Bulldog Live! is hosted by "Bulldog" Brian Tilton weekdays 10am-Noon on WTPL 107.7FM "The Pulse" and worldwide at www.wtplfm.com.
Each day on Bulldog Live!, we're engaged in the issues that affect you right here in New Hampshire. We cover what's happening in topics and current events in your back yard, in Concord or in Washington, DC. We'll talk about what's affecting your wallet or pocketbook, and we're looking out for you with consumer safety alerts and fraud warnings.
Bulldog gets right to the heart of the matter through interaction with callers, expert analysis and opinion, tips and more! Whether he's talking with the leader of a local animal shelter or governor of New Hampshire, "Bulldog" Brian Tilton is talking LIVE locally on The Pulse.
If you miss a day, you miss a lot!
Stories, Topics & Links to Recent Guests:
The following is a highlight of some of the many guests, organizations and topics discussed on "Bulldog Live!"-
May 17, 2012 The wheels are coming off the wind energy gravy train
A common claim in the news stories is that we are actually an oil-and-gas funded entity. They’ve tied us to the Koch Brothers. We all wish. Apparently they cannot believe that individuals and local groups can think for themselves and impact public policy, without a puppet master telling us what to do and say.
Greece sets June 17 for new elections
So the small cuts made in 2011 could have perhaps been tolerated. It is the loss of sovereignty by Athens that was unacceptable to the people.
One high school, 25 valedictorians
The windfall of achievement does create a bit of a conundrum for school officials. With as many as 25 valedictorians, who gives the graduation commencement speech? And will there even be a salutatorian? A school official from Marion County said having one of those would be "silly...especially in this case."
Tased and Confused: Will Supreme Court Hear Excessive Force Case?
Malaika Brooks was seven months pregnant when Seattle police cited her for going 32 in a school zone where the speed limit was 20 miles per hour. Brooks repeatedly refused to sign the speeding citation because she mistakenly believed that it would be an admission of guilt.
Study: 96% of restaurant entrees exceed USDA limits
A whopping 96% of main entrees sold at top U.S. chain eateries exceed daily limits for calories, sodium, fat and saturated fat recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, reports the 18-month study conducted by the Rand Corp. and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Surprise! SUVs are more popular than ever
If you thought the "SUV craze" was over, you're wrong. Very wrong. Market share for SUVs in recent months is the largest it has ever been.
Greece downgraded deeper into junk
The credit rating on Greece's government debt was downgraded deeper into junk bond territory on Thursday.
IRS Tax Loophole
Illegal aliens are taking full advantage of "free money" and the IRS knows all about it but yet is doing NOTHING to stop this $4.2 billion fraud!
May 16, 2012 Obama worth as much as $10 million
The disclosure statement lists assets and liabilities in dollar ranges, so pinpointing the president's net worth is difficult. His assets appear to tally between $2.6 million and $9.9 million. He holds a mortgage on his Chicago home of $500,000 to $1 million.
ABC: Zimmerman's injuries detailed in Trayvon Martin case
George Zimmerman, the volunteer neighborhood watchman from Florida charged in the killing of unarmed black teen Trayvon Martin, could face federal hate crime charges, WFTV out of Orlando reports.
Over 25,000 airport security breaches reported to Congress
Specifically, TSA had not conducted vulnerability assessments for 87 percent of the approximately 450 U.S. airports regulated by TSA at that time. GAO recommended that TSA develop a comprehensive risk assessment and evaluate the need to assess airport vulnerabilities nationwide and a national strategy to guide efforts to strengthen airport security.
Senate passes $140 billion reauthorization of Export-Import Bank, ALG responds
“In the end, there were just 20 senators, including as few as 19 Republicans, who stood against the corporate welfarism that is the Ex-Im Bank. This is just another government subsidy program for which there is overwhelming bipartisan support for — 78 senators of both parties apparently have no problem giving an additional $40 billion of lending capacity to a bank that gave millions of guaranteed loans to Solyndra. No problem with a bank predominantly used by one aerospace company that gives foreign companies an edge over U.S. competitors in the global economy.
President Me
Heritage Distinguished Fellow Ed Meese who served as President Reagan’s Attorney General said: “They should not use the biographies of past presidents as campaign vehicles. What they have done is to spoil the integrity of the historical narrative. At the very least, the Reagan biography should be restored to the accurate version provided by the White House Historical Association. I’m sure those associated with other past presidents would feel the same.”
Three Ways ObamaCare Hurts Women (And Men!)
First of all, "no-cost" services are actually extremely costly. When individuals pay for themselves, everyone buys what she needs and no more. Mammograms and contraception are actually among some of the cheapest health products available. Women can certainly afford them on their own, but when we all try to pay together, guess what... we over-consume and pay more. In fact, we encourage health providers and drug companies to raise their prices, since hiding the final cost to consumers (who are also taxpayers and will end up paying for these things one way or another) discourages price competition and artificially inflates demand. You may have heard the expression, "There's no such thing as a free lunch." Well, there's also no such thing as "no-cost preventative services." The costs are simply hidden (and higher).
May 15, 2012 Illegal alien caught working as airport security supervisor with stolen ID
The police source stated that the illegal alien -- whose real name is believed to be Bimbo Olumuyiwa Oyewole -- was arrested Monday in his home in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The 54-year old Nigerian had assumed the identity of American citizen Jerry Thomas, who was a murder victim in 1992 in an unsolved homicide in New York City.
As the Boomers Head for the Barn
The fruits of that immense investment? The illegitimacy rate, dropout rate, crime rate and incarceration rate have set new records, as the test scores of high school students have plummeted to new lows.
