WINDFALL: OBAMA RAISES $181 MILLION, ONLY AROUND 2% CAN BE VERIFIED

The Obama campaign dropped a bombshell this morning. It announced that, combined with the DNC, the campaign raised a staggering $181 million in September. The windfall is a huge increase over July and August, when the campaign raised around $100 million, although it is slightly down from the $193 million it raised in September 2008. The news should raise eyebrows. 

The campaign said that just over 1.8 million people made donations to the campaign last month. According to the campaign, over 500k of these were brand-new donors, having neither given in 2008 nor 2012. 98% of contributions were under the reporting threshold of $250. Of these, the average contribution was $53. 

Its really a tale of two worlds. 35k people gave an average of $2,600, while just over 1.7 million people gave an average of $53. Half the campaign's haul came from people giving around the maximum amount and half from people who don't have to be disclosed. Seems a bit odd. 

The average of $53 from small donors is particularly noteworthy. Contributions under $200 don't have to be disclosed, but the campaign still has to keep track of the donor's name, in case subsequent donations push their contribution over the reporting threshold. 

For contributions under $50, however, the campaign doesn't even have to keep track of the donor's name. It is effectively considered a "petty cash" donation. A person could theoretically make 10 $49 donations and never be reported, even though their total contributions are above the FEC's reporting threshold. 

With an average donation of $53 from small donors, Obama has A LOT of donors who will never be disclosed and whose names aren't even known to the campaign. Tens of millions of dollars worth. 

Today's report certainly adds a great deal of interest to this news story from last week. 

Via: Breitbart

Continue Reading...

Obama attacks Romney on oil tax break remarks he never made

President Barack Obama is back on the campaign trail, blasting the “fake” Mitt Romney for false claims he supposedly made during Wednesday night’s presidential debate.

“Last night, my opponent says he refuses to close the loophole that gives big oil companies $4 billion in taxpayer subsidies every year,” Obama said at a Denver campaign event on Thursday. “He ruled out closing the loophole that gives oil companies $4 billion in corporate welfare.”

Obama continued this line of attack at other campaign events as well.

“The guy who was playing Mitt Romney said he refuses to close a loophole that gives big oil companies $4 billion in taxpayer subsidies every single year,” Obama said in Wisconsin on Thursday.

And again at a Friday event in Virginia, Obama claimed Romney said that there is “no way” he’d close loopholes for oil companies.

“He said there’s no way that he’d close the loophole that gives big oil companies billions each year in corporate warfare,” Obama said on Friday.

In fact, Mitt Romney said during the debate that getting rid of tax breaks for oil companies was “on the table” and that these breaks probably wouldn’t survive a lowering of the corporate tax rate.

Via: The Daily Caller

Continue Reading...

Obama Flying To L.A. To Reassure Hollywood Donors After Denver Debate Debacle

The president arrives for a star-studded concert and high-roller dinner on Sunday amid "shock" in Hollywood over his Denver debate performance.

President Barack Obama returns to Los Angeles Sunday for a star-bedecked celebrity concert and fundraising dinner. In the wake of his Denver debate troubles, however, the long scheduled visit has acquired another, equally urgent purpose—reassuring his Hollywood supporters that he's fighting to win the race and he's poised for a comeback in the next televised forum with former Gov. Mitt Romney.

From the now iconic dinner at George Clooney’s house that created a new Internet raffle style of campaign fundraising, through a series of lucrative Westside fundraisers and a wildly successful gala staged by the gay and lesbian community, the entertainment industry—in both L.A. and New York—has turned out to be a critical component in the Obama campaign’s fundraising efforts. There’s also no doubt that the president’s Hollywood supporters were deeply shaken by his lackluster performance in this week’s debate with Republican nominee Romney.

STORY: Presidential Debate Hits 32-Year Record in Gross Ratings

“Everyone is in shock,” said one long-time Democratic activist. “No one can understand what happened.”

At the very least, several longtime Obama supporters told THR, the chief executive should expect some directorial notes on how to tailor his performance to television’s split screen. “Everyone with a connection to the president is reaching out to him,” said another veteran Dem. “At the end of the day, the best coach he has is himself.”

