Monthly Archives: January 2010

2010 Election, Economy, Politics, Russia, Venezuela

The White House Compass Points To Centralize Control

After one year in The White House, and after the Massachusetts special election, the President applies to his party the only thing he knows to do to the country, centralize control.

Campaign setting, complete with props in the background.

It is becoming more obvious to the American people that there’s more to running a country, and fixing economic problems than campaigning on how bad things are and blaming Bush for it.

As Mr. Obama prepares to deliver his State of the Union address on Wednesday and lay out his initiatives for the second year of his presidency, his decision to take greater control of the party’s politics signals a new approach. The White House is searching for ways to respond to panic among Democrats over the possible demise of his health care bill and a political landscape being reshaped by a wave of populism.

Improving tactical operations addresses only part of his challenge. A more complicated discussion under way, advisers said, is how to sharpen the president’s message and leadership style.   {emphasis added}

It was a wave of populism that carried Obama into The White House. He has lost that advantage now. Now it is working against him and his agenda. No doubt his advisers have an undaunting task. How to make a community organizer appear presidential and as a leader at the same time? According to the New York Times . . .

The White House intends to send Mr. Obama out into the country considerably more in 2010 than during his first year in office, advisers said, to try to rekindle the relationship he developed with voters during his presidential campaign.

His first big chance will come when he delivers his State of the Union address. Rather than unveil a laundry list of new initiatives, advisers said, Mr. Obama will try to reframe his agenda and how he connects it with public concerns.

Instead of the campaign-style pep rally in Ohio last week, wouldn’t you rather have seen the President behind his desk in the oval office, telling Americans what his plan is to fix the economy and create jobs? And to justify why he needs a second stimulus package when, after one year, only 30% of the first package has been used while unemployment continues to rise?

Be aware of the community organizer’s tactic. When Obama speaks of the need for greater accountability, what he really means is greater government control. You don’t have to look very far to see how he has held sections of the private sector ‘accountable.’ It has been by taking them over. Could it be that a strong centralized government like that of Chavez or Putin is not really what Americans want?

What, or who, is missing in this picture?

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Fairness Doctrine, Media, Pensacola, Politics

Progressive Radio Goes Belly-Up, Again

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What's next? Making speech 'accountable?' The Fairness Doctrine?

It is with a touch of schadenfreude to deliver this news today. Air America Radio goes bankrupt, again.

Getting yet one more chance to learn the hard way how business economics works, for a lack of advertising support, they’ve just run out of ‘investors’ to keep them afloat.

There’s one thing about Liberals on a mission to compete with radio talkers on the Right. They refuse to learn from their mistakes. Watch for a new Liberal Progressive station, LP Radio for short, on a short wave frequency near you.

“The very difficult economic environment has had a significant impact on Air America’s business. This past year has seen a `perfect storm’ in the media industry generally,” the company said in a statement on its Web site.

The New York-based network said its “painstaking search for new investors” came close to succeeding even this week, “but ultimately fell short.”

Updated 1/24/2010

link: Air America Radio Closing, Filing for Bankruptcy | Pensacola News Journal story

Politics

Letter To President Obama

Mr. President,what does it mean to you ‘to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States?’

Please explain, as President, why and how you do that?

Thank you in advance for your thoughtful reply.

————

Not holding my breath for a reply, but the above is what I just entered on The White House’s contact form.

Fairness Doctrine, Judiciary, Media, Organized Labor, Politics, Supreme Court

Why The Left Hates Freedom Of Speech

Forget about the fact that McCain-Feingold was plainly and clearly contrary to the 1st Amendment of the Constitution. Especially the ”Congress shall make no law’ part. Here’s what the First Amendment of the Constitution is . . .

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.                    {emphasis added}

Forgive me, but what part of NO is unclear here?

And forget about the negligence of President Bush for signing that gawd-awful piece of legislation. Can’t stop there though. Both Bush and Obama deserve a refresher course regarding the oath they took when they placed their left hand on the bible and raised their right hand to (ostensibly) God.

Just what does it mean ‘to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States?’ To both those Presidents, apparently it means don’t protect it at all. Shirk that responsibility and schluff it off to the Judicial branch.

But the far Left, including President Obama, is outraged that people and groups of people of any kind have the same right to free speech as you or I. Their straw man villain is ‘corporations.’ They’re foaming at the mouth that big corporations will start buying elections. Uh, does anyone believe that McCain-Feingold took big money out of political campaigns? Can you say ‘George Soros’ and the myriad of 527’s?

