

  "'We've got a presidential race coming up and we've got a lot of good candidates,' he said.

  "'I know that probably folks in this room feel strongly about them in a lot of different ways, and that's why I'm not getting involved,' he added to laughter from the audience. . . .

  "The key to DeMint's Senate plan is a fundraising group, the Senate Conservatives Fund, which says it has so far raised $3.5 million for the 2012 campaign cycle. It has endorsed four Senate candidates in Texas, Ohio, Nebraska and Wisconsin."

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1/25/12

Obama's Pitiful Speech Full of Lies Rush Limbaugh Show Segment Transcript

RUSH:  [E]very e-mail I'm getting, "Well, that's it, Rush. We can't win. This is over. We can't top this. It's finished. My God, it's over. We don't have a prayer. This is so good, he's giving away the store. Americans are such idiots, gonna fall for it."  I had to shut down my e-mail because I'm listening to the most vacuous, empty, filled-with-lies speech.. . .

  I watched some of the post-debate analysis, and I was actually surprised to hear some of the Fox people say that.  I thought the Fox people were gonna be praising this speech to the hilt, as Obama's back, 'cause that's all I had gotten from my friends.  I was pulling what little hair I have left out last night, "Jesus, for crying out loud, why are people such pessimists?"  'Cause this is not what that speech was.  This was not a, "It's over, we can't beat this guy," kinda speech.  This speech was recycled.  In fact, the GOP, the RNC, somebody's put together a short video to show he uses exact phrases from State of the Union show to State of the Union show to State of the Union show. . . .

  It was chock-full of lies.  It was fantasyland.  No, it didn't soar.  It was boring.  It was an hour-and-a-half long.  There was nothing to set it apart, nothing about it that's going to be memorable in a positive way.  General Motors, the number one car company in the world again?  It just isn't true.  None of the economic news is true.  He did two things.  He lied.  He tried to paint the economy as back.  We are back, except where we're not back, and that's Bush's fault.  But we are back. 

  He also used the usual trick of speaking about events in America as though he's running for office for the first time.  He's running against things that are happening that are his policies that he is pretending he's had nothing to do with.  He knows full well he's not gonna be called on that by the media.  There was one offhand less-than-casual reference to Obamacare, which you would think in a State of the Union with a socialist doing the remarks, making the remarks, that he would be singing the praises of that piece of legislation and talking about what a game-changer it is and how it's the best thing that happened to the country.  Not a word of substance about it. 

  In fact, there are a lot of facts that were omitted in the State of the Union speech.  He didn't talk about the 13.1 million unemployed Americans.  He didn't talk about the 5.6 million unemployed Americans who have been on unemployment longer than 27 weeks.  He didn't talk about 8.1 million involuntary part-time workers.  He didn't talk about the falling civilian labor force participation rate was 64%. The number of jobs, the universe of jobs shrinking, didn't bring that up.  Didn't talk about the national debt, $15.2 trillion, five trillion of which is his! Do you realize one-third of our entire national debt as a nation over 200 years, one-third of it is his, his alone.  Of course he didn't bring it up.  He didn't talk about the Keystone pipeline.

  This speech was so filled with contradictions.  He talked about teamwork is what made America great?  Teamwork?  Do you know, ladies and gentlemen, how wrong that is?  Do you know what our founding documents are about?  The rights and freedom of the individual versus government.  There's nothing about teamwork.  There's nothing about compromise, getting along and working together.  The whole point of this government, the whole point of this country, the whole point of this founding was to champion the power and the rights and the civil rights and the freedoms and the liberty of the individual over government.  I'm gonna tell you, if anybody on our side running for office anywhere -- Senate, House, president -- is on their game, this is an immediate, I mean they have just, Obama unwittingly has tossed a softball with the bases loaded. 

  This is worth two grand slams, this whole concept of teamwork, when this country was premised on the power, the rights of the individual, on the uniqueness of all of us, that we are different, that we all bring different things.  Then there was this, whatever we do, we gotta have fairness.  There must be fairness.  That's a code word for class warfare.  Fairness is in the liberal dictionary, and it gives them the opportunity, the right, the power to redistribute wealth.  That's what fairness is. 

  And another example of hypocrisy.  Obama starts off his State of the Union address by thanking the military while at the same time he is slashing the Pentagon budget by about a trillion dollars and firing 80,000 soldiers.  Opens up by praising an element of government that he is slashing to shreds.  He closed it, too.  You know, I'll tell you what's also obvious here.  This speech, it was a lie from front to back, and it was an attempt -- it was Obama's attempt -- to align himself with America's greatness. And, folks, it didn't work. . . .

  AP did a fact-check story. The original headline on this story: "Obama Pushes Plans That Flopped Before." State-Controlled Media! AP! That was the headline: "Obama Pushes Plans That Flopped Before." I don't know how long it lasted, but it's gone now.

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1/25/12 Obama's proposals evasive and irresponsible By Rich Lowry, FoxNews.com

 

1/25/12 Mitch Daniels Delivers Terrific Speech Rush Limbaugh Show Segment Transcript

RUSH: Mitch Daniels called Obama a liar in the classiest way I've ever heard it done.  He called him pro-poverty. He articulated conservatism pretty well, really did.  And at the end of it -- I knew this was gonna happen, too.  I knew this was gonna happen.  They went to the Fox All-Stars, and they went to Dr. Krauthammer of Krauthammer online.com, or Krauthammer review, whatever it is.  And he said that there are no doubt people sighing with desire or something after watching Mitch Daniels. . . .

  The Republican establishment doesn't look at Daniels as a conservative. It's why the speech was good but they don't look at him as a conservative. They look at him as a one of them, a moderate. They see him as a moderate. He's strong conservative on budget matters, but outside of that? "No, no, he's not an extremist racist, sexist, bigot, homophobe who appeals to the NASCAR hicks who are pro-life." . . .

DANIELS:  As Republicans, our first concern is for those waiting tonight to begin or resume the climb up life's ladder.  We do not accept that ours will ever be a nation of haves and have-nots.  We must always be a nation of haves and soon-to-haves.

RUSH:  Here he rips Obama's extremism.

DANIELS:  The extremism that stifles the development of homegrown energy or cancels a perfectly safe pipeline that would employ tens of thousands, or jacks up consumer utility bills for no improvement in either human health or world temperature, is a pro-poverty policy.  It must be replaced by a passionate pro-growth approach that breaks all ties and calls all close ones in favor of private sector jobs that restore opportunity for all and generate the public revenues to pay our bills.  That means a dramatically simpler tax system of fewer loopholes and lower rates, a pause in the mindless piling on of expensive new regulations that devour dollars that otherwise could be used to hire somebody.  It means maximizing on the new domestic energy technologies that are the best break our economy's gotten in years.

RUSH:  The extremism that stifles the development of homegrown energy cancels a perfectly safe pipeline that would employ tens of thousands.  He called that extremism.  Jacks up consumer utility bills for no improvement in either human health or world temperature is a pro-poverty policy.  He called Obama a liar in one of the most creative ways.  "The president has to know what he's saying tonight isn't true."  After praising him for being great on family values, he says, "The president has to know that what he says tonight just isn't true," and he said it very effectively.  Here he defends the Republican Congress.

DANIELS:  It's not fair and it's not true for the president to attack Republicans in Congress as obstacles on these questions.  They and they alone have passed bills to reduce borrowing, reform entitlements, and encourage new job creation, only to be shot down time and time again by the president and his Democratic Senate allies.

RUSH:  Who's defending the Republicans in Congress?  There's nobody.  They don't even defend themselves.  Mitch Daniels did last night.  And here he calls out Obama for dividing the nation.

DANIELS:  No feature of the Obama presidency has been sadder than its constant efforts to divide us, to curry favor with some Americans by castigating others.  As in previous moments of national danger, we Americans are all in the same boat.  If we drift, quarreling and paralyzed over a Niagara of debt, we will all suffer, regardless of income, race, gender, or other category.  If we fail to shift to a pro-jobs, pro-growth economic policy, there will never be enough public revenue to pay for our safety net, national security, or whatever size government we decide to have.

RUSH:  And here he says Republicans stand for the individual against the state.

DANIELS:  2012 must be the year we prove the doubters wrong. The year we strike out boldly, not nearly to avert national bankruptcy, but to say to a new generation that America is still the world's premiere land of opportunity.  Republicans will speak for those who believe in the dignity and capacity of the individual citizen; who believe that government is meant to serve the people rather than supervise them; who trust Americans enough to tell them the plain truth about the fix we are in and to lay before them a specific, credible program of change big enough to meet the emergency we are facing.

RUSH:  That's Indiana Governor, Mitch Daniels, and just some of his remarks in his response last night.  The whole thing, front-to-back, in continuity was really good, and one of the things that he counters here, this individual against the state, I can't tell you how important it is with Obama out there saying teamwork is what made this country great.  Teamwork?  Man, that is one of the biggest openings any Republican has had to run against Democrats in a long, long time, in an instructional, educational, factual, informative way.  This country was established so the individual would triumph over government.  It limited what government could do to constrain individual liberty and freedom.  And Obama just spits that aside, "No, no, no, teamwork, government working with people." 

RUSH: Now, here is the Mitch Daniels statement that you haven't heard yet in which he calls Obama a liar in one of the most creative ways. He comes very close to calling him a liar. In one of the most creative ways I've heard.

DANIELS: On these evenings, presidents naturally seek to find the sunny side of our national condition. But when President Obama claims that "the state of our union" is anything but grave, he must know in his heart that this is not true. The president did not cause the economic and fiscal crises that continue in America tonight, but he was elected on a promise to fix them, and he cannot claim that the last three years have made things anything but worse.

RUSH: Well, there is no denying that. There is literally no denying it -- and it was so powerfully stated coming off that 90-minute State of the Union Show of the president's.

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1/25/12 Gingrich Never Fined on Ethics Matter, Records Show By David A. Patten, NewsMax.com

[Also click Last night's yawn fest to read Neal Boortz's corroboration as a very involved talk show host at the time.]

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1/25/12 What really happened in the Gingrich ethics case? Byron York, WashingtonExaminer.com

  "With the charges against Gingrich megaphoned in the press, Gingrich and Republicans were under intense pressure to end the ordeal.  In January, 1997, Gingrich agreed to make a limited confession of wrongdoing in which he pleaded guilty to the previously unknown offense of failing to seek sufficiently detailed advice from a tax lawyer before proceeding with the course.  (Gingrich had in fact sought advice from two such lawyers in relation to the course.)   Gingrich also admitted that he had provided "inaccurate, incomplete, and unreliable" information to Ethics Committee investigators.  That 'inaccurate' information was Gingrich's contention that the course was not political -- a claim Cole and the committee did not accept, but the IRS later would.

  "In return for those admissions, the House reprimanded Gingrich and levied an unprecedented $300,000 fine.  The size of the penalty was not so much about the misdeed itself but the fact that the Speaker was involved in it.

  "Why did Gingrich admit wrongdoing? "The atmosphere at the time was so rancorous, partisan, and personal that everyone, including Newt, was desperately seeking a way to end the whole thing," Gingrich attorney Jan Baran told me in 1999. "He was admitting to whatever he could to get the case over with." . . .

  "Nothing happened with the Justice Department and the FBI, but the IRS began an investigation that would stretch over three years.  Unlike many in Congress -- and journalists, too -- IRS investigators obtained tapes and transcripts of each session during the two years the course was taught at Kennesaw State College in Georgia, as well as videotapes of the third year of the course, taught at nearby Reinhardt College. IRS officials examined every word Gingrich spoke in every class; before investigating the financing and administration of the course, they first sought to determine whether it was in fact educational and whether it served to the political benefit of Gingrich, his political organization, GOPAC, or the Republican Party as a whole.  They then carefully examined the role of the Progress and Freedom Foundation and how it related to Gingrich's political network. . . .

  "Gingrich himself, not wanting to dredge up the whole ugly tale, said little about his exoneration. "I consider this a full and complete vindication," he wrote in a brief statement. "I urge my colleagues to go back and read their statements and watch how they said them, with no facts, based on nothing more than a desire to politically destroy a colleague."

  "Now, Gingrich is saying much the same thing in the face of Romney's accusations.  And despite the prominence of the matter in the GOP race, few outsiders seem inclined to dive back into the ethics matter to determine whether Gingrich deserves the criticism or not.  But if Gingrich is to have any hope of climbing out from under the allegations, he'll have to find some way of letting people know what really happened.

  "The IRS concluded the course simply was not political.  "The central problem in arguing that the Progress and Freedom Foundation provided more than incidental private benefit to Mr. Gingrich, GOPAC, and other Republican entities," the IRS wrote, "was that the content of the 'Renewing American Civilization' course was educational...and not biased toward any of those who were supposed to be benefited."

The bottom line: Gingrich acted properly and violated no laws.  There was no tax fraud scheme. Of course, by that time, Gingrich was out of office, widely presumed to be guilty of something, and his career in politics was (seemingly) over."

[The top two of 286 readers comments:

 Christianson

"The powers that be do not want Gingrich to be the nominee. More reason to vote for him."

Lindalfz

"If the Dem's,Unions or Obama do not want GINGRICH, then I'm for him. They want Rommey because he's a lightweight. Agree with Christianson."]

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1/25/12 Iran-China trade soars to top $45 bn: report Breitbart

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1/25/12 Warren Buffett's Secretary Likely Makes Between $200,000 And $500,000/Year Paul Roderick Gregory, Forbes

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1/24/12 Rasmussen: Gingrich Leads Romney, 41-32, in Florida NewsMax.com

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1/24/12 Last night's yawn fest By Neal Boortz, NealzNuze

  "I know the real story behind the tsunami of ethics charges brought against Gingrich by Bonior and the Democrats after he orchestrated their first minority position in the House in 40 years.  I know that 83 out of 84 of those charges were found to be without merit.  I also know the Democrats had to bring in tax experts to make the case that Gingrich violated tax laws relating to contributions to a course he was teaching at Kennesaw State College … and the IRS later found out that no violations of tax law occurred.  [Emphasis added.] I know these things – and more – because I was a doing this talk show when it all happened and, since Gingrich was from Georgia, it was of particular interest to my Georgia audience and me.  What I don’t understand is just why Gingrich is so inept at responding to this situation in these debates."

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1/23/12 Reluctantly... My Advice for Rick Santorum Rush Limbaugh Show Segment

RUSH: Now, I'm reticent to give advice what Santorum could do. Look... (sigh) Jeez, you put me in a tight spot. You asked and I feel I have to answer.

CALLER: I've been dreaming of who would be your favorite because I know that I would follow you.

RUSH: All right.

CALLER: I would follow you to hell and back. (giggles)

RUSH: Here's what I would do: I would stop talking about myself. I'd stop saying, "I did this," and, "I did that," and "This is what I did, and those guys aren't this, and those guys aren't that." I'd just start articulating conservatism. I would just make it the fundamental premise of every message of mine. Now you gotta mention the other guys at some point. If you want to highlight the fact that they're not conservative, fine, but I wouldn't make that the primary. You can portray yourself as the only genuine conservative by actually doing it, not saying it. It's probably a fine line here. Santorum is who he is. That's why I'm reticent to give people advice 'cause people are going to be who they are. And he's got his people telling him the best way to go about this.

CALLER: But you're the true conservative, and, hopefully, he would listen to you. (giggles)

RUSH: I don't know. I don't know. He's out making fun of Newt's grandiosity. I'd be grandiose. I'd try to be larger than life. Not in a phony way. But, look, I feel very uncomfortable because I like Santorum a whole lot, and he is the real deal and he is one of the most solid individuals that I know, and I'm at a loss to explain why anybody catches fire. I don't think Newt is really catching fire. I know this is a fine, fine point. Newt is catching fire, but Newt's message is what is inspiring. Newt is a vessel. Newt is getting people voting for him to tell the establishment what they think of the way they've been running this party."

[I recommend your checking out Rush's entire Web  site including: "Newt is a Vessel: He Won South Carolina Because He Articulated Conservatism" (click here), "The GOP Establishment in Abject Panic: They Don't Understand Their Own Base," (click here) "Electability Results from Getting Elected" (click here) ("RUSH: Mitt Romney is 9-16 in his electoral career... That's Mr. Electability?") and more. Rush is paid to be verbose, but he is nearly always so completely right.)

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1/23/12 Rep. West to black leaders: Creating ‘racial division’ is ‘reprehensible’ [VIDEO]

By Nicholas Ballasy, The Daily Caller [Click the date if you want to access the video and original.]

  "Florida Republican Rep. Allen West told The Daily Caller that Democratic Rep. James Clyburn and Rev. Al Sharpton claiming Newt Gingrich used race to win in the South Carolina GOP presidential primary is 'absolutely reprehensible.'

  "'Under President Obama’s leadership, there’s been a 41 percent increase in food stamp recipients in the United States of America,' West told TheDC after hosting a Conservative Black Forum on Capitol Hill Monday. (RELATED: More on Allen West)

  "'If there are people such as Rep. Clyburn that don’t want to face up to the truth then that’s on them and I think it’s absolutely reprehensible that they feel that the only thing they can fall back on is try to create some type of racial division which we know that the Democrats are already trying to create some type of class warfare division as well,' he said.

  "West added, 'We don’t need these gimmicks that the Democrats and people like Clyburn and also I heard Al Sharpton made some very ugly remarks, we don’t need that.'

  "Clyburn told CNN Sunday that Gingrich was appealing to a racist 'element' of the Republican Party by referring to Obama as “the food stamp president.”

  "South Carolina Republican Rep. Tim Scott and former Oklahoma Republican Rep. J.C. Watts joined West and other African-American conservatives at the forum. The Republican National Committee was invited by West but did not attend."

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1/23/12 Poll shows most small businesses fear health care law By Shannon Bream, FoxNews.com

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1/23/12 PAUL: TSA’s intrusions undermine security By Sen. Rand Paul, The Washington Times

Senator or not, we’re all stripped of our freedom and dignity

  "Today, while en route to Washington to speak to hundreds of thousands of people at the March for Life, I was detained by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) for not agreeing to a patdown after an irregularity was found in my full body scan. Despite removing my belt, glasses, wallet and shoes, the scanner and TSA also wanted my dignity. I refused.

I showed them the potentially offending part of my body, my leg. They were not interested. They wanted to touch me and to pat me down. I requested to be rescanned. They refused and detained me in a 10-foot-by-10-foot area reserved for potential terrorists.

  "I told them that I was a frequent flier and that just days ago I was allowed to be rescanned when the scanner made an error. At no time did I ask for special treatment, but I did insist that all travelers be awarded some decency and leniency in accommodating the screening process.

  "My detention was real and I was repeatedly instructed not to leave the holding area. When I used my phone to inform my office that I would miss my flight, and thus miss my speech to the March for Life, I was told that now I would be subjected to a full body patdown.

  "I asked if I could simply restart the screening process to show that the machine had made an error. I was denied and informed that since I used my phone, to call for help, I must now submit or not fly.

  "Let me be clear: I neither asked for nor expect any special treatment for being a U.S. senator. In fact, this case is not about me at all. This is about every single one of us and how we are sick of the intrusive nature of our government. . . .

  "I have been through some of this with TSA Director John S. Pistole before. Last spring, a 6-year-old girl from Bowling Green was subjected to an invasive search despite her parent’s objections. Mr. Pistole claimed that small children were indeed a risk because a girl in Kandahar, Afghanistan, had exploded a bomb in a market in Afghanistan. But Mr. Pistole, this girl wasn’t from Kandahar and she wasn’t in Afghanistan. Isn’t there a significant difference?

  "In writing, he replied that TSA concluded because a child in a market in Afghanistan exploded a bomb, all American children needed to be evaluated as potential threats. My response: If you treat everyone equally as a potential threat, then you direct much attention to those who are never going to attack us and spend less time with those whose risk profiles indicate a need for tougher screening.

  "Random screenings not based on risk assessments misdirect the screening process and add to the indignity of travel. Those passengers who suffer through the process of partially disrobing should be rewarded with less invasive examination."

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1/23/12 ‘Occupiers’ Throw Bibles, Allegedly Urinate on Cross Todd Starnes, FoxNews.com

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1/23/12 1,000 Days Hinderaker, PowerLine

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1/23/12 Larry Richardson, candidate for S.C. House District 68, "A conservative voice for 'We the people of South Carolina." will be on CBS, Channel 13 WBTW at 11 p.m. tomorrow night, January 24. His mottos are: "We will never take the money out of politics until politicians stop taking the money" and "This election cycle, message triumphs money." [Here, the date is no link.]

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1/22/12 Newt Gingrich Tells David Gregory 'Nobody in the Elite Media Wants to Cover' Obama's Alinsky Roots By Noel Sheppard, NewsBusters

NEWT GINGRICH: The founding fathers of America are the source from which we draw our understanding of America. He draws his from Saul Alinsky, radical left-wingers and people who don't like the classical America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GREGORY: Can you win independent voters in a general election campaign with that message?

GINGRICH: Absolutely. Ronald Reagan did it by a landslide in 1980. He carried more states against Jimmy Carter than Franklin Delano Roosevelt carried against Herbert Hoover, and the reason's simple: What I said last night is the truth.  

  Nobody in the elite media wants to cover it. Nobody's ever gone back and looked at what Saul Alinsky stands for. Nobody ever asks what neighborhood organizer meant. He wasn't organizing Boys and Girls Clubs. He was teaching political radicalism. It explains his entire administration. He is who he is. It's--you know, it's not that he's a bad human being, my impression is that he has a good family, that he really loves his children and his wife, that he's a very pleasant person in some ways. But the objective fact is he believes in a very radical vision of America's future that is fundamentally different from probably 80 percent of this country. And nobody in the elite media has ever wanted to dig into it, ever wanted--why would he veto the Keystone pipeline? Why would he kill jobs in America? Why would he have a National Labor Relations Board attack Boeing? Because it fits the model of Alinsky radicalism.

  In reality, if the media had fully reported Obama's ties to Alinsky and other left-wing radicals in 2008, he never would have beaten Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination.

  The question now is whether this year's Republican presidential nominee will do a better job of forcing the press to report it this election cycle." [I voted for Santorum for president in the South Carolina primary; however I fully support Gingrich as the candidate who will most likely create the waves necessary to wake up much of the dormant American public who are uninformed or misinformed by the elite media as to the fact that Obama is the enemy of America and its culture. Click here to access an audio revealing Obama's historic roots that have led him to his anti-American beliefs.]

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1/22/12 Barack Obama goes in search of cash for US 2012 election Paul Harris, guardian.co.uk

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1/22/12 Boehner SOTU sounds 'pathetic' By POLITICO

  "House Speaker John Boehner has already given his review of President Barack Obama's forthcoming State of the Union address -- and it's not pretty.
  "'I've read a lot about what the president is going to talk about Tuesday night, and it sounds to me like the same old policies that we've seen: More spending, higher taxes, more regulation,' Boehner said on Fox News Sunday.
  "'If that's what the president is going to talk about Tuesday night, I think that's pathetic.'
  "Obama reportedly is also going to call for a grand bargain-type agreement to cut the deficit, but Boehner said he tried that with the president, who wouldn't accept a deal with 'fundamental reform of our entitlement programs' and wanted $1 trillion in new taxes."

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1/22/12 Davos elites to seek reforms of 'outdated' capitalism Breitbart

  "Economic and political elites meeting this week at the Swiss resort of Davos will be asked to urgently find ways to reform a capitalist system that has been described as "outdated and crumbling." . . .

  "The forum will centre on the issue from the beginning, as German Chancellor Angela Merkel opens with a keynote speech.

European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi, US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde will also give a broader insight into the international economic impact of the eurozone crisis.

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1/22/12 Holder’s Law Firm Has Questionable Ties to Mortgage Banks, D.C. Government and Obama Administration by Jeffrey Scott Shapiro, Big Government

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1/22/12 Obama hails anniversary of US abortion ruling AFP

  "President Barack Obama on Sunday marked the 39th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion by affirming his backing for the right, for decades one of America's most polarizing issues.

  "'As we mark the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we must remember that this Supreme Court decision not only protects a woman's health and reproductive freedom, but also affirms a broader principle: that government should not intrude on private family matters,' Obama said in his statement. . . .

  "Abortion is invariably a bitterly debated issue every presidential election year, with conservatives eager to repeal the landmark decision and liberals insisting abortion is a fundamental right to be protected at all costs."

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1/21/12 Gingrich storms to SC victory, scrambling GOP race

By DAVID ESPO and THOMAS BEAUMONT, Associated Press

  "Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich stormed to an upset victory in the South Carolina primary Saturday night, dealing a sharp setback to former front-runner Mitt Romney and abruptly scrambling the race for the Republican presidential nomination.

  "In victory, Gingrich praised his Republican rivals and attacked President Barack Obama and 'elites in New York and Washington.'

  "Obama is 'the most effective food stamp president in history,' he said. 'I would like to be the best paycheck president in American history.' Those declarations and his attack on the 'elite news media' reprised two of his more memorable lines from a pair of debates that helped fuel his victory.

  "Exit polls showed he led among voters who said their top priority was picking a candidate who could beat Obama - a group that had preferred Romney in earlier contests in Iowa and New Hampshire. . . .

   "Returns from 95 percent of the state's precincts showed Gingrich with 41 percent of the vote to 27 percent for Romney. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum was winning 17 percent, Texas Rep. Ron Paul 13 percent.

  "As the first Southern primary, South Carolina has been a proving ground for Republican presidential hopefuls in recent years. Since Ronald Reagan in 1980, every Republican contender who won the primary has gone on to capture the party's nomination.

  "Nearly 600,000 voters turned out, according to an AP estimate. That eclipses the previous record turnout for the primary in 2000, when George W. Bush defeated John McCain

  "Based on the vote total, Gingrich won at least 15 of the 25 Republican National Convention delegates at stake and none of the other contenders was yet assured of any.

  "But political momentum was the real prize with the race to pick an opponent to Obama still in its early stages.

  "Gingrich readily conceded that he trails in money, and even before appearing for his victory speech he tweeted supporters thanking them and appealing for a flood of donations for the Jan 31 primary. 'Help me deliver the knockout punch in Florida. Join our Moneybomb and donate now,' said his tweet. . . .

  "Exit polling showed Gingrich, the former House speaker, leading by a wide margin among the state's heavy population of conservatives, tea party supporters and born-again Christians.

  "In a state with 9.9 percent unemployment, about 80 percent of all voters said they were very worried about the direction of the economy. Gingrich's edge over Romney among that group tracked the overall totals closely, the former speaker winning 41 percent and the runner-up 27. . . .

  "Gingrich benefited from a shift in strategy that recalled his approach when he briefly soared to the top of the polls in Iowa. At mid-week he began airing a television commercial that dropped all references to Romney and his other rivals, and contended that he was the only Republican who could defeat Obama."

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1/21/12 Gingrich Beats Media in South Carolina, 54 to 14 By Terence P. Jeffrey, CNSNews.com

  "Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has defeated the national media in South Carolina by a margin of 54 percent to 14 percent, according to a survey conducted by a Democratic polling firm.

  "The poll, conducted by Raleigh, N.C.-based Public Policy Polling (PPP), interviewed 1,540 likely South Carolina Republican primary voters from Jan. 18 to Jan. 20. It showed that 54 percent of those voters said they had a favorable opinion of Gingrich while 37 percent said they had an unfavorable opinion of him.

  "At the same time, only 14 percent said they had a favorable opinion of the media, while 77 percent said they had an unfavorable opinion of the media.

  "The only Republican candidate who had a higher favorable rating than Gingrich was former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum. None of the four remaining Republican presidential candidates had anywhere near as low a favorable rating as the media nor nearly as high an unfavorable rating.

  "Fifty-five percent said they had a favorable opinion of Santorum and 35 percent said they had an unfavorable opinion of him. Fifty-one percent said they had a favorable opinion of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and 42 percent said they had an unfavorable opinion of him. Thirty-eight percent said they had a favorable opinion of Rep. Ron Paul and 53 percent said they had an unfavorable opinion of him.

  "According to the poll, the more conservative a South Carolina Republican primary voter is the more likely that voters is to have an unfavorable opinion of the media.

  "Among voters who said they were very conservative, 89 percent had an unfavorable opinion of the media and 6 percent had an favorable opinion. Among voters who said they were somewhat conservative, 78 percent said they had an unfavorable opinion of the media and 12 percent said they had a favorable opinion. Among voters who said they were moderate, 63 percent had a unfavorable opinion of the media, and 22 percent said they had a favorable opinion. Among voters who said they were somewhat liberal, 48 percent said they had an unfavorable opinion of the media and 37 percent said they had a favorable opinion.

  "Only among the most liberal voters were there more who said they had a favorable opinion of the media (52 percent) than said they had an unfavorable view (45 percent).

  "In the same PPP poll of South Carolina Republican primary voters, 37 percent said they were going to vote for Gingrich, 28 percent for Romney, 16 percent for Santorum, and 14 percent for Paul."

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1/21/12 Entrepreneurs Plot Their Way Around the Regime's Insane Keystone Pipeline Decision Rush Limbaugh Show Segment Transcript

RUSH: There is so much oil and natural gas in the Bakken field.  I've got a huge story today about the guy who is responsible for creating the Bakken field, a loan entrepreneur who has just demonstrated Americanism like it hasn't been demonstrated in a while.  It's huge.  It is a great story, much too long to share with you here.  I'll maybe at some point do excerpts from it.  So you take oil from the Bakken field and gas from the Bakken field and you pipeline that down to the Gulf.  This is the alternative that TransCanada is thinking of union using. 

  "The Bakken shale-rock formation is estimated to hold as much as 4.3 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil in North Dakota and Montana, according to a 2008 U.S. Geological Survey report. Oil production in North Dakota surged 42 percent to 510,000 barrels a day in November, exceeding the output of Ecuador." It is potentially a deposit rivaling that in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, and it's one of the best kept secrets in this country.  There is a boom in the North Dakota economy because of this, a huge boom taking place.  "Production in the Bakken field may reach 750,000 barrels a day this year, Edward Morse, managing director of commodities research for Citigroup Inc."

  Now, "As originally envisioned, Keystone XL would have carried as much as 830,000 barrels a day from Canada’s oil sands and the Bakken field along a 1,661-mile (2,673-kilometer) path to Texas refineries. The Bakken drilling boom may allow TransCanada to begin building the portion from Baker, Montana, to the Gulf, using much of the original route," bypassing Canada and its share of the oil, and thereby obviating any role that Obama would have in not approving it.  "The company is also mulling whether to build the pipeline from Cushing, Oklahoma, to the Gulf, he said. If customers prefer the Bakken-to-Texas route, Calgary-based TransCanada would build that first.

  "Changing the project would allow TransCanada to use existing pipe materials and rights-of-way. The company would apply later for federal permission to connect the pipeline to Canadian oil sands and complete Keystone XL as originally envisioned," after it would be the last portion to be completed.  I like the thinking.  Build 80% of it, get it going, have all that oil being transported from Montana, North Dakota, down to the Gulf, have it show up, have it become part of the US economy, then add the Canadian end of it.  The question there is, will the Canadians wait for us? 

  Canada's Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, according to his aides, Harper has already put in a call to the ChiComs over the oil. They want to sell it.  It was Harper who said to us, (paraphrasing) "Look, you might want to treat your country as a national park and off-limits.  We're not looking at Canada that way and we're not gonna let you turn Canada into a national park. We're not gonna let you tell us what we can and can't do with our own oil."  And Bloomberg had the news:  "President Barack Obama’s decision yesterday to reject a permit for TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone XL oil pipeline may prompt Canada to turn to China for oil exports." I have no doubt.  "TransCanada has already paid C$1.9 billion ($1.88 billion) for the Keystone XL project, which could still be completed by 2014." . . .

  So here we have... You can analyze this Republican debate all you want. I've been trying all week, ladies and gentlemen, to keep the focus where it should be focused. We have a failed and dangerous president. We have an angry, radical, left-wing crony capitalist with a huge chip on his shoulder. He is so transparent that only dyed-in-the-wool statists pretend to ignore the facts with Obama. He was a terrible senator; he's a terrible president. Newt had it right last night. The State-Controlled Media has protected Obama. They continue to protect Obama. It's gone on for too long. But how insane is it? How different is it? How much bigger a boondoggle is this than Obama's stimulus package?

  The trillion-dollar slush fund, non-stimulus bill? Jamming an unconstitutional Obamacare bill down our throats? Then we got all these czars in the White House that are not confirmed so they're not accountable. He's taken over the automobile companies, bowed down to despots, treats our allies as enemies, makes unconstitutional recess appointments. It's really just lawless behavior, ignoring the Constitution altogether. A moratorium on Gulf oil drilling. Ninety rounds of golf, parties, vacations. We're looking at an abject failure with a chip on his shoulder that the media has coddled and babied and paved the way for; and now it's coming from across the spectrum how insane, how stupid, how dangerous, how damaging this decision is on the Keystone pipeline.

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1/20/12 Palin Defends Gingrich on Marriage Charges Newsmax.com
  "Hours before the airing of a controversial ABC News interview with Gingrich's ex-wife, Palin appeared on Thursday's radio edition of the "Sean Hannity Show." She noted that Marianne Gingrich's claim that Newt wanted an 'open marriage' will do anything but damage his 2012 hopes.
  "'I call them dumbarses,' said Palin in the interview, referring to the media. 'They, thinking that by trotting out this old Gingrich divorce interview that's old news -- and it does feature a disgruntled ex, claiming that it would destroy his campaign -- all this does, Sean, is incentivize conservatives and independents who are so sick of the politics of personal destruction, because it's played so selectively by the media, that their target, in this case Newt, he's now going to soar even more. Because we know the game now, and we just won't put up with it. Good call, media.'"

 

1/19/12 Santorum tries to shoulder past Romney, Gingrich in debate

By Rachel Streitfeld and Paul Steinhauser, CNN [Click the date for the original--run down of tonight's debate.]

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1/19/12 South Carolina Republican debate: Newt Gingrich goes nuclear on media

Alexander Burns, Politico [Click the date to access the video of Newt's explosive opening of the debate--richly deserved.]

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1/19/12 Tip to Republican Candidates: Occupy the Media Rick Rinehart, American Thinker

  "On five occasions now Gingrich marvelously took on the presumptive smartest guys in the room and simply annihilated them.  Two such instances  occurred during the CNBC debate on November 8.  After being repeatedly pestered by Maria Bartiromo into responding to the question 'What is the media reporting inaccurately about the economy?' Gingrich quickly replied, 'I love humor disguised as a question.  That's terrific.  I have yet to hear a single reporter ask a single Occupy Wall Street person a single rational question about the economy that would lead them to say, for example, 'Who is going to pay for the park you are occupying if there are no businesses making a profit?''  When asked a question about health care a little later, he again pushed back, saying that a question about 18% of the economy couldn't be answered in a 30 second sound bite.  

  "Both responses were met with wild applause from the audience.  And in a debate held in South Carolina on November 13 Gingrich completely schooled a clueless Scott Pelley over the rule of law concerning killing American born terrorists overseas. Again, an eruption of applause, and even a 'well said' from one of his competitors on the stage.  And after recently learning that the Washington Post's Aaron Blake was trolling ('crowd sourcing') for dirt on the former Speaker on Twitter, the Blaze reported Gingrich's response:

'It's a little sad to see a paper the quality of the Washington Post stoop to that, which used to be the National Enquirer approach to life. But that's just the nature of where we are today...I wish they would crowd-source to discover what [Obama] did at Columbia University, and I wish they would crowd-source to figure out what he did with Saul Alinsky's ideas on the South Side of Chicago.  But the news media's never quite found itself as excited about the facts about Barack Obama.  Would rather worry about rumors about conservatives than facts about the President.'

  "Finally, there is his masterful response to Juan Williams' assertion last Monday that references to our 'food stamp president' and suggestion that inner city youths pursue jobs as janitors were somehow insulting to blacks. Newt's crescendo line that he will 'continue to find ways to help poor people find a job, get a job, and learn someday to own the job' prompted the first ever standing ovation at a Presidential debate.

  "Memo to conservative candidates nationwide: taking on the establishment media is not tilting at windmills. It's scoring big points with the voters."

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1/19/12 Barack Obama is the Problem Rush Limbaugh Show Segment Transcript

RUSH: [T]his country is precariously balanced on an edge -- and if it goes the wrong way, the country as you and I know it is finished. What I know is, as I said yesterday: Whatever Mitt Romney's tax rate is, he's not responsible for that.

  Mitt Romney nor Newt Gingrich nor Rick Santorum nor Rick Perry have anything to do with the economic misery in this country. That is traceable to one man and one location: Barack Obama and the Oval Office. Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Santorum have not played over 90 rounds of golf in three years while everybody's suffering. Gingrich, Romney, Santorum, the Republican nominees have not flown all over the world on the federal government's dime. They're not having lavish parties and concerts on the public's dime. They're not living like kings on other people's money.

  Obama sends his wife on government jets four hours ahead of him to the same destination, or she decides to take the jet herself. The Republicans are not doing that.

  Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich will be taking a pay cut. For Obama winning the White House was a path to wealth. For the Republican nominees all except Santorum, now, it will be a pay cut. Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Santorum. None of the Republican candidates are responsible for the 16% real unemployment in this country. They are not responsible for the increased fuel and food costs. They are not responsible for any of this. That would be Obama, who pretends to care about the middle class but lives like a king at the public trough. Mitt Romney's not the problem. Newt Gingrich is not the problem. Rick Santorum is not the problem.

  We find ourselves in the mess that we are in, precariously balanced on the edge, because of Barack Obama. Now we have some people on our side who want to dramatically change course, who want to reverse course -- and all we get in the news media is what a bumbling of reprobates they are! All we get from the news media is an attempt to clear the field for Obama. Make no mistake what ABC's doing this week with all the stories yesterday on Romney to take him out before the South Carolina primary, have Newt win or get close, and then Monday is when they wanted to do the Marianne interview, but Drudge came along and leaked the fact that they had it. That forced them to move it up. This is not what they wanted to do, but they're trying to clear deck because they know that nobody in a majority sense gonna vote for reelection of Barack Obama.

  Because they know that everybody in this country knows that none of the Republicans are responsible for the problems this country is in. They represent the solution, every one of them. Whatever baggage they have, the Republicans represent the solution. Every one of them is an average American in their own way. Obama is not; his wife is not. They are people of privilege, they are people of privileged status, they are protected, they have not had real jobs in the real world -- ever. We don't know how many no-show jobs Michelle Obama's had. (New Castrati impression) "What's a no-show, Mr. Limbaugh?" That's when you get paid 350 grand by a hospital just to say you work there to attract people -- and, by the way, you turn the poor away who want abortions in that hospital -- but you never have to show up at the job. You get the job because your husband just got elected to the Illinois Senate. That's a no-show job. Some union jobs are no-show jobs.

Now, if the left wants to discuss this kind of thing, and the media wants to talk about it, let's talk about it.  What financial sacrifices have the Obamas made?  What money of theirs do they have that is theirs that they have earned?  How many no-show jobs have they had?  How many people get to spend other people's money like they do and then act like they're entitled to it in the midst of so much economic suffering?  Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Santorum, they're not up there telling you not to go to Vegas. They're not up there telling you not to go to resorts. They're not up there telling you don't get on your jet and fly somewhere. 

  They are not offering to raise your taxes.  They are not offering to deny you cheap energy at affordable prices and in plentiful supply.  Gingrich, Romney, Santorum are not taking over automobile companies and making 'em buy pieces of crap that nobody wants.  That would be Barack Obama.  It's not Gingrich, Romney and Santorum who claim to be focusing laser-like on jobs and then not doing it.  Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum have not grown the federal deficit, the national debt, by $5 trillion. 

  Do you realize -- I made this point yesterday; it's worth making again -- Barack Obama has already spent the federal budget of the two years of the next administration, who's ever in the White House.  The entire federal budget for the two years beginning in 2013 is already spent.  And he's not finished.  It's not Romney or Gingrich or Santorum who have done that.  How much money has Romney, Santorum, Gingrich thrown at failed, worthless, non-businesses like Solyndra and all the other jokes and frauds that the green energy industry is?  Zero, is the answer.  My point is that whatever you think of these guys, they are not the problem. 

  We're a great country at risk in a dangerous world, and for the first time we are balanced precariously in such a way that if we tip the wrong way, the country as you and I know it, the way we were raised, is not going to exist.  It's not Gingrich or Santorum or Romney who are trying to take your individual liberty and freedom away, your property rights, making you buy health insurance, forcing a socialized medicine program on you that's gonna virtually redefine freedom and liberty.  It's not Santorum or Romney or Gingrich that are basically ignoring the Constitution and behaving in a constitutionally lawless fashion.  All of this is Obama. 

  The gasoline pump price has doubled since Obama was inaugurated.  Gingrich has nothing to do with that.  Romney's got nothing to do with that.  Nothing they've done has anything to do with that.  Romney, in fact, has done more to empower and enrich individuals at Bain Capital and other things that he's done at the Olympics than Obama can ever hope to do.  Obama's done nothing but ruin lives.  Obama's done nothing but destroy assets.  The housing crisis.  Most people's number one asset, underwater, thanks to Barack Obama.  Gingrich, Romney, Santorum, had nothing whatsoever to do with it.  And as I mentioned yesterday everybody is up in arms, look at Romney, $374,000 in speeches.  Yeah.  Bill Clinton, $82 million in speeches, average speech, $181,000. 

  So in all this economic downturn what signifies have the Obamas made?  They haven't made any.  As I say, Gingrich, Romney, if they win the presidency it's gonna cost them money, it's a pay cut.  For Obama it was a pathway to wealth.  I'm not defending anything Romney's done or Gingrich or anything of the sort.  I'm not excusing it, not trying to say it doesn't matter.  'Cause clearly it's going to matter to a whole lot of people, and I'm not suggesting with my comments here that you should forget all these things that bother you and pretend they don't matter.  I'm just sharing with you the way I look at this.  And I don't really think that four more years of Obama is in anybody's best interests.  I also resent the fact that the media is trying to clear a path for him, clear out all the opposition. 

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1/19/12 Rick Perry is a Patriot Rush Limbaugh Show Segment

RUSH: Perry pulled out and did it in Charleston, South Carolina. Here are some sound bites of the blessed event.

PERRY: I've never believed that the cause of conservatism is embodied by one individual. Our party and the conservative philosophy transcends any one individual. It's a movement of ideas that are greater than any one of us and will live long past any of us in our lives. As a former Air Force pilot, I don't get confused. I know we can't lose track of the ultimate objective in carrying out our mission, and that objective is not only to defeat President Obama, but to replace him with a conservative leader who will bring about real change. . . .

PERRY: Today, I am suspending my campaign and endorsing Newt Gingrich for president of the United States. I believe Newt is a conservative visionary who can transform our country. We've had our differences, which campaigns will inevitably have; and Newt is not perfect, but who among us is? The fact is, there is forgiveness for those who seek God; and I believe in the power of redemption, for it is a central tenet of my Christian faith. I have no question that Newt Gingrich has the heart of a conservative reformer, the ability to rally and captivate the conservative movement; the courage to tell those Washington interests to take a hike, if that's what's in the best interests of our country.

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1/18/12 The Anti-Jobs President The Wall Street Journal

Obama rejects the Keystone XL pipeline and blames Congress.

  "The central conflict of the Obama Presidency has been between the jobs and growth crisis he inherited and the President's hell-for-leather pursuit of his larger social-policy ambitions. The tragedy is that the economic recovery has been so lackluster because the second impulse keeps winning.

  "Yesterday came proof positive with the White House's repudiation of the Keystone XL pipeline, TransCanada's $7 billion shovel-ready project that would support tens of thousands of jobs if only it could get the requisite U.S. permits. Those jobs, apparently, can wait.

  "The State Department, which presides over the Keystone XL review because it would cross the 49th parallel, claimed yesterday that the two-month Congressional deadline was too tight 'for the President to determine whether the Keystone XL pipeline is in the national interest.' The White House also issued a statement denouncing Congress's 'rushed and arbitrary deadline,' which merely passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.

  "This is, to put it politely, a crock. [Emphasis added.]

  "Keystone XL has been planned for years and only became a political issue after the well-to-do environmental lobby decided to make it a station of the green cross. TransCanada filed its application in 2008, and State determined in 2010 and then again last year that the project would have 'no significant impacts' on the environment, following exhaustive studies. The Environmental Protection Agency chose to intervene anyway, and the political left began to issue ultimatums and demonstrate in front of the White House, so President Obama decided to defer a final decision until after the election.

  "The missed economic opportunity was spelled out Tuesday by Mr. Obama's own Jobs Council, which released a report that endorsed an 'all-in approach' on energy, including the 'profound new opportunities in shale gas and unconventional oil.' The 27 members handpicked by the President recommended that he support 'policies that facilitate the safe, thoughtful and timely development of pipeline, transmission and distribution projects,' and they warned that failing to do so 'would stall the engine that could become a prime driver of U.S. jobs and growth in the decades ahead.'".

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1/18/12 EDITORIAL: Obama’s pipe-dream economy The Washington Times

President thinks more jobs created by jobless checks than oil pipeline

  "The White House’s pre-emptive strike on the Keystone XL oil pipeline is a disaster for American workers and consumers. President Obama continues to demonstrate that he has no idea how real jobs are created or how the economy works [unless as one could conclude from his actions,  that his overall aim it to destroy the U.S. economically, internationally and culturally].

