Musings on the week ending 10/27/2012

Communism – “The American people will never knowingly accept communism under its own banner, but under the guise of liberalism and progressivism, they will unwittingly adopt every one of communism’s programs until they have incrementally assembled the entire package without ever knowing how it happened or even realizing that they have it.” Norman Thomas.
Politics – The Presidential debates showed Mitt Romney appearing Presidential while Barack Obama at times seemed small, largely because the President ran away from his record.
Politics – I still have been unable to find anyone who voted for Obama in 2008, other than diehard Democrats, who are proud of their vote and plan to vote for him again.
Politics – Obama’s re-election strategy is to demonize Romney casting himself as the “Lesser of Two Evils” (replacing “Hope and Change”) requiring another four years to finish his work.
Politics – Obama’s “second term plan” consists of recycled failed ideas from the first term with no serious spending, deficit, or debt reduction, and no attempt to reform entitlements.
Media – The explanation of Romney’s poll surge is the exposure of the real Mitt Romney, unlike the MSM caricature, a likeable, articulate, and experienced Presidential candidate.
Media – Pundit’s opinion prior to the debated matched their opinion after the debates, thus proving that actual results had little effect on pundit’s preconceived (partisan) conclusions.
Politics – I expect Democrats to go through all five stages of grief before, during, and after the November election: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance.
Politics – I expect a large number of fraudulent votes to be cast in the November election, with the only question how many are counted and did they decide any election results?
Media – The MSM continues to hemorrhage readers with political ads in the 2012 election propping them up, but I expect the MSM to begin to disappear – Newsweek is the first to go.
Communism – “We do not expect the American people to accept communism overnight; we will feed it to you a little at a time until one day you will wake up to find you have it.” Nikita Khruschev.
Economy – By 2022, federal spending to pay for the interest on America’s debt will exceed total spending on the defense budget by $125 billion, according to the CBO and OMB.
Jobs – In order to qualify more businesses for the ObamaCare mandate, full-time employment has been re-defined down as anyone who works 30 or more hours a week.
Housing – First-time-ever foreclosures are at the lowest levels since 2008, but over half of foreclosures are for borrowers previously in foreclosure, who have been delinquent for years.
Immigration – The Departments of State and Homeland Security have effectively ignored the federal law that prohibits admission into the U.S. for those likely to become welfare reliant.
Immigration – The law forbids illegal aliens from receiving federal benefits with the exception of emergency Medicaid, yet millions receive $ billions of benefits every year.
Environment – The days of sooty smog, acid rain, brown sunsets, leaded children, and rivers on fire are long gone, while the new environmental challenges are almost imperceptible.
Debt – I expect that the country’s credit rating will again be downgraded after Congress debt ceiling discussions again fail to find sufficient spending cuts to halt deficit spending.
Deficit – I expect one or more states to declare bankruptcy by 2012 and seek assistance to recover from the bad economic decisions of the past under federal judicial protection.
Housing – I expect that it will take four or more years at the current rate for the backlog of foreclosures to finally clear, before we see any signs of life of a robust housing recovery.
Communism – “Communism has never come to power in a country that was not disrupted by war or corruption, or both.” John F. Kennedy.
Foreign Policy – The Russians want to reset the reset, China, among others, can’t figure out what the “pivot to Asia” really means, and Latin America and Africa continue to be ignored.
Defense – Obama finds that ending wars is easy but winning them is much harder, as he abandons Iraq, undermines Afghanistan strategy, and cuts military to lose more in the future.
Middle East – Polls show support for the United States among Arabs has declined since Bush’s tenure, and positive views on the U.S. in several Muslim nations slipped to 19% in 2012.
Libya – Obama is discovering, like Nixon, that the cover-up lies and obfuscation of the Benghazi incompetence has become a big election year issue that won’t go away.
Iran – The Congressional Research Service reports that Iranian sanctions, designed to force a change of regime behavior concerning its nuclear activities, has not yet proven effective.
Israel – I expect that Israel will be attacked by Hamas again in 2012 and the IDF will retaliate by invading and then annexing Gaza based on the concept of defensible borders.
Israel – I expect that Israel will suffer a nuclear attack from Islamist extremists by 2012, and Obama will stand aside and not help defend this longtime ally.
Asia – I expect that North Korea will attack South Korea and attempt to reunite Korea by the 2012, and Obama will be an unwitting accomplice as he abandons this ally in a time of war.

