Obama Denies FEMA Funds to GOP-Leaning Virginia

In case anyone needed more proof that Barack Obama governs to support his base constituencies and make war on others, the Obama administration has denied federal funds to the GOP-leaning state of Virginia to assist with rebuilding efforts following the 5.8-magnitude earthquake that shook the entire region on August 23. The quake, which was centered in Louisa County, did an estimated $15 million of property damage to the state.

FEMA’s Individual Assistance program would have provided loans, grants, and even Nancy Pelosi’s favorite “job creator,” unemployment assistance. Yet with these inducements, the president denied emergency assistance to Virginia for the second time this year.

Governor Bob McDonnell stated, “Disaster relief and public safety are core functions of the federal government.” But they are core functions the Obama administration is unconcerned about providing. Nor is this a partisan sentiment. Democratic Sen. Mark Warner, who considered a presidential run himself in 2008, has said, “If damage from a once-in-a-generation, 5.8 magnitude earthquake does not qualify for federal disaster relief, then I don’t know what does.” Earlier this month, the former governor cited the “enormous frustration” Virginians feel over “the lack of collaborative action in Washington.”

The cut-off of federal dollars seems to coincide with McDonnell’s election as governor on November 3, 2009 — the same day Chris Christie was elected governor of New Jersey. (McDonnell won his usually Republican state by a more decisive margin.)

Chris LaCivita, a Republican strategist, calls Virginia “ground zero on the re-elect.” A Quinnipiac poll shows Obama’s approval rating at 40 percent, more than ten points below his disapproval rating. Polls taken over the last month have shown Obama trailing both Mitt Romney and Rick Perry.

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 Read More at Floyd Reports By Ben Johnson, The White House Watch

State Dept Considering 5,662 ‘Diversity Visa’ Applicants from ‘State Sponsors of Terrorism’

By Elizabeth Harrington.  As part of its 2012 Diversity Visa program, the U.S. State Department is considering 5,662 applicants from countries deemed ‘State Sponsors of Terrorism’ – Iran, Syria, Sudan and Cuba.

In 2011, the State Department awarded 2,427 Diversity Visas to people from Iran, Syria and Sudan.

The annual program randomly awards 50,000 permanent resident visas to people from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States, which include the State Sponsors of Terrorism. The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) congressionally mandates the Diversity Visa program, which began in 1994.

According to the State Department, 100,021 applicants in total, who were randomly selected, “have been registered and notified and may now make an application for an immigrant visa.”

For 2012, the State Department, along with registrations from people in other countries, selected 4,453 applicants from Iran; 292 from Cuba; 757 from Sudan; and 160 from Syria. (Total: 5,662.)

The U.S. State Department defines state sponsors of terrorism as follows: “Countries determined by the Secretary of State to have repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism are designated pursuant to three laws: section 6(j) of the Export Administration Act, section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act, and section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act. Taken together, the four main categories of sanctions resulting from designation under these authorities include restrictions on U.S. foreign assistance; a ban on defense exports and sales; certain controls over exports of dual use items; and miscellaneous financial and other restrictions. Designation under the above-referenced authorities also implicates other sanctions laws that penalize persons and countries engaging in certain trade with state sponsors.”

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Read more at CNSNews.com HERE.

The Hollywood Left Wants Hank Jr. Censored

Last week country music legend Hank Williams Jr. appeared on Fox and Friends to give some politically incorrect commentary. While on the air, he committed the unpardonable sin of using the word “Hitler” within one contiguous paragraph of the word “Obama.” ESPN execs — whose viewers undoubtedly like Hank better than Obama — first pulled his opening, which had run on Monday Night Football since 1991, then fired him. The entertainment industry elite has decided Hank has not suffered enough for his sins. They made clear they want him shut up for good. This weekend the cast of Saturday Night Live with special guest Ben Stiller, suggested Hank never be invited to speak about politics again in life.

This plea for censorship came during an SNL skit that its writers apparently intended to be funny, although aside from a pretty good impression of Steve Doocy and the singer himself, the laughs were hard to find. The crew invited “Hank” back on to clarify his remarks when Stiller, who played Williams’ media representative, turned the tables. He demanded the Fox hosts apologize to Hank. “You have to admit,” he said, “you made a big mistake letting Mr. Williams come on your show and speak for himself.” He went on, “What did you think he would say? Look at him. He looks like a truck stop Santa Claus.”

Couched in “humor,” the message is clear: no self-respecting news program should ever provide a forum for Hank Williams Jr. or anyone who looks like him. They are all contemptible white trash. They have no rights, should enjoy no access to the masses, and need to be throttled into silence before they go back to working hard, paying taxes, and dying in our wars.

Stiller went on: “You introduced him as a man who knows a thing or two about politics. Telling him he’s a political analyst is akin to giving a baby a gun.” Between taking potshots at their favorite targets — laughing at veterans and the elderly, mocking Fox News’ truthfulness — SNL‘s writers repeatedly mocked Hank for daring to use the H-word without permission.

Hank Williams Jr. has publicly stated his remarks were misunderstood. He was pointing out the ridiculous nature of the Obama-Boehner golf summit, pairing up two leaders of opposing factions. This author is generally against analogies that compare people to Hitler, or the greater mass murderers Mao, Stalin, and the worldwide Communist empire. But Hank’s greatest error was not a poor choice of comparisons; it was the idea that Obama and the GOP leadership are in stark opposition to one another. On the contrary, they are two wings of the same one-party system of elitists who run the government under two labels. Grassroots Republicans and Democrats could not be more widely removed, nor could their activists: could any two figures disagree more than Hank Williams Jr. and Michael Moore? As the political conversation moves up the pecking order, the differences magically melt away in the burning sun of bipartisanship (which may explain why so many bipartisan ideas are half-baked).

