Posts

Obama wants to kill the suburbs. Really.

Photo credit: jdnx

Obama’s plans to undercut the political and economic independence of America’s suburbs reach back decades. The community organizers who trained him in the mid-1980s blamed the plight of cities on taxpayer “flight” to suburbia. Beginning in the mid-1990s, Obama’s mentors at the Gamaliel Foundation (a community-organizing network Obama helped found) formally dedicated their efforts to the budding fight against suburban “sprawl.” From his positions on the boards of a couple of left-leaning Chicago foundations, Obama channeled substantial financial support to these efforts. On entering politics, he served as a dedicated ally of his mentors’ anti-suburban activism.

The alliance endures. One of Obama’s original trainers, Mike Kruglik, has hived off a new organization called Building One America, which continues Gamaliel’s anti-suburban crusade under another name. Kruglik and his close allies, David Rusk and Myron Orfield, intellectual leaders of the “anti-sprawl” movement, have been quietly working with the Obama administration for years on an ambitious program of social reform.

In July of 2011, Kruglik’s Building One America held a conference at the White House. Orfield and Rusk made presentations, and afterwards Kruglik personally met with the president in the Oval Office. The ultimate goal of the movement led by Kruglik, Rusk, and Orfield is quite literally to abolish the suburbs. Knowing that this could never happen through outright annexation by nearby cities, they’ve developed ways to coax suburbs to slowly forfeit their independence.

One approach is to force suburban residents into densely packed cities by blocking development on the outskirts of metropolitan areas, and by discouraging driving with a blizzard of taxes, fees, and regulations. Step two is to move the poor out of cities by imposing low-income-housing quotas on development in middle-class suburbs. Step three is to export the controversial “regional tax-base sharing” scheme currently in place in the Minneapolis–St. Paul area to the rest of the country. Under this program, a portion of suburban tax money flows into a common regional pot, which is then effectively redistributed to urban, and a few less well-off “inner-ring” suburban, municipalities.

Read more from this story HERE.

August 1, 2012: The Day Freedom of Conscience Died in America

Photo credit: majunznk

As of July 31, 2012, a business owner who objects to abortion had the freedom of conscience to make sure that her company’s insurance policies did not pay to facilitate the practice. But as of yesterday, August 1, she no longer has that freedom. The ObamaCare contraceptive and abortifacient mandates took effect August 1, hailed by the Obama regime as a great and wonderful thing.

According to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, “President Obama is moving our country forward by giving women control over their health care. This law puts women and their doctors, not insurance companies or the government, in charge of health care decisions.”

What about pro-life women? Do they not exist?

In reality, what this law does is force millions of Americans to abide by the radical edge of the sexual revolution. It forces millions of Americans to violate their own consciences, and it prohibits the free exercise of their religion. It is a revolutionary act that puts government in charge of what business owners can do and think. It’s un-American. If Rep. Nancy Pelosi gets her wish, the mandate will eventually even force churches to subsidize Planned Parenthood by forcing them to live under the abortifacient mandate. Pelosi said as much in February 2012:

At a press conference, Leader Pelosi was asked by THE WEEKLY STANDARD: ”The Catholic Church in Washington, D.C., is a self-insured institution. Should the Catholic Church in Washington, D.C., be required to pay for these morning-after pills and birth control if they find that morally objectionable?”

Pelosi talked about the importance of women’s health, and then said, “Yes, I think that all institutions who cover, who give, health insurance should cover the full range of health insurance issues for women.”

Concerned Women for America opposes the abortifacient mandate, which means they do not exist in the eyes of Obama, Sebelius and the other radicals who dominate the current regime. Despite the lack of media attention paid to CWA, it boasts 500,000 members, making it the largest public policy women’s organization in the US. They are fighting the mandate, according to a press release quoting CWA President Penny Nance.

Read more from this story HERE.

Black pastors’ leader accuses Obama of supporting child rape

By Michelle Fields.  The leader of a group of black pastors opposed to gay marriage lashed out at President Barack Obama during a Tuesday appearance at the National Press Club. In his remarks, Rev. William Owens accused Obama of being “unprofessional” for ignoring him and insinuated that Obama had condoned child molestation by endorsing gay marriage.