The cloud of anxious fallout from Denver has all but overshadowed what otherwise would be considered a particularly glittering and gala L.A. appearance for Obama. His Sunday evening will kick off with a concert at downtown L.A.’s Nokia Theater featuring Katy Perry, Stevie Wonder, Jennifer Hudson, Earth Wind and Fire, and Jon Bon Jovi. Presidential pal Clooney will make a special appearance to introduce Wonder. Afterward, Obama will head next door for a $25,000-per-plate dinner at Wolfgang Puck’s chic WP24. Both events were sold out before the debate. The two events could easily raise more than $5 million for the president's reelection campaign. 

On Monday, the president will head north to San Francisco for a fundraising dinner hosted by superstar chef Alice Waters, and a concert headlined by John Legend.

In Hollywood political circles this weekend, Obama’s shaky showing in Denver remained the conversational Topic A.

Via: Hollywood Reporter

Continue Reading...

The 2003 Obama-PLO video and Obamacare – is there a pattern of hiding the facts?

SAN DIEGO, October 5, 2012 ― The line between political speech and public consequences is often blurry, if not complex. Many politicians mean well, but effect risky policies and laws that have unintended consequences.

Americans are a rich and multi-faceted people. Many people, including physicians of all backgrounds, demand more than platitudes when it comes to their careers and the well-being of their patients. In the setting of elections and the massive overhaul of the American medical system through Obamacare, it is just as valuable to know what is said as it is to uncover what is being hidden.

THE VIDEO

Flashback to the 2008 Presidential campaign between Obama and McCain: “The Los Angeles Times did not publish the [2003 Palestine Liberation Organization fundraiser] videotape because it was provided to us by a confidential source who did so on the condition that we not release it,” said the newspaper’s editor, Russ Stanton. “The Times keeps its promises to sources.”

Apparently, Americans will never see the 2003 video in which touted "Barack Hussein Obama" and his wife, Michelle, are seen cavorting in an openly anti-Jewish, anti-Israel, anti-American milieu at the P.L.O. event. The LA Times, which purportedly holds the only copy, refuses to release it so that it may retain its journalistic integrity and keep its promise to the original source.

Using the same logic as the LA Times, it would seem appropriate that an individual who feared personal harm or career-damaging actions would likewise seek protection for his 'story' of that same event.  Such an individual exists.

Follow us: @wtcommunities on Twitter

Via: The Washington Times

Continue Reading...

Obama's Assertion That Companies Get Tax Breaks To Ship Jobs Overseas Is A Political Ploy He Never Does Anything About

THE CLAIM: Today, Obama Presented As Fact The Notion That There Are "Tax Breaks To Corporations That Move Jobs And Profits Overseas." OBAMA: "He says there's no way that he would close the loophole to give -- that gives oil companies billions each year in corporate welfare. Any tax breaks to corporations that move jobs and profits overseas, he had never heard of such a thing. Who knew? Who knew?" (President Barack Obama, Presidential Debate, Denver, CO, 10/5/12)

THE FACTS: " Under Present Law, There Are No Tax Credits Or Disallowance Of Deductions Specific To Locating Jobs In The United States Or Transferring Jobs Overseas." "Under present law, there are no tax credits or disallowance of deductions specific tolocating jobs in the United States or transferring jobs overseas. However, Congress has providedvarious credits to encourage certain activities or behavior and has disallowed deductions to curtail behavior deemed inappropriate or to discourage certain economic choices." ("Descriptions Of Revenue Provisions Contained In The President's Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Proposal," Joint Committee On Taxation, p.73, 6/12)

• The Actual Tax Provision Obama References Would Raise Only $17 Million A Year, Or What You'd "Call A Rounding Error" With Obama's $1 Trillion Annual Budget Deficits. "Moreover, it is pretty small potatoes given the attention Democrats pay to it. The JCT estimated that ending the deduction for moving operations overseas would raise just $168 million over a decade. In the federal government with an annual budget deficit of more than $1 trillion, that's what you call a rounding error." (Glenn Kessler, "Factchecking The First Presidential Debate Of 2012," The Washington Post 's The Fact Checker , 10/4/12)