Figure in brokerage failure out as adviser to EPA
Bradley I. Abelow, a key figure in the collapse of brokerage house MF Global Holdings Ltd., has left his post as chairman of an outside board providing financial advice to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Why Greece must leave the Euro
It seems now only psychosis keeps Greece in the Eurozone. By every discernible metric, all of the purported benefits of the Euro have proven false. True, Greece did get to borrow cheaply for its bloated public sector pension and health system for a few years, but that situation turned out to be only a temporary sojourn through Candyland.
Obama’s Jobless Rate Reality
Since Barack Obama took office, America’s civilian non-institutionalized population has expanded by more than 8 million people — however there are 319,000 fewer Americans working today than in January 2009. As a result of this failure to create jobs, America’s labor participation rate is at a 30-year low of 63.6 percent — and still falling.
Ron Smith Wins Emmy
This is the local arm of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, which oversees the awards that honor excellence in the television industry.
Obama Adds Himself To Official White House Biographies Of Former Presidents
The Heritage Foundation’s Rory Cooper tweeted that Obama had casually dropped his own name into Ronald Reagan’s official biography on www.whitehouse.gov, claiming credit for taking up the mantle of Reagan’s tax reform advocacy with his “Buffett Rule” gimmick. My first thought was, he must be joking. But he wasn’t—it turns out Obama has added bullet points bragging about his own accomplishments to the biographical sketches of every single U.S. president since Calvin Coolidge (except, for some reason, Gerald Ford).
The Impotence of Stimulus Spending
The NBC Investigative Unit has raised questions about two grants totaling nearly $1.5 million dollars distributed to the University of California San Francisco. The money was part of the federal stimulus program and went to studies into the erectile dysfunction of overweight middle aged men and the accurate reporting of someone’s sexual history.
The Tide Is Turning.....
One Dollar of Capital simply says that you cannot issue unbacked loans. Period. You can lend against an asset, but only to it's immediate liquidation value in the marketplace. That's it.
Euro Officials Begin to Weigh Greek Exit as Euro Weakens
Meetings brokered by Greek President Karolos Papoulias were set to continue today after Syriza, the leading anti-bailout party, rejected a unity government following inconclusive elections May 6. That moved the country closer to a new vote, with at least five European central bankers broaching the once- taboo topic of its exit from the euro.
Eurozone: If Greece goes ...
The idea of a Greek exit from the eurozone is no longer fanciful. After 70 per cent of voters in elections on May 6 supported parties that rejected the terms under which €174bn of international bailout loans were offered to Athens, many investors now see a fissure in the 17-member eurozone as increasingly likely. European governments are furiously thinking through the various scenarios, while still urging Athens to stick to its agreements on austerity and reform. If those hopes are dashed and Greece goes, what happens next?
No border dispute here: Vt., NH reaffirm boundary
State laws require the two to meet every seven years to reaffirm the border. The laws followed a 1935 U.S. Supreme Court decision that settled what had been a bitter dispute.
Ally unit ResCap files for bankruptcy
ResCap, the nation's fifth-largest mortgage servicer, holds 2.4 million U.S. residential loans with an outstanding principal of $374 billion. Of that amount, 68 percent is guaranteed by government-sponsored companies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Ally said it has invested $10.3 billion in ResCap since 2007 as it has struggled to free itself from its mortgage liabilities.
Ron Paul to stop spending money on primaries
"Our campaign will continue to work in the state convention process. We will continue to take leadership positions, win delegates and carry a strong message to the Republican National Convention that liberty is the way of the future," Paul said.
More TSA lies
Obnoxious agency is caught fibbing to Congress again.
REPORT: Rev. Jeremiah Wright Says He was Offered $150,000 to be Silent in Months Leading Up to 2008 Presidential Election; Met Privately with Barack Obama
The New York Post’s Edward Klein reports that Rev. Jeremiah Wright – Barack Obama’s pastor for more than 20 years – told him in an interview that he was offered $150,000 to stop speaking publicly in the months leading up to the 2008 Presidential Election. In fact, Wright told Klein he met personally with Obama where Obama directly asked him to stop speaking publicly – “I really wish you wouldn’t do any more public speaking until after the November election.”
President Obama's former doctor claims that the president lacks passion, feeling and humanity
Scheiner said that the Obama administration neglected the advice of real physicians and instead decided to let political operatives craft Obama’s signature health care law. People like Obama’s former chief of staff Rahm Emanuel’s brother, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, were the kinds of medical people that the White House consulted.
Reps. King, Rogers: Leak of Foiled al-Qaida Plot 'Criminal'
The leak put lives at risk and the operation had to be cut short, King said. "It sends a signal to countries willing to work with us that we can't be trusted to keep a secret if in fact we are the ones who leaked it out."
The Right To Marry
Third parties who attempt to intrude themselves into such contracts, whether they be your neighbors, Grandma Harriett, or government bureaucrats, are intruders, trespassers, and just plain meddlesome busybodies. And that includes marital contracts.
May 11, 2012 SEC and other regulators 'focused' on JPMorgan's $2B loss
Adds Paul Schatz, president of Heritage Capital: "The story wouldn't be so bad if it was any other bank but Jamie's. He set the standard post crisis and now an awful lot of investors are going to question his risk management and if this is the first cockroach."
Time to terminate Big Wind subsidies
Informed and inspired by a loose but growing national coalition of groups opposed to more giveaways with no scientifically proven net benefits, thousands of citizens called their senators and representatives — and rounded up enough Nay votes to run four different bills aground. For once, democracy worked.
84% Don't Think The United States Should Bailout Europe
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 84% of American Adults do not think the United States should provide funding to help bailout France and other European countries. Only eight percent (8%) think the United States should provide bailout funding to Europe.
