ConservativeChristianRepublican-Report - 20100202

Motivational-Inspirational-Historical-Educational-Political-Enjoyable

Promoting "God's Holy Values and American Freedoms"!



"My Comments" - Ronald Reagan Week

http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/photographs/large/c30228.jpg



http://www.foundersofamerica.com/Reagan_p03.htm



"Daily Motivations"

"We are like tea bags -- we don't know our own strength until we're in hot water." -- Sister Busche

We keep moving forward, opening new doors and doing new things. Our curiosity keeps taking us down new paths. -- Walt Disney

"Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right!" -- Oprah Winfrey



"Daily Devotions" (KJV and/or NLT)

The LORD your God is a devouring fire... (Deuteronomy 4:24)

They were called the Great Fires of 1988. That year, wildfires swept through 1.4 million acres of Yellowstone National Park. The park was like a huge lumberyard filled with millions of wooden poles. Winds as powerful as a tornado whipped the flames through the forest with the sound of a freight train, reducing trees to piles of white ashes and small charred spears on the blackened earth.

But months later, the forest grew with new vigor. The heat from the fires split open the hulls of the pine cones, releasing their seeds and yielding a forest of little saplings sprouting everywhere. The dead underbrush had been burned away. New spears of grass turned the hillsides to spring green, and a bumper crop of wildflowers carpeted the meadows.

Anyone who has been near a fire of such magnitude understands its tremendous power. When it roars through an area, everything is changed. Ancient trees turn into cinders. Buildings are reduced to ashes. Nothing can withstand its fury. But in their wake, wildfires also bring new growth and regeneration.

God's holiness has even greater power. The fire of God can burn away sin and rebellion, but it also brings new life.

Of all God's attributes, nothing compares to the splendor and beauty of His holiness. It is chief among His attributes. That means His character is perfect in every way. He is totally pure. His moral excellence is the absolute standard of integrity and ethical purity. God's supreme holiness infinitely sets Him apart from His creation.

Your View of God Really Matters …

How has the fire of God's holiness worked in your own life? Has He burned away things that were displeasing to Him and hurting you? Today, thank God for His holiness and absolute purity, which brings you new life.



"The Patriot Post"

A people free to choose will always choose peace.
Ronald Reagan

A tree's a tree. How many more do you need to look at?
Ronald Reagan

Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today's world do not have.
Ronald Reagan



National Security

Department of Military Correctness: SEAL Trial Moved to Iraq

The Courts Martial of Navy SEAL Petty Officers Matthew McCabe, Jonathan Keefe and Julio Huertas continues apace with two of the three heroes being forced to move their trial to Iraq in order to avail themselves of their constitutional right to confront their accuser in open court.. This rare, if not unprecedented, move should be viewed with extreme caution and we hope defense counsel has taken appropriate measures to protect fully the rights of the accused.

For them to enter the sovereign territory of Iraq, even under the auspices of a military court, may place them in peril both physically and legally. What's to prevent the Iraqi government from bringing additional trumped up criminal charges and ordering their arrest? How will the U.S. military protect them from such arrest should such action take place?

One possible alternative would be to insist they hold the trial aboard a U.S. naval vessel in international waters off the Iraqi coast. Failing that, the U.S. Embassy is a second logical alternative.

In a related question, there is an interesting legal position we may be forced to confront in light of the criminal trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in New York City. If, as this administration insists, KSM (and others) are just "criminals," then under what legal authority has this administration justified the continued Predator attacks on these civilian "criminals"? We know this administration fully supports a double standard in tax cases and racism allegations, and we certainly don't expect anything different in this case.



This Week's 'Alpha Jackass' Award

"Most of the domestic groups that we pay attention to here are white supremacist groups. They're anti-government, in most cases anti-abortion, they are usually survivalist type in nature, identity oriented.. ... Those groups are groups that claim to be extremely anti-government and Christian identity oriented." -- TSA nominee Erroll Southers

Meanwhile, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the radical Muslim who actually tried to bomb a U.S. airliner, pleaded "not guilty" in federal court last Friday.



China's Successful Missile Interceptor Test

As China's economic might continues to grow, with its auto and banking industries overtaking the U.S. in world dominance, the Red Dragon's military might also is advancing ominously. This week, China's official Xinhua news agency reported that China tested "ground-based midcourse missile interception technology." Xinhua also said, "The test has achieved the expected objective. The test is defensive in nature and is not targeted at any country." The U.S. military confirmed the test did take place and apparently was successful. Pentagon spokeswoman Major Maureen Schumann said, "We detected two geographically separated missile launch events with an exo-atmospheric collision also being observed by space-based sensors."

