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House of Representatives: Are you smarter than a Fifth Grader?

This may be a bit heavy for some of you folks, however it is a prime example of the feeble grasp the US House of Representatives has on simple economic principles.  This stupid knee-jerk reaction will have the effect of making what we import from overseas more expensive, while at the same time encourge foreign governments to retaliate against exports from the United States.

A classic lose-lose scenario. 

Mr. Walberg said the ad misrepresents his position. 
The GOP should swear allegiance to smaller government

By Ted Nugent
4:40 p.m., Wednesday, September 29, 2010
The Republican "Pledge to America" is a step in the right direction, but we should never settle for simply better. We always should demand much better. A return to excellence would be nice, wouldn't it?

Compared to the bloated, ineffective, wasteful, expensive, irresponsible and downright enslaving Fedzilla programs the Democrats recently have rammed down our throats and will continue to force on us if re-elected, the Republican pledge surely would move America in a new, positive direction. What Republicans owe the American people is a hefty dose of plain-speaking, bold pragmatism that clearly articulates the GOP's vision for America. Even I, your humble Motown guitar slayer, remain steadfastly locked on the vision of our Founding Fathers and am prepared to ride to their rescue with the Ted Pledge. My crowbar of logic and truth does not gently weep.

GOP candidates and politicians should self-impose term limits and pledge to serve just two terms in the House or one term in the Senate and then leave Washington for good, never to return. Americans know that professional Fedzillacrats and lobbyists from both sides of the political aisle are the root cause of America's problems; they are not the solution.

Republicans should then call a news conference and burn the federal tax code on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol and then march right back into the Capitol and pass a Fair Tax. Until then, no taxes should be withheld from our paychecks. Americans should have to pay their taxes once a year so that they can see exactly how much of their income is swallowed up by Fedzilla. The GOP should pledge to move April 15, tax day, to the day before national elections in November. I assure you that would guarantee term limits.

The Republican leadership should pledge to implement GOP Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert's proposal to eliminate all federal taxes, including Social Security taxes, from the paychecks of Americans for one year. Mr. Gohmert's proposal would cause the American economy to roar back to life. Let's get bold and creative like Mr. Gohmert.

Republican politicians should pledge never to write or introduce a bill longer than our Constitution, which is roughly 5,000 words. If Congress critters can't write a bill in fewer than 5,000 words, they don't deserve to be in Congress. Period.

Republicans should pledge that they will invite businesspeople and free-market economists to go through each bill in detail and then report to the American public on how the bill will impact the free market before the vote on the bill is taken. The GOP should pledge to convene annually a group of businesspeople and free-market economists to recommend how Fedzilla can be gutted further.

For every new law passed, Republicans should pledge to eliminate 1,000 existing federal laws, regulations and requirements.

The GOP should pledge that it will never introduce, support or pass a law that punishes the producers and rewards bloodsuckers.

Using 2008 budget numbers, Republicans should pledge to reduce the size of Fedzilla by 25 percent during the next four years. Less government is always the best government. Dramatically reducing the size of government will pour gas on the embers of our economy and turn it into an inferno. Economic infernos are good.

The GOP should pledge to immediately stick a dagger in the heart of the death tax and all corporate taxes. This will free up untold trillions of dollars that can be used to get our economy roaring back to life and put Americans back to work.

Republicans should tell young Americans that Social Security is a Fedzilla financial Ponzi scheme and they will not receive a dime when they retire because Fedzillacrats have stolen all the money in the Social Security Trust Fund. The GOP should pledge to young workers that it will introduce legislation that will protect their IRAs and 401(k) investments from taxation when they retire.

The GOP should remind America that more options make for more affordable choices and that the free market has and still can provide this. As such, Obamacare and other Fedzilla programs that can and should be provided and managed by the private sector will be repealed. All federal welfare programs should be eliminated in the next five years. This will breed tough Americans. Tough is good. Soft is weak.

Republicans in name only (RINOs) should be purged from the GOP. RINOs are political punks who cannot be counted on. Get rid of them.