Stopping the Largest Tax Hike in History
Speaker Boehner warned that if Congress does not take action soon, “We’re going to have this mess all stacked up until after the election. And you want to talk about a train wreck? You’re talking about a big one.” He’s right. The American people can’t afford the $494 billion Taxmageddon train wreck, and the time is ripe this summer for Congress to do something to prevent it.
Why The JPM Trade Matters
We continue to see example after example that even after 2008 there is no regulatory supervision that matters over these firms. The only way to prevent bad behavior such as this is to make it unlawful and enforce the posting of the bank's capital against all unbacked positions, without exception.
Facebook Co-Founder Saverin Gives Up U.S. Citizenship Before IPO
Saverin, 30, joins a growing number of people giving up U.S. citizenship, a move that can trim their tax liabilities in that country. The Brazilian-born resident of Singapore is one of several people who helped Mark Zuckerberg start Facebook in a Harvard University dorm and stand to reap billions of dollars after the world’s largest social network holds its IPO.
The Auto Industry Bailouts Have Been A Disaster
The auto bailouts were great…if you’re an auto industry executive or a member of the United Autoworkers Union. For the taxpayers and the economy, it’s been a failure.
Congressional committee considers criminal referral for TSA
According to investigators, warehouse managers admitted that they had disposed of roughly 1,300 pieces of equipment in the two days between the time when TSA gave Congress its inventory and when Congressional investigators arrived in Dallas in order to make the actual contents of the warehouse match the previously-provided records. Warehouse workers were brought in at 6 a.m., ahead of their usual shifts, in order to remove the equipment before congressional investigators arrived, the report suggested.
Florida foreclosure case could slam banks
"If the Florida court takes a strong stand, it sends a strong signal to the mortgage servicing industry in the rest of the country," says Cox. Judges in other states could start penalizing banks with sanctions and overturning foreclosure suits, he says.
Job training without jobs is like dog walking with no dogs: useless
The issue with that strategy, however, is that the $15.4 billion of taxpayer money that Obama has given to nearly 50 federal job training programs as highlighted by the Wall Street Journal are mostly getting wasted on things like exaggerated employee salaries for those responsible for running the programs, and casino trips.
Obama’s Blunders: Social Security Funding Flaws
Our major national program Social Security is supposed to protect people from retiring without money. Yet it has a slight problem. The Obama Administration has been handling it blunderously! ALG’s Robert Romano explains.
Northern Pass’s Appraisal Expert Recants and Zaps Northern Pass
Unfortunately for Northern Pass, the esteemed Mr. Chalmers has, shall we say, supplemented his views with new research more relevant to New Hampshire. Chalmers just released a new study that corrects some of the flaws in the earlier research. The new research looks at transmission line effects in Montana (a state with some features in common with New Hampshire) and assesses the specific circumstances of individual properties. Based on this new approach, Chalmers found value declines of up to 30%-50% for residential land in Montana affected by HVDC lines. Chalmers also found these properties take up to two to five times longer to sell than comparable unaffected properties.
Flashback: Obama’s Sordid High School Past
While the Washington Post has been diligently digging into relatively innocent high school pranks by Mitt Romney, they’ve spent the last few years diligently ignoring President Obama’s far more controversial high school days.
What austerity?
Hollande’s idea of “growth” is just more government spending and waste in a new wrapper — more education funding, more pensions, more health care, and other soft socialist programs. Because the illness is being misdiagnosed, the solutions being proposed only threaten to exacerbate the symptoms.
Obama vs Federal Inmate 11593-051
That was evident when Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV)- former Governor and now Senator running for re-election - wouldn't even tell reporters if he voted for President Obama in the primary.
Meet Keith Judd, the Superhero Inmate Winning Delegates Against Barack Obama
According to the inspiringly thorough VoteSmart, Judd's criminal record is distracting us from an impressive resume. He's credited as "Founder, World Peace Through Musical Communications Skills, 1963-present," and "Member, Federation of Super Heroes, 1976-1982." (We all remember what happened in 1982. Don't make me describe it again.)
Economy: Blue States Worse Than Red Under Obama
But when it comes to the economic recovery, there has been a clear difference. It turns out that blue states have done worse economically than have red states under President Obama, according to an IBD analysis of various government economic data.
Tea Party Recaptures 2010 Momentum
Democratic fundraisers, activists, supporters, and even politicians alike have somehow collectively lapsed into the sentiment that the president is going to be reelected and that we have a good shot to take the House back while holding the Senate. I ask: What are you smoking? What are you drinking? What are you snorting or just what in the hell are you thinking?
House to vote on Trayvon amendment
"'Shoot-first' laws have already cost too many lives. In Florida alone, deaths due to self-defense have tripled since the law was enacted. Federal money shouldn't be spent supporting states with laws that endanger their own people," said Reps. Raul Grijalva of Arizona and Keith Ellison of Minnesota, the two Democrats who are offering the legislation. "This is no different than withholding transportation funds from states that don't enforce seat-belt laws."
American arms race heats up at local police level
So what exactly is the total price tag of this arms build-up? It’s hard to say. A FEMA report shows that there is little federal government oversight over what arms equipment is purchased and where it is going. Even local and state governments keep inconsistent records of these purchases, making it especially difficult to know the scale of arms racking.
Health Advocacy Group To Obama: You Should Practice What You Preach On Health Eating
The Obama administration has spent a raft of taxpayer dollars on government policies aimed at taxing and regulating us into better health. Yet even as the President – and the First Lady – seek to manipulate our personal diets, what they eat doesn’t exactly live up to the standards they set for the rest of us.
