No 594 “En
mi opinión” Febrero 14, 2014
“IN GOD WE TRUST” Lázaro
R González Miño Editor
Les deseo a todos mis amigos un muy feliz día de los Enamorados
Y especialmente
a mi esposa Lili
“Bienvenido
Ricardo Samitier” [“EMO”
Estamos muy alegres de que Ricardo Samitier haya salido bien de su operación de
corazón y de que ya este entre nosotros para dar batallas por los próximos 389
años. Así que prepárate “o” lo que te va a caer es “SARNA” porque Ricardo viene
con 99 años de garantía…]
La
columna “El Latigo de Samitier”: Estoy de REGRESO y asombrado... de mi operación del corazón
Los Médicos consideraron que ya estaba bien para regresar a las
casa.... solo 4 días después del la operación...
Les cuento que lo que más me impresionó y recuerdo pues lo hicieron
antes de DORMIRME... fue amararme a la mesa de Operaciones... sabía que
amarraban a los operados... pero nunca pensé que nos PEGABAN cada centímetro
del
Cuerpo... en ese momento comprendí el motivo que me afeitaran
todo el cuerpo... desde los tobillos a las muñecas...
El amarre lo hacen con papel engomado de unas 4 pulgadas y me imagino
que terminando el amarre... parecería una momia egipcia... el amarre es tan
fuerte sin tener ningún nudo que es totalmente imposible de hacer ningún
movimiento...
Lo anterior es lo único que recuerdo... y creo debe ser nuevo e
interesante para la mayoría...
Tengo ahora 2 meses de restablecimiento así que la voy a tratar de
hacer... pero ahora con un corazón reconstruido...
Por las Gracia de Dios... creo que debo de utilizarlo para tratar de
que Estados Unidos Detenga su DECADENCIA... y su
Camino al comunismo... sodomicó..
Para Los
Que No Habían Nacido Y Para Los Que Han Perdido La MEMORIA...
Sólo
seis días después de la caída de la dictadura de Fulgencio Batista en
Cuba, y
Solamente
UN DÍA después de tomar posesión en la Habana Urrutia... Los funcionarios
estadounidenses reconocieron el nuevo gobierno provisional de la nación de la
isla...
A pesar de los temores y DENUNCIAS de que Fidel Castro, cuyo
ejército rebelde AYUDÓ a derrocar
a Batista, podría tener inclinaciones comunistas, el gobierno de EE.UU. cuyos
oficiales habían participado en la caída de MACHADO...SABÍAN que el nuevo
régimen... obedecería a los intereses norteamericanos... y HASTA EL DÍA
de hoy... quien siempre que Castro está en APUROS... los que lo sacan y
mantienen a FLOTE... ha sido USA...
Estados
Unidos Se Adelanto A Muchos Países... que esperaban la REACCIÓN DE USA para
tomar su decisión....
A la caída de Machado... los Estados Unidos demoraron 4 meses el
reconocimiento hasta que habían logrado los siguientes propósitos:
1. El control
ABSOLUTO de las fuerzas armadas... FACILITANDO a Batista UN MILLÓN de dólares
para pagar a los soldados que hacía 2 meses que no cobraban y también
distribuir dinero entre los líderes de la oposición...
2. La destrucción
del EJERCITO FORMADO EN ACADEMIA MILITARES... Lo cual fue posible ya que el
embajador norte americano Benjamín Summer Welles... invitó a los oficiales a
reunirse en SU RESIDENCIA OFICIAL... La que la había establecido en el Hotel
Nacional y después de tener a la Crema de la Oficialidad bajo su protección...
RETIRÓ su residencia... quito la bandera de USA… retito los marines que
custodiaban el hotel/residencia oficial y le dio la orden a Batista de
atacarlos... Esa derrota significó la destrucción del Ejercito NACIONAL y la
creación de un ejército de soldados, cabos y sargentos sin educación... a las
ordenes de Roosevelt y los socialistas fabianos de USA... los que duraron hasta
la huida de Batista por orden de USA...
Esa es la
verdadera historia de cuando Cuba cayó en manos de los COMUNISTAS FABIANOS
norte americanos... que solamente un mes después ROOSEVELT reconoció
la URSS... y desde entonces hasta YALTA Roosevelt y Stalin fueron
SOCIOS...
Otra
vez mas... los congresistas REPUBLICANOS... ObedeceN A OBAMA
John Boehner Y Sus
28 REPUBLICANOS Que Votan Por Obama
Entre los 28
están Ileana Ros Lethinen y Mario Días
Balard… Estos DOS VOTAN CONTRA LO QUE DESEAN Los Cubanos Americanos Que Los
Han Elegido... En palabras más sencillas... están traicionando a sus
electores....
El voto ultimo
permite a Obama seguir hipotecando el país... como resultado somos ESCLAVOS de los banqueros.... Y ESE ES EL PRIMER PASO AL
SOCIALISMO...
|
INCREÍBLE...
El Reino Unido y Holanda, ambas
monarquías, miembros del MERCADO COMÚN...
rechazan la democracia islandesa y
DEMANDA que runda su soberanía....
Ellos quieren esclavizar al pueblo
de Islandia durante generaciones, por las deudas
contraídas por los bancos…
El primer ministro de Islandia…
hizo un REFERÉNDUM para solucionar la cuestión...
Preguntando si los BANQUEROS DEBEN
DE PAGARSE SUS DEUDAS o el pueblo...
He
Aquí El Resultado De Esas Elecciones:
La votación fue de 90% contra los bancos y el
7%
para salvar a los bancos.
Eso es lo que tenía que haber hecho
BUSH EN EL 2008... Pues tanto
Bush Como
Obama y el 80% de los
REPUBLICANOS... son SOCIALISTAS/COMUNISTAS...
Los explicaciones DE POR QUE LO
HICIERON además de TONTAS son Totalmente
ANTI-CAPITALISTAS...
Hasta aquí “El látigo de Ricardo
Samitier”
Amenper: Carta del
TRIBUNAL SUPREMO CELESTIAL a New York
Mis queridos hijos de New York:
Hemos recibido en nuestras oficinas celestiales una
cantidad profusa de mensajes de ustedes quejándose de las tormentas
de nieve en su ciudad durante los últimos meses.
Las condiciones que han provocado estas
tormentas en su ciudad, no es algo que se ha producido sin que antes el
tribunal celestial deliberara sobre el tipo de corrección paternal a su
conducta.
En diferentes ocasiones en la historia he tenido que
tomar estas medidas con la humanidad.
Ha sido algo que se ha tenido que hacer, como en el
caso de Sodoma y Gomorra, por sus conductas incestuosas o cuando el faraón no quería dejar ir a mi
querido hijo Moisés y tuve que enviarle unas cuantas plagas para que se
pusiera para su número, y realmente esta medida de corrección en la
ciudad de New York tienen que comprender que era necesaria.
Ustedes han electo de alcalde de la ciudad a un
querido hijo de mi enemigo Satanás.
Durante las deliberaciones he tratado de calmar a
Pedro que quería que le enviara una tormenta de fuego para que se sintieran
como en la casa del enemigo.
Finalmente decidimos aplicarle el castigo de
corrección de nieve que no es tan mala, así que no se quejen.
Al escoger como alcalde a Bill de Blasio, ustedes se
han aliado al enemigo, ¿Qué menos podían esperar que unas tormenticas de nieve? Realmente si se portan como la Babilonia de los
tiempos por venir, que según les he dicho, será la madre de todas las putas,
tienen que esperar un castigo como el que recibirá la Babilonia en esos
tiempos si escogen para que los gobierne un hijo de esa madre.
Si quieren calorcito pídanselo a Satanás, él tiene
bastante material para dárselo, y si continúan con su conducta sin lugar a
dudas tendrán todo el calor de la casa del enemigo. Si necesitan un poco de calor ahora pueden
pedírselo a su correo electrónico Lucifer@infierno.com él se sentirá muy complacido en recibir sus mensajes.
Pero por el momento no me envíen más mensajes a mí-
Pedro se está quejando de que tiene mucho trabajo, se pasa horas en la
computadora celestial abriendo sus mensajes. Además quiero que se abstengan de
expresiones vulgares en sus mensajes como que "se cagan en mí",
eso solo empeora las cosas, como van a decirme eso y después decir que quieren
que los ayude.
Esperando su contrición y
arrepentimiento durante las próximas elecciones quedo siempre atentamente
y vigilantemente..
PAPÁ DIOS
Amenper: Income Ecuality. The
lesson that Scott Hodge wants us to learn is: Are we ready to
destroy our economy to achieve “Equality”? Are we ready to be all equally poor?
Scott Hodge: Here's
What 'Income Equality' Would Look Like
Take
about $4 trillion from the top 40% of families and give it to the bottom
60%—voilà, no more inequality.
