The Kool-Aid's a Staple in U.S. Schools, Warns Marybeth Hicks - HUMAN EVENTS

When two-thirds of Americans under the age of 30 can’t say definitively that capitalism is a better economic system than socialism, then that’s a big effing deal—to quote Vice President Joe Biden.  And yet.  Schools continue to purge American history from the curriculum and replace it with bizarre and politically correct courses that confuse young minds even further than they already are.

 And that's the goal, folks:  Brainwash, brainwash, brainwash.

 To wit, as Marybeth Hicks points out in her fantastic new book,  Don’t Let the Kids Drink the Kool-Aid, today’s young people aren’t able to differentiate between America as a republic and her as a so-called democracy.  And to make matters worse, teachers prattle on and on about how the “United States is kind of the villain of world history,” says Marybeth, that “we are the overtakers, we are too big for our britches,” and other such leftist fairy tales.

 (Watch Part 2 of our interview with Marybeth Hicks.)

As Marybeth points out, if this sloppy thinking and historical illiteracy continues, today’s generation will not only have its prosperity crushed under a mountain of debt, but its members will become increasingly reliant on the federal government to take care of their every need … for life.

Statism is cool, bro.  Now pass the joint.

 “Ben Franklin said that the government created for us was meant for a virtuous people, and no other,” continued Marybeth.  “If we aren’t that kind of people that they were, we won’t be able to maintain the government that they created for us.”

Marybeth still maintains hope for the future.  Watch the video to see why.

via humanevents.com

Yes.

Biden: It's Time to Blame Obama, Not Bush, for Economy

Vice President Joe Biden acknowledges that it’s time to hold the Obama administration’s feet to the fire for the sorry state of the U.S. economy instead of continuing to blame President George W. Bush.

“Right now, understandably — totally legitimate — this is a referendum on Obama and Biden and the nature of the state of the economy,” Biden said during an interview with South Florida public radio station WLRN this afternoon.

Biden made the startling comment during an interview in which his main goal was to pitch for support of President Barack Obama’s American Jobs Act.

The vice president dismissed polls in which people continue to blame the Bush administration for the economy.

“Even though 50-some percent of the American people think that the economy tanked because of the last administration, that’s not relevant,” Biden said. “What’s relevant is we’re in charge. And right now we are the ones in charge and it’s gotten better, but it hasn’t gotten good enough.”

“I don’t blame them for being mad. We’re in charge,” Biden acknowledged.

Here's a portion of the interview, the full version of which can be heard on WLRN's website.

via newsmax.com

Finally.

Student Threatens Man Passing Out Constitution Copies : Personal Liberty Digest

The video below was recorded by Phil Cleary, a National Guardsman and field representative for The Leadership Institute. Cleary filmed this at the University of Minnesota Duluth on Constitution Day. The characters in this real-life glimpse into the twisted minds of today’s liberals offer at least as much entertainment as their intellectual equals on reality television, albeit with neither the moral gravitas of an episode of “The Jerry Springer Show” nor the academic loftiness of “The Real Housewives of… Wherever.”

The self-proclaimed defender of the supposedly threatened “multicultural center” and devotee of the late terrorist and convict Huey P. Newton is a UMD student named Blair Jordon Moses. Moses (who I suspect would be ecstatic with the nickname “Baby Huey,” although the real Baby Huey allegedly murdered a woman for calling him “Baby”) takes up most of the screen time. However, his asinine rants are noteworthy only for the overt nature of the threats they contain.

In fact, I’m tempted to forgive Baby Huey, if only because he’s clearly a victim of the teachers’ unions and their apparatchik accomplices in what passes for higher education. Granted, he did threaten Cleary, so he’ll probably be expelled, or not. He is a member of one of America’s protected classes; so for all I know, he may ride this video of what appears to be his mental breakdown to the Presidency of the student senate.

Give Baby Huey credit for some remarkable logical calisthenics. First, he threatened to shoot Cleary: “I just want to let you know, that if you ever threaten the multicultural center, I will exercise it (my 2^nd amendment rights).” Then — if you’ll pardon the turn of phrase — he shoots himself in the rhetorical foot by proclaiming that he doesn’t “believe” in the Constitution. Is that how that works? You just refuse to believe in it. He would be better off refusing to believe his idol was gunned down in a crack deal gone awry. Let me check… nope, Newton is still dead.

When I was in school, threatening to shoot another student usually resulted in a one-way ticket home, although I can’t remember any junior-varsity racists actually threatening to kill people back then. But I attended one of the finest colleges in the nation.  Baby Huey attends one of the finest colleges in northeastern Minnesota.

The real treat in this live-action dramedy arrives at 2:19. Witness the sweeping entrance of UMD senior administrator Susana Pelayo-Woodward, the director of the Office of Cultural Diversity. From her role in the incident, I glean that she clearly needs remedial education on not only diversity and tolerance, but basic adult responsibility — not to mention the U.S. Constitution. Although she was undisturbed by Baby Huey threatening another UMD student’s life, she was worried about something: Cleary was handing out copies of the Constitution. Pelayo-Woodward asked: “Is this a white supremacist group? It looks like one.” In yet another remarkable intellectual milestone for the peculiarly circular logic of liberalism, she ignored the death threat from the budding terrorist in order to smear the document which allows her the right to smear the document which allows her the right to smear… forget it.

Call it a sense of patriotic civic duty or perhaps a glimmering ember of hope that our country won’t someday be consigned to the stewardship of a generation which is cerebrally outmatched by currently lower life forms like cockroaches, amoebas and Rosie O’Donnell, but I actually expressed my concerns over the ordeal in an email to members of the University of Minnesota Board of Regents, the President of UM and senior personnel at UMD. I pointed out the obvious distress they should experience over one student threatening another, the fact that the aggressor was motivated by the unhinged hate which he appears to have picked up while imprisoned in their institution, and the fact that a member of their senior administration was unruffled by Moses’ verbal assault because she was too busy proving she wears the same idiotic blinders. I also noted that should they eschew disciplinary action against both Moses and Pelayo-Woodward, they would be exposing themselves to a lawsuit which would treat their funding like Godzilla treated downtown Tokyo. In fact, should Baby Huey decide to act out on his threats, not an impossibility if he’s trying to emulate Newton, then they may well be criminally liable as well as civilly so.

Wonder of wonders, someone at UMD is checking the mail. I received the following response:

At UMD, we place a priority on creating a positive and inclusive campus climate. In fact, advancing equity, diversity, and social justice is a core value of our university and is a goal of the UMD Strategic Plan. Freedom of expression, diverse views and opinions, and philosophical debate are part of the treasured tradition of this country’s public universities and the University of Minnesota Duluth. Moreover, UMD takes very seriously its zero tolerance for violence.

Regarding your specific concern, the September 16 incident involved people exercising their constitutional right to express their personal opinions and philosophies. UMD’s Office of Student Life is working to resolve any issues resulting from the encounter.

The representative from Youth for Western Civilization is not a UMD student. Like others who are not students at UMD or groups not registered as student organizations at UMD, he was welcomed to express his views and to distribute information on our campus within the guidelines established for such activities. This welcome continues for all who want to have a public forum to express views.

That qualifies as the most Byzantine babble which has ever appeared in my inbox, and I’m counting that sweet deal the Nigerian barrister clued me into. They are on the case, and they are planning nothing. UMD considers Baby Huey’s threat to Cleary’s life a “constitutional right.” As for Pelayo-Woodward, the email gave nary a hint as to her fate. After I read UMD’s simpering pablum, I called my brother and told him to scratch UMD off the list of possible schools for my nephew, who happens to be an exceptionally gifted hockey player. Actually, the little guy is also a smart cookie, so UMD was unlikely to make the list.

