A biography of President Obama being studied by at least one fourth-grade class has received criticism for glossing over negative aspects of the president, painting white voters as likely racists and highlighting the commander-in-chief’s early identity struggles by focusing on his teenage drug use.
The book, “Barack Obama,” was published by Lerner Publishing in 2010 as part of their series “History Maker Bios.” All presidents going back to Richard Nixon -- except George W. Bush -- were the subjects of similar biographies published by Lerner, which did not respond to questions from FoxNews.com.
Critics also say the new Obama book is biased, pointing to a passage that reads, “but some people said Americans weren’t ready for that much change. Sure Barack was a nice fellow, they said. But white voters would never vote for a black president.”
More
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Friday, November 22, 2013
Obamacare-Speak
The Obama administration is altering its language like there’s no tomorrow.
The Obama administration once gave us “man-caused disasters” for acts of terrorism and “workplace violence” for the Fort Hood shootings. Now it has trumped those past linguistic contortions by changing words to mask the Obamacare disaster.
The president and his advisers apparently knew long ago that millions of the insured would face cancellations or premium hikes once Obamacare was fully implemented. Yet to get the 906-page bill passed, they had to convince the public of the very opposite scenario. So they repeated ironclad guarantees that no one would lose their coverage or doctors — “period!”
More
The Obama administration once gave us “man-caused disasters” for acts of terrorism and “workplace violence” for the Fort Hood shootings. Now it has trumped those past linguistic contortions by changing words to mask the Obamacare disaster.
The president and his advisers apparently knew long ago that millions of the insured would face cancellations or premium hikes once Obamacare was fully implemented. Yet to get the 906-page bill passed, they had to convince the public of the very opposite scenario. So they repeated ironclad guarantees that no one would lose their coverage or doctors — “period!”
More
MCCONNELL: TEA PARTY 'BULLIES' WHO NEED PUNCH IN NOSE
On the call, according to a donor who was on it, McConnell personally named Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) as Tea Party conservatives he views as problematic for him. “The bulk of it was an attack on the Tea Party in general, Cruz in particular,” the source, a prominent donor, said in a phone interview with Breitbart News.
But the most memorable line came at the end of the call.
“McConnell said the Tea Party was ‘nothing but a bunch of bullies,’” the source said. “And he said ‘you know how you deal with schoolyard bullies? You punch them in the nose and that’s what we’re going to do.’”
More
Trickle Down Recovery: Monetary Expansion, Excess Bank Reserves, And Leftovers For Main Street
“Trickle-down theory - the less than elegant metaphor that if one feeds the horse enough oats, some will pass through to the road for the sparrows.”
John Kenneth Galbraith
"There are those who believe that if you just legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, that their prosperity will leak through on those below."
William Jennings Bryant
"Gentlemen! I too have been a close observer of the doings of the Bank of the United States. I have had men watching you for a long time, and am convinced that you have used the funds of the bank to speculate in the breadstuffs of the country.
When you won, you divided the profits amongst you, and when you lost, you charged it to the Bank. You tell me that if I take the deposits from the Bank and annul its charter I shall ruin ten thousand families. That may be true, gentlemen, but that is your sin.
Should I let you go on, you will ruin fifty thousand families, and that would be my sin! You are a den of vipers and thieves. I have determined to rout you out, and by the Eternal, (bringing his fist down on the table) I will rout you out!
Andrew Jackson
It is not quite as straightforward as this, but the two charts below help to illustrate a point that the Fed, and the government, are pursuing a 'top down' approach to a recovery from the banking crisis as a matter of policy.
And one of the most consequential flaws in this policy error is that the financial system, and a fiscal policy that largely favors the one percent, are largely unreformed. Big money has thoroughly corrupted the political process.
I cannot tell from the Fed's descriptions whether these excess reserves include any funds which they may have committed to foreign owned banks that are not included within the Fed's definition of their own 'depository institutions.'
More
John Kenneth Galbraith
"There are those who believe that if you just legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, that their prosperity will leak through on those below."
William Jennings Bryant
"Gentlemen! I too have been a close observer of the doings of the Bank of the United States. I have had men watching you for a long time, and am convinced that you have used the funds of the bank to speculate in the breadstuffs of the country.
When you won, you divided the profits amongst you, and when you lost, you charged it to the Bank. You tell me that if I take the deposits from the Bank and annul its charter I shall ruin ten thousand families. That may be true, gentlemen, but that is your sin.
Should I let you go on, you will ruin fifty thousand families, and that would be my sin! You are a den of vipers and thieves. I have determined to rout you out, and by the Eternal, (bringing his fist down on the table) I will rout you out!
Andrew Jackson
It is not quite as straightforward as this, but the two charts below help to illustrate a point that the Fed, and the government, are pursuing a 'top down' approach to a recovery from the banking crisis as a matter of policy.