SCOTT A. HODGE
Feb. 13, 2014
6:16 p.m. ET
President Obama has talked a lot
recently about reducing income inequality. Yet he neither acknowledges how much
money the government is redistributing, nor how much more would be needed to
close the income gap. Perhaps that's because the project would require
redistribution on a staggering scale.
That's the upshot of two separate
studies published in November 2013 by the Congressional Budget Office and the
Tax Foundation. While they used slightly different methodologies, each study
measured the amount of existing redistribution by the federal government—by
comparing how much Americans get back in total federal spending (everything
from transfer programs to national defense) to how much they pay in all federal
taxes (everything from income taxes to excise taxes). Both studies show that
the federal tax-and-spending system already is extremely progressive and redistributive.
Looking at prerecession data for
non-elderly households in 2006 in "The Distribution of Federal Spending
and Taxes in 2006," the CBO found that those in the bottom fifth, or
quintile, of the income scale received $9.62 in federal spending for every $1
they paid in federal taxes of all kinds. This isn't surprising, since people
with low incomes pay little in taxes but receive a lot of transfers.
Nor is it surprising that households
in the top fifth received 17 cents in federal spending for every $1 they paid
in all federal taxes. High-income households hand over a disproportionate
amount in taxes relative to what they get back in spending.
Corbis
What is surprising is that the
middle quintile—the middle class—also got more back from government than they
paid in taxes. These households received $1.19 in government spending for every
$1 they paid in federal taxes.
When we add up who paid what and who
got what for the 91 million non-elderly households in 2006, the CBO's data
indicate that federal tax-and-spending redistributed $1.2 trillion from the top
40% of households to their fellow Americans. Half of this amount benefited the
bottom 60% of non-elderly households while the rest benefited seniors.
The Tax Foundation study, "The
Distribution of Tax and Spending Policies in the United States," used
postrecession 2012 data for all 150 million U.S. families (as opposed to
households). It put the amount of federal redistribution from top earners at
$1.5 trillion, with state and local governments redistributing another $500
billion. These results don't include the latest hike in top marginal tax rates
to 39.6% from 35% or Affordable Care Act subsidies.
The overwhelming conclusion from
both studies is that, as a group, the vast majority of Americans receive more
back from government in spending than they pay in taxes. Even this large amount
of redistribution falls far short of closing the inequality gap. So how much
more redistribution would be needed to make every family equal? Quite a
lot, it turns out.
According to the Tax Foundation
study's estimate, the average market income for American families in 2012 was
$81,600. (Market income includes wages, business and capital-gains income, and
health and retirement benefits, but excludes transfers.) A typical American
family in the lower income quintile, on the other hand, has an average market
income of $9,560 and gets $21,158 more in spending than they pay in taxes. Thus
we would need to give them roughly $50,882 more in federal transfers to raise
their overall income to the average market income of U.S. families.
A family in the middle quintile has
on average a market income of $56,885 and gets $7,376 more in spending than
they pay in taxes. (Although these families are in the middle fifth of the
population, their average incomes are actually below the national average.) So
to raise their overall income to the U.S. market-income average, the government
would need to give them $17,339 in transfer payments above what they are
currently getting.
Naturally, for families in the first
three quintiles to gain, those in the top two quintiles have to lose. Families
in the fourth quintile have an average market income of $100,240 and pay $4,089
more in taxes than they receive in spending. Thus, we would need to take an
additional $14,551 from these families to bring their market incomes down to
the national average.
Families in the top fifth have an
average market income of $311,400 and pay $65,573 more in taxes than they
receive in spending. Thus we would need to take an additional $164,227 from
them in higher taxes to lower their market incomes to the national average.
Since there are millions of families
in each quintile, these numbers begin to add up. To guarantee everyone in
America an average income, the federal government would have to take an
additional $2.4 trillion in income from the top 40% of families—in one year.
This would bring the total amount of income redistributed from the top to
nearly $4 trillion.
Many people believe the
"rich" can afford to pay higher taxes since they command a
disproportionate share of the nation's income. However, the current amount of
redistribution already takes 21% of the top quintile's income. That would have
to soar to 74% to make every family in America "average."
These are the missing pieces of the
current inequality debate. To recap: Current federal tax-and-spending policies
combine to redistribute $1.5 trillion each year from the top 40% of Americans
to the bottom 60%. To close the income gap to zero would require $4 trillion.
The questions to those who say we
should do more to narrow the income gap are: Where on that continuum should we
aim, and what policies would achieve these goals without bringing the economy
to its knees?
Mr. Hodge is president of the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan
tax research group in Washington, DC.
|
|
You've probably never heard of Sun-Gas, but neither has Wall Street
or the mainstream media. Yet Sun-Gas could soon replace shale gas to
power your car, your home, or even a jumbo jet. Over a dozen scientists
across the country found a way to harvest the sun's energy and mix it with
water to create "Sun-Gas." Yet the government is
silently planning to bring this fuel mainstream without the public knowing
it. Click here for a detailed investor report to get all the details on Sun-Gas, plus how to invest ahead of
the crowd.
|
ALSO IN
TODAY'S ISSUE:
On January
17, President Obama gave
a speech outlining the changes that he planned to make to the NSA's
surveillance programs. Afterward, I remained skeptical, even saying that "NSA transparency and security accountability are pipe
dreams."
But as it turns out, I may have spoken too soon.
It appears that there's one man on Capitol Hill who is unwilling to watch the NSA's abuses continue unchecked. And he's ready to fight for his right... to privacy.
This intrepid liberator is none other than Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky. And he has joined with FreedomWorks, as well as Virginia's former attorney general, to sue President Obama. Paul's lawsuit alleges that the president is violating the Fourth Amendment by collecting Americans' phone data.
In addition to the president, the lawsuit names as defendants James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence; Keith Alexander, the Director of the National Security Agency; and James Comey, the Director of the FBI.
Paul's team, which includes Matt Kibbe, the President of FreedomWorks, and former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who will be the lead counsel, is aiming to halt the phone surveillance program and purge all of the previously collected phone data from the government's databases.
But as it turns out, I may have spoken too soon.
It appears that there's one man on Capitol Hill who is unwilling to watch the NSA's abuses continue unchecked. And he's ready to fight for his right... to privacy.
This intrepid liberator is none other than Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky. And he has joined with FreedomWorks, as well as Virginia's former attorney general, to sue President Obama. Paul's lawsuit alleges that the president is violating the Fourth Amendment by collecting Americans' phone data.
In addition to the president, the lawsuit names as defendants James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence; Keith Alexander, the Director of the National Security Agency; and James Comey, the Director of the FBI.
Paul's team, which includes Matt Kibbe, the President of FreedomWorks, and former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who will be the lead counsel, is aiming to halt the phone surveillance program and purge all of the previously collected phone data from the government's databases.
The
Will of the People
The call to protect
citizens' freedoms has been ongoing since Edward Snowden first leaked
information about the NSA's surveillance programs. Eight months ago, my
colleague, Floyd Brown, wrote, "Even if I have nothing to hide, I refuse
to sacrifice freedoms for which generations of Americans fought and
died."
The NSA firestorm quickly spread from phone surveillance all the way to revelations that the NSA and the Department of Justice were using Google (GOOG), Facebook (FB), Yahoo! (YHOO) and most other large tech firms to spy on Americans.
And since then, the opposition to intrusive government spying has only grown stronger.
"There's a huge and growing swell of protest in this country of people who are outraged that their records would be taken without suspicion, without a judge's warrant and without individualization," Paul said at a press conference after filing the lawsuit in Washington, D.C.
The culmination of this protest is Paul's "historic lawsuit," which he plans to take all the way to the Supreme Court. It's a class-action lawsuit, and Paul has been using an offshoot of his political action committee to collect signatures.
If you'd like, you can support Paul's cause by going here to "Stand With Rand."
The NSA firestorm quickly spread from phone surveillance all the way to revelations that the NSA and the Department of Justice were using Google (GOOG), Facebook (FB), Yahoo! (YHOO) and most other large tech firms to spy on Americans.
And since then, the opposition to intrusive government spying has only grown stronger.
"There's a huge and growing swell of protest in this country of people who are outraged that their records would be taken without suspicion, without a judge's warrant and without individualization," Paul said at a press conference after filing the lawsuit in Washington, D.C.
The culmination of this protest is Paul's "historic lawsuit," which he plans to take all the way to the Supreme Court. It's a class-action lawsuit, and Paul has been using an offshoot of his political action committee to collect signatures.
If you'd like, you can support Paul's cause by going here to "Stand With Rand."
But
Will It Work?
Of course, the first
question in everyone's mind will be: Can Paul actually pull this off?
It's hard to say at this point, but there are some interesting precedents involving the Fourth Amendment that may work in his favor. The most significant is Katz v. United States (1967), which expanded the Fourth Amendment's focus to embrace an individual's right to privacy.