Pledge to Americans the GOP will pass legislation to ensure that federal employees will be paid what their private-sector counterparts earn and not one penny more. Except for the Department of Defense, a federal hiring freeze should be instituted for at least the next 10 years.

Republicans need to tell Americans that we've tried big government and it has been an abject failure. The only people who fail to understand this fundamental truism are power-hungry Fedzillacrats, bloodsuckers, socialists and idiots. They are anti-Americans. Do America a favor and send these punks packing.

Finally, the GOP should remind Americans at every opportunity that freedom is always better than tyranny and that smaller government is always better government.

What say you, GOP?

Ted Nugent is an unstoppable American rock 'n' roll, sporting and political activist icon. He is author of "Ted, White, and Blue: The Nugent Manifesto" and "God, Guns, & Rock 'N' Roll" (Regnery Publishing).
Posted by Carl at 10:22 AM No comments: Links to this post 

Political trumpeting and braying is truly falling upon deaf ears.

Has anyone ever noticed that the symbols of the two major American political parties both have HUGE EARS?

Why is it then that the majority of those associating themselves with either of these groups cannot or will not hear or understand anyt...hing other than that which is spoken in "Their" language?

Similarly, those that refuse to admit or affirm that they sympathize with either Donkeys or Elephants, classify utterances from either as unintelligible babble.

Posted by Carl at 12:55 PM No comments: Links to this post 
The Jihad Candidate

by Rich Carroll
Sept 08

'The Manchurian Candidate' and 'Seven Days in May' are examples of plausible chains of events that capture the reader’s imagination at best-seller level.  'What if' has always been the solid grist of fiction.

Find a candidate who changes his American name of Barry to the Muslim name of Barak Hussein Obama, and dares anyone to question his true ties under the banner of 'racism'.  Nurture this candidate in an atmosphere of anti-white American teaching and surround him with Islamic teachers.  Provide him with a bitter, racist, anti-white, anti-American wife, and supply him with Muslim middle-east connections and Islamic monies.  Allow him to be clever enough to get away with his anti-white rhetoric and proclaim he will give $834 billion taxpayer dollars to the Muslim controlled United Nations for use in Africa.

Change for America?   What change - to become another 'nation of Islam'?

What is wrong with the people in this country that they would even think about voting for this guy??   Are they ostriches with their heads in the sand??
Posted by Carl at 10:54 AM No comments: Links to this post 
Like Democrats, cattle are easily fooled.

For those of you who have never traveled to the West or Southwest, cattle guards are horizontal steel rails placed at fence openings, in dug-out places in the roads adjacent to highways (sometimes across highways), to prevent cattle from crossing. The cattle will not try to cross the guards. "Virtual" cattle guards are merely painted onto the asphalt.


Before the Interior Secretary could respond and presumably straighten him out, Vice-President, Joe Biden intervened with a request that before any guards were fired, they be given six months of retraining.

Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, added that since these unemployed people were no longer guards, they should have their firearms confiscated.

Of course, I had to do a bit of checking-after all, nobody in their right mind could be so stupid. So I looked at the Snopes web site and found it to be a fake. However, in the interest of fair disclosure-and decent storytelling-I decided to dig even deeper into the story. After assorted e-mails from “unnamed sources outside of the U.S. government” and other nefarious sources, I was able to compose, er, uncover the following:

In the true liberal media style, they got the story all wrong..

* The true story was that Obama wanted to federalize the cattle guards and put them under the Department of Homeland Security, because he considered cattle to be a “national resource”, of at least as much importance as airports and border crossings.
* Currently there is a bill in congress called the “Bovine Protection Act” that would create a branch under Department of Agriculture strictly to deal with bovine security issues. Office of Management and Budget expects this new branch to add over 280 billion dollars annually to the budget and could create another 1 trillion dollars in debt within 3-4 years.
* Department of Revenue is requesting a “head tax” on cattle to pay for this spending, which would raise the price of beef by over 25%.
* This tax would not apply to “free range” cattle, because by their very nature they are unguarded and left to fend for themselves.
* This tax would also not apply to “mad cows”, because they already fall under the direction of the Surgeon General; who administers a program which costs taxpayers $100 billion per year for herd-centered anger management counseling in an attempt to re-integrate these “mad cows” back into society.

