CNSNews.com E-Brief

All these stories warrant reading, so I'll just put the email I receive and let you check out the stories that appeal to you. CP

Hoyer: ‘I Don’t Know’ Where Obama Got Legal Authority for Auto Plan
(CNSNews.com) - House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told CNSNews.com on Tuesday that he does not know where President Barack Obama gained legal authority to oversee a restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler. But if authority is a question, he said, then Congress will grant it to the administration.

Labor Union to Obama: Fire Bank of America CEO
(CNSNews.com) – President Barack Obama forced the ouster of the General Motors chairman, and now he must fire the Bank of America CEO, a labor union insists. The Service Employees International Union is circulating an online petition, telling Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner to get rid of Ken Lewis.

U.S. Decision to Seek a Seat on Flawed Human Rights Council Stokes Debate
(CNSNews.com) – The Obama administration’s decision to seek a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council has drawn mixed reactions, with some close observers of the Geneva-based body questioning whether U.S. membership will make any difference. The move is in keeping with the administration’s “new era of engagement” with other nations.

Obama’s Tax Credit Takes Effect on April Fool’s Day
(CNSNews.com) – President Barack Obama’s “Making Work Pay” tax credit takes effect on Wednesday, but some workers will have to look closely at their paychecks to notice it. For many earners, it works out to an extra $15 or $20 per paycheck.

Cardinal George: ‘Notre Dame Didn't Understand What It Means to Be Catholic’
(CNSNews.com) - Cardinal Francis George, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and archbishop of Chicago, said on Saturday that the University of Notre Dame had “brought extreme embarrassment” to Catholics by inviting pro-abortion President Barack Obama to speak at the university’s commencement and that the school “didn’t understand what it means to be Catholic when they issued this invitation."

‘Junk Mail’ Seen As Contributing to ‘Climate Change’
(CNSNews.com) – In an age of big government, the city of San Francisco is now trying to protect its citizens from junk mail. There’s also a “global warming” twist.


Republicans Introduce Constitutional Amendment to Protect Parental Rights
(CNSNews.com) - Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.) on Tuesday introduced a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at bolstering traditional parental rights in the face of government intrusion. “The Parental Rights Amendment would help stop the assault on parental rights, whether it is an assault from Congress, from the courts or the UN,” Hoekstra told CNSNews.com on Tuesday.

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CNSNEWS.COM VIDEO

Actress Lea Thompson Says Obama's Tax Plan Will Deter Charitable Giving
(CNSNews.com) - In his most recent national news conference, President Barack Obama defended his budget proposal to reduce the tax deduction for charitable contributions from 39 percent to 28 percent. Actress Lea Thompson, who was in Washington for the Alzheimer’s Association gala, said Obama’s proposal would deter charitable giving to a “certain extent.” But Thompson said she hopes people will continue to give to charity.

We the People Stimulus Package

We the People Stimulus Package

From the YouTube video by Bob Basso, as Thomas Paine

What would have happened in 1789 or 1942 or 9-11 if a top government official stepped in front of the people and publicly proclaimed America was a nation of cowards? He would have been run out of the country on a rail, packaged in tar and feathered, at least. But that’s what happened in two thousand and nine.

And you did nothing!

Have you become a nation of cowards, America?

In the greatest show of arrogance and disdain any congress every showed any citizenry, your dysfunctionally elite, self-interested, non-representing representatives passed the largest spending bill in history without reading it. And you did nothing!

You want them to obey your constitutional mandate and secure your borders. And they ignore you. You ask them to enforce your immigration laws. And they ignore you. You say stop the madness of handing three-hundred-billion dollars of a bankrupted Treasury to illegal alien welfare, rewarding them for making a mockery of your laws. And they ignore you.

And now in open defiance of the overwhelming will of the people are preparing more amnesty programs.

You say stop exporting my nation’s vital industry to foreign shores. And they ignore you. You say no to using your money to bail out failed, corrupt and greedy businesses. And they ignore you. You say implement the E-verify system so American jobs go to American workers. And they ignore you.

If your self-serving Congress were a business, they’d all be in jail now. The biggest traitors among you hold elective office. Only when they feel the almighty wrath of We the People, marching in the streets from California to New York, shouting “We’re mad as hell and we want our country back,” will they get the message they work for you.

Wake up America!

While you were playing with the toys of your consumer wealth you lost much more than your bloated economy of living beyond your means. You lost representative democracy. Your servants have become your masters.

Taxation without representation is tyranny. But still you look to government to solve problems they created in the first place. You’re sucking at the hind tit of a dead cow.

Why isn’t there a three-million-person We the People march on Washington, a nationwide taxpayers’ revolt, thousands of cars and trucks surrounding your nation’s capitol, bringing your failed government to a standstill?

Democracy doesn’t repress power, it unleashes it to we the people. Take it now! They dictated an economic salvation plan to you. Now it’s time to stick it to them with a We the People stimulus plan.

Require all laws that apply to the rest of the country to equally apply to Congress. Start by first removing the elite privileges that place your non-representing representatives above you, not with you. Require all laws that apply to the rest of the country to equally apply to Congress. Repeal Congress’s right to vote for their own raises. Balance the federal budget. Force your legislators to do what you now have to do – live within your means.

If you don’t, you’re committing national suicide.

Make Congress pay into the Social Security system. They make the laws for it. Now, they might be interested in thinking twice before allowing twenty million illegal aliens to reap the benefits of a retirement program the legal citizens paid into all their lives.

Long-term power corrupts. Limit Congress from serving more than two terms. That’s all you give your President. Let them search for their own 401(k) plan, instead of the gross unfairness of awarding them their full salary for the rest of their lives, after only serving one term. Stop paying for lawmakers’ insurance premiums. After all, they’re only part-time employees. They might pass some laws on insurance companies if they had to find one themselves.

