Wednesday, February 29, 2012

At Least 9 Dead, 30+ Injured As Tornadoes Roll Through Midwest- 2012- Photo Link

By Susan Duclos

Towns in Illinois, Kansas and Branson, Missouri were destroyed as tornadoes rolled through leaving dozens injured and nine dead as of the last reports.

Via CSMonitor:

A powerful storm system that produced multiple reports of tornadoes lashed the Midwest early Wednesday, roughing up the entertainment resort town of Branson and laying waste to small towns in Illinois and Kansas. At least nine people were killed.

An apparent twister rolled through Branson just before 1 a.m. and seemed to hopscotch up the city's main roadway, ripping roofs off hotels and damaging some of the city's famed music theaters dangerously close to the start of the heavy tourism season. At least 37 people were reported hurt, mostly with cuts and bruises.

"We were blessed with several things — the time of year and certainly the time of day, when people were not in their vehicles or outdoors," said Mayor Raeanne Presley, noting that during Branson's peak season, up to 60,000 visitors would have been in the city on any given day and staying in many of the hotels that were damaged.


CJOnline reports the death toll is at 10.

Gallery: Aerial photos of tornado damage in the Midwest

Track Map found HERE.

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Democratic Senator Landrieu Takes Obama Admin To Task For Misleading Public On Drilling

By Susan Duclos

When a Democratic Senator takes the Democratic president's administration to task for misleading the public in regards to offshore drilling and the limited permits the Obama administration is really allowing, then that Democratic president has a problem.

Two videos below, via Hot Air, with text below each video. Keep in mind, this isn't a conservative trying to make Obama look bad, this is a Democratic Senator, Mary Landrieu (D-LA), calling them out on their lies.

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) Corrects Administration And Democrat Talking Points On Drilling Permits



I want to say that, despite the Administration’s arguments that are laid out, that you all are all guns blaring and green lights for drilling, the facts that I checked, and if you disagree tell me, only 21 permits for offshore drilling have been issued by this date. In 2010 there were 32 permits. I just left the annual conference of LOGA, which is Louisiana Oil and Gas Association, Mr. Secretary, yesterday. They are beside themselves with not being able to get their permits processed and to answer you, Mr. Franken, let me just say Exxon and Shell may be making record profits but according to a study recently done by the Greater New Orleans, Inc., 41% of our oil and gas independent operators and service companies, I’m not talking about Exxon and Shell that have operations all over the world, I’m talking about companies in the Gulf Coast, in Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. Let me tell you what the studies show about their profits: 41% of them are not making a profit at all, 70% have lost significant cash reserves, 46 have moved operations away from the Gulf, and 82% of business owners have lost personal savings as a result of this slow down.



Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) Sets Salazar Straight On Driling



Secretary Of The Interior Ken Salazar: Here, Here’s, Mary, Senator Landrieu, the fact of the matter is, that there are tens, and I think it’s, maybe it’s, it is, it is over f – thirty, forty million acres that we just did in the one lease sale, there’s more that will be leased. The lease sale that I did in New Orleans in December, I think was 38 million acres, about 2 million acres of it was leased. So when you make available in one lease sale tens of millions of acres and you have some of it that’s bid on, the companies that are going to where they know the oil and gas is. So the fact is we are moving forward with a very robust OSC leasing program.

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA): We are never going to get, in my view Mr. Chairman, we’re never going to get clear as long as we continue to talk around and throw statistics out that try to make both sides look good. I’m not trying to make you look any worse, I’m just trying to get the facts out to the public. When you speak you get people thinking that we’re drilling everywhere, onshore and offshore, and the facts are not – don’t justify that. You know that 98% of our offshore is limited to drilling, we can’t even explore there. We’re talking about what we’re drilling within that 2%.



Landrieu is not toeing the party line but she is attempting to represent her constituents which is what she was elected to do.

Some may disagree with her on many social issues as I do, but Landrieu deserves kudos for stepping out on a limb that is not popular with Democrats and Liberals or Barack Obama, but is urgent for her electorate.

[Update] Democrats are growing "anxious" about gas prices.

Romney Wins AZ Primary Big And Squeaks By With Home State Win In MI By 3%

By Susan Duclos

Mitt Romney was declared the winner Arizona immediately after the polls closed, no big surprise since he was leading in the polls consistently in the weeks leading up to the contest. With 82 percent reporting Romney has a 47-to-27 margin win.

All eyes were turned to Michigan which Romney was expected to win handily since it was his home state and his father was a popular governor for most of the 1960's, but polling leading up to it showed Santorum momentum and lead, then Romney took a small lead this past week and as of the night before the primaries, Santorum started getting momentum again but it was too little too late and Santorum was outspent in campaign ads by 2-to1 resulting in a win that is described by MSNBC as "ugly.".

CNN shows that with 95 percent reporting Romney won with a 3 percent, 41 to 38 percent.

As with Romney's Florida win, where he took the state but won less counties than Newt Gingrich did, the same happened in Michigan with Rick Santorum winning more counties than Romney, but Romney took the larger metro areas as the map below shows.



Romney cannot seem to close the deal with conservative voters and while he is the front runner and is positioned well, Super Tuesday is around the corner (March 6, 2012) and 10 states hold their primaries/caucuses, many of which are larger and have not been penalized with a loss of delegates for moving the date of their contests forward against RNC rules.

To obtain the Republican nomination a candidate must hit the magic number of 1,144 delegates, and after Super Tuesday's contests, conservative voters and pundits will be better positioned to know if that magic numbers can be reached by Mitt Romney.

As of now, according to Real Clear Politics, Romney has 142, Santorum 59, Gingrich 32 and Paul 20.

Examples: Santorum leads in the polls for Ohio and Ohio has 66 delegates. Gingrich has a massive lead in Georgia polls (his home state) and Georgia has 76 delegates. Romney is ahead in polling in Massachusetts, where he was Governor, but that state only has 41 delegates.

Before Super Tuesday is one last contest, in Washington on March 3, 2012, where Rick Santorum holds a double digit lead over Mitt Romney.

In the end it is all going to come down to delegates and if any GOP candidate in this race can obtain the 1,144 by the end of the primary/caucus schedule.

Barring any candidate dropping out before Super Tuesday, which looks highly unlikely, the delegate strategy both Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich have been implementing may keep any of the GOP candidates from hitting the 1,144 mark by June, which holds the last contest.

Which increases the odds of a brokered convention.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

The TRUTH: "Incident in New Baghdad"

This last weekend a movie nominated for an Oscar under the Documentary category, gave a version of what happened in one specific incident in Iraq. "Incident in New Baghdad" has been promoted as the reality behind a film Wikileaks released that became known as 'Collateral Murder'.

