Sovereign countries default; Dems to Public opinion: Drop dead; EPA needs more funding to create law

1) Obama: Bipartisan health deal may not be possible

WASHINGTON – After a day of debate and disagreement, President Barack Obama concluded Thursday's unprecedented live talkfest on health care with the bleak assessment that accord between Democrats and Republicans may not be possible. He rejected Republican preferences for seeking a step-by-step solution or simply starting over.

Obama strongly suggested that Democrats will try to pass a sweeping overhaul without GOP support, by using controversial Senate budget rules that would disallow filibusters (emphasis mine). And then, he said, this fall's elections would write the verdict on who was right.

… Indeed, any skepticism about reaching broad consensus was vindicated as soon as the first Republican spoke — in opposition to the mammoth bills that have passed the House and Senate. Alexander, of Tennessee, said Congress and the administration should start over and take small steps, including medical malpractice reform, high-risk insurance pools, a way to allow Americans to shop out of state for lower-cost plans and an expansion of health savings accounts.

"We believe we have a better idea," Alexander said. "Our views represent the views of a great number of American people."

Disagreements were not always expressed diplomatically.

Alexander challenged Obama's claim that insurance premiums would fall under the Democratic legislation. "You're wrong," he said. Responded Obama: "I'm pretty certain I'm not wrong."

… Obama and his 2008 GOP opponent for the presidency, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, had a barbed exchange. McCain complained at length about what he said was a backdoor process to produce the original bills that resulted in favors for special interests and carve-outs for certain states.

"We're not campaigning anymore. The election's over," responded a clearly irritated Obama.

"I'm reminded of that every day," McCain shot back, adding that "the American people care about what we did and how we did it."

See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100225/ap_on_bi_ge/us_health_care_overhaul

1a) Obama and the Democrats to Public Opinion: Drop Dead

The support/opposition split on the health care bill, according to various pollsters:

Rasmussen: 41/56

Newsweek: 40/49

Public Policy Polling: 39/50

Pew: 38/50

Quinnipiac: 35/54

Ipsos/McClatchy: 37/51

NBC/WSJ: 31/46

CNN: 38/58

NPR: 39/55

Through the reconciliation talk, President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Reid are sending a very important message to the American people: Shut up.

See: http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NmJhOGViZmYwYjM3N2VhY2E5YzNlNTU4YTBiNjRhYTM

1b) A weak attempt to salvage Obamacare

Yesterday, after a temporary lull in the health care debates, President Obama released a "fresh attempt" to salvage his health care overhaul agenda. Though the details will not be released for some time, the ideas at the core of this 11-page outline aren't really so "fresh." Based largely on the Senate's flawed plan, the "new" proposal is riddled with many of the same harmful taxes, dubious mandates, and unprecedented federal regulatory powers.

But even though the Senate bill serves as its template, the president's proposal does have some new initiatives -- and they add up to $80 billion. This would increase the overall cost of health care "reform" to a staggering $950 billion over ten years, a cost likely to rise as the legislative text is finalized.

Perhaps the most alarming difference is the prospect of a Federal Health Insurance Rate Authority, which would grant federal bureaucrats the power to set and control insurance prices and thus effectively create a government-run health plan. "If government can control both health benefits and health care pricing, that's the proverbial ball game," writes Heritage health policy expert Bob Moffit. "Private health care is private in name only."

See: http://www.myheritage.org/archive/email/a-weak-attempt-to-salvage.html

2) While You Are Distracted by the Summit, Obama Democrats Are Targeting the CIA

While the country and the Congress have their eyes on today’s dog-and-pony show on socialized medicine, House Democrats last night stashed a new provision in the intelligence bill which is to be voted on today.  It is an attack on the CIA: the enactment of a criminal statute that would ban “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.”

…“Waterboarding” is specified. In one sense, I’m glad they’ve done this because it proves a point I’ve been making all along. Waterboarding, as it was practiced by the CIA, is not torture and was never illegal under U.S. law.  The reason the Democrats are reduced to doing this is: what they’ve been saying is not true — waterboarding was not a crime and it was fully supported by congressional leaders of both parties, who were told about it while it was being done. On that score, it is interesting to note that while Democrats secretly tucked this provision into an important bill, hoping no one would notice until it was too late, they failed to include in the bill a proposed Republican amendment that would have required full and complete disclosure of records describing the briefings members of Congress received about the Bush CIA’s enhanced interrogation program. Those briefings, of course, would establish that Speaker Pelosi and others knew all about the program and lodged no objections. Naturally, members of Congress are not targeted by this criminal statute — only the CIA.

… Waterboarding is not all. The Democrats’ bill would prohibit — with a penalty of 15 years’ imprisonment — the following tactics, among others:

 - “Exploiting the phobias of the individual”

- Stress positions and the threatened use of force to maintain stress positions

- “Depriving the individual of necessary food, water, sleep, or medical care”

- Forced nudity

- Using military working dogs (i.e., any use of them — not having them attack or menace the individual; just the mere presence of the dog if it might unnerve the detainee and, of course, “exploit his phobias”)

- Coercing the individual to blaspheme or violate his religious beliefs (I wonder if Democrats understand the breadth of seemingly innocuous matters that jihadists take to be violations of their religious beliefs)

- Exposure to “excessive” cold, heat or “cramped confinement” (excessive and cramped are not defined)

- “Prolonged isolation”

- “Placing hoods or sacks over the head of the individual”

 Naturally, all of these tactics are interspersed with such acts as forcing the performance of sexual acts, beatings, electric shock, burns, inducing hypothermia or heat injury — as if all these acts were functionally equivalent.

