53% Disapprove of O, Obama czar calls for overthrow of US gov - replacement by communist dictatorship, Fed stonewalls

1) White House czar urged 'resistance' against U.S. Main speaker at rally sponsored by organization associated with Revolutionary Communist Party JERUSALEM – President Obama's environmental adviser, Van Jones, was the main speaker at an anti-war rally that urged "resistance" against the U.S. government, WND has learned.  The rally was sponsored by an organization associated with the Revolutionary Communist Party, which calls for the overthrow of the U.S. government and its replacement with a communist dictatorship (emphasis mine). See: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=108553 1a) Glenn Beck: A Call to Action What a week. The president said he was going to fundamentally transform America. Since January 20, he's been racing full steam ahead toward doing just that. This week, can you feel a pivot point? Doesn't it feel like, as a nation, we are waking up? We've showed you some amazing, frightening facts and the White House hasn't challenged any of it. Unfortunately, I guess that means they agree with the information we've presented on people like green jobs "czar" Van Jones. He's an avowed communist and radical activist who co-founded the communist group STORM — a group that describes themselves and their activities as: "We upheld the Marxist critique of capitalist exploitation. We agree with Lenin's analysis of the state and the party. And we found inspiration and guidance in the insurgent revolutionary strategies developed by third world revolutionaries like Mao Tse-Tung and Amilcar Cabral." The White House hasn't bothered to even spin the information we presented on FCC diversity "czar" Mark Lloyd. This guy actually lamented the fact that non-state-run radio stations prevented the "incredible" revolution in Venezuela… …America, don't you see it? This isn't about Republicans vs. Democrats. This is about Republicans and Democrats and Independents against radicals, revolutionaries and anti-capitalist nut jobs (emphasis mine). See: http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/29868/ 1b) White House stonewalls on 'radical' adviser Won't explain how admitted 'rowdy communist' became 'green jobs czar' JERUSALEM – More than five months after the Obama administration announced the hiring of its "green jobs czar," Van Jones, the White House has refused to explain whether it knew of Jones admitted black nationalist and radical communist history and just who hired the adviser. …The lack of available information concerning Jones is unusual since the Obama transition team previously touted it developed a seven-page questionnaire that included 63 questions about an applicant's background and qualifications for a federal job. Kincaid pointed out that CNN reported the document was to be for "every candidate for Cabinet and other high-ranking positions in the incoming administration."  However, there is no indication Jones ever filled out the document.  Also, there are open questions as to how Jones obtained a White House security clearance. He spent time in jail several times, including in the wake of the 1992 Rodney King riots in Los Angeles.  Jones was the leader and founder of a radical communist and black nationalist group, the communist revolutionary organization Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement, or STORM. The organization had its roots in a grouping of black people organizing to protest the first Gulf War. STORM was formally founded in 1994, becoming one of the most influential and active radical groups in the San Francisco Bay area. See: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=108083 2) Federal Reserve Board fights to keep its secrets Warns disclosing where money went would cause 'irreparable harm' The Federal Reserve Board, despite being ordered to disclose to whom it awarded roughly $2 trillion in discount "stimulus" loans, is fighting to keep the information under wraps as a protected "trade secret." Earlier this week, a U.S. district court judge rejected the Fed's argument that the names of borrowers are exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act and ordered the board to release the information by Monday, Aug. 31. …When the banking system threatened collapse last year, the Fed invoked its emergency lending powers to make discount loans to banks that now total into the trillions of dollars with the intent of stimulating the economy and preventing further financial meltdown. The names of the borrowing institutions were kept anonymous.  Bloomberg reporter Mark Pittman then filed a FOIA request in an attempt to get the Fed to disclose the borrowing banks and to identify the assets it accepted as collateral.  In return, Federal Reserve Board Secretary Jennifer Johnson sent Pittman a five-page response, telling him the Fed was withholding over 2,000 pages of information deemed protected against disclosure as "trade secrets" and "inter-agency or intra-agency memorandums or letters." See: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=108262 3) Daily Presidential Tracking Poll: 53% Disapprove The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday shows that 30% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty-one percent (41%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -11. Twenty-nine percent (29%) are confident that Congress knows what it’s doing when it comes to the economy. If Americans could vote to keep or replace the entire Congress, 57% would throw out all the legislators and start over again. Just 25% would vote to keep the Congress. …Overall, 46% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance. That’s the lowest level of total approval yet measured for Obama. Fifty-three percent (53%) now disapprove. Eighty-one percent (81%) of Democrats approve while 83% of Republicans disapprove. As for those not affiliated with either major party, 66% disapprove. See other recent demographic highlights from the tracking polls. See: http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll 4) Controlling the internet is another overreach; yes you need to oppose this A few months ago the Obama Administration floated the idea of federal control of the internet during certain emergencies so as to protect the national interest. Now there is a real bill to do just that, promoted by Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-NY). The bill would, among other things, give the federal government authority to shut down private internet services.  …The laughable part of this bill is that it gives the government authority to somehow 'shut down' the internet.  I guess the thought is that shutting it down would somehow prevent the threat from spreading. But this is like strangling someone who has inhaled ammonia or some other toxic gas. They don't need closure of the path that allowed the threat to enter; they need an antidote through the same path; in this case oxygen. The fact is many anti-virus programs are distributed through the internet and are designed to identify and destroy viruses, worms, and other insidious threats. The federal government is not on top of the latest in threats - private software firms are.  See: http://www.examiner.com/x-10711-Raleigh-Political-Buzz-Examiner~y2009m8d28-Controlling-the-internet-is-another-overreach-yes-you-need-to-oppose-this 5) GOP's Bachmann zings heckler at health-care town hall 'I've given birth here probably more times than you, sir' …Bachmann was in the middle of highlighting a story about 4,000 U.K. women forced by a lack of hospital beds to give birth in hospital hallways, when the heckler became too loud to ignore.  "That happens here!" the heckler shouted.  "Not here," Bachmann attempted to argue.  When the heckler insisted she was wrong, Bachmann responded with an impromptu zinger:  "I've given birth here probably more times than you, sir," she said. See: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=108267 6) Harry Reid Tells Nevada Businessman: "I Hope You Go Out of Business" On Wednesday, before he addressed a Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce luncheon, Reid joined the chamber's board members for a meet-'n'-greet and a photo. One of the last in line was the Review-Journal's director of advertising, Bob Brown, a hard-working Nevadan who toils every day on behalf of advertisers. He has nothing to do with news coverage or the opinion pages of the Review-Journal. Yet, as Bob shook hands with our senior U.S. senator in what should have been nothing but a gracious business setting, Reid said: "I hope you go out of business." See: http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2009/08/harry-reid-tells-nevada-businessman-i.html And: http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/56171937.html Get this idiot out of office. Go to http://www.sharronangle.com/ and donate to Sharron’s campaign.  7) Israel has Iran in its sights Iran has until late September to respond to the latest international proposal aimed at stopping the Islamic Republic from developing a nuclear weapon. Under the proposal, Iran would suspend its uranium enrichment program in exchange for a U.N. Security Council commitment to forgo a fourth round of economic and diplomatic sanctions. But if diplomacy fails, the world should be prepared for an Israeli attack on Iran's suspected nuclear weapons facilities. As Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently acknowledged: "The window between a strike on Iran and their getting nuclear weapons is a pretty narrow window." …Should Tehran prove unwilling to meet the September deadline and bargain away its growing and latent nuclear weapon capability, we can expect an Israeli attack that does not require U.S. permission, or even a warning. See: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-zenko30-2009aug30,0,7428703.story 8 )‘U.A.E. seized North Korea arms ship bound for Iran' The United Arab Emirates seized a ship several weeks ago that was bound for Iran and carrying North Korean weapons in violation of a UN embargo, Western diplomats said on Friday. …Diplomats said both North Korea and Iran appeared to be in breach of Security Council resolution 1874, which banned all arms exports from North Korea and authorized states to search suspicious ships and seize and destroy banned items. See: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1110843.html

Revolution brewing, Bill gives prez power to control private computers, Ezekiel Emmanuel rationing heathcare

