Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Sovereign Debt Crisis Can Happen Here

By Bill Wilson

All year long, Congress has failed to address the budget. Instead, the government is currently operating on a continuing resolution that expires in less than ten days. So, it needs to pass another one just to keep the government running, like the one that passed the House on December 8th.

The House-passed budget resolution will lock in current spending levels at $3.5 trillion until September 30th, 2011. That includes $1.1 trillion for discretionary spending, and does nothing to rein in the spiraling costs of entitlements.

Senate Democrats want to go even further by turning the continuing resolution into a 1,924-page omnibus monstrosity with even more spending, including year-long funding for ObamaCare and $15 billion to the International Monetary Fund to bail out Ireland.

This is nothing more than a transparent ploy by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid to negate the impact of the November elections. The American people spoke out against the unbridled spending, the growing $13.8 trillion national debt, and government overreach into all areas of the economy.

Get full story here.

ObamaConstitution

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The Food Police Strike McDonald's In San Francisco

Video by Frank McCaffrey
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The Wage and Hour Division: We Can Help Prolong the Recession

By David McFadden

Since approximately day two of his administration, President Obama has boasted about what he has done since “day one.” Actually, day one was relatively harmless. It was only a half day, and Obama spent it delivering another vapid speech, having a long lunch, and reviewing a boring parade. But on day ten, January 29th, 2009, he began his project of giving employers additional reasons not to hire American workers. On that day he proudly signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which allows employees more time to sue employers for alleged pay discrimination.

And from that beginning, the project of exacerbating unemployment and prolonging the recession has been carried out on a broad front of initiatives. The government has borrowed capital and diverted it to less productive uses under the guise of stimuli. Complex new mandates and penalties regarding employee health insurance have been imposed on employers. Further uncertainty has been created by thousands of pages of impending financial legislation and rules and by the possibilities that new energy taxes will be imposed and that President Bush’s tax cuts will soon expire.

Get full story here.

Virginia Federal District Court Judge Rules Obamacare’s Individual Mandate Unconstitutional

Last March when the government takeover of our health care was signed into law by President Obama, the ink was not even dry when Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli sprung to action.

Minutes later, AG Cuccinelli filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Obamcare’s individual mandate that would force every American citizen to purchase health insurance or else be subject to a penalty handed down by the IRS.

AG Cuccinelli stood up for freedom and individual rights despite the opposition from the Obama Administration, the liberal media, and other forces on the left. He stood up on the principle that defending our freedom and individual rights was the ultimate cause, not to be driven by political or fiscal calculations.
Back in October, AG Cuccinelli came to New Jersey and was our keynote speaker at our November Is Coming event in Clark and poignantly delivered this very message to our assembled activists.

CLICK HERE TO SEE AG CUCCINELLI’S ADDRESS

On Monday of this week, AG Cuccinelli and his team scored the first major victory against Obamacare when Federal District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson ruled that the individual mandate was unconstitutional!

Judge Hudson’s ironclad ruling made it clear; the federal government has no authority to force any citizen to purchase a product against his or her will. Nor can the penalty for failing to do so be considered a “tax.”
The judge’s ruling is a critical first strike against Obamacare and defense of states’ rights and individual liberty. Nothing less is at stake than the concept of federalism; that the federal government’s enumerated powers in the Constitution are well defined and, above all, limited.

This battle is not over. Next, the case will likely be heard by a Federal Circuit Court of Appeals before reaching the United State Supreme Court.

And the multi-state lawsuit against Obamacare is also proceeding through the Florida court system.
The American people remain firmly opposed to the federal takeover of our health care. In fact, opposition to Obamacare is on the rise as people discover that the government takeover is failing to live up to its false promises.

The fight to defeat Obamacare and put a stop to this disastrous legislation will require our continued resolve and determination. But yesterday’s ruling was a critical victory and first step toward restoring freedom and liberty. 

And AG Cuccinelli and his team are to be commended for their hard work and commitment to standing up for our rights. Click here to support the fight and to send AG Cuccinelli thanks and encouragement.
The question that is still on everyone’s mind though is, why has the state of New Jersey still not joined these lawsuits?

The Fight to Repeal the RGGI Cap-and-Trade Energy Tax Continues

Last week, AFP informed you that the Republican State Committee (RSC) was set to take up a resolution that would support the legislation introduced in the State Legislature that would repeal RGGI and withdraw New Jersey from this job-killing scheme.

