Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam in trouble over anti-Israel appointee?

/in , , , /by

On Monday there was an expose of the well regarded father of Ms. Samar Ali an accomplished American Muslim appointee of Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam. The expose published in Frontpage Magazine concerned Samar’s father, Dr. Subhi  Ali, an esteemed member of the local and state medical community, who practices in Waverly,Tennessee, “Samar Ali: Her Father’s Organization Wants to Destroy Israel”.

Dr. Ali is Chairman of The Jerusalem Fund in Washington, DC, a pro-Palestinian anti-Israel NGO promoting Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against the Jewish State of Israel seeking its destruction. David James, the author of the expose has limned his sources, the disclosures of which are sure to cause headaches for both Tennessee Gov. Haslam and Bill Hagerty the State Commissioner of Economic and Community Development. According to sources in Tennessee, Commissioner Hagerty, where Ms. Ali heads a state international trade office, is fighting the possibility of losing her talents and Middle East financial connections. Perhaps it may be intimidation from Muslim Advocacy groups who have penetrated the Haslam Administration Department of Safety and Homeland Security.

Samar Ali(1)

Samar Ali, Director TN Trade Department of Economic & Community Development

Back in June of 2012, we posted on Ms. Ali’s impressive background. She was the first American Muslim student council President at Vanderbilt University, a graduate of its Law School, and a White House Fellow in the Obama Administration.  She was also an associate at a Washington, DC law firm with a client list that included major Saudi and Emirate financiers with a specialization in the growing practice of Shariah compliant finance.

We noted the following in our post on Ms. Ali’s appointment.

In mid- May 2012 Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam appointed Samar Ali, a former White House fellow and member of the international Washington, DC – based law firm of Lovells & Hogan, LLC as international director of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. The Nashville Post noted this in a May 12, 2012 article about Ms. Ali’s appointment:

Ali, who is from Waverly, will serve as international director. She joins ECD after serving as a White House Fellow and practicing corporate law at Hogan Lovells in Washington, D.C., and Abu Dhabi. Her role will include overseeing TN Trade as well as ECD’s other international initiatives, including managing the operations of the state’s four international offices.

The White House website announcement provided further background on Ms. Ali when she was appointed a Fellow for the 2010-2011 class:

Samar Ali is an Associate with the firm Hogan Lovells US LLP.  She is responsible for counseling clients on mergers & acquisitions, cross-border transactions, Shari’a compliant transactions, project finance, and international business matters.  During her time with Hogan Lovells, she has been a founding member of the firm’s Abu Dhabi office.

[. . .]

While in Nashville, Samar led the YMCA Israeli-Palestinian Modern Voices for Progress Program, and is currently the transatlantic liaison for the development of the Palestine Diabetes Institute.  She is a founding member of the first U.S. Delegation to the World Islamic Economic Forum, and has served as an Advisory Board Member of the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health.

Hogan Lovells’ website revealed how important and material their Shari’a compliant finance practice is:

Over the past four years, we have advised on more than 200 Islamic finance transactions with an aggregate deal value in excess of US $40 bn. Our team members are at the forefront of developments in the Islamic finance industry.

Governor Haslam defended his announcement of Ms. Ali’s appointment despite criticism from within Republican state party ranks. Note this exchange in a Knoxville News column of Nashville Bureau Chief Tom Humphrey in July 2012:

A resolution passed by the Stewart County Republican Party called Ali “an expert in Shariah Compliant Finance, which is one of the many ways Islamic terrorism is funded.” It also noted that she is a one-time appointee of President Barack Obama — she served in a White House fellowship program — and that her family has a long history of supporting the Democratic Party.

Speaking after his appearance before a congressional panel in Washington, Haslam said Ali is highly qualified for the state job and “we’re lucky to have her in Tennessee.”

Humphrey did a follow up column based on a Knoxville News interview with Ms. Ali in November 2012 where she dismissed the Anti-Muslim allegations, saying that, “such attacks were hurtful.” But she called them “silly and “untrue.”  Moreover as a student council president she had spoken out against ‘terrorism’ after 9/11. She was grateful for the support from Governor Haslam. Humphrey cited Clint Brewer, assistant commissioner of the state Department of Economic and Community Development who called Ms. Ali “one of the brightest leaders of her generation from this state.”

“Her extensive work experience in international business makes her eminently qualified to serve the people of the Volunteer State,” he said.

She has been traveling the globe opening up state trade offices in the UK, Mexico, Germany, China and India to boost Tennessee exports by 10% per annum over five years. Her project is backed by a $616,000 Federal grant.

Not to be excluded from support for Ms. Ali’s appointment is the Nashville Jewish Federation. The Federation board penned a letter in 2012 to Governor Haslam applauding his decision.

ATCPJ Newsletter noted her father’s role as Chairman of The Jerusalem Fund. The Fund’s executive director Yousef Munayyer openly advocates BDS against Israel. It noted:

It seems the Jerusalem Fund’s anti-Israel bent has not wavered much since its founding. It’s very public advocacy for BDS against Israel makes this organization’s position question.