David Coughlin
Hawthorne, NY
www.ReturnToCommonSensesite.comShare on Facebook

Views on the News – 10/27/2012

Barack Obama is not a good liar; he is a victim of media complicity in the fallacies and half-truths that constitute the myth of Barack Obama, but fiction works only if you can get your audience to suspend disbelief, and every day fewer people are buying into the meme. When a candidate can’t run on his past and has no ideas for the future, he must destroy his opponent in the present, which can be done by distorting his adversary’s history and lying about his plans for the future. There is a problem with this approach, however. It works only if people trust the candidate doing the distorting. Should people actually take a look for themselves and not come up with the same conclusion, the disseminator with the poor past and no plans begins to lose credibility. During the first two debates, America looked at Mitt Romney and realized that Barack Obama has been lying to them. Once people realize that a candidate is a liar, many are loath to ever believe anything he says again, or at the very least, they approach all he says with studied suspicion. The first debate was a game-changer. Romney not only showed himself to be a viable alternative, but also exposed Barack Obama as a liar on all things of substance, while destroying the myth of Obama the genius. Very simply, the myth of Barack Obama has become Barack Obama the myth. This is how you know this election is over and that Obama has lost (by a landslide), he has been reduced to preaching to the choir. The relationship between Obama and his dwindling base has become incestuous. They cheer him on, and he speaks only to them. They saw in the first debate how misleading the months and months of negative ads against Romney from the Obama campaign had been. Now, when they hear him claim he said something that they know he never said — they see the lie and the cover-up. The problem with “trust”: once it’s broken, it’s almost impossible to get back. When someone is trusted, the little inconveniences of truth can be ignored for shared purpose. Once trust is lost, reality is all that’s left. The reality of Barack Obama is frightening because he has been a starkly bad President, and every time he opens up his mouth, more and more people see it. America now sees him as a sad man enthralled with his own lies, just as they did after the first and second debate. This is why he continues to slide in the polls, despite all his victories. Barack Obama has become a joke, and the laughter will stop after November 7th.
(“Bye-Bye, Optimus Prime” by William L. Gensert dated October 21, 2012 published by American Thinker at http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/10/bye_bye_optimus_prime.html )

President Barack Obama’s popularity is disintegrating faster than his credibility, as reality rears its ugly head. Less than a month ago his re-election seemed assured. Today the election looks like it has shifted dramatically in favor of Romney. Mitt Romney is not Obama’s problem, but he is the beneficiary of Obama’s problem. Romney’s surge is derivative, emanating from the growing “anybody but Obama” crowd. Obama was elected as a dissenting vote against Bush and Republicans. He was aided by a magnificent marketing campaign which sold him as a messiah, at least in the political sense, but there is no magic left. Now Romney represents a dissenting vote to Obama and his policies. His election offers an opportunity to escape the political “Bizzaro World” of the last several years. Obama was never as strong as the media and pollsters led voters to believe. Nor was Romney as weak as he was portrayed. Data, records and performance become drivers around the time of elections. When people pay attention, information ultimately gets through. Reality can be hidden or suppressed for a time, but it now dominates this election. It is reality that has doomed Obama. Four years ago he was isolated from it. He had no data trail, record, or reputation. Obama’s only hope in this election was to suppress reality once again, for it is a potent contraceptive against the only thing that Obama can trade off — false promises, distortions, and propaganda. Obama’s problem relates to his performance because he is now known, has a record, and is unable to run away from it. Arguably Obama has failed at everything, making most matters worse than they had to be. Pollsters have an opportunity to influence elections, at least up to a point. To the extent they choose to do so, polls can easily be skewed in favor of one opponent versus another. Ultimately, however, a pollster’s future is dependent upon accuracy. If political meddling occurs, it dissipates as the election nears. The future value of a pollster is based on his accuracy. Polls late in the election cycle are the ones used to evaluate pollsters. The closer the election the more effort and objectivity is put into the design and sampling for polls. Self-preservation now trumps political ideology. Even the media is constrained by the same credibility concerns that force pollsters toward honesty. Smarter members of the media have already showed signs of moving away from “their man.” It is motivated by the need to preserve their personal brand. As the election outcome becomes more apparent, more in the media will distance themselves from being associated with a loser, because their future credibility and livelihood depends on maintaining their personal brand credibility.
(“Obama’s Problem: Reality Bites” by Monty Pelerin dated October 22, 2012 published by American Thinker at http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/10/obamas_problem_reality_bit es.html )

This November’s election wave will wash away far more than just a failed Presidency, with the entire liberal bubble and the political/media/crony bubble forever exposed. For the record, “we” refers to the quarter of the country that never bought into the fraudulent vapor of Obama and who lost respect for anyone who did. We knew it was Marxist voodoo that could not last. Early in 2009, per Rasmussen, another 25% got over the phony high of Obama’s election. Since then, Obama’s been underwater on approval. Millions more have joined this narrow majority in the past weeks. Debates have been the catalysts, but this epiphany has been building for much longer, and now it’s reached critical mass. There is now understanding of the shallowness of Obama and of liberalism. Everything said by the supposedly racist, mean-spirited conservatives has been validated. We’ve been right about the academia elites, the Jurassic media, the elitist conservative pundits, the establishment, the “Obama foam” class, and Occupy and union thugs, too. This includes anybody who makes his living from government, and the reporting thereof. It encompasses those who live inside the bubble, plus those who depend on them. These people are all intertwined, co-dependent, and out of step with America. The wave grew in February 2009, when Rick Santelli reintroduced the term “Tea Party” into our vernacular on CNBC, and his rant went viral thanks to Matt Drudge and Limbaugh. The phrase “Tea Party” was everywhere. Thus, when people connected in spring ’09 at town hall meetings opposing ObamaCare, Tea Party groups organically sprang up. In November 2009, Jon Corzine was decisively beaten by Chris Christie, and Bob McDonnell won Virginia big. The wave then crashed at Hyannis months later and washed the Ted Kennedy seat out of Democrat hands with Scott Brown’s campaign being anti-ObamaCare and pro-Tea, even as he avoided the term. Then came 2010, which, like 1994, was fought ideologically. With Pelosi predicting victory, Democrats lost 69 seats in Congress, 700 state seats, lots of governors – and damned near every dogcatcher. Undeterred, the bubble-dwellers then put all their chips on the table in Wisconsin, where they had unions, a hack judge, and the sacrosanct teachers on their side, but Scott Walker won the absurd recall easily. The bigger story is the damage done to public unions, with the infantile behavior of so-called dedicated educators seen nationwide. Three networks, two wires, one cable, and three dailies ruled the bubble and the opinions of the world. We know the rest: along came Rush, Drudge, Fox, Hannity, Levin, Savage, Beck, and the conservative websites. Breitbart emerged and inspired millions to embrace tech toys to expose the “racial Marxism” of the Democrat-media complex. Liberal mischief was exposed:
· A union thug fakes racism at a Tea Party – it goes viral.
· SEIU members confess to being paid to protest – it goes viral.
· A Democrat congressman insults a youngster — it goes viral.
· Chris Matthews wets his pants – it goes viral.
· Anthony Weiner…well, you know – it goes viral.
The entire bubble is intellectually naked, and everyone sees the political porn without the networks, cable channels, or newspapers that once controlled access. In the bubble, where politics is but a game, they miss the cumulative effect of all this. They have no sense of the undertow pulling on many. Different dots connect for different people:
· For some, it may be Obama snarking, “Can you say that a little louder, Candy?” after blaming the video for weeks.
· Add this to Big Bird, binders, and contraception for middle-aged students, and even unserious voters can tell that Obama is unserious.
· For others, it may be the pipeline and gas prices, orr the cancer ad, the phony Harvard Cherokee, or fat union perks.
Whatever the dots, they all connect those inside the liberal matrix of Obama, all Democrats, the media, unions, Occupy, and the pundits. If such realizations have hit critical mass, we have a wave. Gone will be Obama and the Democrat Senate. More than that, however, will be the exposition of the entire liberal myth. Obama has been the face of liberalism, and the bubble has been his support system, and when this vapor gets blown away, the propagators will see their credibility blown away as well. In the meantime, enjoy the wave; because it’s coming; you can feel it, too; I know you can.
(“The Wave That Breaks the Liberal Bubble” by C. Edmund Wright dated October 24, 2012 published by American Thinker at http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/10/the_wave_that_breaks_the_libera l_bubble.html )