In the past, I and my colleagues at Personal Liberty Digest™ have often reminded you of the essential hypocrisy of liberalism. Although some of the other writers might be more diplomatic about it, I will simply say: Liberal ideology is pure excrement. (Actually, I was going to use more vivid terminology; but each time I do, Mr. Livingston says things like: “How’s your resume looking, Ben?”)

It’s not as if Baby Huey and his hyphenated-American consort are isolated in their appalling hatred. Just last week, a liberal named Stephen Hanks verbally assaulted Bristol Palin in a New York bar. Hanks’s rant was classless and obscene — or, as Bill Maher would call it, “brilliant.” However, it translates from the liberal hate speech as: “I hate your mother so much, I can’t stop myself from attacking her children.” Head union thug Jimmy Hoffa Jr. wants to “take out” the Tea Party. When a Teamsters Union thug talks about taking someone out, he doesn’t mean to dinner and movie. Representative Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said the Tea Party is destined for “hell.” The last time I checked, that decision is above her pay grade. And Mad Maxine should probably focus on her own upcoming judgment; odds are, she is far from guaranteed a ticket upward in eternity. Common Cause members have demanded the enslavement and/or lynching of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Lest we think UMD is alone in its madness, consider pretty much everything that’s ever happened at Berkeley.

Granted, we conservatives have a few rotten eggs floating in the barrel, like the heckler who recently called President Obama “The Antichrist.” Obama wishes he was that big-time. I’m not even convinced Satan would hire him as an intern; although, perhaps George Soros could put in a good word for him with the lord of evil. We conservatives make fun of our loose screws; the Democrats send theirs to Congress, elect them President and watch them on MSNBC. Moreover, the Democrats give them influential positions shepherding young minds. Judging by the incident at UMD and the school’s lack of concern, that’s where they are inflicting the most damage.

–Ben Crystal

via personalliberty.com

Always interesting.

Herman Cain Creates Believers in 'Yes, He Cain'

From Herman Cain’s mouth has come a message that is now on the lips of many Republicans: “Yes, We Cain!”

Having turned in impressive performances in several debates, the former head of Godfather’s Pizza won a surprise victory Saturday in a straw poll of Florida GOP activists. The Sunshine State tally is only a straw poll, but it has predicted the Republican nominee correctly in the past three presidential elections.

So who is Herman Cain?

Herman Cain, rallying supporters before the Florida Straw Poll Saturday, won the tally handily. Jim Broussard, a Pennsylvania tea party leader, lauds Cain thusly: "He has charisma, charm, and can project a message to people that: ‘Hey, I worked my way up just like your average guy out there.'" (Getty Images Photo)

The 65-year-old “Hermanator” was head of the National Restaurant Association when he first appeared on the national scene in the 1990s as a fierce critic of Hillary Clinton’s attempted takeover of the healthcare system.

His confrontation the first lady and President Bill Clinton set him on a path to a presidential candidacy that now spurs GOP activists to yell “Yes, We Cain!” at his rallies.

Slate.com credits Cain with having “defeated Bill Clinton on live television” and changing the terms of the 1994 healthcare debate.

During a town hall meeting that year in Kansas City, Cain asked President Clinton what he was supposed to tell the workers he would have to lay off because of the cost of the "employer mandate."

Clinton responded that there would be plenty of subsidies for small businesses, but Cain challenged him: "Quite honestly, your calculation is inaccurate. In the competitive marketplace, it simply doesn't work that way."

The exchange led to a flood of supportive phone calls and faxes in that era of the Internet’s infancy. “It was as if the small business community — a very large and politically powerful group — had been told to march on Washington,” Newsweek reported.

Larry Neal, an aide to Texas Sen. Phil Gramm, told Cain he "was the lightning rod” in the revolt against the so-called Hillary Care.

After that auspicious debut, Cain quickly became active in politics. House Speaker Newt Gingrich gave him a spot on a congressional panel studying tax reform. He became president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. Jack Kemp made time to visit Cain in Omaha, where he was serving as CEO of Godfather’s Pizza.

Kemp told the Washington Post: "Here's a black guy who stands up with the voice of Othello, the looks of a football player, the English of Oxfordian quality and the courage of a lion."

After leaving Godfather’s, Cain plunged into politics full time. He co-chaired Steve Forbes’ 2000 presidential campaign, made a respectable showing in a 2004 U.S. Senate race in Georgia, and parlayed that showing into a gig as a popular Atlanta talk show host.

This year, he became the first person to launch a presidential campaign and quickly exceeded almost everybody’s expectations but his own.
Cain’s self-confidence stems in part from how far he’s risen from his hardscrabble background. He was raised in Georgia, where his father was a chauffeur and his mother, a domestic worker. He was the first in his family to go to college, after which he served in the U.S. Navy and became a business analyst for Coca-Cola. Cain then moved over to Pillsbury, where he became a turnaround specialist for troubled parts of that company before being installed as CEO of Godfather’s.

On the side, he found time to be a Baptist preacher, a gospel singer, and the loving father of a son and a daughter.

But Cain hungered for more. Surveying an underwhelming Republican field of presidential contenders early this year, he saw he had the street cred to appeal to key elements of the conservative base: Southerners, the religious right, small business owners, and the tea party.

Jim Broussard, a Pennsylvania tea party leader, says: "He has charisma, charm, and can project a message to people that: ‘Hey, I worked my way up just like your average guy out there.'"

But his style also has won him plaudits from media heavy hitters. After Cain performed well in the first GOP presidential debate, conservative radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh opined that "Herman Cain made me think I was listening to me in every answer."

Indeed, Cain credits that first debate with launching his rise in the polls. "Until then, a national audience had never heard me. Now they are starting to hear me, and I don't think they'll forget."

Indeed, he continues to sweep straw polls of activist Republicans. At the Western Conservative Summit in Denver on July 31, Texas Gov. Rick Perry stole the headlines with a speech attacking the “arrogant” Obama administration. But Cain won the straw poll of activists who attended.

Although the odds are stacked against him with the presence of better-known candidates such as Perry, Mitt Romney, and Michele Bachmann in the race, don’t underestimate the “Hermanator.”

There is a precedent for a charming, long-shot candidate to shake up the presidential race. In 2007, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee parlayed a strong showing in the Iowa Straw Poll that summer into a victory in that state’s caucuses the following January by consolidating the evangelical vote behind him.

But Huckabee had one advantage Cain does not: serious experience in a major political office. Usually articulate, Cain often stumbles when he's asked about foreign policy, falling back on rote responses that he hasn’t “gotten all the briefings a president does” and he would wait to formulate a full foreign policy until he consults with the experts as president.

For now, he offers hints at his direction, including unswerving support for Israel and a belief that “we must identify our friends and our enemies overseas and stick with our friends.”

He also has made a few rookie mistakes. In July, he met with four Muslim leaders in Virginia and issued an apology for remarks in which he said communities have a right to ban Islamic mosques because Muslims are trying to inject Shariah into the United States.

He also had to clarify remarks in which he said he wouldn’t want a Muslim in his administration by saying that he meant only Muslims bent on jihad. In a statement after meeting with the Muslim leaders, Cain said he was "truly sorry" for comments that may have "betrayed" his commitment to the Constitution and the religious freedom it guarantees.

But his missteps don’t matter to the crowds who gather to hear Cain’s inspirational speeches. He likes to open with a joke at President Barack Obama's expense. He'll recite the opening words of the Declaration of Independence from memory, then he'll say he didn't need a teleprompter to do it.