Postal Service Changes
"The plan would keep the existing Post Office in place, but with modified retail window hours to match customer use," the Postal Service explained, hoping this would dull opposition in the Congress to plans to cut costs.
Obama and gay marriage: What he's risking in an election year
The move is likely to hurt him in the South. One in three Southern swing voters are strongly opposed to gay marriage, a recent Pew Research Center poll found. Just this week, North Carolina, which Obama carried narrowly in 2008, approved one of the toughest bans on same-sex unions in the country. If the switch on same-sex marriage ends up costing him states in the fall, North Carolina will be the first place to look.
324,000 Women Dropped Out of Labor Force in Last Two Months--As Number of Women Not in Labor Force Hits Historic High
The number of women added to those not in the labor force in March and April (488,000) exceeds the number of women who dropped out of the labor force during those two months (324,000) because women who newly turned 16, or left the military, or were released from prison or another institution during those two months and then did not seek a job were added to the ranks of those not in the labor force.
Dinosaur Farts Contributed to Global Warming, Study Suggests
150 million years ago, dinosaurs roamed the Earth and the average temperature was about 18 degrees hotter than it is today. A new study by British scientists connects the two, arguing that flatulence from sauropods could have produced 520 million tons of methane annually, enough to partially explain the warm climate, the BBC reported.
May 8, 2012 Socialism Rises Again
Hollande, by contrast, promised to raise taxes on big corporations and wealthy individuals, implement a top rate tax of 75 percent, increase public spending by 20 billion euros, raise the minimum wage, hire 60,000 more teachers, and lower the retirement age from 62 to 60 for some workers. He says he is “president of the youth of France” and believes that government stimulus, not cutting spending, is the right way to achieve economic growth.
Democracy reborn in Athens?
This is a close-up view of what happens politically to a country that is at ground zero of the sovereign debt crisis. In short, traditional political loyalties are unraveling, leading to the rise of radical third parties that want to buck the status quo.
If HHS Issues A Pork Mandate, Will Jewish Rest Homes And Muslim Soup Kitchens Comply?
Try to imagine an HHS Pork Mandate applicable to Jewish rest homes and Muslim soup kitchens. Surely, these small religious minorities would be required to go along with the federal government for the greater good. Health is health, after all. And that’s what HHS is all about.
Parents: Rule’s half-baked
Bake sales, the calorie-laden standby cash-strapped classrooms, PTAs and booster clubs rely on, will be outlawed from public schools as of Aug. 1 as part of new no-nonsense nutrition standards, forcing fundraisers back to the blackboard to cook up alternative ways to raise money for kids.
Obama team hits Romney response to 'treason' comment
During an event near Cleveland yesterday, a woman asked Romney if he thinks President Obama is "operating outside the structure of our Constitution," and "should be tried for treason."
Romney Response to Woman who Says Obama is Operating Outside the Constitution: “I believe the Constitution was not just Brilliant, but Probably Inspired”
Here is video of Gov. Mitt Romney at a Town Hall Meeting where he clearly set forth his view that the U.S. Constitution is “not just brilliant, but probably inspired.” Romney affirmed he believes the same about the Declaration of Independence. He had been asked what he would do to restore respect for the Constitution and the three branches of Government by a woman who said it is clear Barack Obama is operating “outside the structure of our Constitution.” She then agreed, as an aside, with someone in the audience, saying “Yeah, I do agree he should be tried for treason.” The Left is outraged that Romney did not address the “treason” statement. That was not the question the woman asked him. He responded to her question, and did a very good job.
'Vulnerabilities' found with airport body scanners
Wired has found flaws with the body scanners before. "Even the Government Accountability Office — Congress' investigative arm — said the devices might be ineffective," Wired says.
Why does President Obama take so much credit for killing Bin Laden?
America knows who deserves the credit for killing Osama Bin Laden - United States Navy SEALs and the American intelligence community. Join with Veterans for a Strong America and let President Obama know who really deserves the credit.
Utah woman finds cocaine in tampon box from discount store
Now just imagine the following scenario she is driving home with this package in her car (she didn't the coke was in the box) and she gets pulled over for some traffic infraction. Officers runs the routine questions and license check. He comes back and says "this road has a lot of drug traffickers on it, do you mind if I take a look in your vehicle? She's reluctant knowing that she is not a drug dealer. He asks her "do you have any drugs in your car?", she replies "no, of course not!". He says "well if you have nothing to hide, then you mind of I take a look?", she is hesitant as she is late pick up her child from school and is getting nervous. The officer mistakes her nervousness as trying to hide something. She asks if she can go as she is now running late and asks if she is free to go and he says he's called out a drug sniffing dog. 10 minutes later, the dog shows up and the officer asks her to step out of the car. He again asks her if she has any drugs and she emphatically denies it for the millionth time. The officer then explains that he is going to run the dog around the car and if the dog doesn't detect anything, she is free to go, but if he spots something, then she is in big trouble and asks her again to fess up to having any drugs in the vehicle because if she is honest about it now, he will do what he can to "help her out". Again, she says I don't have anything, I never touched drugs a day in my life, nobody in family does drugs nor deals with them. With that, she has now convinced herself that everything will be fine and she'll be on her way in just a minute after the dog finds nothing. So the officer then tells the other officer to begin the sweep of the car. Withing 10 seconds, the dog detects a scent. With that, the officer then explains that the dog detected something and that he is now going to search her vehicle and she might as well just tell him where the drugs are right now or he will tear the car up and make a big mess. Now she starts to cry and says do whatever you need to do. After pulling out the bags and having the dog sniff the bags within a few short moments, the dog detects the package, the officer opens it and finds the cocaine. She is now off to jail.
