Conservative Happenings

Saturday, May 30, 2015

Few major films shot in California, study shows

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A report shows that despite California acting as the backdrop for blockbusters this year, very few were filmed in the state.

Only 22 of 106 films released by the major studios in 2014 were actually filmed in California. The rest of the movies were shot in New York, Britain, Canada, Georgia, Louisiana, Australia and a dozen other states and countries, according to a feature film study by

FilmL.A. Inc., the nonprofit group that handles film permits for the city and county, the Los Angeles Times reports ((http://lat.ms/1FRo1iH).

Only two films with budgets above $100 million were filmed primarily in California: Marvel's "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" and Paramount's "Interstellar."

In 1997 64 percent of the top 25 movies at the box office were filmed in California, compared to 16 percent last year.

Several box office hits set in California were filmed outside of the state, including Warner Bros.' "Godzilla," which was shot mainly in Vancouver, Canada; 20th Century Fox's "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes," which was filmed in Louisiana; and Disney's "Million Dollar Arm," which was shot mainly in Georgia.

Even this weekend's "San Andreas," which depicts the destruction of California from a massive earthquake was filmed mainly in Australia.

State lawmakers last year approved an expansion of the film and TV tax credit program tripling annual funding to $330 million a year to try to keep production in state. The new program also allows big budget films to apply for incentives for the first time.

Studios will apply for feature film tax credits under the new program in July.

Via: Times-Standard Entertainment

O’Malley looks for his opening

Martin O’Malley is just looking for a little room to breathe.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is far and away the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, while Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) has taken the edge as the liberal insurgent.

O’Malley, days before the Saturday launch of his White House bid at a park overlooking Baltimore’s harbor, is performing dismally in polls despite months of travel to Iowa and New Hampshire.

He regularly pulls just 1 percent nationally, and only does slightly better in the first-in-the-nation caucus and primary states.

O’Malley isn’t well-known nationally, and could soon be competing for money, media and support with a handful of other candidates, including former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee and former Sen. Jim Webb (Va.).

Yet Democrats interviewed by The Hill insist O’Malley has a chance.

They say there’s still an opening for him to become the alternative to Clinton given his liberal voting record, his youthful good looks — which have helped him win attention from the conservative Drudge Report — and his standing as a Washington outsider.

“There’s a lot of hostility out there towards Washington right now,” said Brad Bannon, a Democratic strategist. “He could run as the anti-Washington candidate, as someone who hasn’t been tainted by Washington politics, while framing Hillary and Bernie as products of D.C. culture.”

If the front-runner implodes, some supporters say he might be best-positioned to step in.

“He’s a legitimate national candidate,” said Democratic strategist Scott Ferson. “If Hillary for some reason doesn’t become inevitable, some candidate will have a shot to step in, and he could be that person.”

But Ferson then acknowledges: “He’s not that person now.”

To get there, outsiders say O’Malley will have to distinguish himself from Clinton and Sanders.

O’Malley is already signaling he intends to play up the generational divide in the primaries. At 52, he’s 15 years younger than Clinton and 21 years younger than Sanders.

He has previously taken swipes at the dynastic elements of Clinton’s candidacy, saying the presidency is not a “crown” to be passed between two families.

This week, O’Malley allies launched a super-PAC called Generation Forward, a not-so-subtle dig that suggests Clinton is the candidate from the past.

Via: The Hill

Mass. May Use Fingerprints To Fight Welfare Fraud

The latest legislative effort in Massachusetts to try and combat welfare fraud is fingerprinting.

Some lawmakers estimate it could save millions.

Western Mass News spoke with Bay State residents that agree that those who cheat the state assistance programs are ruining it for the ones who really need the help.

"A lot of people need it and some people take advantage. I think fingerprinting and drug testing too, anything they can do to get those people out who abuse the system," Evelyn Valley told WGGB.

Mass. House Minority Leader Brad Jones is offering a possible solution by using fingerprinting.