More specifically, the case concluded that a search had occurred when the government wiretapped a phone booth using a microphone attached to the glass.
In the majority decision, Justice Potter Stewart wrote that "the fourth Amendment protects people, not places." And since then, a "search" occurs whenever the government violates a person's "reasonable expectation of privacy."
Now, the NSA surveillance program isn't a direct parallel to the wiretapping scheme used against Katz over 40 years ago. However, the invasion of privacy is clear as day, and Americans are fed up with the government's indiscreet spying.
Let's hope that Paul can make a stand and protect at least some of our privacy rights before they're gone forever.
In Pursuit of the Truth,
Christopher Eutaw
It's hard to say at this point, but there are some interesting precedents involving the Fourth Amendment that may work in his favor. The most significant is Katz v. United States (1967), which expanded the Fourth Amendment's focus to embrace an individual's right to privacy.
More specifically, the case concluded that a search had occurred when the government wiretapped a phone booth using a microphone attached to the glass.
In the majority decision, Justice Potter Stewart wrote that "the fourth Amendment protects people, not places." And since then, a "search" occurs whenever the government violates a person's "reasonable expectation of privacy."
Now, the NSA surveillance program isn't a direct parallel to the wiretapping scheme used against Katz over 40 years ago. However, the invasion of privacy is clear as day, and Americans are fed up with the government's indiscreet spying.
Let's hope that Paul can make a stand and protect at least some of our privacy rights before they're gone forever.
In Pursuit of the Truth,
Christopher Eutaw
Obama Nominates Radical Gun Grabber for
Surgeon General. By Washington Times )
“EMO” THIS IS THE ONLY THING THAT MISSING.
OTHER ARAB IN THE WHITE HOUSE LRGM.
President Obama is using every executive
power in his arsenal to infringe on Second Amendment rights.
His latest
maneuver is to nominate a rabidly anti-gun doctor to be the next U.S. surgeon
general. Dr. Vivek Murthy is facing Senate approval in upcoming weeks.
Dr. Murthy
is the 36-year-old president and co-founder of Doctors for America, a group
that advocates for Obamacare and gun control laws.
The group
calls gun violence "a public health crisis." It pushes for Congress
to ban "assault weapons" and "high-capacity" magazines and
calls for spending tax dollars for more gun-control research.
The
organization also lobbies for doctors to be allowed to ask patients, including
minors, whether they have legal guns in the home. If the patient admits to
having guns, Dr. Murthy wants doctors to "counsel them appropriately about
safety measures."
Gun rights
advocates and many families view this policy as a violation of privacy.
At a
hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee last
week, Sen. Lamar Alexander asked Dr. Murthy about public comments on firearms,
such as a tweet from before the 2012 president election that said, "Tired
of politicians playing politics w/ guns, putting lives at risk b/c they're
scared of NRA. Guns are a health care issue."
Mr.
Alexander, the ranking Republican on the committee, told Dr. Murthy that
"Americans have a First Amendment right to advocate the Second Amendment
-- or any other amendment. And the Second Amendment is not a special interest
group, it's part of our Constitution."
The
Tennessee senator added that, "If your goal is to make guns the bully
pulpit of your advocacy in the surgeon general's office, that would concern
me."
Dr. Murthy
sidestepped the questions about his gun-control agenda from committee members
throughout the hearing.
However,
Mr. Murthy's Twitter timeline is chock full of his anti- firearm screed.
"NRA
press conference disappointing but predictable - blame everything in the world
except guns for the Newtown tragedy.
That same
month, he tweeted that, his group had "launched doctor- nurse campaign
demanding gun safety legislation from Congress."
His spin on
Mr. Obama's failed effort to pass gun control in the Senate last April was to
say: "Signs of progress-we got 20 votes in the senate in favor of gun
violence legislation that we wouldn't have had 1 year ago. Have faith."
Mr. Obama's
pick for the next "nation's doctor" is purely political.
Former
Surgeon General Richard Carmona wrote a letter to the president in December to
protest nominating Dr. Murthy because he is not qualified. Dr. Carmona said
that Dr. Murthy appeared to have "no significant related leadership
experience and no formal public health training or experience."
Unfortunately,
Dr. Murthy is almost assuredly going to be confirmed -- especially since Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid changed the rules so only 51 votes are required for
nominees.
The surgeon
general oversees the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and three
national health councils. It is a role for the most seasoned and knowledgeable
doctor available for the position, not a political lackey who will use the
public profile to push a leftist political agenda.
American National Guard Training Against American 2nd
Amendment Supporters By: Jesse Hathaway
Documents from an Ohio National Guard
(ONG) training drill conducted last January reveal the details of a mock
disaster where Second Amendment supporters with “anti-government” opinions were
portrayed as domestic terrorists.
The ONG 52nd Civil Support Team training
scenario involved a plot from local school district employees to use biological
weapons in order to advance their beliefs about “protecting Gun Rights and
Second Amendment rights.” http://nation.foxnews.com/2014/02/13/american-national-guard-training-against-american-2nd-amendment-supporters?cmpid=NL_foxnation
|
|
You've probably never heard of Sun-Gas, but neither has Wall Street
or the mainstream media. Yet Sun-Gas could soon replace shale gas to
power your car, your home, or even a jumbo jet. Over a dozen scientists
across the country found a way to harvest the sun's energy and mix it with
water to create "Sun-Gas." Yet the government is
silently planning to bring this fuel mainstream without the public knowing
it. Click here for a detailed investor report to get all the details on Sun-Gas, plus how to invest ahead of
the crowd.
|
ALSO IN
TODAY'S ISSUE:
On January 17, President Obama gave a speech outlining the changes that he planned to
make to the NSA's surveillance programs. Afterward, I remained skeptical, even
saying that "NSA transparency and security accountability are pipe
dreams."
But as it turns out, I may have spoken too soon.
It appears that there's one man on Capitol Hill who is unwilling to watch the NSA's abuses continue unchecked. And he's ready to fight for his right... to privacy.
This intrepid liberator is none other than Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky. And he has joined with FreedomWorks, as well as Virginia's former attorney general, to sue President Obama. Paul's lawsuit alleges that the president is violating the Fourth Amendment by collecting Americans' phone data.
In addition to the president, the lawsuit names as defendants James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence; Keith Alexander, the Director of the National Security Agency; and James Comey, the Director of the FBI.
Paul's team, which includes Matt Kibbe, the President of FreedomWorks, and former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who will be the lead counsel, is aiming to halt the phone surveillance program and purge all of the previously collected phone data from the government's databases.
But as it turns out, I may have spoken too soon.
It appears that there's one man on Capitol Hill who is unwilling to watch the NSA's abuses continue unchecked. And he's ready to fight for his right... to privacy.
This intrepid liberator is none other than Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky. And he has joined with FreedomWorks, as well as Virginia's former attorney general, to sue President Obama. Paul's lawsuit alleges that the president is violating the Fourth Amendment by collecting Americans' phone data.
In addition to the president, the lawsuit names as defendants James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence; Keith Alexander, the Director of the National Security Agency; and James Comey, the Director of the FBI.
Paul's team, which includes Matt Kibbe, the President of FreedomWorks, and former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who will be the lead counsel, is aiming to halt the phone surveillance program and purge all of the previously collected phone data from the government's databases.
The
Will of the People
The call to protect citizens' freedoms
has been ongoing since Edward Snowden first leaked information about the NSA's
surveillance programs. Eight months ago, my colleague, Floyd Brown, wrote,
"Even if I have nothing to hide, I refuse to sacrifice freedoms for which generations of Americans fought and
died."
The NSA firestorm quickly spread from phone surveillance all the way to revelations that the NSA and the Department of Justice were using Google (GOOG), Facebook (FB), Yahoo! (YHOO) and most other large tech firms to spy on Americans.
And since then, the opposition to intrusive government spying has only grown stronger.
"There's a huge and growing swell of protest in this country of people who are outraged that their records would be taken without suspicion, without a judge's warrant and without individualization," Paul said at a press conference after filing the lawsuit in Washington, D.C.
The culmination of this protest is Paul's "historic lawsuit," which he plans to take all the way to the Supreme Court. It's a class-action lawsuit, and Paul has been using an offshoot of his political action committee to collect signatures.
If you'd like, you can support Paul's cause by going here to "Stand With Rand."
The NSA firestorm quickly spread from phone surveillance all the way to revelations that the NSA and the Department of Justice were using Google (GOOG), Facebook (FB), Yahoo! (YHOO) and most other large tech firms to spy on Americans.
And since then, the opposition to intrusive government spying has only grown stronger.
"There's a huge and growing swell of protest in this country of people who are outraged that their records would be taken without suspicion, without a judge's warrant and without individualization," Paul said at a press conference after filing the lawsuit in Washington, D.C.
