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The LEFT ala Saul Alinsky Protest Koch Brothers Conference
Charles and David Koch of Koch Industries MIT-trained brothers turned family oil refining firm into America’s second largest private company. Koch Industries has stakes in pipelines, refineries, fertilizer, fibers and polymers, forest and consumer products, chemical technology. Sales in 2008: $110 billion. Brothers each own 42% of company. Employs 80,000 people and operates in 60 countries.
Looks like the LEFT Counter-Movement has returned to Southern California to Saul Alinsky protest conservative/libertarian activists Charles and David Koch.A broad coalition of consumer, community, labor, environmental, student, civil liberties, and faith-based groups are sponsoring a rally in Rancho Mirage (near Palm Springs, California) next Sunday, January 30 to protest and draw attention to a secret meeting of right-wing billionaires and millionaires who are the key funders of the Tea Party, conservative think tanks like Cato Institute, and the extreme right wing of the Republican Party.
The leaders of this group, the Koch brothers, oil billionaires, have invited like-minded big-money conservatives to a behind-closed-doors three-day summit at the Rancho Las Palmas Resort in Rancho Mirage to plot their strategy for the 2012 elections. Their agenda is simple: Roll back consumer and workplace protections everywhere, including the environment, health care, credit cards, banks, occupational safety, workers’ rights, and more. Thousands of progressives are mobilizing to peacefully and creatively call them out.
Yeah, the New York Times last Fall received a “leaked” invitation and the LEFT cannot resist getting down and Saul Alinsky dirty with the Kochs. Here is the nefarious invitation:
Real ominous, isn’t it?This is the eight time in the Palm Springs, California area that the confab will be held. But, this year, the LEFT WILL organize street protests – and for what? Raising money and discussing how to affect government policy which affect their businesses – oh and playing politics.
Hello, isn’t this the American political system?
But, it seems the LEFT, beaten badly in the November elections nationally wants to create a scene ala Saul Alinsky Crash the Tea Party “movement.”
I’ll have more later on who is behind this protest.
Hint: The usual LEFTY players
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Shocker: Sexy Television News Anchors Distract Male Viewers
Elita Loresca from KNBC Los Angeles
Well, this is understandable, no?Scholars, critics and viewers have noted that some TV newscasts can be momentarily mistaken for Victoria’s Secret specials. In an apparent attempt to capture channel-surfing male viewers, stations have hired attractive female anchors, often outfitting them in attire that emphasizes their sexuality.
This strategy may boost the ratings, but in terms of the programs’ purported purpose — informing the public — recent research suggests it has a definite down side. Males may be drawn to those alluring anchors, but they may not remember what they were talking about.
But, then again, sometimes who cares?
Yeah, I know, another cheap attempt to boost traffic by posting photos of Elita Loresca. -
Day By Day June 26, 2011 – Civility
Day By Day by Chris MuirChris, President Obama did NOT propose in his SOTU speech last night to stop feeding the beast of Big Government. His proposal to veto bills with Earmarks was met with disdain from the Democrat Left and his willingness to ONLY freeze budget expenditures ridicule from the RIGHT.Now, the LEFT will go on the offensive to defend the Obama Presidency.
President Obama today will travel to Wisconsin, a key Presidential battleground state, where multi-term Democrat Senator Russ Feingold was defeated for re-election last November. The GOP covets Wisconsin and sees a path to winning the Presidency there. I guess Obama can read the polls and electoral college vote maps.
Also, there is every indication and I will write about this later in the day, that Big Labor and the Organized LEFT will return to using outside groups to Saul Alinsky the RIGHT and its business/corporate donors. President Obama and the Democrats will resort to using surrogates (like Karl Rove and American Crossroads did so successfully in November) as allowed under the Citizens United Supreme Court decision.
Following the money, particularly that from the George Soros LEFT will never be more fun.
Previous:
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links for 2011-01-25
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Local protests have to accumulate and spread—and become more disruptive—to create serious pressures on national politicians. An effective movement of the unemployed will have to look something like the strikes and riots that have spread across Greece in response to the austerity measures forced on the Greek government by the European Union, or like the student protests that recently spread with lightning speed across England in response to the prospect of greatly increased school fees.
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Read it all
Piven is calling for organized protests and riots to protest unemployment – like in Europe. Yeah, that will really work to increase the number of jobs.
It reminds me of the old Communist crap of the 1970's – you know, the Socialist Worker's Party lunacy.
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Fox News? And do you also call on The Nation, which published "Mobilizing the Jobless," by Frances Fox Piven, the article Glenn Beck brought to the attention of his large audience? Piven called for riots. She wrote:
An effective movement of the unemployed will have to look something like the strikes and riots that have spread across Greece in response to the austerity measures forced on the Greek government by the European Union, or like the student protests that recently spread with lightning speed across England in response to the prospect of greatly increased school fees….
