Conservative Happenings

Monday, August 19, 2013

There's A New Push To Raise Seattle's Minimum Wage To $15 Per Hour

SEATTLE — Washington already has the nation's highest state minimum wage at $9.19 an hour. Now, there's a push in Seattle, at least, to make it $15.

That would mean fast food workers, retail clerks, baristas and other minimum wage workers would get what protesters demanded when they shut down a handful of city restaurants in May and others called for when they demonstrated nationwide in July.

So far, the City Council and mayoral candidates have said they'd consider it in the famously liberal city. One said, however, that it may not be soon.

Venture capitalist Nick Hanauer said there's no time to waste. What the nation needs is money in the hands of regular consumers. "A higher minimum wage is a very simple and elegant solution to the death spiral of falling demand that is the signature feature of our economy," he said.

Some businesses advocates say a higher minimum wage will make it harder for companies in Seattle to survive. They cite Wal-Mart, which has all but refused to accept a Washington, D.C., decision to raise the minimum wage to $12.50 an hour in big box stores.

A higher minimum wage eliminates low wage jobs because that's how small businesses cut costs and that ends up hurting the people it was supposed to benefit, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

More than 15 million workers earn the national minimum wage, making about $15,080 a year – $50 below the federal poverty line for a family of two. San Francisco currently has the highest minimum wage for all workers at $10.50 an hour.

Via: Huffington Post

Scott Brown considering presidential run

Former Massachusetts Republican Sen. Scott Brown is considering the possibility of running for president in 2016.

Brown appeared at the Iowa State Fair Sunday. With refreshing disregard for political custom, Brown made it clear why he was visiting Iowa.

“I want to get an indication of whether there’s even an interest, in Massachusetts and throughout the country, if there’s room for a bipartisan problem solver,” Brown told the Boston Herald Sunday. “It’s 2013, I think it’s premature, but I am curious. There’s a lot of good name recognition in the Dakotas and here – that’s pretty good.”

Brown won Ted Kennedy’s old seat in the U.S. Senate in a 2010 special election and quickly established himself as one of the most popular political figures in the state and one of the most popular Republicans in the country.

However, after his losing re-election campaign in 2012 to Elizabeth Warren, in which he tried to win crossover

votes by touting a “People Over Party” slogan, Brown offended Massachusetts Republicans.

As The Daily Caller revealed, Brown made it clear to decision-makers in the state party that he would only run in a 2013 special election for John Kerry’s vacated Senate seat if Republicans backed his pick for state GOP chair, Kirsten Hughes, who worked for Brown’s last campaign. Conservatives backed businessman Rick Green in opposition to Hughes. The race was hotly contested, and Hughes won the chairmanship by two votes on the second ballot on February 1.

Brown then texted Boston Herald columnist Howie Carr Feb. 1 with the message

, “U r the first to know I am not running” for Senate.

Brown’s abrupt move angered many Massachusetts Republicans, and it would be very difficult for Brown to win a Republican primary for the Massachusetts governorship in 2014, one insider previously told The Daily Caller.

Via: Daily Caller

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Will Obamacare Enforcers Appear on Your Doorstep?

HHS will spend $224 million in grants to pay for home inspection programs.

If you’re already queasy about the role played by the IRS in assuring your compliance with Obamacare’s numerous mandates, you may need to lie down after reading this column. It turns out that our Beltway masters are not content with their new authority to peruse your tax returns and medical records. They will also authorize state agencies throughout the nation to send government inspectors to your house if a “home visit” is deemed appropriate pursuant to HHS guidelines ostensibly meant to “create social and physical environments that promote good health for all.”

According to the title page of the document announcing this program, HHS has the authority to fund such visits by virtue of the Social Security Act “as amended by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act [Obamacare].” It describes this metastasis of HHS power as “an unprecedented opportunity … to improve health and development outcomes for at-risk children.” But the program also provides unprecedented opportunities for violations of your privacy, your right to educate your kids as you see fit as well as your Constitutional rights under the Second and Fourth Amendments.

The HHS defines an “at risk” child as one who resides in a family that includes people who have served in the Armed Forces, pregnant women under the age of 21 (regardless of marital status), users of tobacco products, children with low student achievement, and a long list of other such miscreants. The formal name of this boondoggle is the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program, and it was created as part of the train wreck that President Obama, congressional Democrats and the legacy “news” media insist on calling the “Affordable Care Act.”

Via: American Spectator

Editorial: How President Obama is flouting Obamacare

Whether Obamacare will increase, decrease, or have no effect at all on their healthcare costs

August 18, 2013

Democrats strong-armed Obamacare into law three years ago. Now they're busy flouting it.

