Herman Cain - Action Needed on Broadcaster Freedom Act

Congressman Mike Pence and his fellow Congressman and free speech champion Greg Walden, will try to have the Broadcaster Freedom Act - which will help protect talk radio from Obama's FCC - added as an amendment to the Financial Services budget bill on Tuesday.

But according to Congressman Pence, Speaker Pelosi won't allow it - UNLESS WE DEMAND THAT SHE DOES SO.

As you may recall, the Broadcaster Freedom Act of 2009 would amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), from requiring broadcasters to arbitrarily present opposing viewpoints on controversial issues of public importance, commonly referred to as the Fairness Doctrine.

Please locate your Representatives phone number here (http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102638803407&s=43982&e=0012r6CfpIGKs5aJVJkgnWcoPj0eyMsFF-t0mp8n1cd1Z7jieT0omHT5msJnUVMcf5Zo9D33MrETEzJDed7kSzLpy5T05-N_bkGVoKEkLUAO18crB8VZGXi_VmIeY-_PWfd) and call and fax them today, demanding that he or she tell Speaker Pelosi to allow a full, fair up or down vote on the Broadcaster Freedom Amendment. You may also contact them by email. However, a phone call will be more immediate and effective at this point.

The time is now to protect talk radio! Please, pick up the phone and start dialing right away. And don't stop; we need you to call immediately.

We saw just last week how much our voices can impact congress if we just let them hear what we have to say. Please contact your Representative ASAP.

Herman Cain - Head Coach
Intelligent Thinkers Movement

Posted with permission

Finally Specter Gets Honest... Maybe.

Arlen Specter is finally on the side of the aisle many of us figured he really should have been on all along. Unfortunately, taking on the technical title of Democrat isn't going to help the Republican cause any as now we won't be able to count on him to even try to act like a conservative.

My biggest concern at the moment is card-check. He was for it, then said he'd vote against it... but now that he's a certified (certifiable?) Democrat will he switch again and give them the vote that puts another nail in the coffin Barack Obama and friends are building for America?

Lots of questions.

You have to wonder what's going on in Specter's mind. He's had all the health problems which could result in someone either getting real honest with themselves or have them wigging out completely. I've had friends go both ways under similar circumstances.

Is Specter just getting back at all the Republicans who've been trashing him since he gave Obama the ability to mire our kids and future grandkids in debt they'll never rise above? Is he just being pragmatic, realizing he has zero chance of winning as a Republican so he's making himself the darling of the Democrats so he can hang in there another election cycle?

Lots of questions.

Only Specter knows the answer.

No matter what the reason, he's now hurting Republicans even worse than he was when he was a liberal Republican.
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A few Sunday morning "stimulus" headlines

The Stimulus Tragedy
Obama bets that we can spend our way to prosperity.

Peggy Noonan: Bracing Ourselves
America prepares for the worst, and Republicans suddenly seem serious.

WSJ: Obama, GOP Trade Jabs on Stimulus

AP: Senators debate stimulus in rare Saturday session

Politico: Senate GOP says they were left out

The Hill: Senators exert leverage over Pelosi on stimulus

Senators Hash Out Stimulus Details With Another Nudge From Obama
ABC News - USAThough a few moderate Republicans likely will vote for the stimulus plan -- which President Barack Obama today said is necessary to avoid a "national ...

AP: Competing stimulus bills divide Congress

Roll Call: Drafters Meet Stimulus Amendment Deadline

WaPo: Economists Agree Time Is of the Essence for Stimulus

Battle over stimulus plan tests Obama's mettle
San Francisco Chronicle - CA, USABarack Obama will have to grind it out." "The moral of the story is that it's a lot more fun to campaign than it is to govern," says Jack Citrin, ...

Johnny Isakson's response to my email to vote NO on porkulus

I sent an email with thoughts on the "stimulus". Strip it of every bit of pork that can be negotiated out of it, then when it's as thin as possible, vote no anyway. I phrased it better than that... It's definitely a form letter, didn't expect anything more. I didn't suggest any projects as the form letter indicates.

Since I sent me email a lot has happened and things are changing minute-by-minute in Washington. I've read conflicting stories about what's going on behind the scenes so I'm in a wait-and-see mode (although I'm still sending emails and calling Senators).