But this all could have been avoided if she just consented to the search right away, right?
CIA agents who thwarted al-Qaeda plot discover new bomb designs
This thwarted terrorist plot revealed a modernized version of the "underwear bomb" that failed to detonate aboard a plane arriving at Detroit International Airport on Christmas Day 2009. This upgraded bomb was designed to be used in a passenger's underwear, but contained a more a refined detonation system, U.S. law enforcement bomb technicians told the Law Enforcement Examiner.
Rep. King suggests administration may have misled public on bomb plot, calls for review
Yet in late April, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security sent out an intelligence bulletin claiming there was no specific, credible threat to the U.S. homeland in the run-up to the one-year anniversary of Usama bin Laden's death. The bulletin noted that terror groups would see an attack on the anniversary as a "symbolic victory," and warned about the danger of "lone-wolf" attacks around that time.
May 7, 2012 Balsams blunder: What's going on with the resort?
Hebert and Dagesse are risking a lot of money, and maybe they have a great plan for bringing the hotel back. But the way they are going about things is raising a lot of questions. They might want to explain themselves before they generate more ill will.
A Better Life for Julia
What’s missing from this picture? The harm that big government policies inflict on people like Julia. From the moment of birth, thanks to Washington’s thirst for more spending, Julia is burdened by tens of thousands of dollars in debt. Despite the federal government subsidizing college tuition (including increasing Pell grants by 475 percent since 1980), costs of attending college have increased 439 percent since 1982. Under the president’s health care plan, millions of families will be dropped from their employer-based health care plans and dumped into government-run exchanges. What about the promise of jobs under the president’s economy? America has had 39 straight months of unemployment over 8 percent. And when it comes to retirement, Julia is in big trouble. According to the government’s estimates, Social Security will be bankrupt by 2033 unless Congress enacts serious reforms.
GOP filmmaker O'Keefe says he faces subpoena in N.H.
O'Keefe said a New Hampshire official attempted to serve him in person with a criminal subpoena the previous day, but did not describe the circumstances. As a result, O'Keefe said his lawyer has advised him not to set foot in New Hampshire.
Treasury Eyes $5B Share Sale at AIG
AIG said Sunday that the U.S. plans to sell 163.9 million shares at $30.50 each, translating to a $5 billion transaction. As part of a previously-announced deal, AIG said it will buy 65.6 million shares.
Barack Obama’s Campaign Headquarters Staff May Be So White It Violates The Civil Rights Act
In other words, if you hire a bunch of people without thinking about their race or gender or anything other than their qualifications to do the job you’re hiring for and the outcome is some gender/ethnic makeup that doesn’t meet some quota as defined by gender/ethnic makeup in the population as a whole you could be a big, fat racist.
May 6, 2012
Mitt Romney issues Ohio challenge to President Obama
Mr. President, while campaigning for the presidency nearly four years ago, you declared that you were "absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal." Mr. President, the American people are tired of the grandiose promises. And they are even more tired of the paltry results.
Arizona governor signs Planned Parenthood funding ban
Arizona already bars use of public money for abortions except to save the life of the mother. But anti-abortion legislators and other supporters of the bill say the broader prohibition is needed to ensure no public money indirectly supports abortion services.
GSA Tax Breaks
Now, let's be clear - there are agencies in the federal government who are allowed by the Congress to collect certain fees, duties and taxes and use them for operations of that department. But judging by the reaction of a key Republican on the Ways and Means panel - which is the chief tax writing committee in the House - the GSA does not have this power.
Video: Uncle Sam’s unlimited cell-phone plan
Say — how’d you like to get a free cellphone? No strings attached, no contracts, and no payments ever. Don’t stop at one phone, either — get two, three, five, ten, twenty or more! The cost is covered by people who are dumb enough to pay for their own cell phones … like you and me. We’ve been doing it for a decade or more, and it’s now costing us over a billion dollars a year, as Rep. Tim Griffin (R-AR) argues as he fights to bring the program to a halt:
Attacker in Afghan army uniform kills NATO soldier
The alliance did not provide more details, saying an investigation was underway. It also did not disclose the nationality of the service member killed. NATO usually waits for member nations to provide those details.
Many veterans still looking for employers 'eager' to hire
His predicament is shared by tens of thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, who face a rocky transition from the reliability of military life to the volatility and limited job prospects of a nation emerging from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
U.S. abandons consulate site in Afghanistan, citing security risks
Had the Mazar-e Sharif consulate opened this year as planned, it would have been the second of four the U.S. government intends to set up. The United States has a consulate in the western Afghan city of Herat and is assessing options for the three other cities where it intends to keep a permanent diplomatic presence: Kandahar in the south, Jalalabad in the east and Mazar-e Sharif.
Report: Law on credit-reporting fails consumers
The newspaper's yearlong investigation collected and analyzed nearly 30,000 consumer complaints filed with the Federal Trade Commission over 30 months beginning in 2009 and with attorneys general in 24 states in 2009 and 2010. The newspaper said it requested complaints from all 50 attorneys general, but some states don't make the records public, some did not cooperate and others charged fees that were too high.
Milt Friedman: The Free Lunch Myth
Here’s video of Milt Friedman talking about the free lunch myth, or as Bastiat put it, the “fiction whereby everyone believes he can live at the expense of everybody else.”
Quinnipiac Poll: Swing-State Voters Think the Supreme Court Should Overturn All of Obamacare
In Pennsylvania, where Obama leads Romney by eight points, 46 percent of voters said that the Supreme Court should strike down the law, compared to 43 percent who did not. In Florida and Ohio, a majority of voters favored a SCOTUS strike-down: by a 51-38 margin in Florida, and a 51-37 one in Ohio. The poll appears to have sampled Democrats and Republicans in representative proportions.