The culmination of this protest is Paul's "historic lawsuit," which he plans to take all the way to the Supreme Court. It's a class-action lawsuit, and Paul has been using an offshoot of his political action committee to collect signatures.
If you'd like, you can support Paul's cause by going here to "Stand With Rand."
But
Will It Work?
Of course, the first question in everyone's mind will
be: Can Paul actually pull this off?
It's hard to say at this point, but there are some interesting precedents involving the Fourth Amendment that may work in his favor. The most significant is Katz v. United States (1967), which expanded the Fourth Amendment's focus to embrace an individual's right to privacy.
More specifically, the case concluded that a search had occurred when the government wiretapped a phone booth using a microphone attached to the glass.
In the majority decision, Justice Potter Stewart wrote that "the fourth Amendment protects people, not places." And since then, a "search" occurs whenever the government violates a person's "reasonable expectation of privacy."
Now, the NSA surveillance program isn't a direct parallel to the wiretapping scheme used against Katz over 40 years ago. However, the invasion of privacy is clear as day, and Americans are fed up with the government's indiscreet spying.
Let's hope that Paul can make a stand and protect at least some of our privacy rights before they're gone forever.
In Pursuit of the Truth,
Christopher Eutaw
It's hard to say at this point, but there are some interesting precedents involving the Fourth Amendment that may work in his favor. The most significant is Katz v. United States (1967), which expanded the Fourth Amendment's focus to embrace an individual's right to privacy.
More specifically, the case concluded that a search had occurred when the government wiretapped a phone booth using a microphone attached to the glass.
In the majority decision, Justice Potter Stewart wrote that "the fourth Amendment protects people, not places." And since then, a "search" occurs whenever the government violates a person's "reasonable expectation of privacy."
Now, the NSA surveillance program isn't a direct parallel to the wiretapping scheme used against Katz over 40 years ago. However, the invasion of privacy is clear as day, and Americans are fed up with the government's indiscreet spying.
Let's hope that Paul can make a stand and protect at least some of our privacy rights before they're gone forever.
In Pursuit of the Truth,
Christopher Eutaw
Frank Calson:
N. Korea used complex network to evade sanctions:
U.N. report. By Seana K. Magee. NEW YORK, Feb. 13, Kyodo
North Korea went to great lengths to defy
sanctions by using a global network, including companies based in China and
Singapore, to evade detection of a cargo ship that was discovered to be
smuggling weapons last summer in waters off Panama, an unpublished U.N. report
showed.
"The
employment of so many role-players in support of the trip suggests a network of
entities centrally managed working together to deflect scrutiny in order to
evade sanctions by minimizing the DPRK's visibility in transactions,"
according to the 59 page annual report by the Panel of Experts that was seen Wednesday by Kyodo News.
The DPRK is
an acronym for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the official name of
North Korea.
While
Chongchongang Shipping Co. is listed as the owner-operator of the vessel, the
panel found that the actual operator-manager was Ocean Maritime Management Co.,
which is headquartered in Pyongyang, but also has offices in Vladivostok,
Russia, and Dalian, China.
The company
"played a key role" in arranging for the shipment of the concealed
cargo of arms and related materiel, according to the report.
OMM also
made use of the Singapore based Chinpo Shipping Company Pte. Ltd. for payments
of costs related to the voyage, the report said. The company shared the address
with the North Korean Embassy in Singapore.
Last July
Panamanian authorities were notified about the North Korea vessel Chong Chon
Gang, which was initially stopped on suspicions of carrying drugs.
However, it
later turned out to be carrying banned items, such as anti-aircraft missile
complexes, missiles in parts and spares, two Mig-21 fighter jets and motors for
that type of airplane, which were loaded inCuba, and 10,000 tons of sugar, according to the Cuban
Foreign Ministry.
Some
members of the Panel of Experts travelled to Panama to inspect the contents of
the ship and also visited Cuba to
further investigate the allegations.
Havana had officially claimed that the
shipment involved "obsolete defensive weapons" that were to be
"repaired and returned."
The panel
recently turned over the report to the U.N. committee that is charged with
overseeing the implementation of Security Council sanctions imposed on North
Korea, since it conducted underground nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and most
recently in 2013.
It was determined
that both the shipment and the transaction between Cuba and North Korea constituted
"sanctions violations."
Evidence
found aboard the ship also pointed to the involvement of the North Korean staff
in Cuba. Documents from the vessel
indicate that the consignor of the sugar was Cubazucar and the consignee, Korean
Central Marketing and Trading Corp.
While Cuba confirmed the arrangement, it declined
to give the panel copies of the agreements citing confidentiality clauses in
the contracts.
According
to the report, the ship sailed around the western side of Cuba and docked in Havana from June 4-9 when it unloaded its cargo. After
leaving the capital city, it spent time drifting north of Cuba and docked in the port of Mariel on
the 20th, where it took on the arms and related materiel. On the 22nd it then
sailed to Puerto Padre and later docked there to load the sugar. On July 5 it left Cuban
waters, heading towards Nampo, North Korea.
The panel
also determined that there was a "comprehensive planned strategy to
conceal the existence and nature of the cargo."
Among other
things there was a "concealment and disguise" of the ship's position
as the automatic identification system was turned off to hide its location.
While the logs showed multiple ports of call, they omitted the stop in Mariel.
North Korea is also making an "increasing use
of multiple and tiered circumvention techniques," and through the first
hand first time investigation of a North Korean ship the panel benefited by
gaining an "unrivaled insight" into some circumvention techniques.
"Another
aspect of this is that it probably makes both legitimate and illegitimate
commerce for them (North Korea) to be even more difficult because one has to
expect that shipping insurance rates for cargoes involving North Korea have
gone up even further since then," Marcus Noland, executive vice president
and director of studies at the Peterson Institute for International Economics,
told Kyodo News in a phone interview.
"I
mean shippers don't want to get involved in this kind of stuff...North Koreans
increasingly have to rely on non-North Korean flagged ships to engage in both
legitimate commerce and these smuggling activities," he said.
While the
bulk of the report focused on the Chong Chon Gang, it also contained
information of other potential violations, including those related to bans on
luxury goods, which have been widely reported in the media. Unlike past years
no member states reported luxury goods violations.
As an
example the panel was looking into Dennis Rodman, the former basketball star,
who visited the country's young leader, Kim Jong Un, in September and December
of last year and most recently in January and "may have taken luxury items
as gifts."
There are
questions about the presents he brought that included sporting goods, five
bottles of vodka, one bottle of Irish whisky, two Irish whisky glasses and a
decanter, and a Mulberry handbag.
The Panel
of Experts, which is comprised of eight members, was initially formed in 2009.
There are representatives from the five permanent members of the Security
Council--Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, as well as
members from Japan, South Korea and South Africa.
Sources
expect that the report will be made public next month.
==Kyodo
LA ESTAMPIDA DEMÓCRATA DEL 2014. Por
Alfredo M. Cepero
Como buen organizador comunitario, el
hombre sabe arengar multitudes y alimentar falsas esperanzas. Su problema es que carece de la disciplina para el
trabajo y de la capacidad negociadora que son necesarias para gobernar en una
democracia. Por eso vitupera y descalifica a
sus adversarios políticos, así como delega sus principales proyectos de
gobierno en ideólogos como Harry Reid y Nancy Pelosi.
Pero entonces sucedieron el Obamacare,
Benghazi, la persecución por el IRS de la oposición al presidente, el espionaje
de ciudadanos norteamericanos y líderes extranjeros por la NSA y la operación
de venta de armas a traficantes mexicanos conocida como Rápido y Furioso . En todos los casos Obama
negó conocimiento previo de los hechos y dijo haberse enterado por los informes
de prensa. La interrogante que muchos nos hicimos fue si estábamos ante un
presidente distraído o un mentiroso incurable.
El enigma fue despejado cuando les dijo a
los ciudadanos que podrían mantener a su médico y preservar sus planes de salud
después de puesto en vigor el Obamacare. Cuando mintió sobre un asunto que
afecta a la casi totalidad de los norteamericanos perdió todo vestigio de
credibilidad. Se derrumbó el consabido castillo de naipes y el próximo mes de
noviembre los electores le pasarán la cuenta. No a Obama que ya no se postulará
de nuevo sino a aquellos demócratas que conspiraron con el presidente para
engañar al pueblo norteamericano y ganar las contenciosas elecciones del 2012.
Para entender mejor la precaria situación
del Partido Demócrata y de su abanderado en la Casa Blanca en este 2014 es
oportuno hacer un poco de historia de las elecciones parciales en los Estados
Unidos. En las parciales del 2006, Bush hijo perdió 30 escaños en la Cámara de
Representantes y 6 en el Senado. En las parciales de 1994, Clinton perdió 54
escaños en la Cámara de Representantes y 8 en el Senado. En las parciales de
1982, Reagan perdió 26 escaños en la Cámara de Representantes y ninguno en el
Senado. Todos estos presidentes entendieron el mensaje y decidieron negociar
con su oposición para forjar políticas en beneficio de quienes los habían
elegido. Obama ha sido incapaz de hacerlo. Su ego y su arrogancia son más
grandes que su interés por servir al pueblo norteamericano.