One good thing that's happening is that more and more people are becoming aware of how little there is in this pork package that will do anything to help us.

I think Nancy Pelosi is going to ultimately be the fall 'guy' on this one. She was SO gleeful when she rammed it through. I was watching as she took the count and they zeroed in on her face. She was gloating, smiling so big I thought her face would crack from the tension. Now she's dealing with dissension in the ranks, possibly an Obama White House that isn't happy with her and a Senate that is busily stripping her Christmas list of wants out of the bill. (see my last post)

OK, I'll quit typing and let you read Isakson's letter (emphasis is mine):

Thank you for contacting me regarding President Obama's Economic Stimulus plan. I appreciate your thoughts and the opportunity to respond.

Recently President Obama has been meeting with Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker Nancy Pelosi regarding his ideas for a second economic stimulus. At this time I am unsure as to whether I will or will not support this legislation due to the fact that there is no bill text to evaluate at this point, only constantly changing news reports. My staff and I, however, are glad to hear your thoughts on suggested projects that you believe should be included in this proposed plan. Rest assured I will strongly advocate on the behalf of Georgia projects for maximum investment.

As our nation continues to struggle through the current economic crisis it is important to stay focused on the recovery aspects. I believe the key to returning stability to the economy lies within the housing market. We must find a way to keep people in their homes, stabilize foreclosures and return consumer confidence to the marketplace. Once stability comes back to the housing market, you will see investors and small business begin to reinvesting in job creating activities, which will put hard working Americans back to work. I am committed to taking the necessary steps to work with my Senate colleagues to make this come to pass. Our nation has always demonstrated a strong resiliency and I am confident we will once again bounce back stronger than ever, where hard working Americans are at the front lines of economic prosperity.

Thank you again for contacting me. Please visit my webpage at http://isakson.senate.gov/ for more information on the issues important to you and to sign up for my e-newsletter

Stimulus Round Up

If you think your voice doesn't count think again. If enough of us call, write, fax, email it's possible we might, just might be able to impact this so-called stimulus package. Go to www.readthestimulus.org and click on the spread sheet they've provided and / or read the text of the actual bill if you can handle government double-speak in print!

Here are some interesting articles and commentary re: stimulus package.

States to win big in stimulus sweepstakes
The House bill allots almost one-quarter of the $825 billion recovery package to states and localities.
http://www.elabs5.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=o1l,44m9,er,a7nj,g6m3,mbr4,k497

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Fed May Gain More Financial Oversight
(By Neil Irwin and Binyamin Appelbaum)

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Republican Leaders Don’t Like Stimulus Plan, but No Filibuster Expected
(CNSNews.com) – Three top Republicans agree that they cannot support the Democrats’ economic stimulus package as written. But aside from expressing the hope that Republicans’ suggestions will be incorporated, none of them said they would work to block the plan beyond voting “no.”

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Nationalization of banks around the corner?
Yesterday Nancy Pelosi publicly indicated nationalization was on the table (Nancy Pelosi - Nationalization of Banks a Good Idea? Yep.).

Nancy Pelosi - Nationalization of Banks a Good Idea? Yep.
Nancy Pelosi was on ABC this morning with George Stephanopoulos. The entire interview was a dance and dodge performance, but even with all the flowery non-answers there were some whoppers that should have fiscally conservative, anti-socialistic, freedom loving Americans up in arms.

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Nationalization Gets a New, Serious Look
Only five days into the Obama presidency, members of the new administration and Democratic leaders in Congress are already dancing around one of the most politically delicate questions about the financial bailout: Is the president prepared to nationalize a huge swath of the nation’s banking system? Privately, most members of the Obama economic team concede that the rapid deterioration of the country’s biggest banks, notably Bank of America and Citigroup, is bound to require far larger investments of taxpayer money, atop the more than $300 billion of taxpayer money already poured into those two financial institutions and hundreds of others, The New York Times’s David E. Sanger reports.
http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/26/nationalization-gets-a-new-serious-look/

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Treasury's demands on banks seen as nationalization
WASHINGTON — The U.S. government's decision to pledge billions of additional dollars with strings attached to Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. may be nationalization by another name, according to former bankers and regulators. Faced with pressure from lawmakers, banks have shaken up management, eliminated executive bonuses and staff and canceled conventions. They'll be forced to do monthly reports on how they've boosted lending while slashing quarterly dividends to 1 cent a share for three years.

