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Thursday, September 09, 2010
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
"White House names a new Fish Asian Carp Czar" over the battle of saving the Great Lake
White House spending $80 million, in a multi-pronged federal attack against Asian carp. Its too bad illegal immigrantion wasn't handled in the same fashion by this White House.
Castro Cuba becoming more democratic in economic policy, as U.S President Obama becomes more reliant on the socialist agenda
In a recent interview Fidel Castro Says Cuba's communist economic model doesn't work, and he said the state controls well over 90 percent of the economy, paying workers salaries of about $20 a month in return for free health care and education, and nearly free transportation and housing. At least a portion of every citizen's food needs are sold to them through ration books at heavily subsidized prices. He is now warning Cubans that they need to start working harder and expecting less from the government. Wow, only if President Obama could follow the same foot steps as the communist leader that less government is better.
On Israel he didn’t side step or bow down to the Iranain gov’t but said;
The Iranian government should understand the consequences of theological anti-Semitism. "This went on for maybe two thousand years," he said. "I don't think anyone has been slandered more than the Jews. I would say much more than the Muslims. They have been slandered much more than the Muslims because they are blamed and slandered for everything. No one blames the Muslims for anything." The Iranian government should understand that the Jews "were expelled from their land, persecuted and mistreated all over the world, as the ones who killed God. In my judgment here's what happened to them: Reverse selection. What's reverse selection? Over 2,000 years they were subjected to terrible persecution. One might have assumed that they would have disappeared; I think their culture and religion kept them together as a nation." He continued: "The Jews have lived an existence that is much harder than ours. There is nothing that compares to the Holocaust."
Only if our own President could man up like Castro has.
On Israel he didn’t side step or bow down to the Iranain gov’t but said;
The Iranian government should understand the consequences of theological anti-Semitism. "This went on for maybe two thousand years," he said. "I don't think anyone has been slandered more than the Jews. I would say much more than the Muslims. They have been slandered much more than the Muslims because they are blamed and slandered for everything. No one blames the Muslims for anything." The Iranian government should understand that the Jews "were expelled from their land, persecuted and mistreated all over the world, as the ones who killed God. In my judgment here's what happened to them: Reverse selection. What's reverse selection? Over 2,000 years they were subjected to terrible persecution. One might have assumed that they would have disappeared; I think their culture and religion kept them together as a nation." He continued: "The Jews have lived an existence that is much harder than ours. There is nothing that compares to the Holocaust."
Only if our own President could man up like Castro has.
Monday, September 06, 2010
Thursday, September 02, 2010
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Obama now blames poor job numbers on congressional inaction. Wait! His party runs Congress
Just a few minor things to catch up on for the weekend now that the Fundraiser-in-Chief has gone on another vacation (Don't worry though. White House chef Sam Kass went along, so the first family need not eat ordinary human food.)
-- The Congressional Budget Office says the 2010 federal deficit will be in excess of $1.3 trillion, as in $1,000,000,000,000+. (BTW, the next level we'll be talking about out of Washington is quadrillion, which has fifteen 0's.)
-- Despite Vice President Joe Biden's April boast that administration stimulus spending would spur the economy to add a half-million jobs a month by now, initial unemployment claims jumped a half-million last week, the worst since last November, as national unemployment remains at 9.5% and the economy sheds 131,000 more jobs.
-- But the economy's going great at the Democratic National Committee, which reports collecting $11.5 million from donors in July on top of the $53.8 million already taken in from various sources this year. The president just devoted three workdays across five states to rake in several more millions for his party.
-- But before leaving for his ninth presidential vacation, 10 days at a.......secluded estate on Martha's Vineyard, Obama devoted four minutes in the White House driveway to a special statement on the latest disappointing jobs numbers. (Full text, as usual, can be read on the jump, along with a brief reaction from the Republican National Committee chairman.)
No questions allowed because the president didn't want to explain why despite the administration's announced Recovery Summer Program, the jobs numbers have started going backward again after 19 months of promises and $787 billion in alleged stimulation spending. Because, faced with the uncertainty of the economy and the certainty of new taxes after Nov. 2, employers are holding back on hiring.
Full Story L.A Times
-- The Congressional Budget Office says the 2010 federal deficit will be in excess of $1.3 trillion, as in $1,000,000,000,000+. (BTW, the next level we'll be talking about out of Washington is quadrillion, which has fifteen 0's.)
