Hagel: U.S. Should Give Up Nukes Before Rogue Nations

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photo credit: secretary of defense

Before dealing with the nuclear arsenals of rogue nations, the U.S. and Russia must first lead the effort by phasing out their own nuclear weapons, argued Chuck Hagel in largely unreported remarks during a 2009 Al Jazeera interview.

Al Jazeera host Riz Khan asked Hagel to address the disarmament of “rogue” states – referring to Iran and North Korea.

Hagel replied: “Let’s begin with the two nuclear powers that now are responsible for ninety-six percent of the nuclear weapons in the world. Russia and the United States have a particular obligation. We must join in some unison here to lead the rest of the world.”

Hagel spent the interview arguing for a nuclear-free world, with the U.S and Russia to take the first steps.

“That’s the point behind having American leadership as well as Russian leadership out front on eliminating nuclear weapons,” he said.

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Wyoming Lawmakers Propose Bill to Nullify New Federal Gun Laws

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Wyoming lawmakers have proposed a new bill that, if passed, would nullify any federal restrictions on guns, threatening to jail federal agents attempting to confiscate guns, ammunition magazines or ammunition.

The bill – HB0104 – states that “any federal law which attempts to ban a semi-automatic firearm or to limit the size of a magazine of a firearm or other limitation on firearms in this state shall be unenforceable in Wyoming.”

The bill is sponsored by eight Wyoming state representatives ad two state senators. If passed, the bill would declare any federal gun regulation created on or after January 1, 2013 to be unenforceable within the state.

In addition, the bill states would charge federal officials attempting to enforce a federal gun law within the state with a felony – “subject to imprisonment for not more less than one (1) year and one (1) day or more than five (5) years, a fine of not more than two thousand dollars ($2,000.00) five thousand dollars ($5,000.00), or both.”

The bill also allows the Attorney General of Wyoming to defend a state citizen from any prosecution by the United States Government.

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Obama’s Zero-Sum Game and the Coming Redistribution Bubble

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As a presidential candidate in 2008, Barack Obama stated to Joe the plumber that the primary goal of government should be income redistribution. And in reality, Obama has made great strides with regard to income redistribution, having enlarged the food stamp recipient list, for example.

At the heart of income redistribution rhetoric is a principle called the “zero-sum” theory. This theory assumes that the amount of money in the economy is fixed, and therefore, a wealthy person gains wealth only if another person loses it. The amounts are equal, thus the total is a “zero sum.” It is only by exploiting the working class, Obama believes, that the rich have unfairly become rich. The role of government, then, is to achieve a more “just” and “fair” distribution of wealth — a “re-distribution” of the fixed amount of wealth in the economy.

Since rich individuals will not part with their money voluntarily, the federal government, through its taxing authority, is the only institution equipped to achieve this goal. The zero-sum perspective then mandates that only the federal government, through taxation, can produce the desired zero-sum equality by applying standards of fairness. So those running for national office are most likely to place income redistribution in their platform.

The idea that the wealthiest individuals should pay their “fair share” has been repeatedly stated by the president — not just during campaigns, but all during his first term. But a review of the president’s actions, however, shows that the zero-sum theory cannot accurately describe what he has done.

The zero-sum perspective implies that a balance will result if the money is taken from the rich and given to the poor. The bottom-line number of the federal budget sheet, then, should be a zero: as the rich pay more in taxes, the poor will receive more money through federal programs. This would follow from a literal interpretation of the zero-sum theory.

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Congressional Dereliction: Senate Democrats Vow to Support Executive Fiat on Debt Ceiling

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Senate Democratic leaders have sent a letter to President Obama pledging their support if he raises the nation’s $16.4 trillion debt ceiling unilaterally in the face of Republican resistance.

Support has been growing among Democrats in Congress for Obama to invoke the 14th Amendment or another legal justification for expanding the nation’s borrowing authority without congressional approval.

“In the event that Republicans make good on their threat by failing to act, or by moving unilaterally to pass a debt limit extension only as part of unbalanced or unreasonable legislation, we believe you must be willing to take any lawful steps to ensure that America does not break its promises and trigger a global economic crisis — without Congressional approval, if necessary,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and other Democratic leaders wrote in a letter dated Jan. 11.

Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.), Senate Democratic Policy Committee Chairman Charles Schumer (N.Y.) and Democratic Conference Secretary Patty Murray (Wash.) signed the letter.

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Spain Seizes Materials Bound for Iran’s Nuclear Program

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MADRID – Spanish police arrested two men and seized the contents of a truck bound for Iran loaded with materials destined for use in the Islamic state’s nuclear program, the Spanish Interior Ministry said on Friday.

The truck, intercepted on a motorway in northern Spain early on Wednesday, was carrying highly corrosion-resistant valves, the ministry said in a statement.

Police were examining computer databases and documents at the company, Fluval Spain, a ministry spokesman said. The two arrested men were employees at the firm, he said . . .

The company had commercial links with Iranian firms that featured on lists drawn up by the European Union as having connections with Tehran’s nuclear program, the ministry said.

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Hannity Foresees States Leaving Union If Federal Government Continues ‘Radicalized, Abusive’ Pattern (+Audio)

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On his Friday radio show, conservative talker and Fox News host Sean Hannity warned that the United States may fall apart if tax rates remain high.

“The states are now fighting and battling against their own federal government,” Hannity said. ”Same thing with individuals. If you live in a state like New York, New Jersey, California [or] one of these high-tax states [where] 60-plus cents of every dollar goes to taxes, you’ll say, ‘What the hell am I doing this for?’”