What’s ironic to me is the fact that, well gee, Big Labor has the same rights as General Motors now. Oh, bad example, that’s owned by The White House. But you get the point here don’t you? No one is disadvantaged, everyone has not only the right, but the opportunity to group resources together to make political statements of support either for or against any candidate. Whether a club, a union, a town, a corporation, or a wacko forum on the Huffington Post.

I think that’s what ‘freedom of speech’ embodies.

But to think that no one is disadvantaged would not quite be true with the current state of the mainstream media and here’s why. That part of McCain-Feingold what was stricken today prevented political speech either for or against a particular candidate within 30 days prior to an election. The only exception to that is the media. That’s making the large and foolish assumption that the media today is as it was a hundred years ago. But unfortunately, it is no longer the same media watchdog that was afforded specific protection in the Constitution. If you listen to the Left nowadays, they’re claiming that the media is controlled by the Right. Ridiculous of course, but it doesn’t matter to make my point.They help make my point.

That the folks cannot exercise free political speech 30 days before an election, tilts the power of persuasion away from the people and gives it all to the media. And we all know that in the last election, the McCain-Palin ticket was not only running against Obama-Biden, but against the media as well. The sum of which could not be overcome. (aside from the fact that McCain ran with one arm tied behind his back, but that’s another matter) That’s a power that neither the Left or the Right should accept.

But, what is Obama and the wacko Left wanting to do about this freedom of political speech? They want either a Constitutional amendment taking it away, or for Congress to make a law, (echo. . .shall make no law) taking it away. Forfeiting the people’s power back to the media. President Obama’s statement:

With its ruling today, the Supreme Court has given a green light to a new stampede of special interest money in our politics. It is a major victory for big oil, Wall Street banks, health insurance companies and the other powerful interests that marshal their power every day in Washington to drown out the voices of everyday Americans. This ruling gives the special interests and their lobbyists even more power in Washington–while undermining the influence of average Americans who make small contributions to support their preferred candidates. That’s why I am instructing my Administration to get to work immediately with Congress on this issue. We are going to talk with bipartisan Congressional leaders to develop a forceful response to this decision. The public interest requires nothing less.

As we just learned with Obamacare, when the Left and Obama over-reach, they do it on steroids.

related links:

2010 Election, Judiciary, Organized Labor, Politics

First Amendment Upheld By Supremes

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Freedom of political speech wins today in the Supreme Court of the United States.  Overturning part of the debacle called McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform.

Organizations of any size may pool their resources together and say whatever they wish to say about a candidate, pro or con. Freedom of speech is no longer a slogan. It is enforceable now under the Constitution.

Of course, the fact that it had to go to the Supreme Court to be tested is ridiculous. But it is confirmed now.

link: Supreme Court knocks down campaign spending limits

Media, Politics

It's Simple, Not This Way

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CNN is in mourning. Chris Matthews is puzzled why Brown won when he campaigned on being the 41st vote against Obamacare. But it’s real simple. The people of Massachusetts, like the majority of Americans, don’t like Obama’s version of health care reform. It’s not that they don’t want health care reform.

They know how expensive their own state health care system is. They know Obamacare will be worse. Brown didn’t run on no health care reform, he ran on stopping Obama’s version. He ran on stopping the secrecy, the payoffs, and the takeovers.

Obama got a lot of support from Independents in his run for The White House. The people in Massachusetts have had a chance to see how Obama has governed with arrogance, and now realize that that’s not what they voted for. This time, they’re voting for change once again. You could call it buyer’s remorse.

Question now is, will Obama have the audacity and the arrogance to stay on the same path, or will he, like Bill Clinton, do his best to do the people’s business, instead of that of his ideological far-left base?

Now, anyone can answer the question that was asked in January and February. Will Obama and Democrats overreach? The people in Massachusetts answered that with a resounding YES.

link: In epic upset, GOP’s Brown wins Mass. Senate race

Economy

Why Economic Recovery Is About Taxes

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Had a liberal encounter of the tax kind the other day. Addressing the Left’s refusal (or possibly inability) to understand why increasing taxes are not the way to go if you want to stimulate economic activity. It started over a proponent of the administration’s taxing those financial institutions that had paid back the ‘bailout’ money that they were given.

In the liberal mindset, if you oppose that, then you’re in the pocket of Wall St.. Forgetting for a moment the Robin Hood aspect of the tax, and the unequal application of the tax, I answered that logic with a short quiz. The guy’s, or girl’s, name was Anonymous.