“For the homosexual community and for the president to bow to the money as Judas did for Jesus Christ is a disgrace and we’re ashamed,” said Owens, the president and founder of the Coalition for African American Pastors.

“If you watch the men who have been caught having sex with little boys,” said Owens, “you will note that all of them will say that I was molested as a child. A man molested me in my home, wherever they will say they were molested. And for the president to condone this type thing knowing the full facts is just irresponsible.”

Owens added that the “president is in the White House because of the Civil Rights movement, and I was a leader in that. And I didn’t march one inch, one foot, one yard for a man to marry a man and a woman to marry a woman. So the president has forgotten the price that was paid … where they gave their blood to have equal rights in the United States.”  Read more from this story HERE.

Here’s more on the Coalition of African-Americans Pastors’ effort:

Black pastors group launches anti-Obama campaign around gay marriage

By Dan Merica.  A group of conservative black pastors are responding to President Barack Obama’s support of same-sex marriage with what they say will be a national campaign aimed at rallying black Americans to rethink their overwhelming support of the President, though the group’s leader is offering few specifics about the effort.

The Rev. Williams Owens, who is president and founder of the Coalition of African-Americans Pastors and the leader of the campaign, has highlighted opposition to same-sex marriage among African-Americans. He calls this campaign “an effort to save the family.”

“The time has come for a broad-based assault against the powers that be that want to change our culture to one of men marrying men and women marrying women,” said Owens, in an interview Tuesday after the launch event at the National Press Club. “I am ashamed that the first black president chose this road, a disgraceful road.”

At the press conference, Owens was joined by five other black regional pastors and said there were 3,742 African-American pastors on board for the anti-Obama campaign.

When asked at the press conference for specifics about the campaign – funding, planned events and goals – Owens said only that the group’s first fundraiser will be on August 16 in Memphis, Tennessee. But Owens insisted that “we are going to go nationwide with our agenda just like the president has gone to Hollywood.”  Read more from this story HERE.

You want to save the US economy? Deliver American Energy to Americans

There is widespread consensus that America needs to become energy independent. America’s ever growing dependence on foreign energy puts her at ever-greater risk in a world that is increasingly unstable. Given the current political upheavals in the Middle East, this reality is slapping America in the face with increasing costs at the pump which, in turn, drive up costs of goods and services to consumers.

Making matters worse, Progressives are obsessed with forcing Americans into accepting their green energy fantasy. Three plus years of actions taken by the current administration and fellow Progressives show a willingness to achieve this end at any cost. Increasing limitations on auto emissions and mileage, crushing EPA regulations on energy providers, opposing development of domestic energy resources, enormous deficit spending on inefficient and noncompetitive solar, wind, tide and bio-fuel technologies all litter the landscape of the White House’s failed energy policy.

While such Progressive measures may theoretically promote development of green energies, they dictate a highly impatient, frantic pace that is further crippling an already fragile American economy. They force the issue at the worst possible time, in the middle of a recovery resistant recession that is quite possibly teetering on the brink of a full-blown depression.

America’s economic infrastructure is based on the use of petroleum, natural gas and coal, as well as limited nuclear power. Nearly every vehicle that is driven on American roads burns gasoline or diesel fuel. Public transportation relies on fossil fuels as well. Natural gas, heating oil and coal are used in furnaces to heat homes and places of business. Coal and nuclear power generate electricity, which powers countless devices; the uses of which are taken for granted every day. Coal, natural gas and petroleum products power American’s industrial complex, the base of the economic engine.

In short, America’s economy depends heavily on existing energy. The methods of providing and consuming energy are deeply ingrained into American business, industry, home life and recreation.

Expecting to change the methods of powering a society of over 300 million people overnight is impractical. Even if it were justified, transforming a hydrocarbon-based economy to something else would take an enormous amount of money and time, far more than most of the public realizes.

Granted, some movement to “renewable” energy sources is currently taking place, but what energy is powering the manufacturing, delivery, and installation of windmills, solar panels, turbines, generators and power grid modifications needed to provide “green” energy to the public? Is it the “green” energy that is still under development? Of course not. No, the energy used to move away from oil, gas, and coal will be those traditional fuels themselves.

Why does America continue to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on foreign energy while there is undeveloped energy in its own country? Why doesn’t America keep those billions of dollars at home, in its own cash starved economy?