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Pelosi Advocates Greater Government Investment in Banks: ‘Some People Call That Nationalization’
(CNSNews.com) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, describing the U.S. economy as “dark, darker, darkest,” indicated that further nationalization of American banks may be necessary, although she shied away from using the word “nationalization.” Pelosi also told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that investing in food stamps and unemployment insurance would be more effective in stimulating the economy than any tax cut would be.

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Editorial: Congress Must Stop the Stimulus
The $825 billion economic “stimulus” plan now being proposed by President Barack Obama and Congressional Democrats could well result in a federal deficit in excess of $2 trillion for 2009. Which means that it is now up to Senate and House Republicans to make certain that the American people are not consigned to a future of permanent serfdom to foreign creditors.
That is, if those creditors will continue to even service the national debt, now totaling nearly $10.7 trillion. http://alg31blog.timberlakepublishing.com/default.asp?Display=905

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The Heritage Foundation's Morning Bell:
A Conservative Alternative to Obama's Permanent Spending Plan

Last Friday we told you that even by the left's own ideological criteria, President Barack Obama's trillion dollar spending plan would fail to stimulate the economy because nothing about the massive spending increases in the bill was temporary. This Sunday, the Washington Post wrote an editorial essentially agreeing with us:

[S]ome in Congress and the new administration apparently see the country's
present recession as an opportunity to change the federal government's spending
priorities more generally or simply to reward loyal political constituencies.
... [I]t's risky to make new, multiyear commitments in the middle of a crisis
without debate over competing priorities -- and without paying for them through
some means other than borrowing.

Helping hire, equip and pay police, a $4 billion item under the bill, might
be a good idea, but writing checks to individual households for the same amount
would do more to stimulate the economy. Ditto for $16 billion in Pell Grants for
college students, $2.1 billion for Head Start and $50 million for the National
Endowment for the Arts. All of those ideas may have merit, but why do they
belong in an emergency measure aimed to kick-start the economy?...Fiscal
stimulus can be a part of the solution, but only if it is "targeted, timely and
temporary." The efforts so far don't quite match that description.

Our only quibble with the Post's assessment of Obama's trillion dollar spending plan is that it is not quite stern enough. There is nothing "targeted, timely and temporary" about the massive and permanent spending increases in this bill. And the Post left out some of the most flagrant examples. Among the hundreds of billions of dollars in new spending is hundreds of millions of dollars for contraceptives. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) unrepentantly defended this money as stimulus on ABC's This Week:

Well, the family planning services reduce cost. They reduce cost. ... One of
those - one of the initiatives you mentioned, the contraception, will reduce
costs to the states and to the federal government.

Got that? If you want to help stimulate the economy, then Nancy Pelosi believes you should not have any more children. Apparently having less children "will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government."

National Economic Council director Lawrence Summers turned in a similar performance on Meet the Press, defending the above mentioned Pell Grants and police hiring as "good investments."

Neither of these stimulus defenders even bothered to claim that these spending increases would be temporary in any way. The deficit for 2009 is already projected to exceed $1 trillion. If deficit-fueled government spending was effective, then our economy ought to be in recovery already. Obviously that is not the case. An alternative is needed.

The American economy does not rise and fall with the level of aggregate demand or deficit spending. There are normal processes that launch a recovery and drive an economy. These processes involve individuals and businesses responding to opportunities and incentives. Lower marginal tax rates stimulate the economy because they improve the incentives facing individuals and businesses to work, invest, take risks, and seize opportunities. The centerpiece of an effective stimulus policy should involve two elements

- Make the 2001 and 2003 Tax Cuts Permanent: The American public faces a massive tax hike in 2011 when all of the tax relief enacted in 2001 and 2003 expires. It is difficult for the economy to gain its footing when facing the threat of a punitive tax hike.

- Reduce Marginal Tax Rates for Individuals and Businesses: Cutting tax rates by 10% for individuals, small businesses and corporations will reduce the cost of doing business in America and make it easier for Americans to create new private sector jobs.