-- Despite Vice President Joe Biden's April boast that administration stimulus spending would spur the economy to add a half-million jobs a month by now, initial unemployment claims jumped a half-million last week, the worst since last November, as national unemployment remains at 9.5% and the economy sheds 131,000 more jobs.
-- But the economy's going great at the Democratic National Committee, which reports collecting $11.5 million from donors in July on top of the $53.8 million already taken in from various sources this year. The president just devoted three workdays across five states to rake in several more millions for his party.
-- But before leaving for his ninth presidential vacation, 10 days at a.......secluded estate on Martha's Vineyard, Obama devoted four minutes in the White House driveway to a special statement on the latest disappointing jobs numbers. (Full text, as usual, can be read on the jump, along with a brief reaction from the Republican National Committee chairman.)
No questions allowed because the president didn't want to explain why despite the administration's announced Recovery Summer Program, the jobs numbers have started going backward again after 19 months of promises and $787 billion in alleged stimulation spending. Because, faced with the uncertainty of the economy and the certainty of new taxes after Nov. 2, employers are holding back on hiring.
Full Story L.A Times
Thursday, August 19, 2010
The Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration on
Key Findings
Illegal immigration costs U.S. taxpayers about $113 billion a year at the federal, state and local level. The bulk of the costs — some $84.2 billion — are absorbed by state and local governments.
The annual outlay that illegal aliens cost U.S. taxpayers is an average amount per native-headed household of $1,117. The fiscal impact per household varies considerably because the greatest share of the burden falls on state and local taxpayers whose burden depends on the size of the illegal alien population in that locality
Education for the children of illegal aliens constitutes the single largest cost to taxpayers, at an annual price tag of nearly $52 billion. Nearly all of those costs are absorbed by state and local governments.
At the federal level, about one-third of outlays are matched by tax collections from illegal aliens. At the state and local level, an average of less than 5 percent of the public costs associated with illegal immigration is recouped through taxes collected from illegal aliens.
Most illegal aliens do not pay income taxes. Among those who do, much of the revenues collected are refunded to the illegal aliens when they file tax returns. Many are also claiming tax credits resulting in payments from the U.S. Treasury.
Illegal immigration costs U.S. taxpayers about $113 billion a year at the federal, state and local level. The bulk of the costs — some $84.2 billion — are absorbed by state and local governments.
The annual outlay that illegal aliens cost U.S. taxpayers is an average amount per native-headed household of $1,117. The fiscal impact per household varies considerably because the greatest share of the burden falls on state and local taxpayers whose burden depends on the size of the illegal alien population in that locality
Education for the children of illegal aliens constitutes the single largest cost to taxpayers, at an annual price tag of nearly $52 billion. Nearly all of those costs are absorbed by state and local governments.
At the federal level, about one-third of outlays are matched by tax collections from illegal aliens. At the state and local level, an average of less than 5 percent of the public costs associated with illegal immigration is recouped through taxes collected from illegal aliens.
Most illegal aliens do not pay income taxes. Among those who do, much of the revenues collected are refunded to the illegal aliens when they file tax returns. Many are also claiming tax credits resulting in payments from the U.S. Treasury.
Jobless claims rise to highest level in 9 months
By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER
AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- New applications for unemployment insurance reached the half-million mark last week for the first time since November, a sign that employers are likely cutting jobs again as the economy slows.
The Labor Department said Thursday that initial claims for jobless benefits rose by 12,000 last week to 500,000, the fourth increase in the past five weeks. Wall Street economists forecast that claims would drop.
The four-week average, a less volatile measure, rose by 8,000 to 482,500, the highest since December. There were no special factors that distorted the numbers, a Labor Department analyst said.
The increase suggests the economy is creating even fewer jobs than in the first half of this year, when private employers added an average of about 100,000 jobs per month. That's barely enough to keep the unemployment rate from rising. The jobless rate has been stuck at 9.5 percent for two months.
Stock futures fell on the news. The Dow Jones industrial average futures had risen more than 50 points before the report was released. They dropped quickly and were down as much as 20 points afterward.
Jobless claims declined steadily last year from a peak of 651,000 in March 2009 as the economy recovered from the worst downturn since the 1930s. After flattening out earlier this year claims have begun to grow again.
