Legislators Violate State Constitution
By · CommentsOpen letter to Speaker Benge/President Pro-Tempore Coffee:
I write to express my deep concern and disappointment in the Legislature’s action last session to direct $16 million dollars to OMRF and $1 Million to the Jim Thorpe Association.
As an active Republican (I currently am Chairman of the Cleveland County Republican Party), I am particularly disappointed that this multi-million dollar pass through was orchestrated by a Republican controlled Legislature.
Once upon a time, Republicans used to oppose such inappropriate and underhanded expenditures of taxpayers’ money. In fact, it wasn’t too long ago when you were in the minority that Republicans would vehemently oppose these pass through deals made by the Democrats. Like most Oklahomans, and certainly the majority of Republicans, I remember the dog food plant that the Democrat-controlled Legislature appropriated tax dollars for.
Art. 10, § 15(A) of the Okla. Const. says it very plainly:
“15. Pledge or loan of credit – Donation – Exceptions.
A. Except as provided by this section, the credit of the State shall not
be given, pledged, or loaned to any individual, company, corporation, or
association, municipality, or political subdivision of the State, nor
shall the State become an owner or stockholder in, nor make donation by
gift, subscription to stock, by tax, or otherwise, to any company,
association, or corporation.” (Emphasis added.)
See Op. Atty. Gen. No. 80-283, wherein appropriations to the Oklahoma
Historical Society were deemed in violation of the Constitution’s
Prohibition. You can get to the opinions of the Okla. A.G. from the
OSCN website.
Article 10, beginning with § 14 and including §§ 15, 16, 17 (local govt.) and 19. § 14 restricts the levy and collection of taxes to public purposes. § 15(A) prohibits the giving, pledging or
loaning the credit of the State (i.e. public funds) to any individual, company, association, municipality or political subdivision, except as provided in (B) thru (E).
Now that we are in the Majority – it looks like nothing has really changed. Sure, you don’t send the pass through to dog food plants -instead it’s going to medical research.
Republicans can and should support medical research. But the cause is not the issue here. Republicans must stand for accountability and transparency in government. The pass through scheme called for in Senate Bill 153 violates conservative principles and the Oklahoma Constitution, as our Republican leaders, you should know better than to keep on doing what the Democrats always did!
If you truly felt like spending $16 million for the OMRF and Jim Thorpe Foundation, then you should have done so in an open and honest manner. My understanding of the State Constitution is that it forbids such direct appropriations to private entities. Do you think that there is a good reason why there is such a prohibition in place?
While I am very disappointed in your leadership or lack thereof on this issue, I remain a devoted Republican. Please explain your position and offering reform minded solutions to how we can avoid this type of underhanded appropriation of taxpayers’ money.
Sincerely yours,
Robert L. Cleveland
Below is a short list of some of the companies that received state money.
1. Oklahoma quality awards program $75,000
2. Native American culture and education authority fund $7,079,742.00
3. Worldwide Creative Conference. $500,000
4. National Finals Rodeo ( Las Vegas) $200,000. This has nothing to do with Oklahoma
5. Indian Nations (Creek, Osage, and Tulsa Counties) $45,625
6. Jim Thorpe $1,000,000,00
7. OMRF $16,000,000,00 (private company that the Governors wife and another Henry are on the Board of Directors.
Here is a list of State Representatives that respects the Oklahoma Constitution and voted NO on the $16 million to OMRF and the $1 Million to Jim Thrope.
Banz, Cooksey, Dank, Derby, Faught, Johnson, Joyner, Kern, McCullough, McDaniel, RMoore, Murphey, Peterson, Reynolds, Ritze, Schwartz, Terrill, Thompson, Trebilcock, Wesselhoft, Wright.
In the Senate only one State Senator did not vote in favor of giving tax payers dollars to private companies. Senator Steve Russell.
The above elected officials are the only elected officials that voted to follow the Oklahoma Constitution. I, personally called numerous elected officials asking why they voted to violate the State Constitution, it’s clear they are more interested in being given a committee assignment (power) than doing what is best for the tax payers of Oklahoma. It is a total shame that we have elected Republicans that care more about following the orders of Speaker Benge and Senator Coffee than they do about the Oklahoma Constitution. Like one Legislator, stated to me, “If I had not followed Speaker Benge, directions, I would have lost my committee assignment”
Bobby Cleveland
AMR-7 Arthritis Pain Relief Gel – Great Success
By · CommentsJust wanted to give a little update on AMR-7 arthritis pain relief gel that Bob and Rod are launching nation wide. The Oklahoman, Norman Transcript and The Cleveland County Chronicles has written articles about it and its success. Many local pharmacies and Doctors have sold many hundreds of AMR-7. Take a look at this testimony from Kim Lock owner of Kendall’s Restaurant in Noble.