May 5, 2012 2 Arrested In Connection To Concord Robberies
Kevin Dube, 27, and Jillian Reynolds, 23, both of Concord, robbed a Circle K Irving Station and Quality Cash Market Friday, according to investigators.
Accused 9/11 Mastermind To Be Arraigned
Technically, once the five are arraigned, the court has met the constitutional requirement for a speedy trial. "The reality of course is that no one at Gitmo is getting a speedy trial. The rules are written as such to run the clock from the time that the charges are actually preferred or sworn, and of course that process has sort of started and stopped and started and stopped several times," Puckett said.
Oil in Free Fall as Economic Worries Spur Selling
Oil prices were in free fall Friday as worries about a weakening global economy combine with seemingly ample supplies and less fear of a confrontation with Iran.
Japan on Track to Overtake China as Top Foreign Owner of U.S. Debt
In other words, in just eight months, the Japanese increased their net holdings of U.S. government debt by $214.3 billion while the Chinese decreased theirs by $128.1 billion. On average, from the end of June through February (the last month for which data has been reported), the Japanese have closed the gap between their holdings of U.S. debt and China's holdings of U.S. debt by about $53.13 billion per month.
The Vanishing Workers
Still, the recent fall is so sharp and surprising that aging baby boomers can't be the entire reason. Another explanation is surely the slow pace of job growth, which means fewer opportunities to entice what economists call the "marginal" worker back into the labor force. Older workers who've lost a longtime job may find themselves unemployable in a rapidly changing economy. They may retire earlier than they might have preferred.
School Says “Jesus” Shirt is Hate Speech
A Canadian high school student was suspended for a week because wore a t-shirt promoting his Christian beliefs and he was told if he wears it again – he could be suspended for the remainder of the school year.
May 4, 2012 Jobs Report: The Big Suck
The last positive number we printed on this series, and that was only 480,000 jobs net of population growth, was in December of 2006. There is no way to sustain the size of the government, say much less its growth given the six-year unbroken record of losses.
Weak Economy Disappoints Again
The latest example of the president’s recycling of his Administration’s failed ideas came in a speech this week to the Building and Construction Trades Department Conference. Obama used the opportunity to pander to his Big Labor allies and called for more federal spending on infrastructure as a panacea for job creation, claiming that his proposals would put “hundreds of thousands of construction workers back to work repairing our roads, our bridges, schools, transit systems.”
Why Obama can't match the Reagan recovery
But the survey also indicated that nearly six in ten still say that conditions are bad and that most people don't believe the economy has started to recover.
Treasury postpones decision on floating interest rates
With interest rates already at record lows, does it make sense for the Treasury to put American taxpayers into an adjustable rate payment plan? Isn’t that risky?
Source: Zimmerman says Trayvon circled his SUV, frightened him
At one point, about halfway through the four-minute call, he told the dispatcher, "Now he's just staring at me. … Now he's coming towards me. He's got his hand in his waistband. … He's coming to check me out."
Spirit's $100 carry-on bag fee just the tip of the iceberg
Spirit says that beginning Nov. 6 it will charge $100 for fliers who pay for a carry-on bag at the boarding gate. That's a big jump from the $45 the airline is charging now at airport gates and means it could cost $200 round-trip to carry a bag on board. Most airlines don't charge to carry on a bag, but last month Allegiant Air began charging up to $35, depending on the route.
New Hampshire is a Good Example for Washington Borrowers
Look at state debt. From 2007 to 2011, state debt rose 43.5%. The previous two four years cycles, it rose by 8% and 4%. Put another way, the annual increase from 1999-2007 was 1.4%. From 2007-2011 it was 9.5%. So we borrowed to balance. Nice work in Washington, unusual in New Hampshire.
FAA Rips Delta Passenger for Filming Bird Strike
Cardone, a Los Angeles business consultant and frequent flier, will not be fined, but the letter "will be made a matter of record for a period of two years," the FAA said.
TSA Reveals Passenger Complaints … Four Years Later
For example, amid the brouhaha over the agency's introduction of intensive full-body pat-downs in 2004, I requested complaints and discovered an untold story of the pain and humiliation suffered by rape victims and breast cancer survivors. In one incident that I found from that request — while I was a reporter at the Dallas Morning News — a woman complained that a screener asked her to remove her prosthetic breast to be swabbed for explosives.
More and more Democrats now worry sweeping law may hurt them at polls
The cost is soaring even before most of its provisions take effect in 2014. The Congressional Budget Office now calculates the 10-year cost will be $1.76 trillion, nearly twice the $940 billion estimated when the law was enacted two years ago. In an era of ballooning federal deficits, these costs are simply unacceptable.
Citizen catches speeding cops, officials on video
"These cops are not learning their lesson,'' he wrote in an email to the Sun Sentinel after videotaping the Sunny Isles police vehicle. "Wish I can have a car to take home and pay for my gas as it reaches $5 a gallon.''
TransCanada Files Amended Bid for Keystone
The application uses already reviewed routes through Montana and South Dakota and will add an “alternative” path through Nebraska determined by the state’s Department of Environmental Quality, according to a statement from the Calgary-based company today.
Poor America - P a n o r a m a [B B C]
With one and a half million (1.5 million) American children now homeless, reporter Hilary Andersson meets the school pupils who go hungry in the richest country on Earth. From those living in the storm drains under Las Vegas to the tent cities now springing up around the United States, P a n o r a m a finds out how the poor are surviving in America and asks whatever happened to the supposed 'government' and the Real People in charge - those who you 'don't see' pulling on the strings; and their vision and welfare for the country.
