Video: Chicago Grassroots React To State Of The Union– Obama, The Big Let Down

Hugh Hewitt Calls For ‘Masterly Inactivity’ On The Part Of Congressional Republicans

Conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt called on Republicans to engage in “masterly inactivity” until the 2014 elections, urging lawmakers to avoid dealing with an untrustworthy White House and “focus all of their activity on Obamacare’s rollout.”

Hewitt appeared on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper” to discuss the State of the Union, Republican strategies and his new book. Tapper began by asking the radio host what he thought of the president’s speech last night. Although Hewitt largely panned the address, he gave President Barack Obama credit for highlighting the tremendous sacrifice of Sgt. First Class Cory Remsburg, who was grievously wounded fighting in Afghanistan.

But even here he added a caveat, telling Tapper that while “it was wonderful they applauded [Remsburg], where was the president on the rest of the troops [of] whom he is the Commander-in-Chief, defending these men and women who served 20 years against a Congress looking to spend $6 billion on pork?”


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2nd Circuit Judge Deems Asylum-Seeking Chinese Christian “Not Christian Enough”…

What does an immigration judge and a Biblical scholar have in common? Nothing, at least according to The U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. A ruling by immigration judge Barbara Nelson, who denied asylum to a Chinese Christian refugee based on his lack of “biblical doctrinal knowledge” was overturned on Thursday, allowing the chance for a second hearing. For months, Chang Qaing Zhu was beaten and imprisoned for attending a church non-sanctioned by the Chinese government. Appearing before immigration judge Barbara Nelson in 2009, he sought U.S. asylum from religious persecution. His petition was denied after he “failed” her Bible quiz.

Asked to “prove” his Christianity to the judge, Chang Qaing Zhu allegedly recounted his conversations with Chinese authorities while in prison about the conversion of the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus.  “Astute” judge Barbara Nelson wasn’t buying it. Nelson reportedly asked the immigrant to explain the story of Paul to her in court, including what year Paul’s conversion experience happened.  How in the world did a judge, in her great wisdom, think that a Chinese refugee-without access to Bibles, Sunday School, or Christian teachings-could do so? Nelson ultimately ruled that Chang’s response was “evasive” and “hesitant,” and she decided not to grant him asylum, determining he was not credible in his claims of being a Christian.

According to The New York Daily News, The 2nd Circuit vacated Nelson’s decision and ordered a new review Thursday that opens the door for Zhu to stay in the United States. The U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals found the immigration judge was wrong to find Zhu not credible.


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Lesson 1: Understanding The “Equal – Not Subordinate” Coordinate Relationship

Congress purposefully created the coordination process as a way for federal agencies to resolve conflicts with the plans and policies of local governments. You will find this direction to the agencies in the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), the National Forest Management Act (NMFA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), to name a few.

When they gave this mandate, they recognized that local governments and federal agencies have two distinct areas of responsibility, both necessary to effectively run government. The federal agencies execute federal law. Land management agencies like the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service manage federal lands. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service manage endangered and threatened species. Local governments are charged with protecting the health, safety and welfare of their local constituency.

Local governments do not manage the federal lands and the federal government does not run the local services such as fire and police protection, health services and infrastructure. However, the federal and local responsibilities are intricately dependent on each other to function well.

Congress also recognized that if local impacts are ignored during the federal planning process, economic harm would occur locally and eventually trickle up to the national level. So, they directed the agencies to coordinate with local governments.

The most common definition of coordination is “equal, not subordinate,” as found in the New Webster’s Dictionary. This means that as the federal government and local government (government-to-government) sit down to resolve their differences with their plans and policies, the local government’s position is equal, not subordinate to the federal position.


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The GOP’s Losing Strategy

No group knows better how to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory than the Republican establishment. But this election cycle it seems they want to establish their losing strategy early so as to avoid any late-season drama.

Last Presidential cycle, the GOP ensured its defeat by abandoning conservatives. It followed its old script of nominating a milquetoast, faux-conservative warmonger in Mitt Romney, who was campaigning on attacking Iran and Syria and growing government. If that weren’t enough, it engaged in dirty tricks during the primary to defeat Ron Paul, the only conservative in the race.

The GOP’s actions during the primaries discouraged Paul supporters — composed of a mostly younger crowd just cutting their teeth in politics, civil libertarians and doves of a more leftist bent — from participating in an obviously rigged system. And if that weren’t enough to turn off the Paul supporters, the elites humiliated them on the convention floor in Tampa, Fla. Then, when Romney fell short on election night to a Barack Obama who received 3.6 million few votes than he did in 2008, the GOP establishment blamed Paul supporters and the conservative Tea Party for not turning out.

Since then, rather than court them, the GOP has done nothing but antagonize conservatives, libertarians and Tea Party adherents. Establishment Republicans have spit in the faces of rank-and-file conservatives. The establishment has ridiculed and slandered those on the right who have advocated for smaller government, an end to wars, defunding Obamacare, an end to drone attacks, the repeal of National Defense Authorization Act unlawful detention and the Patriot Act, and the cessation of National Security Agency spying. Among the invectives they’ve used: whacko birds, crazy, unpatriotic, ridiculous and bullies who need their noses punched.