Because they knew the public would be outraged at the additional spending in a time of recession, the press spun the story so that President Obama and our senior leadership would simply appear as clueless, instead of being socialist, fiscally irresponsible…and clueless.
Posted by Carl at 8:55 AM No comments: Links to this post 

NRA-ILA :: Déjà Vu, All Over Again: "More Guns, Less Crime"


Paul Helmke and Dennis Henigan -- spokesmen for the beleaguered Brady Campaign these days -- are old enough to know what a phonograph record is, so for their benefit we'll put it this way: At the risk of sounding like a "broken record," gun ownership has risen to an all-time high, and violent crime has fallen to a 35-year low. Coinciding with a surge in gun purchases that began shortly before the 2008 elections, violent crime decreased six percent between 2008 and 2009, according to the FBI. This included an eight percent decrease in murder and a nine percent decrease in robbery.

Since 1991, when total violent crime peaked, it has decreased 43 percent to a 35-year low. The murder rate, less than half what it was in 1980, is now at a 45-year low. Throughout, the number of guns that Americans own has risen by about four million a year, including record numbers of the two types of firearms that the Brady folks would most like to see banned -- handguns and the various firearms they call "assault weapons."

Predictions that increasing the number of guns would cause crime to increase have been proven profoundly lacking in clairvoyance. One of our favorite gems comes from the Brady outfit, when it was known as the National Council to Control Handguns: "There are now 40 million handguns. . . . the number could build to 100 million. . . . the consequences can be terrible to imagine," the group warned in the mid-1970s.

"Terrible consequences" indeed, for gun control supporters. The number of handguns has reached almost 100 million; waiting periods, purchase permits, and prohibitions on carrying firearms for protection have been dismantled in state after state; gun ownership has soared; and violent crime has plummeted.
Posted by Carl at 8:20 AM No comments: Links to this post 

Feds Spend $800,000 on Genital Washing Program in Africa...

What do you suppose these stimulus dollars are trying to stimulate? 

Enough's enough: Obama has conceded ineligibility


By Joseph Farah - World Net Daily

For more than two years now, I have given Barack Obama the benefit of the doubt.

That may be hard to fathom for some because of my admittedly relentless and tireless pursuit of the truth about his origins and his constitutional eligibility for office.

After all, I am the guy who has posted this question on billboards across America: "Where's the birth certificate?"

But I really have given Obama the benefit of the doubt until now. I have asked the questions and directed the investigative reporting that has changed America's political landscape on the eligibility question. WND conducted the first national poll on this subject 15 months ago. Back then, we were shocked that 50 percent of Americans knew there was a controversy about his birth certificate and his eligibility – because WND is the only news organization in the country that pursued the story. Today, the latest polls show 58 percent of Americans don't believe Obama's story and suspect he is not eligible to serve.

That is a big shift in public opinion in a short period of time.

During that time, despite suggestions to the contrary, I never accused Obama of being born elsewhere. I never concluded he is constitutionally ineligible. I avoided speculation on what we might find if Obama ever did willingly and openly release his records as other presidents and presidential candidates have.

However, when Barack Obama insinuated to Brian Williams of NBC that he had done everything he could to quell America's curiosity and doubts about his constitutional eligibility for office – turning his own cover-up into an indictment of the people – I say the time for deference is over.

"I can't spend all of my time with my birth certificate plastered on my forehead," Obama told Williams in an interview on NBC's Nightly News.

With this kind of arrogance after the patience the American people have demonstrated over this matter, I'd say it's time to conclude that he is ineligible for office. He's had plenty of time to provide the evidence to clear himself of this charge, this suspicion, this indictment in the form of overwhelming public opinion.

He has failed to answer the charge. He has failed to enter a plea. He has failed to show up for a hearing. Therefore, I no longer afford him the presumption of innocence.

It's time to recognize what we have serving in the White House today – a pretender, a usurper, an arrogant narcissist who believes it's beneath him to answer the questions of the public and to demonstrate his worthiness for office.

