Sunday, December 5, 2010

NOT a tax cut; Bargaining with national security; WikiLeaks and Don't Ask Don't Tell

1) Bernanke defends bond buys, citing at-risk economy 

WASHINGTON – Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is stepping up his defense of the Fed's $600 billion Treasury bond-purchase plan, saying the economy is still struggling to become "self-sustaining" without government help. 

In a taped interview with CBS' "60 Minutes" that aired Sunday night, Bernanke also argued that Congress shouldn't cut spending or boost taxes given how fragile the economy remains. 

The Fed chairman said he thinks another recession is unlikely. But he warned that the economy could suffer a slowdown if persistently high unemployment dampens consumer spending.

The interview is part of a broad counteroffensive Bernanke has been waging against critics of the bond purchase plan the Fed announced Nov. 3. The purchases are intended to lower long-term interest rates, lift stock prices and encourage more spending to boost the economy. 

Critics, from Republicans in Congress to some officials within the Fed, say they fear the Fed's intervention could spur inflation and speculative buying on Wall Street while doing little to aid the economy. 

On other issues in the "60 Minutes" interview, Bernanke: 

• Argued that unemployment would have been far higher — "something like it was in the Depression, 25 percent" — had the Fed not provided extraordinary aid to Wall Street firms, banks and other companies to ease a credit crisis. 

• Said it could take four or five more years for unemployment, now at 9.8 percent, to fall to a historically normal 5 percent or 6 percent. 

Reiterated that the Fed is prepared to buy even more than $600 billion in Treasury bonds over the next eight months, should it decide the economy needs the fuel of even lower interest rates (emphasis mine). 

See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101206/ap_on_bi_ge/us_bernanke60_minutes 

2) It Is NOT a Tax Cut 

The "Bush Era Tax Cuts" are no longer "Tax Cuts." 

In 2001 and 2003 the Congress approved a reduction in tax rates to spur the economy. The deal was, they would expire at the end of 2010 unless they were affirmatively extended. Let's go to the calendar: 2001 was nearly 10 years ago. 2003 was almost eight years ago. 

The tax rates which are currently in place are the … tax rates which are currently in place. 

Republicans have allowed the Left to categorize the argument as "extending the Bush Era Tax Cuts." That's flat wrong. What President Obama and most of the remaining Democrats in Congress want to do is to RAISE TAXES. 

If all of the Bush Era Tax Cuts are extended, no one, not one single person of the more than 310 million in the United States will have their taxes cut. Their tax rates will remain the same. 

If, on the other hand, Nancy Pelosi and her Liberal colleagues in the House want to change those rates, they will not be reversing a tax cut. 

They will be RAISING TAXES.

See: http://townhall.com/columnists/RichGalen/2010/12/01/it_is_not_a_tax_cut 

2a) After the tax fight, parties move to compromise 

WASHINGTON – Their political options limited, Democrats and Republicans appeared to unite Sunday behind the outlines of an economic package that would temporarily extend expiring tax rates to all taxpayers as well as jobless benefits for millions of Americans. 

Differences remained over details, and some Democrats continued to object to any plan that would continue Bush-era tax rates at the highest income levels. 

Without action, however, Congress faced the prospect of letting the tax rates revert to higher pre-2001 and 2003 levels, and delivering a tax hike to all taxpayers. Negotiations between the Obama administration and a bipartisan group of lawmakers centered on a two-year extension of current rates. 

See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101206/ap_on_bi_ge/us_tax_cuts 

2b) Tax Breaks for Bailout Recipients Stir Up Debate 

A series of tax relief measures is saving companies bailed out by the government billions of dollars at a time when concern over tax revenues has risen. 

Although the Treasury Department first provided the tax guidance in the fall of 2008, the magnitude of the tax savings has become clearer in the past year. The tax relief drew new scrutiny last month after Wall Street bankers touted it to investors in the initial public offering of General Motors Corp. 

The tax breaks, already known to apply at GM and Citigroup Inc., also are helping results at another company rescued by Uncle Sam, American International Group Inc., according to tax experts and people familiar with the companies. 

The Treasury gave the same treatment to mortgage agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but their ability to save taxes as a result is less certain, the same people said. 