According to an analysis performed at the Center for Data Analysis at The Heritage Foundation, using the widely respected Global Insight U.S. Macroeconomic Model, these policy changes would strengthen the economy significantly this year. Adopting the Heritage tax proposal would mean that 500,000 more Americans have jobs by the end of 2009, and, by the end of 2010, employment would increase by a million jobs. This two-step tax policy would reduce tax receipts relative to current policy by about $670 billion over five years, a number significantly smaller than Obama's $850 billion and growing spending plan.

The Obameter

According to PoliFact, from The St. Petersburg Times, Florida, Obama made 500 promises during his campaign. They're keeping track of the 500 they counted. I'm going to put the link on the sidebar of some of my blogs so I can check off and on and keep track of what they're giving him credit for accomplishing.

They've already given him credit for making two of his promises come true. Bush made one happen, but they're giving the credit to Obama simply because it happened. If that's their criteria for giving credit, twenty years from now the Obameter may still be clunking along with items being checked off...

However, I do understand their decision to give it to him. Obama promised shrewdly. He promised something that was gonna happen. And, based on what I've been hearing in recent days as more news comes out about some of the things President Bush laid the groundwork for, I bet President Obama is going to have a few more Bush actions marked as things he accomplishes during his tenure. Politics. Media. Whatever.

In fact, I just took a look at the Obameter a little closer. I had focused on the 2 accomplishments, and overlooked that he was also being given credit for 12 items being "in the works". I didn't read all of them yet, but the ones I read were things happening without his intervention or guidance. Of course, supporters will say that Pelosi, Reid and friends are pushing some of the items because he's now in the hot seat and yes, they can.

It's a new world. Now Presidents are getting credit for things that happened before their watch. Maybe we need to start a Oba-change-meter and keep track of all the things that change over the next four years. Hmmm.... I may just do that!

I'm also going to copy the list and put it in a safe word document somewhere just to save for posterity... I don't know how long it will be up and I don't know if some things will change under pressure.

Here's the link: The Obameter: Tracking Obama's Campaign Promises
http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/promise/503/appoint-at-least-one-republican-to-the-cabinet/

Fairness?

A number of people have sent me the article below today regarding Nancy Pelosi's attempts to ensure there is no balance in the House. I'll let you read the article to get the full details, but it's another scary happening in the works that has me wondering even more about the future of our country.

I listened recently to Rep. Steny Hoyer answering questions on a talk show. One of the questions dealt with the Union bill which will do away with secret ballots (Employee Free Choice Act). He's all for it and expects it to come up --- and pass --- this year. If you're unfamiliar, it's a bill that will basically take away an employees right to vote for or against a Union in private. Talk about intimidation, not to mention basic rights. Try to imagine how fast Unions are going to take over business after business.

Then there is the so-called "Fairness Doctrine". That one is on the horizon also. In broad strokes, it will force equal time for views from both sides of the political spectrum. On the radio. Ya know, the area that conservatives dominate at the moment...

I'd be against this Bill even if it did extend to mainstream media news, television and theater. Can you imagine a world where in every show if someone said "global warming" the other guys would have equal time to disprove it? Nah, me either. No way the Dems are going to allow that to happen! However, if this bill passes, and it probably will given the make-up of Congress, it's going to be a nasty mess. I'll have to write another blog on what I think will happen if the Fairness Doctrine becomes law some day.

I wonder how long it will be after the Fairness Doctrine passes before this cancerous trend starts worming its way into other arenas? How long before freedom of speech and freedom of the press are history?

I'd like to think we won't get that far, but when ideology trumps common sense and power gives temporary invincibility, anything can happen.

I hope all my readers will go do a bit of research on the three issues I've mentioned: the rule changes being proposed by Pelosi (below), the new Union bill (ironically called the Employee Free Choice Act) and the Fairness Doctrine. Nothing fair 'bout any of 'em.

Pelosi Erases Gingrich's Long-Standing Fairness Rules
by Connie Hair
01/05/2009
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to re-write House rules today to ensure that the Republican minority is unable to have any influence on legislation. Pelosi’s proposals are so draconian, and will so polarize the Capitol, that any thought President-elect Obama has of bipartisan cooperation will be rendered impossible before he even takes office.
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=30143#continueA

We needed the bailout because????

