2011 Economic Collapse; Journalism 'Reinvention'; 25 million people eliminated?

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand Between their loved home and the war's desolation! Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation. Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto: "In God is our trust." And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave! - the last verse of “The Star Spangled Banner”, Francis Scott Key, 1814 1) Glenn Beck: Audio from 1982 that will blow your mind: A Weather Underground Infiltrator describes conservation with Weather Underground Re: what will happen after “we take over the government” GLENN…This is a former FBI agent from 1982 exposing for the first time what he found while sitting in a room full of Weather Underground leaders, including Bill Ayers. Listen and remember. VOICE: I brought up the subject of what's going to happen after we take over the government. You know, we become responsible then for administrating, you know, 250 million people. And there was no answers. No one had given any thought to economics, how are you going to clothe and feed these people. The only thing that I could get was that they expected that the Cubans and the North Vietnamese and the Chinese and the Russians would all want to occupy different portions of the United States. They also believed that their immediate responsibility would be to protect against what they called the counterrevolution and they felt that this counterrevolution could best be guarded against by creating and reestablishing reeducation centers in the southwest where we would take all the people who needed to be reeducated into the new way of thinking and teach them how things were going to be. I ask, well, what is going to happen to those people that we can't reeducate, that are diehard capitalists? And the reply was that they would have to be eliminated. And when I pursued this further, they estimated that they would have to eliminate 25 million people in these reeducation centers. And when I say eliminate, I mean kill. 25 million people (emphasis mine). See: http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/41773/ 2) Journalism 'Reinvention' Smacks of Government Control, Critics Say A list of potential policy recommendations to reinvent the field of journalism that has been compiled by the Federal Trade Commission is a "dangerous" overreach of power and a waste of taxpayer funds, critics of the project told FoxNews.com. FTC officials began a project in May 2009 to consider the challenges the journalism industry faces in the digital age. The federal agency recently released a discussion draft titled "Potential Policy Recommendations to Support the Reinvention of Journalism," a 47-page document that outlines a major government push to rescue the country's flailing media platforms -- specifically newspapers, which have seen advertising revenues drop roughly 45 percent since 2000. Among the numerous proposals mentioned in the document are: -- the creation of a "journalism" division of AmeriCorps, the federal program that places 75,000 people with local and national nonprofit groups annually; -- tax credits to news organizations for every journalist employed; -- establishing citizenship news vouchers, which "would allow every American tax payer to allocate some amount of government funds to the non-profit media organization" of their choice; -- increased funding for public radio and television; -- providing grants to universities to conduct investigative journalism; -- increased postal subsidies for newspapers and periodicals; -- a 5 percent tax on consumer electronics, which would generate roughly $4 billion annually, to pay for increased public funding. But some critics are voicing concerns about the draft document, saying that if the government has any influence over the Fourth Estate, it could lead to a dizzying web of conflicting interests and the eradication of independent journalism. NOT TO MENTION THE FIRST AMENDMENT! See: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/06/02/journalism-reinvention-smacks-government-control-critics-say/ 2a) EDITORIAL: FTC floats Drudge tax Journalism can reinvent itself without government 'help' The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is seeking ways to "reinvent" journalism, and that's a cause for concern. According to a May 24 draft proposal, the agency thinks government should be at the center of a media overhaul. The bureaucracy sees it as a problem that the Internet has introduced a wealth of information options to consumers, forcing media companies to adapt and experiment to meet changing market needs. FTC's policy staff fears this new reality. "There are reasons for concern that experimentation may not produce a robust and sustainable business model for commercial journalism," the report states. With no faith that the market will work things out for the better, government thinks it must come to the rescue. The ideas being batted around to save the industry share a common theme: They are designed to empower bureaucrats, not consumers. For instance, one proposal would, "Allow news organizations to agree jointly on a mechanism to require news aggregators and others to pay for the use of online content, perhaps through the use of copyright licenses." See: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jun/4/ftc-floats-drudge-tax/ 3) Obama's greenhouse gas rules survive Senate vote