“A lot of people have told me that,” Hannity continued. “A lot of people are moving. … I noticed that Bobby Jindal moved to remove his state income tax. He’s not stupid. You know what’s going to happen in Louisiana? The same thing that is happening in Texas and Florida — their populations are soaring. They’re doing a lot better. State governments are fine. They’re surviving. They don’t have the property taxes they do in New York, which is obscene. In New York, you just pay and pay and pay and pay.”

States with lower taxes may soon decide they want to stop shouldering the burden of states with higher taxes, Hannity warned.

Listen to Audio:

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Video: Newt Gingrich Responds to Assertion That He has Caved On Gay Marriage; Discusses Potential Obama EO’s on Gun Control, Debt Ceiling

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photo credit: gage skidmore

Newt Gingrich has been widely criticized for his recent comments that seemed to suggest he had abandoned the fight for traditional marriage. Here’s his response:

“I’m very concerned. I believe as a matter of faith that marriage is between a man and a woman. I think that everything we know of in terms of the bible and in teaching of the church says marriage is between a man and a women. I also believe as a matter of fact: that 9 states have now adopted a law which is different than that. And that poses very real and complex human circumstances. I think a practical reality is how are we going to deal with that fact? And it’s not that I am going to change my belief. I think that in fact it’s a big mistake to be confused about this issue. But I think it is also a legal reality that now people are being allowed to create legal status over here and if they created it in Maryland and they go on a trip and something happens to them on that trip—what is their status if they need to go to the local hospital? And so I think this is a very complicated human problem and Republicans need to take a deep breath and understand we need to deal with the human side of thus equation and understand that we still want to defend marriage in it’s classic form between a man & a women. I don’t except that there is an alternative. The government can declare that a Ford truck is AirForce One but that doesn’t mean it can fly.

The Defense of Marriage Act is a very specific bill that says that because Maryland to take an example happens to vote that marriage extends beyond a man & woman doesn’t mean that can be imposed on any other state. I still defend the right of any individual state to not adopt—(interrupted)—but I am saying as a matter of practical reality, we have to deal—we conservatives have to deal with the objective fact that 9 states have adopted a rule which is now going to make life more complicated. It’s not enough to—again—I’m no—my personal views, my personal beliefs I don’t back up an inch from the core belief from the Bible and the core belief of my church that marriage is between a man and a woman. But I am trying to understand, how are we going to cope with the complexity that this fact has now entered into our life?

We [Republicans] are going to remain the conservative party. We are going to remain a party that believes in core beliefs. We are going to remain a party which defends religious liberty. And we’ve got to do it much much better. I’ve watched us get out maneuvered by the left over and over for the last couple of years in ways that I found frustrating and infuriating and I think we have to learn from that.”

Mali War Escalates as French Battle Islamist Militants

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BAMAKO, Mali – With Islamist militants controlling more than half of the northwest African nation of Mali and threatening the rest of government-held territory, France launched airstrikes in a dramatic escalation of the conflict that some observers have called the next Afghanistan. French commandoes also reportedly attacked an Islamist base in Somalia to try to rescue a French hostage.

The raid early Saturday in Somalia could have been aimed at preventing al-Shabab fighters from harming the kidnapped French security official in reprisal for the French military intervention in Mali. A Somali intelligence official, who insisted on anonymity because he was not allowed to discuss the case with the news media, said the raid in Bulomarer killed “several” al-Shabab fighters but he had no information on the hostage.

An al-Shabab official confirmed the fighting and said the group held one dead French soldier. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

However, the office of Col. Thierry Burkhard, the French military’s main spokesman for overseas operations, said it had no information about any Somalia action.

French President Francois Hollande said the “terrorist groups, drug traffickers and extremists” in northern Mali “show a brutality that threatens us all.” He vowed that the operation would last “as long as necessary.”

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Local Law Enforcement CAN Block Federal Gun Control

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“A high-profile former sheriff who once sued the U.S. government over its gun regulations – and won – says it is the local sheriff who will have to defend Americans when and if the feds starting banning and confiscating guns.

Richard Mack, a former sheriff in Graham County, Ariz., joined with then-Ravalli County Sheriff Jay Printz in a lawsuit against Washington when Bill Clinton demanded sheriff’s enforce provisions of the Brady Bill gun control law.

He won. And since then he’s been at the front of a movement that highlights the responsibility of local sheriffs.

Now, as Washington gears up to consider imperious plans to limit guns, require fingerprinting and registration, impose additional taxes and fees, ban particular features or functions outright, and even confiscate weapons of self-defense, Mack has told WND that there’s hope remaining in local law enforcement.

It’s not complicated, he said. “Gun control is illegal and it’s against the Constitution,” he said. “What people don’t realize is that the Second Amendment was designed to protect us from the power of the federal government.”

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Obama Opposed Illinios Gun Ban Exception to Defend One’s Home

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As a state senator in Illinois, President Obama opposed legislation providing an exception to handgun restrictions if the weapon was used in the defense of one’s home.

Obama’s vote would have maintained the status quo, which made it a violation of municipal gun ban law to use a firearm to save your own life in your own home. But the bill was passed anyway without his support.

The vote is a sign of how committed Obama may be to strict gun control measures.

The Illinois vote is hardly ancient history, having occurred in 2004 as Obama was running for election to the U.S. Senate. In opposing the measure, Obama lined up well to the left of the mainstream . . .

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