  "The proposed pipeline would bring oil from the sand tars in Alberta to refining centers in the United States. The project would produce 20,000 direct jobs and indirectly employ 118,000. Once completed, it would enable America to continue to shift oil imports away from trouble spots such as the Middle East and regimes that American consumers would rather not be supporting. Predictably for a fossil-fuel project, Keystone XL ran into opposition from environmental groups and became a rallying cry for greens disappointed by Mr. Obama’s perceived failure to energetically push their agenda. The pipeline project was seen as the last straw, especially after uber-global-warming alarmist James Hansen declared that completing Keystone would mean 'game over for the planet.'

  "In November, after a series of high-profile protests by celebrities, the State Department announced that a lengthy review process was necessary to find a route around the sensitive Sand Hills region of Nebraska. That pushed off the decision on Keystone until after the 2012 election, allowing Mr. Obama to dodge the issue. Congress responded by demanding an answer by Feb. 21, and rather than use the remaining month to conclude the study, the White House punted on third down and blamed Republicans.

  "This decision makes no sense. Blocking Keystone followed a recommendation from the president’s own Council on Jobs and Competitiveness that advocated the 'development of pipeline, transmission and distribution projects … to facilitate the delivery of America’s fuel and electricity and maintain the reliability of our nation’s energy system.' The White House quickly noted that this jobs recommendation didn’t refer to Keystone but to 'domestic' pipeline projects. A pipeline is a pipeline, however. The projects create jobs and build the nation’s energy infrastructure. Despite liberal spin, almost all of Keystone would be within the United States.

  "In his statement Wednesday, Mr. Obama maintained that Keystone wouldn’t be a job engine anyway. 'However many jobs might be generated by a Keystone pipeline,' he said, 'they’re going to be a lot fewer than the jobs that are created by extending the payroll tax cut and extending unemployment insurance.' The fact that Mr. Obama believes unemployment insurance actually creates jobs and is a more important source of employment than a major pipeline project only underscores his lack of economic smarts.

  "The political rationale of bowing to green activism is easy to understand. Mr. Obama faces a tough re-election battle and cannot afford an independent challenge on his left flank. But the environmentalist argument doesn’t hold up. Blocking the pipeline won’t stop what extremists see as the exploitation of the Alberta tar sands. The oil - purported to be very polluting - will instead be shipped west to help fill China’s seemingly limitless energy requirements. Rather than being used according to strict U.S. pollution guidelines, the dirty oil will be burned under less stringent Chinese rules."

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1/18/12 History of Barrack Obama Neal Boortz Radio Show Audio

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1/18/12 Strongest case against Romney a few sheets short of a ream by Ann Coulter, Human Events

  "Mitt Romney has spent more than 20 years in private enterprise, making thousands of business decisions affecting hundreds of companies that led to more than 100,000 new jobs and billions of dollars for employees and investors. So you can see why the left despises him.

  "Among Romney's thousands of business decisions, the one I gather his opponents consider his absolute worst was the decision to close a paper plant in Marion, Ind. Which wasn't his decision at all.. . .

  "It was labor trouble at the Marion plant of a Bain-acquired company, Ampad, that formed the basis of Teddy Kennedy's desperate 11th-hour attack on Romney in their 1994 Senate competition. Plant worker Randy Johnson was featured in Kennedy campaign commercials against Romney and disgruntled workers were lavished with Dickensian lachrymosity in The Boston Globe.

  "Seeking to succeed where Smith-Corona had failed, Bain's Ampad sought to renegotiate a suicide pact-union contract at the Marion plant. But instead of renegotiating, union president Randy Johnson thought it would be a great idea to immediately go on strike.

  "I don't know how Mitt Romney is supposed to explain free market capitalism to career politicians, much less describe the intricacies of a thousand business decisions in two minutes during a debate.
  "But we know that Bain's acquisition of Ampad is the left's best shot against Romney's business career. We may presume they don't have anything better, or we'd be hearing about it."

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1/18/12 Rasmussen Survey: Romney, Gingrich Top Republican Poll By Andra Vari NewsMax.com:

  "The poll of 1,000 likely GOP primary voters nationwide on Tuesday, the day after Gingrich delivered a highly praised debate performance, shows Romney with 30 percent support and Gingrich closing at 27 percent. Given the margin of error, plus or minus 3 percent, the two candidates are virtually even.
  "Former House Speaker Gingrich jumped 11 points from the 16 percent support he had just two weeks ago. Former Massachusetts Gov. Romney’s support, on the other hand, remains at about the same level. Rasmussen pollsters said the debate Monday night seems to have made the difference.
  "Rick Santorum, on the other hand, has seen a big drop in support. The former Pennsylvania senator was in second place two weeks ago but now has dipped to 15 percent support.
  "Texas Rep. Ron Paul had 13 percent, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry was last at 4 percent."

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1/18/12 Krauthammer Forecasts Possible Gingrich Win in South Carolina

, Newsmax.com:

  "Fox News contributor and Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer predicted that former House speaker Newt Gingrich will win Saturday’s do-or-die South Carolina primary — if he repeats his 'sparkling' debate performance Thursday night.
  "'This is a very crucial debate coming up,' said Krauthammer, appearing on 'The O'Reilly Factor' on Tuesday. 'If Gingrich can repeat the performance he had — which was sparkling — and Romney again sort of sits on his heels ... it is possible you could get a Gingrich surge.' . . .

  "Krauthammer said that Gingrich’s succinct explanation of Republican ideals would have played well with any audience and drew a rare standing ovation from the audience at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center.
  "'What he did, and the reason that was such a winning answer — it actually got a standing ovation which is fairly unusual in a debate like this — was because he was able to frame in a minute, in 60 seconds, the fundamental difference between the understanding of compassion on the left vs. an understanding of what compassion is on the right,' according to Krauthammer. 'He pointed out that the liberal view is handouts and dependency and paternalism. That’s ever since the Great Society. And the view on the right is it’s a job. It’s independence. It’s dignity and it’s a person standing on his own.'"

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1/18/12 The Tea Party’s Not-So-Civil War By MATT BAI, The New York Times Magazine

[No comment. Thought this might be of interest, especially for tea party readers. Just click the date.]

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1/17/12 Voter fraud 'a normal political tactic' in upstate NY city By Eric Shawn, FoxNews.com

  "LoPorto has steadfastly maintained his innocence, along with current Rensselaer County Democratic Elections Commissioner Edward McDonough, who refused to comment on the case Tuesday. They are the first indicted officials to be tried in a widespread investigation that has implicated eight Democrats, including county and city elected officials and party operatives. Four defendants have already pleaded guilty to a variety of charges, and what has already unfolded exposes just how easy it could be for political insiders to illegally manipulate the electoral system.

  "Voters told Fox News they never filled out absentee ballot applications for the 2009 Working Families Party primary, and were later stunned to learn the applications were, in fact, turned in to the Board of Elections, with ballots cast in their names. Democratic candidates routinely try to secure the Working Families electoral line to obtain more votes in the general election. The party was associated with the now-defunct community group ACORN.

  "'Jackals prey upon the weakest member of the herd. That's what happened here,' LoPorto's attorney Michael Feit said of the guilty pleas in which former officials admitted forging ballot applications and submitting them as legitimate votes.

  "Feit concedes 'there is no question' that someone tried to steal the election. 'It is awful, it's despicable, it's terrible,' he added.

  "But he insists his client was not a part of what happened . . .

  "Two veteran Democratic political operatives in Troy said voter fraud is an accepted way of winning elections, and faking absentee ballots was commonplace.

  "Anthony DeFiglio, a Democratic Committeeman who pleaded guilty to falsifying business records, told state police investigators that such fraud is actually 'an ongoing scheme and it occurs on both sides of the aisle. The people who are targeted live in low-income housing and there is a sense that they are a lot less likely to ask any questions... What appears as a huge conspiracy to nonpolitical persons is really a normal political tactic.'

  "Anthony Renna, another longtime Democratic operative and party committeeman, admitted to forging an absentee ballot application. He said the process of handing in forged ballots and fake votes ensures that 'ballots are voted correctly.'

  "'I knew that the actual voters had not voted the ballots or signed the envelopes, but that did not concern me. I am not the ballot police,' Renna said in a statement to police. 'I have been present when 'ballots were voted correctly' by party operatives. Voted correctly is a term used for a forged application or ballot.' [Emphasis added.]

  "According to transcripts, Renna said, 'I have been asked if I ever discuss forging ballots/applications with anyone and whether any ballots/applications were ever forged in front of me. The answer is no, because if two people know a secret, it is one too many. There is a saying in politics, 'I can't rob a bank with you.' This saying refers to someone who can't be trusted."

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1/17/12 Nancy Pelosi: GOP knows Mitt Romney can’t win By SEUNG MIN KIM, Politico.com

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1/17/12 Newt Wins Minds: Santorum Wins Hearts Palladian View

  "In the Palladian View 'war room,' nearly two dozen women watched the South Carolina Republican debate in Myrtle Beach. As they watched, listened and gauged the candidates, these mostly conservative volunteers responded to what they saw and heard by pressing keys on a handheld device connected to the Promethean Board and monitoring system. . . .

  "[A]fter the broadcast, 56% of the respondents said they would vote for Senator Rick Santorum, but 50% believed former House Speaker Newt Gingrich won the debate. Rather than a contradiction, this is a distinction between the candidate that speaks to emotion and the one that speaks to reason.
  "This group, at least, seems to believe that no one candidate meets both criteria. None of the other three, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, Texas Representative Ron Paul or Texas Governor Rick Perry were acceptable alternatives.

  "Asked 'Who will you vote for?' Santorum - 56%, Gingrich - 25%, Romney - 13%, Perry - 6% and Ron Paul 0%.
  "As for 'Who won the debate?' Gingrich - 50%, Santorum - 25%, Romney and Perry - 13% each and Paul - 0%."

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1/17/12 Reorganizing deck chairs on U.S. Titanic

By Donald Lambro and Donald Lambro, The Washington Times

Obama’s $3 billion trim won’t save endangered ship of state

  "President Obama’s puny election-year plan to consolidate a handful of government agencies and programs is about three years and $4 trillion too late. With America’s jobless rate stuck at a few tenths below 9 percent and his dismal job approval polls in the mid-40s - the equivalent of a failing grade - Mr. Obama is attempting to impersonate a budget cutter. He’s fooling no one.

  "For the last three years, he’s been spending our money like there’s no tomorrow, signing billions of dollars in bills to create dozens of agencies and assorted bureaucracies that are ballooning the federal payroll. But he’s had little to say about the need to reduce the size of government, let alone attack rampant duplication in a dangerously obese government that teeters on the edge of insolvency.

  "Don’t get me wrong. There is certainly a great deal of duplication across the vast expanse of government where clerks are busily doing the very same things being done in dozens of other agencies.

  "In a report last year on the insane growth of duplication and overlap throughout the bureaucracy, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) discovered 82 programs to improve teacher quality. The GAO said many, if not most, of them 'share similar goals,' but 'there is no government-wide strategy to minimize fragmentation, overlap, or duplication. …'

  "These and other spending scandals were contained in a 345-page audit that GAO annually provides to Congress as a result of legislation authored by Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma.

  "Among its shocking findings as spelled out by Mr. Coburn:

• 'Twenty agencies operating 56 programs dedicated to financial literacy.'
•  'Eighty economic development programs at four agencies at a cost of $6.5 billion.'
•  'The Department of Transportation spends $58 billion on 100 programs run by five agencies with 6,000 employees that haven’t evolved since 1956.'
• 'Fifteen federal agencies administer more than 30 food-related laws.'
• 'At least five departments, eight agencies and more than two-dozen presidential appointees oversee $6.48 billion related to bioterrorism.'
•  There are more than 20 separate programs to help the homeless.

  "So here comes little Barack Obama with a minuscule, $3 billion pop-gun plan to attack government duplication that won’t make a dent in the problem.

  "Last year’s revealing GAO report showed that by ending duplication 'we could save taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars every year,' Mr. Coburn says.

  "It’s clear that neither Mr. Obama nor the people around him know about this report. He should give Mr. Coburn a call if he’s serious about this."

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1/17/12 Democrats offended by GOP debate on MLK day? The O'Reilly Factor, FoxNews.com

O'REILLY: Whoa, wait, wait, let me stop there, who is ignoring Martin Luther King's birthday? Who is doing that?

HARPOOTLIAN: Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Santorum.

O'REILLY: Why would they be ignoring -- why would they be ignoring his birthday? Why would they be -- how do you know they are ignoring it?

HARPOOTLIAN: Well, they've made no statement about it. They've made -- there was a march here in Columbia where many, many people gathered and to commemorate his birthday. And --

O'REILLY: Do you think it's really fair to say they are ignoring it? You don't know if they are ignoring it. I mean it sounds to me like they're offended that they're having the dog and pony show which these debates are inevitably on Martin Luther King Day. Are you offended that they chose that day? . . .

HARPOOTLIAN: We've moved it to Saturday night to accommodate him. No one, I submit, has raised any issue with Fox about it being appropriate or inappropriate it's just sort of -- they've ignore that.

O'REILLY: Well, wait, wait -- maybe that -- maybe that's because in 2008 what happened? What happened in 2008 in South Carolina? Mr. Harpootlian? What happened?

HARPOOTLIAN: We had Democratic primary.

O'REILLY: What happened? Yes you had a Democratic debate in 2008 on MLK day. Did you know that?

HARPOOTLIAN: But -- I understand it.

O'REILLY: Well, wait, wait did you know that?

HARPOOTLIAN: No, no I knew that. I knew that.

O'REILLY: Ok and who sponsored -- who sponsored that debate?

HARPOOTLIAN: One of the networks I can't remember who sponsored that.

O'REILLY: No, no, the Congressional Black Caucus.

HARPOOTLIAN: Black caucus and I tell you --

(CROSSTALK)

O'REILLY: Yes on Martin Luther King Day. Debate, Democratic. . . .

O'REILLY: -- let's discuss this on the table. Wouldn't you say to me that if had you to rethink this Mr. Harpootlian because you're a no spin guy I think who was foolish to say the Republicans shouldn't debate or whatever you said on Martin Luther King Day is in hindsight of what has already happened?

HARPOOTLIAN: No, what I said was it is indicative of a process in which they have not engaged the African-American community in this state.

O'REILLY: No maybe they feel that that's not their constituency. Obviously African-Americans lean heavily Democratic.

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1/17/12 Early Debate Proves Conservatism Sells Rush Limbaugh Show Transcript Segment

RUSH: An amazing debate last night.  I've been taking the temperature of people who watched it and I always find it fascinating.  I was jumping out of my chair last night on a couple of occasions, because I'm the one who said -- and you all know -- all this would take from the get-go is somebody to consistently, constantly articulate conservatism properly with confidence and good cheer, and that person, if done from the get-go, would end up owning this.  And the fact that that didn't happen throughout the course of the debate, for a host of reasons, highlights when it does happen, like last night. . . .

  And I thought last night everybody -- except Ron Paul, and this was even good, was incoherent.  I'll tell you one of the funniest things. Fox obviously had an arrangement with Twitter, because they read questions that people had tweeted.  So there's obviously some arrangement.  It was Fox News/Wall Street Journal, and then there were some tweet questions. . . .

  It was hilarious.  The Ron Paul robots had taken over Twitter, and the only guy who consistently won on every -- I couldn't believe Fox actually put this up.  They had to contractually be obligated to it because they had every candidate listed, and a green bar above the line for positive reaction, a red bar below the line for negative reaction.

  And every question, foreign policy, domestic, didn't matter, there were five or six questions, every question, Ron Paul's green bar was the same size.  Every other candidate was mostly in red. (laughing) Every Republican got negative reviews on Twitter, except Ron Paul on everything had that same giant upside green bar.  And I said, "Well, the Paul people stacked Twitter."  And poor old John Roberts who had to report this as though it was meaningful and objective, about all he said was, at least this is what I read on the closed-captioning, he said, "Well, this is an example of what straight talk will get you."  Meaning Ron Paul is the only guy up there tonight with straight talk.  Which, of course, that's fatuous. . . .

  His foreign policy on Bin Laden and Saddam was incoherent.  And Ron Paul gave everybody a chance last night to see what he really is and what he really believes. . . .

  There were only five people and it made for a much better debate.  There were actual debates.  Bret Baier strategically made the decision a couple times just to shut up and get out of the way and to hell with the format and to hell with the time limits and let people go at each other.  It was actually, in a couple of instances, a couple of cases, a really genuine debate, rather than an extended, protracted interview session, like a Meet the Depressed or a Sunday morning format. 

  Perry did better.  They all did. (imitating Perry) "South Carolina is at war with the federal government."  They all did well.    And Romney did, too.  Romney, he did enough to maintain his position.  And everybody was firing both barrels at him, his tax returns, Bain Capital and so forth.  But Newt, has Frank Luntz pointed out last night post-debate, Newt is the only candidate to get a standing ovation in a debate ever that anybody can remember.  And it happened in a back-and-forth with Juan Williams.  This was classic.  I'm gonna play it for you very soon here as the program unfolds before your very eyes and ears. 

  Newt did something last night that was new, for Newt, that he hasn't done on previous debates.  He had Juan Williams acting as the provocateur.  Juan Williams, of course, is black, so Juan Williams was asking the black racial oriented questions on Martin Luther King Day.  And one of the questions he asked was, "Mr. Speaker, you've been saying that young..." I'm paraphrasing now "...you've been saying that young black kids need to take janitor jobs and so forth.  Don't you understand how that can be insulting and off-putting?"  And Newt said, "No, don't understand that at all."  And then proceeded to explain how that is a great starting thing for anybody to learn the concept of work and getting paid.  He had a great line and at some point in it, which you will hear if you missed it last night, he got a standing ovation. 

  The thing that he did that was different is he never said one word of it to Juan Williams in the sense he never (as in previous debates) looked at media guy who asked the offensive question and said, "This is what you media people always do. You're trying to get us fighting. Let me tell you about the media." He didn't even mention the media at all. He took the question and he answered it. He swung for the fences and hit a grand slam, did not mention Juan Williams' name, did not accuse Juan Williams of ill motives, just answered it. To me, it stood out as a different strategery for him to get the same thing accomplished.

  Because what happened in that debate last night -- if you watched it and you saw the applause, you may have seen that standing O -- every time 100% conservatism was explained (in a positive, enthusiastic, cheerful way) it just drew unstoppable, positive reaction from the crowd. It was the greatest illustration yet of what the thirst is for, of what the hunger is for, and what it will have been that wins, or would have been that wins. It was everything that the establishment Republicans don't want to hear and don't want to see. I have to say I think it was the best debate yet. It was Newt's night but they all did well. This was Newt's best debate so far, by far -- and most of his have been good.

  It's gonna boost his standing with people who think it's important we nominate somebody who can go toe to toe with Obama in the debates. Obama doesn't stand a prayer. If Newt were the nominee and had a night like Obama had last night, Obama doesn't stand a prayer, in the debates. Now, Obama's probably not gonna agree to do very many debates. There's no way Obama's gonna agree to do three. Max two. Why should he? (interruption) To hell with standard fare! He's got more to lose, the more debates he does. He's got nothing to defend. He can't. There's no law that says the sitting president, the incumbent has to take three debates. League of Women Voters may be ticked off. (interruption)

  He won't look like a coward. He can make it look like he doesn't have time for it. He's president of the United States; doesn't have time for these Chihuahuas nipping at his ankles. Yeah, he's too busy screwing up the country, too busy running around making all kinds of messes here to get distracted here by talking with the extremists and so forth. There's any number of ways that he could repel it. But, anyway, I have the sound bites here, and what I've done is I've asked Cookie to put together a montage of the Newt statements with the applause left in. I told her, "Leave the applause in. I don't care how long the sound bites go," and then we have the bites that stand alone by themselves.

  One thing that became crystal clear to me -- it's always is crystal clear, but the thing that surfaced again, made itself omnivorously present last night. It is clear with Obama and his crowd, they want the government to do everything for everybody. Newt had so many great lines: "99 weeks of unemployment benefits, that's an associate degree." Ninety-nine weeks in school is an associate school. If it's 99 weeks on unemployment, what are we talking about here. It's way too long! The whole concept of Obamacare and what to do about illegal immigrants. It became crystal clear again that the message from the liberal Democrats -- and this is the challenge for us.

  The message from liberal Democrats is that government will do everything for you, that the role of government's to do everything for, and our message is, "We want to teach you to do it yourself. We want to teach you to do it for yourself and how much better off you are and everyone else is if you do it yourself," which is the message behind Newt's theory on young poor people taking jobs no matter where they are -- in schools, janitor jobs, or what have you. So it's the ongoing competition that we face. We're up against people who want to tell people, "We'll do it for you. We'll plan your life for you. We'll plan your health care for you. We'll plan this or that."

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1/17/12 Early Montage: Newt's Grand Slams Rush Limbaugh Show Transcript Segment

RUSH: Here is the Newt montage, ladies and gentlemen. This is the montage of the -- whatever you want to call them -- the home runs, the grand slams, just the salient points that he made during the debate last night.

GINGRICH: Only the elites despise earning money.

AUDIENCE: (cheers and applause)

GINGRICH: I know among the politically correct you're not supposed to use facts that are uncomfortable.

AUDIENCE: (laughter and applause)

GINGRICH: So here's my point. I believe every American of every background has been endowed by their creator with the right to pursue happiness -- and if that makes liberals unhappy, I'm gonna continue to find ways to help poor people learn how to get a job, learn how to get a better job, and learn someday to own the job.

AUDIENCE: (cheers and applause)

RUSH: Standing O. Standing O at this point.

GINGRICH: The Social Security actuary estimated if you make it a voluntary program, you actually reduce wealth inequality in America by 50% over the next generation because everybody becomes a saver and investor and you have a universal investing nation.

AUDIENCE: (applause)

GINGRICH: Andrew Jackson had a pretty clear-cut idea about America's enemies: kill them.

AUDIENCE: (cheers and applause)

GINGRICH: Ninety-nine weeks is an associate degree.

AUDIENCE: (laughter, cheers and applause)

GINGRICH: We actually think saying to somebody, "I'll help you if you're willing to help yourself" is good --

AUDIENCE: (cheers and applause).

GINGRICH: -- and we think unconditional efforts by the best food stamp president in American history to maximize dependency is terrible for the future of this country.

AUDIENCE: (cheers and applause)

RUSH: All right. That's a montage, and as we go further, we'll play the individual questions and hear those answers in context as they happened. And the standing O came from the answer, "Here's my point. I'm gonna continue to find ways to help poor peep learn how to get a job, learn how to get a better job, and to learn someday how to own the job," and the place erupted! The place erupted, and we all know why it erupted. The place erupted because people on the Republican side of the aisle are thirsting for somebody to say what they believe in a philosophical sense, in an ideological sense. This country is under assault from people who want to strip away all of our humanity. They want to take away all of our individuality. They want to make every decision for us because they have an inherent view that we are all incompetent.

  They treat us in a condescending manner. They're better than we are. They look down on us. They want to manage and control every aspect of our lives, and the people in the Myrtle Beach building last night and the audience watching know full well what made this country great, what full well is needed to continue this country's greatness and to save it from the assault that's being waged on it by Barack Obama and the liberal Democrats. And they don't hear it articulated! They hear instead people afraid to be critical of liberalism, afraid to be critical of Obama. So somebody last night cast aside the fear and just hit them between the eyes -- I mean the left -- with what's wrong about what they do and what they want, and what's right about what they want and how what we want is great and good for everybody! It doesn't matter their gender or their skin color or their sexual orientation.

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1/17/12 Early Newt Turns Racially Charged Question from Williams into Explanation of Conservatism

Rush Limbaugh Show Segment Transcript

RUSH: "Speaker Gingrich," it's Juan Williams speaking, "You recently said black Americans should demand jobs, not food stamps.  You also said that poor kids lack a strong work ethic and proposed having them work as janitors in their schools.  Can't you see that this is viewed at a minimum as insulting to all Americans, but particularly to black Americans?"

GINGRICH:  No.  I don't see that.  (applause)  New York City pays their janitors an absurd amount of money because of the union.  You could take one janitor and hire 30-some kids to work in the school for the price of one janitor, and those 30 kids would be a lot less likely to drop out. They would actually have money in their pocket. They'd learn to show up for work. They could do light janitorial duty. They could work in the cafeteria. They could work in the front office. They could work in the library. They'd be getting money, which is a good thing if you're poor.  Only the elites despise earning money.  (cheers and applause)

RUSH:  As I say, I told Cookie to leave the applause in here.  Juan Williams followed up, and he got booed.

WILLIAMS:  We saw some of this reaction during your visit to a black church in South Carolina.  (booing)  We saw some of this during your visit to a black church in South Carolina where a woman asked you why you referred to President Obama as "the food stamp president."  It sounds as if you're seeking to belittle people.  (booing.)

RUSH:  Juan Williams got booed.  Still, Newt didn't take the bait.

GINGRICH:  The fact is that more people have been put on food stamps by Barack Obama than any president in American history.  Now, I know among the politically correct you're not supposed to use facts that are uncomfortable.  The area that ought to be I-73 was called by Barack Obama a corridor of shame because of unemployment.  Has it improved in three years?  No.  They haven't build the road. They haven't helped the people. They haven't done anything.  (cheers and applause)  I believe every American of every background has been endowed by their creator with the right to pursue happiness, and if that makes liberals unhappy, I'm gonna continue to find ways to help poor people learn how to get a job, learn how to get a better job, and learn someday to own the job.  (cheers and applause)

RUSH:  Standing O.  Remember, this line of questioning was all racially tinted from Juan Williams.  Newt Gingrich did not take the bait and answer in a racial context.  He answered within the context that we're all people and that we, as conservatives, want the best for everybody.  I might say, I felt... no, I'm not gonna say that. Well, okay, now I have to since I can't tease you like that.  I actually felt we were getting much the same kind of philosophy I tried to express in my CPAC speech, that we are for everybody doing well, that we conservatives do not see black and white, male, female, gay, straight when we look at people down the line.  We see potential.  We want the best for everybody. 

  "We know what's holding 'em back, and that's government, government central planners, people like Barack Obama, Pelosi, Reid, who look at people and see them with contempt and condescension, see them being incapable, and they treat them that way and they devise systems to deal with them that way, and they keep them forever dependent, which destroys their humanity, which makes us sick.  It breaks our hearts. 

  What breaks our hearts is to look at conditions in black America and see how they haven't improved under the tutelage of Democrats for 50 years.  And it breaks our hearts because there are people who have better ideas for making those people's lives better, and they aren't Democrats.  And the sooner the people being subjugated by Democrats break free of them the better off they're gonna be, and that's what Newt was telling them.  We want everybody not only to get a job, to learn to do a better job and then someday own the business.  In a context of a racially tinted question, Newt Gingrich is essentially saying, "I want black kids to own their own businesses." What in the hell is there to boo about that?  What's racist about that?  Absolutely nothing.  And that's why that audience was standing O.  'Cause this audience, made up of conservatives, is like you and me. 

  We're sick and tired of being called racists and bigots and sexists, when all we want is the best for everybody.  We are sick and tired of this categorization, when in fact it is the people leveling the charge who are the racists; who look at these people and see no possibility; who see no potential; who see them only as voters; who want to dumb them down; who want to keep them poor; who want to keep them dependent.  It's not us that want to perpetuate the misery of people who vote Democrat, continue to exist in their lives. 

  If you look at the entire Democrat constituency except for Hollywood and Wall Street, it is a never-ending sea of human misery.  And we hate that, and we despise it, and we want it to end because we want a great country, and we know that a great country is made up of great individuals.  [Emphasis added.] Another reason the standing O occurred there, the reason for it, was that a media member got smacked down without being directly spoken to.  In fact, when they went to the after-debate analysis, of course everybody knew that Juan would have his take on it, and he did, and he admitted to being shocked. He was shocked at the audience reaction to his questions, just as he was shocked when he found out that there were educated people who did not believe that man was behind global warming. When he first came across Lord Monckton, he'd never heard it before. 

  He was shocked that the audience had the reaction they had.  He said, I'm paraphrasing, "This tonight is gonna open the eyes of a lot of people and a lot of Democrats 'cause this crowd clearly loved what Newt said."  Groupthink on display.  There's only one way of looking at people in poverty. There's only one way of looking at people of color, it's the Juan Williams way, it is a liberal Democrat way, and that it's a lifetime condition they've been born into and it's somebody else's fault and there's no way we can get out of it so we gotta do what little we can to make their lives somewhat passable. 

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1/17/12 Early South Carolina Tea Party Convention 2012 George Edwards, GIAC2002.org

  "More than 500 members from 22 Tea Party and associated groups across South Carolina met at Springmaid Beach Resort in Myrtle Beach in a program hosted by the Myrtle Beach Tea party, led by Joe Dugan and Ron Hughes. It ran from 11 a.m. Sunday January 15 until 9 p.m. and re-opened at 9 a.m. Monday January 14 running  until 4:15 p.m.  Sen. Jim DeMint was the January 15 opening speaker, Governor Nikki Haley the January 16 opening speaker on "2012 Governor's Priorities." Presidential candidates Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich spoke for twenty minutes each the second afternoon.

  "Dena Joye, a former singer with the Carolina Opry, punctuated talks by many other inspirational and informational speakers with traditional patriotic songs throughout the two days, including a personally touching one that I had not heard before: "In God We Still Trust" Click here to hear a not-quite-as-awesome YouTube rendition "

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1/15/12 Keystone XL Pipeline And Jobs — Put Up Or Shut Up Investors.com

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1/15/12 Newt and the Last Conservative Revolution Kevin Tharp, American Thinker

  "In her book Slander, conservative commentator and pundit Ann Coulter called Newt Gingrich one of the most consequential politicians in the last century.  Why would she make such a claim?  What did he do that had such consequence?

  "In 1993, the Republican Party was the minority party.  It had been in the minority since 1955. Even President Reagan had to deal with a Democrat Congress in the 80s and was limited in his ability to change Washington as a result.  Newt Gingrich had seen this up close and personal.  He had tried to help Reagan with the Conservative Opportunity Society.  By 1993 he had become the Republican whip in the house.  With his leadership the Republicans crafted a proposal called the Contract With America (CWA).  It was designed so that Republican candidates could campaign on conservative principles in order to win their congressional seats and then govern in a conservative manner.  The electorate responded.  It handed the House and Senate over to the Republicans.  This was a revolution unheard of in the times they occurred.  Gingrich became the Speaker of the House as a result.

  "The CWA was a conservative proposition.  It held that the electorate could hold their representatives responsible and could remove them if they didn't perform.  The representatives would be responsible to their constituents.  But it also implied that they should perform like they would under a business contract.

  "Did Gingrich write the contract himself?  No.  But he led the effort for congressional candidates to sign up.  And most did.  He led educational efforts for those potential conservative congressmen to help them campaign.  Since then Gingrich has lead other congressional education efforts.  He has been a constant source of education for congressional representatives.

What did the Contract propose to do?  There were two parts to the CWA.  The first part was a series of reforms to Congressional activity itself.  These were proposed changes to the way it would operate.  The proposals were: require that Congress be held to all laws that apply to the rest of the country; audit Congress for fraud and waste; reduce the number of House committees and committee staff; set term limits for committee chairmen; disallow proxy votes; require public committee meetings; require a three-fifths majority for  tax increases; and implement zero base-line budgeting.

  "These are all conservative proposals.  Did Pelosi enforce these types of rules?  No way.  Should they be implemented again? You betcha.  Let's audit Congress again.  Let's reduce their budgets, staff, and terms etc.  But we need to change the presidency too.

  "The second part of the Contract contained legislation that Republicans would introduce within the first 100 days.  The legislation consisted of the following: [Click the date for the original Web article to read the ten acts it proposed] . . .

  "This was all legislation based on conservative principles.  Was it perfect?  Maybe not.  But it was a revolution in the right direction.  The CWA led to the Republicans gaining a majority in both the House and the Senate.

  "The CWA led to the Republicans gaining a majority in both the House and the Senate.

  "But the CWA only had so much of an effect.  The Senate, where Republicans held only a simple majority, and the presidency, were controlled by Democrats (A simple majority does not control the senate because of filibusters).  Today we need a president to lead a revolution in the executive branch.  Gingrich has a 21^st Century Contract just for that purpose. . . .

Gingrich has run against the tide of liberalism for his whole career.  He ran as a Republican when Georgia was still dominated by Democrats.  He ran and lost two times but didn't give up.  He finally succeeded on his third try.  He is a fighter for conservative government.

  "We are in the middle of another conservative revolution.  The Tea Party started it in 2010.  But it needs to continue on and change the executive branch.  Of course it needs to change the Senate as well.  But a groundswell in the presidential vote would contribute to a Senate victory.  And Gingrich is ready to lead a revolution again for the presidency.  A leader with revolutionary experience is what we need."

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1/15/12 Obama and the Will of Allah By Jesse Weed, American Thinker

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1/14/12 Why Romney is Weak vs. Obama By Quin Hillyer, American Spectator

  "Since I wrote this little blog post the other day, picked up at Real Clear Politics, all of a sudden (by coincidence; I'm not claiming I had anything to do with it, but just am remarking on how rapidly the 'meme' has taken off) all sorts of people are suddenly realizing that Mitt Romney is hardly the candidate with the best chance to beat Barack Obama. . . .

  "I see, first, a candidate who fails to inspire.' . . .

  "Next is a candidate's history, which was the basis of my original post on this front. Aside from winning the governorship against extremely weak opposition in a three-way race where he failed to get an actual majority of the vote, in a state that despite its liberalism had become accustomed to electing Republican governors (for 12 straight years), Romney still has never won an electorally significant victory that wasn't in his native state (Michigan) or in a state that is his backyard and site of his vacation home (New Hampshire). Even in Iowa, his mere eight-vote win after five years of work there amounted to six (yes, count them, exactly six) fewer votes than he earned four years earlier in the same caucus system.

  "Then there's the attacks on his tenure at Bain Capital. The attacks are over-the-top and unfair. But coming from the left in a general election campaign, they will work. . . .Romney's main selling point has been that he is a good businessman who proved himself in the private sector; if that gets taken away, he's toast, because his record as governor was nothing to write home about, with his only significant "achievement" being the execrable one of Romneycare. . . .

  "Romney, indeed, is the perfect foil for the Obama campaign, first because he is the very epitome of a Republican born rich who got richer by moving money around -- a millionaire plutocrat who just can't relate to "ordinary" Americans, and second because he is yet another Republican political/dynastic legatee. . . .

  "Combine that with what appears to be a plastic insincerity (again, the 'flip-flopping' charge was devastating against Al Gore and can be so again) . . and you have a recipe for an extraordinarily weak general election candidate.

  "Against all of that, all Romney can offer is a supposed greater acceptability to the educated, less culturally conservative, right-leaning economically, urban and suburbanites who are being targeted by Obama in places like Virginia and North Carolina. But the key thing here is that while these folks may be more socially liberal, they tend to vote more on the basis of their slightly upper-middle-income economic expectations rather than on social issues, and they'll vote either for or against Obama based on those analyses regardless of who the Republican nominee is. But it is the blue-collar worker, or small-business retailer, who (polls show) votes more often on cultural cues (not necessarily social issues per se, although that is sometimes the case, but more on stylistic cultural cues and concerns) than on other factors. . They are far more likely to swing behind Santorum (or Gingrich, or Perry) than behind the stiff rich guy with a "weird" religion and no middle-cultural social affinities ("shooting... small varmints" and flipping on homosexual "marriage"). . . .

  "Finally, but perhaps most importantly, Romney just can't campaign against Obama's single biggest vulnerability, Obamacare. There are just too many similarities between Obamacare and Romneycare, too many bad results from Romneycare (busting the budget, etc.), and too many video clips of Romney from six years ago saying that he hoped that even the individual insurance mandate would become a "national model." This will absolutely hobble Romney's campaign. In fact, it might be an insurmountable problem.

  "All of which is to say that Willard Mitt Romney has very low growth potential in a general-election campaign against Obama."

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1/14/12 South Carolina: Just Say No to Obamney Steve Deace, TownHall.com

 

1/14/12 Battle for social conservatives heats up as Santorum wins key endorsement FoxNews.com

  "Dozens of evangelicals and other conservative leaders decided Saturday to rally around Rick Santorum for the Republican presidential nomination, after meeting in Texas to try and pick a consensus candidate.. . .

  "The call to back Santorum was only finalized after three rounds of ballots. On the third ballot, Santorum received 85 of 114 votes cast -- some conservative leaders who had been backing Gingrich changed their votes in the end to support Santorum. The group rallied around the idea that Santorum, and not Gingrich, is the candidate best able to beat President Obama in November." 

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1/14/12 False Advertising: Obama Campaign Asks for Money on 'Dishonest Israel Ads,' cont.

1/14/12 Obama Recess Appointments Face Legal Challenge NewsMax.com

  "Two pro-business advocacy groups on Friday filed the first legal challenge to President Barack Obama's recent recess appointments, asking a federal judge to find them unconstitutional.

  "The National Federation of Independent Business and the National Right to Work Foundation argue Obama cannot legally bypass the Senate to appoint three new members of the National Labor Relations Board, an agency that referees labor-management disputes.

  "The groups made the argument in a motion in federal district court in Washington, D.C., as part of an ongoing lawsuit against the labor board for requiring businesses to put up posters telling workers about their right to form a union.

  "The challenge came a day after the Justice Department issued a legal opinion defending the appointments of the labor board members, and the appointment of a national consumer watchdog, against Republican criticism.

  "Obama stoked controversy when he made the appointments Jan. 4 during the Senate's current 20-day recess. Republicans leaders have called it an unusual and unconstitutional power grab, saying the Senate was not technically in recess when Obama acted.

  "Neither the White House nor the NLRB had any immediate comment on the motion. But in the legal opinion released Thursday, the Justice Department argued the president has authority to make such appointments because the Senate is on a 20-day recess, even though it has held periodic pro forma sessions in which no business is conducted.

  "The department said the pro forma sessions — some with as few as one member present — have not been sufficient for the chamber to exercise its constitutional authority to advise and consent to normal presidential nominations.

  "Administration officials have said Obama made the appointments because Senate Republicans have been unfairly blocking Senate confirmation of nominees as a way to limit the power of agencies they oppose.

  "The NLRB is supposed to have five members, but it was down to only two until Obama acted. The agency is not allowed to conduct regular business with only two members."

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1/13/12 What Are the Policy Implications of the President’s Appointments? The Heritage Foundation

  "Last week, President Barack Obama took the latest step on his road toward an arrogant, new authoritarianism with four illegal appointments that entirely trampled on the Constitution’s requirements. More troubling still, the President chose to shred the Constitution all in the name of serving his Big Labor agenda while killing jobs in the process.

  "The President’s actions once again gave voice to his animating view of governing: doing so is much easier when one isn’t constrained by the Constitution and its checks and balances. 'We can’t wait,' the President exclaimed after unilaterally appointing Richard Cordray as director of the newly inaugurated Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). He also appointed three officials to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), two of whom had been nominated less than a month before.

  "The policy implications of the President’s appointments? The CFPB will now have unmitigated authority to issue regulation upon regulation, contributing to the already-crippling red tape that is strangling business in America. And the NLRB will have the power to advance the President’s agenda to bolster unions across the country at the expense of job growth in a smarting economy.

  "For what, exactly, can’t the President wait? Quite simply, constitutional republicanism — the system of checks and balances integral to American government and political freedom. He grew impatient with the delays that inevitably accompany any legislative action an acted outside the Constitution’s mandated process. But the American people should ask, 'Is such action really preferable to a deliberative, if slower-moving, constitutional republic?'

  "The President’s appointments last week, troubling as they are, are but the next steps on the road to a despotic form of governance that has come to characterize his Administration — and all of liberalism in America today — what authors Fred Siegel and Joel Kotkin termed in City Journal this week Obama’s 'New Authoritarianism.' Frustrated by the unwillingness of the people’s representatives to enact his agenda wholesale, Obama has, from early in his Administration, sought to enact a series of proposals through administrative fiat, not the legislative process: [Click the date to read the instances that follow.] . .

  "Dr. Matthew Spalding, vice president of American Studies and director of the B. Kenneth Simon Center for Principles and Politics at The Heritage Foundation, explains that this 'new despotism' — a government where regulations and unilateral actions replace republican governance — runs entirely counter to the Founders’ vision of America:

  'The greatest political revolution since the American Founding has been the shift of power away from the institutions of constitutional government to an oligarchy of unelected experts. They rule over virtually every aspect of our daily lives, ostensibly in the name of the American people but in actuality by the claimed authority of science, policy expertise, and administrative efficiency.

  'If this regime becomes the undisputed norm — accepted not only among the intellectual and political elites, but also by the American people, as the defining characteristic of the modern state — it could well mark the end of our great experiment in self-government.'

  "President Obama’s actions are exactly the kind that the Founders feared and sought to guard against. His illegal appointments usurp power from the American people’s duly elected representatives, and the regulations they will promulgate will, undoubtedly, contribute to the unabated growth of the undemocratic administrative state.

  "Now that the President has crossed the threshold of constitutionality, there really is no telling where he may stop. There is a clear trend here, however, and it leads further and further from the constitutional order. With these illegal appointments, the President has taken to new heights his disdain for the separation of powers. Whether it will stop here depends on Congress — Will lawmakers of both parties reassert the legislature’s constitutional authority and take a stand against Obama’s arrogant new authoritarianism?"

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1/13/12 Senators warn new EPA rules would raise gas prices By Judson Berger, FoxNews.com

  "Senators from both sides of the aisle are warning that looming EPA regulations on gasoline could impose billions of dollars in additional costs on the industry and end up adding up to 25 cents to every gallon of gas. 

  "The senators, in a letter this week to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, urged the agency to back off the yet-to-be-released regulations. Though the EPA has not yet issued any proposal, they claimed the agency is planning to call for a new requirement to reduce the sulfur content in gasoline. 

  "Citing the nearly $3.40-a-gallon average price of gas and the state of the economy, the senators said "now is not the time for new regulations that will raise the price of fuel even further." 

  "They said it would be 'expensive' for companies to meet the sulfur targets and cited a study that found it could add up to $17 billion in industry-wide, up-front expenses, in addition to another $13 billion in annual operating costs. . . . 

  "'If the EPA does not proceed carefully with its regulations, the nationwide price of fuel could increase to the further detriment of consumers and businesses,' the senators warned. 

  "The lawmakers on the letter were: Sens. James Inhofe, R-Okla.; Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska; John Barrasso, R-Wyo.; Mary Landrieu, D-La.; David Vitter, R-La.; and Mark Begich, D-Alaska. 

  "The EPA did not comment on the senators' complaints. . . .

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1/13/12 Iran to host UN nuclear inspectors amid tensions over Strait of Hormuz threat FoxNews.com

  "Iran has agreed to host a high-level team of United Nations nuclear inspectors later this month, according to Western diplomats.

  "The surprise development could help to curb building tensions with the West, The Wall Street Journal reported. . . .

  "Fears of a conflict between Iran and the West have soared in recent weeks as the Obama administration and European Union began enacting sanctions targeting Tehran's oil exports and its central bank in a bid to persuade it to halt its nuclear program.

  "On Thursday, the U.S. raised pressure by sanctioned firms from China, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates for doing business with Iran's energy sector, the State Department said.

  "Iran has responded by threatening to choke off oil commerce through the strategic Strait of Hormuz. Tensions rose further this week when Iran sentenced a U.S. Marine to death as a spy and an unidentified assassin killed an Iranian nuclear scientist in Tehran.

Senior U.S. officials have in recent days warned of the consequences of the strait's closure, with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin E. Dempsey saying that Washington would 'take action and reopen the strait,' the New York Times reported, adding that doing so could involve the use of airstrikes and warship escorts.

  "While Iran's threats are widely-regarded as an attempt to increase the price of oil, and the strait's closure is seen as unlikely, the Pentagon says Tehran has the military capability to shut down the waterway.

  "'The simple answer is yes, they can block it,' Dempsey said on CBS on Sunday.

  "However, Iran's navy is not considered to be a match for the U.S. Navy. Even though it could inflict damage on U.S. naval forces, the Iranian navy would eventually be defeated, according to naval analysts, who also said that reopening the strait could take anything from one day to several months.

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1/13/12 S&P Cuts Credit Ratings for Nine Euro Zone Nations By: Reuters with CNBC.com

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1/13/12 Correction: Romney's Former Firm Bain Didn't Advise Obama By: Eamon Javers, CNBC

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1/12/12 O’Keefe video prompts probe by New Hampshire attorney general

  "The attorney general in New Hampshire is probing the state’s voting procedures in response to a video released Wednesday by conservative filmmaker James O’Keefe showing how easy it is to vote in the name of someone who is dead.

  "The Daily Caller first reported on the O’Keefe produced video, which shows his operatives able to obtain ballots under the names of dead voters at polling locations Tuesday by simply asking for them. (WATCH: The video that started it all)

  "O’Keefe told TheDC that the operation was done to bring attention to fraud since the state does not require identification to vote. Law enforcement seems to be watching.