Regrettably, the RSC meeting was canceled late on Sunday evening with little advance notice. Effectively, this means the current legislative session will end without the RSC taking a position on this matter.

You and I cannot let this go. It is up to you and me to keep the pressure on and let the RSC and legislators in Trenton know that we will not rest on New Jersey withdraws from RGGI -- and that the ratepayers and businesses in our state will not take being forced to pay this cap-and-trade energy tax.
AFP will keep you abreast of this situation and let you know when the RSC schedules its next meeting and takes up the RGGI resolution.


COAH Update – So-Called Reform Measure Passes Assembly

On Monday of this week, The NJ Assembly passed Bill S1 (A3447). The measure supposedly “reforms” the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH), but as I told you earlier this year, S1 is a ruse that does nothing but transfer COAH’s power to the State Planning Commission, creating a new “Super Bureaucracy.”

S1 is essentially “putting lipstick on a pig.” The socialist idea that every citizen is entitled to “affordable housing” remains and the central planners will continue implementing this redistributionist scheme at the expense of you, the taxpayer.

Click here to contact Governor Christie and tell him to veto S1 or call his office at 609-292-6000. Tell him to live up to his campaign promise to “Gut COAH!”
On to Victory,
Steve Lonegan
State Director

Lakers Send Sasha To Nets In Three Way Deal

The “Los Angeles Times” reported Tuesday night that the Los Angeles Lakers have agreed in principle to a three team deal that will send reserve guard Sasha Vujacic and a number one selection in next June’s NBA Draft to the New Jersey Nets. The Lakers would receive veteran big man Joe Smith to Los Angeles while New Jersey would send the Houston Rockets forward Terrence Williams for a Lottery protected first round NBA pick in 2012.

Vujacic not long ago was a fan favorite in the Staples Center, however he had fallen out of favor with Lakers head coach Phil Jackson and his minutes were few and far between this season. Smith was not seeing a lot of court time as he was playing under Nets head coach Avery Johnson during the first quarter of the campaign. Reports state that the deal is contingent on Smith passing a physical.

Mark Zuckerberg Named Time's Person of the Year


Image TIME Person of the Year magazine cover featuring Mark Zuckerberg.jpg

Move over Ben Bernake, Mark Zuckerberg is Time Magazine's 2010 Person of the Year. The 26-year-old Facebook founder is the second youngest person to win that title--the youngest was Charles Lindbergh, who at 25 was the first person to win the distinction, back when it was called "Man of the Year." (It became "Person" back in 1999.)

"[Facebook is] something that is transforming the way we live our lives every day," The magazine's managing editor said of the pick. "It's social engineering, changing the way we relate to each other."

It's been a packed year for Zuckeberg, of course--Facebook passed 500 million users (nearly 1/10th of the planet), a fairly unflattering movie was made about his life (which was just nominated for six Golden Globes, incidentally), and he donated a bunch of money to charity.

"Zuckerberg is a warm presence, not a cold one," Time says in the writeup. "He has a quick smile and doesn't shy away from eye contact. He thinks fast and talks fast, but he wants you to keep up. He exudes not anger or social anxiety but a weird calm. When you talk to his co-workers, they're so adamant in their avowals of affection for him and their insistence that you not misconstrue his oddness that you get the impression it's not just because they want to keep their jobs. People really like him."

The Tea Party nabbed the runner up position, with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange taking the third spot. Hamid Karzai and The Chilean Miners rounded out the top with, with Steve Jobs also grabbing an honorable mention.

Polls: Romney Leads Obama

By PoliPundit ~ December 15th, 2010 @ 6:46 am
So says the ultra-liberal TPM’s poll average:
The failed 2008 presidential candidate is showing some early signs of Mitt-Mentum, currently leading President Obama 45.6% to 44.3% in the TPM Poll Average of national polls. The latest boost to Romney’s numbers came over the weekend in a McClathcy-Marist poll that gave Romney a 46%-44% edge over President Obama in a head-to-head matchup.
Romney has been trending up in hypothetical presidential contests for a few months now, yet he consistently trailed President Obama until the end of October when he scored a 50% to 45% victory in a CNN poll. Since then, at least three more polls, including the recent one from McClathcy-Marist, have shown Romney coming out on top.