Establishment Republicans abandoned Senator Rand Paul during his filibuster over drone attacks in the United States. As evidenced by the popular reaction Paul received both from people who traditionally vote Republican and the Ron Paul crowd who tend to vote libertarian if they vote at all, the elites were on the wrong side of the debate.


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GOP Again Chooses Politics Over Policy On Immigration

I find it unbelievable that the Republican Party may find a way to steal defeat from the jaws of victory in this very important 2014 mid-term election. Looks like they’re getting ready to step in it regarding immigration.

A great editorial in Investors Business Daily titled “House GOP Plans to Save Obama with Immigration Reform” just makes me cringe.

Republicans should own the issue of immigration. After all, the last time — 1986 — the nation took the “comprehensive” approach that Democrats now propose, nothing ended up being fixed in exchange for the amnesty for millions of illegals. And today, insisting on securing the border before doing anything else is no-lose politically.

Instead it seems the GOP is more concerned about being demonized by the liberal progressive Left on the issue of illegal immigration and will find a way to cave, or as DC calls it “compromise.” Ever noticed that when Democrats are in power, you never hear the word compromise used? During the first two years of Obama’s presidency when Democrats controlled the House and Senate did you ever hear the media talk about compromise? In DC and political lexicon, compromise simply means Republicans give in to Democrats, on everything.

So instead of recognizing illegal immigration is a multi-headed hydra affecting our national security, economy, healthcare, education, and local criminality, and must be dealt with by sound policy, everyone appears to be rushing to gain favor from the Hispanic electorate. It’s all about politics.


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A State With No Republicans!

I received the following in an email.

Very interesting... Makes ya wanna move there, doesn't it? (Not!) A wonderful state with zero Republicans - The State of Illinois.

Some interesting data on the 'state' of Illinois ... There are more people on welfare in Illinois than there are people working.  Chicago pays the highest wages to teachers than anywhere else in the U.S. averaging $110,000/year.  Their pensions average 80-90% of their income.  Wow, are Illinois and Chicago great or what?  Be sure to read till the end.  I've never heard it explained better.  Perhaps the U.S. should pull out of Chicago?  Body count: In the last six months, 292 killed (murdered) in Chicago .  221 killed in Iraq ; AND Chicago has one of the strictest gun laws in the entire US.

Here's the Chicago chain of command: President: Barack Hussein Obama · Senator: Dick Durbin · House Representative: Jesse Jackson Jr. · Governor: Pat Quinn · House leader: Mike Madigan · Atty. Gen.: Lisa Madigan (daughter of Mike) · Mayor: Rahm Emanuel · The leadership in Illinois - all Democrats. · Thank you for the combat zone in Chicago . · Of course, they're all blaming each other. · Can't blame Republicans; there aren't any! · Chicago school system rated one of the worst in the country.  Can't blame Republicans; there aren't any!

State pension fund $78 Billion in debt, worst in country  Can't blame Republicans; there aren't any!

Cook County (Chicago) sales tax 10.25% highest in country. Can't blame Republicans; there aren't any!

This is the political culture that Obama comes from in Illinois. And he is going to 'fix' Washington politics for us?

George Ryan is no longer Governor, he is in prison.

He was replaced by Rob Blagojevich who is, that's right, also in prison

And Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. resigned, .. and that's right, he and his wife both are in prison also.

The Land of Lincoln , where our Governors and Representatives make our license plates.  What?

As long as they keep providing entitlements to the population of Chicago , nothing is going to change, except the state will go broke before the country does.

"Anybody who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the Government take care of him better take a closer look at the American Indian."

Don’t forget Detroit , another great example of a Democratic empire…

PART 2— Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA - may soon have plenty of new residents!

THIS IS REALLY INTERESTING, AND TRUE ... PLEASE READ IT!

Oklahoma is the only state that Obama did not win even one county in the last election...  While everyone is focusing on Arizona ’s new law, look what Oklahoma has been doing!!!

An update from Oklahoma :

Oklahoma law passed, 37 to 9 an amendment to place the Ten Commandments on the front entrance to the state capitol. The feds in D.C., along with the ACLU, said it would be a mistake. Hey this is a conservative state, based on Christian values... HB 1330

Guess what... Oklahoma did it anyway.

Oklahoma recently passed a law in the state to incarcerate all illegal immigrants, and ship them back to where they came from unless they want to get a green card and become an American citizen. They all scattered.  HB 1804. This was against the advice of the Federal Government, and the ACLU, they said it would be a mistake.

Guess what... Oklahoma did it anyway.

Recently we passed a law to include DNA samples from any and all illegal's to the Oklahoma database, for criminal investigative purposes. Pelosi said it was unconstitutional SB 1102

Guess what.. Oklahoma did it anyway.

Several weeks ago, we passed a law, declaring Oklahoma as a Sovereign state, not under the Federal Government directives. Joining Texas , Montana and Utah as the only states to do so.