The tax treatment allows companies whose ownership changes to keep the right to use past losses and other deductions to offset future profits for as long as 20 years. Ordinarily, companies' ability to use such tax assets is curtailed when they are acquired, under a 1986 law aimed at curbing "trafficking" acquisitions arranged to capture tax shelters. 

I thought that the “rich” need to pay their fair share. Not if you’re a friend of The Administration, apparently. 

See: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704377004575651134154809918.html 

2c) Senate Republicans Set to Bargain Away Our National Security 

One month ago today, millions of Americans voted to reject big-government and the backroom deals that defined the Obama presidency.  Now, some of the same Senate Republicans who rode that momentum to electoral victory appear to be on the verge of ignoring that message by striking a deal to trade passage of the dangerous New START treaty for an extension of the current tax rates. 

To be crystal clear, we will view any deal on the extension of the current tax rates followed by Senate consideration of the New START Treaty, during this Lame Duck session of Congress, as the worst kind of quid pro quo. 

Recent backroom deals like the Cornhusker Kickback, Louisiana Purchase and Gator-Aid were met with ridicule and disgust on November 2nd.  But this shady deal is far, far worse.  It is unthinkable that any Senator, let alone any who claim to be conservative, would use our national security as a bargaining chit (emphasis mine). 

Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) is acting as the key negotiator for Senate Republicans on both the nuclear treaty and the Obama tax hikes.  To borrow a metaphor from the President, Senator Kyl is driving this car and he and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) should convince their fellow members to throw it in reverse. 

For months, The Heritage Foundation has articulated serious and substantive policy concerns surrounding this treaty.  We have explained, in detail, how the treaty limits our missile defense capability, why the verification provisions are inadequate and what restrictions are placed on our non-nuclear weapons – all to the great detriment to our ability to defend ourselves in an increasingly dangerous world.

See: http://blog.heritage.org/2010/12/02/senate-republicans-set-to-bargain-away-our-security/ 

3) New START, Old Stratagem 

Here we go again. President Obama is trying once again to ram a legislative initiative through Congress knowing full well that, by so doing, he is maximizing the chances that his project's defects will not become widely understood until it is too late to do much about them. Call it the pig-in-a-poke stratagem. 

This time around, however, Mr. Obama is not simply trying to socialize the economy, destroy the world's finest health care system or assault the Constitution. No, at the moment he has the national security in his crosshairs - and the negative implications could make those associated with his other, domestic policy campaigns pale by comparison. 

Specifically, the President is determined to with "rid the world of nuclear weapons" - and he is intent on securing the U.S. Senate's imprimatur for this truly hare-brained idea. That is the real impetus behind his insistence that senators rubber-stamp during the lame-duck session the so-called "New START" arms control treaty that Mr. Obama signed with his Russian counterpart last April. 

You see, the treaty was accompanied by - and is intended to put what amounts to an international seal of approval on - an administration-generated document known as the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR). The NPR commits the United States to continue on a course that would, all other things being equal, assure the continued atrophying of the American deterrent. For example, it forswears the design and manufacture of any new nuclear weapons; precludes realistic, underground testing of the obsolescing arms in the U.S. arsenal; and pledges to "devalue" the nuclear deterrence mission of those responsible for maintaining and safeguarding the forces designed to perform it. 

Now, most senators - like most Americans - have the good sense to think it advisable for the United States to maintain a viable deterrent. As a result, these sorts of proposals would be unlikely to command majority support, let alone the super-majority the Constitution requires to ratify New START. 

…The administration's flacks are particularly insistent that the urgency derives from the fact that, without New START's monitoring arrangements, we won't know what the Russians are up to. They warn darkly that, while bilateral relations with the Kremlin have been productively "reset," the sky will fall if ratification is not forthcoming over the next three weeks. 

…Like so much of the Obama administration's handiwork, none of these propositions stands up to close scrutiny. As an innovative new video by the Center for Security Policy makes clear, our enemies are emboldened by what they perceive as U.S. weakness, not induced to emulate it. 

See: http://townhall.com/columnists/FrankGaffney/2010/12/02/new_start,_old_stratagem 

3a) New Start: What Would Reagan Do?

The late president would never have supported a treaty undermining U.S. missile defenses. 