You can get it locally in Norman and Oklahoma City or on the web at www.getamr7.com.
TOP TEN CORRUPT POLITICIANS 2009
By · CommentsMonday, December 28, 2009
TOP TEN CORRUPT POLITICIANS LIST ANNOUNCED BY JUDICIAL WATCH
Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released its 2009 list of Washington’s “Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians.” The motto of Judicial Watch is “Because no one is above the law”. The list, in alphabetical order, includes:
1. Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT): This marks two years in a row for Senator Dodd, who made the 2008 “Ten Most Corrupt” list for his corrupt relationship with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and for accepting preferential treatment and loan terms from Countrywide Financial, a scandal which still dogs him. In 2009, the scandals kept coming for the Connecticut Democrat. In 2009, Judicial Watch filed a Senate ethics complaint against Dodd for undervaluing a property he owns in Ireland on his Senate Financial Disclosure forms. Judicial Watch’s complaint forced Dodd to amend the forms. However, press reports suggest the property to this day remains undervalued. Judicial Watch also alleges in the complaint that Dodd obtained a sweetheart deal for the property in exchange for his assistance in obtaining a presidential pardon (during the Clinton administration) and other favors for a long-time friend and business associate. The false financial disclosure forms
were part of the cover-up. Dodd remains the head the Senate Banking Committee.
2. Senator John Ensign (R-NV): A number of scandals popped up in 2009 involving public officials who conducted illicit affairs, and then attempted to cover them up with hush payments and favors, an obvious abuse of power. The year’s worst offender might just be Nevada Republican Senator John Ensign. Ensign admitted in June to an extramarital affair with the wife of one of his staff members, who then allegedly obtained special favors from the Nevada Republican in exchange for his silence. According to The New York Times: “The Justice Department and the Senate Ethics Committee are expected to conduct preliminary inquiries into whether Senator John Ensign violated federal law or ethics rules as part of an effort to conceal an affair with the wife of an aide…” The former staffer, Douglas Hampton, began to lobby Mr. Ensign’s office immediately upon leaving his congressional job, despite the fact that he was subject to a one-year lobbying ban. Ensign
seems to have ignored the law and allowed Hampton lobbying access to his office as a payment for his silence about the affair. (These are potentially criminal offenses.) It looks as if Ensign misused his public office (and taxpayer resources) to cover up his sexual shenanigans.
3. Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA): Judicial Watch is investigating a $12 million TARP cash injection provided to the Boston-based OneUnited Bank at the urging of Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank. As reported in the January 22, 2009, edition of the Wall Street Journal, the Treasury Department indicated it would only provide funds to healthy banks to jump-start lending. Not only was OneUnited Bank in massive financial turmoil, but it was also “under attack from its regulators for allegations of poor lending practices and executive-pay abuses, including owning a Porsche for its executives’ use.” Rep. Frank admitted he spoke to a “federal regulator,” and Treasury granted the funds. (The bank continues to flounder despite Frank’s intervention for federal dollars.) Moreover, Judicial Watch uncovered documents in 2009 that showed that members of Congress for years were aware that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were playing fast and loose with accounting issues, risk
assessment issues and executive compensation issues, even as liberals led by Rep. Frank continued to block attempts to rein in the two Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs). For example, during a hearing on September 10, 2003, before the House Committee on Financial Services considering a Bush administration proposal to further regulate Fannie and Freddie, Rep. Frank stated: “I want to begin by saying that I am glad to consider the legislation, but I do not think we are facing any kind of a crisis. That is, in my view, the two Government Sponsored Enterprises we are talking about here, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are not in a crisis. We have recently had an accounting problem with Freddie Mac that has led to people being dismissed, as appears to be appropriate. I do not think at this point there is a problem with a threat to the Treasury.” Frank received $42,350 in campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac between 1989 and 2008. Frank
also engaged in a relationship with a Fannie Mae Executive while serving on the House Banking Committee, which has jurisdiction over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
4. Secretary of State Timothy Geithner: In 2009, Obama Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner admitted that he failed to pay $34,000 in Social Security and Medicare taxes from 2001-2004 on his lucrative salary at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), an organization with 185 member countries that oversees the global financial system. (Did we mention Geithner now runs the IRS?) It wasn’t until President Obama tapped Geithner to head the Treasury Department that he paid back most of the money, although the IRS kindly waived the hefty penalties. In March 2009, Geithner also came under fire for his handling of the AIG bonus scandal, where the company used $165 million of its bailout funds to pay out executive bonuses, resulting in a massive public backlash. Of course as head of the New York Federal Reserve, Geithner helped craft the AIG deal in September 2008. However, when the AIG scandal broke, Geithner claimed he knew nothing of the bonuses until March