  "'Based on the information we received on election day and the information obtained on the video, we are undertaking a comprehensive review of voting procedures with the Secretary of State’s office,' assistant New Hampshire attorney general Richard Head told TheDC by phone on Thursday."

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1/12/12 Indiana GOP get schooled on election fraud By Eric Shawn, FoxNews.com

  "After allegations of election fraud during the last presidential election surfaced in Indiana, dozens of Republican county and state officials in Indiana are taking lessons on how to prevent mischief in the presidential nominating petition process.

  "A seminar in LaPorte, Ind., for Republicans was called after the revelations of what is alleged to have happened in the Hoosier state four years ago, when signatures and names were allegedly falsified on documents that got then-Democratic candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton on the ballot. Similar accusations have surfaced elsewhere during the current 2012 contest for the White House. . . .

  "For the first time, the state is scanning the presidential petitions that have been certified by local election boards and posting them online for everyone to see.

  "'These are public documents, there is no reason that they can't be distributed early and quickly over the Internet so people can look,' said Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller, a Republican who also addressed the group.

  "He told Fox News that the fraud alleged on the Obama and Clinton petitions in South Bend is 'somewhat rare, so I think the protections that we have probably do quite a bit of good.' 

  "But he concedes that 'when you see something like this in St. Joseph County, it really goes to undermine the public confidence in our system.'. . .

  "[T]he chairwoman of the St. Joseph County Republican Party, Deborah Fleming, said she is worried that some have not taken the possibility of election fraud seriously enough.

  "'When it came to light that the Democrats had done something like this in South Bend, a lot of people in South Bend rolled their eyes and went, 'ugh, yeah it's the Democrat Party what do you expect?' So they know that things like this have happened in the past. But what has never happened in the past is now they've gotten caught, and now they've gotten caught with their hand in the cookie jar, now people are like, 'oh yeah, that's probably been going on for a long time.'"

 

1/12/12 Super PACs Are Better for America Than the Mainstream Media John Nolte, Big Journalism

  "[There are] three important differences between a Super PAC and The New York Times, Washington Post, Politico, The L.A. Times, The Huffington Post, ABC, MSNBC, CNN, NBC, CBS, and all the other usual suspects. And those differences make the case for why Super PACs are better for America than the mainstream media:

1. Super PACS cannot legally coordinate with the campaigns they support, something the MSM quite obviously does on a daily basis — but in secret.

2. Super PACS make no secret about about their political agenda, while the MSM uses the phony pose of 'objectivity' to target political opponents.

3. Super PACs make no secret of their desire to influence the outcome of elections, while the MSM’s most effective method of doing just that is pretending that they’re not doing just that.

  "Even though both political parties benefit from Super PACs, currently, the MSM is only talking about Super PACs that exist on the right, and this morning Politico (nothing more than an undeclared pro-Obama Super PAC) went after Republican Super PACs with a huge top-of-the page feature piece:

THREE BILLIONAIRES WHO’LL DRAG OUT THE RACE

The three men are contributing millions of dollars to a trio of outside groups flooding the airwaves in early voting states with brutal ads attacking Romney and ads backing the candidates they would prefer to win the Republican nomination…

Operatives say that without the super PAC air cover funded by these deep-pocketed political patrons and their associates, their favored candidates would have a tough time keeping their bare-bones campaigns going as long as they have — let alone beyond the next couple of contests in South Carolina and Florida. …

The prospect that these candidates could carry on is a testament to the new world of campaign money ushered in by a pair of federal court rulings in 2010: A single wealthy donor can now prop up a presidential campaign with unlimited cash, even if the candidate is getting little traction with voters.

  "That’s laughable coming from Politico, who went pure Super PAC on Herman Cain to take him out and have participated with the rest of the MSM in giving Jon Huntsman more lives than a cat. But this is the kind of anti-Super PAC talk that’s currently picking  up steam throughout the MSM and, naturally, what you read between the lines is the tsk-tsk of disapproval. . . .

  "In general, the MSM hates unlimited free speech given to anyone other than them, because it interferes with their political agenda.

  "Listen, I’m not saying Super PACs are the ideal, but having them is better than not having them, and any organization that declares its biases upfront holds the moral high ground over every aspect of the mainstream media.

  "The less power the media has over the political narrative in this country, the better off this country will be.

  "God bless the Super PAC."

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1/12/12 Nearly 1 Million Workers Vanished Under Obama By JOHN MERLINE, Investors.com

  "Initial jobless claims unexpectedly jumped by 24,000 last week to 399,000 as more workers lost their jobs, the Labor Department said Thursday. At the same time, the economy continues to lose workers.

  "In the 30 months since the recession officially ended, nearly 1 million people have dropped out of the labor force — they aren't working, and they aren't looking — according to data from Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the past two months, the labor force shrank by 170,000.

  "This is virtually unprecedented in past economic recoveries, at least since the BLS has kept detailed records. In the past nine recoveries, the labor force had climbed an average 3.5 million by this point, according to an IBD analysis of the BLS data.

  "'Given weak job prospects, many would-be workers dropped out of (or never entered) the labor force,' noted Heidi Shierholz of the Economic Policy Institute in her analysis of the BLS jobs report issued last Friday. 'That reduces the measured unemployment rate but does not represent real improvement.'

  "According to the BLS, the 'labor force participation rate' — the ratio of the number of people either working or looking for work compared with the entire working-age population — is now 64%, down from 65.7% when the recession ended in June 2009. That's the lowest level since women began entering the workforce in far greater numbers several decades ago.

If you adjust for this drop, the unemployment rate would be close to 11%, instead of the official 8.5%.

  "Not only does the shrunken labor force mask the real size of the unemployment problem in the country — since only those actively looking for work are counted as unemployed — it likely means that economic growth will be subpar going forward.

  "'The fall in the labor force participation rate leads us to mark down the long-term potential output growth path of the American economy,' University of California-Berkeley economist Brad DeLong wrote on his blog last month. 'It is harder to pull people into employment if they are out of the labor force than if they are in the labor force and unemployed.'"

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1/12/12 Obama asks Congress for debt limit hike By David Nakamura, The Washigton Post

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1/12/12 Federal Judge Says Prayer Banner Must Be Removed By Todd Starnes, FoxNewsRadio

  "A federal judge has ruled that a Rhode Island high school must tear down a prayer banner that encouraged students to be kind and helpful because it offended non-Christians and was a violation of the U.S. Constitution.

  "U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Lagueux ruled that the prayer banner at Cranston High School West must be removed immediately because it promotes religion. Jessica Ahlquist, an atheist student, had sued the city of Cranston and the high school after they initially refused to remove the banner.

  "The prayer, which has been posted at the school for decades, begins with the words 'Our Heavenly Father' and ends with 'Amen.' It encouraged students to be kind, to do their best in school and to learn the true value of friendship.

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1/11/12 Oliver North: Obama Has Made US a 'Hollow Threat'

Jim Meyers and Kathleen Walter, NewsMax.com

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1/11/12 Size of U.S. debt is now the same as its entire economy: $15.23 TRILLION

By Nick Enoch, MailOnline

  "Steve Bell of the Bipartisan Policy Center, which has proposed cutting nearly $6trillion over ten years, said: 'The 100 per cent mark means that your entire debt is as big as everything you're producing in your country. Clearly, that can't continue.'

According to long-term forecasts, debt will carry on growing faster than the economy, which would need to expand by at least 6 per year to keep pace.

  "President Obama's 2012 budget shows the debt passing $26trillion ten years from now.

  "Last summer's deficit reduction deal could reduce that to $24trillion.

  "Many economists, such as the Brookings Institution's William Gale, say a better measure of the nation's debt is how much the government owes creditors, not counting $4.7trillion owed to future Social Security recipients and other government beneficiaries.
  "By that measure, the debt is roughly a third less: $10.5 trillion, or nearly 70 per cent the size of the economy.

By historic standards, that is still high.

  "The total national debt topped the size of the economy for three years during and after World War II.

  "It dropped to 32.5 per cent of the economy by 1981, and then started a steady climb under President Reagan, doubling over the next 12 years.
  "The combination of recession and stimulus spending caused it to soar again under Obama.

  "Among advanced economies, only Iceland, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan and Portugal have debts larger than their economies."

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1/11/12 VIDEO: NH poll workers shown handing out ballots in dead peoples’ names The Daily Caller

  "Video footage provided exclusively to The Daily Caller shows election workers in New Hampshire giving out ballots in the names of dead voters at multiple voting precincts during the state’s primary election on Tuesday.

  "The bombshell video is the work of conservative filmmaker James O’Keefe and his organization, Project Veritas.

Voters in the Granite State are not required to present identification to vote. O’Keefe’s investigators were able to obtain ballots under the names of dead voters at polling locations Tuesday by simply asking for them, he said.

  "'Live free or die,' an election worker told one of the investigators in the video. 'This is New Hampshire. No ID needed.' . .

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1/11/12 DNC chair blames Tea Party for Tucson shooting  by Joel Gehrke, WashingtonExaminer.com

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1/11/12 Federal court blocks Oklahoma ban on Shariah law FoxNews.com

  "An amendment that would ban Oklahoma courts from considering international or Islamic law discriminates against religions and a Muslim community leader has the right to challenge its constitutionality, a federal appeals court said Tuesday.

  "The court in Denver upheld U.S. District Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange's order blocking implementation of the amendment shortly after it was approved by 70 percent of Oklahoma voters in November 2010."

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1/10/12 Diversity perversity Ted Nugent, The Washington Times

Behind multicultural push is effort to degrade American culture

   "Diversity is America’s greatest strength, according to the left and its socialist, Marxist, commie cohorts and co-conspirators running rampant across the country.

  "If you listen carefully to these America-hating, social-engineering liberals, virtually all behavior, conduct, morals and beliefs make America stronger.

  "This, of course, is toxic, brain-dead logic that leaves ordinary Americans shaking and scratching their heads in confusion and disgust. We recognize bull dung when we hear, see and smell it, and we have no desire whatsoever to embrace it.

The left’s definition of diversity does not make America stronger. It is weakening and destroying America. Let’s be bold and honest: The left’s version of diversity is repugnant. . . .

  "The left is forcing its version of diversity throughout our society and culture. According to the left and its acolytes, we are supposed to respect people who refuse to respect Old Glory or learn English, look for a job or put forth the effort to do an honest day’s work. We are supposed to respect all cultures, values, laws and religions - even when they have proved throughout history to be dangerous and diametrically opposed to our American way of life, customs, laws and traditions. . . .

  "The real issue is that by forcing diversity and multicultural nonsense in our workplaces, schools and government agencies on people who still cherish common sense and traditional American values, we’re ripping the nation apart.

  "Meanwhile, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. reverts to covering up his ineptitude by trying to disguise it with the race card, the ultimate act of racism. Mr. Holder doesn’t have the dignity or respect for his position to resign. He’s a national embarrassment.

  "I respect diverse people who respect and cherish basic American customs, traditions, goodwill and values. I have no respect for left-wingers who employ intimidation to make multiculturalism or diversity mandatory as the law of the land.

The diversity punks believe in racial set-asides and preferences. You won’t ever solve discrimination by engaging in reverse discrimination. Maybe a racist like Jesse Jackson or Mr. Holder believes in reverse discrimination, but ordinary Americans do not. We are much too focused and intelligent to buy into such Jabberwocky.

  "Real diversity, real change, real progress is accomplished by promoting and embracing Western culture, values and traditions, which is what made America great and created the greatest quality of life ever. Weakening this proven methodology under the artful guise of diversity, multiculturalism and political correctness is every bit as insidious a threat to America as are voodoo-inspired terrorist punks.

  "Diversity is an intentional left-wing disaster and destructive platform. The result of the left’s efforts to force this cultural rot on America is that there is more cultural rot, more social and racial division and less economic activity.

  "The politically correct punks who are trying to force their brain-dead ideology on America are intolerant and destructive. When you hear someone promoting diversity, consider that person an anti-American stooge. Such punks have a sinister agenda that is anti-American, anti-free-market and anti-freedom."

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1/10/12 The Dismal Economic Outlook For The New Year Paul Craig Roberts, Personal Liberty Digest

[Not readily summarizeable. Worth reading in its entirety [as always, click the date for the original article.]

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1/10/12 Poll: Americans, 2-1, Fear Obama's Reelection Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers

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1/10/12 WILL BAIN DERAIL ROMNEY? By DICK MORRIS, DickMorris.com

  "The short answer is: No!  People, particularly Republicans, understand the difference between capitalism and safety-net socialism.  They are even savvy enough to have heard of Schumpeter's doctrine of the "gales of creative destruction" that blow through our economy. They grasp that if we save everyone's job and everyone's pension and everyone's company, we will become so ossified, so indebted, so burdened that we will never be able to create any new jobs or wealth.
   "They get it that to attract capital to turn around ailing companies, you need either to have a very good lobbyist who makes mega campaign contributions or a good enough return on capital to attract private investors.  Obama is trying the first way.  Romney did the second.  Republicans get this. . . .

  "For Republicans to be attacking a Republican for winning in the free market and for turning companies around so they make a profit (without public subsidy) is a sad sight.  They will come to rue their criticisms.  Bain will not become the bane of Romney's existence!" 

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1/9/12  Tebow-Mania Proves Americans Long for Simple Moral Leadership—Take Heed, Barack Kelly OConnell, Canada Free Press

  "Euphoria bordering upon madness is expressed for Timothy Richard Tebow. This affection cannot merely be explained by his recent football success. For example, Michael Jordan became the world’s most celebrated athlete through his frequent championships and scoring titles. While Tebow won the Heisman Trophy and several national college championships, he was subsequently dismissed as a gimmick, unfit for the pro level. After being drafted, Tim’s professional victories quickly became the stuff of legend, with repeated come-from-behind victories. And now, after some embarrassing losses, one gets the feeling that Tebow’s critics are pleased and hope he is quickly hustled off the NFL stage. Yet his supporters remain unrepentant.

  "So why is Tim Tebow so immensely popular? Let’s assume America’s majority Christian population is so starved for some show of principled leadership that they felt an instant affinity for the  rugged, virtuous and humble evangelical."

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1/9/12 The Top 5 Reasons Obama Must Be Removed as Commander-in-Chief

By Stella Paul, American Thinker

  "Obama recently signed a mysterious new law that proclaims all American soil is a 'battleground,' thereby allowing the president to indefinitely detain any American citizen without charges.  Critics fear Obama will use his fun new unconstitutional powers to make his political enemies disappear, but that may not be necessary. 

  "The way things are going, most patriotic Americans will soon be six feet under, felled by apoplectic strokes brought on by reading the latest outrage committed by our 'Commander in Chief.'  He may not have a limit to what he'll inflict; but our collective blood pressure may have a limit to what we can bear.

  "With each passing hour, the question becomes not if America can survive a second term, but whether we can survive another day.  It's not just the $15 trillion in debt, the Muslim Brotherhood in the catbird seat, and our bleeding open border.  It's the never-ending deliberate assaults against our safety and security laughingly committed by the cold-eyed man with the nuclear code.

  "Here are the top 5 reasons Obama must be removed as Commander-in-Chief. Please read them while seated.

ONE - LightSquared: If we had an actual media, you should be able to wake up an average fourth grader at 3 AM and ask, "Who's General William Shelton?" and the fourth grader would chirpily recite: "He's the Air Force Commander who was pressured by the White House to change his testimony about LightSquared."

The facts are not in dispute. A four-star general has testified to Congress that he was pressured by the White House to alter his testimony to make it friendlier to a broadband company backed by a major Democratic donor. 

The problem with LightSquared's new wireless project is that it could disrupt all military communications and GPS.  But what worth has the entire capacity of the military's communication system against the pleadings of LightSquared's biggest investor, Philip Falcone, who shovels cash to Obama?

TWO - Fast and Furious: No matter how many times you hear the facts they never get less sickening or bizarre.  The United States Department of Justice deliberately ran thousands of guns to Mexican drug cartels, which then used them to commit at least 11 violent crimes in the US and 200 violent crimes in Mexico. A Fast and Furious gun was used to murder U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and possibly U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jaime Zapata.

  "ATF Agent Vince Cefalu was fired for whistleblowing about this surreal horror show. Attorney General Eric Holder perjured himself to Congress, pretending he knew nothing about it. And newly released emails confirm that the motivation for supplying weapons to Mexico's most violent criminals was to use the ensuing chaos to enact stricter gun control laws here.

Not content to unleash murder and mayhem, the Department of Justice also went into the money-laundering racket, washing clean millions of dollars for Mexico's drug cartels. Your tax dollars at work! And while this evil madness was raging, Obama conducted a hysterical campaign against Sarah Palin for using an image of a target on her website.

  "THREE - Giving Top-Secret Technology to Our Enemies:  Last week brought word that Obama is planning to share U.S. missile defense secrets with Russia, over the strenuous objections of security officials who say it could devastate the effectiveness of our entire defense system. They also fear Russia will share our secrets with China, Iran and North Korea.

Remember how Obama's Mommy and Daddy met in Russian class? If only they could see their little boy now. 

Obama also gave a freebie of our most classified intelligence to Iran, refusing all three options to destroy a downed U.S. drone.  Instead, he let the mullahs paw their way through our most sensitive high-tech secrets. Not to worry -- he did politely ask them to give it back.

  "FOUR - Waging War Against Libya Without Congressional Approval: Obama's handlers dreamed up a catchy new doctrine called Responsibility to Protect (R2P), and they were itching to try it out. So Obama gave them a nice, peppy little war to conduct in Libya. Why not take out the mad transvestite, Qadaffi? Nobody likes him, anyway.

Flagrantly flouting the War Powers Resolution, Obama spent a billion dollars to wage an unconstitutional war. The grand result is Al Qaeda's flag waving over Benghazi and 20,000 anti-aircraft missiles missing, which will probably wind up blasting towards us.

  "FIVE - Hollowing Out Our Military:  This week we learn that Obama is slashing the defense budget, planning to lay off 14% off our troops, reduce our nuclear arsenal, shelve key weapon systems and explicitly cripple our ability to wage ground wars. What hath Saul Alinsky wrought!

  "Already, Obama has strait-jacketed the military in political correctness, forbidding discussion of the nature of radical Islam and sanitizing the jihad-crazed murder of 13 soldiers at Fort Hood into "workplace violence." But that was not enough for our Commander-in-Chief. 

Our troops are so heroic that even in straitjackets, they can win.  And if there's one thing Obama will not tolerate it's American victory.

  "From George Washington to Barack Obama - it's been quite a ride."

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1/9/12 Obama to Share Secrets with Russia Michael Rubin, Commentary

  "While Michael McFaul’s confirmation to be U.S. ambassador to Russia has now passed the Senate, the reason for the holdup remains: The Obama administration appears intent to provide Russia with missile defense secrets. As the Washington Times’ Bill Gertz notes:

'In the president’s signing statement issued Saturday in passing into law the fiscal 2012 defense authorization bill, Mr. Obama said restrictions aimed at protecting top-secret technical data on U.S. Standard Missile-3 velocity burnout parameters might impinge on his constitutional foreign policy authority. As first disclosed in this space several weeks ago, U.S. officials are planning to provide Moscow with the SM-3 data, despite reservations from security officials who say that doing so could compromise the effectiveness of the system by allowing Russian weapons technicians to counter the missile. The weapons are considered some of the most effective high-speed interceptors in the U.S. missile defense arsenal.'

  "The impetus for the SM-3 information deal appears to be from Ellen Tauscher, a former left-of-center congresswoman who, as Obama’s undersecretary of state for Arms Control and International Security Affairs, has proven adept at self-promotion, but when it has come to the substance of her job, she distinguished herself as a poor negotiator, repeatedly getting bowled over by American adversaries.

  "President Obama may believe defense cuts are necessary. Cutting defense capabilities is dangerous. The president’s plan reverses a bipartisan consensus about the reach of the U.S. military which dates back to the Roosevelt administration. Providing U.S. adversaries with defense secrets they can exploit—and export to other enemies—is simply foolhardy. It is a formula not for parity but for defeat. [Well, Obama's actions indicate he is the enemy of the United States.]

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1/9/12 Donna Brazile Lets the Cat Out of the Bag: Dems Want to Run Against Romney

Rush Limbaugh Show Segment Transcript

RUSH: That's Stephanopoulos. What Stephanopoulos is saying is, "Shut up, Donna! What the hell are you doing, Donna? Did you not take your meds?" That, "Come on, Donna, what are you doing? You know you don't believe that" means, "Donna, shut up." You know, she's feeling her oats there. So Palin has come out said it and Donna Brazile saying it. "Oh, yeah, the one guy not being attacked..." She practically gleeful here, and I'll tell you why she's gleeful. She's gleeful because what she sees is Romney getting the nomination, so she thinks it's okay to blow the lid off this cover now. "Mitt Romney won tonight, because no one touched him -- and for Democrats that's good news for us." Stephanopoulos says, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Why is that?" "Well, because we believe the weakest candidate is the candidate the Republicans are not attacking, and that's Romney," and Stephanopoulos says, "Oh, you don't believe that!" I guarantee she had a talking to. They had a talking to with her with her after this, because that's a major faux pas. The line that's supposed to come out of the Democrat Party is they're scared of Romney. The line is, "Oh, no, they don't want to face Romney. Romney is the toughest guy." That's the line, and they know, folks -- the Democrats know that our experts are stupid enough to believe that the Democrats will be honest and tell us who they really don't want to face. I'll tell you who they don't want to face when we come back.

RUSH: The Democrats are afraid of any candidate they have sought to destroy. You can start with Sarah Palin, you can move on to Santorum. Any -- any conservative who showed any interest -- the Democrats set out to destroy. That's who they're genuinely afraid of. They are not hammering Mitt Romney at all, and Donna Brazile let the cat out of the bag. Don't doubt me.

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1/8/12 New Day, New Debate Propel Fireworks Over Romney's Electability

By Dan Weil, NewsMax.com

  "Gregory’s question was much more pointed than those posed during the lethargic ABC debate Saturday night, which pundits and other political observers are criticizing as aimless and often irrelevant. The debates are the final face-to-face encounters for the candidates before the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday.
  "And it brought a stern response from the first candidate to answer, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
  "'What Republicans have to ask is who's most likely to survive against the $1 billion dollar campaign the Obama team is gonna run?' Gingrich said. 'I think that a bold Reagan conservative with a very strong economic plan is a lot more likely to succeed in that campaign than a relatively timid Massachusetts moderate.'
  "Gingrich attacked Romney on jobs. 'Massachusetts was fourth from the bottom in job creation under Gov. Romney. I — we — created 11 million jobs while I was speaker, and I worked with President Reagan in the entire recovery of the 1980s.'
  "Romney’s moderate record means he 'will have a very hard time in a debate with president,' Gingrich said. He said Romney’s not unelectable. 'But I do think the bigger the contrast . . . the harder it is for that $1 billion campaign to smear his way back into office.'
  "Romney defended his record as a conservative, noting he has been endorsed by conservative Govs. Nikki Haley of South Carolina and Chris Christie of New Jersey.
  "Former Pennsylvania Sen. Santorum wasn’t impressed.
  "'If his record was so great as governor of Massachusetts, why didn't he run for re-election?' Santorum said. 'You didn't want to even stand before the people of Massachusetts and run on your record . . . Why did you bail out? The bottom line is I go and fight the fight . . . We want someone who's gonna stand up and fight for the conservative principles, not bail out and not run to the left of Ted Kennedy.'
  "Romney’s defense was that he accomplished his mission in Massachusetts and wanted to return to his true calling: business. 'For me, politics is not a career,' he said. 'For me, my career was being in business.'
  "Romney also inisisted: 'Politics is not my career. My life's passion has been my family, my faith, my country.'
  "Gingrich wasn’t convinced, or impressed, firing back: 'Can we drop a little bit of the pious baloney? The fact is you ran in '94 and lost [a senatorial race to Democrat Edward Kennedy]. That's why you weren't serving in the Senate . . . You've been running consistently for years and years and years. So this idea that suddenly citizenship showed up in your mind, just level with the American people.'
  "After that opening brouhaha, the debate focused mostly on policy issues until the end.

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1/8/12 Behind Tebow’s Magic, Broncos Stun Steelers In Overtime Thriller CBSDenver

  "One of the most storied NFL playoff teams ran into a rejuvenated Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos.

Sorry, Pittsburgh Steelers.

  "The magic is back.

  "Tebow connected with Demaryius Thomas on an electrifying 80-yard touchdown pass on the first play of overtime and the Broncos defeated the stunned Steelers 29-23 in the AFC wild-card game on Sunday. Wild doesn’t begin to describe it. The play took 11 seconds and was the quickest ending to an overtime in NFL history.

  "Thomas hauled in a high play-action pass at the Denver 38, stiff-armed Ike Taylor and then outraced Ryan Mundy to the end zone. Tebow, who looked as startled as everyone else, headed for his own end zone and knelt on one knee — a gesture known far and wide these days as Tebowing. Then he pounded a fist in triumph and took a victory lap.

  "'When I saw him scoring, first of all, I just thought, 'Thank you, Lord,‘ Tebow said. 'Then, I was running pretty fast, chasing him — Like I can catch up to D.T! Then I just jumped into the stands, first time I’ve done that. That was fun. Then, got on a knee and thanked the Lord again and tried to celebrate with my teammates and the fans.'”

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1/8/12 Final Implementation of Obama Dictatorship in Progress on all levels

Sher Zieve, Canada Free Press

  "I noticed this morning that—after a few of the latest Obama assaults on the US Constitution and liberties of We-the-People—some in the media (not the Obama media of course) appear to at last to have come to the realization that Obama is and has been a dictator. . . .

  "Obama’s latest shredding of the US Constitution and replacing the USA’s 3-Branch Equal-Powers Federal Government system with his own dictatorship include, but are hardly limited to, the following:

  "Removing local police presence from communities and replacing them with a federally-paid (that’s US taxpayer-paid) Obama-controlled National Police force.  It is starting—in earnest—in Detroit

1. Obama is stepping up his issuance of illegal Executive Orders, INCLUDING the Dream Act that was voted down by Congress and opposed by a majority of the American people.  Nevertheless, in June 2011, Obama issued an Executive fiat to ‘create’ it.  Congress did nothing and still does nothing today
2. Obama is now making 'recess appointments' of unacceptable candidates when there is no Congressional recess.  The applicable paragraph in Article I, Section 5 of the now-badly hemorrhaging US Constitution reads:

   'Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.”'

     "Neither the House nor the Senate had adjourned.  In order to get what he wanted (and now everything he wants toward his explicit mission of the total destruction of the United States of America) Obama continues to patently and illegally further shreds what was left of our US Constitution—now obviously not his.

3. The Obama/Holder 'Operation Gunwalker: Fast & Furious' was and is directly attributable to Dictator-in-Chief Obama.  Since shortly after the C-span2 video was published in 2009, in my columns I have referred to Deputy Attorney General Ogden’s statement on said video that he was 'directed' by 'the president' to 'take action' against the drug cartels.  This action began as 'Operation Gunrunner' and its name was changed to the infamous one we know today.  However, the operation was never planned to fight against the drug cartels.  Instead, it was developed as a means to fight WITH the cartels against the US citizenry.  The operation was affected (and don’t forget 'directed') by Obama and his Attorney General Eric Holder to do one thing:  Remove legally-owned guns from US citizen under the Obama-manipulated premise that guns were being illegally sold to the drug cartels by Americans.
   Note:  The only problem with this was/is that the Seller was the Obama government and the Buyer was/is the Sinaloa drug cartel leadership.  The Obama syndicate openly chose the 'winner' in the Mexican drug wars (which have spread to and are now being fought in the USA) to be the Sinaloa Drug Cartel over the Los Zetas cartel.  Therefore, thousands of guns have been supplied by Obama, Holder, the ATF etc. to the Sinaloa gang.  All of the murders and mayhem created by Obama and his syndicate have been enacted as a false excuse/reason to remove guns from US citizens so that they would be enslaved more easily or exterminated without being able to fight back against their oppressors.  This is what ALL totalitarian plots have affected in world history and this is the reason Stalin and Mao were able to murder tens of millions of humans.  This—and the lies believed when the truth was too ‘scary’ and painful for the German people to accept—was the reason Hitler was able to round up Jews, place them in train cattle cars and take them to their executions…with little more than whimpers.
4. Obama announces plan to share military secrets with Russia.  This is another item that used to be called and prosecuted as Treason.  I wonder whatever happened to that concept

  "Today, too many still refuse to believe what’s happening in our country.  Instead, they choose to believe the lies that are being perpetrated by a now wholly antagonistic-to-the-people government—even though its actions belie its words.  Too many people still choose to believe the lofty although-proven-to-be-lies rhetoric that drips steadily and daily from the mouth of Dictator Obama and they ignore what he’s actually doing to destroy them.

  "The plain truth—no matter how uncomfortable or painful it may be—is that we have already lost our country to a band of thugs who have looted our treasury (that which all taxpayers used to own), burned our US Constitution and is in the process of decimating the rest of the USA at and on every level.  And the biggest problem is that some of us have allowed—even welcomed—it to happen.  The country that my ancestors fought and died to build has been annihilated.  The only question remaining is:  Are there real humans left who crave liberty, freedom and God enough who want to fight for and rebuild it?  Are there?"

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1/7/12 The Media Blasts Republicans While Obama Destroys Nation Ron Futrell, Big Journalism

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1/7/12 Gingrich blasts ‘anti-Christian bigotry’, Perry promises to end ‘war on religion’

  "'The bigotry question goes both ways,' Gingrich said, inserting himself into the discussion after a series of questions related to contraception, gay marriage and gay adoption. The former speaker charged that the focus on social issues indicated media bias.

  "''And there’s a lot more anti-Christian bigotry today than there is concerning the other side. And none of it gets covered by the news media.'

  "'Gingrich specifically knocked a question about whether the assembled candidates would allow gay couples to adopt.

  "''You don’t hear the opposite question asked,' he explained.

  "''Should the Catholic Church be forced to close its adoption services in Massachusetts because it won’t accept gay couples, which is exactly what the state has done? Should the Catholic Church be driven out of providing charitable services in the District of Columbia because it won’t give in to secular bigotry? Should the Catholic Church find itself discriminated against by the Obama administration on key delivery of services because of the bias and the bigotry of the administration?'

  "'Shortly after Gingrich’s attack on the media, Texas Gov. Rick Perry pivoted from a question about whether he would consider a third-party run to promise that if elected president he would end what he called 'this administration’s war on religion.'”

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1/7/12 Labor unions primary recipients of Obamacare waivers By Paul Conner, The Daily Caller

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1/7/12 Gingrich blasts Romney on abortion, taxing blind By Sam Youngman, Reuters

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich assailed rival Mitt Romney on Friday, accusing him of paying for abortions with tax dollars and raising taxes on blind people.

  "Gingrich appealed to the social conservatives of South Carolina by repeatedly accusing Romney of being in favor of gay rights, including taxpayer-funded abortions in the Massachusetts healthcare plan in the form of funding Planned Parenthood, and raising taxes.

  "'He even raised taxes on people who were blind,' Gingrich said, referring to an attempt in Massachusetts to impose a $10 fee for receiving a certificate of blindness. . . .

  "Romney's campaign said Gingrich's attacks were a sign of frustration."

  [Apparently Romney chose not to respond to the basic charges.]

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1/7/12  Top Santorum aide: Romney a 'bully' Byron York, WashingtonExaminer.com

  "Speaking outside a barn in which Rick Santorum was addressing an overflow crowd at a town meeting, a top Santorum aide says GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney "is starting to come across as a bully."

  "Asked whether Santorum fears that Restore Our Future, a pro-Romney super PAC, will run attack ads against Santorum should Santorum continue to surge in the Republican race, senior adviser John Brabender suggested Romney's attacks might backfire in the future.

  "'I think Romney has a problem with this whole negative stuff,' Brabender said.  'One is that he's gotten Newt Gingrich awfully mad.  And I don't know if I'd want Newt Gingrich mad at me.'"

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1/6/12 History Repeats Itself, Dangers of Slashing the Military

By Jennifer Griffin & Justin Fishel, FoxNews.com

  "President Obama, in outlining proposed defense cuts at the Pentagon on Thursday, urged officials to remember the "lessons of history" and to make sure the country does not repeat the mistakes of the past by leaving the military "ill-prepared" for the future.

  "'As Commander in Chief, I will not let that happen again,' he said.

  "But some officials are worried that the planned cuts could do just that, as few programs are expected to be left unscathed by the defense cuts and new military strategy outlined this week.

  "Hardest hit will be the Army and Marines, which are slated to lose about 100,000 troops. After every war since World War II, military historians explain, presidents have cut the Army hoping for quick savings and the ability to rely on superior air power, which often leads to the next ground war.

  "Maj. Gen. Bob Scales, former commandant of the Army War College, told Fox News in an interview Thursday that Obama is actually forgetting the lessons of history. 'One commodity we always run out of is regular combat soldiers. We said we'd never fight another World War II, another Vietnam, another Korea.'

    "'But, "we always do,' he said.

  "Rep. Buck McKeon, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, told Fox News that drawing down ultimately leaves the military unprepared.

  "'Time after time after time, we found that was the wrong strategy,' McKeon said. 'Starting in World War II, we had men going across Africa with inadequate equipment, inadequate training, inadequate leadership, and it cost us lots of lives.'"

[Followed again and again by more examples. Click the date to read.]

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1/6/12 EDITORIAL: An old soldier who won’t fade away The Washington Times [September 1, original]

Obama is outclassed and outsmarted by retiring Gen. Petraeus [Some things cry out to be repeated.]

  "Gen. David H. Petraeus closed his phenomenal 37-year Army career this week with a joint review at Fort Myer in Arlington. Service members from every branch were present, and flags of all 50 states fluttered in the breeze. . . .

  "In his remarks, Gen. Petraeus recalled the days when he entered the military, when the Vietnam War was winding down and the armed services were being pared down to the 'hollow forces' of the 1970s. 'The Army I joined as a second lieutenant had suffered enormously,' he said. 'In the wake of our involvement in Vietnam, our Army and much of our military were grappling with a host of very serious challenges.' The senior leaders who first wore the uniform in those dark days were not discouraged. They began their careers with a sense of mission. 'I know I speak for many when I say that we came away from that period vowing to never let our forces get to such a point [pared down to 'hollow forces'] ever again.'  [Emphasis added in view of the Obams's planned drastic reductions in our ground forces ] Through his efforts, and those of countless other visionaries in and out of uniform, the hollow forces were transformed once again into the finest fighting force in the world. . . .

  "The general saved their bacon. Twice.

  "'Everyone has forgotten that in 2007 we as a nation had said, ‘OK, we are going to lose Iraq.’ And President Bush said, ‘Well what if we win?’ Petraeus rode into town and assembled an extraordinary team. His personal drive, his charisma, his optimism, his can-do spirit, all of that is what gave us hope that we could in fact turn Iraq around,' our source explained. 'And by September of ‘07, the progress had been dramatic enough that it became common knowledge to the American people that things were turning around in Iraq. Eight months earlier, a lot of people, including Obama, wanted to tuck tail and have another Vietnam.”

  "That’s not all. .Here is the guy who saved our reputation as a nation. Seriously, who’s missing this? And then he went to [Central Command] and was doing great things. And Obama asked him to take a functional demotion and go back to Afghanistan and save our bacon again,' we were told. 'To leave his family, to step down from a regional command, to take on that burden. And he said yes, and he did it. Petraeus was the right guy at the right time, he answered the call, and now he’s being yanked out before we’re ready, just like the troops are being yanked out before Afghanistan is ready.'

  "So what’s the reason for the White House about-face? 'They are sending him to the CIA to keep him quiet during the 2012 election'. . . .

  "There is a shameful indignity in how this hero was treated. 'The president couldn’t find the time in his schedule, nor could the [defense secretary] find the time to look him in the eye and say thank you in person,' this warrior told The Washington Times. 'It’s one thing to say ‘we support the troops’ and trot out your first lady to do that, but this is where it counts. It would have been an appropriate gesture to come here to recognize the professional and personal sacrifice of this extraordinary man. It would have been the dignified thing to do.'

  "The hero remained above it all. The cannons boomed and the crowd cheered and Gen. Petraeus stood smiling in the sun."

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1/6/12 Obamalateral Disarmament Dooms Arsenal Of Democracy Investors.com

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1/6/12 It's Party Time! 8.5% Unemployment! Rush Limbaugh Show Transcript Segment

RUSH: Could somebody explain to me something very quickly?  What is the difference in laying off soldiers and laying off cops?  On the one hand, Obama cannot wait to cut soldiers.  He cannot wait to lay off soldiers.  On the other hand, we cannot allow budget cuts to touch firemen or cops or teachers.  What's the difference?  Look how eager Obama is to cut soldiers.  Look how eager Obama is to cut uniformed personnel that protect us in the US military, but he will not even entertain one cut of uniformed personnel that protect us in our cities.  What's the difference?  Seriously, folks, what is the difference?  Exactly right.  The military doesn't have a union, and it doesn't kick anything back to Obama. 

   But it's deeper than that.  It's deeper than that.  Obama considers the military to be the focus of evil in the world.  The US military is responsible for the misery in the world and all the imperialism.  But I don't get the difference, I mean in a strictly intellectual sense.  So the next time you have some leftist talking to you, either celebrating, angry, what have you, about the need to cut the military you ask 'em, "Well, how come we can't cut firemen then? How come we can't cut cops?"  No difference, they're first responders.  Cops and firemen, sacrosanct, we can't cut one of them?  Why, our country will fall apart; our communities will fall apart; our children will be hurt; our children will be unsafe.  Soldiers, get the hell rid of 'em.  Cut 'em, cut the military, pare it back.  Thanks to Barack Obama, the visceral hate for the military, most leftists have it; Obama has it. 

   He takes his anti-war mentality, applies it as president, loves securing military defeat and humiliation, but when it comes to the cops, oh, no, no, no.  Not one police officer will lose his job.  We will not have a press conference, we'll not go anywhere explaining why that police department had to be cut back, why that police department had to be cut back. No, no, no, no, no.  No excuse will ever be offered, no justification.  In fact, every effort will be made to make sure that we don't cut a single cop.  In fact, it's even worse than that.  Obama and the Democrats will tell you that that's what the Republicans want to do is cut cops and firemen and make your kids less safe.  Whenever we have to get serious about austerity, bringing budgets back into line, as you know, the Democrats "Well, the first thing we have to do is cut cops and firemen and teachers."  No.  But when it comes to cutting the military, why, that's a snap, why, we don't even think about it. . . .

   8.5% unemployment, millions of unemployed people, millions of jobs lost, millions of people on government benefits because they can't find jobs -- and this is the progress we have, this is what we have to show for trillions of dollars in deficit spending. Trillions of dollars! The unemployment rate is still higher than when Obama took office. The media is reporting, "The unemployment rate lower than it's been in three years!" They don't tell you lower than since Obama was inaugurated, but that's the truth: $5 trillion in deficit later, we have an 8.5% unemployment rate. That's it? This is what we're supposed to party down over? And of course we have to provide the perspective here because few others will.

   So we've got $6 trillion in new deficits. We ignore the millions who have dropped out of the workforce, we ignore all those who are holding part time rather than full-time jobs, and the best Obama can come with -- the best the Democrats can come up with, the best the media can come up with -- is 8.5%, and we're supposed to celebrate today. How much have these jobs cost? Morning news reports this is a good picture. There are six million fewer jobs today than there were in 2008, folks!    There are six million fewer jobs available in this country than there were three years ago. The unemployment rate is 15.2% when you include those who have dropped out and those who want full-time jobs but have to take part-time jobs. That's the latest figure. So the Obama plan: Shrink the workforce, expand the welfare state, and then claim economic progress. Then slash the military, take that money and subsidize public sector employees who vote reliably Democrat, like NEA members.

   That's the Obama plan in a nutshell -- and that's where we are.

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1/6/12 Rubio in letter to Obama: You are turning America into a 'deadbeat nation'

  "In a scathing letter sent to Barack Obama this morning, Senator Marco Rubio said that under the President’s first term in office, 'more and more people have come to believe that America is becoming a deadbeat nation.'
  "Rubio went on to pledge that he would challenge any further increase in the debt ceiling, arguing that 'we [Congress] need to make it routine to actually spend no more than we take in.' In the letter obtained by HUMAN EVENTS, the Florida Senator said that President Obama’s upcoming request to increase the debt ceiling by a whopping $1.2 trillion will cause the nation’s public debt to surpass the $16 trillion mark.
  "'I will oppose your request to continue borrowing and spending recklessly.'
  "President Obama is expected to request the new borrowing power from Congress once the Senate and House return from their holiday recess. . . .

  "The president must notify Congress when the debt closes within $100 billion of the ceiling, according to the Budget Control Act passed in August.  This triggers for Congress their only available option to block an increase, in this case $1.2 trillion, by passing legislation. However, even if the House and Senate do that, the president can still veto their objections.  In short, there is very little Republicans can do in a Democratic-controlled Senate to block an increase.

  "If President Obama led the charge to reduce the country’s unsustainable debt in mid 2011 rather than punt the enterprise to a 'Super Committee,' asserted Rubio, we’d already be on a pathway toward economic growth and prosperity. 'Unfortunately, the first three years of your presidency have been a profile in leadership failure.'
  "The letter concludes: 'America deserves leaders who will stand front and center, level with the American people about our challenges and offer real solutions to solve them.  Instead of simply asking for another debt ceiling increase, I urge you to come forward with a real plan to tackle our debt in 2012.'”

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1/6/12 Obama Administration Changes Rules To Keep Illegal Aliens In the Country

  "The Times makes it clear that this is all being done for partisan political advantage:

'Obama has called for an overhaul of the immigration system that would provide a path to legal status for the 11 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. But even when the House and Senate were both in Democratic hands, he could not muster the votes needed to pass that plan. The prospects are even weaker now that the House is under Republican control.
'So Obama is attempting unilateral steps meant to bring about what he sees as an immigration system that is fairer and less destructive to families.
'The proposal is likely to win plaudits from a crucial constituency in the 2012 election: Latinos.
'Obama won two-thirds of the Latino vote in 2008, and he needs this fast-growing constituency energized and excited about his reelection.'

  "Remember also that this Administration crusades tirelessly against all attempts to tighten up voter identification requirements.  Anyone who doubts the importance of winning the Presidency should contemplate this latest attempt to reshape the American electorate through raw executive power." 

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1/5/12 Savage: Here’s what America will look like if Obama wins WND

Son of Russian immigrant envisions something worse than Euro-socialism

  "If Barack Obama wins in 2012, America is headed for something worse than a failing European-style socialist state, top-rated radio host Michael Savage said on his nationally syndicated show today.

  "'I have to tell you that if this man, God forbid, is the next president of the United States, we’re going to be living in something along the lines of – people say Europe. I don’t believe it’s going to be like Europe – I think it will be closer to Chavez’s South American dictatorship,' he told his 'Savage Nation' audience.

  "Recalling his background as the son of an immigrant from Russia, who has been around awhile and seen a number of administrations, Savage said that if he had one message to leave, it would be a warning about what he fears is on the horizon.

  "'This is the most corrupt, incompetent, dangerous tyrannical administration in American history,' he declared.

  "'It’s not politics as usual. It’s not just Democrats versus Republicans,' Savage said.

  "Obama, he said, is 'not a Democrat,' noting the president’s history of ties to Marxists and other radicals documented in his book 'Trickle Up Poverty.'

   "'Obama has a long history of being at odds with American values and with America itself and the core principles of this country.' Savage said.

   "Savage pointed to media as one of the areas in which 'step by step, degree by degree, we’re losing our freedom.'

  "He cited a WND story by Aaron Klein about a non-profit journalism group funded by supporters of MoveOn.org and the ACLU that will supply news to NBC television affiliates.

  "'They don’t want government-sponsored opinions,' he said, 'They only want government-sponsored 'Pravda.’'

'Pravda,' which ironically means 'truth' in Russian, he noted, was the official Communist Party newspaper in the old Soviet Union.

  "'That’s exactly what the government-media complex tells you on a daily basis – nothing but the government-media complex party line,' he said.

  "'Pay attention,' Savage concluded. 'Your freedom may be at stake.'

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1/5/12 The Lawless Obama Regime Rush Limbaugh Show Segment Transcript

RUSH: All right, some people in the e-mail have taken exception with my description of Obama as "lawless" and acting outside the Constitution. Let me share with you a quote, and this is from a video. It might have been from yesterday out in Ohio, but it's within the past couple days. Obama said, "When Congress refuses to act -- and as a result, hurts our economy and puts our people at risk -- then I have an obligation as president to do what I can without them." He got applause. "I have an obligation to act on behalf of the American people. I'm not going to stand by while a minority in the Senate puts party ideology ahead of the people that we elected to serve. Not with so much at stake, not at this make-or-break moment for middle class Americans. We're not gonna let that happen."