Ahora bien, aunque todo parece indicar que
Obama logrará pocos éxitos en la realización de alguna de sus múltiples
aspiraciones, ha logrado finalmente establecer un récord. El de ser el
presidente que más escaños legislativos ha perdido en unas elecciones parciales
en los últimos 75 años.
En el 2010, Obama perdió 63 escaños en la
Cámara de Representantes y 6 en el Senado. Hasta el odiado y vituperado Richard
Nixon perdió solamente 12 escaños en la Cámara de Representantes y ninguno en
el Senado en las elecciones de 1970, en medio del escándalo de Watergate. De hecho,
en los últimos 100 años, Obama ha sido superado únicamente por Franklin Delano
Roosevelt, quién perdió 72 escaños en el Congreso en las parciales de 1938.
Pero Obama no debe perder la esperanza de superar a Roosevelt. Ahí está su
prueba de fuego en las parciales del próximo mes de noviembre.
¿Por qué digo esto? Porque hay cifras
ominosas que harán perder el sueño a Obama y a los estrategas de campaña del
Partido Demócrata en los próximos meses. No hagamos caso a sus acostumbradas
bravuconadas porque las cifras son las que cuentan. Primero, según un informe
de la Comisión Federal de Elecciones, los candidatos republicanos al Senado han
superado en recaudación de fondos a los candidatos demócratas en siete estados
( Montana, Dakota del Sur, Virginia Occidental, Alaska, Arkansas, Louisiana y
Carolina del Norte) que fueron ganados por Mitt Romney en las elecciones del
2012.
Segundo, según la última encuesta Gallup,
el nivel de aprobación del Presidente a nivel nacional la semana pasada era de
42 por ciento. Y peor aún, su nivel de aprobación en los mencionados siete
estados ganados por Romney en el 2012 era solamente de 36 por ciento. Según
analistas políticos como Karl Rove, los candidatos del partido en la Casa
Blanca en elecciones parciales no son capaces de superar en más de 5 puntos el
nivel de aprobación del presidente. El beso de la muerte para unos candidatos
demócratas que se niegan ahora a ser vistos con un presidente que les resulta
totalmente tóxico a sus aspiraciones reeleccionistas.
Tercero, el último Resumen Trimestral del
Congreso sobre patrones de votación en el 2013. Los
senadores demócratas que aspiran a ser reelectos en cuatro estados con mayoría
republicana ganados por Romney en el 2012 mostraron un apoyo total a las
iniciativas legislativas de Obama, la peor de todas el Obamacare. Landrieu en
Louisiana, Begich en Alaska, Hagan en Carolina del Norte y Pryor en Arkansas,
votaron en más del 90 por ciento de los casos en apoyo a las iniciativas del
presidente. El albatros del Obamacare podría poner fin a la carrera política de
legisladores que votaron por 2000 y tantas páginas de Obamacare sin molestarse
siquiera en leerlo.
Pero estas no son todas las malas noticias
para los demócratas. Ahí están los llamados estados "púrpura",
aquellos que ninguno de los dos partidos puede considerar seguro. En el 2010,
los republicanos ganaron seis escaños senatoriales en estados
"púrpura" como Michigan, New Hampshire, Minnesota y Virginia, que
siguen siendo considerados como terreno abonado para las aspiraciones
senatoriales de los candidatos republicanos en el 2014.
Sobre todo, si tenemos en cuenta que
Shaheen, en New Hampshire, ha votado con el presidente el 99 por ciento del
tiempo, que Warner, en Virginia, lo ha hecho el 97 por ciento del tiempo y que
Franken, de Minnesota, la barbaridad del 100 por ciento del tiempo. Por mucho
que traten de escapar del presidente no podrán negar su complicidad en el daño
que le han infligido a quienes votaron una vez por ellos.
Según fuentes independientes, los
republicanos tienen altas probabilidades de despojar a los demócratas de siete
escaños senatoriales a nivel nacional el próximo mes de noviembre. Si son
capaces de llegar a 10, los elefantes lograrían el control del Senado y la
capacidad de poner un freno institucional a la agresiva agenda socialista de
Obama en los dos años siguientes. Y aunque
todavía es pronto para cantar victoria ya se escucha en lontananza la
estruendosa estampida de unos burros de la izquierda demócrata que niegan a su
arriero y se mueven de prisa hacia el centro de la guardarraya.
La Nueva Nación es una publicación independiente cuyas
metas son la defensa de la libertad, la preservación de la democracia y la
promoción de la libre empresa.Visítenos en : http://www.lanuevanacion.com
La Segunda Enmienda. Publicado el: 13 de febrero 2014
Opinión equivocada del juez Aldisert está esperando una
decisión de la Corte Suprema si va a escuchar el caso .
Compruébelo usted mismo:
Crimen , una vez más va en aumento en Estados Unidos. De
acuerdo con cifras recientes de la Oficina de Estadísticas de Justicia , los
crímenes contra la propiedad han aumentado un asombroso 12 por ciento desde el
año pasado ; crimen violento aún más - el 15 por ciento . Los ciudadanos en
muchas de las mayores áreas metropolitanas de nuestro país cada vez más se
están convirtiendo en víctimas de delincuentes armados hasta los dientes , así
como los alcaldes liberales , gobernadores y legisladores estatales continúan
con sus esfuerzos para socavar los derechos de la Segunda Enmienda de esos
mismos ciudadanos.
Uno podría pensar que el fin de dos décadas de declive
de Estados Unidos en el crimen podría servir para justificar la necesidad de
reforzar - no debilitar - la capacidad de los ciudadanos respetuosos de la ley
a armarse a la defensiva con el fin de luchar contra los criminales armados. No
es así, los jueces federales e incluso eruditos no son inmunes a sucumbir a la
idea infantil de que la mejor manera de proteger a los ciudadanos es
desarmarlos . Tome Tercer Circuito juez del tribunal federal de apelaciones
Ruggero Aldisert .
Escribiendo recientemente para el Tercer Circuito en
Drake v Jerejian , Juez Aldisert dictaminó que los burócratas que trabajan para
el Estado de Nueva Jersey pueden denegar sumariamente a los ciudadanos el
derecho de protegerse contra delincuentes armados - a pesar de la lengua en la
Segunda Enmienda que garantiza ese derecho las personas , y como se reafirma
por la Corte Suprema de los Estados Unidos en dos decisiones históricas en 2008
y 2010.
- Ver más en: http://patriotoutdoornews.com/9060/another-federal-court-undermines-second-amendment#sthash.iDHbhS4v.dpuf
Obtenga más información en http://patriotoutdoornews.com/9060/another-federal-court-undermines-second-amendment#lIpRhM3TG6LxkKds.99
JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS: Northern Liberal Elites More
Racist Than People in South During Segregation Era. GJWHG /
Supreme
Court Justice Clarence Thomas told a group of college students on Tuesday that
race and gender relations are worse now than when he was a kid.
Speaking
at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Florida, Thomas, the
second black justice to serve on the court, lamented what he considers a
society that is more ‘conscious’ of racial differences than it was when he grew
up in segregated Georgia in the days before — and during — the civil rights
era.
The
conservative justice who, among other things, has written opinions supporting
limits on Affirmative Action, added that ‘the worst things that have been done
to me, the worst things that have been said about me, by northern liberal
elites, not by the people of Savannah, Georgia.’
The
justice, who spent some of his childhood in a racially segregated Georgia, – a
time when public facilities in his home state of Georgia were segregated by
race, the occasional Ku Klux Klan billboard dotted the Southern landscape, and
where Thomas, by his own recollection, was forced to ‘steer clear’ of certain
parts of Savannah.
He
equated racial injustice with the day-to-day unfairness of life, criticizing
the amount of focus placed on racial issues in national discussions.
‘My
sadness is that we are probably today more race and difference-conscious than I
was in the 1960s when I went to school.
Amenper: My
America is not Their America and it is not “Our America”
The most
important lesson that we may gain from Felipe Fernández-Armesto's "Our
America”: A Hispanic History of the United States" is that
definitely, his America is not our America.
Mr.
Fernández-Armesto, is a professor at the University of Notre Dame, I hope that
he is a better history professor than as a philosopher or political critic. The
book is liberal philosophy disguised as an historical essay
He gives a
more or less accurate version exploring this 500-year history of Hispanics in
America.
After and
during the narrative, the author raises questions loaded with political
implications:
Why is the
teaching of U.S. history so focused on the expansion of the country from east
to west, to the exclusion of the movements from south to north?