BY ED MEESE AND RICHARD PERLE 

President Obama has taken to the airwaves to pump up support for the New Start Treaty with Russia by arguing that Ronald Reagan would have endorsed it. Both of us had the high honor of knowing our 40th president. We worked for Ronald Reagan, and we're sure that's not the case. 

There are many reasons why this treaty falls short of those negotiated by President Reagan. For one thing, its verification regime is inadequate. For another, it gives the Kremlin an unwarranted influence over the structure of our nuclear deterrent. 

See: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704679204575647183506149438.html 

4) Serious Questions about the Obama Administration's Incompetence in the Wikileaks Fiasco (Sarah Palin) 

We all applaud the successful thwarting of the Christmas-Tree Bomber and hope our government continues to do all it can to keep us safe. However, the latest round of publications of leaked classified U.S. documents through the shady organization called Wikileaks raises serious questions about the Obama administration’s incompetent handling of this whole fiasco. 

First and foremost, what steps were taken to stop Wikileaks director Julian Assange from distributing this highly sensitive classified material especially after he had already published material not once but twice in the previous months? Assange is not a “journalist,” any more than the “editor” of al Qaeda’s new English-language magazine Inspire is a “journalist.” He is an anti-American operative with blood on his hands. His past posting of classified documents revealed the identity of more than 100 Afghan sources to the Taliban. Why was he not pursued with the same urgency we pursue al Qaeda and Taliban leaders? 

…Most importantly, serious questions must also be asked of the U.S. intelligence system. How was it possible that a 22-year-old Private First Class could get unrestricted access to so much highly sensitive information? And how was it possible that he could copy and distribute these files without anyone noticing that security was compromised? 

The White House has now issued orders to federal departments and agencies asking them to take immediate steps to ensure that no more leaks like this happen again. It’s of course important that we do all we can to prevent similar massive document leaks in the future. But why did the White House not publish these orders after the first leak back in July? What explains this strange lack of urgency on their part? 

See: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=465212788434&id=24718773587 

4a) WikiLeaks loses major source of revenue 

BERLIN – WikiLeaks has lost a major source of revenue after the online payment service provider PayPal cut off its account used to collect donations, saying the website is engaged in illegal activity. 

The announcement also came as WikiLeaks is struggling to keep its website accessible after service providers such as Amazon dropped contracts, and governments and hackers continued to hound the organization. 

See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101205/ap_on_hi_te/wikileaks

4b) Bradley Manning: Poster Boy for 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' 

The two biggest stories this week are WikiLeaks' continued publication of classified government documents, which did untold damage to America's national security interests, and the Democrats' fanatical determination to repeal "don't ask, don't tell" and allow gays to serve openly in the military. 

The mole who allegedly gave WikiLeaks the mountains of secret documents is Pfc. Bradley Manning, Army intelligence analyst and angry gay. 

We've heard 1 billion times about the Army translator who just wanted to serve his country, but was cashiered because of whom he loved. 

I'll see your Army translator and raise you one Bradley Manning. According to Bradley's online chats, he was in "an awkward place" both "emotionally and psychologically." So in a snit, he betrayed his country by orchestrating the greatest leak of classified intelligence in U.S. history. 

Isn't that in the Army Code of Conduct? You must follow orders at all times. Exceptions will be made for servicemen in an awkward place. Now, who wants a hug? Waitress! Three more apple-tinis!" 

According to The New York Times, Bradley sought "moral support" from his "self-described drag queen" boyfriend. Alas, he still felt out of sorts. So why not sell out his country? 

See: http://townhall.com/columnists/AnnCoulter/2010/12/01/bradley_manning_poster_boy_for_dont_ask,_dont_tell 

5) Glenn Beck: EU -- Fiscal union or bust? 

GLENN: You know, it's it's amazing to me how this is all coming together and how beautifully crafted it is. It is truly elegant the way that this country and the globe is being conned into a collective government. I want to go back to Europe and show now the choice in Europe. You know that they first said that they had to give lots of bailout money and it had to be staggering amounts does this sound familiar to shock the system over in Europe. And it went to Greece and that was supposed to stop the dominoes from falling. And now the next domino is starting to fall and that is Ireland. And the Irish didn't want it. And they were forced by the EU to take it, otherwise all the other dominoes would fall. Well, there's more dominoes to come. It's going to be Portugal and then it will be Spain. It's over. 

