• Del.icio.us Links

    links for 2011-01-14

    • Reagan’s doctors and Alzheimer’s specialists have been debunking this myth for years, but no matter how many times they try to explain that occasional memory lapses in an elderly person do not an Alzheimer’s diagnosis make, the narrative rolls on. And it’ll keep rolling, thanks to Ron Jr and the explosive never-before-revealed details in his new book which, per Paul Bedard of U.S. News, … seem not to add up.

      +++++++

      This revelation is a disservice to the memory of his father and an insult to his mother.

    • Clearly, Fuller is just one sandwich short of a picnic. Unless randomly spraying gunfire into a crowd is now considered tantamount to vigorously exercising your Second Amendment rights.

      Seriously, how is anyone even supposed to respond to this kind of idiocy?

      Fuller should take a deep breath and read WaPo's in-depth profile of Jared Loughner – then remind us again how Palin, Boehner, Beck or Angle had anything at all to do with Loughner's rampage.

      Get a clue, moron.

      +++++++

      Fuller is clueless and with a poltical agenda = shocker

    • He played late-night marathon games of Monopoly with his buddies. He went with friends on family vacations. He would hang with pals at IHOP on Fridays. He had a girlfriend. He laughed and he loved and he knew things – about jazz, cars, fantasy games.

      ++++++

      Read it all

    • NRSC Chair John Cornyn (R-Texas) jokingly dismissed Sen. Jim DeMint's influence in his home-state Friday, after the South Carolina conservative weighed in on potential successors to retiring Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.)

      "Is that guy from Texas?" Cornyn said, after asked about DeMint's involvement.

      "I'm certainly not going to weigh in or try to steer anybody in any particular direction. That's what the primary campaign is for," Cornyn added. "I just don't think these kinds of endorsements have that big of an impact. People want to jealously guard their prerogative to cast their vote, especially people who are living in that state. They don't want to delegate that authority or responsibility to someone else."

      +++++++

      If anything DeMint is inconsistent and probably not want to bump heads with Texas Pols

    • he Department of Homeland Security today officially scrapped a Bush-era program designed to use radar technology to detect illegal immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a DHS official and a congressional source.

      The project, called "Virtual Fence," was rolled out under the Bush administration in 2006 with much fanfare about how technology could help secure the border. Illegal immigrants crossing the border would be detected by a radar and picked up by remote cameras, which were monitored by border patrol agents.

      But numerous internal and Congressional reviews found consistent performance problems with the project's systems, which only spanned 53 miles of the vast U.S.-Mexico border.

      The cameras often provided blurry images, the radar system performed poorly in bad weather, and it often displayed false detections that were unable to distinguish between humans, cars and animals.

      There were also cost overruns and the primary contractor, Boeing, missed deadlines

    • The term "blood libel"—which Sarah Palin invoked this week to describe the suggestions by journalists and politicians that conservative figures like herself are responsible for last weekend's shooting rampage in Tucson, Ariz.—is fraught with perilous meaning in Jewish history.

      Despite the strong association of the term with collective Jewish guilt and concomitant slaughter, Sarah Palin has every right to use it. The expression may be used whenever an amorphous mass is collectively accused of being murderers or accessories to murder.

      ++++++++

      Read it all

  • Obamacare

    ObamaCare: The List of Taxes

    drobama5116834 ObamaCare Poll Watch: 75 Per Cent Want Health Care Law Changed

    As the House debates and votes on repeal of the health care reform legislation known as ObamaCare, it might be time to review a comprehensive list of tax increases in the legislation.

    Next week, the U.S. House of Representatives will be voting on an historic repeal of the Obamacare law.  While there are many reasons to oppose this flawed government health insurance law, it is important to remember that Obamacare is also one of the largest tax increases in American history.  Below is a comprehensive list of the two dozen new or higher taxes that pay for Obamcare’s expansion of government spending and interference between doctors and patients.

    1. Individual Mandate Excise Tax (Jan 2014)
    2. Employer Mandate Tax (Jan 2014)
    3. Surtax on Investment Income ($123 billion/Jan. 2013)
    4. Excise Tax on Comprehensive Health Insurance Plans($32 bil/Jan 2018)
    5. Hike in Medicare Payroll Tax($86.8 bil/Jan 2013)
    6. Medicine Cabinet Tax($5 bil/Jan 2011)
    7. HSA Withdrawal Tax Hike($1.4 bil/Jan 2011)
    8. Flexible Spending Account Cap – aka“Special Needs Kids Tax”($13 bil/Jan 2013)
    9. Tax on Medical Device Manufacturers($20 bil/Jan 2013)
    10. Raise “Haircut” for Medical Itemized Deduction from 7.5% to 10% of AGI($15.2 bil/Jan 2013)
    11. Tax on Indoor Tanning Services($2.7 billion/July 1, 2010)
    12. Elimination of tax deduction for employer-provided retirement Rx drug coverage in coordination with Medicare Part D($4.5 bil/Jan 2013)
    13. Blue Cross/Blue Shield Tax Hike($0.4 bil/Jan 2010)
    14. Excise Tax on Charitable Hospitals(Min$/immediate)
    15. Tax on Innovator Drug Companies($22.2 bil/Jan 2010)
    16. Tax on Health Insurers($60.1 bil/Jan 2014)
    17. $500,000 Annual Executive Compensation Limit for Health Insurance Executives($0.6 bil/Jan 2013)
    18. Employer Reporting of Insurance on W-2(Min$/Jan 2011)
    19. Corporate 1099-MISC Information Reporting($17.1 bil/Jan 2012)
    20. “Black liquor” tax hike(Tax hike of $23.6 billion)
    21. Codification of the “economic substance doctrine”(Tax hike of $4.5 billion)

    Read all of the piece here or download the Pdf file here.