10, 2009. The timing is important. According to CNN: “Although Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told congressional leaders on Tuesday that he learned of AIG’s impending $160 million bonus payments to members of its troubled financial-products unit on March 10, sources tell TIME that the New York Federal Reserve informed Treasury staff that the payments were imminent on Feb. 28. That is ten days before Treasury staffers say they first learned ‘full details’ of the bonus plan, and three days before the [Obama] Administration launched a new $30 billion infusion of cash for AIG.” Throw in another embarrassing disclosure in 2009 that Geithner employed “household help” ineligible to work in the United States, and it becomes clear why the Treasury Secretary has earned a spot on the “Ten Most Corrupt Politicians in Washington” list. Read More→
More People Crying Over Dead Trees
By · CommentsCleveland County State Committeeman Steve Byas
By · CommentsPublished December 28, 2009 12:15 am – Editor, The Transcript:
You chose to run a letter in the Dec. 20 Transcript that was very disturbing. The letter, by Nadine Jewell, said that, “GOP leadership stated they hoped” President Obama, “would fail, and that they would do everything they could to ensure he did.
Opposition to the president does not equal treason
Editor, The Transcript:
You chose to run a letter in the Dec. 20 Transcript that was very disturbing. The letter, by Nadine Jewell, said that, “GOP leadership stated they hoped” President Obama, “would fail, and that they would do everything they could to ensure he did. Sounds like treason to me
(emphasis added).”
Calling opposition to the president treason is unsettling. The founding fathers narrowly defined treason in the U. S. Constitution. In fact, it was the only crime defined in the Constitution. It reads, “Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.”
Opposition to the president does not fit that definition. Opposition to certain policies of the president is a protected constitutional right (see the First Amendment, for example). If opposing a policy of the president is treason, then I have commited treason when Presidents Bush (both), Clinton, and Reagan were in office.
Throughout history, tyrants have used a charge of treason to silence opposition, and our founders did not want political officeholders in our nation to wield such power. Alas, some on the Left in our country now favor authoritarianism to get their way, even to the extent of using charges of treason for political opposition. I pray for the future of our country.
STEVE BYAS
Norman
Below is the letter Steve Byas responded to. Great job Steve!
Published December 19, 2009 01:15 am – Oh, Bobby, what a list of complaints. Yes, we know our new president is not of your choosing. Less than a year ago, President Obama took office with the economy and deficit on the crest of an avalanche in free-fall.
Bobby, give Obama a fair chance
By Nadine Jewell
Oh, Bobby, what a list of complaints. Yes, we know our new president is not of your choosing. Less than a year ago, President Obama took office with the economy and deficit on the crest of an avalanche in free-fall. Plus GOP leadership stated they hoped he would fail, and that they would do everything they could to ensure he did. Sounds like treason to me. If he fails, what happens to the U.S?
Since the cost of the Afghanistan/Iraq war was not in the budget, the U.S. had to borrow from foreign countries. Much of the deficit went to pay no-bid contractors and profiteers who were allowed to rip off millions that should have been used for our troops. While highly paid contractors had state-of-the-art equipment, our military scrounged junkyards to reinforce their vehicles and families paid for body armor.
When the economy came close to failing, both Presidents Obama and Bush gave millions to try to neutralize our problem. Greed took over the banking and mortgage CEOs and adequate funds were not used to help homeowners or create jobs. (I’m happy to hear a lot has been repaid or was never used.)
At one time, our nation thrived with management and labor as partners. Physical labor was honored. But after WWII, the disparity between the rich and poor escalated. Being rich was the new goal. CEO lifestyles improved while workers struggled. Finally, automobile labor unions demanded benefits, such as an eight-hour work day, five-day work week and job security.
In recent years, labor called for living wages, but CEOs weren’t eager to comply. Management came up with another goal. They sent manufacturing jobs overseas. Slave labor is less costly, and the CEOs could claim more millions. Of course, this meant many hundreds lost their jobs. We are no longer a manufacturing nation. Soon other companies adopted the strategy, including communications and banking organizations.
When the job force was reduced, people lost homes and health benefits. Because insurance pools followed job loss, premiums increased elsewhere. Small businesses could no longer insure their workers. They had to chose between letting workers go or dropping healthcare benefits. Owners saw a need for healthcare insurance reform.