House lawmakers voted to study the use of fingerprints and other biometric identifiers as part of a pilot project during a budget debate this May.

Democratic State Representative Jose Tosado, tells Western Mass News the move would punish those who really need help.

In a statement Tosado said, "Mandatory fingerprinting criminalizes the poor and the hungry, creating deep stigmas that follow individuals trying to get by and want to become productive members of the Commonwealth. There are also concerns with storing and using data against individuals who would otherwise have no reason to have their fingerprints or other physical indicators on file. The risks far outweigh the benefits in the long-term."

No final decision will be made until the Senate and House negotiates a budget compromise, hold a vote, then send it on to the governor for approval.

Via: CNS News

WHO VOTED TO BRING 33 MILLION IMMIGRANTS NORTH?

Americans pride ourselves on being people who have a government. But these days, it more often seems as if we’ve got a government that has people.

And that government is even selecting who its people will be, having–within a generation–essentially imported a state’s worth of new people through immigration.

Since 1970, the number of “Hispanics of Mexican origin” in the U.S. has jumped from fewer than 1 million to more than 33 million. If all these Mexicans were a state, it would be the second largest in population in the country, trailing only California.

Did you vote to approve that immigration policy? Did anyone? In fact, the federal government allowed it to happen without any voter input. That’s by design.

In recent years, Congress has attempted to draft legislation to deal with illegal immigration. And while the controversial “Gang of Eight” bill passed the Senate in 2013, it died in the House after one of its authors withdrew his support. Immigration is a difficult topic, one that will require difficult discussions.

Instead, the Obama White House would prefer to short-circuit the political discussions.

“America cannot wait forever for them to act. That’s why today I am beginning a new effort to fix as much of our immigration system as I can on my own, without Congress,” President Obama warned last summer. After the November elections, he acted to grant amnesty to millions of illegals.

Via: Breitbart

Blame It on Global Cooling? Obama Has Lowest Average 1stQ GDP Growth of Any President on Record

Even if you leave out the first quarter of 2009—when the recession that started in December 2007 was still ongoing--President Barack Obama has presided over the lowest average first-quarter GDP growth of any president who has served since 1947, which is the earliest year for which the Bureau of Economic Analysis has calculated quarterly GDP growth.

In all first quarters since 1947, the real annual rate of growth of GDP has averaged 4.0 percent.

In the seven first quarters during Obama’s presidency, it has declined by an average of -0.43 percent. And if you leave out the first quarter of 2009 and look only at the first quarters of the six years since the recession ended, it has averaged only 0.4 percent.

In the six years of Harry Truman’s presidency for which the BEA has calculated quarterly GDP, the annual rate of growth in GDP in the first quarter averaged 4.5 percent.

During President Eisenhower’s eight years, it averaged 3.2 percent. During Kennedy’s three years, it averaged 4.9 percent. During Johnson’s five years, it averaged 8.3 percent. During Nixon’s six years, it averaged 5.3 percent. During Ford’s two years, it averaged 2.3 percent. During Carter’s four years, it average 2.4 percent. During Reagan’s eight years, it average 2.1 percent. During George H.W. Bush’s four years, it average 2.9 percent. During Clinton’s eight years, it averaged 2.6 percent. And during George W. Bush’s eight years, it averaged 1.7 percent.

President Obama took office on Jan. 20, 2009. In the first quarter of 2009, GDP declined at an annual rate of -5.4 percent. In the first quarter of 2010, it grew by 1.7 percent. In the first quarter of 2011, it declined -1.5 percent. In the first quarter of 2012, it grew 2.3 percent. In the first quarter of 2013, it grew 2.7 percent. In the first quarter of 2014, it declined -2.1 percent. And in the first quarter of 2015, it declined -0.7 percent.

In these seven first quarters that Obama has been president (2009 through 2015), the annual rate of growth in GDP has declined at an average rate of -0.43 percent.

