WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama likes Ike. Twice in his barnburner campaign speech this week, Obama likened his administration to Republican Dwight Eisenhower's in asserting that he's got domestic spending on a path to be the lowest, as a share of the economy, since Ike was president. Can…
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FACT CHECK: Is Obama like Ike on spending?
The latest taxpayer-funded clean energy debacle–A123 Systems, an electric car battery company–” has laid off 125 employees and had a net loss of $172 million through the first three quarters of 2011,” reports the Mackinac Center for Public Policy . In a September 2010 Huffington Post piece, then-Governor of Michigan Jennifer Granholm hailed A123 Systems as a stimulus “success story” and defended the $390.1 million in federal and state subsidies this way: You can see the pride in the faces of A123’s workers and hear it in their voices. They know they’re helping shape our nation’s clean energy future, and leading Michigan’s economic recovery. Half of the new hires at A123’s Livonia facility were previously unemployed. This is a powerful demonstration of the job-creating potential of clean energy. A123 Systems’ new Livonia facility is a Recovery Act success story. What a difference a year makes. Now, the clean energy battery maker that received $390.1 million in federal and state subsidies has slashed jobs and posted massive losses. But that hasn’t stopped A123 Systems’s top brass from giving themselves raises : This month A123’s Compensation Committee approved a $30,000 raise for [David] Prystash just days after Fisker Automotive announced the U.S. Energy Department had cut off what was left of its $528.7 million loan it had previously received.Prystash wasn’t the only executive to see a big raise this month. Robert Johnson, vice president of the energy solutions group, got a 20.7 percent pay increase going from $331,250 to $400,000, while Jason Forcier, vice president of the automotive solutions group, saw his pay increase from $331,250 to $350,000. Prystash’s raise was 8.5 percent, going from $350,000 to $380,000. The raises were reported by the company in its filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The pay hikes are also raising eyebrows. Paul Chesser, an associate fellow for the National Legal & Policy Center, said , “It looks highly suspicious. It looks like they are trying to pad their top people’s wallets in case something really bad happens.” No word yet from former Governor Jennifer Granholm on whether she still considers A123 Systems a stimulus “success story.”
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Stimulus ‘Success Story’ Lays Off 125 Workers and Posts $172 Million in Losses
In the poll, Obama lags the two leading Republican rivals in the 12 states likely to determine the outcome of a close race in November: •Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum tops Obama 50%-45% in the swing states. Nationwide, Santorum’s lead narrows to 49%-46%. •Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney edges Obama 48%-46% in the swing states. Nationwide, they are tied at 47% each. Romney also has a health care problem: Among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents in the battleground states, 27% say they are less likely to support him because he signed a Massachusetts law that required residents to have coverage. Just 7% say it makes them more likely to back him. “If they used Mitt Romney’s Massachusetts health care program as a guideline for the Obamacare thing, what’s the difference?” says Robert Hargrove, 37, of Sanford, N.C., rejecting Romney’s explanation of differences between the state and federal laws. Hargrove, a truck driver for a propane company, scoffs: “It’s just a bigger version. They put it on steroids.” The swing states poll of 1,137 registered voters was taken Feb. 14-21. In addition, a national survey of 881 registered voters was taken Feb. 20-21. The margin of error for each is +/-4 percentage points. Read more at USA Today
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Poll: Romney, Santorum Leading Obama in Swing States
In an unprecedented attack on two private citizens, the Barack Obama campaign has issued an email from Jim Messina, the campaign manager, specifically targeting the Koch brothers. Here’s the text: In just about 24 hours, Mitt Romney is headed to a hotel ballroom to give a speech sponsored by Americans for Prosperity, a front group founded and funded by the Koch brothers. Those are the same Koch brothers whose business model is to make millions by jacking up prices at the pump, and who have bankrolled Tea Party extremism and committed $200 million to try to destroy President Obama before Election Day. So in the hours before Romney courts two men obsessed with making Barack Obama a one-term president, let’s see how many of us can chip in $2 or more to the Two-Term Fund. This number will update every five minutes to show how many people give in the 24 hours until Romney greets the Kochs: Here’s what Mitt Romney told his supporters just after his victory in the Florida GOP primary: “We must not forget what this election is really about: defeating Barack Obama.” Pitch in $2 or more over the next 24 hours to show that, while that message may fire up two oil-industry billionaires, it’s also one that plenty of us are tired of hearing: https://donate.barackobama.com/The-Two-Term-Fund Thanks, Messina Jim Messina Campaign Manager Obama for America This is outrageous. Not only is the Obama campaign – yes, the re-election campaign of a sitting president – attacking the Koch