China's successful anti-ballistic missile test comes just days after Beijing complained about U.S. weapon sales to Taiwan, including Patriot PAC-3 air defense missiles, which are themselves capable of intercepting short- and medium-range ballistic missiles and could be used against Red Chinese missiles deployed along China's coast and aimed at Taiwan. Both Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Pentagon said they did not consider China's test to be related to these Taiwanese arms sales. While that may be technically true, since it typically takes many days or weeks to prepare such a missile test, there is little doubt that Beijing intended to send Washington a message -- that message being, "Taiwan is ours, stay away.. And if you don't stay away, you will have to contend with our rapidly growing military technology." Just one more rattling saber that our waffling Dear Leader will have to deal with, or ignore at our country's peril.



Iranian Bombing and Nuclear Talks

Iranian nuclear scientist Masoud Ali Mohammadi was killed Tuesday when a nearby motorbike exploded as he left his house in Tehran. The blast was powerful enough to blow several doors and windows out of surrounding buildings. Ali Mohammadi was a particle physicist and reportedly an ardent supporter of the Iranian revolution. Initial speculation was that this was the work of one of the world's premier intelligence services -- perhaps Israel's Mossad -- who have conducted many similar operations over the past decade. Indeed, as sure as the sun rose in the east, Iranian officials leapt to blame Israel for the attack.

However, Ali Mohammadi was not exactly a top-level figure. He was an academic who played an apparently marginal role in nuclear activities, which seems to indicate that it wasn't Mossad.

Even still, the attack will do nothing to improve Iran's attitude toward the UN Security Council or the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as negotiations proceed over Iran's nuclear program. In fact, the Iranian regime itself could have perpetrated the assassination to bolster its case at home.

The U.S., Britain, France, Russia and China, which, together with Germany, represent the P-5+1 (the five permanent Security Council member states plus Germany) are scheduled to meet Saturday in New York to discuss Iran's continued failure to meet its obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty and five UNSC resolutions going back to 2006. Iran is likely to become more defiant as that process advances.

Meanwhile, China made it known on Thursday that they could not attend the P-5+1 meetings after all, as Foreign Minister He Yafei "has a busy schedule." How nice of China, which currently occupies the UNSC presidency, to do all they can to keep pressure on Iran. Fortunately, China's one-month presidency of the UNSC is followed in February by France, which has been tougher on Iran over the last year than anyone, including the United States.



Obama's Magical Mystery Jobs Tour

Barack Obama and congressional Democrats promised the $787 billion stimulus package would spur 3.5 million new jobs over two years.. Nearly one year later, the tally is approaching four million -- jobs lost, that is. December's report revealed 85,000 jobs lost and unemployment at 10 percent (though real unemployment -- including those who have simply stopped looking for a job -- is over 17 percent). The president's solution? Why, another stimulus, of course.

Philosophizing that "the road to recovery is never straight," Obama claims that the $75 billion "Jobs for Main Street Act" currently before the Senate will continue the smashing success of the first stimulus. Success? Oh yes, to manipulate the numbers in its favor, the administration has designed its own job-tracking formula that gives new meaning to the term "fuzzy math." The administration has dropped the ridiculous jobs "saved or created" mantra, opting instead for the stat of jobs "funded" by the stimulus. Under this convenient formula, Obama claims to have created two million jobs to date. Miracles never cease.

If you haven't seen these jobs in your town, though, you're not alone. For example, according to an Associated Press analysis, reviewed by independent economists from five universities, $20 billion-plus in transportation spending from the first stimulus has yielded virtually zip in local job growth. Even Thomas Smith, a pro-stimulus Emory University economist who reviewed the analysis, stated, "As a policy tool for creating jobs, this doesn't seem to have much bite."

Despite the Norman Rockwellian title of the Jobs for Main Street Act, Main Street isn't buying it. GDP growth and stock market improvements notwithstanding, small businesses, which propel real economic growth, simply aren't hiring. In the New York Post, Charles Gasparino explains why: "Having weathered the recession, they now fear the administration will choke off the nascent recovery and increase their costs through higher taxes to pay for the myriad of programs President Obama has in store for us, including the hyperexpensive health-care overhaul."

This "damn-the-torpedoes, full-speed-ahead" approach is no mistake. Regardless of recovery rhetoric, the president's aim has been clear from the start: "I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody," he said during the campaign. Of course, the 15.3 million Americans who are unemployed might take issue with this.