He follows that with a mashup of inspirational, Dale Carnegie-tinged CEO rhetoric ("The tragedy of life does not lie in not reaching your goals. The tragedy lies in having no goals to reach for"), followed by tea party-influenced reverence for the Constitution and the nation’s founding principles.

He openly challenges liberal attacks on the tea party as tinged with racism: “If that were at all true, do you think I’d be spending so much time with you patriots?”

When it comes to specifics, Cain hammers home his “9-9-9” plan: a 9 percent corporate tax rate, a 9 percent flat income tax, and a 9 percent national sales tax.

“Our tax code is the 21st-century version of slavery,” Cain tells audiences.

“If 10 percent is good enough for God in the Bible, then 9 percent should be just fine for the federal government.”

When challenged with the argument that his program seems far too ambitious for a new president to push through Congress, Cain argues right back: “My election would signal a real desire for change by the American people. Those who elected me would put pressure on Congress to enact my program. And we’ve seen that when Congress feels the heat, they will often see the light.”

Herman Cain isn’t likely to become president, but his impressive campaign is making him a major player in the public debate in years to come. He could follow Huckabee and become host of his own TV show. Or he could fit easily into a Republican Cabinet in a position such as Commerce secretary.

Or he simply could continue being the “Hermanator,” a force of nature that has given voice to the tea party and helped make it the most vibrant force on the American political scene.

via newsmax.com

Yes he can.

Governments Don't Create Prosperity - HUMAN EVENTS

Politicians say they create jobs, but they really don't. Or rather, they rarely create productive jobs. Government has no money of its own. All it does is take resources from one group and give them to another. The pharaohs might have claimed they created work when they ordered that pyramids be built, but think how much richer (and freer) the Egyptians would have been if they'd been allowed to pursue their own interests.

        It's individuals in the marketplace who create real jobs -- when they have the protection of life and property under the rule of law.

        Economic freedom is the key. The theory couldn't be more clear, and at this late date in human history, it shouldn't be necessary to rehearse the abundant evidence. Look at the various indexes that correlate economic freedom with economic growth. The healthiest economies are those with the most economic freedom. Unemployment is low in those places -- 3 percent in Hong Kong, 2 percent in Singapore, 5 percent in Australia

        Alas, the United States places ninth, behind Canada, and those countries with the least economic freedom have few real jobs and no prosperity.

        Unfortunately, most politicians still don't understand -- or have no incentive to understand -- that economic freedom, and therefore less government, creates prosperity. Well, maybe that's changing. This year is first I've heard so many presidential candidates talk about the private sector. Indeed, one candidate, former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, told me he created "not one single job. ... Government does not create jobs."

        The truth is we have too few jobs today because government stands in the way. If I'm an employer, why would I want to hire someone when Congress and the Labor Department have so many rules that I might not be able to fire that person if he can't do the job? Why would I take a risk on an investment when still-to-be-written rules about Obamacare, financial regulation and the environment could turn my good idea into a losing venture?

        I refereed a debate on whether government creates or impedes economic activity.

        "Government can spend and create jobs," said David Callahan, cofounder of Demos. "If government steps up and provides stimulus money to hire people, what we get is more people spending money in this economy, more hiring, and we get that virtuous cycle going."

         Yaron Brook, president of the Ayn Rand Institute, replied:

        "It is ridiculous to assume you can tax the people that are working and give the money (to people) who are not working and somehow this creates economy activity. You are destroying as much by taking from those who are working and creating."

        Callahan then invoked the magic I-word.

        "One place we need more government spending is for infrastructure. Drive down any road, go across any bridge, you are likely to see dilapidation. There was a bipartisan panel that said we need to spend $2 trillion or more on infrastructure."

        "Don't pretend that stimulates the economy," Brook rebutted. "That money has to come from somewhere, that $2 trillion that you would want to spend on infrastructure is taken from the private economy."

        "This is a fallacy," Callahan replied. "Twenty million jobs were created in the 1990s when we had higher tax rates than we do today. After World War II -- also a period of high tax rates, also incredible job growth.

        And, by Keynesian logic, war can stimulate the economy.

        "World War II was the great stimulus. ... That kind of external crisis can inject a lot of new capital."

       "This is one of the worst fallacies of economics," Brook said. "This is called the broken-window fallacy."

        The fallacy comes from Frederic Bastiat​'s story of the boy who breaks a shop window, prompting some to believe that replacing the window will stimulate a ripple of economic activity. The fallacy lies in overlooking the productive things the shopkeeper would have done with the money had the window not needed replacing.

        "World War II did nothing to promote economy growth," Brook said. "Blowing things up is not an economic stimulus. Destruction does not lead to progress."

        Don't expect most politicians to learn this any time soon.

via humanevents.com

Yes.

WSJ: The U.S. has potential for an energy independence

AlbanianMinerals President and CEO MrSahit_Muja said "The U.S, energy Independence is absolutely possible if US invest in innovative technology".
The USA, the land of the opportunity that has attracted millions of emigrants worldwide has a huge potential to remain the world's richest and most power full country in the planet for thousands of years to come.
AlbanianMinerals President and CEO saying that "The U.S. can cut 100% on its foreign oil dependence by investing in oil shale, natural gas, wind and solar power".
AlbanianMinerals President and CEO said " As long as we're going to use oil, natural gas, coal then we might as well work to draw it from home, or as close to it as possible" .

New technology, including a process called hydraulic fracturing, enables the tapping of natural gas sources in the previously cost-prohibitive U.S. regions of Appalachia, the Mid-Continent, the Gulf Coast, and in the Rocky Mountains.
U.S. natural gas reserves have increased 23 percent, mostly on the ability to access those new sources, with estimated reserves totaling 1,898 trillion cubic feet as of the end of 2010.
The United States has the largest known deposits of oil shale in the world, according to the Bureau of Land Management and holds an estimated 2.175 trillion barrels of potentially recoverable oil.
Oil shale does not actually contain oil, but a waxy oil precursor known as kerogen .
The U.S coal reserves stand at 275 billion tons, an amount that is greater than any other nation in the world capable of meeting domestic demand for more than 250 years

via online.wsj.com

Yes.

Obama Healthcare Law Cleared for US Supreme Court

WASHINGTON  - The Obama administration Monday cleared the way for the Supreme Court to decide in its 2011-12 term the president's signature healthcare law that requires Americans to buy insurance or face a penalty.

A Justice Department spokeswoman said it decided against asking the full U.S. Appeals Court for the 11th Circuit to review the August ruling by a three-judge panel of the court that found the requirement unconstitutional.

The decision not to seek review by the full appeals court will likely speed up consideration of the matter by the high court in its 2011-12 term that begins next week. A ruling could come by late June, in the middle of the presidential campaign.

The Supreme Court has long been expected to have the final word on the legality of the individual mandate, a cornerstone of President Barack Obama's healthcare law. A big uncertainty has been over when the court would decide the issue.

The law's fate before the nine-member court, closely divided with a conservative majority and four liberals, could come down to two Republican appointees, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Anthony Kennedy, legal experts have said.

The law, adopted by Congress in 2010 after a bruising battle, is expected to be a major political issue in the 2012 elections as Obama seeks another four-year term. All the major Republican presidential candidates oppose it.

Obama, a Democrat, has championed the individual mandate as a major accomplishment of his presidency and as a way to try to slow soaring healthcare costs while expanding coverage to the more than 30 million Americans without it.