But the National Bureau of Economic Research says the last recession, which began on December 2007 did not end until June 2009. If you leave out the first quarter of 2009, and only count the six years (2010-2015) since the recession ended in June 2009, real annual rate of growth of GDP in the post-recession first quarters of Obama’s presidency has averaged 0.4 percent.

Via: CNS News

10 Things Donald Trump Might Announce On June 16

Breaking: Donald Trump has something huuuggeeeee he wants to tell America.

According to reports, the businessman and perpetual presidential flirt will make a “major” announcement at Trump Tower in New York City June 16 and then travel to New Hampshire the next day.

Considering Trump has hired staff in early primary states, many speculate this time he just might actually be serious about officially getting into the presidential race.

And yet, even as there are some signs that indicate he really will make a run this time, it’s still hard to believe it. Trump has almost no chance of winning the Republican nomination, which one would imagine some of his political advisers must have informed him. Does The Donald really want to open himself up to serious media scrutiny and reveal personal financial information in the service of a quixotic vanity run?

Via: Daily Caller

Carter vows U.S. will continue, even step up operations over disputed South China Sea island

Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Saturday urged China to stop trying to convert an artificial reefs in the South China Sea land into a military airfield but that the U.S. has no intentions of ending air and sea operation in the regions.

Carter made his comment at an international security conference filled with Asia-Pacific leaders and also said the United States has been flying and operating ships in the region for decades and opposes “any further militarization” of the disputed lands.

He also said the reclamation project is out of step with international rules and that turning underwater land into airfields won’t expand Beijing’s sovereignty.

A Chinese military officer in the crowd immediately slammed Carter’s comments as “groundless and not constructive.”

Arizona GOP Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, who also is attending the Singapore conference, said he agreed with Carter's assertion that America will continue flights and operations near the building projects, but "now we want to see it translated into action."

He also told reporters that the U.S. needs to recognize that China will continue its activities in the South China Sea until it perceives that the costs of doing so outweigh the benefits.

Via: Fox News

The New Nationwide Crime Wave

The consequences of the ‘Ferguson effect’ are already appearing. The main victims of growing violence will be the inner-city poor.

The nation’s two-decades-long crime decline may be over. Gun violence in particular is spiraling upward in cities across America. In Baltimore, the most pressing question every morning is how many people were shot the previous night. Gun violence is up more than 60% compared with this time last year, according to Baltimore police, with 32 shootings over Memorial Day weekend. May has been the most violent month the city has seen in 15 years.

In Milwaukee, homicides were up 180% by May 17 over the same period the previous year. Through April, shootings in St. Louis were up 39%, robberies 43%, and homicides 25%. “Crime is the worst I’ve ever seen it,” said St. Louis Alderman Joe Vacarro at a May 7 City Hall hearing.

Murders in Atlanta were up 32% as of mid-May. Shootings in Chicago had increased 24% and homicides 17%. Shootings and other violent felonies in Los Angeles had spiked by 25%; in New York, murder was up nearly 13%, and gun violence 7%.

Those citywide statistics from law-enforcement officials mask even more startling neighborhood-level increases. Shooting incidents are up 500% in an East Harlem precinct compared with last year; in a South Central Los Angeles police division, shooting victims are up 100%.

By contrast, the first six months of 2014 continued a 20-year pattern of growing public safety. Violent crime in the first half of last year dropped 4.6% nationally and property crime was down 7.5%. Though comparable national figures for the first half of 2015 won’t be available for another year, the January through June 2014 crime decline is unlikely to be repeated.

The most plausible explanation of the current surge in lawlessness is the intense agitation against American police departments over the past nine months.

Since last summer, the airwaves have been dominated by suggestions that the police are the biggest threat facing young black males today. A handful of highly publicized deaths of unarmed black men, often following a resisted arrest—including Eric Garner in Staten Island, N.Y., in July 2014, Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., in August 2014 and Freddie Gray in Baltimore last month—have led to riots, violent protests and attacks on the police. Murders of officers jumped 89% in 2014, to 51 from 27.