… Here is the fact: Democrats are saying they would prefer to see tens of thousands of Americans die than to see a KSM subjected to sleep-deprivation or to have his “phobias exploited.” I doubt that this reflects the values of most Americans (emphasis mine).

See: http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NDVhNWUzMjJkMjY1OWMyYmExMjRkMDc0NTJjMDk3Zjg

3) Obama campaign arm focuses on talk radio

The Democratic National Committee's Organizing for America has quietly launched an initiative aimed at making Obama supporters' voices heard on the largely conservative airwaves.

"The fate of health reform has been a focus of debate in living rooms and offices, on TV and online — and on talk radio. And since millions of folks turn to talk radio as a trusted source of news and opinions, we need to make sure OFA supporters are calling in with a pro-reform message," says the introduction to the online tool.

… The online tool presents users with a radio show discussing political topics, to which supporters can listen live, and the phone number for that station, for when health care comes up. It also offers tips for callers and talking points on the issue.

… Supporters are then encouraged to report back on their encounters.

See: http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0210/Obama_campaign_arm_focuses_on_talk_radio.html?showall

4) EPA Will Need Increased Climate Funding as Regs Ramp Up, Jackson Says

U.S. EPA will need increased funding for climate programs in future years as the agency moves forward on efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions, Administrator Lisa Jackson said yesterday.

"I would expect that the needs would continue to grow as we move into a world -- either through legislation, hopefully through legislation, but possibly also with regulation -- of increasing activity on climate change (emphasis mine)," Jackson told the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee.

Translation: Lisa P. Jackson: I’m going to institute climate change regulation with or without legislation.

… "I agree with you, Administrator Jackson, that using the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gas is not the best way to address climate change," said Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho). "That is why I question whether the nearly $50 million in EPA's FY '11 budget for greenhouse gas regulation is prudent."

See: http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/02/25/25greenwire-epa-will-need-increased-climate-funding-as-reg-20989.html 

5) Toyota: Democrats 'not industry friendly'

Internal Toyota documents derided the Obama administration and Democratic Congress as “activist” and “not industry friendly," a revelation that comes days before the giant automaker's top executives testify on Capitol Hill amid a giant recall.

No kidding.

According to a presentation obtained under subpoena by the House Oversight and Government Relations committee, Toyota referred to the “changing political environment” as one of its main challenges and anticipated a "more challenging regulatory" environment under the Obama administration's purview.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0210/33248.html

6) Harvard’s Rogoff Sees Sovereign Defaults, ‘Painful’ Austerity

Feb. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Ballooning debt is likely to force several countries to default and the U.S. to cut spending, according to Harvard University Professor Kenneth Rogoff, who in 2008 predicted the failure of big American banks.

Following banking crises, “we usually see a bunch of sovereign defaults, say in a few years,” Rogoff, a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, said at a forum in Tokyo yesterday. “I predict we will again.”

The U.S. is likely to tighten monetary policy before cutting government spending, sending “shockwaves” through financial markets, Rogoff said in an interview after the speech. Fiscal policy won’t be curbed until soaring bond yields trigger “very painful” tax increases and spending cuts, he said.

… The Federal Reserve last week raised the discount rate charged to banks for direct loans, and plans to end its $1.25 trillion purchases of mortgage-backed securities in March. President Barack Obama’s administration is proposing a $3.8 trillion budget for fiscal 2011 to spur the recovery.

“When they start tightening monetary policy even a little bit, it’s going to send shockwaves through the system,” Rogoff said.

See: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aaeViPPUVSw4

7) US Jan mass layoffs edge up on weak manufacturing

WASHINGTON, Feb 23 (Reuters) - The number of mass layoffs by U.S. employers edged up in January as manufacturers stepped up job cuts, data showed on Tuesday, but probably not enough to alter views that the economy is on the brink of creating jobs.

The Labor Department said the number of mass layoff actions -- defined as job cuts involving at least 50 people from a single employer -- increased by 35 to 1,761. Mass layoffs had trended lower since August.

A total of 182,261 workers were affected last month. In January, 486 mass layoff events were reported in manufacturing, resulting in 62,556 workers filing claims for state unemployment benefits. It was the first increase in mass layoffs in manufacturing since August.

See: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN239866720100223?type=marketsNews

8) Doomsday Predictions Tax Illinois

In order to crawl from beneath crushing debt and reach fiscal solvency, Illinois legislators must choose from a series of options that range from bad to worse, according to a prominent watchdog group.

The Civic Federation wants to launch an intervention that includes significant budget cuts and the largest tax increase package in Illinois history, all in an effort to save the state from a $12.8 billion budget deficit.

… In order to implement those increases, the Civic Federation says unions should pay more toward their pensions and health care -- but the unions aren't interested.

… The state’s red ink has already caused a backlog of unpaid bills to public universities and schools, transit systems and social services.

See: http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/politics/Doomsday-Taxes-State-of-Illinois-84947527.html

9) Sen. Bernie Sanders Compares Climate Skeptics To Nazi Deniers

See: http://townhall.com/blog/g/94622674-7f14-4f0b-b792-44d3c8229565

10) A Hawaiian Punch to the Constitution

What do you think most Americans would say if the U.S. government created a new and exclusively race-based government with the authority to exempt itself from the U.S. Constitution and state authority at its own discretion? As ridiculous as it sounds, that is exactly what the House of Representatives voted for yesterday by a vote of 245-164. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs explained that the passage of the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2010 pleased President Obama, and that he, “looks forward to signing the bill into law and establishing a government-to-government relationship with Native Hawaiians.” But before celebrating the birth of a new tropical bureaucracy (it still needs to pass the Senate) our lawmakers should put some thought into whether this plan is equitable and constitutional. Brian Darling, The Heritage Foundation’s Director of Senate Relations, explains that the plan would create a racially exclusive government, “to solicit federal monies and create programs to benefit individuals who fit the definition of “Native Hawaiian.”