Throw out of office every congressman and woman who didn’t bother to read the biggest spending bill in history before voting for it.

With the money you save from all of the above, put it into increased salary and benefits for the men and women of the Armed Forces. They never fail you.

Start no war unless you intend to win it. Make English the official language of America. You talk of united we stand, but do nothing to make it happen. Give every legal immigrant a chance to succeed. Not one cent of taxpayers’ money for illegal aliens. We are a nation of laws and do not reward lawbreakers.

Abolish the Electoral College and put the election of the President back in the hands of we the people.

Bring back universal service … two years in the military or two years in community involvement. Ensure your future. Rekindle the spirit of America. Service, honor and duty to country. Give your young people a chance to understand they are entitled to nothing they don’t earn.

Wake up America! You’ve allowed yourselves to become little more than cowering spectators watching the nation your grandparents built, the richest, most powerful, most self-sufficient republic in history with the highest standard of living any nation ever achieved, now in the middle of the greatest unprecedented decline in modern history.

The world’s only superpower can’t defend its borders, balance its budget, win its wars, manufacture its own products or protect its own currency. The total debt obligation in the next several years is approaching the gross domestic product of the entire world.

You’ve diminished the future of your children, grandchildren and 10 more generations of Americans.

On September 11^th, two thousand and one, three-hundred-million Americans put aside what divided them and rallied around what united them.. You proudly flew your flags, wore T-shirts that said “These colors don’t run!” Then your leadership told you to do nothing. Let your professional Army do the fighting. Perhaps you learned to do nothing too well.

Two-hundred-thirty-three years ago, the silent majority in Boston got fed up with taxation without representation and held a little tea party to prove the anger of We the People is on the march. It started the first American Revolution.

Now, it’s time to start the second American revolution.

Take an envelope, put a tea bag inside. Simple. Seal it and send it to your non-representing representatives in Congress. They’ll get the idea. We’re mad as hell and we want our country back.

Look in the mirror. There’s your leader. Phone your talk radio hosts. Call for a tax protest. Set your Internet communities on fire with the idea.

But if you decide to do nothing again, then buy a gun. You’ll need it.

My name is Thomas Paine. Don’t give up hope America. Your country needs a new greatest generation.

Answer the call. Get into the fight. It’s a good time to be a patriot. The second American revolution has just begun.

Submitted by Roger Metzger

Guaranteed to Upset the Left!

For Immediate Release Contact: Alex Rosenwald

March 19th, 2009 Phone: (703) 383-0880

“The 2008 money received by the President and members of Congress should clearly be returned, but more than that, the honorable thing would be for any politician who has ever received a penny from AIG to return it to the American taxpayers who are now paying to keep the company afloat.”—ALG President Bill Wilson.

ALG Demands President Obama and Members of Congress Return AIG Bonuses from their Campaign Coffers

Interview Availability: Please contact Alex Rosenwald at (703)383-0880 or at arosenwald@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.

March 19^th, 2009, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today in a letter urged President Barack Obama and members of Congress to “return the $4.37 million they received in campaign contributions from AIG since 1989, including the $644,218 they received in 2008.”

“If the American people are to believe all the angry words and threats coming from the White House, President Obama must return the $104,332 he received from AIG during the 2008 campaign cycle,” declared Wilson in a statement.

According to OpenSecrets.org, AIG gave some $644,218 to candidates for federal office in 2008. According to Wilson's letter, “[I]n return, it received from the Federal Reserve some $173 billion in taxpayer-guaranteed loans. That represents nearly a 27 million percent return on their 2008 'investment' into politicians' loyalty.”

“The 2008 money received by the President and members of Congress should clearly be returned, but more than that, the honorable thing would be for any politician who has ever received a penny from AIG to return it to the American taxpayers who are now paying to keep the company afloat,” Wilson said.

“These campaign kickbacks must be returned,” Wilson added.

President Obama received $104,332 from AIG in 2008 of the $110,332 in contributions he has ever received from the company. “President Obama received 94.56 percent of the money he has ever gotten from AIG, and yet he has not returned it since the bailouts began in September,” said Wilson.

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) in 2008 received $103,900 of the $281,038 he has ever received from AIG. According to the letter, “in the 2009 'stimulus' legislation, [Dodd] inserted the amendment that guaranteed that bonuses would be paid by adding language to a spending cap that specifically excluded executive bonuses included in contracts.”

“Only 11 of the 314 members of the Democratic Congressional majority voted against the 'stimulus' and protecting the AIG bonuses, and now they act shocked as they pretend to have never read the 1100-page bill that they are responsible for that cost $787 billion,” Wilson said.

Wilson believes that campaign contributions from AIG and other bailout firms represent “a clear case of pay-to-play corruption.”

“The corrupt cesspool in Washington needs to be drained where 'too big to fail' firms get taxpayer-guaranteed bailouts from 'too compromised to resist' politicians,” Wilson concluded.

Enclosures:

Total AIG campaign contributions, 2008, OpenSecrets.org

Total AIG campaign contributions, 1989-2008, OpenSecrets.org

ALG President Bill Wilson's Letter to Congress

###

Americans for Limited Government is a non- partisan, nationwide network committed to advancing free market reforms,private property rights and core American liberties. For more information on ALG please call us at 703-383-0880 or visit our website at www.GetLiberty.org.

From Eric Odom: The New 50 State DontGo Movement Network

The New 50 State DontGo Movement Network

To members of #dontgo Movement

Eric Odom

Today at 5:31pm

While some in the media are trying to belittle the Tea Party events that happened today, they seemed to have missed the part where we only spent a week in planning, and only 3 days ago many of us were wondering if anyone would even show up!

