divemaster5734

Naw.. I do understand the dilemma. And I apologize for the last line, was in a hurry to take a call and wanted to leave it with a "zinger", but that may have been over the top. Honestly though, there are a LOT of small companies that are barely surviving. Shoving just another 2% overhead burden down their throats will destroy them. Raising the minimum wage is not the answer because the cost of living will just go up exponentially. They will just be in the exact situation as before, except now there will be thousands fewer jobs because so many were forced out of business, so the economy will just crash again. Everything will cost more, so there will be no gain. Raising the min wage is just another way for the progressives to destroy us even more. Maybe if they quit teaching ***** life styles and went back to teaching math people would actually get an education they could use to earn a living. Oh wait, then no more teaching racism, class envy, or mediocrity either. Just think of all those commie teachers that would be out of work.... lets just pack them off to china and save the few billion a year on the wasted salaries.

Wow. When I had a minimum wage job I had two choices. Work my butt off and go home and feel sorry for myself, or do something about it. I took option 2. If you think 8 hours a day sucks, try putting in another 6 after that studying. Ever been so tired you just collapse and tears just run down your face? Ever had to wear shoes 1 1/2 sizes too small because they were the closest thing on sale to yours? I got hundreds of memories like that. Then I got my degree. Started my company. Made lot's and lost lots. Still have to put in massive hours. Just did a 22 hour day this week. The point is, they can get off their asses if they want, the woman can EASILY get another cook job much higher than minimum if she is worth a crap, or get FREE taxpayer schooling when she's tired enough. Life happens, not everyone has the opportunity to go to college right after high school, or to have their parents pay for it. My dad was in a coma, mom was in shock, and I had to care and support 4 brothers and sisters. The army gave me an early honorable discharge because the situation was so bad. Was 19, and thought my life was over Decided to put on big boy pants. If you try to force everyone to pay extra so those too lazy to educate themselves not only will you completely destroy whats left of the economy, you will remove any incentive for people to bother to better themselves. Are you stoned, or just plain stupid?

That thing rocks. I wonder what it would take to make my own. That is something I would definitely like to have in the garage.

This is one of those times when I honestly hope I am so completely wrong I look back later and laugh. Unfortunately, we HAVE to have a major national emergency in order for the collectivists to provide a "solution". Look at the Social Security Act. They had to crash the stock market twice, in the 20's and again in the 30's in order for the people to accept themselves being used as collateral for the bogus "loans" that got us out of the depression, which actually DIDN'T get us out of anything. It was also used to seize all our gold and established every single American was now a 14th Amendment citizen, which made us property of the US gov, and our rights became privileges. One way or another, the and of an era is near.

I agree whole heartedly, we MUST treat everyone with the same respect we expect... that is until they have proven they are no longer deserving of the respect. I don't believe God wants us to be idiots. He has given us free will, He has also commanded us to seek the truth, and anyone with a shred of integrity left has already admitted o is not a moral or ethical person. Once a person begins to treat me with contempt, and disgust, and then starts to actively oppress, then I say they have lost all respect due the title of his office. o has brought shame to the entire country, he has humiliated us in front of the world. I am also Christian, and I refuse to subject myself to some implied code of standard that I haven't even found in my bible. o is a lying dirt bag POS, pure and simple. No offence.

Excellent video Price. I don't know when or why the NRA was created, but I do know the KKK was formed by the Democrats to eliminate all those pesky Republican voters. A person was generally considered a "sovereign" if the owned land. There were many blacks that were titled land by their former owners after years of loyal service. There were also many women that inherited land when their husbands died. These were also seen as a "problem". The Democrats then had already become known as predominately federalists, the people that wanted a huge government to control every aspect of your life, and the Republicans were focused on the original intent of the constitution and bill of rights. It soon became unpopular to kill whites, so the KKK used racism to kill. Soon after they denounced the democratic socialism, and embraced fascism. They are one of the most vile groups of people on the planet. What is inspiring is that so many are realizing, this isn't a black thing, a white thing, a democrat thing, or a republican thing, it's an American thing. I applaud the Black Chamber of Commerce for their courage to stand up and tell the truth, the dems have tried desperately to put a distance between themselves and the KKK, even going so far as to tell people the KKK is from the Republican Party. It took guts to stand up and dispel the lies that have been perpetrated for decades. What they said at the end was in fact the bottom line, either we force ourselves to drop the diversity propaganda and understand we are all the same, or we cease to exist as America.

An exercise I learned a long time ago is four part breathing. It uses up more of the oxygen, drops your heart rate, and helps keep warmed blood in your extremities, excellent if you are cold and have no other way to warm up. I use a modified version for skip breathing when diving, and need to help a tank last a few extra minutes. The secret is to maintain the exact rhythm for each part. I use numbers, count by thousands for 4 seconds while you inhale at a steady rate. It will take a few try's to figure how hard to intake so it is steady. Then hold for the same time. Then exhale for the same time. It will be tough the first few times to do this at a steady rate. The wait, the same amount of time. Then breath in. It will take several times before you get it down, but once you do your pulse will drop, the blood from you lungs with fresh air will spend more time warming up your body, and it will help you focus. I can get up to 15 extra minutes off a tank.

Good Stuff Brandy. The history channel had a series called "The Men who made America", or something like that. I couldn't watch any of the full episodes. They were glossed over at best. Full of intentional lies and deceit at worst. The Morgan's. Chase and others were just robber barons from Europe intent on dominating the entire world, by any means necessary. There was nothing fair, moral, or ethical about them.