Massachusetts Can’t Rely on the Northern Pass Proposal as a Short-Term Climate Solution
Last December, CLF identified a significant problem with Massachusetts’s “Clean Energy and Climate Plan for 2020”: it adopted and relied on Northern Pass’s sales pitch that the project will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 5 million tons annually and then claimed all those emissions reductions for Massachusetts. After examining the basis for the 5 million ton figure, we concluded that – no way around it – the figure was just wrong; it was calculated on the false assumption – belied by Hydro-Québec’s own data – that imported hydropower has no greenhouse gas emissions. The way Massachusetts was relying on Northern Pass was dubious for other reasons, including the unfairness of Massachusetts claiming all the benefits of a project that will not be located in the state and the fact that there is no concrete commitment regarding how much Northern Pass power Massachusetts electric customers will actually receive.
May 3, 2012 Drug war will change course in 2013
For starters, it was the first time that such a large group of heads of state ventured into that once taboo area. And there are several other non-related factors that may contribute to put decriminalization in the front burner later this year, or in early 2013.
Regulated West Virginia: A Documentary On Life In The ‘Mountain State’ During The Obama Years
See life in a mining state in a time of economic hardship and government over-regulation. Jobs are hard to find and the government is countering with the Southern Appalachian Labor School, or SALS. This is a job training program in construction. Hear what real West Virginians think about that.
The courts should do more to defend economic freedom
America’s cowboy capitalism was long ago disarmed by a democratic process increasingly dominated by powerful groups with economic interests antithetical to competitors and consumers. And the courts, from which the victims of burdensome regulation sought protection, have been negotiating the terms of surrender since the 1930s.
Is the Postal Service Doomed?
Instead of throwing up barriers to reform as the Senate is doing, Gattuso says Congress should give the Postal Service more flexibility to reform itself with necessary cost-cutting measures and innovations like automated postal “kiosks” or “approved shippers” for packages to stamp sales at supermarkets and other stores.
The 'Buffett Rule' Should Be Known As The 'Buffett Ruse'
According to the JEC, the revenue raised by the Buffett Rule over an entire decade would fund just 23 days of Social Security benefits. Alternatively, you could defend the nation for 25 days. Ten years of the Buffett Rule would pay for what the U.S. borrows every 17 days or what Washington spends every 4-1/2 days.
PSNH seeks July 1 rate changes
NU stock went down in part because of pension costs. And Michael Harrington doesn't have a financial interest?
Forget Retirement... and Retirement Savings
There is only one reason it and the US Government hasn't gone bankrupt yet. It's because they can still print dollars to cover all these deficits. But how much longer can that realistically last before hyperinflation sets in and the dollar becomes worthless? We can't see any way it goes more than five more years from here... and that's pushing it.
Body armor expert details limitations of bullet-resistant vests
Young said Wednesday she didn't know what kind of vests the DTF officers were wearing April 12 because her office hasn't completed its investigation into Maloney's death, the shootings of the four officers and the suspected murder-suicide of Mutrie and his alleged drug-dealing accomplice, Brittany Tibbetts.
Contempt charge against Holder by Congress one step closer today
If passed by a House vote, the contempt citation would order the controversial Attorney General to deliver to the House Oversight Committee and the Judiciary Committee thousands documents related to the probe of the gun-smuggling operation that resulted in the death of a U.S. Border Patrol agent -- Brian Terry -- and possibly an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, Jaime Zapata, near Mexico City.
Report warns of weather satellites' 'rapid decline
"Right now, when society is asking us the hardest questions and the most meaningful questions, we're going to be even more challenged to answer them," said Stacey Boland, a senior systems engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California and a member of the committee that wrote the report. "We'll slowly become data-starved here."
Balsams redevelopment in jeopardy
“Approving a plan with conditions that meet concerns is a very common tool that all Planning Boards use,” said Hebert. “It's very unfortunate that the Board decided against working with us proactively towards a solution, and instead opted to delay the project and put the Balsams' future at risk.”
Romney flip-flops, and so does Obama; what's wrong with that?
This is not intended to assert that Mr. Romney doesn't change positions; it is to point out that almost all politicians do so — and they should. In addition, I would argue that oftentimes the honing of positions does not constitute a major reversal or a flip-flop. Also, I would like point out that it is impossible for anyone to be perfectly consistent, and, if I may, I should like to quote Walt Whitman's "Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself ..." (I think he later reconsidered.)
HSBC’s Swiss Wealth Unit May Face ‘Significant’ U.S. Fine
“We also incurred significant expenses for conducting investigations into our past U.S. client-related activities, which were carried out in response to requests from various U.S. government agencies,” HSBC said in the annual report.
May 2, 2012 Private survey shows US hiring slowed last month
Payroll provider ADP said Wednesday that businesses added just 119,000 jobs last month, far lower than a revised total of 201,000 jobs in March.
ADP: Sucks
The attempt to reinflate the Ponzi bubble that burst in 2008 has failed. Worse, it appears that we we may be weeks to months at most from broad financial market recognition of this failure -- and if so, we're about to have one hell of a crash and this time there are no policy actions available that will make a difference in the outcome.
Debt inequality is the new income inequality
"Rich people have more money to play with and there are only so many Armani suits they can buy. So they can lend money back to the majority," said Michael Kumhof, deputy division chief at the IMF who co-authored the report. Other Americans "are trying to maintain standards of living."