  Now, the Founding Fathers said this is exactly what's supposed to happen! It's called "the separation of powers," and it's to make sure that things like this do not happen, that an all-powerful executive does not run roughshod over the government. But President Obama has just said: Because the Congress won't do what I want them to do I'm gonna do it myself. That is extraconstitutional! That is not the way this government was set up. It was not the idea of the Founders. That's acting outside the Constitution, and there's no question about it -- and the Obama campaign is claiming he's doing all these recess appointments and things like this "to help the economy." Reuters again: "Hammering populist themes that show him to be a champion of the middle class, aides say the president will keep taking steps to show voters he'll make moves on his own to help the economy if Congress refuses to act."

  If Congress "refuses to act," it is his job to sit down and talk to 'em and make 'em act and get them to vote the way he wants. He does not have -- unless they grant it to him (and they're doing it, by the way) -- the authority to run roughshod over them. But if they don't stop him, he can do it. We can't. Congress has to stand up for itself. . . .

  Folks, it is clearly lawless. If you regard the Constitution as law, this is lawless behavior by an out-of-control, rogue executive. This is what happens in banana republics, tinhorn dictatorships. In places like Venezuela, this is what happens -- all under the guise of populism and helping the middle class.

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1/5/12 See, I Told You So: Jobless Number Spin Rush Limbaugh Show Segment Transcript

RUSH ARCHIVE: I have warned you this kind of thing is going to happen, the unemployment number is going to precipitously drop and it's going to get close to 8% by next November. Just mark my words: That's in the can; it's in the cards. I'm just telling you that the unemployment number is gonna get down to close to 8%, however they have to do it. If they have to reduce the overall universe of jobs -- which they have been doing. For example, if the same number of people were looking for work today as were looking for work when Obama was immaculated, the unemployment rate would be 11%; and now what is it, 8.9%? And that's because they have simply wiped out two million plus jobs -- and they have wiped out accordingly two million-plus people who are no longer looking. The job market has just shrunk. Therefore, the number of people out of work as a percentage of available jobs, obviously that number is gonna come down. So that's gonna happen.

RUSH: That was all part of a warning I gave you to get ready getting into this year now, 2012, and the economic news is all going to be reported as great and good

  What has Obama done? What Obama policies have been put into place recently to create all these jobs?

The answer is "nothing," and the answer is that we are still in horrible shape in the job market because we have reduced the universe of available jobs, and in typical AP fashion they neglect to mention that last week's new unemployment claims number was actually up by a whopping 21,000. Last week, holiday week, nobody pays much attention. Do you know that application for unemployment went up by 21,000? It's not a three-week run, it's not a three-month run. That terrible news got practically no attention last week since it was reported over the Christmas holidays. So it's all smoke and mirrors, exactly as predicted. Dishonesty on parade from the State-Controlled Media.

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1/5/12

The Electability Trap Another

Rush Limbaugh Show Segment Transcript

RUSH: Gerald Ford said that Ronald Reagan was unelectable. George H.W. Bush said that Ronald Reagan was unelectable.  The entire Republican establishment thought Ronald Reagan was unelectable because they were governed and informed by the Goldwater landslide defeat.  That's what they think will happen to every conservative.  Don't doubt me

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1/5/12 Doctors going broke By Parija Kavilanz @CNNMoney

  "Doctors in America are harboring an embarrassing secret: Many of them are going broke.

  "This quiet reality, which is spreading nationwide, is claiming a wide range of casualties, including family physicians, cardiologists and oncologists.

  "Doctors in America are harboring an embarrassing secret: Many of them are going broke.

  "This quiet reality, which is spreading nationwide, is claiming a wide range of casualties, including family physicians, cardiologists and oncologists. . . .

  "Still, Barth continued to push ahead with innovative research, treating patients with cutting-edge expensive therapies, accepting patients who were underinsured only to realize later that insurers would not pay him back for much of his care.

  "'I was $3.2 million in debt by mid 2010,' said Barth. 'It was a sickening feeling. I could no longer care for patients with catastrophic illnesses without scrutinizing every penny first.'

  "He's since halved his debt and taken on a second job as a consultant to hospitals. But he's still struggling and considering closing his practice in the next six months.

  "'The economics of providing health care in this country need to change. It's too expensive for doctors,' he said. 'I love medicine. I will find a way to refinance my debt and not lose my home or my practice.'

  "If he does declare bankruptcy, he loses all of it and has to find a way to start over at 60. Until then, he's turning away new patients whose care he can no longer subsidize.

  "'I recently got a call from a divorced woman with two kids who is unemployed, house in foreclosure with advanced breast cancer,' he said. 'The moment has come to this that you now say, 'sorry, we don't have the capacity to care for you.''"

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1/5/12 Tough South Carolina fight looms in Republican race By John Whitesides, Reuters

  "South Carolina, which has backed the Republican White House winner every year since the primary's inception in 1980, has a history of ugly and decisive primary battles.

  "'If you like your politics to be Sunday-school nice and polite, this isn't the place for you,' said Republican strategist David Woodard, who teaches at Clemson University in South Carolina.

  "The brutal 2000 fight between George W. Bush and McCain, which featured a rash of anonymous anti-McCain smears, was vital in Bush's march to the White House. In 2008, McCain beat back a challenge from rival Mike Huckabee that helped him clinch the nomination.

  "As the moderate former governor of Massachusetts, Romney faces a tough challenge in South Carolina even if he does ride a wave of momentum after New Hampshire. He was a distant fourth in the state in 2008 with 15 percent."

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1/5/12 Rogue Obama Plans to Forgive Mortgages Rush Limbaugh Show Segment Transcript

[Even this abstract is long. I'm putting this last so you don't tire before you read other things But this is all very very important]

RUSH:  James Pethokoukis, who writes at Reuters and some other places, has discovered that one of the objectives Obama has with all these recess appointments is to -- brace yourself here -- essentially, when you strip it all away, if this happens, what Obama is planning on doing is essentially forgiving all mortgages. 

  There are some requirements.  You have to be paying on your mortgage, you have to be three months current, but Obama is going to just wave a magic wand and allow people to refinance their mortgages, essentially cutting hundreds of dollars off of the monthly payment.  This will cost $1.2 trillion and, as always, it is those of you who don't have a mortgage or who will not qualify for this plan who will be paying for it.  This is buying an election in one fell swoop. . . .

  Folks, it may not matter who the nominee is.  It may not matter about the primaries.  It may not matter about any polling data.  We have a president who's cutting the defense budget now.  His priorities are winning the future, paying off his wacko donors and weakening national security in the process, proudly saying that it's about time we pared down to the point where we can only fight one ground war at a time.  The idea that we should be able to fight two ground wars at a time is excessive and unnecessary, so we're cutting the defense budget.  All of this is predictable, by the way.  There is a plan afoot by virtue of these recess appointments, it's a little bit more complicated, but the bottom line is, in terms of perception, the perception is going to be on the part of people that Obama is forgiving their mortgages. 

  The perception and the way it's gonna be reported -- this is not really what's gonna happen -- but the way it's gonna be reported and the way people are gonna be made to feel is that Obama is fixing their mortgage.  He's fixing the fact that their house is underwater.  He is going to lower their monthly payment, the banks, the rich guys are gonna take the hit on it, millionaires and so forth. Your house is going to have value again.  In one fell swoop with an executive order, we're gonna fix the housing problem.  We're gonna bring value back to everybody's number one asset.  Now, if that happens, and if it's reported that way, then all the rest of this is irrelevant.  You go out and basically, as president, make it possible for people's mortgages to be paid much cheaper, the value of their home restored just with a wave of your magic wand, who's going to vote against that, who is going to vote against the guy that makes that happen?  That's the plan. 

  Now, it's not guaranteed that it's going to happen.  If it does, the monthly mortgage payment of people affected would fall by an average of $355 a month for Obama's constituents. . . .

  We have a banana republic taking place! We have a dictatorship unfolding here. This mortgage thing -- and I'll give you the details here as the program unfolds. But remember, folks, it's not the details here that are going to matter. It's the perception and how this is reported; and when it's all over the beneficiaries of this program are going to be told that Obama is basically forgiving their mortgage, forgiving the loan. Obama is basically giving them a house, giving them their house; and that they deserve that because the rich banks have screwed them all these years by overcharging them and so forth; and Obama finally cut these people a break. This is how it's gonna be reported. . . .

  The mortgage thing is not guaranteed to happen. I don't want to say it's a fait accompli. I just want to tell you it's what's planned. This would be the mother of all stimulus bills. They're calling this the Home Assistance Refinancing Program 2.0.

The Home Assistance Refinancing Program, HARP (HARP 1.0) failed! It didn't work. They're going back and they're gonna do it again. They're calling it HARP 2.0. So we have a president who has gone rogue. Even yesterday in Ohio to set this up, Obama at his town hall meeting repeated his lie that the banks tricked people into getting bad mortgages. The banks tricked people, lured them in, and that's not at all what happened. The government is responsible for the subprime mortgage crisis as you well know because you're a devoted and regular listener to the program. But this is all set up yesterday with Obama in Ohio.

  Mr. Pethokoukis writes, "Indeed, my sources tell me the Obama administration has been eager to implement just such a plan, but needs to have its own man heading the FHFA to make it happen. The plan would be modeled after one originally devised by Columbia University economists Glenn Hubbard (a campaign adviser to Mitt Romney.)" . . .

So you've got Romney advisers that were hijacked to help put together Obamacare, and now you've got Obama who's about to institute a mortgage refinance plan that is the idea of a Romney advisor.  And yet we're being told they're scared of running against Romney. They really don't want to run against Romney. I don't see it that way. . . .

  There would be no appraisal of your house. There would be no verification of your income. There would be no tax returns looked at. They'd simply say, "If you're current for three months..." Basically, GSE means everybody, because Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pretty much have purview over practically every mortgage that's out there. If yours isn't yet under Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, it will eventually be packaged and sold to them so it eventually will be a GSE or if you have an FHA loan. "Mayer estimates that some $3.7 trillion of mortgages would be refinanced. That’s right, this would be the Mother of All Mortgage Refinancing Plans. It would help roughly 30 million borrowers save $75 billion to $80 billion a year. . . .

  Folks, this mortgage refinance business, if Obama will do this in an election year, what will he be capable of in a second term when there's no accountability, when he's basically a lame duck throughout the second term.  Why not just write off half the student loan debt?  In fact, why wait 'til the second term to do that?  Why not do that on the heels of wiping out half of people's mortgage debt?  That's what the Occupy Wall Street crowd wants.  No student loans, just wipe it out.  As I say, where's this gonna stop? 

  Now, there are people who think this won't work.  In all honesty, there are people who say that the mortgage refinance plan, which is a giant redistribution of wealth plan, it's also a takeover of private property plan, by the way, when you get right down to it.  But some people think it won't work.  The difference here in HARP 1, HARP 1 you had to qualify.  Obama's first mortgage assistance program, you had to go qualify.  This you don't.  There's no qualifying.  All you have to do is be three months current on your mortgage.  That's it.  And you qualify.  So if Obama's running roughshod over the Constitution less than a year out from the election, imagine what a second term will look like. 

  But remember, my friends, as Republicans we're not supposed to complain about Obama, we're not supposed to make it anything personal.  No.  We're not supposed to attack Obama.  We're not supposed to attack him personally.  We're not supposed to criticize Obama.  That will send the independents running wherever they're gonna go.  It would be in bad taste.  It would be in terribly poor taste.  So if Obama wants all these recess appointments, yes, we should lodge our objections and then shut up.  And if he wants to refinance everybody's mortgage, we should lodge our objections and then shut up.  Because to go any further would be unseemly, in bad taste, and would risk angering the independents, who will not tolerate the first black president being criticized.  That's what our political consultants are telling our candidates.  . . .

  Obama is bucking his own party on this.  Obama is appointing people when there is no recess.  Obama is acting outside the Constitution, and it is not the Republicans making him do it.  As though he's justified anyway.  But that's the tone of the reporting from Reuters.  The Republicans are so bad, they're so obstinate, poor old Obama, he's got no choice but than to take a pee on the Constitution.  Got no choice.  Republicans are making him do it.  That's what the message is.  I know Dana Perino won't appreciate that language, but that's the message in the reporting.  Right, here it is.  "A defiant President Barack Obama on Wednesday took his boldest action yet to show voters he will confront Republicans." He's not confronting Republicans.  He is confronting the Constitution.  He's defying the Constitution with this power grab, not Republicans. 

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1/4/12

Rick Santorum's Inspiring Speech Rush Limbaugh Show Segment Transcript

RUSH: Here's what happened last night.  Santorum gave his speech after the Hawkeye Cauci for the most part was over.  It was so powerful, and he never uses a prompter, and he never even uses notes.  He did last night for a brief moment at the outset of the speech, quoting C. S. Lewis in what ended up being a tribute to his wife.  It's how he opened it.  And he said, "Look, I normally don't use notes, but I want to read this 'cause it's a quote, and I want to get it right."  And I'll paraphrase the C. S. Lewis quote 'cause it's not in the sound bites that we have.  He said, "A best friend is somebody who knows the song in your heart when you have forgotten the words."  Now, I'm paraphrasing that.  C. S. Lewis said it a little bit more eloquently than that, but your best friend is somebody who knows the song in your heart when you have forgotten the words.  And at that point he turned to his wife.  After that, total ad-lib. . . .

SANTORUM:  People have asked me how I've done this, sitting back at the polls and not getting a whole lot of attention paid to us.  "How did you keep going out to Iowa and 99 counties, and 381 town hall meetings and speeches?"  Every morning when I was getting up in the morning to take on that challenge, I've required a strength from another particular friendship, one that is sacred.  I've survived the challenges so far by the daily grace that comes from God.  For giving me his grace every day, for loving me, warts and all, I offer a public thanks to God.

RUSH:  First words, by the way, were "game on."  He came out saying, "game on."  Okay, so here's Santorum, who's unafraid to talk about God.  The next bite he addresses electability.

SANTORUM:  People have asked me, "Well, why do you think you can win?"  Because we've been told by so many people that there's another candidate in this race who is running a rather close race with me tonight (laughter) that is a better person to choose because he can win.  Let me tell you what wins. What wins in American are bold ideas, sharp contrasts, and a plan that includes everyone.  And a plan that includes people from all across the economic spectrum, a plan that says we will work together to get America to work. . . .

SANTORUM:  If we have someone who can go out to western Pennsylvania and Ohio and Indiana and Wisconsin and Iowa and Missouri and appeal to voters that have been left behind by a Democratic Party that wants to make them dependent instead of valuing their work, we will win this election.  Those are the same people that President Obama talked about who cling to their guns and their Bibles.  Thank God they do.  They share our values about faith and family.  These are the basic values that Americans stand for, and those are the values that we need if we're gonna go up against Barack Obama and win this election and restore the founding principles of our country to America.

RUSH:  It was really a heartfelt speech. It was a good speech and it went on probably about ten or 15 minutes.  Those are just three sound bites. [Click the date in the following to access a video of the entire speech.]

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1/4/12 Rick Santorum's Iowa speech-01.04.2012 YouTube Video

1/4/12 Krauthammer on recess appointments: ‘It’s banana republic style’ Jeff Poor, The Daily Caller

  "On Wednesday, President Barack Obama made five recess appointments of dubious legality and faced tremendous backlash for a perceived circumvention of  the law.

  "Later that evening, Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer offered a strong condemnation of the move. On 'Special Report' on the Fox News Channel, Krauthammer said this was par for the course for the Obama administration — 'the end of a long string of lawless actions,' he said

  "'I think it’s not about the appointee or even about the agency,' Krauthammer said. 'I think this is a lawless action by the president — the end of a long string of lawless actions. It’s banana republic style. The president saying I won’t let Congress stop me, actually. But it’s in Constitution that you have to have the Senate approval, the Senate — he can only make recess appointment if the Senate is in recess. It is not in recess.'”

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1/4/12 NO MATTER YOUR AGE - TAKE HEED Received in an e-mail
  "The per person Medicare insurance premium will increase from the present monthly fee of $96.40 to:
2012 - $104.20
2013 - $120.20
2014 - $247.00
  "These provisions; incorporated in the Obamacare legislation, are purposely being delayed so as not to 'confuse' the general public in the 2012 re-election campaigns.  Send this to all seniors that you know, so they will know who's throwing them under the bus." [A link to the original via the date is not available this time.]

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1/4/12 Iran repeats Gulf threat to US The Australian

  "Meanwhile, diplomats said the European Union was on target to impose a threatened embargo on oil imports from Iran, which France said could come by the end of January and which drew US praise.

  "'The presence of forces from beyond the (Gulf) region has no result but turbulence. We have said the presence of forces from beyond the region in the Persian Gulf is not needed and is harmful,' Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi said, according to state television's website.

  "'The long-term presence of the United States in the region increases insecurity and the possibility of tensions and of confrontation,' the deputy chief of Iran's forces, Masoud Jazayeri, said, according to the Revolutionary Guards website.

'As a result ... the United States must leave the region.'

  "Jazayeri noted last week's departure of the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis from the Gulf, saying: 'Since you've gone, don't come back, otherwise you'll be responsible for any problems.'

  "His comments echoed a warning that Iran would unleash its 'full force' if a US carrier is redeployed to the Gulf.

'We don't have the intention of repeating our warning, and we warn only once,' armed forces chief Brigadier General Ataollah Salehi said.

  "The White House said the warning 'reflects the fact that Iran is in a position of weakness' as it struggles under international sanctions.

  "The US Defence Department said it would continue rotating its 11 carriers to the Gulf to support regional military operations and keep the Strait of Hormuz open.

  "'We are committed to protecting maritime freedoms that are the basis for global prosperity; this is one of the main reasons our military forces operate in the region,' it said."

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1/3/12

Regime Grabs Power to Detain US Citizens Rush Limbaugh Show Transcript

RUSH: I can't believe that nobody's talking about this: The thing Obama signed on New Year's Eve, the new Defense Authorization Act. I don't know if people don't know what's in this or if other things take precedence. Well, it is being reported because I saw it. I saw it reported. Obama signed this thing, the new Defense Authorization Act on New Year's Eve. Folks, you know what this thing does? It allows the United States military to detain anybody for no reason! They don't even have to charge you. I mean, this is specified. This is not the Patriot Act. This is way beyond. This is total authoritarianism. This is the kind of stuff that exists in Third World banana republics. The government can detain anybody! All they have to do... They actually don't have to do anything.

  They just have to say they suspect you of terrorism.

  They don't have to prove it. They don't have to have any evidence. They can charge you. They can put you away in a jail.   You are not allowed a lawyer. You are not allowed habeas corpus. [Emphasis added.] It's the most amazing thing. Obama even issued a signing statement with it in which he said: Don't worry, I'm not going to do this. Don't worry, I'm not gonna do it. Well, he can, as can anybody in the military, as can any future president. They can just decide to detain you. For no reason. I mean, literally no reason. Where is the left on this? Where are the civil libertarians? This is... You can talk about Bush and the Patriot Act all you want if you're a leftist and a Democrat. Where are you people? This is the biggest affront to the whole notion of civil rights that I can recall. There is a column. Jonathan Turley, who is a legal beagle and a guest on TV shows. He's a law professor at Georgetown or George Washington, I forget which.

  He posted a column on his blog, and the UK Guardian asked for permission to publish it. So, it's on their website. He basically says what I just said to you in terms of describing what this is. The reason it was signed into law was so that the military could be funded. The old argument was, "If you don't sign this, the military won't get funded." Nobody stood up against this. It was the end of the year, everybody wants outta town to get home for the holidays or what have you. But there it is. Now, George W. Bush never even contemplated anything like this, and nobody's talking about it. You can say, "Well, Rush, come on. They're not gonna just start detaining people left and right. You know they're only gonna use this for people they suspect of being terrorists."

  Well, how they gonna define "terrorism"? If you are a liberal Democrat politician might you think that what happens on Fox is terrorism? (pause) Might you? You know how wacky some of these people are. So, anyway, it's out there. It was signed on New Year's Eve, with a signing statement that said from Obama: Don't worry, I'm not gonna do this. That was his signing statement, essentially. I'm paraphrasing the signing statement, but that's essentially what he said. And this from Business Insider. "The United States authorities have offered to lift the threat of legal action against 11 Swiss banks in exchange for information." This is part of a very long story. "The Justice Department's doing everything it can to get the names of Americans who have Swiss bank accounts."

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1/3/12 US Closes 2011 With Record $15.22 Trillion In Debt, Officially At 100.3% Debt/GDP, $14 Billion From Breaching Debt Ceiling Tyler Durden, ZeroHedge.com

  "While not news to Zero Hedge readers who knew about the final debt settlement of US debt about 10 days ahead of schedule, it is now official: according to the US Treasury, America has closed the books on 2011 with debt at an all time record $15,222,940,045,451.09. And, as was observed here first in all of the press, US debt to GDP is now officially over 100%, or 100.3% to be specific, a fact which the US government decided to delay exposing until the very end of the calendar year."

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1/3/12 The Daily Exclusive: RUBBER STAMP By Sarah Ryley, The Daily

Probe reveals feds pressuring agents to rush immigrant visas – even if fraud is feared

  "Higher-ups within U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services are pressuring rank-and-file officers to rubber-stamp immigrants’ visa applications, sometimes against the officers’ will, according to a Homeland Security report and internal documents exclusively obtained by The Daily.
  "A 40-page report, drafted by the Office of Inspector General in September but not publicly released, details the immense pressure immigration service officers are under to approve visa applications quickly, sometimes while overlooking concerns about fraud, eligibility or security.

  "[H]igh-ranking USCIS officials said the pressure has heightened after the Obama administration appointed Alejandro Mayorkas as director in August 2009 during an effort to pass comprehensive immigration reform, bringing with him a mantra of 'get to yes.' . . .
  "Internal communications provided to The Daily indicate that the new leadership seemed to fundamentally clash with career agency employees over when to afford the benefit of the doubt, culminating in a whistle-blower investigation into a senior appointee and, ultimately, the agency-wide inspector general inquiry that produced the report.
  "'We recognize their right to interpret things as liberally as possible, but you still have to follow the law,' said one high-ranking official who was unhappy with the current push.
   "At least five agency veterans seen as being too tough on applicants were either demoted, or given the choice between a demotion or a relocation from Southern California — where their families were — to San Francisco and Nebraska, according to sources and letters of reassignment provided to The Daily.
  "Those kind of threats have caused lower-level employees to fall in line, sources said."

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1/3/12 House to hold hearing on Obama visa 'abuses' byJoel Gehrke, WashingtonExaminer.com

  "House investigators will hold a hearing this week on President Obama's immigrant visa application policy following an inspector general report that immigration enforcement bureaucrats pressure officers to approve potentially fraudulent immigrant visa applications.

  "'It’s outrageous that administration officials would compromise national security for their own political agenda and gain,' said House Judiciary Committee chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas. 'The Immigration Subcommittee plans to hold a hearing in February on visa fraud and will investigate these alleged abuses by the administration,' he added.

  "Smith was responding to 'a recent Inspector General report that Obama administration officials at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services [USCIS] have pressured officers to rush questionable immigrant visa applications,' saying that such a policy 'undermines the integrity of our immigration system and threatens national security.'

  "The Daily reported today that 'A 40-page report, drafted by the Office of Inspector General in September but not publicly released, details the immense pressure immigration service officers are under to approve visa applications quickly, sometimes while overlooking concerns about fraud, eligibility or security.'"

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1/3/12 Inside Herman Cain's 'National Movement' FoxNews.com [Click date to access video.]

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1/3/12 Despite Obama's Failures, He Will Be Tough To Beat Investors.com

  "[T]his year there's really only one issue: defeating President Obama. And Republicans shouldn't kid themselves that it's going to be easy.

  "It may seem absurd to imagine Barack Obama could be depicted as a champion of tax cuts, a friend of small business and the scourge of global terrorists. But by this summer, the billion-dollar Obama war chest will saturate the airwaves with such highly polished messages.

  "The New York Times last week quoted White House deputy press aide Joshua Earnest as saying Obama will, in effect, cease to be a working president as far as Congress is concerned and become a full-time campaigner.

  "Earnest reportedly said the Obama machine is cultivating 'the image of a gridlocked, dysfunctional Congress and a president who is leaving no stone unturned to try to find solutions to the difficult financial challenges and economic challenges facing the country.'

  "Republicans may be tempted to consider such a Trumanesque strategy laughable for a president who promised four years ago he had the skills to conquer gridlock and whose tenure, unlike Harry Truman's, has seen chronically high unemployment.

  "But the polls showed a hefty, if temporary, bump in popularity for Obama after House Republicans were outmaneuvered on a payroll tax-cut extension last month. More important for the GOP to ponder is Congress' all-time low rating, now nearing single digits.

  "Added to this will be unrelenting attacks on whomever the GOP nominee is — from the candidate's personal shortcomings and family finances, to policy inconsistencies, to the Democrats' signature 'Republicans will kill your grandma' demagoguery. And don't expect the dominant media to set the record straight.

  "Against all this, Republicans will only win with a forceful, crystal-clear message: Gridlock is the least of Americans' fears; more of Obama's agenda is the big danger.

  "This president and congressional Democrats rammed through government-managed health care against the will of the American people by means of legislative trickery. And Congress is a sideshow when it comes to President Obama fanning the flames of Islamism in the Mideast, where Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood will soon gain power and where U.S. impotence is the weapon of choice against Iran's attainment of nuclear weapons.

  "There must be a constant, laser-beam focus on Obama's hard-left radicalism so Americans will enter the voting booth in November fully understanding the gravity of the decision before them."

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1/2/12 2012 here we come Jerry Philipson, Canada Free Press

   "[After pointing out many threats in the world today (click the date for details)] are only some of the things that could easily lead to death and destruction on an unimaginable scale, could easily lead to the effective demise of the free world, could easily lead to the forces of darkness and ignorance becoming ascendant. There are powder kegs everywhere and any of them could explode and cause us great harm or bring us down at any time…there is a great deal to fear but is there any reason to hope that sanity will prevail and that we will survive as free peoples in free, democratic societies, or survive at all for that matter?

  "Four things have to happen at the absolute minimum, however, if freedom and democracy are to prevail and Western civilization and the Western way of life are to survive.

  "First, Americans have to vote President Obama out of office, have to ensure that he isn’t elected to another four year term. It is no exaggeration at all to say that without America there is no free world and it is also no exaggeration at all to say that Obama has done incalculable harm to the United States and the rest of the free world during his first term and could very well kill both if he is granted a second. The man simply has to go because there is no other way to avoid catastrophe for the U.S. and every other Western country.

  "Second, America and Europe have to get their financial houses in order. Doing so will cause a great deal of sacrifice and suffering but current levels of expenditure are unsustainable and there is no doubt at all that economies and countries will collapse unless politicians get their nations’ deficits and debts under control. The medicine will be bitter to take and difficult to swallow, but it must be done or else the United States and Europe are kaput, and so are freedom and democracy.

  "Third, Americans and Westerners (the British, the French, Germans, Canadians, all other Westerners) need to remove all vestiges of Islamization from their countries and prevent further Islamization from taking place. Islamization has made deep and serious inroads into every country in the West and is fundamentally changing the the nature and character of Western countries without exception, including the United States. Unless Islamization is stopped and reversed, Western countries including the U.S. will find themselves living under Islamic Law (Sharia) and freedom, democracy and the Western, Judeo-Christian way of life will be a thing of the past.

  "Fourth, Iran has to be prevented from acquiring nuclear weapons. Iran wants to possess nuclear weapons for one reason and one reason only…to use them against Israel (the Little Satan) first and the United States (the Great Satan) second. Of that there can be no doubt and there can also be no doubt that the consequences of Iran becoming a nuclear power would be catastrophic for the Middle East and the West in general and Israel and the United States in particular. Right now, it looks as if military action is the only way to keep nuclear weapons out of the Iranians hands and that action will have to take place in 2012 because they are that close to developing nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them. The consequences of preventive military action would be horrific, but not nearly as horrific as Iran becoming a nuclear power.

  "All of these four elements are essential if freedom and democracy are to prevail and Western civilization and the Western way of life are to survive. All are interrelated and all begin with getting Obama out of the White House…none of them can happen with him in the White House, which is why he must be voted out in the upcoming 2012 Presidential election. It would be nice if other things occurred too (getting the Palestinians to come to their senses and becoming true partners for peace with Israel, neutralizing China and North Korea and stabilizing the Middle East and safeguarding American and Western interests there to offer three examples) but these elements are the essential ones.

  "Is there hope? Without Obama there is, with him there isn’t."

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1/2/12 The biggest little story of 2011 By Yates Walker, DailyCaller.com

  "Blogs and upstart websites have altered news delivery forever, and the networks are now covering stories broken on news websites as often as they are breaking their own.

  "But that is just part one of the new media revolution. Part two began on September 20^, when California Congressman and House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa held a telephone press conference on the developing gunwalker component of the 'Fast and Furious' scandal. The substance of the call concerned a possible FBI cover-up, the appointment of a special prosecutor and other recent developments in the Department of Justice’s program, which allowed guns to fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels, resulting in the deaths of border patrol agent Brian Terry and hundreds of Mexican citizens.

  "But, as momentous as the news Issa delivered was, the method of his delivery was even more significant. Issa didn’t reach out to the household names of big journalism. He didn’t call newspaper reporters or broadcast news outlets. For whatever undeclared reason, the mainstream outlets did not deem the 'Fast and Furious' scandal worthy of their viewership’s attention, so Issa solved his own problem. He called bloggers. In that single act, a sitting congressman took a little credibility away from established news outlets and handed it to the blogosphere.

  "Some bloggers may yawn at this, and with good reason. Independent news sites have been breaking important stories for years. They’ve already established their own credibility. But what Issa did for new media is something that new media could never do for itself. By openly sidestepping traditional outlets for non-traditional ones, Issa is, in effect, changing tradition. . . .

  "In our new age, the old media is slowly and reluctantly learning that they can no longer unilaterally decide what is news and what isn’t. Perhaps more importantly, Issa has reminded us that in a free society, it is the people’s duty to police the fourth estate in order to facilitate the fourth estate’s duty: to protect the people."

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1/2/12 Overcharged The Washington Post

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1/1/12 Religion George Edwards, GIAC2002.org

  "Let me suggest that the core principle and ideal of all religions is love—love of truth, love of justice and love of fellow mankind. . . .

   "In practice, love of fellow mankind alone would preclude the evils of religion that the book [When Religion Becomes Evil by Charles Kimball] refers to. As expressed in the Christian religion, practice the golden rule: “Do unto others [only] as you would have others do unto you.”

  "In practice, determining what is true may not be so straightforward. Some gods are said to be beyond human understanding. Nevertheless, the telling of lies that the speaker knows are lies flies in the face of such a principle. In the physical sciences, postulates as to what is true can be tested by experiments and verified or found false based on the results. In larger contexts, the experience of humanity as a whole as to successes or failures in the past may be as good a determination of societal truth as we can come up with.This requires honest and careful reporting of events and history.

  "This is not to say that individual experiences and “revelations” on spiritual matters should be ignored, but merely to point out that they may be right or wrong.

  "In practice, determining what is just may be even more difficult. The golden rule may be the best overall guide. However, how does one deal with those who flagrantly disobey it? Traditionally, we prevent them from continuing their particular transgressions against others by confining them, in extreme cases executing them or warring against them. Execution is questioned as ever justifiable for various reasons including the lack of absolute certainty as to guilt and the guilt that the designated executioner might obtain."

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1/1/12 The Supreme Court can’t be absolute By Jeff Jacoby, The Boston Globe

  "Judges are no more immune to the lure of power than anybody else, and their assertion of judicial supremacy - plus what Gingrich calls 'the passive acquiescence of the executive and legislative branches’ - has won them an extraordinary degree of clout and authority. That aggrandizement, in turn, they have attempted to cast as historically unassailable. In Cooper v. Aaron , the 1958 Little Rock desegregation case, all nine justices famously declared 'that the federal judiciary is supreme in the exposition of the law of the Constitution’' - a principle, they asserted, that has 'been respected by this court and the country as a permanent and indispensable feature of our constitutional system.’'

  "That wasn’t really true. In the words of Larry Kramer, dean of Stanford’s Law School , 'The justices in Cooper were not reporting a fact so much as trying to manufacture one.' It worked. In recent decades, the claim of judicial supremacy has clearly prevailed. Look at the way it’s taken for granted, for example, that whatever the Supreme Court decides next spring about the constitutionality of the ObamaCare insurance mandate will settle the issue.

  "Gingrich argues that this is unhealthy, and that the elected branches have an obligation to check and balance the judiciary. 'The courts have become grotesquely dictatorial, far too powerful, and, I think, frankly arrogant,’ he said in Iowa last month .

the heart and soul of American democracy is that power derives from the consent of the governed, and that no branch of government - executive, legislative, or judicial - rules by unchallenged fiat. Gingrich is far from the first to say so.

  "'To consider the judges as the ultimate arbiters of all constitutional questions,’ wrote Thomas Jefferson in 1820, is 'a very dangerous doctrine indeed , and one which would place us under the despotism of an oligarchy.’ Abraham Lincoln - revolted by the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Dred Scott case - rejected the claim that the justices’ word was final. 'If the policy of the government upon vital questions affecting the whole people is to be irrevocably fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court the instant they are made,’ he warned in his first inaugural address , 'the people will have ceased to be their own rulers.’

  "Not all of Gingrich’s proposals for reining in the courts, such as summoning judges before congressional committees to explain their rulings, may be wise or useful. But his larger point is legitimate and important. Judicial supremacy is eroding America’s democratic values. The balance of federal power needs to be restored.

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1/1/12  The Year We Lost Afghanistan, Iraq, Egypt, Turkey, Tunisia and Most of the Middle East Daniel Greenfield, Canada Free Press

  "About the only people having a Happy New Year in the Muslim world aren’t the Christians who are huddling and waiting out the storm, but the Islamists who use a different calendar but are having the best time of their lives since the last Caliphate.

  "The news that the Obama Administration has brought in genocidal Muslim Brotherhood honcho Yusuf Al-Qaradawi to discuss terms of surrender for the transfer of Afghanistan to the Taliban caps a year in which the Brotherhood and the Salafists are looking up carve up Egypt, the Islamists won Tunisia’s elections, Turkey’s Islamist AKP Party purged the last bastions of the secular opposition and Libya’s future as an Islamist state was secured by American, British and French jets and special forces. . . .

2011 will indeed be remembered, but not because of any Arab Spring or OWS nonsense. It will be a pivotal year in the rise of the next Caliphate. A rise disguised by angry protesters waving cell phones and flags. And clueless media coverage that treated Tahrir Square as the new fall of the Berlin Wall.

  "This was the year that Obama helped topple several regimes that served as the obstacles to Islamist takeovers. The biggest fish that Ibn Hussein speared out of the sea for Al-Qaradawi was Egypt, a prize that the Islamists had wanted for the longest time, but had never managed to catch. That is until the Caliph-in-Chief got it for them. Egyptian Democracy splits the take between the Brotherhood and the Salafists, whom the media is already quick to describe as moderates. First up against the wall are the Christians. Second up against the wall are the Jews. Third up is all that military equipment we provided to the Egyptian military which will shortly be finding its way to various 'moderate militants' who want to discuss our foreign policy with us. . . .

  "The ugliest part of this story isn’t what Obama did. It’s when he did it. If he really had no interest in winning Afghanistan, and if as he had said, the Taliban are not our enemy, then why did we stay for so long and lose so many lives fighting a war that the White House had no intention of winning? The ugly conclusion that must be drawn from the timing of the Iraq and Afghanistan withdrawals is that the wars were being played out to draw down around the time of the next election.

What that means is Obama sacrificed the thousands of Americans killed and wounded in the conflict as an election strategy. The idea that American soldiers were fighting and dying for no reason until the time when maximum political advantage could be gained from pulling them out is horrifying, it’s a crime beyond redemption, an act worse than treason—and yet there is no other rational conclusion to be drawn from the timetable.

  "If the Taliban were not our enemy, then the war should have ended shortly after the election. Instead Obama threw more soldiers into the mix while tying their hands with Rules of Engagement that prevented them from defending themselves or aggressively going after the Taliban. Casualties among US soldiers and Afghan civilians increased. Now the Taliban are no longer our enemy and we are negotiating a withdrawal.

  "There are only two possible explanations. Either we lost the war or Obama never intended to win it and was allowing the Taliban to murder American soldiers until the next election. If so we’re not just looking at a bad man at the teleprompter, we are looking into the face of an evil so amoral that it defies description. . . .

  "2011 was the year we lost Afghanistan, Egypt, Turkey, Tunisia and many others, but it should not be the year that we lose hope. For all that the bad guys have been gaining and domestic prospects don’t look good, the bad guys have a way of destroying themselves. Give evil its head and it will kill millions, but it will also self-destruct in a spectacular way. Even when it seems as if we have run out of productive things to do, it is instructive to remember that there is a Higher Power in the destinies of men and that the aspirations of evil men to play at being gods eventually leads them to complete and utter ruin through their own arrogance.

  "But 2011 is also a reminder that the world cannot afford another year of Obama. That it cannot afford the appeasement, the destructive policies or the post-American politics that have made his regime the worst administration in this country’s history. 2011 may be the year that we lost the Middle East, but let’s work to make 2012 the year that this country loses one Barack Hussein Obama."

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1/1/12 Obama administration turns to notorious Jew hater to mediate in Afghanistan

Lee DeCovnick, American Thinker

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1/1/12 Gingrich: Justice Dept Wants to 'Steal Elections' NewsMax.com

Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich blasted the Justice Department for blocking a South Carolina voter identification law and suggested the Obama administration wants to "steal elections."

During a campaign stop in Council Bluffs, Iowa, the former House speaker questioned why Attorney General Eric Holder is "so determined not to identify if people are not eligible to vote"

Gingrich went on to say that, "you have to ask, why is it that they are desperate to retain the ability to steal elections and I think that's what it comes down to."

The Justice Department recently rejected South Carolina's law requiring voters to show photo ID at polling places as discriminatory against minorities. Republicans argue stricter voter ID laws are needed to avert voter fraud.

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12/31/11 Romney leads Paul in new Des Moines Register Iowa Poll; Santorum surges

Des Moines Register

  "The poll, conducted Tuesday through Friday, shows support at 24 percent for Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts; 22 percent for Paul, a Texas congressman; and 15 percent for the surging Rick Santorum, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania."

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12/31/11 GOP Candidates Keep Focus on Obama Despite Heated Iowa Battle FoxNews.com

  "'Who has the best chance to beat Obama? Rick Santorum,' the ad declared, describing the him as a 'full spectrum conservative' with 'more foreign policy credentials than any candidate.' . . .

  "Romney assailed Obama's record on federal spending and job creation, describing his legacy as a 'footnote in history.' 

'This president has been a failure,' he said. 'I don't think he's a bad guy. I just think he's overwhelmed and is over his head.' . . .

  "Newt Gingrich went after the Obama administration over the Justice Department's move to challenge a South Carolina voter ID law. 

  "Gingrich, in Council Bluffs, said the administration wants to 'steal elections,' describing Attorney General Eric Holder as the 'junior version' of Obama. 

  "Gingrich also told Iowans that if they choose him on Tuesday, he will challenge Obama to seven debates -- joking that he would allow the president to use his 'Obamaprompter.' . . .

  "Rick Perry slammed the president's health care overhaul as the country's 'most onerous' regulation on the horizon. However, the Texas governor couldn't resist taking a shot at Santorum, criticizing him for voting in favor of debt ceiling increases while he was in office and for backing earmarks in his state. 

  "Perry and Santorum are both competing for evangelicals and other social conservatives in Iowa, which could explain why Perry has been the toughest on Santorum since his poll numbers started to rise. 

  "Perry again stressed Saturday that he's the outsider in the race. 'They're part of the problem,' he said on Fox News of his opponents. 'They're not the solution.'" 

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12/31/11 Obama signs defense bill despite 'reservations' By JULIE PACE, Associated Press

  "President Barack Obama signed a wide-ranging defense bill into law Saturday despite having 'serious reservations' about provisions that regulate the detention, interrogation and prosecution of suspected terrorists.

  "The bill also applies penalties against Iran's central bank in an effort to hamper Tehran's ability to fund its nuclear enrichment program. The Obama administration is looking to soften the impact of those penalties because of concerns that they could lead to a spike in global oil prices or cause economic hardship on U.S. allies that import petroleum from Iran."

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12/31/11 Looking to Make a Buck? Better Check the City Code First FoxNews.com

  "Millions of Americans are either out of work, accepting part-time work or settling for jobs they'd rather not be in.

But the government isn't making it any easier for people to pick themselves up by their bootstraps. Those looking to cast off a frustrating job search and set out to make money on their own will encounter a vineyard of red tape and fees that varies in thickness depending on where they live." 

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12/31/11 Canada Soars A.M. Mora y Leon, American Thinker

  "As America's economy struggles, a funny thing happened on the way to the next-door neighbor nation that has up until now always been considered a dogleg off our economy. Canada's economy is soaring.

  "It's that they did anything particularly unusual. And it's definitely not that they are what economists casually dismiss as 'a commodity economy' experiencing a temporary boom.

  "In reality, Canada has genuinely gone its own way, getting itself out from the shadow of the US economic picture at just the right time. The government of conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper has embraced free markets, not just one or two things, but a whole banquet of all the things that make economies grow - smaller government, free trade, one tax cut after another, and energy development and security. Net result? Same as what Chile got when it tried the same kinds of reforms - a booming economy."

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12/31/11 Activist Leading ‘Occupy the Rose Parade’ Is a Convicted Thief, 9-11 Truther, and Former Democratic Assembly Politician by Charles C. Johnson, Big Government

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12/31/11 Ezra Klein, Chris Hayes Reveal What DC Media Knew: Obama Was Willing to Let Payroll Tax Cut Expire Joel B. Pollak, Big Journalism

  "According to Hayes, “everyone in Washington” knew that Obama wanted the payroll tax extension to fail–and yet the same journalists eagerly covered the subsequent payroll tax debate as if Republicans were the only obstacle to an extension. The result of the media’s collusion was a year-end political victory for Obama and the Democrats at the expense of House leaders, the Tea Party, and Republicans in general.

  "Here is the exchange between Hayes and Klein (0:44 to 1:04), with MSNBC contributor Melissa Harris-Perry chiming in encouragingly (transcript follows): [Click the date for access tthe actual video.]

Hayes: You and I went to the White House and, you know–off-the-record conversation, but it was very clear–

Klein: (Laughing) Shhhhh!

Hayes: –it was very, it was very clear–

Harris-Perry: You know, this will be on the record (laughs)–

Hayes: OK. And this was nothing that wasn’t reported.

Klein: That’s right.

Hayes: They [the White House] were willing to let them [payroll tax cuts]. They were willing.

Klein: Yeah.

Hayes: Everyone knew that. Everyone in Washington knew it, [House Speaker] John Boehner knew it–everyone knew they were willing to let them expire. That’s the one confrontation they won.

  "The fact that even Republicans may have known that Obama did not intend to extend the payroll tax holiday strengthened the White House’s negotiating position.

  "It is also, however, a glaring indictment of the mainstream media, which knew of Obama’s true plan while encouraging Americans to blame the Tea Party and the Republicans, eagerly echoing Democrats’ accusations that the Tea Party had held the nation “hostage” for political gain.

  "In fact, as Hayes and Klein admit–laughingly, and why not?–Obama was the one holding a gun to the heads of the American people, knowing that a dutiful Washington press corps would erase his fingerprints."

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12/31/11 America Loses If Obama Wins By Chad Stafko, American Thinker

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12/31/11 Here comes 2012! Big Ben lights up the sky with firework display to ring in Olympic new year
By Pamela Owen and Anna Edwards, Mail Online

  "More than a million people gathered at mass at vantage points along the harbour to watch the pyrotechnics display in Sydney."

  "This year's theme was 'Time to Dream' and it is hoped it will help inspire those who have had a particularly bad 2011 to look forward to the year ahead.
  "Some of the fireworks exploded into shapes of clouds - because every one has a silver lining - and a series of colourful lights were beamed into the centre of the bridge forming an 'endless rainbow'."

[Click the date to view other displays than the one in Sydney below. Happy New Year!]

 

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12/30/11 BACHMANN: Little time to save America By Rep. Michele Bachmann, The Washington Times

First focus will be economy, then national security and families

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12/30/11 Media Abet Obama's Aloofness on Tough Issues By Richard Benedetto, Real Clear Politics

  "Over the past five months, the Republican presidential candidates participated in 13 debates where they fielded dozens of penetrating questions on every major issue facing the nation, and some not so major.

  "The nationally televised and/or Internet-streamed forums each drew an average of 5 million to 6 million viewers, along with breathless wall-to-wall coverage, commentary and criticism from the news media, radio and TV talk shows, Internet blogs and partisan websites. . . .

  "No questions on immigration, no questions on Iran or Iraq or Afghanistan or Israel or North Korea -- global trouble spots the GOP candidates have been queried about repeatedly. Moreover, he was not asked about what spending cuts he would make to reduce the deficit, nothing about Medicare and Social Security reform or his health care law, all familiar questions for the Republicans seeking his job.

  "Obama’s ability to avoid tough questions, skate above the fray and look presidential while his potential successors appear to be futilely flailing is not by accident. It is by White House design, abetted by a press corps that seems content with being shut out by the president and being spoon-fed the message of the day, rather than clamoring for more chances to ask him questions during this critical time. . . .

