Stanford Must Pay SEC $6.76 Billion for Fraud

Convicted Ponzi schemer R. Allen Stanford owes $6.76 billion to the Securities and Exchange Commission, a federal judge ruled, finding the criminal trial had been fair.
     In granting the SEC partial summary judgment Thursday, U.S. District Judge David Godbey awarded the agency $5.9 billion in disgorgement and civil penalties, plus more than $861 million in interest.
     Godbey also ordered a permanent injunction against Stanford, Antigua-based Stanford International Bank, SIB CFO James Davis, and Houston-based broker-dealer/investment adviser Stanford Group Co., prohibiting them from committing future violations of federal securities laws.

Read more: http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/04/30/57184.htm

Why Government Bureaucrats Rarely Get in Trouble for Doing Nothing

Once in a while, a government agency adopts a policy that is logical, hardheaded, based on experience and unswayed by cheap sentiment. This may be surprising enough to make you reconsider your view of bureaucrats. But not to worry: It usually doesn't last.
In March the federal Transportation Security Administration surprised the country by relaxing its ban on knives and other items. Starting April 25, it said, it would allow knives with blades shorter than 2.36 inches, as well as golf clubs, pool cues and hockey sticks.

Read more: http://reason.com/archives/2013/04/29/why-government-bureaucrats-rarely-get-in

No More Tax Dollars for Presidential Libraries

Last week, at the dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, President Obama and former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter put partisanship aside and descended on the Southern Methodist University campus in Dallas to say nice things about our 43rd president, (They're all in the same racket, after all.)
At 226,560 square feet and a cost of $250 million, the Bush Presidential Center is the biggest and most expensive yet of the 13 presidential libraries that one scholar has derisively called "America's Pyramids."

Read more: http://reason.com/archives/2013/04/30/no-more-tax-dollars-for-presidential-lib

Cyprus Parliament Votes to Accept Bailout

Cyprus moved a step closer on Tuesday to receiving much-needed aid when its parliament narrowly endorsed a bailout deal drafted amid unprecedented acrimony and calls for the island to exit the eurozone.
In a nail-biting ballot, following hours of heated debate, Nicosia's 56-member House approved the €10bn rescue package with a majority of two votes. Among officials who had warned of a "chaotic default" the result was met with visible relief.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/30/cyprus-parliament-bailout-deal-passed

The Art of the Impossible

Someone called politics “the art of the possible.” But, in the era of the modern welfare state, politics is largely the art of the impossible.
Those people morbid enough to keep track of politicians’ promises may remember how Barack Obama said that Obamcare would lower medical costs — and lots of people bought it.
But if you stop and think, however old-fashioned that may seem these days, do you seriously believe that millions more people can be given medical care and vast new bureaucracies created to administer payment for it, with no additional costs?

Read more: http://spectator.org/archives/2013/04/30/the-art-of-the-impossible

Lincoln, Obama, and Us

A very significant date, March 4, 2013, has passed virtually without notice. It was on that date that President Obama's tenure exceeded that of Abraham Lincoln. We can all give thanks to God, of course, that Mr. Obama's term in office has not been cut short, as Lincoln's was, by a heinous act of political violence. Still, the "longer than Lincoln served" theme is worth exploring.
Many comparisons between Lincoln and Obama were offered at the time of his election and inauguration more than four years ago. That's understandable because both served in the Illinois legislature in Springfield and both had brief terms in the U.S. Congress; Lincoln a single term in the House, Obama a single term in the Senate. Of course, as the first black president, Barack Obama was seen by millions as an heir of the Lincoln mantle of freedom.

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/04/lincoln_obama_and_us.html#ixzz2S0bAEeB9

The Warnings Behind the Numbers

On its face, Friday’s announcement that the nation’s gross domestic product expanded at a 2.5 percent annual rate in the first quarter was good news, following as it did an only marginally positive result for the previous three-month period.
But, alas, that rosy headline figure masked disturbing signs: an economy whose recovery has failed to match the pace of past expansions may now be facing a deceleration in its own modest growth rate.

Start with the G.D.P. figures, which can be misleading because of temporary fluctuations in the inventories maintained by businesses. Adjusted for those changes, the economy’s annualized growth rate shows a steady deceleration over the past three quarters, from 2.4 percent to 1.9 percent to 1.5 percent.

Read more: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/29/the-warnings-behind-the-numbers/

With Bags of Cash, C.I.A. Seeks Influence in Afghanistan

For more than a decade, wads of American dollars packed into suitcases, backpacks and, on occasion, plastic shopping bags have been dropped off every month or so at the offices of Afghanistan’s president — courtesy of the Central Intelligence Agency.
All told, tens of millions of dollars have flowed from the C.I.A. to the office of President Hamid Karzai, according to current and former advisers to the Afghan leader. 

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/29/world/asia/cia-delivers-cash-to-afghan-leaders-office.html?_r=1&

President Obama: Working Hard or Hardly Working?

Leisure and luxury over hard work -- it's been a problem for this president ever since he first took office. President Obama spends a lot of time golfing; he even famously went golfing with Tiger Woods in Florida, while his family took a ski vacation (thus doubling the financial costs to taxpayers of their vacation). On the opposite side of the coin, the president, who presides over record levels of government dependency and debt, seems very cavalier about actually attending to the economy ... other than giving the occasional high-sounding speech that by now hardly anyone believes.