He's like the suspect who refuses to come to court for adjudication. Sooner or later, the judge throws him in jail, recognizing that the presumption of innocence only goes so far.

Many in Washington, who are complicit in Obama's eligibility charade, and the establishment news media, who failed to provide the appropriate journalistic diligence and curiosity to hold Obama accountable, are still wishing, hoping and praying this issue and the public interest in it just fades away.

That isn't going to happen.

And for those who agree with me, it's time to ratchet up the pressure.

Let's just agree that Obama's indifference to calls from the public for transparency and honesty strongly suggests he has something to hide. Since he is a public servant sworn to uphold the Constitution, it is long past time for him to come clean, lay his cards on the table and prove his eligibility. We've given him that opportunity, and he has insulted those of us who now represent an overwhelming majority by political standards. Instead, he dishonestly plays the victim role, pretending he has done everything he can reasonably do to settle the matter.

So, right here and now, I declare the president ineligible by default. Maybe he can prove I'm wrong. Maybe he can't. But the people cannot be expected to prove a negative.

I feel confident we'll soon learn the truth.

* What percentage of the public would have to express doubts about Obama's eligibility before it became a real story to the news media?

* What percentage of the public would have to express doubts about Obama's eligibility before he would condescend to providing the most basic evidence required for evaluation?

* What percentage of the public would have to express doubts about Obama's eligibility before controlling legal authorities at the state and federal level take appropriate actions to hold him accountable and to ensure America never faces another problem like this in the future?

Personally, I think we're very close to reaching the critical mass that will bring this issue to a head.
Posted by Carl at 7:59 AM No comments: Links to this post 

How Obama Thinks On The Cover/Top Stories 

Jesse and Al Wish Upon a Star Posted by Carl at 6:00 PM No comments: Links to this post 


I was in my office at N-Reactor - the largest nuclear reactor ever built on this planet. It was just before  6:00 AM Tuesday morning and almost time for the Engineering briefing.

A breaking news report on the radio caught my attention.  A plane had just struck the World Trade Center.  A hundred thoughts zipped through my head - many of them included the name Osama Bin Laden.

The radio briefly went back to regular programming.

Then the second plane strike was reported.

I called Dana and told her to switch on the TV and see what was happening.

Over the telephone, I  heard her gasp for breath and whisper "Oh my God!"

Today, nine years later I wonder when the tons of Plutonium I helped to produce over the past 35 years will be put to its intended purpose of eradicating America's enemies. Posted by Carl at 8:40 AM No comments: Links to this post 

Burning the Koran: Disrespectful (to some) 

Obama, not the GOP can fix the economy–not the Dems, him.

Look at the sub-head in this article from the Pittsburgh Libtard newspaper.
He, not the GOP can fix the economy–not the Dems, him. Yes, His Wholly Reluctance God/King Obama has just been waiting for the perfect strategic moment to rescue the economy–that has tanked under his watch to the tune of nearly 6 million lost jobs–and heroically lead his party to victory.
You know what? I like this plan! I’m excited about this plan! Let’s do this!
Obama rallies Ohioans
President declares that he, not GOP, has the correct plan to spur economy
By Jim Provance, Block News Alliance President Barack Obama Wednesday presented this fall's election as a stark choice for voters, arguing that he, not Republicans, has the right plan to jump-start the American economy.
Speaking in Ohio, a state deemed critical to his re-election chances in 2012, the president repeatedly said returning to the Republican policies that preceded his election "won't get us there."

"They're making the same calculation they made just before my inauguration -- if I fail, they win," Mr. Obama told an invitation-only crowd of about 800 at Cuyahoga Community College's West Campus near Cleveland.
"Well, they might think this will get them to where they need to go in November. But it won't get our country to go where it needs to go in the long run," he said. "So that's the choice, Ohio. Do we return to the same failed policies that ran our economy into a ditch, or do we keep moving forward with policies that are slowly pulling us out? Do we settle for a slow decline, or do we reach for an America with a growing economy and a thriving middle-class?"