More states are likely to follow: Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Carolina's, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, West Virginia, Mississippi and Florida. Save your confederate money, it appears the South is about to rise up once again. HJR 1003

The federal Government has made bold steps to take away our guns. Oklahoma, a week ago, passed a law confirming people in this state have the right to bear arms and transport them in their vehicles.  I'm sure that was a setback for the criminals The Liberals didn't like it -- But....

Guess what... Oklahoma did it anyway.

Just this month, the state has voted and passed a law that ALL drivers’ license exams will be printed in English, and only English, and no other language. They have been called racist for doing this, but the fact is that ALL of the road signs are in English only. If you want to drive in Oklahoma , you must read and write English. Really simple.

By the way, the Liberals don't like any of this either

Guess what... who cares...  Oklahoma is doing it anyway.

Not My Tea Party - Universal Service Vs. Universal Choice

Over mankind's long history, there have been numerous successful attempts by some men to sell despotism as if they were offering the people liberty. These surprisingly successful moments have been a part of emotional appeals to populations more anxious for the comfort of a promised solution than a people diligent in the honest introspection and self examination required to maintain a truly free society. The We the People Stimulus Package video has been one of those moments.

Bob Basso's plan for the Great American Tea Party, where we the people are supposed to mail bags of tea to their “unrepresentative Representatives” has some merit. My purpose here is to challenge our thinking as to what a free nation really looks like, and what should and can be done to move in that direction.

I believe the message Bob hopes to send would be better exemplified if the people first were to make a cup of hot tea, thoroughly squeeze out the bag, hang it out to dry, and then send that used up, dried out, shriveled bag of useless tea to their “unrepresentative Representatives” to accurately express the true feelings of many Americans today.

Bob's emotional portrayal of Thomas Paine gives the audience a charged performance filled with patriotism, but when he suggests a course of action that is both far from - and in opposition to - the thinking of Mr. Paine, I feel compelled to sound an alarm.

While there are several points made which I would love to counter or discuss with you and Bob, the most disturbing is his call to “Bring Back Universal Service”, which he described as 2 years of military service or 2 years in community involvement for everyone.

While I am absolutely in favor of every man and women offering their service to their community and nation, I am not sure that mandatory service is found anywhere on the road map to liberty. It would seem to be in direct opposition to the spirit of liberty referenced in Thomas Paine's Common Sense.

Paine, the pamphleteer of freedom and liberty, published Common Sense in Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love, on February 14, 1776. He quotes the Bible extensively, including Samuel, Proverbs, and Gideon.

Gideon was able to raise a massive all-volunteer army to defend the nation. The volunteers were so numerous he sent the vast majority of them back home. Even after the victory Gideon continued to say “I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the LORD shall rule over you.”

History and the Bible have both defined the ability of government to force people to labor for its interest as bondage and slavery. Mr. Paine would not want to “be ruled by one tyrant three thousand miles away or by three thousand tyrants one mile away.” “Society in every state is a blessing, but a government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.”

For the first four hundred years, ancient Israel provided all government and military service at the personal discretion of the heads of individual families, and maintained free courts where the people decided both the fact and the application of the law. In such a system the people are the fountainhead of justice within society. But then the people did something really stupid which changed the nature of their government, altered the character of their society, and eventually, the people themselves.

Throughout our long history, many nations were able to function without kings, presidents, prime ministers, any lawmakers who had the authority to conscript the people into public service. “...[O]ur modern reliance on government to make law and establish order is not the historical norm.”

Freedom of the people is dependent, not upon collective rights and privileges granted by governments, but upon the common exercise of virtue diligently practiced by the people. The virtue of a free nation can only remain viable if the people exercise them daily. “Is there no virtue among us? If there be not, we are in a wretched situation. No theoretical checks, no form of government can render us secure.” “All who have ever written on government are unanimous, that among people generally corrupt, liberty cannot long exist.”

The growth of virtue in society requires free choice in the hands of the individual.


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Dereliction Of ‘Duty’ Is Robert Gates’ Unprincipled Duplicity

Only Washington could create a sleazy charlatan like Robert M. Gates and pass him off as some bipartisan example of competence and honor.

With his memoir out justifiably sliming President Obama, Vice President Joseph R. Biden and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Mr. Gates makes like a greasy, mange-patched rat scrambling atop the floating debris of a sunken ship.

“I never doubted Obama’s support for the troops,” Mr. Gates grandly writes, posturing himself as the magnanimous centrist who passes for nobility only in Washington.

“Never doubted Obama’s support for the troops, only his support for their mission.”

Holy cripes! How did this get past an editor? Does the guy not have any friends to glance over his book to tell him what a treacherous wretch he is for even thinking such stupidity, let alone memorializing it forever in a hardcover book about himself that he modestly titled “Duty?”

I will tell you what duty is. Duty is getting out of high school and signing up for the Marines because you love your country. Duty is the unquestioned following of your orders and deploying to Iraq or Afghanistan on a mission to make America safer. Duty is talking with your wife and young, growing family on Skype and keeping upbeat even though you will go on a mission tomorrow morning that very likely will get both of your legs and your right arm blown off.