  "In sum, the news we get from the White House is the news that administration press handlers want to give us, much of which provides the president with comfortable distance from foreign policy hot spots. From Hawaii this week, we get nice reports about presidential golf and snorkeling, the release of green sea turtles by the First Family, a visit with U.S. Marines and a baby putting her fingers in the president’s mouth.

  "No wonder the GOP candidates look so bad. It’s time for reporters to start smoking the president out and call for him, not his surrogates, to answer questions on a regular basis."

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12/30/11 Gingrich sees Sarah Palin as vice president, Cabinet secretary By Justin Sink, The Hill

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12/30/11 Cecil County Police Charge Abortion Doctors With Murder CBS Baltimore

  "Two doctors who performed late-term abortions in a Cecil County clinic now face murder charges. The police investigation began last year when police say Dr. Steven Brigham and Dr. Nicola Riley performed part of an abortion in New Jersey, then transferred the patient to Maryland to finish it. When the 18-year-old woman suffered complications she was taken to the hospital. Then, police searched the abortion clinic looking for her medical records, but they found something else in the freezer.

  "'It contained the fetuses, approximately 35,' a Cecil County Police Officer explained. 'Some of them appeared to be close to full term.'

  "Dr. Riley, who lives in Utah, faces one count of first- and second-degree murder. Dr. Brigham from New Jersey faces 5 counts of murder."

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12/30/11 Congress ends corn ethanol subsidy By David Shepardson, Detroit News

  "The United States has ended a 30-year tax subsidy for corn-based ethanol that cost taxpayers $6 billion annually, and ended a tariff on imported Brazilian ethanol.

  "Congress adjourned for the year on Friday, failing to extend the tax break that's drawn a wide variety of critics on Capitol Hill, including Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. Critics also have included environmentalists, frozen food producers, ranchers and others.

  "The policies have helped shift millions of tons of corn from feedlots, dinner tables and other products into gas tanks.

Environmental group Friends of the Earth praised the move.

  "'The end of this giant subsidy for dirty corn ethanol is a win for taxpayers, the environment and people struggling to put food on their tables,' biofuels policy campaigner Michal Rosenoer said Friday. . . .

  "Ethanol supporters are worried Congress might roll back a 2007 mandate that dramatically boosts the use of ethanol annually through 2022. The mandate jumps from 15 billion gallons of renewable fuels — including cellulosic ethanol in 2015 — to 36 billion gallons by 2022. . . .

  "Automakers and other engine makers have clashed with corn growers since 2010 over whether the United States should allow the use of a new blend of ethanol called E15 because it is 15 percent biofuel. The Environmental Protection Agency has approved the use in all vehicles from 2001 and after. . . .

  "Automakers and other groups have opposed approval of E15, warning it could damage engines in some models. Automakers 'unanimously expressed concerns that E15 is likely to harm engines, void warranties and reduce fuel efficiency,' said the congressional letter."

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12/30/11 More 'change': China plans manned Moon landings as U.S. rents seats on Russian rockets Andrew Malcolm, Investors.com

  "Americans better get used to it: Watching China's rockets and astronauts launching from Earth to explore new frontiers in space, near and very far.

  "With the U.S. space shuttle fleet now fully retired and decommissioned by the Obama administration, NASA must rent $62 million seats on Russian rockets to get Americans up to the International Space Station. And no farther.

  "On Thursday, the emerging superpower of China, flush with cash from its booming economy and overseas investments, released a major policy paper, announcing far more ambitious goals for its own national space explorations.

  "It is already constructing its own space station, experimenting with robot spaceships and is expected to launch more crews in the new year, possibly its first female astronaut, just eight years after the first Chinese flew in orbit. This plus ambitious plans for new rockets. fuels and even moon orbiters.

  "But the big news from China's new white paper was the revelation of plans to land crews on the Moon for detailed lengthy explorations, possibly late this decade. The Moon has not seen new human footprints in 39 years, since the last U.S. lunar mission, Apollo 17 in December 1972.

  "Bush administration plans to return U.S. astronauts to the Moon to construct a permanent base and explore for mineral deposits, among other things, were scrapped by Obama, ostensibly for financial reasons. This has resulted in thousands of recent layoffs among Florida's highly-skilled space industry workers."

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12/30/11 Rush on how to fix Detroit: ‘Get rid of every liberal in government’

Jeff Poor, The Daily Caller

  "In an appearance on Fox News Channel aired on Thursday night’s 'On the Record with Greta Van Sustren,' conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh explained, in no uncertain terms, how to fix Detroit, where unemployment and poverty are rampant. His solution: End liberalism.

  "'Get rid of every liberal in government,' he said. 'What is the one constant in Detroit, all of these years? Been run by liberals. Liberal ideology. Liberal economics. Liberal belief system. Detroit, other places: A microcosm of where Europe is, and where we are headed — unchecked, unstopped liberalism. For those of you who like the Democrat Party, that’s where we are headed. There hasn’t been any opposition there, not of any strength or power. Take a look. That’s the one thing that is constant. It was the same thing in New Orleans, post-Katrina. What’s the one thing that was constant there? All run by liberals. All run by Democrats.'

  "He also cited California where liberalism in government has failed as well, and tax policy feeds the belief that government can do more for the individual than the individual can on his own.

  "'You can ask me what is happening to California?' he continued. 'All liberal all the time. Tax rates out the wazoo. Twelve percent, state on top of federal, taxing the rich even more. People are leaving for Idaho, start businesses elsewhere. Problem is liberalism. Now people watching say, ‘That’s too simplistic.’ It’s really not — it’s right, it’s correct. That’s the one constant. The belief that government can do better for everybody than individuals can do for themselves. The belief that individuals are inherently corrupt and government is angelic. And so government will take care of the individual corruption by somehow making sure that everybody’s equal and has the same. But government doesn’t know how to produce anything.'

  "Limbaugh said the role of government is spelled out in the Constitution, which has been an impediment for the more liberal leaders of the United States, including Obama and former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

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12/29/11 Only One Candidate Is Right On The Two Most Important Issues

by Ann Coulter, Human Events

  "In the upcoming presidential election, two issues are more important than any others: repealing Obamacare and halting illegal immigration. If we fail at either one, the country will be changed permanently. . . .

  "[C]apitulate on illegal immigration, and the entire country will have the electorate of California. There will be no turning back.

  "Similarly, if Obamacare isn't repealed in the next few years, it never will be.

America will begin its ineluctable descent into becoming a worthless Western European country, with rotten health care, no money for defense and ever-increasing federal taxes to support the nanny state. . . .

  "The only way to stop Obamacare is to beat Obama in 2012, and repeal it before the health care Leviathan is born.

Otherwise, starting in 2016, Republicans will run for office promising only to improve Obamacare. Newt Gingrich will be calling plans to reform it 'right-wing social engineering.' . . .

  "[I]f Santorum wins, we lose on the second most important issue -- illegal immigration -- and he'll be the last Republican ever to win a general election in America. . . .

  "Any candidate who opposes E-Verify is not serious about illegal immigration. If anything, E-Verify ought to be made mandatory to get a job, to get welfare and to vote. . . .

  "Jon Huntsman claims to support E-Verify, but also wants to give illegals amnesty as soon as the border is sealed -- as determined by someone other than us. Also, he gave driver's identification cards to illegal aliens in Utah. . . .

  "Newt Gingrich is for amnesty, combined with second-class status for illegals. Instead of giving illegal aliens green cards, Newt proposes giving them 'red cards' so they can stay, take American jobs, have children, receive welfare benefits, attend public schools -- and eventually be granted amnesty. . . .

  "Only Michele Bachmann and Mitt Romney aren't trying to sneak through amnesty for illegal aliens. Both support E-Verify. . . .

  "Numbers USA, one of the leading groups opposed to our current insane immigration policies, gives Republican presidential candidates the following grades on immigration: Paul, F; Gingrich, D-minus; Huntsman, D-minus; Santorum, D-minus; Perry, D; Romney, C-minus; and Bachmann, B-minus. [Bachmann is the clear winner here.]

  "And that was before Romney said last week that Obama's drunk-driving, illegal alien uncle should be deported!

That leaves us with Romney and Bachmann as the candidates with the strongest, most conservative positions on illegal immigration. As wonderful as Michele Bachmann is, 2012 isn't the year to be trying to make a congresswoman the first woman president." [Close, Ann, but no cigar. Your last statement is pure speculation. You might say that now is not the time to try to make a man the first Mormon president--although I don't agree there either. But I have to favor the candidate of the two with the obviously more solid conservative principles, Bachmann. Romney as the candidate to best champion your other issue of key importance: defeat of Obama care. You've got to be kidding! You have indeed narrowed the field to one candidate as the best--Bachmann.]

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12/29/11 2012 Presidential Matchups Rasmussen Reports

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12/29/11 Iowa Rep. Steve King: Gingrich Better Candidate Than Romney Paul Scicchitano and Kathleen Walter, NewsMax.com

  "Although Iowa Rep. Steve King is holding back his coveted political endorsement with only days to go before his state’s first-in-the-nation caucuses, he tells Newsmax that he almost certainly would choose former House Speaker Newt Gingrich over former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
  "Describing Gingrich as a 'brilliant man, who generates all kinds of ideas,' King said pundits will be talking about Gingrich’s debate performances in future elections.
  "'I think a lot of Speaker Gingrich, and there would have to be some discipline on the myriad of ideas that he brings to the table. But that’s what Congress is for,' King said.

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12/29/11 Despite GOP opposition, light bulb standards will phase in on Jan. 1

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12/28/11 CNN Poll: Romney on top, Gingrich fading & Santorum rising in Iowa

Paul Steinhauser, CNN

  "A new survey of people likely to attend Iowa's Republican caucuses indicates that the former House speaker's support in the Hawkeye State is plunging. And according to a CNN/Time/ORC International Poll, one-time long shot candidate Rick Santorum has more than tripled his support since the beginning of the month."

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12/28/11 Battle Over Voter ID Laws Heats Up in the States By Jim Angle, FoxNews.com

  "A simple question divides the two parties on the process of this election -- should voters have to show a picture ID to cast a ballot? 

  "Republicans say requiring photo identification at the polls is just a matter of common sense. But Democrats warn the move could disenfranchise voters. 

  "'I think this is an effort to diminish minority and poor people's involvement in the electoral policies and politics,' said Dick Harpootlian, chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party. 

  "But David Norcross, president of the Republican National Lawyers Association, noted that a photo ID is required to enter any federal building and most office buildings, among other things. 'You need it to get welfare, you need it to get on an airplane, take the SAT, buy liquor, buy cigarettes. It's sort of ubiquitous," he said. "And it's crazy to exclude voting from the list of things you need it for.' 

  "The latest voter ID controversy centers on South Carolina's photo ID law, which the Justice Department blocked on Dec. 23, claiming it will hurt minorities and the poor."

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12/28/11 Hurry with Keystone, backers tell Obama UPI.com

  "With strong congressional support, it's clear the planned Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada is a national interest of the United States, an executive said.

  "U.S. President Barack Obama last week signed a measure that extends a payroll tax benefit. The bill contains a measure inserted by U.S. House of Representatives Republicans that gives the president 60 days to either approve a permit for the Keystone XL oil pipeline or say the project isn't in the national interest.

  "U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donohue said the project is "shovel-ready" and, with the measure signed into law, an obvious national interest.

  "'We strongly urge the president to move swiftly to approve the permit and move forward with this project, which is clearly in our national interest,' he said in a statement."

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12/28/11 In up and down year for cable news, Fox dominates By DAVID BAUDER, Breitbart

  "Fox News Channel continued its dominance, with an average viewership that exceeded CNN and MSNBC combined in prime time and for the entire day"

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12/28/11 Obama’s annus horribilis By Jennifer Rubin, The Washington Post

  "If you can recall, back in February his State of the Union address was a bore-a-thon stocked with spending ideas (on everything from light rail to salmon), with only glancing reference to the debt. His grand proposal: Freeze discretionary spending at the astronomically high level he had presided over in his first two years.

  "The next few months were spent bashing the only man to author a serious budget plan and put real Medicare reform on the table. He not only rebuffed Rep. Paul Ryan’s proposals but invited him to a speech, put him in the first row and then delivered a hyper-partisan attack, accusing the Republicans of taking Pell grants from college kids so fat cats could get a break on corporate jets.

  "Throughout the spring and summer the president failed to present his own entitlement reform plans. . . .

  "If you can recall, back in February his State of the Union address was a bore-a-thon stocked with spending ideas (on everything from light rail to salmon), with only glancing reference to the debt. His grand proposal: Freeze discretionary spending at the astronomically high level he had presided over in his first two years.

  "The next few months were spent bashing the only man to author a serious budget plan and put real Medicare reform on the table. He not only rebuffed Rep. Paul Ryan’s proposals but invited him to a speech, put him in the first row and then delivered a hyper-partisan attack, accusing the Republicans of taking Pell grants from college kids so fat cats could get a break on corporate jets.

  "Throughout the spring and summer the president failed to present his own entitlement reform plans . . .

  "It was a year of shocking irresponsibility and demagoguery. He denounced the Ryan-Wyden Medicare plan as he had Ryan’s original Medicare reform plan. He let the Simpson-Bowles debt reduction plan wither on the vine. He lifted not a finger to make use of the supercommittee he had agreed to create. He put forth no tax reform plan. If there has been a more slothful performance in and hyper-partisan use of the Oval Office in recent years I am hard-pressed to recall it. Frankly, Congress should run against the do-nothing president.[Emphasis added.]

  "Foreign policy was even worse. He devised an Afghanistan withdrawal timetable to suit his election needs and pulled all troops out of Iraq, leading to the immediate unraveling of what had until then been a reasonably successful part of his foreign policy. He dawdled on Syria. He dawdled on Libya. Thousands died as “leading behind” became the watchword of his presidency. He arm-twisted Georgia to let Russia into the WTO, while Vladimir Putin, in his best imitation of the czars, imprisoned political opponents and ran a phony election. Obama stumbled through the Arab Spring without articulating any U.S. policy. If honest, he would have admitted that we had none.

  "With regard to Israel, his entire policy collapsed. Direct talks ended. Mahmoud Abbas publicly attacked him on the pages of the New York Times and humiliated him by going to the United Nations for a declaration of statehood after Obama pleaded that he not do it. He ambushed the Israeli prime minister with a surprise declaration of U.S. policy on “1967 borders.”

  "Meanwhile, Iran marches ever closer to acquisition of nuclear weapons, China has engaged in a brutal crackdown. The Post editorial board asks why the West has done nothing about it. (“The human rights crackdown has drawn relatively little attention or condemnation from the West.”) But Obama specializes in doing nothing when it comes to the oppressed. In Cuba, Alan Gross rots in prison while Obama refuses to reverse the relaxation of sanctions."

[Hard as it might be to believe, there is even more in the original. (Click the date).

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12/28/11 The Year in Obama Scandals -- and Scandal Deniers Michelle Malkin, Creators.com

 

12/28/11 America's Greatness Will Defeat Obama By William L. Gensert, American Thinker

  "Even if Mr. Obama wins reelection, he can only delay the coming energy independence of America, he cannot prevent it.  Citizens, not thrilled with him now, will be irate when their electric bills triple and gasoline is $10 a gallon.  All that oil, coal and natural gas will come out of the ground.  Obama, as a modern day King Canute trying to command the tide, will be powerless to stop it.  

  "Four more years of this President will leave the nation miserable and divided, with high unemployment, a moribund economy and a bloated bureaucracy.  With another term, Barack Obama will continue his transformation of America into a land of perpetual trillion dollar deficits and a national debt measured in the tens of trillions of dollars.  We will be weak militarily, morally and economically.  Lesser nations, like those discussed here, would not survive 8 years of hope and change, but we will not be defeated.   

  "The only thing standing between America and continued preeminence is Barack Obama.  The sooner we realize that, and rid the nation of the abomination of his presidency, the better."  

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12/27/11 Obama to ask for debt limit hike: Treasury official Reuters

  "The White House plans to ask Congress by the end of the week for an increase in the government's debt ceiling to allow the United States to pay its bills on time, according to a senior Treasury Department official on Tuesday.

  "The approval is expected to go through without a challenge, given that Congress is in recess until later in January and the request is in line with an agreement to keep the U.S. government funded into 2013.

  "The debt is projected to fall within $100 billion of the current cap by December 30, when the United States has $82 billion in interest on its debt and payments such as Social Security coming due. President Barack Obama is expected to ask for authority to increase the borrowing limit by $1.2 trillion, part of the spending authority that was negotiated between Congress and the White House this summer.

  "Under the agreement struck in August during the showdown over the government's debt limit, the cap is automatically raised unless Congress votes to block the debt-ceiling extension. Lawmakers have 15 days within receiving the request to vote, which is largely symbolic because the president can veto it and Congress would be unlikely to muster the two-thirds majority to override it. Moreover, the U.S. House of Representatives also is in recess until January 17.

  "The deal called for raising the debt ceiling by $2.1 trillion to serve the nation's borrowing needs into 2013 and also included mandatory cuts to the federal budget deficit. Since then, the extension has been increased twice by a total of $900 billion.

  "The debt limit currently stands at $15.194 trillion and would increase to $16.394 trillion with the request."

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12/27/11 Ron Paul’s House record marked by bold strokes, and futility

By David A. Fahrenthold, The Washington Post

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12/27/11 In What May Be Final Turn in GOP Roller Coaster, Will Santorum Get Chance at Ascent? FoxNews.com

  "Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann are likely Santorum's most competitive among the social conservative crowd. And both are working vigorously to get supporters to show up at the caucuses next Tuesday night.  

  "Bachmann also won a coveted show of support from Phyllis Schlafly, founder of the conservative Eagle Forum, who on Tuesday said Bachmann 'has the courage to be a leader among her peers.' 

  "'She is a real champion in speaking up for values we care about. Michele is a woman of faith and the mother of a beautiful family. She has a 100 percent pro-life record and is a strong supporter of traditional marriage,' Schlafly said in a long statement to reporters.

  "Bachmann is trying to follow in Santorum's footsteps, hitting all 99 counties in one week, an ambitious goal.  Starting in Council Bluffs on the state's western edge on Tuesday, Bachmann will hit gas stations and diners. By nightfall, she was slated to have visited another 10 counties.

  "Out on the trail Tuesday, Perry again argued that a vote for him is a vote for a Washington outsider. Taking a dig at Paul, he said voters don't have to pick a candidate who would allow Iran to wipe Israel off the earth."

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12/27/11 Ben Nelson retiring from Senate By JOHN BRESNAHAN, Politico

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12/27/11 While President Obama Arrives in Hawaii Amidst Security and Fanfare, Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Slips Quietly into Big Island Resort BY MALIA ZIMMERMAN, Hawaii Reporter

  "Pelosi has been escorted by local police during her last two holiday visits to Hawaii Island at a cost of $34,000 to local taxpayers.

  "Obama’s trip to the island of Oahu has proved much pricier to state and federal taxpayers.

In a Hawaii Reporter story published last week, the total cost (based on what is known) for a 17-day round trip vacation to Hawaii for the President and his family and staff and security is an estimated $4,113,038.

  "That includes $3,629,622 for separate travel for the president and his family, $151,200 for housing for security, $72,216 for staff to stay in one of Hawaii's most luxurious resorts, the Moana Surfrider in Waikiki, and local police protection and ambulance detail for $260,000."

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12/27/11 Random Thoughts Thomas Sewell, TownHall.com [Too many excellent ones to abstract. Click the date.]

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12/26/11 Iran says ready to expand military links with Iraq Breitbart

  "Iran stands ready to expand its military and security ties with Iraq, its armed forces chief of staff said Sunday, a week after the exit of US forces from the neighbouring Arab country.

  "General Hassan Firouzabadi hailed the 'forced departure' of the US and allied forces that he said "was due to the resistance and determination of the Iraqi people and government," the state Islamic Republic News Agency reported. . . .

  "US analysts have expressed concern that Iran could exploit the vacuum left by the US withdrawal to bolster links with Iraq's Shiite-led government.

  "The United States frequently accused Iran of arming Iraqi militias that attacked US forces when they were deployed there."

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12/26/11 Anti-Abortion Group Sues for Documents on U.S. Funding of New Hampshire Planned Parenthood By Sharon Kehnemui, FoxNews.com

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12/26/11 Nigerians Fear More Attacks After Muslim Terrorists Kill 35 Catholics at Christmas Mass CNSNews.com, Associated Press

  "Worshippers at the Nigerian Catholic church where a terror attack killed 35 people on Christmas Day say they fear Islamic militants will target more churches.

  "At least 52 others were wounded when the blast went off at St. Theresa Catholic Church near Nigeria's capital. On Monday, women tried to clean the church ahead of Mass, with one man weeping uncontrollably."

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12/26/11 Old Rhetorical Tricks Peter Wehner, Commentary

 

12/26/11 Ex-Aide Says Ron Paul Is a 9/11 Truther & Isolationist Who Thinks U.S. Shouldn't Have Fought Hitler By JOHN MCCORMACK. Weekly Standard.com

  "A former Ron Paul staffer named Eric Dondero, who worked closely with the Texas congressman and presidential candidate over the course of 15 years, has issued a statement in which he both defends his old boss from charges of racism and anti-Semitism and reveals damning new details about about the 'sheer lunacy of [Paul's] foreign policy views'.

  "First, Dondero claims that his old boss is such an extreme isolationist that 'he strenuously does not believe the United States had any business getting involved in fighting Hitler in WWII. He expressed to me countless times, that 'saving the Jews,' was absolutely none of our business.'

  "Second, Dondero writes that that Paul himself is a 9/11 conspiracy theorist: . . .

  "None of these facts will surprise those who took a close look at company Ron Paul keeps" [The concluding paragraph of the article linked to here: "Paul’s more mainstream supporters have always explained away his popularity with 9/11 “Truthers” as an unfortunate consequence of his altruistic, if at times naïve, libertarian ethos: The man just loves freedom so much that he’s loath to turn away backers who may think differently from him. To anyone who bothers to look into Ron Paul’s record, that claim is simply not credible."]

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12/26/11 Ron Paul: I’m not racist, I’m incompetent by Don Surber, Daily Mail

  "The New York Times gave the Republican Party a Christmas gift on Sunday — the head of Ron Paul. The newspaper held the Republican congressman accountable for his own words and writings, which show him to be a nutjob. The story is: 'Paul Disowns Extremists’ Views but Doesn’t Disavow the Support.' It centers on a newsletter he had 20 years ago which made indefensible attacks based on people on the basis of their race, religion and creed. In short, he is the Anti-14th Amendment Candidate.

  "Jonah Goldberg of the National Review Online broke down Ron Paul’s defenses . . .

  "Jonah Goldberg goes on to detail the individual deficiencies of Ron Paul’s defenses. But why bother? Why go through the trouble of arguing with this fruitcake Ron Paul? The best defense that Ron Paul has is he did not write the things that were in his newsletter and he did not read them. What kind of president does that? What kind of senator does that? What kind of congressman does that?

  "By his own admission, Ron Paul cannot even run a stinking newsletter with his name on it.

Let us believe the incredible — not only suspend disbelief but kick it over to another dimension — and deal with this as an admission of being too feeble of mind to be president. People are writing garbage and signing his name to it and Ron Paul was unaware of this for 20 years. That alone disqualifies him from being in Congress."

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12/26/11 Celestial Christmas angel wings from long ago Andrew Malcolm, Investors.com

 

  "This region in the photo above is one where stars form. It's called Sharpless 2-106, a nebula in a relatively isolated "corner" of our Milky Way. The blue areas are super hot gases blasting out from the massive young star in the middle.

Rings of churning dust and gases cloak and orbit the star, giving it that pinched or horizontal hour-glass shape. The distance across this nebula could be upwards of 20 trillion miles or more.

  "However, viewed another way (our preferred way, to be honest), the nebula looks like a vast celestial set of angel wings, those fun formations that all children in snowy climes learn to make in the frontyard after the first winter storm. (More Sharpless 2-106 info here.)

  "We are treated to these amazing space images thanks to the world's increasingly sophisticated network of space telescopes orbiting Earth above the distorting atmosphere, such as this one from the venerable Hubble scope.

  "We asked NASA folks how distant from Earth is this stunning nebula that we happened to choose for our holiday image?

  "They replied about 2,000 light years, meaning the gassy, starry scene that reaches our eyes in this photograph today actually occurred 20 centuries ago. . . .

  "We'll let you make the next set of connections yourself: Christmas Day. About 2,000 years ago.

  "What a coincidence. . . .

  "Merry Christmas, everyone."

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12/24/11 Iraq PM chides Sunni sections pushing for autonomy

By SINAN SALAHEDDIN, Associated Press

  "On Saturday, al-Maliki renewed his rejection to forming regions on a 'sectarian basis,' saying it would lead to 'dividing Iraq and to rivers of blood.'

  "'I can't reject this issue (forming regions) since it is allowed by the constitution,' he told representatives from Sunni Salahuddin province, one of three Sunni-dominated provinces which has seen calls for more autonomy. Diyala and Anbar provinces have also seen cries for more autonomy. . . .

  "Al-Sadr, whose militiamen were blamed for sectarian killings during the worst years of Iraq's violence, is seeking to assert his political weight Iraq after the U.S. pullout.

  "Al-Sadr's proposal comes just two days after a terrifying wave of Baghdad bombings killed 69 people and wounded nearly 200. The bombs tore through mostly Shiite neighborhoods of the Iraqi capital, evoking fears the country could descend into a new round of sectarian violence."

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12/24/11 Gorbachev Calls on Russia's Putin to Quit Amid Unrest FoxNews.com

   "Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev called on Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to resign as tens of thousands of demonstrators cheered opposition leaders and jeered the Krelin in the biggest show of outrage in Putin's 12-year-rule. 

  "'I would advise Vladimir Putin to leave now. He has had his three terms: two as president and one as prime minister.' Three terms -- that is enough,' Gorbachev told Moscow Echo radio in an interview, reports Sky News." 

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12/24/11 Obama says he's not bound by Guantanamo, gun-control provisions

By Erik Wasson, The Hill

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12/24/11 Dr. Siegel Raises New Concerns over Medicare FoxNews.com [Click date to view video.]

Fears program puts 'unnecessary interface' between doctors, patients

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12/24/11 Congressman trumps Holder’s race card, asks if Mexican gun-walking deaths were ‘racially motivated’ By Matthew Boyle, The Daily Caller

  "Arizona Republican Rep. Paul Gosar told The Daily Caller that Attorney General Eric Holder’s race-card play to attack his critics is 'absolutely horrendous.' But Gosar said he thinks race may have played a role in the Department of Justice’s execution of Operation Fast and Furious — but in a different way from how Holder is framing it.

  "'He [Holder] brought up the race card, and while I think it’s absolutely horrendous that he would bring up the race card, in Fast and Furious, we were in fact impugning the Mexican people,' Gosar said in a phone interview. 'About 300 people have lost their lives.'

  "'When the attorney general brings up the race card, he’d better be very, very careful — particularly for the Hispanics and what’s happened to them,' Gosar adds. 'He’s been very insensitive, not only to the [U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian] Terry family in making an apology and making it very public, but where’s the apology to the Mexican government and the families of the victims in Mexico?'

  "In a front page Sunday New York Times story this weekend, Holder said an unspecified faction of his critics — which he called the 'more extreme segment' — is driven to criticize both him and President Barack Obama because of the color of their skin.

  "'This is a way to get at the president because of the way I can be identified with him,' Holder said, according to the Times. 'Both due to the nature of our relationship and, you know, the fact that we’re both African-American.'

  "Gosar said documents and testimony have proven that Holder’s inner circle, which includes DOJ Criminal Division head Assistant Attorney General Breuer and Holder’s current chief of staff, former Deputy Attorney General Gary Grindler, was well aware of the major pieces of this puzzle."

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12/24/11 Silent Night By Mark Steyn, National Review Online 

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12/24/11 Power plant closures to cost U.S. towns jobs, taxes NWI.com

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12/24/11 Rare Galaxy from 'Dawn of Time' Photographed FoxNews.com

[Click the date to view the original Web article that includes other interesting links to like material.]

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12/24/11 Rise of the drone: From Calif. garage to multibillion-dollar defense industry

Peter Finn, The Washington Post

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12/23/11 Obama's Delay On Keystone Carries A Large Cost

By ROBERT L. BRADLEY JR., Investors.com 

  "Regardless of the outcome, President Obama's desire to delay the pipeline is just the latest example of his pernicious proclivity for putting politics over sound policy when it comes to energy regulations.

  "The president simply doesn't want to bear the political costs of deciding either way on Keystone until after his re-election bid. He's wants to remain non-committal.

  "But organized labor, another one of Obama's prized constituencies, is as disappointed as extremist environmentalists are elated.

  "Growth or no growth? What's a president to do?

  "Of course, the administration can't admit to such brazen politicking. It has to provide some sort of policy justification for the delay.

  "According to a statement from the president, regulators want to 'take the time to ensure that all questions are properly addressed and all the potential impacts are properly understood.'

  "That's as specific as the statement gets. So it's unclear what remaining 'questions' or 'potential impacts' he's referring to.

Canada's oil will go somewhere. The market demands it. If not to the U.S. Gulf Coast — as currently planned — the oil could easily flow west, where China will pick it up in tankers at a port in British Columbia.

  "The Canadian government has already instituted rigorous protections to ensure the area surrounding oil extraction points aren't damaged. And the State Department recently concluded a wide-ranging study of Keystone and determined that there were no potential environmental effects from the pipeline requiring further investigation.

  "Shambling on Keystone might be smart politics — but there's no good policy reason to delay approval. And there is a huge cost of delay, which can be captured in just four letters: J-O-B-S.

  "Keystone XL requires miles of pipe to be welded and installed, and at least 30 new pumping facilities to be constructed. American workers would staff many of those operations.

  "Indeed, if Keystone XL were allowed to proceed as planned, oil sands development and related operations would directly create thousands of new jobs. Tens of thousands additional positions would be created indirectly at businesses along the pipeline's pathway."

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12/23/11 The GOP’s payroll tax debacle By Charles Krauthammer, The Washington Post

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12/23/11 Norquist: Obama Used Payroll Tax to Whip Up Class Hatred

Paul Scicchitano, NewsMax.com

  "Conservative activist Grover Norquist, who pioneered the 'anti-tax increase' pledge embraced by Republicans, tells Newsmax.TV that President Obama and his Democrats never really cared a 'whiff' about the payroll tax cut extension despite their public consternation leading up to today’s two-month compromise agreement. . . .

  "'Neither president Obama or Harry Reid and the Democrats in the Senate care one whiff about extending the one-year tax holiday for FICA tax,' Norquist said in an exclusive interview on Thursday. . . .

  "Norquist tells Newsmax.TV that he believes the entire issue was political theater to assist Obama in his re-election bid and to distract Americans from the real issues.
  "'I think the president of the United States wants to talk about anything other than his over spending and his tax increase plan. I think we should force him to speak about those issues now,' declared Norquist.

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12/23/11 SANTORUM SURGES By Dick Morris, DickMorris.com

  "There has always been a sort of mini-primary among the Tea Party followers among Gingrich, Perry, Bachmann, Cain, and Santorum – the candidates they find acceptable. Gingrich’s and Bachmann’s drop, Cain’s withdrawal, and Perry’s stagnation all contrast sharply with Santorum’s surge [Still only 10 in the Rasmussen poll, but doubled in the month]. . . .

  "Santorum, whose conservative record is as solid as they come, is benefiting from the fall of Gingrich in a way Bachmann seems unable to do."

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12/23/11 Christianity May Be Eradicated in Iraq and Afghanistan, Says Chair of U.S. Religious Freedom Commission By Terence P. Jeffrey, CNSNews.com

12/23/11 Three Denver Muslims lead cheers for Tebow By Valerie Richardson, The Washington Times

  "Shortly after the Broncos‘ loss to the Tennessee Titans in the third week of the season, the brothers issued an orange-and-blue challenge to the team’s skeptical coach: 'Broncos Fans to John Fox: Play Tebow!' That message was timed to interchange with “Welcome to Tebow-Land,” showing a photo of the quarterback.

  "Did they get permission from Multiline’s owner first? 'No, not really,' said Mohammad. 'We just kind of put it up there.' Fortunately, the boss is also their dad. 'My dad didn’t know who Tebow was at first, but he was fine with it,' he said.

  "The reaction was immediate. Fans began showing up in the parking lot at 58th Avenue and Logan Court to take photos. Customer reaction was 'all positive - we never heard anything negative,' Mohammad said.

  "The Denver Post and local television stations picked up the tale of the sign, which was running new Tebow messages every week. Soon 'the Sign' hit the national spotlight with a mention in Sports Illustrated and stories on NFL Network and Yahoo Sports.

  "Fox, the coach, professed during an October news conference to have never seen the sign, but many Broncos players and executives undoubtedly had. The digital billboard looms above Interstate 25, just three exits north of where the Broncos play.

  "Two weeks after the first message ran, Fox inserted the backup quarterback at halftime against the San Diego Chargers. The next day, Tebow was named the starter. He promptly became a national sensation after reeling off a string of last-minute, come-from-behind victories .

  "The son of Christian missionaries, Tebow has been criticized by some for his public displays of faith, such as taking a knee to pray during games and thanking 'my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ' before speaking with the press. It’s been suggested that he needs to tone down his expressions of religious faith, but the Suleimans disagree. . . .

Nobody has commented on the juxtaposition of Muslim fans leading the bandwagon on behalf of the uber-Christian Tebow. Well, almost nobody. 'Just reporters,' said Mohammad."

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12/22/11 NUKE SCIENTIST EXCHANGE PLANNED By Bill Gertz, The Washington Times

  "Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel B. Poneman is working on a major Obama administration initiative that would renew scientist exchanges between U.S. nuclear weapons laboratories and Chinese nuclear facilities.

  "The idea is aimed at promoting openness and transparency by China’s military about its secret, large-scale buildup of nuclear weapons, according to U.S. officials.

  "Critics say the plan is similar to an exchange program in the 1990s that sent U.S. nuclear scientists to China and produced one of the worst cases of nuclear espionage. Secrets about every deployed warhead in the U.S. arsenal were compromised, including the W-88 small nuclear warhead deployed on submarine-launched missiles.

  "'We’ve seen this movie before, and it has a bad ending,' one official said.

  "Officials familiar with the plan told Inside the Ring that the initiative was discussed during a recent policy committee meeting of senior national security officials at the White House.

  "The initiative is part of the administration’s arms-control-centered security policies. According to the officials, the administration hopes to coax the reluctant Chinese communist leadership and its military into engaging the United States in strategic nuclear talks, something China so far has refused.

“This is a way to reach out to [the Chinese] with multilateral arms-control programs,” said a second U.S. official familiar with the plan.

  "The initiative likely will face opposition from Congress.

  "House Republicans added language to the 2012 Defense Authorization Act that restricts the Pentagon and Energy department from cooperating with Beijing in setting up a nuclear security center in China. The provision, when signed into law, will block funding for the center until the secretary of defense certifies that China has halted nuclear proliferation and that the center will be in line with U.S. interests.

  "U.S. intelligence has linked China to nuclear arms proliferation in Pakistan and other emerging nuclear states."

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12/22/11 As Iraq Bombings Grow, Dems Have Much To Answer For Investors.com

  "The 14 coordinated bombings that ravaged Baghdad on Thursday, killing dozens, only begins Iraq's post-U.S. nightmare. America's job was never finished.

  "We, along with many others, have been warning for years of the consequences of a premature withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq.

  "After President George W. Bush's 2007 surge strategy succeeded so resoundingly, you would think there would be no way Democrats in Washington could snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

  "Unfortunately, they did. And the question must now be asked: Is this war being lost so it can be pinned on Republicans?

  "What is taking place in Iraq, just days after the final departure of American troops, is the beginning of another Vietnam-style disaster debacle. The message will soon once again go out to all the world — friends and foes alike — that the world's lone superpower can't, or won't, win a protracted war.

  "Bombs slaughtered 69 and injured nearly 200 only four days after the U.S. departure, in a conspicuous exploitation of a new security vacuum.

  "The attacks aptly came about 48 hours after former Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi — a pro-Western Shiite who now leads the huge Iraqiya bloc in parliament — declared that the U.S. left "without completing the job they should have finished."

  "Neighboring Islamofascist Iran has long backed Iraq's insurgency, seeking to take advantage of a weakened post-U.S. Iraq. And this bloodshed happened during a week of new, disturbing instability within the Baghdad government."

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12/22/11 Holder's Voter ID Fraud The Wall Street Journal

The AG invents fears of ballot suppression.

  "The Obama Administration's re-election mobilization continues: Witness Eric Holder's attempt to play the race card and perhaps twist the law in a campaign against voter identification laws.

  "In the Attorney General's telling, the movement in the states to require voters to show some ID is a revival of minority disenfranchisement a la Jim Crow. A growing number of minorities, he said in a speech last week, are now worried about 'the same disparities, divisions and problems' that beset the country in 1965 and 'many Americans, for the first time in their lives . . . now have reason to believe that we are failing to live up' to the promise of democracy for all.

  "If you haven't heard about this national crisis, perhaps that's because you don't travel in Mr. Holder's political circles. He is merely repeating the howls of groups like the NAACP and the George Soros-funded Brennan Center, which claim without evidence that voter ID laws hurt minorities.

  "The NAACP even petitioned the United Nations this month for a human-rights ruling on what President Benjamin Jealous called a "tidal wave of assaults on the right to vote." He meant in America, not Cuba or North Korea. The American Civil Liberties Union has sued to challenge a voter ID law in Wisconsin.

  "Mr. Holder's remarks are especially notable because they come as the Justice Department is reviewing voter ID laws in Texas and South Carolina for 'preclearance' under the Voting Rights Act. The states' plans require voters to present photo ID like a driver's license or passport to vote, a measure endorsed by the Commission on Federal Election Reform headed by President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker in 2005 to protect the integrity of the ballot.

  "Mr. Holder says the Civil Rights Division led by Thomas Perez will review the policies and impartially 'apply the law.' If that's true, Mr. Perez's job should be easy: In 2005, Justice approved a nearly identical law in Georgia. In 2008's Crawford v. Marion County Election Board, the Supreme Court likewise ruled 6-3 that an Indiana law requiring photo ID at the ballot box was constitutional.

  "The court's liberal lion, then-Justice John Paul Stevens, wrote for the majority that Indiana's law 'is unquestionably relevant to the State's interest in protecting the integrity and reliability of the electoral process.' Indiana offered free voter ID cards to all citizens, so the inconvenience of picking up an ID at the Department of Motor Vehicles wasn't an undue burden and was reasonably balanced by the state's interest in reducing fraud, Justice Stevens wrote."

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12/22/11 ObamaCar Sticker Shock: Taxpayers Taken For A Ride Investors.com

  "A think tank crunches the subsidy and bailout dollars and puts the true cost of Government Motors' electric car at a cool quarter-million. And the few sold have been largely bought by the 1%."

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12/22/11 The EPA's Mercury Madness Investors.com

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12/22/11 Thomas Sowell: I’ll Take Gingrich over Romney NewsMax.com

  "Economist and conservative author Thomas Sowell says voters should disregard Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich’s 'baggage' and support the former House speaker because defeating President Obama in 2012 is crucial to America’s future."

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12/22/11 Cain on Cain Robert Costa, Natiional Review Online
The former frontrunner reflects on his abortive run

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12/21/11 We Stand for Principle Over Politics and the Establishment Can't Stand It

Rush Limbaugh Show Transcript Segment

RUSH: Remember, folks, how Obama and the news media fought a temporary deal during the debt ceiling debate.  He said the markets needed confidence, we can't do this temporary stuff. He said we can't keep doing these continuing resolutions and these temporary debt ceiling increases.  We gotta do the whole thing here.  Now all of a sudden we got temporary, temporary, temporary, and we do a two-month fix that cannot even be implemented.  The House Republicans, the freshmen, the Tea Party conservatives, the other conservatives in the House are holding firm on this on principle. Even some in the media are saying the House Republicans are acting on principal, not politics. . . .

  If the Republicans want this tax cut extended, then they ought to fight to actually extend it for a year.  Two months doesn't do anything. . . .

  [E]xplain what's really going on here.  Explain that this isn't a tax cut.  Since when did Social Security taxes, when were they actually called tax increases? These are contributions. These are actual deductions from your pay that end coming back to you -- this is how it's always been sold -- in your retirement years, in your golden years.  Theoretically it's your money.  All we're doing is defunding the only mechanism that funds Social Security.  If they want to stop this, then just explain that this is draining money from Social Security without any of the necessary reforms. . . .

  Meanwhile, while all of this is going on, the pipeline issue is huge!  How about a standalone pipeline bill, Republicans? How about delinking the pipeline from this?  'Well, they tried that, Rush, they actually think more political pressure could be applied to Obama.'  Well, no, because the Republican establishment is undermining the coupling of the pipeline with the two-month payroll tax cut.  But the pipeline issue is huge. 

  The Iranians are cutting to cut off access to Middle East oil, the Strait of Hormuz.  And that wouldn't take much.  Leon  

Panetta, the secretary of defense says that Iran getting nukes is a red line for us, meaning possible war.  He's saying that.  I know Obama's not saying it but his secretary of defense is.  And yet Obama and the Democrats are blocking a source of oil from an ally and are blocking the exploration and the use of natural gas and on and on.  Obama and his party are doing everything they can to keep this nation imprisoned in the dependence on foreign oil, while claiming that they want to do just the opposite. [All this and still not mentioning the bookkeeping nightmare of implementing this for only two months.]

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12/21/11 Officials Plead Guilty in New York Voter Fraud Case By Eric Shawn, FoxNews.com

  "A total of four Democratic officials and political operatives have now pleaded guilty to voter fraud-related felony charges in an alleged scheme to steal a New York election. 

  "The latest guilty pleas expose the ease with which political insiders can apparently manipulate the electoral system and throw an election their way, by the forging of signatures of unsuspecting voters that are then cast as real votes."

[And yet the Dems and MSM insist there is no (detected?) voter fraud. This could be a leading factor, not legitimate votes cast.]

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12/21/11 Extremist Teachings Remain in Saudi Textbooks Despite Kingdom's Claims of Reform

By Catherine Herridge, FoxNews.com

  "In a textbook for 10th-graders, printed for the 2010-2011 academic year, al-Ahmed said teenagers are taught barbaric practices. 'They show students how to cut (the) hand and the feet of a thief,' he said. In another textbook, for ninth-graders, the students are taught the annihilation of the Jewish people is imperative. One text reads in part: 'The hour (of judgment) will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them. ... There is a Jew behind me come and kill him.'

  "According to the textbook translations provided to Fox News, women are described as weak and irresponsible. And al-Ahmed said the textbooks call for homosexuals to be put to death 'because they pose a danger at society, as the Saudi school books teaches.'

  "Al-Ahmed say the textbooks are both a Saudi and an American problem. 'If you teach six million children in these important years of their lives, if you install that in their brain, no wonder we have so many Saudi suicide bombers.'

  "After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, there was an intense focus on Saudi Arabia and its educational teachings because almost all of the attackers were from the kingdom."

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12/21/11 What Ron Paul Thinks of America By DOROTHY RABINOWITZ,The Wall Street Journal

It seemed improbable that the best-known American propagandist for our enemies could be near the top of the pack in the Iowa contest, but there it is.

  "[Ron Paul] is the best-known of our homegrown propagandists for our chief enemies in the world. One who has made himself a leading spokesman for, and recycler of, the long and familiar litany of charges that point to the United States as a leading agent of evil and injustice, the militarist victimizer of millions who want only to live in peace.

  "Hear Dr. Paul on the subject of the 9/11 terror attacks—an event, he assures his audiences, that took place only because of U.S. aggression and military actions. True, we've heard the assertions before. But rarely have we heard in any American political figure such exclusive concern for, and appreciation of, the motives of those who attacked us—and so resounding a silence about the suffering of those thousands that the perpetrators of 9/11 set out so deliberately to kill.

  "There is among some supporters now drawn to Dr. Paul a tendency to look away from the candidate's reflexive way of assigning the blame for evil—the evil, in particular, of terrorism—to the United States. . . .

  "This admirer is representative of a fair number of people now flocking to the Paul campaign or thinking of doing so. It may come as a surprise to a few of them that in the event of a successful campaign, a President Paul won't be making decisions based just on the parts of his values that his supporters find endearing. He'd be making decisions about the nation's defense, national security, domestic policy and much else. He'd be the official voice of America—and, in one conspicuous regard, a familiar one.

  "The world may not be ready for another American president traversing half the globe to apologize for the misdeeds of the nation he had just been elected to lead. Still, it would be hard to find any public figure in America whose views more closely echo those of President Obama on that tour. . . .

  "There he was at the debate last Thursday waving his arms, charging that the U.S. was declaring 'war on 1.2 billion Muslims,' that it 'viewed all Muslims as the same.' Yes, he allowed, 'there are a few radicals'—and then he proceeded to hold forth again on the good reasons terrorists had for mounting attacks on us.