Yet, as Christina Romer, Chairwoman of the President's Council of Economic Advisers, stated, the stimulus "has done exactly what we have anticipated it would do." She was referring to the supposed job growth. But substitute the president's "redistribute the wealth" intent, and Romer's statement is disturbingly true.



Administration Announces New Bank Tax

A regional convenience store has an interesting placard at the cash register informing patrons that the store pays more in debit and credit card transaction charges than it makes in net profits. The placard further invites the customer to sign a petition to tell Congress to limit transaction fees charged by the "evil banks."

Perhaps Barack Obama has been sneaking out of the White House after hours for a slushee because he also has decided that the evil banks are a potential revenue source for the Treasury. It seems that his Treasury Department has looked at the $46 billion earned by the Federal Reserve Bank in 2009 and concluded that the banking industry could support a donation to offset the cost of the TARP spend-a-thon. The terms of the Troubled Asset Relief Program do require the beneficiary to pay interest to the Treasury, but Obama's proposed fee would be an addition to those interest charges.

The Wall Street Journal reports, "If approved by Congress, the new tax -- which the White House calls a 'financial crisis responsibility fee' -- would force about 50 banks, insurance companies and large broker-dealers to collectively pay the federal government roughly $90 billion over 10 years." Furthermore, "Banks that have repaid their TARP money wouldn't escape taxation." GM and Chrysler are exempt, however.

As a socialist, Obama has as much tolerance for profits as Superman does for Kryptonite (our apologies to Superman for the comparison) .... unless those profits are derived from a fictional autobiographical memoir of a 40-year-old man whose accomplishments couldn't fill a 3x5 index card. However, just in case he reads our humble publication, we would like to remind Mr. Obama that profits represent the return for risk. Profits beget retained earnings, beget capital formation, beget expansion -- the one sustainable source of job growth.

Don't get us wrong -- the federal government (read: taxpayers) never should have bailed out banks in the first place. But many of them have already paid back TARP money, or are working to pay it back (some never wanted it in the first place but were forced to take it), and another tax is not exactly the right remedy for a struggling economy. That $90 billion could cost the economy $1 trillion when the lost capital results in less lending. Alas, everything looks like a nail to someone with a hammer.



Second Amendment: Interpol and the Executive Order

There have been disarming reports of late about an Executive Order by Barack Obama concerning the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol). According to the NRA-ILA, "President Obama's order amends a 1983 order by President Reagan, in which the U.S. recognized Interpol as an international organization that is entitled to certain legal immunities under the International Organizations Immunities Act (IOIA)." Interpol, founded in 1923 and composed of 188 countries that share information about international criminal investigations, has long been immune from civil lawsuits, so the claim that the immunity comes from Obama is incorrect. Many reports assert that Interpol personnel would be granted diplomatic immunity and would then have the ability to seize firearms, among other violations of U.S. citizens' rights. These fears are likely unfounded.

Diplomatic immunity applies only to diplomats, not agents. The immunity the agents do have is only "relating to acts performed by them in their official capacity." Furthermore, the NRA notes, "Law enforcement officers working with Interpol are detailed from agencies in various countries, such as the FBI or the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. They have no power of arrest outside their own countries. Therefore, a seizure of an American (or of an Americans' firearms) would likely not fall within the official duties for which Interpol officials would be immune from prosecution."

Granted, we are wary of Obama and other leftists around the world -- particularly when it comes to Second

Amendment rights -- but this appears to be a false alarm.



Faith and Family: Bicoastal Fronts on the Same-Sex Marriage War

From sea to shining sea, Americans are being divided on the moral issue of whether two people of the same gender should have the right to declare themselves married. Californians thought they had settled the question (for the second time) when the ballot issue and constitutional amendment Proposition 8 narrowly passed in 2008. But their verdict was soon called into question and eventually landed in the courtroom of Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker, with a trial to overturn the will of the voters starting this week.

In addition, Judge Walker has promised to turn this trial into a three-ring circus by posting delayed video of the proceedings on YouTube, citing a recently approved federal pilot program which allowed telecasting certain non-jury civil trials. Supporters of Proposition 8 objected to this, citing that ongoing harassment by opponents would have a chilling effect on the willingness of witnesses defending Proposition 8 to be filmed. The filming question went before the United States Supreme Court, which has blocked filming the trial indefinitely.

Across the country, the New Jersey Senate denied the bid of activists to make the Garden State the fifth to allow same-sex marriage. While the state has allowed civil unions since 2006, the same-sex marriage bill was voted on hurriedly so outgoing Gov. Jon Corzine could sign it since incoming GOP Governor-elect Chris Christie opposes the bill.