Autos, banks, energy, medicine, the airwaves, the census, the internet, the paycheck of anyone trying to work for an honest living...There is nothing the Chicago thugocracy won't seize control of. Omnipotent government is the common thread here, and instead of fearing it like the Founders, people are sprinting toward it hoping for handouts. - comment by “jaguar717“, in response to the article #1.  1) Bill would give president emergency control of Internet Internet companies and civil liberties groups were alarmed this spring when a U.S. Senate bill proposed handing the White House the power to disconnect private-sector computers from the Internet.  They're not much happier about a revised version that aides to Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, have spent months drafting behind closed doors. CNET News has obtained a copy of the 55-page draft of S.773 (excerpt), which still appears to permit the president to seize temporary control of private-sector networks during a so-called cybersecurity emergency.  The new version would allow the president to "declare a cybersecurity emergency" relating to "non-governmental" computer networks and do what's necessary to respond to the threat. Other sections of the proposal include a federal certification program for "cybersecurity professionals," and a requirement that certain computer systems and networks in the private sector be managed by people who have been awarded that license. …Probably the most controversial language begins in Section 201, which permits the president to "direct the national response to the cyber threat" if necessary for "the national defense and security." The White House is supposed to engage in "periodic mapping" of private networks deemed to be critical, and those companies "shall share" requested information with the federal government. ("Cyber" is defined as anything having to do with the Internet, telecommunications, computers, or computer networks.) See: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10320096-38.html 2) Obama's Health Rationer-in-Chief  White House health-care adviser Ezekiel Emanuel blames the Hippocratic Oath for the 'overuse' of medical care.   Welcome to the culture of death. Sara Palin isn’t kidding about “death panels”. I am sorry I couldn’t make this shorter, but this is so alarming I believe it is important to see the excerpts from the article I present here… Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, health adviser to President Barack Obama, is under scrutiny. As a bioethicist, he has written extensively about who should get medical care, who should decide, and whose life is worth saving. Dr. Emanuel is part of a school of thought that redefines a physician’s duty, insisting that it includes working for the greater good of society instead of focusing only on a patient’s needs. Many physicians find that view dangerous, and most Americans are likely to agree (emphasis mine). … As he wrote in the Feb. 27, 2008, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA): "Vague promises of savings from cutting waste, enhancing prevention and wellness, installing electronic medical records and improving quality of care are merely 'lipstick' cost control, more for show and public relations than for true change." True reform, he argues, must include redefining doctors' ethical obligations. In the June 18, 2008, issue of JAMA, Dr. Emanuel blames the Hippocratic Oath for the "overuse" of medical care: "Medical school education and post graduate education emphasize thoroughness," he writes. "This culture is further reinforced by a unique understanding of professional obligations, specifically the Hippocratic Oath's admonition to 'use my power to help the sick to the best of my ability and judgment' as an imperative to do everything for the patient regardless of cost or effect on others." In numerous writings, Dr. Emanuel chastises physicians for thinking only about their own patient's needs. He describes it as an intractable problem: "Patients were to receive whatever services they needed, regardless of its cost. Reasoning based on cost has been strenuously resisted; it violated the Hippocratic Oath, was associated with rationing, and derided as putting a price on life. . . . Indeed, many physicians were willing to lie to get patients what they needed from insurance companies that were trying to hold down costs." (JAMA, May 16, 2007). Of course, patients hope their doctors will have that single-minded devotion. But Dr. Emanuel believes doctors should serve two masters, the patient and society, and that medical students should be trained "to provide socially sustainable, cost-effective care." One sign of progress he sees: "the progression in end-of-life care mentality from 'do everything' to more palliative care shows that change in physician norms and practices is possible." (JAMA, June 18, 2008). "In the next decade every country will face very hard choices about how to allocate scarce medical resources. There is no consensus about what substantive principles should be used to establish priorities for allocations," he wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine, Sept. 19, 2002. Yet Dr. Emanuel writes at length about who should set the rules, who should get care, and who should be at the back of the line. …Dr. Emanuel argues that to make such decisions, the focus cannot be only on the worth of the individual. He proposes adding the communitarian perspective to ensure that medical resources will be allocated in a way that keeps society going: "Substantively, it suggests services that promote the continuation of the polity—those that ensure healthy future generations, ensure development of practical reasoning skills, and ensure full and active participation by citizens in public deliberations—are to be socially guaranteed as basic. Covering services provided to individuals who are irreversibly prevented from being or becoming participating citizens are not basic, and should not be guaranteed. An obvious example is not guaranteeing health services to patients with dementia." (Hastings Center Report, November-December, 1996) …Dr. Emanuel concedes that his plan appears to discriminate against older people, but he explains: "Unlike allocation by sex or race, allocation by age is not invidious discrimination. . . . Treating 65 year olds differently because of stereotypes or falsehoods would be ageist; treating them differently because they have already had more life-years is not." ..The youngest are also put at the back of the line: "Adolescents have received substantial education and parental care, investments that will be wasted without a complete life. Infants, by contrast, have not yet received these investments. . . . As the legal philosopher Ronald Dworkin argues, 'It is terrible when an infant dies, but worse, most people think, when a three-year-old dies and worse still when an adolescent does,' this argument is supported by empirical surveys." (thelancet.com, Jan. 31, 2009). …Medians, of course, obscure the individual cases where the drug significantly extended or saved a life. Dr. Emanuel says the United States should erect a decision-making body similar to the United Kingdom's rationing body—the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)—to slow the adoption of new medications and set limits on how much will be paid to lengthen a life. …Dr. Emanuel has fought for a government takeover of health care for over a decade. In 1993, he urged that President Bill Clinton impose a wage and price freeze on health care to force parties to the table. "The desire to be rid of the freeze will do much to concentrate the mind," he wrote with another author in a Feb. 8, 1993, Washington Post op-ed. Now he recommends arm-twisting Chicago style. "Every favor to a constituency should be linked to support for the health-care reform agenda," he wrote last Nov. 16 in the Health Care Watch Blog. "If the automakers want a bailout, then they and their suppliers have to agree to support and lobby for the administration's health-reform effort."  Is this what Americans want? See: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203706604574374463280098676.html 2a) Inhofe slams health reform At a town hall meeting Wednesday Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) told Chickasha residents he does not need to read the 1,000 page health care reform bill, he will simply vote against it. "People are not buying these concepts that are completely foreign to America," Inhofe said. "We're almost reaching a revolution in this country (emphasis mine)." Many in the meeting agreed and were vocal about their disdain for the current climate in Washington. "No more compromise," Chickasha resident Ed Hicks said. "We're losing our country." Amen to that.  See: http://www.chickashanews.com/local/local_story_239102559.html 2b) John McCain: 'Revolution' on health care Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Wednesday night that the raucous town hall crowds opposing the Democratic push for a health care overhaul are proof that the beginnings of a “revolution” are bubbling up.  McCain told Fox News’s Sean Hannity during an interview that he has “never” seen anything like the “peaceful revolution taking place” in opposition to President Barack Obama’s push for health care reform.  “There is a grass-roots uprising the likes of which I have never seen,” he said. “There’s anger; there’s concern about the future. There’s concern about the generational theft that we’ve committed by running up unconscionable and unsustainable deficits.”  As an example, McCain pointed to a woman who told him during a recent town hall that the health care debate has left her “worried about my freedom.” See: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0809/26504.html 2c) ABC, NBC Won't Air Ad Critical of Obama's Health Care Plan The refusal by ABC and NBC to run a national ad critical of President Obama's health care reform plan is raising questions from the group behind the spot -- particularly in light of ABC's health care special aired in prime time last June and hosted at the White House. The 33-second ad by the League of American Voters, which features a neurosurgeon who warns that a government-run health care system will lead to the rationing of procedures and medicine, began airing two weeks ago on local affiliates of ABC, NBC, FOX and CBS. On a national level, however, ABC and NBC have refused to run the spot in its present form. …"The ABC Television Network has a long-standing policy that we do not sell time for advertising that presents a partisan position on a controversial public issue," spokeswoman Susan Sewell said in a written statement. "Just to be clear, this is a policy for the entire network, not just ABC News." ARE YOU KIDDING ME? But you’ll run a prime time spot for Obama selling his health care plan???? See: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/27/abc-nbc-refuse-air-advertisement-critical-obamas-health-care-plan/ 3) UPDATED: As boycott continues, Glenn Beck's audience swells An advertising boycott against Fox News host Glenn Beck has succeeded in keeping most major sponsors from running commercials on his show even as the controversial commentator's viewership has grown. Beck attracted 2.81 million viewers Monday, his third-largest audience since his show launched on Fox News in January, according to Nielsen Media Research data provided by the network. On Tuesday, nearly 2.7 million viewers tuned in, his fifth-largest viewership to date. And the conservative host got a plug from former vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, who urged people to watch his program in a post on her Facebook page. …Fox News insists that the boycott has not affected its revenue, because advertisers have just moved their commercials to different time periods. And for his part, Beck appears invigorated by the challenge. “Even if the powers to be right now succeed in making me poor, drum me out … I will only be stronger for it,” he said on the air Wednesday. “And I will use American ingenuity and my ingenuity to pull myself up, and I will find another way to get this message out, on a platform that will be a thousand times more powerful. Because of my faith, I know how this story ends. The truth will set you free (emphasis mine).” See: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2009/08/as-boycott-continues-glenn-becks-audience-swells.html 4) Obama 'czar' on 9/11: Blame 'U.S. imperialism'! JERUSALEM – One day after the 9/11 attacks, President Obama's "green jobs czar" led a vigil that expressed solidarity with Arab and Muslim Americans as well as what he called the victims of "U.S. imperialism" around the world.  WND previously reported Van Jones, special adviser for green jobs, enterprise and innovation to the White House Council on Environmental Quality, is an admitted black nationalist and radical communist.  Jones was the leader and founder of a radical group, the communist revolutionary organization Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement, or STORM. That group, together with Jones' Elle Baker Center for Human Rights, led a vigil Sept. 12, 2001, at Snow Park in Oakland, Calif. See: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=108180 5) Colorado GOP Calls for Apology After Democratic Office Vandalism …State GOP Chairman Dick Wadhams told FOXNews.com he was "stunned" by comments made by Democratic Party Chairwoman Pat Waak following the smashing of 11 windows at the Democratic headquarters early Tuesday morning. Waak told the Denver Post that the vandalism, allegedly carried out by a former Democratic canvasser who left behind an anti-health care reformer poster, was "an effort on the other side to stir up hate." After learning about alleged vandal's political past, Waak told the newspaper that "there is a lot of rhetoric out there from both sides of the spectrum." "I was stunned by [Waak] actually suggesting the act of vandalism had something to do with opposition to Obama's health care reform," Wadhams told FOXNews.com Wednesday. "That is unfair and inappropriate to say that anybody who opposes Obama's health care plan is somehow responsible for this despicable act of vandalism." See: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/26/colorado-gop-calls-apology-democratic-office-vandalism/ 6) US Navy: Pirates fire on US helicopter DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Somali pirates holding a hijacked ship off the coast of Somalia fired at a U.S. Navy helicopter as it made a surveillance flight over the vessel, the first such attack by pirates on an American military aircraft, the Navy said Thursday. See: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/27/AR2009082700342.html?hpid=sec-world