The number of people continuing to receive benefits fell by 13,000 to 4.5 million, the department said. The continuing claims data lags initial claims by one week.
But that doesn't include millions of people receiving extended unemployment insurance, paid for by the federal government. About 5.6 million unemployed workers were on the extended unemployment benefit rolls, as of the week ending July 31, the latest data available. That's an increase of about 300,000 from the previous week.
During the recession, Congress added up to 73 extra weeks of benefits on top of the 26 weeks customarily provided by the states. The number of people on the extended rolls has increased sharply in recent weeks after Congress renewed the extended program last month. It had expired in June.
Private employers added only 71,000 jobs in July. But that increase was offset by the loss of 202,000 government jobs, including 143,000 temporary census positions.
July marked the third straight month that the private sector hired cautiously. Economists are concerned that the unemployment rate will start rising again because overall economic growth has weakened significantly since the start of the year.
In a healthy economy, jobless claims usually drop below 400,000. But the recent increases in claims provide further evidence that the economy has slowed and could slip back into a recession. Many analysts are worried that economic growth will ebb further in the second half of this year.
After growing at a 3.7 percent annual rate in the first quarter, the economy's growth slowed to 2.4 percent in the April-to-June period. Some economists forecast it will drop to as low as 1.5 percent in the second half of this year.
AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- New applications for unemployment insurance reached the half-million mark last week for the first time since November, a sign that employers are likely cutting jobs again as the economy slows.
The Labor Department said Thursday that initial claims for jobless benefits rose by 12,000 last week to 500,000, the fourth increase in the past five weeks. Wall Street economists forecast that claims would drop.
The four-week average, a less volatile measure, rose by 8,000 to 482,500, the highest since December. There were no special factors that distorted the numbers, a Labor Department analyst said.
The increase suggests the economy is creating even fewer jobs than in the first half of this year, when private employers added an average of about 100,000 jobs per month. That's barely enough to keep the unemployment rate from rising. The jobless rate has been stuck at 9.5 percent for two months.
Stock futures fell on the news. The Dow Jones industrial average futures had risen more than 50 points before the report was released. They dropped quickly and were down as much as 20 points afterward.
Jobless claims declined steadily last year from a peak of 651,000 in March 2009 as the economy recovered from the worst downturn since the 1930s. After flattening out earlier this year claims have begun to grow again.
The number of people continuing to receive benefits fell by 13,000 to 4.5 million, the department said. The continuing claims data lags initial claims by one week.
But that doesn't include millions of people receiving extended unemployment insurance, paid for by the federal government. About 5.6 million unemployed workers were on the extended unemployment benefit rolls, as of the week ending July 31, the latest data available. That's an increase of about 300,000 from the previous week.
During the recession, Congress added up to 73 extra weeks of benefits on top of the 26 weeks customarily provided by the states. The number of people on the extended rolls has increased sharply in recent weeks after Congress renewed the extended program last month. It had expired in June.
Private employers added only 71,000 jobs in July. But that increase was offset by the loss of 202,000 government jobs, including 143,000 temporary census positions.
July marked the third straight month that the private sector hired cautiously. Economists are concerned that the unemployment rate will start rising again because overall economic growth has weakened significantly since the start of the year.
In a healthy economy, jobless claims usually drop below 400,000. But the recent increases in claims provide further evidence that the economy has slowed and could slip back into a recession. Many analysts are worried that economic growth will ebb further in the second half of this year.
After growing at a 3.7 percent annual rate in the first quarter, the economy's growth slowed to 2.4 percent in the April-to-June period. Some economists forecast it will drop to as low as 1.5 percent in the second half of this year.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Monday, August 09, 2010
Seattle Washington U District needle exchange gives out free crack pipes
By VANESSA HO
SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF
For more than 20 years, local heroin addicts have relied on a collection of needle exchanges for clean works. But in recent months, crack users too have quietly found an outlet in the city.
In a nondescript alley in the University District, users can pick up clean crack pipes, pipe filters and ascorbic acid for injecting crack. Heroin users can also pick up a drug that reverses a heroin overdose -- an apparent first for a city needle exchange.