Only one problem with this movie: it's not the truth of what actually happened that day.

War On Terror News has this:

02/28/2012



When a movie is called a documentary, that implies that what the viewer sees is the true retelling of events portrayed. As is apparent from what WOTN has written, based on eye witness accounts, (which the film-maker chose not to include,) this 'documentary' "Incident in New Baghdad" not so much.

War On Terror News has much more, from those who were actually there.

It IS a must read
here.

Arizona and Michigan Republican 2012 Primary Live Blogging/ Discussion, Polls And Results

By Susan Duclos

(This post will be bumped to top all day Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2012, AZ and MI. primary day).

[Update] AZ called it for Romney as soon as polls close. MI is close, Santorum took an early lead and Romney is leading with 25 percent reporting, will publish the winner when it gets called.

[Update]
With 76 percent of the vote in, Romney is projected as winner for MI, with a 4 percentage point lead. Will report final totals tomorrow.

[Updates throughout the day on the Michigan and Arizona contests will be posted below the Cover It Live embed]

Joining Right Pundits once again, we will be live blogging the Michigan and Arizona primaries, and enjoying live chat, via the Cover It Live feature below, on February 28 starting at 7pm Eastern as exit polling data begins to flow in.




Polling shows that Mitt Romney is leading in Arizona heading into Tuesday's contest and while Romney is outspending Santorum massively in Michigan, Romney's home state, Santorum was in the lead recently, with Romney starting to even it up last week and now Santorum seems to be on the rise again this week, so Michigan could be a nail biter.

[Updates start here for 2/28/12]

Another poll, from Public Policy Polling shows the momentum heading into Primary Day in Michigan has tilted toward Rick Santorum giving him a statistically insignificant lead of one percent.

Michigan was supposedly a "given" for Romney since he was born there and his father was a popular Governor in the 1960's, so having to fight as hard as he has had to is indicative of what is being seen nationally among very conservative voters, where he has lost 16 percentage points in his favorability, over the last two weeks alone.

Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight indicates that the last minute rebound for Santorum is unlikely to be a statistical fluke and offers eight possible explanations for what has caused this rebound.

1. It may be that Mr. Santorum has the better closing message. His campaign has been more positively oriented, although not uniformly so.

2. It could be that voters are rallying to his side after he took some harsh treatment in news media coverage.

3. It is possible that his voters are more enthusiastic and starting to come home as likely voter models become more accurate.

4. It could be that Mr. Santorum is picking up support from Newt Gingrich supporters who have concluded that Mr. Gingrich is not viable.

5. A set of minor gaffes by Mr. Romney, related to the staging of his Ford Field speech and a remark he made about Nascar, may have hurt him at the margins, as well as the fact that he took part of Sunday away from the campaign trail to attend the Daytona 500.

6. Mr. Romney may have had some temporary momentum from last week’s debate — in my view it was a “win” for Mr. Romney but not an overwhelming one — which has since evaporated.

7. Mr. Santorum, whose “Super PAC” bought a fair amount of advertising inventory in Michigan about a week ago, may have equalized the advertising gap in the closing days of the campaign, having been disadvantaged by it before.

8. Mr. Santorum may be benefiting from Democrats, some of whom are crossing over to vote in an effort to create chaos in the primary, and some of whom are responding to robocalls that were apparently placed by Mr. Santorum’s campaign.


[Update] Romney being hoisted by his own petard.

[Update] ABC News provides some exit polling data from Michigan:

Also worth watching are the choices of voters looking for a candidate who shares their religious beliefs; more than half say this matters to them, although many fewer, about a quarter, say it matters “a great deal”; and the six in 10 who oppose legal abortion, with differences between those who favor making it illegal in all cases, as opposed to most cases.

Seniors are another group to watch – preliminary exit poll results find them turning out in far larger than customary numbers for the Michigan primary, albeit about usual for other states this year. Elsewhere it’s been a good group for Romney.

One other result suggests the GOP electorate in Michigan is not exactly fired-up: Just under half of voters say they strongly favor their candidate. Four in 10 like their guy but with reservations, while the rest mainly dislike the other candidates.

Among other groups:

PARTY: Six in 10 voters in today’s Michigan Republican primary describe themselves as Republicans, about 10 points fewer than in 2008. (But it’s been lower, just 48 percent in 2000, and also was lower this year in New Hampshire.) Independents account for three in 10 voters, Democrats, as noted, one in 10. In past contests Romney generally has done better with mainline Republicans than with non-Republicans.

QUALITIES: A third of voters say they’re most interested in electability – the candidate with the best chance to defeat Obama. That has been a strong Romney group in previous contests. But two other attributes are close behind – experience and strong moral character, each picked by about a quarter of voters. In a result potentially unhelpful to Santorum, fewer, about one in seven, say they’re looking mainly for the true conservative in the race. And In a separate question, slightly more than half see Romney as most likely to defeat Barack Obama in November, double the number who say so about Santorum.

UNION and BAILOUT: Just under a quarter of voters are from union households, continuing a downward path from 2008 and 2008 in their share of the electorate. Romney did better among non-union than among union voters in 2008, and tried to tie Santorum to “big labor” this year.

More GOP voters in the state disapprove than approve of the federal government’s automaker bailout, but not by a wide margin – 51-43 percent, perhaps a surprising level of support in this particular population, given the party’s customary laissez-faire approach. Romney and Santorum both opposed the bailout.

ISSUES: More than half of Michigan voters say the economy’s the most important issue in their vote, by far the top rated issue; just under a quarter named the federal budget deficit, one in seven pick abortion, with illegal immigration in the low single digits. Also on the economy, three in 10 had a job loss or layoff in their household in the past three years.

At the better-off end of the spectrum, three in 10 voters report household incomes over $100,000 a year, another group that’s been good for Romney in previous contests this year.

DEBATE/DECISION: About a third of voters call the last pre-primary debate important in their vote today. And about a quarter decided in the last few days, down from a third who said so in 2008. That means three-quarters decided earlier, a group that in most previous contests has tended to be a better one for Romney.


More updates will be added throughout the day.

(Full Republican primary/caucus schedule found HERE)

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Oh FFS: A $750,000 Soccer Field For Guantanamo Detainees

By Susan Duclos

FFS.... our military members under Obama are being punished with health care costs but Guantanamo (Gitmo) detainees are getting a $750,000 soccer field that taxpayers are paying for?