Seizing power overnight, Desecrating 9/11, Destroying the CIA, More than the sum of all previous deficits

"What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance."- THOMAS JEFFERSON I, David William Hedrick, a member of the silent majority, decided that I was not going to be silent anymore. So, I let U.S. Congressman Brian Baird have it. I was one questioner out of 38, that was called at random from an audience that started at 3,000 earlier in the evening. Not expecting to be called on, I quickly scratched what I wanted to say on a borrowed piece of paper and with a pen that I borrowed from someone else in the audience minutes before I spoke. So much for the planned talking points of the right wing conspiracy. -Corporal David William Hedrick Luke 12:11-12: "When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say." 1) Maher: America, you're stupid MAHER: But yeah, I mean, they are talking about 60 votes. Forget this stuff, 60. We can't get Americans to agree on anything 60%. 60% of people don't believe in evolution in this country. He just needs to drag them to it. Like I just said, they're stupid. Just drag them to this. Get healthcare done. See: http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/29737/ 1a) Democratic Health Care Bill Divulges IRS Tax Data One of the problems with any proposed law that's over 1,000 pages long and constantly changing is that much deviltry can lie in the details. Take the Democrats' proposal to rewrite health care policy, better known as H.R. 3200 or by opponents as "Obamacare." (Here's our CBS News television coverage.)  Section 431(a) of the bill says that the IRS must divulge taxpayer identity information, including the filing status, the modified adjusted gross income, the number of dependents, and "other information as is prescribed by" regulation. That information will be provided to the new Health Choices Commissioner and state health programs and used to determine who qualifies for "affordability credits."  Section 245(b)(2)(A) says the IRS must divulge tax return details -- there's no specified limit on what's available or unavailable -- to the Health Choices Commissioner. The purpose, again, is to verify "affordability credits." See: http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/08/26/taking_liberties/entry5268079.shtml 2) FCC’s Chief Diversity Officer Wants Private Broadcasters to Pay a Sum Equal to Their Total Operating Costs to Fund Public Broadcasting Mark Lloyd, newly appointed Chief Diversity Officer of the Federal Communications Commission, has called for making private broadcasting companies pay licensing fees equal to their total operating costs to allow public broadcasting outlets to spend the same on their operations as the private companies do. …“Federal and regional broadcast operations and local stations should be funded at levels commensurate with or above those spending levels at which commercial operations are funded,” Lloyd wrote. “This funding should come from license fees charged to commercial broadcasters. Funding should not come from congressional appropriations. Sponsorship should be prohibited at all public broadcasters.”   Along with this money, Lloyd would regulate much of the programming on these stations to make sure they focused on “diverse views” and government activities. See: http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/52435 Further, Government, Lloyd said in his book, is the “only” institution that can manage the communications of the public, arguing that Washington must “ensure” that everyone has an equal ability to communicate. “The American republic requires the active deliberation of a diverse citizenry, and this, I argue, can be ensured only by our government,” he says. “Put another way, providing for the equal capability of citizens to participate effectively in democratic deliberation is our collective responsibility.” Lloyd relies heavily on the left-wing radical Saul Alinsky in explaining his strategy. Alinsky (1909-1972) was a community organizer and activist from Chicago and the author of the book, Rules for Radicals, which opens with an acknowledgment "to the very first radical ... Lucifer." As for political tactics, Alinsky said, “The Prince was written by Machiavelli for the Haves on how to hold power. Rules for Radicals is written for the Have-Nots on how to take it away. In this book we are concerned with how to create mass organizations to seize power and give it to the people. This means revolution (emphasis mine)."  See: http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/53055 2a) Rush on Fox News Channel with Glenn Beck: Re: The FCC and Freedom of Speech BECK: Very good, sir. I want to play something for you. I don't know if you just saw it, but I want to play it again. This is the new diversity officer for the FCC, a newly created position. This is what he said at a speech or talk he was giving about Chavez's Venezuela and how the media work down there. Watch this. MARK LLOYD: In Venezuela, with Chavez, you really had an incredible revolution -- democratic revolution -- to begin to put in place things that were going to have impact on the people of Venezuela. The property owners and the folks who were then controlling the media in Venezuela rebelled -- worked, frankly, with folks here in the US government -- worked to oust him. He came back and had another revolution, and Chavez then started to take the media very seriously in his country. BECK: Rush, tomorrow on this program I'm going to lay out the case of the army that they are building right underneath our nose, an army that he spoke about on the campaign trail. If you watch what could only be called the organizations -- or the administration's organ -- anything involved with GE or NBC; you've got now Jeffrey Immelt on the board of the Federal Reserve, you have in the Oval Office consulting not only on health care but the financial situation, and they are an organ. If you watch MSNBC, I contend that you will see the future, because they are laying the ground for a horrible event that will be... What they're laying the ground for, anything from the right some awful event -- and I fear this government, this administration, has so much framework already prepared that they will seize power overnight before anybody even gives it a second thought (emphasis mine). See: http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_082609/content/01125116.guest.html And: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=108088 3) Obama's Plan to Desecrate 9/11 The Obama White House is behind a cynical, coldly calculated political effort to erase the meaning of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks from the American psyche and convert Sept. 11 into a day of leftist celebration and statist idolatry.  This effort to reshape the American psyche has nothing to do with healing the nation and everything to do with easing the nation along in the ongoing radical transformation of America that President Obama promised during last year's election campaign. The president signed into law a measure in April that designated Sept. 11 as a National Day of Service, but it's not likely many lawmakers thought this meant that day was going to be turned into a celebration of ethanol, carbon emission controls, and radical community organizing. …The plan is to turn a "day of fear" that helps Republicans into a day of activism called the National Day of Service that helps the left. In other words, nihilistic liberals are planning to drain 9/11 of all meaning. …Color of Change is the extremist racial grievance group that isn't happy that TV's Glenn Beck did several news packages on Van Jones, the self-described "communist" and "rowdy black nationalist" who became the president's green jobs czar after jumping on the environmentalist bandwagon. The White House may be behind a push to destroy Beck by convincing advertisers to stop buying time on his show. Jones was also on the board of the Apollo Alliance, a hard-left environmentalist group that is now running large chunks of the Obama administration. The group has acknowledged that it dictated parts of the February stimulus bill to Congress. …Of course, the annual commemoration of the 2001 terrorist attacks belongs to the entire nation, but President Obama and the activist left don't see it that way. They view the nationwide remembrance of the murder of 3,000 Americans by Islamic totalitarians as an obstacle to winning over the hearts and minds of the American people. See: http://spectator.org/archives/2009/08/24/obamas-plan-to-desecrate-911/print 4) A chilling effect on CIA agents? As we begin, it's worth noting that we're not discussing whether to investigate or prosecute allegations of abuse by interrogators. That has already happened. What we're discussing is whether the re-investigation and possible prosecution of abuse allegations -- which the Department of Justice has already investigated and expressly declined to prosecute -- will have a chilling effect on CIA agents. The answer, regrettably, is yes. Agents who relied on previous decisions not to prosecute are back in potential peril. And their angst and uncertainty will be shared by others in the intelligence community, particularly if the investigation is officially broadened. See: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-oew-alt-kaye26-2009aug26,0,5917922.story 4a) Morning Bell: The Left’s War On The CIA In June of 2008, while campaigning for the election of President Barack Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder promised the leftist American Constitutional Society: “We owe the American people a reckoning.” Yesterday, Holder escalated his “reckoning” campaign by appointing a prosecutor to re-investigate nearly a dozen CIA interrogators and contractors alleged to have abused detainees in 2002 and 2003. This is nothing more than an all out war on the CIA by the left at a time when the President desperately needs to shore up trust with his base in the face of his declining poll numbers. …The president thinks that Eric Holder, who he appointed as a very independent attorney general, should make those decisions.” But make no mistake. Holder works for Obama. Holder’s priorities are by definition Obama’s priorities. And the facts make it clear that this “new” investigation is nothing more than a political witch hunt: No New Information: Depending on where you get your news you may hear today that Holder’s decision is based on “new details” about the CIA interrogation program. This is false. While the release of the 2004 CIA inspector general report has exposed some new information to the public, Holder read the report months ago. Both the Department of Justice and the leadership of the Congressional intelligence committees have had the full report since 2004, and the full committees have had the report since 2006. The only thing that has changed since both DOJ and Congress received the full report is the 2008 presidential election. See: http://blog.heritage.org/2009/08/25/morning-bell-the-lefts-war-on-the-cia/ 5) Most red ink ever: $9 trillion over next decade WASHINGTON – In a chilling forecast, the White House is predicting a 10-year federal deficit of $9 trillion — more than the sum of all previous deficits since America's founding. And it says by the next decade's end the national debt will equal three-quarters of the entire U.S. economy. …Both budget offices see the national debt — the accumulation of annual budget deficits — as more than doubling over the next decade. The public national debt, made up of amounts the government owes to the public, including foreign governments, stood Tuesday at a staggering $7.4 trillion. White House budget officials predicted it would reach $17.5 trillion in 2019, or 76.5 percent of the gross domestic product. That would be the highest proportion in six decades. See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090826/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_economy 6) Bank insurance fund down 20 percent in 2Q WASHINGTON – The agency that guarantees bank deposits said Thursday there are no immediate plans to borrow money from the government to bolster its insurance fund, which has shrunk under the weight of collapsing banks. The fund fell 20 percent to $10.4 billion in the second quarter as U.S. banks overall lost $3.7 billion, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said. That's the fund's lowest point since 1992 at the height of the savings-and-loan crisis. Some analysts have warned that the fund could fall below zero by year's end. See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090827/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/us_fdic_shrinking_fund 7) Cash for convicts: Stimulus cash given to prisoners Talk about a "shovel-ready" project: 2,200 people incarcerated in U.S. prisons got $250 checks from President Obama's stimulus bill. See: http://washingtontimes.com/weblogs/back-story/2009/aug/26/cash-for-convicts-stimulus-cash-given-to-prisoners/ Further, Federal economic stimulus cash was handed out to cons behind bars in Bay State prisons after a bureaucratic snafu resulted in $250 checks being sent to some inmates - and now red-faced feds want it back. “Taxpayers already believe the inmates are running the asylum in Washington,” U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) said in a statement. “Now it appears they are being compensated for their efforts.” See: http://michellemalkin.com/2009/08/25/and-now-cash-for-convicts/ 8) Students' take-home assignment: Census kits Anyone tempted to ignore the 2010 Census will have a tough time doing it — especially if they have kids in school. The government has launched Census in Schools, an all-out campaign targeting superintendents, principals, teachers, students and, indirectly, parents, as schools open across the nation this month and next. The message: The Census is coming and here's why everyone should care. See: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/census/2009-08-26-census-kits-schools_N.htm 9) College kids recruited to join Obama's 'army' Earn credit for pushing 'change,' working on president's 'agenda' President Obama's army of citizen volunteers is now actively recruiting college students in states across the country to "build support for President Obama's agenda" – and earn college credit while advocating for "change."  Obama for America, Obama's 2008 political campaign, merged with the Democratic National Committee in January and is now known as Organizing for America, or OFA. The movement some call "Obama 2.0" is now recruiting students and offering to provide credits toward degree plans in exchange for their advocacy skills.  A message from OFA national volunteer coordinators announcing the recruitment campaign and internship opportunities has been posted on several websites and on Facebook. See: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=107357