The 11th Circuit appeals court, based in Atlanta, ruled by a 2-1 vote last month in favor of 26 states and others who challenged the mandate for exceeding the power of Congress.

The Obama administration could have asked the full U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider its decision. But that could have pushed back any Supreme Court ruling to its 2012-13 term.

The 2-1 ruling ruling conflicted with other appeals courts that have upheld the law or have rejected legal challenges, including a lawsuit by the state of Virginia which was dismissed on procedural grounds.

A U.S. appeals court based in Cincinnati ruled Congress had the power to adopt the individual mandate, which takes effect in 2014. The losing side in that case, the Thomas More Law Center, already appealed to the Supreme Court in July.

The administration has steadfastly maintained its belief that the law will survive judicial scrutiny and be upheld by the Supreme Court. The states that have challenged the law have argued it went beyond Congress' authority to require coverage.

According to experts in a story on Politico, the Supreme Court has several reasons to take up the case. It's a high-profile case with the request coming from the government;  there have been split decisions between appeals courts, specificically, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the mandate, while the 11th Circuit ruled it unconstitutional and the 4th Circuit ruled it could not issue a decision until 2014.

A decision in the middel of the 2012 presidential campaign has huge risks for the president, with a ruling either way galavanizing both parties.

The Justice Department did not explain its decision to go straight to the high court, but the 11th Circuit has only five of 11 judges appointed by Democrats and one them has already ruled to strike down the mandate.

via newsmax.com

Interesting.

New York Post Urges Christie to Run

The New York Post on Monday urged New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to enter the presidential race and fill a void in the current slate of GOP candidates.

“Some of the party’s top leaders and most influential figures — clearly troubled by the failure of anyone in the current field to stir broad, enthusiastic support — are pressing Christie, whom they believe can successfully lead the party against an increasingly vulnerable President Obama,” the Post stated in an editorial.

“We agree.”

The Post disclosed that talk of a Christie candidacy has been fueled by Thursday’s disappointing debate performance by Texas Gov. Rick Perry, the presumed front-runner. Republicans now believe they “need someone strong on the ballot,” the Post observed, “and there’s no denying that Chris Christie has long been the hottest ticket in town, a genuine GOP political superstar.”

Christie has a “freshness” about him that’s lacking in Mitt Romney, according to the Post. The newspaper touted Christie’s success as a prosecutor in fighting his state’s “endemic corruption,” and pointed to his achievements as governor in bringing “fiscal responsibility” to New Jersey, enacting public pension reform despite an “intransigent Democratic legislature.”

“He’s focused and determined, but also flexible, and those are qualities sadly lacking in Washington these days,” the Post declared.

Political analyst Larry Sabato told Newsmax on Sunday that Christie could win the GOP nomination and go on to defeat President Obama in 2012.

The Republican Party is “disappointed with Perry and Romney and has an appetite for a new candidate,” said Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

“There’s no question that Christie could potentially win the nomination.”
On Friday, Newsmax broke the story that Christie is indicating he might be inclined to run.

Several leading Republican donors and fundraisers have been urging the governor to reconsider his decision not to run and to enter the GOP primary, Newsmax reported.

These Christie supporters note that significant GOP support has remained on the sidelines of the primary fight. Many leading fundraisers have yet to commit to any current primary contender, including Perry and Romney.

Newsmax also learned that the effort to draft Christie culminated in a recent hush-hush powwow with Christie and several notable Republican billionaires.

Christie promised to make a final decision “within two weeks,” a source familiar with the meeting told Newsmax.

Editor's Note: See "Christie Reconsidering '12 Run, Will Decide Within Days"

The Post editorial concluded: “Whether Christie is ready to make the run is open to question, but it’s crystal clear that if he does jump in he will instantly transform the Republican primary process.

“America right now is hungry for genuine leadership, someone who can take on the problems that have clearly proved too much for Barack Obama to handle.

“Chris Christie may just be the answer.”

via newsmax.com

Interesting.

Herman Cain to Newsmax: Nix Obamacare

GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain told Newsmax the government health-insurance law should be repealed “so we can introduce legislation that’s going to contain patient-centered, market driven reforms.”

The legislation should be accompanied by loser-pays laws to help bring down medical-liability claims, Cain said.

“Doctors tell me all the time that that’s at least a third of their costs that they incur as part of their medical-liability insurance,” he said. “They also say that they don’t like to practice defensive medicine.”

On the issue of illegal immigration, Cain told Newsmax he wants to empower the states so they can enforce their own policies.

Story continues below video.

“I wouldn’t have sued Arizona,” he said, referring to the backlash against the law known as SB 1070. “I would have sent them a medal.”

Border control remains the responsibility of the federal government, but in the absence of proper enforcement, the matter should be turned over to the states, Cain told Newsmax.

“We have got to close off our borders because if we do not, we are not going to be able to deal with the other problems of enforcing the laws that are here,” he said. “One of my proposals is to empower the states to deal with the illegals that are already here.”

Cain also promoted his “999 Plan” that includes a flat, 9-percent tax on business profits, personal income and national sales. The national sales tax would be implemented first if he becomes president.

“We expand the base, and we give everybody an opportunity to get used to paying a national sales tax before we go for the full throttle later,” he said. “You get people to see the positive impact on the economy and economic growth before you take that next big step.”

via newsmax.com

Good for him.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott to Newsmax: GOP Must Repeal 'Job Killer' Obamacare

Florida Gov. Rick Scott tells Newsmax that Obamacare is “the biggest job killer ever” and “absolutely has to be repealed” to get the American economy going again.

Scott, who is in Orlando for the P5 (Presidential 5) conference the Florida GOP is hosting, will deliver the keynote speech Saturday afternoon before 3,500 delegates vote in the state’s straw poll, which Scott says is crucial to the Republican hopefuls.

The first-term governor, who is making a strong push to improve the economy and jobs market in the Sunshine State, sat down with Newsmax for an exclusive interview after attending the Republican presidential debate Thursday night in Orlando. Political analysts from all political spectrums seemed to agree that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney outperformed Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who had snatched front-runner status from Romney in most polls, in the televised debate.

Story continues below video:

Scott maintains that a candidate must win in Florida in order to win the presidential election.

“You look at the number of delegates. You look at history,” he explains.

“You look at Saturday’s P5 straw poll, the individuals who have won that — Reagan in ’79, George H.W. Bush in ’87, and Bob Dole in ’95 — they went on to win the Republican nomination.

“This is an important state, a microcosm of the country.”

Asked which GOP presidential candidate’s views reflect his own most closely, Scott wouldn’t single out an individual but said all the Republican hopefuls “share the core beliefs of limited government, more personal freedom, and personal responsibility.”

Scott, the former CEO of one of America’s largest healthcare companies, tells Newsmax he strongly favors repealing the healthcare reform plan of President Obama Barack and the Democrats.

“When we started having a discussion about healthcare, the idea was that we were going to reduce the cost of healthcare. This does just the opposite,” he says.

“Obamacare will be the biggest job killer ever. People are worried about starting companies, adding jobs, because of the cost of that.

“The government always runs out of money when they have government programs, so we’re clearly going to ration care if Obamacare goes into effect. The tax increases are just going to kill businesses, and the expansion of Medicaid will kill our state budgets. So it’s a disaster.

“It needs to be repealed. Hopefully, it will be declared unconstitutional, at least the individual mandate. But it absolutely has to be repealed to get our economy going again.”

Romney says that he would order the Department of Health and Human Services on day one of his presidency to immediately grant waivers from Obamacare to all 50 states.

Asked whether that is a good idea, Scott responds: “Absolutely. Anything we can do to stop this. It makes no sense.

