Perry: Obama 'hell-bent' on socialism

by Andy Barr - POLITICO.com

Texas GOP Gov. Rick Perry accused President Barack Obama on Wednesday of “punishing” Texas and being “hell-bent” on turning the United States into a socialist country.

Speaking at a luncheon for a Midland County Republican Women’s group, Perry said that “this is an administration hell-bent toward taking American towards a socialist country. And we all don’t need to be afraid to say that because that’s what it is.”

Perry praised the tea party movement to the Republican activists in attendance, crediting the grassroots groups with discouraging some Democrats in Washington from pushing for a public option in the health care bill.

“If you all think those tea parties didn’t work, then let me tell you something,” Perry said. “When they all came home in August for those town hall meetings, they got an earful. Then they went back to Washington, D.C. and the Senate voted that public option down in committee with a majority of Democrats in the Senate.”

Perry also accused the Obama administration of intentionally dumping illegal immigrants from other western states in Texas, recalling a conversation he had with local officials notifying him that illegal aliens that were caught in Nogales, Arizona were being dropped off by federal authorities in Presidio, Texas.

“Friday a week ago, I got not a phone call from Washington, not a letter from Washington and as a matter of fact, I don’t think any member of our congressional delegation was even notified. The first time we were contacted was by the superintendent of the school and the county judge of Presidio County,” Perry said.

graphic coutesy of nonnie9999: Hysterical Raisins

See the rest of the story at http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1109/29424.html

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Huff Po: Ambassodor Karl Eikenberry Dissents On Afghan Troop Increase

Huffington Post | Nick Sabloff First Posted: 11-11-09 06:33 PM | Updated: 11-11-09 07:38 PM

Ahead of today's meeting of Obama's national security team to discuss Afghan war strategy, Karl Eikenberry, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan and a member of the war council, sent a pair of classified cables to Washington expressing deep reservations about the possibility of sending more U.S. troops to the country.

Eikenberry's concerns about the deployment of more troops centered around Afghan President Hamid Karzai's unwillingness to clamp down on rampant corruption throughout the country, a situation that has helped the Taliban re-establish itself there, the Post states.

Eikenberry's memos were skeptical of plans to send more troops until Karzai's government steps up its efforts to root out corruption.

But Karzai''s corruption is not the only thing keeping the Taliban in business, according to an explosive new story by reporter Aram Roston for The Nation.

The Nation alleges that hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. military funds are making their way to Afghan insurgents, including the Taliban. Roston reports that the U.S. is paying off insurgents to persuade them from attacking U.S. supply lines.

This is interestting because the US was paying the Taliban $50 million to keep the poppy crop under control. Now we are paying millions more to the Taliban in protection money to secure the US supply lines. In addition, the Russians have offered to fly supplies into Afghanistan that would save the US money if we started using this option.

In this grotesque carnival, the US military's contractors are forced to pay suspected insurgents to protect American supply routes. It is an accepted fact of the military logistics operation in Afghanistan that the US government funds the very forces American troops are fighting.

This is a deadly irony, because these funds add up to a huge amount of money for the Taliban. "It's a big part of their income," one of the top Afghan government security officials told The Nation in an interview. In fact, US military officials in Kabul estimate that a minimum of 10 percent of the Pentagon's logistics contracts--hundreds of millions of dollars--consists of payments to insurgents.

Read more from the Nation: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091130/roston

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The American Prospect: Democrats Leave Women Behind

by Michelle Goldberg November 10, 2009 

We've reached a point where health-care reform threatens to leave access to abortion in worse shape than it is right now. The Stupak Amendment, added to the health-care bill in last-minute negotiations this weekend, goes beyond the existent ban on federal funding of abortion. By prohibiting anyone receiving federal health-insurance subsidies from buying plans that cover abortion, it's almost certain to compel many plans to drop abortion coverage for everyone.

Almost all progressives have realized that passing health-insurance reform was going to require some bitter compromises. But it's both maddening and heartbreaking that a pro-choice president and a Democratic Congress are poised to give the anti-abortion movement its biggest legislative victory since 2003's Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act.