brothers by name, the campaign is also accusing them of responsibility for high gas prices. That’s scandalous. The Obama campaign is going for a two-fer: misdirecting on gas prices, and using radical left-wing conspiracy theories about the Koch brothers to fundraise for the guy who is actually responsible for the rise in gas prices. It’s actually a three-fer. Obama wants revenge, since back in 2011 , Americans for Prosperity held a series of rallies bashing Obama on gas prices. Maybe it’s even a four-fer, since the letter swipes at the Tea Party, which is misleadingly characterized as extreme. We’ve heard no such language from the White House or the Obama campaign with regard to Occupy Wall Street, which has been busily threatening to violently attack government sites –when it’s not too busy violating the law, attacking police officers, defecating in public, raping people , and causing millions in damage. Again, this sort of rhetorical assault is unprecedented. President Bush never mentioned George Soros, even though Soros spent $27 million trying to defeat Bush in 2004, and was famous for manipulating global money markets. For Obama to level his guns at the Koch brothers is a declaration of war not just on private industry but on private citizens engaging in politics as a whole. This is insanely cynical politics, demonstrating in full color just why Barack Obama does not deserve a second term. His job is to govern, not to target private citizens for engaging in legal business activity, or First Amendment-protected political behavior. But Obama thinks his job is to fundraise, no matter whom he has to destroy in order to do it. I hope the two bucks are worth it.
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BREAKING: Obama Campaign Attacks Koch Brothers, Blames Them For Gas Prices
In 2008, while Republican crowds were chanting “USA, USA, USA,” during Sarah Palin’s speeches, Democrats were chanting “hope and change” as Barack Obama talked about “fundamentally transforming America.” And to their shame, many of the people chanting “hope and change” actually believed Obama could deliver. Of course, by the end of 2009 the only significant change, economically speaking, was that Obama had already eclipsed George W. Bush’s $700 billion federal deficit. (The difference there was that it took Bush 8 years to reach $700 billion, but it only took Obama a few months to surpass $1.5 trillion.) Then came 2010, and “Recovery Summer.” June, July, and August of that year were going to be the months where all of Obama’s deficit spending started to pay off. By spending money we didn’t have for projects we didn’t need—like the 10,000 plus road repair projects around the country that were funded by untold millions in Obama’s stimulus package—we were going to dominate the world economically once more. Of course, it didn’t happen. And instead of putting the millions of Americans to work that David Axelrod claimed it would, the stimulus package coincided with the loss of 3 million more jobs. (For those of you keeping score, Obama has since pushed a new stimulus act and, I suppose, probably has a “recovery summer 2.0” banner he’ll break out for speeches should the new act pass.) Throughout these things, unemployment in America has risen from the high 7% range in early 2009 to the 10% range, and currently rests at 8.5% (soon to be 9% according to Gallup ). Moreover, sitting here, just 9 months away from the presidential election, people are once again planning “staycations” instead of vacations and only “22 percent of Americans say they are satisfied with the way things are going.” This means “America’s satisfication is almost as low as it was under Carter.” The bottom line: In 2012, Obama is trading “hope and change” and other “ unrealistic ambitions,” for a “small measure of [the] American Dream.” In short, even Obama isn’t expecting that much out of Obama this time around.
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Reality 2012: Even Obama Has Lower Expectations for Obama This Time Around
The Daily Caller has been devastating Media Matters for America all week long. Yesterday, they dropped some of their biggest bombshells yet regarding the organization’s tax records . Among their findings: Media Matters and its 501(c)(4) affiliate, Media Matters action, took in almost $15 million last year. That makes it a monster in the nonprofit world. Its cash comes mainly from large donors – its top 21 donors provided over 50% of its total contributions. David Brock, the allegedly psychotic drug-using leader of the group, paid himself nearly $300,000 last year, putting him squarely in the 1% in terms of income, while Eric Boehlert took in nearly $120,000 for following around Andrew Breitbart (and, according to Greg Gutfeld, having fun with lotion). Media Matters is working in close tandem with Center for American Progress, even splitting fundraising with them – and as we’ve seen, both Brock and John Podesta, head of CAP, work closely with the Obama Administation. Media Matters funded the parent group of former “green czar” Van Jones, which is surely one of the best-funded groups run by a communist on the planet. In 2011, Media Matters paid $1 million just for its rent. No wonder they’re fine with President Obama’s spendthrift ways. Media Matters took in over $600,000 for use on gun control issues, even as Brock’s bodyguard carried around a handgun to protect him from phantom attackers (he probably should have been wielding Klonopin instead). Media Matters’ donors have to be wondering if they’re getting their money’s worth from this organization. If they’re not, they certainly should be.