  "His efforts on behalf of Iran's right to the status of misunderstood victim continued apace. On the Hannity show following the debate, Dr. Paul urged the host to understand that Iran's leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, had never mentioned any intention of wiping Israel off the map. It was all a mistranslation, he explained. What about Ahmadinejad's denial of the Holocaust? A short silence ensued as the candidate stared into space. He moved quickly on to a more secure subject. 'They're just defending themselves,' he declared.

  "Presumably he was referring to Iran's wishes for a bomb. It would have been intriguing to hear his answer had he been asked about another Ahmadinejad comment, made more than once—the one in which the Iranian leader declares the U.S. 'a Satanic power that will, with God's will, be annihilated.' . . .

  "There can be no confusions about Dr. Paul's own comments about the U.S. After 9/11, he said to students in Iowa, there was 'glee in the administration because now we can invade Iraq.' It takes a profoundly envenomed mindset—one also deeply at odds with reality—to believe and to say publicly that the administration of this nation brought so low with grief and loss after the attack had reacted with glee. There are, to be sure, a number of like-minded citizens around (see the 9/11 Truthers, whose opinions Dr. Paul has said he doesn't share). But we don't expect to find their views in people running for the nation's highest office.

  "The Paul comment here is worth more than a passing look. It sums up much we have already heard from him. It's the voice of that ideological school whose central doctrine is the proposition that the U.S. is the main cause of misery and terror in the world. The school, for instance, of Barack Obama's former minister famed for his 'God d— America' sermons: the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, for whom, as for Dr. Paul, the 9/11 terror assault was only a case of victims seeking justice, of 'America's chickens coming home to roost.'"

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12/21/11 New EPA rule threatens up to 1.65M jobs by Joel Gehrke, WashingtonExaminer.com

  "'Analyses predict EPA's rules will force the premature retirement of power plants that are needed to provide affordable, reliable power to consumers and our growing economy,' House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., said after the EPA announced the rule. 'Other plants will require multi-million dollar retrofits that will result in higher electricity bills.'

  "House Oversight and Government Relations Committee lawmakers believe that MATS, which includes the Utility MACT rule, could kill 186,000 jobs per year between 2012 and 2020 -- 1.65 million jobs total -- citing a study by National Economic Research Associates. 'The Committee is not satisfied that EPA has conducted a good faith analysis of the employment impact of the rule,' Committee chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chairman of the Subcommittee on Regulator Affairs, wrote in a letter earlier this month. 'EPA's jobs analysis failed to look at the impact that higher energy prices would have on employment,' they added.

  "Issa and Jordan also suggested that the 'EPA has purposefully ignored grid reliability issues.' The Wall Street Journal reported that EPA staffers expressed concern that the rule could contribute to blackouts by weakening the electric grid, but 'their political superiors have erased the warnings' in published reports on the rule before it was enacted."

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12/20/11 All Candidates Should Be Concerned About SOPA Stephen DeMaura and David Segal, Roll Call

  "The legislation that campaigns across the country should be concerned about is the Stop Online Piracy Act. . . .

  "Here’s a plausible campaign scenario under SOPA. Imagine you are running for Congress in a competitive House district. You give a strong interview to a local morning news show and your campaign posts the clip on your website.   When your opponent’s campaign sees the video, it decides to play hardball and sends a notice to your Internet service provider alerting them to what it deems “infringing content.” It doesn’t matter if the content is actually pirated. The ISP has five days to pull down your website and the offending clip or be sued. If you don’t take the video down, even if you believe that the content is protected under fair use, your website goes dark.

  "The ability of any entity to file an infringement notice is one of SOPA’s biggest problems. It creates an unprecedented 'private right of action' that would allow a private party, without any involvement by a court, to effectively shut down a website. For a campaign, this would mean shouldering legal responsibility for all user-generated posts. As more issue-based and political campaigns utilize social media to spread their message and engage supporters, a site could be targeted not only for the campaign’s own posts but also for well-meaning comments from supporters.

  "Another damaging aspect of SOPA is the increased liability the bill would place on ISPs and search engines. SOPA effectively guts the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s safe harbors — one of the big reasons companies such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter weren’t crushed in their early days by harassing lawsuits. Without these safe harbors, the risk of frivolous lawsuits greatly increases, which makes it more expensive for startups to get off the ground and decreases the chances of investment and future job growth.

  "The good news is that there is an alternative to SOPA, recently introduced by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), which would effectively stop online piracy without harming legitimate U.S. businesses and campaigns. The Online Protection & Enforcement of Digital Trade Act would create a process for rights holders to protect their property that wouldn’t shut down entire sites over a small amount of copyrighted material. This legislation helps to solve copyright infringement while protecting the vitality of the U.S.-based Internet sector — an industry that has contributed 23 percent of the growth in world gross domestic product and has revolutionized the way we live.

  "By creating legislation that allows sites to be shut down at will, with limited recourse available to the sites’ owners, SOPA greatly threatens the democratizing tool the Internet has become. With the Internet playing an ever increasing role in the political process, the powers the bill creates could be greatly abused by those wishing to silence their opponents.

  "Political campaigns and anyone interested in an open political process should be greatly concerned about the regulations SOPA creates and the freedoms it restricts. Online piracy needs to be stopped, but not at the expense of creating a legal wasteland that could restrict the vital flow of candidate and campaign information on the Internet."

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12/20/11 Obama's Job-Killing Machine Rolls On Investors.com

  "President Obama tells anyone who'll listen that from dawn until dusk he's focused on job creation. Apparently, no one in his administration listens, since day after day they keep making job-killing decisions.

In fact, when it comes to jobs, Obama's policies are so bad that even his union pals are starting to notice.

  "The latest to take notice is the Communications Workers of America union. It reported last month that AT&T's $39 billion bid for T-mobile would have brought 5,000 quality jobs back from overseas and created 'as many as 96,000 additional quality jobs in the build-out of high-speed wireless broadband.'

  "Instead, AT&T this week decided to spike its acquisition plans after Obama's Justice Department sued and his Federal Communications Commission came out against it, claiming the merger would result in higher consumer costs. Even if that risk were true, it's cold comfort to all those who won't get these jobs

  "Then there's Obama's own decision to put the protection of environmentalist votes over the creation of tens of thousands of good jobs by delaying his Keystone XL pipeline decision until after the election.

  "Terry O'Sullivan, general president of the Laborers' International Union of North America was astonishingly blunt in his response: 'The administration chose to support environmentalists over jobs — job-killers win, American workers lose.'

  "And Obama's attacks on the private jet industry caused International Association of Machinists President Tom Buffenbarger to take offense. 'In this industry, a few misguided words can put at risk even the ever-so-modest recovery we have experienced.'

  "Meanwhile, Obama's supposed focus on job creation has failed to penetrate the walls of the Environmental Protection Agency. New EPA air pollution rules, for example, will shutter three dozen power plants, putting all their employees out to pasture, with three dozen more plants at risk, according to a new AP analysis of the effects of the mandates. All this to produce air quality improvements that will provide negligible health benefits.

  "The list goes on. The medical device tax — tucked into ObamaCare — the net neutrality rule, the anti-drilling policies, and so on all get enacted without any apparent regard for the impact they've have on jobs.

  "Rather than spend all day thinking about job creation, Obama would do the country much better if he spent that time rooting out his own job-destroying policies."

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12/20/11 Tax Cut? No, Just Another Raid On Social Security Investors.com

  "Obama and his Democrats don't want to direct any tax cuts toward investment for long term growth — as corporate tax cuts do — but to hand them out to taxpayers like party favors in the hopes it'll pay off come November. It's a political game, but they have few other options aside from cutting spending.

  "But there's a big catch: The payroll tax cut they seek is nothing more than taking cash from the back pockets of taxpayers and handing it to them up front.

  "The supposed payroll tax cut, as blogger Don Surber has noted, is a Social Security tax cut that comes through the Federal Insurance Contributions Act. [FICA, the means by which Social Security is supposed to be funded.]

  "That means the tax cut will be achieved by taking $120 billion from the Social Security "trust fund."

Instead of getting rid of a bureaucrat or a thousand, the idea is to simply raid the Social Security trust fund one more time, hastening the day it goes bust."

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12/20/11 Holder Cowardly Plays Race Card in Fast and Furious Investors.com

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12/20/11 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree Pays Homage to Obama—But Not Jesus

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12/19/11 Boehner, Obama and Keystone Rush Limbaugh Show Segment Transcript

BOEHNER:  I and our members oppose the Senate bill.  It's only for two months.  You know, the president said we shouldn't go on vacation until we get our work done.  And, frankly, House Republicans agree.  We passed a one-year extension of the payroll tax credit, unemployment insurance with reforms, making sure that those doctors who treat Medicare patients are not going to see their reimbursements cut.  We had a reasonable, responsible bill that we sent over to the Senate.  And, you know, if you talk to employers, they talk about the uncertainty.  How can you do tax policy for two months? . . .

RUSH: Here's Boehner this morning on Capitol Hill.  He had a press conference and during the Q&A, reporter said, "Now, we were told that you initially supported the Senate payroll tax cut bill, this two month thing, said that the House should move forward with the Senate." ["The White House is saying that Boehner agreed to this and turned his back on it."]

BOEHNER:  No, that's not -- that's not true.  What I was outlining was the fact that having the Keystone pipeline in here was a success, but I raised concerns about the two month process from the moment that I heard about it.

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12/19/11 One president, please, with a side of Rice By Joseph Curl, The Washington Times

  "Republican diners haven’t yet picked their entree, but they’ve narrowed it down to the steak or the fish. Still, just as interesting as their main course will be their side selection: Will they go for a drab salad, or something more exciting?  Maybe a spicy Rice dish?

  "Yes, that Rice: Condi. She’s rested and ready - and buff.

  "America’s first black female secretary of state is quietly positioning herself to be the top choice of the eventual Republican presidential nominee, ready to deliver bona fide foreign-policy credentials lacking among the candidates. The 56-year-old has recently raised her profile, releasing her memoir in November and embarking on a monthlong book tour.

After 2 1/2 years as a professor at Stanford, Miss Rice is reportedly getting “antsy” to get back into the political game.   "'She’s ready to go,' said one top source. . . .

  "Her addition to the ticket, which wouldn’t come until late next summer, would dramatically change the dynamics of the 2012 election. As a black woman - her family has roots in the Deep South stretching back to before Civil War era, and worked as sharecroppers after emancipation - she would mute Democrats’ charges of racism among conservatives, especially tea party members. And her sex would likely prompt moderate women to take a serious look at the Republican ticket. . . .

  "Unlike 2008, when Miss Rice repeatedly played down all suggestions that she might like to join the Republican ticket as the vice presidential candidate, she is actively staying mum, while quietly encouraging speculation that she is ready to run. . .

  "Of course, like any black conservative (see Cain, Herman), she is mostly reviled in the black liberal community. In the midst of the Bush administration, Eugene Robinson, a columnist for The Washington Post, asked, 'How did she come to a worldview so radically different from that of most black Americans?' Funny thing is, she is, unlike Barack Obama, an 'American black.'

  "And Miss Rice, in her inimitable way, had a response. 'Why would I worry about something like that?' she said about the criticism. 'The fact of the matter is I’ve been black all my life. Nobody needs to tell me how to be black.'

  "The White House, through its Chicago mafia, was intent on taking out Mr. Cain. Unfortunately, he proved an easy target. But they were clearly frightened by a strong American black, even as a veep candidate."

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12/18/11 The EPA's Fracking Scare The Wall Street Journal

  "The shale gas boom has been a rare bright spot in the U.S. economy, so much of the country let out a shudder two weeks ago when the Environmental Protection Agency issued a 'draft' report that the drilling process of hydraulic fracturing may have contaminated ground water in Pavillion, Wyoming. The good news is that the study is neither definitive nor applicable to the rest of the country.

  "When considered together with other lines of evidence, the data indicates likely impact to ground water that can be explained by hydraulic fracking," said the EPA report, referring to the drilling process that blasts water and chemicals into shale rock to release oil and natural gas. The news caused elation among environmentalists and many in the media who want to shut down fracking.

  "More than one-third of all natural gas drilling now uses fracking, and that percentage is rising. If the EPA Wyoming study holds up under scrutiny, an industry that employs tens of thousands could be in peril.

  "But does it stand up? This is the first major study to have detected linkage between fracking and ground-water pollution, and the EPA draft hasn't been peer reviewed by independent scientific analysts. Critics are already picking apart the study, which Wyoming Governor Matt Mead called 'scientifically questionable.'

  "The EPA says it launched the study in response to complaints 'regarding objectionable taste and odor problems in well water.' What it doesn't say is that the U.S. Geological Survey has detected organic chemicals in the well water in Pavillion (population 175) for at least 50 years—long before fracking was employed. . . .

  "The safety of America's drinking water needs to be protected, as the fracking industry itself well knows. Nothing would shut down drilling faster, and destroy billions of dollars of investment, than media interviews with mothers afraid to let their kids brush their teeth with polluted water. So the EPA study needs to be carefully reviewed.

  "But the EPA's credibility is also open to review. The agency is dominated by anticarbon true believers, and the Obama Administration has waged a campaign to raise the price and limit the production of fossil fuels.

  "Natural gas carries a smaller carbon footprint than coal or oil, and greens once endorsed it as an alternative to coal and nuclear power. But as the shale gas revolution has advanced, greens are worried that plentiful natural gas will price wind and solar even further out of the market. This could mean many more of the White House's subsidized investments will go belly up like Solyndra.

  "The other big issue is regulatory control. Hydraulic fracturing isn't regulated by the EPA, and in 2005 Congress reaffirmed that it did not want the EPA to do so under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The states regulate gas drilling, and by and large they have done the job well. Texas and Florida adopted rules last week that followed other states in requiring companies to disclose their fracking chemicals.

  "But the EPA wants to muscle in, and its Wyoming study will help in that campaign. The agency is already preparing to promulgate new rules regulating fracking next year. North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple says that new EPA rules restricting fracking "would have a huge economic impact on our state's energy development. We believe strongly this should be regulated by the states." Some 3,000 wells in the vast Bakken shale in North Dakota use fracking.

  "By all means take threats to drinking water seriously. But we also need to be sure that regulators aren't spreading needless fears so they can enhance their own power while pursuing an ideological agenda."

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12/18/11 Why Mandated Health Insurance Is Unfair By JOHN C. GOODMAN, The Wall Street Journal

There's an easier way to solve the 'free-rider' problem.

  "Should all Americans be required to have health insurance? ObamaCare said yes, and the issue is now central to the Republican presidential primary. Mitt Romney championed an individual mandate as governor of Massachusetts. Newt Gingrich once backed the idea too, egged on by several conservative think tanks, though he's now opposed. Its constitutionality aside (that'll be decided soon by the Supreme Court), is a mandate a good idea?

  "The short answer is no. There is nothing that can be achieved with a mandate that can't be better achieved by a carefully designed system of tax subsidies." [Click the date to read the details of a very fair suggested system.]

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12/18/11 Right to Work: A Basic American Freedom by David A. Bego, Big Government

  "Recent polls indicate Americans are fed up with Big Labor’s schoolyard bully tactics and utilization of taxpayer money to support political candidates and liberal agendas. Additionally, Americans are tired of government deficits driven by public sector pay, overblown benefits, and restrictive work rules. Americans, including union rank and file members, are tired of Big Labor’s attempt to deprive them of basic freedoms. They voiced their displeasure in last November’s election (see Union Members Not Happy with Their Leader’s Political Spending and Union Members Overwhelmingly Oppose Union Boss Political Spending on 2010 Midterm Elections). In states like Indiana, elected officials have heard the people’s mandate and are proposing “Right to Work” legislation (“RTW”) that will provide each and every American the right to personally decide if they wish to be represented by a union, without fearing the threat of reprisal. What could be more American than the freedom of choice? . . .

  "Big Labor would have you believe they have an altruistic mission to provide people the right to be represented in the workplace. However, if big labor was so concerned about peoples’ rights, why wouldn’t they be in favor of allowing each employee freedom of choice, as recently expressed by a non-union worker in a union company (see Republicans Didn’t Run When Democrats Were in Charge)? The simple answer is that Big Labor fears many will leave the union rolls because there is no intrinsic benefit to membership, resulting in the unions losing their coveted dues. Membership dues are the true objective. The labor unions are nearly extinct and they need membership dues to elect sympathetic politicians. In turn, these elected officials will pass laws or appoint members to the NLRB that will utilize their regulatory power to administer Big Labor’s agenda, thereby forcing unionism on more public and private employees (see Card Check through Regulation vs. Legislation, Actions Speak Louder than Words). In return, Big Labor will pour more membership dues into political coffers. It is a cycle passing monies from rank and file workers to Big Labor bosses and liberal politicians (see Union Power for Thee, But Not for Me).

  "RTW provides freedom of choice for employees and provides unions the opportunity to compete in a free market society without taxpayer or employee subsidies. Unions were necessary and beneficial at one point in history; however, they have hastened their own demise. Despite Big Labor’s claims of “protecting the middle class,” union demands have essentially created an unsustainable system due to out-of-control wages and benefits and restrictive work rules in both the private and public sectors, ultimately destroying the middle class they purport to support."

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12/18/11 Liberal Iowa Newspaper Backs Romney for GOP Nomination NewsMax.com

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12/17/11 Newt Gingrich says he'd defy Supreme Court rulings he opposed

By David G. Savage, Los Angeles Times

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12/17/11 ELECTION 2012 TRACKING Gallup

  Gingrich 28% Romney 24% Paul 10% Bachmann 8% Perry 6% Santorum 4% Huntsman 2% Other 2%

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12/17/11 Congressmen can't say 'Merry Christmas' in mail by Mark Tapscott, WashingtonExaminer.com

  "Members who submit official mailings for review by the congressional franking commission that reviews all congressional mail to determine if it can be 'franked,' or paid for with tax dollars, are being told that no holiday greetings, including 'Merry Christmas,' can be sent in official mail. . . .

  "You may make reference to the season as a whole using language along the lines of 'Have a safe and happy holiday season.' It may only be incidental to the piece rather than the primary purpose of the communication."

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12/17/11

Newt's unpopular truth: Palestine wasn’t even a country 100 years ago

By Michael Coren, EdmontonSun.com

  "Newt Gingrich got into all sorts of trouble a few days ago when he claimed: 'There was no Palestine as a state. It was part of the Ottoman Empire. We’ve had an invented Palestinian people who are in fact Arabs and who were historically part of the Arab community. And they had a chance to go many places.'

  "Newt, you’re completely correct, and this is one of the bravest and most intellectually informed things any of the Republican candidates have said so far.

  "Contrary to what you might hear from leftists, labour leaders, students and manipulative Arab activists carefully pulling on the emotional heart-strings of gullible westerners, the Palestinians as an identified group trace their ancestry not — as with the Jews — back thousands of years, but to 1920.

  "Until then, Arabs living in what we now know as Israel regarded themselves as Muslim or Christians, and not as Palestinians.

  "For centuries they had been subjects of the Ottoman Empire, and as Arabs did not recognize any particular national boundaries, and felt commonality with Muslims in Algeria or Yemen rather than Christians who lived in the next village.

Ottoman maps and records, and the writings of foreign travellers, do not speak of Palestine or Palestinians. . . .

  "It was the vehemently pro-Nazi, anti-Semitic Amin el-Husseini, the so-called Mufti of Jerusalem who, when he wasn’t praising Hitler as the new messiah and demanding the Nazis extend the Holocaust to the Middle East, developed the idea of the Palestine homeland, partly because the French had taken Syria.

  "From the 1920s on, this new phantom would come to dominate the Arab narrative.

  "Where no nation had existed, one had to be born. To the point where, today, we are obliged to listen to young men and women born in Canada, shouting at us about the plight of their Palestinian ancestors, and how they want nothing more than to return to the country and the land to which they belong. Oh Palestine, I was told by a protester in Toronto just a few months ago, we need you as a child needs a mother.

  "Not much of a mom though, and not often at home or looking after the kids. Of course people who once lived in the area no longer live there, and of course there were crimes committed and injustices perpetrated.

  "But nothing on the scale of the million Jews expelled from the Arab world, who can trace their lineage with far greater depth and longevity than the alleged Palestinians.

  "But Palestine is fashionable, the Jewish/Christian temple never existed, the Jews all came from Poland, and lies become truth.

  "Newt, for all of your failings, you had the courage to speak truth to power this week, and for that we all should be grateful."

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12/17/11 Most Americans don't buy Obama's class warfare rhetoric WashingtonExaminer.com

  "President Obama believes the greatest threat facing our country today is income inequality. In Osawatomie, Kan., earlier this month, Obama said, 'In the last few decades, the average income of the top 1 percent has gone up by more than 250 percent to $1.2 million per year. ... And yet, over the last decade the incomes of most Americans have actually fallen by about 6 percent. Now, this kind of inequality -- a level that we haven't seen since the Great Depression -- hurts us all.'

First of all, Obama's statement was quite misleading. Note the sleight of hand of comparing 'the last decade' for one group with 'the last few decades' for another. That's what clear-eyed people call 'comparing apples to oranges.' A recent Congressional Budget Office study found that for the top 1 percent, after-tax income has increased 275 percent since 1979. For the middle 60 percent of American households -- that is, 'most Americans,' excluding the top and bottom quintiles -- income has risen by almost 40 percent. People in those groups have become richer, and that's a cause for celebration.

  "Not for class warrior Obama. He says the income inequality growth over the last few decades 'distorts our democracy' and 'gives lie to the promise that's at the very heart of America.' But as it turns out, in addition to the facts described by CBO, the American people also have a contrary view. According to a Gallup poll conducted just days before Obama's speech, only 46 percent of Americans believe it is important that the federal government do something to reduce the income gap between the rich and poor. The same poll found that 82 percent of Americans thought economic growth should be the government's top priority. Fifty-eight percent reject the entire concept of an America divided between 'haves' and 'have-nots.'

  "A closer examination of the numbers shows that income inequality is little more than a perennial obsession among liberal Democrats like Obama. Just 43 percent of independents, and only 21 percent of Republicans, say the gap between the rich and poor is an important issue, whereas 72 percent of Democrats say that it is. Maybe Obama's Osawatomie speech maybe wasn't written to appeal to most Americans but rather to fire up the Democratic base for his 2012 re-election campaign.

  "That same Gallup poll had even more signs showing that Obama has again misread the American electorate. Asked which entity they thought posed 'the biggest threat to the country,' 64 percent chose Big Government, while only 26 percent chose Big Business."

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12/16/11 White House Signals Pipeline Provision Not a Deal-Breaker in Payroll Tax Cut Debate FoxNews.com

  "Senate leaders reached a tentative agreement Friday night on legislation to extend Social Security payroll tax cuts and jobless benefits for two months while requiring President Barack Obama to accept Republican demands for a swift decision on the fate of an oil pipeline that promises thousands of jobs."

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12/16/11 Why They're All Out for Newt Rush Limbaugh Show segment portion transcript

RUSH: The long knives are out for Newt.  I mean, everybody knows this.  Everybody's looking at this.  We saw it to one degree or another yesterday, last night in the debate.  We've seen it in various publications. . . .

RUSH: Most people associate Newt Gingrich with winning Congress for the first time in 40 years over the Democrats.  Some might remember him for the Contract with America.  A lot of people remember Newt Gingrich as somebody who was the Speaker of the House when there were balanced budgets.  So to a lot of people, their scant memory of Newt is good things, good stuff, good conservative stuff. . . .

  When he was doing those special orders in the eighties, he and his buddies, the Conservative Opportunity Society, the only ones giving speeches late at night on the floor of the House. Everybody else had gone home and these things were all over C-SPAN. He's defending Reagan against every onslaught. He's standing up for supply side. This is the Newt that people remember, and everybody loved Newt when he was leading the charge as a member of the minority.  It's when Newt won that all of these criticisms of Newt began to fly -- and I'm not saying that the critics who know him well are wrong, but I do think that when it comes to the elites (the political class, the establishment or whatever), I think in large part that the hit on Newt is largely because at that time he was a conservative. 

  I cannot emphasize loudly enough or often enough just how frightened and opposed the Republican establishment is of conservatism and of conservatives.  I've explained to you why and the reasons run the gamut.  But one is they think that conservatives will lose them elections, despite evidence. I know the evidence is to the contrary.  But they still, the formative experience is the Goldwater landslide -- and then of course conservatives are also made up of people that embarrass the elites.  They have southern accents, and they're pro-life, and they go to church (and they talk loudly about that).  It's embarrassing.  They look at them as a bunch of Tim Tebows that can't play the game, in a sense. 

  The elites look at conservatives as a bunch of Tim Tebows that really, when you get down to it, can't play the game.  All they can talk about's God.  So it's a threat.  'Cause what does Tebow do?  Tebow shows you your shortcomings.  Tebow illustrates your shortcomings.  But if you're matched up against a failure, you look great.  People forget: Taking back the House of Representatives after 40 years? Ladies and gentlemen, that is a massive undertaking.  That is not insignificant -- and holding it all the way through 2006! I submit to you, I dare say, this is one of the reasons why Newt is hated.  Not the commercial with Pelosi.  That's why we on the conservative side don't like him.  Stuff that he does like that's what makes us mad. 

   The commercial with Pelosi and the runaround, talking about the 'right-wing social engineering' that was Paul Ryan's Medicare plan.  But what ticks off the establishment is that Newt was conservative back then, and the more conservative he sounds -- and he did last (I'm gonna get to these debate sound bites in the second hour) -- the longer the knives get, and the angrier his opponents get.  I'm telling you: It is conservatism which sends the establishment of either or both parties into orbit.

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12/16/11 House votes to block enforcement of light bulb rules Los Angeles Times

  "A spending bill needed to prevent a federal government shutdown would block enforcement of new energy-efficiency rules for light bulbs, letting old-style incandescent bulbs stay around a bit longer.

  "The provision was a high priority of congressional Republicans who have portrayed the rules as a symbol of regulatory excess.

   "'This is an early Christmas present for all Americans,'' said Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas). 'It restores the freedom, at least temporarily, for you to choose the light bulbs you want to illuminate your home.'''

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12/15/11 Iowa Republican debate: Winners and losers

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 12/15/11 Meet the real Eric Holder Human Events via the blue eye view

  "Today, the notion that a US administration would use racial intimidation to terrorize their opposition's supporters is simply unthinkable.

  "But to Eric Holder, Barack Obama and the partisan ideologues working at DOJ, racial bullying of white voters is entirely justified. In other words, it's payback. . . .

  "Immediately after taking office, Obama launched a hiring blitz of 130 new lawyers. Requests for copies of their resumes were stonewalled. Only after a lawsuit did the truth come out about these hires. The Voting Section of DOJ is now under the control of radical lawyers hand-picked by Obama and Holder.
  "More frighteningly, these lawyers' main career experience is in subverting voting laws — and they are the officials who will be standing watch over America's voting system during the 2012 presidential election."

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12/15/11 Cornyn Defends Voter ID Laws Against Attorney General's Criticism

  "'Voter identification laws are constitutional and necessary to prevent fraud at the ballot box,' said Sen. John Cornyn III (R.-Texas), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee."
  "'Facing an election challenge next year, this Administration has chosen to target efforts by the states to protect the democratic process,' said the senator, who is also a former Texas attorney. . . .

  "Holder’s speech dovetails with the Democratic National Committee’s launching of new initiatives to push back against voter ID laws less than two weeks ago, he said. . . .
  "The Supreme Court has previously upheld state voter identification laws as constitutional, the aide said. 'Besides, recent studies show that voter turnout actually increased after the implementation of photo voter identification laws.'
  "Cornyn, who also served as a Texas Supreme Court justice, said the Administration has its priorities confused. 'They would do well instead to focus on job creation, the economy and reducing our national debt.'”

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12/15/11 Behind Holder’s war on voter-ID laws Michael A. Walsh, New York Post

  "If you want to buy over-the-counter cold medicine at your local drugstore, chances are you have to show a photo ID to do it. Same if you want to get on a plane, rent a car or open a bank account. So why not to vote?

  "But to Attorney General Eric Holder, the idea is an outrage. In the name of “civil rights,” he’s declared war on a nationwide movement to ensure the integrity of the electoral process.

  "Just this year, eight states have passed new photo-ID laws; more than half now have some form of ID requirement for voting. But Holder has already sicced Justice’s Civil Rights Division on new voter-ID laws in South Carolina and Texas to see if there’s any 'disproportionate impact' on minorities. He’s also objecting to reforms in 'early voting' in places like Florida, which recently tightened its electoral window [Vote early and, without photo ID, often]. . . .

  "Liberals have long insisted that voter fraud is a “myth,” and voter-ID laws a plot to suppress turnout among “people who are more likely to vote Democratic, particularly the young, the poor, the elderly and minorities,” in the words of The New York Times.

  "Now that’s chutzpah coming from New York City, where the organized-crime ring known as Tammany Hall regularly and proudly stole municipal and statewide elections well into the 20th century with its army of “repeaters” — men who altered their appearances by shaving or changing their clothes so they could “vote early and often” — and other tactics.

  "Nor is it history. Just this week, the chairman of the Indiana Democratic Party resigned in the wake of election-fraud allegations involving forged ballot-petition signatures that are now under investigation.

  "Nor is it 'merely' registration fraud. The Commission on Federal Election Reform, created after the 2004 election and co-chaired by Jimmy Carter and James Baker, uncovered examples of vote-buying, repeat voting and absentee-ballot fraud.  As Justice John Paul Stevens wrote in upholding Indiana’s voter-ID law in 2008, 'flagrant examples of such fraud have been documented throughout this nation’s history by respected historians and journalists.'

  "So, while Holder intones that unfettered access to the ballot box “must be viewed not only as a legal issue but a moral imperative,” his real agenda is surely politics: Fraud generally benefits Democratic candidates. . . .

  "In fact, Holder is right on one count: This is a moral issue, if not in the way he claims.

  "The history of voting in America has been one of expanding the franchise to include (by constitutional amendment) blacks, women and young adults. But it’s not infinitely expandable to felons, foreigners and fraudsters — no matter how much use the Dems might see in those constituencies.

  "Were photo-ID regulations as onerous as liberals claim, “the young, the poor, the elderly and minorities” would barely be able to function. Further, it is an insult to millions of Americans to assume that they are too ignorant to know when elections are (hint: they’re generally on Tuesdays).

  "The Supreme Court, in its 6-3 Indiana decision, called voter-ID laws 'eminently reasonable.' That’s the true 'moral' position. But with a crucial election coming up next year, expect the Obama administration to go all in to try and stop them."

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12/15/11 Mitt Romney’s casual, effortless falsehoods Lucianne.com on Washington Post, by Greg Sargent

"There is so much evidence to support these facts' existence that calling them lies is like asserting that the sun rises in the West and sets in the East." [This ridiculous article has been chosen to showcase the readers' comments.]

  "Reply 18 - Posted by: Jobe, 12/15/2011 9:10:23 AM     (No. 8210510)

  "Excuse me? Obama apologized for America and made the economy worse are lies? I have seen both happen, and there is so much evidence to support these facts' existence that calling them lies is like asserting that the sun rises in the West and sets in the East. That is, calling them lies is so ridiculous that anyone who does so immediately destroys his own credibility."

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12/15/11 Obama is running from his record, but he can’t hide it By Dick Morris, The Hill

  "The president is determined to run as a non-incumbent, abandoning all but a pro forma defense of his record and instead running as he would were there an open seat. He wants it to be 2008 all over again, where he is free to float ideas without taking any responsibility for his performance in office or that of the economy on his watch.

  " He is determined to make the election a contest between two policy alternatives, deliberately omitting the issue of competence. He wants all the votes his point of view will permit him to garner despite his obvious incompetence in implementing it. He’s like an incompetent employee hoping to save his job by advocating a broad-based shift in his corporation’s philosophy in the hopes that his bosses will ignore his own poor performance.

  "Obama seems to want to turn the election into a referendum on policy, almost as if it were an issue on the ballot rather than a president seeking reelection. While this preference is understandable, given his dismal record, the Republicans cannot let him get away with it.

  "Obama seems to want to turn the election into a referendum on policy, almost as if it were an issue on the ballot rather than a president seeking reelection. While this preference is understandable, given his dismal record, the Republicans cannot let him get away with it.

  "The key question Republicans must pose to the president: “What are you planning to do in the next four years to get the economy moving that you have not tried and failed with during your first term, especially during that portion of the term when you had total control of Congress and still couldn’t fix the economy?”

  "Of course, the other part of Obama’s reelection strategy will be a slash-and-burn approach to attacking his opponent.   Using the cooperation of the media, he will throw any accusation that comes to mind against his Republican adversary in the hope that enough sticks to help him win. [And finally with Eric Holder's and ACORN-type's help, a final part of his campaign will be massive attempts at voter fraud.]

  "But in this essentially negative approach to the campaign, he is laboring under the handicap that the Republican candidate will have been thoroughly vetted during the primaries. Any negatives that exist will have been aired so extensively that they will pack little punch in the fall. In this respect, the primary contest is serving to inoculate the eventual Republican candidate by raising all the negatives and exhausting them before the fall election even starts.

  "As for the rest of Obama’s strategy — it won’t work. Nobody is going to forget the current state of the economy or fail to remember how ineffective the stimulus program was at doing anything other than digging us deeper into self-destructive debt. The fact is that an incumbent president is up for reelection and there is more than a clash of philosophies at issue. There will be two men, and one of them is a demonstrated failure."

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12/15/11 Anti-Christian Bigotry is Still Bigotry Seth Mandel, Commentary

  "Rabbi Joshua Hammerman’s article on Tim Tebow is making the rounds today–and not in a good way. The disturbing article, a vicious diatribe against American Christians, has offended not only its Christian targets but also American Jews who have worked hard to produce the gains in Jewish-Christian relations that such attacks threaten to undermine. Here is the most offensive paragraph (which the editors, since this post went up, finally deleted, though the rest of the offensive column remains):

'If Tebow wins the Super Bowl, against all odds, it will buoy his faithful, and emboldened faithful can do insane things, like burning mosques, bashing gays and indiscriminately banishing immigrants.  While America has become more inclusive since Jerry Falwell​’s first political forays, a Tebow triumph could set those efforts back considerably.'

  "Hammerman, a member of J Street’s Rabbinic Cabinet, says he is rooting against Tebow as a New England Patriots fan and as a concerned citizen. He gives the impression he believes that fervently hoping for the public failure of an athlete is appropriate if that athlete is overtly Christian. . . .

  "Hammerman surely knows that what he writes here is plainspoken bigotry, an affront to a nation of civilized people, insulting to Christians for all the obvious reasons, and is a chillul Hashem as well–a blight on Judaism’s reputation and one of Judaism’s most serious sins. . . .

  "One question remains: do the newspaper that published this shameful piece (The Jewish Week), his synagogue in Connecticut, and J Street think this is appropriate behavior from the esteemed Rabbi Hammerman?

  "At a synagogue I attended last week, the sermon centered on Tebow as well–only this one extolled Tebow’s courage, his pride in his faith, and his sense of personal security. Let’s hope that sermon was more representative of American Judaism’s response to Tebow than Hammerman’s disgraceful rant."

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12/14/11 Senate Dems, Obama Discuss Jettisoning Millionaire Surtax by Trish Turner, FoxNews.com

  "Senate Democratic leaders and President Obama met at the White House Wednesday to discuss 'dropping the millionaire surtax to pay for a payroll tax extension,' a Senate Democratic aide tells Fox News, saying the move 'is under serious consideration.'

  "According to Fox's Ed Henry, a senior Administration official notes the President has always been open to alternative ways to pay for the payroll tax cut, though the official stressed that keeping the surtax but scaling it back remains a viable option for Democrats. No announcement is imminent, however, according to the official. 

  "Scrapping the surtax on the second million an American taxpayer earns would not be a surprise, though, as Republicans have steadfastly refused any tax on the wealthy, thereby depriving the majority of the necessary votes for passage.

  "The Democratic source says the White House group is now looking at possibly paying for an extension of any payroll tax holiday through added fees to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage-backed securities, a $35.7 billion provision found in House Speaker John Boehner's own payroll tax/jobless benefits bill that passed the House earlier this week.

  "Democrats are holding up a larger spending bill that will keep the government funded past Friday in order to force Republicans in the House to compromise on an extension of the payroll tax cut and jobless benefits. They say they have done this in order to keep the House from . . . leaving town and Democrats in the Senate holding only the Boehner payroll tax extension which contains provisions they oppose, like health care-related cuts and a provision requiring the Administration to approve the Keystone XL pipeline."

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12/14/11 Dems Prove They're Not Really For Payroll Tax Cut Investors.com

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12/14/11 Satellite Takes Picture of Chinese Carrier on the Move FoxNews.com

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12/14/11 STOCKS SINK, OIL FALLS, GOLD GETS KILLED: Here's What You Need To Know Sam Ro, Business Insider

  "Basically, everything sold off today.

  "First, the scoreboard:

Dow: -131.5 pts, -1.1%
S&P 500: -13.9 pts, -1.1%
NASDAQ: -40.0 pts, -1.6%

  "And now, the top stories:

• Italy had another bad bond auction this morning, with €3 billion euros worth of bonds selling at a sky high yield of 6.47%.  There was some chatter that S&P would soon strip France of its AAA credit rating.  But we heard nothing from the ratings agency today.  The euro dipped below $1.30 and European stock markets closed near their lows.  The Story Of France, And Why Everyone Thinks It's Going To Lose Its AAA >
• Gold got demolished today, crashing through its 200-day moving average.  The February futures contract settled at $1,586.90 per ounce, down $76.20 from yesterday. The yellow metal fell another $10. 10 Countries Who Have Been Getting Crushed In The Latest Gold Collapse >
• Gold wasn't the only commodity that fell today.  Crude oil futures fell 5.2% to $94.95 per barrel. Base metals and food commodities also fell.

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12/14/11 Newt Gingrich: The State Dept.'s worst nightmare Ben Adler, CBSNews

  "One of Newt Gingrich’s many peculiar fixations stands out as especially troublesome: his hatred of the State Department. Gingrich has recently been attacking career civil servants there in hostile terms, complaining that they are “Arabists” who advocate “appeasement” of America’s enemies.

  "At the Republican Jewish Coalition candidate forum on Wednesday in Washington, Gingrich got more specific. He pledged to nominate the famously nationalist, hawkish former UN Ambassador John Bolton to be his Secretary of State, but only if Bolton pledges to radically overhaul the department. Here’s what Gingrich said:

'If he will accept it, I will ask John Bolton to be Secretary of State. But I will only appoint him if he will agree that his first job is the complete and thorough transformation of the State Department and the replacement of the current Foreign Service culture with a new entrepreneurial and aggressive culture dedicated to the proposition that defending freedom and defending America is the first business of the State Department, not appeasing opponents '"

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12/14/11 Newt's Past and Future Leadership Tony Blankley, TownHall.com

Romney received the endorsement of the GOP political types -- congressmen and former congressmen. Now they are doubling down on their early bet and are out telling reporters that Gingrich was never much of a leader and never got much done.

Curious. I remember most of them enthusiastically following his leadership year after year as the Republican whip from 1989-1994. It was the most successful congressional opposition movement since Benjamin Disraeli formed the modern Conservative Party in Britain in the mid-19th century. And after the GOP took back the House for the first time in 40 years (and the Senate, too, by the way), Gingrich's four years as speaker proved to be the most productive, legislative congressional years since at least 1965 to 1967, and they were led by Lyndon B. Johnson from the White House. Working against -- and with -- Democratic President Bill Clinton, we passed into law most of the Contract with America, welfare reform, telecommunications reform (which ushered in the modern cell phone and Internet age), we had the first balanced budget since before the Vietnam War, we cut taxes and lowered unemployment to under 5 percent.

Just who the heck do all these wizard political pros think managed all that? It wasn't us clever staffers or many of the now grumbling GOP K Street crowd. We helped, but Gingrich led. I admit Gingrich's methods were not orthodox. He modified the seniority committee chairman system and picked the best members for the key posts. More than a few feathers got ruffled.

One of his key insights was to recognize that the two-dozen Northeastern moderates and liberals in the GOP caucus held the balance of power -- we didn't have 218 safe conservative votes in the House. Gingrich needed to avoid them playing off the GOP against the Democrats, which is what such a faction in any congressional party normally tries to do. Rather, he wanted them to feel fundamental loyalty and value in sticking with the GOP working majority. To do that, they had to get some of the provisions that they wanted in bills, often enough that they would stick with the conservatives on other issues.

This required a lot of maneuvering by Gingrich. Conservative members got frustrated that he did that. They called that erratic on his part. No, it was a necessary, calculated maneuver. He was actually shrewdly managing a precarious majority. If Gingrich hadn't kept the Northeastern liberals in the fold, very little would have been accomplished in those spectacular four years of legislating and leadership.

But when it came to fundamental conservative principles and the political strategies necessary to protect them, Gingrich saw the threats to them and never wavered. I was amused to see Gov. John Sununu, President George H. W. Bush's chief of staff and a current Romney supporter, criticize Gingrich last week.

I remember back in 1990, just after Gingrich had become the GOP whip, President Bush, urged on by Gov. Sununu, was about to break his campaign pledge and raise taxes, which eventually cost him his re-election bid against Bill Clinton. It was Gingrich who opposed it. In fact, Marlin Fitzwater (Bush and Sununu's loyal, shrewd White House press secretary -- and no fan of Gingrich's at the time) later wrote in his memoirs, "As it turned out, one of the few people on the Republican team who understood this trap (the Democrats demanded Bush raise taxes as the political price to reduce the deficit) was Newt Gingrich. ... Newt had ... recommended a different course of action: Abandon the budget negotiations (with the Democrats), keep the tax pledge, insist that Congress cut spending, and make a political fight out of it. It's clear now that we should have followed his advice."

Years later, when Gingrich was speaker, he followed his own advice. He refused to raise taxes, he made a political fight of spending cuts with Bill Clinton (paying a big price in personal smears run against him), but we won the historic balanced budgets.

In dangerous times, the safer choice for president is not the candidate who has always played it safe, nor is it the candidate who has not already faced and defeated adversity."

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12/13/11 House Passes Payroll Tax Cut Extension With Keystone Pipeline Provision FoxNews.com

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12/13/11 Barack Has a Record By William L. Gensert, American Thinker

  "Every Obama speech is fraught with lies and half-truths.  He relies on his belief in the ignorance of his audience, and that Americans are too lazy and soft to recognize his dishonesty.  When your record is abysmal, you can't tell the truth.  

  "Obama, hasn't a clue on how to fix the economy.  Instead, without ideas, he copied Teddy Roosevelt's 100-year-old speech in Osawatomie.  With Barack Obama, it's always yesterday's answers to today's problems...and this is the man they told us was a genius.  The president maintains that the rich get richer by making everyone poorer.  Ah...bitterness and envy, the illegitimate stepchildren of hope and change. . . .

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12/13/11 Newt Attacks Mitt in Language of Left (Hello, Bachmann, Santorum and Perry!)

Rush Limbaugh Show Segment Transcript

RUSH: We got Bachmann, Santorum, Perry out there. We've got some genuine legitimate conservatives out there!

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12/13/11 Obama says U.S. has asked Iran to return drone aircraft CNN

  "Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney on Monday criticized Obama's decisions on the drone, but for an entirely different reason. He said that, after the aircraft went down, the president should have ordered an airstrike over Iran.

  "'The right response to that would have been to go in immediately after it had gone down and destroy it,' the Republican, who served with President George W. Bush, told CNN's Erin Burnett. 'You can do that from the air ... and, in effect, make it impossible for them to benefit from having captured that drone.'

  "Instead, 'he asked nicely for them to return it, and they aren't going to,' Cheney said."

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12/13/11 Issa questions why Occupy DC allowed to camp at McPherson Square

  "The protesters' camp has already caused serious damage to McPherson Square on which $400,000 of economic stimulus money was recently spent for new sod and other improvements, Issa said.
  "Occupy DC has been camped in McPherson Square without a permit for two months even though camping in the park is illegal. Park Police said they consider the encampment a '24-hour vigil.'
  "Issa gave Salazar until Jan. 3 to produce the documents and communications pertaining to the protest.
  "'This situation raises questions about why those decisions were made, who participated in making them and whether political judgments played a role in not enforcing the law,' Issa wrote."

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12/12/11 WHO WON THE DEBATE? Dick Morris, DickMorris.com

  "In this video commentary, I discuss who won the GOP debate Saturday night in Des Moines, Iowa. Did Newt do well enough to sustain his front runner status? Did the attacks on Newt and Mitt hurt?" [Click the date to access the video.]

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12/12/11 Gingrich uses and bashes media to get ahead The Washington Times

Was cash-poor but made news

  "'Free media absolutely overwhelms paid advertising in presidential campaigns,' Mr. McKinnon said. Story lines and agendas, he said, are set by the news media and debates. 'People pay close attention to presidential contests in a way they don’t to any other elections. They are not easily persuaded by paid messages. So, just because you’ve got a lot of money, or don’t have any money, doesn’t mean you are necessarily in or out of the game in a presidential contest.'

Mr. Gingrich is apparently banking on that notion.

  "In a private meeting with dozens of conservative leaders in Northern Virginia last week, Mr. Gingrich was asked about his plans for beating Mr. Obama, who raised more than $700 million in his first presidential campaign.