Lies, Damned Lies and Government Jobs Data
Since when does a nation’s labor force shrink during a recovery? It should not shrink, it should grow in a recovery. The labor force participation rate is at the rate it was in 1979 and 1982, even around the same rate it was back in 1969, while the worker population has grown dramatically since.
DOJ's total disregard of the Constitution blasted by lawmakers
“The Obama administration has ignored the constitutional balance of power between co-equal branches of government and blocked investigations of its actions. When the Administration doesn’t like a law, they refuse to enforce it. And if the Senate’s constitutional authority to approve political appointees gets in their way, the Administration ignores the Constitution," said Chairman Smith.
Documents Reveal New Details Of Greenland Shootings
The affidavits for the search warrants said that the officers were "fired upon multiple times through the front door" of the home and that later in the shootout, "gunfire also came from a basement window on the front side of the residence."
DEA apologizes to college student left in cell
Chong, 23, was never arrested, was not going to be charged with a crime and should have been released, said a law enforcement official who was briefed on the DEA case and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
What we didn’t hear from President Obama in Afghanistan
Unfortunately, some of the nearly 90,000 American troops still in Afghanistan will be killed or severely wounded. Others will come back to the United States suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and other long-term ailments. The costs of this war will continue long after all U.S. combat troops are out of Afghanistan at the end of 2014.
A Taste of Realism
Let us start with the truly stupid. Millions of children graduate – “graduate” – from high school – “high school” – unable to read. Why inflict twelve years of misery on them? It is not reasonable to blame them for being witless, but neither does it make sense to pretend that they are not. For them school is custodial, nothing more. Since there is little they can do in a technological society, they will remain in custody all their lives. This happens, and must happen, however we disguise it.
Judging By Cable Ratings, Americans Clearly Want Ideological Bias
All of CNN’s shows have taken a massive hit. John King USA lost 41% in its 25-54 age group. The shining star of the group was Piers Morgan, which was down only 14% at 9 p.m. In primetime, CNN was down to a two-year low.
Mitt Romney: Obama Doing All He Can to Distract Americans from His Disastrous Economy
Here is video of Gov. Mitt Romney speaking in New Hampshire on Monday, where he said Barack Obama and his team are doing everything they can to distract Americans from focusing on his disastrous economy. Romney said he will focus on the economy, on creating an environment where good jobs will be available for people who need to improve their lives.
Louisiana trying to dump tenured bus drivers (that’s right, tenured bus drivers)
That’s dangerous when you’re talking about student safety. Adults who are charged with transporting children must be closely monitored, and if it becomes obvious that they can’t safely perform the job for one reason or another, schools must have the power to get them off the road and off the payroll when necessary.
May 1, 2012 A Giant Leap for Richard Nixon
Imagine if President Nixon had decided to base his 1972 re-election campaign on the boast that he landed on the moon. His predecessors tried and failed for eight years. It wasn't an easy decision--what if something went wrong? But that's why you hire a president, to make those gutsy calls. Which path would George McGovern have taken?
Bin Laden raid began long before Obama arrived
Shortly after bin Laden met his maker last spring, courtesy of U.S. Special Forces and intelligence, the administration proudly announced that when Obama took office, getting bin Laden was made a top priority. Many of us who served in senior counterterrorism positions in the Bush administration were left muttering: “Gee, why didn’t we think of that?”
Navy SEALs: Obama Exploiting Bin Laden Kill
A serving SEAL Team member said: ‘Obama wasn’t in the field, at risk, carrying a gun. As president, at every turn he should be thanking the guys who put their lives on the line to do this. He does so in his official speeches because he speechwriters are smart.
It Can’t Happen in America… Oh, Really?
The circumstances Confederate soldiers found themselves in upon returning home were a direct result of Federal policy toward the Southern states and the National Bank Notes (AKA National Currency) that were now a permanent fixture in America’s monetary system. This "new" money was liability-money (debt-obligation money) and with it came the real possibility of inflation as Jay Cooke, one of the creators of the national banking system, was acutely aware. At the war's conclusion any money the Confederate government had issued was rendered worthless and the "greenback" dollar wasn’t far behind; the value of which was no more then 35 cents in 1860 gold.
Obama creates "green jobs"--in other countries
With the DNC admitting to their top donors that this ad could cause "serious damage" to the Left's agenda, and President Obama dedicating yet another TV ad to attacking AFP activists, they're more desperate than ever to keep the truth hidden.
Committee will investigate Greenland drug raid
Delaney said Tuesday that the newly-formed committee will review the circumstances leading to the execution of the search and arrest warrants; identify Drug Task Force policies and procedures and any tactical considerations; evaluate the level of compliance with policies and procedures and how the tactical considerations were addressed in the planning of the operation and the execution of the plan; review the involved officers' training and supervisory oversight relative to such operations and evaluate compliance with that training and supervision; and report the committee's findings in a written document that will include a factual recitation of events, identification of policies and procedures, assessment of the operation and any recommendations.
Colleges fight fraud with more coursework
"These ringleaders, they are lazy," says James Berg, vice president of the Apollo Group, which owns Axia, a two-year program of the University of Phoenix. As of February, the company had referred more than 800 cases of fraud to the Education Department's office of inspector general.
New Obama slogan has long ties to Marxism, socialism
The Obama campaign released its new campaign slogan Monday in a 7-minute video. The title card has simply the word "Forward" with the "O" having the familiar Obama logo from 2008. It will be played at rallies this weekend that mark the Obama re-election campaign's official beginning.
Mobile app helps report unfair airport screeners
"My hope is that this app will exponentially increase the number of complaints filed with the TSA, flood the system so they get that this is a problem. For too long the Transportation Security Administration has been able to tell Congress this is not an issue, nobody's complaining," Singh said.
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