“Think about it. If you wanted to actually improve healthcare, what would you do? You’d make sure that everybody had a choice about their healthcare plan, as many providers as possible, you’d make sure that everybody posted their prices so you know what things cost, you’d give individuals the same tax breaks that employers get. Pre-existing conditions would be less of an issue because you would own your policy when you changed jobs. And you would reward people for taking care of themselves.

“If you did all of those things, the cost of healthcare would come down. More people could afford healthcare. That would solve the problem, not some big government program.”

Scott says “I completely oppose” the Texas program, which Gov. Perry defends, of granting in-state tuition rates to illegal alien college students.

And as for unemployment in his state, Scott says this has been “a great year” for job creation, pointing to five straight months of a dropping unemployment rate in Florida.

“How do we make sure that this is the place where people want to do business? You do it by lower taxes, by less regulation,” he adds.

“You do it by having the attitude that we like business people coming into our state.”

via newsmax.com

Yes.

Exciting Schools - HUMAN EVENTS

School spending has doubled over the past 30 years. Yet what do we get? More buildings and more assistant principals -- but student learning? No improvement. If you graph the numbers, the spending line slopes steeply, while the lines for reading, math and science scores are as flat as a dead man's EKG.

        Why no improvement? Because K-12 education is a government monopoly, and monopolies don't improve.

        And yet I'm happy to announce some good news: Cool things are starting to happen in classrooms.

        I was surprised to meet kids who said they like school. What? I found school boring. How can it be that these fourth-graders tell me that they look forward to going to school and that math is "rockin' awesome"?

        Those kids attend one of those new charter schools. Charters let them escape the bureaucracy of regular schools, including, often, teachers union rules. These schools compete for kids because parents can always choose another school. That makes them better.

        Not every charter school is good, but the beauty of competition is that bad ones go out of business, while good ones expand. Then good schools teach more kids. Choice and competition produce quality. Anyone surprised?

        Government schools rarely improve because no matter how bad they are, they still have captive customers.

        The Harlem charter schools admit kids that bureaucrats label "at risk of failure." But these kids learn. And they do it at lower cost.

        I visited another charter chain, American Indian Public Charter Schools in Oakland, Calif., that gets similar top results, also at lower cost.

        "Kids in American Indian Public Charter Schools score so far above the average for the state for public school children that there isn't even a word for it," says Andrew Coulson, director of the Cato Institute's Center for Educational Freedom.

        Those schools use methods different from the charters in Harlem. For example, they pay some kids to tutor other kids.

        Both charters do something that regular public schools rarely do: fire teachers. One charter principal calls it "freeing up a person's future."

        You cannot maintain quality unless you can fire people, said Deborah Kenny, founder of Harlem Village Academies.

        While bad teachers might get fired, (SET ITAL) good (END ITAL) teachers are given freedom.

        "They can choose their textbooks, teaching methods -- as long as they, every quarter and every year, make sure that the students are learning what they need to learn," Kenny said.

        In Harlem, 43 percent of eighth-graders pass state math tests. In Kenny's schools, 100 percent pass. So if charters work, why aren't there more of them? Because teachers unions hate them. The president of the Newark Teachers Union, Joseph Del Grosso, doesn't want charters in what he calls "his schools."

        "Over my dead body, they're going to come there," he told me.

        Because of that attitude, people who try to start charter schools often find that bureaucrats make it hard. But in one city, most kids now attend charters. How did that happen?

        It happened because when Hurricane Katrina destroyed much of New Orleans, it also destroyed the school system. Some school reformers thought that might be a blessing.

        "It was probably one of the worst school districts in the country," said Paul Pastorek, former Louisiana state superintendent of education. The state faced a choice: Rebuild the old system or build something new. It built something new. Opening charters became easy. Today, most kids in New Orleans attend charter schools, and test scores are better.

        Ben Marcovitz started a charter school called Sci Academy.

        "We have complete control over the quality of our instruction."

        At first, only a third of his students were proficient on state tests. Now, Sci Academy's test results are among the best in the city.

        Competition drives schools to try different things in order to succeed. It's similar to what happens with consumer goods -- computers, refrigerators, cars -- that get better every year.

        If charter schools do this well, imagine what a really free and competitive system -- one without compulsory tax financing and bureaucratic chartering procedures -- could do.

        Our kids deserve a free market in education.

via humanevents.com

Very cool.

Bill Clinton: Gingrich Could Be GOP Nominee in 2012

Former President Bill Clinton acknowledges that Mitt Romney and Rick Perry are the clear front-runners for the Republican presidential nomination, but he says it’s too early to count out former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

In an exclusive Newsmax interview, Clinton asserts: “If you ask who has the power to get back into the mix, assuming no new people enter — I think Mitch Daniels would have been very competitive, I think Haley Barbour would have appeal, I think the governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, would have appeal. But if you assume nobody else gets in, then of those that are there, the question is: Can Speaker Gingrich pull what McCain did last time?

“The one thing that makes it very hard to count him out is he’s always thinking. He’s always got a bunch of new ideas and some of them are pretty good. So a guy that can still use his brain cells and come up with good ideas, you’re never really sure what happens there.

“If it stays between Romney and Perry, I think Perry will have the juice of being perceived as the more conservative one, Romney will have the power of being perceived as perhaps more electable because he’s more moderate.

“I just have this uneasy feeling that politics is not so static that it will be these two guys fighting it out all the way to the end, with nothing unpredictable happening. We just live in a world that’s too unpredictable.”

via newsmax.com

Interesting.

Let’s Party Like It’s 1917 | RedState

The DNC’s logo for the 2012 convention struck me, when it first came out, as “Soviet chic”, a trendy style that’s been making its way around leftist protests from Wisconsin to Washington.

With Barack Obama’s class warfare speech yesterday, it seems the President’s 2012 campaign theme will be to party like its 1917. In a speech right out of a European socialist’s playbook, Barack Obama kept referring to basic fairness when demanding job creators pay more in taxes. Consider Obama’s online mouthpiece, Think Progress, rushing to his defense by, in essense, saying Obama’s plan isn’t class warfare because it does not go as far as the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1929.

You actually should read the Think Progress post because actually what the writer claims is “strikingly different from a modern progressive agenda” is actually pretty darn similar, including an income tax to confiscate capital income — something Obama’s Buffett tax seems to do.

In any event, what Barack Obama nor any other leftist can answer is one simple question — when the top 1% generate 20% of the income and pay 40% of the taxes in this country, what exactly is their fair share?

But now it gets even worse. Yesterday I told you Obama wants to use General Motors as a distraction from Solyndra. Today it appears he is using Warren Buffett to distract us from raiding banks to line General Motors’ pockets, or at least the government’s because of the GM bailout.

In Barack Obama’s deficit plan, he intends to raid American banks to make up the losses from the auto bailout. There’s just one problem. While hiding behind TARP to justify this raid, with costs that will be passed on to consumers, Obama is punishing the most successful banks putting them in a position to fail. At the same time, the Dodd-Frank bill guarantees no bank is too big to fail, so he is creating another bank bailout situation.

Basically, the President wants to raise fees on banks with more than $50 billion in assets, i.e. the most successful banks. The weak banks that benefitted the most from TARP will not actually be the ones to cover the auto bailout’s losses. The rich banks that needed the least help will shell out to cover the auto bailout and then find themselves among the ranks of weak banks.

It’s not just individual wealth redistribution the President is championing here. He’s picking winners and losers in the free market and ensuring that some of the winners he does not like are forced to become losers. It’s corporate wealth redistribution to corporations the President picks.

