GOP holds ‘super-Saturday’ blitz in battleground states

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Thousands of Republican volunteers braved scorching temperatures to knock on doors and canvass voters on Saturday as the party staged its first “Super Saturday” blitz hoping to energize supporters and rival Democrats’ volunteer mobilization.

Republican party officials said volunteers were out in a dozen battleground states expected to see close contests in the November 6 election between Democratic President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.

Obama captured all 12 – Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada and Iowa – when he won the White House in 2008, aided by armies of enthusiastic supporters who helped generate the highest voter turnout in 40 years.

Romney will need to swing a number of them back to the Republican column to defeat Obama this year. Drumming up voter enthusiasm could be a key, especially given polls showing Democrats are more enthusiastic about the 2012 contest than Republicans.

“There’s nothing to substitute for face-to-face, eye-to-eye contact,” former Virginia Governor George Allen told volunteers in Fairfax, in the Virginia suburbs of Washington.

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Transparency Ends at the White House Door

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On his first day in office, President Obama vowed to create “a new level of transparency, accountability and participation for America’s citizens.” But the president has not lived up to his transparency rhetoric – and now even the left is taking note.

Liberal magazine Mother Jones laments this week that the Obama administration spent a record-high $12 billion in 2011 to keep government information classified. Since the process of classifying documents is itself classified, it’s impossible to determine the individual merits of those decisions. But it’s instructive to consider the government’s sweeping classification mandate with Obama’s initial pledge that transparency would be one of the “touchstones” of his administration. As he said back in January 2009:

The old rules said that if there was a defensible argument for not disclosing something to the American people, that it should not be disclosed. That era is now over.

Except, plainly, it’s not. And it’s not just the “American people” who are being denied access to government-related information. The president’s cheerleaders in the establishment media have been similarly rebuffed. In June, that frustration led Jill Abramson, the executive editor of the New York Times – hardly a right-wing tribune — to blast the administration for its hostility to media coverage and its tightfisted control over information, especially on national security. Abramson revealed that Times reporters who had covered national security issues for several decades had confided in her that “the environment has never been tougher or information harder to dislodge. One Times reporter told me, ‘The environment in Washington has never been more hostile to reporting.’” So much for a new era of accountability.

Obama’s broken promises on transparency are also evident in the administration’s aggressive pursuit of leakers, on whom journalists rely for scoops and inside information. That may seem unlikely, particularly in light of the recent spate of national security leaks from the administration. But those leaks, highlighting the administration’s national security successes — such as the drone program and the foiling of a terror plot through an audacious undercover operation — have largely served to bolster the administration’s public image. By contrast, the administration has come down hard on leakers it sees as damaging to its cause. In its first term, the administration has launched six prosecutions involving such whistleblowers – double the number under all previous administrations combined. Although most of these whistleblowers have leaked information to the media rather than to a foreign government, it speaks to the severity of the administration’s position on leaks that it has gone after them under the 1917 Espionage Act. The message is clear: Transparency ends at the White House door.

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Thomas Sowell, W. Williams: Public schools bigger threat to blacks than KKK

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Thursday on Rush Limbaugh’s radio program, fill-in host Walter E. Williams, a professor at George Mason University, and Hoover Institution scholar in residence Thomas Sowell, author of “Intellectuals and Society: Revised and Expanded Edition,” discussed public education and how it impacts the black community.

Sowell said Americans need to honestly answer some tough questions blacks and the public school system. “It’s very hard to take sometimes, but it has to be done,” he said.

“Wherever blacks or anybody else wants to go in life, they can’t only get there from where they are, which means they have to know where they are — not where they wish they were or for other people to think they are, but where they are in fact. The truth is absolutely the key to any hope of advancement.”

Williams likened that public education system to the Ku Klux Klan.

“I’ve said that, Tom, that if I were the Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan and I wanted to sabotage any opportunity for black academic excellence, I could not think of a better means for doing so than the public education establishment in most of our cities,” Williams said.

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Nugent: “Never Trust a Man in a Black Robe; He Might be Naked Under There”

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Yogi Berra said that when you come to a fork in the road, take it. When supposed-conservative Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. came to a judicial conservative-liberal fork in the road, he veered left.

With Chief Justice Roberts‘ vote to save Obamacare, I was reminded of what my dad told me more than 50 years ago: Never trust a man who wears a black robe. He might be naked under there.

Unlike other conservatives, I don’t care if his vote to save Obamacare turns into a cash cow for the Mitt Romney’s presidential political machine and galvanizes the GOP. There are some things more important than politics and elections. Striking down un-American, Constitution-violating Obamacare is one of them.

Had Chief Justice Roberts voted along with Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Antonin Scalia like everyone expected, Obamacare would have been struck down by the Supreme Court. That would have put even more wind in the sails of the Romney campaign.

The bottom line is that Chief Justice Roberts‘ traitor vote will ensure more monumental spending and wasted taxes and put almost 15 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) under one of the world’s most bureaucratic, ineffective, incompetent and grossly expensive systems ever devised by man: our out-of- control federal government.

