Debit Card Fees: Last Year Democrats Screwed Us, We're Feeling It Today

By Susan Duclos

Contact information for the Dick Durbin below the post.

Big news hit yesterday, announcing that banks were going to start charging their costumers a monthly fee for using their debit cards.

The round of new charges stems from a rule, which takes effect on Saturday, that limits the fees that banks can levy on merchants every time a consumer uses a debit card to make a purchase.The rule, known as the Durbin amendment, after its sponsor Senator Richard J. Durbin, is a crucial part of the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul law.

The Atlantic explains how the Democratically controlled Congress screwed the public last year but we are only noticing now because the regulations they passed last year are going into effect this year.

The Logic Is Simple

Bank of America is actually being quite straightforward about its rationale for instituting this new fee: it blames the government. A provision from last summer's financial regulation bill promoted by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) capped the fees that banks can charge retailers when customers pay with debit cards. The new rule goes into effect on Saturday. Andrew R. Johnson at the Wall Street Journal reports:

Bank of America has said it expects the caps, which the industry lobbied against for months, to erase $2 billion in revenue annually.

"The economics of offering a debit card have changed with recent regulations," a spokeswoman for Bank of America said Thursday.

The only thing surprising about this news is that anyone Congress was so blind to reality that they expected anything different. Did they really believe that banks would just shrug when their revenues declined by billions of dollars? Since they can't get as much money from customers indirectly through debit interchange fees paid by retailers any longer, they're going the direct route and charging customers for using debit.

Say thank you Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL).

Web contact page for Durbin.

Office locations and contact information for Senator Dick Durbin

WASHINGTON, D.C.
711 Hart Senate Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
9 am to 6 pm ET
(202) 224-2152 - phone
(202) 228-0400 - fax

CHICAGO
230 S Dearborn St.
Suite 3892
Chicago, IL 60604
8:30 am to 5 pm
(312) 353-4952 - phone
(312) 353-0150 - fax

SPRINGFIELD
525 South 8th St.
Springfield, IL 62703
8:30 am to 5 pm
(217) 492-4062 - phone
(217) 492-4382 - fax

CARBONDALE
250 W. Cherry Street
Suite 115-D
Carbondale, IL 62901
8:30 am to 5 pm
(618) 351-1122 - phone
(618) 351-1124 - fax

ROCK ISLAND
1504 Third Avenue
Suite 227
Rock Island, IL 61201
8:30 am to 4:30 pm
(309) 786-5173 - phone
(309) 786-5404 - fax

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90 Percent Of Americans Say Economy Is Poor, Biden Says Obama Admin Owns Economy

By Susan Duclos

This morning CNN released the results of their latest CNN/ORC International Poll (PDF) which shows that 90 percent of Americans believe economic conditions remain poor which is a significant increase from the 81 percent who said conditions were poor in June.

According to the CNN article, 52 percent blame the Bush administration and 32 percent blame the Obama administration.

Yesterday though, Joe Biden, said "Even though 50-some percent of the American people think the economy tanked because of the last administration, that's not relevant. What's relevant is we're in charge."

As you will hear in the audio below, Biden also said that 2012 was going to be a "choice" about the economy. A "referendum on Obama and Biden."



As was just written on a previous piece, according to Gallup, 48 percent of Americans believe Republicans will do "a better job" of keeping the country prosperous" with 39 percent thinking Democrats would do a better job.

Americans also favored Republicans by 7 percentage points (44% to 37%) on the issue they think is the top issue facing the country, jobs/unemployment.

Topping off that bad polling news and Biden's unfortunate (for the Obama administration) honesty, we see the Bureau of Economic Analysis reporting today that personal income decreased in August for the first time in over a year. (H/T Hot Air)

Question to ponder: Is the U.S. economy tipping into another recession?

ECRI says yes.

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Gallup: Republicans Better Positioned Than Democrats Going Into 2012 Elections

Gallup finds that while a majority see the need for a third party, when given the choice between Republicans and Democrats, over who would better handle keeping the country prosperous and protecting the country from terrorism and military threats, Americans favor Republicans over Democrats.

Click image to enlarge

Americans also find that the top problem facing the country is jobs/unemployment and there too they favor Republicans over Democrats by 44 percent to 37 percent.


Related

Gallup: Dispirited Democrats' Enthusiasm Lowest In A Decade

IBD Poll: Majority Of Independents Think Obama Should Not Be Reelected

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Anwar al-Awlaki, American Born Al Qaeda's Affiliate, Killed In Yemen: Liberals Howl

By Susan Duclos

A missile from an American drone, in Yemen, reportedly has killed American born, al-Qaeda affiliate, Anwar al-Awlaki.

Background on al-Awlaki:

Anwar al-Awlaki was a radical American-born Muslim cleric who became a leading figure in Al Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen. He died there on Sept. 30, 2011; an official in Washington said he was killed by a missile fired from an American drone aircraft.

Mr. Awlaki had been perhaps the most prominent English-speaking advocate of violent jihad against the United States, with his message carried extensively over the Internet. His online lectures and sermons had been linked to more than a dozen terrorist investigations in the United States, Britain and Canada. Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan had exchanged e-mails with Mr. Awlaki before the deadly shooting rampage on Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009. Faisal Shahzad, who tried to set off a car bomb in Times Square in May, 2010, cited Mr. Awlaki as an inspiration.