At a time of record deficits, a new soccer field for detainees at Camp 6 in Guantanamo Bay is just getting the finishing touches -- at a cost of $750,000 to taxpayers.

The project was the highlight of a tour Tuesday of the detention camp for reporters at the facility covering the arraignment in a military court of Majid Khan, a former Baltimore resident and the the only legal U.S. resident on trial at Guantanamo.

The project began in April 2011 and is due to finish this spring. The detainees will now have three recreation facilities at Camp 6, which is home to "highly compliant" detainees who live in a communal setting.

In addition to an indoor recreation field and the existing outdoor recreation field, the new soccer field -- selected because it is such a popular sport with detainees -- is half the size of an American football field.

The new field has been specially constructed so that the detainees "have maximum access" -- about 20 hours a day. Special passageways allow the detainees to pass into the new recreation yard without being escorted by the military.


Anyone else seeing a huge problem with this picture?

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Move America Forward Alert: Obama Punishes Military Families With Health Care Costs

By Susan Duclos

Via email from pro-military group Move America Forward:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FEBRUARY 28, 2012

PRO-TROOP GROUP SAYS OBAMA PUNISHES
MILITARY FAMILIES WITH HEALTH CARE COSTS



Sacramento, Calif. – The nation’s largest grassroots pro-troop advocacy organization, Move America Forward came out strongly against President Obama’s proposed military defense budget, which cuts billions of dollars of military spending, especially at the cost of military families in higher healthcare costs.

“We should be honoring and supporting our military families, not punishing them under President Obama’s proposed defense spending cuts.” said Debbie Lee, spokesperson for the group and mother of the first US Navy SEAL to be killed in the war in Iraq.

“This budget slashes benefits for our troops and their families, but unionized civilian workers under contract working for the military are protected from the cuts. It’s an outrage that President Obama wants to make our troops suffer the burdens of cuts while protecting others. It’s unfair and completely goes against his popular rhetoric about everyone paying their fair share.” said Debbie Lee.

“Our troops and their families already pay more than their fair share; they deserve to be taken care of for the sacrifices these brave men and women make. We demand that President Obama fix this bill so that our troops and their husbands, wives, and children aren’t the ones hurt.” concluded Lee.

“I’m appalled at the hypocrisy of The Obama White House. He has sent Michelle Obama and Jill Biden on a campaign to raise awareness to the needs and issues of our troops. He has encouraged Hollywood, corporate America and individuals everywhere to support our troops yet his actions hurt troops. Cuts in the defense budget, negotiating with terrorists, apologizing to the enemy and now, raising the health care burden on our troops, shows America the true colors of President Obama.”


Move America Forward website HERE.

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Ethicists Argue for Acceptance of After Birth Abortions

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

[Update- Susan] Ironically, the Journal is now defending it's position that there should be a "reasoned engagement," on murdering infants, while complaining that some people think it is just as "reasoned" to "engage" in discussion of whether the authors themselves are "worthy" of living after having proposed murdering babies. [End Update]

Hat tip to Iggymom



When is a child a person? At conception? Viability? Birth? In the last case it is none of the above. According to Alberto Giubilini of Monash University in Melbourne and Francesca Minerva at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at the University of Melbourne if you don't want the child and give birth, you have the right to kill it.
Two ethicists working with Australian universities argue in the latest online edition of the Journal of Medical Ethics that if abortion of a fetus is allowable, so to should be the termination of a newborn.

Alberto Giubilini
Alberto Giubilini with Monash University in Melbourne and Francesca Minerva at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at the University of Melbourne write that in “circumstances occur[ing] after birth such that they would have justified abortion, what we call after-birth abortion should be permissible.”

The two are quick to note that they prefer the term “after-birth abortion“ as opposed to ”infanticide.” Why? Because it “[emphasizes] that the moral status of the individual killed is comparable with that of a fetus (on which ‘abortions’ in the traditional sense are performed) rather than to that of a child.” The authors also do not agree with the term euthanasia for this practice as the best interest of the person who would be killed is not necessarily the primary reason his or her life is being terminated. In other words, it may be in the parents’ best interest to terminate the life, not the newborns.



Francesca Minerva
The circumstances, the authors state, where after-birth abortion should be considered acceptable include instances where the newborn would be putting the well-being of the family at risk, even if it had the potential for an “acceptable” life. The authors cite Downs Syndrome as an example, stating that while the quality of life of individuals with Downs is often reported as happy, “such children might be an unbearable burden on the family and on society as a whole, when the state economically provides for their care.”

This means a newborn whose family (or society) that could be socially, economically or psychologically burdened or damaged by the newborn should have the ability to seek out an after-birth abortion. They state that after-birth abortions are not preferable over early-term abortions of fetuses but should circumstances change with the family or the fetus in the womb, then they advocate that this option should be made available.

The authors go on to state that the moral status of a newborn is equivalent to a fetus in that it cannot be considered a person in the “morally relevant sense.” On this point, the authors write:
Both a fetus and a newborn certainly are human beings and potential persons, but neither is a ‘person’ in the sense of ‘subject of a moral right to life’. We take ‘person’ to mean an individual who is capable of attributing to her own existence some (at least) basic value such that being deprived of this existence represents a loss to her.


Merely being human is not in itself a reason for ascribing someone a right to life. Indeed, many humans are not considered subjects of a right to life: spare embryos where research on embryo stem cells is permitted, fetuses where abortion is permitted, criminals where capital punishment is legal.
Giubilini and Minerva believe that being able to understand the value of a different situation, which often depends on mental development, determines personhood. For example, being able to tell the difference between an undesirable situation and a desirable one. They note that fetuses and newborns are “potential persons.” The authors do acknowledge that a mother, who they cite as an example of a true person, can attribute “subjective” moral rights to the fetus or newborn, but they state this is only a projected moral status.

The authors counter the argument that these “potential persons” have the right to reach that potential by stating it is “over-ridden by the interests of actual people (parents, family, society) to pursue their own well-being because, as we have just argued, merely potential people cannot be harmed by not being brought into existence.”

And what about adoption? Giubilini and Minerva write that, as for the mother putting the child up for adoption, her emotional state should be considered as a trumping right. For instance, if she were to “suffer psychological distress” from giving up her child to someone else — they state that natural mothers can dream their child will return to them — then after-birth abortion should be considered an allowable alternative.

The authors do not tackle the issue of what age an infant would be considered a person.

Read the full story here
I suppose this is the next step by the left to "empower" a woman. Why should anyone be "burdened" or "saddled" with a child. The child has no value. It cannot ask work, dress itself, feed itself. It is nothing to these so-called ethicists. Ethics? These two don't know the meaning of the word. They feel as long as the "mother" doesn't want the child, she should have the right to kill it.