Congratulations, Native Hawaiians. You are the 2010 nominee for the government-issued identity politics prize. The winnings include self-governance, with the authority to go over the head of the Hawaiian state government (without the support of the Governor) to negotiate with the federal government over territorial, resource, and tax matters. 

See: http://blog.heritage.org/2010/02/24/a-hawaiian-punch-to-the-constitution/

11) Pa. abortion doctor's license suspended after raid

PHILADELPHIA – Federal agents raided a clinic where abortions are performed and found "deplorable and unsanitary" conditions, including blood on the floor and parts of aborted fetuses in jars, according to the state agency that shut it down and suspended the license of the doctor in charge.

In the order suspending Dr. Kermit Gosnell's license, the Pennsylvania Department of State's Board of Medicine said investigators found numerous health and safety risks at Gosnell's abortion and pain-management clinic, including a preoperative and recovery area that consisted of several recliners grouped together.

The Women's Medical Society clinic is open during the day, but Gosnell does not arrive until somewhere between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. and is the only person with a medical license working there, according to the order.

A clinic employee told investigators that Gosnell directed her in his absence to conduct gynecological examinations and administer painkillers to patients, the document states.

The temporary suspension of Gosnell's license follows at least two raids by agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI. At the time of one raid — at 9 p.m. on Feb. 18 — investigators found the clinic full of patients.

On Nov. 20, the document states, a patient died after being given two separate doses of painkillers plus anesthesia before an abortion.

See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100224/ap_on_re_us/us_abortion_clinic_investigation

Russia to sell missile defense to Iran; Health care nuclear option ready to launch; Obama intending to fail

1) Live From Washington! It's Obama health care drama

President Barack Obama summons anxious Democrats and aloof Republicans to a White House summit Thursday — live on C-SPAN and perhaps cable — and gambles that he can save his embattled health care overhaul by the power of persuasion. Adversaries and allies alike were surprised by Obama's invitation to reason together at an open forum, as risky as it is unusual.

Ahead of the meeting, the White House will post on its Web site a health care plan that modifies the bill passed by Senate Democrats last year. The modification is an effort to address the concerns of their House counterparts.

Both bills are a government takeover of 1/6 of our economy. 

See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100221/ap_on_bi_ge/us_health_care_overhaul

1a) Health Care Nuclear Option – Liberals Ready to Launch

The Health Care Nuclear Option, also known as reconciliation, is being considered by liberal politicians to insure that Obamacare makes it to the President’s desk by Easter.  According to The New York Times, the plan is to have the President submit reconciliation legislation to be posted on the internet this weekend. The legislation will be crafted in a manner so that it can be passed using special reconciliation procedures created solely to enact laws to reduce the deficit as part of the annual budget.  The next step is for the President to conduct his half day bipartisan summit at the Blair House on February 25th. With that faux-bipartisan stunt over with, the President will be free to pass legislation in a partisan manner that tosses aside the regular rules of business in the Senate (emphasis mine).

Here is how the NYT writes it up:

“President Obama will put forward comprehensive health care legislation intended to bridge differences between Senate and House Democrats ahead of a summit meeting with Republicans next week, senior administration officials and Congressional aides said Thursday.

The legislation is being crafted in a way to allow for partisans in the House and Senate to pass the legislation without any support from Republicans and it a way that avoids a 60 vote threshold of a filibuster in the Senate.

Democratic officials said the president’s proposal was being written so that it could be attached to a budget bill as a way of averting a Republican filibuster in the Senate. The procedure, known as budget reconciliation, would let Democrats advance the bill with a simple majority rather than a 60-vote supermajority.”

Yet again, the Obama Administration has tossed aside transparency and has crafted this legislation behind closed doors.

See: http://blog.heritage.org/2010/02/19/health-care-nuclear-option-–-liberals-ready-to-launch/

2) Morning Bell: A No-Cost Stimulus That Can Create Real Jobs for the American People

In today’s Wall Street Journal, former President Bill Clinton’s pollster Doug Schoen writes: “Sen. Evan Bayh’s stunning decision to retire should serve as more than a wake-up call to Democrats. It should spur a fundamental re-examination and reorientation of the party’s policies, practices and approaches leading into the fall election. Let’s be clear. The Democratic brand is in trouble — big trouble. … The Democrats need to do a number of things. First and foremost, they need to recognize there is only one fundamental issue in America: jobs.”

Unfortunately, the White House is not getting the message. Where Schoen urges President Barack Obama to “go back to square one” on health care, The New York Times is reporting that the Obama administration is doing the exact opposite: they are set to introduce their own health care bill on Monday that is specifically designed to pass the Senate through reconciliation on a strictly partisan vote (emphasis mine). And when the left is not continuing to shove a government takeover of health care down the throats of the American people, they are working on a second stimulus plan that repeats all of the same big government borrow-and-spend mistakes of the first.