The Obama administration had taken the rare step of authorizing the targeted killing of Mr. Awlaki, even though he was an American citizen — a step that had provoked lawsuits and criticism from human rights groups. He had survived at least one earlier missile strike from an American military drone.

That is the news.

The reactions to the news are the real story here as liberals are insisting that joining al-Qaeda and being their mouth piece, encouraging Jihad and the killing of innocent Americans, etc.. are all forms of free speech and al-Awlaki should not have been targeted and killed like any other terrorist because he was a terrorist born in America.

Worse yet, they will even acknowledge and admit that al-Awlaki's influence over al-Qaeda's propaganda operations is "undisputed", further admitting that al-Awlaki's message was "Muslims have an obligation to attack the perfidious United States". They'll admit all of that and at the same time as stating ""It would also mean that the Obama administration assassinated an American citizen without due process of law."


Liberal Reactions

Sean Paul Kelley at The Agonist:

What we've witnessed with Awlaki's death is the first official assassination based on a citizen practicing his First Amendment rights....

Glenn Greenwald at Salon:

After several unsuccessful efforts to assassinate its own citizen, the U.S. succeeded today (and it was the U.S.). It almost certainly was able to find and kill Awlaki with the help of its long-time close friend President Saleh, who took a little time off from murdering his own citizens to help the U.S. murder its. The U.S. thus transformed someone who was, at best, a marginal figure into a martyr, and again showed its true face to the world. The government and media search for The Next bin Laden has undoubtedly already commenced.

David Dayen at Firedoglake:

Yes, “controversial” is a nice, anodyne word for the assumed right of the government to play judge, jury and executioner of a US citizen.

We’ll hear this was necessary because of Awlaki’s operational role, and his part played in the Fort Hood massacre and the Christmas Day bombing attempt. In reality, many experts saw Awlaki as a public figurehead, a man who could speak in front of a video camera and therefore was magnified in the US public’s mind as some sort of leader. He was a guy with a YouTube account rather than an operational leader of Al Qaeda.

myiq2xu at Crawdad Hole calls it "Execution without trial"

This does bring about a couple questions about what liberals would have preferred Obama to do?

Risk our military's lives to arrest al-Awlaki and interrogate him on his knowledge of further plots against the United States, put him in Gitmo (or Bagram)and leave him there for years on end before setting up a military tribunal?

Oh wait! What am I thinking?

Liberals believe terrorist should have the right to remain silent (Miranda warning) about their knowledge of further terror plots against the United States. Liberals believe that authorities should ask terrorists nicely, "pretty please, tell us what you know about further plots" after being read the Miranda warning. Liberals want Gitmo shut down. Liberals want terrorists tried in civilian courts that are set up for domestic crimes and not terror related crimes, instead of military tribunals.

There is absolutely nothing reasonable Obama could have done here differently that would have satisfied the far left liberals, he was damned if he did and damned if he didn't.

It is not often readers will hear me defending Barack Obama. I disagree with almost all his social policies and believe he is systematically destroying this country.

In this instance though, the death of al-Qaeda affiliate Anwar al-Awlaki was handled exactly as it should have been and I say good riddance to bad rubbish.

Kudos.

Related:

You can run but not hide.

You Can Run But Not Hide

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

Especially if your name is Anwar al-Awlaki.

Born in the United States to parents of Yemeni origins.  His parents returned to Yemen when he was 7.  He lived in Yemen for 11 years then returned to the United States to attend university.  He graduated Colorado State University with a B.S. in Civil Engineering and was the President of the University's Muslim Students Union.  He was a leader in al-Qaeda and took over leadership of the organization when Bin Ladin was killed.

al-Awlaki was the English voice of al-Qaeda.

The U.S.-born terror mastermind Anwar al-Awlaki has been killed, Fox News confirms.

The government of the Republic of Yemen officially announced the death, saying Awlaki was targeted and killed about 5 miles from the town of Khashef in the Province of Jawf.

The operation was launched earlier today at around 9:55 AM, local time.

Yemeni security and tribal officials said an air strike thought to have been carried out by U.S. aircraft on Friday targeted a convoy of cars traveling in the eastern province of Marib but could not say whether al-Awlaki was in the convoy.

The 40-year-old al-Awlaki is believed to have inspired and even plotted or helped coordinate some of the recent attacks on the U.S., including the failed Christmas Day 2009 bombing of an airliner heading for Detroit, Michigan, and the also unsuccessful plot to send mail bombs on planes from Yemen to the United States in October.

The American-born son of Yemeni parents rose to prominence as Al-Qaeda's English-speaking voice and electronic messenger, spreading its terrorist credo via a blog, social media posts and email exchanges with such people as the U.S. Army major accused of a murderous shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas.

The Pakistani-American man who pleaded guilty to the May 2010 Times Square failed car bombing attempt told interrogators he was "inspired" by al-Awlaki after making contact over the Internet. Al-Awlaki was further believed to have had a hand in mail bombs addressed to Chicago-area synagogues, packages intercepted in Dubai and Europe in October 2010.

Yemen had in the past reported the deaths of Al-Qaeda leaders who were later found to be alive. Al-Awlaki was last reported to have been killed in December 2009.

Al-Awlaki is on a U.S. kill-or-capture list and is accused by Washington of inspiring several attacks in the United States.

The Yemeni officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share the information.

Yemen is the Arab world's most impoverished nation and has become a haven for Al-Qaeda militants.