The American Declaration of Independence states this:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…
Have we forgotten those words? Have we forgotten the simplest commandment of G-d:
Deuteronomy Chapter 5


16. Thou shalt not murder.
Why should a child, born into the world, be MURDERED for the reason that it is inconvenient for the woman. She should have thought of the consequences of her actions 9 months earlier when she decided to engage in sexual activity.

How a society treats the least and most helpless of its citizens shows how civilized, how mature it is. This goes against all the rules of society. But I fear it will be forced on us by those on the left. First the "mother" choosing to kill her child, then the government forcing women to kill their children. Especially those children who do not measure up to the government's idea of perfection.

Is Mitt Romney Being Hoisted By His Own Petard As Dems Encouraged To Vote For Santorum

By Susan Duclos


In January 2012, Mitt Romney lied in a Florida debate claiming he never voted for a Democrat when a Republican was on the ballot and he was given the lair, liar, pants on fire graphic right here on Wake up America when we pointed to his 2007 interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos where he admitted voting for Democrat, even though there was a Republican primary happening at the same time with Republicans on the ballot. It appears from Romney's recent complaints that what is perfectly acceptable, in his mind, to do to others, should not be done to him.

"In Massachusetts, if you register as an independent, you can vote in either the Republican or Democratic primary," said Romney, who until he made an unsuccessful run for Senate in 1994 had spent his adult life as a registered independent. "When there was no real contest in the Republican primary, I’d vote in the Democrat primary, vote for the person who I thought would be the weakest opponent for the Republican.


Now, Mitt Romney is complaining and denouncing Democratic and Rick Santorum's efforts to have Democrats in Michigan do the very same thing as Romney himself has admitted to doing.... involve themselves in the opposing party's primary to influence the outcome.

Romney is going around in interviews calling it a "new low" in politics, saying it is "outrageous" and "disgusting." Yes, Romney is talking about lows, the man who did the very same thing he is criticizing to influence a primary, has made history with his 99 percent negative ad rating in Florida, his barrage of attacks against Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, some of which have been rated by fact checkers as outright lies.

In February 2012, I said Romney throws stones from a glass house and this is just another stone coming from another room made of glass.

To round out my use of old adages, now we see Mitt Romney being 'hoisted by his own petard' and bitterly whining about it.

For informational purposes, Michigan is an "open primary" state where voters from any affiliation may vote for the candidate of whatever party they choose.

Via FairVote.org: The crucial issue in open primary states is "crossover" voting, which can contribute to the victory of a nominee closer to the center or radically further away. It most often involves members of Party Y (either in an area dominated by Party X or when Party Y's nominee is a foregone conclusion) voting for the Party X candidate whose views are the most reconciliable with their own. Though this brings the race closer to the center, Democratic and Republican party establishments generally dislike open primaries.

Side Note- For those curious why only Romney and Santorum are dominating the news for the Arizona and Michigan, both Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich have been campaigning elsewhere with a delegate strategy and have not been active for the two primaries being held tonight

(Join us tonight as we live blog and have live discussions of exit polling and results from Michigan and Arizona, as they come in)

SOPA/PIPA Hollywood Hypocrisy Chart

By Susan Duclos

Via an email from Peter, I was pointed in the direction of an excellent chart, asked for feedback and given permission to use it. It is self-explanatory.

Hypocrisy in Hollywood

Happy Birthday Leapers/Leaplings- Leap Year 2012: February 29, 2012 Is Leap Day

By Susan Duclos

We are all taught in school that there are 365 days in a year and that February is the shortest month of the year with only 28 days in it.

Except on Leap years which occur every four years, on average, but is omitted three times every four hundred years.

On those years there are 366 days to the year and February gains a day at the end to make a February 29th on the calendar.

Infoplease explains the reason behind having a Leap Year.

The Gregorian calendar, which now serves as the standard calendar for civil use throughout the world, has both common years and leap years. A common year has 365 days and a leap year 366 days, with the extra, or intercalary, day designated as February 29. A leap year occurs every four years to help synchronize the calendar year with the solar year, or the length of time it takes the earth to complete its orbit about the sun, which is about 365¼ days.

The length of the solar year, however, is slightly less than 365¼ days—by about 11 minutes. To compensate for this discrepancy, the leap year is omitted three times every four hundred years.



Let me preemptively, by one day, say Happy Birthday to Leaplings aka Leapers, who had the luck to be born on Leap Day in a Leap Year.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Report: students wounded in Ohio high school shooting; suspect believed to be student [UPDATE] Three dead

By Susan Duclos

[Update 2/28/12] Reports now show that three students have died from this incident.

[Update] From Metro, one of the students shot has died, four others injured.

Daniel Parmentor is the student killed in the shooting, according to MetroHealth Medical Center.


His parents released a statement: "We are shocked by this senseless tragedy. Danny was a bright young boy who had a bright future ahead of him. The family is torn by this loss. We ask that you respect our privacy during this difficult time."

One student died after the shooting this morning at Chardon High School, police said.

Police are not releasing names. But Junior Nate Mueller, who said his ear was grazed by a bullet, identified the shooter as T. J. Lane.



Original post below:

CNN is reporting that there has been a school shooting in Ohio, wounding 5 students and that the shooter is in custody. Other outlets are reporting 4 students wounded and suspect secured. [Update] Local news reports 5 students and they explain that initial reports of four students were clarified by officials saying there was a fifth victim.

Videos below






[Udpated 10:43 a.m.] A student at Chardon High School, Evan Erasmus, told CNN affiliate WEWS-TV that the suspect in Monday's shootings may have posted a threatening message Sunday night on the social networking service Twitter.

"I think he said that he was going to bring a gun to school and I think that everyone just blew it off like he was joking," Erasmus said.

[Udpated 10:34 a.m.] Law enforcement officials say they received reports that a teacher chased the shooter at Chardon High School out of the building.

[Updated 10:31 a.m. ET] There are five victims of the shooting at a Chardon High School in surburban Cleveland, law enforcement officials said.


CNN is doing continuous updates and have more videos.

No immediate information on the conditions of the victims. also no word yet that I have seen on the name of the shooter.

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Swing State Polling: 'Clear Majority' Still See Obamacare As 'A Bad Thing'

By Susan Duclos

Two years after the passage of the Affordable Care Act aka Obamacare and Barack Obama has still failed to make the sale with the American people as a USA Today/Gallup polls of swing states find a "clear majority of registered voters" in Michigan, Ohio, Virginia, Colorado, Iowa, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, call the passage of Obamacare a "bad thing".