Considering both the inflation the American people are experiencing and the taxation Barack Obama wants to impose, you’d be forgiven for thinking he said “The way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.” Of course, that was Vladimir Lenin. Too inflammatory for you? Just go back to Think Progress and consider, in their claims that Obama’s position is too mild to be considered class warfare, just how similar Barack Obama’s new tax schemes are to the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1929 — complete with a “graduated income tax to confiscate capital income”, i.e. a necessary component of any surtax on millionaires just for the sake of taxing millionaires.

via redstate.com

Surprise.

Backspin: Simpson will be tough to beat for FedExCup - PGATOUR.COM

Monday Backspin: Sept. 19, 2011

Amanda Balionis recaps Justin Rose's victory and all the news from the 2011 BMW Championship.

Sep. 19, 2011
By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

And then there were 30.

That's what this season has boiled down to after Justin Rose's victory Sunday at the BMW Championship, which was vindicating on a lot of levels (I'll get to that later).

For those in the top five in the FedExCup standings, it's simple: Win The TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola and you win the FedExCup.

Webb Simpson, who has played better than anyone the last two months and is atop the standings as a result, will be the favorite next week at East Lake. But it will also be his first trip there.

So here's a look at five players who could win next week and what it would it mean:

Simpson: He didn't have a great weekend with rounds of 73-71 to finish fifth at Cog Hill, but Simpson has 10 top-10s this year, including two wins -- both of which have come in the last month. He also doesn't necessarily need to win at East Lake to win the FedExCup.

Luke Donald: He's the only guy on TOUR with more top-10s than Simpson (12). He also enters THE TOUR Championship playing well, with nine of his last 11 rounds in the 60s and with two straight finishes in the top four. At fourth in the standings, Donald also controls his own destiny. He was also the runner-up at East Lake last year.

Brandt Snedeker: He tied for third in two of his last three starts and has been good all year with seven top-10s, including a win. He's just outside the top five at sixth in the standings, which means he'll need help, but it's certainly not impossible.

Jason Day: Don't forget about Day. Even though he was a non-factor at the BMW, he's been good in the Playoffs with a tie for 13th at The Barclays and a tie for third at the Deutsche Bank Championship. At 10th in the standings, he'll need a lot of help though.

Nick Watney: He hasn't done much since The Barclays, where he closed with a 64 in the rain-shortened event to tie.

via pgatour.com

Good golf TV...

WSJ OpEd: Obama Jobs Package Really a Blue State Bailout

Portions of President Barack Obama's $447 billion jobs package are really designed to bail out weak finances in Democratic states, a new study finds.

The plan seeks funds for infrastructure, education and other projects that states should fund but cannot.

Many blue states have run up state debts, as nationwide, state debt is running around $3 trillion — tack on another trillion or even more if unfunded pension liabilities are factored in.

President Barack Obama (Getty Images photo)

"These vast contributions to the coffers of state and local governments, though pitched as a jobs bill, are in reality the latest in a series of bailouts for debt-ridden state and local governments," Paul E. Peterson and Daniel Nadler, both Harvard academics, write in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece.

"They are of special benefit to states in the blue regions of the country where the president's most fervent supporters reside."

A Harvard Program on Education Policy and Governance study finds states with legislatures that are heavily Democratic and have a highly unionized public-sector work force must pay interest rates that are often an extra half a percentage point higher than those in red states.

"In short, the bond market has concluded that the more unionized the state and the bluer its political coloring, the riskier it is to hold bonds marketed by that state," Peterson and Nadler write.

Republicans, meanwhile, say they will work with the president on the jobs bill.

"While we have a different vision for what is needed to support job creation in our country, we appreciate the president's pledge to transmit legislation to Congress and will immediately request that it be scored by the Congressional Budget Office," says House Speaker John Boehner, according to Fox News.

via moneynews.com

Interesting.

George Marlin: Obama Is ‘Narcissist, Classic Elitist’

Conservative thinker and best-selling author George Marlin tells Newsmax that President Barack Obama is the nation’s “narcissist in chief” due to his deeply ingrained elitist attitude. And Marlin says that ideological view has condemned Obama to failure.

Marlin served as executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey under New York Gov. George Pataki and was the Conservative Party’s candidate in the 1993 race for mayor in New York City.

Marlin is one of the country’s most influential conservatives. His columns have appeared in The New York Post, National Review, and publications around the nation. He also serves as chairman of the Philadelphia Trust Bank.

His just-released book is “Narcissist Nation: Reflections of a Blue-State Conservative.”

In an exclusive interview with Newsmax.TV, Marlin discusses the thought behind the book’s title. “This is a nation that has had its elites through its entire history, who believe they are superior to the rest and should be running things, that they should be the collective managers of America,” he says.

“We’ve seen it with the Federalists, with Alexander Hamilton, John Adams. But this generation of elitists I define as narcissists, and I think the narcissist in chief is the president of the United States. He is the classic example of narcissism running a nation — a nation he’s running into the ground at the moment.

“Obama uses the ‘I’ word more than all the presidents have used it collectively in the 200 and some-odd years of our nation. I think he was greatly influenced by [Vietnam-era radical and domestic terrorist] Bill Ayers, who introduced him to the elite, so-called intellectual world of Hyde Park, Chicago.

Story contiunes below.

“Mr. Obama is a man who really never had a job until he became president. He had adoring crowds in Hyde Park who would sit there and hang on every word. He basically lectured people and assumed that when he finished talking you were convinced that he was right.

“He grew up in his adult life in that elitist world where they believe each other’s bombastic and empty rhetoric and think they have the answers to all the questions, the secret knowledge to run the world.”

Before running for public office, Obama worked as a community organizer, and “community organizers don’t do much. They sit and talk all day long,” Marlin says.

“So all his life he just talked, and that’s why as president he prefers to be disappearing from the White House, talking a lot, using the ‘I’ word, playing golf, because he’s not used to sitting behind a desk, being an executive and making executive decisions. That’s why he’s deferred so much to the Congress and let them make the disastrous decisions we’ve had. He’s a classic elitist.”

Asked if Obama could ever break out of that mindset, Marlin responds: “I think he is incapable of it. He thinks he can take an ideological square and put it into a circle. I don’t think he’s capable of making the leap to some practical solutions that can help get the jobs market going, get this economy going. I think he’s condemned to failure by his own ideological chains.”

Marlin writes in his book that the narcissist elite use Lincoln’s expression “government by the people” as a slogan to “humor the masses.”

He explains: “If you look at the extreme left elites, they really don’t have much use for democracy anymore because they’re afraid people will not vote their way. So they bite away at the democratic process by imposing upon us a managerial state where agencies and bureaucracies basically rule things by going around the ballot box.

“The most dangerous thing the Obama administration is doing is filling up government agencies all over the United States with like-minded people who will be running the administrative state. What Obama cannot get done through the Congress, through a democratically elected Congress, he’s trying to do administratively.”

As to who might be the biggest narcissist in Congress, Marlin opined: “I think Nancy Pelosi, being a San Francisco elitist, personifies that. This is a classic ideologue who is not interested in the practicality or the cost of a program, or its impact. It’s, ‘Let’s take our abstract formulas, let’s implement them, and worry about the impact later.’ I think she is the poster child for narcissism in Congress.”

The cover of Marlin’s new book features a caricature of President Obama staring lovingly at his own reflection in a pool of water below the Lincoln Memorial. Marlin says the image is “quite appropriate.”

via newsmax.com

Do you agree?