Not only is the objective of politicians to say what they think we want to hear in order to get elected, but their followers want to be led fearlessly into the future and don’t want to hear the leader’s doubts nor failures. While all politicians dissemble about what they are going to do, it is far less common for them to lie about what they already have done, and this is what Obama does constantly. He actually said during the 2008 campaign that it was his objective to bankrupt companies generating electricity with coal. He has been anti-fossil fuels as a policy. He is for green energy. He dramatically cut back on drilling leases on public lands and canceled the Keystone Pipeline as part of his anti-fossil-fuels policy. Now, on the campaign trail and in the second debate, he is touting the increase in oil and gas production on private land in the last four years (most of which increase is from fracking that his EPA is against)! Everybody knows that he is against fossil fuels, but now he is running as a fossil fuel producer! This is a kind of dissembling that we have not seen before. Obama carries out his own policies and then, rather than running on them, runs away from them. He thought it appropriate to bow, and bow deeply, to the Saudi king. The point being that Obama took an unprecedented step, presumably in pursuit of a policy, and yet denied it when it became public. Now he is trying it on Benghazi. The administration said for weeks Benghazi was a reaction to the trailer for “The Innocence of Muslims.” Hillary’s speech on the trailer as the reason for the attack is easily remembered because of the slow-talking schoolmarmish tone she used. Susan Rice was out there paying her dues as a “made woman” of the administration by peddling the trailer-as-cause line. The guy who made the trailer was rousted out at 1:00am, with film crews waiting, for allegedly violating parole. Absurd statements were made by Hillary and Obama about the “respect” accorded religion in the United States. This line was pushed by the regime for several weeks. But now that it has conceded that Benghazi was a terrorist attack unrelated to the film trailer, it is denying history that has just been made and that can be recalled on YouTube by anybody! The administration does not expect to be held accountable for its deeds, since it knows there is virtually no public support for its deeds, so it tells damn lies to conceal them.
(“Brass, Lies, and Videotape” by Greg Richards dated October 19, 2012 published by American Thinker at http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/10/brass_lies_and_videotape.h tml )

We see a new feminist movement arising in America, the “Women Warriors” who are conservative women representing reason and are selflessly seeking answers to critical concerns beyond gender and sex. Women Warriors understand the conflicts of the world, the crises confronting America, and are sounding the alarm. Liberal feminists think they have cornered the market on defining a woman. They think they own the agenda on what a woman wants; that only they represent women’s rights. To listen to a liberal feminist, it’s as if the women’s revolution was only about sex and the womb. This is ultimate hypocrisy, yet this limitation of women as sexual objects is the primary mantra from the Obama White House — one that has been accused of being a hostile workplace for women. The new conservative women’s movement has proven to be vividly aware of the intentions and the failures of President Obama, and the dangers that his reelection pose. They know of the unsustainable, crushing debt that makes America vulnerable to economic collapse and attack; they know that Obama has accrued more debt in the last four years than all past American Presidents combined. Conservative women are aware of the rising health care costs of the ObamaCare rollout; they know that ObamaCare has hit their pocketbooks and lessened the quality of their health care. They know the economy is being smothered by government, and they understand the historical evidence as to why “a government that governs least governs best.” Women Warriors know that “spreading the wealth around” is the death of liberty, and how long we have known this. They know that Medicare and Social Security are insolvent, and they have the fortitude and sense of responsibility to address the problem. Women Warriors know that the Lilly Ledbetter law is counterproductive for women, and a hindrance to their employment. Women Warriors know that more women than men have lost their jobs during Obama’s tenure. Women Warriors know that regarding the safety of our people in Libya, Obama did nothing and blamed America. They know that al-Qaeda is not defeated and will settle for nothing but the destruction of America. They know that Israel is our ally and that Iran is our enemy; that meeting with Netanyahu is more important than being on The View. Women Warriors know that we have enough energy in our country to be self-sufficient, and that we must be self-sufficient because the Middle East is imploding. Women Warriors are, to quote George Washington, “trembling for the fate of America,” not for free birth control. Woman Warriors know that we need a President who will abide by the constraints of the Constitution and resist the vanities of power, who will stand behind the inconveniences of truth and not cower from the responsibility of strength, and woman Warriors know that Mitt Romney will not fail us as President Obama has failed us.
(“Women Warriors: New Movement Challenges Liberal Feminism” by Janine Turner dated October 23, 2012 published by PJ Media at http://pjmedia.com/blog/women-warriors-new-movement-challenges-liberal -feminism/ )