But much to our pleasure and surprise, the Tea Party Rallies were a HUGE success! In fact, we here in Chicago had around 400, reports suggest Nashville had 500 or so, and some reports are suggesting that St Louis may have broke 1,000. In total, there were Tea Party protets in more than 40 cities across the country today.

As if this isn't good enough news... the fact that this is just the beginning of a new revolution makes it even better. Indeed, we're just getting started and there is much that needs to be done.

The DontGo Movement is excited to have played a role in the organizing efforts of the national Chicago Tea Party rallies, and we're ready to come out swinging. As many of you know, we're gearing up to launch an independent, grassroots minded news site in each of the 50 states at NewsPlatoon.com. We're also currently organizing state DontGo Movement Coalitions in all 50 states, and we're getting ready to launch a couple large scale eActivism efforts taylored to help continue the movement and help us maintain the level of online energy we currently see with the Tea Party events.

Our new network of 50 state coalitions goes live on Monday, but we decided to go ahead and send you an early invite. Please CLICK HERE to join the new network. Once logged in, make sure you join your state and get plugged in to your local network.
http://dontgo.ning.com

-Eric Odom

Latest Email From Michael Steele

Dear Pastor Ed,

This morning, Governor Jindal and I continued our party's fight for reform as the Democrats proposed more wasteful spending and bigger government.

In case you missed it, I hope you take a moment to watch Governor Jindal's appearance on NBC's Today Show this morning. As he did in the Republican address last night, Governor Jindal laid out the differences between Republicans and Democrats. In his own words: "We think it's more important to get the private sector moving rather than just spending government money." You can watch Governor Jindal's entire interview here:

I also wanted to be sure you caught my appearance on MSNBC's Morning Joe. It was a lively discussion about President Obama's address and the future of the Republican Party. You can watch it here:

Thank you for all that you do to support the Republican Party.

Sincerely,

Michael Steele
Chairman, Republican National Committee

What an OxyMoron - Obama to Host a Fiscal Responsibility Summit

Are you kidding me????? Just a few days after his nearly 1 trillion (yes that is a "t") Stimulus Bill or as our friend Snooper so affectionately calls it "Crap Sandwich", President Obama is participating in a Fiscal Responsibility Summit today.

From Politco.com writer JOSH GERSTEIN:

With the U.S. government racing toward $10 trillion in spending and loan guarantees to confront the recession, President Barack Obama on Monday will say it’s time to clamp down on federal expenditures.

Huh?

Obama’s decision to convene a “Fiscal Responsibility Summit” amid the current bailout bonanza might strike some as an act of sheer chutzpah, or at least some serious cognitive dissonance.

Teachers Union to get Stimuls Money

Dems thank teachers unions with 'stimulus' money

Pete Chagnon
OneNewsNow
2/18/2009

The managing editor of Budget & Tax News says no money for education should have been included in the recently signed economic "stimulus" bill.

In a recent press conference, Education Secretary Arne Duncan warned that if the economic stimulus bill did not pass, up to 600,000 education workers could lose their jobs as states face enormous budget shortfalls. But Steve Stanek of The Heartland Institute argues that the bill should not have included the allotted $87 billion for education.

Stanek argues that the stimulus basically amounts to a payoff for teachers and teachers unions who supported Obama.

"The teachers unions are extremely powerful at the local and state levels -- and certainly at the federal level," Stanek acknowledges. "You can look at the money that [the Democratic Party] receives from the teachers unions and it's enormous! And they are not fans of meaningful reform in education."

According to an Associated Press report, $39 billion is going towards K-12 and higher education, $8 billion is to be used in upgrading existing schools, $4 billion will be used for Head Start and Early Head Start programs, and $25 billion will be used to bolster No Child Left Behind. Stanek has little positive to say about George W. Bush's signature education program.

"I did not like No Child Left Behind. I think it's a huge intrusion of the federal government into what ought to be local and state issues," he shares. "It's a way for the federal government to simply grab more power, and I think another $25 billion is just $25 billion more power the federal government is going to have over public school education."

Stanek contends that lawmakers in Washington, DC, used the economic downturn as an excuse to throw more money at education. He notes that in the last decade the U.S. has only seen a nine-percent increase in student enrollment, but a 22-percent increase in the number of teachers and administrators in K-12 education.

From Our Country Deserves Better PAC

We here at the Our Country Deserves Better Committee thank you for your hard work in opposition to the shameful efforts of President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress to grab nearly $1 TRILLION of your money for programs that had little to do with "economic stimulus." Mostly this was a scam to rip off the taxpayers under the guise of “stimulus” sold with the urgency that if this bill wasn’t passed then terrible things would happen to America.

Barack Obama – who campaigned on the hollow promise of “hope” and “change” instead pedaled fear and lies to push his agenda forward.

But while Obama and the Democrats in Congress may have infuriated us with their shenanigans, we should recognize the impact we had in the national debate over Obama’s big government spending plan. The Senate was overwhelmed with hundreds of thousands of phone calls, emails and FAXes in opposition to pork bill – in fact, we jammed up the phone system and voicemail boxes of Senators repeatedly!

The good news is that your phone calls, emails and FAXes pressured Congress to strip almost $200 billion in spending from the bill. You should be proud of your efforts which helped to minimize the confiscatory policies of Obama and the Democratic Congress.

But this experience should also be a lesson for all of us -- until we take back Congress from the Far Left that currently holds control, they will be able to push through their agenda, even when Americans speak out loudly.

The Obama Administration has already threatened additional stimulus proposals to follow – they want more of your money and they are going to take it. It has now been announced that Obama’s scandal-tinged chief of staff, Rahm Emmanuel, is going to take control of the census. This will enable Obama’s administration to manipulate the results in order to ensure Democratic control over Congress for the next 10 years.