Source

Yemen has claimed this kill.  The US claims it was done by a drone.  All that matters is this scumbag is dead and getting his just reward.

Piece of candy anyone?

Contact Info: California Teacher Penalizes Students For Saying 'Bless You' When Someone Sneezes

Seriously!! Only in California.

Will C. Wood High School
998 Marshall Rd.
Vacaville, CA 95687
Solano County

PHONE: (707) 453-6900
FAX: (707) 451-3656

Video:



After catching crap for his practice of lowering students' scores if they dare show the common courtesy of saying "bless you" to another student when they sneeze, he stopped the practice but vows to find some other way to discipline kids that offend him by using the popular term.

His name is Steve Cuckovich and he teaches a health class at Will C. Wood High School in Vacaville, California.

More at ABC and Examiner.

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Gallup- Dispirited Democrats' Enthusiasm Lowest In A Decade

By Susan Duclos

Gallup summarizes the difference between Democrats' enthusiasm and Republicans' enthusiasm by plotting the difference in the two groups' net enthusiasm scores and determined that the Democrats' relative enthusiasm is the lowest in a decade.

Democrats' net enthusiasm (+1) now trails Republicans' net enthusiasm (+28) by 27 percentage points. By contrast, Democrats held the advantage on net enthusiasm throughout 2008 -- on several occasions, by better than 40-point margins. Democrats occasionally trailed Republicans in net enthusiasm in 2004, but never by as much as is seen today. The current balance of enthusiasm among Republicans and Democrats is similar to what Gallup found in the first few months of 2000.

Gallup's bottom line:

Gallup's initial -- and early -- reading on Republicans' and Democrats' enthusiasm for 2012 indicates the emotional climate surrounding that election could be quite different from the climate in 2008, when Democrat Barack Obama won, partly owing to supermajority support from several groups. Democrats' current enthusiasm about voting is not only lower than it was in 2008, but lower than in 2004, when Republican George W. Bush won re-election.

While Gallup has not been able to establish a statistical link between heightened enthusiasm and greater turnout in past elections, the party with the enthusiasm advantage generally tends to fare better. Given that President Obama's job approval rating continues to hover around 40% and that he appears vulnerable in the general election, it is not surprising that Democrats are currently less enthusiastic than Republicans about voting in 2012. However, should this pattern continue well into next year, it could be an important indicator of which way the election will go.

There is over a year to go before the presidential election and much can happen. Polls are great for establishing patterns and trends but the actual numbers are just a snapshot into how people are feeling at the moment.

Since unemployment, federal deficit, budget and the economy seem to be the priorities Americans list as key issues, then it is safe to assume that these numbers will fluctuate over the next year, but without a massive change in trajectory on unemployment figures and economic improvement, the downward pattern itself will be hard for Obama and Democrats to turn around.

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Anti-Obama Signs Cause Controversy In New Orleans

By Susan Duclos



The sign above is just one of the controversial signs a resident, Timothy Reily, of an Uptown neighborhood has put up on his property at the 1500 block of Calhoun. A small group of protesters gathered and City Council Member Susan Guidry even showed up to talk to Reily, presumably to attempt to get him to stop putting up the anti-Obama signs.

Guidry goes as far as to state "We have to determine that there is a zoning law that prohibits perhaps the size of the sign, perhaps the way that it's erected, that it is leaning over onto public property. Whatever we can use, we will, but of course, we do have to balance that with First Amendment rights."

Yes, free speech rights, unless she can find some loophole to use to trample those rights.

Digby (definitely not conservative, but we seem to agree on the free speech aspect):

Of course it's legal. It's explicitly political and that's the most protected speech of all. The idea that any elected official would try to stop him is disturbing.

I will say what I said when the signage was of Bush made to look like Hitler. It is disrespectful to the office of President, but it falls under free speech and whether one agrees with the "statement" being made or not, free speech should be protected, especially on private property, even if that speech is disrespectful.

An uptown New Orleans resident put up an anti-Obama sign in his yard that many found distasteful. A protest began, and WIST's Kaare Johnson showed up to try to voice his opinion on free speech, regardless of whether or not he disagreed. It got tense.

Video filmed by listener Truman James.

Tune into Kaare Johnson every weekday from 3-6pm on Sports Talk WIST 690 AM and 104.9 FM

Or stream the show at http://www.wistradio.com

Other signs Timothy Reily has put up, via WWLTV.com:





(Click images to enlarge)

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Solyndra Downfall Spurs New Information On Democratic Connections To Federal Loan Guarantees

By Susan Duclos

Quick recap from yesterday's post:

What you will see below, in short is that Solyndra defaulted on its $535 million loan and has shut down (Headline one), two other solar industry companies that received money from Obama's stimulus plan have filed for bankruptcy or bankruptcy protection (Headline two). The Deputy Secretary of Energy wrote that a combination of issues including the 42 percent plummet of the price of solar cells has "taken a serious toll on solar manufacturers everywhere," (Headline two) but the Energy Department has gone ahead and finalized more than $1 billion in loan guarantees for two separate solar energy projects (Headline three) and will announce on Thursday whether nine federal loan guarantees amounting to $6.5 billion for green energy projects will get final approval, to create jobs which will cost $23 million per job. (Headline four)

Click over to see the actual headlines and article quotes.

TODAY, we see even more concerning news about the Democratic connection on loan guarantees from the Obama administration to companies that employ executives or board members who have donated large sums of money to Democratic campaigns.