Panicky Democrats Seeking Primary Challenger to Obama

The move to challenge President Barack Obama in a Democratic primary is growing stronger by the day with House members openly pushing the case for an internal party battle.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who ran for the Democratic nomination in both 2004 and 2008 told CNN a challenge to Obama would “make him a better president.”

And Oregon Rep. Peter DeFazio told The Hill that more and more Democrats believe that Obama needs to be challenged. “It’s a common refrain, and it’s certainly common in my district among Democrats,” he said. “They want the guy back that they voted for.”

DeFazio said there are many Democrats in the House who agree with him, but would not name names.

Even former Clinton adviser and Democratic strategist James Carville today called for the president to 'wake up' and 'panic.' Carville called on Obama to clean house, fire staff that's advising him and return to Democractic principles that got him elected.

"This is what I would say to President Barack Obama: The time has come to demand a plan of action that requires a complete change from the direction you are headed," Carville wrote in a CNN column. 

His advice: "Fire somebody. No — fire a lot of people."

And already activist Ralph Nader has started to organize a slate of Democrats who could challenge the president — although he believes Obama will win reelection. His contention is that such a challenge would  “dramatically expand a robust discussion within the Democratic Party and among progressive voters across the country.”

Nader and others to the left of the party don't think that Obama has done enough on the environment, labor and health care.

If challengers debate him in Iowa and New Hampshire, Nader said earlier this year,  “it is harder for him to say no,” Nader said. “His strategists can say, ‘Don’t fight it, Barack; use it, revel in it; you’re good on your feet.”

Kucinich and DeFazio, meanwhile, reflected the view of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders who said during the debt ceiling negotiations in July “It would be a good idea if President Obama faced some primary opposition.

“There are millions of Americans who are deeply disappointed in the president, who believe that with regard to Social Security and other things, he said one thing as a candidate and is doing something very much else as a president — who cannot believe how weak he has been for whatever reason in negotiating with Republicans,” Sanders, who caucuses with the Democrats, said.

“It would do this country a good deal of service if people started thinking about candidates out there to begin contrasting a progressive agenda as opposed to what Obama believes he’s doing.”

The biggest problem for the Democrats is finding someone to challenge the President. Kucinich, who faces an uphill battle to keep a seat due to redistricting in Ohio, made it clear he was not willing to run for a third time.
Others are wary at the thought of being seen as the person who brought down the first African American president and fear a backlash from black voters who overwhelmingly still support Obama.

The clear favorite of Democrats is Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, but she has ruled out a challenge. Last week she told ABC News the chances of her running for the presidency are “below zero.”

“One of the great things about being secretary of state is I am out of politics. I am not interested in being drawn back into it by anybody,” Clinton added.

Obama’s chances of being reelected in November next year are being seen as increasingly remote by many in his party as Republicans repeatedly out-maneuver him.

The left believes the White House has moved too far to the center in accommodating Republican demands such as the extension of the Bush tax cuts, spending reductions and entitlement reform.

“Democrats haven’t been Democrats,” John Campbell of Iowa’s United Steelworkers told the National Journal. “The president’s been too willing to compromise.

“He has yielded and yielded and yielded, and what has it given us?” Campbell added.

Obama’s poll numbers continue to plunge. A new Bloomberg poll showed just 29 percent said they would definitely vote for him next year, with 43 percent saying they would definitely vote for someone else.

And the party’s devastating election defeat in a strong Democratic New York special election on Tuesday only reinforced the feeling that his chances of serving a second term in the White House are receding fast.

Just two weeks ago pollster Pat Caddell predicted that if the Democrats lost the seat previously held by scandal-scarred Anthony Weiner, it would provide “the kind of earthquake that would start shaking up people.

“If the president keeps going down, the job situation gets worse, if we have more problems this fall, at some point you are going to have people who say it’s worth showing the flag, it is worth making the case,” Caddell said.

But Democrats faithful to Obama point to history to show that a serious challenger could weaken the president’s chances in 2012 even further. The re-election attempts of Lyndon Johnson, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush were all undone by primary challenges, while Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush all won second terms after avoiding any serious internal party fight.

“I don’t think a primary would be healthy for the party nor our prospects in 2012.” House Progressive Caucus co-chairman Raul Grijalva said.

via newsmax.com

Interesting.

Chuck Woolery Takes on Taxing America’s Wealthy | Video | TheBlaze.com

Legendary television personality Chuck Woolery is well-known for hosting a slew of American game shows. From “Wheel of Fortune” to “Love Connection,” his wide-spanning exposure has made him a familiar face for decades.

And now, in a comical, new PSA of sorts, Woolery takes on the contentious issue of taxation. But rather than railing on with platitudes and long-winded lectures, the television veteran takes a humorous tone in his two and a half minute video.

Aside from calling billionaire Warren Buffett and actor Matt Damon out for their stances on taxation, he sarcastically encourages the wealthy to voluntarily pay higher taxes (he even gives them directions regarding where they can send monies to help lower the nation’s debt):

“To those suffering with the unbearable pain of obnoxiously high back balances or low-back pain from sitting on overstuffed wallets. I say forget waiting for Congress to do something. Let’s act now!”

Watch the video, below:

via theblaze.com

Yes.

Scarlett Johansson nude photos surface

Uh oh. Naked ScarJo photos?

Celeb sites including list of celebrities whose cellphones, computers and e-mail accounts were hacked. Now, sources are saying that ScarJo has contacted the FBI to get involved, as they were in March when Vanessa Hudgens was targeted.

Johansson's camp has not commented on the photos.

via content.usatoday.com

How could that happen?

The Amazing And Heartbreaking Story Of The CEO Who Lived And Rebuilt His Firm After 9/11: Howard Lutnick

Perhaps the only reason Cantor Fitzgerald's chief executive Howard W. Lutnick didn't perish during the September 11th terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center is thanks to his young son.

That Tuesday morning happened to be the day his five-year-old son Kyle started kindergarten.  He and his wife both wanted to take him to his first day at Horace Mann School.

Lutnick was in his son's classroom when he first heard news of the attacks that would forever change his life and his firm.

Cantor Fitzgerald occupied the 101st to the 105th floors of One World Trade Center -- just above the impact zone of the hijacked plane.

Cantor Fitzgerald suffered the greatest loss of life of any company.  The firm lost 658 of its 960 employees, almost two-thirds of its workforce. 

What's even more heartbreaking, Cantor Fitzgerald had a policy of hiring relatives, so those who lost someone at the firm likely lost more than one loved one.  

Lutnick lost his brother. 

Because the attacks had devastated Cantor Fitzgerald so badly, the firm was not expected to survive.  Remarkably, within a week the firm managed to get its trading back online. 

And Lutnick made a commitment to keep Cantor Fitzgerald going, despite the odds and the difficult choices that had to be made.

Lutnick made the controversial decision to cut off the paychecks to employees who were killed. 

Instead he gave the victim's families 25% of the firm's profits for five years, and 10 years of health insurance. 

He's been trying to fulfill his vow to keep the firm alive for the last decade. 

Cantor Fitzgerald certainly suffered a tremendous loss, but it might also be one of the greatest comeback stories on Wall Street. 

Today, Cantor Fitzgerald operates in its Midtown offices at 499 Park Avenue.  The new offices are located on the second floor, hundreds of floors below the firm's position in the World Trade Center.

With the 10th anniversary of the attacks, Lutnick admits he's still haunted by the memory of that day. 

He recently recalled a dream in an interview with The New York Post.

From the Post:

“The dream is: I was looking uptown, and I could see the plane, and I knew the plane was coming, and I knew that if I ran to the elevator, I could get out,” a tearful Lutnick began.

