Month: November 2012
Gov. Brewer Rejects State-Run Health Insurance Exchange
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has decided against creating a state-run health insurance exchange required to implement a key part of President Barack Obama’s federal health care law.
Brewer’s decision announced Wednesday means the federal government will set up an online marketplace for the state, offering subsidized private health coverage to the middle class.
Brewer, who reiterated her opposition to the health care overhaul, said there are too many costs and questions associated with a state-run exchange.
Federal requirements mean the state “would wield little actual authority over its ‘state’ exchange,” she said in a statement.
“The federal government would maintain oversight and control over virtually every aspect of our exchange, limiting our ability to meet the unique needs of Arizonans and the Arizona insurancemarket,” she said.
Brewer sent a federal official a one-page letter disclosing her decision.
Her announcement preceded a Dec. 14 deadline for states to declare whether they’d run their own exchanges.
A decision to create an exchange would have been subject to approval by the Republican-led state Legislature.
Though the Nov. 6 election results reduced the size of Republicans’ majorities in the state House and Senate, a Brewer push to create a state-run exchange would have faced a fight from GOP lawmakers who oppose the law.
An alliance of hospitals, insurance companies and business groups wanted Arizona to have a state-run exchange, arguing that it would increase coverage while giving the state flexibility in designing a program to its liking.
Conservative advocacy groups such as the Goldwater Institute stand in opposition. They say Arizona shouldn’t help implement a law that could foist new expenses on the state and raise health insuranceprices for residents.
Brewer’s administration spent two years planning for a possible exchange, accepting approximately $31 million of federal funding to pay for the advance work.
As part of that planning, Brewer in September selected a minimum benefits package for a state-run exchange based on current insurance coverage for state employees. She noted in a Sept. 28 letter to the Obama administration that the package she chose excludes abortion coverage.
While some Republican governors in such states as Texas and Maine have balked at creating state-run exchanges, others in Nevada and New Mexico have opted to proceed.
On another implementation issue with state versus federal considerations, Brewer has decided it was better to have the state run its own program to review health insurance rates, rather than leave that to the federal government. The state has formally approved rules for a rate-review program.
Brewer still must decide whether to expand eligibility for the state’s Medicaid program as called for by the law.
–Associated Press
Laura Ingraham Looking for New Radio Home
The Associated Press reports …
Radio talk show host Laura Ingraham is off the air – at least temporarily.
She said Tuesday that she’s leaving her distributor, Talk Radio Network, after more than nine years because her contract is up. Ingraham said she is in discussions with other distributors about her show, which currently airs on 325 stations nationally.
Talkers magazine says the conservative Ingraham is the most-listened to woman on radio, with an estimated 5.75 million listeners a week. Talkers said that ranks her among the top eight radio hosts overall.
In the meantime, she said she’ll keep her opinions flowing on her website, on Twitter and during Fox News Channel appearances.
Ingraham’s show has been airing in Phoenix weekdays on 1100 AM, KFNX.
President Omits God from Thanksgiving Address for Fourth Straight Year
John Semmens: Semi-News — A Satirical Look at Recent News
The fourth year of President Obama’s reign maintained his traditional omission of God from the Thanksgiving address to the nation. This break from his predecessors was vigorously defended by First Lady Michelle Obama.
“Why should God get the credit for blessings that He had no part in creating?” Michelle asked. “It’s federal farm programs that ensure a robust harvest each year. It’s the FDA that guarantees the food we put on our tables is safe to eat. And it’s the generous expansion of eligibility for Food Stamps that has enabled even the poorest among us the opportunity to enjoy an adequate diet.”
The First Lady contrasted government’s role with “the seeming indifference of God. There has been drought, floods, and storms to impede the process of feeding the hungry under God’s watch. We need to move beyond a superstitious awe for a mythical entity and show a greater appreciation for the beneficence that Barack has bestowed upon the common people of this nation.”
Not wishing to appear excessively closed-minded, Michelle did allow that “if people want to thank God for anything it should be for creating Barack. That such a person has arrived to lead this country at a pivotal point in our history is a miracle everyone should be grateful for.”
UN Official Demands Repression of State Marijuana Laws
The legalization of marijuana by voters in the states of Colorado and Washington has sparked consternation in other parts of the world. Raymond Yans, head of the United Nation’s International Narcotics Control Board, says the approvals send ‘‘a wrong message to the rest of the nation and it sends a wrong message abroad.’’