Reconciliation (The Nuclear Option), Obama plan "threat to democracy", Deficit: $9T, Oil drilling for Brazil and Soros funded by US

1) Talk of Senate voting maneuvers on health care WASHINGTON – A Republican senator predicts Democrats will turn to a little-used voting procedure to try get around GOP opposition and pass health care legislation. It takes 60 votes to shut down GOP opposition and move ahead to an up-or-down vote on a bill. But there is a way for the Democratic-run Senate to decide that only a majority is needed to pass a certain measure. GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah says taking that approach on health care would be an abuse of the rules. A Democratic senator, Chuck Schumer of New York, says such a maneuver could be used if Republicans don't work to advance a bipartisan health bill. Democrats don’t need Republican votes. They can get this through without them. The whole “bipartisan bill” argument is bunk. Listen here, Democrats, don’t blame Republicans when you can’t get your own caucus together. I’ll keep praying that you won’t.  See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090823/ap_on_go_co/us_health_care_hatch 1a) Democrats Host Few Traditional Town Hall Meetings During August Recess A number of Democratic lawmakers have grabbed the loud speaker at public town hall meetings in recent weeks to trumpet the administration's health care overhaul and address concerns from skeptical constituents. But while rank-and-file members are facing the tough questions, party leaders have remained largely absent from the in-person town hall discussions. Since recess began at the beginning of August, none of the top party leaders in the House and Senate -- as well as the five committee chairmen from relevant committees -- have faced the public at traditional public town hall meetings. See: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/20/democrats-shy-traditional-town-hall-meetings-august-recess/ 1b) Congressman Herger calls Obama plan 'threat to democracy' Republican Congressman Wally Herger held a health care town hall meeting Aug. 18 at Simpson University in Redding, where a partisan crowd of over 2,000 people loudly cheered Herger’s position that a public option was “unacceptable.” Although Herger called several times for the audience to “respect each other’s opinions,” those opposed to president Obama’s health care were greeted with cheers while the few in favor were interrupted with catcalls. Herger did not hold back on his opinion of the health care plan and the administration’s appointment of “czars” to head various departments and task forces. “Our democracy has never been threatened as much as it is today,” Herger said to a loud standing ovation. See: http://www.mtshastanews.com/news/x769902147/Congressman-Herger-calls-Obama-plan-threat-to-democracy 1c) Obama's Summer of Discontent So we are to have a French health-care system without a French tradition of political protest. It is odd that American liberalism, in a veritable state of insurrection during the Bush presidency, now seeks political quiescence. These "townhallers" who have come forth to challenge ObamaCare have been labeled "evil-mongers" (Harry Reid), "un-American" (Nancy Pelosi), agitators and rowdies and worse. A political class, and a media elite, that glamorized the protest against the Iraq war, that branded the Bush presidency as a reign of usurpation, now wishes to be done with the tumult of political debate. President Barack Obama himself, the community organizer par excellence, is full of lament that the "loudest voices" are running away with the national debate. Liberalism in righteous opposition, liberalism in power: The rules have changed. …So our new president wanted a fundamental overhaul of the health-care system—17% of our GDP—without a serious debate, and without "loud voices." It is akin to government by emergency decrees. How dare those townhallers (the voters) heckle Arlen Specter! Americans eager to rein in this runaway populism were now guilty of lèse-majesté by talking back to the political class. See: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203706604574370301468452872.html?mod=googlenews_wsj 2) Holder to Appoint Prosecutor to Investigate CIA Terror Interrogations …“I fully realize that my decision to commence this preliminary review will be controversial. As Attorney General, my duty is to examine the facts and to follow the law. In this case, given all of the information currently available, it is clear to me that this review is the only responsible course of action for me to take," Holder said. …The ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., called the move a vote of no confidence in the CIA and its director Leon Panetta.  “First the White House usurps control over terrorist interrogations, signaling to the world they have lost confidence in Leon Panetta and our intelligence community, and now the Obama Justice Department launches a witch-hunt targeting the terror-fighters who have kept us safe since 9-11," Bond told ABC News in a written statement. "With a criminal investigation hanging over the agency’s head, every CIA terror fighter will be in CYA mode. With things heating up in Afghanistan and Iraq, this looking back and unwarranted 'redo' of prior Justice Department decisions couldn’t come at a worse time for the safety of our troops in harm’s way and our nation.”  See: http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2009/08/holder-to-appoint-prosecutor-to-investigate-cia-terror-interrogations.html 3) Obama to raise 10-year deficit to $9 trillion WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration will raise its 10-year budget deficit projection to approximately $9 trillion from $7.108 trillion in a report next week, a senior administration official told Reuters on Friday. The higher deficit figure, based on updated economic data, brings the White House budget office into line with outside estimates and gives further fuel to President Barack Obama's opponents, who say his spending plans are too expensive in light of budget shortfalls. The White House took heat for sticking with its $7.108 trillion forecast earlier this year after the Congressional Budget Office forecast that deficits between 2010 and 2019 would total $9.1 trillion. …Record-breaking deficits have raised concerns about America's ability to finance its debt and whether the United States can maintain its top-tier AAA credit rating. …Treasury markets have been worried all year about the mounting deficit. The United States relies on large foreign buyers such as China and Japan to cheaply finance its debt, and they may demand higher interest rates if they begin to doubt that the government can control its deficits. See: http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE57K4XE20090821 4) Obama poll numbers keep falling …The Rasmussen Reports daily tracking poll released Sunday showed that 41 percent of voters strongly disapprove of Mr. Obama's performance as president, compared with 27 percent who strongly approved. Rasmussen said those numbers are the worst ever for Mr. Obama. The 14-point gap between the two numbers is more than double the six-point difference in the Rasmussen poll as recently as Thursday.  The total of "disapproval" responses, of whatever strength, topped the approval numbers by 51 percent to 48 percent. See: http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/aug/24/obama-poll-numbers-take-no-rest-from-falling/ 5) Obama: Boys from Brazil better than U.S. President blocks oil drilling at home, funds exploration abroad A controversy developed when it was revealed the Obama administration is willing to spend billions of dollars to fund offshore drilling in Brazil while blocking U.S. development of oil and natural gas resources by continuing environmental objections to opening U.S. offshore drilling, Jerome Corsi's Red Alert reports.  Underlying the controversy was the disclosure that Obama-supporter and billionaire hedge-fund manager George Soros bought a $811 million stake in Petroleo Brasileiro SA in the second quarter, making the Brazilian state-controlled oil company his investment fund's largest holding. The sparks began flying when former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin wrote on her Facebook page: "So why is it that during these tough times, when we have great needs at home, the Obama White House is prepared to send more than two billion of your hard-earned tax dollars to Brazil so that the nation's state-owned oil company, Petrobras, can drill off shore and create jobs developing its own resources?" …What set off Palin was a Wall Street Journal editorial that lead with the headline, "Obama underwrites offshore drilling," followed by the subtitle, "Too bad it's not in U.S. waters." See: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=107810 6) Mullen: Afghan fight 'serious and deteriorating' WASHINGTON – The top U.S. military officer described the situation in Afghanistan as "serious and deteriorating," but refused to say Sunday whether defeating a resilient enemy would require more than the 68,000 American troops already committed. See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090823/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_us_afghanistan 7) Next step in H1N1 scare: Microchip implants Company developing under-the-skin devices to detect 'bio-threats' A Florida-based company that boasts selling the world's first and only federally approved radio microchip for implanting in humans is now turning its development branch toward "emergency preparedness," hoping to produce an implant that can automatically detect in its host's bloodstream the presence of swine flu or other viruses deemed a "bio-threat."  VeriChip Corporation currently sells a small, under-the-skin Radio Frequency Identification capsule, or RFID, that patients can opt to have implanted, containing a number computer-linked to their medical records, enabling doctors with a special reader to access the information even if the patient is unconscious or unidentified. The company boasts its microchip, roughly the size of a grain of rice, is the only such implant approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. But VeriChip has also turned its attention to other uses for the technology, including microchips that be used to tag and log human remains after a disaster and implants the company hopes will be able to warn if their host is infected with the H1N1 swine flu virus, the H5N1 bird flu virus or other pandemic agents deemed to be a "bio-threat." See: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=107588 8) Christians now thanking Allah More on what’s wrong with the supposed “evangelical” church…now a “pastor” is endorsing a demonic religion… "This year, a group of "Emergent Christians," led by one of the United States' most influential pastors, Brian Mclaren have announced they will actually be 'observing' the Muslim holy month, along with a Muslim 'partner,'" writes Joel Richardson in a WND commentary today. "Ramadan is the month that Muslims thank Allah, their god, for revealing the Kora to Muhammad, their prophet. On Mclaren's personal blog, he recently announced his intentions: 'We, as Christians, humbly seek to join Muslims in this observance of Ramadan as a God-honoring expression of peace, fellowship, and neighborliness.'"  Richardson questions whether such an "observance" is actually tantamount to an endorsement of Islam. See: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=107816