Hats off to Uneek for his post here http://dinarvets.com/forums/index.php?/topic/143970-how-we-get-programmed/ Since the Department of Education was formed it has been quietly destroying the quality of education in America. From omitting critical events, to teaching racism, class envy, mediocrity, and everything collectivist, they are intent on producing armies of drone workers incapable of independent thought thoroughly programmed to serving the state. Subliminal Suggestion has come a long way from the days of inserting a one line advertisement between the frames of a movie. Here is the result of extensive research time fighting for quality in our kids education. I have also included five short videos explaining everything from the people financing the drive to implement the system, their financial motives, some key issues that will scare you about it, and what you can do as a parent to stop this insanity. Marxism in Education – The Infiltration of Our School Systems by the Common Core Standards Right Side News has been reporting on progressive education reformers and the Common Core Standards being implemented in our public schools across the nation. Here is an excellent article with videos detailing how the Obama Administration is requiring the public schools in your county through grants (bribes) to adopt Common Core Standards. Bottom line: the Obama Administration is using your tax money to indoctrinate your children to a Marxist mindset. You can make a difference, as explained below the videos by downloading an OPT-OUT form and submitting that to your local school district. Terresa Monroe-Hamilton, Noisy Room Blog I caught Glenn Beck on The Blaze and his excellent showcasing of Obama’s Common Core Standards that are now in 45 states, including my state of Idaho. Common Core is Marxism for children. It is state run propaganda and is meant to dumb down and control our little ones. It is evil and it has been a long time coming. Obama pushed it through slyly and quickly after coming into office, but I can tell you, this has been brewing since at least the 1990s. A little background… When my children were in school in the 1990s, my husband and I requested to see the school curriculum for their school in Las Vegas, Nevada. We were refused and basically told we were too dumb to understand what the teachers were instructing our son and daughter in. The last straw came when they wanted to put my daughter in the second grade on Ritalin instead of disciplining her. I was pulled in front of four teachers and accused of not raising my daughter correctly, as well as basically being an abusive and stupid parent. I promptly told these teachers that they could pound sand and pulled our children (our son was in third grade at the time) out of school that very same day. I left the Fortune 500 and home schooled both of them till high school and in retrospect, should have kept them out even then. My children could not do the simplest of math or read when we pulled them out. I tested them and started them all over again with the ABEKA home schooling system, which at the time, cost a great deal of money. The children were tested by the state within a week of being pulled out and because they could not read or do math, the state threatened to remove our children, even though it was their damn lack of teaching that had produced this. Well, we knuckled down and by the end of the following year, both kids were excellent readers and were caught up in math. I never heard from the state again. My son went on to be a gifted software developer and although my daughter is still trying to find her way in the world, she is a talented artist and a survivor. Now on to the present matter at hand. My friend and fellow blogger Michelle Malkin has done a set of four in-depth articles on reporting on the Common Core Standards as well as additional pieces providing more information. Her work is very well done. Before her write-ups, I would wager most parents had never heard of Common Core. There are now many teachers who are quitting and/or standing up against this Progressive travesty that is intent on corrupting our schools and students. Here are some videos explaining the Common Core Standards: I will tell you that George Soros and the Tides Foundation along with other major Progressive organizations and the Obama Administration are behind all of this monstrosity. Gee, I’m sooo surprised. Educational policies are supposed to lie with the states, so the government coercing the states to carry the Common Core Standards violates the Constitution. The tracking database violates privacy at every turn as well. I strongly recommend you click on the links below and read what Michelle has written and fight to drive out the Common Core Standards from your state. While Obama took us from one emergency to the next, he was slipping in the back door to destroy our children who are the building blocks of the country. Get your children out of the public schools now and fight this at the state level. It is almost too late. Take Action, as Michelle Malkin explains in her NRO article: The good news: A grassroots revolt outside the Beltway bubble is swelling. Families are taking their children’s academic and privacy matters out of the snoopercrats’ grip and into their own hands. You can now download a Common Core opt-out form to submit to your school district, courtesy of the group Truth in American Education. Parents caught off guard by the stealthy tracking racket are now mobilizing across the country. According to the New York Daily News, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, echoing parents across New York City, blasted the tracking database in a letter to government officials: “I don’t want my kids’ privacy bought and sold like this.” This Wednesday, prompted by parental objections, Oklahoma state representatives unanimously passed House Bill 1989 — the Student Data Accessibility, Transparency and Accountability Act — to prohibit the release of confidential student data without the written consent of the student’s parent or guardian. As I noted in last week’s column, the national Common Core student database was funded with Obama stimulus money. Grants also came from the liberal Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (which largely underwrote and promoted the top-down Common Core curricular scheme). A division of the conservative Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. built the database infrastructure. A nonprofit startup, “inBloom, Inc.,” evolved out of this strange-bedfellows partnership to operate the invasive database, which is compiling everything from health-care histories, income information, and religious affiliations to voting status, blood types, and homework completion. And it gets worse. Research fellow Joy Pullmann at the Heartland Institute points to a February Department of Education report on its data-mining plans that contemplates the use of creepy student-monitoring techniques such as “functional magnetic resonance imaging” and “using cameras to judge facial expressions, an electronic seat that judges posture, a pressure-sensitive computer mouse and a biometric wrap on kids’ wrists.” The DOE report exposes the big lie that Common Core is about raising academic standards. The report instead reveals Common Core’s progressive designs to measure and track children’s “competencies” in “recognizing bias in sources,” “flexibility,” “cultural awareness and competence,” “appreciation for diversity,” “empathy,” “perspective taking, trust, [and] service orientation.” That’s right. School districts and state governments are pimping out highly personal data on children’s feelings, beliefs, “biases,” and “flexibility” instead of doing their own jobs of imparting knowledge — and minding their own business. And yes, Republicans such as former Florida governor Jeb Bush continue to falsely defend the centralized Common Core regime as locally driven and non-coercive, while ignoring the database system’s circumvention of federal student-privacy laws. Why? Edu-tech nosybodies are using the Common Core assessment boondoggle as a Trojan horse to collect and crunch massive amounts of personal student data for their own social-justice or moneymaking ends. Reminder: Nine states have entered into contracts with inBloom: Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, and North Carolina. Countless other vendors are salivating at the business possibilities in exploiting public-school students. Google, for example, is peddling its Gmail platform to schools in a way that will allow it to harvest and access families’ information and preferences — which can then be sold in advertising profiles to marketers. The same changes to the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974 (also known as the Buckley Amendment, after its sponsor, Senator James L. Buckley) that paved the way for the Common Core tracking scheme also opened up private student information to Google. As FERPA expert Sheila Kaplan explains it, “Students are paying the cost to use Google’s ‘free’ servers by providing access to their sensitive data and communications.” It’s a Big Brother gold rush and an educational Faustian bargain. Fortunately, there is a way out. It starts with parents’ reasserting their rights, protecting their children, and adopting that motto from the Reagan years: Just say no. Here's the videos:

I was a fireman years ago when the county decided to build a new jail. First, you must realize there is a big difference in ideology among the personnel. When you are working in the public service sector,(police or fire), you tend to become isolated, largely due to the alternating shifts, and wind up spending most of your off time with coworkers. People are people, and it doesn't take long before you find others that have the same perception of what the job is for. I wound up associating with other people that believed in public service minus the "fringe" benefits and position abuses. Sometimes the differences in the cliques cost promotions and duty assignments. Usually we only mingled with the collectivists during work hours and social gatherings. During a Superbowl party at my place it was revealed some of the law enforcement had taken verbal directives to a new level. Some of the officers were concerned a number of their arrests were going to be thrown out due to unreasonable search. They were not concerned about the fact they did not have cause to initiate the stops, or that they had filed charges for obscure laws, or greatly exaggerated the report . They were concerned about the lost revenue, the percentage of bad arrests on their records, and wondered if they were still able to generate the required extra county income. As I was mingling with my guests, I was amazed at the conversations in the two camps. The collectivists conversations were dominated by proper verbiage on reports to justify field actions, assorted ongoing investigations of possible abuse, drunken bragging on who had highest arrest's, and complaining about warning letters. I have no idea how many thousands of tickets, or hundreds of arrests were solely due to the demand for a temporary increase in revenue, but I often wondered how many hundreds or thousands of lives were negatively affected, sometimes permanently, caught up in a local governments power corrupt scheme.