“What the voters in these states have overlooked is that marijuana is an important cash crop in many Third World countries,” Yans pointed out. “Legalization, if it catches on, will depress the prices that can be charged. This will negatively affect the farmers who grow it, the smugglers who transport it, the dealers who market it, and the police whose livelihoods depend upon expenditures aimed at suppressing it.”
Yans urged US Attorney General Eric Holder to‘‘take all the necessary measures to ensure that marijuana possession and use remains illegal throughout the U.S. Too much is riding on this for us to permit a misguided attachment to democracy in a few subdivisions of America to overrule more important concerns.”
Holder is reported to be amenable to Yans’ request. Despite recent research indicating the heavy use of marijuana has a stupefying effect on those who consume it, the ability of the federal government to assert its power over the states by over ruling local decisions is held likely to win out.
“While in the long run a more stupefied electorate is much to be preferred, at this time, the principle of national supremacy is probably a more significant step in the President’s promised transformation” Holder observed.
Egyptian President Assumes Dictatorial Powers
The so-called “Arab Spring” took a decidedly ugly turn in Egypt this week when President Mohammed Mursi issued a decree barring any challenges to his decisions.
Egyptian opposition leader Mohammed El Baradei denounced Mursi’s action calling it “a major blow to the revolution. What good does it do us if we get rid of the dictator Mubarak only to replace him with a dictator Mursi? Isn’t sharing of power and open debate the whole point of democracy?”
Mursi denied he was trampling democracy. “Debate is fine, but there must be limits,” Mursi maintained. “The laws I decree must be enforced. There must be respect for my authority. Words or deeds that would serve to undermine either of these critical objectives cannot be tolerated.”
Whether Mursi’s expansion of his own authority will be tolerated is an open question. Many of the same protesters who rallied against Mubarak are back in the streets demonstrating against this latest development.
Clashes are expected as Mursi described these protests as “unwarranted interferences.” “Mubarak was a fraudulently elected tyrant,” Mursi pointed out. “In contrast, I, like recently reelected US President Obama, have a legitimate mandate from the voters. Mubarak was also sick and weak. I am not.” The Egyptian President warned opponents that “attempts to obstruct my rule will result in dire consequences for those who go too far.”
The US State Department said it was taking a “wait and see” attitude toward this seemingly antidemocratic shift. “They’re still working on their constitution, so it’s possible that what appears to be an unjustified usurpation may yet be endorsed by those drafting the document,” cautioned Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. “Then, too, Mursi was just recently elected. So we can’t rule out the argument that he, in fact, has a mandate of sorts. As we are wont to say, elections have consequences.”
As for Mursi’s declaration that actions taken by the courts or legislature in contravention to his wishes are void, Clinton expressed sympathy. “Sometimes a president may have to bypass other bodies in order to carry out his mandate,” she said. “Maybe we shouldn’t be so critical. For all we know, President Obama may find himself in a similar bind in the not too distant future.”
In related news, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s order blocking the Iranian Parliament from investigating President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s mismanagement of the economy was called “intriguing” by the US Secretary of State. “Khamenei’s point that such an investigation could weaken the regime seems well taken,” Clinton observed. “Congressional investigations of Fast and Furious and Benghazi are damaging to our country. Making them disappear might eliminate a great deal of the negative impressions these inquiries are causing.”
Local Governments Pilot Testing Tyranny
Local governments on opposite sides of the nation are exploring new ground in the never ending battle against individual freedom in this country.
In New York City, inspectors from the Department of Health cracked down on unauthorized distribution of food to survivors of Hurricane Sandy. The serving of meals to people whose homes were destroyed by the storm was found to be “non-compliant with existing restaurant standards” by Health Inspector Constance Medler.
“The meals are being served outdoors,” Medler complained. “The cooking is done by uncertified cooks on uninspected stoves. The food is served on paper plates and eaten with plastic utensils. There has been a complete disregard for our regulations.”
Medler said that “the argument that this is just a temporary response to an emergency is no excuse for flouting our standards. Just because some people are voluntarily providing food to those willing to eat it doesn’t negate our responsibility to protect the public from consuming substandard comestibles.”