The bill was rejected by a 20-14 vote, falling seven votes short of passage in the 40-member body and never making it to the Assembly. Same-sex marriage supporters vow to make their next move in court.



And Last...

If you haven't had enough Hope 'n' Change lately, Barack Obama, the musical, is set to open in Germany. "Hope -- the Obama Musical Story" will feature 30 singers, actors and dancers in a bilingual mix of English and German, often quoting from Obama's stump speeches from the 2008 campaign. There are also love songs between Barack and Michelle, duets with Hillary Clinton and numbers featuring defeated GOP candidates John McCain and Sarah Palin.

As usually happens with this kind of story, we have our own ideas for songs in this musical. Simply borrowing from "Phantom of the Opera" provides plenty of fodder. Given Obama's narcissism, he could sing "Think of Me" to himself, while the media chorus could croon of Michelle, the "Prima Donna." Joe Biden would be a perfect fit for "All I Ask of You [Is That You Pay Your Taxes]." And there are several numbers for the American people: "Masquerade," "Why Have You Brought Me Here?", "Twisted Every Way," "The Point of No Return," and, perhaps best of all, "Poor Fool, He Makes Me Laugh."



"The Web"

Getting the Word Out

http://brattygerber.com/blog/2009/11/getting-the-word-out/

“I received this in an email and thought everyone should give a read”

We are speeding towards one world government and the second coming at a rapid pace. I remember reading about the children of Israel who turned from God time and time again, only to realize their mistake and pray for forgiveness. Each time, God would forgive them and they would walk with him for a time. So, I am going to ask you to join me in praying for our nation every day. God is in control!!!

We are speeding towards one world government and the second coming at a rapid pace. I remember reading about the children of Israel who turned from God time and time again, only to realize their mistake and pray for forgiveness. Each time, God would forgive them and they would walk with him for a time. So, I am going to ask you to join me in praying for our nation every day. God is in control!!!

Our president did not encourage participation in the National Day of Prayer. He called it an event. He thinks it should be private prayer instead of Public Prayer.

May God Have Mercy On America & Protect Our Troops

In Texarkana last week, there were signs in people’s yards that said, ” America , prayer our only hope” with 2 Chron. 7:14 underneath. We certainly need God’s help!

I have no idea who started this, but I certainly agree with this e-mail. I heard a preacher on TV tonight who said if we pray for our nation that things will turn around. After a day of contemplation and soul searching, I have decided to reach out to my friends and relatives and ask you to do something that has been troubling me for a long time.

Our nation is/has been on the slippery slope for a long time. If you look around you will find corruption, greed, moral decay, and a steady move away from the things that made us great. The principles upon which this nation was founded are no longer our backbone. However, we can reverse this trend.

2 Chron. 7:14 in God’s word he states, “If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land..”

I am convinced that we must pray for our nation and its leaders and ask for forgiveness. So I ask you to join me in this plea to our Lord.

Would you please send this to people in your address book (send it to all of them); ask them to pray EVERYDAY… (25 to only the 5th power is 9,765,625 people.) IMAGINE if each person reaches TEN others…or all TWENTY FIVE!

If you do and they comply, we will lift up millions and millions of prayers a day to our Creator. He will hear us and in faith will answer.

Let me just add a quote from Ronald Reagan. “If we ever forget that we are one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.” I truly believe this is why the United States of America is in the shape we are in today. Most people have forgotten that we are one nation under God! Let us as Christians stand up and remind people of this!!



OPEN ONLY IF YOU HAVE TIME FOR GOD

http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/musgrove/2558.php?action=email&id=36109

God, when I received this e-mail, I thought... I don't have time for this... And, this is really inappropriate during work.

Then..., I realized that this kind of thinking is... Exactly, what has caused lot of the problems in our world today.

We try to keep God in church on Sunday morning... Maybe, Sunday night... And, the unlikely event of a midweek service.

We do like to have Him around during sickness... And, of course, at funerals.

However, we don't have time, or room, for... Him during work or play... Because... That's the part of our lives we think... We can, and should, handle on our own.

May God forgive me for ever thinking... That... there is a time or place where... HE is not to be FIRST in my life.

We should always have time to remember all HE has done for us.

If, You aren't ashamed to do this... Please follow the directions. Jesus said, "If you are ashamed of me, I will be ashamed of you before my Father."

Not ashamed?

Pass this on ONLY IF YOU MEAN IT!! Yes, I do Love God. HE is my source of existence and Savior. He keeps me functioning each and every day. Without Him, I will be nothing. Without Him, I am nothing. But, with Christ, HE strengthens me. (Phil 4:13)

This is the simplest test. If You Love God... And, are not ashamed of all the marvelous things HE has done for you...