"We take a different philosophy approach than most government institutions or public health departments. They have a budget, and have to pick and choose who they're going to help," said Shilo Murphy, executive director of the non-profit People's Harm Reduction Alliance, which runs the U-District needle exchange.
"We say this is our community, this is our neighborhood, and we should decide what we have at the table."
The exchange, which celebrated 20 years in the neighborhood this week, has come a long way from its roots -- when a man named Bob walked the Ave. and dispensed sterile needles from his backpack.
These days, the largely volunteer-driven exchange, which serves 400 to 600 people a month, is better known for branching ahead of its peers in the harm reduction world.
Public health officials know of no other local program that gives out crack kits or Naloxone, the heroin-overdose reversal drug. But they see the potential benefits.
Just as sterile syringes reduce the spread of HIV and other diseases, new and unbroken glass pipes are believed to prevent lip cuts and the spread of hepatitis strains. Rubber tips and new filters ward off mouth burns. Ascorbic acid helps prevent users from using lemon juice to dissolve cocaine rocks into an injectable liquid -- a common practice that can lead to fungal infections.
"Our program is primarily an HIV prevention program," said Michael Hanrahan, manager of education and prevention services of the HIV/STD program with Public Health -- Seattle & King County. The agency, which runs four exchange programs, has watched the demand for clean needles surge from 1.8 million in 2006 to nearly 3.4 million last year.
Hanrahan said research has documented HIV transmission from dirty needles, but he wasn't aware of rigorous studies showing disease spread via crack sores.
"But it's certainly theoretically plausible," he said. Last year, the Legislature passed a law allowing lay people to legally administer Naloxone, which counters the effects of an opioid overdose. Hanrahan said Public Health is interested in giving the drug to users, but because it is a prescription drug, the agency first needs to work on protocols with the state Board of Pharmacy.
At the People's Harm Reduction Alliance - partially comprised of former users who run a table at Northeast 43rd Street and University Avenue Northeast - there is less need to follow protocols and studies.
The program began giving out crack kits a few months ago, after staffers felt the need to support crack users, who still make up a major local drug trend, according to a recent University of Washington study.
And the exchange began giving out Naloxone soon after the new law took effect in June. Murphy estimated his program gives out two million needles a year and 10 pipes a day. This month, it handed out 25 vials of Naloxone.
"We don't have clients, we just have community members. I make it clear to everyone that everyone is family here," Murphy said.
"We believe all drug users should have the right to not get diseases and have the ability to prevent diseases."
Vanessa Ho can be reached at 206-448-8003 or vanessaho@seattlepi.com. Follow Vanessa on Twitter at twitter.com/vanessaho.
SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF
For more than 20 years, local heroin addicts have relied on a collection of needle exchanges for clean works. But in recent months, crack users too have quietly found an outlet in the city.
In a nondescript alley in the University District, users can pick up clean crack pipes, pipe filters and ascorbic acid for injecting crack. Heroin users can also pick up a drug that reverses a heroin overdose -- an apparent first for a city needle exchange.
"We take a different philosophy approach than most government institutions or public health departments. They have a budget, and have to pick and choose who they're going to help," said Shilo Murphy, executive director of the non-profit People's Harm Reduction Alliance, which runs the U-District needle exchange.
"We say this is our community, this is our neighborhood, and we should decide what we have at the table."
The exchange, which celebrated 20 years in the neighborhood this week, has come a long way from its roots -- when a man named Bob walked the Ave. and dispensed sterile needles from his backpack.
These days, the largely volunteer-driven exchange, which serves 400 to 600 people a month, is better known for branching ahead of its peers in the harm reduction world.
Public health officials know of no other local program that gives out crack kits or Naloxone, the heroin-overdose reversal drug. But they see the potential benefits.
Just as sterile syringes reduce the spread of HIV and other diseases, new and unbroken glass pipes are believed to prevent lip cuts and the spread of hepatitis strains. Rubber tips and new filters ward off mouth burns. Ascorbic acid helps prevent users from using lemon juice to dissolve cocaine rocks into an injectable liquid -- a common practice that can lead to fungal infections.
"Our program is primarily an HIV prevention program," said Michael Hanrahan, manager of education and prevention services of the HIV/STD program with Public Health -- Seattle & King County. The agency, which runs four exchange programs, has watched the demand for clean needles surge from 1.8 million in 2006 to nearly 3.4 million last year.
