NY Parents arrested for homeschooling; Dems break Senate/House rules to pass Obamacare; GMAC owed by govt

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Did you miss me? "We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt." --Thomas Jefferson, letter to Samuel Kercheval, 1816 1) It’s War, Not A Crime Spree This weekend on Facebook, Sarah Palin called out President Obama’s failed approach to national security. “Obama’s meeting with his top national security advisers does nothing to change the fact that his fundamental approach to terrorism is fatally flawed. We are at war with radical Islamic extremists and treating this threat as a law enforcement issue is dangerous for our nation’s security,” Palin wrote. We should be interrogating terrorism suspects, not mirandizing them Sean argued. “Do you realize the danger just by not interrogating this guy? He’s now lawyered up and we won’t get a word of this guy,” Sean fumed. “I think the sheer lack of logic of the administration’s arguments when it comes treating terrorists like the underwear bomber as an American citizen rather than an enemy combatant…just makes no sense.” -From Sean Hannity’s January 5, 2010 e-mail newsletter 2) Morning Bell: A Sham Of A Process For A Sham Of A Bill Speaking at a town hall meeting on August 21, 2008, in Chester, Virginia, then-candidate Barack Obama promised the American people: “I’m going to have all the negotiations around a big table. We’ll have doctors and nurses and hospital administrators. Insurance companies, drug companies … what we will do is, we’ll have the negotiations televised on C-SPAN, so that people can see who is making arguments on behalf of their constituents … And so, that approach, I think is what is going to allow people to stay involved in this process.” The participants around Obama’s fictional big table may have changed depending on where he was speaking, but throughout his campaign the essential promise was always there: “negotiations televised on C-SPAN.” Of course, Obama already broke this promise to the American people months ago. According to PoliFact, the backroom deals Obama cut with drug companies and hospitals last July already violated this pledge. But those were just preliminary negotiations. Surely when it came time for the final health care bill passage in Congress, Obama and his allies would welcome some transparency into the process? No such luck. Politico is reporting that President Obama and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will meet at the White House today (joined by Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) via conference call) to set the parameters for reconciling the House and Senate versions of health care legislation. However, instead of proceeding with the usual public and open conference committee process, the White House is going to take a very active role in secret behind-closed-door meetings between the House and Senate. The Sunlight Foundation explains the implications for the American people: “Both House and Senate rules require that all conference committee meetings be open to the public unless a majority of conferees votes in open session to close the meetings. Senate rules require all conference committee reports be publicly available for at least 48 hours prior to a final vote. Without conference, there is no mechanism to provide for openness in the final discussions regarding the health care bill.” See: http://blog.heritage.org/2010/01/05/morning-bell-a-sham-of-a-process-for-a-sham-of-a-bill 2a) C-SPAN to Democrats: Televise health negotiations House, Senate plan to bypass formal conference, negotiate behind closed doors Now that Democrats have health reform bills in both the House and Senate, reports indicate they are avoiding procedural steps and bypassing a formal conference committee to prevent Republicans from stalling deliberations – but C-SPAN is demanding that they open health-care negotiations to television cameras. See: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=121026 2b) Dems to bypass tradition on final health deal House, Senate negotiations to complete legislation will cut out Republicans WASHINGTON - House and Senate Democrats intend to bypass traditional procedures when they negotiate a final compromise on health care legislation, officials said Monday, a move that will exclude Republican lawmakers and reduce their ability to delay or force politically troubling votes in both houses. The unofficial timetable calls for final passage of the measure to remake the nation's health care system by the time President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address, probably in early February. Democratic aides said the final compromise talks would essentially be a three-way negotiation involving top Democrats in the House and Senate and the White House, a structure that gives unusual latitude to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California. These officials said there are no plans to appoint a formal House-Senate conference committee, the method Congress most often uses to reconcile differing bills. Under that customary format, a committee chairman is appointed to preside, and other senior lawmakers from both parties and houses participate in typically perfunctory public meetings while the meaningful negotiations occur behind closed doors. In this case, the plan is to skip the formal meetings, reach an agreement, then have the two houses vote as quickly as possible. A 60-vote Senate majority would be required in advance of final passage. See: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34692080/ns/health-health_care 2c) EDITORIAL: Hiding health bills behind closed doors …The House passed its version of the bill on a Saturday night. The Senate held its key procedural vote at 1 in the morning, and then provided a lump of coal in our stockings by forcing full passage of its bill on Christmas Eve. The House leadership banned consideration of all but one amendment not offered by leadership itself - forbidding debate on more than 150 of them - then provided just 24 hours for members to study the bill's final text. The Senate leadership