The Senate Intelligence Committee voted 12 to 3 on Tuesday to confirm John Brennan as the next director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
However, Brennan may have at least one more hurdle to clear before final confirmation, namely, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who has vowed to block his nomination until the White House provides more information on its secretive drone program.
The Kentucky senator doesn’t have the 41 votes necessary to prevent a cloture vote, which would block Brennan’s confirmation, so he’s doing the only thing he can do: He’s stalling all senate business with an honest-to-goodness, old-fashioned filibuster.
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DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Wednesday, March 06, 2013
Mandated Wages And Discrimination
Let's work through an example. Suppose 100 yards of fence could be built using one of two techniques. You could hire three low-skilled workers for $15 each, or you could hire one high-skilled worker for $40. Either way, you get the same 100 yards of fence built. If you sought maximum profits, which production technique would you employ? I'm guessing that you'd hire one high-skilled worker and pay him $40 rather than hire three low-skilled workers for $15 each. Your labor costs would be $40 rather than $45.
Suppose the high-skilled worker came into your office and demanded $55 a day. What would be your response? You'd probably tell him to go play in the traffic and hire the three low-skilled workers. After all, hiring the three low-skilled workers for $45, to get the same 100 yards of fence, would be cheaper than the $55 a day now demanded by the high-skilled worker.
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Suppose the high-skilled worker came into your office and demanded $55 a day. What would be your response? You'd probably tell him to go play in the traffic and hire the three low-skilled workers. After all, hiring the three low-skilled workers for $45, to get the same 100 yards of fence, would be cheaper than the $55 a day now demanded by the high-skilled worker.
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Al Gore Sued Over Current TV Sale to Al Jazeera
Current TV's $500 million sale to Al Jazeera has prompted a lawsuit that claims co-founder Al Gore originally was opposed to the deal but had a "change of heart" on selling his cable network to oil-rich Qataris.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in San Francisco Superior Court by John Terenzio, who presents himself as a highly regarded media consultant, executive and TV producer who conceived the idea for the distribution of an American version of Al Jazeera.
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"When You Get This Kind Of Rigging, It Will End Badly"
When even Home Depot's Ken Langone is questioning the reality of this rally (CEO of one of the best performing stocks since the Dow last traded here), you have to be a little concerned. However, it is Duquesne's Stanley Druckenmiller's point that with QE4EVA it is impossible to know when this will end but warns that "all the lobsters are in the pot" now as he notes that "if you print enough money, everything is subsidized - bonds, stocks, real estate." He dismisses the notion of any sell-off in bonds for the same reason as the Fed is buying $85 bn per month (75-80% all off Treasury issuance). The Fed has cancelled all market signals (whether these are to Congress or market participants) and just as we did in the 1970s, we will find out about all the mal-investments sooner or later. "This is a big, big gamble," he notes, "manipulating the most important price in all of free markets," that ends one of only two ways, a mal-investment bust (as we saw in 2007-8) or full debt monetization and "off we go into inflation."
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Hogan Blasts O’Malley’s Gas Tax Proposal
Earlier this week Governor O’Malley again proposed increasing the gas tax, which, if enacted, would be his 25th consecutive tax hike. The Governor has already enacted 24 tax, toll, and fee increases that have taken an additional $2.4 billion every year out of the pockets of struggling Maryland families and small businesses. The Governor’s latest tax increase proposal is yet another regressive tax that hits the state’s most vulnerable the hardest. Maryland already has the highest income, corporate, and other tax rates in the region. If the Governor’s gas tax increase is enacted, Maryland will have the highest gas taxes in the entire region.
The Governor complains that Maryland has crumbling roads and bridges and the worst traffic congestion in the country, but what he doesn’t tell you is that it’s his fault. There has been no comprehensive transportation strategy from the O’Malley administration. Over a billion dollars has been diverted from the Transportation Trust Fund, and the vast majority of the billions of dollars that has been spent on transportation have been wasted on expenses that are completely unrelated to fixing our road problems. Now he wants struggling Maryland families to pay for his mistakes and his lack of leadership.