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Media Matters Wastes Donor Cash, Loads Up on the Goodies
Congressman Jeff Duncan introduces the “Countering Iran in the Western Hemisphere Act of 2012” (H.R 3783) which comes a week after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s five day tour of four Latin American countries. Duncan’s legislation makes it clear that American policy is to counter Iran’s influence in Latin America by requiring a coordinated and targeted strategy that uses all elements of national power. Specifically, the legislation charges the Obama Administration to detail the presence of Iran in the Western Hemisphere. You can hear the rest of the congressman’s interview with Frank on our Podbean page.
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The Iranian Threat in America’s Backyard
Russ Feingold is already criticizing Barack Obama for his reversal on the use of Super PACs. Obama has consistently been on record condemning the process whereby individuals and corporations can donate to a PAC anonymously to support a related campaign. So much for priorities. Obama’s Super PAC is Priorities USA. Liberal ex-Sen. Russ Feingold (Wis.) is ripping President Obama’s decision to embrace super-PACs. Feingold, who co-authored landmark campaign finance legislation with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to regulate campaigns, said Obama is “dancing with the devil” by deciding to fully support Priorities USA, a Democratic political action committee. Says Team Obama, we won’t bring a knife to a gunfight . But will they attempt to punch back twice as hard? I’d make book on it, if I were you. With so much at stake, we can’t allow for two sets of rules in this election whereby the Republican nominee is the beneficiary of unlimited spending and Democrats unilaterally disarm. Check out the above video of Obama denouncing said Super-PACs. How’s that saying go? Oh, yeah, “just words.”
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Obama Flops on Citizen’s United, Embraces Super PAC
Throughout my lifetime, one historical question I’ve heard raised over and over again involved the Nazi Holocaust: How was it possible that ordinary Germans participated in the genocide of millions of perfect nice, loyal German citizens, simply because they were Jewish? One might attribute the attitude of Adolf Hitler himself to some kind of psychosis, but how is it conceivable that ordinary Germans apparently had no “moral compass,” and willingly proceeded in this genocide? More broadly, why is it that Jews in particular have been persecuted in many countries throughout history? Generational Dynamics theory provides a proposed explanation for all of these questions. Auschwitz gas chamber From the point of view of generational theory, there is a catastrophe in progress in the current time that is equivalent to the Holocaust: The financial crisis, caused by “financial engineers” in banks and other institutions around the world that purposely created highly complex but fraudulent synthetic securities, and then paid off peers at ratings agencies to give them AAA ratings. How could so many ordinary professionals, including lawyers, accountants and regulators, consistently abandon their professional ethics to create such a massive fraud that’s destroyed so many lives, with the worst yet to come? The Holocaust is a uniquely violent event in human history, and no Gen-Xers have killed Boomers in the financial crisis. But the two events share the same kind of underlying generational behavior, differing only in degree. Generation-X view of Boomers Since the 1990s, many researchers have reported the hatred that Generation-Xers have for Boomers. Gen-Xer Barack Obama expressed this hatred in his book: “In the back and forth between Clinton and Gingrich, and in the elections of 2000 and 2004, I sometimes felt as if I were watching the psychodrama of the baby boom generation — a tale rooted in old grudges and revenge plots hatched on a handful of college campuses long ago — played out on the national stage.” His Gen-X adviser, Paul Begala, was more direct: “I hate the Baby Boomers. They’re the most self-centered, self-seeking, self-interested, self-absorbed, self-indulgent, self-aggrandizing generation in American history.” This hatred came about because of the environment in which Gen-Xers were raised. Because of feminist and government policies that paid mothers to dump fathers, most Generation-X children were raised without the essential influence and protection of their biological fathers. These children don’t read feminist press releases, so they could see for themselves that their mothers lied to courts and welfare officials to drive the fathers away. Instead, they were raised by depressed single mothers, and had no male influences except a steady stream of men in their mothers’ beds, some of whom physically or sexually abused them. These children, not surprisingly, grew up hating their parents’ generation. Racist policies created a generation of monsters Feminist policies particularly targeted black children, destroying black families so thoroughly that 72% of Gen-X black children were born out of wedlock. Young black children, looking for a role model, might have selected a black public figure born into the worst of circumstances, who worked hard in job after job, and fought his way to the top, to become a nominee as a Supreme Court Justice, only to have the same feminist groups who destroyed their families now use incredibly trivial and nonsensical charges to destroy the career of Clarence Thomas, only because he was powerful black man married to a white woman. And it was not lost on these children that far more serious charges of violent serial rape that