WASHINGTON – In a boost for the president on global warming, the Senate on Thursday rejected a challenge to Obama administration rules aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and other big polluters. The defeated resolution would have denied the Environmental Protection Agency the authority to move ahead with the rules, crafted under the federal Clean Air Act. With President Barack Obama's broader clean energy legislation struggling to gain a foothold in the Senate, the vote took on greater significance as a signal of where lawmakers stand on dealing with climate change. …The vote was 53-47 to stop the Senate from moving forward on the Republican-led effort to restrain the EPA. …Republicans, and the six Democrats who voted with them to advance the resolution, said Congress, not bureaucrats, should be in charge of writing climate change policy. They said the EPA rules would drive up energy costs and kill jobs. What this means is that the Senate just voted down a resolution that would have stopped the EPA from unconstitutionally crafting its own law on climate change - when it declared that CO2 is a pollutant some weeks ago. See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100611/ap_on_bi_ge/us_greenhouse_gases 4) Tax Hikes and the 2011 Economic Collapse People can change the volume, the location and the composition of their income, and they can do so in response to changes in government policies. It shouldn't surprise anyone that the nine states without an income tax are growing far faster and attracting more people than are the nine states with the highest income tax rates. People and businesses change the location of income based on incentives. Likewise, who is gobsmacked when they are told that the two wealthiest Americans—Bill Gates and Warren Buffett—hold the bulk of their wealth in the nontaxed form of unrealized capital gains? The composition of wealth also responds to incentives. And it's also simple enough for most people to understand that if the government taxes people who work and pays people not to work, fewer people will work. Incentives matter. People can also change the timing of when they earn and receive their income in response to government policies. According to a 2004 U.S. Treasury report, "high income taxpayers accelerated the receipt of wages and year-end bonuses from 1993 to 1992—over $15 billion—in order to avoid the effects of the anticipated increase in the top rate from 31% to 39.6%. At the end of 1993, taxpayers shifted wages and bonuses yet again to avoid the increase in Medicare taxes that went into effect beginning 1994." Just remember what happened to auto sales when the cash for clunkers program ended. Or how about new housing sales when the $8,000 tax credit ended? It isn't rocket surgery, as the Ivy League professor said. On or about Jan. 1, 2011, federal, state and local tax rates are scheduled to rise quite sharply. President George W. Bush's tax cuts expire on that date, meaning that the highest federal personal income tax rate will go 39.6% from 35%, the highest federal dividend tax rate pops up to 39.6% from 15%, the capital gains tax rate to 20% from 15%, and the estate tax rate to 55% from zero (emphasis mine). Lots and lots of other changes will also occur as a result of the sunset provision in the Bush tax cuts. …Now, if people know tax rates will be higher next year than they are this year, what will those people do this year? They will shift production and income out of next year into this year to the extent possible. As a result, income this year has already been inflated above where it otherwise should be and next year, 2011, income will be lower than it otherwise should be. Also, the prospect of rising prices, higher interest rates and more regulations next year will further entice demand and supply to be shifted from 2011 into 2010. In my view, this shift of income and demand is a major reason that the economy in 2010 has appeared as strong as it has. When we pass the tax boundary of Jan. 1, 2011, my best guess is that the train goes off the tracks and we get our worst nightmare of a severe "double dip" recession (emphasis mine). …It has always amazed me how tax cuts don't work until they take effect. Mr. Obama's experience with deferred tax rate increases will be the reverse. The economy will collapse in 2011 (emphasis mine). See: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704113504575264513748386610.html 5) U.S. Will be Like Greece in ‘Seven to 10 Years,’ Say Congressmen, Experts CNSNEws.com) - Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), along with other members of Congress and leading financial experts, is warning that the United States is in danger of being in the same dire situation as Greece – national bankruptcy -- in seven to 10 years unless the federal government radically curtails spending. Last month, Gregg, the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, said the United States will “essentially be where Greece is in about seven years.” “If we continue to spend much more than we take in," he says. "We'll double our debt in five years and triple it in 10 years and essentially be where Greece is in about seven years,” Gregg told the Fox Business Network in May. See: http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/67183 6) Morning Bell: The Jobless Obama Recovery …The Labor Department's Bureau of Labor and Statistics released its monthly jobs report today