Listen
Felipe, I rather leave the history the way it is, considering drug wars that
for too long have dominated bilateral discussions between the U.S. and Mexico
and the plague of illegal drugs that has infected our
communities. Unfortunately to focus on the expansion form south to
north is something that I rather don´t want to see, given the type of
immigration that we have been receiving from the south lately
Mr.
Fernández-Armesto argues that the settlement of North America was a "loss
leader" for the Spanish monarchy. The terrain, resources and available
labor were more advantageous in the lands to the south, and that is where its
efforts were concentrated. The early Spanish settlements were plagued by
disease, native uprisings—the Pueblos in New Mexico, the Comanches in Texas—and
resource shortages.
He uses the
familiar term for businesses “loss leader” that is when you buy or sell
something with no profit or at a loss with the expectation of doing business in
other areas and recovering the loss. If this was the case in North
America, ¿Why then. the lamentations and protests about the territories
taken from Mexico by U.S.A.?
When you
fully realize that this “history book” is just a political statement, is when
Mr. Fernández-Armesto can't help showing his disdain for current U.S.
immigration policy, which he says is often driven by "fear of
Hispanics" and "cultural defensiveness."
This in not
only a political immigration view that is not shared by all Hispanics, but by
using the typical liberal phrases like “cultural defensiveness” Mr.
Fernandez-Armesto shows his true political colors.
"Our
America" also overlooks significant achievements by Hispanic Americans.
Barely any mention is made of notable personalities besides César Chavez.
For Fernando-Armesto, labor
leader César Chavez is the greatest and seemingly the only great
Hispanic-American in history.
Governors,
legislators, mayors, an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Attorney
Generals, entertainers, intellectuals, artists and scientists are all making
their mark today. You won't find any of them in "Our America."
Nor will you
find any mention of the waves of Hispanic young people entering our colleges
and universities.
Definitely My
America is not his America, because there is not such a thing and will never be
something called unified "Hispanic America," this
is merely a phrase meant to capture a broad variety of peoples with
different histories and cultures unified only by derivation from Spanish-speaking
countries. Hispanic immigrants arrived at different times and with different
perceptions of where they fit into the national narrative.
In Texas a
Republican state, or a State Republic, accordingly with whom you speak in
Texas, many Mexican Americans call themselves Spanish or
Chicanos instead of Mexican-American to indicate having arrived
early as opposed to being a new Mexican immigrant.
We Cubans in
Florida which arrived at the early years of the Castro regime, generally
have different politics from Puerto Ricans in New York City or Mexicans in
California and even Cubans that arrived later.
We are
individuals with different ideas, to claim a “Hispanic America” is not only
divisive, but it backfires. Agreed, discrimination is driven by fear of the
unknown. If we keep presenting ourselves as a separate America, then why
protesting when they consider us different.
Amenper: Bible reading has been a tradition not
only in the white house but in the average American family.
It was not so in
our country. I read the Bible for the first time when I was already living
in the United States in my late twenties. It was not in our culture to
read the Bible.
Perhaps this is
the reason of why the paths of our countries have been so different.
Perhaps the blessings God has
bestowed upon this country through history is because they have the guidance of
the Bible. Unfortunately, perhaps with a change in their traditions these
blessing will stop.
Reading
this article, a question comes to my mind, do you imagine a president of Cuba,
now or before, reading the Bible? Do you imagine an article like this in
Bohemia?
The
Presidential Bible Class Abraham Lincoln's diligent reading of the
Good Book informed the Gettysburg Address. TEVI TROY
If you're looking for a way to celebrate Presidents
Day on Monday, but don't plan to buy a used car or a new mattress,
you could do worse than to spend time reading the Bible.
Our earliest presidents, George Washington, John
Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, were all assiduous readers—of
history and philosophy, and the Bible as well.
During his student days at Princeton, Madison even
studied Hebrew so he could better understand the Good Book. John Quincy Adams
wrote letters to his son on the Bible's teachings, including his philo-Semitic
but grim assessment of the Jewish prophets as "messengers, specifically
commissioned of God, to warn the people of their duty, to foretell the punishments
which awaited their transgressions."
Abraham Lincoln was one of the most diligent readers
of all U.S. presidents, though he had a limited selection of books as a child.
Fortunately his books included the Bible, which he read and reread. From this
he learned a common but elevated language, which allowed him to connect with
ordinary Americans, who understood his frequent biblical allusions and
references.
Lincoln's famous opening to the Gettysburg
Address—"Four score and seven years ago"—may sound stilted to a
modern Twitter user, but it made perfect sense to Bible-literate Americans who
knew Proverbs 90:10. The verse describes a man's life span as "threescore
years and 10; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years."
Oddly enough, even though presidents often kept their
Bibles close, Air Force One did not always have a Bible on board until the
1970s. This was a problem on Nov. 22, 1963, when Lyndon Johnson was sworn in on
the presidential plane after John Kennedy's tragic assassination. Without a
Bible handy, the non-Catholic Johnson took the oath on a missal, the liturgical
prayer book of the Catholic Church. Gerald Ford ensured this would not happen
again. He specifically requested that a Bible be placed in the aircraft's
stateroom whenever he was aboard. Having a Bible on board is now an Air Force
One tradition.
The Bible has continued to be a close companion for
more recent presidents. Jimmy Carter, a devout Southern Baptist, even wrote a study Bible,
"NIV [New International Version] Lessons from Life Bible." Ronald
Reagan also admired the Bible, at one point affirming: "All the complex
and horrendous questions confronting us at home and worldwide have their answer
in that single book."
Bill Clinton kept a Bible close during the Monica
Lewinsky scandal. He was not just putting on a show; he knew the Bible well.
After the death of Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, White House speechwriters
inserted Brown's favorite biblical verse into the president's eulogy. When Mr.
Clinton saw it, he said, "Oh this is Isaiah 40:31. It sounds like the New
English translation. I prefer the King James version myself."
George W. Bush was a
disciplined reader, reading 95 books in 2006 alone. In addition, our 43rd
president also engaged in an annual reading of the entire Bible, along with a
daily devotional.
Barack Obama has read the
Bible as well, although with a personal twist. In his book "The Audacity of Hope," he
wrote that "When I read the Bible, I do so with the belief that it is not
a static text but the Living Word and that I must continually be open to new
revelations—whether they come from a lesbian friend or a doctor opposed to
abortion."
Mr. Obama's interest in new revelations extends to his
daily devotional. Joshua DuBois, former executive director of the Office of
Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, emails Mr. Obama a daily devotional
thought that often includes wisdom from non-biblical sources, including Johnny
Cash and Nina Simone.
The continuing presidential devotion to the Bible has
been a constant throughout American history, one that connects us directly to
our Founding Fathers. Even as the cultural staples of the founding era have
gone away, and TV, Twitter and movies have taken their place, the Bible has
remained pre-eminent in American life. The book our Founders read and meditated
upon in the past will continue to provide a hopeful path for Americans—one that
will inspire presidents, and the rest of us, for generations to come.
Mr. Troy is a former White House aide and the author
of "What Jefferson Read, Ike Watched, and Obama Tweeted: 200 Years of
Popular Culture in the White House."
FOX-NEWS: FOX News First:
Feb. 13. By Chris
Stirewalt
Buzz Cut:
Buzz Cut:
·
Voters want Obama to do his job, even if
it’s hard
·
You’d better have a pen: ObamaCare site
down for youth enrollment day
·
Cruz
brushes by McConnell primary
·
Worst.
PAC. Ever
·
Parking
space redistribution
VOTERS WANT OBAMA TO DO HIS JOB, EVEN IF IT’S HARD
President Obama has worked for years to convince the American people that congressional Republicans are unworthy of his consideration and beneath the dignity of presidential compromise. But the newest Fox News poll tells us that whatever voters think of the Republicans in Congress, they overwhelmingly want Obama to do his job and work with his rivals to govern. Obama’s increasing insistence on using executive orders to legislate, re-writing some existing laws and simply ignoring others, got failing grades across the board. Some 74 percent of the registered voters surveyed said the president using executive orders to get around Congress is not how things are supposed to work in our republic. That includes 54 percent of Democrats. Even when asked to set aside their views on how the government is supposed to work, by a wide margin (60 percent to 37 percent) voters still disapproved.
[“You have a president who is claiming the right to basically rewrite or ignore or negate federal laws and that is a very dangerous thing.” – Constitutional attorney Jonathan Turley on the “Kelly File.” Watch here.]
Baser instincts - Why does Obama persist in flouting or dictating laws when voters are opposed to the practice? Some have posited that it is a result of Obama’s famously insular nature. But what National Journal’s Ron Fournier has called Obama’s “white flag syndrome” does have its upside. The president has kept his foundering health law lurching forward by using executive orders to delay particularly damaging or disruptive components and done so without having to alienate the liberal base that launched him into the White House and continues to fund his hugely expensive grass-roots and community organizing efforts. Democrats in the poll approved of Obama’s constitutional circumventions by a 66-31 percent margin.