The health care overhaul that President Obama intended to be the signature achievement of his first term instead has become a significant problem in his bid for a second one, uniting Republicans in opposition and eroding his standing among independents.

In a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll of the nation's dozen top battleground states, a clear majority of registered voters call the bill's passage "a bad thing" and support its repeal if a Republican wins the White House in November. Two years after he signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act— and as the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments about its constitutionality next month — the president has failed to convince most Americans that it was the right thing to do.


Bad news for Mitt Romney in that same poll is that many see Obamacare as Romneycare "on steroids" which may explain why the turnout of Republicans in the primary states Romney has won has been massively lower when compared to the numbers in the 2008 primaries.

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air states "Don’t forget one last thing, too. Democrats purposefully front-loaded the benefits of ObamaCare in 2010 in a desperate attempt to avoid a beating in the midterms."

That is a good point but there is another point to be made on the back end of Obamacare and that is the 20 tax increases to everyday American voters that were loaded into Obamacare and many of them specifically set up to not go into effect until after the 2012 presidential election.

A few examples of those below:

2. Obamacare Individual Mandate Excise Tax (takes effect in Jan 2014)

3. Obamacare Employer Mandate Tax (takes effect Jan. 2014)

4. Obamacare Surtax on Investment Income (Tax hike of $123 billion/takes effect Jan. 2013)

5. Obamacare Excise Tax on Comprehensive Health Insurance Plans (Tax hike of $32 bil/takes effect Jan. 2018)

6. Obamacare Hike in Medicare Payroll Tax (Tax hike of $86.8 bil/takes effect Jan. 2013)

9. Obamacare Flexible Spending Account Cap – aka “Special Needs Kids Tax” (Tax hike of $13 bil/takes effect Jan. 2013)

10. Obamacare Tax on Medical Device Manufacturers (Tax hike of $20 bil/takes effect Jan. 2013)

11. Obamacare "Haircut" for Medical Itemized Deduction from 7.5% to 10% of AGI (Tax hike of $15.2 bil/takes effect Jan. 2013)

13. Obamacare elimination of tax deduction for employer-provided retirement Rx drug coverage in coordination with Medicare Part D (Tax hike of $4.5 bil/takes effect Jan. 2013)

17. Obamacare Tax on Health Insurers (Tax hike of $60.1 bil/takes effect Jan. 2014)

18. Obamacare $500,000 Annual Executive Compensation Limit for Health Insurance Executives (Tax hike of $0.6 bil/takes effect Jan 2013)

The numbers missing above are the Obamacare taxes that took effect immediately or before the 2012 presidential election.

Obamacare will not get more popular and is very likely to get far more unpopular as voters learn more about it.

In February 2011, I predicted that Obamacare would be an albatross around Obama's neck and would be used against him in his bid for reelection and polling is showing it to be a liability Obama may not recover from.

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Sunday, February 26, 2012

Videos- Democratic Rep., Kathy Hochul, Booed By Constituents For Supporting Obama's Abortion Mandate

By Susan Duclos

Democratic Representative Kathy Hochul (NY) was booed at her own town hall meeting over her support for Obama's abortion mandate which has religious groups and members outraged over the Obamacare mandate which would force religious institutions to provide access to insurance that covers contraceptives, as well as sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs.

Two videos below, one where Hochul expresses that she is not concerned over the constitutionality of the abortion mandate and another with her deliberate attempt to mislead her constituents.

Kathy Hochul & Obama Disregards Constitution With HHS Mandate, Booed at Town Hall Meeting



The other via Hot Air and below it is Ed Morrissey's explanation of Hochul's ignorance and/or her willful lies to those she was elected to represent.




Morrissey:

Update: This claim from Hochul is categorically false:

“We’re not gonna agree on this one. I’m gonna tell you that I will stand for our religious freedoms. But I don’t see a conflict here. Now that there’s been an accommodation that says religious institutions do not have to provide these services. So we’re just going to have to disagree on that.”

They still have to provide insurance to their employees that includes free contraception and abortifacients. Who pays for the insurance? The religious organizations that get forced to facilitate those transactions, since they can no longer opt out of offering the insurance and must pay a large part of the premiums — and in some cases, the religious organizations self-insure, which means the money comes directly out of their pockets rather than indirectly. Either way, they most certainly still do have to “provide these services.” Hochul either is woefully misinformed or willfully lying to her constituents.


Previous WuA related posts

Seven States File Lawsuits To Block Obama's HHS Abortion Mandate

Six Lawsuits Now Filed Against Obama's HHS Mandate

Catholic, Lutheran, Baptist and Jewish Leaders Swear They Will Not Comply To Obama's Abortion Mandate

Priests for Life Associate Director is Arrested Outside White House

Harry Reid's Response To Americans Worried About Obama's Attack On Religion: 'Calm Down'

Catholic League: Obama Legacy- 'The President That Brought The Culture War To Boil'

Religious Freedom Lawsuits Against Obama's s Abortion Drug And Contraception Mandate

Catholic Churches And Bishop of Marquette Punch Back At Obama's War On Religion

Catholic League Prepared To Fight Back Against Obama's War On Religion


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Bloggers Beware Of This Guy

By Susan Duclos

Zilla of the Resistance has a must read piece and the only teaser I can really give to point you there is the subheader which reads "There is festering parasite clinging to the underbelly of the Dextrosphere…

The piece follows the trail of a very unhinged blogger who evidently goes by many names and has caught other bloggers unaware a time or two, people who were not aware of his vitriolic nature.

The other way to show the information provide in a comprehensive manner is to copy and paste the whole thing or to simply say CLICK OVER AND READ.

So........ clickity clickity click folks.

After reading the entire thing, I have to say thank you to Zilla of the Resistance for taking the time to provide a true public service blogger announcement.

(Wish it came sooner because the other day I wasted six minutes of my life I can never get back watching a ranting video from this Patrick guy, but hey, better late than never!)

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Documenting Failure: Obama Pays $162K+ For Documentary Film To Be Made About Himself

By Susan Duclos

Bloomberg reports that the Barack Obama campaign paid $162,834, according to the January Federal Election Commission filing to have a nearly 30 minute film made, about himself. He has recruited Academy Award winning director Davis Guggenheim to make the campaign films which is to document his first three years in office.

This isn't the first time Obama has used Guggenheim to help him win an election either.

In 2008, the filmmaker directed a biographical film about Obama for the Democratic National Convention. He also was involved in a 30-minute advertisement that the campaign ran on three major broadcast networks in the closing days before the election at a cost of more than $3 million.

