These articles and commentary are also posted at: http://www.theconsequencesofideas.blogspot.com/.
1) Dems‘ Accusations of GOP ’Secret Foreign Money’ Go Unsubstantiated
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration and its allies are going all out against the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and GOP-leaning groups, accusing them of using foreign money to help finance political ads. Trouble is, they’re providing no evidence.
The mere idea, lack of proof aside, is part of a Democratic message that tries to tie Republicans to foreign interests and to jobs shifted overseas. On Monday, the liberal group MoveOn.org began airing an ad in Illinois against Senate candidate Mark Kirk using his support from the chamber to link him to foreign corporations that, in the ad’s words, “threaten American jobs.”
…Using foreign money to pay for political activity is illegal, and the Chamber of Commerce says the minimal amount of money it receives from overseas is carefully segregated from political spending. The chamber says its 115 foreign business councils, known as “AmChams,” pay a total of about $100,000.
“There is no evidence at all that the chamber has done anything illegally,” said Richard L. Hasen, an expert on election law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. But he also noted that the potential for impropriety exists with any organization that accepts funds that would be illegal if spent on politics.
To be sure, money that is segregated for other purposes can free legal funds for political uses.
But the chamber is hardly alone. A number of labor unions and advocacy groups that participate in politics have foreign affiliates and overseas donors. By law, these groups must make sure no foreign funds are used to advocate for or against political candidates. What’s more, foreign companies with United States divisions can create political action committees that accept donations from their U.S. employees.
Those foreign-connected PACs have contributed more than $12 million to political candidates this election cycle, with more than half going to Democrats (emphasis mine), according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that tracks political money. PACs must itemize and identify the source of all contributions more than $200.
…“The problem is not that the allegation is not a big deal,” said Hasen, of Loyola Law School. “The problem is that the allegation is not backed by any facts.”
James Bopp, an election lawyer who has argued for fewer restrictions in campaign finance laws, said the administration’s attacks show “the irony of a president who promised to bring us to higher standard who now has gone to the lowest possible standard.”
See: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/dems-accusations-of-gop-secret-foreign-money-go-unsubstantiated/
1a) Public Enemy No. 1: GOP Donors
The White House attack on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce isn't about "disclosure." It's about disarmament. While posing as campaign finance champions, the ultimate goal of the Democratic offensive is to intimidate conservative donors, chill political free speech and drain Republican coffers.
Chamber of Commerce official Bruce Josten tried to educate the public. "(W)e know what the purpose here is," he told ABC News. "It's to harass and intimidate." Josten cited protests and threats against chamber members as retribution for ads the organization ran opposing the federal health care takeover.
But this isn't the first time liberal bullyboys have targeted right-leaning contributors. Far from it.
…In California, gay rights mau-mau-ers compiled black lists and harassment lists of citizens who contributed to the Proposition 8 initiative in defense of traditional marriage. A Los Angeles restaurant whose manager made a small donation to the Prop. 8 campaign was besieged nightly by hordes of protesters who disrupted the business, intimidated patrons and brought employees to tears. Terrified workers at El Coyote Mexican Cafe pooled together $500 to pay off the protesters. A theater director who donated $1,000 to Prop. 8 was forced to resign over the donation.
Anonymous mischief-makers created "Eight Maps," a detailed directory of Prop. 8 donors using Google Maps to pinpoint their residences and businesses. Death threats, enveloped with powdery substances, and boycotts ensued. "When I see those maps," admitted California Voter Foundation President Kim Alexander, "it does leave me with a bit of a sick feeling in my stomach."
It's the same feeling every American should be left with after witnessing the liberal thug-tested, White House-approved donor suppression campaign against fiscal and social conservatives. In the hands of leftist vigilantes, "disclosure" is a deadly bludgeon; political free speech is the casualty.
See: http://townhall.com/columnists/MichelleMalkin/2010/10/15/public_enemy_no_1_gop_donors/
1b) Obama On GOP: "The Empire Is Striking Back"
President Obama, with a coarse voice, warned a crowd in Ohio: "They're fighting back. The empire is striking back. To win this election, they are plowing ten's of millions of dollars into front groups. They are running misleading negative ads all across the country."
See: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/10/17/obama_on_gop_the_empire_is_striking_back.html
2) First New York, Now Illinois Fails US Military on Mailing Absentee Ballots
Is anyone noticing a pattern with liberal states failing to send absentee ballots to the brave men and women serving our country overseas? First New York, now Illinois.