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/04/president_obama_working_hard_or_hardly_working.html#ixzz2RxFnyuTN

Clinton's Legacy in Peril

"It's the Economy, Stupid" is the political slogan that Bill Clinton used in 1992 to bash the elder George Bush. He won the election and ever since considers himself the de-facto political authority on economics. He used this authority in 2012 at the Dem Convention, and Hillary (or any other Democrat) will try running on this theme in 2016.
The fact that Clinton left for Bush the Younger a tech-busted recession notwithstanding, consider this shocking stat: The Economy/GDP over the last twelve months grew by $243 billion dollars. How bad/good is it? Well, for all of 1992 when the economy was trillions of dollars smaller and the country had 70 million people fewer people, the economy grew by $348 billion in inflation-adjusted dollars. (Go here and click on 'Current-dollar and "real" GDP' under "Gross Domestic Product")

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2013/04/clintons_legacy_in_peril.html#ixzz2RxFdSaDa

Americans Troubled More by Governmental Abuse Than Terrorism

New polling numbers suggest that United States citizens are on average more afraid of their own government then the threat of another terrorist attack.
Even after a pair of bombings in Boston two weeks ago injured hundreds, more Americans say they are unwilling to sacrifice constitutional liberties for security than those who are.
A handful of polls conducted in the days after the Boston Marathon bombings show that US citizens are responding much differently than in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that killed roughly 3,000 people. Not only are Americans more opposed now to giving up personal freedoms for the sake of security than they were after 9/11, but other statistics show that distrust against the federal government continues to climb.

Read more: http://lewrockwell.com/rep4/govt-abuse-worse-than-terrorism.html

Big Business Triumphs Again… at Your Expense

Capitol Hill is the domain of big business and big government. And the two collude in ways you would never hear about in your local newspaper.
I call it the great conflict of interest. Senators are elected to represent you, but in reality they just represent the big corporate donors who fund their campaigns.
This week, the great conflict of interest was on display as the U.S. Senate voted 60 to 30 in favor of the so-called, “Marketplace Fairness Act.”
Just after the vote, Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois said, “We look forward to passing this landmark bill in 11 days and call on the House to stand up for America’s Main Street businesses with us.”

Read more: http://www.capitolhilldaily.com/2013/04/marketplace-fairness-act/

The Pigford Affair

It is likely that most Americans have never heard of the Pigford class-action settlement case.  Until recently neither had I. 

Here is a short introduction lifted from Wikipedia:  "Pigford v. Glickman (1999) was a class action lawsuit against the United State Department of Agriculture (USDA), alleging racial discrimination in its allocation of farm loans and assistance between 1983 and 1997. The lawsuit ended with a settlement on April 14, 1999, by Judge Paul L. Friedman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. To date, almost US$1 billion has been paid or credited to more than 13,300 farmers under the settlement's, under what is reportedly the largest civil rights settlement to date. As another 70,000 farmers had filed late and not had their claims heard, the 2008 Farm Bill provided for additional claims to be heard; and in December 2010, Congress appropriated $1.2 billion for what is called Pigford II, the second part of the case."

According to the linked articles Andrew Breitbart (before his death) was investigating this little-known case, and as reported in the New York Times (see link), it started "...with plausible accusations that the U.S. Department of Agriculture had discriminated against a small number of black farmers, but...spiraled into a billion-dollar, open-ended government kickback machine for untold thousands that showed no signs of letting up.  The Pigford case represented everything Breitbart raged against in the American political order - large-scale cronyism, corrosive and cynical identity politics, unrepentant 

hypocrisy, and the predictable indifference of the mainstream media."  

So, what is the issue?  Substantial evidence exists of massive fraud in the continuing handouts to claimants having little or no justification.  Efforts to turn off the spigot have failed.  Indeed, "as the Times reports in great depth, instead of closing the spigot, in 2010 the Obama administration did not just acquiesce to, it spearheaded the expansion of, the Pigford con on the taxpayer’s dime, and saw to it that not just black Americans, but any woman, Hispanic, or Native American who could so much as gesture at discrimination had access to a billion-dollar pool of easy money."

This whole matter stinks to the high heavens. "Pigford and its spawn...resembles in organization and aim a criminal conspiracy of breathtaking proportions, and one in which the federal government was first complicit and then ultimately responsible."

Now you know about the case.  Check out the evidence for yourselves and tell me this is not government criminality.  Oh, by the way have you heard this reported on any of the major TV news networks?  Koudos to the New York Times.  How long are we going to put up with the government handing out taxpayer resources to undeserving claimants and making unethical lawyers rich??? 

George Burns

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/346810/pigford-forever 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/26/us/farm-loan-bias-claims-often-unsupported-cost-us-millions.html?_r=0

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/12/31/In-2013-Years-Of-Obama-Reparations-Planning-Pay-Off-In-Pigford

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/pigford.asp

The Dishonorable Liberal Order of Regulatory Scientists

I got an email from a reader yesterday that went something like this: "Hey, the American Cancer Society says you're full of it on the link between breast cancer and abortion. Trust me I'm an expert and a scientist, and you're being less than honest. So do us all a favor and shut up and stick to finance."
To which I reply: "Hey, if you're an expert and scientist why are you citing a lobbying orginization like the American Cancer Society? Thanks for proving one of the points in the email/hate mail column."
And the point was:  People, especially conservatives, are distrustful of experts. As they should be. 

Read more: http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/johnransom/2013/04/29/the-dishonorable-liberal-order-of-regulatory-scientists-n1581259/page/full/

The Benghazi Tragedy Continues To Unfold

As the Benghazi facts continue to unfold, it looks more and more like there is another cover up underway.  Congress continues to push for information and it appears that perjury has been committed by some some officials who have given testimony.  Perhaps we will eventually get to the truth but government stonewalling continues in this case as it has in so many others.  While the author notes that "This is a tragic failure of foreign policy and diplomacy under Obama’s watch," I believe it is just another example of our government, regardless of who is president, meddling in foreign affairs with the inevitable result being what happened in Bengazi.  The trail of tears resulting from our overseas misadventures reaches back well over 100 years.  Why is it that we think we can solve other peoples problems when we cannot even take care of our own?   George Burns

http://townhall.com/columnists/katiekieffer/2013/04/29/benghazigate-obamas-secret-gunrunning-program-n1580051/page/full/

Confusing Actions, An Unbelievable Revelation and Something To Think About and Do

The information provided here should make you uncomfortable with the goings-on in high places aided and abetted by a complicit mainstream media.