'Slush'-hush funds in do-zilch charity

By JOE MOLLICA and JEREMY OLSHAN

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/slush_hush_funds_in_do_zilch_charity_PjRXOIguTyqLLnYGytXKVI

A nonprofit founded with help from two New York legislators -- Rep. Gregory Meeks and state Sen. Malcolm Smith -- functions more like a slush fund than a charity, according to an ethics watchdog group, which plans to file a state ethics complaint against Smith this week.

As The Post reported yesterday, New Direction Development Corp., which was created in 2001 with help from the two Queens Democrats, appears to have used its funds to pay for meals, entertainment, consulting fees and IRS penalties.

Some $150,000 in donations, including thousands the community raised to help victims of Hurricane Katrina, remains unaccounted for, according to Ken Boehm, head of the National Legal and Policy Center.

"When you see lots and lots of consulting fees with large amounts flashing around, at some point one wonders if an elected official is trying to sell their office," said Boehm.
"Sen. Smith, with respect to New Direction, violated several provisions of New York state law," he said.

Boehm says his group will lodge a complaint with the state's Public Integrity Commission this week.

When his constituents helped raise close to $15,000 to help victims of Hurricane Katrina, Meeks promised "every dime, every dime" would go to a group of 30 families displaced from New Orleans.

But there is no record the charity he and Smith founded along with their wives ever delivered more than $1,392 of aid.

Between 2001 and 2006, Smith helped funnel at least $56,000 to the charity through earmarks.

Austin Shafran, a spokesman for Smith, said, "Neither he nor his wife have had any involvement in the day to day operations or administration of the organization since he helped found it. As for their accounting of charitable donations separate from state funds, that is the sole purview of the organization and does not involve the senator."

In 2005, after Katrina, the nonprofit created New Yorkers Organized to Assist Hurricane Families, relief fund. Donations were asked to be sent to the offices of Meeks, Smith or Assemblywoman Barbara Clark.

A community gospel concert raised $11,210 for the charity, and in her 2005 newsletter Clark is pictured with Meeks holding a giant check.

In 2005, Meeks' campaign donated $10,000 to the Katrina fund, but according to a later filing, was sent back $5,000. Neither Meeks nor the charity offered an explanation.

Two other donors, who according to filings, gave a total of $15,000 to New Direction, told The Post they were under the impression the money had gone to Katrina victims.

From 2002 to 2008, the charity's headquarters were at the law offices of Joan Flowers, who served as campaign treasurer for both Meeks and Smith, plus Gov. Paterson.

The charity was also founded with the help of Smith's former business partner, Darryl Greene, whose company is one of those comprising Aqueduct Entertainment Group, which Paterson recently awarded the $300 million racino contract. Additional reporting by Isabel Vincent



Expense report shows N.C. congressman spent $4,406 at luxury hotel

By David N. Bass

http://www.carolinajournal.com/articles/display_story.html?id=6045

RALEIGH — Taxpayers paid a heavy price for the failed climate-change talks in Denmark last month, according to newly released reports detailing a half-million dollars in travel expenses for lawmakers and experts to attend.

Part of those included $4,406 for North Carolina Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-1st, for food and lodging at the five-star Copenhagen Marriott Hotel. Butterfield, who serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, was one of 23 congressmen to attend the summit.

Global warming activists hoped the talks, sponsored by the United Nations, would spur an international agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Instead, world leaders approved a nonbinding declaration on climate change decried by environmentalists as too tame.

In a statement e-mailed to Carolina Journal, Butterfield said that lawmakers weren’t aware of the costs prior to the trip and that House leaders made the travel arrangements.

“Members have since been told that the seemingly high cost of lodging was the result of the hotel requiring a minimum of six nights, totaling $3,960 per room,” Butterfield said. “We have also been told that delegations were assigned to specific hotels by conference organizers, and that delegations from around the world had the same issue with hotel requirements.”

David Williams, vice president of public policy for Citizens Against Government Waste, a Washington-based watchdog organization, said in a telephone interview that he could book airfare and lodging in Copenhagen online for much less than House leaders negotiated.

“It’s ludicrous to think that a semi-intelligent person, which I’m assuming members of Congress are, couldn’t pay the same thing,” he said.

Williams added that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi should have released more detailed copies of the travel reports. CAGW had the same beef with congressional disbursements for the third quarter published online in November that contained vague line-item descriptions.

“It’s a great start to see the dollar amount, but let’s see the details of the expenditures,” he said.