We needed the bailout because, why? what? huh?

So they pass this multi-billion dollar bailout bill with all the extras and the market jumps!

Wow.

Except it's going in the wrong direction.

Down.

Why isn't Wall Street happy with this thing?

Could it be we didn't need it?

Could it be Paulsen and others were wrong?

Could it be... they want more, more, more?

I'm still hung up on why they had to put all the extra stuff in it just to make it pass. The price tag on these guys and gals conscious wasn't very high when you look at what it took to make them swing from one side to the other.

I'm pleased our Republican House members all voted against the bill, regardless of whether they did it for the right reasons or simply to stay in office. I'd prefer they did it on principle, but I'll take the vote either way.

Here's another scenario for wanting the bailout: The Democrats want it as another step toward Socialism. I heard today that the changes made in the bill make that less likely. Hope that's true. I'm not sitting down to read through 650 plus pages of twisty-talk to try and find out. Most of us will live to see the results and how it plays out.

All afternoon I've been listening as political types explained their vote for and against the bill. I've never heard so much pandering in one day in my life.

I've been listening off and on as the financial wogs explained why the bill wasn't doing much for the stock market. They don't really know based on what I'm hearing, but they sure do sound like they might. The tone seems to be that this really wasn't a fix, it was just to staunch the flood. Times are going to continue to be tough, nothing may improve.

Hey, did you guys know that Japan called and said we really needed to do something over here to make sure the bill was passed? I think it was Pelosi who threw that tidbit out in the midst of her talk today. She did a fair job and managed not to continue her desire to work on a non-partisan basis and all get along (cough, cough) by saying half of those she wanted to hold hands with were unpatriotic.

You'll be pleased to know she just tossed in a few light obligatory slam-Bushes and actually managed to say she appreciated the work of a couple of Republicans. Well, she didn't use the word Republican, but still, she uttered their names. She didn't say exactly what they did, and she did manage to give credit to every addition or good thing (in her mind) to a Democrat, but that's about as close as I've ever seen her get to making nice with Republicans.

Yes, and the ground didn't split open and swallow her, nor did lightening strike. But don't you worry, Ms. Nancy will be back in true form now that the vote is complete.

What's the future hold? Pain and misery if the talking heads know their stuff even partially.

I've heard there's a run on canned goods in the grocery stores. I haven't seen it and there seems to be plenty of food on the shelves so I think maybe someone is having a bit of fun with the truth. Guess I'll find out next time I go shopping.

On the McCain front, it seems that passing this bill might be a good thing according to some as it gets the issue of the economy off the table. It will only be a good thing if life improves over the next few weeks and the bill has a noticeable impact. If the effects of the bill are negligible or life doesn't improve for many, then his yes vote can end up hurting his chances.

Cindy Sheehan

This blog doesn't need another title. The name Cindy Sheehan says all that needs to be said. Regardless of whether you love what she's doing or hate what she's doing, she has definitely managed to make herself famous.

I'm not one that loves what she's doing, or even likes what she's doing. I'm sure she'd hit me over the head with a protest sign if I opted to have a verbal exchange with her. I was going to say conversation, but from what I've seen and read civil discourse wouldn't be in the cards given that she and I have opposing views on "her issues".

If you're reading this column chances are you're somewhat knowledgeable about politics. So, I'm sure you're aware she's running against Nancy Pelosi in California. I should probably set up some Google Alerts just to keep up with that one, it has to be interesting.

Well, it seems that Sheehan is going to be at the Rose Bowl Parade protesting in a few days.

That aggravated me. The parade has absolutely nothing to do with the war in Iraq, politics of any sort, George W. Bush, the military or anything remotely connected to any of those issues.

Why ruin a perfectly innocent parade for the kids? for the families? for those who have worked so hard to create the floats? the bands? the schools?

You and I know why. She chose that event simply because it will garner national attention. The stories about the Rose Bowl Parade are going to include her name and some mention of the protest.

I believe in the right to protest. Peacefully and without disruption.

Make your case. Go protest at the local military base. Go stand outside when the President is speaking somewhere.

But don't rain on OUR parade.