Read more from this story HERE

Photo Credit: DonkeyHotey.

TSA now checking passenger drinks bought after passing through security

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Passengers say their problem is not with the rules at the airport. They understand why drinks are not allowed through security, but when they buy one while they wait for their flight, they say the TSA shouldn’t ask to test it.

Passengers say traveling is a big enough stress, but now some are worried the drinks they are getting are not safe.

The TSA wouldn’t say what they’re testing for or why they are doing it, but travelers say they have a right to know.

“I’m always glad that my safety is a priority, I just think testing drinks after they’ve already been bought might be a little extreme,” infrequent flyer Jennifer Smart said.

“The water or or the juices or anything you buy here in the airport, TSA is going to come over and look and check and test it? That’s just ridiculous,” world traveler Thomas Burgard said.

Read more from this story HERE

Photo credit:  Inha Leex Hale

Huge US Defense Contractor Illegally Helped China Produce Advanced Attack Helicopter

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The Canadian arm of the aircraft engine manufacturer Pratt and Whitney closed a six-year U.S. government probe last week by admitting that it helped China produce its first modern attack helicopter, a serious violation of U.S. export laws that drew a multimillion dollar fine.

At the same time it was helping China, the company was separately earning huge fees from contracts with the Pentagon, including some in which it was building weapons meant to ensure that America can maintain decisive military superiority over China’s rising military might.

The Chinese helicopter that benefited from Pratt’s engines and related computer software, now in production, comes outfitted with 30 mm cannons, anti-tank guided missiles, air-to-air missiles and unguided rockets. “This case is a clear example of how the illegal export of sensitive technology reduces the advantages our military currently possesses,” Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton said in a statement released on June 28.

The events are once again raising questions about the circumstances under which major defense contractors might be barred from government work. Independent watchdogs have long complained that few such firms have been barred or suspended, even for egregious lawbreaking, such as supplying armaments or related equipment to a hypothetical adversary.

Nothing in the settlement agreement, in which Pratt and Whitney and two related companies, United Technologies and Hamilton Sundstrand agreed to pay a total of $75 million for multiple violations of export rules, directly threatens Pratt’s existing or future government contracting.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Economic stagnation: Obama’s baby

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Today the American unemployment rate remains unchanged at 8.2 percent. The economy is still five million jobs shy of the breakeven point as America continues to drown in a sea of growing government red ink while struggling to tread water under the overburden of oppressive big government regulations.

Since the start of the seemingly never ending “great recession”, the nation has lost 8.8 million jobs. It has regained only 3.8 million, less than 44 percent. According to the most recent Labor Department report, employers added only 80,000 jobs in June. The economy averaged 75,000 jobs a month in the second quarter, one-third the pace of the first quarter. This marks the third straight month of weak hiring, clearly showing that the economy is still struggling under the weight of the current administration’s failed economic policies.

Thanks to the brilliance of Obama’s economic plan, over the course of the past two years, America’s alleged recovery has gone from adding an average of 161,000 jobs per month to 150,000 per month, and now to 75,000 per month. If a recovery was actually taking place, those numbers would be going up instead of down, right? Instead, a sinkhole is swallowing up hope for millions of Americans of finding a job.

Was there not a pledge made in 2009 by the self-imagined, self-appointed intellectual elites working in the White House that if American taxpayers funded the $878 billion “stimulus” package, unemployment would not go above 8 percent? Was there not a promise that the “stimulus” would have unemployment down to 5.5 percent by now? As it turns out the “stimulus” wasted taxpayer dollars, making little dent in the jobless rate.  But it did reward the White House’s political cronies within the inefficient, unproductive, largely imaginary “green energy industry.”  Obama’s claims that millions of jobs were “created or saved by the stimulus” must be met with severe skepticism. The unemployment numbers have never reflected that.

There are far too many people who know the real story because they are living it. Claims made to the contrary by the Obama re-election campaign don’t matter as they fail to reflect the reality people are living. Regardless of what is loaded on the teleprompter, reality cannot and will not be explained away. In short, people living in the real world are not buying the administration’s theoretical “cash for clunkers” economics approach. Taxing successful businesses, taking a cut for DC, then sending the remainder back to your favorite campaign bundlers running phony business fronts is not an economic recovery plan.  That’s money laundering, Chicago style.

How long is it going to be before the current White House occupant and/or his surrogates start popping up like Whack-a-Moles on the Sunday morning political talk shows blaming all of this on George W. Bush?

Did someone say this Sunday?