1.  This first linked item is an assessment of a magistrate judge's abrupt interruption of the interrogation of the surviving Boston bombing perpetrator in order to read him his Miranda rights. Procedurally things are all out of whack.  The author examines the probable cause of the government, the President and Attorney General in this case, injecting itself in the midst of police interrogations.  He provides three Canards most likely at play based on his reasoning as he winnows his way through some of the odd twists and turns that plague this whole matter.  The bottom line is that the federal government appears to be deflecting the public's attention away from its failures leading up to the disaster and create the illusion that it did a great job preventing another disaster in New York City's Times Square, among other things.  http://www.nationalreview.com/article/346785/obama%E2%80%99s-national-security-fraud

2.  This item is almost unbelievable.  Some of you are already aware that our nation's attorney general has over the years said some really incredible things, maybe unbelievable is the better word.  Mr. Holder, in an April 24 speech to the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund Awards Gala, said that "creating a mechanism for [illegal aliens] to earn citizenship and move out of the shadows... is a matter of civil and human rights."  It is truly hard to believe that he announced that this administration's position is that granting amnesty to illegal immigrants is a matter of "civil rights".  When exactly did that happen?  I know of nothing in our Constitution under which such a claim could be made, especially regards to individuals illegally in this country.  My take is that he was doing nothing more than pandering to a sympathetic audience.  Such is the way our leaders seek to manipulate public thinking on this and other matters.  This guy is our nation's Attorney General for heavens sake!!!  How can this be?  As the author notes:  "Aside from disregarding the interests of American workers and turning the concept of justice on its head, Holder's recent remarks show a very disturbing set of priorities."  Read more here: http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/04/amnesty_as_a_civil_right.html

3.  This last link does not deal directly with either of the above two items.  It does, however, offer observations relevant to why and how such events and behaviors are often passively received by much of the public.  It most definitely provides us with a disturbing perspective and suggests that public passivity must soon be replaced by more active public involvement or we likely face uncomfortable consequences.  Among other things the author notes that "for a variety of reasons -- poor schools, jounalistic malfeasance, whatever -- we live in the age of the 'low-information voter' (LIV), and LIVs are too ignorant to realize how bad thing are."  No longer can we simply throw up our hands and say that "somebody" ought to do something.  http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/04/why_dont_they_do_something.html

Not only are these things worth thinking about but they are things each of us must do something about. 

George Burns

Is Capitalism Killing Our Morals and Economy?

In one of the most hopelessly incorrect collections of drivel that I have ever seen, Paul Farrell of MarketWatch writes Capitalism is killing our morals, our future.
Yes, capitalism is working ... for the Forbes 1,000 Global Billionaires whose ranks swelled from 322 in 2000 to 1,426 recently. Billionaires control the vast majority of the world’s wealth, while the income of American workers stagnated.

Over the years we’ve explored the reasons capitalism blindly continues on its self-destructive path. Recently we found someone who brilliantly explains why free-market capitalism is destined to destroy the world, absent a historic paradigm shift: That is Harvard philosopher Michael Sandel, author of the new best-seller, “What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets,” and his earlier classic, “Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do?”

Read more: http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/mikeshedlock/2013/04/28/is-capitalism-killing-our-morals-and-economy-n1580847/page/full/

Radical Christianity vs. Radical Islam

Finally, Bill Maher got something right.  Following the Boston bombings, Maher responded to Brian Levy, the director of the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University in San Bernardino (a great example of needed reforms in public higher education), "[T]here's only one faith, for example, that kills you or wants to kill you if you draw a bad cartoon of the prophet.  There's only one faith that kills you or wants to kill you if you renounce the faith."

There you have it.  Even a flaming atheist can recognize the difference between a religion of peace and one full of bloodlust.  The Tsarnaevs are just the most recent example of the tragic bitter fruit produced by radical Islamists.  To further Maher's point, consider and contrast the efforts of radical Islamists with those of radical Christians.

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/04/radical_christianity_vs_radical_islam.html#ixzz2RlMAqVGg

ARE WE HEARING THE DEATH RATTLE OF LIBERALISM?

It seems that liberalism is gaining the upper hand. In fact, it seems that liberalism has the upper hand. Not so fast. Empire-building is a tenuous and risky business. Every empire that has tried to expand its territory eventually collapsed because the center could not hold.

Adolf Hitler’s dream of a thousand-year Reich turned to dust in less than 20 years. The supposed inevitability of world Communism did not come about. The image of docked rusty submarines was a fitting image of the inherent hollowness of a planned economy. The Soviet Union would have collapsed sooner if the West had not propped it up with aid. Eastern Europe is no longer in the Soviet Orbit. Who would have thought such a thing was possible? The Berlin Wall came tumbling down.

Read more: http://www.libertynewsonline.com/article_301_33195.php

HOLDER: Citizenship for illegals a ‘civil right’…

“Creating a pathway to earned citizenship for the 11 million unauthorized immigrants in this country is essential. The way we treat our friends and neighbors who are undocumented – by creating a mechanism for them to earn citizenship and move out of the shadows – transcends the issue of immigration status. This is a matter of civil and human rights. It is about who we are as a nation. And it goes to the core of our treasured American principle of equal opportunity.”

http://www.teaparty.org/holder-citizenship-for-illegals-a-civil-right-23506/ 

Jihad Blows Up the Liberal Utopia

You know the place.
• The Liberal Utopia is a land where gun background checks prevent mass murder.
• The Liberal Utopia is a land where Islamic fundamentalists have changed their perception of America because the President travels to Muslim nations to give lovely speeches, believes that the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and elsewhere is a wonderful sign of an Arab Spring, and refuses to use the word “terrorist” whether his administration is investigating Ft. Hood, Boston, or Benghazi.

Read more: http://spectator.org/archives/2013/04/23/jihad-blows-up-the-liberal-uto/

No more politics with our planes!

You’ve heard about or perhaps even experienced long delays at airports over the last few days. President Obama and his appointees at the Department of Transportation were blaming the delays on those dastardly “sequester” cuts from a couple of months ago.

They argued that cutting two cents out of every dollar of government spending meant they had no choice but to blindly furlough crucial air traffic controllers, leaving millions of Americans delayed and waiting in long lines at airports.

But that just isn’t the truth, and the American people knew it. Yesterday Americans for Prosperity activists gathered at Atlanta’s Hartsfield Airport and D.C.’s Reagan International Airport to call out President Obama for “playing politics with our planes.”