“Then, on the way to the elevator, I would always see people, and I would grab them, hysterically try to grab them and drag them to the elevator, [yelling] ‘We gotta go! We gotta go now!’ ” he said in a choked voice.

“And they always say something, argue, go slow or talk, and we never make it to the elevator, and just as the plane hits the building, I wake up in that sweaty nightmare fashion."

The Post reported the hard-charging CEO then broke down in tears. 

Cantor Fitzgerald lost more than any other firm on 9/11.

via businessinsider.com

The human spirit...

Rumsfeld Ends NYT Subscription Over 9/11 Column

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman’s most recent piece calling 9/11 “an occasion for shame,” has elicited the ire of former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to the point that he has canceled his office’s subscription to the publication, reports the Daily Caller.

“After reading Krugman’s repugnant piece on 9/11, I canceled my subscription to the New York Times this AM,” Rumsfeld’s office tweeted earlier this morning.

Rumsfeld’s chief of staff Keith Urbahn clarified that although the former Secretary of Defense had cancelled his personal subscription years ago, his office still held a subscription, that is until he read Krugman’s column.

“ . . . After reading Paul Krugman, he decided to cancel it. We may not be getting the New York Times anymore, but I doubt we’ll be missing much.”

The online-only column arguing that “the memory of 9/11 has been irrevocably poisoned,” appeared Sunday on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

via newsmax.com

Good for him.

Xplore Adventure Series 2011 Jeep Wrangler Review: Going Off Road, Sleeping Up Top | Rumble Seat by Dan Neil - WSJ.com

Dan Neil/The Wall Street Journal

The Jeep Xplore Wrangler has a tent penthouse.

A few years ago I drove from Bolivia to Tierra del Fuego in a stock Land Rover, a trip that involved a fair amount of futzing around with a backpacking tent and sleeping on the inhospitable ground. At a ferry crossing near the Carrera Austral I met two retired British army officers who were circumnavigating South America in a Land Rover Defender 110. This thing was the hot set-up: a camp stove integrated into the tailgate, a small foldout sink, a galley that pulled out on sliders and, best of all, a roof-mounted tent. After a long night of feasting and partying near Colhaique, Chile, these two simply unfolded the tent, climbed up the ladder and fell asleep, leaving me to unravel the mysteries of shock poles in the dark.

Make the mountains yours in an Xplore Adventure Series Jeep Wrangler, specially kitted out with features including a roof-mounted tent. According to Dan Neil on Lunch Break, hungry big cats won't stand a chance.

Keep your surreys with the fringe on top. I wanted an off-roader with a tent penthouse.

And now, as possibly the only soul in the 87,000-acre Henry W. Coe State Park (about 25 miles southeast of San Jose, Calif.), I'm glad I have one. Because, well, I'm not really alone. There are mountain lions out here. And I am unusually tasty, if I do say so myself.

The Off Duty 50

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Meet the Xplore Adventure Series 2011 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, a turnkey stump-jumper put together by Venchurs Inc., which is described in the press kit as a "Michigan-based parts distribution and fulfillment company." Apparently Venchurs is branching out from the exciting world of logistics, and who could blame it? For a price Venchurs will put more gung-ho in your new Jeep Wrangler, Grand Cherokee or Toyota FJ Cruiser. Ordered and delivered through new-car dealerships, Xplore vehicles come in three levels of intrepidity, called "stages." The vehicle I'm currently roosting above is a Stage 3, with a long list of rock-crawling equipment, including: bumpers and rock rails from ARB, the Australian specialty company; a Warn Winch; a Mopar 2.5-inch lift kit with Bilstein shocks; and 35-inch BF Goodrich KM2 off-road tires wrapped around some killer black-anodized Method wheels.

Photos: 'Camping Bliss'

View Slideshow

Dan Neil/The Wall Street Journal

Dan Neil tries the Jeep Xplore Wrangler, an off-roader with a tent penthouse.

And an ARB-brand tent. A wonderful, comfortable, high-above-mountain-lion-level tent.

This is not, I should say, a vehicle for hardest-core off-road enthusiasts, an independent, DIY crowd for whom much of the joy and camaraderie of backcountry driving is the months and years of ordering parts out of aftermarket catalogs, bolting them on and obsessing about the minutiae of air-locking differentials. It's also not unusual for enthusiasts to stuff a hunk of motor—something in the 5.7-liter Hemi V8 range, may I suggest?—under the latching hood for even more wall-climbing torque. The grittiest trail hoppers will actually put welders on their vehicles for in-field repairs and rack-mounted Jerry cans of fuel and water for those extended trips, postapocalypse.

I seriously doubt our Xplore Wrangler's set of fancy motorized power steps, which fold out when you open the door, would survive a trip up the Rubicon Trail.

Xplore Adventure Series 2011 Jeep Wrangler

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Dan Neil/The Wall Street Journal

• Powertrain: 3.8-liter overhead valve V6; four-speed automatic transmission; two-speed transfer case; part-time four-wheel drive.
• Horsepower/torque: 202 hp at 5,200 rpm/237 pound-feet at 4,000 rpm
• Length/weight: 173.4 inches/4,300 pounds (est.)
• Wheelbase: 116.0 inches
• EPA fuel economy: 15/19 mpg, city/highway
• Cargo capacity: 46.4 cubic feet (behind second-row seats)

With its embroidered floor mats and suede seats, the Xplore Wrangler (about $60,000) is aimed more at the well-heeled dilettante in a hurry, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. The world is full of interesting things to do and too little time to do them. After all, no one insists you build your own sailboat to be a real sailor. And the fact is, you could spend months kitting out a Wrangler and not do as good a job as Venchurs has done. You wouldn't get the utterly cool matte-green paint job, either.

The Xplore Wrangler certainly feels authentic on the highway, with quadraphonic tire roar blasting from the BFGs' deep treads and a serious lack of top speed, thanks to the vehicle's aerodynamics. Indeed, the roof-mounted tent has approximately the same effect on highway speed as dragging a grand piano. For 2012 Jeep has replaced its hoary 3.8-liter overhead valve V6 with a 3.6-liter, 285-horsepower V6 (up 83 hp) as well as a five-speed automatic transmission, replacing the outdated four-speed auto box. The extra ponies and gear ratio will be welcome.

But once I wheel the truck onto Coe State Park's seemingly endless dirt roads, the Xplore Wrangler finds its footing. As off-roaders know, even a bone-stock Jeep Wrangler will go up, through and over just about anything you're likely to encounter and leave prissy Euro trucks like the Porsche Cayenne for dead on the trail. This thing has some 4x4 chops, for sure.

The roof-mounted tent takes some getting used to. Getting the heavy vinyl covering off the tent is itself a bit of a chore. The aluminum ladder, by which one levers the tent from the folded position, tends to bind up (this thing is brand new). If I didn't have a Leatherman tool with me to pry the ladder's latches apart I would never get tent stowed again. I would also note that the thick foam rubber mattress tends to get wedged between the tent's floor panels so that, while folding it back up, I have to shove the mattress in up to my elbow. I have visions of cutting my trapped arm off with the aforementioned Leatherman, "127 Hours" style. Here, kitty, kitty.

And then, camping bliss. I pull the Jeep onto a high, grass-amber hill just as sunset begins to purple the park's ridgelines. The tent deploys more cooperatively the second time, and within a minute or so I have set up camp. With my feet hanging out of the tent and reconstituted beef stew in my cup, I watch the stars come out. The coyotes yelp and the mountain lions, if they're out there, stalk off, disappointed.

via online.wsj.com

Cool.