Does the Jewish Federation understand that the end goal of BDS is the delegitimization and destruction of the State of Israel?

The answer to that is no. With the revelations of FPM dossier piece accusing The Jerusalem Fund Chaired by Dr. Subhi Ali of advocating delegitimization of Israel the Nashville Jewish Federation will probably opt to remain silent. After all Dr. Subhi Ali and the leaders of the Volunteer Muslim community have ready access to both Capitol Hill and Metro government in Nashville. We are told that they have powerful friends in Washington, as well.

Will Ms. Ali think that the evidence of her father’s organization supporting BDS against Israel is “hurtful” to the Volunteer State’s Jewish community and Gov. Haslam’s Administration?  Somehow we doubt it. After all Gov. Haslam may want to take advantage of a Shariah compliant sukuk bond financing that  Ms. Ali’s Middle East financial connections would deem exemplary of ‘ethical investing’. Ethical investing with a portion of proceeds devoted to Zakat, Muslim Charity, which includes the way of Allah, Jihad.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on The New English Review.

Should We Raise the Minimum Wage?

/in , , , , /by

Kelsey Harris and Amy Payne from the Heritage Foundation asked themselves this question. They created a revealing infographic to answer this important political issue. The minimum wage has little to do with helping people earn more, rather it is a progressive tool to create a conflict between classes in the lead up to the 2014 elections. It is political pandering to those who believe the government is here to help them.

It is income redistribution at best and economically destructive at the worst. The progressive ideal is “income equality” for all, except the ruling class, of course.

“In last year’s State of the Union address, President Obama called for an increase in the minimum wage. Since then, Democrats in Congress have argued that the President didn’t go far enough, proposing even more of an increase. The question is: Would this actually help the entry-level workers it is supposed to help?” ask Harris and Payne.

Check out and share our infographic.

minwage_v4

RELATED COLUMN: The New Debt Ceiling Deadline Is Going To Be Earlier Than We Thought

Is tide turning? Liberal writer supports Obama impeachment

/in , , /by

In recent fundraising efforts, Democrats have invoked the “I” word – the threat of impeachment — to try and rally liberal progressives as we approach the key 2014 mid-term elections.

Democrats are working hard to portray this as a full speed effort of conservatives. But it’s not just those center-right who are concerned with President Obama’s executive overreach.

In an interview with World Net Daily, famed Village Voice journalist Nat Hentoff called Obama “the most dangerous and destructive president ever” and “the worst state…the country has ever been in.”

Hentoff is particularly incensed by Obama’s egregious use of executive orders, especially considering his most recent comments at a cabinet meeting regarding having a pen and a phone. “He has no right to do these executive orders,” Hentoff insists.

Why does Obama get away with it? Hentoff says there is no outrage in Congress, no coverage by the media and no knowledge by the public.

“He’s in a position now where he figures he’s going to do whatever he wants to do.” In fact, Hentoff said, Obama doesn’t even pretend to care about the separation of powers between the executive branch and Congress anymore, because “He’s the boss and hardly anybody cares enough” to stop him.

Separately, in a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, two constitutional law professors told Congress the president exceeded his authority when he unilaterally extended the deadline for enforcement of the employer mandate in the Affordable Care Act, according to the Christian Science Monitor.

We are in the midst of a constitutional crisis and the question Americans have to ask is whether or not their elected representatives will take any action.

The most well-known examples of Obama changing or issuing laws with the stroke of a pen by issuing executive orders include:

  • Delaying the employer mandate in Obamacare
  • Changing the types of plans available under Obamacare
  • Ensuring abortions would be covered under Obamacare
  • Enacting key provisions of the failed Dream Act to halt deportations of illegal immigrants
  • Enacting stricter gun-control measures
  • Sealing presidential records
  • Creating an economic council
  • Creating a domestic policy council
  • Changing pay grades

“Never before in our history had a president done these things,” Hentoff mused. He is baffled that Obama should escape such scrutiny when former President Bill Clinton faced impeachment just for being “a lousy liar.”

As I mentioned earlier this week, it will be interesting to hear what the focus of President Obama’s State of the Union address will be.

I no longer believe this is a matter of incompetence. This presidency is intentional and purposeful in truly fundamentally transforming America. And it’s terrifying.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on AllenBWest.com.

Sex Research Group Linked to Pedophiles Granted UN Recognition

/in , , , /by

NEW YORK, January 24 (C-FAM): An academic group whose research was obtained from pedophiles and launched the sexual revolution in the U.S. has received accreditation by the United Nations.

The infamous Kinsey Report was the basis for relaxing attitudes and penalties for sex crimes against women and children, and for comprehensive sexual education that teaches small children about sexual acts.

This week the Kinsey Institute went before the UN committee that accredits groups to participate in the UN. This comes as abortion groups are lobbying for comprehensive sex education to be a major part of the UN’s policy agenda and development work.

Alfred Kinsey claimed children are sexual from infancy. His primary sources were adult men who recorded details of their sexual contacts with children for his book Sexual Behavior in the Human Male.