were brought against another public figure, Bill Clinton, were ignored by feminists because he was a white man. This went well beyond politics. No Republican or Democrat has ever been subjected to vengeful feminist hate-filled racist fury like Clarence Thomas was, whose unique attribute is that he’s a well-known public figure who is black, married to a white woman. And since these black Gen-X children didn’t read the fatuous nonsense in feminist press releases, they knew very well that the hatred directed at Clarence Thomas was based entirely on racist feminist policies. And these racist, bigoted attacks by feminists and Democrats on Clarence Thomas are continuing to this day. The Gen-X hatred of Boomers ameliorated during the late 1990s, when many Gen-Xers made fortunes during the high tech boom. But it turned to a generational vengeful fury when they lost their fortunes in the Nasdaq crash that occurred in 2000. This vengeful fury is the attitude that prevailed as Gen-Xers reached middle management positions in financial institutions in the early 2000s. They had poured out of Masters programs in financial engineering in the 1990s, and they saw how they could use these new tools to get revenge on the hated Boomers — by creating these fraudulent synthetic securities and selling them to the Boomer investors. Their own Boomer bosses did not stand in the way. Boomers often make poor bosses because they grew up in the 1960s developing no management skills except to protest and complain. As a result, Boomers aren’t good managers, and they’re very gullible, so that dishonest Gen-Xers can easily take advantage of them. Financial crisis: Just blame the Boomers for everything If you have doubts that the attitudes of Gen-Xers are different from the attitudes of Boomers, there is one clear, measurable difference. This is a huge, major, enormous, gigantic, overwhelming difference between the Gen-X culture and the Boomer culture, and this is the difference that makes the Gen-X culture so toxic. When the Savings and Loan crisis occurred in the 1980s, the Boomer prosecutors investigated every detail, made thousands of criminal referrals and had numerous convictions. The 2000s financial crisis is much worse, and yet there has not been even one criminal referral or conviction. The Justice Department refuses to investigate and prosecute the crimes that were committed. This is the huge difference with the Gen-X culture: Boomers had no problem prosecuting other Boomers, but Gen-Xers adamantly refuse to investigate and blame each other, even for serious crimes. Thus, even if there are only a few dishonest Gen-Xers, they can do an enormous amount of damage because they can commit crimes at will and count on not being punished by Gen-X prosecutors. This has huge consequences, as Gen-X financial engineers could and can commit serious crimes freely. It’s even worse than that, because Gen-X regulators and prosecutors have actually encouraged continued fraud. In 2008, I wrote frequently about Gen-X New York Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo who not only did not prosecute the banksters at Citibank and others, but actually arranged for them to continue defrauding the public and investors. And a recent 60 Minutes investigation shows that the Obama Justice Department adamantly refuses to investigate and prosecute this bankster fraud, even in the face of massive evidence of fraud. The Lost Generation and the Holocaust That’s exactly the kind of culture that prevailed in 1930s Nazi Germany. It was possible to rob, defraud, assault or even kill a Jew for revenge, and these actions were not only not investigated and prosecuted by German officials, they were actually encouraged and supported by officials, all the way up to Hitler himself. This is EXACTLY the same kind of generational behavior we’ve been seeing today, differing only in degree. The relationship between Gen-Xers and Boomers is hardly unique in history. The generation that grew up after the Civil War was called the “Missionary Generation,” and you can just imagine from their name how similar they were to the Boomers that grew up after WW II. The Missionary Generation created societal chaos that the next generation, known as the “Lost Generation,” came to hate them for. It’s the Lost Generation that’s the archetypal ancestor of Generation-X. America’s Lost Generation hated the Missionary Generation even before World War I, but that hatred became palpable after the war, which they blamed entirely on the Missionaries. World War I was a political disaster for Germany. From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, World War I for Germany was not at all like World War II, but was generationally equivalent to the 1960s Vietnam War for America. Germany fought the war half-heartedly. There was a vigorous anti-war movement that turned the public against the war, and finally Germany was forced to capitulate — not because they were defeated on the battlefield, but because they were defeated politically at home by their anti-war movement. The Treaty of Versailles that followed the war was highly punitive to Germany, and Germany was completely humiliated. Germany’s Lost Generation blamed the war, the subsequent hyperinflation, and even the 1929 stock market crash on the Missionary Generation, especially the Jews who were associated with that generation. Robbing, defrauding, assaulting or even killing a Jew was no problem, because it was revenge for the war and the financial collapses. To them it wasn’t genocide; it was justice. Gen-Xers also feel it’s just justice today, when they defraud Boomers. Repeated Jewish persecution throughout history This resolves the puzzle of why ordinary Germans participated in the 1930s Holocaust, but