Socialist Work Ethic One of the first things that pleasantly surprised me about Americans upon my arrival in 1978 was the strong American work ethic, “the belief in work as a moral good.” The Webster’s Dictionary claims that the word “work ethic” was first used in 1951. I was contrasting it with the socialist workers’ paradise work ethic I saw in my twenty years of life under the communist party regime – “we pretend to work and they pretend to pay us.” Daddy used to tell us stories about his young team of misfit apprentices who hid as soon as they arrived at work to continue their morning sleep. Dad had to look for them in new nooks and hideouts every day. It was a challenge and an irritation to get people to work because they could never be fired, no matter how bad they were. The communist party dictated that, in order to keep the masses quiet, everybody had to have a job and a meager salary. In their pursuit of a better hiding place, some hapless greenhorns crawled into dangerous areas with toxic fumes and liquids. Dad worked in a large refinery that had supplied oil to the German Army during World War II under another misguided regime. The employment card each worker carried only showed a stamp with the place and time of employment – no room for work performance evaluation or any such capitalist “exploitation.” I was in awe at the long hours Americans worked, their dedication to the work place, productivity, personal responsibility for errors, much better remuneration based on merit, and pride in a job well done. I soon understood why – people could get fired for non-performance and inability to do the job in a timely manner. This is something that socialist countries like France, Italy, and Greece are not allowed to do by law. Unfortunately, things have changed in the 35 years since I arrived in the United States. Half of the population subscribes to a socialist welfare, work ethic long forgotten. Why try so hard to work when welfare, food stamps (EBT cards), disability, out of wedlock babies, and 99 weeks unemployment are so much more lucrative? Let the other 50 percent idiots go to work and earn distributive welfare income for the rest. Government taxation and income redistribution are very generous. All welfare recipients have to do is keep voting Democrat and the bonanza follows. I am not sure if Americans arrived at this attitude because of our government largesse, with the help of the Democrats who promise more social justice, or because they have followed the lead of the European socialists. Surely they cannot believe that it is morally and socially just to steal from the labor of those who work and give it to those who prefer sloth. The Greeks, for example, have exercised for years their political options based on self-interest. In codependent complicity with the political class, the welfare class changes their votes to the party that offers most goodies. If statistics are to be believed, 70 percent of the population receives some sort of benefit payment for partial or total handicap. An old man lamented that “Greeks have forgotten how to work.” Therefore a new mantra emerged, “Politicians pretend to govern and Greeks pretend to protest.” Anarchy stoked from the far right and the far left gains more converts by using the mantra of pretend, nobody puts forth any real effort. Greeks seem to love anarchy because it is so financially profitable. Tax cheats abound at the local and government levels. People don’t like taxation and some successfully avoid paying taxes. The railroad borrows 700 million euros for daily operations and winds up with a 600 million deficit. The sink hole of the Greek economy is caused by collective duplicity, politicians, society, citizens without a work ethic, unions, business owners, and the European Union who turns a blind eye to all the corruption. Greece is a good example of the deliberate demise of a country caused by the depreciating work ethic. Greece, once famous for its art, architecture, and military genius, is now infamous for its social, political, and economic bankruptcy. The French work ethic was at the center of a recent spat between Titan International and the left-wing minister of industry, Arnaud Montebourg. Maurice Taylor, the CEO of Titan, sent a letter on February 8, which was made public in the Parisian press, to Montebourg, in which he told him why Titan had no interest in buying a doomed Goodyear’s Amiens Nord tire factory. “The French workforce gets paid high wages but works only three hours. They get one hour for breaks and lunch, talk for three and work for three.” Industry minister Montebourg replied that Taylor’s comments were “extremist and insulting,” particularly since French products are superior. “Mr. Taylor, saying he will pay a euro an hour to Chinese workers to give us crappy products, excuse my language, is unacceptable to our French farmers.” The chief of the French employers’ union MEDEF, Laurence Parisot, injected his opinion in the debacle; Mr. Taylor’s letter was “unacceptable.” He admitted that there “were some irregularities in the French way of working, but generalizing it to the whole of France was ‘shocking.’” The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. of Amiens Nord faces closure because of disagreements between the union representing 1,250 workers and the management - employees must work more shifts or accept layoffs. The case of Fiat illustrates the work ethic of Italians, at least those in the southern part of Italy. After having “rescued” Chrysler, Sergio Marchionne of Fiat was hoping to convince workers to be more devoted to their jobs, to cut down on bad working habits such as calling in sick while working on another job in order to double their pay, or skip work with a fake doctor’s excuse on the day a favorite soccer team plays a game. Pormigliano d’Arco is the lowest performing plant of the Fiat Empire – it has operated at 32 percent capacity 2008-2010. The 5,200 employees produce Alpha Romeos. Fiat did not close the plant because it would have destroyed almost 50 percent of the region’s economy and the livelihood of 15,000 families in a very poor area with the highest unemployment in Italy, 20 percent less productivity, and prominent organized crime. “As Fiat goes, so goes Italy,” and Italians like their “humane working life.” Nello Niglio, a factory worker, was quoted in the New York Times, criticizing Mr. Marchionne’s requirements for longer work hours and less absenteeism. “He wants to impose American-style standards. But too much work is going to kill our workers.” (Liz Alderman, Fiat Pushes Work Ethic at Italian Plant, July 22, 2010) The socialist workers of Italy, Greece, or France are not giving up their life-long secured employment perks in order to adopt an American work ethic of responsibility, accountability, and decency. God forbid, they may die from overwork. Instead, Americans are adopting by the millions the socialist work ethic. “A 57-year old well-educated alcoholic receives Social Security, free rent, free utilities, and free healthcare. He refuses to work. As soon as his check comes in, he goes straight to the liquor store.” “A share-cropper from Georgia, retired from Ford, still works at 77 and has a tremendous work ethic. His son, a strong, healthy young man of 44 only takes odd jobs for cash in the underground economy. He does not want an official paycheck because he has amassed a $75,000 college loan debt which he has no intention of paying back.” Men with welfare-mom girlfriends are well financed – they wear expensive clothes and drive nice cars. The “bread winner” in the family is often the young woman who keeps getting pregnant and having babies by different men who disappear into society, leaving the taxpayer-supported welfare system to care for their offspring. “This is the Democrat-voting constituency whose entitlement spending the current administration refuses to cut.” But then we should not call them entitlements, they are welfare, taxpayer-funded handouts. Social Security and Veterans benefits are entitlements because they were “earned and paid for by the recipients” or their immediate families. I have worked 12- hour days my entire adult life and still do. I have not gotten sick from hard work, on the contrary, there was a sense of pride and accomplishment for a job well done, and I felt good to be able to pay my bills and take care of my family. My friend David, a scientist and Ph.D., has worked since he was six years old, delivering papers on a five-mile long route, crossing the busy Lincoln Highway two times. He also worked at the corner gas station during high school. The quintessential entrepreneur, David started his own lab at age 55 and made it a resounding success through hard work; he still labors 80 hours a week, including some bookkeeping, and has not been sick a day in 45 years. His European friends tell him that he could not start such a business in Europe because of regulations, bureaucracy, and the European mindset. Europeans do not want to work more than eight hours per day, no weekend work, prefer five-week vacations, national holidays off, a thirteenth salary, and other deserved and undeserved perks. Many EU countries have switched to a 30-hour workweek. The American work ethic, based on values of hard work and diligence, has enhanced the moral character of millions. Americans with a strong work ethic are reliable, entrepreneurial, take initiative, and always pursue new skills and ventures. Traditionally, Americans with a good work ethic have been selected for better positions of responsibility and promoted more often. In the last decades, however, a degradation of the moral character has resulted in a diminished work ethic. Promotions not based on merit but on ethnic, racial, and gender quotas further exacerbate the problem. The entitlement mentality that is now promoted by the MSM and the government is pervasive in the country, has driven more nails into the work ethic coffin, promoting the European socialism mindset and a dubious work ethic, alien to our American values. Our anemic economic recovery is the result of this mentality.