And now Democrats in Congress are talking about implementing the Fairness Doctrine so they can silence many of the conservative voices on talk radio (such as Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin and Sean Hannity) and instead replace them with liberal programs.

So let’s be clear about this – we MUST win back control of Congress and defeat the Obama/Pelosi/Reid Democratic candidates in the upcoming 2010 congressional elections.

The Our Country Deserves Better Committee is already working to build a strong campaign to defeat dozens of these big-spending Democrats.

To read more or to donate to the Political Action Committee, click here.

Latest Post from Mike Pence's Facebook Page

We Can Do Better

Fri 6:50pm

The American people know, and House Republicans know, our nation is facing a serious recession. American families are hurting. Many have lost their jobs, many millions more are worried that they’ll be next. House Republicans know that Congress must do something, but it’s important that we do the right thing.

As this debate begins today, we just heard moments ago from a distinguished colleague and others that somehow Republicans are about saying ‘no.’ Well let me say with great respect to the gentleman: this is not about saying ‘no.’ This is about saying ‘yes’ to solutions that will put Americans back to work.

Republicans have brought forward such solutions, built on the time-honored experience of President John F. Kennedy, of President Ronald Reagan, in the experience of this nation with the impending recession that followed September the 11th. We didn’t go on a spending spree on Capitol Hill. We didn’t offer Americans a $13-a-person tax cut. John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, this Congress and this government after September the 11th under George W. Bush cut taxes across the board for working families, small businesses and family farms. And, the economy grew. But what has the majority brought to the floor today?

The truth is this stimulus bill will do nothing to stimulate this economy in the long term. The only thing the Democrats’ stimulus bill will do is stimulate more government and more debt. The American people are asking, ‘What’s $13 bucks a week gonna do to get this economy moving again for the average American? What’s $2 billion for community organizing to organizations like ACORN going to do to get Americans from the unemployment line to the factory line? Or millions to begin rationing health care or to purchase green golf carts going to do to put families back to work in Indiana?’

As the gentleman said, I had a town hall meeting Monday myself in Indiana. A thirteen-year-old girl stood up, told me that her dad raising her and her sibling alone as a single parent had lost half of his hours at work, gone from 40 hours to 24 hours. And she stood up bravely in front of 300 Hoosiers and she said, ‘Anything in that bill, Congressman, that can help my dad get back to full time?’ And I looked at little Hillary, congratulated her for her courage, and I said, ‘Hillary, because I can’t answer “yes” to your question that there’s anything in this bill that’s gonna help get your dad get back to full time, I can’t vote “yes” on this bill.’ And the 300 Hoosiers in that room exploded in agreeing applause.

The American people know what’s going on here. The American people know that this Administration and this Congress are about to pass a bill that will not grow our economy; it will merely grow our government. We can do better. We must do better. This Congress owes the American people no less.

Email from The Heritage Foundation

An Open Letter to the Congress
and the President of the United States

For the last 35 years, educators and analysts at The Heritage Foundation have been intimately involved in the nation’s great public policy debates. In all that time, we have never encountered legislation with such far-reaching and revolutionary policy implications as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act currently before Congress. And never have we seen a bill more cloaked in secrecy or more withdrawn from open public exposure and honest debate.

In addition to being the single most expensive bill ever proposed, this measure calls for a massive expansion of the federal government’s reach into the day-to-day life of virtually every citizen, business and civic organization in the nation. That, in itself, should be the subject of an extensive public conversation and thoughtful debate. Instead, we have seen Congressional leaders schedule snap votes on a 1,434-page bill that no one—repeat, no one—has had a chance to read in its entirety, much less digest and deliberate.

This bill has been advertised as an economic stimulus bill—despite the fact that the Congressional Budget Office estimates it will actually weaken our nation's long-term economic growth. While the stimulative utility of the bill is, at best, questionable, it would unquestionably rewrite the social contract between the American people and their government. For example:

• The bill reverses the bipartisan and highly successful welfare reforms of 1996 and drastically expands the welfare state. For instance, it will start rewarding states for adding people to their welfare rolls, rather than for helping them find gainful employment. And contrary to long-established practice, it will entitle able-bodied adults without children to receive cash assistance.
  
• It does extreme violence to the concept of federalism—bailing out states that have spent irresponsibly at the expense of taxpayers in states that have been fiscally prudent.
  
• It greatly shifts the responsibility and power over health care delivery and decision making from individuals to government. Among other things, it would create a new federal health board to decide which medical services are “effective” in America, paving the way for government effectively to overrule the clinical decisions of private physicians.
  
• It deliberately censors religious speech and worship on school campuses by prohibiting use of any “stimulus” funds for facilities that are used for sectarian instruction, religious worship, or a school of divinity.

The list goes on. These and similar provisions will mean fundamental changes in our society. In many instances, the bill would establish policies that directly challenge widely held American values.

We are appalled that Congress is even contemplating such profound changes with so little openness and due diligence. In the past, major policy changes in our welfare system, or health care, or trade policies, etc., were always, quite properly, preceded by extensive public conversation and full debate. That is how a democracy should make important decisions.

The failure of Congress and the Administration to allow that debate is damaging to our democracy. Both chambers of Congress suspended their budget rules to push it along. And both the President and the leaders of the House and Senate have violated their solemn promises that the bill would be available for several days of public review prior to voting, so that the American people might have a chance to learn what is in the bill and to make their views known to their elected officials.

This reckless approach to governance can only undermine public faith in our elected officials and our government as a whole. We call on Congress and the Administration to live up to their promises and stated ideals, and give the democratic process a chance to work.