Continuing his rollout of what could essentially be considered a second round of stimulus efforts, the president proposed $300 million in long-term expanded tax credits designed to persuade a skittish corporate America that now is the time to invest in plant expansions, new machinery and research and development.
"This will help small businesses upgrade their plants and equipment, and will encourage large corporations to get off the sidelines and start putting their profits to work in places like Cleveland and Toledo and Dayton," Mr. Obama said.

The question is whether any of these proposals -- including $50 billion more for road, rail and other infrastructure construction proposed earlier this week in Milwaukee -- will have any effect on the outcome of midterm elections Nov. 2.

At least some of the proposals face an uphill battle in a stimulus- and deficit-weary Congress, already facing voter backlash. Polls show Republicans are likely to make gains in Congress and potentially take back control of government in battleground Ohio.

Mr. Obama, using rhetoric that sounded more like a campaign rally than a policy speech, specifically targeted House Minority Leader John Boehner.

"When these same Republicans, including Mr. Boehner, were in charge, the number of earmarks and pet projects went up, not down," Mr. Obama said. "These same Republicans turned a record surplus into a record deficit. When I walked in, wrapped in a nice bow was a $1.3 trillion deficit sitting right there on my doorstep -- a welcoming present."

Mr. Boehner, R-Ohio, offered his own proposals Wednesday, saying in a nationally broadcast interview that Congress should freeze all tax rates for two years and cut federal spending to the levels of 2008, before the deep recession took hold.

"People are asking, 'Where are the jobs?' " Mr. Boehner said, calling the White House "out of touch" with the American public.

Urging patience, the president admitted that the recovery has been slower than he had hoped, and that some of his policies have not been popular. "Our job is not easy," he said. "But you didn't elect me to do what's easy. ..."

Mr. Obama urged renewal of Bush-era tax cuts for those earning less than $250,000 a year, while criticizing Republicans' plans to extend the tax cuts for those making more than that as well. The tax cuts are to expire at the end of this year.

The tax incentive package unveiled Wednesday includes $200 million to accelerate business write-offs of the costs of plant and machinery investments through 2011. Mr. Obama is also seeking an expansion of an existing tax credit for research and development that would be worth $100 billion over 10 years.

The proposals received a mixed reception among Republicans. "President Obama seems to finally be realizing that his actions over the last 18 months aren't working," said Ohio's Republican Senate candidate Rob Portman.

"While the announcement today may be politically motivated, at least he is starting to talk about the right issues -- proposals to spur private-sector investment and job growth," Mr. Portman said. "... Unfortunately, President Obama is also talking about tax increases as part of the package that will negate the economic benefits."
Posted by Carl at 10:02 AM No comments: Links to this post 

One tomato a day can save your life

Posted by Carl at 5:13 PM No comments: Links to this post 
"The Cuban model doesn't even work for us anymore,"

You can bet that President Obama won't be using this quote from his mentor Fidel.

Read the entire story - it is very surreal.  There is even some dialog with the daughter of Che Guevara.  Che's daughter, Celia, works at the Havana Aquarium taking care of the dolphins. 

A dog in President's clothing - oh yeah - and it's still George Bush's fault

By Holly Bailey Tue Sep 7, 2010 

It's unclear if Obama consciously or unconsciously cited the lyric. A White House spokesman did not respond to requests for comment. But regardless of its source, Obama's off-script message syncs with his overall frustration with Republicans, whom he has lambasted repeatedly as the "party of no."

With polls showing Democrats still trailing badly as the midterm campaign enters its post-Labor Day upsurge, Obama stepped up that attack line Monday. In his  remarks, he suggested that the GOP will always block bipartisanship, no matter the situation. "If I said the sky was blue, they'd say no," he vented. "If I said fish live in the sea, they'd say no. They just think it's better to score political points before an election than to solve problems."

It's all a part of the Democrats' efforts to convince Americans that a vote for the GOP this fall would return the country back to the state it was in before Obama won the presidency. Though polls show the effort isn't working, Obama has made the argument again and again, tying it to the issue that seems to be driving voters this fall: the economy.