Please stop helping - From Fox polling maven Dana Blanton: “Some 60 percent of voters think that over the last five years the federal government’s policies have increased the income gap between the rich and everyone else. …the poll finds a 52-percent majority believes Obama’s economic policies encourage ‘class warfare. ’And by a 55-39 percent margin, voters think it’s a bad idea for the government to ‘spread the wealth’ from the people who make more money to the people who make less.”
Left, right assail Obama’s new limits on political activity - WaPo: “Conservatives call it a scheme to silence President Obama’s critics. Liberals complain the administration risks trampling on the First Amendment. Protests are coming from all directions over the Obama administration’s proposal to curb secretive groups that play an increasingly dominant role in American politics.”
The Judge’s Ruling: Protecting the free press - Judge Andrew Napolitano considers A New Assault on the Freedom of the Press: “In the clash between government secrecy and public transparency, the Framers placed a value judgment in the First Amendment. Since the press is the eyes and ears of the public, and since the public needs to know what the government is doing so it can make informed decisions when electing people to the government, publishers and reporters are immune from criminal prosecution and civil liability for lifting the veil on the governments’ secrets. An informed public is more likely to make better decisions than an ignorant one.”
YOU’D BETTER HAVE A PEN: OBAMACARE SITE DOWN FOR YOUTH ENROLLMENT DAY
BuzzFeed: “Saturday is National Youth Enrollment Day for Obamacare, a day designed to help make up for youth recruitment time lost while HealthCare.gov was down last year… The day will also feature a HealthCare.gov outage that came as a surprise to the White House allies who have been planning Feb. 15 enrollment activities for weeks… The Obamacare website outage begins at 3 p.m. ET and carries on through Tuesday at 5 a.m. ET. While the Social Security system is down for maintenance, HealthCare.gov users will not be able to formally send in an application for health insurance, though they will be able to browse plans and, the enrollment groups say, calculate what insurance will cost for their family… The Obamacare recruitment groups say they’ll have paper applications ready for those who can’t use the website to apply and will direct potential enrollees to Navigators during the outage.”
Sad state of affairs - While the administration was cheering increased ObamaCare enrollment numbers from January, deeper data dives tell consumers of big troubles ahead. From the Cleveland Plain Dealer: “Uninsured Ohioans, like Americans everywhere, stepped up their pace of enrollment in Affordable Care Act health insurance plans during January, with nearly 3.3 million people nationwide now signed up for a plan, new figures from the Obama administration show. The administration painted the uptick as good news, and stressed that a growing share of people signing up for coverage, or 25 percent nationwide, are young adults between the ages of 18 and 34. Young, healthy enrollees are important because they do not use as much heath care as older Americans, offsetting the older Americans' costs. But state-specific data suggest that Ohio is behind the curve and its health insurers may not see such a young-enrollee advantage. If the trend holds, and it may not, it could affect heath costs and future premiums.”
Poorer counties lack options - “Hundreds of thousands of Americans in poorer counties have few choices of health insurers and face high premiums through the online exchanges created by the health-care law, according to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal of offerings in 36 states. Consumers in 515 counties, spread across 15 states, have only one insurer selling coverage through the online marketplaces, the Journal found. In more than 80% of those counties, the sole insurer is a local Blue Cross & Blue Shield plan. Residents of wealthier, more populated counties in the U.S. receive lower-priced choices than those living in counties with a single insurer.”
House panel hits Obama over ObamaCare delays - Washington Examiner: “Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee are pressing the Obama administration for information on the latest Obamacare delay for businesses. Rep. Fred Upton, a Michigan Republican who chairs the panel, along with five other committee Republicans wrote a letter to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew asking for documents related to the Obama administration’s authority to make the changes to the law without Congress’ consent, as well as communications between Treasury, Health and Human Services, and the White House about the delay decision.”
Another ObamaCare attack ad for a pro-ObamaCare Dem - Fox News: Just two years ago, Florida Democratic Rep. Joe Garcia was calling ObamaCare a “strong, affordable health care system” -- but amid the health care overhaul’s troubled rollout, he’s changing his tune. A Democratic Super PAC has launched an ad on Garcia’s behalf touting him as a lawmaker who “took the White House to task” over the “disastrous” rollout of the health law’s website, and says he is working to fix ObamaCare.
[Poll Watch: Fox News will release new polls “Special Report with Bret Baier” at 6 p.m. ET. Topics includeObamaCare and whether Congress should continue to investigate IRS targeting of conservative groups.]
CRUZ BRUSHES BY MCCONNELL PRIMARY
AP: “Legislation to raise the nation's borrowing authority with no strings attached was short of the 60 votes it needed to advance - a threshold [Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas] demanded - and without a few conversions, Republicans would be blamed for its failure. The stock market was watching. After what seemed like an eternity, a grim-faced Sen. Mitch McConnell, the party leader who faces a tea party challenge back home, finally voted yes. An equally grim-faced Sen. John Cornyn, the party's No. 2 leader and Cruz's Texas colleague, changed his vote from no to yes. Cruz showed no mercy in exposing Republican leaders to widespread criticism from their primary challengers over a procedural vote on the debt limit after their pronouncements about the imperative of spending cuts. It could have been a simple 50-vote requirement, with Democrats delivering the votes to lift the debt limit, but Cruz insisted. Pressed after the vote about what he made his leaders do, Cruz was unapologetic. ‘It should have been a very easy vote,’ he told reporters. ‘In my view, every Senate Republican should have stood together.’ He added that the verdict on McConnell ‘is ultimately a decision ... for the voters in Kentucky.’’’
Remember when? - In a statement, Cruz warned “There are too many members of Congress who think they can fool people and they will forget about it the next week. But sometimes, come November, the people remember.”
[Ed. note: Cruz has pledged not to get involved in primaries against his fellow Republican senators. This came about as close to the edge as that promise would allow.]
DeMint-McConnell feud hits airwaves in Kentucky - The Senate Conservatives Fund, a group founded by former Sen. Jim DeMint to defeat moderate Republicans in Senate races, is spending donor dollars to target DeMint’s longtime rival, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. The group, which helped Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, defeat a moderate frontrunner in that state’s 2012 primary, calls McConnell a “bully” in a new ad. The spot compares McConnell to Obama administration officials accused of harassing the president’s foes. The ad features images of former IRS executive Lois Lerneras a narrator says, “Bullying. Threats. Intimidation. The IRS? No. Try Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican Leader. That’s right. Mitch McConnell is trying to bully and intimidate conservatives just like the IRS is.” McConnell spokeswoman Allison Moore has criticized the group saying they are engaging in “conservative cannibalism.” She said in a statement: “Actual conservatives would realize they made a mistake by endorsing Matt Bevin, when it was revealed that he’s a con-man, but this group has money to make.”
But Bevin trails badly ahead of May primary - Politico: “…GOP polling firm Wenzel Strategies, finds Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell leading Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes by just 1 point, 43 percent to 42 percent-well within the margin of error…Still, McConnell leads his primary challenger, businessman Matt Bevin, 59 percent to 17 percent. These numbers are fairly consistent with other polling in the race, all of which has shown a close race between McConnell and Grimes and a big gap between McConnell and Bevin in the primary-a recent poll from the Courier-Journal had Grimes up 4 points…”
WITH YOUR SECOND CUP OF COFFEE...
New Republic’s Isaac Chotiner asks Why Hillary Clinton Continues to Get a Free Pass. “The point isn’t that one should have no sympathy for Hillary Clinton, or that she did not put an important focus on gender issues when running the State Department. People... are complex. But those who care about women’s issues should ask the same questions of Hillary Clinton that they would of anyone running for president.”
Got a TIP from the RIGHT or LEFT? Email FoxNewsFirst@FOXNEWS.COM
POLL CHECK
Real Clear Politics Averages
Obama Job Approval: Approve – 42.5 percent//Disapprove – 53.0 percent
Direction of Country: Right Direction – 29.6 percent//Wrong Track – 63.6 percent
Generic Congressional Ballot: Democrats – 41.4 percent// Republicans 42.0 percent
WORST. PAC. EVER.
Washington Examiner “A PAC called 21st Century Democrats has raised $5.3 million since 2009, but not a penny of it has gone to candidates’ campaigns or independent expenditures on their behalf, according to Federal Election Commission records. The fly-by-night group has tried to represent itself as something more official by presenting a list of respected Democrats as its ‘advisory board,’ complete with fabricated quotes, when they hadn’t even heard of the organization…”
Famed Katrina mayor convicted of corruption - Once lauded by his fellow Democrats for his tearful, race-based attacks on President George W. Bush in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was convicted Wednesday on 20 of 21 federal corruption counts. More
Keystone foe Kaine would profit from pipeline block - Washington Free Beacon: “Democrats who oppose the Keystone XL pipeline have thousands of dollars invested in direct competitors to the company looking to build the pipeline, public records show…Sen. Tim Kaine (D., Va.) remains opposed to its construction… According to his personal financial disclosure forms, the freshman Democrat has between $15,000 and $50,000 invested in Kinder Morgan Energy Partners…Kinder Morgan is looking to build a pipeline that would directly compete with Keystone… Another anti-Keystone Democrat, California Rep. Alan Lowenthal, has between $15,000 and $50,000 invested in Enbridge Energy Management, $1,000 to $15,000 in Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, and $15,000 to $50,000 in Kinder Morgan Management.”