Death Book for vetarans, Carbon dioxide irrelevant in global "warming", Lutherans allow gay clergy, Red-light cameras unconstitutional

1) Obama Revives VA Death Book RUSH: Now, folks, Obama says there aren't death panels. He pooh-poohs the notion that there aren't death panels here. The Wall Street Journal has an interesting report. "If President Obama wants to better understand why America's discomfort with end-of-life discussions threatens to derail his health-care reform, he might begin with his own Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). He will quickly discover how government bureaucrats are greasing the slippery slope that can start with cost containment but quickly become a systematic denial of care. Last year, bureaucrats at the VA's National Center for Ethics in Health Care advocated a 52-page end-of-life planning document, 'Your Life, Your Choices.'" The VA has a 52-page end-of-life planning document. It has a name. It's called the "Death Book," and what has happened here, George W. Bush suspended the use of the Death Books last year. Obama has reinstated the Death Book! "After the Bush White House took a look at how this document was treating complex health and moral issues, the VA suspended its use. Unfortunately, under President Obama, the VA has now resuscitated 'Your Life, Your Choices.'" So it's called "Your Life, Your Choices." That's what it's actually called. But it's a Death Book. And it "presents end-of-life choices in a way aimed at steering users toward predetermined conclusions ... [A] worksheet on page 21 lists various scenarios and asks users to then decide whether their own life would be 'not worth living.'" See: http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_082109/content/01125108.guest.html 1a) The Death Book for Veterans  Ex-soldiers don't need to be told they're a burden to society. …Who is the primary author of this workbook? Dr. Robert Pearlman, chief of ethics evaluation for the center, a man who in 1996 advocated for physician-assisted suicide in Vacco v. Quill before the U.S. Supreme Court and is known for his support of health-care rationing. …The circumstances listed include ones common among the elderly and disabled: living in a nursing home, being in a wheelchair and not being able to "shake the blues." There is a section which provocatively asks, "Have you ever heard anyone say, 'If I'm a vegetable, pull the plug'?" There also are guilt-inducing scenarios such as "I can no longer contribute to my family's well being," "I am a severe financial burden on my family" and that the vet's situation "causes severe emotional burden for my family."  When the government can steer vulnerable individuals to conclude for themselves that life is not worth living, who needs a death panel? One can only imagine a soldier surviving the war in Iraq and returning without all of his limbs only to encounter a veteran's health-care system that seems intent on his surrender. I was not surprised to learn that the VA panel of experts that sought to update "Your Life, Your Choices" between 2007-2008 did not include any representatives of faith groups or disability rights advocates. And as you might guess, only one organization was listed in the new version as a resource on advance directives: the Hemlock Society (now euphemistically known as "Compassion and Choices"). This hurry-up-and-die message is clear and unconscionable.  See: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204683204574358590107981718.html 2) White House Reveals Identity of Firm That Sent Unsolicited E-Mails on Health Reform: The White House revealed to FOX News that it hired a private communications firm to distribute mass e-mails, including unsolicited spam to help sell President Obama's health care plan.  The White House hired a private communications company based in Minnesota to distribute mass e-mails, helping to shed light on how some recipients received e-mails in support of President Obama's health care plan without signing up for them, FOX News has learned. The company, Govdelivery, describes itself as the world's leading provider of government-to-citizen communication solutions and says its e-mail service provides a fully-automated on-demand public communication system. It is still unknown how much taxpayer money the White House provides to Govdelivery for its services. See: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/22/white-house-reveals-identity-firm-sent-unsolicited-e-mails-health-reform/ 3) Poll: Americans losing confidence in Obama WASHINGTON – A new poll says that Americans, concerned over the future of health care reform and anxious about the growing federal budget deficit, are losing faith in President Barack Obama. The Washington Post-ABC News survey found that less that half of Americans — 49 percent — say they believe the president will make the right decisions for the country. That's down from 60 percent at the 100-day mark of the Obama presidency. See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090821/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_poll 4) Carbon Dioxide irrelevant in climate debate says MIT Scientist In a study sure to ruffle the feathers of the Global Warming cabal, Professor Richard Lindzen of MIT has published a paper which proves that IPCC models are overstating by 6 times, the relevance of CO2 in Earth’s Atmosphere. Dr. Lindzen has found that heat is radiated out in to space at a far higher rate than any modeling system to date can account for. Professor Richard Lindzen of MIT’s peer reviewed work states “we now know that the effect of CO2 on temperature is small, we know why it is small, and we know that it is having very little effect on the climate.” “The global surface temperature record, which we update and publish every month, has shown no statistically-significant “global warming” for almost 15 years. Statistically-significant global cooling has now persisted for very nearly eight years. Even a strong el Nino – expected in the coming months – will be unlikely to reverse the cooling trend. More significantly, the ARGO bathythermographs deployed throughout the world’s oceans since 2003 show that the top 400 fathoms of the oceans, where it is agreed between all parties that at least 80% of all heat caused by manmade “global warming” must accumulate, have been cooling over the past six years. That now prolonged ocean cooling is fatal to the “official” theory that “global warming” will happen on anything other than a minute scale.” See: http://www.examiner.com/x-7715-Portland-Civil-Rights-Examiner~y2009m8d18-Carbon-Dioxide-irrelevant-in-climate-debate-says-MIT-Scientist 5) Lawsuit: Orlando's red-light cameras unconstitutional A class-action lawsuit filed Thursday claims Orlando's red-light cameras are unconstitutional and should no longer be used to issue tickets. The city placed the cameras at seven intersections on Sept. 1, saying they would save lives. But the suit alleges the real reason for the program is to generate revenue. …Though Ansari admitted running the light, which he said is long, the lawsuit alleges that the cameras are unfair partly because they don't determine who is driving. The plaintiffs "were presumed guilty by reason of their ownership of the vehicle" and had to prove their innocence, contrary to legal precedent, the suit states. "You shouldn't have to prove anything," Schuler said. "They should have to prove the case against you." Further, the law requires a law-enforcement officer to see an infraction and testify in court if a driver challenges a ticket, he said. Attorneys hope a judge will certify the suit as a class action. If so, hundreds or more people could be included as plaintiffs. Well, way to go, Orlando! How do we do that in Chicago? See: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-bk-red-light-lawsuit-082009,0,6615874.story 6) Lutherans to allow sexually active gays as clergy MINNEAPOLIS – The nation's largest Lutheran denomination took openly gay clergy more fully into its fold Friday, as leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted to lift a ban that prohibited sexually active gays and lesbians from serving as ministers. Under the new policy, individual ELCA congregations will be allowed to hire homosexuals as clergy as long as they are in a committed relationships. Until now, gays and lesbians had to remain celibate to serve as clergy. The change passed with the support of 68 percent of about 1,000 delegates at the ELCA's national assembly. It makes the group, with about 4.7 million members in the U.S., one of the largest U.S. Christian denominations yet to take a more gay-friendly stance. “Christian”? You could have fooled me. “If you love me you will keep my commandments”…“I and my Father are one.”  See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090822/ap_on_re/us_lutherans_gays 6a) The Tornado, the Lutherans, and Homosexuality I saw the fast-moving, misshapen, unusually-wide funnel over downtown Minneapolis from Seven Corners. I said to Kevin Dau, “That looks serious.”  It was. Serious in more ways than one. A friend who drove down to see the damage wrote,  On a day when no severe weather was predicted or expected...a tornado forms, baffling the weather experts—most saying they’ve never seen anything like it. It happens right in the city. The city: Minneapolis. The tornado happens on a Wednesday...during the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America's national convention in the Minneapolis Convention Center. The convention is using Central Lutheran across the street as its church. The church has set up tents around it’s building for this purpose.  According to the ELCA’s printed convention schedule, at 2 PM on Wednesday, August 19, the 5th session of the convention was to begin. The main item of the session: “Consideration: Proposed Social Statement on Human Sexuality.” The issue is whether practicing homosexuality is a behavior that should disqualify a person from the pastoral ministry.  The eyewitness of the damage continues:  This curious tornado touches down just south of downtown and follows 35W straight towards the city center. It crosses I94. It is now downtown.   The time: 2PM.   The first buildings on the downtown side of I94 are the Minneapolis Convention Center and Central Lutheran. The tornado severely damages the convention center roof, shreds the tents, breaks off the steeple of Central Lutheran, splits what’s left of the steeple in two...and then lifts. See: http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1965_the_tornado_the_lutherans_and_homosexuality