OBAMA HAS RECYCLED THIS PROMISE FOR YEARS

2004: Obama Said He Wanted To Ensure That "We Close Tax Loopholes To Companies Moving Jobs Overseas, And Making Them Invest Right Here In The United States." OBAMA: "The fact of the matter is, it's more fun being in the majority. You can get more stuff done. And to the extent that I can lend my assistance to these other candidates so that we can promote some of the policies that we've talked about: making sure that we close tax loopholes to companies moving jobs overseas, and making them invest right here in the United States. Then, I'm going to do everything I can to make that happen." (State Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks In Illinois Senate Debate, Chicago, IL, 10/21/04)

2007: Obama Said " That's Why We've Got To Stop Giving Tax Breaks To Companies That Send Jobs Overseas." OBAMA: "That's why we've got to give unions the power to do what they do best, which is organize workers to lift themselves up into the middle class. That's why we've got to stop giving tax breaks to companies that send jobs overseas. Save those tax breaks for companies that invest right here in the United States of America." (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks At Campaign Event, Columbus, OH, 10/26/07)

2008: Candidate Obama Again Presented His Economic Plan As One That Ends "Tax Breaks For Companies That Ship Our Jobs Overseas And Give Them To Companies That Create Jobs Here In America." OBAMA: "At this defining moment in our history, the question is not, 'Are you better off than you were four years ago' - we all know the answer to that. The real question is, 'will our country be better off four years from now?' How will we lift our economy and restore America's place in the world? Here's what I'll do as President. …I'll end the tax breaks for companies that ship our jobs overseas and give them to companies that create jobs here in America." (Obama For America Ad, "Barack Obama: Defining Moment," 10/24/08)

EVEN AS PRESIDENT, OBAMA USED THE SAME TALKING POINT

2009: Obama Said " We Need To Stop Giving Tax Breaks To Companies That Stash Profits Or Ship Jobs Overseas…" OBAMA: "We're also doing away with the unnecessary giveaways that have thrown our tax code out of balance. I said this during the campaign, I'm now saying it as President: We need to stop giving tax breaks to companies that stash profits or ship jobs overseas so we can invest in job creation here at home." (President Barack Obama, Remarks On Taxes, Washington, D.C., 4/15/09)

2010: Obama Said "That's Why We Want To End Tax Breaks Going To Companies That Are Shipping Jobs Overseas…" OBAMA: "And that means a future where we encourage American innovation and American ingenuity. That's why we want to end tax breaks going to companies that are shipping jobs overseas and start giving those tax breaks to companies that are investing in jobs and research and plants and equipment right here in the United States of America." (President Barack Obama, Remarks By The President At Finance Reception For Congressman Sestak , Washington, D.C., 9/20/10)

2011: Obama Said That Voters Have A Choice To " Go Back To The Ideas We Tried In The Last Decade -- Where Corporations Got To Write Their Own Rules And The Most Fortunate Among Us Got All Of Our Tax Breaks, And Jobs Got Shipped Overseas…" OBAMA: "We can go back to the ideas we tried in the last decade -- where corporations got to write their own rules and the most fortunate among us got all of our tax breaks, and jobs got shipped overseas, and incomes and wages flat-lined as the cost of everything went up, and this society became less equal, and opportunity was diminished for too many. (President Barack Obama, Remarks By The President And The First Lady At A DNC Event , New York, NY, 9/20/11)

OBAMA'S RHETORIC ON INSOURCING TAX BREAKS ARE A "FANTASY"

TRUTH: FactCheck.org: "Obama's 'Jobs Overseas' Fantasy, Again" (Brooks Jackson, Lori Robertson, Joe Miller and Viveca Novak "Closing Arguments: Obama," FactCheck.org, 11/3/08)

FactCheck.org: The Tax Breaks That Obama Is Referring To Have Nothing To Do With Why Companies Ship Jobs Overseas. "Back in 2004 when we criticized John Kerry for using a similar iteration of this claim against President Bush, we pointed out that Christian Weller, a senior fellow at the Democratic-leaning Center for American Progress, had said taxes 'are a very small part' of companies' decisions to move jobs offshore. Those at a 2005 Brookings Institution summit on trade also said taxes had little to do with outsourcing. Joel Slemrod, a tax expert at the University of Michigan's business school, summed it up by saying: 'For those who see [offshoring] as a problem, this is not a solution.'" (Justin Bank, "Obama's Trade Trickery," FactCheck.org, 9/26/08)