Duty is being that wife who sheds not a tear in front of her children but bawls through her prayers to God that night alone in bed to keep the father of her children safe for one more day. Duty is the mother who bravely accepts the folded flag from her teenage son’s casket in a frozen graveyard. Duty is the father who searches around his intolerable grief to grasp the pride he has for his only son who gave every last measure on a battlefield far, far away.

So tell us, Mr. Gates, how is it possible for a commander in chief to support the troops but not their mission?


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Why Black Liberals Will Never Fulfill King’s Dream

I’ve been very blessed to have traveled across this nation quite a bit during 2013. While I don’t worry about the future of America, one of my great concerns is the message of conservatism in the black community.

The black community is the most conservative group in America — on Sunday. Our great challenge is to ensure the message of individual salvation translates to one of individual liberty Monday through Saturday.

It is surely the message Dr. Martin Luther King preached.

We must promulgate this message of economic empowerment — not economic servitude — in our inner cities. We must be able to express why education enables self-reliance, which in turn promotes entrepreneurship.

This was the glorious triumvirate of Booker T. Washington, the “Father of Black Conservatism” – education, self-reliance and entrepreneurship.

When we restore our inner cities by reducing crime and growing opportunity, we enable success and America will thrive. It is there in our urban areas where progressive socialists have done their best to spread their lies of dependency and subservience to government — the evident failures of the 50-year war on poverty. We must restore the values of family and faith, and end the culture of “victimhood.”

If we are to take this message into the black community, we need a new generation of shining stars — energetic, articulate, young black conservatives who can be the sentinels and enable the rising tide to lift all boats out of economic servitude and into economic freedom.

One of my favorite songs by Earth, Wind, and Fire back in the day was “Shining Star.” I was a young high-schooler when that song came out in the Seventies and yes, I had bell bottoms and platform shoes –don’t tell me you didn’t either!


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One Mind

So that with one mind and voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 15:6

What is on your mind right now? Are you thinking about work, marriage, your children, a relationship, health, an upcoming event, money, politics, a decision you need to make, a loved-one who is far away or even serving in the military? Maybe your mind is not filled with deep thoughts at this moment, only a few distractions or daily stuff like, “What am I going to fix for dinner?” I have learned that when life seems shattered or my thoughts are scattered, my greatest strength, shield, and solution is to unite with God through prayer. I am going to ask you to pinpoint whatever it is that is on your mind and pray about it right now. Just pause for a moment and whether it is a praise, a word of thanks, a need, a decision, or even a deep situation that needs a miracle; lift it up to God right now.

Now, how do you feel? I pray that you know how deeply your heavenly Father loves you, but even more, I pray that you would make up your mind right now to allow God to be glorified in whatever circumstance you just lifted up to Him in prayer. It may surprise you that I use the word, “allow.” We do not usually think of the creation allowing its Creator to do anything – we submit to Him. The truth is that Christ is supreme; all that exists was knit together and is held together by Him, but as humans, we tend to keep a close watch or even a tight grip of control on all that concerns us. We may pray about it but then we continue to worry, or even impatiently manipulate or facilitate what we think needs to happen in order to achieve our desired outcome. Acts 2:42-43 describes the early Church as being continually devoted to the teaching of the gospel, connecting with fellow believers, prayer and the sense of awe that they felt. God is glorified through our prayerful trust and awe of Him.


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FreedomWorks Polling Suggests Path For Uniting Republicans

“If his forces are united, separate them. If sovereign and subject are in accord, put division between them,” suggested Sun Tzu in the Art of War. Speaker John Boehner gets half of that concept right. He excels at creating division on his own side. He just has a hard time when it comes to dividing the other side.

Polling data released by FreedomWorks on Wednesday offers some guidance as to how Republicans ought to govern if they want to be on voters’ side before the next election. According to the numbers, 58 percent of voters believe jobs and the economy should be the number one priority in Congress this year, followed by 46 percent who believe it should be healthcare.

Delving deeper into the healthcare issue, voters said a “start over and reform health care” message made them 34 percent more likely to vote for a hypothetical candidate, while a “give it a chance to work” message made them 16 percent less likely to do so.

That’s great news for candidates willing to reform Obamacare. There are an ample number of reforms that Republicans could pick to pursue that include delay of the individual mandate; the creation of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) that allow consumers to put their money into a tax free account to cover healthcare costs; and eliminating Obamacare subsidies for members of Congress and their staff.

These proposals would unify Republicans and voters at large who want a healthcare system that works. They would create division between Democrats who want a more expansive role for government in healthcare – regardless of the consequences – and those who just want to win re-election.


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“A Six Months’ War”

On a cold Thursday evening in Washington, DC, in 1941, leaders in the nation’s capital met for dinner and discussion of the problems facing them.

One attendee was Frank Knox, Secretary of the Navy.  Knox told his dinner companions, ” I feel that I can speak very frankly, within these four walls. . . .We are very close to war. War may begin in the Pacific at any moment. . . .But I want you to know that no matter what happens, the United States Navy is ready!”

Knox added, “We’ve had our plans worked out for twenty years.  Once it starts, our submarines will go in to blockade them, and sooner or later our battle fleet will be able to force an action.  It won’t take too long.  Say about a six months’ war.”