The mandate that employers provide insurance next year or pay a penalty, as the law requires? Delayed for at least a year.

The law's dictate that people applying for federal subsidies to buy insurance provide proof that they're eligible for the government aid? Scaled back.

Sharp limits on Americans' out-of-pocket costs for health care? Suspended for a year.

Providing members of Congress and more than 10,000 staff members with federal health care subsidies that the law does not allow? Done, via a deal brokered by President Barack Obama.

And on and on.

The Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, is a hugely complex law that sets up online health insurance marketplaces, requires people to have coverage or pay penalties, and doles out subsidies and incentives to nearly everyone in health care. Doctors, hospitals and insurers have spent large sums to gear up for its requirements. Employers are mulling: Hire? Fire? Cut workers' hours?

Millions of Americans, that is, stand to gain or lose from how this law is enforced — with the Obama administration bending that enforcement in ways that test, and arguably exceed, the boundaries of lawful conduct.

Via: CHicago Tribune

Matthews To MLK III: Obama Gave ‘Second Greatest American Speech Ever’

And he has the leg thrills to prove it.

Filling in for Andrea Mitchell on Monday, MSNBC host Chris Matthews and his wife,Kathleen Matthews, interviewed Martin Luther King III about the upcoming 50th anniversary of the civil rights movement’s march on Washington D.C. In the interview, Matthews linked the civil rights movement to the ascension of Barack Obama to the presidency, noting that the president gave “the second greatest American speech” behind Abraham Lincoln at his second inaugural.

Matthews previewed Obama’s plans to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.’s remarks on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial by delivering a speech in that same place this coming weekend. Matthews noted that Obama has a “tough act to follow,” but that he is up to the challenge.

Matthews said that, Obama “gave, I think, after the second inaugural of Lincoln, the second greatest American speech every given.”

MLK III went on to preview the commemorations that will occur next weekend. He also said that attendees will pursue activism including petitioning the government to address the verdict in the trail of George Zimmerman and the Supreme Court’s striking down of provisions of the Voting Rights Act.

Watch the clip below via MSNBC:

Via: Weasel Zippers

America's Tyranny Threshold

As he finishes up his Martha's Vineyard vacation, Barack Obama would be well-served to recall the fiery words of Jonathan Mayhew, who is famous for his sermons "espousing American rights -- the cause of liberty, and the right and duty to resist tyranny."

Mayhew, born at Martha's Vineyard on October 8, 1720, was "bitterly opposed to the Stamp Act and urged colonial liberties." Though he did not live to see the American Revolution (he died on July 9, 1766), his "sermons and writing were a powerful influence in the development of the movement for liberty and independence."

And they need to be revisited as the Obama presidency continues its legacy of lawlessness.

First published in Boston in 1750, "A Discourse concerning the unlimited submission and non-resistance to the high powers" was a sermon delivered on the 100^th anniversary of the execution of Charles I. It was so powerful that it was published in London in 1752 and again in 1767. In fact, this sermon was the "first volley of the American Revolution, setting forth the intellectual and scriptural justification for rebellion against the Crown."

The following words from the Discourse fly off the page in light of the continuing unconstitutional acts of President Obama.

Civil tyranny is usually small in its beginning, like 'the drop in a bucket,' till at length, like a mighty torrent of raging waves of the sea, it bears down all before it and deluges whole countries and empires.

Although the president cannot write or rewrite laws, this president thinks he is above the law. The "entire system of separation of powers ... is designed to limit governmental power," but Mr. Obama continually makes it clear "that he won't respect these basic constitutional limits on his power."

Via: The American Thinker

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Muslims Force Chicago PD to Scrap Counter-Terror Training

Amid protests from a Muslim civil liberties group, local police training officials have called off an anti-terrorism course for officers scheduled for Monday in Lombard that was to have been taught by an instructor the group regards as anti-Muslim.

The class was canceled this morning after the head of the agency in charge of police training statewide asked the local training agency, North East Multi-Regional Training, not to use the instructor until the state agency investigates his curriculum, said Phil Brankin, director of the local organization. Brankin said Kevin McClain, executive director of the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board, said the trainer and course would not be used statewide until the investigation concludes.

McClain could not be reached for comment.

The Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations had called for the cancellation of the class, “Islamic Awareness as a Counter-Terrorist Strategy,” arguing instructor Sam Kharoba is unqualified to teach about Islam and has depicted the religion as inherently violent.

“Counter-terrorism training is too important to be left to those who promote a bigoted political or religious agenda,” CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab said in a news release. “Our state's law enforcement agencies should work with credible leaders of the Muslim community to address any issues related to Islam.”