Hanrahan said research has documented HIV transmission from dirty needles, but he wasn't aware of rigorous studies showing disease spread via crack sores.
"But it's certainly theoretically plausible," he said. Last year, the Legislature passed a law allowing lay people to legally administer Naloxone, which counters the effects of an opioid overdose. Hanrahan said Public Health is interested in giving the drug to users, but because it is a prescription drug, the agency first needs to work on protocols with the state Board of Pharmacy.
At the People's Harm Reduction Alliance - partially comprised of former users who run a table at Northeast 43rd Street and University Avenue Northeast - there is less need to follow protocols and studies.
The program began giving out crack kits a few months ago, after staffers felt the need to support crack users, who still make up a major local drug trend, according to a recent University of Washington study.
And the exchange began giving out Naloxone soon after the new law took effect in June. Murphy estimated his program gives out two million needles a year and 10 pipes a day. This month, it handed out 25 vials of Naloxone.
"We don't have clients, we just have community members. I make it clear to everyone that everyone is family here," Murphy said.
"We believe all drug users should have the right to not get diseases and have the ability to prevent diseases."
Vanessa Ho can be reached at 206-448-8003 or vanessaho@seattlepi.com. Follow Vanessa on Twitter at twitter.com/vanessaho.
Thursday, August 05, 2010
Is Obama about to forgive billions in mortgage principal?
James Pethokoukis hears rumors of an August surprise coming from the White House, one that will attempt to win backs the hearts and minds of voters dismayed at the failing economic policies of the Obama administration. With the government fully in control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Barack Obama may issue an order to forgive portions of underwater mortgages processed through the GSEs, where negative equity approaches $800 billion overall. Some financial houses have begun quietly preparing for the possibility:
Full Story
Full Story
Elena Kagan tied to Obama's birth certificate
Just when you thought there couldn't be any more players in the ongoing soap opera over the hunt for President Obama's original birth certificate and his constitutional eligibility for office, there comes yet another name: Elena Kagan.
Yes, the same Elena Kagan nominated by the commander in chief to be the next justice on the U.S. Supreme Court has actually been playing a role for some time in the dispute over whether Obama is legally qualified to be in the White House.
Here's the connection. Kagan served as solicitor general of the United States from March 2009 until May of this year.
In that role, she legally represented the U.S. government in numerous cases coming before the Supreme Court.
A simple search of the high court's own website reveals Kagan's name coming up at least nine times on dockets involving Obama eligibility issues. Full Story
Yes, the same Elena Kagan nominated by the commander in chief to be the next justice on the U.S. Supreme Court has actually been playing a role for some time in the dispute over whether Obama is legally qualified to be in the White House.
Here's the connection. Kagan served as solicitor general of the United States from March 2009 until May of this year.
In that role, she legally represented the U.S. government in numerous cases coming before the Supreme Court.
A simple search of the high court's own website reveals Kagan's name coming up at least nine times on dockets involving Obama eligibility issues. Full Story
Reality sets in for U.S states on Real ID
By Shaun Waterman
The Washington Times
Like it or not — and many in the Obama administration don't — Real ID is coming to a driver's license near you.
Having failed to get Congress to revise the tough new security rules for state-issued licenses in the Real ID Act, the Department of Homeland Security says it is working out how to implement the law.
But critics fear Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano plans to gut the intent of the legislation's authors.
There is broad agreement among those following the issue on Capitol Hill and in statehouses across the country that Pass ID, the legislative alternative to Real ID that the Obama administration was pushing last year, is dead in the water.
"Pass ID is not moving forward," David Quam, director of federal relations for the National Governors Association, told The Washington Times.
"Although [Homeland Security] is still working with Congress on a comprehensive solution that allows cost savings and flexibility to the states, we are obligated to continue moving ahead with efforts to improve the standards for state-issued driver's licenses and identification under the REAL ID framework pending any legislative changes by Congress," Homeland Security spokeswoman Amy Kudwa told The Times in an e-mail.
The Real ID Act grew out of a recommendation from the Sept. 11 commission that driver's licenses needed to be more secure and harder to obtain for terrorists and other malefactors. Despite being in the country illegally, all but one of the 19 hijackers on Sept. 11 had driver's licenses or other state-issued ID cards that they used to rent cars and apartments, and ultimately to board the planes they commandeered.