The U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether the state of Illinois missed the deadline for mailing absentee ballots to members of the military and other overseas American voters as part of a new federal overseas voting law.
Cris Cray, Director of Legislation at the Illinois State Board of Elections, says not all of Illinois’ 110 jurisdictions were compliant with the 2009 Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act (MOVE).
The law requires every state to mail their absentee ballots 45 days prior to Election Day to overseas troops, government employees and other Americans who want to vote from abroad.
Cray says she is currently compiling data from each of Illinois’ jurisdictions to determine which were compliant and which were delinquent. Cray said it’s possible the ballots may not be counted because the state was tardy in sending them out.
Illinois was required to have all of its absentee ballots mailed by Sept. 18, the national deadline. Election officials have until Nov. 15 to count the absentee ballots, which must be postmarked by midnight Nov. 1 to be eligible.
There are two explanations. Either the liberal state governments are incompetent, or they’re corrupt. Either way, why would anyone out there vote for more of the same?
2a) EXCLUSIVE: Illinois Elections Officials Caught Lying About Military Ballots
This is a national disgrace. The Illinois State Board of Elections has been lying about the status of military absentee ballots and a lazy Department of Justice has allowed itself to be duped.
In an e-mail exchange between the Illinois State Board of Elections and the Department of Justice’s Voting Section shows the State has been misleading DOJ for almost a month.
…Yesterday, Cray finally admitted that not all counties were in compliance and this may lead to the disenfranchisement of thousands of military personnel.
Cray said it’s possible the ballots may not be counted because the state was tardy in sending them out.
But, the cover up continues. To start with, the Board is inconsistent in the number of counties that are involved. In yesterday’s Chicago Tribune Dan White is quoted as saying “fewer than 10 counties were involved.” But Pantagraph reports at least 35 counties missed the deadline.
St. Clair County Clerk Robert Delaney, who has a history of voter suppression, held 1,300 ballots for two weeks. Delaney says he informed the State Board of his decision prior to the September 18th deadline, which would be prior to Crays e-mail to Weinstein-Tull:
Delaney said he informed the Illinois State Board of Elections of his decision to delay the ballots’ mailing after receiving an e-mail message several days before the Sept. 18 deadline .
“I told the state what I was doing, the state board knew it.”
Who knew what and when? How many members of the military are going to lose their right to vote? Why is DOJ sitting on the sidelines?
3) Massachusetts Democrat Jim McGovern Says, ‘I Think the Constitution Is Wrong’
BOSTON — Tonight in a debate at Shrewsbury High School, Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern shocked the audience when he declared, “I think the Constitution is wrong” (0:32):
Discussing campaign-finance regulation, and apparently referring to the U.S. Supreme Court’s January Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission ruling, McGovern said:
“We have a lousy Supreme Court decision that has opened the floodgates, and so we have to deal within the realm of constitutionality. And a lot of the campaign finance bills that we have passed have been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. I think the Constitution is wrong. I don’t think that money is the same thing as human beings. I don’t think money equals free speech. I don’t think corporations should have the same equality as a regular voter in this district.”
4) George Soros: I’m not getting in the way of this Republican avalanche
The first rule of investing: Don’t put money into a company that’s about to crash.
“I made an exception getting involved in 2004,” Mr. Soros, 80, said in a brief interview Friday at a forum sponsored by the Bretton Woods Committee, which promotes understanding of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
“And since I didn’t succeed in 2004, I remained engaged in 2006 and 2008. But I’m basically not a party man. I’d just been forced into that situation by what I considered the excesses of the Bush administration.”
Mr. Soros, a champion of liberal causes, has been directing his money to groups that work on health care and the environment, rather than electoral politics. Asked if the prospect of Republican control of one or both houses of Congress concerned him, he said: “It does, because I think they are pushing the wrong policies, but I’m not in a position to stop it. I don’t believe in standing in the way of an avalanche.”
What does an avalanche look like? Well, per Gallup’s latest, it looks like a steady double-digit lead on the generic ballot that hasn’t budged despite a week of dopey “Democratic comeback” stories in the media. And, as Moe Lane pointed out a few minutes ago on Twitter, it looks like fully 93 Democratic House seats now in play according to the Cook Political Report — including the one held by Barney Frank. I wonder if, in 30 years of being in the House, Frank’s seat has ever showed up on Cook’s hit list before. Strange days, my friends. Magical days.