In San Diego, Regional Water Quality Control Board officials are working on new regulations that would impose stiff penalties (fines up to $100,000 per day and jail terms of up to six years) on home owners whose lawn sprinklers dampen the sidewalks. Washing cars in driveways and neglecting to pick up dog waste in your own backyard would also be similarly penalized. In addition, a “hot line” will be set up for persons to report on neighbors who violate the new regulations.
“Just because you pay a mortgage or have a deed doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want on that property,” Board spokesperson Christine Waters explained. “The harsh penalties are necessary to show that we are serious about enforcing these rules. If a neighbor is forced out of his home by crushing fines or is sent to prison others will be much more careful about obeying these laws.”
Undelivered D-Day Message Prolonged War, Prof Says
A university professor says the recent discovery of a carrier pigeon’s corpse in a chimney in Normandy, France has shed new light on events of the last year of World War II in the European theater.
Harvard professor of European History Albee Leftkowitz believes that the failure of the pigeon’s mission may have hampered the advance of American forces on the Western Front and forced President Roosevelt to accede to Soviet domination of Eastern Europe at the Yalta Conference in February 1945.
“Right-wing critics of President Roosevelt have made much of what they call FDR’s misplaced trust in ‘Uncle Joe’ Stalin,” said Leftkowitz. “But this latest development proves that he had no choice. Denied the benefit of this carrier’s message, FDR, as Commander-in-Chief of the Western Allied Forces, had no alternative but to grant the Soviet Union dominion over Poland, Romania, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia.”
Leftkowitz discounted the possible influence of Soviet spies within the Roosevelt Administration as a factor. “Alger Hiss, Harry Dexter White, and the others had no direct impact on the fighting,” the Professor contended. “They didn’t command any troops and they certainly didn’t cause this pigeon to get trapped in that chimney.”
The fact that the lost message is in code and has yet to be translated didn’t faze Leftkowitz. “Whatever the message might have said has got to be more important than the leftist philosophies or political connections of some of Roosevelt’s advisers,” he argued. “In fact, its very existence serves to vindicate these maligned men.”
A Satirical Look at Recent News
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Cultural Red Alert!
Encouraged by the defeat of marriage in four liberal states this month, a politicial action committee has formed in Arizona to repeal Arizona’s constitutional marriage amendment. Arizona law and the state Constitution define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. National polling and voters in 33 states have defined marriage that way.
But now a radical leftist, Tanner Pritts, has formed the PAC “Arizona Advocates for Marriage Equality” to redefine marriage. He is already raising money for a 2014 ballot initiative to redefine marriage here.
We must fight this. Where same-sex “marriage” is legal, very few homosexuals have actually gotten married. Many of those people are already divorced. The real agenda is to destroy the traditional concept of family and radically overturn the social order.
Children raised in homosexual homes fare much worse than in homes with their biological parents. And with divorce and fatherlessness already damaging the social development of children, the last thing we need is same-sex “marriage.”
Combined with “hate” crime laws and attacks on free speech and religious liberty, same-sex “marriage” will result in the criminalization of people who believe homosexuality is sinful. Religious freedom and the demands of the Left for “sexual liberty” cannot co-exist; religious freedom will be destroyed. The result will be tyranny. In fact, radical homosexual activists are already engaging in fascim — death threats, vandalism, and extreme political and social pressure to silence and demonize their opponents.
Stay tuned here because we will have much more to say about this in the future. We cannot let these radicals undermine the Arizona family and damage society with this extremist effort.
A New Strategy Unfolds for Conservatives
By Peter Heck, Conservative Talk Radio Host
Monday, 19 November 2012
I’m so excited to see many mainstream conservatives that I have looked up to and appreciated for so long really starting to hammer what I’ve said and seen for quite some time regarding our cultural struggle: we can’t and we won’t win this at the ballot box alone. In fact, the ballot box is a mere reflection of the status of the culture more than it is a determiner of the fate of the culture.
Politics is an outworking or consequence of the worldview embraced by our people. And that worldview isn’t developed in election years. It is developed in school rooms, in church pews, in living rooms with television sets, on movie screens, in magazines, in newspapers and on the radio.
That is where conservatism must focus because that is where we have lost for a generation – and are continuing to lose dramatically in our battle against the delusion and self-loathing left.