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Read More at Floyd Reports By Ben Johnson, The White House Watch

Poll: Cain closing gap on Romney in Iowa

A new poll shows businessman Herman Cain closing the gap with GOP rival Mitt Romney in Iowa thanks to his strong support among Tea Party voters.

The new NBC News/Marist poll shows Romney with just a three-point lead in Iowa. The former Massachusetts governor won the support of 23 percent of likely GOP caucus-goers, with Cain in second place with 20 percent.

Cain’s strong showing in the poll reveals his strength among Tea Party supporters, where he bests Romney 31 percent to 15. Among likely caucus attendees who say they “strongly” support the Tea Party movement, Cain tops Romney 41 percent to 7.

Rep. Ron Paul (Texas), the winner of Saturday’s Values Voter straw poll, comes in third with 11 percent, followed by Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.), who are tied at 10 percent.

Two polls released Monday showed Cain, previously considered a long-shot, gaining momentum nationally in the GOP race. A Gallup survey found that 20 percent of Republican voters want Romney to win the nomination, with Cain a close second with 18 percent support.

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Read More at The Hill By Meghashyam Mali, The Hill

Outsiders playing lead role in GOP races for Senate, president

In the races at the top of Florida’s 2012 ballot, non-traditional “outsider” candidates are challenging or leading in the Republican primaries: Herman Cain for president and Mike McCalister for the Senate.

After Cain’s dramatic upset win in the Florida Republican Party’s Presidency 5 straw poll two weeks ago, some national polls now show him leading or tied for first; McCalister, a military retiree and Plant City tree farmer, leads in some U.S. Senate primary polls.

That runs counter to Republicans’ hallmark tendency to go with the establishment candidate – the best-known, best-funded contender, the one who’s next in line.

For political experts and party activists, it’s an open question whether the two are serious prospects, or are succeeding because of dissatisfaction with other candidates.

Florida GOP insiders widely mutter about needing more choices in the Senate field, and say unless there’s a new candidate, George LeMieux or Adam Hasner eventually will become the consensus choice.

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Read More at TBO.com

FPN reports AIDS at Epidemic Proportions Among Homosexual Men

By Alex Mason.  A new study released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) indicates that almost 20% of homosexual men have the AIDS virus. An even more shocking aspect of the new study shows that nearly half of those men are unaware of their infected status.

While the new findings correspond to older research on the topic, this new study is the largest study ever conducted regarding AIDS infections among homosexual men.

According to a calculation by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a pro-homosexual research organization in Washington D.C., less than half of 1 percent of Americans have the AIDS virus. However, according to Kaiser Family Foundation spokeswoman Jennifer Kates, homosexual men continue to be infected at much higher rates.

“We don’t have a generalized epidemic in the United States. We have a concentrated epidemic among certain populations,” Kates said.

This is quite a revealing statement. Of course, what Ms. Kates means is that the AIDS virus is at epidemic proportions among homosexual men. For perspective, imagine if 20% of women had breast cancer and half of them weren’t even aware of their status. Such a statistic would be staggering.

The key difference is that the AIDS virus is totally preventable if individuals abide by biblical sexual ethics.

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Read more at FamilyPolicy.net HERE.

Head of Bank of England says world facing global economic disaster, worst financial crisis in history

By James Kirkup (Telegraph).  Sir Mervyn King was speaking after the decision by the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee to put £75billion of newly created money into the economy in a desperate effort to stave off a new credit crisis and a UK recession.

Economists said the Bank’s decision to resume its quantitative easing [QE], or asset purchase programme, showed it was increasingly fearful for the economy, and predicted more such moves ahead.

Sir Mervyn said the Bank had been driven by growing signs of a global economic disaster.

“This is the most serious financial crisis we’ve seen, at least since the 1930s, if not ever. We’re having to deal with very unusual circumstances, but to act calmly to this and to do the right thing.”

Announcing its decision, the Bank said that the eurozone debt crisis was creating “severe strains in bank funding markets and financial markets”.

The Monetary Policy Committee [MPC] also said that the inflation-driven “squeeze on households’ real incomes” and the Government’s programme of spending cuts will “continue to weigh on domestic spending” for some time to come.

The “deterioration in the outlook” meant more QE was justified, the Bank said.

Financial experts said the committee’s actions would be a “Titanic” disaster for pensioners, savers and workers approaching retirement. Sir Mervyn suggested that was a price worth paying to save the economy from recession.

Under QE, the Bank electronically creates new money which it then uses to buy assets such as government bonds, or gilts, from banks. In theory, the banks then use the cash they gain to increase their lending to businesses and individuals.

By increasing the demand for gilts, QE pushes down the interest rate yields paid to holders of these and other bonds. Critics of the policy say it pushes up inflation and drives down sterling.

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Read more at the Telegraph HERE.

Sealaska Board member guilty of illegal corporate donations

By YourAlaskaLink.com (ANCHORAGE, AK) – State Representative Bill Thomas will pay for campaign violations made last October during election season.

Republican from Haines, Thomas has agreed to pay $4,060 in penalties and take a mandatory candidate training class for him and his wife.

The Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC) investigated a complaint from a well-known Anchorage blogger. She told APOC that a series of ‘thank you’ ads were in violation of Alaska’s ban on corporate campaign contributions.

APOC says the illegal ‘thank you’ ads for Thomas were bought by Haines businesses, but put together by his deputy treasurer.

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Read more at YourAlaskaLink.com HERE.