…If deficit spending were the path to real-world economic growth, then the Greek economy would be booming. It’s not. There is an alternative. There are some no-cost measures our federal government could take that could create the space for American entrepreneurship and private investment, resulting in real long-term job growth. Heritage fellow James Sherk identifies eight such measures, including:

-Freezing all proposed tax hikes and costly regulations at least until unemployment falls below 7 percent;

-Freezing spending and rescinding unspent stimulus funds;

-Reforming regulations to reduce unnecessary business costs, such as repealing Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act;

-Reforming the tort system to lower costs and uncertainty facing businesses;

-Removing barriers to domestic energy production;

-Suspending the job-killing Davis-Bacon Act (DBA);

-Passing pending free-trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama; and

-Reducing taxes on companies’ foreign earnings if they bring those earnings home.

See: http://blog.heritage.org/2010/02/19/morning-bell-a-no-cost-stimulus-that-can-create-real-jobs-for-the-american-people/

2a) GOP wants televised jobs debate

House Republicans are taking a page from the president's playbook by challenging Democrats to a televised debate about job creation.

The top two Republicans in the House sent a letter Wednesday daring their counterparts — Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer — to engage in a public discussion over ways Congress can provide a boost to the economy.

Their call comes as Democrats struggle to find consensus on a job creation package and in advance of the Feb. 25 bipartisan health care summit.

"Clearly, we need a different approach to developing legislation that will get Americans back to work," Republican leader John Boehner and party Whip Eric Cantor wrote to Pelosi and Hoyer. "Therefore, in the interest of complete transparency on the single most important issue of the day for most Americans, we ask that you join us for an open discussion so that we can begin to change a process that has not only polarized this Capitol building but this country as well."

See: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0210/33081.html

3) Rep. Michele Bachmann: President Obama is 'intending to fail'

…“If everyone is exceptional, then no one is exceptional,” she said. “Decline can happen quickly, even to a great nation. It’s a sobering thought.”

Moving to her criticism of the president’s spending, Bachmann pointed to a chart of rising federal deficits.

“This is intending to fail,” she said.

“They have left us holding an invoice of $105 trillion in unfunded federal liabilities,” she went on, alluding to the federal government’s entitlement programs. “Sounds to me like someone is choosing decline.”

…Looking back into history more than once, Bachmann recalled one Democrat, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who she described as "taking a manageable recession and turning it into a Great Depression." Obama is setting the nation on the same course, she claimed, supporting policies like national healthcare and energy reforms, and growing the budget deficit by trillions.

Obama's policies also fly in the face of those rights envisioned by the Founding Fathers -- who have been invoked by nearly every speaker at CPAC so far -- particularly liberty and freedom.

See: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0210/33189.html

And: http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/02/19/michele-bachmann-to-cpac-choose-greatness/?test=latestnews

4) A Toothless Commission On Spending Is No Substitute for True Leadership

The recent debt limit increase passed by Congress has sparked a national debate on how to adequately reverse out-of-control federal spending. After much congressional hand-wringing recently over what budget process reform to attach to the must-pass increase in the debt ceiling, support for a bipartisan commission crafted by Senate Budget Committee leaders Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Judd Gregg (R-NH) crumbled. Lawmakers realized that the framing of the commission would most likely lead to tax increases with little real spending restraint with the same back-room deals of which Americans have become weary.

Yes, Obama could say, “Oh look!  The Committee says I have to raise taxes!”

See: http://blog.heritage.org/2010/02/18/a-toothless-commission-on-spending-is-no-substitute-for-true-leadership

4a) White House begins groundwork to avoid blame for tax increases

President Obama on Thursday indicated that tax increases on people who make less than $250,000 a year will be on the table when a deficit commission makes its recommendations later this year on how to resolve the nation’s fiscal imbalances.

“Everything’s on the table. That’s how this thing is going to work,” Obama said Thursday, moments after signing an executive order creating the 18-member commission.

But the White House has already begun to lay the groundwork for their argument that such a recommendation by the panel should not be blamed on the president (emphasis mine), who vowed during his campaign not to raise taxes on Americans earning less than $250,000.

“The president will not sit on the commission and the options they present will not necessarily reflect administration policy,” a White House official told The Daily Caller.

…Many economic experts see no alternative to raising taxes across the board in order to reduce the federal deficit, which is projected to hit $1.6 trillion this year.

Conservatives, however, see the problem mostly as a spending problem, and are skeptical of the president’s commission because they believe it will inevitably lead to higher taxes (emphasis mine).

YES!!!!!!

See: http://dailycaller.com/2010/02/18/white-house-begins-spade-work-to-avoid-blame-for-tax-increases/

5) Top U.S. Climate Official: 15 Years With No Global Warming Is Not a Trend

(CNSNews.com) - When asked yesterday whether she agreed or disagreed with one of the world’s top climate-change scientists that there had been no statistically significant global warming over the last fifteen years, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Administrator Jane Lubchenco would only say “that it is inappropriate to look at any particular short period of time to discern the long-term trend.”

See: http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/61525

6) State-Run Media Tries to Link Lunatic IRS Murderer to Tea Parties

RUSH: It is amazing.  Here we had a guy who hated George W. Bush, who hated the Reagan tax cuts of 1986, this guy that flew the airplane into the IRS building, and the media is doing everything it can to connect this guy to the tea party movement!  Meanwhile, a real lunatic, this professor from the University of Alabama Huntsville who killed her brother, who opened fire on six or ten other professors, they still have not attached her to any political party, other than to say she was obsessed with Obama.  But they're not blaming Obama and they're not trying to tie this woman to some fringe of the Democrat Party.  It's another page right out of the playbook, so predictable. I said yesterday that this was going to happen, and it is happening.  And we're going to chronicle that and a lot more.