Right now, most employer-based health insurance plans cover abortion. The reason for this is depressingly mercenary -- it's cheaper for insurance companies to pay for a termination than for prenatal care and delivery. Motives aside, though, this coverage is crucial, given that abortion is among the country's most common medical procedures. Congressman Bart Stupak's amendment threatens it even for women who buy insurance themselves or get insurance from their employers.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that if health-care reform passes, by 2019, 21 million people will buy insurance on health-insurance exchanges. About 80 percent of that number will have some sort of subsidy from the federal government, and so any plan that wants its business can't offer abortion.

To be sold on the exchanges, a plan offering abortion coverage "would have to explicitly be marketed for people who aren't eligible for subsidies," says Adam Sonfield, senior public policy associate at the Guttmacher Institute. "We're looking into whether that's even legal. We're not sure it is -- it sounds very much like discrimination on the basis of income."

Nor does this just affect individuals purchasing insurance. The exchanges will offer coverage to small businesses as well, and they're intended to expand to larger and larger businesses as time goes on. Thus the Stupak Amendment means that the more successful health insurance reform is, the more women will lose access to abortion coverage.

The amendment's supporters and apologists are downplaying its scope by noting that, according to the Guttmacher Institute, only 13 percent of abortions are currently billed to health insurance. But that's misleading, because it doesn't include women who file for reimbursement after seeking an abortion from an out-of-network provider -- and, as Sonfield points out, most providers are out of network.

See the complete article at http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=democrats_leave_women_behind

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Veteran's Day 2009

graphic coutesy of AllhatNoCattle.com

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Lou Dobbs leaving CNN

Lou Dobbs took a lot of heat for his comments on immigration and the so-called Birther controversy. Rightardia expects Dobbs will end up working at Fox News. CNN let him out of his contract. View his farewell address:


 


Rightardia was impressed with the health care country studies that were featured on his show and frequently narrated by Lisa Sylvester. It compared US health care to programs developed in other countries of the world.



This is the text of Mr. Dobbs’ announcement about leaving CNN:
 
This will be my last broadcast here on CNN, where I’ve worked for most of the past 30 years, and where I have many friends and colleagues whom I admire deeply and respect greatly.

I’m the last of the original anchors here on CNN and I’m proud to have had the privilege to helping to build the world’s first news network.

I’m grateful for the many opportunities that CNN has given me over these many years. I’ve tried to reciprocate with a full measure of my ability and my energy.

Over the past six months it’s become increasingly clear that strong winds of change have begun buffeting this country and affecting all of us, and some leaders in media, politics and business have been urging me to go beyond the role here at CNN and to engage in constructive problem solving as well as to contribute positively to the great understanding of the issues of our day. And to continue to do so in the most honest and direct language possible.

I’ve talked extensively with Jonathan Klein — Jon’s the president of CNN — and as a result of those talks, Jon and i have agreed to a release from my contract that will enable me to pursue new opportunities.

At this point, I’m considering a number of options and directions, and I assure you, I will let you know when I set my course. I truly believe that the major issues of our time include the growth of our middle class, the creation of more jobs, health care, immigration policy, the environment, climate change, and our military involvement, of course, in Afghanistan and Iraq.

But each of those issues is, in my opinion, informed by our capacity to demonstrate strong resilience of our now weakened capitalist economy and demonstrate the political will to overcome the lack of true representation in Washington, D.C.

I believe these to be profoundly, critically important issues, and I will continue to strive to deal honestly and straightforwardly with those issues in the future.

Unfortunately, these issues are now defined in the public arena by partisanship and ideology rather than by rigorous, empirical thought and forthright analysis and discussion.

I’ll be working diligently to change that as best i can. And as for the important work of restoring inspiration to our great free society and our market economy, I will strive as well to be a leader in that national conversation.

It’s been my great honor to work with each and every person at this wonderful network. I will be eternally grateful to CNN, to Ted Turner, and to all of my colleagues and friends, and of course to you at home. I thank you, and may God bless you.

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GOP proposes term limits on Representatives and Senators

Talk about political motivation!  The Democrats have solid majorities in the House and the Senate. This amendment, that is unlikely to get out of committee, would open up all sorts of national races once the amendment passed. DeMint's rationale is interesting in view of the special interests that the GOP is supporting in the health care debate. 
 

Remember this constitutional amendment?

Washington (CNN) -- A handful of Republican senators have proposed a constitutional amendment to limit how long a person may serve in Congress and the Senate.