It’s great to see how quickly your activism made a difference! Late last night and early this morning Congress authorized the Department of Transportation to prioritize spending at the FAA and eliminate controller furloughs and needless delays. They didn’t spend one extra dollar, but just got a little smarter with how they allocated the money they were given. 

Under a little scrutiny, the narrative from the White House, which claimed there was no way to avoid flight delays, collapsed like a house of cards. Just consider this the next time a friend or family member complains about the common sense sequester spending cuts: 

• The FAA received more money this year than President Obama requested in his budget.

• The FAA bureaucracy now spends $500 million on middle men consultants. Instead of cutting non-essential consultants, President Obama chose to furlough air traffic controllers.
• A recent study by Bloomberg found that the FAA was actually overstaffed at many airports, and could easily handle the effects of the sequester without causing flight delays. 

Like a child throwing a temper tantrum, the President has used every tactic at his disposal to make the common sense sequester cuts hurt and inconvenience Americans; from canceling White House Tours to massive delays at airports. 
He’s trying to self-fulfill his own dire warnings of doom and gloom, rather than show leadership by managing the budget properly and shifting the sequester cuts to eliminate wasteful or non-essential spending. All of this was designed to force Republicans to end the sequester.
Yesterday the American people called Obama’s bluff. We know that the truth about the sequester cuts – they’re modest and absolutely necessary to rein-in government overspending and waste.

It’s important to be on the lookout for the next time President Obama tries to use federal agencies that are supposed to serve American citizens to instead punish them for demanding fiscal responsibility.

http://americansforprosperity.org/

Red States Prop Up Obama’s Weak Economy

The Obama administration continues to pretend that the U.S. economy is making a meaningful recovery.
Its establishment press acolytes are predictably and dutifully playing along. Government data releases with objectively mediocre results are treated as objects of wonder, while tangible signs of decay get waved off. Tuesday’s report from the Census Bureau on new-home sales showed a seasonally adjusted 1.5% increase in March, a level which was still 6% below January. At the Associated Press, aka the Administration’s Press, that was seen as “evidence of a sustained housing recovery.” Meanwhile, the self-described essential global news network “cautioned against reading too much into” Wednesday’s steep 5.7% drop in durable goods orders.

Read more: http://pjmedia.com/blog/red-states-prop-up-obamas-weak-economy/?singlepage=true

Extravagance at the FAA

In congressional testimony on Wednesday, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) chief Michel Huerta cited his agency’s Next Generation Air Transportation System — NextGen for short — as an example of the critical “investments” the federal government is making and must continue to make in air-traffic-control infrastructure, even as controllers are being furloughed, causing widespread delays and disruption at the nation’s airports.
NextGen is an ambitious multiyear, multibillion-dollar project to increase air-traffic efficiency through technological innovation. Representative Hal Rogers (R., Ky.) asked Huerta whether, “in light of the current situation,” funding for NextGen projects should “have priority over the operation of commercial airspace.”

Read more: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/346688/extravagance-faa

President Obama’s Harm Offensive

It wasn’t long ago that the media was hailing President Obama’s so-called (badly misnamed) “charm offensive” in which he supposedly reached out to lawmakers, including Republicans, to try to win more of them to his side. It was all for show, of course, because the substance of Obama’s actions hasn’t change one bit and his style remains divisive, angry, and blame-casting.
Now comes my friend Jim Guirard http://www.truespeak.org/contents/view/founderpresident , former longtime top aide to former Democratic Lousiana Senators Allan Ellender and Russell Long, to say that the administration’s hamhanded efforts to make the spending “sequester” seem as damaging as possible amount to a “harm offensive” meant to inflict as much pain or annoyance as possible on the American public. I understand that radio host Chris Plante already has picked up on this idea; more of us ought to do so. In truth, Obama really is doing all he can to inflict harm upon us, and it really is offensive.

Read more: http://spectator.org/blog/2013/04/25/president-obamas-harm-offensiv

Illegal Immigration

Everyone has an opinion regarding what to do with the millions of Illegal aliens in our midst.  In informing our opinions most of us have at least a passing understanding of the issues.  This note provides more information that may prove useful.

 

1.  Many have said that the Democrat party is a strong advocate for legalizing illegal aliens for the perceived benefits to their electoral future.  This first link suggests that may well be the case.  Consider these words:  "The immigration proposal pending in Congress would transform the nation’s political landscape for a generation or more — pumping as many as 11 million new Hispanic voters into the electorate a decade from now in ways that, if current trends hold, would produce an electoral bonanza for Democrats and cripple Republican prospects in many states they now win easily."  This possibility gives one reason to question the real motives of the Democrats.  Is it altruism or politics?  I wonder.  http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/immigration-reform-could-upend-electoral-college-90478.html

 

2.  The decision as to whether to grant amnesty to illegal aliens is in some cases most difficult.  Specifically those who were brought into the country at a young age.  However, we claim to be a country of laws and there are laws long on the books that establish the fact that an illegal alien is illegal regardless of the circumstances of his/her illegal status. Those brought here as children are an especially difficult circumstance.  The dilemma we face is whether we are or are not compelled to enforce our nation's illegal immigration laws even if the illegal was a child when crossing the border.  Tough I know.  Then again bending or ignoring the law or making law excepting violators in certain circumstances makes for no law at all.  This link addresses this dilemma.  http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/apr/22/995-of-illegal-immigrants-get-approval-for-legal-s/?page=all#pagebreak

 

3.  Setting aside the emotional turmoil some may feel, if the immigration law proposed by the Gang of Eight is enacted, there are known consequences for those of us who are taxpaying citizens.  Consider just this brief point, illegal aliens granted provisional status will “have to be able to support themselves, so they’ll never become a public charge.” That sounds really good and the Senate bill does in fact say that, citing the never-enforced section 212(a)(4). However, as the author of the below link informs us, "the bill also waives that requirement for anyone who is unemployed, in job training, getting a high school or GED diploma, taking care of a child, younger than 21 or older than 60, or attending college (pp. 99-102). That covers everyone. To stay in this country as a provisional and qualify for a green card in ten years, you need to be working except if you’re not (Sec. 245C(b)."  Additionally, once illegals become provisional, they’ll qualify for in-state tuition rates at public colleges, a subsidy funded by taxpayers (Sec. 2245D(d)).  In addition, insuring these provisionals will increase taxpayer's burden by an estimated $100 billion just for Obamacare, not to mention those who qualify for food stamps, subsidized housing and similar programs.  So, it is safe to say that projections are that already stressed American taxpayers will be required to pay even more of their hard earned money to support upwards of 11 million special status illegal aliens while trying to take care of their own family needs.  http://spectator.org/archives/2013/04/24/read-the-fine-print-senator