What was the date?  December 4, 1941.  Three days before the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Needless to say, the United States was not ready for the coming war, one which would last for three years and eight months and take the lives of more than 400,000 Americans. (Chapter 4, FDR Goes to War)

Fast forward to today.  When our leaders tell us that a national healthcare program is going to work well and benefit all Americans, we should remember the track record of the government on past projects.  If the nation’s defense can be as vulnerable and unprepared as was the case in 1941, what does this say about a government-run healthcare system?


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The Importance of Real Equality

The subject of “equality” is the source of much political debate these days. Ever since the founding era, free-market thinkers have argued for equality of opportunity in the economic order. Equality, in other words, is a framework, not a result. In modern terms the goal is a level playing field. Government should be a referee that enforces property rights, laws, and contracts equally for all individuals.

What the free-market view means in policy terms is no (or few) tariffs for business, no subsidies for farmers, and no racism written into law. Also, successful businessmen will not be subject to special taxes or the seizure of property.

In America this view of equality is enshrined in the Declaration of Independence (“all men are created equal and are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights”) and the Constitution (“imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States” and “equal protection of the laws”).

Much of America’s first century as a nation was devoted to ending slavery, extending voting rights, and securing property and inheritance rights for women–fulfilling the Founders’ goal of equal opportunity for all citizens.


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Oregon’s Obamacare Disaster

Consumer Power Report #403

Oregon’s dedication to Obamacare has been complete and total since the law passed, with Democratic Gov. John Kitzhaber seeking to put the state front and center in developing an Obamacare exchange. But when it came time to launch, Cover Oregon fell flat – and now the politicians are scrambling to back away from the approach.

    Democratic governor John Kitzhaber, himself a physician, admits he was “entirely outside the loop” on development of the $160 million website. He’s earned widespread ridicule for his lax management as he prepares to run for reelection. The Oregonian reports that some of his officials actively tried to squelch internal critics who warned the website was doomed: “The Oregon Health Authority last January withheld payment from the company hired to monitor the project, claiming its persistent criticism was inaccurate and inflammatory.” Just two months later, in March 2013, Rocky King, Cover Oregon’s executive director told the Oregonian he was constantly being asked by legislators “will it work?” His stock answer: “I haven’t the foggiest idea.” King has admitted he had very little experience in IT, so he was no doubt being truthful.

King has been replaced by Bruce Goldberg, who is now trying to help legislators decide whether to scrap the multi-million dollar project entirely.

    Interim Cover Oregon head Bruce Goldberg said Wednesday that while his team is making progress on fixing a flood of problems with the health exchange’s foundering website, it might ultimately have to scrap all or part of a system in which two years and tens of millions of dollars have been invested.

    Goldberg testified Wednesday morning before the Joint Committee on Legislative Audits, Information Management and Technology.

    “It’s no secret to anybody in this room or in this state that we don’t have a fully functioning website,” Goldberg said, the first in a long series of admissions that there are major problems with the site. …

    “We need to start looking at – beyond March – what are our contingencies,” Goldberg said. “Be that other state systems or parts of the federal system to help with open enrollment. I don’t think we are at the point in time to make that decision, but we need to begin to make that plan.”

    Goldberg said if the decision is made to move on, the state will try to leverage parts of the current system to avoid completely wasting a program in which the federal government initially invested $48 million.


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NO KIDDING: Detroit Police Chief, ‘Guns Deter Crime’

Detroit— If more citizens were armed, criminals would think twice about attacking them, Detroit Police Chief James Craig said Thursday.

Urban police chiefs are typically in favor of gun control or reluctant to discuss the issue, but Craig on Thursday was candid about how he’s changed his mind.

“When we look at the good community members who have concealed weapons permits, the likelihood they’ll shoot is based on a lack of confidence in this Police Department,” Craig said at a press conference at police headquarters, adding that he thinks more Detroit citizens feel safer, thanks in part to a 7 percent drop in violent crime in 2013.

Craig said he started believing that legal gun owners can deter crime when he became police chief in Portland, Maine, in 2009.

“Coming from California (Craig was on the Los Angeles police force for 28 years), where it takes an act of Congress to get a concealed weapon permit, I got to Maine, where they give out lots of CCWs (carrying concealed weapon permits), and I had a stack of CCW permits I was denying; that was my orientation.

“I changed my orientation real quick. Maine is one of the safest places in America. Clearly, suspects knew that good Americans were armed.”

Craig’s statements Thursday echoed those he made Dec. 19 on “The Paul W. Smith Show” on WJR (760 AM), when he said: “There’s a number of CPL (concealed pistol license) holders running around the city of Detroit. I think it acts as a deterrent. Good Americans with CPLs translates into crime reduction. I learned that real quick in the state of Maine.”

Robyn Thomas, director of the the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence in San Francisco, disagreed.

“I think at its core, his position is an emotional one, based on the idea that people feel safer when they have guns. But studies have shown more guns don’t deter crime,” Thomas said. “There’s no research that shows guns make anyone safer, and it does show that, the more guns in any situation, the higher the likelihood of them harming either the owner, or people who have access to them.”