Kharoba could not be reached for comment. This is not the first controversy to erupt around the instructor. Last year, CAIR and other Muslim groups asked Florida law enforcement officials to stop employing him as a trainer. Before that, he was profiled in a Washington Monthly magazine article titled “How We Train Our Cops to Fear Islam.”

Brankin said he had examined Kharoba’s work and believed his conclusions to be based on credible research, even if CAIR finds his message offensive.

Via: The Chicago Tribune

California Court Sets Back Obama’s High-Speed Rail Project

A Sacramento County court blocked a major part of the Obama administration’s infrastructure project on Friday citing failure to meet environmental and financial requirements, according to theWashington Examiner.

Voters approved the rail project requiring the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) to identify the “sources of all funds to be invested in the corridor” and complete “all necessary project level environmental clearances.”

According to the Examiner:

In a 16-page decision, Superior Court Judge Michael Kenny concluded that the CHSA “abused its discretion by approving a funding plan that did not comply with the requirements of the law.”

Kenny, however, declined to invalidate a separate California State Legislature appropriation for the project, finding that Proposition 1A did not forbid the legislature from funding the CHSRA. But Kenny did leave open the possibility of other remedies, including forbidding the CHRSA from spending any future bond proceeds. The final remedy will be determined after a future hearing.

Via: WFB

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MSNBC replaces 5 p.m. broadcast of Chris Matthews’ ‘Hardball’ with ‘The ED Show’

JUST WHAT WE NEED IN PRIME TIME TELEVISION "ANGRY ED"

On Monday, MSNBC announced that on weekdays, the 5 p.m. ET broadcast of “Hardball” hosted by Chris Matthews will be replaced with “The ED Show,” hosted by Ed Schultz.

“Chris Matthews and the ‘Hardball’ team have been pulling double duty for years,” MSNBC President Phil Griffin said in a statement. “This move will concentrate the ‘Hardball’ audience to one key time period and enhance the flow of our evening programming. Ed Schultz is a force of nature and an important voice to the MSNBC audience. I can’t wait to have him back on weeknights.”

“The ED Show” has held numerous time slots in its four-year history at MSNBC. It debuted at 6 p.m. in April 2009. In January 2011, with the departure of Keith Olbermann from the network, “The ED Show” was moved to 10 p.m. In October 2011, “The ED Show” swapped time slots with Lawrence O’Donnell’s program, “The Last Word

” and aired at 8 p.m. ET.

Last May, however, “The ED Show” was moved to weekends and Schultz’s 8 p.m. time slot was given to Chris Hayes for his “All In” program.

“Hardball,” the release reads

, ”will continue at 7 p.m. ET.”

Schultz will have some tough competition at 5 p.m. ET, going up against Fox News Channel’s “The Five,” which has been dominating MSNBC’s “Hardball” and CNN’s “The Situation Room” since its premiere in July 2011.

Via: The Daily Caller

Bill Kristol Calls for Palin Comeback: Can ‘Resurrect Herself’ With Alaska Senate Run

Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol, one ofSarah Palin’s earliest and most emphatic supporters in 2008, is once again promoting her cause, this time claiming during an online Q&A with ABC that Palin could “resurrect herself” by becoming the junior Senator from Alaska.

“I think her stepping down as governor of Alaska was a big problem,” Kristol said. “People don’t like to see a candidate, a governor or an executive—absent some medical reason or whatever—just leave office early. And she had been a good governor, sadly, of Alaska until then. So I think that is something she has to recover from, in terms of being a serious leader in the party. She still has a lot of loyalty, still can shape the debate. She still has a great political touch.”

“I think the way Palin would possibly resurrect herself—if that’s the right word—or rehabilitate herself, I guess is a better way of putting it: run for Senate in Alaska in 2014,” Kristol said. “I’m not urging that. I’m just saying, if I were her adviser, I would say, ‘Take on the incumbent, you have to win a primary, then you have to beat an incumbent Democrat. It’s not easy.’ But if she did that, suddenly, if you can imagine that—Sarah Palin, freshman senator, January 2015 in Washington having beaten an incumbent. That would be pretty interesting.”

Kristol also defended his promotion of Palin in 2008. “I was for taking the gamble of putting her on the ticket, I don’t think it hurt the ticket in 2008,” he said. “In fact, the best two weeks for the McCain campaign against Obama 2008 were the two weeks after he picked Sarah Palin. Then she had a little bit of a roguh patch, she was mishandled by the McCain people.”

Watch the full clip here, via ABC News:

Via: Mediaite

Monday, August 19, 2013

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