Sincerely,

Edwin J. Feulner, Ph.D.
President
The Heritage Foundation

Does Obama Lie? Don't Take Our Word For It

On the heals to the very "misleading" there will be no pork in the final stimulus bill, the President continues to mislead and blatantly lie to the American people. Don't believe me? Cool. Don't want to take my word for it? Don't. Don't believe my sources that's ok, I'll use one that the liberals can't deny that leans left --- no less than ABC News.

Political Punch

Power, pop, and probings from ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper

D'oh! Caterpillar CEO Contradicts President on Whether Stimulus Will Allow Him to Re-Hire Laid Off Workers

February 12, 2009 6:16 PM

EAST PEORIA, ILL. -- President Obama today repeated the claim we asked about yesterday at the press briefing that Jim Owens, the CEO of Caterpillar, Inc., "said that if Congress passes our plan, this company will be able to rehire some of the folks who were just laid off."

Caterpillar announced 22,000 layoffs last month.

But after the president left the event, Owens said the exact opposite.

Asked if the stimulus package would be able to stop the 22,000 layoffs or not, Owens said, "I think realistically no. The truth is we're going to have more layoffs before we start hiring again"

"It is going to take some time before that stimulus bill" means re-hiring, he said.

Just so that the detractors will have something to blame the reason for this post on, here is more from Hot Air:

Obama: Caterpillar will re-hire people if stimulus passes; Caterpillar CEO: No, we won’t

posted at 7:18 pm on February 12, 2009 by Allahpundit
Send to a Friend | Share on Facebook | printer-friendly

Yesterday’s banner Drudge headline is today’s comedy gold. Note the reason, too, why he can’t re-hire people right away: Because the stimulus simply won’t do any stimulating fast enough.

Exit question: How soon before Tapper gets kicked off Air Force One? Click the image to watch.

Steele Faces Off Verses Kaine on Stimulus

Dear Pastor Ed,

On the heels of President Obama's national press conference last evening, I had my first face off with DNC Chair Gov. Tim Kaine. The battle is joined. As you all know, the Republican Party is unified in our opposition to the Democrat spending spree that is being jammed through Congress today. We have 219 Republican congressmen and senators, and 216 of them voted against this Democrat plan.

Please click on the image below to watch my face off with Gov. Kaine.

Sincerely,

Michael Steele
Chairman, Republican National Committee

RNC Chairman Michael Steele's Weekly Republican Address

Dear Pastor Ed,

I hope you'll take a moment to review RNC Chairman Michael Steele's weekly Republican address. Thank you for your continued support.

Click here to download the mp3 audio.

Click here to watch the video.

Transcript:

"This is Michael Steele, Chairman of the Republican National Committee. Democrats have controlled both branches of government for less than a month. And you have to wonder if all that power has gone to their heads.

"For the last two weeks, they've been trying to force a massive spending bill through Congress under the guise of economic relief.

"All of us -- Republicans and Democrats -- agree the government must act to kick-start the American economy. American families are doing their best to balance their own budgets and pay their mortgages.

"The fastest way to help those families is by letting them keep more of the money they earn. Individual empowerment: that's how you stimulate the economy.

"But the Democrats have a different philosophy. Instead of leaving money in the family checkbook, they want to send it to Washington, run it through a slow and inefficient government, and hope that does some good.

"When families keep the money, they spend it, save it, or invest it.

And the private sector economy benefits when families and businesses buy consumer goods or invest it for the future. But when Washington spends the money, some of it may flow into the economy, but all too often, much gets wasted.

"Democrats in Congress want a one-trillion dollar spending bill.

You've heard about the pork-barrel programs they want to fund... 45 million dollars for ATV trails and removal of fish passage barriers is one that caught my eye. Exactly what is a fish passage barrier and why does it cost 45 million dollars to stimulate the economy with it?

"That's why Republicans in the House voted against uncontrolled spending. This is not a bragging point, but rather a statement that at least Republicans would stand with the American taxpayer.

"But voting 'no' is not enough... and Republicans have offered innovative ideas to help struggling families and small businesses. We've offered plans to spark job creation and investment through lower taxes, to stop the taxation of unemployment benefits, and to help Americans keep their jobs and their homes.

"The comprehensive Republican plan would lower taxes for all working American families. If you're married, the first 16,750 dollars you make this year will be taxed at ten percent. Why don't we cut that rate in half to give instant buying power to every working American family?

"Good ideas... lots of them... all left out of this plan by the Democrats in Congress.

"Republicans stand ready to work with reasonable Democrats to do what is right for America.

"But it will take more than bipartisan words from the President. It will require fair-minded action from Democrats in Congress.

"Thanks for listening."

Stimulus Bill Contains Anti-Fatih Language

Anti-faith language remains in stimulus package

Charlie Butts
OneNewsNow
2/7/2009

The U.S. Senate has taken action that could mean a legal battle royal over the stimulus bill.

The Senate rejected an amendment offered by Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) that would have stripped language from the stimulus bill that would force colleges and universities to throw religious clubs off campus if the schools receive federal funds. (See earlier article)

Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law & Justice had this reaction.

"Well, not only is it disappointing, it's almost a throwback to litigation that we conducted in the 1980s that we won unanimously at the Supreme Court," he says. "And I feel like this particular legislation pokes the finger in the eye of people who take religious faith seriously.

"It's discriminatory in its application, unconstitutional as it's written, [and] unfortunately it's going to take four or five years for it to be litigated all the way through," Sekulow adds.

With passage of the bill with the restrictions in place, how might colleges and universities be affected? "We're going to look at filing an application for a stay of this provision, trying to get it declared unconstitutional through a restraining order," he shares.

Sekulow plans to file suit the day after President Obama signs the bill.