In the U.S, we have the best of medical personnel, but health insurance people making multi-millions from premiums often stand between the skilled and professional physicians to deny claims needed to help patients. Health insurance does not do one thing to further healthcare. In fact, if a patient dies, the company wins. That is wrong. Affordable healthcare is a right. No one should die because an insurance company denies access or because a person is too poor to afford a doctor.
Save your blame, Bobby. Give Obama a fair chance. You will have time to play partisan politics closer to the election. Making Obama a hate target won’t change war policy, reduce the deficit, or make health insurance companies more responsible.
Nadine Jewell lives in Norman.
Does Obama Really Matter?
By · Comments
FIND OUT WHAT REALLY MATTERS
The Fundamental Transformation of America
When Obama wrote a book and said he was mentored as a youth by Frank Marshall Davis, an avowed Communist, people said it didn’t matter.
When it was discovered that his grandparents, were strong socialists, sent Obama’s mother to a socialist school, introduced Frank Marshall Davis to young Obama, people said it didn’t matter.
When people found out that he was enrolled as a Muslim child in school and his father and step father were both Muslims, people said it didn’t matter.
When he wrote in another book he authored “I will stand with them (Muslims) should the political winds shift in an ugly direction,” people said it didn’t matter.
When he admittedly, in his book, said he chose Marxist friends and professors in college, people said it didn’t matter.
When he traveled to Pakistan after college on an unknown national passport, (it could NOT have been a US passport as the US didn’t have diplomatic relations with Pakistan at the time..),people said it didn’t matter.
When he sought the endorsement of the Marxist party in 1996 as he ran for the Illinois Senate, people said it doesn’t matter. http://www.stoptheaclu.com/2008/05/29/obama-sought-endorsement-of-marxist-third-party-in-1996/
When he sat in a Chicago church for twenty years and listened to a preacher spew hatred for America and preach black liberation theology, people said it didn’t matter.
When an independent Washington organization, that tracks Senate voting records, gave him the distinctive title as the “most liberal senator,”people said it didn’t matter.
When the Palestinians in Gaza set up a fund raising telethon to raise money for his election campaign, people said it didn’t matter.
When his voting record supported gun control, people said it didn’t matter.
When he refused to disclose who donated money to his election campaign, as other candidates had done, people said it didn’t matter..
When he received endorsements from people like Louis Farrakhan, Mummar Kadaffi and Hugo Chavez, people said it didn’t matter.
When it was pointed out that he was a total, newcomer and had absolutely no experience at anything except community organizing, people said it didn’t matter.
When he chose friends and acquaintances such as Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn who were revolutionary radicals, people said it didn’t matter.
When his voting record in the Illinois Senate and in the U.S. Senate came into question, people said it didn’t matter.
When he refused to wear a flag lapel pin and did so only after a public outcry, people said it didn’t matter.
When people started treating him as a Messiah and children in schools were taught to sing his praises, people said it didn’t matter.
When he stood with his hands over his groin area for the playing of the National Anthem and Pledge of Allegiance, people said it didn’t matter.
When he surrounded himself in the White House with advisors who were pro gun control, pro abortion, pro homosexual marriage and wanting to curtail freedom of speech to silence the opposition, people said it didn’t matter.
When he aired his views on abortion, homosexuality and a host of other issues, people said it didn’t matter.
When he said he favors sex education in kindergarten, including homosexual indoctrination, people said it didn’t matter.
When his background was either scrubbed or hidden and nothing could be found about him, people said it didn’t matter.
When the place of his birth was called into question and he refused to produce a birth certificate, people said it didn’t matter.
When he had an association in Chicago with Tony Zco, a man of questionable character, who is now in prison and had helped Obama to a sweet deal on the purchase of his home, people said it didn’t matter.
When it became known that George Soros, a multi-billionaire Marxist, spent a ton of money to get him elected, people said it didn’t matter.
When he started appointing “czars” without Senate approval that were radicals, revolutionaries and even avowed Marxist/Communist, people said it didn’t matter.
When he stood before the nation and told us that his intentions were to “fundamentally transform this nation” into something else, people said it didn’t matter.
When it became known that he had trained ACORN workers in Chicago and served as an attorney for ACORN, people said it didn’t matter.
When he appointed cabinet members and several advisors who were tax cheats and Socialists, people said it didn’t matter.
When he appointed a Science Czar, John Holdren, who believes in forced abortions, mass sterilizations and seizing babies from teen mothers, people said it didn’t matter.
When he appointed Cass Sunstein as Regulatory Czar and he believes in “Explicit Consent,” harvesting human organs without family consent and to allow animals to be represented in court, while banning all hunting, people said it didn’t matter.