5) Did Michelle Obama Break Electioneering Law?
Above the Law.
While in Chicago soliciting campaign donations for mob moneyman Alexi Giannoulias,
While there, it appears the First Lady broke state law.
First lady Michelle Obama appears to have violated Illinois law -- when she engaged in political discussion at a polling place!
The drama began after Mrs. Obama stopped off at the Martin Luther King Center on the south side of Chicago to cast an early vote.
After finishing at the machine, Obama went back to the desk and handed in her voting key.
She let voters including electrician Dennis Campbell, 56, take some photos.
"She was telling me how important it was to vote to keep her husband's agenda going," Campbell said.
According to a pool reporter from the CHICAGO SUN-TIMES at the scene, the conversation took place INSIDE the voting center, not far from the booths.
According to Illinois State Law;
Illinois state law -- Sec. 17-29 (a) -- states: "No judge of election, pollwatcher, or other person shall, at any primary or election, do any electioneering or soliciting of votes or engage in any political discussion within any polling place [or] within 100 feet of any polling place."
When Questioned about the incident,
An Illinois State Board of Elections official gave the First Lady a pass.
"You kind of have to drop the standard for the first lady, right?" the official explained late Thursday. "I mean, she's pretty well liked and probably doesn't know what she's doing."
That particular official seems to have forgotten that Mrs. Obama is a lawyer.
And White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs agreed with the official;
"I don't think it would be much to imagine, the First Lady might support her husband's agenda."
Both Gibbs and the elections official are basically saying the same thing,
She broke the law, but its okay, she’s the First Lady.
The incident goes to the core of this White House as well as the rest of our government’s “Ruling Class.”
Rules, laws, ethics, they all apply,
Just not to them.
See: http://reddogreport.com/2010/10/did-michelle-obama-break-electioneering-law/
And: http://gatewaypundit.firstthings.com/2010/10/uh-oh-michelle-o-campaigns-in-polling-place/
6) Ground Zero 'mosque' or 'rabat'?
The name Cordoba House is the first indication that the "mosque" planned for Ground Zero is actually a rabat and not really a mosque. In Islam, every building associated with the faith and its rituals has a specific, prescribed character. I have been in mosques in various places around the world, including the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. A mosque is a one-story building with a mihrab, or atrium. That one story can be 10 feet high or hundreds of feet high, but it must have only one floor.
The owner of the property, Sharif el-Gamal, has referred to Cordoba House, or Park 51, as an outreach center for Islam, or a Dar al-Tabligh, which is a place to proselytize for Islam. However, the prescribed structure is not consistent with the construction plans as described by el-Gamal and Imam Feisel Rauf. The plans for Cordoba House do, however, describe a building known well to Islamic purposes and that is a "rabat."
A New York Post article by Amir Taheri Sept. 10 clearly laid out the differences between a mosque and a rabat. Beginning during the time of Muhammad's military conquests, rabats were built after an invasion of a new territory. The purpose of the rabat was to act as a place for raiders to return to from "ghazvas" against the infidels who had not yet been conquered. Ghazvas, also known as razzias, were acts of terror against infidels designed to convince them to surrender their land and themselves to the submission of Islam.
See: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=212721
7) UN warns prolonged global jobs crisis could spawn global unrest
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has warned of growing social unrest because it fears global employment will not recover until 2015. This is two years later than its earlier estimate that the labour market would rebound to pre-crisis levels by 2013. About 22 million new jobs are needed – 14 million in rich countries and 8 million in developing nations.
The UN work agency warned of a long "labour market recession" and noted that social unrest related to the crisis had already been reported in at least 25 countries, including some recovering emerging economies.
Crisis-hit Spain faced its first general strike in eight years last week as unions protested against the government's austerity measures and labour reforms. The strike last Wednesday coincided with protests in Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Slovenia and Lithuania, as well as demonstrations in Brussels by tens of thousands of workers from across Europe as part of a continental day of action against public spending cuts.
John Monks, general secretary of the European Trades Union Confederation, called for workers across the continent to take part in the protests. "Fight for growth, fight for jobs, fight to protect social Europe. Don't go down the austerity route," he said.