    Is there any wonder why employers are not hiring new workers with ObamaCare taxes hanging over their heads – all due within the next few years.

    The House and Senate should vote for repeal and make the President veto the legislation. Then, American voters will veto President Obama in the 2012 elections.

  • Obamacare

    ObamaCare Poll Watch: 75 Per Cent Want Health Care Law Changed



    According to the latest Rasmussen Poll.

    Voters overwhelmingly want to see last year’s health care law changed, but there is substantial disagreement about how best to do it.

    The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 75% of Likely U.S. Voters want to change the law, while only 18% want it left alone. Those figures include 20% who want the law repealed and nothing done to replace it, 28% who want it repealed and then have its most popular provisions put into a new law and 27% who say leave the law in place but get rid of the unpopular provisions.

    It is worth noting that a majority (55%) take one of the middle ground approaches—repeal and replace or leave it and improve.

    Voters will likely favor the plan revision that costs THEM the LEAST. This is human nature.

    But, the ObamaCare law should be repealed in total first and then new approaches to health care can be added back, if there is political support.

    The costs of the law are too great and too much of a drag on employers and business. The economy will NOT improve until ObamaCare is gone – all of it.

    Since President Obama will likely veto any total repeal legislation, it may have to wait until after the 2012 Presidential election. In the meantime, the GOP House should refuse to fund the law and hold hearings as to the effects of ObamaCare on the economy.

  • Haley Barbour,  Mitch Daniels,  Mitt Romney,  Sarah Palin

    GOP Insiders: Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels LESS Likely to Run for President

    Sen. Dan Coats, R-Ind., left, and Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels speak about Indiana’s fiscal health as the two meet in the governor’s office at the Statehouse in Indianapolis, Monday, Jan. 10, 2011

    But, why did Daniels invite political operatives and fundraising folks to Indianapolis?

    GOP insiders say Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels is appearing LESS likely to run for president, based in part on a slowing in the parade of fundraisers and policy gurus to Indianapolis. One prediction: Daniels will endorse his friend Haley Barbour, who shows every sign of RAMPING UP, including meeting with potential consultants and staff.

    –But Daniels will keep us guessing. Gridiron Club President Susan Page e-mails members: “The Republican speaker for the Gridiron Dinner [on March 12] will be … Daniels, [who] has been a guest of the Gridiron since his days as White House political director for President Reagan … Gov. Daniels has both a long political resume and a wry sense of humor. Republican Skit Producer Clark Hoyt and deputy Robin Sproul are now in the market for songs about Indiana (On the Banks of the Wabash Far Away?) and/or rhymes with Mitch Daniels (Stitched sandals? Rich spaniels?). As a native Kansan, I’m proud that our dinner will have a certain Midwestern cast. Former Kansas governor and current HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius already has been announced as our Democratic speaker, not to mention the former Illinois senator [POTUS!] who will close the evening. However, Menu Chairman (and native Missourian) Kathy Lewis has vetoed my proposal that we honor that heritage by serving lime jello with shredded carrots suspended in it as our salad course.”

    Mitch Daniels will have to start fundraising soon to fight off Mitt Romney’s self-funding, if he has any interest in running. He cannot afford to wait, like Sarah Palin.

    But, running for Vice President will not entail too much more additional effort.

    As far as Haley Barbour goes, forget about it. Barbour will not gain any traction for President or Vice President.

  • Mitt Romney,  Newt Gingrich,  President 2012,  Sarah Palin

    President 2012 Watch: Sarah Palin Heading to Nevada

    Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin speaks to reporters at a storage area containing supplies for shelters run by Samaritan’s Purse, a charity associated with the ministries of U.S. evangelist Billy Graham, in Cabaret

    Sarah Palin is proceeding forward with a schedule full of campaign type events. This time it is in an early Presidential caucus state, Nevada.

    Sarah Palin isn’t retreating on guns. Instead, she’s reloading.

    The former vice presidential candidate and possible 2012 presidential hopeful is headed to Safari Club International’s convention later this month in Reno, Nev. – one of the key early presidential primary states.

    Palin is scheduled to keynote the pro-hunting group’s huge annual meeting on Jan. 29 – 20,000 are expected from around the world – with a speech on “her past hunting experiences and how politics affect the current state of hunting and fishing,” according to a Safari Club website. Tickets for the event are already sold out.

    The Nevada Republican Party has already set February 18, 2012 for their Presidential candidate selection caucus. Iowa Republicans are expected to caucus on February 6, 2012, followed by the New Hampshire Primary election on February 14, 2012.

    South Carolina and Nevada will then follow on February 18th.

    It is very interesting to watch Sarah Palin as she travels, noting travel to states with the early selection contests where she is popular and would be strong in multi-way fields.

    The only sure candidates so far are Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. The others will have to wait on Sarah, who will not have to decide/declare anytime soon.

  • Day By Day,  Gabrielle Giffords

    Day By Day January 14, 2011 – Everything Old is New Again



    Day By Day by Chris Muir

    Chris, I never thought of the connection of the LEFT in America blaming Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh for the Tucson shootings and the Nazi’s blaming the Jews for the cause of their problems in Germany.

    The LEFT with their media organs at NBC and the LEFT Blogosphere are quick to blame the RIGHT. Discussion of regulating Talk Radio which leans RIGHT is noteworthy.

    During the Iraq War the LEFT reminded Americans that dissent was one of the highest forms of patriotism. I don’t think that means state supported propaganda, regulated free speech and the demonizing blame game.

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