The documentation provided by Pelosi’s office shows (PDF download) a total of $553,564 in travel expenses for 61 representatives and experts. The list includes Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. In total, the group of two dozen lawmakers spent $101,338 on lodging and dining.

The cost for the entire U.S. delegation to attend, though, was much higher. CBS News found that 59 House and Senate staffers flew commercial to Copenhagen, totaling $408,064.

“Add three military jets — $168,351 just for flight time — and the bill tops $1.1 million — not including all the Obama administration officials who attended: well over 60,” CBS reported.

In his statement, Butterfield indicated that leaders made important progress during the summit. “While the conference fell short of the goal of producing a binding international treaty,” he said, “it did succeed in achieving a framework for curbing greenhouse gases, verifying countries’ emissions, preserving rain forests, shielding vulnerable countries from the impacts of climate change, and for sharing costs.”

But Williams said that attendees didn’t accomplish anything. “You had some staffers who were there 10 or 11 days,” he said. “There was no reason to send these many people, regardless of what you believe about climate change.”



Morning Bell: The Obama Budget: Higher Taxes, Higher Spending and More Debt

http://blog.heritage.org/2010/02/01/morning-bell-the-obama-budget-higher-taxes-higher-spending-and-more-debt/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Morning%2BBell

President Barack Obama will submit a $3.8 trillion budget proposal for fiscal 2011 to Congress today. One might hope that given last year’s $1.4 trillion budget deficit was an all-time high and the President promised a spending “freeze” in last week’s State of the Union, this budget might signal a change in direction from the White House. No such luck. President Obama’s new budget is full of billions of dollars in new spending for failed government programs, higher taxes on American families and businesses, and deficit spending for as far as the eye can see.

At the very least, the budget document President Obama is submitting today exposes his spending “freeze” promise for the fraud that it is. As outlined last week, the administration would halt spending increases for only a $447 billion sliver of our total budget, with a total of $15 billion to be saved. That is less than half a percent off of last year’s spending. Worse, this isn’t even an across-the-board spending freeze; it is an aggregate one. So “spending cuts” in parts of the budget are immediately channeled to others. For example, even though the federal government does not need any money for the Census next year, President Obama counts the $5 billion spent this year as a “spending cut” that can be immediately spent on other government programs, such as a 16% increase in Department of Education funding, a 6.8% increase in Department of Energy funding, and increases for ineffective Health and Human Services programs like Head Start and sex education.

Given the best case scenario, the most the White House hopes to save from this supposed spending “freeze” is $15 billion. And that is easily dwarfed by just the $100 billion President Obama wants for his Economic Stimulus II plan. Then there are the tax hikes, including higher taxes on families earning more than $250,000 and a brand new tax on financial institutions to pay for the failed automobile union bailout.

And what is the end result of all of President Obama’s new taxes and spending? A record national debt. According to the White House Office of Management and Budget, the United States will post a $1.556 trillion deficit in fiscal 2010, which the Obama administration claims will be reduced to $1.267 trillion in fiscal 2011, thanks to their budget. Given this administration’s budget forecasting record, however, expect that final deficit number to go up. The Obama administration now forecasts $5.08 trillion in debt over the next five years; that is 35% more debt than they forecast just 12 months ago.

A common sense budget would move our country in a much different direction. For starters, the remaining TARP and stimulus funds should both be rescinded. Next, instead of the President’s fungible “aggregate” spending freeze, tough hard spending caps should be enacted. Finally, Congress should disclose the massive unfunded obligations of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid; put those programs on long-term budgets; and enact the necessary entitlement and programmatic reforms that can keep government within those limits.



Top Muslim Group Withholds Tax Records From IRS

Terror-linked CAIR still delinquent in filing 2007 returns

© 2010 WorldNetDaily

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=123584

CAIR headquarters in Washington

What is America's most prominent Muslim advocacy group hiding?

The Council on American-Islamic Relations is delinquent in filing its tax returns by nearly two years, the IRS has confirmed, raising new suspicions the embattled nonprofit group is concealing from the American public details about its already shadowy financial activities.

Washington-based CAIR, which receives revenue from Saudi Arabia and other Arab states, is required by federal law to file its tax returns annually with the IRS to maintain its tax-exempt status.

However, it still has not filed its 2007 returns, according to the IRS. Its 2008 tax filing is also late.

Registered as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, CAIR must make its finances public each year by filing IRS Form 990.

Under a new federal law, effective starting for tax years ending on or after Dec. 31, 2007, if an organization fails to file either Form 990-N, Form 990, or Form 990 EZ for three consecutive years, its tax-exempt status will automatically be revoked.