 

4.  This link serves as a wrap-up of the issue.  http://spectator.org/archives/2013/04/24/immigration-gambles

 

We need to give this whole matter serious consideration and let our respective elected officials know our positions. But, our opinions need to be based on reason, not emotions.  It seems to me that those involved in drafting immigration legislation are working from one of two orientations.  Either they have determined that it politically good for them and their political party or they are allowing emotional feelings over-ride the interests of American citizens.  Neither is the basis for writing public law.  

 

 George Burns

Tell President Obama and the FDA you won't eat GMO salmon!

Right now President Obama and the Food and Drug Administration are preparing to approve genetically engineered salmon on the market. We have less than 24 hours to tell the Obama administration that you oppose the approval of the world's first genetically engineered, transgenic, animal.

Unfortunately, the company behind GMO salmon, AquaBounty Technologies, is already celebrating its pending approval. Two days ago in a Reuters' story, AqauBounty CEO Ronald Stotish said that he fully expected the FDA to appove AquaBounty's GMO salmon in 2013.

"We should have approval before the end of the year," Stotish told Reuters.

Does AquaBounty know something that we don't? We need to let the FDA know that the American people don't want to eat GMO salmon - the world's first mutant animal for human consumption.

Tell President Obama and the FDA to put a halt on any approval of AquaBounty’s GMO salmon. Every voice counts!

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/738?t=6&akid=836.356867.E2ZG5t
Already more than 1.3 million comments have been collected by our partners and allies to stop GMO salmon. We need your help today to help get that number over 1.5 million voices strong in the next 24 hours! If you don't want GMO salmon on your plate, please act today!
Background:

Over the holidays - December 21^st, 2012 - FDA officials declared that AquaBounty’s GMO AquaAdvantage® salmon poses no “significant” risk to the environment. This recent FDA decision comes on top of the agency’s 2010 declaration that the GMO salmon were safe for humans to eat, despite no independent long-term studies. Once again, the FDA is putting corporate science over public health.

If approved, AquaBounty’s GMO salmon would be the first genetically engineered animal to be sold for human consumption and could appear in restaurants and grocery stores as early as 2013.

The deadline for the comment period for GMO salmon is ending this Friday, April 26th, 2013. We need your help to get as many comments as possible, please make a comment and pass this on! Every voice counts!

Click here if you don’t want to eat GMO salmon! Tell President Obama, Congress and the FDA to put a halt on any approval of AquaBounty’s GMO salmon.

Already biotech cheerleaders are hailing the pending approval of AquaBounty's GMO salmon as the first of many new approvals to come, which means that more genetically engineered, transgenic animals could be approved in the near future.

Despite the company’s claims, critics remain skeptical that genetically engineered fish has any real benefits.

Because no independent, long-term scientific studies of AquaBounty’s patented salmon have been conducted, the human health impacts of GMO salmon are not currently known.

Serious questions remain about eating fish engineered to grow faster and how genetically manipulated traits can impact human health, especially that of our most vulnerable populations such as pregnant mothers and children.

Act today to stand up for human health, food safety and the environment and the future of our planet.

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/738?t=10&akid=836.356867.E2ZG5t

Please share this alert with friends you know who may be concerned, we need all the comments we can get and every voice counts!

Thanks for participating in food democracy,
Dave, Lisa and the Food Democracy Now! team

Sources:

1. “Genetically Engineered Salmon Company Expects US Regulatory OK in 2013”, Reuters, April 23, 2013

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/837?t=12&akid=836.356867.E2ZG5t

2. “White House Reverses Itself, Lifts Political Block on FDA Approval of GMO Salmon”, Forbes, December 21, 2012

<http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/739?t=14&akid=836.356867.E2ZG5t
3. “Genetically Engineered Salmon: Environmental Documents, AquAdvantage Salmon Preliminary Finding of No Significant Impact” Food and Drug Administration (FDA), FDA.gov
http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/740?t=16&akid=836.356867.E2ZG5t
4. "GE Animals Regulated Under New Animal Drug Provisions", FDA.gov website, FDA Releases Final Guidance on Genetically Engineered Animals, January 15, 2009.
http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/251?t=18&akid=836.356867.E2ZG5t

5. “Aqua Bounty Biotech Salmon OK to Eat-FDA Staff,” Reuters, September 3, 2010.

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/741?t=20&akid=836.356867.E2ZG5t

6. "Modified Salmon is Safe, FDA Says", The New York Times, September 3, 2010

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/249?t=22&akid=836.356867.E2ZG5t

7. “Mutant Salmon Coming to a Kitchen Table Near You”, Fast Company, July 12, 2010

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/742?t=24&akid=836.356867.E2ZG5t

And They Are In Charge Of Managing Obamacare Funding?

This among many other examples, some shared with you, serve as proof positive that the cost of Obamacare will skyrocket when fraud, waste and abuse set in.  And, I assure you it will.  Those of us who are taxpayers will be stuck paying the escalating costs for those abusing the system in addition to the rising costs of our own Obamacare bills (increased insurance costs and increased healthcare costs)   George Burns

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2013/04/24/irs-issued-billions-in-improper-refunds-report-says/

Lawmakers, aides may get Obamacare exemption

Congressional leaders in both parties are engaged in high-level, confidential talks about exempting lawmakers and Capitol Hill aides from the insurance exchanges they are mandated to join as part of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, sources in both parties said.
The talks — which involve Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), the Obama administration and other top lawmakers — are extraordinarily sensitive, with both sides acutely aware of the potential for political fallout from giving carve-outs from the hugely controversial law to 535 lawmakers and thousands of their aides. Discussions have stretched out for months, sources said.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/obamacare-exemption-lawmakers-aides-90610.html#ixzz2RU0JBIys

The Power of Being “Offended” in Order to Shut Down Political Debate

Has society really become quite thin-skinned, or is acting “offended” a new tactic that is being used to shut down legitimate political debate? Progressives are increasingly claiming to be offended whenever those on the right disagree with their left-wing positions. It doesn't matter what the issue is; the left will divert a legitimate political debate into an accusation that the right disagrees with them because they are full of hate towards them. This puts the right on the defensive, and removes the real debate from discussion. It then becomes difficult for the right to ever prevail with their position, because to do so would mean “hate” had won.