One man provided Kinsey details of his abuse from 1917 to 1948, shown in Table 34 in Kinsey’s book. It records the number of “orgasms” in certain time periods by children as young as 5 months up to 14 years.

Orgasm is defined as “violent convulsions,” “sobbing, or more violent cries, sometimes with an abundance of tears (especially among younger children),” “excruciating pain,” “will fight away from the partner and may make violent attempts to avoid climax although they derive definite pleasure from the situation.”

Another Kinsey source beginning in 1943 – during WWII – was a German Nazi officer, Fritz von Balluseck who in 1957 was convicted of abusing children for over 30 years. The judge reportedly said, “I had the impression that you got to the children in order to impress Kinsey and to deliver him material.”

Kinsey claimed 95 percent of men committed sexual crimes, so society should redefine “normal” and reduce penalties for sex offenses. He testified on behalf of child molesters and his work helped change laws to be lenient on sex offenses.

“Of course, we knew when we interviewed the pedophiles that they would continue the activity, but we didn’t do anything about that,” Paul Gebhard, a Kinsey associate, told a newspaper. “There couldn’t have been any research if we turned them in.”

Gebhard, who became director of The Kinsey Institute, later said, “It was illegal and we knew it was illegal and that’s why a lot of people are furious.”

Kinsey assured “his informants of anonymity” and avoided “any value judgments of their behavior,” stated Kinsey Institute director John Bancroft.

One victim of a Kinsey child molester has come forward. When “Esther White” (a pseudonym) was 9, she found a sheet of paper “and my father was checking off things he was doing to me.” After Kinsey interviewed Esther, he handed her grandfather a check for about $6,000.

In 1964, The Kinsey Institute launched SIECUS to promote Kinsey’s ideology through sex education. SIECUS already has UN recognition and has become very influential there. SIECUS’ Comprehensive Sexuality Education teaches 5-year olds about masturbation, and engaging in sexual behavior with others shows caring.

The Kinsey Institute provides scholarships honoring John Money, a pioneer of “gender identity” and responsible for the sex “reassignment” of an infant told in the book The Boy Who Was Raised As a Girl. The boy ultimately committed suicide. Money’s gender identity clinic at Johns Hopkins Hospital was shut down by his successor.

The homosexual group ILGA lost its UN accreditation in 1993 due to its links to groups that promote pedophilia.

A Wiki-leaked document titled “Pedophilia Certification,” shows the U.S. conducted a “thorough review” in 2010 and UN agencies certified that none had accredited any organization that promotes or condones pedophilia.

EDITORS NOTE: This column was written by Wendy Wright, Vice President for Government Relations and Communications, C-FAM.

RELATED COLUMN: 5 Horrific Examples of Cultural Decay in America

ACTION ALERT: “Keep 8-Year Term Limits” bumper stickers now available for free!

/in , , , /by

Polling suggests an overwhelming majority of Floridians opposed the weakening of our state’s voter-approved term limits from eight to 12 years.

Nonetheless, Gainesville Republican Rep. Keith Perry has introduced new legislation to do just that. His personal interest as a legislator apparently is a higher priority than your interests as a citizen.

Floridians spoke in 1992 when they approved 8-year legislative term limits with a 77 percent vote. It is time for the people to speak again.  One way to do it is with this tasteful, high-quality vinyl bumper sticker: KEEP 8-YEAR TERM LIMITS. This sticker is easily removable without any damage to your vehicle. And, they’re free.

To get one, go here and include your contact info including mailing address and you’ll find one in your mailbox promptly. Thanks.

NAACP Disgrace: Rev. Barber and the Negro’s loss of grievances

/in , , /by

There can be no debate that a duplicitous hypocrisy exists when it comes to the vitriol black conservatives must face – not only from the white liberal establishment but from other blacks as well.

My Approved Portraits

Senator Tim Scott (R-SC).

So enter the latest example of this heinous practice by Rev. William Barber II, a leader in the North Carolina NAACP. As reported in the Washington Post,

While speaking at Zion Baptist Church in Columbia, South Carolina, Rev. Barber made these comments referring to South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, “A ventriloquist can always find a good dummy. The extreme right wing down here finds a black guy to be senator and claims he’s the first black senator since Reconstruction, and then he goes to Washington, D.C., and articulates the agenda of the Tea Party.”

Senator Scott was appointed by Governor Nikki Haley to the position after former Senator Jim DeMint resigned in late 2012. Senator Scott issued this response, “To reflect seriously on the comments of a person, a pastor, that is filled with baseless and meaningless rhetoric would be to do a disservice to the very people who have sacrificed so much and paved a way. Instead, I will honor the memory of Dr. King by being proactive in holding the door for others and serving my fellow man. And Rev. Barber will remind me and others of what not to do.”

Rev. Barber made his remarks as he spoke on issues such as healthcare and voting. He is a staunch opponent of voter ID but one has to ask, did he speak out against the DNC requiring picture ID for entry into their convention held in Charlotte NC in 2012?

Barber later told FoxNews.com that King “emphasized love and justice rather than extremism,” and that support for “the far right” ignores problems in South Carolina such as aid to the poor and public education.