Yeah - protesting against spending cuts - that will create jobs.
See: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/oct/05/economy-europe
8) David Brooks: Obama told me “shovel-ready” was a crock…a year ago
How much of a tool is New York Times columnist David Brooks?
This much: On the PBS NewsHour last night, Brooks admitted that President Obama told him a year ago that he knew that the “shovel-ready project” propaganda he employed to pass the massive porkulus bill was a steaming load of bullcrap.
Brooks’ New York Times colleague Peter Baker reported the newsworthy admission in an upcoming Sunday magazine piece. It’s an admission that received much deserved attention here in the blogosphere this week and that invited much deserved derision from Republican critics of the stimulus boondoggle.
See: http://michellemalkin.com/2010/10/16/david-brooks-obama-told-me-shovel-ready-was-a-crock-a-year-ago/
8a) Tax, Spend and Shovel
Back in early 2009, President-elect Barack Obama was asked on "Meet the Press" how quickly he could create jobs. Oh, very fast, he said. He'd already consulted with a gaggle of governors, and "all of them have projects that are shovel-ready." When Obama revealed the members of his energy team, he explained that they were part of his effort to get started on "shovel-ready projects all across the country." When he unveiled his education secretary, he assured everyone that he was going to get started "helping states and local governments with shovel-ready projects."
In interviews, job summits and press conferences, it was shovel-ready this, shovel-ready that. Search the White House website for the term "shovel-ready" and you'll drown in press releases about all the shovels ready to shove shovel-ready projects into the 21st century, where no shovel is left behind.
Only now it turns out that the president was shoveling something all right when he was talking about shovel-ready jobs -- a whole pile of steaming something.
In the current issue of the New York Times magazine, Obama admits that there's "no such thing as shovel-ready" when it comes to public works.
See: http://townhall.com/columnists/JonahGoldberg/2010/10/15/tax,_spend_and_shovel
9) “Man up!:” Doddering Reid wilts in debate with Angle
In style and substance, Lady in Red Sharron Angle trounced the four-term Democrat Senate incumbent and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid at tonight’s Las Vegas debate.
He preposterously called George W. Bush “his friend” (after infamously branding him a “loser“), claimed credit for the surge in Iraq (after questioning General Petraeus’s competence and character), and became a new convert to the English First movement (after having voted against such a proclamation in 2006. In an instant-made-for-political-ad-classic, Angle challenged the entrenched incumbent’s wealth.
A miffed Reid referred to himself as a “fixed income” peon…who happens to live in the Ritz-Carlton.
And in the quotable quote of the night, Angle pricked Reid’s delusions about the teetering Social Security system with two terse words:
“Man up.”
Hapless Harry relied on tired senatorial cliches and weasel words (“extreme,” “extreme,” ” my friend,” “extreme”); he resorted to condescension in response to Angle’s aggressive challenges on the shortcircuiting of the deliberative process in Washington overseen by Reid (she just “didn’t understand what goes on,” he sniffed cluelessly); and in the closing statement of his political life, he awkwardly shuffled his yellow notebook pages around before meekly arguing that Angle was offensive.
Angle smiled, channeling Reagan’s warrior optimism, and asked for Nevadans’ votes to restore prosperity and freedom and American exceptionalism. Without notes.
See: http://michellemalkin.com/2010/10/14/man-up-doddering-reid-wilts-in-debate-with-angle/
9a) Angle mops the floor with Reid
While both candidates -- Sharron Angle and Harry Reid -- started out slow and tight in their debate this evening, by debate close it was clear: Angle mopped the floor with Reid.
She hit hard on a variety of topics; showed she had the fire to be a U.S. Senator; demonstrated a command of the issues; and, of course, stayed gaffe free.
Reid meanwhile looked tired. Sounded entitled. He mixed up the Department of Education with the Department of Energy. Couldn't find his notes for the close and generally fell back on talking points on far too many questions.
See: http://www.lvrj.com/blogs/sherm/Angle_mops_the_floor_with_Reid_.html?ref=164
9b) Angle Nearly Lands Knockout Blow Against Reid
Throughout the Nevada Senate campaign, it was Republican Sharron Angle who looked unprepared for-prime-time. But after last night's debate, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid looked more like the gaffe-prone politician as he struggled to make headway in one of the closest and most consequential Senate contests.