showing that the economy added 431,000 jobs in May. But don't let that number fool you. Of those 431,000 jobs, 411,000 jobs were temporary government Census jobs. In fact, private sector job growth actually fell in May, from 231,000 new private sector jobs in April to just 41,000 new private sector jobs in May. Combining the private and public sectors--the nation's unemployment rate fell to 9.7% as 286,000 workers left the labor force. In total the U.S. economy has now lost a net of 2.2 million jobs since President Barack Obama signed his stimulus bill and his administration is now 7.2 million jobs short of what he promised the American economy would support by 2010. See: http://blog.heritage.org/?p=35225 7) Ax may fall on tax break for mortgages The popular tax break for mortgage interest, once considered untouchable, is falling under the scrutiny of policymakers and economic experts seeking ways to close huge deficits. Although Congress last year rejected the White House’s proposed cut to the amount wealthier taxpayers can deduct for home mortgage interest payments, the administration included it again in its 2010 budget — saying it could save $208 billion over the next decade. And now that sentiment has turned against all the federal red ink — and cost-cutting is in vogue — Democrats on President Barack Obama’s financial commission are considering the wisdom of permanent tax breaks such as the mortgage deduction and corporate deferral. Calling them “tax entitlements,” senior Democratic lawmakers have argued they should be on the table for reform just like traditional entitlement programs Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid. NOT paying a tax is a “tax entitlement”? Using this logic the government must be “entitled” to all of my earnings. Can you see the absurdity in this? See: http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/101883-axe-may-fall-on-tax-break-for-mortgages 8) Democrats eyeing 401k takeover As a kind of bailout for bankrupt union retirement schemes, Democrats are considering yet another Constitution-trampling government takeover, this time, of private 401k retirement accounts. The idea would be to create yet another entitlement program through which government would dictate the terms of everyone's retirement--while making it so difficult and costly to have a private 401k that everyone is forced into it. Under Obama, the federal government has now illegally taken over the auto industry, the banks, housing, health care, student loans...and coming soon, apparently even private retirement accounts. But don't worry. It's not like history is jam-packed full of warnings against continuously surrendering freedoms and nationalizing all power into the hands of the few. See: http://www.examiner.com/x-35976-Conservative-Examiner~y2010m5d5-Democrats-eyeing-401k-takeover 9) Palin to Obama on oil companies: 'Give me a call' JUNEAU, Alaska – Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said President Barack Obama's acknowledgment that he hasn't directly spoken to BP's chief executive shows it "bodes well to have some sort of executive experience before occupying the Oval Office." Then, in a Facebook posting Tuesday, she outlined her experience. And she urged Obama to contact experts, including those in Alaska, who have held oil companies accountable. In parts of this state, the effects of the Exxon Valdez disaster are still being felt 21 years after that massive oil spill. "Give them a call," she wrote. "Or, what the heck, give me a call." Palin's latest missive is extensive, chiding not only Obama but also the media for not calling him out in his handling of the massive oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico. Obama, in an interview with NBC's "Today" show, broadcast Tuesday, said he hadn't spoken directly to BP CEO Tony Hayward because his experience tells him someone like that would say "all the right things" and that he's more interested in action than in words. See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100609/ap_on_re_us/us_gulf_oil_spill_palin 9a) Obama Seeking "Ass To Kick" Over Oil Spill "I don't sit around just talking to experts because this is a college seminar, we talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers, so I know whose ass to kick." Oh so very presidential of him… See: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/06/07/obama_seeking_ass_to_kick_over_oil_spill.html 9b) Morning Bell: How the White House is Making Oil Recovery Harder Five weeks ago Escambia County officials requested permission from the Mobile Unified Command Center to use a sand skimmer, a device pulled behind a tractor that removes oil and tar from the top three feet of sand, to help clean up Pensacola’s beaches. County officials still haven’t heard anything back. Santa Rosa Island Authority Buck Lee told The Daily Caller why: “Escambia County sends a request to the Mobile, Ala., Unified Command Center. Then, it’s reviewed by BP, the federal government, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Coast Guard. If they don’t like it, they don’t tell us anything.” Keeping local governments in the dark is just one reason why the frustration of residents in the Gulf is so palpable. State and local governments know their geography, people, economic impacts and needs far better than the federal government does. Contrary to popular belief, the federal government has actually been playing a bigger and bigger