And so here's what's being reported in the financial sector today. 

PAT: Business Insider has a story that's headlined: You've Got to Restructure the Eurozone Now Before the Radicals Take Over. If Europe is going to resolve the current crisis in an orderly way, it's going to have to move very quickly, not just for the obvious financial reasons. 

GLENN: Hold on just a second. Could you read that sentence again? 

PAT: If Europe is going to resolve the crisis in an orderly way. 

GLENN: Stop. Who else is talking about an orderly restructuring, an orderly decline? George Soros.

PAT: George Soros. 

GLENN: Do you know that George Soros was just voted by some, I don't know, world organizational thing as the 15th most important and most influential man in the world? Now, why wouldn't we listen to what he has to say? If the world is being restructured. Listen to that again. For an orderly restructuring, you've got to move rapidly. Quick, quick! Emergency! You've got to reorder this right now! Otherwise chaos! And don't dismiss the chaos. There is chaos on the other end. 

PAT: And this particular author says that for ten years he's been using mainly an economic argument to explain why he believed the Euro would have great difficulty to survive for even a decade, let alone as long as it has. So he's he claims to have seen this coming and he quotes another article from another expert in the Financial Times that the Eurozone is maneuvering itself into a position where it confronts the choice between two alternatives considered unimaginable: Fiscal union or total breakup. So they either unite under one continental I suppose government and really unite more than they already are. 

See: http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/48741/ 

6) Top generals buck White House on military gay ban 

WASHINGTON – Bucking the Pentagon's top leaders (emphasis mine), the chiefs of the Army and Marines urged Congress on Friday not to allow openly gay people to serve in the military, at least not while troops are at war in Afghanistan. 

The generals publicly rebutted their own bosses and the White House (emphasis mine), arguing that it is too risky to change the policy now. That gave political ammunition to congressional Republicans trying to retain the ban known as "don't ask, don't tell." 

Wow. I wonder if they will suffer the same fate as General Stanley McChrystal… 

"It's important that we're clear about the military risks," said Gen. George Casey, the Army's top officer. "Repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell' would be a major cultural and policy change in the middle of a war." 

President Barack Obama has promised to jettison a policy he says is discriminatory, and asked Congress to repeal the 17-year-old law this year. Chances of that were slim to begin with, and they sank lower after Friday's blunt assessment that lifting the ban would tear the close bonds of the foxhole. Democrats have promised a vote this month. 

Both Casey and Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos undercut Defense Secretary Robert Gates' claim that the change is not too dangerous. Their views are the most closely watched because the Army and Marines are doing most of the fighting in Afghanistan, and did the same in Iraq. 

See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101204/ap_on_go_co/us_gays_in_military 

7) Reid Contaminates Food Safety Bill 

Less than 24 hours after declaring victory in his quest to vastly expand the regulatory powers of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)—for the children—Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D–NV) is mired in a procedural misstep that may well kill the legislation. 

Despite the time constraints of the waning session, Reid focused Senate attention on passage of S. 510, the Food Safety Protection Act, which was approved on Tuesday by a vote of 73–25. 

Spanning some150 pages, the act authorizes the FDA to dictate how farmers grow fruits and vegetables, including rules governing soil, water, hygiene, packing, temperatures, and even what animals may roam which fields and when. It would also increase inspections of food “facilities” and tax them to do so. 

That’s the rub. The House version of the bill does not contain the “revenue raiser” in the Senate bill. But the Constitution calls for all tax provisions to originate in the House. Consequently, House Democrats are threatening to block the bill, which would force Reid to waste even more time on a legislative fix or simply admit defeat. 

Ah. Not quite as competent at procedural matters as he is at stealing elections? Perhaps some good news. 

See: http://blog.heritage.org/?p=47508

And: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/01/AR2010120108366.html 

7a) Dem Senator: The System is Rigged 

GLENN: I'd like to play the audio now of a Democratic senator picked up by a microphone saying you know, talking about this, again, a Democratic senator talking about the system that we now have. 

BENNET: It's nothing about because it's all rigged. I mean, the whole conversation is rigged, the conversation, the fact that we don't get to a discussion before the break about what we're going to do in the lame duck is just rigged. This stuff's rigged. 