• Factcheck.Org: "Eliminating This Incentive Would Have Very Little Effect On U.S. Employment ." "The claim that the tax code favors locating jobs overseas has been a Democratic mantra since at least 2004, when John Kerry brought it up constantly in his campaign against then-President George W. Bush. It has some truth to it - but not much. As we reported in 2004, eliminating this incentive would have very little effect on U.S. employment." (Brooks Jackson, "A False Tax Attack," FactCheck.org, 4/9/10)
• Factcheck.Org: "As We've Been Saying For More Than Four Years Now… Eliminating Them Won't Do Much To Keep Jobs In The U.S." "Obama's infomercial, and his closing TV ads, continue to harp on the theme of 'tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas,' which Obama proposes to eliminate. We can't say whether or not he can deliver on that promise, but as we've been saying for more than four years now, (and most recently on Sept. 26) eliminating them won't do much to keep jobs in the U.S. In a recent exchange of e-mails with us, Eric Toder of the Tax Policy Center concluded that eliminating such tax breaks 'is a nice political slogan, but will do little or nothing for U.S. employment or incomes.'" (Brooks Jackson, Lori Robertson, Joe Miller and Viveca Novak "Closing Arguments: Obama," FactCheck.org, 11/3/08)

Via: GOP.com

Obama Has Left The Economy And The Middle Class Buried Under The Weight Of His Failed Policies

OBAMA HAS PRESIDED OVER A RECORD PERIOD OF ECONOMIC STAGNATION

Since Obama Took Office, The Nation Has Lost 61,000 Jobs And The Unemployment Rate Has Remained At Or Above 7.8 Percent (What The Rate Was When Obama Took Office) For 45 Straight Months. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, Accessed 10/5/12)

• Jim Pethokoukis: "10.7%: Unemployment Rate If Labor Force Participation Rate Was The Same As When Obama Took Office" (Jim Pethokoukis, Twitter Feed, 10/5/12)
• By This Point Obama's Advisers Predicted The Unemployment Rate Would Be Near 5.4 Percent. (Christina Romer and Jared Bernstein, "The Job Impact Of The American Recovery And Reinvestment Plan," 1/9/09)

• Under Obama, The Nation Has Lost 1,035,000 Construction Jobs And 610,000 Manufacturing Jobs. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, Accessed 10/5/12)

• The Manufacturing Sector Shed 16,000 Jobs In September And 22,000 Jobs In August. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, Accessed 10/5/12)

Former Obama Council Of Economic Advisers Chairman Austan Goolsbee Said The Jobs Numbers "Need To Be A Lot Better." FORMER OBAMA COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS CHAIRMAN AUSTAN GOOLSBEE: "You want to take multiple months to take an average, that's far more accurate than any one month. If you look at the last few months, it's been okay. We should take some heart in that the numbers are improving but they're not improving fast enough. They need to be a lot better. I mean if you look around the world, I think one of the things to note is, we're not growing that fast, and we're one of the fastest growing of all the advanced countries. This is a pretty tough spot that the entire advanced economic world is in, especially in Europe, and so that's just a big weight that we're trying to get off. We're making slow progress but it's got to be faster." (CNBC's "Squawk Box," 10/5/12)

• "The Economy Is Growing At The Same Sluggish Pace It Has Been Since The Spring." "Those figures are roughly in line with economists' forecasts, and although the revisions were positive, the economy is growing at the same sluggish pace it has been since the spring." (Annalyn Censky, "September Jobs Report: Unemployment Rate Tumbles," CNNMoney, 10/5/12)
• "The Country Generally Needs At Least 150,000 New Jobs Each Month Just To Keep Up With Population Growth." (Annalyn Censky, "September Jobs Report: Unemployment Rate Tumbles," CNNMoney, 10/5/12)
• "That's Hardly Fast Enough To Recover All The Jobs Lost Since 2007." "That's hardly fast enough to recover all the jobs lost since 2007. Of the 8.8 million jobs cut during the recession, about 4.3 million have been added back. The Labor Department signaled last week that it may revise the job gains higher, but even so, the job market still has a long way to go before it's fully healed." (Annalyn Censky, "September Jobs Report: Unemployment Rate Tumbles," CNNMoney, 10/5/12)