Who's "bearing false witness"?, "By any legislative mean necessary" (AKA, The Nuclear Option), Axelrod profits from healthcare debate

1) Who’s “bearing false witness”?, part 1 But at one point the president lied again (and this is news? Nearly every sentence out of his mouth is a lie) when he said that you get to keep your insurance. So he said it today, and he said it yesterday in the conference call with the National Council of Churches. OBAMA: I've said this before. I want to repeat it so that every member of your congregations understand this: If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan. Nothing that we're doing obligates you to choose any plan other than the one that you have. If you like your doctor, you can keep seeing your doctor. We're not going to interfere with that. RUSH: It's just not true. Last Friday, he said it wasn't a sure thing. OBAMA: Everybody here who still has -- who has currently private insurance, you know, you would more than likely still be on your private insurance plan. RUSH: "More than likely." It used to be definitely; now it's "more than likely." Again... Look, I really would like to move on from this. I know you probably get tired of hearing it. See: http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_082009/content/01125110.guest.html 1a) Who’s “bearing false witness”?, part 2: Obama: 'No taxpayer-funded abortions in health bill' Pro-life group calls president dishonest on coverage of procedure ...Johnson noted that according to the Capps-Waxman amendment passed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee on July 30, H.R. 3200 explicitly authorizes the government plan to cover all elective abortions.  "Obama apparently seeks to hide behind a technical distinction between tax funds and government-collected premiums," Johnson said in a statement. "But these are merely two types of public funds, collected and spent by government agencies. The Obama-backed legislation makes it explicitly clear that no citizen would be allowed to enroll in the government plan unless he or she is willing to give the federal agency an extra amount calculated to cover the cost of all elective abortions – this would not be optional. The abortionists would bill the federal government and would be paid by the federal government. These are public funds, and this is government funding of abortion." Johnson noted that when Obama was a presidential candidate, he specifically pledged to Planned Parenthood that his plan would cover abortions in 2007. An NRLC video of that promise follows: See: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=107468 1b) Democratic investigators target health insurers House Democrats are probing the nation’s largest insurance companies for lavish spending, demanding reams of compensation data and schedules of retreats and conferences.  Letters sent to 52 insurance companies by Democratic leaders demand extensive documents for an examination of ‘extensive compensation and other business practices in the health insurance industry.” The letters set a deadline of Sept. 14 for the documents. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, signed the three-page letter dated Monday. What right do they have to do this? This is TOTALLY and completely UNCONSTITUTIONAL. This isn’t Enron. They have done nothing wrong. They haven’t even accepted TARP money. This is tyranny.   An industry source replied when asked for comment: “This is nothing more than a taxpayer-funded fishing expedition designed to silence health plans." You got that right! By Sept. 4, the firms are supposed to supply detailed compensation data for board members and top executives, as well as a “table listing all conferences, retreats, or other events held outside company facilities from January 1, 2007, to the present that were paid for, reimbursed, or subsidized in whole or in part by your company.”  For employees or officers making $500,000 or more, the committee wants information on salary, bonus, options and pension.  And by Sept. 14, the firms are supposed to provide copies of reports from compensation consultants, plus board drafts of compensation plans and information about market share. It’s time for civil disobedience. NO! I’m not giving you the information. Get a warrant. This is unlawful search and seizure.  See: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0809/26251.html 1c) Morning Bell: “By Any Legislative Means Necessary” …Facing this cratering of public support, the left in Congress is now considering abandoning moderates and independents to pass their narrow partisan ideal of health reform. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid spokesman Jim Manley promised yesterday that Democrats will pass Obamacare “by any legislative means necessary.” What exactly does Senator Reid mean by ‘any legislative means necessary’? The Wall Street Journal explains: “Most legislation in the Senate requires 60 votes to overcome a filibuster, but certain budget-related measures can pass with 51 votes through a parliamentary maneuver called reconciliation.” The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 created reconciliation, but Congress didn’t really use it until the 1980s. In 1993, President Bill Clinton tried to use the rule to press his health care plan through the Senate, but Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) resisted, introducing the Byrd Rule which allows any Senator to strike specific provisions or amendments from legislation if a 60 vote Senate majority agrees that the item is “extraneous” to the budget. At the time Byrd specifically argued that health care was out of bounds for a process that was intended to only apply to budgets. But Democrats in Congress are undeterred by history, precedent, and public opinion. They are now planning to split the bill into two parts: one bill with budget-related matters and another bill with policy changes such as the insurance market reforms.  See: http://blog.heritage.org/2009/08/20/morning-bell-by-any-legislative-means-necessary/ And: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125072573848144647.html 1d) GOP unmoved as Obama renews health care push …Officials said Democratic researchers lately have concluded that a strong-arm Senate tactic, which could negate the need for any GOP votes, might be more effective than previously thought. The strategy, called "reconciliation," allows senators to get around a bill-killing filibuster without mustering the 60 votes usually needed. Democrats control 60 of the Senate's 100 seats, but two of their members — Robert Byrd of West Virginia and Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts — are seriously ill and often absent. While always controversial, reconciliation lets the Senate pass some measures with a simple majority vote. Non-budget-related items can be challenged, however, and some lawmakers say reconciliation would knock so many provisions from Obama's health care plan that the result would be "Swiss cheese." See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090820/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_health_care 1e) Outbursts at Frank's Town Hall …"On what planet do you spend most of your time?" Frank asked the woman, who had stepped up to the podium at a southeastern Massachusetts senior center to ask why Frank supports what she called a Nazi policy. "Ma'am, trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining room table. I have no interest in doing it," Frank replied. He continued by saying her ability to deface an image of the president and express her views "is a tribute to the First Amendment that this kind of vile, contemptible nonsense is so freely propagated." …At one point, Frank asked the crowd: "Which one of you wants to yell next?" Several people wanted to know how the government would pay for the reforms without worsening a growing federal budget deficit. At least two dozen protesters gathered in small groups outside, handing out pamphlets and holding signs criticizing the overhaul, Obama and Frank. Some of the posters read: "It's the economy stupid, stop the spending" and "Healthcare reform yes, government takeover, no. Tort Reform Now" See: http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/politics/local_politics/Rrep_franks_health_care_town_hall_heats_up_081809 1f) Who’s Profiting From The Health Care Debate? Recently, new details have surfaced revealing that those profiting from Obama Care are, in fact, members of the Democratic party. In an investigation by Bloomberg News, it was discovered that a firm with ties to White House senior adviser, David Axelrod, has received nearly $12 million to create ads supporting Obama’s health care plan. And this is only the tip of the iceberg. (as stated in an e-mail from Sean Hannity) See: http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html?playerId=011008&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=8390354&referralPlaylistId=playlist And: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090819/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_health_care_consultants   2) Auto Czar to Become Manufacturing Czar? If you like what’s happened to the auto industry, you’ll love this. Bloomberg is reporting today that Ron Bloom — the head of the Obama Administration’s automobile task force — will soon get an expanded portfolio, with responsiblity for crafting Administration policies for all manufacturing industries. …Unfortunately, the Obama Administration — having just nationalized General Motors — seems to have quite different policies in mind. According to Bloomberg, the new position may be a response by the White House to calls for a full-blown national industrial policy for manufacturing. In recent congressional testimony, Obama advisor and former cable executive Leo Hindery starkly described the elements of such a strategy: government picking winners and losers among products and firms, government spending to support industry, and trade protectionism. See: http://blog.heritage.org/2009/08/20/auto-czar-to-become-manufacturing-czar/ And: http://www.bloombergnews.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=afK4W0y86viY 3) Democratic Party ratings plummet The percentage of Americans who hold a favorable view of the Democratic Party has slipped below 50 percent for the first time since President Barack Obama took office, according to a new Pew Research Center poll released Wednesday. See: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0809/26262.html 4) Car Dealers Report Extended Wait for Clunker Cash Car dealers are growing increasingly impatient with the government's slow pace in reimbursing them for accepting trade-ins as part of its popular "Cash for Clunkers" program, even though Transportation Department officials say they are working to address the delays.  The National Automobile Dealers Association estimates that dealers have hundreds -- and in some cases thousands -- of applications pending that are "worth hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars." See: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/18/AR2009081803261.html?hpid=moreheadlines 5) Wave of blasts in Iraqi capital kills at least 95 BAGHDAD – Nearly simultaneous truck bombs struck Iraq's Foreign and Finance ministries Wednesday as a wave of explosions killed at least 95 people, bringing the weaknesses of Iraqi security forces into sharp focus less than two months after U.S. forces withdrew from urban areas. It was the deadliest day of coordinated bombings since Feb. 1, 2008, when two suicide bombers killed 109 people at pet markets in Baghdad. More than 400 were wounded in Wednesday's blasts. See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090819/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq

Obama "removes all doubts" that the US is against Islam, Obama loses argument to Palin, Repealing DOMA

1) Obama: Encouraged on Mideast peace Seated next to President Hosni Mubarak, who was making his first visit to the U.S. capital in five years, Obama thanked his Egyptian counterpart for joining him in trying to construct a deal that has eluded world leaders for more than six decades. The 81-year-old Egyptian leader, who was estranged from the Bush administration, said Obama had "removed all doubts about the United States and the Muslim world." Yeah, no kidding… Mubarak said, "The Islamic world had thought that the U.S. was against Islam, but his (Obama's) great, fantastic address there has removed all those doubts." …To that end, Obama has demanded that the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu freeze construction of Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, land that the Palestinians want for a state. Netanyahu's public refusal has opened a rare rift between the traditionally close allies. …Mubarak had been a regular visitor to Washington during the Clinton administration. Then he stayed away to protest the U.S. invasion of Iraq and President George W. Bush's intensified pressure to open the Egyptian political system and moderate its human rights policies. See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090818/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_mubarak For example, human rights policies like supporting the mass killings in Darfur: One hundred Jewish leaders and Holocaust scholars have harshly criticized Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak for "giving the red carpet" to his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for the mass killings in Darfur in western Sudan. See: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1108245.html 2) Palin Wins  If she's dim and Obama is brilliant, how did he lose the argument to her? The first we heard about Sarah Palin's "death panels" comment was in a conversation last Friday with an acquaintance who was appalled by it. Our interlocutor is not a Democratic partisan but a high-minded centrist who deplores extremist rhetoric whatever the source. We don't even know if he has a position on ObamaCare. From his description, it sounded to us as though Palin really had gone too far. A week later, it is clear that she has won the debate. …The Los Angeles Times reports that Palin has won a legislative victory as well: …The Palin claim about "death panels" was so widely discredited that the White House has begun openly quoting it in an effort to show that opponents of the healthcare overhaul are misinformed. You have to love that last bit. The fearless, independent journalists of the Los Angeles Times justify their assertion that the Palin claim was "widely discredited" with an appeal to authority--the authority of the White House, which is to say, the other side in the debate. One suspects the breathtaking inadequacy of this argument would have been obvious to Times reporters Christi Parsons and Andrew Zajac if George W. Bush were still president. And of course this appears in a story about how the Senate was persuaded to act in accord with Palin's position--which doesn't prove that position right but does show that it is widely (though, to be sure, not universally) credited. See: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204409904574350400852801602.html 2a) "We Have a Tire Track On Our Chest": President Obama Faces Possible Rebellion of House Democrats The president's liberal allies on health care reform have a message for the president: Don't think you can drop the public option without a fight.  "If the president thinks we're gonna get the votes without the public option, he's got another think coming," Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-NY, told ABC News. "That won't pass the House." Over the weekend, the President seemed to change his tone on whether a final health care reform bill had to include a public option -- something that just two months ago, he indicated was a deal-breaker. Sounds like a game of good cop/bad cop to me. “Oh, I had to do it because The House made me do it”.  See: http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/08/we-have-a-tire-track-on-our-chest-president-obama-faces-possible-rebellion-of-house-democrats.html 2b) And yet…Gibbs insists Obama not backing off public option WASHINGTON – White House spokesman Robert Gibbs insists the Obama administration has not shifted its goals on health care reform or distanced itself from a government-run public insurance option. He said in a meeting with reporters Tuesday morning that news stories suggesting that the administration was ready to abandon the public option as it battles to push health care reform through were overblown. The rash of reports began after Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius (seh-BEEL'-yuhs) appeared to signal the president was open to health care cooperatives as an alternative. Gibbs said there was no intention to indicate a change in policy. He said, "If it was a signal, it was a dog whistle we started blowing weeks ago." See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090818/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_health_care_overhaul 2c) How’s That Government-run Health Care Working Out Canada? Last week we passed along the news that the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority is considering cutting more than 6,000 surgeries to make up for a $200 million budget shortfall. British Columbia Medical Association president Dr. Brian Brodie called the proposed surgical cuts “a nightmare.” See: http://blog.heritage.org/2009/08/17/hows-that-government-run-health-care-working-out-canada-2/ 2d) AARP loses members over health care stance WASHINGTON (AP) — About 60,000 senior citizens have quit AARP since July 1 due to the group's support for a health care overhaul, a spokesman for the organization said Monday. See: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-08-17-aarp-health-overhaul_N.htm 3) Morning Bell: A Clunker of a Stimulus Cash for Clunkers has failed at everything but adding to the debt. It has not created any new car sales, but only shifted them into a narrow two month window. It has not stimulated any new consumer spending as consumers just cut back in other areas to pay for their new cars. And finally, it has done nothing for the environment since the new cars get driven more than the clunkers, and the clunkers are then destroyed a tremendous waste of resources that only hurts the environment. It is no wonder that the President did not celebrate yesterday’s stimulus anniversary more prominently. If this is what his relationship with the American economy looks like after just six months, the honeymoon is assuredly over. See: http://blog.heritage.org/2009/08/18/morning-bell-a-clunker-of-a-stimulus/ 4) President Obama insult by Glenn Beck has advertisers boycotting show The boycott of Fox News host Glenn Beck gathered more steam Monday when retailing giant Wal-Mart and seven other companies pulled their ads from his show, organizers said. …Among those bailing on Beck: GMAC Financial Services, Best Buy, CVS and Travelocity. …A total of 20 companies have pulled their ads in the last two weeks, Color of Change says, including Geico, ConAgra, RadioShack, Men's Wearhouse, State Farm, Sargento and Procter & Gamble.  Judging from Monday night's broadcast, there were plenty of companies eager to fill the ad slots, including The Wall Street Journal, DirecTV, Honda and Oprah Winfrey's Oxygen Channel.  Hundreds of Beck fans have voiced support for him on a counterprotest Web site, DefendGlenn.com, which urges consumers to boycott the advertisers who pulled out of Beck's show. See: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2009/08/18/2009-08-18_companies_boycotting_beck_for_bam_bash.html 5) White House wages war on marriage act If DOMA declared unconstitutional, 'individual states would be sitting ducks The Obama Justice Department has filed a legal brief in support of repealing the federal Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, but critics are warning the move will jeopardize state rights. …In a written statement, Obama declared:  [T]he Department of Justice has filed a response to a legal challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act, as it traditionally does when acts of Congress are challenged. This brief makes clear, however, that my Administration believes that the Act is discriminatory and should be repealed by Congress. I have long held that DOMA prevents LGBT couples from being granted equal rights and benefits. While we work with Congress to repeal DOMA, my Administration will continue to examine and implement measures that will help extend rights and benefits to LGBT couples under existing law. …"Federal DOMA makes it clear that states have the right to regulate marriage within their borders, and they cannot be forced to recognize same-sex marriages from other states," he said. "If federal DOMA were to be struck down, that whole area of the law would be in jeopardy." See: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=107257 6) Conservatives Now Outnumber Liberals in All 50 States, Says Gallup Poll (CNSNews.com) - Self-identified conservatives outnumber self-identified liberals in all 50 states of the union, according to the Gallup Poll.   At the same time, more Americans nationwide are saying this year that they are conservative than have made that claim in any of the last four years. In 2009, 40% percent of respondents in Gallup surveys that have interviewed more than 160,000 Americans have said that they are either “conservative” (31%) or “very conservative” (9%). That is the highest percentage in any year since 2004. Only 21% have told Gallup they are liberal, including 16% who say they are “liberal” and 5% who say they are “very liberal.” See: http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/52602