At a time when millions of Americans are looking for work and its economy is starving for liquid capital, why doesn’t America take advantage of its own expansive wealth of natural resources? Why aren’t Americans drilling for oil and natural gas or digging for coal? Why aren’t people working building refineries and power plants? Why aren’t people delivering gas, coal and natural gas to consumers? How many peripheral jobs would be created in the process? For every new oil well, power plant, refinery, and mine there will be new roads, followed by restaurants, stores, housing, and other infrastructure. All generated by the only force capable of powering America’s economic recovery: the private sector.

In the interest of national security and job creation, America should put Americans back to work delivering American energy to Americans. This is the best way to become energy independent. Forcing “green energy” on America overnight will only lead to more economic destruction.

************************

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/

Photo credit: Chimpanz APe

Mark Levin: Obama reelection would be “national suicide”

Mark Levin describes the “pockets of tyranny in our own country” and makes the case for why an Obama reelection would result in the destruction of the nation.

Photo credit: markn3tel

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

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!”

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.

Read more from this story HERE.

Photo credit: Cesar Mascarenhas

Video: Islamic Terrorist Met With Top Obama Admin. Officials

If this doesn’t prove Obama and his administration are absolutely incompetent, I don’t know what does.

Photo Credit: Bird Eye

Obama the Job Terminator

Through taxation and regulation, the Democrat candidate for President is killing American jobs. The effort is so pronounced, so pervasive and so relentless, that it is time to call it deliberate.

Obama has consistently demanded higher individual income taxes on “millionaires and billionaires,” which he consistently defines as anyone making more than $200,000 a year. Calling for “fairness,” he has repeated this mantra thousands of times. Apparently he believes it would be fairer if the top 1% of American income tax payers already paying 38% of all federal income tax revenues pay even more, while half of all American adults continue to pay no income tax at all.

Obama has blocked all attempts to lower the American corporate tax rate—now the highest of all industrialized countries. Worse still, Obama has blocked all efforts to stop the double taxation of U.S. companies’ foreign sales. American companies pay taxes to countries where sales are made, then face American corporate income taxes if the net profits are brought back home. Trillions of dollars are kept by American companies overseas instead of being invested here because of this stubborn job-killing double taxation.

Consequently, while the TOTUS (Teleprompter of the United States) speaks eloquently about the need for jobs, Obama tax policy punishes job creators. While the TOTUS speaks up forcefully for increased American exports to create jobs, the reality of Obama tax policy is having the opposite effect—jobs are fleeing the U.S. While the TOTUS castigates American companies for hoarding cash and not hiring, it is Obama’s double taxation policies that are causing the problem.

As with other bad trends (deficit spending, declining student test scores, endless wars) that predated Obama but have accelerated under his regime, things have gotten so much worse for job creators in the U.S. in the last 2.5 years.

Read More at Human Events  By Roger Hedgecock, Human Events

LAMBRO: Obama numbers that add up to one term

 

The Obama economy is looking bleaker than ever. All recessions end, but this one’s going to last a lot longer than most because America remains overtaxed, overregulated and drowning in unfathomable debt.

We had the capacity to grow our way out of the 2008 recession within two years with the right growth policies, but President Obama and the Democrat-run Congress pursued impotent, anti-growth fiscal policies that drove spending to unprecedented levels at a time when the recession had sandbagged tax revenues. That forced the feds to sharply increase borrowing, which is devouring the lion’s share of our economy’s income.

When cooler heads, some within his own administration, were urging him to concentrate on the economy, he focused on a massive new government health care entitlement program. That’s in the process of running up a mountain of future bills – plus crushing anti-job-creating regulations – on an economy struggling to climb out of one of the severest recessions since the Great Depression.

When a recession hits and incomes fall, Americans instinctively tighten their belts, reduce spending, pay off credit cards and sock money away in savings in case things get worse. But Mr. Obama and his party did just the opposite. They expanded government, raised spending and burdened the economy with $3 trillion in higher debt.

The Obama crew lived in a separate reality of its own making, believing its exaggerated rhetoric that the economy was moving “in the right direction.” But as the economy grew weaker, revenues fell, budget deficits rose, and the unemployment rate climbed into the 9 percent range.

Read More at the Washington Times By Donald Lambro, The Washington Times