Obama’s ICE releases Illegal aliens from jail, awards $220.5 million contract to answer USCIS phones While Obama’s Immigration Custom Enforcement (ICE) was releasing thousands of illegal aliens from jail supposedly because of the sequester budget cuts, Obama’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) was awarding a $220.5 million contract to answer phones. On March 7, HP Enterprise Services announced it won a $220.5 million five-year “task order” from Obama’s USCIS “to manage call centers for those applying for citizenship or who need immigration assistance for the USCIS National Customer Service Center.” According to the press release: “Immigration services is commonly the first experience a potential new citizen has in dealing with the U.S. government, so agents must be informed, professional and expedient,” said Marilyn Crouther, the senior vice president, general manager, U.S. Public Sector, HP Enterprise Services.” Recall how days earlier, the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was in damage control mode over the administration’s decision to release illegal aliens onto the streets of America in Arizona, California, Georgia and Texas because of budget cuts from the sequester. Napolitano “acknowledged” regretting the manner in which the detainees were released. ICE and USCIS fall under the DHS umbrella. As the Associated Press reported, “The Homeland Security Department released from its jails more than 2,000 illegal immigrants facing deportation in recent weeks due to looming budget cuts and planned to release 3,000 more during March… The newly disclosed figures, cited in internal budget documents reviewed by the AP, are significantly higher than the “few hundred” illegal immigrants the Obama administration acknowledged this week had been released under the budget-savings process. The government documents show that Immigrations and Customs Enforcement released roughly 1,000 illegal immigrants from its jails around the U.S. each week since at least Feb. 15. The agency’s field offices have reported more than 2,000 immigrants released before intense criticism this week led to a temporary shutdown of the plan, according to the documents.” Providing funds for phone calls as opposed to keeping law breakers off the street is in sync with operations at America’s immigration agencies. Illegal aliens no longer have to worry about deportation thanks to Obama’s amnesty by memos but legal immigrants do. Most Americans do not realize they have been funding along with legal immigrants an anti-legal immigration, lawless USCIS that has been bedeviled by mindboggling incompetence for decades. The basic task of providing accurate information over the phone to legal immigrants has been a challenge for this federal agency. In fact, the incompetence has been so vast it earned its very own Government Accountably Office (GAO) report. As I reported in Crime & Incompetence, Guide to America’s Immigration Crisis, in 2005, the GAO report entitled “Immigration Services: Better Contracting Practices Needed at Call Centers,” documented the ongoing travesty that is what the politicians call legal immigration. Contractors contracted by the USCIS “failed to meet 4 out of 7 measures” that included “how quickly calls were answered and the accuracy of information provided.” Meanwhile, if you thought the USCIS had already been given funds to modernize and transform for the 21st century during the Bush era and wondered why President Obama, and the senators of the “Gang of Eight:” Chuck Schumer (D-NY), **** Durbin (D-IL), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), and Michael Bennet (D-CO), John McCain (R-AZ), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), and Marco Rubio (R-FL)keep saying it needs to be done, you would be correct. It was January 29 when President Obama said during his immigration reform speech, “And the third principle is we’ve got to bring our legal immigration system into the 21st century because it no longer reflects the realities of our time.” As I reported in Crime & Incompetence, the USCIS has already received over $1 billion to modernize and transform and is running over budget, behind schedule, and does “not use best practices.” Even Mark Schwartz the USCIS Chief Information Officer knows about the ongoing transformation and modernization program considering it is a multi-year effort and “the agency is right in the middle of.” Watch this interview with Schwartz and FedScoop TV. So let me get this straight, they release CONVICTED criminals to American streets instead of giving them a 2 hour bus ride to Mexico to save money, and instead SPEND 220.5 MILLION so other illegals can be sure to talk to a live person. Am I the only one that is shocked not just by the OBVIOUS partisan politics they are playing(and gambling with YOUR life), but also that this hasn't been plastered on every news "source" across the nation?

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey. He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up. As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off! MORAL : Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.

I understand and agree with your message. It sounds funny, but I hate haters. Arrogance, pretense, prejudice, and oppressors of any stripe. I found it extremely hypocritical of the communists to condemn the Nazis by calling them Fascist. That is morally and ethically wrong, but because they believe in mob rule, as long as they have a gang of followers anything they do is OK. This was nothing but another conditioning event. The collectivist are programming the masses of populist followers they can crush anyone else human rights as long as they have the power of the mob on their side. It is sad, so many are too brainwashed to see the whole picture. Of course, the skinhead's are wrong, but to use that to cast a negative label on an entire population is nothing short of stereotyping for political gain. I noticed they were sure to mention the trade unions were there, does that mean only the unions, or people that are in the unions, are not Nazis? We all know that's pure BS. While the article sounds all warm and fuzzy at first glance, the truth is it is nothing but propaganda and programming. A mob NEVER has the right to take away another humans rights. To believe anything else is to be a puppet. Neg away...