A Daily Caller investigation has found that in addition to the failed company Solyndra, at least four other solar panel manufacturing companies receiving in excess of $500 million in loan guarantees from the Obama administration employ executives or board members who have donated large sums of money to Democratic campaigns.

And as questions swirl around possible connections between political donations and these preferential financing arrangements, the Obama White House suddenly began deflecting The Daily Caller’s questions on Wednesday to the Democratic National Committee.

Asked Wednesday to comment on the connection between large Democratic donors and Obama administration loan guarantees to the companies they represent, the White House responded to TheDC with a single sentence: “We refer your question to the Democratic National Committee.”

That is a three-page article, well worth the time it takes to read.

For giggles, here is Jon Stewart again ripping into Obama over Solyndra.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

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Sting Op Nets Arrest Of Jihadist That Wanted To Blow Up Capitol And Pentagon

By Susan Duclos

His name is Rezwan Ferdaus, he is a 26-year-old Massachusetts man and he wanted to load C-4 onto remote controlled planes to blow up the Pentagon and the Capitol.

Thanks to TPM, the affidavit is embedded below:

Complaint Affidavit

H/T to Hot Air who points to the lowlights from the affidavit:

....Paragraph 12 describes how he got hooked on jihadi propaganda; paragraph 18 notes his desire to attack, if not the Pentagon and the Capitol, at least a subway station or military base; paragraph 27 claims he wanted to train overseas with the jihadi A-team; paragraph 40 flags the fact that he thought killing women and children was okay since they are, after all, kaffir; paragraph 63 chronicles his excitement upon being told (falsely) that cell-phone detonators he had built to trigger IEDs had killed American troops in Iraq; and paragraph 75 asserts that he’d hoped to make 20 or 30 such detonators every single week. (In fact, per paragraph 80, he made a training video on how to build the detonators just eight days ago.)

The Other McCain, notices and highlights what he calls a curious statement made by U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz, who said:

“I want the public to understand that Mr. Ferdaus’ conduct, as alleged in the complaint, is not reflective of a particular culture, community or religion.

McCain finds that curious because in the CBS article they report that Ferdaus is a "a self-radicalized jihadist" who doesn't have a problem killing innocent Americans because they are "enemies of Allah."

That sounds pretty "particular" to me too.


More at The Hill, Boston Globe

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Remember The Cupcake Pricing By Race Story? Well Liberal Protesters Made The Bake Sale Planner's Point!!

By Susan Duclos

The other day I wrote about a bake sale which was planned by Campus Republicans at the University of California Berkeley as a statement/protest event to California legislation (SB 185) that would let the California universities consider race or national origin during the admission process.

Zombie over at Pajamas Media attended the event and came away with awesome pictures, video and descriptions of today's activities.

The U.C. Berkeley College Republicans struck a national nerve today by holding a bake sale with racially discriminatory pricing: Higher prices for white and Asian students, lower prices for black, Hispanic and female students. Why the intentional discrimination? To protest a pending new statewide law, SB 185, which attempts to re-introduce Affirmative Action into university admission standards, something that was banned years ago with California’s Proposition 209, a popular constitutional amendment requiring race-neutral admissions.

The purposely inflammatory gag was very clever: the goal was to make everyone point out how racist the cupcake prices were, at which point the young Republicans reply, “Exactly! Racial discrimination is unfair. Thanks for making our point for us!”

But the leftists on campus and around the state instead flew into a blind rage: The joke was too effective, so Affirmative Action proponents simply pretended to “not get it.” Accusations of racism flew back and forth and before anyone knew it we had a major FUBAR situation on our hands.

Zombie did the heavy lifting by taking and publishing all the pictures and stuff, so please head over there and look through all of them.... there are a lot!!

The liberals on campus played right into the event planner's hands and made the point for them.

The Campus Republicans deserve a round of applause, they sold their cupcakes, they forced the protesters to make their point for them and they put a spotlight on the legislation in question.

A job well done.

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Another Billion In Solar Energy Loan Guarantees Finalized While Solyndra Failure Still Being Investigated

By Susan Duclos

I am looking at multiple dueling headlines which leave me shaking my head and wondering what the hell the Obama administration and the Energy Department are thinking.

What you will see below, in short is that Solyndra defaulted on its $535 million loan and has shut down (Headline one), two other solar industry companies that received money from Obama's stimulus plan have filed for bankruptcy or bankruptcy protection (Headline two). The Deputy Secretary of Energy wrote that a combination of issues including the 42 percent plummet of the price of solar cells has "taken a serious toll on solar manufacturers everywhere," (Headline two) but the Energy Department has gone ahead and finalized more than $1 billion in loan guarantees for two separate solar energy projects (Headline three) and will announce on Thursday whether nine federal loan guarantees amounting to $6.5 billion for green energy projects will get final approval, to create jobs which will cost $23 million per job. (Headline four)


First headline- "Solyndra Said to Have Violated Terms of Its U.S. Loan."

Solyndra LLC had such steep financial problems in late 2010 that the company violated terms of its loan-guarantee agreement with the Department of Energy and technically defaulted on its $535 million loan, according to people familiar with the matter.

The failed solar-panel maker, which is under numerous criminal and congressional investigations, ran so short of cash in December 2010 that it was unable to satisfy certain terms of its U.S. loan agreement, these people said. The agreement required Solyndra to provide $5 million in equity to a subsidiary building its factory but cash-flow problems prevented those payments.