  "According to those in attendance, he said he would follow the president around speech-by-speech, replying with speeches of his own and demanding that Mr. Obama face him in Lincoln-Douglas debates - a challenge that has become a crowd-pleasing staple of the Gingrich stump speech.

  "Mr. Obama, the ever-confident former speaker says, can even use a teleprompter."

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12/12/11 Obama's Tax Policies Have A Depression-Era Look By RALPH REILAND. Investors.com

[Does not lend itself to summarization. Click the date to read the original. Bottom line: Essentially identical policies as those of Obama made a depression last for a decade so becoming the "great depresssion."]

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12/11/11 Tim Tebow: God's Quarterback Patton Dodd, The Wall Street Journal

He has led the Denver Broncos to one improbable victory after another—defying his critics and revealing the deep-seated anxieties in American society about the intertwining of religion and sports. [Click the date to read.]

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12/11/11 GOP Leader Claims Dem Support for Payroll Tax Cut, Pipeline Package FoxNews.com

  "President Obama's veto threat for a payroll tax cut that includes action on the Keystone oil pipeline is 'posturing,' the top Senate Republican said Sunday, asserting that enough Democrats support building the pipeline to enable a vote on a GOP-styled compromise.

  "Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told 'Fox News Sunday' that his Democratic counterpart, Majority Leader Harry Reid, and the president may want to check with their base before threatening to hold up a House version that calls for tying an extension of the tax holiday to a "shovel-ready" project like the transnational pipeline.

  "'I'm on the same side as Jimmy Hoffa and the AFL- CIO on this. The Teamsters and the AFL-CIO want the Keystone Pipeline right now,' said McConnell, R-Ky. 'Look, the president has been talking about creating jobs. This is ready to go immediately. All it requires is his sign off.'"

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12/11/11

Don't pretend we know what causes climate change By John Robson, Toronto Sun

  "Not only is the Kyoto Protocol technically flawed, the so-called science behind it is utter twaddle. Never mind complicated things like non-linear mathematics or, indeed, mathematics of any sort. The alarmists can't possibly know how to predict the future of Earth's climate because they can't explain its past.

  "At one point the UN's famous Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change tried to tell us the climate story was pretty simple. Their infamous 'hockey stick' graph showed temperature constant for 1,000 years, then shooting up sharply in the 20th century as Industrial Man started pumping CO2 and other GHGs into the atmosphere. On top of the technical jiggery-pokery, this account brazenly misrepresented the past.

  "As the IPCC itself admitted in 1990, we've long known about a "Medieval Warm Period" starting around 1000 AD followed by a "Little Ice Age" from about 1600 until the mid-19th century. The former explains why the Viking settlement flourished then perished in Greenland. And slower tree growth producing denser wood during the latter may account for the superb resonance of Stradivarius violins. But whatever made the Medieval Warm Period warm, it certainly wasn't manmade GHGs. Nor did we cause the Little Ice Age.

  "So ask the warmers with their spuriously precise predictions of a 'greenhouse effect' involving floods, famines, hurricanes a'blowin and a bad moon rising: Can you plug in known year 1000 data and have your computer model produce a Medieval War Period then let New Yorkers walk across the ice from Manhatten to Staten Island in 1780 and drop snow on Dickens' London Christmases? If not, why should anyone believe you can plug in year 2000 data and predict 2215 or 2875?

  "It's not just the Middle Ages. Can your models explain the sudden, irregular, dramatic temperature reversals that sent glaciers rampaging south then fleeing north about a dozen times over the last million years? Or anything else we actually do know about Earth's climate? For instance:" [Click the date to also read other "for instances."]

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12/11/11 Patriots to Rally Tuesday as Holder Plans Major Announcement on Voting Laws

by J. Christian Adams, Big Government 

  "On Tuesday, Americans will have a rare chance to voice their disdain of the corruption and lies flowing from this Justice Department.  They will have a chance to speak out against the radical and racialist law enforcement priorities of this Justice Department.  Eric Holder comes to Austin, Texas to make a major announcement about voting laws, probably to acquiesce to some loud demand of the NAACP to block state efforts to ensure voter integrity. But a counter-rally organized by Catherine Engelbrecht and True the Vote will greet Eric Holder’s appearance in Austin, Texas at the LBJ Library at 4 p.m.  America is invited, and here is a flier with details.

  "You have a First Amendment right to petition your government for redress of grievances.  Use it.  So rarely has so much been worth grieving.

  "As bad as Watergate was, it didn’t involve hundreds of murders, dead American law enforcement agents, and the illegal distribution of thousands of firearms.  How long has it been since an Attorney General appeared before Congress and words such as 'contempt' and 'impeachment' were used by members as they were last week?

  "The Fast and Furious scandal isn’t the only mess overseen by Eric Holder.  His entire tenure has been characterized by racialist radicalism, disguised to some critics as mere incompetence.  But it is far worse than incompetence, and to think otherwise is a mistake. From the dismissal of the voter intimidation case against racist anti-Semitic New Black Panther thugs, to the Mirandizing of battlefield captures in Afghanistan, Holder has presided over a systemic radicalization of the most powerful federal agency.  This isn’t incompetence.  It is radicalism." [Obama's boy.]

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12/11/11 Is This What Democrats Want For Our Future? Austin Hill, TownHall.com

  "Terrorist threats are on the rise, government debt threatens the world, and the value of our currency is being questioned almost daily. Is this the “fundamental change” that Democrats wanted from President Barack Obama?

  "Like it or not, President Obama sets the agenda for the Democrats. And it’s time for every elected Democrat – especially those in Congress – to answer some questions. Is this your idea of the American future? Is this your vision for the United States?

  "While seemingly ignoring the proliferation of terrorist attacks carried-out by people who call themselves Muslims, President Obama and members of his Administration have largely refused to acknowledge the pattern. Even this past week the Obama Administration officially classified the Fort Hood Massacre as merely a matter of “workplace violence,” as though the immense security breaches of a military compound were to be taken no more seriously than an angry outburst at any other business establishment.

  "Economic policies that encourage dependency and malign productivity:

  "President Obama’s speech at Osawatomie high school in Kansas last week is being heralded by some as his most profound speech thus far. But few of the President’s supporters have bothered to question if his rhetoric bares any resemblance to reality.

  "Prior to his inauguration, he claimed, America had been a nation where “those at the very top grew wealthier from their incomes and investments…but everyone else struggled with costs that were growing and paychecks that weren’t.”

Really? Do the President’s supporters realize that over half of the American population has private investment and savings accounts, and that such items are not merely luxuries afforded only to those “at the top?”

Elsewhere in the speech, the President noted that the upcoming election will be, in part, about 'whether this will be a country where working people can earn enough to raise a family, build a modest savings, own a home, and secure a retirement.' Yet the very fact that any of us can even hope for these things demonstrates the functionality of American-styled capitalism over the past many decades.

  "The President, of course, ignores these economic realities. Instead, he insists that our pathway to prosperity is higher taxes, and more governmental spending of our resources – in short, more of his control over our nation’s wealth. Policies of these sorts have been painful failures for years in Venezuela, Indonesia, and his father’s homeland of Kenya. Yet the President who has positioned himself as a de facto CEO of huge chunks of the economy – with authority over everything from banks to car companies – is still vying for more control. Is this what Democrats envision for another four years – an economy that revolves around the selfish needs and desires of one man?"

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12/11/11 Obama Blocks The Biggest Shovel-Ready Project Ever Investors.com

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12/11/11 early edition Video: Watch the entire ABC News/Yahoo Iowa Republican Debate

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12/10/11 Obama’s campaign for class resentment Charles Krauthammer, The Washington Post

  "It seems that he and his policies have nothing to do with the current state of things. Sure, presidents are ordinarily held accountable for economic growth, unemployment, national indebtedness (see Obama, above). But not this time. Responsibility, you see, lies with the rich.

  "Or, as the philosophers of Zuccotti Park call them, the 1 percent. For Obama, these rich are the ones holding back the 99 percent. The 'breathtaking greed of a few' is crushing the middle class. If only the rich paid their 'fair share,' the middle class would have a chance. Otherwise, government won’t have enough funds to 'invest' in education and innovation, the golden path to the sunny uplands of economic growth and opportunity. . . .

  "Obama has spent three years on signature policies that either ignore or aggravate them:

●A massive stimulus, a gigantic payoff to Democratic interest groups (such as teachers, public-sector unions) that will add nearly $1 trillion to the national debt.

●A sweeping federally run reorganization of health care that (a) cost Congress a year, (b) created an entirely new entitlement in a nation hemorrhaging from unsustainable entitlements, (c) introduced new levels of uncertainty into an already stagnant economy.

●High-handed regulation, best exemplified by Obama’s failed cap-and-trade legislation, promptly followed by the Environmental Protection Agency trying to impose the same conventional-energy-killing agenda by administrative means.

Moreover, on the one issue that already enjoys a bipartisan consensus — the need for fundamental reform of a corrosive, corrupted tax code that misdirects capital and promotes unfairness — Obama did nothing, ignoring the recommendations of several bipartisan commissions, including his own. . . .

  "This is populism so crude that it channels not Teddy Roosevelt so much as Hugo Chavez. But with high unemployment, economic stagnation and unprecedented deficits, what else can Obama say? [The Sun News cut the following.]

  "He can’t run on stewardship. He can’t run on policy. His signature initiatives — the stimulus, Obamacare and the failed cap-and-trade — will go unmentioned in his campaign ads. Indeed, they will be the stuff of Republican ads.

  "What’s left? Class resentment. Got a better idea?"

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12/10/11 Obama: Unemployment Benefits Will Create More Jobs Than Keystone Pipeline

Rush Limbaugh Show Transcript Segment

RUSH: From TheHill.com: "A pending legislative package to extend the payroll tax credit and unemployment insurance will create more jobs than the approval of the Keystone pipeline, Obama said yesterday. 'Here's what I know,' he said. 'However many jobs might be generated by the pipeline, they're going to be a lot fewer than the jobs created by extending the payroll tax cut and extending unemployment insurance.'" In fact, here's the president saying that. This was this morning, actually, in Washington talking about this.

OBAMA: I know that, eh -- the -- the suggestion right now is that somehow, "Well, this Keystone issue, uh, will create jobs." That's being determined by the State Department right now, and there is a process. But here's what I know. However many jobs might be generated by a Keystone pipeline, they're gonna be a lot fewer than the jobs that are created by extending the payroll tax cut and extending unemployment insurance.

RUSH: That's another lie. The Keystone creates pipeline 20,000 jobs immediately up to a half a million. Unemployment benefits create jobs? (laughing) Think of that. Unemployment benefits create jobs. What was it that Pelosi said the return was? For every dollar spent on unemployment benefits, the economy grows by a buck and a half or two dollars or whatever? I mean, it's absurd. It's literally absurd. Unemployment benefits? Where are all the jobs created? We've had the payroll tax holiday for a year. There aren't any new jobs being created. [Emphasis added/}

  The unemployment number is getting smaller because the universe of jobs is if we go to smaller. They're just simply shrinking it. But I mean the answer to this is, "Mr. President, do both! If you're focused like a laser on jobs, do both. What is this straw man you continue to construct? What is this either on? Why not do both! We need jobs; you say you're laser focused on jobs; you understand people want to work. Why not do both, Mr. President?" and it's like I said yesterday, the pipeline project brings campaign contributions from both sides of the issue: The environmentalist wackos and the oil interests. They are both sending money to Obama hoping he decides in their favor. If he decides now, he cuts off half of that money -- and everything he's doing is about his reelection and nothing else.

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12/10/11 "Putin Out," Russian protesters chant CNN

  "Tens of thousands of Russians turned out in central Moscow and across the country Saturday to protest what they believe were rigged parliamentary elections.

  "United Russia, the party of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, suffered big losses in the election, but retained its parliamentary majority. On Saturday, protesters chanted "Putin out," according to a correspondent from state-run RIA Novosti news agency."

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12/10/11 Obama's Not Changing His Spots By Richard N. Weltz, American Thinker

  "It's pretty well-known that leopards cannot change their spots and that animals, whether human or otherwise, when overwhelmed, will tend to revert to those behaviors which served them best in the past.

  "So, we come to Barack Hussein Obama and his desperate desire to be re-elected.  Here is a man who was swept into the presidency with the thinnest résumé of any in the nation's history -- one who many believe is in reality a 'front' for shadowy special interests like George Soros and who knows whom else, public service labor unions, and crony capitalist backers (think, for instance, Jeff Immelt of General Electric).

  "When 'The One' mesmerized voters with oratory and slogans, he hadn't much of a record on which to be judged -- and much of that was murky and hidden from public view.  We know that he smoked pot and bummed around in college, although we don't know his grades, courses, or anyone who remembers him personally from those days.  We do know that, as president of the Harvard Law Review, he published nothing in that journal, a highly unusual record.

  "He was a lecturer for a while at the University of Chicago Law School and spent a few desultory years as an Illinois state senator, during which time he became best-known for regularly voting 'present.'  Next on to the U.S. Senate, where he did little or nothing remarkable for less than a full term before being whooshed into the White House.

But now there is a record -- and it's a very bad one.  From the January in which Obama took office until right now, his has been a totally failed presidency.

  "In foreign policy, we have mismanaged every relationship, insulting our friends and feeding our enemies' bad feelings toward America.  In domestic matters, there has been a sharp and dangerous run-up of national debt, failed attempts to ameliorate high unemployment, and obstructionism regarding development of energy resources available to lower fuel costs and reduce our dependence on unfriendly foreigners.  There have been extensive moves to exercise regulatory powers as a means of bypassing the legislative authority of Congress; dozens of appointed 'czars' unaccountable to anyone; and massive expansion of government control and micromanagement of large sectors of the financial, banking, automotive, food, and pharmaceutical industries.  Add to that the forcing through Congress of the disastrous ObamaCare legislation, still not fully understood by anyone and against the clearly expressed will of the American people.

  "How to run on such a record?  It must be overwhelmingly daunting even for the narcissistic Obama, let alone for the powerful political interests behind him, to contemplate what a good GOP candidate can do to that record -- even with the mainstream press covering and cheerleading.

  "In such a situation, as I noted, one reverts to whatever worked best in one's past.  In Obama's case, that was his service as a rabble-rouser (euphemistically known by some as 'community organizer') in the slums of Chicago.

  "And, thus, we have Obama making it clear -- through a buildup of statements denouncing the 'millionaires and billionaires,' giving a wink and a nod of approval to the "Occupy" mobs in Zuccotti Park and elsewhere, and his Tuesday speech in Kansas -- that class warfare will be the central them of his bid for a second term.  'Community organizing' means getting the losers and the lazy together to badger the successful and productive for an undeserved share of the wealth the latter have attained.  'Tax the rich" is another name for program.  'I'm doing it for the middle class who are being oppressed" is the lie that's used to justify it.

  "Obama and his henchmen believe that the only shot they have at winning is to gin up anger among the 50% or so of American families who pay no federal income taxes and/or are receiving federal bounty.  Tell them that a handful of people control most of the nation's wealth.  Tell them that those one-percenters are the reason for their own lack of success.  Tell them that the likes of Vikram Pandit and Jamie Dimon spend the day in luxurious office suites (when they're not gallivanting around on corporate jets), scheming to gobble up the poor folks' money and houses -- and when they're not doing that, they are scheming about how to screw the middle class.

  "Obama is an expert at turning people's hatred toward the Snidely Whiplashes he wants them to see out there.  It's what he did and does best; he has a great track record with the class warfare ploy.  He's lousy at everything else.

And it could be a good strategy for him.  After all, we have created a huge population section with little or no skin in the game -- and some of our pols have promised them that they are entitled to all sorts of freebies from their government, from a college education to food stamps, and all sorts of things in between.  They need their government to take ever more away from those "fat cats" and funnel it into more free stuff, bigger salaries, and lusher bennies for government employees, and government backing for donors' schemes.

  "Getting people angry at those who have more than they is an old -- and sometimes very effective -- political tactic.  So is buying their votes by promising to give them benefits financed by grabbing larger shares of what the fat cats wrongfully have amassed.

  "The campaign theme has already begun and will get louder and more strident as the month go by.  But it is, of course, built on a whopping lie.  The real upper echelon -- those so-called 'one percent' -- haven't enough among them, even were it taxed at confiscatory levels (we once had marginal income tax rates as high as 90% in this country), to finance the utopian schemes Obama and his cronies promise.

  "No, my friends -- as the Europeans are now being forced to learn, the broad middle classes -- you and I -- are the ones that will be soaked to pay for the Democrats' socialist beliefs and vote-buying strategies.  This is the election that can drastically change America's social and financial structures into a European-style 'social democracy' far beyond all that the New Deal did in the '30s and '40s.  We are plainly warned, and we'd better do something about it during the campaign and at the ballot box next November."

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12/9/11 Tea Party Caucus doesn’t back Bachmann By Seth McLaughlin, The Washington Times

  "Mrs. Bachmann, in recent television appearances, has cast herself as 'the true tea party candidate in the race' and assured audiences that she’s 'not a chameleon.' The remark is an apparent attack against Mr. Romney and Mr. Gingrich, both of whom have been labeled as flip-floppers on a variety of issues."

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12/9/11 Why Obama Won't Trade the Keystone Pipeline for the Payroll Tax Cut

Rush Limbaugh Show Segment Transcript

RUSH: Obama announced yesterday after meeting with the prime minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, that he's gonna veto any bill that extends the payroll tax cut if the bill lifts his ban on the Keystone pipeline.  Now, all we've heard for the last several weeks is how vital this whopping 2% payroll tax cut extension is to the preservation of the middle class.  They even have a countdown clock at the White House.  Days, hours, minutes until the middle class experience a thousand-dollar tax increase.  It's amazing.  And that is why the taxpayers are paying for all these recent campaign trips.  See, Obama's not campaigning.  He's pushing for this all-important tax cut.  The White House website even has this countdown clock, which is ticking off the time to the expiration of the payroll tax cut. 

  Now, all of a sudden, Obama would rather veto this all-important bill and destroy the middle class, than allow the pipeline, which would create 200,000 middle class jobs.  I don't know if you've noticed this or not.  Did you notice how the media and the rest of the Democrat Party are saying that if we end the payroll tax cut, it will, quote, cost working families a thousand dollars?  They never talk that way.  When tax cuts are discussed, the Democrats and the media only talk about what it will cost the government, never what it's gonna cost you or me.  They don't care what it's gonna cost you or me, never.  But when it's a tax cut they want, it suddenly doesn't cost the government anything. 

  Have you noticed Obama is not worried what this is gonna "cost" the government? Have you noticed he's not worried what effect this is going to have on Social Security? This is the only funding mechanism for Social Security -- and there's a concern out there, ladies and gentlemen, that reinstituting this thing will be next to impossible, which puts even further pressure on Social Security funding. But when it's a tax cut that they want, it suddenly doesn't cost the government anything! No, it's gonna "cost working families" a thousand dollars. In truth, just in pure dollars and cents, the payroll tax cut has already cost Social Security trust fund more than $100 billion; and according to all accounts it hadn't even created or saved a single job yet.

  Now, in the midst of all this is the Keystone pipeline. It's a no-brainer, right? In the normal ebb and flow, it is a no-brainer. It would increase on you supply of oil. It would reduce or dependence on foreign oil. It would lower the price of oil. It would create 20,000 jobs to start with the possibility of 200,000 by the time it was all done. No-brainer. Yet Obama is gonna go to the mat to make sure this Keystone pipeline's not okayed before the election. I think I may have figured out why. Everybody's focusing on the fact he's a Marxist and he's a hypocrite and all that. But if you look at it from his standpoint (and that at some point would be pure 100% selfishness), right now Obama's getting campaign contributions from both sides:

  The environmentalist wackos are giving him money to keep it shut down, energy companies are probably donating him money, hoping that he will okay the pipeline. If he makes a decision before the election, he cuts off one of those streams of campaign contributions. It could very well be something as simple as that. We know this guy's out for himself first and always, 'cause you know this pipeline's gonna be approved. One way or the other. (interruption) Yeah, I do. I think after the election, yeah, it's gonna be approved. It's a no-brainer. It's gonna be proved. Regardless who wins. I mean, the odds are less it would be approved if Obama wins but still. But the fact -- remember, now, Obama is not worried about the votes of white working-class voters. Everybody's looking at this the wrong way.

  Everybody thinks Obama can get votes by authorizing the Keystone pipeline. No! He wants the money from both sides of the issue coming in as campaign donations. Remember, his campaign is focused exclusively on getting the votes of the poor. The philosophy is the plan is create more poor people and get their votes. It's been documented. The White House has admitted: White working class families, their votes don't matter; undesirable, we don't care about it. Therefore, trying to secure the votes of the American people on the basis of sound economic policy (i.e., okaying the Keystone pipeline) is not a factor. The campaign money is a more important thing from both sides of the issue.

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12/9/11 Internal DOJ Email: Kagan Was Brought Into Loop on Mark Levin’s Obamacare Complaint By Terence P. Jeffrey, CNSNews.com

  "Internal Justice Department email communications made just days before the House of Representatives passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act show that then-Solicitor General Elena Kagan was brought into the loop as DOJ began preparing to respond to an anticipated legal complaint that Mark Levin and the Landmark Legal Foundation were planning to file against the act if the House used a procedural rule to 'deem' the bill passed even if members never directly voted on it.

  "In another internal DOJ email communication that same week, Kagan alerted the chief of DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel to the constitutional argument that a former U.S. Appeals Court judge was making against the use of this rule.

  "Then, during Kagan’s Supreme Court confirmation process four months later, Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee asked her in writing if she had 'ever been asked about your opinion' or 'offered any view or comments' on the 'the underlying legal or constitutional issues related to any proposed health care legislation, including but not limited to Pub. L. No. 111-148 [PPACA], or the underlying legal or constitutional issues related to potential litigation resulting from such legislation?'

  "Kagan answered both questions: 'No.' [Grounds for her impeachment?]

  "The DOJ emails from the week before the health-care bill passed--which were released as the result of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the Media Research Center (CNSNews.com’s parent organization) and Judicial Watch--raise additional questions about whether Kagan should recuse herself from judging the case against PPACA when the court considers it early next year.

  "A federal law—28 U.S.C 455—says that a Supreme Court justice must recuse from 'any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned' or if he 'expressed an opinion concerning the merits of the particular case in controversy' while he 'served in governmental employment'.”

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12/9/11 Details About Lost Drone Add to Speculation About Covert U.S. War in Iran

By Jennifer Griffin, FoxNews.com [Please click the date for details too varied to reasonably abstract.]

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12/9/11 College Mate: Obama Was an “Ardent” “Marxist-Leninist” Selwyn Duke, New American

  "Barack Obama’s speech in Osawatomie, Kansas, has certainly made waves. Well-received by the mainstream media, The Baltimore Sun wrote that the President has finally found 'his voice' while the ever-dour Bill Press said that Obama was 'channeling Teddy Roosevelt.' Yet if talk-show host Rush Limbaugh is correct, the President was channeling someone also long-dead but a lot more red. The radio giant asserts that Obama has 'outed' himself, in that he has “announced to the world in no uncertain terms that he is a socialist, if not a Marxist.”

  "What did Obama say that brought cheers from the Left and jeers from the Right? Among other things, he stated that our relatively free enterprise system not only 'doesn’t work' — 'it has never worked.'

  "The first thing to note is the blindness and ingratitude evidenced by this statement. Our nation enjoys wealth unprecedented in man’s history, with its supermarkets stocked with thousands of products from the world over; and with how its 'poor' people usually have cars, TVs, cellphones and other luxuries, as well as bellies that come out and greet you. So while 'never worked' may describe Obama’s constituents, it can hardly be said about our system.

  "So our system shouldn’t be on trial here — Obama should be. But is it really fair to suggest he may be a Marxist? Or was there evidence for it all along?

  "Well, consider the words of John Drew, a man whom writer Paul Kengor calls 'Obama’s Missing Link.' A contemporary of Obama’s at Occidental College three decades ago, Drew says that he himself was a Marxist at the time — and part of Obama’s inner circle. And what does he reveal?

  "Obama was an 'ardent' 'Marxist-Leninist' who 'was in 100 percent, total agreement with [his] Marxist professors,' said Drew.

In fact, Drew states that while he was a more nuanced Marxist who tried to convince Obama that old-style communist revolution was unrealistic in the West, the future President would have none of it and considered Drew a “reactionary.”

  "Drew doesn’t believe the President has changed, either, and I agree. I explained why in a follow-up to Kengor’s piece, writing:

  'Some may say that a person can change markedly over a 30-year period. This is true. 

…Yet a transition from flat-out "Marxist-Leninist" to someone who rejects the red menace is a pretty big change, don't you think? In fact, wouldn't such a personal evolution — some might say revolution — be a kind of conversion? I think so.

…There's an interesting thing, however, about conversions.

  'You hear about them.

  'You see, a conversion is a sea change, a rebirth, a turning point in your existence. You may become, as Christians say, a new creation, and you're at least a reformed old one. And you reflect your new state of being and often want to voice it.

  'And those around you will know about it.

  'As for this writer, everyone who knows me would say that my religious conversion was a seminal point in my life.

  'Now consider something. Barack Obama is one of the most famous, most discussed individuals on the planet. 

  'But we have not heard about any soul-changing conversion in his life.

  'Not a whisper.

  'Nothing. 

Nothing that could reconcile the flat-out Marxist-Leninist Obama was in his college days with the man he supposedly is today. There's no one who says, 'Yeah, he was a radical guy in his youth, and I just couldn't believe how he became disenchanted with his old ideas.'

  "Why, my friends, might this be?

  "Now, something else about conversions is that they often breed a person who hates what he has rejected as much as he once loved it. This is why ex-smokers can be the most ardent anti-smoking activists or why Christian converts can be the staunchest critics of secularism. But from Obama we see no visceral contempt for communism. What we do see, however, is a man who just a few years ago had an alliance with former Weatherman terrorist Bill Ayers, who called himself a 'small c communist' and was caught on tape saying that 25 million capitalists may have to be killed to advance the Marxist program. Even more damnably, Obama appointed communists to office upon taking power.      One of these was Van Jones, another man who called himself a communist; and former communications director Anita Dunn, who said that Mao Tse-tung — who murdered 60 to 70 million people — was one of her two favorite philosophers.

  "Unfortunately, for some people, this still isn’t enough to see a red flag and menace with regard to Barack Obama. Yet it doesn’t take a behavioral scientist from the FBI to draw proper conclusions from his profile. We have in the President a man who:

1. Had communist Frank Marshall Davis as childhood mentor.

2. Was a flat-out Marxist-Leninist in college.

3. Has no known history of renouncing these views.

4. Later in life built an alliance with a “small c” communist and other assorted radicals.

5. Upon achieving high office, appointed avowed communists to his administration.

  "Given this profile, what is the radical position? That the man is a communist or at least a communist sympathizer? Or that he is just your everyday moderate politician?

  "Perhaps we don’t have proof beyond a reasonable doubt that would stand up in a criminal proceeding for either of the above propositions.     But asking for it is unreasonable and irresponsible. In the court of public opinion, there must be no higher burden than in a civil court: a preponderance of the evidence. And a preponderance of it in the President’s case points to a simple conclusion: Barack Obama is likely a communist or communist sympathizer."

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12/9/11 The Final Days of the Incandescent Light Bulb Rush Limbaugh Show Segment Transcript

RUSH: In three weeks and one day the 100-watt incandescent light bulb will be illegal.  In three weeks and one day it will be illegal to sell a 100-watt incandescent light bulb.  And who did this?  The federal government.  The federal government, under the auspices of a hoax, mankind global warming.  You know, I've been staying in a lot of hotels lately, been doing a little traveling, and hotels are like a lot of other businesses, they just run scared of any regulatory agency.  Nobody stands up to regulatory agency, and you can understand it. 
  So you walk in and you turn on the lamp and you know that it's a compact fluorescent.  You know because it's inferior light. You know because it's small and tiny.  You know because it isn't going to be sufficient.  The Democrat led federal government is taking us backwards.  The enemy of the Democrat Party is progress. 

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12/8/11 Documents: ATF used "Fast and Furious" to make the case for gun regulations

Sharyl Attkisson, CBSNews

  "Documents obtained by CBS News show that the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) discussed using their covert operation 'Fast and Furious' to argue for controversial new rules about gun sales.

PICTURES: ATF 'Gunwalking' scandal timeline

  "In Fast and Furious, ATF secretly encouraged gun dealers to sell to suspected traffickers for Mexican drug cartels to go after the 'big fish.' But ATF whistleblowers told CBS News and Congress it was a dangerous practice called 'gunwalking,' and it put thousands of weapons on the street. Many were used in violent crimes in Mexico. Two were found at the murder scene of a U.S. Border Patrol agent.

  "ATF officials didn't intend to publicly disclose their own role in letting Mexican cartels obtain the weapons, but emails show they discussed using the sales, including sales encouraged by ATF, to justify a new gun regulation called 'Demand Letter 3'. That would require some U.S. gun shops to report the sale of multiple rifles or 'long guns.' Demand Letter 3 was so named because it would be the third ATF program demanding gun dealers report tracing information."

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12/8/11 ATF Gun Scandal: Holder Declared Hostile Witness Before Congress Jason Ryan, ABCNews

  "'I think some heads should roll,' Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) told Holder who also echoed calls by Grassley IA) for the head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division to resign over the scandal. Sensenbrenner also indicated that Holder or other officials could be impeached over the scandal for providing inaccurate statements to Congress.

  "Holder also faced continuing questions about the accuracy of his statements as to when  he first learned about Fast and Furious. Testifying before the House Judiciary Committee in May, Holder said at the time that he had  first  learned about Fast and Furious in the past few weeks.

  "Today Holder said that he became aware of the operation sometime in the beginning of 2011 around the time of the inquiry from  Grassley."

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12/8/11 WHO GOT THE CAIN VOTE? Dick Morris, DickMorris.com

  "According to Realclearpolitics.com, the three surveys prior to Cain’s withdrawal had Gingrich at 26. The four after had him at 31 — a 4 point gain. Romney before had 15. Now he has 18 — a 3 point gain. Bachmann went from 8 to 12 — a 4 point gain. And Perry’s support grew from 7 to 10 — a 3 point rise. Ron Paul’s vote, meanwhile, dropped from 18 to 17."

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12/8/11 Obama makes Boehner’s job easier with payroll veto threat

  "The plan Boehner unveiled would extend the payroll tax cut, reform and extend unemployment insurance benefits and fix the Medicare reimbursement rate for doctors. He proposes to pay for those measures by extending a federal worker pay freeze, increasing fees for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and trimming certain federal and Medicare benefits for the wealthy, among other items.

  "In addition to the Keystone measure, the package will include provisions to delay Environmental Protection Agency regulations on industrial boilers and to restrict tax credits for illegal immigrants.

  "'I think the leadership put a package together that sells in much of the conference. The comments were very positive today,' Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) said. He added: 'Members want to fight for this.'

  "A freshman member of the leadership team, Rep. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), had been undecided on the plan, but said after the meeting Thursday that he was leaning yes.

  "'I think this is a plan that unites our base in the conference in a way that few other plans have in the past,' he said.

The warm reception allowed Boehner and other leaders to predict that they would win passage of the bill, which would strengthen the House GOP’s hand in the looming confrontation with Obama and Senate Democrats. . . .

  "Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) said he is confident that if the GOP sends the bill to Obama's desk, the president would back down.

  "'The image of him vetoing a bill with his tax holiday in it, with an extension of unemployment insurance ... because he doesn't want to deal with Keystone pipeline until after the election is absurd,' Terry said. 'And I think he'd realize that.'

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12/8/11 GOP questions ‘two-month gap’ in Kagan’s health care involvement

The top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee said Thursday the Obama administration is fueling speculation about Justice Elena Kagan’s impartiality because it won’t turn over documents detailing her role in crafting the legal strategy to defend the health care law.

Rep. Lamar Smith, the committee chairman, told Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. that emails show Justice Kagan took an interest in the case in January 2010, when she was solicitor general, and he demanded to know what role she played between then and March 2010, when President Obama tapped her to sit on the high court.

“The issue is how involved was she in health care discussions between Jan. 8 and March 5. Just as President Nixon had an 18½-minute gap, does Ms. Kagan have a two-month gap?” Mr. Smith said.

Conservative groups have called for Justice Kagan to recuse herself from ruling on the health care case, which the Supreme Court last month said it will consider next year.

Mr. Smith has requested a fuller explanation of Justice Kagan’s role. He said the Justice Department denied his request, but never cited any legal privilege to withhold information.

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12/7/11 North Korea making missile able to hit U.S. Bill Gertz, The Washington Times

Republicans press Pentagon for long-range interceptors

  "New intelligence indicates that North Korea is moving ahead with building its first road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile, an easily hidden weapon capable of hitting the United States, according to Obama administration officials.

The intelligence was revealed in a classified Capitol Hill briefing last month. Its existence was made public in a letter to Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta from five House Republicans.

  "'As members of the House Armed Services subcommittee on strategic forces …, we write out of concerns about new intelligence concerning foreign developments in long-range ballistic missile development, specifically ballistic missiles capable of attacking the United States,' the Nov. 17 letter said.

  "'We believe this new intelligence reiterates the need for the administration to correct its priorities regarding missile defenses, which should have, first and foremost, the missile defense of the homeland.'"

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12/7/11 President Obama's Osawatomie Speech was a Marxist Attack on America

Rush Limbaugh Show Segment Transcript Portion

RUSH: [Y]esterday was Pearl Harbor Day number two: The attack on the country by the president of the United States in that speech in Osawatomie Kansas. . . . I've studied it. It's depressing to actually have the most powerful man in the country aligned against it. To have the most powerful man in the country seeing this country through crosshairs. I run the gamut of emotions. I mean it's anger, frustration, sadness, it's just amazing. . . .

  [L]et me just give you a sample summary of Obama's speech yesterday. The president of the United States, not Fidel Castro, not Kim Jong-il, not Mao Tse-tung, not Lenin, not Stalin, not Gorbachev, not Saddam Hussein, not Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, not Hugo Chavez, but the president of the United States said that while a limited government that preserves free markets speaks to our rugged individualism as Americans, such a system doesn't work and has never worked. The president of the United States said that the United States of America, as founded, "has never worked." Stop and think of that. Ponder that for a moment. The president. Not the head of the SEIU. Not the chairman of some congressional committee. Not a Democrat presidential hopeful. The elected president of the United States said in Osawatomie, Kansas, trying to be Teddy Roosevelt, that the United States of America has never worked. That is a quote, "has never worked."

Really? . . . What was 250 years of the greatest prosperity and standard of living known to exist in all of humanity? . . .

  But he didn't stop there. He said that Americans must look to a more activist government that taxes more, spends more, and regulates more if the middle class is to be preserved.. . . This is foreign. This is what we have faced from our enemies since our founding, this characterization of our country. If you just substitute the word "proletariat" for every time he said "worker" or "middle class" in his speech, if you subject "bourgeois" or "capitalists" for the rich, this same speech could have been given by Lenin a hundred years ago.

  In fact, it is, . . . the same speech that Stalin always gave, that Mao Tse-tung always gave, that Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez and Kim Jong-il still give. Communist leaders around the world give this speech constantly. We've heard it all before, because class warfare is the fundamental principle of Marxism. Class warfare is how Marx explained economics and explained history. In fact, class warfare is how Marx explained everything. Now, oddly enough it's how Obama explains everything now. He blames all of the current problems on the rich. And to think some people still say Obama's not a Marxist. They won't even call him a socialist. It's willful blindness on the part of people who, I don't know what kind of state of denial you have to be in to have heard this speech yesterday or to have read this speech and to have not heard a call to arms. . . .

  Everything Barack Obama said he was for yesterday has been tried throughout history over and over again, the same Marxism has been tried, and it's failed everywhere. It's led to nothing but untold millions of dead people and incalculable misery and suffering.

  Now, who wants a future like that? He said some things yesterday that I don't know if he's really that dumb or if it was just written for him and he said it, but sitting there and blaming economic woes on the Internet and the fact that there aren't any more travel agents or telephone operators, it's not hard to look at the Internet and see how many jobs have been created, how much wealth has been created, how much growth in the economy has been created by the Internet. The Internet is an enemy as far as Obama is concerned. He recycled this ATM business again as being indicative of lost American promise. All this automation, all this efficiency, all of this that has led to increased productivity, this guy finds to be the enemy, to be a problem. So what we have is Barack Obama, president of the United States, announcing yesterday in full voice that he is running for reelection as a socialist. . . .

  Snerdley is elated over this because he thinks it means that we have finally flushed Obama out. No question now who the guy is. No question now what he's always been. [Emphasis added.] . . .

  Barack Obama wants everybody poor, but there's a sad little reality: The only people who are gonna end up poor if Obama succeeds, the middle class. The rich are not gonna get dinged. . . .

  "The rich are getting richer!" How do you think that happens? It's much like the Democrat Party promising black America, "You vote for us and we're gonna make sure you're never discriminated against -- and if you are, we're gonna punish those who do it, and we're gonna make sure that you're prosperous, and we're gonna take care of you. We're gonna make sure you're okay," and after 50 years of supposed stewardship and love, compassion, the black family's been destroyed! Blacks are angrier than ever, unhappier than ever. . . .

  The rich are not gonna get dinged. The middle class is gonna be wiped out. The little guy, the supposed beneficiary of all this Marxism. I want you people who believe Obama to go around the world for me. I want you to find any socialist, Marxist, communist country and I want you to find for me a prosperous, thriving, happy middle class.

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12/7/11 Five Big Lies in Obama's Economic Fairness Speech Investors.com

 

12/7/11 Rush to Barack: You are the Problem Another Rush Limbaugh Show Segment Transcript Portion

RUSH: If you were going to give a hate-filled, lie-filled class warfare speech attacking the foundations of the American system -- from which, by the way, if you're Obama, you benefit like few others in history have.

And, by the way, Mr. President, you haven't contributed a damn thing to this country's prosperity! You are sure benefiting from it, but you haven't contributed an iota. It would at least be helpful, Mr. President, if you would get your straw men and your propaganda straight. May I call you "Barack"? You can't have "rugged individualism" and "socialism." Let me see if I can explain this, Mr. President, in a way that you can understand. Something cannot be an apple and a walnut at the same time. The point is, you don't believe in rugged individualism; you believe in massive government! But he said during the speech, "rugged individualism." He said (paraphrased), "I'm all for it, but that it doesn't work."

  Look around you, Mr. President. That suit that you're wearing, the tie, those shoes, the pens that you use to sign all these executive orders, your two Boeing 747s (lavishly furnished), all of those helicopters, the limousines that you drive around in -- all of which you use to excess. The fuel that is used by all of these modes of transportation, none of it, sir -- none of it! -- was produced by your precious government. None of it! You played 88 rounds of golf this year. Those golf clubs, golf balls, golf bags, all the other equipment -- the hot dogs you eat at basketball games, the hamburgers when you have your meet-the-common man photo-ops -- none of it was produced by the government, Mr. President. And you, sir, are not capable of helping to produce any of it yourself.

RUSH:  Just got a note, an e-mail: "Rush, doesn't the White House have a television?  Doesn't Obama follow news?  Doesn't he know what's happening in Europe?  Maybe instead of living so much in the past he ought to catch up on world events.  Europe's fighting a life and death battle with socialism right before our eyes."  Yeah, patently obvious.  Europe is about five years ahead of where we're going and we're on the same track and we're on that track purposely.  What does that tell you?  
   I long ago gave up caring about Obama's motivation.  I know what it is.  If you can see disaster straight ahead and you still head for it, you want the disaster.  Don't tell me this guy loves the country, folks.  Don't tell me that.  There's no evidence. 

  Now, Barack, if I may call you that, a free, productive, healthy country is a society of individuals, not a collection of departments or agencies or offices run by know-nothing bureaucrats.  A free, productive, healthy country is a society of individuals working in their own self-interest, pursuing dreams, excellence, trying to be the best they can be, using God-given freedom and liberty to pursue happiness as enshrined in our Declaration of Independence.  A free, productive, healthy country is not a collection of departments, agencies, offices run by a bunch of bureaucrats, a thousand federal judges, faceless, nameless bureaucrats. [Emphasis added. Click the date to read more. An abstract can not do Rush's thoughts justice.]

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12/7/11 Indiana 2008 Presidential Primary Election Fraud Probe Heats Up By Eric Shawn, FoxNews.com

  "Charity Rorie, a mother of four, sat in her Mishawaka, Ind., kitchen, stunned that her name appeared on a 2008 Democratic presidential primary petition for then-candidate Barack Obama.

"That's not my signature," she told Fox News, saying her signature is "absolutely" a fake. She also said she was troubled someone forged both her signature and that of her husband, Jeff, and listed personal details such as their address and birthdays.

  "'It's scary," Rorie said. 'It's shocking. It definitely is illegal. A lot of people have already lost faith in politics and the whole realm of politics, so that just solidifies all of our worries and concerns.'

  "Robert Hunter Jr. said his name was faked, too.

  "'I did not sign for Barack Obama,' he told Fox News, adding his signature supporting the then-Illinois senator's effort to get on the primary ballot was also a forgery.

  "As he examined the Obama petition he held in his hands, Hunter pointed out that 'I always put 'Junior' after my name, every time ... there's no 'Junior' there.' He said the signature on the petition looks 'very close' to his real one, but it clearly is not. . . .

  "The prospect that theirs are two of an estimated 150 signatures that may have been forged on the petitions has raised the question of whether President Obama actually reached the legitimate number of signatures needed to be placed on the ballot in Indiana. Under state law, presidential candidates need to file 500 signatures from each of the state's nine congressional districts. Indiana election officials say that in St. Joseph County, the Obama campaign qualified with 534 signatures. . . .   "'Unfortunately, it appears that we have an appearance of a widespread, systematic organized effort by Democrat operatives to cheat the system by forging names of, especially Democrat voters, to put Barack Obama on the presidential ballot for the Democratic presidential primary in 2008,' charged Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White, who is a Republican." [Yet the Dems and the MSM repeatedly claim that there is no evidence of voter fraud to require photo ID in elections.]

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12/7/11 Gingrich struggles with state deadlines for filing Susan Crabtree, The Washington Times

  "Newt Gingrich is surging in the presidential polls, but his campaign organization has not caught up — making it possible he’ll miss Wednesday’s deadline to file enough signatures to even appear on Ohio’s primary ballot.

  "Mr. Gingrich, the former House speaker whose once-moribund presidential campaign has been resurrected in the polls in recent weeks, already missed the deadline for Missouri’s ballot. With several other state deadlines looming this month, his campaign is showing growing pains as it strives to meet them."

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12/6/11 Obama and the Hezbollah Terrorist

By DAVID B. RIVKIN, JR. And CHARLES D. STIMSON, The Wall Street Journal

In Jan. 2007, Ali Musa Daqduq helped kill five Americans in Iraq. He may soon be released into Iranian custody.

  "Call it the triumph of ideology over national interest and honor. Having dithered for nearly three years, the Obama administration has only a few weeks to bring to justice a Hezbollah terrorist who slaughtered five U.S. soldiers in Iraq in 2007. Unfortunately, it appears more likely that Ali Musa Daqduq will instead be transferred to Iran, to a hero's welcome.

In the early evening of Jan. 20, 2007, in the city of Karbala, south of Baghdad, five black SUVs approached the location of a regular meeting between U.S. and Iraqi military officers. Inside the vehicles, which mimicked U.S. transports (to avoid heightened scrutiny), were a dozen individuals dressed in U.S. military uniforms and bearing U.S. weapons. Their drivers spoke English.

  "Upon reaching their target, the occupants opened fire on the Americans. One U.S. soldier was killed on the spot. Four others were kidnapped, tortured and executed.

  "The mastermind of this brutal attack? Ali Musa Daqduq, a Lebanese national and Hezbollah commander. U.S. forces captured him in March 2007, and, in interrogation, he allegedly provided a wealth of information on Iran's role in fomenting, training and arming Iraqi insurgents of all stripes.

  "With U.S. troops set to exit Iraq at the end of December, all detainees in American custody there have been transferred to the Iraqis except for Daqduq. He is set to be turned over in a matter of weeks. Based on past experience with released detainees who were in Iranian employ, U.S. officials know that Daqduq will promptly re-emerge in Iran, shaking hands with dignitaries and leading parades, before rejoining his Hezbollah colleagues. . . .

  "The administration believes that bringing anyone new, even high-value detainees, to Guantanamo is inconsistent with the goal of eventually closing the facility. This proposition is absurd, and not only because that facility remains vital and relevant to this day. It raises the question of whether administration's detention policy is actually shaped by a crass political calculus of not antagonizing its liberal base in advance of what promises to be a difficult 2012 election.

  "The administration should press the Maliki government in Baghdad harder to allow the U.S. to maintain custody of Daqduq following the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. If the Iraqis still refuse, the administration should unilaterally transfer Daqduq to Guantanamo to face justice.

  "While the Maliki government may protest publicly, it will rejoice privately, since Daqduq's rendition would demonstrate Washington's resolve in the face of Tehran's pressure. Allowing him to go unpunished is both inexcusable and dangerous."