Via: Wall Street Journal

Los Angeles Will Spend Over $70 Million Implementing ‘Ethnic Studies’ In Schools

Los Angeles plans to implement a district-wide ethnic studies curriculum, but it has run into a massive $70 million road block.

Last fall, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) took the almost-unprecedented step of requiring every student in the district to pass a course in “ethnic studies” in order to graduate high school. When the school board approved the measure, however, it did so without any clear price tag. An initial estimate suggested the price of implementing the decree would be only $3.4 million.

It turns out that estimate was off by a factor of 20. A recently completed analysis by the district’s Ethnic Studies Committee concluded that the price to implement the new program will be a staggering $72.7 million over four years, with most of the price coming from the need to buy thousands of new textbooks and train instructors in the new curriculum. That’s about $105 for each student in the district.

That’s a hefty chunk of change for a district whose annual budget is about $6.8 billion. LAUSD is already struggling with its finances; its deficit for the 2015-16 school year is expected to be over $150 million.

The huge price tag vindicates those who criticized the district for rushing into adopting the ethnic studies requirement without much study beforehand. Board member Tamar Galatzan, the only person to vote against the proposal, warned in an editorial last November the district was acting without any real research on how the requirement would impact hiring decisions and the financial bottom line.

Activists insisted that ethnic studies was an urgent need for LAUSD and pushed for a quick adoption of the requirement. Board member Steve Zimmer argued that ethnic studies were a pressing need to keep kids in school and on the path towards success.

“In some places, there is resistance , but what we do here today will bring down the walls of resistance,” Zimmer said at the time. “We are losing kids because we are not connecting to their story.”

Via: California Political Review

HILLARY CLINTON: WE ARE OUT OF THE ECONOMIC HOLE

We have put the word stupid in her brain!!!

Meanwhile, numbers are out today on the first quarter of this year and the economy is still shrinking! They had predicted 0.2% growth but it didn’t even do that well. It shrank 0.7%.

If a shrinking economy is Hillary’s idea of an economy that is doing well, then I’d hate to see her idea of an economy that is in trouble:

USA TODAY – The U.S. economy shrank in the first quarter as the nation’s trade deficit widened and business stockpiling slowed.

Gross domestic product — the value of goods and services produced in the U.S. — contracted at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 0.7% in the January-March period, the Commerce Department said Friday. That’s well below the modest 0.2% growth the government initially estimated.

The report was the government’s second estimate of first-quarter GDP. It will publish a final estimate in June.

Via: The Right Scoop

Who Built the Brooklyn Bridge? by Michelle Malkin |

How many times have you heard President Obama and his minions pat themselves on the back for their noble “investments” in “roads and bridges”? Without government infrastructure spending, we’re incessantly reminded, we wouldn’t be able to conduct our daily business.

“Every single great idea that has marked the 21st century, the 20th century and the 19th century has required government vision and government incentive,” Vice President Joe Biden infamously asserted. “Private enterprise,” he sneered, lags behind.

As always, the Beltway narcissists have it backward. Without private enterprise and free-market visionaries, public infrastructure wouldn’t exist. Take the iconic Brooklyn Bridge, which turned 132 years old this week. It’s not a government official whose vision built that. It’s a fierce capitalist who revolted against unimaginative command-and-control bureaucrats in his home country.

Before he went on to pioneer aqueducts and suspension bridges across America, culminating in the Brooklyn Bridge, John Roebling was a government engineer in the German province of Westphalia. A cog in the Prussian building machine, he chafed under autocratic rule. No decisions could be made, no actions taken, he complained in his diary, “without first having an army of government councilors, ministers, and other functionaries deliberate about it for ten years, make numerous expensive journeys by post, and write so many long reports about it, that for the amount expended for all this, reckoning compound interest for ten years, the work could have been completed.”