WSJ's Ryan Tracy reports a new Congressional report says warnings about Solyndra's competitive abilities came out before the government awarded the company a $535 million loan guarantee and the company's subsequent collapse.

The Energy Department ultimately restructured the loan agreement to help keep the company afloat and Solyndra continued to draw money from its loan.

Solyndra's cash-flow problems in late 2010 had previously come to light but it was not known that the company technically defaulted on its loan and violated its agreement with the U.S. government.

The company's financial problems prompted the Energy Department early this year to allow it to reshuffle its debt. Under the arrangement, private investors agreed to provide a new $75 million loan and won the right to be paid ahead of the government if the company was liquidated.

The default is the latest indication of the serious financial troubles afflicting California-based Solyndra, which filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this month. It will likely add to questions surrounding the Obama administration's backing for the company even as its financial problems mounted.

Solyndra is not the only solar industry company to have filed for bankruptcy or bankruptcy protection.

Second headline - "Solyndra Not Sole Firm to Hit Rock Bottom Despite Stimulus Funding."

At least four other companies have received stimulus funding only to later file for bankruptcy, and two of those were working on alternative energy.

Evergreen Solar Inc., reportedly received $5.3 million of stimulus cash through a state grant to install 11,000 photovoltaic panels installed at 11 colleges and universities, a recycling facility and an education center in Massachusetts.

The company, once a rock star in the solar industry, filed for bankruptcy protection last month, saying it couldn't compete with Chinese rivals without reorganizing. The company intends to focus on building up its manufacturing facility in China.

SpectraWatt, based in Hopewell Junction, N.Y., is also a solar cell company that was spun out of Intel in 2008. In June 2009, SpectraWatt received a $500,000 grant from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory as part of the stimulus package. SpectraWatt was one of 13 companies to receive the money to help develop ways to improve solar cells without changing current manufacturing processes.

The company filed for bankruptcy last month, saying it could not compete with its Chinese competitors, which receive "considerable government and financial support."

On Tuesday, Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman wrote an editorial for "USA Today" in which he blamed China in part for the failure of U.S. solar energy manufacturers to compete.

"Winning will require substantial investments. Last year, for example, the China Development Bank offered more than $30 billion in financing to Chinese solar manufacturers, about 20 times more than U.S.-backed loans to solar manufacturers," Poneman wrote.

"Unfortunately, expanding production has coincided with short-term softening demand, a product of the banking crisis in Europe and its wider economic effects. The combination has had a dramatic effect on the price of solar cells, which has plummeted 42 percent in the past nine months. This has taken a serious toll on solar manufacturers everywhere, including the U.S," he continued.

Notice the last part of that which I emphasized and then read the next headline.

Third headline- "Energy Department approves $1B in solar energy loan guarantees."

The Energy Department announced Wednesday that is has finalized more than $1 billion in loan guarantees for two separate solar energy projects.

The decision comes several weeks after Solyndra, a California-based solar manufacturer that received a $535 million loan guarantee from the Obama administration in 2009, filed for bankruptcy and laid off 1,100 workers, setting off a firestorm in Washington.

DOE announced a $737 million loan guarantee to help finance construction of the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project, a 110-megawatt solar-power-generating facility in Nye County, Nev. The project is sponsored by Tonopah Solar, a subsidiary of California-based SolarReserve.

The Energy Department said the project will result in 600 construction jobs and 45 permanent jobs.

Fourth headline- "DOE Mulls Green Energy Loans At $23 Million Per Job."

The Department of Energy is set on Thursday to announce whether nine federal loan guarantees amounting to $6.5 billion for green energy projects will get final approval.

The number of full-time, permanent jobs they would create? According to the DOE's own figures, a grand total of 283. That is nearly $23 million per job.

Again please notice how I emphasized the words "permanent jobs" and let's take a trip down memory lane to Joe Biden during a video-chat on the same day as a new Solyndra plant opened.

“Once your facility opens, there will be about 1,000 permanent new jobs here at Solyndra and in the surrounding business community and hundreds more to install your growing output of solar panels throughout the country,” Biden said. “It’s important. It’s important because these jobs are permanent jobs.”

When Solyndra shuttered, 1,100 people lost their jobs.

You can even visit YouTube and hear Biden say it if you don't believe ABC's quote. It is a 25 minute video but he says the now famous line at the 4 minute 30 second mark.

Have I not had enough coffee today? Is it just me? Or is something seriously wrong with this picture?

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Congress to Investigate Planned Parenthood's Institutional Practices And Policies

By Susan Duclos

The House Energy and Commerce Committee is probing into Planned Parenthood's "institutional practices and policies."

A Republican-led House committee has launched an investigation into Planned Parenthood, requesting a mountain of documents covering everything from audits to abortion-funding records to its policies on reporting sexual abuse.

In a move Democrats decried as "unfair and unjustified," Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., earlier this month wrote to Planned Parenthood informing them that the House Energy and Commerce Committee was looking at the group's "institutional practices and policies."

More:

Stearns also cited what he called the group's "extensive record of violating state sexual assault and child abuse reporting laws, and of encouraging young girls to lie about their ages to circumvent state reporting laws."

The line was an apparent reference to a series of sting operations conducted by anti-abortion group Live Action. The group has released videos which appear to show, in some cases, Planned Parenthood employees offering advice to people posing as sex traffickers.