CNBC's Brian Sullivan: "It's Not Good News For The Economy." CNBC'S BRIAN SULLIVAN: "It's not good news for the economy because as we've talked about you really need 125,000 jobs created a month to keep up with population and immigration growth." (MSNBC's "Morning Joe," 10/5/12)

• Sullivan: "The Labor Force Participation Rate At 65.6% Rate Is Awful." MSNBC'S JOE SCARBOROUGH: "Again just to push back with you though, Brian, the only reason that number went down below 8 is because, not because we're adding jobs to bring the unemployment rate down but because people have stopped looking for work, right? CNBC'S BRIAN SULLIVAN: "I agree with that, the labor force participation rate at 65.6% rate is awful." (MSNBC's "Morning Joe," 10/5/12)

The Average Duration Of Unemployment Has More Than Doubled From 19.8 Weeks To 39.8 Weeks. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, Accessed 10/5/12)

• There Are Currently 802,000 Unemployed Workers That Have Given Up Looking For Work. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, Accessed 10/5/12)

The Real Unemployment Rate, Including Those That Are Working Part-Time Due To Economic Reasons, Is At 14.7 Percent. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, Accessed 10/5/12)

There Are Currently 23.2 Million Americans That Are Either Unemployed, Underemployed Or Have Given Up Looking For Work. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, Accessed 10/5/12)

• There Are Currently 12.1 Million Unemployed Workers. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, Accessed 10/5/12)
• The Number Of Workers Working Part-Time For Economic Reasons Is 8.6 Million. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, Accessed 10/5/12)
• There Number Of Workers Marginally Attached To The Labor Force Is 2.5 Million. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, Accessed 10/5/12)

 Via: GOP.com

Continue Reading...

Bankrupt DOE Loan Recipient Abound Solar Under Investigation, Panels Suffered “Catastrophic Failure”

Abound Solar, a Department of Energy $400 million loan guarantee recipient that went bankrupt earlier this year, is under investigation by officials in Weld County, Colorado.

The company, which received nearly $70 million in loan funding before payments were cut off by DOE in 2011, also received a $100,000 tax break from the Colorado county in 2010. The county decided not to extend that offer when the company failed to achieve prescribed benchmarks for the tax break.

The county is also seeking nearly $2 million in unpaid property taxes from 2011 and 2012.

Denver’s 7NEWS has confirmed the investigation:

Sources tell 7NEWS that the company’s finances are under scrutiny.

7NEWS obtained internal documents from 2012 that show orders for tens of thousands of replacement solar panels. The orders cite different reasons for the replacements including, “low performance,” “under performance” and “catastrophic failures.”

The orders are for replacements requested after the Department of Energy stopped stimulus money payments to Abound.

Rep. Cory Gardner, R-CO, has announced his intent to issue a letter to DOE “seeking records and information about what it knew while providing money to Abound.”

Gardner told 7NEWS that the document request would be comprehensive.

“We need to know, did the Department of Energy — did they close on the loan when they knew there were technical problems with the product?” Gardner told the station.

The revelation of an investigation into the shuttered solar manufacturer comes less than a week after The Daily Caller News Foundation cited sources that appear to corroborate the issue of faulty, underperforming, and even dangerous solar modules, one of which the outlet showed bursting into flames in a video released with their report:

Via: The Foundry

Continue Reading...

House GOP Women Respond to Attacks by Rep. Wasserman Schultz

WASHINGTON - Conference Vice Chairman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and U.S. Representatives Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Sandy Adams (R-FL), Michele Bachmann (R-MN), Judy Biggert (R-IL), Diane Black (R-TN), Ann Marie Buerkle (R-NY), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Renee Ellmers (R-NC), Vicky Hartzler (R-MO), Nan Hayworth (R-NY), Lynn Jenkins (R-KS), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Mary Bono Mack (R-CA), Candice Miller (R-MI), Kristi Noem (R-SD), Martha Roby (R-AL), and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) today issued the following joint statement in reaction to Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s (D-FL) comments that Republicans are “anti-women” and waging a “war on women.”

“Apparently it’s open season on Republican women.  Between Ed Schultz’s tasteless insult of a conservative woman radio host, and Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz’s comments that the Republican Party is ‘anti-women,’ the tone in Washington, D.C. has reached a new low.