Several terrorist plots foiled in the United States since then have been attempted by people who also had managed to get driver's licenses, despite having overstayed their visas.
"People understand that 99 percent of the security at airports, buildings, stadiums and other events relies on visual verification of driver's licenses," said Brian Zimmer, president of the Coalition for a Secure Driver's License, a nonprofit that advocates for fraud-proof licenses. "That's why there has always been broad public support for stronger identity security."
To comply with the Real ID Act, states must check that license applicants are in the country legally, ensure they have valid Social Security numbers and verify the authenticity of documents such as birth certificates, among other requirements. Applicants in the United States on visas can be issued licenses, but those licenses will expire with the visas. Full Story
The Washington Times
Like it or not — and many in the Obama administration don't — Real ID is coming to a driver's license near you.
Having failed to get Congress to revise the tough new security rules for state-issued licenses in the Real ID Act, the Department of Homeland Security says it is working out how to implement the law.
But critics fear Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano plans to gut the intent of the legislation's authors.
There is broad agreement among those following the issue on Capitol Hill and in statehouses across the country that Pass ID, the legislative alternative to Real ID that the Obama administration was pushing last year, is dead in the water.
"Pass ID is not moving forward," David Quam, director of federal relations for the National Governors Association, told The Washington Times.
"Although [Homeland Security] is still working with Congress on a comprehensive solution that allows cost savings and flexibility to the states, we are obligated to continue moving ahead with efforts to improve the standards for state-issued driver's licenses and identification under the REAL ID framework pending any legislative changes by Congress," Homeland Security spokeswoman Amy Kudwa told The Times in an e-mail.
The Real ID Act grew out of a recommendation from the Sept. 11 commission that driver's licenses needed to be more secure and harder to obtain for terrorists and other malefactors. Despite being in the country illegally, all but one of the 19 hijackers on Sept. 11 had driver's licenses or other state-issued ID cards that they used to rent cars and apartments, and ultimately to board the planes they commandeered.
Several terrorist plots foiled in the United States since then have been attempted by people who also had managed to get driver's licenses, despite having overstayed their visas.
"People understand that 99 percent of the security at airports, buildings, stadiums and other events relies on visual verification of driver's licenses," said Brian Zimmer, president of the Coalition for a Secure Driver's License, a nonprofit that advocates for fraud-proof licenses. "That's why there has always been broad public support for stronger identity security."
To comply with the Real ID Act, states must check that license applicants are in the country legally, ensure they have valid Social Security numbers and verify the authenticity of documents such as birth certificates, among other requirements. Applicants in the United States on visas can be issued licenses, but those licenses will expire with the visas. Full Story
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
Judge being gay a nonissue during Prop. 8 trial
The biggest open secret in the landmark trial over same-sex marriage being heard in San Francisco is that the federal judge who will decide the case, Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, is himself gay.
Many gay politicians in San Francisco and lawyers who have had dealings with Walker say the 65-year-old jurist, appointed to the bench by President George H.W. Bush in 1989, has never taken pains to disguise - or advertise - his orientation.
They also don't believe it will influence how he rules on the case he's now hearing - whether Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure approved by state voters to ban same-sex marriage, unconstitutionally discriminates against gays and lesbians. Full story
Many gay politicians in San Francisco and lawyers who have had dealings with Walker say the 65-year-old jurist, appointed to the bench by President George H.W. Bush in 1989, has never taken pains to disguise - or advertise - his orientation.
They also don't believe it will influence how he rules on the case he's now hearing - whether Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure approved by state voters to ban same-sex marriage, unconstitutionally discriminates against gays and lesbians. Full story
Missouri Votes to Block Obama's Health Insurance Mandate
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly rejected a key provision of President Barack Obama's health care law, sending a clear message of discontent to Washington and Democrats less than 100 days before the midterm elections.
About 71 percent of Missouri voters backed a ballot measure, Proposition C, that would prohibit the government from requiring people to have health insurance or from penalizing them for not having it.
The Missouri law conflicts with a federal requirement that most people have health insurance or face penalties starting in 2014.
Tuesday's vote was seen as largely symbolic because federal law generally trumps state law. But it was also seen as a sign of growing voter disillusionment with federal policies and a show of strength by conservatives and the tea party movement.
