Mosque at ground zero to open 9/11/11?; Obama to sue over AZ immigration law?; Obama to impose Palestinian State?

1) Morning Bell: Congress’ Historic Decision to Ignore Its Basic Duty House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) once said that the “most basic responsibility of governing is to pass a budget.” Yesterday it became clear that Congress has decided to shirk that responsibility, as word broke that the House likely will not pass a budget resolution for the first time since the modern budget process was created in 1974. That’s earthshaking news, especially given the ballooning federal spending, which soared to an $82.69 billion deficit in April, a projected $1.5 trillion deficit in 2010, and even more deficits as far as the eye can see. Like any American’s household budget that tracks income and expenses, budget resolutions set a framework for Congress’ taxing and spending. But it’s a framework that the leadership in the House would rather do without. The news came from Rep. Hoyer himself, who said “It’s difficult to pass budgets in election years because they reflect what the [fiscal] status is.” In other words, with November looming on the horizon, the left doesn’t want their constituents to realize just how much Congress is spending and how high taxes will go (emphasis mine). …That leaves America in a lurch. Riedl explains that the failure to pass a budget resolution prevents Congress from capping discretionary spending for FY2011, and it’s an indication that Congress won’t find a way to limit runaway entitlement spending. It also means that other priorities, such as extending the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts will fall by the wayside, leading to steep tax hikes, all while America is in the midst of a recession. See: http://blog.heritage.org/2010/05/14/morning-bell-congress-historic-decision-to-ignore-its-basic-duty 2) Transcript: Holder on the Hot Seat Over Arizona Immigration Law The following is a partial transcript of the House Judiciary Committee hearing with Attorney General Eric Holder. This portion contains the exchange between Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, and Attorney General Eric Holder over whether Holder has read the Arizona immigration law: REP. TED POE: So Arizona, since the federal government fails to secure the border, desperately passed laws to protect its own people. The law is supported by 70 percent of the people in Arizona, 60 percent of all Americans and 50 percent of all Hispanics, according to The Wall Street Journal/NBC poll done just this week. And I understand that you may file a lawsuit against the law (emphasis mine. WHAT?!?!) It seems to me the administration ought to be enforcing border security and immigration laws and not challenge them and that the administration is on the wrong side of the American people. Have you read the Arizona law? ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER: I have not had a chance to -- I've glanced at it. I have not read it. …POE: Well, I've gone through it. And it's pretty simple. It takes the federal law and makes it -- enacts it in a state statute, although makes it much more refined in that it actually says in one of the sections that no state or subdivision may consider race, color, national origin in implementing the requirements of any subsection of this law. It seems to outlaw racial profiling in the law. I know there's been a lot of media hype about the -- the legislation. …POE: You have some concerns about the statute. And it's -- it's hard for me to understand how you would have concerns about something being unconstitutional if you hadn't even read the law. It seems like you wouldn't make a judgment about whether it violates civil rights statutes, whether it violates federal preemption concepts if you haven't read the law. So can you help me out there a little bit, how you can make a judgment call on -- on that, but you haven't read the law and determined whether it's constitutional or not? HOLDER: Well, what I've said is that I've not made up my mind. I've only made -- made the comments that I've made on the basis of things that I've been able to glean by reading newspaper accounts, obviously, television, talking to people who are on the review panel, on the review team looking at the law. But I've not reached any conclusions as yet with regard to -- I've just expressed concerns on the basis of what I've heard about the law. But I'm not in a position to say at this point, not having read the law, not having had the chance to interact with the people who are doing the review, exactly what my position is. See: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/05/14/transcript-holder-hot-seat-arizona-immigration-law/ 3) Mosque madness at Ground Zero A mosque rises over Ground Zero. And fed-up New Yorkers are crying, "No!" A chorus of critics -- from neighbors to those who lost loved ones on 9/11 to me -- feel as if they've received a swift kick in the teeth. Plans are under way for a Muslim house of worship, topped by a 13-story cultural center with a swimming pool, in a building damaged by the fuselage of a jet flown by extremists into the World Trade Center. The opening date shall live in infamy: Sept. 11, 2011 (emphasis