role in running natural disaster responses. And as Heritage fellow Matt Mayer has documented, the results have gotten worse, not better. And when the federal government isn’t sapping the initiative and expertise of local governments, it has been preventing foreign governments from helping. Just three days after the Deepwater Horizon explosion, the Dutch government offered to provide ships outfitted with oil-skimming booms and proposed a plan for building sand barriers to protect sensitive marshlands. LA Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) supported the idea, but the Obama administration refused the help. All told, thirteen countries have offered to help us clean up the Gulf, and the Obama administration has turned them all down. See: http://blog.heritage.org/2010/06/10/morning-bell-how-the-white-house-is-making-oil-recovery-harder 10) Health law could ban low-cost plans Part of the health care overhaul due to kick in this September could strip more than 1 million people of their insurance coverage, violating a key goal of President Barack Obama’s reforms. Under the provision, insurance companies will no longer be able to apply broad annual caps on the amount of money they pay out on health policies. Employer groups say the ban could essentially wipe out a niche insurance market that many part-time workers and retail and restaurant employees have come to rely on. This market’s limited-benefit plans, also called mini-med plans, are priced low because they can, among other things, restrict the number of covered doctor visits or impose a maximum on insurance payouts in a year. The plans are commonly offered by retail or restaurant companies to low-wage workers who cannot afford more expensive, comprehensive coverage. Depending on how strictly the administration implements the provision, the ban could in effect outlaw the plans or make them so restrictive that insurance companies would raise rates to the point they become unaffordable. “If you like your coverage you can keep it?” Yeah, right. See: http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=142CBE3B-18FE-70B2-A82B15071E682918 11) Dems launch $125M health campaign Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and Victoria Kennedy — widow of Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) — are expected to be named co-chairmen of a $125 million campaign that White House allies are rolling out to defend health care reform amid growing signs Democrats are failing to get political traction on the issue. The extraordinary campaign, which could provide an unprecedented amount of cover for a White House in a policy debate, reflects urgency among Democrats to explain, defend and depoliticize health care reform now that people are beginning to feel the new law’s effects. They KNOW the American people hate it. No amount of selling is going to make us like it, Tom Daschle. See: http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=123C4723-18FE-70B2-A89C3D9E06224F6F 12) Out of the Gate: Poll Shows Angle Ahead in Nevada For Sharron Angle, who just won the GOP nomination (HORAY! HORAY! - comment mine) to take on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in Nevada, it’s not a bad way to start. voters found that 50% supported Angle, 39% supported Reid; 5% liked some other candidate and 6% were on the fence. The survey was done Wednesday night, amid a blitz of news coverage of Angle’s primary election victory the night before. A Mason-Dixon poll out over the weekend showed Angle up by three percentage points over Reid, 44%-41%. Republicans have quickly lined up behind Angle, with 88% of GOP voters supporting her, the Rasmussen poll shows. Reid and Angle’s favorability ratings aren’t hugely different: 46% view Reid favorably while 54% have an unfavorable view; for Angle, it’s 48% favorable, 45% unfavorable, with 8% having no opinion. The big difference is in intensity: 45% view Reid as “very unfavorable” while 23% have that view of Angle. See: http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2010/06/10/out-of-the-gate-poll-shows-angle-ahead-in-nevada/ 13) Barack Obama Ignores D-Day Anniversary – Goes to Theatre Party On June 6, 1944, the D-Day invasion of Europe took place during World War II as Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy, France. America lost 2,499 of its finest men that day. It’s too bad Barack Obama missed the anniversary today. The White House website has nothing posted today on the 66th Anniversary of the D-Day landing. The president had other things on his mind. He was attending his second party this week, tonight at the Ford Theatre. The President will also be honoring far left Bush-basher and Jew-hater Archbishop Desmond Tutu at the gala. Everyone must have their priorities. See: http://biggovernment.com/jhoft/2010/06/06/barack-obama-ignores-d-day-anniversary-goes-to-theatre-party/ 14) Teens Face Worst Summer Job Market in 41 Years Employment among 16-to 19-year olds in May grew by just 6,000, the smallest increase since 1969, when teen jobs fell by 14,000, according to government data analyzed by employment firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. In May 2008 and 2009, teen employment grew by over 110,000. “It’s certainly a preliminary strong indication that it’s going to be a tough job market for teens,” said John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas. …"Also impacting the job market for young adults are the