Read more: http://townhall.com/columnists/rachelalexander/2013/04/22/the-power-of-being-offended-in-order-to-shut-down-political-debate-n1574026/page/full/

Academic Cesspools

Over the past 10 years, I have written columns variously titled "Academic Cesspools," "Academic Dishonesty," "The Shame of Higher Education," "Academic Rot" and "Indoctrination of Our Youth." Therefore, I was not surprised by David Feith's April 5th Wall Street Journal article, "The Golf Shot Heard Round the Academic World." In it, Feith tells of a golf course conversation between Barry Mills, the president of Bowdoin College, in Brunswick, Maine, and philanthropist Thomas Klingenstein. Klingenstein voiced disapproval of campus celebration of diversity and ethnic differences while there's "not enough celebration of our common American identity."

Read more: http://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2013/04/24/academic-cesspools-n1575006/page/full/

'Right Wing' Doesn't Equal 'Terrorist'

"If history were to repeat itself," warned President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his 1944 State of the Union address, "and we were to return to the so-called normalcy of the 1920s, then it is certain that even though we shall have conquered our enemies on the battlefields abroad, we shall have yielded to the spirit of fascism here at home."
The "normalcy" of the 1920s that Roosevelt referred to was a time of peace and prosperity. The decade began with Republican President Warren Harding commuting the sentences of political prisoners jailed by the Wilson administration, including the socialist leader Eugene Debs. "Normalcy" meant the end to the Palmer raids aimed at rooting out dissidents, the end of economic rationing, the cessation of domestic surveillance and the state propaganda of the World War I years.

Read more: http://townhall.com/columnists/jonahgoldberg/2013/04/24/right-wing-doesnt-equal-terrorist-n1576234/page/full/

Colorado to pay piper after Dems' war on guns

Colorado Democrats have control of the state Senate, House and governor’s office. So this year, under pressure from the White House, they launched into a war on guns, adopting one regulation, restriction and rule after another.
Now the piper has come calling for his pay.

Read more: http://www.wnd.com/2013/04/colorado-to-pay-piper-after-dems-war-on-guns/

Tamerlan Tsarnaev got Mass. welfare benefits

Marathon bombings mastermind Tamerlan Tsarnaev was living on taxpayer-funded state welfare benefits even as he was delving deep into the world of radical anti-American Islamism, the Herald has learned.
State officials confirmed last night that Tsarnaev, slain in a raging gun battle with police last Friday, was receiving benefits along with his wife, Katherine Russell Tsarnaev, and their 3-year-old daughter. The state’s Executive Office of Health and Human Services said those benefits ended in 2012 when the couple stopped meeting income eligibility limits. Russell Tsarnaev’s attorney has claimed Katherine — who had converted to Islam — was working up to 80 hours a week as a home health aide while Tsarnaev stayed at home.

Read more: http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2013/04/tamerlan_tsarnaev_got_mass_welfare_benefits

Is Citizenship A New Tactic In The War On Terror?

Is citizenship now a tactic? Earlier today I asked foreign policy expert Stephen Yates whether or not he believes that terrorists are now using American citizenship as a tactic to thwart surveillance and investigation on the basis of their newfound civil liberties (audio below).
It’s a legitimate question. We know Tamerlane Tsarnev claimed to not have any American friends, is suspected of killing the only one he made, and judging by his own social media accounts was incredibly hostile towards America. His younger brother was the same.

Read more: http://www.redstate.com/dloesch/2013/04/22/is-citizenship-a-new-tactic-in-the-war-on-terror/

SMART GROWTH, STEALTH ZONING AND THE DELPHI TECHNIQUE

In East Tennessee, the UN Agenda 21 Smart Growth plan is the five county local "Regional" program called Plan East Tennessee, (Regional Plan for Livable Communities), a plan which will eliminate private property rights in these five counties. [Link] It is the plan for Smart Growth.

Our City of Knoxville applied for a federal grant from Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities, while our Governor Haslam was Mayor of the City of Knoxville. [Link] 

Read more: http://www.newswithviews.com/Nelson/kelleigh184.htm

Tennessee GOP Caves to Education Establishment on Civil Rights Language

When you’re the Republican governor of a state with a supermajority in both houses of the state legislature, you should be able to pass a bill that outlaws race and gender quotas. But right now that’s not happening in Tennessee. Gov. Bill Haslam, and other Republican leaders, appear to have been pressured into submission by the education establishment.
That’s what Ward Connerly, president of the American Civil Rights Institute (ACRI), suspects. He credits Sen. Jim Summerville, a Republican, for pushing a bill that would prohibit government officials from discriminating on the basis of race, sex and ethnicity. Unfortunately, Summerville was undercut by his own party members. Over time, Connerly anticipates that Tennessee will ultimately pass meaningful legislation, but not in the current session.

Read more: http://spectator.org/blog/2013/04/22/tennessee-gop-caves-to-educati

Hillary's Benghazi story unraveling

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., was “surprised” by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s sworn testimony in a Senate hearing in which she claimed that she did not know whether the U.S. mission in Libya was procuring or transferring weapons to Turkey and other Arab countries.
It was Paul who asked Clinton the question during the hearings. His inquiry focused on alleged weapons shipments out of Benghazi to arm the rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

Read more: http://www.wnd.com/2013/04/rand-paul-hillarys-benghazi-story-unraveling/

Who Pays Their Fair Share?