There are those who say that the TEA Party is fading in influence, but nothing could be further from the truth, but unfortunately, the movement is on the cusp of achieving what once seemed nearly impossible: keeping the Senate Democrat. The switch in fortunes can be attributed to many causes, a slate of lackluster Republican candidates high among them, but one thing is beyond serious dispute: If not for a series of TEA Party upsets in Republican primaries, the Republicans would be taking over the Senate majority in January. In the 2010 cycle, TEA Party candidates caused the Republicans to lose three Senate seats easily within their grasp: Sharron Angle allowed Democrat leader Harry Reid to keep his seat in Nevada, Christine O’Donnell handed Joe Biden’s former seat right back to the Democrats in Delaware, and a TEA Party favorite in Colorado, Ken Buck, lost a seat that was his to lose. There’s a case to be made that the outcome is bad for everybody because it will continue the paralysis for another two years. This outcome will continue a split between a Democrat Senate and a Republican House, which has produced mostly finger-pointing over the past two years. The TEA Party faithful, who claimed they wanted to shake up Washington, have wound up perpetuating the old system. In fighting for ideological purity in primaries regardless of the consequences, they have set back their own cause of limited government and expanded freedom. In Missouri, as in Indiana, Delaware, Colorado and Nevada, the TEA Party has done serious damage to Republicans’ hopes of being the majority.
(“The tea party is helping Democrats” by Dana Milbank dated October 19, 2012 published by The Washington Post at http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dana-milbank-the-tea-party-is-h elping-democrats/2012/10/19/815e07e0-1a08-11e2-aa6f-3b636fecb829_story .html )

* There is so much published each week that unless you search for it, you will miss important breaking news. I try to package the best of this information into my “Views on the News” each Saturday morning. Updates have been made this week to the following issue sections:
· Immigration at http://www.returntocommonsensesite.com/dp/immigration.php
· Foreign Trade at http://www.returntocommonsensesite.com/fp/trade.php
· Latin America at http://www.returntocommonsensesite.com/fp/latinamerica.php
· Middle East at http://www.returntocommonsensesite.com/fp/middleeast.php

David Coughlin
Hawthorne, NY
www.ReturnToCommonSensesite.com

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“Freedom of choice is a basic right, as long as you accept the consequences”

Freedom of choice is a basic right, as long as you accept the consequences

By: David Coughlin (dscough@yahoo.com)

I believe in Freedom of Choice as a basic Right in all personal matters, as long as you accept the consequences of your actions. Whether to engage in the act of sex is a perfect example: sex is a personal choice that can be enjoyed with whomever you please. If the choice is removed, a crime has been committed. As long as the adults are consenting, there are no restrictions. However sex has a potential consequence that must be considered. If pregnancy is not desired there are numerous, inexpensive contraception alternatives readily available.

The dilemma arises when the consequences of your initial choice produces a new human being, whose Rights must also be considered. This conception of a new human life introduces an entirely new, independent choice decision. Becoming pregnant is not just an inconvenience, but rather the beginning of a new life story. It is no longer a discussion about contraception, but instead the choice is whether to end this new human life.

The issues involve who makes the decision, when the baby is aborted, and who pays for this procedure. Pregnancy is the consequence of two people’s personal choice, but only the woman has the personal choice to terminate this emerging human life.

The decision when to abort this new life increases personal guilt as time goes on since infant viability improves as the fetus develops. Terminating in the first trimester is viewed as humane, while second or later trimester is viewed as inhumane due to medical advances demonstrating survivability at earlier and earlier gestation. There is now discussion of how late the abortion can take place, since partial birth abortions effectively take place at birth. If the baby survives this procedure the moral question arises can the baby be aborted after birth to ensure the initial abortion decision is honored? Many religious people do not condone abortions at any time.

Personal choices are the responsibility of the decision makers. A majority of Americans do view abortion as a personal choice today, but do not think society must subsidize and pay for another’s personal choice. We should not be forced to pay for other’s contraception nor should we be forced to pay for other’s abortions.

Our Constitution protects our Freedom of Choice in all personal matters, but recently there have been a number of attempts to isolate the person from the consequences of their actions. Our decision is whether society must pay to enable and subsidize us from the consequences of our actions.