When he appointed Kevin Jennings, a homosexual and organizer of a group called Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network, as safe school czar and it became known that he had a history of bad advice to teenagers, people said it didn’t matter.
When he appointed Mark Lloyd as Diversity czar and he believed in curtailing free speech, taking from one and giving to another to spread the wealth and admires Hugo Chavez, people said it didn’t matter.
When Valerie Jarrett was selected as Obama’s Senior White House Advisor and she is an avowed Socialist, people said it didn’t matter.
When Anita Dunn, White House Communications Director said Mao Tse Tung was her favorite philosopher and the person she turned to most for inspiration, people said it didn’t matter.
When he appointed Carol Browner as Global Warming Czar, and she is a well known socialist working on Cap and Trade as the nation’s largest tax, people said it doesn’t matter.
When he appointed Van Jones, an ex-con and avowed Communist as Green Energy Czar, who since had to resign when this was made known, people said it didn’t matter.
When Tom Daschle, Obama’s pick for Health and Human Services Secretary could not be confirmed, because he was a tax cheat, people said it didn’t matter.
When as President of the United States, he bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, people said it didn’t matter.
When he traveled around the world criticizing America and never once talking of her greatness, people said it didn’t matter.
When his actions concerning the Middle- East seemed to support the Palestinians over Israel, our long time friend, people said it doesn’t matter.
When he took American tax dollars to resettle thousands of Palestinians from Gaza to the United States, people said it doesn’t matter.
When he upset the Europeans by removing plans for a missile defense system against the Russians, people said it doesn’t matter.
When he played politics in Afghanistan by not sending troops the Field Commanders said we had to have to win, people said it didn’t matter.
When he started spending us into a debt that was so big we could never pay it off, people said it didn’t matter.
When he took a huge spending bill under the guise of “stimulus “and used it to pay off organizations, unions and individuals that got him elected, people said it didn’t matter.
When he took over insurance companies, car companies, banks, etc. people said it didn’t matter.
When he took away student loans from the banks and put them through the government, people said it didn’t matter.
When he designed plans to take over the health care system and put it under government control, people said it didn’t matter.
When he set into motion a plan to take over the control of all energy in the United States through Cap and Trade, people said it didn’t matter.
When he finally completed his transformation of America into a Socialist State, people finally woke up…but it was too late!
Any one of these things, in and of themselves does not really matter. But…. when you add them up one by one you get a phenomenal score that points to the fact that our President is determined to make America over into a Marxist/Socialist society. All of the items in the preceding paragraphs have been put into place. All can be documented very easily. Before you disavow this, do an internet search. The last paragraph alone is not yet cast in stone. You and I will write that paragraph. Will it read as above or will it be a happier ending for most of America? Personally, I like happy endings.
If you are an Obama Supporter, please do not be angry with me because I think your president is a Socialist but there are too many facts supporting this.
• If you seek the truth you will be richer for it.
Don’t just belittle the opposition. Search for the truth. I did.
• Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Constitutionalist, Libertarians and what have you, we all need to pull together. We all must pull together or watch the demise of a society that we all love and cherish.
• If you are a religious person, pray for our nation.
Never before in the history of America have we been confronted with problems so huge that the very existence of our country is in jeopardy.
Don’t rely on most television news and what you read in the newspapers for the truth. Search the Internet. Yes, there is a lot of bad information, lies and distortions there too, but you are smart enough to spot the fallacies.
Newspapers are a dying breed. They are currently seeking a bailout from the government. Do you really think they are about to print the truth? (The ONLY newspaper that tells the truth is The Wall Street Journal. It is the Fox News of print journalism and is the #1 newspaper in the USA.)
Obama praises all the television news networks except Fox who he has waged war against.
There must be a reason. He does not call them down on any specifics, just a general battle against them. If they lie, he should call them out on it, but he doesn’t. Please, seek the truth; it will set you free.
Our biggest enemy is not China, Russia, and Iran; no, our biggest enemy is a contingent of politicians in Washington DC.
Airlines – Take More Responsibilty for Security
By · CommentsUmar Farouk Addumutallab should have never been allowed to board any plane much less one traveling to the U.S.. It has been widely reported that his own father warned the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria. The U. S. government did not pursue potential leads that would identify Farouk as an iminent threat to American lives.