This is true. The problem is, we have been in a declared state of emergency since Lincoln. Not one president since him has had the integrity to lift it. By doing so they would relinquish a lot of power. Instead, each one has decided to not just maintain the status, but to use EO's beyond what they were intended for, and thereby abused the power of the office they swore to occupy with integrity and constitutional adherence. Even before then, George Washing altered the intended office oath, and refused to take the full oath. So, the truth, is every single POTUS that has ever occupied the office has gone back on their word the moment they swore into it. These conversations are nothing but a distraction. I engaged hoping to wake people up to the core issue, no matter who or what is in that office, no matter how many of various flavored politicians are pretending to represent the people, they are only there through OUR implied consent. We don't need some UCC-1 filing, we don't need to shoot our neighbors, the police, take on the military, or take any other violent action against another human being. We need to take away our consent, and they will no longer have ANY authority over us. That's it. Do you honestly think the police would even try to lock up every single American that isn't a government agent? Think about it. Just walk away.

Five surgeons are discussing who makes the best patients to operate on. The first surgeon says, 'I like to see accountants on my operating table because when you open them up, everything inside is numbered.' The second responds, 'Yeah, but you should try electricians! Everything inside them is color coded.' The third surgeon says, 'No, I really think librarians are the best, everything inside them is in alphabetical order.' The fourth surgeon chimes in: 'You know, I like construction workers...Those guys always understand when you have a few parts left over.' But the fifth surgeon shut them all up when he observed: 'You're all wrong. Politicians are the easiest to operate on. There's no guts, no heart, no balls, no brains, and no spine. Plus, the head and the ass are interchangeable.

Yes Razur, that's exactly what I am saying. Just the same as I despise being called a republican in the sense of a GOP establishment worshiping zombie, I can't imagine how a individual freedom loving, personal responsibility accepting, American Libertarian patriot could even want to be associated with the collectivist rights hating progressives. Unless I understand the doctrines incorrectly, Marxism is the exact polar opposite of liberty, why on earth would a person willing to defend personal liberty not mind being categorized as someone they are fighting against? Honestly, I don't understand. While I hate ALL labels, they are a necessary evil. My only intent was to clarify. I know you are a Libertarian. I understand you are not willing to walk away from the Liberal word, I have other friends that are the same, it was THEIR word first, and they refuse to allow it to be taken away by low life bottom feeders. If I misunderstood I apologize,I thought I was doing the Libertarians a favor..

You need to understand, by using a draft of the constitution, and not including the Bill of Rights to swear into office, the new CIA director has declared he officially doesn't care about You or your family, and you have no rights, either as a human or an American. The symbolism of Brennan being sworn in with hand on Constitution without Bill of Rights By Madison Ruppert Editor of End the Lie Vice President Joe Biden swears in CIA Director John Brennan in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, March 8, 2013. (Image credit: Official White House Photo by David Lienemann) There has been a great deal of buzz surrounding the swearing-in ceremony of John Brennan as director of the CIA during which he took his oath of office with his hand on the original draft of the US Constitution which, most notably, did not include the Bill of Rights. Some see this as quite symbolic given the extreme rejection of the most essential rights by the current administration, most notably the wild interpretation of the concept of due process, the claimed authority to kill Americans even when there is no clear evidence of terrorist activity and the claimed authority to indefinitely detain Americans without charge or trial. The White House wrote, “Brennan was sworn in with his hand on an original draft of the Constitution, dating from 1787, which has George Washington’s personal handwriting and annotations on it.” Why is that problematic? “That means, when Brennan vowed to protect and defend the Constitution, he was swearing on one that did not include the First, Fourth, Fifth, or Sixth Amendments — or any of the other Amendments now included in our Constitution,” Marcy Wheeler of Empty Wheel points out. “The Bill of Rights did not become part of our Constitution until 1791, 4 years after the Constitution that Brennan took his oath on.” Keep in mind, Brennan is referred to as the chief architect of the Obama administration’s highly contentious open-ended drone program. Wheeler maintains that “these vows always carry a great deal of symbolism” and the White House also “took pains to emphasize the symbolism of the ceremony” according to Oliver Knox. “There’s one piece of this that I wanted to note for you,” said spokesman Josh Earnest at the White House’s daily briefing. “Director Brennan was sworn in with his hand on an original draft of the Constitution that had George Washington’s personal handwriting and annotations on it, dating from 1787.” “Director Brennan told the president that he made the request to the archives because he wanted to reaffirm his commitment to the rule of law as he took the oath of office as director of the CIA,” Earnest said. The problem is that he reaffirmed his commitment to a Bill of Rights-free version of the Constitution. “That means: No freedom of speech and of the press, no right to bear arms, no Fourth Amendment ban on ‘unreasonable searches and seizures,’ and no right to a jury trial,” writes Knox. Some bloggers maintain that there is a quite deep meaning behind this ceremony. “This administration seems to view the Constitution, and especially the Bill of Rights, as impediments to progress,” writes Mike Shortridge. “Progression towards what exactly is a major point of contention, but the steps taken to circumvent the Bill of Rights are indisputable.” Others maintain that even if he had taken an oath on a Constitution that includes the Bill of Rights, it wouldn’t stop him from violating it. “Even if Brennan had taken an oath on the Constitution with the Bill of Rights included, does anyone think that would stop him from making a mockery of the document if the president ordered him to?” Rick Moran asks. Others just make passing mention of the symbolism of the document choice. I wonder, is this it? Is this the white house's way of declaring open war on anyone that doesn't agree with their policies?

I'll agree some thread labels have been designed to tie all democrats to the extreme progressive agenda's, and that is not fair or even remotely true. I recommend we all make an effort to not offend, however, in this individual instance, the title fits. If the current administration is anything, it is fully supportive of all things socialist. One of the biggest problems facing America is the absurdity of political correctness. PC has turned Americans into a thin-skinned whiner society that thinks any idea or message must be sugar coated because even the malevolent have feelings which must be protected. That is the dumbest idea I have ever heard. Take that to the next step and solders will be forced to apologize to the enemy before they shoot them in the head. That's the same as being forced to spent $2000.00 on a dentist to give a root canal to a convicted murderer 1 week before their execution. Or a home owner getting sued because a thief got bit by the dog while they were stealing from the home. It's time to end this "gypsy queen" false pride and fragile ego garbage. While I agree calling all democrats progressives, or all conservatives republicans is wrong, obummer is definitely a Marxist, through and through.