The money spent last month covers the major cost of the film’s production, though the campaign isn’t ruling out additional spending for the film, the official said.


One has to wonder how Guggenheim or anyone for that matter is going to highlight what Obama considers his "accomplishments" in the last three years when polling done from June 2009 right up to 2012 shows that he is popular on a personal level but his polices are disapproved of.

By December 2011, in multiple polls, the majority of Americans felt Barack Obama should not be reelected and his overall disapproval numbers rose again. While those overall approval and disapproval numbers see some fluctuation from month to month, the data, according to an Associated Press poll, looks even worse when individual issues are specified.

Going issue by issue, the numbers are even worse for Obama. Only 29% of Americans support Obama signature domestic accomplishment, Obamacare, while 49% oppose the reform. And as the Supreme Court is set to hear a challenge to Obamacare's individual mandate next year, the poll found that 84% of Americans believe the federal government should not have the power to require all Americans to buy health insurance. Only 15% believe the federal government should have that power.

Majorities of Americans also disapprove of Obama's handling of the economy (60% disapprove), health care (55% disapprove), the federal budget deficit (62% disapprove), taxes (52% disapprove), immigration (56% disapprove), unemployment (53% disapprove), and gas prices (57% disapprove). The only domestic issues that Obama is has positive numbers on are the environment (55% approve), energy (50% approve), and education (53%).



It is hard to see how Guggenheim can document what Obama sees as his accomplishments, without highlighting the exact things the American people show high disapproval of.

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Saturday, February 25, 2012

Surveys Show Americans Support Keystone Pipeline Rejected by Obama by 40+ Point Margins

By Susan Duclos

Via Katie Boyd on February 24, 2012

Two new surveys out this week show that – with gas prices rising higher and faster than ever – Americans continue to overwhelmingly support the Keystone XL pipeline President Obama rejected last month. The Keystone pipeline would not only create 20,000 new American jobs, but would bring an additional 830,000 barrels of oil per day to U.S. refineries. With gas prices threatening the already-struggling economic recovery and making it harder to create jobs, Americans’ support for the Keystone pipeline is as strong as ever:

  • According to a Pew Research Center survey released today, 66% of Americans “say the government should approve the pipeline, while just 23% say it should not.”
  • A Quinnipiac survey released earlier this week found that voters support the Keystone pipeline by a margin of 64-23 percent.

In an effort to “deflect blame” for surging gas prices, President Obama is falsely claiming credit for an increase in American energy production that has occurred despite his harmful policies, not because of them. In fact, gas prices have doubled on President Obama’s watch because he has chosen – time and again – to thwart more American energy while steering taxpayer dollars to failed enterprises, like Solyndra, that he deemed worthwhile. Now Americans are paying for the president’s disastrous policies every time they fill up.

President Obama is out of excuses when it comes to blocking the Keystone pipeline and the thousands of jobs that come with it. The pipeline is supported by an overwhelming majority of Americans, as well as labor unions, governors, and even members of the president’s own party. The House has passed bipartisan legislation requiring the project to move forward - just one of several steps House Republicans have taken under the American Energy Initiative to help address rising gas prices. It is time for President Obama to stop putting politics ahead of struggling families and small businesses and approve the Keystone XL pipeline.

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Academy Award Show- Who Will Take The Oscar Linkfest

By Susan Duclos

Many are "awarded" out with the constant awards being handed out to actors and actresses, directors, writers, yadda yadda yadda... but others are interested, so taking a little break from politics, we bring you some of the buzz on the Academy Awards event to take place on Sunday.

Wapo on Actors

Best actor

The nominees are:

Demian Bichir, “A Better Life”

George Clooney, “The Descendants”

Jean Dujardin, “The Artist”

Gary Oldman, “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy”

Brad Pitt, “Moneyball”


Best actress

The nominees are:

Glenn Close, “Albert Nobbs”

Viola Davis, “The Help"

Rooney Mara, “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”

Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady”

Michelle Williams, “My Week With Marilyn”

Clickity Click the link for their predictions.


Wapo on Directors:

Best director

The nominees are:

Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”

Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”

Terrence Malick, “The Tree of Life”

Alexander Payne, “The Descendants”

Martin Scorsese, “Hugo”

LINKFEST:

LA Times with "Oscar predictions: We call the four acting races"

Chicago Tribune with "Oscar predictions: Deciphering the visual crafts awards"

Reuters with "Oscar Predictions: Can Fancy Math and Social Media Really Forecast Winners?"

AP with "Crystal to the rescue for 84th Academy Awards show"

Telegram with "Academy Awards suggest daylong celebration Sunday"

PREDICTIONS:

Awards Daily with "Oscars 2012: Final Oscar Predictions"

Filmonic with "Filmonic’s Oscar Predictions."

Oscars.org website is HERE, browse for the latest official news.

Happy Reading!

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Video- Newt On Obama's Koran Apology; UPDATE- Sarah Palin Agrees

By Susan Duclos

Newt Gingrich has been publicly taking Barack Obama to task for apologizing to Afghan President Karzai yet not demanding an apology for the death of two American troops or the injury of four others.

Newt Gingrich issued the following statement reacting to news of the murder of two US troops and the wounding of four others by an Afghan soldier.

“It is an outrage that President Obama is the one apologizing to Afghan President Karzai on the same day two American troops were murdered and four others injured by an Afghan soldier. It is Hamid Karzai who owes the American people an apology, not the other way around.”

Gingrich added, “This destructive double standard whereby the United States and its democratic allies refuse to hold accountable leaders who tolerate systematic violence and oppression in their borders must come to an end.”


Below is a video of another appearance where Gingrich makes those same arguments.




[Update] Obama's letter to Karzai said "I extend to you and the Afghan people my sincere apologies."

"The error was inadvertent; I assure you that we will take the appropriate steps to avoid any recurrence, to include holding accountable those responsible."

Where are Obama's assurances that those responsible for the deaths of the American troops would be held accountable?


[Update #2] Sarah Palin seems to be on the same wavelength as Gingrich, via her Facebook page:

Obama apologizes for the inadvertent Koran burning this week; now the U.S. trained and protected Afghan Army can apologize for killing two of our soldiers yesterday.


[Update #3] Reader reminds me "so he respects their religious freedoms at the cost of American lives, but tramples all over Americans religious freedoms."

That references Obama's war on religion that has caused states attorney generals and religious institutes to bring lawsuits against the Obama administration for his abortion mandate.