That’s why when I saw that Rush Limbaugh had said that conservatives had to take over the public school system, and when I saw that Glenn Beck had said that conservatives needed to lead a movement to overtake and overwhelm the mainstream media, I was ecstatic. That’s exactly what I talked about in my book, 78: How Christians Can Save America.
Granted, neither one of them mentioned what I see as the first step to actually saving our culture: reforming the church back to Biblical Christianity. But I am nevertheless thrilled and heartened that men with far more influence and appeal than me are starting to openly discuss a new strategy beyond just winning elections and writing laws.
Though our ideas are vastly better than the left’s ideas, the left has been the far more shrewd and effective at advancing their cause. It’s like conservatives have stuck to an old-school European model of warfare – lining our men up straight across an open field – all while the liberals have taken to the hills and have surreptitiously turned our children and homes against us, engaging in the deadliest of guerilla warfare tactics. We can’t keep fighting through conventional means.
Part of that means understanding exactly what I remember saying multiple times at multiple tea party meetings these last few years. This is not a cause that will be finished in many of our lifetimes. This is a generational shift that we must attempt to enact. And that means discouragement at the loss of one election or two cannot overwhelm us. We must be more focused on winning control of states, schools, communities and pulpits. And then we must use them effectively to turn the Titanic around.
We can’t win the war for our culture when we’re constantly aiding and abetting the enemy.
It’s time to turn off the trash, set ourselves apart and re-develop our culture.
A tall task? Absolutely. But as I enjoy the blessings of liberty that those before me preserved, how could I possibly be unwilling to make every effort to see that my children and grandchildren enjoy the same. To arms, conservatives.
The Pilgrims Were Thankful They Abandoned Communism; and We, Too, Can be Thankful
By Liberty Institute
As we celebrate Thanksgiving, we should examine the little known fact that the Pilgrims established a short-lived form of agricultural communism.
The land was owned in common; everyone worked for each other and each received an equal allotment of food no matter how hard they worked. This system quickly failed. The women described the communal chores as a form of slavery, men rapidly lost motivation, and the able-bodied feigned illness to avoid work.
As Governor William Bradford described in Of Plymouth Plantation, “[The] taking away of property, and bringing in community into a common wealth…was found to breed much confusion & discontent, and retard much employment…” The crops dwindled to only providing several kernels of corn per meal. It was so bleak that some Pilgrims sold themselves as workers to the Indians for a few cups of food. Others tried to forage for food, but many died of starvation.
After much debate and prayer, Bradford established a free market system by assigning each family a portion of land and giving them rights to what it produced. He was amazed at the results and credited it with creating the bountiful harvest and the reason the Pilgrims were able to celebrate what we think of as the “First Thanksgiving.”
Think of how happy the Pilgrims were to know that they would not face starvation that winter. This is a poignant lesson as some Americans again look at rewarding laziness with welfare and taking from those who work hard and providing it to those who have worked less, or not at all. Let’s be grateful and learn from the Pilgrims, and not repeat their mistake.
Conservative Advice for Bill Bergemann of Mesa
Dear Bill,
I just read your letter to the editor of the East Valley Tribune, “Some Advice for Republicans.” You started your letter to the editor …
“A little bit of advice for the Republicans given the shellacking you took last week.”
Now here’s some advice for you.
1. Nobody asked for your advice, so you can put it in your back pocket. Or better yet, use it to start a fire in your fireplace Thanksgiving night.
2. Nobody likes a gloater. And that’s what you are.
3. Don’t forget the shellacking your Democrats took in 2010.
You claim conservatives listen to an “echo chamber” on Fox News.
1. And you don’t listen to echo chambers on CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, MSNBC or read them in The Arizona Republic, East Valley Tribune, Huffington Post, Democratic Underground, or other far left-wing members of the LEFT-STREAM MEDIA?
2. All you’re doing is parroting their unsolicited advice for Republicans.
You demand some unnamed person “draw a clear line of separation between the Republican Party and the evangelical Right.”
1. Evangelicals will depart from the GOP just as soon as the far-left socialists, unions, and extremists abandon the Democrats’ camp.