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12/6/11 Who's Afraid Of The Big Bad Iranian Oil Weapon? Investors.com

  "Traders are well aware, even if much of the public is not, that the real action in the oil and gas business is now in the Western Hemisphere. The old petro-powers of the Persian Gulf may be holding their own, but they now must compete with vast new supplies coming online in places like Canada, Brazil and, yes, the U.S. . . .

  "So what would really happen if the U.S., EU and other concerned nations joined together to shut down Iran's crude exports with, say, a blockade of Iran's oil ports? Tehran would lose 50% of its government revenue — a blow it could not long endure. Oil prices might spike, but with the right moves they could be ratcheted down.

  "One such move would be for Iran's traditional enemies, the Saudis, to ship more oil. But the U.S. has a crucial role to play as well. As one of the world's leading oil producers — a recent Goldman Sachs report says it could be the biggest by 2017 — America needs to act the part.

  "That means no more of the foot-dragging shown by the Obama administration on energy development. It needs to stop the limitation of oil drilling offshore and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. It needs to put the Keystone XL pipeline back on the fast track and give a green light to the safe, proven technique of hydraulic fracturing.

  "In short, it needs to set an example of how the developed world can defuse the oil weapons brandished by international outlaws."

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12/6/11 Beck Doesn’t Hold Back in Gingrich Interview: Tough Questions on Mandates, Big Gov’t, & Global Warming Glen Beck Show Transcript [Click date to read all or view video]

GLEN: Newt Gingrich is a man that I’ve met several times. I’ve had dinner with him when we were in Washington, D.C. He seems like a very nice man. We don’t know each ‑‑ we’re not buddies, but I have been around him enough to know that, you know, he’s a ‑‑ he’s an honest guy, a decent guy that has always shot straight with me. I want to make sure that you understand and that he understands that this is not a gotcha interview. I have serious concerns with Newt Gingrich, but it’s not a gotcha interview. This is just, I’m asking questions because I truly, deeply care about the country just as much as Newt Gingrich does but we differ on the answers, I believe. I’d like to have him convince me that I’m wrong. I would love to have him convince me that I’m wrong. Mr. Newt Gingrich, how are you, sir? [Click date for the rest.]

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12/6/11 Russia shaken by anti-Putin rally France24

  "While in some regions United Russia barely received over 30 percent of the vote, it saw credibility-busting shows of support in the mainly Muslim regions of the Northern Caucasus including 99.50 percent of votes in Chechnya."

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12/6/11 NAACP Taking Complaints About U.S. Voter Laws to United Nations

By Judson Berger, FoxNews.com

  "The NAACP is calling on the United Nations to intervene as it claims state governments are colluding to "block the vote" for minority communities ahead of the 2012 election -- a charge those governments vehemently deny. 

  "The nation's biggest civil rights organization this week released a report that claimed a raft of new voting laws at the state level would disenfranchise minority voters. The report said 14 states passed 25 measures "designed to restrict or limit the ballot access of voters of color." 

  "The report catalogued several categories of laws that have been passed largely by Republican-dominated legislatures and which Democrats have decried in recent months as tools of voter suppression. The new laws include requirements to present photo ID at the polls, voting restrictions on felons and limitations on registration and early voting periods. 

  "Supporters of the laws describe them as common-sense measures meant to ensure the integrity of elections."

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12/6/11 Dozens Dead After Violent Day in Syria FoxNews.com [Click date to view video after commercial.]

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12/6/11 There is More than One GOP Candidate Who Can Beat Obama

Rush Limbaugh Show Segment Transcript Portion

RUSH: Honest Democrats, the three or four that you can find will also admit it, from Pat Caddell to Doug Schoen to this guy that we read whose story in the New Republic yesterday, it was William Galston, who did an analysis of demographics, and there's only one group, only one demographic group where Obama leads and that's blacks. With young people 18 to 49, Hispanics he's under 50% everywhere, and we're told that there's only one guy? Sorry. This is nothing against Romney. Again, I haven't endorsed anybody. I'm just commenting on intraparty cannibalism here, but intraparty cannibalism against everybody but Romney does not equal a nomination.

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12/6/11 RNC Decides Not to Criticize a President Who is Cynically Dividing and Destroying the Country! Rush Limbaugh Show segment portion transcript

RUSH: There is a story here that's cleared from Yahoo. "News.Yahoo.com. Yahoo exclusive." Here's the headline: "On Private Call, Republicans Say Attacking Obama Personally is Too Dangerous -- A Yahoo News exclusive. Republicans on a private Republican National Committee conference call with allies warned today that party surrogates should refrain from personal attacks against President Obama because such a strategy is too hazardous for the GOP." Here we go again. This is another reason, folks, why I know you wake up alternately angry and feeling like you're a lone wolf and feeling like you're part of a distinct minority. Here we've got the absolute worst president in our lifetime and the Republican National Committee apparently has just had a conference call where they've told people, "Don't say that!" Obama IS his policies! They are inseparable! The man who influenced and molded him -- the man, Obama -- cannot be protected any longer!

RUSH: There is a story here that's cleared from Yahoo. "News.Yahoo.com. Yahoo exclusive." Here's the headline: "On Private Call, Republicans Say Attacking Obama Personally is Too Dangerous -- A Yahoo News exclusive. Republicans on a private Republican National Committee conference call with allies warned today that party surrogates should refrain from personal attacks against President Obama because such a strategy is too hazardous for the GOP." Here we go again. This is another reason, folks, why I know you wake up alternately angry and feeling like you're a lone wolf and feeling like you're part of a distinct minority. Here we've got the absolute worst president in our lifetime and the Republican National Committee apparently has just had a conference call where they've told people, "Don't say that!" Obama IS his policies! They are inseparable! The man who influenced and molded him -- the man, Obama -- cannot be protected any longer!

Meanwhile, on the Drudge Report right now is this link: "US to Weigh Gay Rights In Foreign Aid." And then there's this: "Obama Considers Morning-after Pill on Supermarket Shelves." But we conservatives are told to ignore social issues. We are said to want these so-called wedge issues. We're told don't bring up the social issues, don't bring up abortion, don't bring it up, it's just gonna send the independents running back to the Democrats. Meanwhile, right there on Drudge: "Obama Considers Morning-after Pill on Supermarket Shelves." "US to Weigh Gay Rights In Foreign Aid."

"Limbaugh, shut the hell up about abortion. All you're doing is driving our voters away. You're driving the independents back to Obama." So we are supposed to shut up about everything except our candidates.

  Meanwhile, on the Drudge Report right now is this link: "US to Weigh Gay Rights In Foreign Aid." And then there's this: "Obama Considers Morning-after Pill on Supermarket Shelves." But we conservatives are told to ignore social issues. We are said to want these so-called wedge issues. We're told don't bring up the social issues, don't bring up abortion, don't bring it up, it's just gonna send the independents running back to the Democrats. Meanwhile, right there on Drudge: "Obama Considers Morning-after Pill on Supermarket Shelves." "US to Weigh Gay Rights In Foreign Aid."

  "Limbaugh, shut the hell up about abortion. All you're doing is driving our voters away. You're driving the independents back to Obama." So we are supposed to shut up about everything except our candidates.

  The New York Times did a hit piece on McCain out of the blue about an affair that never happened. Remember that? Brought to you by the Obama campaign. "Don't you dare pronounce his middle name. Don't you dare call him Barack Hussein Obama." Our people telling us this, "Don't you bring up Bill Ayers, and don't you discuss Jeremiah Wright. Don't bring up the fact Obama used to do cocaine, don't bring it up. People love Obama, people hate Gingrich, people love Obama, people hate Perry, people love Obama, people hate Bachmann, people love Obama, people hate Santorum."

  This is what our own people tell us. People love Obama; they hate Herman Cain. In fact, for Obama, his own presidential record is not his record. So we can't discuss that, either. Because we can't discuss Obama. We can't get personal so we can't bring up his policy, we can't discuss his presidency. So here's the rule. Here is the rule from the Republican National Committee, folks, apparently set down today in a private call. Only discuss Obama if it's in approval. This is how we're going to prove that we're nice people. This is how we're gonna prove to the independents that we are not confrontational or mean-spirited or extremists or racists. We're gonna prove that we're nice, colorblind people. We'll say only nice things about Obama. The number one optic that the Democrat media machine has created is that Obama is liked. It's the biggest of all of their big lies. He is not liked personally. People that do what he's doing to your house, your job, your future, to your kids and their future is not liked personally.

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12/5/11 Video: Watch the entire Huckabee GOP Presidential Forum

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12/5/11 Explosion Seen as Big Setback to Iran’s Missile Program

 DAVID E. SANGER and WILLIAM J. BROAD, The New York Times

  "The huge explosion that destroyed a major missile-testing site near Tehran three weeks ago was a major setback for Iran’s most advanced long-range missile program, according to American and Israeli intelligence officials and missile technology experts.

  "In interviews, current and former officials said surveillance photos showed that the Iranian base was a central testing center for advanced solid-fuel missiles, an assessment backed by outside experts who have examined satellite photos showing that the base was almost completely leveled in the blast. Such missiles can be launched almost instantly, making them useful to Iran as a potential deterrent against pre-emptive attacks by Israel or the United States, and they are also better suited than older liquid-fuel designs for carrying warheads long distances.

  "It is still unclear what caused the explosion, with American officials saying they believe it was probably an accident, perhaps because of Iran’s inexperience with a volatile, dangerous technology. Iran declared it an accident, but subsequent discussions of the episode in the Iranian news media have referred to the chief of Iran’s missile program as one of the “martyrs” killed in the huge explosion. Some Iranian officials have talked of sabotage, but it is unclear whether that is based on evidence or surmise after several years in which Iranian nuclear scientists have been assassinated on Tehran’s streets, and a highly sophisticated computer worm has attacked its main uranium production facility.

  "Both American and Israeli officials, in discussing the explosion in recent days, showed little curiosity about its cause.      'Anything that buys us time and delays the day when the Iranians might be able to mount a nuclear weapon on an accurate missile is a small victory,' one Western intelligence official who has been deeply involved in countering the Iranian nuclear program said this weekend. 'At this point, we’ll take whatever we can get, however it happens.'”

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12/5/11 Iran's Revolutionary Guards prepare for war Con Coughlin, The Telegraph

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have been put on a war footing amid increasing signs that the West is taking direct action to cripple Iran’s nuclear programme.

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12/5/11 North Korea making missile able to hit U.S. Bill Gertz, The Washington Times

Republicans press Pentagon for long-range interceptors

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12/5/11 U.S. on Pace to Become Net Fuel Exporter Despite High Gasoline Prices at Home FoxNews.com

  "For anyone bummed out about the United States' dependence on foreign oil, try this forecast on for size: The U.S. is on track to be a net exporter of petroleum products this year for the first time in 62 years -- and yet, domestic gas prices remain at or close to record highs for this time of year.

  "Data released last week by the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows that the U.S. sent abroad 753.4 million barrels of gasoline, diesel and other oil-based fuels in the first nine months of 2011, while taking in only 689.4 million barrels.

  "The reason? To put it simply, Americans are relying on less, while emerging markets are demanding more. . . .

  "'Instead of that product backing up and depressing prices, it’s being sent to other countries,' Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service, told the San Francisco Chronicle. 'It’s good news for the refining industries and their workers and the balance of trade and U.S. jobs.'

  "'We're not using as much,' James Beck, an analyst at the EIA, told the Wall Street Journal. 'Prior to 2008, basically anything we produced, we used.'

  "And the high exporting rates are expected to continue into the foreseeable future, Dave Ernsberger, global director of oil at Platts, which tracks energy markets, told the Journal. 'The conventional wisdom is that U.S. is this giant black hole sucking in energy from around the world. This changes that dynamic,' he said.

  "The last time the U.S. exported more oil than it imported, in 1949, the country was still ramping up its economy after World War II. It became increasingly dependent on foreign oil, especially in the 1960s and 1970s."  

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12/5/11 Navy, Agriculture Departments to Purchase Biofuels For Fleets

By Wendell Goler, FoxNews.com

  "The departments of Agriculture and the Navy announced plans Monday to buy 450,000 gallons of non-food biofuels -- at a cost of $16 per gallon [Emphasis added.]-- in what will be the largest federal purchase of biofuels in U.S. history.

  "The purchase is being authorized by an executive order under the Obama administration's 'we can't wait' campaign. 

Administration officials gave no indication why they're not going through Congress, instead using a program that was established to promote rapid job growth by bypassing congressional debate.

  "Two companies will participate in the program -- Louisiana-based Dynamic Fuels, a joint venture of Tyson foods and Syntroleum Corp, which makes biofuel from used cooking oil; and California based Solazyme, which makes fuel from algae.

  "Administration officials say the aim is to promote the use of biofuels, to reduce dependence on unstable sources of foreign oil and reduce budget shocks from oil price hikes. 

  "The fuel will power planes and the surface ships of the 'Great Green Fleet Carrier Strike Force' in summer 2012 exercises off Hawaii. The carrier itself is nuclear-powered." [450,000 X ($16 -$3 current approximate cost per gallon commercially=$13)=$5,880,000 of gratutous waste.]

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12/5/11 Long Knives Out for Newt -- on Both Sides of Washington Establishment

Rush Limbaugh Show Segment Transcript

RUSH: No, folks, we're talking about here the long knives are out for Newt Gingrich ... in the Republican Party!  In what you think is the conservative movement.  There is no conservative movement per se that includes conservative media.  I've finally come to that conclusion: There is no conservative movement.  We are conservative movement people -- the Tea Party are, you and I -- but in conservative media circles they don't consider themselves part of the conservative movement.

I really think that will go a long way to explaining the things people scratch their heads about. . . .

  The long knives are out for Newt Gingrich.  Folks, George Will has called Newt Gingrich in a column a "Marxist." I don't think he's ever called Obama a Marxist!  Everybody's dumping all over Trump.  Trump is gonna moderate a debate on December 27th that's gonna have about two viewers, and everybody in the conservative establishment is dumping on Trump, and so Trump is turning around and dumping on them, and we've got the audio sound bites.  I haven't listened to the audio sound bites. I've got the roster, got the transcripts. Some of it's quite funny.  I'll tell you, folks, this is fascinating to watch.  We have the most unqualified guy to walk in the room no matter what room he goes into in Barack Obama. 

We have an absolute disaster leading the country, an absolute walking disaster in Barack Hussein Obama; and we are witnessing -- you and I are witnessing -- the systematic destruction of every Republican that comes along and threatens Romney and Romney's hold on the nomination. The only Republican who's not being attacked by anybody is Romney.  For example, there's a PBS show on Friday called Inside Washington.  I don't know broadcast details. I don't watch PBS anymore, so I don't know if it's syndicated around the country on PBS affiliates or not.  But it is obviously broadcast in Washington, and the liberals on Inside Washington Friday were giddy at the thought of Gingrich as the Republican nominee. . . .

  [T]heir counterparts on the right are saying the same thing.  At National Review, at the Weekly Standard, George Will, they're all saying the same thing about Gingrich, for whatever reasons.  The reasons run the gamut.  He's undisciplined, he's self-educated, he's inside Washington, he's not the outsider, he's a phony, he's been all over the ball park, he's not a conservative, he misleads people.  You've heard the laundry list of criticisms about Mr. Newt.  But what it boils down to here, folks, as I have studied this... In fact, let me take you back to me on this program as recently as November 10th.  Listen to this sound bite from me, your host.

RUSH ARCHIVE:  I think they are more concerned, our consultants, with holding the House and winning the Senate. I think they believe (deep down in the depths of their souls) that Obama can't be beat. I think they look at Mitt Romney as the single only hope we have of taking the Senate even if he loses the presidential race.  ... [T]hey're looking at Romney not because he can beat Obama, but because he can limit the damage in the Senate and House races, which is what they really want.I do believe that in some cases (and I'm not prepared to name names right now) on our side they would rather Obama win than a full-throated conservative beat him, because they don't control the conservatives. They don't control the Tea Party; they don't control where that victorious conservative candidate would come from. . . .

"Rush, wait a minute, now, old buddy, old pal.You gotta realize system worked here! Cain wasn't qualified, Rush. You know it and I know it.  Cain had no business being anywhere. He didn't even know where Europe is much less foreign policy."

  Folks, if the system "worked," we wouldn't have Obama as president.  Don't give me this "system works" business.  It works for one side! The other side doesn't get half the treatment, doesn't get 10% of the treatment our side gets.  Obama still hasn't been vetted and now his protectors are out there, "Don't you dare bring up Reverend Wright and Bill Ayers this time! Don't you dare go there! Don't you dare do it."  Is anybody saying, "Don't you dare go after Gingrich and that wives business? Don't you dare!" No, everybody says, "Hey, let's go after Newt! Let's destroy Newt! Let's destroy everybody but Romney," and I'm telling you, I'm telling you it's because our establishment doesn't doesn't think Obama can be beat.    "Why, Rush? Why?" Because they live inside the Beltway. 

  Their world is there. What are they treated to every day?  They live in a place run by the liberals. They live in a place dominated by the Democrats.  They live in a place that's run socially, politically, news-wise, media-wise, whatever, by the left.  All they see every day is themselves, a distinct ineffective minority.  But they do think they've got a chance to win the Senate and get their committee chairmanships and put themselves in charge of the money, and they think Romney -- I'm convinced of this -- gives them the best chance of holding the House and winning the Senate.  That a genuine conservative... They're scared to death. They think independents run away from conservatives as fast as chickens run away from Colonel Sanders.  That's what they think.  They believe this, despite the evidence. They think conservatives scare reasonable people as far away as they can get 'em.  Not kidding. . . .

  This is NBC's Meet the Depressed.  The host David Gregory.  Remember now: There's no news on these shows.  I told you last week: There's no news in the media anymore.  It's not about news.  It's about marching; it's about advancing an agenda.  So David Gregory spoke with the BBC's chief Washington correspondent, Katty Kay -- "Katty" Kay; the very catty Katty Kay of the BBC -- about the Republican primary and Gingrich, and David Gregory says, "What about this insider thing? I mean, this guy as Speaker, he was second in line to the president. You don't get much more inside than that! I mean, you don't have to, you know, look at the lobbying piece or, you know, the strategic advising to Freddie Mac to make him an insider."

KAY:  The question at the moment, I think, for the Romney campaign is: How hard do they go after Newt Gingrich?  But they're gonna have to find a way, I think, to tackle Newt Gingrich.  Republicans in the establishment of the Republican Party that you speak to are terrified of a Newt Gingrich campaign.  They believe that he could not only lose the Republicans the White House at a time when this is theirs to take, but that he could also lose them seats in the House and the Senate as well.  This is a real concern amongst the establishment.

RUSH: [etc., etc, this is Rush, always full of the truth and telling it. Click the date to read it all.

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12/4/11 State attorneys general grill Republican candidates at forum

By Maeve Reston, Los Angeles Times

Six presidential hopefuls court conservatives with shows of commitment to the Constitution and a less powerful federal government. [Six candidates--not readily summarizable. With Cain out, I thought Romney, Gingrich and Bachmann did the best for themselves in the actual television show, pretty much in that order. Click the date to read.]

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12/4/11 Candidates Respond to State Attorneys General at Huckabee Forum

by Joy Lin, FoxNews.com [For other takes on the same forum.]

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12/4/11 George's Musings [on taxes] George Edwards, GIAC2002.org

  [Click date, then "Pursuit of Happiness" in the topic menu to read the background on the "Taxes" topic quoted below.]

  "Absolutely unavoidable taxes should be imposed on everyone who benefits in proportion to the ability to pay—fire, police and military protection for all and those whom infrastructure will reasonably serve. Fair tax rates should be the same for all—flat taxes. Everyone should have “skin in the game” so that it is not just a case of those not paying taxes to be effectively stealing from those who do. “Progressive” rates are penalties for those who receive higher incomes from activities deemed by consumers as being more desirable and disincentives for job creation and continued desirable activities. With flat taxes, those with higher incomes will be paying their fair share already. To be a bit more precise, ability to pay should be based on the material resources available to a particular taxpayer or business—income and as evidenced by purchases of non-essential items.

  "Governments can reasonably allow tax credits for charitable contributions and for volunteer services. Refundable tax credits might reasonably be paid for volunteer services even if there is no reportable income as long as suitable records are provided by third parties attesting to the time spent in performance of the services and hourly rates are based on corresponding free market services.

   "The 9-9-9 idea of proposing flat taxes for individual incomes, business net incomes and a national sales tax could be configured to meet all the above requirements. As to sales taxes specifically, it should be configured so as to apply only to non-essential items not including such as groceries or prescription drugs."

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12/4/11 The Ethics of Eric Holder By Ronald Kolb, American Thinker

  "'Those are memos with your name on it, addressed to you, referring to the Fast and Furious operation.  Are you just saying you didn't read them?'

  "'I didn't receive them,' answered Holder.  'They are reviewed by my staff and a determination made as to what ought to be brought to my attention.'

  "Cornyn then asked Holder if he had apologized to Brian Terry's family.  The exchange that followed showed a coldness and lack of sensitivity that was truly stunning.

'Holder: I have not apologized to them, but I certainly regret what happened.

 

'Cornyn: Have you even talked to them?

 

'Holder: I have not.'"

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12/4/11 Blaming Israel First By DANIEL HALPER, The Weekly Standard

  "Bill Kristol released the following statement today in response to Ambassador Howard Gutman’s remarks at a conference in Europe and Leon Panetta’s comments in Washington:

  "'Nobody believes President Obama when he claims, as he did last week, that he ‘has done more for the security of the state of Israel than any previous administration.’ That’s because he hasn’t — and because President Obama and his administration keeps acting to weaken the security of the state of Israel.

  "'For example: as reported in the Israeli press, the U.S. ambassador to Belgium, Howard Gutman — a top Obama fundraiser in 2008 — told a conference in Brussels this week that Muslim anti-Semitism ‘stems from the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.’ Pardon us for retaining our belief that Muslim anti-Semitism in the Middle East predates 1967, and even 1948 — and in any case is the fault of the anti-Semites, not of the Jews.

  "'At another conference, this one in Washington, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta surveyed the Middle East and discovered that at every turn, the Jewish state is to blame for problems in the Muslim world. Are there Arab uprisings that are bringing Islamists to power and endangering peace with Israel? Israel must placate the radicals. Are there constant provocations and taunts from Turkey’s Islamist government? Israel must beg for better treatment. Do Palestinians refuse to negotiate? ‘Get to the damn table,’ Panetta thundered twice — as if Israel was refusing to talk, instead of the reverse.

  "'Just about the only thing in the Middle East that President Obama hasn’t blamed Israel for is the Iranian nuclear program. But when it comes to this, too, instead of supporting crippling sanctions or preparing military strikes, the White House seems to spend more time deterring Israel from acting than deterring Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons in the first place. And the administration’s energy seems more focused on undermining Israel and those members of Congress pushing for a tougher approach to Iran, than in undermining the Iranian regime.

  "'The Obama message is loud and clear: the world would be a safer, simpler, and more peaceful place if not for the troublesome Jewish state.

  "'Ambassador Gutman’s comments were not way out of line with Obama’s worldview. Nonetheless, we expect he will be recalled because the Obama administration won’t want to expend political capital defending him. He should be recalled, of course. But what the events of recent days emphasize is that the problem is not with one ambassador or with one cabinet secretary. The problem is President Obama.'” [History has been that Palestinian leaders have again and again received outstandingly good offers and concessions, only to attack Israel and be defeated. It is not the Israeli's who terrorize and murder countless innocent civilians. Then we are supposed to feel sorry for Palestinians? Give me a break!]

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12/3/11 BREAKING NEWS on Fast and Furious: Holder Sweats as More Lies Uncovered by Feb. 3rd Memo by AWR Hawkins, Big Government

  "As Eric Holder’s December 8th testimony before Congress draws near, more and more lies surrounding Fast and Furious are crumbling to the ground. From new evidence that appears to indicate that President Obama knew about the operation as early as May 2010, and that he gave directives for action against Mexican cartels a year prior (March 2009), to even newer evidence that the DOJ may have 'deliberately misled' Congress via a Feb. 4th memo denying the ATF had “‘sanctioned’ or otherwise knowingly allowed the sale of assault weapons. . . .

  "There is no end to the number of lies that have been told to cover up the DOJ’s knowledge of and involvement in Fast and Furious, and that means Holder must be held to answer for the crimes associated with this ludicrous operation.

The cover-ups must stop. The excuses must stop. The prosecution must begin."

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12/3/11 MSM Ignores Obama Admin’s Fast And Furious Friday Afternoon Docu-Dump

by Mary Chastain, Big Journalism

  "Despite the fact the social media has eliminated the traditional media cycle, the Obama administration still thinks Friday afternoon document dumps will curtail reporting on what the documents entail. Our wonderful Department of Justice dumped over 1,000 pages with details on how they gave inaccurate information. The Associated Press broke the story at 6:16PM EST. Since then, Old Media has been slow reporting. I would usually give them a day, but I decided to check them out tonight. SHOCKER: The majority posted the AP story–NOT A SHOCKER: The majority buried it.

Before I start I need to give credit to Sharyl Attkisson of CBS News. Once again she shows what we need in the Old Media: She didn’t just copy and paste the AP article. She actually wrote an original piece on it. Thank you so much Mrs. Attkisson. (I also prefer her piece over the AP’s article.)

  "It’s honestly sad I am not shocked The New York Times didn’t have it anywhere on their website. I searched 'Justice Department' and 'Eric Holder' and there were no results for the document dump. Not one single word.

The other media outlets (ABC, NBC, MSNBC, The Washington Post, Huffington Post) did copy and paste the AP story, but there is one major problem: you have to search for the story. It’s not on the front page. I couldn’t find it under US, National, Politics sections. Instead I went to the search box and punched in 'Justice Department' and the first hit was the AP article."

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12/3/11 Cain suspends campaign Michael O'Brien, MSNBC.com

  "Herman Cain said Saturday that he is suspending his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, choosing to end his campaign after weathering weeks of scrutiny over alleged sexual misconduct and accusations of an extramarital affair.

  "'As of today, with a lot of prayer and soul searching, I am suspending my presidential campaign,' Cain said at an appearance outside his campaign headquarters in Atlanta. 'I am suspending my presidential campaign because of the continued distraction, the continued hurt caused on me and my family. Not because we are not fighters.'

  "Cain said he's launching a 'plan B' of his public career, a new policy-oriented website called TheCainSolutions.com. He said he will endorse a Republican candidate for president 'in the near future.' His announcement could lead to the effective end to his campaign, but technically leaves open the option of reviving his bid for the presidency.

  "'I am not going to be silenced, and I am not going away,' he defiantly told disappointed supporters. . . .

  "'As far as these accusations causing me to back off and maybe withdraw from this presidential primary race … ain’t gonna happen,' declared Cain during that address. . . .

  "Cain's wife appeared with him at the announcement, receiving chants of 'Glo-ri-a!' from the crowd. Herman Cain said he was 'at peace' with his wife, his family, and himself. 

  "'I have made many mistakes in life -- everybody has. I made mistakes professionally, personally, as a candidate, in terms of how I run my campaign. And I take responsibility or the mistakes that I have made,' he said. 'But because of these false and unproved accusations, it has … had a tremendous painful price on my family.'

  "Cain spoke of his campaign mostly in the past tense throughout his speech, lashing out at the media for fueling the frenzy that became associated with his campaign."

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12/3/11 Bachmann and Gingrich praise Cain as he exits race byCharlie Spiering, The Washington Examiner

  "Michele Bachmann was first out of the box praising Herman Cain after he announced his decision to suspend his campaign for President. Newt Gingrich sent out a statement shortly afterwards.
  "Michele Bachmann:

'Herman Cain provided an important voice to this process. His ideas and energy generated tremendous enthusiasm for the conservative movement at a time it was so desperately needed to restore confidence in our country. I wish Herman, his wife Gloria, and his family all the best.'

  "Newt Gingrich:

'Herman Cain’s 999 plan got our country talking about the critical issue of how to reform our tax code and he elevated the dialogue of the Republican presidential primary in the process.  I am proud to know Herman Cain and consider him a friend.  I know from having worked with him for more than a decade he will continue to be a powerful voice in the conservative movement for years to come.'"

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12/3/11 Obama 'behind enemy lines' Ed Lasky, American Thinker

  "George Will plucks a key sentence from Barack Obama's "Dreams From My Father" that encapsulates Obama's philosophy and guiding principle behind his policies

'Barack Obama had written that during his brief sojourn in the private sector he felt like ' a spy behind enemy lines.'''

  "Apparently it took only a brief exposure to the real world of free enterprise to make him feel business was the enemy. He considered himself a 'spy' against this enemy. A spy wants to do harm against the 'enemy.'

  "Ipso facto: vast new regulations, job-killing ObamaCare, class warfare rhetoric, end runs around Congress to bolster the power of unions, environmental rules that will cripple many businesses with high electricity costs (recall his boast that his Presidency would necessarily lead to high 'electricity prices' and that those who build coal mines and coal-fired power plants would face bankruptcy), huge new tax increases, and a myriad of other measures and executive actions that have derailed job growth in America. The class warfare rhetoric has just made this agenda even clearer.

  "Businesses have heard the message loud and clear and have responded as anyone would: with fear. When businesses lose confidence in leadership -- worse, when they fear leadership -- they do not expand, they do not hire. Instead they try to husband their resources and save it for better times. Hence, the stagnant job and wage growth. Do not be fooled by the headline yesterday about the unemployment rate falling. That number reflects huge numbers of people leaving the labor force because they are discouraged about the prospects of finding a job. They should be, given the man in the Oval Office and his minions doing his bidding.

12/3/11 NBC's Andrea Mitchell Agrees: America One Of World's Most 'Socially Unjust' Societies

By Mark Finkelstein, NewsBusters

  "Zbigniew Brzezinki's indictment of the United States was so harsh—calling America "one of the most socially unjust societies in the world"—that even his own daughter Mika was taken aback, asking her father to explain himself.

  "But that didn't stop Andrea Mitchell from emphatically agreeing with Zbigniew Brzezinki's condemnation of the USA.  In the course of doing so, Mitchell called the Tea Party  and opposition to ObamaCare 'exaggerated forms' of protest, while praising Occupy Wall Street as 'a real movement.'

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12/3/11 85-year-old woman may sue TSA after being strip searched at JFK Airport

BY Nicholas Hirshon, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

'I really look like a terrorist,' 110-pound Long Island grandmother says

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12/2/11 House Republicans to link pipeline, payroll tax cut Roberta Rampton, Reuters

  "Republicans in the House of Representatives said on Friday they will attach a bill designed to speed approval of the Keystone pipeline to payroll tax cut legislation House Speaker John Boehner hopes to pass this month.

  "The move is designed to ratchet up the heat on President Barack Obama, whose administration has put the Keystone XL pipeline on hold pending a study of a new route, pushing a decision past the 2012 presidential election.

  "When complete, the pipeline would deliver some 700,000 barrels a day of oilsands crude from the Canadian province of Alberta to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

  "Green groups oppose the line because of concerns about greenhouse gas emissions from the mining of the Alberta tar sands and on worries about spills.

  "Currently, the State Department is mandated by law to approve any pipeline that crosses the U.S. border.

  "The House bill would take the decision out of the administration's control, instead giving the power to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, an independent regulatory body that already oversees pipelines.

  "'There's less chance of foot-dragging' at FERC, said Nebraska Representative Lee Terry, the Republican drafting the bill.

  "'The point of this is to avoid the politics and get to the jobs,' said Terry, who told reporters that Boehner said the Keystone bill would become part of the unemployment and tax holiday legislative package that the House hopes to pass this month."

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12/2/11 Obama's Job-Killing Global-Warming Agenda Continues Under the Radar

  "With little attention and fanfare, the United Nations kicked off its latest global-warming conference – this time in Durban, South Africa. Their mission:  to extend the Kyoto Protocol.  But as Bloomberg reports, Japan, Russia and Canada will not renew their commitments, and, of course, the United States will never sign on without commitments from China and India.  The Kyoto process is essentially dead– and even President Obama is acknowledging it, much to the chagrin of his left-wing environmental base.
  "The troubling question therefore is why is President Obama still determined to implement extremely expensive, job-killing domestic global-warming regulations through his Environmental Protection Agency​ (EPA), especially as we struggle with a weak economy?  Even Lisa Jackson, the head of the Obama EPA has admitted that the United States acting alone would have no impact on the climate.  Now with the complete collapse of the Kyoto process, there is no question that Obama’s global-warming regulations would be all pain for no climate gain.
  "Over the past decade, we succeeded in defeating the global-warming cap-and-trade agenda in Congress, which would have destroyed hundreds of thousands of jobs and caused electricity prices to “skyrocket.”  President Obama understands that the American people have caught on to the economic damage that his agenda would cause, so he is trying to implement it under the radar.  Therefore, our mission now must be to stop him from achieving through regulation what he could not achieve through legislation. "

 

12/2/11 Mitt Vs. Newt: A Fight Between Two Flawed Candidates

By CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER, Investors.com 

  "Enter Gingrich, the current vessel for anti-Romney forces — and likely the final one. Gingrich's weakness is a history of flip-flops, zigzags and mind changes even more extensive than Romney's — on climate change, health care, cap and trade, Libya, the Ryan Medicare plan, etc. The list is long.

  "But what distinguishes Gingrich from Romney — and mitigates these heresies in the eyes of conservatives — is that he authored a historic conservative triumph: the 1994 Republican takeover of the House after 40 years of Democratic control.

  "Which means Gingrich's apostasies are seen as deviations from his conservative core — while Romney's flip-flops are seen as deviations from ... nothing.

  "Romney has no signature achievement, law or manifesto that identifies him as a core conservative. So what is he? A center-right, classic Northeastern Republican who, over time, has adopted a specific, quite bold, thoroughly conservative platform. . . .

  "Nevertheless, the party base, pursuing serial suitors-of-the-month, considers him ideologically unreliable. Hence the current ardor for Gingrich. . . .

  "You play the hand you're dealt. This is a weak Republican field with two flawed front-runners contesting an immensely important election. If Obama wins, he'll take the country to a place from which it will not be able to return (precisely his goal for a second term).

  "Every conservative has thus to ask himself two questions: Who is more likely to prevent that second term? And who, if elected, is less likely to unpleasantly surprise?"

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12/2/11 Voters like new Newt but wait to see if he's real by Byron York, WashingtonExaminer.com

  "Cathy Gibbons is a one-woman focus group for Republican attitudes toward Newt Gingrich. Back in the '90s, Gibbons grew tired of Gingrich when he was Speaker of the House. But this year, after watching Gingrich at Republican presidential debates, she sees him as a different man -- and the best candidate in the field.

  "'I've heard them talk on the news about all the baggage, but I don't see that any more,' says Gibbons, of McCormick, S.C. 'He's not the same person. They say people can't change when they become adults, but I think Newt has.'

  "Still, just seconds later, Gibbons adds, "There are some things that have bothered me that have come out in the last couple of days." For one, there's Gingrich's work for mortgage giant Freddie Mac. 'I just didn't picture him doing that,' Gibbons says. 'He used the influence he had earned while he was in the political field, and somehow we've got to get away from that.'

  "In a nutshell, that is where Gingrich stands with many Republican voters. For them, baggage from his time as Speaker -- the marital affairs, fights with Bill Clinton, battles in the House -- is old news. They're OK with it, in part because they believe Gingrich has changed.

  "But there is a whole shelf of new baggage -- especially accusations that he served as a de facto lobbyist during his post-House years -- that could cause Gingrich significant problems. People haven't heard enough yet to know what to think.

  "As the new front-runner in the Republican race, Gingrich is likely to come under fierce attack. The attacks that dredge up old stuff -- for example, the Democratic ethics charges from 16 years ago -- will likely go nowhere. But the attacks that focus on Gingrich the Washington insider and his complex web of business interests -- those could hurt.

  "It's not clear how much, because no matter what the ads say, voters will probably continue to like what Gingrich says on the stump and in the debates. For example, at Gingrich town hall meetings, like the one here in Newberry, voters connect with his proposals to bring the federal government into the 21st century. And people nod when he asks a simple question: How come credit card companies are so good at stopping fraud and Medicaid is so bad?"

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12/2/11 Explaining what Republicans see in Newt Gingrich Matt K. Lewis, The Daily Caller

A lot of people I talk to can’t fathom why Newt Gingrich is actually winning. The latest narrative — and I think there’s truth in it — is that voters are hungry for someone who will “take it to Obama.” Clearly, Gingrich’s debating ability is key. Republicans are chomping at the bit to see him debate Obama. But I think this urge is deeper than a desire to simply watch him beat up or attack the president rhetorically — they also want him to intellectually flatten him — to out-debate him.

There are other reasons. Some voters are romantic; they want to believe in something. They want to be (as unconservative as it may sound) a bit revolutionary. There’s nothing romantic or revolutionary about Mitt Romney. Gingrich supporters may be deluding themselves, but at least he is, at least, exciting. He has panache.

He’s also a happy warrior. He has energy. He loves campaigning. It makes him stronger, not weaker. And it shows.

… And, of course, there’s the fact that Gingrich just had good timing. He peaked at the right time.

The last — and probably most important argument for Newt Gingrich — is that he’s not Mitt Romney. And if you buy the argument that this is now a two-man race, that might be a deciding factor. Time is dwindling. Newt may be the only alternative — so maybe he’s not so bad? (The Germans have a word for this: Mut der Verzweiflung — the courage born of desperation.)

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12/2/11 'Women For Cain' Launched By Campaign

By Gabriella Schwarz CNN Producer, WCBTV5, Boston

  "Dr. Alveda King, a Cain supporter and lead voice behind the drive, said the site is the culmination of months of work intended to connect 'people of like hearts and minds that are praying for Mr. and Mrs. Cain."

  "'I would be very blessed if Mr. Cain decides to stay in the race,' King, the niece of the late Martin Luther King, Jr. and daughter of the late civil rights activist Rev. A.D. William King, Sr., told CNN.

  "Cain has spent recent weeks rebuffing accusations of sexual harassment and most recently claims of an affair from Ginger White, an Atlanta businesswoman.

  "He is currently 'reassessing' his 2012 plans and in an email to supporters Friday asked them to show their support for his candidacy.

  "'As I assess the future of my campaign, I need to gauge the support of the people of this great nation,' Cain wrote. 'In today's political environment, the only way we can gauge true support is by the willingness of our supporters to invest in this effort.'"

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12/1/11 Krauthammer rips Obama for Israel policies: ‘An arrogant amateur’

Jeff Poor, The Daily Caller

 

12/1/11 OBAMA VOTES FOR NEWT Dick Morris, DickMorris.com

  "Does President Barack Obama get a vote in the Republican primary? Apparently, he wants one. His campaign organization has targeted Mitt Romney for negative ads, a sure sign that he would rather run against Newt than against Mitt. . . .

  "Bill Clinton, doubtless following the same instincts, says positive things about Gingrich. The Democrats want to defeat Romney.

  "But they may be wrong. Newt is the better debater and would, doubtless, destroy Obama in a face to face confrontation. And Newt’s creative thinking and original ideas might well appeal to an electorate used to sound bites that mean nothing and lead nowhere.

  "Whether Obama and his strategists are right or wrong to root for Newt to win the Republican primary, we conservatives must deny them a vote in our contest. We should note their position and take it into account in our own votes. But don’t let Obama tell us who to nominate."

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12/1/11 What Does the Fed Have Against Americans? Josh Kimbrell, JoshKimbrell.com

  "U.S. Federal Reserve is going to print billions, perhaps even trillions, of dollars to bailout the European Central Bank to prop-up the European Union, without requiring any financial reforms!

  "If Washington and European capitals were addicted to alcohol and pills like they’re addicted to spending, we’d have to say that the Federal Reserve would be their 'enabler,' if not their 'dealer.' The Fed’s constant printing of money is destroying the financial future of American generations yet to be born, all in the name of protecting politicians’ pet projects.

  "My friends, the American people ought to be outraged. It is beyond time to audit the Fed on an annual basis, and clip the wings of an out-of-control Fed Chairman by sending Benjamin Bernanke back to academia, where positive results aren’t expected.

  "The Federal Reserve may pose the single greatest economic threat to the United States at this moment in history. Yesterday, they affirmed my conviction that this is true."

["Lenin is reputed to have said that the best way to destroy a capitalistic society is to debauch its currency."

Samuelson, Robert J.:   The Great Inflation and Its Aftermath, Random House Inc., p. 20, 2008,

Perhaps between Bernanke and the Obamaites, they have already destroyed America economically, Obama is working on doing so internationally.]

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12/1/11 HOW TEACHERS INDOCTRINATE OUR KIDS Dick Morris, DickMorris.com

  "Now comes Kyle Olson's new book, Indoctrination: How 'Useful Idiots' Are Using Our Schools to Subvert American Exceptionalism, which exposes the third leg of the stool that keeps the left propped up in our politics: The systematic indoctrination of our children in the public and private schools of America.
  "Olson, a long time education reformer, presents chilling evidence of the left's attempt to ban Christianity and Judaism from the consciousness of our kids. He takes us through the chronically inaccurate rewrite of American history taught in our schools. We are the aggressor. America is not an exceptional nation, unless it be exceptionally guilty of crimes against humanity! In the world of our schools, American democracy is a fraud and our free enterprise system is a monopolistic conspiracy to hold down the poor.
  "Karl Marx could not have designed a curriculum any better!"

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12/1/11 Obama Crony Andy Stern: Abandon Capitalism for ChiCom Model Rush Limbaugh Show Transcript

RUSH: Folks, just like with the communists in the Soviet Union or the ChiComs, the ultimate goal of the Democrat Party is to discourage anyone from getting anything unless it comes from The Party -- The Party equaling the government.  It is precisely why Barack Obama wants to eliminate all tax deductions for charitable donations.  He wants the government to take that over or The Party -- and, lo and behold, just as if they knew what was going to be interesting to me today, there is a piece in the Wall Street Journal published by Andy Stern, who used to head up the Service Employees International Union, has always been one of Obama's big fan boys.  The piece is entitled, "China's Superior Economic Model." 

  "Mr. Stern was president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and is now senior fellow at Columbia University's Richman Center." Let me sum this up for you: Andy Stern says capitalism and free markets have been shown not to work, they are a fraud; that what we need to do is to become China.  China is communist.  That's what we need to do.  Let me read you sections of it.  "Andy Grove, the founder and chairman of Intel, provocatively wrote in Businessweek last year that, 'Our fundamental economic beliefs, which we have elevated from a conviction based on

observation to an unquestioned truism, is that the free market is the best of all economic systems -- the freer the better. Our generation has seen the decisive victory of free-market principles over planned economies.

  "So we stick with this belief largely oblivious to emerging evidence that while free markets beat planned economies, there may be room for a modification that is even better.' The past few weeks have proven Mr. Grove's point, as our relations with China, and that country's impact on America's future, came to the forefront of American politics." He goes on to talk about the work that he's done with the ChiComs.  He says, "The conservative-preferred, free-market fundamentalist, shareholder-only model -- so successful in the 20th century -- is being thrown onto the trash heap of history in the 21st century." The free market is being thrown on the trash heap. 

  "In an era when countries need to become economic teams, Team USA's results -- a jobless decade, 30 years of flat median wages, a trade deficit, a shrinking middle class and phenomenal gains in wealth but only for the top 1% -- are pathetic." That's his review and assessment.  Mr. Stern ignores the 4.7% unemployment rate for much of the Bush years. After coming out of the recession and the 9/11 attacks, we had an economic boom, and unemployment... In fact, I remember when unemployment rose to about 5%, the media started talking about, "Uh-oh, we are in a recession!" At 5%, there was panic, and the Bush policies were said to be inflationary. "Oh, no!" It was a disaster.

  For thee years the media tried to convince everybody we were in a recession or heading to one -- and now look! The "new normal" is 9%, 18% real unemployment.  This guy, Daniel Hannan, who is the member of parliament from Britain who's on American TV quite frequently, has written a piece called "A Memo to the Occupy Wall Street Crowd." He points out to them that everything that's happened in this country since 2008 is not capitalism: Bailouts; government buying car companies; investing in phony, fraudulent green energy things.  This is not capitalism that's happened in this country in the last three years!  We haven't had any capitalism.  And the truth of the matter is, that's why we're in the situation that we're in.  We have already abandoned it with this regime.. . .

  Here's Andy Stern in the Wall Street Journal telling us the free market system is an abject failure; it's had its run; we need to be like China.  I don't know if Andy Stern is just ignorant or venal or if he's just a flat-out communist.  Probably all three. . . .

  Andy Stern is Obama.  I think Andy Stern, for the longest time, held the record for most Oval Office visits -- and he still might. . . .

  China has probably the highest income disparity in the entire world.  Poverty in China is defined as somebody earning less than a dollar $1.25 a day.  You know how poverty in this country is defined: $29,500 for a family of four. . . .

  This guy goes to Russia, a journalist -- an independently wealthy, educated journalist goes to Russia during the revolution, comes home and says, "I have seen the future and it works! By the way, we need food aid for Russia. Americans must band together and donate food for Russians."

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President on course to generate millions of dollars in funds for 2012 re-election battle

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