“Debbie’s accusations are baseless and inaccurate.  Republican women fight every day for the women who can't start a business because of burdensome taxes and regulations, for the women who worry that we are capping their children's future and trading it to China in exchange for cheap loans, for the women who deserve to make their own health care choices, and for this year's young women graduates who are entering a job market stagnated by Washington-driven uncertainty.

“It’s disappointing that Democrats would rather call names and use such divisive language than find areas where we can work together on behalf of American women and families.”

Via: GOP.com

Continue Reading...

Christian University Bans Conservative Student Club

Conservative students at Azusa Pacific University, an evangelical Christian university near Los Angeles, have been blocked from starting a chapter of Young Americans for Freedom because the school took issue with the group’s principles.

FOLLOW TODD ON FACEBOOK FOR CULTURE WAR STORIES. CLICK HERE TO JOIN!

The YAF is a program sponsored by the Young America’s Foundation — dedicated to introducing young people to the ideas of individual freedom, a strong national defense, free enterprise and traditional values. The foundation also owns and preserves the Reagan Ranch.

Patrick Coyle, vice president of the Young America’s Foundation, said they were approached by students who wanted to be recognized as a YAF chapter.

“They were told by the administrators that they could not change their name because they had looked at our website and didn’t like the language we used,” Coyle told Fox News.

Administrators specifically took issue with references to liberal professors and radical feminists who are trying to take over college campuses across the nation.

Ashley Blackwell was one of the students hoping to launch the YAF chapter. She is currently the president of the Young Conservatives club on campus.

“It is really disappointing that a school, which promotes diversity and uses the mantra ‘everyone matters,’ would ban an existing club from changing its name,” she told Breitbart.com — which first reported the incident.

So Coyle called Chuck Strawn, the director of the university’s “Office of Communiversity.”

“I asked if there were any written rules the students had violated and he said no,” Coyle said. “He said it was just their opinion.”

He said the specific language Azusa Pacific took issue with is:

“Are you tired of liberal ideas dominating your campus? Are you tired of liberal and Marxist professors indoctrinating your classmates? Do you want to advance conservatism?

“If you answered yes, then you should start a Young Americans for Freedom chapter. YAF chapters make a difference by boldly advancing freedom and conservatism.

“Radical feminists, big government bureaucrats, fringe environmentalists, race-baiters, Islamo-fascists, and run of the mill leftists are distraught that you would even think about promoting conservative ideas.”

Via: Todd Starnes Fox Radio

Continue Reading

Congressional Budget Office Confirms FY 2012 Deficit Exceeds $1 Trillion

Fiscal year 2012 concluded with a $1.1 trillion deficit, according to the Congressional Budget Office’s monthly budget review released today. It marks the fourth year of trillion-dollar-plus deficits.

Anyone can see that these massive, continued deficits are hardly sustainable. Despite claims that tax hikes are the solution to reduce the deficit, the fact remains that too much spending is the root cause of federal budget deficits.

The federal government is currently spending about 23 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), well above the historical average level of 20.2 percent of GDP. Current spending levels follow even greater spending excesses recorded during years saturated with stimulus spending. Conversely, revenues are temporarily low due to the recession, but they will rise and even surpass their historical level of 18.1 percent of GDP as the economy recovers and more Americans return to work. (continues below chart)

Prompted by presidential debate moderator Jim Lehrer about deficit-reduction proposals, President Obama chimed in with an all-too-familiar refrain: “There has to be revenue in addition to cuts.” When Washington’s spending addiction is the problem, why hike taxes on Americans? Doing so would hurt a fledgling economy trying to recover.

Via: The Foundry

Continue Reading...

Desperate Dems Hide Behind Big Bird

by Michelle Malkin
Creators Syndicate
Copyright 2012

Mitt Romney sure ruffled a lot of feathers over his proposal to eliminate taxpayer funding for government-sponsored TV. As soon as the GOP presidential candidate singled out PBS for cuts during the presidential debate in Denver, the hysterical squawking commenced.

Left-leaning celebrities immediately erupted on Twitter. “WOW!!! No PBS!! WTF how about cutting congress’s stuff leave big bird alone,” Whoopi Goldberg fumed. “Mitt is smirky, sweaty, indignant and smug with an unsettling hint of hysteria. And he wants to kill BIG BIRD,” actress Olivia Wilde despaired. “Who picks on Big Bird!!! #bulliesthatswho,” actress Taraji Henson chimed in.