mine). The 10th anniversary of the day a hole was punched in the city's heart. How the devil did this happen? Plans to bring what one critic calls a "monster mosque" to the site of the old Burlington Coat Factory building, at a cost expected to top $100 million, moved along for months without a peep. All of a sudden, even members of the community board that stupidly green-lighted the mosque this month are tearing their hair out. Paul Sipos, member of Community Board 1, said a mosque is a fine idea -- someplace else. "If the Japanese decided to open a cultural center across from Pearl Harbor, that would be insensitive," Sipos told me. "If the Germans opened a Bach choral society across from Auschwitz, even after all these years, that would be an insensitive setting. I have absolutely nothing against Islam. I just think: Why there?" (BECAUSE ISLAM IS NOT A RELIGION OF PEACE! IT IS A DEMONIC RELIGION PREACHING DEATH TO INFIDELS, in the pages of their own scriptures… “And the Jews say: Uzair is the son of Allah; and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before; may Allah DESTROY them; how they are turned away!” (Sura 9, verse 30). “And KILL them (the unbelievers) wherever you find them, and drive them out from whence they drove you out, and persecution is severer than slaughter, and do not fight with them at the Sacred Mosque until they fight with you in it, but if they do fight you, then slay them; such is the recompense of the unbelievers.” (Sura 2, verse 191). “And when you journey in the earth, there is no blame on you if you shorten the prayer, if you fear that those who disbelieve will cause you distress, surely the unbelievers are your open ENEMY.” (Sura 4, verse 101). “Surely We have prepared for the unbelievers chains and shackles and a burning fire.” (Sura 76, verse 4). “And whoever does not believe in Allah and His Apostle, then surely We have prepared burning fire for the unbelievers.” (Sura 48, verse 13). Do you need more evidence? See the next story…) …Board chair Julie Menin, blind-sided by the move, predicts "this will be overturned by the full board" later this month. But the damage is done. See: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/mosque_madness_at_ground_zero_OQ34EB0MWS0lXuAnQau5uL 4) Exhibit B: Islam is not a religion of peace: Horowitz schools radical Muslim student GLENN: Now listen to this from San Diego university, what is it, University of California San Diego with David Horowitz. Audio we played for you a couple of days ago. VOICE: My name is Jimena Imad Musa Ahmal Bahiri (ph) and I'm a student here at UCSD. I was reading your literature. I found that much more interesting than the talk. And I found some interesting things about the MSA, which is an organization that's very active on campus and it is hosting our annual Hitler Youth Week. You should come out to those events. PAT: Did you catch that, by the way, the first time around? That kind of slipped past me. They are hosting their annual Hitler Youth Week. The MSA, the Muslim student association. GLENN: I just took that as a — I just took that as a slam and making somebody who is — PAT: I did, too, but then I looked at his website, at David Horowitz's, and he's got a bunch of people in Muslim garb who are parading around the campus with God Bless Hitler on a sign (emphasis mine)… VOICE: If you could clarify the connection between the MSA and jihad terrorist networks. HOROWITZ: Will you condemn Hamas here and now? VOICE: I'm sorry. What? HOROWITZ: Will you condemn Hamas as a terrorist organization, genocidal organization? VOICE: Are you asking me to put myself on a cross? HOROWITZ: So you won't? I actually have had this experience many times. You didn't read the pamphlet because the pamphlet gives chapter and verse. The main connection is that the MSA is part of the Muslim Brotherhood Network as revealed in the documents. VOICE: I don't think you understood what I meant by that. I meant if I say something, I'm sure that I will be arrested for reasons of Homeland Security. So if you could please just answer my question. HOROWITZ: If you condemn Hamas Homeland Security will arrest you? VOICE: If I support Hamas. Because your question forces me to condemn Hamas. If I support Hamas I look really bad. HOROWITZ: Well, if you don't condemn Hamas obviously you support it. Case closed. …HOROWITZ: Members of the Muslim Students Association sitting right in a rows there and throughout my hour talk I kept asking them, will you condemn Hezbollah and Hamas and none of them would. And then when the question period came, the president of the Muslim Students Association was the first person to ask questions and I said, you know, before you start, will you condemn Hezbollah. And he said, well, that question is too complicated for a yes/no answer. So I said, okay, I'll put it to you this way. I'm a Jew. The head of Hezbollah has said that he hopes that we will gather in Israel so he doesn't have to hunt us down globally. For it or against it (emphasis mine)? VOICE: For it (emphasis mine). HOROWITZ: Thank you. GLENN: Stop. HOROWITZ: Thank you for coming and showing everybody what's here. GLENN:…We don't want to believe that there are those in our country that want to kill us. But by denying that they exist does not make them go away! See: http://media.