In response to 55% of Americans Say Their Income Taxes are Fair; 46.6% Paid No Income Tax in 2011 one seriously misguided soul responded "your hate for low income people disturbing".

The above response was humorous because the math shows a large number of people are unhappy even though they pay no income taxes at all. Nowhere did I state or imply any hatred of anyone.

On a far more credible note, I received an email from Ironman at the Political Calculations blog who posted this chart on "Who Really Isn't Paying Their Fair Share of Income Taxes?"

Read more: http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/mikeshedlock/2013/04/23/who-pays-their-fair-share-n1575549/page/full/

Government Waste

In this time of real austerity for a huge percentage of American citizens and Sequester cuts for government, how is the government holding up its end of the bargain.  Lets look at a few examples which suggest it is not doing so well.

1.  Our first item considers findings from the "Government Accountability Office's (GAO) annual report highlighting just some of the waste and redundant programs still funded by our tax dollars."  The linked article highlights 3 spending programs totalled $4,096,000,000 which are likely representative of a multitude of other unecessary government spending of critical taxpayer dollars.

http://townhall.com/columnists/timphillips/2013/04/19/wasteful-programs-that-make-you-want-to-pull-your-hair-out-n1573235?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl

 

2.  This one is kind of hard to believe.  Some communities who received federal stimulus money actually spent at least some of it "to educate Americans about obesity and tobacco."  And, they "potentially violated federal law by using the funds to lobby for higher taxes and new local laws."  Our tax money was put to good use, don't you think?  http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/04/21/report-communities-used-federal-stimulus-money-to-lobby-for-higher-taxes/?cmpid=NL_FNTopHeadlines#ixzz2REp9bm00

 

3.  Amnesty for illegal aliens is a hot topic these days.  Here is an item that should make you hot as to how illegals have for some years been knowingly taking us taxpaying citizens for a ride.  An investigative report found that "hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants were fraudulently obtaining the Additional Child Tax Credit, listing as relatives people who actually lived outside the United States, south of the border.  Some $4.2 billion per year in U.S. tax dollars are going to illegals as refunds under this credit."  And they think they deserve amnesty?  Both our President and a large percentage of our Congress agree with them.  It is obvious that our elected leaders feel the need to look after the interests of law breaking illegals rather than the law abiding citizens  paying the bills. Check out this link.  http://www.newswithviews.com/Emord/jonathan296.htm

 

4.  The next item notes that while "Federal employees are facing unpaid days off and salary cuts due to the Sequester, but several contract workers inside the Energy Department are still raking in the cash.  Ten individuals at the department's operations in Oak Ridge, Tenn., are set to make an extra $3.5 million above and beyond their normal pay, according to an Energy Department inspector general investigation that exposed a lavish bonus system."  No matter how good these contractors are it is not possible to justify giving them huge bonuses while taxpayers footing the bill are struggling.  See this link.

http://www.washingtonguardian.com/bonus-bonanza

 

5.  Consider this.  "It's estimated that there is $48 billion in Medicare fraud out there - that's more than 10% of the total amount spent ($447 billion in FY 2010). For crooks, the ease with which they steal from the taxpayer is negligence on the part of Congress and HHS."  Now ask yourselves is this the kind of performance we expect from our government?  If those passing the laws and providing oversight and those spending the money can do no better than this how well do you think they will do with a much, much more expensive Obamacare program?  Check this link for more on Medicare fraud.   http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/12/medicare_fraud_on_a_grand_scale.html

 

6.  There's lots more.  For those who are curious, this link provides 50 more examples. http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/10/50-examples-of-government-waste 

 

After perusing these examples of our government's handling of our nation's fiscal resources, I ask you do they deserve another dime from us?  Our President and former House Speaker Pelosi have publicly assured us that the government does not have a spending problem (and one can presume they also think they are spending our money wisely and are providing excellent oversight of all expenditures).  Instead of spending being the problem, their claim is that they have a "resource" problem (meaning that we are not paying enough taxes.).  Anyone who thinks the President and Pelosi are right, needs to do some serious rethinking of that thought.  I say, until they demonstrate fiscal competence (and they won't), they do not deserve another dime in taxes from anyone.       

 

  George Burns

Faux Republicans: “Let’s Raise Taxes!”

There was a time when the Republican brand could tout that it was the party of low taxes.  That day has come and gone though, at least as it relates to Tennessee’s senior Republican Senator, Lamar Alexander, as evidenced by his most recent support for the so called Market Fairness Act.
Consider this.

Read more: http://lifelibertyand.net/faux-republicans-lets-raise-taxes-2/

The Internet Sales Tax Rush

Every time Congress has taken a serious look at proposals to boost Internet sales taxes, it has rejected them. That's probably why pro-tax Senators are trying to rush through an online tax hike with as little consideration as possible.
As early as Monday, the Senate will vote on a bill that was introduced only last Tuesday. The text of this legislation, which would fundamentally change interstate commerce, only became available on the Library of Congress website over the weekend. And you thought ObamaCare was jammed through Nancy Pelosi's Democratic House in a hurry.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324493704578432961601644942.html?mod=rss_mobile_uber_feed&utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Morning%2BBell

Taxpayers Prop Up Evil Governments

Now, I ask you why have both President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry embraced the Muslim Brotherhood led Egyptian government?  Kerry recently promised them $250 million to help them control/run their country.  Not only that we send them military aid every year and have done so ever since such aid was authorized by President Carter.  No matter that our economy is in the tank, sending money to countries that permit the slaughter and severe discrimination of Christians is good for international relations.  Really?  What about the needs of our own country?  The homeless, the jobless, the increasing level of poverty?  Also, what about the increasing Muslim population in our country?  Recent events should cause everyone concern.  Clearly current administration policy is that individual American citizens's interests are secondary to what "they" think our "national" interests are.  Yet it is individual taxpayer money "they" spend to prop up evil governments.  If they can't collect enough from taxpayers they just borrow it from whoever will loan it to them..."our" children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren and onward will "gladly" fork over the taxes necessary to pay back the principle and sustain the loan by paying an ever increasing amount of owed interest.  To check out the current loan amount to be repaid with interest click this link http://www.usdebtclock.org/.  Did you notice the size of the debt and the speed at which it grows?  And, you thought the government was looking out for your interests?  Think again!!!  The below link prompted this note.   