Rick Ector of the Firearm Academy of Detroit, which teaches gun safety classes, said Craig’s comments are unusual for a police official.


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The Ignorance Of Today's College Students Shouldn't Surprise Us

What did our students learn during this holiday break between college semesters?  Once finals were over, many probably went to see a movie or took a trip with their family.  What did they discover about this rich nation that will give them so many chances to succeed in life

If they saw The Wolf of Wall Street they learned that businesspeople love cocaine, have orgies on airplanes, and use of the f-word excessively. In fact, Scorsese’s new film now holds the record for the most the f-bombs dropped in any American film.  If they saw Saving Mr. Banks they learned that Walt Disney was not just Chief Executive Officer but Chief Therapeutic Officer as well.  Businesspeople, in the Hollywood imagination, are either sinister and greedy or something other than a businessperson – an eccentric, an inventor, or a therapist.  If you own a business, serving customers isn’t what makes you good, and it may make you bad—like the corrupt businesspeople in The Wolf of Wall Street.

If these same students traveled across America, perhaps they drove through the Lincoln Tunnel, across the Washington Bridge, or on the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System.  The people they saw our nation memorialize were invariably the politicians who spent the money generated by the entrepreneurs who built the cars the students drove or the restaurants in which they ate.  Where, then, are the monuments to American entrepreneurs?

Students everywhere seem to be ignorant of American business. “Who was America’s first billionaire?” “Who was the founder of Wal-Mart?”  “What phrase do the letters IBM represent?”  We asked these and other questions on American business to hundreds of college students in 2005 and again in 2013.   Both of our schools, Baylor University and Hillsdale College, are sympathetic to free market ideas.  Yet the students’ ignorance of American business was astonishing.

Most students thought Bill Gates, not John D. Rockefeller, was our nation’s first billionaire.  More students correctly identified Sacagawea, Lewis and Clark’s female Shoshone guide, than either Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen or Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. More students knew the capitol of North Dakota (Bismarck) than the name of Walt Disney’s first full-length, animated feature film (Snow White and the Seven Dwarves).  Far more students knew that EPA stood for “Environmental Protection Agency” than knew that IBM stood for “International Business Machines” or that AT&T stood for “American Telephone & Telegraph”  Furthermore, the EPA recognition score increased almost 5% between 2005 and 2013.


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Iraq: The New Liberal Killing Field

As President Obama returned from a well deserved two-week vacation in Hawaii – ok, being quite facetious here – I wonder if he did any reflection between rounds of golf?

Regardless, I have been reflecting upon the words of George Santayana, “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it” because as President Obama returns to Washington DC he is playing his part in a repeat of history.

After the fall of South Vietnam came the rise of Southeast Asian communism. Cambodia was embroiled in a five-year civil war, from 1970 to 1975, resulting in the ascension of the Khmer Rouge. Under the brutal leadership of Pol Pot, the following four years resulted in one of the most horrific acts of genocide.

The Khmer Rouge regime contributed to the deaths of between 1.7 to 2.5 million people in its “Killing Fields” with Pol Pot at the helm. His government forced a massive population shift from urban areas to the countryside to work in collective farms and labor projects to further a radical vision of “agrarian socialism.” Executions, forced labor, malnutrition, and poor medical care took their toll, decimating approximately 25 percent of the Cambodian population.

Pol Pot’s death grip over Democratic Kampuchea (funny how communists and socialists always call themselves Democratic) finally ended with the Cambodian-Vietnamese War.

Then as now, the liberal progressives of the Democrat (there’s that word again) party ardently protested and undermined the efforts of our military forces – then Vietnam, now Iraq. Then it was communism, now it is Islamic totalitarianism. Then it was the killing fields of Pol Pot, today the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah. Just as the Democrats abandoned Southeast Asia, they have now abandoned the Middle East.

President Obama, true to form, believed that a political promise was far more important than a strategic decision. Therefore, against the recommendations of Commanders on the ground, he refused any residual force to remain in Iraq. There will be detractors who will say Americans were tired of fighting. But my response is that America was not fighting, it was committed men and women — warriors all — who had defeated a vile and vicious Islamic jihadist enemy.


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(Video) Canadian News Anchor Gives Warning To American Gun Owners

If you don't believe this can happen in the United States watch the following.

Ronald Reagan Tribute -- Bel Air Presbyterian Church

Ronald Reagan's church put this together to commemorate the birthday of Ronald Reagan. Unfortunately the war against the evil of liberalism is still alive and well, and we fight it even at Bel Air Presbyterian. The liberal Presbyterians are doing all they can to pervert the church from the inside out. Fortunately the conservative Christians are strong at Bel Air. Ronald Reagan loved Bel Air Presbyterian.

(Video) Arkansas Mom Destroys Common Core In Four Powerful Minutes

An ordinary mother of three eviscerated Common Core state standards in her powerful four-minute testimony before the Arkansas Board of Education Monday.

The testimony comes in the wake of major protests against the uniform guidelines. The mom, a member of Arkansas Against Common Core, and identified as Karen Lamoreaux, testified that rather than “a set of rigorous, college-ready international benchmark standards” that the Common Core initiative was touted to be, it tends to dumb down math solutions by, ironically, overcomplicating them.