PAT: I believe, I believe he uses the word "Rigged" either four or five times. 

GLENN: And who he's talking to, another senator, is also saying, yes, yes. 

PAT: Yes, it is, yes, is rigged. The situation is the agenda has been rigged by the Democrats. And there's a Democrat, Michael Bennet, from Colorado saying it, and just happened to be overheard with a live mic during a C Span broadcast. 

See: http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/48735/ 

8) DHS & TSA: Making a list, checking it twice 

Following the publication of my article titled “Gate Rape of America,” I was contacted by a source within the DHS who is troubled by the terminology and content of an internal memo reportedly issued yesterday at the hand of DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano. Indeed, both the terminology and content contained in the document are troubling. The dissemination of the document itself is restricted by virtue of its classification, which prohibits any manner of public release. While the document cannot be posted or published, the more salient points are revealed here. 

The memo, which actually takes the form of an administrative directive, appears to be the product of undated but recent high level meetings between Napolitano, John Pistole, head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA),and one or more of Obama’s national security advisors. This document officially addresses those who are opposed to, or engaged in the disruption of the implementation of the enhanced airport screening procedures as “domestic extremists.” 

…The terminology contained within the reported memo is indeed troubling. It labels any person who “interferes” with TSA airport security screening procedure protocol and operations by actively objecting to the established screening process, “including but not limited to the anticipated national opt-out day” as a “domestic extremist.” The label is then broadened to include “any person, group or alternative media source” that actively objects to, causes others to object to, supports and/or elicits support for anyone who engages in such travel disruptions at U.S. airports in response to the enhanced security procedures. 

For individuals who engaged in such activity at screening points, it instructs TSA operations to obtain the identities of those individuals and other applicable information and submit the same electronically to the Homeland Environment Threat Analysis Division, the Extremism and Radicalization branch of the Office of Intelligence & Analysis (IA) division of the Department of Homeland Security. 

…It would appear that the Department of Homeland Security is not only prepared to enforce the enhanced security procedures at airports, but is involved in gathering intelligence about those who don’t. They’re making a list and most certainly will be checking it twice. Meanwhile, legitimate threats to our air travel security (and they DO exist) seem to be taking a back seat to the larger threat of the multitude of non-criminal American citizens who object to having their Constitutional rights violated. 

See: http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/30286 

9) Congress sends child nutrition bill to Obama

WASHINGTON – More children would eat lunches and dinners at school under legislation passed Thursday by the House and sent to the president, part of first lady Michelle Obama's campaign to end childhood hunger and fight childhood obesity. (Does anyone else notice how ridiculous this sentience is? Emphasis and comment mine). 

The $4.5 billion bill approved by the House 264-157 would also try to cut down on greasy foods and extra calories by giving the government power to decide what kinds of foods may be sold in vending machines and lunch lines. The bill could even limit frequent school bake sales and fundraisers that give kids extra chances to eat brownies and pizza. (Oh, fantastic! Now the government is limiting bake sales, since you‘re too stupid to limit the brownies and pizza your child eats, we‘ll do it for you! Comment and emphasis mine). 

The first lady said in a statement after the vote that she was "thrilled" about House passage. She called the bill "a groundbreaking piece of bipartisan legislation that will significantly improve the quality of meals that children receive at school." 

Republicans said the bill is too expensive and an example of government overreach. Even former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has weighed in, bringing cookies to a speech at a Pennsylvania school last month and calling efforts to limit junk food in schools a "nanny state run amok." 

See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101203/ap_on_bi_ge/us_congress_child_nutrition 

10) Burris Amendment Would Lead to More Tax-Funded Abortions 

William Saunders of AUL recently blogged about the Burris Amendment for LifeNews.com. An excerpt is below: 

The pro-abortion forces of the 111th Congress have returned to Capitol Hill with one more shot at forcing American taxpayers to subsidize elective abortions during the “Lame Duck” session of Congress. 

One potential attack comes from an amendment authored by Senator Roland Burris (D-IL), who was appointed to fill President Obama’s former Senate seat, and who has since been replaced by Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL). 

Under U.S. Code Title 10 USC Sec 1093(b), abortions may not be performed by Department of Defense medical personnel or in Department of Defense medical facilities except when the life of the mother is at risk, or when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. 