I wonder if Rev. Barber consents to the expanding poverty and food stamp rolls that have occurred under the past 5 years of the Obama administration. Furthermore, I suppose Rev. Barber concurs with President Obama and his decision in 2009 to cancel the DC school voucher program for deserving young black children — while Obama sends his own daughters to the prestigious Sidwell Friends School.

Such hypocrisy is unconscionable but not unexpected from individuals who Booker T. Washington — surely one of those extremist black “dummies” — described a century ago:

There is another class of colored people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs, and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs — partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs.

The Rev. Kevin E. Donalson Sr., the Zion Baptist Church’s pastor who hosted Rev. Barber, meanwhile, told FoxNews.com that although he agreed “in principle” with Barber’s comments, he would not have used such language. And although he’s “grateful” that South Carolina has an African-American senator, he believes the policies Scott supports hurt the people whom King spent his life trying to help.

This is the insidious perspective coming from these so-called black leaders. They do not want to accept policies that support economic growth and prosperity for the black community. They are more than happy to keep the black community on a 21st century liberal plantation in exchange for votes and their own position of relevance.

Rev. Barber reminds me of the practice in Africa of certain black tribes capturing and selling other blacks to white slavers. It seems this practice continues but in a different manner, but the end result remains — economic servitude and enslavement to the welfare nanny-state, instead of the physical chains of bondage.

I find it shameful that any attempt to promote policies, such as urban economic empowerment zones, which would enable a better standard of living, are attacked as extreme.

The heart of the black community is conservative and these ministers preach individual salvation on Sunday. Unfortunately, they preach collective subjugation Monday to Saturday.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on AllenBWest.com. 

National Chick-Phil-A Day Flies High for the Duck Commander

/in , , /by

“Yesterday’s first ever ‘Chick-Phil-A Day’ event proved much more than a raucous, redneck celebration. For in Chick-Fil-A restaurants across the nation, we saw that the real foundation of America is alive and thriving! Let me explain,” writes Eric Odom from Grassfire.

chickin-179x300

Click on photo for a larger view.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/rf50hJ9thhw[/youtube]

Grassfire’s national Chick-Phil-A event didn’t have Hollywood backing it. There wasn’t a budget, no marketing or public relations teams huddling ’til all hours of the night planning and plotting the event. We didn’t hear about it on television, or read about it in the newspaper. In fact, the “lame-stream” media that savagely accused Phil Robertson of bigotry generally ignored our Free Speech celebration!

“Real Americans Got The Message. From big cities to small towns and hamlets, thousands of Americans from all walks of life flocked to Chick-Fil-A restaurants, eager to show their support for faith-based freedom in our nation,” notes Odom.

Report: Tech firms led by Google spent $61M to buy political favors

/in , , /by

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jan. 22, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Google led in lobbying spending by ten tech firms who pumped a combined $61.15 million into efforts to influence federal regulators and lawmakers in 2013, up 15.9 percent from a combined total of $52.78 million, according to records filed with the Clerk of the House this week.

Consumer Watchdog, a nonpartisan nonprofit public interest group, analyzed the spending records today.  “Policymaking in Washington is all about how much money you can throw around,” said John M. Simpson, Consumer Watchdog’s Privacy Project Director. “These tech guys are increasingly willing to spend whatever it takes to buy what they want.”

Google spent $14.06 million on lobbying in 2013, a 14.7 percent decrease from 2012 when it was the target of an antitrust investigation by the Federal Trade Commission. The Internet giant outspent the second highest spending company on the list, archrival Microsoft, by $3.570 million. Google’s fourth quarter lobbying expenditure was $3.98 million, an increase of 20.3 percent from $3.35 million in 2012.

Microsoft spent $10.49 million on 2013 lobbying, up 29.7 percent from $8.09 million in 2012.  Fourth quarter lobbing expenses were $2.77 million, a 13.9 percent increase from $2.43 million.

Facebook, which has substantially increased in its Washington presence over the last two years, set another company record in its effort to buy influence in Washington.  Spending soared 61.2 percent to$6.43 million in 2013 from $3.99 million in 2012. Fourth quarter spending was $1.48 million compared to$1.40 million, an increase of 0.6 percent.

Here is a link to the Clerk of the House’s Lobbying Disclosure database: http://disclosures.house.gov/ld/ldsearch.aspx

Here are the lobbying amounts for the seven other tech firms:

  • Amazon spent $3.46 million in 2013, a 38.3 percent increase from $2.50 million in 2012. Fourth quarter spending was $960,000 vs. $610,000, an increase of 57.4 percent.
  • Apple spent $3.37 million in 2013, a 71.7 percent increase from $1.97 million in 2012.  Fourth quarter spending was $990,000 vs. $540,00, an 83.3 percent increase.
  • Cisco spent $3.12 million in 2013, a 16.4 percent increase from $2.68 million in 2012.  Fourth quarter spending was $890,000 vs. $710,000, an increase of 25.4 percent.
  • IBM spent $7.06 million in 2013, a 45.6 percent increase from $4.85 million in 2012.  Fourth quarter spending was $1.90 million vs. $1.29 million, an increase of 45.6 percent.
  • Intel spent $4.39 million in 2013, an 18.2 percent increase from $3.72 million in 2012. Fourth quarter spending was $1.45 million vs. $997,000, an increase of 45 percent.
  • Oracle spent $5.99 million, an increase of 4 percent from $5.76 million in 2012.  Fourth quarter spending was $1.60 million vs. $1.78 million, a decrease of 10 percent.
  • Yahoo spent $2.78 million in 2013, an increase of 1 percent from $2.75 million in 2012. Fourth quarter spending was $720,000 vs. $640,000, an increase of 12.5 percent.