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Read it all
But, Glenn Beck dared to call her out – oh the humanity!
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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Tuesday brushed back an expected proposal from President Obama to ban earmarks.
Speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill, Reid said that the plan is "a lot of pretty talk" and would cede too much power to the executive branch.
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DOA = dead on arrival according to Harry Reid
It would give "the president more power and he's got enough power already," he said.
Obama is expected to include a call for an earmark ban in his State of the Union address, which he will deliver Tuesday night. Obama and Reid have long been on opposite sides of the earmark debate, and Reid's comments indicate that the proposal could run aground in the upper chamber.
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Live Tweeting the State of the Union Speech
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New Jersey GOP President 2012 Poll Watch: Good News for Huckabee and Bad News for Romney
Today must be the day for PPP polls – here is one on the GOP race for 2012 President.
- Mike Hucakbee – 18%
- Mitt Romney – 18%
- Newt Gingrich – 15%
- Sarah Palin – 14%
- Ron Paul – 8%
- Tim Pawlenty – 4%
- Mitch Daniels – 3%
- John Thune – 2%
But, it is a bad poll for Mitt Romney and a good one for Mike Huckabee (if Huck runs).
New Jersey may or may not end up being important to the Republican nomination process but either way this continues the trend in our recent 2012 polling…more good news for Huckabee, more bad news for Romney. If there’s anywhere that Romney should really be strong it’s the northeast but he’s polling ten points behind the 28% he got there in 2008. Huckabee’s peformance meanwhile shows strength for him outside his home base in the South and it’s ten points better than the 8% he got there last time around.
In addition to its geography New Jersey also ought to be a good state for Romney because it has one of the more moderate Republican electorates in the country. In most states we’ve been polling more than 70% of GOP primary voters describe themselves as conservatives but it’s only 60% in New Jersey. But Romney can’t take advantage of that because he’s in fourth place with conservatives at 14% behind Huckabee’s 21%, Gingrich’s 17%, and Palin’s 16%. Romney is indeed way up with moderates at 24% with no one else doing any better than 13%. But that’s only enough to balance out his poor performance with conservatives relative to Huckabee. Romney’s really in trouble for next year if he can’t do a lot to improve his standing with the right wing of the party over the course of 2011.
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President 2012 Poll Watch: Obama Ahead in North Carolina
The latest North Carolina PPP poll is out and President Obama is making a comeback.
Barack Obama’s popularity rise has come to North Carolina. For the first time since December of 2009 PPP finds more voters in the state approving than disapproving of him, at a 49/47 spread.
Increased optimism about the economy in the state is helping Obama’s revival. Last March a majority of voters in the state at 51% felt their personal economic situation had gotten worse since Obama took office compared to only 10% who thought it had improved. Now the portion feeling things have gotten worse for them is down to 47% and the one thinking things have gotten better is up to 16% with 37% expressing the sentiment that there’s been no change for them since the President was inaugurated.
In addition to voters reflecting more positively now on what has happened with the economy over the last two years, they’re also more optimistic about where things are going to be a year from now.
Obama’s popularity gain has been fueled by moderate voters.
A year ago his approval rating with moderates was 59%. Now it’s up to 69%. This improvement in his standing, along with the lukewarm reaction of voters in the state to the leading 2012 Republican Presidential contenders, has him in position to repeat his surprise North Carolina victory from 2008. He leads the four most likely GOP contenders at this point by margins ranging anywhere from 3 to 9 points in this month’s poll.
Without winning North Carolina, the Republican nominee for President will have a very tough time defeating the incumbent President as this map and analysis shows. 21 months from the general election is a long time in Presidential politics and the margin of victory for Obama is small and certainly not unrecoverable for the GOP.
Here are the polling results:
- Obama – 47% Vs. Romney – 44%
- Obama – 49% Vs. Huckabee – 45%
- Obama – 50% Vs. Gingrich – 44%
- Obama – 50% Vs. Palin – 41%
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California Senator Tony Strickland’s Bill SB 49 Would Prohibit Charging Out of Town Residents for Emergency Response
Way to go California – tax us twice.
In more than four dozen cities and counties across California, the question of how much being involved in a car accident will cost motorists depends on more than just the extent of the damages or whether anyone was injured. It also depends on where they live.
Out-of-towners get billed for the cost of sending firefighters to the scene; for locals, that service is covered as part of the local taxes they pay.
The fee is levied on out-of-town motorists regardless of who is at fault — even if an out-of-towner is involved in an accident in which a local driver is at fault.
The trend is being fueled by private collection firms that offer to handle the billing and collection for a percentage of the emergency response fees, and is promoted as a means for cash-strapped local governments to recover some of the costs for services they have traditionally provided as a basic element of public safety.
Critics call it a “crash tax” — and Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Moorpark, is out to put a stop to it.