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Musings on the week ending 10/13/2012

Socialism – “Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.” Winston Churchill.
Politics – I have been unable to find anyone who voted for Obama in 2008, other than diehard Democrats, who are proud of their vote and plan to vote for him again.
Politics – If the only qualification used to determine voting preference is the color of skin that is a dictionary definition of racist, thus defining most African-Americans voters as racists.
Politics – At the Vice President debates, Joe Biden confirmed his most important role in this Democrat administration, being a life insurance policy for Barack Obama.
Politics – At the Vice President debates, Joe Biden was auditioning for his next job after this Washington gig, becoming the dictionary illustration for the term, “buffoon.”
Media – The huge swing in the Presidential election polls can be explained by Obama’s first unscripted (by teleprompter), unfiltered (by MSM), and un-redacted speech (by campaign).
Media – The only ones surprised by the poll results were the mainstream media, who have done everything in their power to project a confident and unbeatable Barrack Obama.
Media – Newspapers continue to hemorrhage readers with only political ads in the 2012 election to save them, but I expect many newspapers will disappear after the next election.
Politics – I expect that the 2012 Presidential election will be the most racist campaign, with baseless accusations used to distract voter attention from Obama’s record of failure.
Capitalism – “Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.” Winston Churchill.
Economy – California may illustrate the nation’s future: nation’s largest budget deficit, second highest unemployment rate, one third of welfare recipients and most illegal aliens.
Economy – Congress has deferred the decision what to do about the expiring tax cuts and the debt ceiling deferred until the lame duck Congress returns from the November election.
Finance – The Federal Reserve was created to manage the American money supply, but the mission had been expanded to increase employment and now even home ownership.
TARP – The Dodd-Frank Financial Stability Oversight Council is buzy identifying nonbank financial institutions that can be declared “Too Big To Fail” – Why institutionalize a bad idea?
Labor Force Participation Ratio – So many people left the work force in the last four years.

Jobs – Is it a coincidence that Obama placed a partisan as the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and a record total employment rose by 873,000, mostly part-time, in September?
Total Unemployment Rate (U-6) – includes total unemployed plus all marginally attached workers and total employed part time for economic reasons, and is stuck around 15%.

Debt – I expect that the country’s credit rating will again be downgraded after Congress debt ceiling discussions again fail to find sufficient spending cuts to halt deficit spending.
Deficit – I expect one or more states to declare bankruptcy by 2012 and seek assistance to recover from the bad economic decisions of the past under federal judicial protection.
Housing – I expect that it will take four or more years at the current rate for the backlog of foreclosures to finally clear, before we see any signs of life of a robust housing recovery.
Nationalism – “The empires of the future are the empires of the mind.” Winston Churchill.
Foreign Policy – The Obama Doctrine is now clear as a conscious effort to abdicate our global superpower role and a policy of serial appeasement to all potential threats.
Foreign Policy – American stature and reputation have degraded in the last four years and Secretary of State Clinton shares credit for this abysmal record with President Obama.
Russia – Russia announced its withdrawal from a post-Cold War deal to dismantle nuclear and chemical weapons when it expires next year is a failure of Obama security policy.
Israel – I expect that Israel will be attacked by Hamas again in 2012 and the IDF will retaliate by invading and then annexing Gaza based on the concept of defensible borders.
Israel – I expect that Israel will suffer a nuclear attack from Islamist extremists by 2012, and Obama will stand aside and not help defend this longtime ally.
Asia – I expect that North Korea will attack South Korea and attempt to reunite Korea by the 2012, and Obama will be an unwitting accomplice as he abandons this ally in a time of war.

David Coughlin
Hawthorne, NY
www.ReturnToCommonSensesite.com

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Views on the News – 10/13/2012

The “Silent Majority” is alive and well and just as powerful as ever. You see them everyday. They’re all around you. They are the folks you see at parties who stand around the edges of a group discussing politics. They’re the people who go to church, nearly every Sunday, and raise their children to be respectful of others and live useful, productive lives. They send their kids to church-supported universities and colleges for a good education, rather than an indoctrination in the ways of the political left. The Silent Majority are the folk who never miss an opportunity to vote. They believe men and women died to give them that opportunity, and they will not abuse the memory of those heroic Americans by not going to the polls to vote. They are, for the most part, conservative in politics as well as religion. Their lives are built around their families and their church. Many are veterans of America’s armed forces. They believe this country is worth fighting for and they will put their own lives on the line to protect her. They view politics as a necessary evil. They believe they should always vote for the man who best represents their belief. They will not support a candidate just because they wear the label of the party to which they, themselves, are registered. The Silent Majority never fails to notice the MSM’s stifled giggles and backhanded insults of conservative politics and they’ve had enough. They’ve watched socialism replace capitalism and love of state replace love of God and they are incensed. They remember the oath they took as members of America’s military, and as police officers, to defend the constitution against ALL enemies, domestic and foreign, and they remember, too, there was no expiration date on that oath. Silent, they may be, but silent they shall not remain. This is the unseen, uncounted, power the pollsters miss. It is the power of deep conviction that things are terribly wrong in America and they, the so-called Silent Majority, have a responsibility to the constitution, to the country, to their fellow Americans, and yes, to their families and themselves, to step up, to lean in, and to reclaim their birthright—before it is lost forever. This Silent Majority is not to be trifled with since THEY coined the phrase: “We have four boxes with which to defend our freedom: the soap box, the ballot box, the jury box, and the cartridge box” and the ballot box is about to be used with devastating effectiveness.
(“Obama: Beware of the Silent Majority” by J.D. Longstreet dated October 6, 2012 published by Canada Free Press at http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/50061 )