conditional bail to WikiLeaks' Julian Assange: UK court

After a anniversary in apprehension adverse accessible extradition, Julian Assange, the architect of the WikiLeaks antisecrecy group, was ordered arise on $310,000 bond by a cloister on Tuesday as he challenges a Swedish prosecutor's abode that he acknowledgment to Stockholm for analytic about declared sex offenses. 

conditional bail to WikiLeaks' Julian Assange

However, Mr. Assange remained in aegis awaiting a audition on an abode by the prosecutor, which would booty abode aural the abutting 48 hours.
 
In acceding bail, Adjudicator Howard Riddle ordered that Mr. Assange arise afresh in cloister on Jan. 11. He additionally said that amid again and now he charge abide at Ellingham Hall, a Georgian abode in Bungay, in eastern England, endemic by Vaughan Smith, the architect of a club for journalists. Mr. Assange charge absorb every night at the abode and will be electronically tagged so the badge can clue his movements, the adjudicator said. 
conditional bail to WikiLeaks' Julian Assange

Additionally, Mr. Assange will be beneath alarm every day from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will be appropriate to abode circadian to the badge from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. His authorization is already with the badge and, beneath the acceding of his bail, he is not acceptable to biking abroad.
Judge Riddle said he accepted bond on Tuesday, afterwards abstinent it a anniversary ago, because Mr. Assange was now able to accommodate an abode area he would be staying. The adjudicator declared his beforehand accommodation as "marginal" and said that Mr. Assange had now met that action of his bond "handsomely." 
conditional bail to WikiLeaks' Julian Assange

Mr. Assange was cutting a aphotic dejected clothing and a white shirt accessible at the collar. Reporters said he seemed paler and added fatigued than at the aboriginal audition on Dec. 7 back bond was denied. Back the adjudicator appear that bond would be accepted on Tuesday, Mr. Assange gave a accede assurance to the arranged courthouse.
 
The case has generated astronomic all-embracing interest, with abstracts in the Obama administering belief whether to arraign him, critics calumniating him and supporters depicting him as a hero and martyr. Crowds of media crews and reporters congenital up about the cloister abreast Parliament aboriginal on Tuesday, assortment with Mr. Assange's followers.
 
An Australian newspaper, the Sunshine Coast News, appear on Tuesday that his mother, Christine Assange, had aureate to London to be with him. 
conditional bail to WikiLeaks' Julian Assange

In a 10-minute blast chat with his mother, the bi-weekly said, Mr. Assange declared: "My aesthetics are unfaltering. I abide accurate to the ethics I accept consistently expressed. These affairs shall not agitate them. If anything, this action has added my assurance that they are accurate and correct."
 
Mrs. Assange was amid about 100 bodies -- mainly attorneys and journalists -- awash into Cloister No. 1 at City of Westminster Magistrates Cloister for her son's arrival. Mr. Assange accustomed in the cloister architecture several hours afore the afternoon hearing, according to reporters at the cloister house.
 
The acknowledged altercation over Mr. Assange's approaching erupted afterwards WikiLeaks acquaint troves of classified American abstracts on the Internet, the best contempo of them fatigued from some 250,000 adept cables amid the Accompaniment Department in Washington and American missions abroad.
While Mr. Assange has ascribed the sex breach accuse -- which he denies -- to "dirty tricks" accompanying to his antisecrecy operations, Swedish prosecutors assert there is no link. A anniversary ago, Mr. Assange surrendered to British authorities and was confined afterwards a adjudicator reviewing the displacement appeal begin him to be a flight accident and denied bail.
 
Despite his absolution Tuesday, a final accommodation on whether he is to be extradited could booty weeks or longer.
 
Speaking about the case in contempo weeks, Mr. Assange has said that he had consensual relations with two adolescent Swedish women. He said he met them during a cruise to Sweden in August that he fabricated in a bid to authorize a anchorage for himself and WikiLeaks beneath Sweden's ample laws attention columnist freedoms. 
conditional bail to WikiLeaks' Julian Assange

The accuse chronicle to the catechism of whether these encounters accomplished to be consensual back a condom was no best actuality used. Sweden's appeal for displacement is advised to accredit prosecutors to catechism Mr. Assange about accuse of "rape, animal agitation and actionable coercion."
 