Social media activists called for a Million Muppet March on the National Mall to “show your support for Big Bird, Muppets, PBS and all that is good.” The grammar-challenged operatives of George Soros-funded Media Matters for America lectured “right-wing media” to be “more concerned with Americans having jobs insteading (sic) of obsessing whether or not Big Bird has one.”

Indignant PBS, which employs not-so-neutral debate moderator Jim Lehrer, issued a statement decrying Romney’s failure to “understand the value the American people place on public broadcasting and the outstanding return on investment the system delivers to our nation.” And President Obama, awakened from his beatdown-induced stupor, scurried the next morning to the safe confines of a campaign rally to mock Romney for “getting tough on Big Bird.”

The kiddie character kerfuffle is a manufactured flap that may play well to liberals in Hollywood and Washington. But beyond the borders of La-La Land, desperate Democrats who cling childishly to archaic federal subsidies look like cartoonish buffoons. Let’s face it: The Save Big Bird brigade is comically out of touch with 21st-century realities.

Via: Michelle Malkin

Continue Reading...

Full List of Obamacare Tax Hikes

Obamacare law contains 20 new or higher taxes on American families and small businesses

Taxpayers are reminded that the President’s healthcare law is one of the largest tax increases in American history.

Obamacare contains 20 new or higher taxes on American families and small businesses. 

Arranged by their respective effective dates, below is the total list of all $500 billion-plus in tax hikes (over the next ten years) in Obamacare, where to find them in the bill, and how much your taxes are scheduled to go up as of today:

Taxes that took effect in 2010:

1. Excise Tax on Charitable Hospitals (Min$/immediate): $50,000 per hospital if they fail to meet new "community health assessment needs," "financial assistance," and "billing and collection" rules set by HHS. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,961-1,971

2. Codification of the “economic substance doctrine” (Tax hike of $4.5 billion).  This provision allows the IRS to disallow completely-legal tax deductions and other legal tax-minimizing plans just because the IRS deems that the action lacks “substance” and is merely intended to reduce taxes owed. Bill: Reconciliation Act; Page: 108-113

3. “Black liquor” tax hike (Tax hike of $23.6 billion).  This is a tax increase on a type of bio-fuel. Bill: Reconciliation Act; Page: 105

4. Tax on Innovator Drug Companies ($22.2 bil/Jan 2010): $2.3 billion annual tax on the industry imposed relative to share of sales made that year. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,971-1,980

5. Blue Cross/Blue Shield Tax Hike ($0.4 bil/Jan 2010): The special tax deduction in current law for Blue Cross/Blue Shield companies would only be allowed if 85 percent or more of premium revenues are spent on clinical services. Bill: PPACA; Page: 2,004

6. Tax on Indoor Tanning Services ($2.7 billion/July 1, 2010): New 10 percent excise tax on Americans using indoor tanning salons. Bill: PPACA; Page: 2,397-2,399

Taxes that took effect in 2011:

7. Medicine Cabinet Tax ($5 bil/Jan 2011): Americans no longer able to use health savings account (HSA), flexible spending account (FSA), or health reimbursement (HRA) pre-tax dollars to purchase non-prescription, over-the-counter medicines (except insulin). Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,957-1,959

8. HSA Withdrawal Tax Hike ($1.4 bil/Jan 2011): Increases additional tax on non-medical early withdrawals from an HSA from 10 to 20 percent, disadvantaging them relative to IRAs and other tax-advantaged accounts, which remain at 10 percent. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,959

Tax that took effect in 2012:

9. Employer Reporting of Insurance on W-2 (Min$/Jan 2012): Preamble to taxing health benefits on individual tax returns. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,957

Taxes that take effect in 2013:

10. Surtax on Investment Income ($123 billion/Jan. 2013):  Creation of a new, 3.8 percent surtax on investment income earned in households making at least $250,000 ($200,000 single).  This would result in the following top tax rates on investment income: Bill: Reconciliation Act; Page: 87-93

Via: Americans for Tax Reforms

Continue Reading...

Pelosi, Sebelius are not representative of Catholic women, nine Catholic women write

PRINCETON, NJ, October 5, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) - According to some in today’s popular culture, being a “Catholic woman” is practically an oxymoron. In a newly-released book, nine women of faith seek to dispel that myth.