AFP GIVES LANDRIEU A LASHING OVER OBAMACARE SUPPORT
Americans for Prosperity launched a $750,000 ad campaign against Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., for her support of ObamaCare. From Breitbart (with link to video): “The ‘Mailbox’ ad ‘looks and feels distinctly different than typical political advertising,’ because it visually tells the stories of families and individuals whose worlds are about to get rocked as they face the uncertainty, anxiety, and, in some cases, the devastation that will come after they are notified that their insurance plans have been canceled ‘due to the Affordable Care Act.’ Many Americans and Louisianans never expected that their plans would ever be canceled because President Barack Obama had promised them, ‘If you like your healthcare plan, you’ll be able to keep your healthcare plan, period.’”
GILLESPIE GETS SUPER PAC
National Journal: “Republican Senate candidate Ed Gillespie, who helped co-found the American Crossroads super PAC with GOP strategist Karl Rove, won’t be relying on Rove’s group as his chief outside booster in his Virginia campaign. He’s getting a super PAC of his own. Allies of Gillespie, the former Republican National Committee chairman, have created the We Can Do Better PAC, National Journal has learned. A fact sheet distributed to donors lists veteran Republican strategist Paul Bennecke, a former political director of the Republican Governors Association, as the senior adviser to the super PAC.”
Pick Six: Give the man a hand - It will only take six seats to flip from blue to red in this year’s midterm elections for Republicans to win control of the Senate. Which six Democratic-held seats are most likely to land in the red column come November? The current consensus among Fox News First readers: Arkansas, Montana, Louisiana, South Dakota, North Carolina and Alaska. Reader Bruce Hubble says, “Add Michigan to the list.”
Share your top six picks. Email them – just your top six, please – to FOXNEWSFIRST@FOXNEWS.COMor tweet @cstirewalt.
RYAN SURGING AGAINST HILLARY
WSJ: “A majority of voters would support former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, but Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) has surged ahead among Republican challengers, trailing Mrs. Clinton by single digits, a McClatchy-Marist Poll released Wednesday found. In a Clinton-Ryan matchup, 52% favored Mrs. Clinton while 44% backed Mr. Ryan, who was the 2012 GOP vice presidential nominee. The poll showed the gap has narrowed from 53%-40% in December. Support for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie… dropped in the last month, with undecided voters largely heading to the Clinton camp. In this month’s poll, Mr. Christie trails Mrs. Clinton by 21 percentage points, with 37% of the vote and 6% undecided. In January, Mr. Christie trailed the Democrat by 13 percentage points, with 12% undecided. Mrs. Clinton also holds a 14-point lead over former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and a 17-point lead over Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas). Her lead on former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush—who said last month he is still considering a bid—widened to 20% from 12% in December. She also leads Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) by 20 points, up from 15 points in December. Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) trails the former first lady by 21 percentage points.”
[Huntsmania, 2016 edition - MSNBC personality Joe Scarborough told radio host Hew HewittWednesday he is not ruling out a 2016 presidential bid.]
GAY REPUBLICAN INCLUDES PARTNER IN WEB AD
WSJ: “Carl DeMaio is one of three openly gay Republicans running for Congress this year, and he would be at least the third to serve in the House if he wins. But Mr. DeMaio on Thursday will take a step that none of them has, airing a campaign ad that features a shot of him with his same-sex partner… The clips are brief: A shot of Mr. DeMaio holding hands with his partner, Johnathan Hale, as they march in a gay pride parade in 2012, followed by a clip of the San Diego candidate waving a rainbow flag that symbolizes the gay-rights movement.” From the ad: “A problem solver who isn’t afraid to be different…he believes in equality and diversity and is a defender of our personal freedoms. Power of people over partisanship…a new generation Republican, a reformer, our next congressman.”
Another California congressman makes an exit - LAT: “Facing one of the toughest campaigns of any Republican congressman in the country, Rep. Gary Miller announced Wednesday that he would not seek reelection to his Inland Empire seat, increasing prospects for a Democratic pickup…Democrats hold a 41% to 34% registration edge in the 31st Congressional District, which stretches west from Redlands and San Bernardino to Upland and Rancho Cucamonga.”
HOUSE DEMS IN RETREAT
The Hill: “Beginning their annual issues conference on…[Maryland’s] Eastern Shore, the Democrats are trumpeting their calls to adopt policies like immigration reform, an extension of unemployment benefits and an increase in minimum wage – issues that poll well but have been rejected by the Republican-controlled House…House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) piled on, arguing that the Democrats’ economic platform would address what she characterized as the country’s growing ‘opportunity gap’ – a problem the Democrats accuse Republicans of ignoring…[Democrats] have a tough road ahead. To win back the House, the Democrats would need to pick up 17 seats in November – a high barrier in a mid-term cycle with a lame-duck president whose approval rating has fallen below 50 percent…President Obama will be in Cambridge on Friday.”
[The National Republican Congressional Committee is using the House Democrats issues retreat in a new ad: “Democrats can retreat...but they can’t escape ObamaCare”]
HE’S PUTTING THE ‘PRESIDENT’ BACK IN PRESIDENTS DAY
NYT: “[President Obama’s Friday] meeting with King Abdullah [of Jordan], at Sunnylands in Rancho Mirage, Calif., raised questions at the White House on Wednesday, because the two leaders are practically running into each other here and Mr. Obama appears to have no other official business in Southern California. There is, however, a tantalizing bit of unofficial business for a president whose wife and daughters will be away on their own travels, leaving him alone on Presidents’ Day weekend in a secluded oasis where the forecast is calling for mostly sunny skies and a temperature of 89 degrees. After seeing off the king, administration officials said, Mr. Obama plans to stay on for two days at Sunnylands to play a few rounds of golf at the estate’s recently refurbished nine-hole course, which has been played by presidents from Dwight D. Eisenhower to the elder George Bush.”
RNC SHARES THE LOVE
The Republican National Committee is offering its own assortment of Valentines. One card features cupid aiming his arrow at a target with the caption, “are you cupid or the IRS? Because you hit your target.” Another features Majority Leader Harry Reid asking, “can we take this to the nuclear level?”
[A new Fox News poll says 53 percent of respondents said picking a Valentine with shared political views is at least somewhat important. A full 58 percent of women and 46 percent of men say they prioritize politics in their love lives.]
A KENTUCKY SINK HOLE WITH EXPENSIVE TASTES
The [Lexington, Ky.] Courier-Journal: “Staff at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green removed the remaining Corvettes out of the iconic Sky Dome Wednesday after a 40-foot sink hole swallowed eight of the sports cars on display inside the facility…” Watch the surveillance footage courtesy of the Courier-Journal here.
PARKING SPACE REDISTRIBUTION
The time-honored cold-climate practice of using a lawn chair, trash can or other item to preserve a curbside parking space one has dug out at tremendous effort is under assault. WFMZ details, “one community in Northampton County [Pennsylvania] is cracking down on shovelers who mark their territory. The Wilson Borough Council approved a motion Monday night that allows the public works department to collect household items that are used to reserve parking spaces. Some residents aren’t so sold on the idea. ‘They’re taking our chairs away from us so we can’t park. This is crazy. Where are we suppose to park? And we are getting more snow? I mean come on!’ said Lorraine Magilton. ‘I am not going to dig out a spot for someone to pull in, just not going to do it. But I’m also not going to put out a chair to save a spot,’ said Dallas Warman.”
Tacky, tacky - Councilman Russ Lipari told the Lehigh Valley Express-Times ‘I don't want it to seem like we’re having furniture sales all over the borough.’”
AND NOW, A WORD FROM CHARLES…
“Democrats were complaining that when Republicans were trying to overturn ObamaCare, it was somehow unpatriotic because it was an attack on the law of the land. This law of the land doesn’t even exist. It exists in [President Obama's] head. It's whatever he thinks. He wakes up in the morning and decides what the law is going to be” –Charles Krauthammer on “Special Report with Bret Baier.”Watch here.
Chris Stirewalt is digital politics editor for Fox News. Want FOX News First in your inbox every day? Sign up here. To catch Chris live online daily at 11:30 a.m. ET, click here
“LA LIBERTAD NO ES GRATIS”
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mi opinión” Lázaro R González Miño
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