Via: Human Events

New Bill Would Allow Cities to Ratchet Up Sales Taxes Even Higher

Although Californians already pay some of the highest sales taxes in the nation, a bill that recently passed the Assembly paves the way for the sales tax to go even higher.Assembly Bill 464 increases to 3 percent (from the current 2 percent cap) the maximum sales tax rate that can be levied by local governments.

That potential 3 percent sales tax levied by cities and counties is in addition to the statewide 7.5 percent sales tax, which could result in a combined 10.5 percent tax in some areas of the state. Tax hikes require majority voter approval for general purpose levies and two-thirds approval for special purposes.

The average state and local combined sales tax in California is 8.5 percent, according to a recent report by the Legislative Analyst’s Office. The lowest rate of 7.5 percent predominates in rural counties, while the highest rates are in urban areas. Residents in eight cities in the Bay Area and Los Angeles County are currently paying a 10 percent sales tax because their counties have received exemptions from the 2 percent cap.

“AB464 is about local control and flexibility,” said the bill’s author Assemblyman Kevin Mullin, D-San Mateo, on the Assembly floor May 14. “It gives local voters the ability to raise revenue to fund important public services, including transportation, public safety and libraries. This bill is crucial, because if just one city in a county reaches the [2 percent] cap, then the entire county is precluded from having voters raise any additional taxes, hindering key transportation projects or attempts to enhance public safety.

Via: California Political Review

MCDONALDS TO INSTALL COMPUTER ORDERING SYSTEMS! NO $15 AN HOUR!

Congratulations liberals! You’ve freed thousands from minimum wage McJobs. And put them on McWelfare! But that’s what you McDo, isn’t it, libs?

The problem with liberals is they function primarily in emotion and a keen ability to ignore reality. They have been trained by their college professors (most of whom teach because they can’t earn a living in the real world) that there is always more of someone else’s money to spread around to “the people.” And there’s always the ‘EVIL CORPORATION’ where the CEO makes millions while line employees make minimum wage. It’s just awful and wrong!! But, unfortunately for liberals, it’s reality!

But liberals never realize that the business model of fast food restaurants requires virtually zero skills of their employees. Traditionally, McDonalds and others offered first jobs to kids in high school. It taught them how to work, to arrive promptly, to deal amicably with the public, to shoulder responsibility, etc. More than anything, it taught kids that they didn’t want to work at McDonalds the rest of their lives.

Like being born into poverty, there is no shame in working at McDonalds. There should be great shame in never working to rise above either poverty or a McJob. Enter the liberal mindset. Libs believe those McWorkers are victims too stupid to work and rise above their current state. Like the black trolls who comment on this page, liberals blame their every problem on someone else. Blacks have whitey and the mythical white privilege, liberals have evil corporations.

Via: Angry White Dude

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‘The News’ now planted progressive propaganda

In October of 2008 Obama and the Dems threw the Fundamental Transformation of America up in garish, jaw-dropping neon lights and the world thereafter was never to be the same.

The communications world now digital gave an about-to-be-jettisoned America its first digital dictator.

Back then David Axelrod astroturfing portrayed Obama’s promised Brave New World as an empty screen, one on which Obama could be projected in whatever image folk wanted him to be, history’s first free phone and easy food stamp president.

Down at core, the new messiah of Hope & Change was nothing but another politician with a deeper trick bag than those who came before him, offering nothing more substantial than a cheap carny’s card trick, a diversion and an outright lie, because Marxist progressives had already corralled the unknowing masses into a malleable ongoing transition—a transition from which there would be no way back.

The presentation of Obama from Denver’s faux Greek Temple was followed by a mass media bombardment of Obama pictures. For the masses, his omnipresence courtesy of the World Wide Web was as inevitable as it was inescapable.