For there is a growing consensus on the part of a notable segment of the American public, Republican candidates for office, and a number of disaffected Democrats that the coming election is essentially a plebiscite and that the future security, coherence, and prosperity of the nation will be decided on the first Tuesday of November of this year. A victory for Mitt Romney would allow the nation to return to its historical roots as a constitutional republic and free market economy. But if Barack Obama should win re-election, America will inexorably go the way of the crushingly indebted, under-employed, imploding European Union, as well as gradually surrendering much of its autonomy to an advancing Islamic presence and the inroads of Shari’a law. President Obama can be defined by the $16 trillion federal debt, the 8.3% unemployment when he promised to have it down to 5.6%, the annual deficit, which he promised to halve, hovering around $1.5 trillion, as well as the disaster that is Obama’s Islamophilic Mideast policy with our consulate overrun in Benghazi, our ambassador murdered, and Obama told 90 minutes into the assault, goes to bed. Obama has also empowered the anti-American Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and extended hospitality to Islamic organizations and individuals at home. Obama profits from the loyalty and commitment of seven categories of devout adherents:
· A large dependency class, as Romney justly pointed out, constituting 47% of an electorate that does not pay taxes and in too many cases lives parasitically off government largesse, enjoying the redistributed benefits culled from the salaries, savings, and investments of the productive class;
· The so-called intellectual and celebrity elite: left-wing academics and the students they have successfully indoctrinated, public intellectuals with an ingrained hatred of their own country, Hollywood’s beautiful emptyheads, and almost the entire media empire that has made common cause with the Democrat Party and invested its ideological stock in the president’s plainly neo-socialist agenda;
· The plutocratic left whose obscene money machine funds Obama’s electoral campaign via every avenue of public suasion available;
· A union thugocracy using every means at its disposal, from financial contributions to overt coercion, to ensure the re-election of their candidate;
· The swelling roles of government employees, all of whom are sure to cast their ballots with a view to preserving their featherbedding billets;
· That portion of the educated populace whose trendy, reflex liberalism flies in the face of political and economic reality, namely, that wealth must be continuously created, that untrammelled entrepreneurship is vital to an expanding economy and social stability, that socialized medicine is a bottomless sinkhole producing more rather than less suffering, that “social justice” is merely a slogan behind which oligarchs and bureaucrats enrich themselves and the well-off hypocritically salve their consciences; and
· The dumbing down of American education, the dysfunctional public schools and the university propaganda factories have produced an alarming number of the miseducated and the flatly illiterate who have no understanding of economics, are devoid of historical knowledge and blissfully indifferent to the exigencies of realpolitik, and who are prey to the influence of urban myths and the oiled churnings of the rumor mill.
In sum, given the technically defined poor, the very rich, the public unions, government hires, the intellectual and celebrity carriage trade, the liberal misinformed, and the caste of the under-educated, supplemented by a skewed electoral system in which voter turnout is often trumped by party entrenchment, we may well be looking at a second term for arguably the most destructive President in all of American history, the President who has reduced America’s position in the world to a caricature of its former paramount standing and steered his countrymen, like harried bison, to the precipice of bankruptcy. It should be obvious, then, after nearly four years of gross mismanagement, escalating debt, lack of military resolve, political frivolity, intentionally fomented internal divisiveness, and rampant juridical malfeasance, that the administration of Barack Obama has been an unqualified debacle, and that another four years of the same may well put an end to American dominance and solvency. Unless, by some miracle of destiny, a plurality of American citizens (and Electors) awakens to the bitter truth that the man they elected in 2008 to the highest office in the country is a kind of impostor or confidence man whose rhetoric stands in inverse relation to his achievements, a man who obviously does not regard the country he was entrusted to govern as in any way exceptional or lovable, whose wife is on record as saying that the U.S. is “just downright mean,” a man whose antecedents, formative influences, shrouded résumé, and mendacious biography typify him as something of a stranger to the very inheritance he claims to represent. Nonetheless, there are an increasing number of pundits predicting that Romney will win in a landslide, contending that fewer Hispanic, black, Jewish, youth, and Catholic voters will support Obama this time around, as well as small business owners, blue-collar whites, suburban moms, and military veterans who we can only hope the oddsmaker’s accurate record will remain unblemished, but the various constituencies outlined above would seem to present a major obstacle to his prognostications.
(“The Rebuke of Sam Slick” by David Solvay dated October 9, 2012 published by PJ Media at http://pjmedia.com/blog/the-rebuke-of-sam-slick/ )

The mystery Obama, the hollow receptacle of out-sized fantasies left and right, is not a creation of his own making, political chameleon though he may well be, but instead it emanates instead from a journalistic community that no longer in any way fulfills its designated function, that no longer even attempts the fair presentation of facts and current events aimed at helping the American electorate make up its mind according to its own lights. Rather, left-wing outlets like the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, Time, Newsweek, NBC News, ABC News, CBS News, and the like have now devoted themselves to fashioning an image of the world they think their audiences ought to believe in—that they may guide us toward voting as they think we should. They have fallen prey to that ideological corruption that sees lies as a kind of virtue, as a noble deception in service to a greater good. Theirs are largely passive lies and lies of omission. The active frauds, NBC’s dishonest editing of videos to reflect a leftist worldview, ABC’s allowing Democratic operative George Stephanopoulos to masquerade as a newsman, the Los Angeles Times’ suppressing even the transcript of the video in their possession that shows candidate Barack Obama at a meeting with a PLO-supporting sheik, these are only egregious salients of the more consistent, underlying dishonesty. The real steady-state corruption is revealed in the way Obama scandals like Fast and Furious, Benghazi-gate, and the repeated breaking of federal campaign laws have been wildly underplayed, while George W. Bush’s non-scandals, like the naming of Valerie Plame and the firings of several U.S. attorneys at the start of his second term, were blown out of all proportion. The Obama of the imagination is the media’s Obama. Out of their fascination with the color of his skin and their mindless awe at his windy teleprompted rhetoric, they constructed a man of stature and accomplishment. Now, with the White House on the line, they’re waging an ongoing battle against the undeniable evidence that he has never been, in fact, that man. The result in these quadrennial autumn days has been media coverage of a fantasy election, an election in the news that may bear no relation whatsoever to the election as it is. Polls consistently skewed to favor Democrats in percentages beyond any reasonable construct of reality have left us virtually ignorant of the state of the race. Governor Romney’s unprecedented dismantling of the president in their first debate, with predictable results, was surprising only for Romney’s warmth and clarity. Obama’s hapless fumbling, bad temper, and inarticulate inability to defend his record were actually thoroughly predictable. They were simply facets of the man as he truly is, unfiltered by the imagination of his media supporters: a man who has succeeded, really, at almost nothing but the winning of elections; a man who cannot distinguish between his ideology and life; a man who does not seem to know how the machinery of the world actually works. Perhaps by Election Day, the public will have awakened from the media’s dream.
(“A Fantasy Election, and Imaginary Man” by Andrew Klaven dated October 5, 2012 published by City Journal at http://www.city-journal.org/2012/eon1005ak.html )