2. And by the way, who appointed you traffic cop for the Republican Party?
3. Why should anyone listen to the member of a party which has refused for years to create a national budget? Which has rung up $16 trillion in debt? Which has weakened the U.S. Navy to World War I levels? Which forced party members to put God back into its platform against their will? Which gave guns to Mexican drug cartels resulting in the murder of U.S. Border Patrol agents? Which demonizes successful businessmen and women? Which wants more children to grow up without both of their parents? Which supports an abortion organization which is accused of defrauding taxpayers? Which has destroyed the public education system and dumbed down millions of students over several decades? Which attacks free speech and religious freedom? Which intentionally spends more money than exists in the federal treasury?
“So stop trying to force religious dogma on the country.”
1. Interesting comment, Bill. It’s the Democrats who have forced secular humanism on the country, the government, the schools, and just about everywhere you look. The Supreme Court calls that “religion.”
2. Nobody is forcing Christian dogma on the country. It just happens to be the leading religion in America, and always been.
3. Your president says he is a mainstream Christian.
4. Your president and secretary of state, among numerous other leading Democrats, have cited Christian scripture in attempting to justify big government socialism. You might want to talk to them about forcing that dogma on people.
You demand we stop talking about makers and takers because it offends your sense of fairness and intellect.
1. It apparently strikes a nerve with you.
2. Because it’s unfair to punish the successful, those who take risks to create jobs and feed families, even your union friends’ families.
3. Socialism and intellect usually aren’t used in the same sentence.
You demand we “Purge the crazies.” And the people “off their rockers?”
1. Sir, you dare speak of “crazies”? In the party of Pelosi, Wasserman Schultz, Dean, Hank “Tip over the island of Guam” Johnson, Biden, Waxman, et al?
2.In your own words, the “nuts do more damage to your party.”
Finally, you urge “Stop being the party of stupid: evolution, climate change, age of the earth, math.”
1. Let’s work backwards: math. Your union teachers are famous for telling Johnny 2+2=5 “might be an answer!”
2. Age of the earth: radio carbon dating disproves your billions-years-old theory. Along with truck loads of other evidence. Your own age of the earth “evangelists” claim the rocks date the bones … and the bones date the rocks. A fifth-grader recognizes circular reasoning when she sees it! LOL!
3. Climate change: you’ve got a big problems with NASA satellite data poking holes in your unproven theory. Along with a history of evidence tampering by the international “climate change industry.” Just a little scandal there.
4. Evolution: How come every 2-3 years a story surfaces claiming “Now we’ve found the missing link!” Evolution has more holes in it than you can shake a stick at!
“These are pretty much settled questions for most of us who graduated from high school.”
1. When you have no arguments, you claim the debate is over and put your hands over your ears so you won’t hear the truth.
2. If you were confident of your positions, you would welcome debate.
3. The socialist and communist countries you admire aren’t very fond of debate either.
4. Kids in elementary school and high school, along with college students, educators and doctoral-degreed professionals are knocking the stuffing out of all these myths on a regular basis.
5. Did you really believe everything your high school teacher taught you?
6. Did you ever question their worldview? Because it colored the teaching of their “secular humanist religion.”
Thank you for reading, Bill. Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you enjoy your tax increases in January. And we hope you contribute to some of the families whose bread-winners are getting laid off by their employers in the wake of Obama’s re-election, which is deflating the business climate by the minute.
AG Defends Suppressing Petraeus Scandal
John Semmens: Semi-News — A Satirical Look at Recent News
Attorney General Eric Holder defended withholding information on the scandal surrounding CIA Director David Patraeus until after the November 6 election.
“I know there are those who think that they have a right to know everything about what’s going on in their government,” Holder acknowledged. “But those of us on the inside must place the broader national interest ahead of any presumed duty to keep the general public informed.”
“As is becoming apparent in the post-election revelations, there are serious issues of national security that could affect the people’s confidence in their government,” Holder continued. “If these issues had become publicly known prior to November 6 they could’ve had an irreversible impact on the election outcome. It was our considered judgment to not let voters be stampeded by a knee-jerk reaction to a volatile and transitory chain of events that we felt detracted from the more significant elements of the campaign.”
Holder argued that “the post-election separation of the offending party from his government post exacts the appropriate measure of justice without disrupting the ability of the Administration to continue its governance for another term. We are confident that history will validate the wisdom of our decision on this matter.”
Administration Blocks Oil Development on 1.6 Million Acres
The Interior Department issued a final plan to close 1.6 million acres of federally owned land that had originally been slated for oil shale development by the Bush Administration.