Public option not dead yet, WH admits spamming, now wants to use cookies - cites "compelling need"

“The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined… [and] will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce….” Federal tax collectors, James Madison assured everyone, “will be principally on the seacoast, and not very numerous.” - from a Heritage Foundation blog.  These articles and commentary are also posted at my blog: http://theconsequencesofideas.blogspot.com/. 1) Obama criticizes a Cold War approach to defense PHOENIX – President Barack Obama chastised the defense industry and a freespending Congress on Monday for wasting tax dollars "with doctrine and weapons better suited to fight the Soviets on the plains of Europe than insurgents in the rugged terrain of Afghanistan." "Twenty years after the Cold War ended, this is simply not acceptable. It's irresponsible. Our troops and our taxpayers deserve better," he told a national convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. "If Congress sends me a defense bill loaded with a bunch of pork, I will veto it." But apparently he won’t veto a stimulus bill “loaded with a bunch of pork.” Yes, Dick Cheney, you are correct. This man IS making this country less safe.  See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090817/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_vfw 2) Morning Bell: Public Option Is Not Dead Yet The headlines are encouraging: The AP reports, “White House appears ready to drop ‘public option’.” Politico reads, “White House backs away from public health care option.” And the front page of USA Today says, “Obama may drop public option in health care.” These headers all stem from Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ comment on CNN Sunday Morning that the public option “is not the essential element” of President Barack Obama’s health care plan. But by Sunday night the White House was already walking back Sebelius’ statement. An anonymous administration official told The Atlantic that Sebelius “misspoke” and White House health reform communications director Linda Douglass released a statement explaining: “Nothing has changed. The president has always said that what is essential is that health-insurance reform must lower costs, ensure that there are affordable options for all Americans and it must increase choice and competition in the health-insurance market. He believes the public option is the best way to achieve those goals.” …Conrad insists that the Senate could pass health reform that includes health insurance co-operatives. Co-operatives do have a long and proud tradition in many sectors of the U.S. economy, but details matter. Conrad says these health co-ops will not be “government-run and government-controlled” but instead “membership-run and membership controlled.” But others in Conrad’s caucus have a starkly different co-op goal. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is pushing a vision of co-ops that are: 1) run by the government, preferably the federal government; 2) funded or subsidized by the government; or 3) includes plans chosen by the government. See: http://blog.heritage.org/2009/08/17/morning-bell-public-option-is-not-dead-yet/ 2a) Administration Official: "Sebelius Misspoke." …A second official, Linda Douglass, director of health reform communications for the administration, said that President Obama believed that a public option was the best way to reduce costs and promote competition among insurance companies, that he had not backed away from that belief, and that he still wanted to see a public option in the final bill. See: http://politics.theatlantic.com/2009/08/administration_official_sebelius_misspoke.php 2b) 'Death panel' is not in the bill... it already exists …H.R. 1 (more commonly known as the Recovery and Reinvestment Act, even more commonly known as the Stimulus Bill and aptly dubbed the Porkulus Bill) contains a whopping $1.1 billion to fund the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research. The Council is the brain child of former Health and Human Services Secretary Nominee Tom Daschle. Before the Porkulus Bill passed, Betsy McCaughey, former Lieutenant governor of New York, wrote in detail about the Council's purpose.  Daschle's stated purpose (and therefore President Obama's purpose) for creating the Council is to empower an unelected bureaucracy to make the hard decisions about health care rationing that elected politicians are politically unable to make. The end result is to slow costly medical advancement and consumption. Daschle argues that Americans ought to be more like Europeans who passively accept "hopeless diagnoses." See: http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/08/death_panel_is_not_in_the_bill.html 2c) Protesters mix it up over health reform outside Belgrade town hall meeting …Meanwhile, Anna Gustina, who heads Organizing for America, Obama's political organization in Montana, called it "a great day" for the group. She said the group worked with the SEIU and Montana AFL-CIO to charter five buses to bring workers from Billings, Great Falls and Missoula to support the president's health care reform efforts. Notice the Obama supporters have to be bussed in; they can’t drive there themselves… And,  …It was loud and raucous at times, with a brief shoving match between supporters and critics of Obama and the Democrats' health-care reform proposals. The Tea Party group of Bozeman accused health-care reform supporters of taking the space they had paid a fee to reserve. They have to squat on space that someone else had paid for. How appropriate. It’s just like stealing someone’s else’s money to pay for your health care.  See: http://www.missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/article_08bf58d4-8938-11de-8011-001cc4c03286.html 2d) Townhall Downfall: Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) Only Wants To Meet With Obamacare Supporters Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) has been telling his constituents that he would not be hosting any townhalls this summer. But then on August 11th, he sent a blast email to the Obama administration controlled Organizing for America announcing a “roundtable” at Ohio State in Columbus on August 12th. Check out this video of Brown constituents who were shut out of the townhall roundtable, while OfA members were let in: See: http://blog.heritage.org/2009/08/14/townhall-downfall-sen-sherrod-brown-d-oh-only-wants-to-meet-with-obamacare-supporters/ 3) White House says it did send unwanted e-mails WASHINGTON – After insisting no one was receiving unsolicited e-mails from the White House, officials reversed their story Monday night and blamed outside political groups for the unwanted messages from the tech-savvy operation. White House online director Macon Phillips said in a blog posting that independent groups — he didn't name them — had signed up their members to receive regular White House updates about Obama's projects, priorities and speeches. The White House had consistently denied that anyone who hadn't sought the e-mails had received them. …Issa also asked White House counsel Greg Craig whether officials were collecting names of the president's critics. "I am concerned about the possibility that political e-mail address lists are being used for official purposes," Issa wrote. "This, again, raises questions about this administration blurring the lines between political and official business." Issa also wanted to know how, exactly, the White House was using a separate e-mail account designed to track what it called "fishy" claims about its proposed overhaul — an account that was disabled Monday afternoon. …In what seemed to be a reply, Phillips indicated there was little chance for cooperation with Issa, a member of a minority political party without significant power. …Weeks ago, White House officials asked the public to share critics' e-mails so they could fight back and correct the misconceptions. Because those e-mails are official correspondence with the White House, they must be preserved — unaltered — for decades and eventually released to the public through the National Archives. See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090818/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_e_mail 3b) Obama: Every move you make, I'll be watching you online Planned lifting of ban on 'cookies' called '1984'-style spying effort WASHINGTON – The Barack Obama administration has announced plans to lift a government ban on tracking visitors to government websites, and potentially, collect their personal data through the use of "cookies" – an effort some suspect may already be in place on White House sites. A ban on such tracking by the federal government on Internet users has been in place since 2000, however, the White House Office of Management and Budget now wants to lift the ban citing a "compelling need."  In fact, according to the Electronic Privacy and Information Center, federal agencies have already negotiated agreements and contracts with social networking sites like Google, YouTube, SlideShare, Facebook, AddThis, Blist, Flickr and VIMEO to collect information on visitors for federal web sites. All of these private companies are known to have agreements with federal agencies, but the public has never seen them. In public comments submitted to the Office of Management and Budget, EPIC notes it has obtained documents that show federal agencies have negotiated these contracts with the private sector in violation of "existing statutory privacy rights." Those agencies include: Department of Defense, Department of the Treasury, and the National Security Agency.  There are suspicions the White House is already involved. …According to Obama "technology czar" Vivek Kundra, the "compelling need" driving this major policy reversal is the administration's desire to create "more open" government and to "enhance citizen participation in government." See: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=107086 4) AP investigation: Calif. lawmakers boost staff pay SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Against a backdrop of deep fiscal distress, several California lawmakers rewarded their employees with pay hikes during the first half of the year, an Associated Press review of legislative pay records showed. See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090817/ap_on_re_us/us_california_legislative_pay