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/40711/ 5) Boss: 1 of 3 arrested said he knew NY bomb suspect BOSTON – Three Pakistani men arrested in the widening investigation of the Times Square bomb include a Boston-area cab driver, a gas station attendant and a computer programmer in Maine who told his boss that he knew the primary suspect, Faisal Shahzad, but hadn't spoken to him in years. In Pakistan, authorities took into custody two other men on suspicion of helping to finance the failed plot. On Thursday, authorities following the money trail in the failed attack conducted raids in several places in the Northeast and arrested three men. The two men arrested in the Boston area were Pir Khan, 43, and Aftab Khan, a man in his 20s, law enforcement officials said. A third man, Mohamad Rahman, was arrested in Maine, according to one of the officials. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. Authorities said the three supplied funds to Shahzad but may not have known how the money would be used. They were arrested on immigration violations, not criminal charges. All three are in the custody of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said agency spokeswoman Kelly Nantel. See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100514/ap_on_re_us/us_times_square_probe_suspects 5a) Official: Broker network tied to NY bomb suspect NEW YORK – Long before there was MoneyGram and Western Union, people in South Asian countries often used an informal network of brokers, called an "hawala," to transfer money over long distances when it was too inconvenient or dangerous to send cash by courier. Today, the centuries-old system still exists and is used to move billions of dollars annually in and out of countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan and Somalia — often to the chagrin of U.S. law enforcement. …Muslim immigrants for years have used informal money transfer networks known as hawalas to send cash to their families overseas. The system of wire transfers, couriers and overnight mail are cheaper and quicker than banks. But since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, authorities have worked to dismantle the system, fearing it allows terrorists to raise and launder money. …The networks operate like this: A person who wishes to send cash abroad visits a broker, who takes the money plus a fee of around 5 percent. The broker then contacts a counterpart in the country where the money is going and relays instructions on how much is being sent and to whom. Within a day or two, the recipient gets a cash delivery, typically in local currency. Usually, the two brokers don't need to actually exchange any money. Instead, they essentially work off of IOUs. Each one makes the needed payments out of his own pocket, then carries the other broker's debt until someone needs to move cash in the other direction. Occasionally, the two brokers will need to balance their books by making an actual cash transfer, if more money is needed one way than the other. For a U.S. immigrant of modest means, the system has great advantages. You don't need to have a bank account. There are no forms to fill out. It is faster and cheaper than using an official money transfer service. Plus, the whole system is built on trust. In the U.S., the brokers are often small businessmen who see themselves as performing a public service for their countrymen. For these reasons, U.S. authorities have had a difficult time shutting the networks down. Operating an unlicensed money remitter in the U.S. is a crime, but the State Department reports that only a fraction of the businesses performing such services have registered as required. Sounds a bit like illegal immigration…maybe we should just forget they are committing a crime and immediately establish these illegal networks as legitimate businesses! See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_times_square_money_network 6) Brazil’s Lula Runs Interference for Iran’s Nuclear Ambitions Brazil’s President Ignacio Lula da Silva will visit Tehran on May 15. International attention will focus on the visit because Iran has said it agrees “in principle” with working through Brazil and Turkey to broker a nuclear fuels exchange deal with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Despite this diplomatic camouflage, Iran’s central objective remains avoiding or watering down possible UN sanctions and sowing confusion among international players with a diplomacy of gestures and bluffs. It aims to buy more time at the expense of the U.S. and the West to develop a nuclear weapon. Many in Washington are reassessing their opinion of Brazil’s popular president and his commitment to responsible global leadership. While Lula enjoys the “international spotlight” and may have his sights set on the Nobel Peace prize, his working agenda aims to marginalize U.S. global leadership and open the door for further delays in confronting the threat posed by a nuclear-arming Iran. See: http://blog.heritage.org/2010/05/13/brazil’s-lula-runs-interference-for-iran’s-nuclear-ambitions 7) Obama threatens to 'impose' Palestinian state Warns White House can force solution 'Israelis won't appreciate' NEW YORK – If Israel and the Palestinians fail to reach an agreement to create a Palestinian state, the Obama administration will look into imposing a solution on the parties, a senior Palestinian Authority negotiator told WND. The negotiator, speaking by telephone from Ramallah, said the PA agreed to resume direct talks with Israel earlier this week only after a U.S. pledge to ensure against any new Jewish construction in eastern Jerusalem and the strategic West Bank. The PA negotiator told WND the Obama administration told the Palestinians if a deal is ultimately not reached with Israel the U.S. will consider imposing a solution "that the Israelis won't appreciate." Further, the PA negotiator said recent meetings between the Obama administration and the Palestinians revealed the White House is on board a Palestinian threat to unilaterally ask the United Nations to recognize a Palestinian state outside of negotiations with Israel. The PA negotiator said the U.S. wanted for now to stress negotiations between the parties, but that if an agreement is not reached the U.S. would not veto a U.N. Security Council resolution to unilaterally create a Palestinian state. See: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=153913 8) New York AG accused of 'bullying' private employer Demand for 'cross-dressing rights' takes 'bedroom into workplace' New York's attorney general has been accused of "bullying" a private employer to acknowledge a "right" by workers to engage in cross-dressing in a move critics say "takes the bedroom into the workplace." According to the New York Daily News, an agreement forced by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo will require American Eagle Outfitters to allow men to dress as women and women to dress as men if they wish. The company confirmed that to avoid "further expense and the distraction of a prolonged argument," it agreed to the compromise. The new policy will also require the company to train workers in how to choose which pronoun to use – apparently "he" or "she" depending on what the person desires. The bill has been resurrected, with plans to start reviewing soon the language in the proposal, which critics already are calling the "Cross-Dressing Protection Act." H.R. 3017, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2009, or ENDA, would make it unlawful for government agencies or businesses with more than 15 employees to refuse to hire or promote anyone based on "gender-related identity, appearance or mannerisms or other gender-related characteristics of an individual, with or without regard to the individual's designated sex at birth." It's being promoted by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., and others. The bill makes exceptions for the U.S. military, religious organizations and some businesses with non-profit 501(c) designations, but makes no provisions for business owners' consciences. A small construction company that wanted to maintain a Christian reputation, for example, could be sued if it refused to hire transvestites. …A statement released by FRC President Tony Perkins said, "Every American who believes in the right of employers to set dress and grooming standards for their employees should be alarmed by how this attorney general has used bullying tactics and litigation to impose cross-dressing policies on American Eagle Outfitters. "What's most alarming is that President Obama and the Democratic leadership in Congress want to expand these bullying litigation tactics to all 50 states by enacting into federal law a cross-dressing protection act. If Congress approves President Obama's ENDA bill, employers in every state can expect to experience the same expensive, burdensome litigation that has been pursued," he said. See: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=153429 9) Evangelical leaders 'out on a limb' A Protestant renewal organization is questioning the decision of several prominent Christian leaders to sign on to a full-page ad calling for a path toward citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants. Last fall OneNewsNow reported that the National Association of Evangelicals passed a resolution calling for a path to citizenship for those who are in the country illegally but want to embrace the responsibility and privileges of citizenship. (If they wanted to embrace the responsibility and privileges of citizenship, they would have taken the path to become citizens! - comment mine) Now the NAE has released a full-page ad in Roll Call trying to rally support for comprehensive immigration reform that "establishes a path toward legal status and/or citizenship for those who qualify and who wish to become permanent residents." Other evangelical leaders like Dr. Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention and Matt Staver of Liberty Counsel have also signed the ad. In comments to The Associated Press, Land described Arizona's new controversial immigration law as "a symptom, not a solution," and Staver said it is time to "forge a national consensus" on the issue. Maybe we should form a “national consensus” on Biblical doctrine as well? Oh, I forgot. That’s what the apostate emergent Church is already doing. See: http://www.onenewsnow.com/Church/Default.aspx?id=1010454