The book, Breaking Through: Catholic Women Speak for Themselves, is edited by Helen Alvaré, a Witherspoon Institute Senior Fellow in Princeton.

Alvaré recognized the need the “Catholic woman’s” story to be heard while observing popular culture and media increasingly treating the Catholic female as a split personality: a woman who, while she might say “yes” to the faith as a private source of comfort, should say “no” to its countercultural teachings on sex, contraception, marriage, child-rearing, and other ethical teachings of modernity.

In recent years the faithful Catholics, as well as hierarchy and canon lawyers, have tried to correct the perception that political figures like Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius are in good standing and representative of the typical Catholic female.

“But Catholic women themselves are in a different place,” stated Alvaré. “Faced with situations their grandmothers and even their mothers never imagined, they are faced with the question of whether a 2,000-year-old Church has anything to offer them at this moment in time. They are trying to make sense of the intersection of faith, modern science, and their contemporary, lived experience.”

Alvaré’s book attempts to show that the authentic Catholic woman’s life, while not being devoid of struggle and confusion, is lived quite differently than what is being portrayed by the popular culture.

Via: LifestyleNews

Continue Reading...

The Comeback of ‘President Teleprompter’

The euphoria of the clear Mitt Romney win over President Barack Hussein Obama at Wednesday’s first presidential debate requires a back-to-business blast of reality

.

Mitt won hands down and gave us the first positive sign that victory could be in sight.  But getting there from here is going to be along a long, booby-trapped trail.

Truth is that anyone with something substantial to say could have done the same thing Romney did to President Teleprompter, who for four long years has been a moving target out on the campaign trail,  if only because without the teleprompter there’s only ever been an empty suit.

“Where was Obama tonight?” asked an ostensibly nonplussed Chris Matthews after the debate.
The guy who gave you the tingle up your leg was right there, Chris, only finally stripped of his Messiah image in the unforgiving light of inadequacy. 

With his head-down, skulking demeanor you just didn’t recognize what millions with no blinders saw back in 2007.

As inadequate and diminished as presidential candidate Mitt Romney made him look, your president was just who he really is and has always been, the empty suit and empty chair determined to win reelection.

Via: Canada Free Press

Continue Reading...

BENCHED: DWS MIA IN DEMOCRATS' PR BLITZ

Have you noticed that we've seen a lot less of DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz recently? Since getting caught misrepresenting her own statements caught on tape in early September, she seems to have been relegated to the back bench.

Wednesday night was the first presidential debate, and Democrats had their various surrogates on hand to talk to the media. Rep. Wasserman-Schultz gave interviews to Univision, 7 News Colorado, and what appears to be a pre-debate interview with an ABC affiliate. She'll appear on Bloomberg TV this Sunday and she has a new profile in Vogue of all places, but these are not the sort of prime communications assignments she has had in the past.

Currently, Rep. Wasserman-Schultz is on a DNC bus tour making stops in places like Parma, Ohio and Dubuque, Iowa along with Sandra Fluke. These are swing states, so the GOTV efforts there are important. Still, the assignment also has the effect of relegating Debbie to small gatherings of like-minded Democrats and appearances on local news affiliates.

Rep. Wasserman-Schultz's semi-retreat from the public eye seems to have begun in early September when a scandal erupted over some comments she attributed to the Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren. She claimed, in front of a group of Jewish voters, that the ambassador had said Republicans were "dangerous" for Israel.

After the comments were published by Philip Klein at the Examiner, Rep. Wasserman-Schultz claimed she had never made them. At this point, Klein published his audiorecording of the statement, which clearly proved she had said exactly what he claimed. If that weren't bad enough, Oren denied "categorically" that he had ever said such a thing.

Within a couple days of the controversy, Politico piled on with a story suggesting that Wasserman-Schultz's future within the Democratic Party appeared hazy:

People close to Wasserman Schultz say she isn’t likely to serve a second term at the DNC. On top of that, her supporters have written her off as a candidate for statewide races in Florida. They also say she would be ill-fitted to serve in Obama’s administration. In short, her options are few.

For now, her only option seems to be riding the bus in a last-ditch attempt to avoid being thrown under it.

Via: Breitbart

Continue Reading...