"They're betting that between now and November, you'll come down with a case of amnesia. They think you'll forget what their agenda did to this country," Obama said. "They think you'll just believe that they've changed. These are the folks whose policies helped devastate our middle class and drive our economy into a ditch. And now they're asking you for the keys back."
Posted by Carl at 1:29 PM 1 comment: Links to this post 

Global Warming? Zero continental record highs in the past three decades!

If it’s Global Warming, where are all the new record-high temperatures?
And if it’s Climate Change, where are the new record lows? (Click to embiggenify.)

Are Extreme Hot Weather Records Due To CO2 Emissions? Ooops, No New Hot Record Temps In Last 30+ Years

Since the late 1980's, global warming alarmists have been blaring ad nauseum that the world is suffering from ever higher temperatures, setting new hot temperature records, supposedly on a constant basis. Whenever warm weather arrives in the Northern Hemisphere, the warming hype onslaught from government paid climate scientists, MSM journalists and Hollywood celebrities escalates, as seemingly every new day, new week, new month, new quarter, new year and etc. is pronounced as the warmest evaaar! But is the world truly experiencing these highly publicized extreme, unprecedented hot temperatures?
The simple and honest answer is an emphatic 'NO!'. In a previous post, the actual temperature data from weather stations around the world showed that "global" warming is actually regional warming, and, my goodness, also regional cooling. And if human CO2 emissions were really causing unprecedented, hot global weather (temperatures) then new hot temperature records for each continent should be happening - it ain't happening, though, folks.
Looking at the map below, the hottest and coldest temperatures ever recorded in modern times are presented for each continent.
Look closely and realize what has actually not taken place. The last 'hottest' temperature record was set way back in 1977. Per the calendar, some 33 years later, no continent has exceeded their previous hot temperature record - and some of those records go all the way back to the early 20th century.
Hey...the next time you hear or read "unprecedented temperatures" from a ignorant leftist/liberal elite, don't cut them any slack, go ahead and snicker (or start giggling) - it's alright, you're allowed to laugh at the stupendous ignorance exhibited by the Gore-zombies of the "progressive" left.
Remember, the myth that Earth "has a fever," and the myth that human CO2 causes extreme temperatures, and the myth that unprecedented warming is global, are just that: myths, spread by individuals with a variety of crazy-leftist agendas. (click on image to enlarge) Did we say "extreme?" A few more Wikipedia extreme temperature/weather trivia points of relevance: (1) Fastest temperature rise recorded - 49°F in 2 minutes in 1942; (2) Fastest temperature drop recorded - 47°F in 15 minutes in 1911; (3) Most consecutive days above 100°F recorded - 160 days from 1923 to 1924. And by the way, each of these most extreme weather events took place well before the influence of large human CO2 emissions.
Additional current temp charts here. Historical temp charts here.
Posted by Carl at 1:21 PM No comments: Links to this post 

God did not create the universe, says Hawking 
Since when is "Muslim" an insult? 
The Pope talks with Nancy Pelosi 

The Pope leans towards Mrs. Pelosi and says: "Do you know that with one little wave of my hand I can make every person in this crowd go wild with joy? They'll forever speak of this day and rejoice!"

Pelosi replied: "I seriously doubt that! With one little wave of your hand? Show me!"

So the Pope backhanded her.
Posted by Carl at 11:49 AM 1 comment: Links to this post 
Frogs Expel Gypsies

The French are expelling immigrants that, in accordance with the European Union compact, are legally in the country.

Why isn't Hillary Clinton's State Department up in arms over this?

Why has Arizona been demonized but the Frogs get a free pass?

France Steps Up Roma Deportation Despite E.U. Criticism

France's expulsion campaign of Roma has drawn a deluge of criticism at home and abroad, and even opened up fissures within the government and ruling conservative majority. Yet President Nicolas Sarkozy and his closest lieutenants are striking an increasingly defiant tone in response to the outcry. Cabinet members now want to expand the list of infractions for which the Roma Gypsy minority can be forcibly expelled from France - and are busy placing blame on Romania as the ultimate cause of the controversy engulfing Paris.