Telecommunications companies continued spending large amounts on lobbying in 2013:

  • AT&T spent $15. 94 million, an 8.8 percent decrease from $17.47 million in 2012. Fourth quarter spending was $3.64 million vs. $3.44 million, an increase of 5.7 percent.
  • Sprint spent $2.75 million, an increase of 8.2 percent from $2.55 million in 2012. Fourth quarter spending was $716,887 vs. $637,308, an increase of 12.4 percent.
  • Verizon spent $13.44 million, a decrease of 10.5 percent from $15.02 million in 2012.  Fourth quarter spending was $3.46 million vs. $3.48, an increase of 0.5 percent.

Visit Consumer Watchdog’s website at www.consumerwatchdog.org

Obama’s 2014 State of the Union Speech Will Be All Lies

/in , , /by

On January 28, the President of the United States will stand before a joint session of Congress and lie to them and to all Americans.

The mainstream media will treat it as a serious presentation and make no mention of the lies.

Following the State of the Union speech (SOTU) there will be a formal response by a Republican spokesman. It will be very polite and not likely to strongly expose the lies and oppose the President.

The “low information” Americans will take Barack Obama at his word. Nearly half of all Americans who might listen to the speech or read about it are on some form of government dole or entitlement program. They are interested in food stamps, unemployment compensation, their disability status, and an older generation will understandably want to ensure their Social Security checks keep coming and Medicare will continue to underwrite their medical costs.

Whatever Obama has to say about the Affordable Care Act—Obamacare—will be a lie. His administration continues to lie about the number of those who have enrolled, but we know they are mostly the elderly while the younger generation wisely avoids it.

We live in a nation where more than 90 million Americans are out of work, cannot find work, or have given up looking for work. Anything Obama has to say about the economy will be a lie.

When Obama gives his speech, the total population of America will be 317,490,000 people. It is the third-most populous nation in the world with 82% residing in cities or the suburbs as of 2011. Anyone who has driven throughout the nation knows that much of it is nearly uninhabited. A mere 2% of the population are the farmers and ranchers who feed the rest of us.

The two most populous states are California and Texas. New York City has the largest population of the nation’s cities. It just elected a Communist as its new mayor. He has announced he intends to raise taxes.

There are an estimated eleven million illegal aliens living in America and The New York Times reports that number may be growing. Previous efforts at amnesty resulted in not only endowing them with citizenship but their entire families, many of whom joined them from their home nations. At a time of high unemployment among natural born and naturalized citizens, increasing the population in this fashion will only add to the economic problems the slowest recovery in decades represents. In Congress Democrats favor an amnesty. Republicans are unsure of whether to oppose or accept it.

In addition to amnesty, the President will no doubt make some mention of tax reform. The reform the nation needs is the elimination of the income tax in favor of a fair tax based on consumption of products and services. You buy it. You pay a national sales tax.

No doubt the President will make some reference to gun control. He has been unable to get any legislation about it and has relied on executive orders to impose limits on the Second Amendment. Meanwhile, Americans are buying guns like crazy. It’s about self-defense and the prospect of a President who may not want to leave office. He will cite the Newtown slayings, but mass slayings in America have not increased in decades. It is not common, though it is always tragic.

It’s hard to predict how much time Obama will devote to “climate change”, but this greatest hoax of the modern era is very dear to him and the Democrats in Congress. A group of them are signing a letter to be sent to the heads of the network channels urging them to devote more airtime to lies about how carbon dioxide is causing the Earth to warm and poses a huge threat. The Earth, meanwhile, has been in a cooling cycle for seventeen years and many Americans recently experienced record-setting cold weather. More of them—though only about 23%–are beginning to express doubts about global warming. Duh!

The climate change agenda is being pursued outrageously by Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency which is issuing regulations intended to continue shutting down existing coal-fired plants that generate electricity and keep new ones from being built. It is a direct attack on the nation’s economy which depends on electricity. Whatever Obama says about it will be a lie.

No doubt he will make reference to his latest scam, income inequality. If there is one thing communists love it is class warfare. The best way to reduce income inequality is well known. It is a thriving economy that provides more jobs and higher pay. Meanwhile, there may be a passing reference to increasing the minimum wage, a great way to deny entry-level jobs to young workers and increase the cost of everything else to the consumer.