inserted so many tawdry last-minute items that analysts are still finding jokers in the deck 11 days later. All these shenanigans have driven approval for the government health care bills even lower in public polls than the strong majorities that already opposed them a month ago. Yet that hasn't fazed congressional leaders. Now comes word from multiple sources that not only will Congress refuse to televise the usual Conference Committee to reconcile the two chambers' versions of the bill, but it won't allow a formal conference at all. Instead, a chosen few negotiators will concoct the final version out of sight, without formal rules governing the process and without a single Republican at the table. …Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman of California, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, candidly told a Jan. 3 home-state Democratic gathering that the sleight-of-hand is intended to enable his colleagues to avoid any more tough votes until the one on final passage. David Dayen of the liberal Web site Firedoglake reported from the meeting that, "this will not be a traditional conference committee, Waxman said, because the motions to select and instruct conferees in the Senate 'would need 60 votes [in the Senate] all over again.'" …If congressional leaders do not abide this simple request, Republicans should bring the whole Senate to a halt. Senate rules provide for so many procedural obstacles, if a determined minority wants to exercise them, that the entire body could be tied up in knots for weeks on end. In the name of open and accountable government, that's what senators should do if the public interest continues to be trampled (emphasis mine). See: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jan/05/hiding-health-bills-behind-closed-doors/ 2d) Florida Republican May File Suit Over Health Bill VERO BEACH, Fla. — Florida’s attorney general questioned the constitutionality of the federal health care bill on Tuesday, calling on states to study whether to file suit to kill a provision requiring that individuals buy health insurance or pay a fine. The attorney general, William McCollum, a Republican who is running for governor in 2010, said that the so-called mandate was “an affront to our country’s principles.” He added that the fine might be illegal because, in his view, it is disconnected from any commercial act. “It’s a tax on living,” Mr. McCollum said in a telephone conference call with reporters. “It’s a tax on people or a penalty on those who don’t do anything.” Mr. McCollum’s stance places him in line with the attorneys general of South Carolina and nearly a dozen other states who have also threatened to sue over the mandate. See: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/30/health/policy/30florida.html 2e) White House Orders Stupak: Keep Silent on Abortion (GOOD NEWS: he won't. And he can Kill the Bill.) The more pro-abortion leaders attempt to silence opposition to the pro-abortion Senate bill, the more people speak out. Rep. Bart Stupak informed Greta Van Susteren of FOX News that the White House told him to keep silent on abortion until the President had a chance to walk him through the pro-abortion Nelson-Reid Amendment. Stupak responded, "I don't need you to walk me through the amendment. I can read, and this amendment is unacceptable." He went on to explain his objections to the Senate bill: -- It recognizes abortion as a benefit covered under disease prevention (by this logic, the baby must be the disease) -- It forces taxpayers to subsidize health care plans that pay for abortions (in direct violation of the Hyde Amendment) -- It forces every enrollee in the federal exchange to pay a monthly fee to fund "reproductive rights" (abortion) See: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418083/posts 3) U.S. gives GMAC $3.8B more in TARP aid, becomes majority owner WASHINGTON — The government on Wednesday provided a fresh $3.8 billion cash infusion to stabilize GMAC Financial Services as the financing company struggles with hefty losses in its home mortgage unit. The Treasury Department said the new aid, which comes from a taxpayer-financed bailout fund, is less than the roughly $6 billion the government had earlier thought GMAC would need to stabilize the company. The fresh infusion is on top of $12.5 billion in taxpayer money Detroit-based GMAC has already received from the government. The new agreement will boost the federal government's ownership in GMAC to 56%, from 35%. See: http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2009-12-30-gmac-treasury_N.htm 4) On Nukes, Obama is Playing Right into Putin’s Hands Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has made it clear that he plans for Russia to respond to the fielding of missile defense systems by the United States by modernizing Russia’s nuclear force in order to overcome the defense. This is not surprising because Russian officials have been stating for some time that they plan to seek offensive nuclear capabilities to counter U.S. non-nuclear defenses and have been actively pursuing a nuclear modernization program. The Russian offensive nuclear response to the U.S. non-nuclear defensive program is grounded in Prime Minister Putin’s view that an adversarial relationship between the U.S. and Russia is appropriate and should be pursued on the basis of Russia having both the right and the capability to annihilate the U.S. with nuclear weapons. While President Obama should respond to Putin with a long-term and energetic diplomatic campaign to convince Russia that the better alternative is a non-adversarial relationship with the U.S. that is reflected in defensive strategic postures on both sides, he is showing no inclination to pursue this course. Rather, he seems committed to a course that permits the early achievement of an arms control treaty with Russia that codifies the adversarial relationship with Russia that Prime Minister Putin is seeking. In a bizarre twist for a President that wants to “reset” relations with Russia and seeks a world without nuclear weapons, Russia’s Prime Minister is stating that he wants