Interior Department spokesman, Blake Androff explained that “injecting more fossil-based fuels into the mix would be both unbalanced and disruptive. The President is trying to wean the country off of energy sources dependent on the burning of fossil fuels. Bringing more sources of such fuels on-stream would work to thwart this objective.”
Androff also cited “the potentially damaging international impacts of lower prices for fossil-based fuels. Many of this country’s allies in the Middle East would be hard hit if fuel prices declined. The President’s efforts to build better relations with these countries would be negatively affected if we were to bring an excessive quantity of competing oil onto the market.”
Senator Mark Udall (D-Colo) praised the plan. “Increasing supplies of oil depresses the price,” Udall observed. “This only further delays the country’s transition toward a more environmentally-friendly way of life. Keeping supplies tight will encourage more people to avoid unnecessary travel and to choose public transportation for the trips they feel they have to make.”
Hostess Brands to Be Liquidated
The financially troubled manufacturer of dessert cakes announced it will be forced to liquidate its assets. The move was in response to a strike by 5,000 employees represented by the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Union and will result in the layoff of 18,000 employees.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka denounced the company, calling its decision “a direct contradiction and insult to American voters. Just a week ago voters reelected President Obama. Rather than accept this vindication of the President’s policies, the management of Hostess is putting profit ahead of social justice.”
Hostess has been in precarious financial shape for years. It first filed for bankruptcy in 2004. It emerged reorganized in 2009, but has still experienced net losses. The company again filed for bankruptcy in early 2012. The liquidation plan calls for the company’s iconic brands—Twinkies, Ho-Hos, Ding-Dongs, etc.–to be sold to the highest bidders and the cash used to repay outstanding debts.
Trumka said Hostess management’s decision “putting the repayment of debt ahead of the benefit of employees is emblematic of the anti-social nature of capitalism. Here we have owners saying they’re going to sacrifice the livelihoods of thousands of workers just because they can’t afford to pay them decent wages.”
To avert the loss of jobs at Hostess, Trumka urged President Obama to intervene. “There’s no question that these workers need these jobs,” Trumka asserted. “Likewise, there’s no question that consumers want their Twinkies. The government should provide the funding necessary to assure the continuation of both.”
Congresswomen Rally to Defense of Susan Rice
U.N. ambassador Susan Rice has come under criticism from Senators John McCain (R-Az) and Linsey Graham (R-SC) for lying about the September 11th attack on the Behghazi Consulate. A dozen female members of the House of Representatives have rallied to her defense.
“Ambassador Rice was just following orders,” Representative Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) declared. “Laying the blame on her is racist and sexist.” Fudge compared the Senators’ attack on Rice to “blaming a prostitute for sticking up for her pimp. What’s she supposed to do when her boss gives the marching orders? You know he’s got her in a vise. You know she could lose her job or worse if she crosses him.”
Representative Gwen Moore (D-Wisc) characterized Rice as “a virtual battered woman. Their real beef is with the President. They can’t get him to answer their questions so they take out their frustration on the person he’s designated as his spokesperson.” Moore suggested that “President Obama should consider dismissing them as Senators for behavior unworthy of that office.”
Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) argued that “these Senators’ threat to block Ambassador Rice’s elevation to Secretary of State is futile and misguided. Suppose she did lie about Benghazi. Well, lying for one’s country is what the nation’s top diplomat is expected to do. So, even if what they charge is true it is hardly disqualifying. Besides, they can’t stop her from becoming Secretary of State if the President wants her.”
Testimony from former CIA Director David Patraeus would seem to bolster the case for Rice merely being a dutiful messenger. Patraeus told a congressional hearing this week that “we knew from the outset that what was happening at the Consulate was a terrorist attack. This assessment was subsequently altered by the Obama Administration. Ambassador Rice was merely carrying forward a message that the President had determined best suited the needs of the country as he saw it.”
Senator Denies Possibility that Regulations Could Cost Jobs
Encouraged by the recent election results, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev) boasted that “the Republicans’ contention that excessive government regulation causes increased unemployment has been convincingly refuted by voters.”
“Of course, the GOP’s arguments were ludicrous from the beginning,” Reid maintained. “If we pass new regulations the government has to hire more people to enforce them. That means more jobs. Companies have to hire more people to ensure they comply with the regulations. That means more jobs. The regulations are kind of like a scissors cutting into unemployment from both sides.”