Americans For Limited Government

For Immediate Release Contact: Robert Romano

January 28th, 2009 Phone: (703) 383-0880

“[I]nstead of fixing the problems government created,

the House has voted to make things worse by adding

another $1.2 trillion to the debt when interest and other

considerations are calculated.”—ALG President Bill Wilson


ALG Condemns the House for
Voting for $819 Billion “Boondoggle”

January 28th, 2009, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today strongly condemned Congress for voting in favor of the $819 billion spending bill, H.R. 1, in the House of Representatives “that is certain to consign future generations to permanent debt to foreign creditors.”

“Congress is only adding to the national debt, now totaling $10.7 trillion,” said Wilson. “And they do so knowing full well that the money to pay for their extravagant spending spree needs to be borrowed from elsewhere.”

The national debt of $10.7 trillion includes $4.3 trillion owed in the form of unfunded obligations to Social Security, Medicare, and other commitments, and $6.4 trillion held privately, $3 trillion of which is held overseas.

Forty percent of the debt held privately comes due this year, and most economists agree that the only way for the government to pay it is to borrow more money.

“The problems with the economy started in large part because of government excesses: too much credit, too much borrowing, too much spending, and too much debt,” Wilson said. “Only a madman would now suggest that borrowed money on this sort of scale—which needs to be paid back—would provide any long-term economic stimulus,” Wilson added.

“Instead, because of this $819 billion boondoggle, paying down the national debt will eat up an ever-larger share of the overall economy in the years to come, diverting capital from creating new jobs and enterprises,” Wilson explained.

“And, instead of fixing the problems government created, the House has now voted to make things worse by adding another $1.2 trillion to the debt when interest and other considerations are calculated,” Wilson noted.

The House voted 244 in favor, and 188 against.

Wilson believes that extraordinary government interventions to date have discouraged savings, investment, and capital creation. According to the Congressional Budget Office, even without the $819 billion spending bill, the federal deficit will rise to $1.2 trillion, or 8.3 percent of GDP, in 2009, an all-time high.

“Markets will not recover any time soon unless the government generates a real plan to pay off the debt and get rid of wasteful spending,” said Wilson.

“Instead, the House voted to increase the deficit, increase all of our children’s and grandchildren’s financial burden, increase future interest rates and taxes, and once again shackle the American taxpayer to a mountain of debt,” Wilson concluded.

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Americans for Limited Government is a non- partisan, nationwide network committed to advancing free market reforms,private property rights and core American liberties. For more information on ALG please call us at 703-383-0880 or visit our website at www.GetLiberty.org.

From Mike Pence's Facebook Page

Opposing the Bailout's Second Installment

Fri 11:32am

Our nation is confronted by a serious financial crisis. It's a crisis of confidence in our financial markets. And let's be honest, it's a crisis of confidence in our government. While many are anxious about how we'll confront these times many more face this moment with faith, not fear.

We'll get through this. We've confronted greater challenges than this. I'm confident we will restore our markets and renew our government. But as I said last fall in the original debate, we must do so in a manner that is consistent with the principles that make America great.

As the distinguished Chairman of this Committee said following last week's action in the Senate, 'No matter what happens here today the second half of the bailout funding will go forward,' adding $350 billion to the national debt and burdening future generations of
Americans with the mistakes of Wall Street and Capitol Hill during the present day.

Despite sincere efforts at reform. this legislation remains the largest corporate bailout in American history, forever changes the relationship between government and the financial sector and passes the cost along to the American people.

I did not come to Washington to expand the size and scope of government. I did not come to Washington to ask working Americans to subsidize the bad decisions of corporate America. Therefore, I did not support the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act last fall and I cannot
support the legislation before the Congress that would send good money after bad.

As I said then, while this bill promises to bring near-term stability to our financial markets, I ask my countrymen, at what price? The decision to give the federal government the ability to nationalize almost every bad mortgage in America interrupted a basic truth of our free market economy: Government can't control outcomes in an economy without eroding the independence and the integrity of our free market system.

When the government chooses winners and losers in the marketplace, every American loses. Now, some say this crisis was too acute to rely on what they call antiquated notions about the role of government in the private sector but I disagree. I believe the principles of limited
government, free enterprise and representative democracy and personal responsibility are as relevant today as they were in 1776.

Now, there are no easy answers to these times, but the American people deserve to know that there were and are alternatives. Last fall, House Republicans offered an alternative that would have required Wall Street, not Main Street, to pay the cost of this recovery. And today,
House Republicans are preparing fast-acting tax relief instead of more bailouts and more spending to get this economy moving again.

President Theodore Roosevelt said, ‘An American must face life with resolute courage. Win victory, if he can and accept defeat, if he must, without seeking to place on his fellow man a responsibility which is not theirs.’

With this legislation we again - by second half - place upon the American public a responsibility which was not theirs, bailing out financial institutions after they made irresponsible business decisions. This we should not have done. This we should not do again.

Instead, we should confront this crisis with resolute courage, faith in God, faith in the American people and the ideals of freedom and free enterprise. I urge my colleagues to join me in opposing further funding of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.

Wake Up, America

H/T to Norm Hooben.

From IBD Editorials, October 06, 2008

A nation that doesn't know history is destined to repeat its serious mistakes. People swayed by carefully crafted political propaganda relentlessly repeated and effectively delivered can easily lose their freedom and way of life.

How many times have you been told by soaring, almost hypnotic oratory that "the direct causes of our financial crisis and subprime real estate loan mess were the greedy banks, big corporations and the failed economic policies of George Bush"?

It's common to blame the one in power. This time, however, it's 100% wrong.

Every American, young or old, must be told who was really behind the subprime loan disaster that threw our economy off track and injured the good people who lost their homes — like those now boarded up in Cleveland and other major cities — plus the millions of other citizens hurt by yet another failed Big Government-run program gone awry.