To waive separate IRS penalties, CAIR's national office must prove that "reasonable cause" and not "willful neglect" was behind its lengthy delay in filing its tax records.

Most of CAIR's 30 chapters have filed their 2007 returns, and many have filed their 2008 tax forms. It's not clear why CAIR National has repeatedly failed to meet the original filing deadline and subsequent three-month extensions.

Both CAIR and its outside auditor, Joey Musmar, declined comment.

Critics say they are not surprised CAIR has run afoul of IRS rules. They say it is just a matter of time before the "dirty" organization is forced to open its books to government auditors and other investigators.

"CAIR's days are numbered," said Middle East Forum executive director Daniel Pipes. "It's a dirty institution, founded by Islamic terrorists and with many subsequent ties to terrorists."

Last November, several members of Congress asked the IRS to audit CAIR.

"It has come to our attention that the Council on American-Islamic Relations may be in violation of both the anti-excessive lobbying provision of its 501(c)(3) nonprofit status and of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 by their failure to register with Congress as a federal lobbying organization," wrote Sen. Tom Coburn and Reps. Sue Myrick, John Shadegg, Paul Broun, Trent Franks and Patrick McHenry in a letter to IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman.

The lawmakers cited an internal CAIR memo uncovered by the authors of the bestselling "Muslim Mafia," which shows that in 2005, when Congress met for fewer than 150 days, CAIR by its own admission came to Capitol Hill no fewer than 72 separate occasions to lobby members of Congress to repeal the USA Patriot Act, which was passed overwhelming by Congress after 9/11 to help law enforcement crack down on Islamic terrorists.

"In other words," the lawmakers' pointed out in their letter, "half the days Congress was in session that year, CAIR was on the Hill lobbying against this piece of legislation."

According to "Muslim Mafia," co-authored by investigative journalist Paul Sperry and former federal agent P. David Gaubatz, CAIR is operating in the red as membership dues have plummeted to less than 1 percent of total revenues.

The group's national office reported revenues of more than $2.7 million in 2006, the latest IRS records available. Of that total, just $41,000 came from membership dues. In 2004, by comparison, dues totaled $119,000.

Fundraising dinner donations have also fallen. And in 2006, CAIR reported an overall budget deficit of $161,000, after running a surplus of more than $338,000 in 2004.

Recent terror charges have taken an additional toll on CAIR's membership and fundraising.

Citing new evidence emerging from a 2007 federal terror trial in which CAIR and its founding chairman were named as unindicted terrorist co-conspirators, the FBI cut formal outreach ties to CAIR's headquarters and all its branch offices. The Obama administration has not lifted the ban on the organization, which was founded in 1994.

FBI agent Lara Burns testified at the Holy Land Foundation trial in Texas that CAIR is a "front group" for the Hamas terrorist organization, which has killed at least 17 Americans and injured more than 100 U.S. citizens.

The Justice Department also listed CAIR as a member of the radical Muslim Brotherhood in America – parent of Hamas and al-Qaida, and the subject of the blockbuster "Muslim Mafia."

A federal judge last year denied CAIR's request to remove its criminal co-conspirator designation.

According to a June 2009 ACLU report, "Blocking Faith, Freezing Charity: Chilling Muslim Charitable Giving in the 'War on Terrorism Financing,'" CAIR's Dallas-Fort Worth chapter, for one, has suffered a precipitous drop in contributions since the government's blacklisting of CAIR as an unindicted co-conspirator.

The ACLU reports the chapter president, Moufa Nahhas, saying the following:

"Contributions to CAIR have gone down, so we can hire fewer people, can run fewer activities. People are afraid to come to events. Mosques are also hesitant to open the doors to us, to the organization. In Richardson (Texas, the headquarters of the Holy Land Foundation), the mosque doesn't even want the administration of CAIR to come and pray there, because of fear. ...

"People don't want to serve on the board. They say they support us and want to help, but they don't want to be named as a member of the board. People don't want a letter or newsletter from CAIR coming to their house – they don't want their name on the mailings."

CAIR's national office is also struggling financially. In fact, it has had to rent out one of the floors of its headquarters building, located within three blocks of the U.S. Capitol, to an outside tenant, according to "Muslim Mafia."

"There's no way to soften this: We need financial help," pleaded CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad in a desperate appeal for money posted on the group's website last November after its annual fundraising dinner fell short of its goals for donations.

"Now is the time to send in a generous donation, become a CAIR member or renew your membership," CAIR said in an "Action" item sent to Muslims before its October fundraiser, which was held just a week after a congressional press conference announcing an investigation into CAIR's lobbying activities.