It has also been reported that he did not have a passport. Two lawers, travelling from a safari hunt in Aftrica over heard this Farouk and another gentle talking to the ticket agent asking that he 
be let on even without a passport. Then there is the questions of his multi-entery Visa. How did he get it issued for a fake class at a fake university? In fact why aren’t we demanding that our universities and colleges stop taking foreign students from these suspected counties and religious backgrounds. There are plenty of young U.S citizens that need a free college education.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano backtracked Monday from comments she made in televised interviews over the weekend, in which she said the U.S.’s security systems had worked. She has also called this type of action as “man made disaster” rather than by its name religious terrorism. It is time for Janit Napolitano to go. She could not even keep a small stretch of U.S. border safe in Arizona. So now we put her in a position of responsibility for the whole county.
A statement attributed to the group “al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula” claimed it was retaliating for what it says was the U.S.’s role in a recent Yemeni military offensive on al Qaeda, according to a translation by the Middle East Media Research Institute. The statement, accompanied by a photo of the suspect, said the “high-tech device” Mr. Abdulmutallab carried had had a “technical” problem.
It is time that the airline companies take some responsibility in securing there own airplanes from these crowardence murderers. A sign out side the boarding gate could read “We Have The Right To Refuse Boarding To Anyone.” I cannot believe that the airlines have not taken a more active roll in investigating and preventing these acts of terrorism. They are putting their customers, employees and planes at risk. For what?
The airlines need to start profiling their potential passenger list. We know who the suspects are. In fact I could see an advertising campaign like Southwest Airlines “bags fly free.” The airlines could advertise “terrorist free, we don’t sell tickets to jihadists.”
Oh, we can’t violate their civil rights? How about the 3,000 on 9-11 or the hundreds of civil rights thats these murderers have violated in the past. Sure some possible innocent black, middle eastern young men might be denied to fly. Let them walk. Many people will be safer in the end.
Please don’t take me wrong. I don’t have a bias or prejudice against the Muslim religion. I do have a problem with people that commit murderous actions in the name of a religion. I pray to the one and only God of all of us to keep us safe and to open the hearts of Muslims to God’s voice.
In the end, we all must start taking a role to secure ourselves. Obviously the U.S Governments is afraid of making a minority upset rather than keeping the majority safe.
Is Our National Security Incompetent
By · CommentsNotice the last sentence of the below article. “The motive of the Christmas Day attack was not immediately clear”. Oh, really now.
Let’s see the guy was a Muslim, admitted he was involved with Al-Qaida, but they are not for sure why he wanted to kill Americans. Is our National Security, really this bad? You tell me.
Bob
AP sources: Al-Qaida link in failed plane attack
WASHINGTON – U.S. officials say a Northwest Airlines passenger from Nigeria said he was acting on behalf of al-Qaida when he tried to blow up a flight Friday as it landed in Detroit.
Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., identified the suspect as Abdul Mudallad, a Nigerian. King said the flight began in Nigeria and went through Amsterdam en route to Detroit.
One of the U.S. intelligence officials said the explosive device was a mix of powder and liquid. It failed when the passenger tried to detonate it.
The passenger was being questioned Friday evening.
Both of the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was continuing.
The motive of the Christmas Day attack was not immediately clear.
Ray Stevens “We The People”
By · CommentsEarth First “Real People in North Carolina”
By · CommentsSecond Graders Sing “Allah is God?”
By · Commentsstephttp://www.foxnewsradio.com/2009/12/14/public-schoo-kids-singing-to-allah/#ixzz0ZmhPNSA5
Second Graders Sing About Allah?
What would happen if public school second graders were told to sing a Christmas song that proclaimed “Jesus is Lord?”
Or what would happen if those same students were told to sing “We pray ’til night to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?”
The fact is, we don’t have to speculate, because neither of those things is likely to happen in any public school in America.
So how is it that a public elementary school principal and some teachers saw nothing objectionable with their students singing “Allah is God?”
Their answer–they were just trying to teach “inclusiveness.” See the Fox News Radio story below.
And when a Christian parent objected, a spokesman for the Muslim Alliance of Indiana called the objection “Islamophobic.”
So simply objecting to a song in a public school that proclaims “Allah is God,” when no other faiths are so recognized, is “Islamophobic?”
Wow.
We have reached the point where a non-Muslim parent is called an
“Islamophobe” for simply and rightfully objecting to his child being forced to sing a song in public school that proclaims “Allah is God.”
Please don’t let anyone tell you we’re over-reacting to the threat of political correctness and the advance of radical Islam.
CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, has been a national leader in the ongoing public relations campaign to tar critics of radical Islam as “Islamophobes.”
To read the Fox News story, Second Graders Sing About Allah?, CLICK HERE.
———————————————————————–
To visit Act For America’s website, go to http://www.actforamerica.org/
Have you signed our petition calling for a government investigation of
CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations?