The most recent aberration in the ball began a anniversary ago back admiral from Scotland Yard arrested Mr. Assange afterwards he went to a axial London badge base by acceding with the authorities.
 
In a arranged attorneys audition abiding about an hour a anniversary ago, Gemma Lindfield, a advocate acting for the Swedish government, categorical some of the abundant allegations adjoin Mr. Assange fabricated by the Swedish women, both WikiLeaks volunteers. They complex three incidents, including one in which Mr. Assange was declared to accept had caught sex with one of his accusers while she was asleep.
In cloister aftermost week, Mr. Assange banned to accord a accepted address, giving aboriginal a column appointment box, again an abode in Parkville in the Australian accompaniment of Victoria, area he lived afore adopting a ambulant affairs back founding WikiLeaks in 2006.
The barter appeared to accept advised adjoin his appeal for bail, which was accurate by banking guarantees of added than $150,000 from a casting of acclaimed supporters present in court, including the filmmaker Ken Loach and Jemima Khan, a socialite and political activist.
conditional bail to WikiLeaks' Julian Assange
The judge, Howard Riddle, agreed with Ms. Lindfield that there were "significant grounds" for cerebration Mr. Assange airish a flight risk, because of his "nomadic lifestyle," his abridgement of ties in Britain, his arrangement of all-embracing contacts and his admission to abundant sums donated by WikiLeaks supporters.
His anniversary of imprisonment has had little axiomatic appulse on the breeze of leaked abstracts from an annal that was fabricated accessible to bristles account organizations, including The New York Times. In the blast chat with his mother, Mr. Assange said: "I am calling on the apple to assure my assignment and my bodies from these actionable and abandoned acts."
Many of the communications amid the Accompaniment Department and 274 across embassies and missions abide to be released.
According to WikiLeaks, alone 1,344 of a absolute 251,287 abstracts accept so far been appear on its Web armpit back it began absolution the most recent accumulation of abstracts on Nov. 28. Previously the alignment had publicized arcane actual about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
 
By Selva

Springfield Mayor Tim Davlin Committed Suicide

Springfield Mayer Tim Davlin was found dead of a gunshot wound inside his home at 2601 Apple Creek Drive at around 9:10 am on Tuesday morning (December 14).

The authorities responded to a 911 call reporting shots fired at the Mayor’s address, but when they got there he was already unresponsive on the floor.

Mayor Davlin had a scheduled appearance in court related to a pending estate case involving his late cousin this morning. The police is currently investigating the case.

UPDATE: According to FoxNews, Mayor Gavlin died of an apparent a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin released a statement, saying, “I was stunned and saddened by the news of Mayor Tim Davlin’s passing. His work with my office always reflected his dedication to our hometown. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends at this tragic moment.”

By Rita Pereira

Florida School Board Shooting: Clay Duke Opens Fire During Meeting

On Tuesday December 14th Clay Duke, entered a Bay District school board meeting and took members of the school board hostage, at gunpoint. Before brandishing his gun, 56 year old Clay Duke, wrote the letter "V" with a circle around it in red, on the wall. The same symbol used in the graphic novel and movie, V for Vendetta. He blamed the school board members for the loss of his wife's job and then pulled out a gun and ordered the women to leave the room.

Board member Ginger Littleton, who had left the room when instructed, returned and attempted to sneak up behind Clay Duke and knock the gun from his hand with her purse.  Clay Duke hit her with his pistol and then let her leave the room again. Nadine Yanis, a reporter for a local news station in Panama City said that, "If he wanted to kill her at that moment he could have, and he didn't."

Clay Duke then went on a rant for several minutes, complaining about the loss of his wife's job and a sales tax increase, as Superintendent Bill Husfelt attempted to calm him down. "I'm going to die tonight," said Clay Duke several times throughout his rant and repeated it once more just before firing his gun at the Superintendent. Clay Duke fired several more shots at the members of the board, saying "I'm gonna kill..... don't you understand." Fortunately, all of Clay Duke's shots missed and after firing four rounds he was shot in the leg by Mike Jones, a district security officer and former police detective. Clay Duke then turned his gun on himself.



None of the members of the school board were injured during the shooting. John Bobst aka The Force of Nature