Via email from Live Action:

For the first time in history, Congress has launched their own investigation into the well known abuse scandals and sex-trafficking cover-up within the walls of the nation’s biggest abortion chain, Planned Parenthood. Earlier this year, Live Action's undercover videos prompted the first Congressional defunding of abortion giant Planned Parenthood. Now, for the first time, Congress has launched their own investigation into the well known abuse scandals and sex-trafficking cover-up within the walls of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. As Live Action has documented and revealed for the past several years, Planned Parenthood's ruthless abortion first mentality has furthered victimized and endangered vulnerable women and young girls.

Planned Parenthood workers caught on tape. These undercover investigations have resulted in the firing of certain Planned Parenthood employees. Proponents for Planned Parenthood have accused the Live Action crew of editing the videos to misrepresent the criminal activities.

Below the videos are links provided by Live action to what they describe as uncut footage of the videos above and more and below that are the transcripts provided on the Live Action site.

The videos below are of three separate undercover investigations at three different locations.








FULL UNCUT FOOTAGE, via Live Action

Perth Amboy, NJ Planned Parenthood
Bronx, NY Planned Parenthood
Charlottesville, VA Planned Parenthood
Falls Church, VA Planned Parenthood
Richmond, VA Planned Parenthood
Roanoke, VA Planned Parenthood
Washington, DC Planned Parenthood

TRANSCRIPTS, via Live Action

Perth Amboy, NJ Planned Parenthood
Bronx, NY Planned Parenthood
Charlottesville, VA Planned Parenthood
Falls Church, VA Planned Parenthood
Richmond, VA Planned Parenthood
Roanoke, VA Planned Parenthood
Washington, DC Planned Parenthood

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RNC Video: 'Sound Familiar?'- Obama's Focus On Jobs..... Again

By Susan Duclos

In September the Republican National Committee (RNC)produced a one minute video called "Sound Familiar?" which highlights Barack Obama from 2009 until now promising the country that he was focusing on jobs, over and over again.

Video below:



This video played in targeted battleground radio ads ahead of President Obama’s latest ‘pivot to jobs’ speech, where he once again claimed to be concerned about ... yes, jobs.

Via GOP.com:

“We’ve heard this all before,” said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus. “For the past two and a half years, President Obama has repeatedly promised to focus on jobs, but, instead, he has prioritized taxing, spending and regulating. The problem is that job creation was never a priority for this president. He spent the summer filling his campaign coffers, going on taxpayer-funded bus tours, playing golf and jetting off to Martha’s Vineyard at a time when 14 million Americans are out of work.

“Expect this president to talk about the same-old economic half-measures that he’s championed since taking office and to blame others for his lack of leadership. The country is yearning for leadership but all we’ve gotten is failed promises filled with misplaced priorities. With ZERO jobs created in the month of August, it’s time to change direction.”

Obama produced a plan he called The American Jobs Act (AJA), a 155 page bill that the Hoover Institution Journal describes as "An infernal mish-mash of taxes, subsidies, and regulations."

The most evident feature of the AJA is that it is a combination of ill-conceived, disparate measures. The wandering quality of the bill makes it impossible to cover all of its silliness, but it is possible to focus on some of the core job provisions, all of which kill the very jobs that the AJA is supposed to create.

They go through many of the portions of the bill that help them render their conclusions so go read the entire piece to learn what is really in Obama tax increase plan.

Barack Obama has been making the same promise to focus on jobs and the high unemployment numbers for 2 years now, yet his actions show a President that has been focused more on raising taxes (20 of them associated with Obamacare, many of which not scheduled to go into effect until after the 2012 election), socializing our healthcare system and now campaigning for reelection.

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IBD Poll: Majority Of Independents Think Obama Should Not Be Reelected

By Susan Duclos

According to the IBD/TIPP poll conducted in early September, 53 percent of Independents believe someone new should be President in 2012, with only 38 percent thinking he should be reelected.

In 2008, Independents favored Obama by a 52 percent to 44 percent margin.

IBD/TIPP also finds that Barack Obama is still liked personally but majorities disapprove of his policies, and believes he lacks the experience needed to be an effective President.

On the other hand, 62% disapprove of his policies, and by 63% to 35% they think he lacks the experience to be an effective president. A majority of independents (51%) do not believe that he is someone they would be proud to have as president; only 42% would be proud.

Other findings:

80 percent of Independents believe the country is heading in the wrong direction, higher than the national average of what all Americans believe which is 72 percent saying America is on the wrong track.

Only 15% give Obama an A or B for his handling of the economy, 16% give him good grades for managing the federal budget, and just 12% see him favorably for creating jobs and economic growth.

Independents alone will not determine whether Barack Obama is reelected but they are an important voting bloc for any presidential candidate or incumbent President and could be the tipping point factor in 2012.

Add to that the loss in numbers for Barack Obama most supportive voting bloc, African Americans, whom he carried 98 percent in 2008 and 83 percent just five months ago, which is down to 58 percent now according to a Washington Post/ABC News survey and Obama's hopes for reelection just took a massive hit.

Perhaps telling African Americans to "Stop complainin'. Stop grumblin'. Stop cryin'," wasn't his brightest move when they hold a 16 percent unemployment rating which is far above the national average, which is 9.1 percent.