See: http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_021910/content/01125107.guest.html

7) Holder admits nine Obama Dept. of Justice officials worked for terrorist detainees, offers no details

Attorney General Eric Holder says nine Obama appointees in the Justice Department have represented or advocated for terrorist detainees before joining the Justice Department. But he does not reveal any names beyond the two officials whose work has already been publicly reported. And all the lawyers, according to Holder, are eligible to work on general detainee matters, even if there are specific parts of some cases they cannot be involved in.

Holder's admission comes in the form of an answer to a question posed last November by Republican Sen. Charles Grassley. Noting that one Obama appointee, Principal Deputy Solicitor General Neal Katyal, formerly represented Osama bin Laden's driver, and another appointee, Jennifer Daskal, previously advocated for detainees at Human Rights Watch, Grassley asked Holder to give the Senate Judiciary Committee "the names of political appointees in your department who represent detainees or who work for organizations advocating on their behalf…the cases or projects that these appointees work with respect to detainee prior to joining the Justice Department…and the cases or projects relating to detainees that have worked on since joining the Justice Department."

In his response, Holder has given Grassley almost nothing…

…Finally, it is possible that there are more than nine political appointees who worked for detainees. Holder tells Grassley that he did not survey the Justice Department as a whole but instead canvassed several large offices within the organization.

Bottom line: Holder revealed no names beyond the two already publicly known. He revealed no cases from which Justice political appointees recused themselves. The letter, which will likely be interpreted on Capitol Hill as a thumb-your-nose statement, is sure to anger Republican senators more than satisfy them.

See: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Holder-admits-nine-Obama-Dept-of-Justice-officials-worked-for-terrorist-detainees-offers-no-details-84799487.html#ixzz0g1U2rXkh

8) Five Muslim Soldiers Questioned at Fort Jackson in South Carolina

CBN News has learned exclusively that five Muslim soldiers at Fort Jackson in South Carolina were questioned just before Christmas. It is unclear whether the men are still in custody. The five were part of the Arabic Translation program at the base.

Patrick Jones, the Deputy Public Affairs Officer for Fort Jackson, confirmed for CBN News Thursday afternoon that an investigation was ongoing.

Prior to this posting, CBN News learned that these details were also confirmed by a government official with knowledge of the investigation.

The men are suspected of trying to poison the food supply at Fort Jackson.

A source with intimate knowledge of the investigation, which is ongoing, told CBN News investigators suspect the "Fort Jackson Five" may have been in contact with the group of five Washington, D.C., area Muslims that traveled to Pakistan to wage jihad against U.S. troops in December. That group was arrested by Pakistani authorities, also just before Christmas.

Coming as it does on the heels of November's Fort Hood jihadist massacre, this news could have major implications.

See: http://blogs.cbn.com/stakelbeckonterror/archive/2010/02/18/update-five-muslim-soldiers-arrested-at-fort-jackson-in.aspx

9) Official: Russia to deliver missile defense to Iran: System would make strike against Tehran's nuclear reactors more difficult

TEL AVIV – Despite announcements to the contrary, Russia still plans to deliver its S-300 advanced air-defense missiles to Iran, according to a senior Egyptian security official speaking to WND. 

The official said Russia also intends to see the system delivered to Syria, from which it can also be transferred to the Hezbollah militia operating in Lebanon.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Moscow, where he reportedly asked the Russians to cancel a contract with Iran to deliver and install the S-300 system. Israeli newspapers quoted sources in Netanyahu's entourage stating Russia agreed to cancel the sale.

The S-300PMU1 is a mobile system designed to shoot down aircraft and cruise missiles. Analysts say the S-300 system would make any Israeli strike against Iran's nuclear facilities more difficult.

Just after Netanyahu's visit, the Interfax news agency quoted a senior Russian official as saying the delivery to Iran of the S-300 has been delayed for technical reasons.

"The delay is due to technical problems. The delivery will be carried out when they are resolved," said Alexander Fomin, deputy head of Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation.

However, the Egyptian official speaking to WND said Russia still intends to deliver the system to Iran within the next month. The official said there are also plans to see the system deployed in Syria, where Russia maintains a large naval fleet unseen since the Cold War days. The official said Syria intends to transfer the S-300 to Hezbollah in Lebanon. 

An Israeli security official said Israel is monitoring the situation.

See: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=125525

10) “War preparations heat up in the middle east”, “Netherlands Parliament member convicted of hate speech’ in The Hal Lindsey Report

On this week's edition of "The Hal Lindsey Report," war preparations heat up the Middle East. Hezbollah sends 5,000 soldiers to be trained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard near Tehran. Their mission? A sweep from Lebanon through northern Israel to the Galilee region. Apparently, it will be part of a future coordinated uprising in Israel. Iran is shipping weaponry to Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. How do we know? Some of their barrels - packed with explosives - washed up on Israeli beaches last week.

…And then, just to drive the point home, I'm going to share a dramatic story that's unfolding as I write this. Mr. Geert Wilders is a Member of Parliament in The Netherlands. In fact, the party he leads is expected to become the largest party in the parliament come the next election. However, Mr. Wilders is currently on trial. He faces two years in prison if he is convicted of 'hate speech.' His crime? He criticized Islam. You'll hear Mr. Wilders' thoughts from his own mouth. You'll say to yourself, "Hey, I agree with everything he says!" Then you may say, "Am I next?" If America continues down this path of reckless multiculturalism and political correctness, we may all be next.