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Michael Fell is a former MCA recording artist from the seminal punk rock era who toured America from coast to coast. Today, he’s a leading voice in the L.A. Tea Party movement, active since the February 2009 inception. Mr. Fell currently chairs the Westwood Tea Party, is a founding member of the L.A. Metro Tea Party Coalition, serves as the Vice Chairman of the Westside Republicans Club in L.A. CA, and is an elected Republican delegate to the L.A. 47th AD Central Committee. He’s been Campaign Manager for a primary winning Congressional candidate, as well as Santa Monica and L.A. City Council candidates.  Mr. Fell is a contributing writer for https://conservativedailynews.com/, https://rightwingnews.com/, https://www.hollywoodrepublican.net/, https://beforeitsnews.com, https://www.redcounty.com/, https://www.uspatriotpac.com and, https://westsiderepublicans.com/.  His opinions on today’s news events and political climate can be found on his blog: https://mjfellright.wordpress.com/

Forget Justice Roberts; It’s the Economy, Stupid!

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Forget the calls to waterboard Chief Justice Roberts until he confesses to committing high crimes and misdemeanors over the Obamacare “tax.”  It is time to move on to what really matters to American voters. The strategy must now be for the GOP presidential candidate to switch focus from the Obamacare tax controversy to America’s tepid economic recovery.

Recent official figures show that the U.S. economy grew by 1.9 percent in the first quarter of 2012, less than the 2.2 percent originally reported. According to the annual report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), this year’s growth forecast for the U.S. economy has been lowered to 2 percent. The IMF also lowered its forecast for 2013 from 2.4 percent to 2.25 percent. It also warned of the fiscal cliff known as taxmageddon, the $4 trillion tax increases and defense spending cuts that are due at the end of 2012.

The U.S. Gross Domestic Product growth rate in the first three months was slower than originally announced. This news was accompanied by a downward revision in consumer spending. After-tax corporate profits experienced their biggest fall since the last three months of 2008.

Meanwhile, U.S. employment rose only slightly in April. The Labor Department reported claims for jobless benefits were higher last week, suggesting a slowdown in job creation.

US retail sales fell for the second straight month in May, indicating that growth in the economy is still sluggish. According to the U.S. Commerce Department, retail sales fell by 0.2 percent.

The Institute for Supply Management said Monday that U.S. manufacturing shrank in June for the first time in nearly three years. The manufacturing activity index fell from 53.5 percent to 49.7 percent, the lowest reading since July 2009. Readings below 50 indicate contraction.

The Federal Reserve cut its forecast for 2012 growth to between 1.9 percent and 2.4 percent. That’s half a percentage point lower than April’s estimate.

With facts and figures like these, it is time for the GOP to go aggressively back on the offensive against the failed economic policies of the current administration. That the economy is tanking and employment prospects remain grim need not be explained to voters living that reality.

Give no quarter to the “progressive” campaign. Do not let them off the mat. While they are down, kick them as hard and as long as possible. Rest assured, given half a chance, “progressives” kick with glee…without hesitation.

The survival of America and the principles upon which it was founded are facing an existential threat.  Don’t be stupid.

 

 

Photo credit: Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Morgan Freeman: “Obama’s not black!”

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Since he burst on the national political scene, Barack Obama has faced questions about everything from his place of birth to his college transcripts — but his race?

Oddly, apparent doubts about the president’s racial identification now are being raised not by his critics but by one of his strongest supporters: Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman. He told a surprised NPR interviewer this week that the United States has yet to see its “first black president.”

Freeman was trying to make a point that some people oppose Obama because of his race, when in fact, the actor argued, Obama is “mixed race” and not African-American.

“First thing that always pops into my head regarding our president,” he said “is that all of the people who are setting up this [racial] barrier for him … they just conveniently forget that Barack had a mama, and she was white — very white American, Kansas, middle of America. There was no argument about who he is or what he is. America’s first black president hasn’t arisen yet. He’s not America’s first black president, he’s America’s first mixed-race president.”

Traditionally, Americans of mixed racial heritage are allowed to decide for themselves which, if either, of their parental communities with which to identify. Obama has self-identified as an African-American from an early age.

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Ron Paul’s New Mission: Internet Freedom

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For months we’ve been speculating about how Ron Paul might spend the political capital he’s amassed accumulating all those delegate votes through the primary season. Now it looks like we have our answer.

A new document from Ron Paul and his son Rand called “The Technology Revolution” lays out the Pauls’ roadmap for where they’ll focus their agenda moving forward: Internet freedom.

The document makes a case against the largely GOP-motivated legislation to regulate the internet that’s been proposed over the last year—acts like SOPA, PIPA, etc. It also makes a case against the dominant voices resisting internet regulation—the tech companies and political progressives who protested SOPA and who last week released their own manifesto called the Declaration of Internet Freedom.

The Pauls argue that both approaches from the left and the right seek to impose harmful controls on an internet that should be left totally unregulated. In the Pauls’ view, the left’s anti-trust concerns and advocacy for “Net Neutrality,” which would prevent telecoms from divvying up their bandwidth and charging sites for quick load times, are as misguided and anti-free-market as the right’s push for tighter copyright controls with SOPA. Government regulation in the interest of openness and consumer fairness is neither open nor fair, they say.

Instead, the Pauls want to see the internet totally unregulated, with corporations and individuals behaving in the ecosystem however the market will motivate them to.

Read more from this story HERE.

Photo credit:  everett taasevigen