Insiders say the negative publicity has scared away some of CAIR's regular donors, including the UAE Embassy – which along with several other Muslim embassies, disappeared from the list of supporters at CAIR's 2009 fundraising banquet in Washington.

"How is CAIR funded?" asked former Pentagon official Frank Gaffney, now president of the Center for Security Policy in Washington. "The Departments of Justice and Treasury know that CAIR has received foreign contributions in the thousands and even millions, since Steve Emerson, Paul Sperry, Joe Kaufman, Andrew Whitehead, the Department of Justice prosecutors, the mainstream U.S. and Arabic press and others have publicized those foreign donations and pledges for over a decade.

"At their website, CAIR encourages foreign embassies to purchase tables at their fundraisers," he added. "Even this foreign support has declined as CAIR's power has faded."

Political support for CAIR even among liberal Democrats also is waning. Between 2006 and 2009, members of Congress attending CAIR's annual fundraiser fell from 23 to four.

And more and more Muslim-Americans are distancing themselves from the group.

According to CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper, "CAIR has some 50,000 members," when in fact the organization has precisely 5,133 members – or a tenth of the figure Hooper claims – according to "Muslim Mafia," which cites an internal CAIR report prepared for a June 2007 executive staff meeting.

"Muslim Mafia" also presents evidence that Hooper has misled Washington reporters about the source of most of CAIR's financial support.

Hooper has repeatedly denied that CAIR receives foreign support, insisting it's a "grass-roots" nonprofit organization. In CAIR press releases, he has stated, unequivocally: "We do not support directly or indirectly or receive support from any overseas group or government."

However, smoking-gun video footage obtained during a recent six-month covert investigation of CAIR puts the lie to Hooper's claims.

In a private conversation with undercover researcher Chris Gaubatz, who was posing at the time as a CAIR intern, Hooper boasted that he personally can "bring (in) a half million of overseas money" a year, adding: "If some guy's got a lot of extra money in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), I don't mind taking it."

Hooper made the remarks Aug. 30, 2008, during the Islamic Society of North America's 2008 annual convention in Columbus, Ohio.

A State Department cable citing Hooper by name, moreover, directly contradicts Hooper's denials about foreign support, according to "Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That's Conspiring to Islamize America," which exposes the secret inner workings of CAIR, among other radical Muslim Brotherhood front groups in America. (The book is based, in part, on voluminous documentary and videotaped evidence gathered by Gaubatz, son of co-author P. David Gaubatz, during his internship at CAIR.)

The sensitive but unclassified communique was written by U.S. Embassy staff in Saudi Arabia, who in June 2006 reported the following after meeting with a CAIR delegation: "One admitted reason for the group's current visit to the KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) was to solicit $50 million in governmental and non-governmental contributions."

"(Saudi) King Abdullah knows CAIR very well," the cable added.

Among other things, CAIR said the money would be used to "counter negative stereotypes about Muslims in the U.S." media, a phenomenon described by CAIR as "Islamophobia."

The core delegation, according to the cable, consisted of Hooper, CAIR chief Awad and then-CAIR Chairman Parvez Ahmed. Besides Riyadh, the trio also visited Mecca and Jeddah.

Just three months after the trip, Hooper denied soliciting Saudi government funds.

"To my knowledge, we don't take money from the government of Saudi Arabia," he said in a September 2006 appearance on MSNBC's Tucker Carlson show.

CAIR in January 2007 prepared a secret "strategy" memo launching what the "Muslim Mafia" authors call a hostile influence operation against Congress to undermine homeland security and anti-terror efforts.

Fox News, whose parent company's second-largest stakeholder is a Saudi prince who also bankrolls CAIR, mistakenly reported last October that the CAIR memo stated it would place interns on congressional intelligence committees. The Fox story noted, dismissively, that the intelligence panels do not hire interns.

In fact, the memo – a copy of which was provided to Fox by members of Congress – clearly states that CAIR would try to "influence" the intelligence committees, along with committees dealing with homeland security and justice, while placing interns in "congressional offices."

CAIR has been successful in both endeavors




"The e-mail Bag"

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhiStquLADdCWbQVMsbdyBqHA-XYHLjpCS7dIHjjCNzOHOI4y6E2x7L2qPlsjRXw9Tnv8fVFlsEFCbYrornELvP2HjvOCa8xw0OovXGGUFepmadbr9nfxCfU5TgjdM-PSQwlFzHAxTLNdq/s1600-h/senior+cruise.jpg

Sorry.....the US can't afford your ailments anymore....so your "End of Life Guidance Counselor" has selected you to participate in an all-expense paid cruise! "Hope" you enjoy your cruise!