What we see happening today didn’t begin with the election of America’s first fraudulent Muslim Marxist in 2008, but is the culmination of 100 years of erosion of the American political system. The truth is, global leftists didn’t believe they could leap to this final stage until 2016 and neither did anyone else. However, the American press and courts made it possible for them to push up their closing strategy by two full election cycles, using the race card to trick Americans into electing someone they knew absolutely nothing about and still know very little about four years later. Sadly, too many Americans don’t know what communism is, or they foolishly think that it died with the fall of the Soviet Union. Nothing could be further from the truth. Communism is alive and well, but it isn’t just in Russia or China anymore. The 2012 election is not a referendum on Mitt Romney or Barack Obama, but is a referendum on American society. It is a contest between two opposite American Dreams and the outcome will tell us nothing about Romney and Obama, but everything about the American people. Communism is defined as “A theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state; A system of social organization in which all economic and social activity is controlled by a totalitarian state – dominated by a single and self-perpetuating political party.” America’s first Communist Administration is replacing freedom and liberty as the new American Dream. It was a slow incremental process, while nobody was paying any attention. Politically, everything really started via unconstitutional amendments initiated by Republicans under Taft and ratified by Democrats under Wilson. If you understand the modern face and democratic strategies of communism, then you can begin to fit the pieces of the puzzle together:
· State rights and representation ended in 1913 with the 17th Amendment.
· Decentralized power ended in 1913 with the 16th Amendment, funding central power.
· Claims that the States lost their 10th Amendment rights in the Civil War began.
· Revision of history was underway in academia, the media and the entertainment industry.
· Intellectuals began rewriting new definitions of ancient terminology.
· The promotion of free-stuff eclipsed the promotion of freedom.
· One Nation Under God was replaced with celebrating secularism and diversity.
· Real justice was replaced with social justice, defined and measured by men.
· Unalienable rights from our Creator were replaced with limited man-made rights.
In 2008, nobody knew anything about Obama. Millions of Americans bought into his promises of “hope and change” without ever stopping to ask who this person was, where he came from, how he arose from total obscurity to international fame overnight with absolutely zero accomplishments on his résumé. History was made with the first communist president elected to the people’s White House. In 2012, we have a very different scenario, however. After four years under a communist Obama dictatorship crippling our economy, igniting unrest all over the globe, destroying our Constitutional Republic, stampeding our freedoms and liberties into the ground along with our fundamental social fabric, Americans can now see who and what Barack Hussein Obama is. No true Patriot will be sitting out the election at home this time. No decent American will sit on the sidelines in some futile 3rd party fantasy or protest. There is simply too much at stake. Americans understand that they have only ONE chance to remove a communist from power peacefully and that chance is this November.
(“When did Communism become an American dream?” by J.B. Williams dated October 5, 2012 published by Intellectual Conservative at http://intellectualconservative.com/index.php/when-did-communism-becom e-an)

Mitt Romney drew a very clear distinction between President Obama’s strategy of passivity based on ‘leading from behind’ and reacting to events after they unfold and Romney’s own strategy based on strength, leadership and action. The consequences of Obama’s strategy of passivity and ‘leading from behind’ for America and Americans, the people of the Middle East and the free world in general have been disastrous and would be catastrophic if he is elected again. Romney severely criticized Obama for his handling of the recent attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi which resulted in the deaths of four Americans and the concomitant attacks on American embassies throughout the Middle East. Benghazi was a national tragedy and Obama’s reaction, including all the lies, distortions, cover ups and attempts to manipulate public opinion, was disgraceful. Romney was absolutely right to go after him because the wounds are still fresh and Obama’s behavior needs to be a campaign issue. So what concrete measures would Romney actually take?
· He would get serious about keeping Iran from developing and possessing nuclear weapons and let the Iranians know in no uncertain terms that the United States will not let them become a nuclear power and that he will use the U.S. military if necessary to keep nuclear weapons out of their hands.
· He would strengthen America’s ties to Israel and reaffirm America’s commitment to her security and survival.
· He would reverse Obama’s cuts to the American military and maintain its status as the strongest, most capable military in the world in order to protect Americans and American interests at home and abroad.
· He would use foreign aid as an incentive and would ensure that recipients have to meet certain conditions to keep on receiving it.
· He would recommit the U.S. to a free, democratic, prosperous Palestinian state living in peace and security with Israel.
Those are a few of the concrete measures Romney said he would take in his speech. There were many others as well but the basic principle behind all of them is the same. Romney explained why his foreign policy is based on America’s best interest: “I believe that if America does not lead, others will-others who do not share our interests and values-and the world will grow darker, for our friends and for us. America’s security and the cause of freedom cannot endure four more years like the last four years. I am running for President because I believe the leader of the free world has a duty, to our citizens, and to our friends everywhere, to use America’s great influence-wisely, with solemnity and without false pride, but also firmly and actively-to shape events in ways that secure our interests, further our values, prevent conflict and make the world better-not perfect, but better.” It is abundantly clear that Obama’s foreign policy strategy of passivity and ‘leading from behind’ has been disastrous and would soon be catastrophic, while it is also abundantly clear that Romney’s foreign policy strategy of strength, action and leading from the front would make the world a much better place.
(“Passivity has lead to disaster and disaster will lead to catastrophe” by Jerry Philipson dated October 8, 2012 published by Canada Free Press at http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/50109 )