When are you going to stop blaming others? It is time to get over who did what in the past, we cant change it. yes, Bus was as much a collectivist puppet as o, the only difference is we can stop o. By comments like your you are inversly declaring we are powerless to do anything about the current spending because some jerk got away with it before. Really? Is that your message? Everyong just needs to grab their ankles and hop it doesn't destroy the country? I thought you were open to honest dialogue, how can we discuss anything if anytime someone says anything about the corruption or incompetence in the current administration you act like they are either a racist, or nothing can be done because the last 60 years were nothing but incompetent globalist puppets and they were not stopped either. When are you going to decide to live in the present and deal with the current issues? The least you can do is to stop making posts designed to do nothing but destroy a thread just because the poster didn't make a disclaimer to reassure everyone the RINO POTUS were just as bad. I know you are a very intelligent person, your perspective has brought new facets to discussions, and I value that. A lot of us have brought attention to the fact the republican RINO's have cooperated in the deceptions, but it honestly does no one any good to toss a grenade into a discussion just to point that out. We all need to stop the blood letting and let the wounds heal if we ever expect to work together to change our direction. Please, no offense intended, and please accept my apologies for unintended pique.

You need to reread the article and the write up afterwards. Nobody called you a progressive, but you need to declare what you are so everyone can understand the context of your words. You need to drop your blind arrogance and anger, you don't understand who you are talking about when you slander other people. "Conservatives" are not RINO GOP, not all of them, and your BS outburst is as offensive to them as you not understanding anything you read and thinking you were being called a progressive. If you could "give a rats ass about politics", then you need to wake up to reality, because to sit and do nothing is to let them win, is that what you want? Honestly, I think the only "difference" between a constitutional conservative, which I am also, and a Libertarian, is the presence of the Holy Spirit. Even then, I know there are many Libertarians who worship Jesus Christ. Maybe it's just a bad habbit from the years wasted as a former Republican... I remember discussing this with you then as well. My whole intent was to increase awareness of the huge difference to those that haven't come to understand the "liberal" conflict. I wasn't, until I joined a very intense political forum that has little to no moderators, the topics are unlimited, as is the language allowed. It is fun to jump in there and release steam, but it really makes me appreciate DV all the more as well.

OK fine, they DO make her look fatter... but like a K street hooker? Hmmm... don't know where K street is, but I would stay the heck away from there...