Anon. Below are some multiple choice questions to consider.

Income is generated by:

1. Private enterprise

2. Government

Along the same line. The money that government gets via taxes comes from:

1. Private enterprise

2. Government

When government takes money out of the private sector via taxes, what effect does it have?

1. Takes money from their business.

2. Puts money into their business.

The economy is boosted when:

1. The government takes money out of the economy via taxes and spends it as it sees fit.

2. The government leaves as much money as possible in the private sector to be used by the private sector to spend as it sees fit.

Money generated by businesses belongs to:

1. The business owners and investors.

2. The government.

And one TRUE/FALSE:

Capitalism pays for Socialism: T/F

Depending on how you answer these questions should explain why it is always taxes, taxes, taxes that effect, either negatively or positively, economic activity, AND whether the form of economic system you prefer is free-market capitalism or some form of socialist/fascist amalgamation.

If you prefer the latter, then there is this thing called the Constitution and the Bill of Rights that must first be abolished.

Politics

When Teleprompters Get Heckled

It is with just a little satisfaction to see liberals getting some of their own medicine, if I may use that metaphor. One thing is obvious, teleprompters don’t react to hecklers very well.


And while we’re on the subject of Sunday’s plan to rescue Coakley’s senate campaign, it appears that Patrick Kennedy may have spent too much time at the bar. They are still running on blaming Bush. Doesn’t know Coakley’s first name, and are intent on pointing fingers. What?

Check these quotes:

“If you think there’s magic out there and things can be turned around overnight, then you would vote for someone who could promise you that, like Scott Brown,” Kennedy said. “If you don’t, if you know that it takes eight years for George Bush and his cronies to put our country into this hole … then you know we have a lot of digging to do, but some work needs to be done and this president’s in the process of doing it and we need to get Marcia Coakley to help him to do that.”

Right. Just keep on digging.

“One thing the Democrats have done wrong? We haven’t kept the focus on this disaster on the Republicans who brought it upon us. We’ve tried too hard to do that right thing, and that’s to fix it, as opposed to spend more of our time and energy pointing the finger at who got us [here] in the first place.”

(Curiously, Kennedy mentioned Coakley repeatedly during his remarks to reporters, each time referring to her as “Marcia,” not “Martha.”)

Priceless.

h/t Black & Right

Race Relations

Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

On November 2, 1983, Republican President Ronald Reagan signed the bill in the White House Rose Garden making the Birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. a national holiday. The bill first came up for a vote in 1979, but the Democrat-controlled US House of Representatives refused to pass the legislation. The first national celebration of the holiday in honor of Dr. King took place on January 20, 1986 and is celebrated on the 3rd Monday in January. In his remarks on signing the bill Reagan said: “Dr. King had awakened something strong and true, a sense that true

justice must be colorblind, and that among white and black Americans, as he put it, ‘Their destiny is tied up with our destiny, and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom; we cannot walk alone.'”

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Holiday Commission with the mission of overseeing the observance of the MLK holiday was created in the bill signed by Reagan.

In May 1989, Coretta Scott King was made a member of the commission for life by Republican President George H. W. Bush.

Democrats today are trying to usurp Dr. King’s legacy, when in reality it was the Democrats who Dr. King was fighting. See the below article for details.

* * * * * * * *

Democrats Smeared Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 1960’s

By Frances Rice

Character assassination. That’s the tactic used by Democrats in the 1960’s to discredit Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a Republican who was fighting the Democrats and trying to stop them from denying civil rights to blacks.

The relentless disparagement of Dr. King by Democrats led to his being physically assaulted and ultimately to his tragic death. In March of 1968, while referring to Dr. King’s leaving Memphis, Tennessee after riots broke out where a teenager was killed, Democrat Senator Robert Byrd, a former member of the Ku Klux Klan, called Dr. King a “trouble-maker” who starts trouble, but runs like a coward after trouble is ignited. A few weeks later, Dr. King returned to Memphis and was assassinated on April 4, 1968.

Prior to his death, Democrats bombed Dr. King’s home several times. The scurrilous efforts by the Democrats to harm Dr. King included spreading rumors that he was a Communist and accusing him of being a womanizer and a plagiarist.

An egregious act against Dr. King occurred on October 10, 1963. With the approval of Democrat President John F. Kennedy, Democrat Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy – President Kennedy’s brother – authorized the wiretapping of Dr. King’s telephone by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Wiretaps were placed by the FBI on the telephones in Dr. King’s home and office. The FBI also bugged Dr. King’s hotel rooms when he traveled around the country.