Over the last 4 years, Governor O’Malley has spent over $1 billion in dedicated transportation funds for things completely unrelated to transportation – even the money left in the transportation budget was also spent in the wrong place. In his 2014 budget, O’Malley proposes to spend $1.1 billion – a whopping 46% of our state capital and operating transportation budget – on public transportation, even though only 8% of us use public transportation to commute.
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The Governor complains that Maryland has crumbling roads and bridges and the worst traffic congestion in the country, but what he doesn’t tell you is that it’s his fault. There has been no comprehensive transportation strategy from the O’Malley administration. Over a billion dollars has been diverted from the Transportation Trust Fund, and the vast majority of the billions of dollars that has been spent on transportation have been wasted on expenses that are completely unrelated to fixing our road problems. Now he wants struggling Maryland families to pay for his mistakes and his lack of leadership.
Over the last 4 years, Governor O’Malley has spent over $1 billion in dedicated transportation funds for things completely unrelated to transportation – even the money left in the transportation budget was also spent in the wrong place. In his 2014 budget, O’Malley proposes to spend $1.1 billion – a whopping 46% of our state capital and operating transportation budget – on public transportation, even though only 8% of us use public transportation to commute.
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NEITHER LEFT NOR RIGHT
I feel a tremendous responsibility to write this article though I am a little apprehensive. Thinking about the possibility of rising up against our own government is a frightening thing for many of us. I am not Johnny Rambo and I will be the first to admit that I do not want to die. The reason I feel compelled to write this, however, is simply because I don’t think the average American is equipped with the facts. I feel that a lot of American citizens feel like they have no choice but to surrender their guns if the government comes for them. I blame traditional media sources for this mass brainwash and I carry the responsibility of all small independent bloggers to tell the truth. So my focus today is to lay out your constitutional rights as an American, and let you decide what to do with those rights.
About a month ago I let the “democracy” word slip in a discussion with a fellow blogger. I know better. Americans have been conditioned to use this term. It’s not an accurate term and it never has been a correct term to describe our form of government. The truth is that the United States of America is a constitutional republic. This is similar to a democracy because our representatives are selected by democratic elections, but ultimately our representatives are required to work within the framework of our constitution. In other words, even if 90% of Americans want something that goes against our founding principles, they have no right to call for a violation of constitutional rights.
If you are religious you might choose to think of it this way… Say that members of your congregation decide that mass fornication is a good thing. Do they have the right to change the teachings of your God? The truth is the truth. It doesn’t matter how many people try to stray from it. Did I just compare our founders to God? In a way I did, but please note that I am not trying to insult anyone. For the purpose of the American Government our constitution and founders who wrote it are much like God is to believers. It is the law. It is indisputable.
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About a month ago I let the “democracy” word slip in a discussion with a fellow blogger. I know better. Americans have been conditioned to use this term. It’s not an accurate term and it never has been a correct term to describe our form of government. The truth is that the United States of America is a constitutional republic. This is similar to a democracy because our representatives are selected by democratic elections, but ultimately our representatives are required to work within the framework of our constitution. In other words, even if 90% of Americans want something that goes against our founding principles, they have no right to call for a violation of constitutional rights.
If you are religious you might choose to think of it this way… Say that members of your congregation decide that mass fornication is a good thing. Do they have the right to change the teachings of your God? The truth is the truth. It doesn’t matter how many people try to stray from it. Did I just compare our founders to God? In a way I did, but please note that I am not trying to insult anyone. For the purpose of the American Government our constitution and founders who wrote it are much like God is to believers. It is the law. It is indisputable.
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Public Fed Up With Cops Shooting Their Dogs
It has happened at least a half-dozen times in the past five years, and now lawmakers have had enough.
Two Colorado state senators plan to introduce a bill requiring police departments to adopt policies and procedures for dealing with dogs.
Sens. Lucia Guzman, a Denver Democrat, and David Balmer, a Centennial Republican, say they want officers to distinguish between a barking dog and a dangerous dog.
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Education and Transportation: We Have No Idea How Much Money We Spend on Conferences
We've been hearing for days now about the major damage $85 billion in sequester cuts will do to the country however, during an Oversight and Government Reform hearing on Capitol Hill Tuesday, representatives from the Education and Transportation Departments were clueless as to how much money has been spent on department conferences.