Currently, there are no term limits for federal lawmakers, but Sen. Jim DeMint, R-South Carolina, and several of his colleagues are advocating that service in the Senate be limited to 12 years, while lawmakers would only be allowed to serve six years in the House.

"Americans know real change in Washington will never happen until we end the era of permanent politicians," DeMint said in a statement released by his office:

"As long as members have the chance to spend their lives in Washington, their interests will always skew toward spending taxpayer dollars to buyoff special interests, covering over corruption in the bureaucracy, fundraising, relationship building among lobbyists, and trading favors for pork -- in short, amassing their own power."
 

Two-thirds of the House and Senate would need to approve the amendment -- a stumbling block that short-circuited the idea 14 years ago. The new proposal echoes the Citizen Legislature Act, part of the original Contract with America proposed by Republicans before they won control of Congress in 1994.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/11/11/congress.term.li...
 
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China set to take on Obama by selling advanced J-10 jets to Pakistan

The Times of India

by Saibal Dasgupta, TNN 11 November 2009, 08:02pm IST

BEIJING: China has sent out an interesting signal ahead of US president Barack Obama's scheduled visit to Beijing by offering advanced fighter jets to Pakistan. It has agreed to sell $1.4 billion worth of J-10 jets to Islamabad days ahead of the visit of the US president Barack Obama to Shanghai and Beijing on November 15-18.

Chinese J-10 aircraft (Wikimedia)

The move is expected to jolt the US administration as it works on notes and talking points for Obama's meetings with Chinese leaders. He is expected to discuss Beijing's relationship with India and its role in internal conflicts in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Beijing is keen to reduce US influence on Pakistan, which will make it easier for it to deal with India, sources said. Washington's recent decision to extend massive financial assistance to Islamabad is seen in some quarters as a policy setback for China.

It is now trying to get back its influence over Pakistan by selling two squadrons of advanced jets, sources said. Even more significant is Beijing's eagerness to share advanced technology with Pakistan, which is something US suppliers are usually reluctant to do.

A report from Pakistan said it wants to buy a larger number of war planes from China besides the two squadrons of J-10 fighter planes it is buying at the moment. A Pakistani official described the plane sales deal as a "landmark" in Pak-China relations.

The J-10 has features of the Israeli Lavi aircraft and a Russian report indicates the Chinese had one of the Lavis that it used to produce the J-10 after the original J-9 program was abandoned.

In additon. when Hillary Clinton visited India, the US agreed to a mulit-billion dollar defense agreement. It is not surprising the Paks turned to China in view of the US-Indian agreement.

source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/china/China-set-to-take-on-Obama-by-selling-advanced-jets-to-Pakistan/articleshow/5220297.cms

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Mike Huckabee: GOP frontrunner?

Doug Wead's blog 05 November, 2009, 13:17
One of the first rules they teach pilots is that during a crash landing you should not give up but keep flying your plane all the way to the ground. There may be things you can do, and even in the most hopeless of situations there may be little gifts - changes in the wind or the topography that can save your life.
Only one GOP pilot has been flying his plane toward that crash landing and the Barack Obama landslide re-election in 2012 and that has been Governor Mike Huckabee. And now, thanks to a change in the winds, he just might land safely after all. Yesterday’s election demonstrates that the GOP is not dead and when the electorate has even three more years to forget George W. Bush, they may just get sick of Obamanomics.

Sarah Palin threw away her chances and continues to do so daily, demonstrating to her most enthusiastic supporters that the Katie Couric interview may not be the fault of Katie Couric.

Mitt Romney all but announced that he was too important to waste on a run for the presidency unless he could be assured of that win. For months he has been privately telling friends that all of Obama’s spending will likely prompt an economic spike, and thus a Republican win in 2012 was unlikely.

Bobby Jindal has bowed out. And Tim Pawlenty must first pass through the evangelical gateway of Iowa, where his only hope of victory is if Hucakabee and Palin devour each other.

The latter is a very real possibility. Huckabee is a street fighter. And Palin will throw a punch first and talk about it later. The Iowa caucus could turn out to be as messy as the Russo-German front in World War Two, as the only two “born again” Christians duke it out.