See: http://www.hallindsey.com/the-hal-lindsey-report-2192010/

King Obama to use executive power; Dems plan to force health bill; SEC forces companies to discuss global warming

1)     Obama Making Plans to Use Executive Power

WASHINGTON — With much of his legislative agenda stalled in Congress, President Obama and his team are preparing an array of actions using his executive power to advance energy, environmental, fiscal and other domestic policy priorities.

Mr. Obama has not given up hope of progress on Capitol Hill, aides said, and has scheduled a session with Republican leaders on health care later this month. But in the aftermath of a special election in Massachusetts that cost Democrats unilateral control of the Senate, the White House is getting ready to act on its own in the face of partisan gridlock heading into the midterm campaign.

…Mr. Obama has already decided to create a bipartisan budget commission under his own authority after Congress refused to do so. His administration has signaled that it plans to use its discretion to soften enforcement of the ban on openly gay men and lesbians serving in the military, even as Congress considers repealing the law. And the Environmental Protection Agency is moving forward with possible regulations on heat-trapping gases blamed for climate change, while a bill to cap such emissions languishes in the Senate.

Yes, King Obama, keep skirting the legislative process.  You will see that the people of the United States of America aren’t going to put up with a dictatorship.

See: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/13/us/politics/13obama.html

2)     Kyl: Dems have already decided how to force health bill through

Senate Republican Whip Jon Kyl of Arizona on Sunday threw more cold water on the chances that his party would cooperate with a Feb. 25 healthcare reform summit at the White House, protesting that Democrats already seem poised to force a bill through Congress.

Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Kyl echoed a claim that congressional Republicans have made for the past week, that President Barack Obama and House and Senate Democrats intend the summit as a public display and not a genuine dialogue. He quoted a recent Wall Street Journal article that asserted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has “set the stage” for using reconciliation to pass the bill. That controversial legislative tactic could allow the bill to pass the Senate with 51 votes instead of 60 as usually required to break a filibuster.

See: http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/81031-kyl-dems-have-already-decided-how-to-force-health-bill-through

2a)   Obama keeps all-Democratic health care option open

WASHINGTON – The White House signaled Thursday that an aggressive, all-Democratic strategy for overhauling the nation's health care system remains a serious option, even as President Barack Obama invites Republicans to next week's televised summit to seek possible compromises.

The administration's stance could set the stage for a political showdown, with Democrats struggling to enact the president's top domestic priority and Republicans trying to block what many conservatives see as government overreach.

See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100219/ap_on_bi_ge/us_health_care_overhaul

3)     Biden Takes Credit for Liberated Iraq

Appearing on CNN’s Larry King Live Wednesday night, Vice President Joe Biden took personal credit on behalf of the Obama Administration for a liberated Iraq – with no mention that had President Obama’s wishes won the day back when the Iraq invasion took place in 2003, the oppressive Saddam Hussein would still be in power.

See: http://newsmax.com/InsideCover/Biden-Takes-Credit-Liberated/2010/02/11/id/349638

3a) Republicans Object to Biden Taking Credit for Success in Iraq

…"I am very optimistic about Iraq," he said. "I mean, this could be one of the great achievements of this administration."

But Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, a member of the Armed Services Committee, said you cannot oppose the surge and then claim it for your legacy.

"When Joe Biden was in the Senate and Obama was in the Senate, they authored and were the chief architect of the resolution opposing the surge," he said.

The vice president also took credit for the troop drawdown.

"You're going to see 90,000 American troops come marching home by the end of the summer," he said. "You're going to see a stable government in Iraq that is actually moving toward a representative government."

But the drawdown was negotiated in the Status of Forces Agreement before the Obama administration took office.

See: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/02/11/republicans-object-biden-taking-credit-success-iraq/

3b) EXCLUSIVE: Dick Cheney Critical of Biden, Obama National Security Policies

Former Vice President Dick Cheney, in an exclusive appearance on ABC News' "This Week," offered a sharp critique of the Obama administration's handling of national security and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying any achievements over the past year largely stemmed from policies implemented under President George W. Bush.

"If [the administration is] going to take credit for [Iraq's success], fair enough ... but it ought to come with a healthy dose of 'Thank you, George Bush' up front and a recognition that some of their early recommendations with respect to prosecuting that war were just dead wrong," Cheney told ABC News' Jonathan Karl.

See: http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/Politics/dick-cheney-joe-biden-war-words-continues/story?id=9821035

4)     Bayh the latest exit as moderates leave Congress

WASHINGTON – The moderate middle is disappearing from Congress. Evan Bayh is just the latest senator to forgo a re-election bid, joining a growing line of pragmatic, find-a-way politicians who are abandoning Washington. Still here: ever-more-polarized colleagues locked in gridlock — exactly what voters say they don't like about politics in the nation's capital.

More like, dems, who know there is no way they can win in an election, and cutting their losses and going home…

See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100217/ap_on_go_co/us_goodbye_moderates

5)     Is Global Warming Really A Bigger Threat than Iran?

Over the past year, Iran has declared itself a nuclear state and continues to expand their ballistic missile program, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair has testified to Congress that Al Qaeda and its affiliates are planning a large-scale attack on American soil within the next six months, and failed Flight 253 Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab has told the FBI that he met with other English speakers at a terrorist training camp in Yemen.

Meanwhile, the scientist at the center of Climategate now tells BBC News that there has been no statistically significant rise in temperature in the past fifteen years and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has been forced to admit their 2007 report substantially overstated global warning’s impact on glacier loss, hurricane damage, and African crop failure.