And one of the most consequential flaws in this policy error is that the financial system, and a fiscal policy that largely favors the one percent, are largely unreformed. Big money has thoroughly corrupted the political process.
I cannot tell from the Fed's descriptions whether these excess reserves include any funds which they may have committed to foreign owned banks that are not included within the Fed's definition of their own 'depository institutions.'
More
‘YOU DID WHAT?’: POLICE AMAZED AT WOMAN WHO TOOK MATTERS INTO HER OWN HANDS AFTER HER CAR WAS STOLEN
Lisa Paulson said she noticed her car was missing Tuesday morning and immediately reported it to the police, WFXT-TV in Boston reported. However, she was told by authorities that not much could be done until the car resurfaced.
“I was really frustrated it was like, ‘OK, either it will turn up or it won’t,” Paulson said
More
Lost Dog 11-21-13: UPDATE
WSJ's Henninger: Obama 'Has U.S. Economy on Lockdown'
Far worse than President Barack Obama's healthcare plan is the way his policies have hobbled the economy, says Wall Street Journal Deputy Editorial Page Director Daniel Henninger.
Obama was not to blame for the 2008 Depression-like financial meltdown, "but five years on, in the fall of 2013, the country's economy is still sick," and that is the president's responsibility, Henninger wrote in his column posted online Wednesday night.
"Unemployed middle-aged men look in the mirror and see someone who may never work again. Young married couples who should be on the way up are living in their parents' basement. Many young black men (official unemployment rate 28 percent; unofficial rate off the charts) have no prospect of work."
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development projects U.S. economic growth for the rest of the year will be 1.7 percent, or what Henninger said was the "about the average rate of growth of the U.S. economy for the entire Obama presidency."
Obama was not to blame for the 2008 Depression-like financial meltdown, "but five years on, in the fall of 2013, the country's economy is still sick," and that is the president's responsibility, Henninger wrote in his column posted online Wednesday night.
"Unemployed middle-aged men look in the mirror and see someone who may never work again. Young married couples who should be on the way up are living in their parents' basement. Many young black men (official unemployment rate 28 percent; unofficial rate off the charts) have no prospect of work."
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development projects U.S. economic growth for the rest of the year will be 1.7 percent, or what Henninger said was the "about the average rate of growth of the U.S. economy for the entire Obama presidency."
Hero Pakistani Doc Who Helped Get Bin Laden Hit With Dubious Murder Charge
The bizarre charge comes as international pressure mounts on Pakistan to free Afridi, who was sentenced last year to 33 years in prison for "conspiring against the state," a sanction western observers believe was a pretext to punish him for helping the U.S. Afridi executed a vaccination ruse that helped establish Bin Laden's presence in an Abbottabad compound, a development seen as embarrassing for Pakistan, which claimed not to know the world's most wanted man was living openly a stone's throw away from a military complex.
More
Did Bill Dudley Just Unveil The Fed's Real Taper "Scapegoat" Plan?
That the Fed has a problem is increasingly well known - despite the blather from the mainstream media that QE monetization can continue ad infinitum. Their problem, of course, is running out of government-provided liabilities to monetize (as deficits shrink and their ownership of the entire Treasury complex surges). They face other problems (as we have noted before) but the admission that they are boxed in would have major ramifications in the market's faith. So, how does the Fed, faced with the knowledge that they have created asset bubbles, broken the bond market, and are boxed in by their own excess still meet the market's undying desire to keep the flow going? Bill Dudley just, perhaps inadvertently, dropped a hint of the next 'market/scapegoat' for monetization - Student loans.
Bear in mind that the "taper" is all about economic cover for a forced move the Fed has to make, because:
1. Deficits are shrinking and the Fed has less and less room for its buying
2. Under the surface, various non-mainstream technicalities are breaking in the markets due to the size of the Fed's position (repo markets, bond specialness, and fail-to-delivers among them).
3. Sentiment is critical; if the public starts to believe (as Kyle Bass warned) that the central bank is monetizing the government's debt (which it clearly is), then the game accelerates away from them very quickly - and we suspect they fear we are close to that tipping point
4. The rest of the world is not happy. As Canada just noted, the US monetary policy will be discussed at the G-20
Bear in mind that the "taper" is all about economic cover for a forced move the Fed has to make, because:
1. Deficits are shrinking and the Fed has less and less room for its buying
2. Under the surface, various non-mainstream technicalities are breaking in the markets due to the size of the Fed's position (repo markets, bond specialness, and fail-to-delivers among them).
3. Sentiment is critical; if the public starts to believe (as Kyle Bass warned) that the central bank is monetizing the government's debt (which it clearly is), then the game accelerates away from them very quickly - and we suspect they fear we are close to that tipping point
4. The rest of the world is not happy. As Canada just noted, the US monetary policy will be discussed at the G-20
Republicans To Keep Cuts If Budget Talks Fail: Boehner
(Reuters) - Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives will pursue a stopgap government funding bill that keeps "sequester" automatic spending cuts in place if congressional negotiators fail to reach a budget deal, U.S. House Speaker John Boehner said on Thursday.