George Burns

http://townhall.com/columnists/kenblackwell/2013/04/22/egypt-persecutes-christians-and-americans-pay-the-bill-n1574555/page/full/

Dems scramble to change the subject after collapse of gun bill

Democrats in Congress have quickly changed the subject from gun control to immigration reform and are relieved to be moving past an issue that divided them to more solid political ground.
The political momentum from the resounding victories of Election Day stalled earlier in the week when Republicans punched out all three pillars of Obama’s gun-control agenda.

Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/295111-democrats-scramble-to-change-the-subject-after-collapse-of-gun-control-push#ixzz2R735Godk

Truth vs Opinion

It is obvious that the government wants to control the narrative about the events leading up to, through the event and what follows the Boston bombing.  And, we can be sure we will get the full unadulterated truth.  They always tell us the truth, right?  The president's admonition that we should not form our own opinions is proof positive that we will not get the truth but what the government wants us to believe.  While it is true that we should not form opinions prematurely, if both the government and media had a history of telling us the truth then most of us would be inclined to wait until all the essential facts became known.  But, history proves that both the government and media cannot be trusted as evidenced by the many, many, many documented lies past governments have told the public but which only came to light many, many, many years after the fact.  Given the implications of who the suspects are in this case and their apparent religious affiliation, it is likely that political correctness will guide precisely what facts are revealed and how the government's official report is framed.  In today's culture being politically correct is much more important than telling the truth.  Note what the President said Friday night:  Americans should not decide their opinions about the Boston terror attacks until the government decides its own opinion.  The truth of the matter is we don't want the government's "opinion".  We want the truth!    

George Burns 

http://dailycaller.com/2013/04/20/obama-dont-form-opinions-on-boston-attacks-until-government-decides/

Liberal Race Lies

It has long puzzled me how the liberal/progressives get away with passing off themselves and their brand of governing as especially beneficial to minorities.  Their rhetoric about how much they care and the government programs they offer up courtesy of the tax paying public has worked well.  Their success is evidenced by the repeated support blacks give them during election seasons.  Is this deserved support?  Lets consider a few facts.

 

1.  Here is just one example of grossly rewritten history liberal/progressives sell as fact to the masses, especially to blacks all across America.  Their goal?  This, according to the author (a black American), is so they can keep blacks on the Democrat side of the political ledger no matter what.  The truth be damned.  http://townhall.com/columnists/larryelder/2013/04/11/five-decades-of-lies-help-dems-create-monolithic-black-vote-n1564093?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl

 

2.  The next item considers Deneen Borelli's book Blacklash: How Obama and the Left Are Driving Americans to the Government Plantation.  In the book Borelli tells her story and the abuse she has endured from fellow blacks and the political left because she is an accomplished black woman who happens to be conservative.  Some of you will not believe the nature of the abuse and those involved.  The fact is that the racist underbelly of the leftist progressive movement is a well established historical fact reaching as far back as President Wilson.  For those who doubt, check the unadulterated history.  You can start with the link in Paragraph 3.   http://spectator.org/archives/2013/04/02/deneen-borelli-americas-new-r2/2

 

3.  A bit of history.  http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/345274/progressive-racism-paul-rahe

 

4.  In this item Mona Charen highlights some of the observations Thomas Sowell, an esteemed black American, makes in his latest book, Intellectuals and Race.  It should be noted that a large majority of today's self-proclaimed crop of high minded intellectuals reside in America's colleges and universities and are decidedly on the liberal/progressive side of the ledger. http://townhall.com/columnists/monacharen/2013/04/05/sowell-does-it-again-n1558314/page/full/ 

 

5.  The author of this piece highlights the misplaced priorities of our president and his lack of  honesty when dealing with race even when it happens to be about the plight of blacks.  http://townhall.com/columnists/crystalwright/2013/04/12/michelle-obama-got-it-wrong-guns-arent-killing-black-kids-n1565501/page/full/   

 

6.  To close out this brief excursion here are a few examples of racist remarks made knowingly or not by liberal/progressives themselves - in their own words.  http://townhall.com/columnists/johnhawkins/2013/03/26/25-examples-of-liberal-racism-in-quotes-n1549044/page/full/

 

To be sure racist attitudes transcend individuals on both the left and right of the political spectrum.  Racism is in fact an equal opportunity sin that resides inside flawed individuals of all races.  But the inconvenient truth is that the liberal/progressive narrative that they are and have always been staunch supporters of racial equality/rights is a big bold lie.  It is past time to rebut this false narrative and expose it for the lie it is. 

 

Suggested reading includes Star Parker's book, Uncle Sam's Plantation.  Parker, by the way, is another great American black woman who happens to be a conservative.  In a 2009 article regarding negative impacts government programs have had on black Americans she highlights such programs as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Emergency Assistance to Needy Families with Children (EANF), Section 8 Housing, and Food Stamps.  She writes that a whole host of these "...well intentioned government programs, all initially set into motion in the 1960's, ...were going to lift the nation's poor out of poverty.  A benevolent Uncle Sam welcomed mostly poor black Americans onto the government plantation.  Those who accepted the invitation switched mindsets from 'How do I take Care of Myself?' to 'What do I have to do to stay on the plantation?' Instead of solving economic problems, government welfare socialism created monstrous moral and spiritual problems.  The kind of problems that are inevitable when individuals turn responsibility for their lives over to others."  Here is the link to her article:  http://townhall.com/columnists/starparker/2009/02/09/back_on_uncle_sams_plantation/page/full/

 

Since the 1960s blacks have been increasingly trapped in perpetual poverty and conditioned to expect government handouts, even consider receiving them to be their right, all the while fully aware that it is the liberal/progressive democrats who keep the goodies flowing.  That is, in part, how liberal/progressives shamelessly keep low information blacks under their control.  And, for political reasons, conservatives have been trapped into going along.  Shame, shame, shame!!!

 

George Burns