Russia to posture its strategic forces to threaten the U.S. with nuclear attack and the President is responding with, “I am okay with that.” See: http://blog.heritage.org/2009/12/30/on-nukes-obama-is-playing-right-into-putins-hands/ 5) The Worst May Not Be Over for Europe LONDON — Never before has Europe’s monetary union seemed so fragile. Day by day, fears are growing that Greece or another weak country may default on its sovereign debt obligations, forcing the richer countries in Europe to ride to the rescue or risk having one or more of its most vulnerable members leave the 16-nation euro zone. Many European economists discount such a fracture as a remote possibility. But that doesn’t mean Europe has safely emerged from crisis. Instead, it faces a longer-term challenge to restore the fiscal credibility of at least half the countries that use the euro. The true test for the world’s largest common currency zone, analysts say, will be whether it can withstand the economic, political and social strains once the European Central Bank begins to raise interest rates in response to economic improvements in Germany, France and other Northern European countries. See: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/31/business/global/31euro.html 6) The Last Best Hope of the World’s Oppressed …Everyone recognizes that the United States of America is now the world's only superpower. Its economy is the engine that drives the world. Even in our difficult times, it is still the cornerstone on which the global economy rests. Twice in one century, the United States saved Europe, and the rest of the world, from the domination of tyrants. Later, America drove the Soviet Empire into the ground and, in so doing, secured freedom for untold millions of citizens and scores of nations. No matter your politics or what label you attach to your beliefs, it is undeniable that, to this day, America remains the last, best hope of the world's oppressed. Yet the United States of America exists in the shadow of an uncertainty. Have you ever thought about the fact that even our National Anthem acknowledges that it is possible to forfeit or lose the magnificent heritage that is the United States of America? When Francis Scott Key penned the words to The Star Spangled Banner, he ended the first verse (which is the one customarily performed as our nation's official anthem) with a question: "O' say does that star spangled banner yet wave o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?" Whether he was being prophetic or simply poetic is not important. His inclusion of that question rightly implies that America's great freedom and promise cannot be taken for granted. It came into existence through the great courage and sacrifice of our forebears. It can fade from existence through the antipathy and apathy of its current citizens. That's why so many of our Founding Fathers found it imperative to insist that the form of government they established can only prosper if the citizenry is predominantly Judeo-Christian. They minced no words when they proclaimed that our democracy can only succeed if it remains founded on the principles of Christianity and respectful of its Judeo-Christian principles. Yet, today as no time in our history, those very principles are under ferocious attack. It's as if major elements of society have hoisted their axes, determined to chop away at the roots of our democracy until the magnificent tree of American freedom shivers and falls. That's why there is no time to lose. As Christians and patriots, we must seek God's mercy for our faltering nation. The forces of darkness have succeeded in marshaling their greatest assault yet. -from Hal Lindsey’s January 2, 2010 e-mail newsletter 7) 83 percent of Americans failed a basic test on knowledge of the American Revolution The American Revolution Center commissioned the first national survey to assess adult knowledge of the American Revolution. The results show that an alarming 83 percent of Americans failed a basic test on knowledge of the American Revolution and the principles that have united all Americans. Results also revealed that 90 percent of Americans think that knowledge of the American Revolution and its principles is very important, and that 89 percent of Americans expected to pass a test on basic knowledge of the American Revolution, but scored an average of 44 percent. …More than 50 percent of Americans wrongly attributed the quote “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs” to either George Washington, Thomas Paine, or President Barack Obama, when it is in fact a quote from Karl Marx, author of The Communist Manifesto. -One-third did not know that the right to a jury trial is covered in the Bill of Rights, while 40 percent mistakenly thought that the right to vote is. See: http://www.americanrevolutioncenter.org/node/89 8) NY Parents arrested for failing to register home-schooled kids A Montgomery County couple has been arrested on child endangerment charges for failing to register their children with the school district as they were home-schooled, the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office said Monday. Richard Cressy, 47, and Margie Cressy, 41, both of the town of Glen, never registered their four children or their home-schooling curriculum with the local school district, said the Sheriff's Office. The Superintendent of the Fonda-Fultonville Central School District confirmed the four children, ranging in age from 8 to 14, had not been registered with the school district for the last seven years. The Cressys were issued appearance tickets to appear in the Town of Glen Court at a later date. The case has been turned over to the Montgomery County District Attorney and the Child Protective Unit. “The schools in our city are dangerous and far inferior to just about any reasonably competent home schooling parent.” - comment from “cudaman” posted at bottom of article PARENTS, NOT THE STATE, NOT THE GOVERNMENT, NOT THE STATE-SPONSORED SCHOOL are responsible for educating their children! THIS IS ABSOLUTE TYRANNY! See: http://www.cbs6albany.com/news/district-1269895-school-county.html