large number of older adults who are willing to accept even a temporary, seasonal position simply to generate some income," said Steven Rothberg, chief executive officer of CollegeRecruiter.com, an online entry-level job-posting site. "We're seeing experienced candidates taking jobs normally reserved for college grads and college grads taking jobs normally reserved for college students," said Rothberg. See: http://www.cnbc.com/id/37573330 15) Barney Frank To Young Democrats: "Give Us More Authority" Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA): "You can reach out to your fellow young people and make it clear to them, that when [sic] they may not be satisfied with everything we've done -- we're not satisfied with everything we've done. The way to cure that is to give us more authority and more ability." WHAT?!?!!? See: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/06/08/barney_frank_to_young_democrats_give_us_more_authority.html 16) Pelosi: We'll Stop Blaming Bush "When The Problems Go Away" Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is asked when the "blame Bush" line has run out. Pelosi says it is very "relevant" to blame him now, referring to the financial crisis and oil spill. See: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/06/11/pelosi_well_stop_blaming_bush_when_the_problems_go_away.html 17) Financier of Gaza flotilla wants to build mosque at Ground Zero Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, one of the key financiers behind last week's violent "aid" flotilla to Gaza, is also the Muslim cleric proposing the construction of an enormous mosque where New York's World Trade Center once stood. The deep indentation where the towers fell, now known as Ground Zero, is almost holy ground for Americans determined to not let their enemies prevail. The proposal to build a mosque at the site after Muslim terrorists were responsible for the attacks is seen as a deep insult. It is unclear why certain elements in the New York municipality have given tacit approval to the mosque project, but it has stirred up a national controversy that is likely to only further enflame the current war of civilizations. Of course, that may be precisely what the Muslims want. See: http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=21242 18) Pence: "Mr. President, Whose Side Are You On?" “We all grieve the loss of life that occurred last week when a flotilla designed to challenge Israel's effective blockade of Gaza ended in military confrontation. But Israel has a right to defend itself. “The history is clear in that region; Gaza is controlled by a terrorist organization known as Hamas. Hamas used Gaza as a launching pad for thousands of rockets that killed innocent civilians in Israel. Israel responded with military force and has instituted a blockade that has saved lives in Gaza and in Israel. And there's no humanitarian crisis. Ten thousand tons of food and medical supplies are transferred into Gaza every single week. “Remarkably, yesterday the president said it was time for Israel to sharply limit its effective blockade in Gaza, saying ‘the situation in Gaza is unsustainable.’ “The truth is, Mr. President, your policy in Israel is unsustainable. “The American people are on the side of Israel and Israel’s right to defend herself. “Mr. President, whose side are you on?” See: http://mikepence.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4158&Itemid=94 19) Helen Thomas ends White House career amid uproar WASHINGTON – Helen Thomas, the opinionated White House correspondent who used her seat in the front row of history to grill 10 presidents and often exasperate them, lost her storied perch Monday in a flap over calling on Israelis to get "out of Palestine." Thomas, 89, who made her name as a bulldog for United Press International and was a pioneer for women in journalism, abruptly retired as a columnist for Hearst News Service. The announcement, in a terse statement by Hearst, came after videotaped remarks she made to an independent filmmaker spread virally through the Internet. Good riddance, Helen Thomas! See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100608/ap_on_re_us/us_helen_thomas 20) Obama proclaims June as "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month" "...Much work remains to fulfill our Nation’s promise of equal justice under law for LGBT Americans. That is why we must give committed gay couples the same rights and responsibilities afforded to any married couple, and repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. We must protect the rights of LGBT families by securing their adoption rights, ending employment discrimination against LGBT Americans, and ensuring Federal employees receive equal benefits. We must create safer schools so all our children may learn in a supportive environment. I am also committed to ending ‘‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’’ so patriotic LGBT Americans can serve openly in our military, and I am working with the Congress and our military leadership to accomplish that goal." "...NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2010 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon all Americans to observe this month by fighting prejudice and discrimination in their own lives and everywhere it exists." Psalm 12:8: The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men. See: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-13672.pdf.