"To us, it symbolized everything," said Annette Read, a tea party participant from suburban St. Louis who quit her online retail job to lead a yearlong campaign for the Missouri ballot measure. "The entire frustration in the country ... how our government has misspent, how they haven't listened to the people, this measure in general encompassed all of that." Full Story
About 71 percent of Missouri voters backed a ballot measure, Proposition C, that would prohibit the government from requiring people to have health insurance or from penalizing them for not having it.
The Missouri law conflicts with a federal requirement that most people have health insurance or face penalties starting in 2014.
Tuesday's vote was seen as largely symbolic because federal law generally trumps state law. But it was also seen as a sign of growing voter disillusionment with federal policies and a show of strength by conservatives and the tea party movement.
"To us, it symbolized everything," said Annette Read, a tea party participant from suburban St. Louis who quit her online retail job to lead a yearlong campaign for the Missouri ballot measure. "The entire frustration in the country ... how our government has misspent, how they haven't listened to the people, this measure in general encompassed all of that." Full Story
Egypt admits rocket attack from its own soil
The deadly rocket attacks on Israel and Jordan's Red Sea ports were carried out by the militant Palestinian Hamas group operating from Egypt, an Egyptian official said Wednesday after days of denials.
Immediately after a barrage of rockets crashed into the sea near Israel's Eilat resort town and killed a taxi driver in Jordan's Aqaba port, Egyptian officials had strongly denied they had come from its soil.
The security official said Hamas had fired seven rockets, including one which misfired and left debris near a security facility in the town of Taba.Full Story
Immediately after a barrage of rockets crashed into the sea near Israel's Eilat resort town and killed a taxi driver in Jordan's Aqaba port, Egyptian officials had strongly denied they had come from its soil.
The security official said Hamas had fired seven rockets, including one which misfired and left debris near a security facility in the town of Taba.Full Story
Illegal immigrant who killed nun in accident was released by feds
The Virginia man suspected in a drunken-driving crash that killed a Catholic nun in Prince William County this weekend is an illegal immigrant and repeat offender who was awaiting deportation and whom federal immigration authorities had released pending further proceedings, police said Monday.
Carlos Montano, a county resident, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and drunken driving. Mr. Montano had been arrested two other times on drunken-driving charges, and on at least one of those occasions county police reported him to federal authorities.
"We have determined that he is in the country illegally. He has been arrested by Prince William County Police in the past, said police spokesman Jonathan Perok.
He said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was notified at the time of one of those arrests. "At the time of this incident, the accident yesterday, he was in the deportation process and was out on his recognizance for court proceedings." Full Story
Carlos Montano, a county resident, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and drunken driving. Mr. Montano had been arrested two other times on drunken-driving charges, and on at least one of those occasions county police reported him to federal authorities.
"We have determined that he is in the country illegally. He has been arrested by Prince William County Police in the past, said police spokesman Jonathan Perok.
He said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was notified at the time of one of those arrests. "At the time of this incident, the accident yesterday, he was in the deportation process and was out on his recognizance for court proceedings." Full Story
Sunday, August 01, 2010
Afghan Women and the Return of the Taliban
Saturday, July 31, 2010
U.S. bank failures total 108 after 5 shut on Friday
(Reuters) - U.S. bank failures reached 108 so far in 2010 on Friday as regulators seized five small banks in the Pacific Northwest and the Southeast, none publicly traded.
Bank failures are expected to peak this quarter, with the industry slowly recovering from large portfolios of bad loans, many tied to commercial real estate.
The banks seized on Friday were Liberty BankOregon; The Cowlitz Bank of Longview, Washington; Coastal Community Bank of Panama City Beach, Florida; Northwest Bank & Trust of Acworth, Georgia; and Bayside Savings Bank of Port Saint Joe, Florida, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
The five banks would cost the agency's deposit insurance fund about $335 million, the FDIC said.
The largest of the five banks was LibertyBank with 15 branches and about $768.2 million in total assets and $718.5 million in total deposits. The smallest was Bayside Savings Bank with just two branches and $66.1 million in total assets and $52.4 million in deposits.
Although failures are still occurring at a rapid pace, it is mostly smaller institutions that have been collapsing recently.
The biggest bank failure of the crisis was Washington Mutual, which had $307 billion in assets when it was seized in September 2008.