Boehner told reporters that he hopes budget talks led by Republican Representative Paul Ryan and Democratic Senator Patty Murray can produce a deal that sets spending levels for fiscal 2014.
"I'm hopeful, but if not, the House will be prepared to move" a 2014 spending bill at levels specified by the Budget Control Act, Boehner said.
More
Boehner told reporters that he hopes budget talks led by Republican Representative Paul Ryan and Democratic Senator Patty Murray can produce a deal that sets spending levels for fiscal 2014.
"I'm hopeful, but if not, the House will be prepared to move" a 2014 spending bill at levels specified by the Budget Control Act, Boehner said.
More
Wife Says Zimmerman Has Unraveled Since Trial
The estranged wife of George Zimmerman said Thursday she thinks her husband has unraveled since he was acquitted in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin.
"I don't know who George is anymore," Shellie Zimmerman said on Katie Couric's show "Katie." After his murder trial, he became unpredictable and "a pacing lion."
"I like to think I married a person who was a good person, and going through the past year and a half, I don't know how that changes a person, or how a person's spirit breaks, but it certainly seems that's what happened to him."
Later, she said: "He does seem like a ticking time-bomb."
More
"I don't know who George is anymore," Shellie Zimmerman said on Katie Couric's show "Katie." After his murder trial, he became unpredictable and "a pacing lion."
"I like to think I married a person who was a good person, and going through the past year and a half, I don't know how that changes a person, or how a person's spirit breaks, but it certainly seems that's what happened to him."
Later, she said: "He does seem like a ticking time-bomb."
More
‘Cornhusker Kickback’ Senator Meets With Obama To Talk Obamacare Fix
Former Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson, who voted for Obamacare after securing the “Cornhusker kickback” for his state, met with President Barack Obama Wednesday to talk about how to fix the law.
Nelson retired from the Senate in January and almost immediately boosted his salary over five times by becoming the CEO
of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).
The association is a trade group that lobbies Congress and the administration for favorable laws and policies for its members. Nelson is technically banned from lobbying Congress for two years, but is allowed to lobby the executive branch.
More
Nelson retired from the Senate in January and almost immediately boosted his salary over five times by becoming the CEO
of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).The association is a trade
group that lobbies Congress and the administration for favorable laws and policies for its members. Nelson is technically banned from lobbying Congress for two years, but is allowed to lobby the executive branch.More
Pelosi: I Never Met ‘Anybody Who Liked His Or Her Plan’
Asked whether she needed to apologize to the formerly insured who have lost their health insurance plans, former House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said, “Did I ever tell my constituents that if they liked their plan they could keep it? I would have if I’d ever met anybody who liked his or her plan. But that was not my experience.”
Pelosi, whose net worth — combined with her husband’s — is estimated between $35 and $180 million, never “met anybody who liked his or her plan”? Her out-of-touch comment reminds one of then-New Yorker film critic, liberal Pauline Kael. In 1972, after Republican Richard Nixon crushed Democrat George McGovern, 49 states to one, a shell-shocked Kael said, “Nobody I know voted for Nixon.”
More
Pelosi, whose net worth — combined with her husband’s — is estimated between $35 and $180 million, never “met anybody who liked his or her plan”? Her out-of-touch comment reminds one of then-New Yorker film critic, liberal Pauline Kael. In 1972, after Republican Richard Nixon crushed Democrat George McGovern, 49 states to one, a shell-shocked Kael said, “Nobody I know voted for Nixon.”
More
Enrollment At Maryland Colleges Down Slightly
A newly released state Board of Regents report indicates fewer students showed up on Maryland college campuses this fall.
The enrollment decline was even more telling for some of the state's Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
The enrollment numbers are based, in part, on how many students reported to campus last year as opposed to this fall. They give college administrators a pretty good idea of whose signing up for a higher education.
Read more
The enrollment decline was even more telling for some of the state's Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
The enrollment numbers are based, in part, on how many students reported to campus last year as opposed to this fall. They give college administrators a pretty good idea of whose signing up for a higher education.
Read more
SOWELL: The War Against Achievement
Self-reliance is out, victimhood is in
A friend recently sent me a link to an inspiring video about an upbeat, young black man, Richie Parker, who was born without arms. It showed him going to work — unlike the record number of people living on government payments for “disabilities” that are far less serious, if not fictitious.
How is this young man getting to work? He gets into his car and drives there — using controls set up so that he can operate the car with his feet.
What kind of work does he do, and how does he do it? He is involved in the design of racing cars. He sits at his computer, looking at the screen, with the keyboard on the floor, where he uses his toes as others use their fingers.