In 1977, Jimmy Carter and a Democrat Congress created the Community Reinvestment Act mandating that banks make more housing loans to lower-income and inner-city borrowers. It was for a well-intended social cause and even appeared to work in the 1980s.


View larger image

But in 1995, President Clinton imposed even tougher regulations that forced banks to make dramatically more subprime loans to previously unqualified people with lower credit scores in higher-risk areas.

Government regulators rated banks by how well they performed in meeting these strict new CRA obligations. Failure to comply meant stiff penalties and limits on mergers, acquisitions and expansion.
Big Government forced the lowering of long-proven safe-lending standards. Most of the more than $1 trillion of new subprime CRA loans had adjustable rates. Many required no documentation of the borrower's income and little or no down payment.

For the first time, the Clinton regulatory rules allowed and encouraged lenders to bundle the new, riskier subprime loans with prime loans and sell these packages to other institutions. The first one hit the market in 1997. That tragic blunder let loan originators make their profits faster and eliminate any future risk for those lower-quality loans. It let them turn around and make even more CRA-type loans and sell them off in packages again, with little future risk.

It was a government-sponsored pyramid scheme, with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac providing the implied government backing by buying ever larger amounts of these risky subprimes.

Freddie and Fannie also became heavy donors to top members of Congress. These included Sen. Chris Dodd, a young Sen. Barack Obama and Rep. Barney Frank, who aggressively defended the highly leveraged, extremely risky lending against any reforms.

Ironically, the Bush administration repeatedly went to Congress in 2004, 2005 and 2006 to obtain stronger oversight and some limits on Freddie and Fannie's reckless subprime lending. And each time, it was voted down by Democrats in Congress, led by Frank, now chairman of the Financial Services Committee.

Bottom line: This whole mess was another Big Government program created, designed and run by Democrats. It started with great intentions but resulted in typically awful unintended consequences that materially hurt the very people they were supposed to help.

Worse, this incompetence put our financial system in jeopardy. It's reminiscent of LBJ's two lost wars — the War in Vietnam and the War on Poverty.

Many government housing projects, though well-intended as part of LBJ's War on Poverty, later deteriorated into slums that became recruiting grounds to get very young new gang members.

That's how we got into this financial mess — and why the $700 billion rescue package was passed. But what about the future? What serious threats does America face in the next five years? The list isn't comforting:

Continue reading here.

Norm breaks it down for you here. His commentary in red.

Related reading from Critical Bias titled, "What Caused The Financial Meltdown Part III."

How They Voted - House; Final

FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 681
(Democrats in roman; Republicans in italic; Independents underlined)

H R 1424 YEA-AND-NAY
3-Oct-2008 1:22 PM

QUESTION: On Motion to Concur in Senate Amendments

BILL TITLE: Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008

----------------Yeas-----Nays

Democratic----172------63

Republican----91-------108

TOTALS--------263------171

List of names will be added when I find one that is easy to post. --- CP

How They Voted - Senate

U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 110th Congress - 2nd Session
as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate

Vote Summary
Question: On Passage of the Bill (H. R. 1424 As Amended )
Vote Number: 213
Vote Date: October 1, 2008, 09:22 PM
Required For Majority: 3/5
Vote Result: Bill Passed

Measure Number:
H.R. 1424 (A bill to provide authority for the Federal Government to purchase and insure certain types of troubled assets for the purposes of providing stability to and preventing disruption in the economy and financial system and protecting taxpayers, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide incentives for energy production and conservation, to extend certain expiring provisions, to provide individual income tax relief, and for other purposes. )

Measure Title:
A bill to provide authority for the Federal Government to purchase and insure certain types of troubled assets for the purposes of providing stability to and preventing disruption in the economy and financial system and protecting taxpayers, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide incentives for energy production and conservation, to extend certain expiring provisions, to provide individual income tax relief, and for other purposes.

Vote Counts:

YEAs - 74
NAYs - 25
Not Voting - 1

Grouped By Vote Position
YEAs ---74

Akaka (D-HI)
Alexander (R-TN)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN)
Bennett (R-UT)
Biden (D-DE)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Bond (R-MO)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Burr (R-NC)
Byrd (D-WV)
Cardin (D-MD)
Carper (D-DE)
Casey (D-PA)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Clinton (D-NY)
Coburn (R-OK)
Coleman (R-MN)
Collins (R-ME)
Conrad (D-ND)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Craig (R-ID)
Dodd (D-CT)
Domenici (R-NM)
Durbin (D-IL)
Ensign (R-NV)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hagel (R-NE)
Harkin (D-IA)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inouye (D-HI)
Isakson (R-GA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Kohl (D-WI)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (ID-CT)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Lugar (R-IN)
Martinez (R-FL)
McCain (R-AZ)
McCaskill (D-MO)
McConnell (R-KY)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-NE)
Obama (D-IL)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Schumer (D-NY)
Smith (R-OR)
Snowe (R-ME)
Specter (R-PA)
Stevens (R-AK)
Sununu (R-NH)
Thune (R-SD)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Warner (R-VA)
Webb (D-VA)
Whitehouse (D-RI)

NAYs ---25

Allard (R-CO)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Cochran (R-MS)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Dole (R-NC)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Enzi (R-WY)
Feingold (D-WI)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Johnson (D-SD)
Landrieu (D-LA)Nelson (D-FL)
Roberts (R-KS)
Sanders (I-VT)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Tester (D-MT)
Vitter (R-LA)
Wicker (R-MS)Wyden (D-OR)

Not Voting - 1
Kennedy (D-MA)

Coming is both House votes, the first one that failed and the last one that passed. Bold is Republicans that voted for the Bailout.