The annual level of bank failures has not reached the levels during the savings and loan crisis, when 534 institutions were seized in 1989 alone.
In the current crisis, the problems dogging the banking industry have migrated from home mortgages to commercial real estate, especially for community banks that tend to have higher concentrations of commercial real estate loans.
Regulators have not publicly revealed estimates of how many bank failures are still to come, but the FDIC has said it expects the cost to hit $60 billion from 2010 through 2014.
Bank failures are expected to peak this quarter, with the industry slowly recovering from large portfolios of bad loans, many tied to commercial real estate.
The banks seized on Friday were Liberty BankOregon; The Cowlitz Bank of Longview, Washington; Coastal Community Bank of Panama City Beach, Florida; Northwest Bank & Trust of Acworth, Georgia; and Bayside Savings Bank of Port Saint Joe, Florida, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
The five banks would cost the agency's deposit insurance fund about $335 million, the FDIC said.
The largest of the five banks was LibertyBank with 15 branches and about $768.2 million in total assets and $718.5 million in total deposits. The smallest was Bayside Savings Bank with just two branches and $66.1 million in total assets and $52.4 million in deposits.
Although failures are still occurring at a rapid pace, it is mostly smaller institutions that have been collapsing recently.
The biggest bank failure of the crisis was Washington Mutual, which had $307 billion in assets when it was seized in September 2008.
The annual level of bank failures has not reached the levels during the savings and loan crisis, when 534 institutions were seized in 1989 alone.
In the current crisis, the problems dogging the banking industry have migrated from home mortgages to commercial real estate, especially for community banks that tend to have higher concentrations of commercial real estate loans.
Regulators have not publicly revealed estimates of how many bank failures are still to come, but the FDIC has said it expects the cost to hit $60 billion from 2010 through 2014.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Recession was deeper than gov't previously thought
The Commerce Department, in revisions issued Friday, estimates the economy shrank 2.6 percent last year -- the steepest drop since 1946. That's worse than the 2.4 percent decline originally estimated.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
The Back Door Amnesty Memo for illegal immigrants in the U.S
According to an internal U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services memo going the rounds of Capitol Hill and obtained by National Review, the agency is considering ways in which it could enact “meaningful immigration reform absent legislative action” — that is, without the consent of the American people through a vote in Congress.
“This memorandum offers administrative relief options to . . . reduce the threat of removal for certain individuals present in the United States without authorization,” it reads.Also: “In the absence of Comprehensive Immigration Reform, USCIS can extend benefits and/or protections to many individuals and groups by issuing new guidance and regulations, exercising discretion with regard to parole-in-place, deferred action and the issuance of Notices to Appear (NTA), and adopting significant process improvements.”
In recent weeks, Sen. Chuck Grassley and others in Congress have been pressing the administration to disavow rumors that a de facto amnesty is in the works, including in a letter to Department of Homeland Security head Janet Napolitano. “Since the senators first wrote to the president more than a month ago, we have not been reassured that the plans are just rumors, and we have every reason to believe that the memo is legitimate,” a Grassley spokesman tells NR. (NR contacted DHS, but a spokesman did not have a comment on the record.) Full Story Amnesty Memo
“This memorandum offers administrative relief options to . . . reduce the threat of removal for certain individuals present in the United States without authorization,” it reads.Also: “In the absence of Comprehensive Immigration Reform, USCIS can extend benefits and/or protections to many individuals and groups by issuing new guidance and regulations, exercising discretion with regard to parole-in-place, deferred action and the issuance of Notices to Appear (NTA), and adopting significant process improvements.”
In recent weeks, Sen. Chuck Grassley and others in Congress have been pressing the administration to disavow rumors that a de facto amnesty is in the works, including in a letter to Department of Homeland Security head Janet Napolitano. “Since the senators first wrote to the president more than a month ago, we have not been reassured that the plans are just rumors, and we have every reason to believe that the memo is legitimate,” a Grassley spokesman tells NR. (NR contacted DHS, but a spokesman did not have a comment on the record.) Full Story Amnesty Memo
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
New Arizona laws that go into effect July 29
Arizona's controversial crackdown on illegal immigration has been in the spotlight, and Thursday is the "general effective date" — 90 days after the end of the legislative session — when legislation enacted takes effect, unless specified otherwise.
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