Angle took full advantage of Reid's position as a political insider, taunting him for his support of Democratic policies, from the stimulus to the health care bill. At one point, Angle told Reid to "man up" - and later questioned how he became so wealthy as a public servant.
"I'm not a career politician," Angle said in her opening remarks. "I live in a middle class neighborhood in Reno; Senator Reid lives in the Ritz-Carlton in Washington, DC."
Reid, recognizing the importance of the economy in this election, said his top priority as a senator is to create jobs. Angle retorted: "Harry Reid, it's not your job to create jobs. It's your job to create confidence to get the private sector to create jobs."
Reid didn't help his own cause either, fumbling through his notes during his closing statement and misidentifying the "Department of Education" as the "Department of Energy" and failing to aggressively take advantage of Angle's very conservative positions on whole host of issues. And he offered frequent praise for a host of Republicans, like Antonin Scalia and former President George W. Bush, hardly a way to energize the Democratic base that's so crucial to his success.
See: http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2010/10/mud_slung_in_re.php
Even Newsweek and The Las Vegas Sun’s Jon Ralston (no friend of Sharron Angle) agree:
9c) The Passion of Harry Reid: Senator Flails Against Angle in Nevada Debate
9d) Reid lost the debate to Angle
(See: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/oct/15/reid-lost-debate-angle/)
9e) Meanwhile, Harry Reid lives in delusion:
Harry Reid unaware of any journalists or pundits who declared Sharron Angle the winner
Oh, and by the way, Sharron Angle also had a record quarter fundraising…
10) Behind Angle’s $14 Mil Haul
Republican Senate candidate Sharron Angle’s stunning third-quarter fundraising results — her campaign today reported raising $14 million last cycle — is a historical record for a Nevada candidate, including the well-heeled Harry Reid.
See: http://www.nationalreview.com/battle10/249565/behind-angles-14-mil-haul-elizabeth-crum
11) Supremes get case against 'putative' President Obama
Petition: 'There exists possibility that he could be an illegal alien'
A new court filing that returns the issue of Barack Obama's eligibility to the U.S. Supreme Court warns that unless the judiciary makes a definitive decision in the dispute, it will be the same as allowing the political interests in the United States to amend the U.S. Constitution at will.
A petition for writ of certiorari has been filed with the high court in the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision to uphold the dismissal of a case brought by attorney Mario Apuzzo on behalf of Charles F. Kerchner Jr., Lowell T. Patterson, Darrell James Lenormand and Donald H. Nelsen Jr.
…Now Apuzzo has escalated the issue to the highest court in the land, suggesting that "the constitutional issue … cannot be decided by the political parties and a voting majority. Our nation is ultimately guided by the Constitution and the rule of law, not by majority rule. Allowing the political parties and the voting majorities to decide constitutional issues would be tantamount to amending the Constitution without going through the amendment process prescribed by Article V of the Constitution and abandoning the basic principles of republican government."
In an announcement about the filing, Apuzzo said Obama not only has not proven, as required under the Constitution, his status as a "natural born citizen," but "he has hidden all his early life records including his original long-form birth certificate, early school records, college records, travel and passport records needed to prove he is even a born citizen of the United States."
His case argues, essentially, that even if Obama was born in Hawaii as he claims, he still fails to reach the Constitution's mandated eligibility requirement.
And it could be even worse.
"Putative President, Barack Hussein Obama … has not yet conclusively proven that he was born in the United States … His father was never a United States citizen nor was he even a permanent resident … They both became Kenyan citizens when Kenya got its independence in 1963 … Obama's relationship to his Indonesian stepfather and move to Indonesia when he was a child … and his travels to Pakistan in 1981, also raise doubts," the petition explains.
"If Obama was not born in the United States, there exists a possibility that Obama could be an illegal alien," it states.
See: http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=210521
12) Arabs May Ask UN to Recognize Palestinian State
BRUSSELS -- Arab nations may seek U.N. recognition of a Palestinian state, if Israel continues to build settlements in the West Bank, Egypt's foreign minister said Friday.
Ahmed Aboul Gheit said an Arab League request to the U.N. may come next month.
"If Israel does not respect the settlements freeze," Gheit said, "the Arab League will study some other option aside from the peace process such as going to the United Nations and ask for the recognition of the Palestinian state."
See: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/10/15/arabs-ask-recognize-palestinian-state/?test=latestnews
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