The possibility that more regulations could boost the cost of doing business and, thereby, lead to cuts in the number of persons employed was derided by Reid. “The cost of the regulations are just passed on to the customers,” Reid explained. “They don’t come out of the employers’ pockets. So how could it hurt?”
That passed on higher costs might deter customers from purchasing products was similarly disposed of by the Majority Leader. “If consumers really need a product they will buy it no matter what the cost,” Reid said. “If a slightly higher price dissuades them from buying it means that they don’t really need it. To the extent that we are eliminating the purchase of unneeded products we are improving the true efficiency of our economy.”
As Reid sees it, “money that isn’t spent on unneeded products could be better used on infrastructure projects like roads and bridges, or to invest in education or green energy. There’s no shortage of ways in which the government could more effectively deploy our nation’s resources.”
Teacher Suspended for Criticizing Obama Policies
A Rock Hill, South Carolina, a middle school teacher was placed on administrative leave after her school received a complaint about remarks she posted on her personal Facebook page. The remarks criticized the Food Stamp program.
Rawlinson Road Middle School spokesperson Elaine Baker said the suspension was initiated after the school heard from a local Democratic Party official. “In our view, the teacher used poor judgment,” Baker said. “It is inappropriate for a person employed by a public school to be observed criticizing any duly authorized public policy, especially right now. The country has been through a contentious election campaign. Now that it is over, everyone should be pulling together behind the President.”
The fact that the teacher’s criticism occurred outside the classroom made no difference, Baked insisted. “Even though the remarks were not directed at her students, per se, there is no guarantee that they couldn’t be found by them,” Baked said. “For a teacher to give the appearance of disloyalty even if outside of her role in the classroom is still unacceptable.”
A Satirical Look at Recent News
Please do us a favor. If you use material created by The Arizona Conservative, give us credit, and do not change the context. Thank you.
Rush: Pearls of Wisdom
Pearls of Wisdom
November 15, 2012
“Surprise, surprise, surprise: ‘Factory activity in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region unexpectedly contracted in November.’ Isn’t it amazing all of the revision we get, particularly in economic news, after the election. Factory activity contracts. Who coulda seen that coming?”
“Freedom has to be fought for. It will not triumph all by itself.”
“If there has been a theme to the corruption of public education, it has been anti-capitalism. That has been the umbrella under which everything else has been taught.”
“What used to be harmless, clever humor, today is heard by the people who’ve been educated the last 30, 35 years, today causes legitimate anger and indignation and charges of cruelty and insensitivity and bigotry or sexism or what have you.”
“You want to see liberalism, look at Detroit. You want to see liberalism, look at California. You want to see liberalism, look at Cuba. You want to see liberalism, look at Venezuela. The Republicans haven’t done it. I don’t know why, don’t care right now.”
“I just saw that the Ding Dong people, Hostess, they said they’re gonna shut the whole thing down forever if this strike doesn’t end today. If you don’t have any Ding Dongs, you may want to go get some because there may not be any more.”
“How’s that possible? There were fewer claims for unemployment in New York after Hurricane Sandy, but New Jersey took the hit? How can that be? Obama went in there and had the big confab with Chris Christie.”
“According to the note that I got from chief of staff to a member of House last night, the leadership of the House has said to the Republican caucus, ‘We’re just gonna let Obama take the reins. We’re just going to let Obama lead for a while and see where it ends up before we decide what we need to do.’ If that’s accurate, I can tell you the House doesn’t sound like they want to play ball on a select committee on Benghazi.”
“I really think that the solution to our problems are not really political. I think conservatives are seen by young people and the left and the pop culture the way they are not because of what these people have been taught about conservatism. It’s purely cultural.”
“Most of the things that I get in, quote, unquote, trouble for, you know, I’ll say something here, it gets all over the media and people, ‘You need to apologize, that’s outrageous. You mean-spirited…’ And you who listen every day know full well all we’re doing here is entertaining, we’re just having fun. They don’t get it.”
“Look at the Bond movies. The entire original concept of Bond is gone. Bond was always fighting totalitarian regimes. Whatever they were called, they were people that controlled, murdered, imprisoned, tortured, whatever, other people, and wanted total domination of the world. Now, that vanished decades ago. And now the villains in Bond movies are almost always evil capitalists.”