Obama is not likely to have much to say about foreign affairs. In general he has managed to reduce America’s role as an international leader for democracy, justice and human rights. We are running out of allies, especially in the Middle East where Israel, Jordan, and a few Gulf states remain friendly.

When I was a young man coming of age in the 1950s I could never imagine living in a nation whose moral structure was such that a million unborn children are killed every year by abortion. I would never have believed that some 40% of women would choose to be single mothers. Or that the divorce rate would reach 50% and more. I could never imagine young men and women graduating from college with huge debts in an economy where jobs were not only fewer, but subject to an Obamacare law that forces businesses to cut the number of hours they work, limiting their earning capacity.

This is not an America I envisioned, but it is one that Presidents and Congresses since the Great Depression of the 1930s whose government they have expanded to the point where many Americans regard Big Government as the biggest problem facing the nation. They’re right.

© Alan Caruba, 2014

freedom free stuff you cant have both

19 Photo Reminders of Why Americans March for Life

/in , , /by

Today, tens of thousands of people from around the country will gather in Washington to brave the cold for a cause they believe in. Some are marching for the first time, and others have been traveling to the nation’s capital since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. For the 41st year, they’ll meet again for the same reason — the sanctity of life.

“We’re also celebrating life today, and we hope you will, too,” states Kelsey Harris from the Heritage Foundation. Here are 19 moving reminders of the beauty of new life:

babyhandsup

proudDad

rbby_94

proud sister

babypretty

us3

brothers

smilingbaby

238020.TIF

us2

proudsiblings

us1

baby3

200353956-001

babycry

twins

us5

sister

baby1

Learn more: “How to Speak Up for Life,” produced by Heritage in collaboration with Alliance Defending Freedom, Americans United for Life, Concerned Women for America, Focus on the Family, March for Life Education and Defense Fund, and the Susan B. Anthony List Education Fund

Food stamps for Pot in Colorado?

/in , , , /by

In a recent interview with The New Yorker magazine, President Barack Obama said he doesn’t think marijuana is more dangerous than alcohol, “in terms of its impact on the individual consumer.” He even went so far as to remind us of his own drug use (a disqualifier for Top Secret security clearance, by the way),

“As has been well documented, I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person up through a big chunk of my adult life. I don’t think it is more dangerous than alcohol,” the president said.

Well, guess what, the liberal progressives out in Colorado share his assessment. Since pot is no different from cigarettes and no more dangerous than alcohol, as part of the welfare nanny-state expansion, Colorado lawmakers have decided Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards, aka Food Stamps, can be used for withdrawals at pot shops. Unbelievable.

As reported by Fox News, Colorado pot shops currently have ATMs where welfare recipients can withdraw cash using their EBT cards.

A Democrat-controlled State Senate committee rejected the Republicans’ proposal to close this loophole. Sen. Vicki Marble, R-Fort Collins, said Colorado’s new legal pot industry needs to make sure not to invite federal scrutiny through improper cash withdrawals at recreational or medical marijuana stores. “Already we are operating an industry which is not allowed under federal law,” said Marble, one of the chief lawmakers involved with Colorado’s marijuana regulation bills.

However, the opposing liberal progressive perspective is always centered on victimization:

“I’m not comfortable limiting that access until I’m certain we’ve done that due diligence to make sure people can access their benefits when they need to,” Sen. Irene Aguilar, D-Denver, said.

I think State Senator Aguilar should go back and read the original intent for the US Food Stamp program, which was to provide healthy nutritious foods — American grown — for lower income families.

This whole matter is completely political and part of the grand design for progressives, where there are no boundaries, no moral standards, and the government — ultimately the American taxpayer — will pick up the tab.

And to think the federal government, under Obama, has produced ads to get even more people on food stamps, including ads appearing in Mexico. Is this just another example of what Alexis de Tocqueville described in the 1800s in his book Democracy in America: The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.

Is this just another case of political bribery by lawmakers for the return of electoral support, i.e. votes?

Do you think American taxpayers should subsidize the “legal” use of drugs for Coloradans? Of course, if you seek to establish some parameters or restraints on EBT card usage, you’re just a mean, bad, evil, nasty, intolerant, hater Republican.

Well, call me whatever names you wish, but this is wrong and anyone supporting EBT card use at pot shops, strip clubs, and anything not related to actual food is flat out wrong. The state of Colorado conducted a recall vote against several Colorado Democrat State Senators over the issue of gun rights — perhaps lightning will strike twice in the same place?

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on AllenBWest.com.