Republican Rep. Jim Jordan asked Education Department Deputy Secretary Anthony Miller and Transportation Department Deputy Secretary John Porcari how much money has been spent on travel, conferences and consultants. Jordan was told the departments do not think additional savings can be found when it comes to conference spending and travel for government employees. Jordan's line of questioning included the now infamous 2010 GSA conference in Las Vegas which cost taxpayers $840,000.
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Republican Rep. Jim Jordan asked Education Department Deputy Secretary Anthony Miller and Transportation Department Deputy Secretary John Porcari how much money has been spent on travel, conferences and consultants. Jordan was told the departments do not think additional savings can be found when it comes to conference spending and travel for government employees. Jordan's line of questioning included the now infamous 2010 GSA conference in Las Vegas which cost taxpayers $840,000.
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NY Supreme Court Considers SAFE Act Injunction
This just in at TTAG command central: the New York Supreme Court has stated that they will issue an injunction against the new SAFE Act on April 29th—unless the state can prove that the law is constitutional. This puts the burden of proof on the state of New York to show the Act is legal under the newly re-affirmed provisions of the Second Amendment, which is impossible. From WKTV . . .
The Buffalo-based attorney who is spear-heading a lawsuit against Governor Andrew Cuomo’s recent gun laws said that Wednesday was “monumental,” as a State Supreme Court Justice issued an order requiring New York State to show good cause that the law is constitutional.
New York State has until April 29 to respond or else an injunction will be issued.
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The Buffalo-based attorney who is spear-heading a lawsuit against Governor Andrew Cuomo’s recent gun laws said that Wednesday was “monumental,” as a State Supreme Court Justice issued an order requiring New York State to show good cause that the law is constitutional.
New York State has until April 29 to respond or else an injunction will be issued.
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Marylanders Rate Gov. O’Malley’s Performance In Washington Post Poll
Political reporter Pat Warren has more on the poll.
“We made a lot of decisions that by themselves I can assure you were wholly unpopular,” Gov. O’Malley told a crowd of students last week.
Some of those decisions may have impacted voters’ answers in a new Washington Post poll.
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Eric Holder: Drone Strikes Against Americans On U.S. Soil Are Legal
Attorney General Eric Holder can imagine a scenario in which it would be constitutional to carry out a drone strike against an American on American soil, he wrote in a letter to Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.
“It is possible, I suppose, to imagine an extraordinary circumstance in which it would be necessary and appropriate under the Constitution and applicable laws of the United States for the President to authorize the military to use lethal force within the territory of the United States,” Holder replied in a letter yesterday to Paul’s question about whether Obama “has the power to authorize lethal force, such as a drone strike, against a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil, and without trial.”
Paul condemned the idea. “The U.S. Attorney General’s refusal to rule out the possibility of drone strikes on American citizens and on American soil is more than frightening – it is an affront the Constitutional due process rights of all Americans,” he said in a statement.
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“It is possible, I suppose, to imagine an extraordinary circumstance in which it would be necessary and appropriate under the Constitution and applicable laws of the United States for the President to authorize the military to use lethal force within the territory of the United States,” Holder replied in a letter yesterday to Paul’s question about whether Obama “has the power to authorize lethal force, such as a drone strike, against a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil, and without trial.”
Paul condemned the idea. “The U.S. Attorney General’s refusal to rule out the possibility of drone strikes on American citizens and on American soil is more than frightening – it is an affront the Constitutional due process rights of all Americans,” he said in a statement.
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Wicomico Cty Dept Of Emergency Services: Weather Update -- System Weakens
The Wicomico County Department of Emergency Services participated in a weather conference call at 4 p.m. with the Maryland Emergency Management Agency and the National Weather Service. The National Weather service advised the following information:
Wednesday evening the weather system currently impacting our area will begin changing from rain to snow. Total additional rain accumulation of up to ½ inch is expected before the changeover. From sunset Wednesday to early morning hours Thursday, snow with possible accumulations of 1inch east of Route 13, and up to 2 inches possible west of Route 13. Winds on Wednesday evening will have sustained speeds of 20-30 mph, with gusts of 30 – 45 mph.