As an example, she gave the board a simple fourth-grade division problem, which Common Core requires students to use 108 steps to solve.

Fight The Common Core

The Heartland Institute has been at the forefront of pushing back on Common Core education standards—a Washington-led scheme to take away the long-held control of curriculum from states, school boards, teachers, and parents. Our effort is led by Joy Pullmann, research fellow for education policy and managing editor of School Reform News.

Common Core State Standards for K-12 schools were adopted with little public debate by every state but Alaska, Nebraska, Texas, and Virginia in 2010, part of the price of getting federal dollars under the Obama administration’s “Race to the Top” program. Now educators, parents, and policymakers are taking a closer look at what they agreed to, and many don’t like what they see.

In this Heartland Institute Policy Brief (PDF), Pullmann reveals some major weaknesses of Common Core. The program represents a major centralization of control over curriculum, contrary to the American tradition of decentralized control and funding. Instead of being “world class,” the standards represent a significant step back from what experts say are the standards America really needs.

No wonder many states are now holding hearings on whether to back out of the Common Core project. Click here for Pullmann's latest report on Common Core in a standard 8-1/2 x 11 Policy Brief format, or click here for an alternative format for printing as a booklet (print on 8-1/2 x 11 paper, double-sided, folded) to share with friends. (Note: If you are printing double-sided, please be sure to instruct your printer to have it open on the SHORT side, not the long side.)


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Private Charleston School May Manage Failing Public School

Once construction of a new downtown Charleston, South Carolina elementary school is complete, the Brentwood Middle School now housing its students will be empty.  Local leaders are considering using it as a model for a new experiment in school flexibility.
“The state legislature passed a brand new law (Title 59-19-350) in May 2012 that allows districts to be creative and flexible in delivering educational services within the district,” explains Cindy Bohn Coats, chairwoman of the Charleston County School Board (CCSB).

Charleston is the first district to move towards taking advantage of this new flexibility law.
Such measures often allow districts to convert traditional schools to charter schools – public schools that accept students outside district attendance zones and receive more regulatory freedom in exchange for tighter accountability.  Charleston school leaders are considering morphing this concept by partnering with a local private school to reopen Brentwood with a defined attendance zone in effort to provide choice and relieve overcrowding in its high-poverty neighborhood.

Private-Model Public School
Meeting Street Academy (MSA), opened in Charleston in 2008 to give parents an option outside the poor-performing public schools their children must otherwise attend.  The pre-K-to-fourth-grade school focuses on poor and academically struggling children. Although it spends approximately $12,000 per child per year, outside donors have largely bankrolled their efforts.  Fees to attend MSA are calculated on a sliding scale, with parents generally spending less than $400 a year to educate a child.  Since 2008, attendance has grown to 120 students and the school’s intensive vocabulary and literacy-based pre-K instruction appear to be producing results.  


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Young Farmers See Opportunities Growing Non-GMO

The growing demand for non-GMO corn and soybeans is creating opportunities for farmers to profit, and some young farmers aim to capitalize on those opportunities. 

Wants to build non-GMO soybean processing facility

Kade McBroom, a fourth generation farmer in Quilin, Missouri wants to build a non-GMO soybean processing plant in his area.

McBroom, who is 26, farms about 3200 acres with his father, growing rice, corn, soybeans, and a small amount of wheat. He has been growing non-GMO soybeans for the past seven years. He earns a premium selling them to Archer Daniels Midland (ADM). Now he and several other farmers want to tap further into the fast-growing non-GMO market by building a facility to process value-added products such as non-GMO soybean meal for animal feed.

McBroom believes the ground is fertile for more non-GMO production in his area. He and several other farmers have been growing non-GMO soybeans for several years. “Farmers around here are proving that non-GMO soybeans can yield as well as GMO,” McBroom says.

Glyphosate is a “useless chemical” in southern Missouri

Another factor favoring non-GMO is that glyphosate, used with Monsanto’s Roundup Ready GMO soybeans, is being rendered ineffective by herbicide resistant weeds. “Glyphosate is a useless chemical. It will kill grass but not weeds,” McBroom says.

Still, McBroom says it can be difficult to convince farmers to grow non-GMO. “There is a myth in the farming community that non-GMO is old technology. It’s like talking to them about outdoor plumbing,” he says.

Non-GMO farmers also face logistical challenges. Some grain elevators will only take non-GMO soybeans at certain times. As a result, farmers must store soybeans on their farm. “This deters some farmers from growing non-GMO,” McBroom says.

Having a processing facility in his area would change that. “They could get a premium in their backyard, and we could attract the growers. They’ll stick to it,” McBroom says.

Their facility in southern Missouri’s Bootheel region would also be conveniently located near major cities including St. Louis, MO and Nashville and Memphis, TN.


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Leaps and Bounds: The Exploding Demand for non-GMO Animal Feed

Demand for non-GMO feed is growing significantly according to feed suppliers who say that increased consumer awareness of GMOs and growing demand for healthier foods is driving demand.