Strickland has introduced legislation, SB 49, that would prohibit local agencies from “charging a fee to any person, regardless of residence, for the expense of an emergency response,” unless drunken driving, gross negligence or intentionally illegal conduct is involved.
“It’s nothing more than a double tax,” Strickland said, noting that local agencies are always eager to have out-of-towners visit or shop in their jurisdictions so that they can collect sales taxes and hotel bed taxes.
This legislation needs to pass and pass as an emergency measure so it takes effect when the Governor signs the bill.
Why?
I’ll be driving through California on vacation and some truck or car hits me and causes an accident. They, however, live/work in the area and they go after me financially for the Fire Department response to the accident.
Nice. I get to pay taxes like everyone else to pay into the state, my county, my city. Yet, when I travel outside my cocoon and someone else causes an accident I get stuck with the bill.
No way.
BILL NUMBER: SB 49 INTRODUCED BILL
TEXT INTRODUCED BY Senator Strickland
DECEMBER 15, 2010
An act to add Section 53159.5 to the Government Code, relating to local government.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST
SB 49, as introduced, Strickland. Local government: emergency response: fees.
Existing law authorizes public agencies, as defined, to hold liable any person who is under the influence of an alcoholic beverage, any drug, or the combination of an alcoholic beverage and any drug, whose negligent operation of a motor vehicle, a boat or vessel, or a civil aircraft caused by that influence proximately causes any incident resulting in an appropriate emergency response, and any person whose intentionally wrongful conduct proximately causes an incident resulting in an appropriate emergency response, for the expense of that emergency response.
This bill would prohibit a city, including a charter city, county, district, municipal corporation, or public authority from charging a fee to any person, regardless of residency, for the expense of an emergency response, as specified, except where a fee is otherwise authorized.
The bill would also express a legislative finding and declaration that the availability and use of emergency response resources throughout the state is an issue of statewide concern and not a municipal affair and that, therefore, all cities, including charter cities, would be subject to the provisions of the bill.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 53159.5 is added to the Government Code, to read:
53159.5. (a) A city, including a charter city, county, district, municipal corporation, or public authority shall not, except as otherwise authorized by law, charge a fee to any person, regardless of residency, for the expense of an emergency response.
(b) For purposes of this section, emergency response includes, but is not limited to, fire, police, or medical response.
SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares that the availability and use of emergency response resources throughout the state is an issue of statewide concern and not a municipal affair, as that term is used in Section 5 of Article XI of the California Constitution. Therefore, this act shall apply to all cities, including charter cities.
Watch the legislative status and the history of the bill here.
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President Obama to Propose Budget Freeze and Earmark Ban in State of the Union Speech
More triangulation by the left-wing President who moves to the right.
Pursuing a path of deficit reduction and government reform, President Obama will tonight in his State of the Union address call for a ban on earmarks and he will propose an overall budget freeze, ABC News has learned.
The proposals come as the president prepares to tackle the deficit and debt and as he faces a House of Representatives in Republican hands, many of whose members include those affiliated with the Tea Party who may be willing to embrace both moves.
The president will propose some new spending in certain areas that address the speech’s theme of “How We Win the Future”: innovation, education and infrastructure. But those increases will be proposed as part of an overall budget freeze, which given the annual rate of growth is often seen in Washington, DC, budgeting as a cut.
The FY 2011 budget was $3.8 trillion. Last year President Obama proposed a three-year hard freeze on non-security discretionary spending, to save $250 billion over the next decade; this would be much broader.
A little too little and a little too late, especially for the 62 Democratic Representatives that lost their seats in the House last November. President Obama has never vetoed any spending bill, nor has he vetoed any earmark containing spending bill. And, the President will propose additonal spending tonight.
I guess Obama is finally acknowledging the Tea Party but this proposal is WEAK TEA.
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Video: Rudy Giuliani: Sarah Palin Can Win the GOP Nomination But Can She Beat President Obama?
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani on CNN’s Piers Morgan showThe but is that it depends upon what President Obama does in the next few months. The headline from CNN is incorrect, since Rudy does not doubt Palin can beat Obama – it just depends. For example, if the stock market were to crash and there are massive layoffs, I could see the public blaming the President.
Is this scenario likely?
Probably not.
With the President surging in the polls and with the GOP better positioned in the Congress, there will be no sense of urgency for American voters to throw out the incumbent President. Sarah Palin is very young for a Presidential candidate and there is no urgency for her to run and then lose in the general election.
It is probably better to say at this point that it may be doubtful for ANY Republican nominee to beat Obama, including Sarah Palin.
I have always maintained that Sarah Palin could beat Mitt Romney in a GOP Presidential primary race, but why bother if your chances of beating Obama are diminished because of the incumbency factor and racial politics.
Better for Sarah to keep her powder dry for a run in 2016 or later. She has plenty of time.