The Hill has some other concerning numbers for Obama:

• Before Obama’s speech to Congress and the nation — watched by 34 million families — his job approval averaged 44 percent. Now it averages 43 percent, according to realclearpolitics.com. He deployed his ultimate weapon — a nationally televised speech to Congress — and came up empty.

• The president’s personal favorability has taken a big hit even as his job approval has shown no gain. The Post/ABC poll has his rating down to 47 percent, the first time in his presidency it has dropped below 50. Clearly, the spectacle of a class warrior leading the country is grating on most Americans. Usually, despite drops in his job approval, his personal ratings have stayed high. Not anymore. The most recent New York Times/CBS poll had his favorability actually lagging behind his job approval by 4 points — the first time it has ever done so in their polling.

• Young people, the core of Obama’s base, now hold equally favorable and unfavorable views of the president they once adored. And his favorability among self-described “liberal” Democrats has also dropped. The percentage of those who say they are strongly favorable has fallen from 69 percent in April to 52 percent now. For a president whose reelection chances hinge on his ability to turn out his base, these numbers are depressing indeed.

Obama’s advisers likely think that fervent appeals to liberal views, including class warfare, are the best way to repair the gaping holes that are now appearing in his political base. But this is a conviction born of instinct and intuition, not generated by polling data. The fact is that as the president has ratcheted up his class warfare rhetoric, his personal popularity has fallen and his job approval has edged down slightly.

Barring a miraculous turn around in high unemployment numbers and a stalling economy, Obama's reelection chances will continue to go downhill.

His recent class warfare rhetoric coupled with his condescending insults to the black community gives him the optics of swinging aimlessly from one end of the pendulum to the other in an attempt to play to his far left liberal base one moment then play to Independents the next, making him look indecisive, inexperienced and disconnected from voting Americans.

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Ford Bailout VIDEO Shown- White House Pressures Ford To Remove Anti-Bailout Ad?

On 9/16/11 we showed a Ford Ad which was critical of the government auto bailouts and today news hits that after pressure from the Obama White House, Ford has pulled the ad. YouTube has also pulled the original ad.

That's what some of America is about, evidently. Because Ford pulled the ad after individuals inside the White House questioned whether the copy was publicly denigrating the controversial bailout policy CEO Alan Mulally repeatedly supported in the dark days of late 2008, in early '09 and again when the ad flap arose. And more.

With President Barack Obama tuning his re-election campaign amid dismal economic conditions and simmering antipathy toward his stimulus spending and associated bailouts, the Ford ad carried the makings of a political liability when Team Obama can least afford yet another one. Can't have that.

The ad, pulled in response to White House questions (and, presumably, carping from rival GM), threatened to rekindle the negative (if accurate) association just when the president wants credit for their positive results (GM and Chrysler are moving forward, making money and selling vehicles) and to distance himself from any public downside of his decision.

In other words, where presidential politics and automotive marketing collide — clean, green, politically correct vehicles not included — the president wins and the automaker loses because the benefit of the battle isn't worth the cost of waging it.

For those that wish to see the add in it's entirety, MediaIte has the original Fox News report which includes the showing of the ad, in full. (Just in case the second uploaded YouTube video mysteriously disappears.)




[Update] Damage control?

Michelle Malkin points out that although the original video was removed by user over at YouTube, another took it's place a week later, here. She also has a video of a YouTube response from Chris (the man in the original video), so go see it.

More: A reader on Twitter points to Ford’s response to him on Facebook in which the company claims the ad campaign is still running:

Ford Motor Company Jeff we were not coerced into pulling the ad down. The campaign continues to run. We took the ad out of rotation after 4 weeks which is consistent with the typical lifecycle for the campaign.

There were conflicting reports that the ad had been yanked from YouTube. It appears that the ad is still there, though.

Check this link.

Someone’s in a panic over at Ford’s social media department, for sure. The original YouTube ad uploaded weeks ago on the site is not available. See the embed of the original ad from September 16 here at hotair: “Video has been removed by the user.”

The one now appearing on the site was re-uploaded on September 23.

I think diggrbiii has this right: “Ford pulls TV ad, claims it was just normal scheduling, keeps YouTube version up for plausible deniability.”

Others discussing this, via Memeorandum:

MLive.com, Michelle Malkin, National Review, Ben Smith's Blog, LaborUnionReport.com, Hot Air, RedState, Weasel Zippers, Weekly Standard, theblogprof, JammieWearingFool and Cold Fury .

Obama Donor, Business Owner, Explains Why Obama Needs To Stop With Class Warfare Rhetoric

An Obama donor, Ted Leonsis, who is a business owner, seems to be disillusioned with the class warfare rhetoric that Barack Obama has been spouting across the country and says it blows his mind how he is asked for money at the same time as "getting blasted as being a bad guy!"

I voted for our President. I have maxed out on personal donations to his re-election campaign. I forgot his campaign wants to raise $1 billion. THAT is a lot of money–money–money–money! Money still talks. It blows my mind when I am asked for money as a donation at the same time I am getting blasted as being a bad guy!

Mr. Leonsis explains who he is, what he does and why Obama needs to stop with the class warfare pitch:

With my investments and board seats and companies that I own, I am at a leadership position in concerns that employ more than 200,000 people. We do our best to be good corporate citizens. I know in the companies that I own personally or am the largest shareholder that we support now more than 500 charities. We care. Pick some business leaders that you work with and make them heroes. Don’t demonize them. Showcase them as great Americans that care and hire and employ people. Employment is the biggest issue you will face when re-election comes. If people aren’t working, they will blame you and your administration. And since you have never worked before in a real job for a real company, you need help from people who have been there. Don’t push them away!