However, if Congress adopts the amendment authored by Senator Burris, and added to the Department of Defense Authorization bill during the Senate Armed Services Committee mark-up in May, American taxpayers will be paying for military facilities, equipment, and the use of military personnel to perform abortions. 

See: http://www.aul.org/2010/11/burris-amendment-would-lead-to-more-tax-funded-abortions/ 

11) WikiLeaked: John Kerry calls for Israel to cede Golan Heights and East Jerusalem 

On a February trip to the Middle East, Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman John Kerry (D-MA) told Qatari leaders that the Golan Heights should be returned to Syria, that a Palestinian capital should be established in East Jerusalem as part of the Arab-Israeli peace process, and that he was "shocked" by what he saw on a visit to Gaza. 

Kerry discussed the Israeli-Palestinian peace process in a visit to Qatar during separate meetings with Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani and the Emir of Qatar, Hamad bin Khalifa, as revealed by the disclosure of diplomatic cables by the website WikiLeaks.

See: http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/11/29/wikileaked_john_kerry_calls_for_israel_to_cede_golan_heights_and_east_jerusalem

 

12) Iran blames Israel after nuclear scientist killed 

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's president accused Israel and the West of being behind a pair of daring bomb attacks that killed one nuclear scientist and wounded another in their cars on the streets of Tehran on Monday. He also admitted for the first time that a computer worm had affected centrifuges in Iran's uranium enrichment program. 

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other Iranian officials vowed that the nuclear program would not be hampered by what they described as a campaign to sabotage it — whether by assassination or by the computer virus. The United States and its allies say Iran is seeking to build a nuclear bomb, a claim Tehran denies. 

…The latest attacks come a day after the release of internal U.S. State Department memos by the whistle-blower website WikiLeaks, including several that vividly detail Arab fears over Iran's nuclear program. In some memos, U.S. diplomats say Arab leaders advocated a U.S.-led attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. 

Ahmadinejad dismissed the leaks as "mischief" aimed at damaging Tehran's ties with the Arab world. 

See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101130/ap_on_re_us/iran_nuclear 

13) Russia-China Deal Aims -- Sort of -- to Ditch Dollars 

(Nov. 24) -- Russia and China plan to start conducting their mutual trade in rubles and yuan in a bid to remove the globally predominant U.S. dollar from the equation, but the move seemed more symbolic than financially significant. 

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced the decision Tuesday after meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in St. Petersburg, adding that rubles had begun to exchange on Chinese exchanges this week and that the yuan will start trading in Moscow next month. 

"We are determined to use our national currencies more extensively to settle mutual accounts," Putin said, noting bilateral trade between the two countries has mostly used foreign currencies, mainly U.S. dollars. "This is an important step towards strengthening direct ties in trade and the economy without any losses." 

But the currency change -- solidifying a decision last year by Russia, China and other member states of the regional Shanghai Cooperation Organization to minimize the dollar's Central Asian trade role -- may make little difference, at least any time soon. 

…Global currency markets took little or no notice of the announcement, in part because China keeps tight control over the yuan's exchange rate and because worries about the European Union's debt crises are overwhelming much else.

See: http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/russia-china-currency-deal-aims-sort-of-to-ditch-dollars/19732452 

14) Taxpayer funded museum displaying ant-covered Jesus, ‘homoerotic’ art 

The federally funded National Portrait Gallery, one of the museums of the Smithsonian Institution, is currently showing an exhibition that features images of an ant-covered Jesus, male genitals, naked brothers kissing, men in chains, Ellen DeGeneres grabbing her breasts, and a painting the Smithsonian itself describes in the show’s catalog as “homoerotic.” 

The exhibit, “Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture,” opened on Oct. 30 and will run throughout the Christmas Season, closing on Feb. 13. 

“This is an exhibition that displays masterpieces of American portraiture and we wanted to illustrate how questions of biography and identity went into the making of images that are canonical,” David C. Ward, a National Portrait Gallery (NGP) historian who is also co-curator of the exhibit, told CNSNews.com. 

See: http://dailycaller.com/2010/11/29/taxpayer-funded-museum-displaying-ant-covered-jesus-homoerotic-art/

 

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