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Friday, February 24, 2012

Seven States File Lawsuits To Block Obama's HHS Abortion Mandate

By Susan Duclos


Yes, I know the Obama administration named the portion of Obamacare the "contraception mandate", not the abortion mandate, but as has been explained multiple times, the name is misleading because while the mandate would force institutions run by religious groups to provide access to insurance that covered contraception, they would also, under the same rule, be forced to provide access to insurance companies that provide sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs, which goes against religious freedoms.

So, Obama can call it a contraception mandate all he wants, but it is just as accurate to call it the abortion mandate.

With that said, not only have six separate religious organizations filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration over the mandate, now seven states have just filed lawsuits to block the requirement.

The attorney generals of Texas, Florida, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma and South Carolina jointly filed the lawsuit in a Nebraska US District Court.

Two private citizens, two religious non-profit organizations and a Catholic school also joined the lawsuit against the contraception mandate, which is part of President Barack Obama's sweeping health care law.

The lawsuit asks a federal judge to declare the law unconstitutional and enjoin the government from enforcing the requirement.

The states filed the suit despite a compromise announced by Obama earlier this month in which religious organizations with objections to the law will no longer be required to offer free birth control to female employees next year.

Under Obama's new approach, insurance companies, rather than religious organizations, will be obligated to offer contraception for free to the institutions' employees.

"The president's so called 'accommodation' was nothing but a shell game: the mandate still requires religious organizations to subsidize and authorize conduct that conflicts with their religious principles," Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said in a statement. "The very first amendment to our Constitution was intended to protect against this sort of government intrusion into our religious convictions."

The Obama administration did not comment on the lawsuit Thursday.

Just as a reminder of why this is unconstitutional: First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Previous WuA related posts

Six Lawsuits Now Filed Against Obama's HHS Mandate

Catholic, Lutheran, Baptist and Jewish Leaders Swear They Will Not Comply To Obama's Abortion Mandate

Priests for Life Associate Director is Arrested Outside White House

Harry Reid's Response To Americans Worried About Obama's Attack On Religion: 'Calm Down'

Catholic League: Obama Legacy- 'The President That Brought The Culture War To Boil'

Religious Freedom Lawsuits Against Obama's s Abortion Drug And Contraception Mandate

Catholic Churches And Bishop of Marquette Punch Back At Obama's War On Religion

Catholic League Prepared To Fight Back Against Obama's War On Religion

Video- Obama 2008, Licking His Chops Over High Gas Prices

By Susan Duclos

On Thursday Barack Obama made a statement that seemed overtly hypocritical.

Via MediaIte:

While addressing the issue of climbing gas prices Thursday, President Barack Obama shared that “some politicians, they see this as a political opportunity… I know you’re shocked by that.” He mentioned that one newspaper headline reported that “Republicans are licking their chops” over rising gas prices. “Only in politics,” he added, “do people root for bad news

[Update] More from RCP, with video at the link.

At a campaign event in Coral Gables, Florida, President Obama says Republicans see rising gas prices as a "political opportunity" and they are "licking their chops."

Obama didn't stop there. "They greet bad news so enthusiastically," he added.


So, Obama is using a quote from a New paper to reiterate his feeling that Republicans are licking their chops over high gas prices because they are criticizing the Obama administration while campaigning, for the soaring gas prices.

Video FLASHBACK- Obama, via YouTube and Uploaded by BarackObamadotcom on Apr 25, 2008, where the candidate for presidency was campaigning using the high price of gas against the sitting administration.




Obama has no problem licking his chops when he was sitting outside the White House and legitimately using the high price of gas in his campaigning, but if Republicans do it, they are "rooting for bad news."

Six of Barack Obama's campaign ads in 2008 focused on high gas prices.



In 2008 Obama told the San Francisco Chronicle that under his cap-and-trade plan, "electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket." Steven Chu, now Secretary of Energy, told this newspaper in the same year: "Somehow, we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe." That would be, oh, $10 a gallon. (Source)

Another video flashback moment when Barack Obama the candidate, in 2008, explained why he wanted higher gas prices, just gradually rising not jumping out of control as they are now.




No worries though because Obama has the answer, which he explained in detail in July 2008:

"There are things you can do individually, though, to save energy. Making sure your tires are properly inflated – simple thing. But we could save all the oil that they're talking about getting off drilling – if everybody was just inflating their tires? And getting regular tune-ups? You'd actually save just as much!"

The audacity of Obama is astounding.

Related:

Sarah Palin On Gas Prices- Newt Is Right: 'stop bowing and start drilling'

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Video- Mitt!!!!! Bragging About 4 Cars, Including 2 Cadillacs Is As Tone Deaf As That $10K Bet

By Susan Duclos

Earlier this morning I mentioned Mitt Romney's $10,000 proposed wager to Rick Perry during a debate, and called it a gaffe, a soundbite that will be shown by Team Obama if Romney became the GOP nominee, to show how disconnected and tone deaf Romney is to the everyday American and the financial problems that hound them.

Well, sure enough, the man who has been running for president for 5 or 6 years now, has done it again!!!

Mitt Romney in Detroit, Michigan- "I actually love this state. This feels good being back in Michigan. You know, the trees are the right height, the streets are just right. I like the fact that most of the cars I see are Detroit-made automobiles. I drive a Mustang and a Chevy pickup truck. Ann drives a couple of Cadillacs. I used to have a dodge truck, so I used to have all three covered."

Video below



H/T BuzzFeed

Via Wapo:

The Romney campaign later said Ann Romney drives two Cadillac SRX’s (model years 2007 and 2010), one in California and one in Massachusetts.

The 2010 model of the luxury compact SUV retails for about $36,000 to $50,000, while the 2007 model retails for $38,000 to $44,000. (The base MSRP for a Cadillac SRX is $35,485, according to the Edmunds car price Web site.)



Now, let's be clear here, if you have money and can afford four vehicles, more power to you. Absolutely nothing wrong with spending money that is yours on whatever you want to spend it on.

With that said, when running for for the Republican nomination for presidency, at a time where gas prices are soaring, food is up, housing down and a large part of the population is worried about where their next rent payment is going to come from or how much food they can afford to be able to feed their families or how their utility bills are going to paid, it is not good optics to continue to show the population that you cannot possibly understand the trials that they are going through.

No reason to hide the fact that he is rich, but there is also no reason to shove his money down voter's throats either.

Add to that the fact that Team Obama, Democrats and liberals across the country are going to take comments like "I'm not concerned about the very poor", "Rick, I’ll tell you what, 10,000 bucks, $10,000 bet", answering interview gotcha questions about how much money he has with "Between 150 and 200 some-odd million," and so many other comments that can, and definitely 100% assuredly will, be used against him by Obama and company if he was chosen as the GOP nominee for president.