On Tuesday, French Secretary of State for European Affairs Pierre Lellouche and Immigration and Integration Minister Eric Besson traveled to Brussels to defend France's high-profile campaign of dismantling itinerants' camps and expelling the Roma living in France without residence permits. They met with European Union commissioners who have expressed concerns that those efforts may violate human-rights statutes guaranteeing the freedom of movement of E.U. citizens - a status conferred on all Romanians and Bulgarians during the E.U.'s 2007 enlargement. France's defiant attitude became apparent when Lellouche shifted the blame for its Roma predicament to Romania. Although Bucharest receives $5 billion in annual E.U. subsidies, Lellouche's argument goes, it spends only 0.4% of that on integrating the nation's Roma minority (a population officially pegged at 535,000 but which some experts believe exceeds 2 million). He has suggested postponing eventual Romania and Bulgaria membership to the passport-free Schengen area if both nations don't improve their efforts to integrate Roma and more effectively monitor Roma migration elsewhere in the E.U.

During the Brussels talks, Besson refuted allegations previously aired by E.U. critics that France's campaign was racially discriminatory in targeting a single minority: Roma. He also dismissed claims that Paris was conducting systematic deportation, noting that the authorities assessed the case of each detained Roma individually. And he maintained that most deportees left "voluntarily": the majority accepted cash payments ($386 per adult, $129 per child) not to fight obligatory expulsion. It's unclear whether that defense allayed the apprehensions of E.U. officials.

"Nobody should face expulsion just for being Roma," said Viviane Reding, E.U. commissioner on human rights. "Some of the rhetoric that has been used in some member states in the past weeks has been openly discriminatory and partly inflammatory."

The day before his Brussels visit, Besson responded to criticism by proposing legislation to make "aggressive begging" by foreigners a deportable offense - a move clearly targeting impoverished Roma. Not to be outdone, Besson's Cabinet partner Brice Hortefeux, the Interior Minister, claimed that criminal acts by Roma in Paris had risen 259% in the past 18 months and flatly declared, "The reality is, the author of one theft in five is Romanian." That tough talk from government members sought to counter the growing chorus of condemnation of the government campaign that has sent 8,313 Roma back to Romania or Bulgaria in the first eight months of the year. It's only accelerating: 283 deportations occurred last week alone.

That swagger by Team Sarko is intended to not only rebuff protests by French and international opponents but also divert attention from the serious dissent the anti-Roma push has created within the ruling right - and within the government itself. On Aug. 30, Foreign Affairs Minister Bernard Kouchner admitted that he considered resigning his post at seeing "Roma, in particular, mistreated and exploited." At least two other Cabinet members have also expressed unease with a campaign that many pundits say aims to win over extreme-right voters ahead of the 2012 presidential election.

Former conservative Prime Ministers and rightist heavyweights Alain JuppÉ and Jean-Pierre Raffarin have similarly warned Sarkozy that continuing to stigmatize French minorities, foreigners or Roma in particular may fuel xenophobia. And those are Sarkozy allies. Former Premier Dominique de Villepin, a staunch Sarkozy foe, described the government's push as "a stain of shame on our flag" and "a collective fault committed in all our names, against the republic and against France."

Those voices followed calls from French dignitaries, church officials and even the Vatican to halt Roma expulsions. A United Nations committee on racial discrimination went even further, saying the campaign was only the latest manifestation in a wider surge of racism and xenophobia in France. However, despite that near universal condemnation, Sarkozy apparently feels that with his approval ratings at record lows - and with an autumn of continuing scandals and reform protest approaching - any surrender on Roma now risks inspiring a series of challenges and defeats that could snowball right into his 2012 re-election bid.

Posted by Carl at 10:06 AM No comments: Links to this post 
Timeline shows Dems ignored warnings of economic meltdown

This video has come and gone from the Internet several times.
For some reason, it never lasts long before it is scrubbed by the thought police.
Take a look at our trusted congressional leaders in action while you still have your wallets.

Posted by Carl at 7:05 AM No comments: Links to this post