Liberalism: A Basic Primer—Or, Why Leftism is Failure Incarnate Having covered the origins of leftism in the initial article in this two-part series, let’s recap. Liberalism was originally named for its chief aim—as a philosophy based upon liberty, which is now known as Classical Liberalism. The roots of this worldview stretch back to classical paganism. In An Intellectual History of Liberalism, Pierre Manent generally describes Liberalism as “the basso continuo of modern politics, of the politics of Europe and the West for about the past three centuries.” In other words, it is our foundational societal theory. Yet, now the term liberalism has been co-opted by socialism. Ralph Raico describes the original idea: Having recapped, let’s examine the development of modern liberalism, or socialism. How is it that what was once the philosophy of liberty devolved into doctrinaire, pedestrian socialism—with its inane fixation on controlling the habits of men and extinguishing their freedoms? This occurred because Socialists needed to update their brand marketing, as most Americans considered Marxist inspired ideas unacceptable on their face. “Classical liberalism” is the term used to designate the ideology advocating private property, an unhampered market economy, the rule of law, constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion and of the press, and international peace based on free trade…including freedom of contract and exchange and the free disposition of one’s own labor, is given a high priority. Historically, liberalism has manifested a hostility to state action, which, it insists, should be reduced to a minimum. I. Emergence of Modern Leftism—“Old” vs. “New” Liberalism A. Change of DefinitionsHow did the term liberalism—originally understood as the philosophy of liberty—become defined as its opposite? Ralph Raico describes this transition: According to Raico, the Left tells itself an essentially false, self-aggrandizing fable of how the word liberal was co-opted by socialism, while attempting to retain a sense of natural evolution and growth of their movement. Specifically, the Left informs itself that Old Liberals were content with laissez-faire until they realized this method would not work to make the world a better place. They then decided to adopt more government controls for economics and communitarian vision of property ownership. It is not disputed that the popular meaning of liberal has changed drastically over time. It is a well-known story how, around 1900, in English-speaking countries and elsewhere, the term was captured by socialist writers. For a century now controversy has raged over the true meaning of liberalism. How did this momentous transformation of the term liberal—what Paul Gottfried calls “a semantic theft”—come about? It is clear, though, that image problems with the term socialist itself was a huge motivation to dump the word. Some persons dropped socialist and called themselves individualists. These began to develop ideas similar to Italy’s Fascist economic policy. John Dewey began to use “individualist” in this manner. Others preferred the term “nationalist,” while a third group adopted “liberal.” Interestingly, such persons—while stealing the identity of real liberals, still saw themselves as the benefactor, not enslavers, of mankind. Note this statement from revisionist socialism founder Eduard Bernstein: The difference between these two movements could not be more stark. The Old Liberals defined themselves as fierce advocates of freedom, however recipients decided to use this opportunity. The New Liberals are fixated upon outcomes—specifically the great aims of Utilitarianism, “the greatest good for the greatest number,” or practically speaking—happiness and pleasure—however one might measure these. Ironically, liberalism itself grew as a reaction against the welfare state and the bureaucratic “rage to govern”, as condemned by Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau. The development and protection of the free personality is the goal of all socialist measures, even of those which superficially appear to be coercive. A closer examination will always show that it is a question of a coercion that increases the sum of freedom in society, that gives more freedom, and to a wider group, than it takes away. B. John Stuart’s Mill: Sausage Maker of Modern Liberalism?John Stuart Mill is one of the most influential thinkers of the 19th century—nowhere more so than on the subject of liberalism. The famed author of On Liberty is accused of hideously deforming liberalism and casting it into a dark hole. He taught that government’s goal is to maximize human happiness, not simply defend individual rights. Further, he wanted to scupper traditional religion and replace it with a religion of humanism. Writes Raico: The freedom of opinion espoused in On Liberty was largely part of Mill’s grand strategy—to demolish religious faith, especially Christianity on the way to erecting a social order based on “the religion of humanity.” True individuality would be incarnated in…a being in whom selfishness and greed would be replaced by altruism and the constant cultivation of the loftier faculties. In fact, it is Mill’s work in creating a humanist religion based upon socialist elements helped create the modern world. Writes Linda Raeder in John Stuart Mill and the Religion of Humanity: II. Debacles of New LiberalismOne of the more remarkable developments in Anglo-American society over the past century has been the transformation of liberal politics from a commitment to limited government toward the progressive expansion of governmental direction of the social process. John Stuart Mill was a pivotal figure in that transformation. His self-avowed “eclecticism” allowed him to retain something of a commitment to classical liberalism, and he never completely abandoned the belief in a limited political sphere that characterizes that outlook. But Mill muddied the waters of classical-liberal philosophy and practice by his conviction that the end of government is the all-encompassing “improvement of mankind” and not the preservation of individual liberty-under-law, as well as by his self-conscious embrace and advocacy of the “social” moral ideal. Moreover, Mill’s ambition to replace the theologically oriented society of the Western tradition with one grounded in and oriented exclusively toward Humanity necessarily entailed a departure from classical liberalism. Are Socialism and its big brother, Marxism, an effective means of organizing society and creating prosperity and happiness? No, but this has been well-known for decades. There are no known successes in socialist countries—only failures. Further, somewhere between 100-200 million humans were needlessly slaughtered in communist countries. Here is an expose’ of four of the most notable communist regimes of the last 50 years. A. USSRThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or USSR lasted from 1922 before dissolution in 1991. Socialism, or Russian Marxism was never a success. In fact, at no time did the country support itself because of failed leadership, poor central planning and the inherent defects of Marxism. Lenin and Stalin’s decision to wage war against the Kulaks, the independent peasant farmers, made famine a certain outcome. Consider Stalin’s “Five-Year Plan” as symbolic of the USSR’s history of unmitigated failure: B. ChinaStalin decided the economy must be given a quick upgrade, and so he launched his Five-Year Plan, announced in 1929. Richard Pipes, in Communism: A History, describes how this put the entire economy under state control. The government promised if the people worked hard to meet the goal of tripling production, the outcome would be an increased standard of living for all. Neither took place. Instead, Alec Nove, a specialist in the early socialist Russian economy declared, “1933 was the culmination of the most precipitous peacetime decline in living standard known in recorded history.” If any country challenges the USSR’s record for economic failure and outright disaster, it would certainly be communist China. For example, Chairman Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward represents probably the largest human disaster in recorded history, as up to 40 million Chinese starved to death or died as a result of this foolish and evil policy: VietnamIn 1958, Mao announced the Great Leap Forward to transform China into a modern state within a few years. In Mao’s mind, his plan to dominate and revolutionize China would then transfer to the rest of the globe. The Great Leap would occur when collectivized farms saw food production spike from new methodology. A compliant press celebrated massive increases in harvests, such as 100-fold gains in productivity. Yet after 6 months, the program was exposed as a massive failure, and instead of swelling production, widespread food shortages resulted. When reported to Mao, he replied all people would eat less since it was healthier anyway, according to Jon Halliday in Mao: The Unknown Story. Vietnam is still officially a communist country. Experts believe the war and continued failed socialist policies have dreadfully damaged the economic vitality of this beautiful land. This is even admitted by communist officials. A recent official rebuke was levied at leaders of the failed economic system, according to the Harvard Ash Center: Vietnam’s ruling Communist party has promised economic reforms and a restructuring of state firms and the banking system after a top-level meeting criticised senior members—thought to include the prime minister, Nguyen Tan Dung—but left them in post. The country’s banks are swimming in bad debt, much of it owed by the huge state enterprises at the heart of the economy. Moody’s downgraded Vietnam last month and said bank reforms should be implemented quickly. The central committee, the powerful body of more than 170 senior members of the Communist party of Vietnam, “came to the decision not to discipline the collective of the political bureau and a comrade member of the political bureau”, the party said in a statement on its website. Dương Quỳnh Hoa (1930-2006), was named a “heroine of the revolution,” becoming an important member of the communist cadre, a cabinet member of its provisionary government. In a 1990 interview with Stanley Karnow from Vietnam: A History, she especially criticized forced collectivization of farming, and stated: D. CubaI have been a communist all my life, but now I’ve seen the realities of Communism, and it is a failure—mismanagement, corruption, privilege, repression. My ideals are gone. Communism has been catastrophic. Party officials have never understood the need for rational development. They’ve been hypnotized by Marxist slogans that have lost validity—if they were ever valid. They are outrageous. Cuba is also still communist and its economic, political and human rights record is an astounding failure. Cuba was artificially kept afloat by the Soviets during much of their history, for its strategic importance, until the USSR fell apart. Says one writer, III. Conflicting Visions: Sowell’s Critique of Modern LiberalismWhen the Soviet bloc dissolved at the beginning of the 1990s, Cuba suddenly lost the $5 billion to $8 billion in annual Kremlin aid and trade that had kept the island afloat for three decades. Unable to produce enough food, Cuba’s people began to go hungry. Without the generous Soviet oil subsidy, transportation and industry were paralyzed. Without hard currency to pay for them, no food, fertilizer or oil could be imported. Left to stand on its own for the first time in 30 years, Cuba folded. Beginning in 1993, with people eating banana peels just to feel something substantial in their stomachs and with the populace suffering an epidemic of blindess and paralysis linked to vitamin deficiencies, Castro borrowed a page from Lenin’s New Economic Policy of the 1920s and turned to capitalism to save socialism. He legalized the U.S. dollar and opened the door to small-scale private enterprise. Why do modern liberals war with conservatives at every level? Thomas Sowell, in his brilliant study of ideology, A Conflict of Visions: Idealogical Origins of Political Struggles, explains why people embrace particular beliefs, whether socialist or conservative: Sowell goes on to differentiate between the constrained and unconstrained vision. Here, in the constrained vision, one accepts human limitations, tragedies, and compromise. For example, Alexander Hamilton sums this up in The Federalist Papers: Visions are the foundations on which theories are built…Here a vision is a sense of causation. It is more like a hunch or a “gut feeling” than it is like an exercise in logic or factual verification. It is the lot of all human institutions, even those of the most perfect kind, to have defects as well as excellencies—ill as well as good propensities. This results from the imperfection of the Institutor, Man. This is the Conservative view. The other, being uconstrained, never accepts any level of failure, built in flaws, or compromise. This is the modern liberal or socialist view which has caused much misery in the modern world. Sowell cites the quintessential unconstrained position, that of radical William Godwin: In essence the unconstrained constrained vision demands the good be perpetually traded in for the perfect, destroying mankind’s chance for success and happiness at every turn. Godwin regarded the intention to benefit others as being “of the essence of virtue,” and virtue in turn as being the road to human happiness. Unintentional social benefits were treated by Godwin as scarcely worthy of notice. His was the unconstrained vision of human nature, in which man was capable of directly feeling other people’s needs as more important than his own, and therefore of consistently acting impartially, even when his own interests or those of his family were involved. IV. Why Marx Fails: Reasons Socialism Always CollapsesMax Eastman wrote a highly influential expose’ upon the failure of Marxism titled, Reflections on the Failure of Socialism. He lists several issues as being especially egregious in socialism’s failure, including the planned economy, the immorality of communist ethics, socialism and its failure to address human nature, and the dangers of killing the goose that lays the golden eggs, etc. Other authors have compiled a list of the manifest failures of socialism. Here is a summary of the crucial differences between socialism and capitalism: ConclusionThe strength of capitalism can be attributed to an incentive structure based upon the three Ps: (1) prices determined by market forces, (2) a profit-and-loss system of accounting and (3) private property rights. The failure of socialism can be traced to its neglect of these three incentive-enhancing components. The main reason socialism fails as an economic theory is it does not account for price of commodities, and therefore cannot adequately ration any finite good. Further, socialism fails on a psychological level because it treats human motivation as a perverse fiction, irrelevant for producers, and therefore ignored. Finally, it fails as a political theory because it cannot value humans as being any different than machines. Honestly, I don't believe the political characters advocating socialism are doing so for any other reason than personal greed. They know the "administrators" of the different offices and distributions will have an unparalled position of power, they will be able to negotiate deals with the highest bidder, and reap fortunes at the expense of their "subjects". They will be the "American Monarchy", positions for life, and a life of luxury in exchange for selling out the people. I believe the people not expecting to be appointed to a "leadership" position but still advocating socialise are both idealists, and pateintly ignorant. They are refusing to account for a less than honest persons lust for power and the extremes some will go to in order to achieve that goal. With few exceptions, almost every American politician is either corrupted by special interest's campaign donations, the promises of a life of luxury, and the ability to blame someone else for the effects of their own corruption. I know several people that are desperately clinging to the Liberal label, and inferring to the original context. The peoblem is that for over 100 years that word has been abused, and is now just as perverted and the word g a y. Isn't it time to end the PC approach to life? Our efforts to not offend a less tolerant individual have destroyed our ability to even speak the truth of things, so how can ever hope to work out a resolution of we are not even allowed call it what it is?