Leonsis wasn't always rich. His father was a waiter and his mother was a secretary. He attended colege with loans which he paid back and with luck and hard work he became successful.

More from Leonsis:

I say this as I read all of the rhetoric about Class Warfare, the rift that is being created between economic middle and lower class and as the President said “those millionaires and billionaires.”

The real rift in philosophy though is do you want the Government to create jobs and stimulate the economy or do you want America’s small business to be the engine of growth?

Economic Success has somehow become the new boogie man; some in the Democratic party are now casting about for enemies and business leaders and anyone who has achieved success in terms of rank or fiscal success is being cast as a bad guy in a black hat. This is counter to the American Dream and is really turning off so many people that love American and basically carry our country on their back by paying taxes and by employing people and creating GDP.

This is a bad move all designed by some pollster who said this is the way to get votes during the re-election. It should be stopped. We should be healing and creating teams NOT dividing and pitting people against one another.

I have to wonder if he is just venting or if he truly has had an epiphany?

I guess the record of his next donations will answer that question.

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OMG! Obama said what?

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

We cannot make these things up.  But a Freudian Slip of the tongue by the President tells more about what is really on his mind than the class warfare he is doing.





Hat tip to a12iggymom

Despite Media Hype Governor Rick Perry Still Leading The Pack

By Susan Duclos

As a voter, a conservative, I believe that when looking for a candidate to throw my support behind, I must determine what I see as important issues, very important issues and extremely important issues.

In other words, I prioritize.

Governor Rick Perry, by all accounts, underperformed in his debate appearances, which has led to the mainstream media prematurely announcing his political demise, but according to CNN polling, being a great debater may not fall under the "extremely important" category for more than just myself.

According to the survey, which was released Monday, 28 percent of Republicans and independents who lean towards the GOP say they support Perry as their party's presidential nominee, with Romney at 21 percent. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is at ten percent, with Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, who's making his third bid for the White House, former Godfather's Pizza CEO and radio talk show host Herman Cain, and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, all at seven percent. The poll indicates that Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota is at four percent, with former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania at three percent and former Utah Gov. and ambassador to China Jon Huntsman at one percent.

In 2008, America voted in a great debater, a smooth talker, a man who could give a good speech despite having no executive experience.... what we got was Barack Obama.

I seriously doubt the majority of Americans are happy with what has followed. In fact, polling averages show the majority disapproves of Obama's job performance and 72 percent of the country, on average, believes the country is on the wrong track.

We hear quote a bit about how Perry's stance on immigration is a huge disadvantage for him, a problem, but when looking at polls which ask respondents to prioritize, immigration falls well behind unemployment, economy, federal budget deficit and healthcare.

By The Numbers:

CNN/ORC Poll. Aug. 5-7, 2011. N=1,008 adults nationwide. Margin of error ± 3.
"Which of the following is the most important issue facing the country today? The economy. The federal budget deficit. Health care. The situation in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. Illegal immigration. Terrorism. Policies toward gays and lesbians." Options rotated
			%
	The economy		60
	The federal budget deficit		16
	Health care		9
	Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya		5
	Illegal immigration		4
	Terrorism		3
	Policies toward gays, lesbians		1
	Other (vol.)		1
	Unsure		1

Bloomberg National Poll conducted by Selzer & Company. June 17-20, 2011. N=1,000 adults nationwide. Margin of error ± 3.1.
"Which of the following do you see as the most important issue facing the country right now? Unemployment and jobs. Government spending. The federal deficit. Health care. The war in Afghanistan. Gas prices. Immigration. Taxes." Options rotated
			%
	Unemployment and jobs		42
	Government spending		17
	The federal deficit		13
	Health care		10
	War in Afghanistan		5
	Gas prices		4
	Immigration		3
	Taxes		1
	Other (vol.)		2
	Unsure		3

Fox News Poll conducted by Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R). May 15-17, 2011. N=910 registered voters nationwide. Margin of error ± 3.
"Which one of the following issues do you think the president and Congress should focus on right now? The economy and jobs. The deficit and government spending. Health care. Terrorism and national security. Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Immigration." Options rotated
			%
	Economy and jobs		50
	Deficit and government spending		22
	Health care		8
	Terrorism and national security		5
	Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan		4
	Immigration		2
	All (vol.)		7
	None/Other (vol.)		1
	Unsure		1

CBS News/New York Times Poll. Sept. 10-15, 2011. N=1,452 adults nationwide. Margin of error ± 3.
"What do you think is the most important problem facing this country today?" Open-ended
			%
	Economy		59
	Budget deficit/National debt		8
	Health care		3
	Partisan politics		3
	Poverty/Homelessness		2
	War/Iraq/Afghanistan		2
	Politicians/Government		2
	Big government/Bureaucracy		2
	Other		18
	Unsure		1

Poll numbers above obtained from Polling Report.


More numbers from Gallup and Rasmussen.

Need I continue?

Immigration may be Perry's weak suit and he may not be a great debater, but if he stays strong on the issues that the majority of Americans consider to be priorities, he will do just fine.

I disagree with Perry on his immigration stance but my priorities are unemployment, national deficit and government budget.

No candidate is going to perfectly match your opinion on every single topic, so determine your priorities then decide accordingly as to which candidate you are going to support.

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