there’s a larger question as well: Why has there been repeated persecution of Jews at many times and places for many centuries. Is there something unique about Jews that attracts this kind of persecution? Generational hatred is the worst kind of hatred because it spreads rapidly with no natural barriers. It’s so powerful that it overwhelms reason and common sense. If your generation hates some group, then all your friends will feel the same way and will reinforce your hatred. Anyone who objects can be ignored as being either too young and naive or too old and senile. A generational fault line can easily morph into a political fault line, as people in all generations pick sides in the generational dispute, and then the generational hatred becomes politicized. In America, for example, the Gen-Xer culture has been aligned with the Democrats, and we’ve seen xenophobic attitudes towards the Tea Party from the Democrats, and xenophobic attitudes towards Muslims from the Republicans. The generational split between Boomers and Gen-Xers is not unique in history. We’ve described the same generational split between Germany’s Missionary Generation and the Lost Generation that led to the Holocaust. In generational theory, the Missionary and Boomer generations are in the “Prophet Archetype,” while the Lost and Gen-X generations are in the “Nomad Archetype.” These archetypes repeat in every place and time in history. All Prophet generations have the same characteristics as Boomers — highly moralistic, arrogant and narcissistic — not always right, but always certain. All Nomad generations have the same characteristics as Generation-X, disaffected and angry at society and the preceding Prophet generation. Jewish communities have characteristics that are consistent with the Prophet generations, with a culture that’s often isolated and highly moralistic, based on ancient laws. This means that when a generational fault line morphs into a political fault line, the Jewish community is almost certainly going to be aligned with the Prophet generation, and hated by the younger Nomad generation. The situation is amplified by the fact that Jewish law provides for very careful handling of money and debt, meaning that the people in the Jewish community do well during financial crisis periods, while other communities struggle. This is the generational explanation for the xenophobia towards and persecution of Jews throughout history. The same kind of analysis can provide explanations for other persecuted groups, and for other genocides in history. Europe’s disintegrating economy Right now, we see Europe’s economy disintegrating right before our eyes, with no hope in sight. How will the the generational split manifest itself when total meltdown occurs? Another Holocaust for Jews? Mass killing of Muslims and/or Roma Gypsies? Or simple ethnic violence (Greeks versus Germans), spiraling into total war? We won’t have to wait too much longer to find out. This article is excerpted from the forthcoming book by John J. Xenakis, “For Boomers: How to Survive in a Generation-X World: Making your way in the workplace, in love and in life.”
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Proposed Explanation For Repeated Jewish Persecution Throughout History
The U.S. Park Police descended upon the Occupy D.C. Encampment at McPherson Square early Saturday morning in an effort to remove the protesters ability to camp overnight in the park. Local media outlets report that U.S. Park Police Officers in riot gear and on horseback conducted a pre-dawn raid on the park (see the links below for the full story). DC Fox 5. WTOP Radio. Washington Times. According to the reports that more than half-dozen protesters were arrested in the raid and one U.S. Park Police Officer was injured, when a brick was thrown at him by an unknown protester. I, in keeping with this website’s efforts to bring you firsthand accounts on the stories we report, personally went down to McPherson Square to observe the post raid efforts of the U.S. Park Police and the Occupy D.C. Protesters. The U.S. Park Police continued heavy present inside McPherson Square, outfitted in riot gear and other officers on horseback, backed up by D.C. Metro Police and D.C. Transportation Officials, who blocked off several streets in and around McPherson Square, while about 75 hardcore protesters were standing in the middle of K Street observing as Park Employees in hazmat suits and using forklifts removed their tents and other creature confronts from the square they have called home since last October. As the night wear on and the cold rain picked up, many protesters simply gathered what they could from their former encampment and left the area. Some more vocal protesters, who gather across the street seeking shelter from the rain, screamed and cussed at the Police and Park Employees as they set upon their tasks. One more vocal protester said; “He could not believe that President Obama was allowing this to happen” and many of his fellow protesters felt before their removal that they had many allies in some of the City, U.S. Park and National Elected Officials. The remain members and their council leadership gather in K Street and took an oath to remain committed to the cause, there was also a call for them to encourage fellow protesters to return as this was not the end of their efforts. The council leadership vowed that the movement would return to the square and find a way to occupy the park, 24/7/365 despite the U.S. Park Service’s ban on overnight camping on its property. Below are some of the images,I personally took this evening.
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U.S. Park Service Moves in Against Occupy D.C. Encampment at McPherson Square