If you haven’t, let your voice be heard by adding your name today:
http://actforamerica.org/index.php/petition-against-cair
Dr. Tom Coburn
By · CommentsThe Health Bill Is Scary
Government guidelines would likely have forbidden the test I used to discover Sheila’s cancer.
By TOM COBURN
I recently suggested that seniors will die sooner if Congress actually implements the Medicare cuts in the health-care bill put forward by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. My colleagues who defend the bill—none of whom have practiced medicine—predictably dismissed my concern as a scare tactic. They are wrong. Every American, not just seniors, should know that the rationing provisions in the Reid bill will not only reduce their quality of life, but their life spans as well.
My 25 years as a practicing physician have shown me what happens when government attempts to practice medicine: Doctors respond to government coercion instead of patient cues, and patients die prematurely. Even if the public option is eliminated from the bill, these onerous rationing provisions will remain intact.
For instance, the Reid bill (in sections 3403 and 2021) explicitly empowers Medicare to deny treatment based on cost. An Independent Medicare Advisory Board created by the bill—composed of permanent, unelected and, therefore, unaccountable members—will greatly expand the rationing practices that already occur in the program. Medicare, for example, has limited cancer patients’ access to Epogen, a costly but vital drug that stimulates red blood cell production. It has limited the use of virtual, and safer, colonoscopies due to cost concerns. And Medicare refuses medical claims at twice the rate of the largest private insurers.
Section 6301 of the Reid bill creates new comparative effectiveness research (CER) programs. CER panels have been used as rationing commissions in other countries such as the U.K., where 15,000 cancer patients die prematurely every year according to the National Cancer Intelligence Network. CER panels here could effectively dictate coverage options and ration care for plans that participate in the state insurance exchanges created by the bill.
Additionally, the Reid bill depends on the recommendations of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force in no fewer than 14 places. This task force was responsible for advising women under 50 to not undergo annual mammograms. The administration claims the task force recommendations do not carry the force of law, but the Reid bill itself contradicts them in section 2713. The bill explicitly states, on page 17, that health insurance plans “shall provide coverage for” services approved by the task force. This chilling provision represents the government stepping between doctors and patients. When the government asserts the power to provide care, it also asserts the power to deny care.
If the bill expands Medicaid eligibility to 133% of the poverty level, that too will lead to rationing. Because Washington bureaucrats have created a system that underpays doctors, 40% of doctors already restrict access to Medicaid patients, and therefore ration care.
Medicaid demonstrates, tragically in some cases, that access to a government program does not guarantee access to health care. In Maryland, 17,000 Medicaid patients are currently on a waiting list for medical services, and as many as 250 may have died while awaiting care, according to state auditors. Kansas, the home state of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, faces a Medicaid backlog of more than 15,000 applicants.
Other unintended consequences of the Reid bill could wreak havoc on patients’ lives. What happens, for instance, when savvy consumers commanded to buy insurance realize the penalty is the de facto premium? It won’t take long for younger, healthier Americans to realize it’s cheaper to pay a $750 tax for coverage instead of, say, $5,000 in annual premiums when coverage can’t be denied if you get sick.
OMB Budget Director Peter Orzsag’s belief that mandatory health insurance will become a “cultural norm” is bureaucratic naivete that will produce skyrocketing premiums and reduced care for everyone. My state’s own insurance commissioner, a Democrat, recently confirmed this concern to me in a letter noting that “the result will be higher insurance rates due to a higher percentage of insured being higher risk/expense individuals.”
But the most fundamental flaw of the Reid bill is best captured by the story of one my patients I’ll call Sheila. When Sheila came to me at the age of 33 with a lump in her breast, traditional tests like a mammogram under the standard of care indicated she had a cyst and nothing more. Because I knew her medical history, I wasn’t convinced. I aspirated the cyst and discovered she had a highly malignant form of breast cancer. Sheila fought a heroic battle against breast cancer and enjoyed 12 good years with her family before succumbing to the disease.
If I had been practicing under the Reid bill, the government would have likely told me I couldn’t have done the test that discovered Sheila’s cancer because it wasn’t approved under CER. Under the Reid bill, Sheila may have lived another year instead of 12, and her daughters would have missed a decade with their mom.
The bottom line is that under the Reid bill the majority of America’s patients might be fine. But some will be like Sheila—patients whose lives hang in the balance and require the care of a doctor who understands the science and art of medicine, and can make decisions without government interference.
The American people are opposing this bill in greater numbers every day because the facts of the bill—not any tactic—are cause for serious concern.