At the end of the article the 14 republicans are named that voted against the funding, which means 137 democrats voted against the measure. The only difference between the two parties are the color of the ties they wear. As you read it, you will see the "tough" restrictions.. only ball bearings made in the USA can be purchased with money from this act.. REALLY?? Our economy is crashing, we are on the brink of a nuclear war with North Korea, Obummer released thousands of CONVICTED illegals into the streets in order to play partisan politics, and they want to be sure only American ball bearings are used????? I wonder how which company paid for that little inclusion. There idiot politicians have completely lost it, from Binden telling women to fire two warning shots for a rapist from a gun that only HOLDS two rounds, to Kerry giving our ENEMIES millions of dollars as our government threatens to shut down for LACK of money , to these politicians that will each make over one hundred thousand dollars a year for life, if we don't get rid of every one of them we deserve whatever we get. GOP House Approves CR That Funds All Obamacare--Including Regulation Attacking Religious FreedomMarch 6, 2013 By Terence P. Jeffrey President Barack Obama, House Speaker John Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak) (CNSNews.com) - The Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted 267-151 on Wednesday to approve a $982-billion continuing resolution (CR) to fund the federal government through the rest of fiscal 2013 that fully funds the implementation of Obamacare during that period. The House Republican leaders turned aside requests from groups of conservative members to include language in the bill that would have withheld funding for implementation of all of Obamacare, or, alternatively, that would have withheld funding for the Obamacare regulation that requires health-plans to provide cost-free coverage for sterilizations, contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs. On Tuesday, the Republican-controlled Rules Committee by Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R.-Okla.) to allow the full House to simply vote on an amendment to the CR sponsored by Bridenstine, Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R.-Kans.) and Rep. Ron DeSantis (R.-Fla.) that would have stripped funding from implementation of Obamacare.Last week, Bridenstine and Huelskamp sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor asking them to include such language in the CR. The CR produced by the leadership did not include that language. Bridenstine the Rules Committee on Wednesday--when it approved the rule that would govern House floor proceeding on the CR--to allow a vote on his amendment. The Rules Committee, however, rejected Bridenstine's request and refused to allow the rank and file members of the House to even vote on the proposition of defunding Obamacare.Similarly, 14 Republican House members, led by Rep. Diane Black (R.-Tenn.) and Rep. John Fleming (R.-La.), wrote Boehner and Cantor last week asking them to include language in the CR that would reverse the sterilization-contraception-abortifacient regulation in order to protect the free exercise of religion, which is guaranteed by the First Amendment. The Republican leaders did not include language in their CR to reverse this regulation--even though Boehner himself had declared in a House floor speech on Feb. 8, 2012 that the regulation was a violation of the constitutional right to freedom of religion and that Congress would not let it stand. The Roman Catholic bishops of the United States have unanimously declared that the sterilization-contraception-abortifacient regulation--whose enforcement will now be carried out with funds approved by the Republican-controlled House--is an "unjust and illegal mandate" that violates the "personal civil rights" of individual Americans. While the Republican-controlled House did not use the must-pass CR to defund or reverse any part of Obamacare, it did use the CR to accomplish other priorities through defunding. For example, it prohibited the purchase of foreign-made ball bearings. “None of the funds appropriated by this Act may be used for the procurement of ball and roller bearings other than those produced by a domestic source and of domestic origin," says the CR. The act also, for example, prohibits (with some exceptions) sending more than 50 government employees to a conference overseas. "None of the funds made available in this Act may be used to send or otherwise pay for the attendance of more than 50 employees from a Federal department or agency that are stationed within the United States at any single conference occurring outside a state of the United States, except for employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs stationed in the Philippines, unless the relevant Secretary reports to the Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress at least 5 days in advance that such attendance is important to the national interest," says the Act. But, by contrast, it does not restrict funding for Planned Parenthood. Of the 151 members of the House who voted against this CR, only 14 were Republicans. They included: Justin Amash (Mich.), Jim Bridenstine (Okla.), Broun (Ga.), Ron DeSantis (Fla.), Scott DesJarlais (Tenn.), John J. Duncan Jr. (Tenn.), Phil Gingrey (Ga.), Louie Gohmert (Tex.), Jack Kingston (Ga.), Tom McClintock (Calif.). Thomas Massie (Ky.), Bill Posey (Fla.), Matt Salmon (Ariz.), and Steve Stockman (Tex.). Despite the vow they made in their 2010 "A Pledge to America" to post bills online for at least 72 hours before bringing them up for a vote, the House Republican leaders brought this CR up for a vote a little less than 48 hours after posting it.

Couldn't have put it any better myself, except to hypothesize they can't address the issues you mentioned without having to admit they are all just a bunch of paid off corrupt selfserving greedy maggots.. and then they would have to fire themselves and lose their lifetime pensions and elitist status...OMG.. they would even have to start obeying all our laws, ALL the time.. can't have that.. best to keep lying to Americans and hope they just keep swallowing it...