Somewhere before this process got up to full speed, the mainstream media, the one we thought we all knew, dropped all pretense of balance and accuracy and departed Stage Left. Since investigative journalism had already become a dying art, few really missed it.

Those of us in the ‘alternate media’ naively celebrated replacing the not so dearly departed as the mainstream media alternative. Little did we realize that Internet giants like Google and Facebook, in league with Big Government, were already working to suppress conservative alternate media by redirecting all Internet traffic to progressive-supporting news sites.

Via: Canada Free Press

CA Could Lose Congressional Seats if Supreme Court Changes Law to ‘One Citizen-One Vote’

While the immediate reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court taking up the “one-person, one vote case” has been liberals and minority groups saying “Oh, S***” and conservatives getting excited, the case is much more complicated than that. If the Supreme Court rules in favor of plaintiffs, it would affect two distinct (and often confused) processes. Most articles I’ve read have focused on the affect of district lines.

However, the (and perhaps most significant) effect would be on the apportionment of congressional seats among the states. As Paul Mitchell has pointed out, states with a greater percentage of undocumented immigrants or documented non-citizen residents or even more kids (California, Texas) would lose congressional seats–since they are not considered in the Census’s Citizen Voting Age Population (CVAP).

Let’s pause on the last factor. While most of the commentary has been about undocumented residents, those under 18 would also no longer count. California has the third highest percentage of residents under 18, behind DC and Utah. And, of course, DC doesn’t get House seats. Shouldn’t our kids count when education funding is being decided in Washington?

Then there is the impact on redistricting, which could create a couple of additional Republican districts in California.

Via California Political Review

Plurality of Americans Identify as Pro-Choice for First Time in 7 Years

According to a new Gallup poll, significantly more people identify themselves as “pro-choice” than “pro-life” for the first time in seven years.

In a recent telephone survey on abortion, Gallup discovered that 50% of respondents identified themselves as “pro-choice,” while 44% said they were “pro-life”. In addition, 54% of women agreed that abortion should be an available option, as well as 46% of men.

Gallup noted that while approval for pro-choice policies haven’t been as high as they were during the ’90s, it’s the highest it’s been in the past five years, thanks to “political and cultural events” that influence how Americans view abortion, such as Supreme Court cases, anti-abortion legislation, and violence against women or abortion clinics.

“While events like these may continue to cause public views on abortion to fluctuate, the broader liberal shift in Americans’ ideology of late could mean the recent pro-choice expansion has some staying power,” they observed.

Via: Mediaite.com

5/30/15 Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) Delivers GOP Address on the National Defense Authorization Act

Via: You Tube

Obama Weekly Address: Pass the USA Freedom Act, Saturday May 30, 2015

Weekly Address: Pass the USA Freedom Act

In this week's address, the President addressed critical pieces of national security business that remained unfinished when the Senate left town. This Sunday at midnight, key tools used to protect against terrorist threats are set to expire. The USA Freedom Act strikes a balance between security and privacy, reauthorizing important measures that give our national security professionals the authorities they use to keep us safe, while also implementing reforms that enhance the privacy and civil liberties of our citizens. But currently, a small group of senators is standing in its way.

The President asked Americans to speak with one voice to the Senate to put politics aside, put the safety of the American people first, and pass the USA Freedom Act now.

Via: WhiteHouse.gov

A Virtuous Society

When a society abandons these virtues, the people become corrupt, and unwilling to abide by the rule of law. A viciousness blankets the people, which leads to violence and lawlessness

Benjamin Franklin emphasized that without virtue, free societies could not properly function. He said, “Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.”

With freedom comes responsibility. The responsible society is one that is virtuous. A man with virtue is a man that possesses “sacred honor.” It is for the sake of a free society that men must deny the evils of human nature, and implement the principles of being virtuous into their own lives. It is best for society, and for one’s own existence, to strive for betterment, to strive to improve oneself each and every day. To be civilized, and be restrained from the temptation of mob rule, is among the cornerstones of a free society.