So how is the Obama Administration focusing our precious national security resources? Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army Reserve (rtd) explains in The Telegraph:

Under American law, every four years the US Defence Department must present to Congress a comprehensive review of the security threats and challenges to America. The security picture presented in the review provides the justification for planning and creating the appropriate military forces and capabilities. The Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) is supposed to be a non-partisan and objective strategic document – free of partisan politics. … Last week the Defense Department released the 2010 QDR. It is a remarkable document.

…However, it’s not what is in the document that surprises the reader – it’s what was left out. There presence of two elephants in their living room apparently escaped the notice of American’s top civilian and military leaders. Islamic radicalism does not receive any mention whatsoever in the American Defense Review and the threat posed by a nuclear Iran is mentioned in only one general sentence at the end of a document (page 101). To put this lack of discussion in proportion, contrast this non-discussion with other security issues mentioned in the document. For example, the security effects of climate change are highlighted and discussed in depth in eight pages of the document.

See: http://blog.heritage.org/2010/02/16/is-global-warming-really-a-bigger-threat-than-iran

6)     SEC Votes for Corporate Disclosure of Climate Change Risk

WASHINGTON—Political feuding over global warming reached the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday when commissioners, divided on party lines, voted to encourage companies to disclose the effects of climate change on their business.

SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro, an Obama administration appointee, said the agency wasn't weighing in on the global-warming debate and wanted to ensure that investors get reliable information.

The agency's two Republican commissioners voted against issuing the guidance. "I can only conclude that the purpose of this release is to place the imprimatur of the commission on the agenda of the social and environmental policy lobby, an agenda that falls outside of our expertise," said Republican Commissioner Kathleen Casey.

Two Republican lawmakers from the House Energy and Commerce Committee also took a swipe at the SEC in a letter sent Tuesday, calling the move "transparently political and such a breathtaking waste of the commission's resources."

Agree!

See: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703410004575029303322357276.html

6a) More on this…SEC to require disclosure of climate change risks

A politically divided Securities and Exchange Commission voted on Wednesday to make clear when companies must provide information to investors about the business risks associated with climate change.

The commission, in a 3 to 2 vote, decided to require that companies disclose in their public filings the impact of climate change on their businesses -- from new regulations or legislation they may face domestically or abroad to potential changes in economic trends or physical risks to a company.

Chairman Mary L. Schapiro and the two Democrats on the commission supported the new requirements, while the two Republicans vehemently opposed them.

See: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/27/AR2010012704502.html

7)     Climategate U-turn as scientist at centre of row admits: There has been no global warming since 1995

-Data for vital 'hockey stick graph' has gone missing

-There has been no global warming since 1995

-Warming periods have happened before - but NOT due to man-made changes

The academic at the centre of the ‘Climategate’ affair, whose raw data is crucial to the theory of climate change, has admitted that he has trouble ‘keeping track’ of the information.

Colleagues say that the reason Professor Phil Jones has refused Freedom of Information requests is that he may have actually lost the relevant papers.

Professor Jones told the BBC yesterday there was truth in the observations of colleagues that he lacked organisational skills, that his office was swamped with piles of paper and that his record keeping is ‘not as good as it should be’.

The data is crucial to the famous ‘hockey stick graph’ used by climate change advocates to support the theory.

Professor Jones also conceded the possibility that the world was warmer in medieval times than now – suggesting global warming may not be a man-made phenomenon.

And he said that for the past 15 years there has been no ‘statistically significant’ warming.

See: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1250872/Climategate-U-turn-Astonishment-scientist-centre-global-warming-email-row-admits-data-organised.html

7a) Mark Landsbaum: What to say to a global warming alarmist

It has been tough to keep up with all the bad news for global warming alarmists. We're on the edge of our chair, waiting for the next shoe to drop. This has been an Imelda Marcos kind of season for shoe-dropping about global warming.

At your next dinner party, here are some of the latest talking points to bring up when someone reminds you that Al Gore and the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won Nobel prizes for their work on global warming.

ClimateGate – This scandal began the latest round of revelations when thousands of leaked documents from Britain's East Anglia Climate Research Unit showed systematic suppression and discrediting of climate skeptics' views and discarding of temperature data, suggesting a bias for making the case for warming. Why do such a thing if, as global warming defenders contend, the "science is settled?"

…HimalayaGate – An Indian climate official admitted in January that, as lead author of the IPCC's Asian report, he intentionally exaggerated when claiming Himalayan glaciers would melt away by 2035 in order to prod governments into action (emphasis mine). This fraudulent claim was not based on scientific research or peer-reviewed. Instead it was originally advanced by a researcher, since hired by a global warming research organization, who later admitted it was "speculation" lifted from a popular magazine. This political, not scientific, motivation at least got some researcher funded.

…PachauriGate – Rajendra Pachauri, the IPCC chairman who accepted with Al Gore the Nobel Prize for scaring people witless, at first defended the Himalaya melting scenario. Critics, he said, practiced "voodoo science." After the melting-scam perpetrator 'fessed up, Pachauri admitted to making a mistake. But, he insisted, we still should trust him.

PachauriGate II – Pachauri also claimed he didn't know before the 192-nation climate summit meeting in Copenhagen in December that the bogus Himalayan glacier claim was sheer speculation. But the London Times reported that a prominent science journalist said he had pointed out those errors in several e-mails and discussions to Pachauri, who "decided to overlook it." Stonewalling? Cover up? Pachauri says he was "preoccupied." Well, no sense spoiling the Copenhagen party, where countries like Pachauri's India hoped to wrench billions from countries like the United States to combat global warming's melting glaciers. Now there are calls for Pachauri's resignation.