The trigger for this unsavory wiretapping was apparently Dr. Kings’ criticism of the Kennedy Administration, according to the author David Garrow in his book, “Bearing the Cross”. The justification given by the Kennedy Administration publicly was that two of Dr. King’s associates, including David Levinson, had ended their association with the Communist Party in order to work undercover and influence Dr. King. However, after years of continuous and extensive wiretapping, the FBI found no direct links of Dr. King to the Communist Party.

The unrelenting efforts by Democrats to tarnish Dr. King’s reputation continued for years after his death. To his credit, Republican President Ronald Reagan ignored the Democrats’ smear campaign and made Dr. King’s Birthday a holiday.

Today, while professing to revere Dr. King, Democrats are still trying to tarnish his image by making remarks that diminish his civil rights achievements and continuing to claim that Dr. King embraced Communism – a system that is secularist and socialist.

In reality, Dr. King was a Christian who held deeply religious beliefs and was guided by his faith and his Republican Party principles in his struggle to gain equality for blacks. He did not embrace the type of socialist, secularist agenda that is promoted by the Democrat Party today, which includes fostering dependency on welfare that breaks up families, supporting same-sex marriage and banning God from the public square.

An understanding of who the real Dr. King was can be gained from a glimpse of Dr. King as a young man who participated in an oratorical contest when he was 14 years old. The title of his speech was “The Negro and the Constitution” which had the following sentences: “We cannot have an enlightened democracy with one great group living in ignorance…We cannot be truly Christian people so long as we flout the central teachings of Jesus: brotherly love and the Golden Rule….”

If Dr. King were still alive, he would be slandered by Democrats in the same way that they smeared him in the 1960’s and demean all black Republicans today.

Bio: Frances Rice is a lawyer, a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel and Chairman of the National Black Republican Association. She can be contacted at: www.NBRA.info/

Economy, Florida, Media, Pensacola

Don’t Ignore Small Business

The article in the Pensacola News Journal showing the decline in business investment “Top 10 sales fall to $80M” painted a pretty good picture of slowing economic conditions and increasing uncertainty surrounding business investments.

Multi-million dollar projects are one thing. Businesses with those kinds of assets have people, if not departments, to tend to the details. But small business, really small business, the mom and pop venture, is one sector that can benefit with just a little assistance from local government. And the assistance I’m speaking of does not cost a dime.

There’s no better motivation to start a small family business than to find yourself unemployed. Current unemployment figures show there is plenty of opportunity for a new start-up for someone with a passion for a business or product for which there is market demand. Employed or not, you have way more potential to succeed than you know. Being unemployed may be all it takes to make up your mind to jump in with both feet to start your own business. Been there, done that. And there’s no greater satisfaction that I’ve experienced in the workplace than when the workplace is your own.

Depending on the business you have in mind, you may need more than one license, permits, and inspections along the way. You’ll have to comply with city, county, and state laws not only from the financial angle, but also from details like building codes, fire codes, and ADA compliant features that may be required. There are tax issues, federal, state, and local. There are insurance issues if you have employees. Having prior knowledge of these will save you time and money.

Let’s assume that after losing your job, you don’t have a boatload of cash to take your time in getting something going. You cannot afford to start paying rent for months on end while getting things ready. Inspections by various departments and jurisdictions may be required. Some of them must happen in a certain order. Learning this the hard way will cost you something that you can’t replace, time. And you can’t afford the financial setbacks you’ll incur for failing to comply with necessary details, beginning with the loss of business for not being able to open when you expected to.

So you have an idea of what you want to do. Maybe you took the extension courses offered by the University of West Florida on starting your own business? They are good, and inexpensive. For me it was like a college refresher course condensed into a few weeks. Maybe you’ve already run a business, but it wasn’t your own? Maybe you have a college degree in business or management? Those courses are helpful in a general sense, but do not cover the mechanics of what you will need to do in a legal sense, and in what order, before you can open your door for business.

You have a site selected that would be conducive to your business plan. But where do you start? Where do you go locally to get the ‘official guide to opening a business?’ That’s where the city and county can help. And there’s not been a greater need for this kind of help in decades.

Attracting big businesses/employers to the area is fine. Something the government should try to do. But let’s also try to develop the small business potential that is already here.

link: Top 10 sales fall to $80M

Update 1/24/2010: This post was reprinted in the Pensacola News Journal on the opinion page as a Viewpoint: Right time to promote small business growth