Benjamin Franklin established that the journey to being a moral culture is anchored in thirteen virtues. Franklin worked daily to achieve a moral life by pursuing these thirteen virtues. He even kept a journal and charts to assist him in keeping track of his progress in living his life with each of the virtues as his guide. Franklin admitted that perfection is unattainable, agreeing with biblical doctrine that “all have fallen short of the Glory of God,” but he believed that being in constant pursuit of a moral life would make him, and anyone else that pursued this kind of life, a better and happier individual. If society was filled with such people who sought a moral life, society would remain prosperous and free, and liberty would be maintained.

Via: Canada Free Press

GOP Calls on AG to Prosecute Lois Lerner in IRS Scandal

(Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images)

Republican lawmakers are petitioning the new attorney general, Loretta Lynch, to criminally prosecute former IRS official Lois Lerner over the agency's targeting scandal, having failed to convince her predecessor to do so.

According to The Hill, 24 Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee sent a letter to Lynch asking for her to take up the panel's 2014 request to charge Lerner for possible crimes.

Special: Ted Cruz Discloses the Key to Winning in 2016 – Click Here

The allegations include using her position at the agency to pursue heightened scrutiny of conservative groups; obstructing investigations by giving misleading information; and disclosing confidential taxpayer information, The Hill said.

Before former Attorney General Eric Holder stepped down from his post, House Speaker John Boehner was informed by the department that Lerner would not be prosecuted for refusing to testify at a congressional hearing.

The letter, which was circulated by the committee's chairman, Paul Ryan, also prompted statements of support from Boehner and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

"The American people deserve the truth as to how the IRS was used as a political tool to target and harass Americans for their beliefs. … It is outrageous that despite having evidence right at their fingertips, the DOJ has refused to investigate potential criminal acts taken by Lois Lerner at the IRS," Boehner said in a stat

Via: Newsmax

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Labor Department Preparing Blacklist Rule for Government Contracts

As their previous actions have shown, the Obama administration has proven it has no idea what a functional economic policy looks like. Obamacare is the biggest example of this, but the Department of Labor has just given us another. They are creating what amounts to a blacklist rule to help determine which private businesses are awarded government contracts. Using a 2014 executive order, here’s what they are planning to do, per the Washington Free Beacon:

The regulations could restrict federal agencies from working with companies that have been accused of labor violations or have long track records of “serious” or “pervasive” violations. It forces government agencies to hire “Labor Compliance Advisors” to oversee contractors. Companies will also be forced to disclose pay determinations to employees and regulators over the course of the contract.

On the surface, this might not sound like a bad idea. After all, we wouldn’t want our own businesses to work with companies that have poor track records of labor law violations, right? However, when you look at the rule’s consequences in greater depth, problems start to appear. One of these is the issue of redundancy. As a joint statement from Representatives Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN) 92% (R-TN) and Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) 88% (R-MI), who chair the relevant subcommittees on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, says:

Bad actors who choose to operate outside of the law and deny employees basic protections should not be rewarded with taxpayer dollars.That is why we already have a system in place to deny federal contracts to these bad actors. Instead of promoting more government overreach and more regulations, the administration has a responsibility to ensure the current system is enforced and used effectively.

Redundancy is such a common problem with the government. Whenever a story like this surfaces, I always think back on the list produced by former Senator Tom Coburn back 2011 that highlighted between $100 and $200 billion in government waste from redundant programs alone. Despite the fact that we already have the rules in place to prevent the government from working with bad companies, President Obama has to put his own special touch on this, even if it means redundancy.

Via: Red State

Saturday, May 30, 2015

Americans pride ourselves on being people who have a government. But these days, it more often seems as if we’ve got a government that has people.

When a society abandons these virtues, the people become corrupt, and unwilling to abide by the rule of law. A viciousness blankets the people, which leads to violence and lawlessness

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