Bad optics even though there is nothing wrong with owning four cars and having millions.

Perception is reality and Romney's manner of referring to things is perceived, by many, as being completely out of touch with everyday men and women in America.

He cannot relate and this is one major reason why he hasn't been able to close the deal, hasn't been able to get a majority of conservatives to unite behind him.

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Sarah Palin On Gas Prices- Newt Is Right: 'stop bowing and start drilling'

By Susan Duclos


Three years ago the expression Drill, Baby, Drill was hammered home, but under Barack Obama regime's lack of action in opening Alaska up, drilling for natural gas, building the Keystone pipeline, just to name a few, we are still dependent on unfriendly nations for most of our oil supply.

A popular liberal argument back in 2008 would take years for the drill, baby, drill policies to actually make a difference in our oil supply and becoming less dependent on others and more self reliant.

Had we started a balls-to-the-walls implementation of opening our own reserves up, drilling in ANWR,for example, we would be three years closer to that energy independence now.

Sarah Palin has taken to her Facebook page to explain that very thing.



President Obama doesn’t have an energy plan. He has an energy speech that he continues to give regardless of the facts or his obvious failures. He likes to take credit for actions initiated by the last administration (without telling you that he’s reversed or stymied many of those successes).

We should not be surprised by his detached attitude about America’s pain at the pump. He’s not interested in lowering the price of gas because exorbitantly high gas prices are one of his campaign promises. In September 2008, candidate Obama’s Energy Secretary in-waiting said: “Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe.” That’s one campaign promise they’re working hard to fulfill!

President Obama notes that instability in the Middle East causes short-term spikes in the price of oil. But that is precisely why we should take every opportunity to drill here and drill now to lessen our dependence on these dangerous foreign regimes. President Obama’s lack of action simply invites the next oil crisis. It’s as if the White House is purposefully making us more dependent on foreign countries – from running up an unsustainable debt that must be financed by foreign debtors, to constantly apologizing and walking on eggshells around dictators who control oil supplies.

When it comes to our energy security, the only thing holding us back is the lack of political will. We have the resources, the ingenuity, and the manpower. And we need the jobs! Any economic recovery will be hampered by these rising gas prices. And I guarantee the rising prices will only get worse and will halt job growth further.

We must never forget that energy development, job creation, and national security are inextricably linked. Access to affordable and secure energy is the key to economic growth, which is the key to job growth. Securing a stable domestic supply of energy will lead to a more peaceful and prosperous America – an America that’s not subject to the whims of dictators who can cut off energy supplies or shut down the Strait of Hormuz to exports passing through.

President Obama repeatedly claims that there is no “silver bullet” to lower gas prices. But, in fact, we do have proof that the promise of future drilling does lead to immediate price relief as oil producers plan to expand their production.

So what are Obama’s solutions? As luck would have it, they coincide with subsidizing his friends and campaign donors. What a fortuitous coincidence in an election year! While you’re paying $5-a-gallon for gas, President Obama has been picking “winners” and “losers” in the free market. He’s decided that conventional resource development that produces the fuel we use to drive our cars and power our economy are “losers.” His “winners” are the bankrupt green energy companies that his campaign donors invest in. Unfortunately his real “losers” are the American public who are once again hit with massive gas prices (at least those who can’t afford luxury electric cars like the Obama-subsidized Volt that gets 40 miles per battery charge, or like the Obama-subsidized Tesla that turns into a “brick” when the battery completely discharges and then costs $40,000 to repair.)

What are the real solutions? Well, whether you support Newt in 2012 or not, he makes a lot of sense in this video, which is why President Obama targeted it for mockery yesterday. Newt is right that we need to “stop bowing and start drilling.” And not only can’t a gun rack fit in a Volt, but the government will take away our pick-up trucks when they pry the steering wheel “from our cold, dead hands.” Newt explains in this video some commonsense, pro-American solutions to the problems President Obama causes with his terrifyingly naïve assault on U.S. energy production.

With just the stroke of a pen, President Obama could lead us in the direction of real energy security and reduce our oil imports threatened by Iran’s threats to shut down the Strait of Hormuz. Here are just a few commonsense measures we can do right now and most of them don’t require any new legislation or regulations:

Open Alaska to drilling. Billions and billions of barrels of U.S. crude (and hundreds of trillions of cubic feet of clean natural gas) sit untapped up here in the far north, my friends. We have the TAPS pipeline and infrastructure; we invite the development! Open ANWR. Think of how much safer and secure we would be if we had done this decades ago.

Build the Keystone Pipeline. President Obama doesn’t understand we live in a land woven with untold miles of pipe to carry safe energy supplies to protect and prosper America. Common sense dictates we need another one now to secure our energy future. It is key. It is the Keystone. If we’re worried about instability in the Middle East, it makes no sense to shun safe and reliable oil from Canada. Obviously, China understands this, and we should too.

Drill for natural gas. Natural gas is the future. It’s clean, it’s green, and we’ve got lots of it. Whether we use it to power natural-gas cars or to run natural-gas power plants that charge electric cars – or ideally for both – natural gas can act as a clean “bridge fuel” to a future when more renewable sources are available.

There are many more steps we need in order to establish a true energy plan to secure our future. But these three steps, plus increased resource development in the Lower 48 and reversing President Obama’s nonsensical, knee-jerk, anti-American energy shut down of off-shore developments would create hundreds of thousands of jobs as millions of barrels of oil every single day would flow under American control, and lessen our dependence on the Persian Gulf.

It’s time our country had a real energy plan that include a genuine all-of-the-above approach that doesn’t ignore conventional resource development. We need the jobs, we need the energy, and we need the security.

- Sarah Palin



Obama mocks Republicans that believe drilling is one important factor in bringing down gas prices in the long run, but his own policies have done nothing but drive gas prices higher and higher. Obama blocks Gulf drilling permits. Obama administration's regulations are so onerous the process is crawling and jobs are lost. Obama rejects the Keystone pipeline, three years after the initial applications were submitted and claims Republicans gave him an "arbitrary" deadline.

Obama blames the soaring gas prices on tensions in the Middle East, but if we were less reliant on oil from the Middle East then the events there would not effect our pumps as severely.

No one claims that gas prices will go down the day we open up our resources but the sooner we start, the sooner those prices and our reliance on others go down.

[Update] New Chart Shows White House Plan for Higher Gas Prices & Fewer Jobs

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