…RussiaGate – Even when global warming alarmists base claims on scientific measurements, they've often had their finger on the scale. Russian think tank investigators evaluated thousands of documents and e-mails leaked from the East Anglia research center and concluded readings from the coldest regions of their nation had been omitted, driving average temperatures up about half a degree.

And it goes on and on…

See: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/-234092--.html

8)     US demands Toyota turn over recall documents

WASHINGTON – The government ordered Toyota to turn over documents related to its massive recalls Tuesday, pressing to see how long the automaker knew of safety defects before taking action. Toyota, concerned about unsold cars, said it would temporarily idle some production in three states.

The Transportation Department is demanding that Toyota reveal when and how it learned of problems with sticking accelerators and with floor mats trappping gas pedals, and the company must respond within 30 to 60 days or face fines. Those defects and problems with brakes on new Prius hybrids have now led to the recall of 8.5 million vehicles.

Remember Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood’s comment, “We’re not finished with Toyota”?

See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100216/ap_on_bi_ge/us_toyota_recall_us

9)     Tea Party Organizer Wins New York State Assembly Race

The Tea Party followers can boast about their first elected official.

Dean Murray, a 45-year-old Long Island, N.Y., businessman who organized Tea Party protests, will be sworn in as the new Republican state assemblyman representing Long Island's eastern 3rd Assembly District on Monday, after being certified the winner of a special election held last Tuesday.

See: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/02/17/tea-party-organizer-wins-new-york-state-assembly-race/

10)  South Carolina Lawmaker Seeks to Ban Federal Currency

South Carolina Rep. Mike Pitts has introduced legislation that would mandate that gold and silver coins replace federal currency as legal tender in his state.

As the Palmetto Scoop first reported, Pitts, a Republican, introduced legislation this month banning "the unconstitutional substitution of Federal Reserve Notes for silver and gold coin" in South Carolina.

In an interview, Pitts told Hotsheet that he believes that "if the federal government continues to spend money at the rate it's spending money, and if it continues to print money at the rate it's printing money, our economic system is going to collapse."

"The Germans felt their system wouldn't collapse, but it took a wheelbarrow of money to buy a loaf of bread in the 1930s," he said. "The Soviet Union didn't think their system would collapse, but it did. Ours is capable of collapsing also."

See: http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2010/02/17/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry6217403.shtml

11)  Captured Taliban leader could shape stalemated war

WASHINGTON – The capture and interrogation of Taliban commander Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar could help unravel the Afghan insurgency, but it's less likely to lead U.S. forces to Osama bin Laden.

In nearly two weeks of interrogation in Pakistan, the Taliban operations chief has provided limited information, officials said. In his discussions with his Pakistani captors, Baradar has focused on his own fate and not provided full details about the location of fellow insurgents or weapons caches.

Maybe we should beat him with fluffy pillows.  That would do it.

That means the immediate benefit from Baradar's arrest has been his sudden absence as the Taliban's daily battlefield commander. But if he decided to cooperate, the growing hope among both U.S. and Pakistani officials is that he would play the broker in negotiating a cease-fire between the Afghan Taliban and the U.S. and NATO-led forces fighting in Afghanistan.

See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100218/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_captured_taliban

11a) Troops: Strict war rules slow Afghan offensive

MARJAH, Afghanistan — Some American and Afghan troops say they're fighting the latest offensive in Afghanistan with a handicap — strict rules that routinely force them to hold their fire.

Although details of the new guidelines are classified to keep insurgents from reading them, U.S. troops say the Taliban are keenly aware of the restrictions.

"I understand the reason behind it, but it's so hard to fight a war like this," said Lance Cpl. Travis Anderson, 20, of Altoona, Iowa. "They're using our rules of engagement against us," he said, adding that his platoon had repeatedly seen men drop their guns into ditches and walk away to blend in with civilians.

If a man emerges from a Taliban hideout after shooting erupts, U.S. troops say they cannot fire at him if he is not seen carrying a weapon — or if they did not personally watch him drop one.

What this means, some contend, is that a militant can fire at them, then set aside his weapon and walk freely out of a compound, possibly toward a weapons cache in another location. It was unclear how often this has happened. In another example, Marines pinned down by a barrage of insurgent bullets say they can't count on quick air support because it takes time to positively identify shooters.

…Col. Shrin Shah Kohbandi, commander of the new Afghan army corps in Helmand province, told reporters that his troops saw militants running away from the battlefield toward a village in Nad Ali district where they disappeared among villagers. "They hid their weapons so they became `civilians,'" under the rules, he said. "We didn't kill them and we weren't able to arrest them."

The Taliban are also known for using human shields, e.g., firing from schools, etc., knowing fired cannot be returned.  Our enemy is laughing at us. This is absolutely RIDICULOUS!!!!!

See: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ie7Ds68zL9eB_hd65DFUETVLashAD9DSPP5G0

12)  Opposition Grows in Germany to Bailout for Greece

BERLIN — As European finance ministers refused Monday to name specific measures to rescue Greece and the Continent’s common currency, opposition grew among Germans to bailing out what they call spendthrifts to the south after years of belt-tightening by workers at home.

I know how you feel, Germany.

The fiscal crisis, shaking the Greek government while driving down the value of the euro, is forcing taxpayers and voters across Europe to confront the fact that their fortunes are tied together more closely than their politicians confessed in the late 1990s, in the rush to create the common currency over public objections.

Yes, so what will happen when there is a global currency?

…“Europe has become a huge welfare state for everybody, for states as well as individuals,” he said. 

See: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/16/world/europe/16germany.html