Any accumulating precipitation is expected to end prior to sunrise on Thursday morning. Tidal anomalies of 1foot and minor flooding are possible.
Wednesday evening the weather system currently impacting our area will begin changing from rain to snow. Total additional rain accumulation of up to ½ inch is expected before the changeover. From sunset Wednesday to early morning hours Thursday, snow with possible accumulations of 1inch east of Route 13, and up to 2 inches possible west of Route 13. Winds on Wednesday evening will have sustained speeds of 20-30 mph, with gusts of 30 – 45 mph.
Any accumulating precipitation is expected to end prior to sunrise on Thursday morning. Tidal anomalies of 1foot and minor flooding are possible.
Worcester County Storm Update
The Worcester County Sheriff's announces that a pet friendly shelter will be opening at 9:00 tonight at Stephen Decatur Middle School. This is to accommodate those who have been displaced by this storm. The Worcester County Sheriff's Office request for residents to stay in and not be out on the roads for their safety. Worcester County is experiencing high winds causing trees to fall. Please use caution and common sense during this storm. Stay Safe. Lieutenant Edward C. Schreier
LOCAL BREAKING NEWS
Due to minor flooding and standing water, Ocean City Emergency Personnel are advising Citizens to avoid the south end of ocean city. There is standing water south of 5th Street on coastal highway which is unsafe for car traffic, however truck traffic may proceed with caution.
All vehicular traffic is advised to avoid the south end of the city, the Rt. 50 bridge and to use Rt. 90 if possible.
Updates to follow.
All vehicular traffic is advised to avoid the south end of the city, the Rt. 50 bridge and to use Rt. 90 if possible.
Updates to follow.
Gohmert: No Federal Funds to Transport Obama To/From Golf Courses Until WH Tours Resume
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Today, the White House Vistor's Office sent out an email to interested parties that announces the suspension of all White House Tours due to the sequester cuts.
ATTN Interested Parties,More
Due to staffing reductions resulting from sequestration, we regret to inform you that White House Tours will be canceled effective Saturday, March 9, 2013 until further notice. Unfortunately, we will not be able to reschedule affected tours.
Franchot's Golden Apple Award Goes To Talbot Business 'Icon'
EASTON-For the last 12 years, David Wheeler has donated a car from his KIA/Honda dealership on Ocean Gateway to Talbot, Queen Anne's and Dorchester counties' Teacher of the Year. This year, state Comptroller Peter Franchot bestowed his own honor on Wheeler-- the inaugural Golden Apple Award, created to recognize "extraordinary" volunteers, whether individuals or organizations, who work within the Maryland public schools system and who through time, work and example, have impacted the future success of local students.
Police Swarm Connecticut Community College After Reports Of Gunman
Officials at Manchester Community College, in Manchester, Conn., placed the school on lockdown as police investigated the situation.
A community college in central Connecticut has been placed on lockdown as police investigate reports of a gunman on campus.
Officials at Manchester Community College, in Manchester, Conn., sent an emergency alert to students and staff shortly after 2:00 p.m. declaring a lockdown at the school.
“An emergency has been declared on campus," the message read, according to the Hartford Courant. "An order to shelter in place has been ordered."
Manchester police confirmed that the school was on lockdown but could not confirm reports of a gunman.
A community college in central Connecticut has been placed on lockdown as police investigate reports of a gunman on campus.
Officials at Manchester Community College, in Manchester, Conn., sent an emergency alert to students and staff shortly after 2:00 p.m. declaring a lockdown at the school.
“An emergency has been declared on campus," the message read, according to the Hartford Courant. "An order to shelter in place has been ordered."
Manchester police confirmed that the school was on lockdown but could not confirm reports of a gunman.
TSA Sealed $50-Million Sequester-Eve Deal to Buy New Uniforms
The impending sequester did not prevent the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) from acting in late February to seal a $50-million deal to purchase new uniforms for its agents--uniforms that will be partly manufactured in Mexico.Soon after this new investment in TSA uniforms, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano warned Americans that the lines are already lengthening at airports due to the sequester.
"We are already seeing the effect on the ports of entry, the big airports for example," Napolitano told Politico on Monday. "Some of them had very long lines this weekend."
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