The one left standing will likely get the nomination. If Huckabee wins - and he has already demonstrated that he will not give Sarah a free pass - then it will be hard to beat him in the South, where he almost pulled off an upset last time with the media arbitrarily writing him off.

Newt Gingrich was counting on being the FOX candidate, but the emerging story of his hypocrisy in attacking Clinton-Lewinsky while he was having his own affair is hanging over him like Chappaquiddick. Every day he must ask himself, “If I run, will that sword fall?”

Besides, Gingrich also hesitated - stopped flying his plane - and Huckabee slipped past him with his own FOX TV Show, debuting in the inglorious, lowly, awful, Saturday night slot. He was too nice, critics said. There was no conflict, he cannot be both a successful entertainer and a political candidate, one make audiences laugh and cry, and the other better not or he will lose elections.

But Huckabee did not forfeit his future for ratings and a paycheck, he kept flying his plane, he stayed nice and the audience came to him anyway, and now he not only has a successful television show, he is the front-runner for the GOP nomination for president in 2012.

Oh, how they would all like to relive the last twelve months. Keep flying that plane Mike. Anything can happen, including a safe landing.

Rasmussen Public Opinion Ratings

Mike Huckabee 29%

Mitt Romney 24%

Sarah Palin 18%

Newt Gingrich 14%

Tim Pawlenty 6%

Rightardia agrees that Huckabee would be a better candidate than Palin. Huckabee will do well in the South but he will flounder in the NorthEast, have mixed results in the Midwest and lose the election on the Left Coast. Huckabee would be wise to abandon his 'Fair Tax' that is primarily fair to the affluent. 


If Palin is foolish enough to run in the primaries, we would expect her to lose. She has alienated many GOP insiders with her disloyalty to John McCain.

If Obama can get health care passed and unemployment under control, he should easily coast to victory. These are, of course, 'big ifs.'


source: http://russiatoday.com/About_Us/Blogs/A_Contrarian_View_of_History_and_Events.html

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Tom Tomorrow: The world began on 1-20-09

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Politics Daily: How Right-Wing Talkers Crassly Exploited Ft. Hood Tragedy

11/11/09

by David Corn

On Tuesday morning I accidentally had the chance to listen to Chris Plante, a Rush-wannabe radio talk-show host who appears on a D.C. station. He was going on and on about how the Fort Hood shootings have driven the nation apart.

An agitated Plante noted that 9/11 had brought the country together, but that in the wake of the horrific Fort Hood attack there's been no unity.

Why? Because, as his Web site noted, Democrats and liberals have been "trying desperately to convince America" that Nidal Hasan, the presumed shooter, was "just a crazy guy who spent too much time around deployed soldiers and caught [post-traumatic stress disorder] and oh he happened to be a muslim [sic], but we should ignore that. We shouldn't jump to conclusions."

This was a bizarre analysis: Division was being created by people saying that there should be no rush to judgment regarding the motives underlying this horrific act or the episode's ultimate significance. Actually, it was right-wing pundits and activists who were eagerly whipping up conflict.

On his show, Plante repeatedly asserted that Hasan had shouted, "Allahu Akbar!" before firing on his fellow soldiers -- which would make his attack an act of religious-inspired murder. But a Fort Hood spokesman had said that Hasan's use of that phrase was just "speculation. . ."

Maybe Hasan did shout that Islamic phrase. If so, that would partly explain what had driven him to kill his fellow soldiers. For now, stating it as an established fact is a divisive act.

Yet some on the right see no need to wait for evidence. On Monday, the American Family Association, a conservative Christian group, posted on its Web site an article calling for all Muslims to be barred from military service.

"As soon as Muslims give us a foolproof way to identify their jihadis from their moderates, we'll go back to allowing them to serve," wrote Bryan Fischer, the group's director of issues analysis. (An aside: When Christian right extremists shoot abortion providers, does this outfit call for prohibiting all Christians from owning guns?)

Rightardia sees the Fort Hood attack as an internal Army matter that should not be politicised. Was this an act of terror or the solitary act of a deranged man? The facts will come out in the next couple of months as the FBI investigation is completed.

The right wing is too anxious to score political points. The right should should cool it heels until the facts are available. Judgement should be reserved until then. 

See the rest of the article at http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/11/11/how-right-wing-talkers-have-crassly-exploited-ft-hood-tragedy/

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