Obama-ACORN Root Causes of Mortgage Crisis?

Sent to me by email. Dean

FBI Investigates U.S. Financial Crisis - Where Did $1 Trillion Go?

The high-risk subprime mortgage social engineering community service experiment by left-wing ACORN and Obama has created the largest financial crisis since The Great Depression. The full reach of the corruption and scandal may never be known but those who created it must not be rewarded.

The architects, primarily left-wing Democrats, created laws, took donations, looked the other way and instead were too busy overseeing donations to their own presidential campaigns and robbing main street blind.

Now these same left-wing Democrats blame everyone else and get up on their high horses and say, “we are here to save you” from the crises they created.

Select Below to Demand Congress Protect Taxpayers Not Speculators

FAX All Congressmen - Tell Them No Bailout – Prosecute Offenders!

https://secure.responseenterprises.com/ameripac_bailout/?a=1796

Yes, Mr. Obama knows a great deal about the mess. He is a central figure in the left-wing ACORN exploitation of financial institutions and pressuring them to make high risk loans. The very same left-wing ACORN was guilty of voter fraud in the last presidential election.

Now these same Democrats want to do another high risk “community service,” social engineering experiment. They want to elect a high-risk, low experience, socialist one of the same community organizers that created the mess to be our next president. We cannot experiment with the office of president and learn as we go. Barack Obama is not qualified and has no history of success as a leader in government or business.

The FBI investigation

An FBI investigation is under way at Lehman Brothers and three other contributors to America ’s financial crisis to determine whether they put pressure on ratings agencies to award top ratings to securities they issued.

Concerns that Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG or Lehman may have sought to encourage agencies to inflate their ratings — by offering higher fees or the promise of more work — form part of a broad inquiry by the bureau.

The agencies are widely regarded as having failed debt holders by attributing the top ratings to many securities that turned out to be extremely risky and have lost investors hundreds of billions of dollars.

The FBI, which is also investigating whether any of the four institutions deliberately misled investors about the true health of their assets, is expected to demand that they “hold all papers and e-mails under lock and key” as it sifts through the evidence, a source said.

FOLLOW THE MONEY AND CORRUPTION!

A Lending Policy created by democrats for democrats run by democrats monitored by democrats enforced by community organizer democrats and profited from by democrats.

The following information is condensed from an article by Stanley Kurtz. O's Dangerous Pals

Fannie and Freddie acted in response to Clinton administration pressure to boost homeownership rates among minorities and the poor. However compassionate the motive, the result of this systematic disregard for normal credit standards has been financial disaster. ONE key pioneer of ACORN's subprime-loan shakedown racket was Madeline Talbott - an activist with extensive ties to Barack Obama. She was also in on the ground floor of the disastrous turn in Fannie Mae's mortgage policies.

Obama Trains ACORN Staff in Shakedown Tactics
 

It would be tough to find an "on the ground" community organizer more closely tied to the subprime-mortgage fiasco than Madeline Talbott. And no one has been more supportive of Madeline Talbott than Barack Obama.

When Obama was just a budding community organizer in Chicago , Talbott was so impressed that she asked him to train her personal staff.

He returned to Chicago in the early '90s, just as Talbott was starting her pressure campaign on local banks. In those years, he also conducted leadership-training seminars for ACORN's up-and-coming organizers. That is, Obama was training the army of ACORN organizers who participated in Madeline Talbott's drive against Chicago 's banks.

Obama Funds ACORN

More than that, Obama was funding them. As he rose to a leadership role at Chicago 's Woods Fund, he became the most powerful voice on the foundation's board for supporting ACORN and other community organizers. In 1995, the Woods Fund substantially expanded its funding of community organizers - and Obama chaired the committee that urged and managed the shift.

That committee's report on strategies for funding groups like ACORN features all the key names in Obama's organizer network. The report quotes Talbott more than any other figure; Sandra Maxwell, Talbott's ACORN ally in the bank battle, was also among the organizers consulted.

More, the Obama-supervised Woods Fund report acknowledges the problem of getting donors and foundations to contribute to radical groups like ACORN - whose confrontational tactics often scare off even liberal donors and foundations.

Indeed, the report brags about pulling the wool over the public's eye. The Woods Fund's claim to be "non-ideological," it says, has "enabled the Trustees to make grants to organizations that use confrontational tactics against the business and government 'establishments' without undue risk of being criticized for partisanship."

Obama Aware of Intimidation Tactics

The Woods Fund report makes it clear Obama was fully aware of the intimidation tactics used by ACORN's Madeline Talbott in her pioneering efforts to force banks to suspend their usual credit standards. Yet he supported Talbott in every conceivable way. He trained her personal staff and other aspiring ACORN leaders, he consulted with her extensively, and he arranged a major boost in foundation funding for her efforts.

And, as the leader of another charity, the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, Obama channeled more funding Talbott's way - ostensibly for education projects but surely supportive of ACORN's overall efforts.

In return, Talbott proudly announced her support of Obama's first campaign for state Senate, saying, "We accept and respect him as a kindred spirit, a fellow organizer."

In short, to understand the roots of the subprime mortgage crisis, look to ACORN's Madeline Talbott. And to see how Talbott was able to work her mischief, look to Barack Obama.

Tell the Congress to Stop the Wall Street Bailout and Prosecute!

FAX All Congressmen - Tell Them No Bailout – Prosecute Offenders!

https://secure.responseenterprises.com/ameripac_bailout/?a=1796

Keep calling your Congressmen today, toll free numbers include 1-877-851-6437 and 1-866-220-0044, or call toll 1-202-225-3121 AND REGISTER YOUR OUTRAGE at increasing oil prices!

Defend America ,

Alan Gottlieb

AmeriPAC

President and Founder

www.Ameripac.org