Dr. Coburn, a physician, is a Republican senator from Oklahoma.
Jesus Nearly Banned At The White House Inn
By · CommentsThis writer is brilliant, a Christian and a minority in New York City. That’s right – a bold Christian in NYC.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2009/12/07/eric-metaxas-white-house-creche-jesus-christmas/
Eric Metaxas
- FOXNews.com
- December 07, 2009
Jesus Nearly Banned at White House Inn
Is the Obama administration so afraid to offend people of other beliefs that they will seriously consider obliterating basic American traditions?
I can see the headlines now: “Gate-crashers Enter White House; Jesus Kept Out!” Except it almost happened. Really.
I was reading the New York Times Sunday Styles section yesterday (yep, I’m straight) when I came across an article about embattled White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers — she’s the one who broke with previous White House tradition by inviting herself to the state dinner when she should have been at the door keeping out the loopy riff-raff.
But in the twelfth paragraph of the article there was a real bombshell: It said that earlier this year at a luncheon with other previous White House social secretaries, Ms. Rogers claimed that this year the White House would have a “non-religious” Christmas celebration.
(For those of you confused by that, it’s just like a “non-religious” Yom Kippur celebration, or a “non-Irish” St. Patrick’s Day celebration, or an “international” July 4th celebration.)
The Times article continued:
“The lunch conversation inevitably turned to whether the White House would display its crèche, customarily placed in a prominent spot in the East Room. Ms. Rogers, this participant said, replied that the Obamas did not intend to put the manger scene on display — a remark that drew an audible gasp from the tight-knit social secretary sisterhood. (A White House official confirmed that there had been internal discussions about making Christmas more inclusive and whether to display the crèche.)”
In the next sentence we learn that this radical idea was eventually scotched. (Perhaps the “audible gasp” from the bipartisan audience tipped them off.) But the fact that it was going to happen reveals a level of political tone-deafness in the current administration that is staggering.
To most average Americans — who did not grow up in an Ivy-League, inside-the-Beltway hothouse governed by the rules of the French Revolution — the idea of keeping Jesus out of “the people’s house” at Christmas evokes disturbing images of the Holy Family being turned away from the Inn, or worse yet, images of Herod. But to a super-secular White House afraid to offend anyone — except for average Americans — it probably just seemed like another fab “progressive” innovation.
If President Obama wanted to fuel the fears of every serious Christian in America and actually prove that he is every bad thing they’ve ever heard about him on every crazy Web site, the idea of symbolically taking Jesus out of the White House at Christmas would be just the ticket!
Let’s face it: “Brand Obama” dodged a bullet by not going forward with this terrible idea, but only barely dodged it. After all, the facts of the story are right there in The New York Times for all to see.
What can be said of an administration so out of touch with the people it governs? Previous American presidents seemed to understand that while America is not “officially” a Christian nation, it is a nation whose Founders all believed in a Creator, and whose people are overwhelmingly Christian. Even Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton had the créche displayed during their administrations. What is going on?
Is this administration so afraid to offend people of other beliefs that they will seriously consider obliterating basic American traditions? As a friend of mine put it: their logic is like saying that serving American food at the White House state dinner might offend the Indians in the room.
But it’s never offensive to simply be yourself. What can be terribly offensive is bending over backwards when its absolutely unnecessary. Or bowing when it’s absolutely unnecessary. People may begin to suspect that you simply have spine issues — and yes, I mean that metaphorically.
Eric Metaxas is The New York Times bestselling author of “Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery.” His new book, “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About God (But Were Afraid to Ask):
The Jesus Edition,” will be published this month by Regal Publishers. For more information visit www.ericmetaxas.com.
US Census to Fill Thousands of Jobs in Oklahoma
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CENSUS NEEDS THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE IN OKLAHOMA TO FILL JOBS
The U S Census Bureau will hire thousands of people throughout the state of Oklahoma between now and next spring. This strong economic shot in the arm is like having several factories open up in the state! Up to a total of approximately 5,000 people will be on staff during peak times.
“This is the largest civilian mobilization of workers in the history of the United States” said Dennis Johnson, Regional Director.
These are good paying, temporary jobs for the field positions of Recruiting Assistants, Crew
Leaders, Crew Leader Assistants, Census Takers and Census Clerks. Amount of pay depends on position and location. Work related mileage is reimbursed. There may be some opportunities for advancement.
Positions are available in every community.
The U. S. Census Bureau encourages interested persons to apply for these jobs by calling the Toll Free Jobs Line at 1-866-861-2010.
We need conservatives filling these positions. Conservatives need to control how the census is conducted to preserve our liberties.