Minimum Wage Hike: What you need to know

/in , , , /by

As Democrats seek to turn attention away from the rollout of ObamaCare and dedicate 2014 to the theme of income inequality, discussions on raising the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $10.10 an hour have been gaining ground. The following is what you need to know about raising the minimum wage, adapted from the testimony in front of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on June 25, 2013 by James Sherk, a Senior Policy Analyst in Labor Economics at the Heritage Foundation. The testimony transcript can be read in its entirety by clicking here. Other sources will be noted as they are used:

  • Didn’t we just raise the minimum wage? The last federal minimum wage hike was voted on in 2007, and phased in throughout 2009. It raised the minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 an hour. To raise the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $10.10 an hour, as some are suggesting, would be a 40% raise. Talk in Washington of raising the minimum wage began last year when President Obama set it as a policy goal in his State of the Union address:

State of the Union 2013: Obama Wants Minimum Wage: ‘A Wage You Can Live On’

  • When was the minimum wage first instituted? Congress instituted a minimum wage in 1938, and since then the inflation-adjusted buying power of the minimum wage has averaged at $6.16 in 2013 dollars. At some points the minimum wage has harnessed less or more buying power than that average, the low being $3.09 an hour in 1948 and $8.67 an hour in 1968. As Sherk noted in his congressional testimony, “Today’s minimum wage buys more somewhat more than the minimum wage has historically, although it remains over a dollar an hour below its historical high.”
  • When does Congress raise the minimum wage? Historically, Congress has voted to raise the minimum wage in relatively good economic times. Congress has never voted to raise the minimum wage with unemployment over 7.5% since the Great Depression.
  • Who works for the minimum wage? The two groups of people who typically work for the minimum wage are teenagers or young adults who are also in school, and disadvantaged adults over the age of 25. Using U.S. Census Bureau data, Sherk calculated that three-fifths of the teenagers and young adults working minimum wage jobs are enrolled in school and only 22% live at or below the poverty line since they are usually not the breadwinners in their households; three-fourths of older workers earning minimum wage live above the poverty line, because often those workers are married or choose to work part-time.
  • How many minimum wage workers are single moms or dads? Only 4% of minimum wage, full-time workers are single parents.
  • The minimum wage is a learning wage: Over half of Americans started their careers making within $1 of the minimum wage. Two-thirds of those making the minimum wage receive a raise within a year.
  • States have the power to raise their minimum wage if they wish to: James Beattie at CNSNews.com reported two weeks ago that 13 states increased their minimum wage last year, and 14 states and the District of Columbia have bills in their legislatures this year to raise the minimum wage.
  • How many Americans only earn $7.25 an hour?Ed Feulner, former President of the Heritage Foundation, wrote last month that only 3% of American workers earn just $7.25 an hour.
  • What are the effects of raising the minimum wage? Sherk noted, “The minimum wage especially hurts disadvantaged workers’ job prospects. Higher minimum wages encourage employers to replace less-skilled workers with more productive employees. Given the choice between hiring an unskilled worker for $10.10 an hour and a worker with more experience for the same rate, companies will always choose the more experienced and productive employee.” If the minimum wage is raised, more experience and educated workers will settle for minimum wage jobs, because “Higher minimum wages…make working in such jobs more attractive, drawing greater numbers of workers with outside sources of income into the labor market….[and] they crowd out urban teenagers and disadvantaged adults who would have sought the jobs at the previous wages.”

Bill Gates thinks raising the minimum wage will not help disadvantaged workers:

The Relentless Hillary Clinton

/in , , /by

Who said:

“We’re going to take things from you on behalf of the common good”

“It’s time for a new beginning, for an end to government of the few, by the few, and for the few…and to replace it with shared responsibility, for shared prosperity”

“(We) …can just let business as usual go on and that means something has to be taken away from some people.”

“We have to build a political consensus and that requires people to give up a little bit of their own…in order to create this common ground.”

“I think it’s time to send a clear message to what has become the most profitable sector in the entire economy that they are being watched.”

“I certainly think the free market has failed.”

Was it Joseph Stalin? Lenin? Hugo Chavez? Kim Jong II? All reveal a communist philosophy.

It was Hillary Clinton. Over the years, Hillary has made it clear that the redistribution of wealth—communism—is central to her beliefs and that her regard for capitalism and the free market economy of America is nil.

The election of Hillary Clinton would be an extension of the two terms of Barack Obama and, if possible, worse.

There are moments when a politician’s opportunity to win elections passes—often unnoticed at the time. I think that time was 2008 when Hillary lost the Democratic nomination to an unknown Senator from Illinois who offered “hope and change.”

Eight years later, having served as his Secretary of State, she will share his growing disapproval as Obamacare unfolds as the perfect namesake of the worst President the U.S. has ever known. And then, of course, there is their shared Benghazi scandal.

For these reasons, I believe Hillary will decide her time has passed and elect to avoid the ordeal of a presidential campaign even if the Democrats gave her the opportunity.

Her long career in the public eye has been filled with scandals and failures, not the least of which was her early advocacy of “HillaryCare.” When her husband was President, she was put in charge of developing a plan to take over the healthcare sector despite the fact that she was not an elected official, but merely his wife. It was overwhelmingly rejected.

The most astonishing thing about the 2016 elections is that the Party still regards her as the sole candidate to run for the presidency even as 2014 Democrats seeking reelection are fleeing the disastrous failure of Obamacare and the huge debt that Obama imposed on the nation. In addition, elements of the Party’s base, Millennials—younger voters—and Hispanics are among those deserting it while some are beginning to call for Obama’s resignation.