“Growing by leaps and bounds”

Several feed suppliers report exponential growth with requests for feed coming from all over the country.
“The demand is huge,” says Dan Masters, president of Ohio-based Hiland Naturals, which supplies non-GMO and organic soy- and non-soy feeds. Masters says his company is seeing 40% growth per month and will open three more facilities by the end of the year.
“It’s growing by leaps and bounds,” says John Yantis, owner and manager, Texas Natural Feeds, which sells non-GMO feeds primarily for chickens. Yantis has seen his sales have increased from 20 tons per month to 100 this year and says it could soon reach 150 tons.
Diana Ambauen-Meade, owner of Washington state-based Scratch and Peck Feeds, sees similar growth. “We see it growing exponentially every month. This time last year we were selling 100 tons a month and now it’s pushing 270 tons per month,” she says.
“In the past two years we have seen a 150% growth in customers and demand for all of our non-GMO feed products,” says Spencer Sorenson, mill manager for Oregon-based Buxton Feed Company.

Will non-GMO displace organic?

Steve Chambers, president of Montana Specialty Mills, sees stronger demand for organic feed than non-GMO. “The organic feed market is developed while non-GMO is transitioning to become more established,” he says.
In fact, Chambers is concerned that the growth of non-GMO could hurt organic farmers. “Will it displace organic farming? Non-GMO could come at the expense of farmers who are trying to do everything right. It is one aspect of crop production but allows farmers to continue using chemicals. Organic is the whole package?”
Montana Specialty Mills, Hiland Naturals, and Texas Natural Feeds also sell organic feeds; all Scratch and Peck feeds are non-GMO and organic.
Non-GMO feeds are made from a range of ingredients including corn and soybeans, field peas, alfalfa, grains such as wheat, oats, barley, and milo, and protein meals from soy, canola, safflower, camelina, flax, and peanut. Some feeds will have one or two ingredients while others will have many. Non-GMO feeds are given to hogs, dairy and beef cattle, chickens, turkeys, goats, horses, rabbits, and even elk and deer.


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911 Call: Woman’s Lips Were Blue, Barely Breathing After Botched Abortion

Operation Rescue has just obtained a 911 recording of an emergency call placed from the Cleveland Surgi-Center last September that details horrific abortion complications suffered by a woman who was said to be only sporadically breathing and whose lips were turning blue.

According to an employee of the Cleveland Surgi-Center that first placed the call on September 14, 2013, the 24 year-old woman had a history of seizure disorders for which she was taking the medication Depakote. The woman began to experience seizures after the abortion procedure.

“This abortion clinic is not equipped to handle life-threatening complications that can be expected with high-risk patients like the one who was the subject of this 911 call,” said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue. “It appears that giving this patient an abortion, knowing that it could bring on seizures for which they were unprepared to cope, was negligent and placed financial gain above the welfare of the patient.”

The abortion worker who initially placed the 911 call for help lacked important information about the patient’s condition and transferred the call to an unidentified “nurse,” who seemed confused about the patient’s age. Yet her description of the woman’s condition was startling.

“I have a patient here that we just – uh – she’s had an abortion. She has a seizure disorder. Uh, when she was waking up, she seems to be in tonic-clonic, her lips are blue, she’s having difficulty breathing – she’s non-responsive,” stated the abortion “nurse.”

The term “tonic-clonic” refers to a state of seizure that involves muscle contractions. Blue lips are usually an indication of hypoxia, or oxygen deprivation.

A portion of the call transcript raises questions about whether or not the patient survived her ordeal and if she did survive, whether she suffered brain damage.


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Coffeecare: The Affordable Coffee Act

While the video above seems like it is a joke, here are the actual quotes from the healthcare.gov website:

From the penalty page:

    If someone who can afford health insurance doesn’t have coverage in 2014, they may have to pay a fee. They also have to pay for all of their health care.

Fantastic. I get to pay for my healthcare, which is fine, but then also a fee on top of that. Why would I have to pay a fee if I already am paying for my own healthcare?

    The fee is sometimes called the “individual responsibility payment,” “individual mandate,” or penalty.

Wouldn’t paying for your own healthcare mean taking responsibility for your own healthcare? The fee doesn’t seem to do anything other than not go to your own healthcare.

     When someone without health coverage gets urgent—often expensive—medical care but doesn’t pay the bill, everyone else ends up paying the price.

Because we are forced to….by the government.

    That’s why the health care law requires all people who can afford it to take responsibility for their own health insurance by getting coverage or paying a fee.

But if they pay for their own healthcare then they are taking responsibility for their own healthcare.
Paying a fee to a doctor for an individual’s own healthcare makes sense as the individual is exchanging their money to the doctor in return for the doctor’s service. The individual is responsible for their own healthcare. This is how capitalism works – a voluntary mutual exchange of value.

Paying a fee to the government means that individual is being forced to pay for someone else’s healthcare. This is how socialism works – from each according to ability, to each according to need.

    People without health coverage who pay the penalty will also have to pay the entire cost of all their medical care. They won’t be protected from the kind of very high medical bills that can sometimes lead to bankruptcy.

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