His story recalls the story of Helen Keller, who went to an elite college and on to a career, despite being both deaf and blind. Her story was celebrated in books, in television documentaries and in an inspiring movie, “The Miracle Worker.”
More
A friend recently sent me a link to an inspiring video about an upbeat, young black man, Richie Parker, who was born without arms. It showed him going to work — unlike the record number of people living on government payments for “disabilities” that are far less serious, if not fictitious.
How is this young man getting to work? He gets into his car and drives there — using controls set up so that he can operate the car with his feet.
What kind of work does he do, and how does he do it? He is involved in the design of racing cars. He sits at his computer, looking at the screen, with the keyboard on the floor, where he uses his toes as others use their fingers.
His story recalls the story of Helen Keller, who went to an elite college and on to a career, despite being both deaf and blind. Her story was celebrated in books, in television documentaries and in an inspiring movie, “The Miracle Worker.”
More
Packed Courtroom For Manhattan Man Accused Of Fishing Without A License
MANHATTAN - It was a packed courtroom on Tuesday for the hearing of Ernie Tertelgte, a Manhattan man who says he's being wrongly prosecuted for trying to feed himself.
Tertelgte, 52 years old, was arrested on Monday and is accused of fishing without a license and then resisting arrest.
He appeared before the judge via video from the Gallatin County Detention Center, and it was standing room only more than a dozen friends and family members filled the small courtroom.
Tertelgte appeared subdued and respectful before the Justice of the Peace during Tuesday's court session, which went very differently than his court appearance earlier this month, where Tertelgte and Three Forks City Judge Wanda Drusch got into a heated exchange.
Terteltge argued that the court did not have the authority to charge him, citing "natural law."
More
Tertelgte, 52 years old, was arrested on Monday and is accused of fishing without a license and then resisting arrest.
He appeared before the judge via video from the Gallatin County Detention Center, and it was standing room only more than a dozen friends and family members filled the small courtroom.
Tertelgte appeared subdued and respectful before the Justice of the Peace during Tuesday's court session, which went very differently than his court appearance earlier this month, where Tertelgte and Three Forks City Judge Wanda Drusch got into a heated exchange.
Terteltge argued that the court did not have the authority to charge him, citing "natural law."
More
Only The Self-Reliant Remain Free
Who had more freedom?
Was it the pioneer who rode horseback across the Midwest, settled in a wide-open space without paved roads, grocery stores or hospitals, and had to build his own home, cultivate his own food and educate his own children?
Or was it the less-adventuresome brother he left behind in an Eastern city who lived next door to a hospital, across the street from a public school and kitty corner from a grocery store — but in his later years could only get to work if he rode a public transit line and if the transit line ran on time?
I vote for the pioneer. He was not dependent on government. His brother was.
Self-reliance and freedom are inseparable. Americans once knew this in their very souls. Now, coaxed by those with a socialistic vision of government, we are beginning to forget it. We are becoming ever more dependent on government and putting our freedom at risk.
It is as simple as that.
More
Was it the pioneer who rode horseback across the Midwest, settled in a wide-open space without paved roads, grocery stores or hospitals, and had to build his own home, cultivate his own food and educate his own children?
Or was it the less-adventuresome brother he left behind in an Eastern city who lived next door to a hospital, across the street from a public school and kitty corner from a grocery store — but in his later years could only get to work if he rode a public transit line and if the transit line ran on time?
I vote for the pioneer. He was not dependent on government. His brother was.
Self-reliance and freedom are inseparable. Americans once knew this in their very souls. Now, coaxed by those with a socialistic vision of government, we are beginning to forget it. We are becoming ever more dependent on government and putting our freedom at risk.
It is as simple as that.
More
'KNOCKOUT GAME' THRIVES WHERE GUN CONTROL HAS DISARMED CITIZENS
As videos of the "Knockout Game" spread across the Internet and news outlets, the media is underreporting one important fact--the game thrives in cities where gun control has disarmed its citizens. In fact, the game began in places with some of the most stringent gun control in the country--NYC and New Jersey.
The "Knockout Game" is a "game" in which teens walk up to a stranger on a sidewalk or in an alley and try to knock the stranger out with one punch. CBS aired videos of gangs of black New Jersey teens punching random victims--black and white, male and female--all of whom were knocked out cold and left lying on the ground while their attacker fled.
The attacker "scores" if he successfully knocks the victim out with one punch.
More
The "Knockout Game" is a "game" in which teens walk up to a stranger on a sidewalk or in an alley and try to knock the stranger out with one punch. CBS aired videos of gangs of black New Jersey teens punching random victims--black and white, male and female--all of whom were knocked out cold and left lying on the ground while their attacker fled.
The attacker "scores" if he successfully knocks the victim out with one punch.
More
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)