There is something so disconnected from the facts, from reality, about the Democratic Party that it suggests that those who remain within its numbers are deranged.

Some political pundits will be inclined to dismiss Hillary as too old to run, that her agenda would not stand up to examination, that she would be in effect Obama’s third term, or that her record as Secretary of State is littered with lies and failures.

Democrats do not vote based on such things. They vote out of a nostalgic attachment to its past, to its message of fairness and equality, out of concern for its false “war on women”, “income inequality”, and the accusations leveled against the Republican Party and the Tea Party movement. Democrats will be driven by the belief that it is time for a woman to be President, no matter how awful her qualifications or political beliefs.

This is also a belief of the nation’s leftist media and the momentum of news coverage about Hillary will be orchestrated by her. In the meantime, she will earn tidy sums giving speeches and receiving every leftist award that’s out there. No doubt there is a book in the works as well.

Hillary has left a long record of scandals in the course of her “public service.” The most recent was the lies about the killing of an American ambassador and three security personnel in Benghazi on the 2012 anniversary of 9/11. Most famously, under questioning she said, “What difference does it make?” Nowhere during the course of her service as Secretary of State is there a single major international treaty or significant accomplishment. Indeed, her tenure is marked by the severe loss of respect for America and its influence over foreign affairs.

The Clintons have always been about the acquisition of money to fund their lifestyle. In 1979 Hillary earned $100,000 profit on a $1,000 investment in cattle futures within the course of just nine months. She was guided to the windfall by a highly placed Tyson Foods connection. An investigation into her role as an attorney with the Rose law firm was stymied until its billing records magically appeared in her White House office, years after they had been subpoenaed.

Like Obama, Hillary never recalls anything involved with her past. She knew nothing. She was the victim of others around her. It’s all a right-wing conspiracy.

The real conspiracy has been the takeover of the Democrat Party by the far Left and its elected office holders who appear to have no regard for the decline of the nation thanks to their relentless spending and borrowing.

Hillary Clinton has been among the most relentless of all Democrats, concerned only with her determination to become the next President and for the acquisition of wealth that puts her and Bill firmly in the one percent of the extremely wealthy that Democrats and liberals defame.

A significant defeat of Democrats in 2014’s midterm elections will influence her decision. A lot can happen between now and 2016. Even the mainstream media’s fixation on getting her elected may decline. Stay tuned.

© Alan Caruba, 2014

State Courage Rising: Kansas leading the way

/in , , , /by

Kansas is showing no fear and leading the way in standing against the Washington D.C. bullies who threaten freedom! The Tenth Amendment is the solution to a growing problem.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/CM_hqVjlnII[/youtube]

Florida changes name of Common Core: Putting lipstick on a Pig?

/in , , , /by

The Tampa Bay Times’ Kathleen McGrory reports, “The state education department tried to distance itself from the controversial Common Core State Standards last week by recommending changes to the benchmarks and giving them a new name. ‘The proposed standards are truly our own,’ Deputy Chancellor Mary Jane Tappen said during a Tuesday workshop on the freshly named ‘Florida Standards’.”

Is this Florida’s attempt in an gubernatorial election year to put lipstick on a pig named Common Core?

“’At their heart, the standards in Florida are still Common Core standards,’ said Anne Hyslop, a policy analyst with New America Foundation’s Education Policy Program, noting that many of the proposed changes are minor. Hyslop added: ‘The rebranding and messaging is largely political,'” writes McGrory.

Everyday new revelations about the Common Core State Standards are hitting the news wire. Just in the past week Breitbard reported that “Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) seemed to hint this week that his state would drop the Common Core standards, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) gave a clear signal Thursday that she was determined to drop the new education initiative that has grown intensely controversial.”

Breitbart’s Susan Berry reported, “A Common Core-aligned elementary school homework assignment in a Jefferson County, Colorado school district tells children that by 2512, Kansas will be an oceanfront state, that the ‘Smokey’ Mountains [sic] will become the ‘Smokey’ Islands [sic], and that a sharp decline in the human population will take place, all due to man-made global warming. According to Complete Colorado, the assignment, labeled as ‘Common Core Comprehension Grade 5,’ given at the Fremont Elementary School, is identified as a science fiction exercise in reading comprehension, but in ‘no part of the material, including a sheet of follow-up questions’ is there ‘any critical thinking ‘pushback’ against the narrative provided in the exercise.’”

Even George will in January 15th Washington Post column titled “Doubts over Common Core” notes, “Nevertheless, what begins with mere national standards must breed ineluctable pressure to standardize educational content. Targets, metrics, guidelines and curriculum models all induce conformity in instructional materials. Washington already is encouraging the alignment of the GED, SAT and ACT tests with the Common Core. By a feedback loop, these tests will beget more curriculum conformity. All of this will take a toll on parental empowerment, and none of this will escape the politicization of learning like that already rampant in higher education.”

Governor Rick Scott and the Florida legislature should be forearmed because they are now forewarned. Putting lipstick on this pig will get you stuck in the mud, with the pig.

RELATED ARTICLE: 20 Best Websites to Help Kids Learn From Home in 2021