* There is so much published each week that unless you search for it, you will miss important breaking news. I try to package the best of this information into my “Views on the News” each Saturday morning. Updates have been made this week to the following issue sections:
· Bibliography at http://www.returntocommonsensesite.com/welcome/bibliography.php
· Politics at http://www.returntocommonsensesite.com/intro/politicsy.php
· Family at http://www.returntocommonsensesite.com/Culture/family.php

David Coughlin
Hawthorne, NY
www.ReturnToCommonSensesite.com
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Musings on the week ending 9/29/2012

Politics – “I expect to be judged by results… if stuff hasn’t worked and people feel I’ve led the country in the right direction, then you’ll have a new President.” Barack Obama.
Politics – Barack Obama is running against Mitt Romney for President, while Romney is running against Obama, the Mainstream Media, and the left-leaning pollsters.
Politics – The election chooses between Barack Obama, demonstrably a better campaigner than President, vs. Mitt Romney, potentially a better President than campaigner.
Politics – Hopefully Mitt Romney will unveil the details of what he will do differently as President at the debates, providing a reason to vote for Romney rather than against Obama.
Politics – The Republican Party looks very different, running more than 60 black and Hispanic Republicans for Congress, with the highest number in the House since the Reconstruction Era.
Politics – Barack Obama has lost his magic since everything he touches has failed: the economy, job creation, civil rights, energy independence, and international respect.
Politics – It is high probability that if Barack Obama is re-elected, that the fiscal cliff of tax increases and spending cuts will trigger the second half of the double dip recession.
Media – Americans’ distrust in the media hit a new high this year, with 60% saying they have little or no trust in the mass media to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly.
Media – Newspapers continue to hemorrhage readers with only political ads in the 2012 election to save them, but I expect many newspapers will disappear after the next election.
Politics – I expect that the 2012 Presidential election will be the most racist campaign, with baseless accusations used to distract voter attention from Obama’s record of failure.
Government Dependence – Dependence on government programs has been slowly increasing, but President Obama went into overdrive to increase this percentage.

Taxes – “The last thing you want to do is raise taxes in the middle of the recession because that would just suck up and take more demand out of the economy and put businesses in a further hole.” Barack Obama.
Debt – The Federal Reserve will purchase $40 billion worth of mortgage-backed securities per month that have no market value, devaluing the dollar and increasing our cost-of-living.
Stimulus – The “stimulus” was throwing money around with no concept of value, wasted on the politically well-connected, and temporary “make work” projects of unjustifiable costs.
Automobile – The CBO found that even with the $7,500 tax credits, electric cars are a bad buy, costing owners more over the life of the car than traditional gas-powered vehicles.
Jobs – If it weren’t for millions of Americans giving up and dropping out of the workforce, or taking part-time jobs, the official unemployment rate would be well into the teens.
Housing – A HUD mandated that 50% of Fannie and Freddie’s loans were to be “affordable” causing 40% of mortgages to be lower quality subprime when the housing bubble burst.
Entitlements – Transfer the food stamp program from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of Health and Human Services, then rename the Department of Dependence.
Energy – Obama’s War on Coal spawned a punishing regulatory environment with minimal climate benefits that has resulted in the closing of 175 coal-fired power plants so far.
Environment – Absence of any evidence of anthropogenic global warming undermines any legitimacy of carbon taxes, other than a thinly disguised international redistribution of wealth.
Election – True the Vote has uncovered 31 instances so far of absentee ballot fraud where people voted in both New York and Florida in the same federal election cycle.
Immigration – Immigrants are welcome visitors awaiting citizenship, as long as they are self-sufficient and do not require (drain) our government “safety net” program funding.
Healthcare – Obama promised that he would cut health insurance premiums for families by $2,500 in his first term, but instead family premiums have increased by more than $3,000.
Abortion – New York’s schools have expanded their role again, giving children the morning-after pill without notifying their parents, let alone getting their express approval.
Debt – I expect that the country’s credit rating will again be downgraded after Congress debt ceiling discussions again fail to find sufficient spending cuts to halt deficit spending.
Deficit – I expect one or more states to declare bankruptcy by 2012 and seek assistance to recover from the bad economic decisions of the past under federal judicial protection.
Housing – I expect that it will take four or more years at the current rate for the backlog of foreclosures to finally clear, before we see any signs of life of a robust housing recovery.
Apologies – “I know my country has not perfected itself. At times, we’ve struggled to keep the promise of liberty and equality for all of our people. We’ve made our share of mistakes, and there are times when our actions around the world have not lived up to our best intentions.” Barack Obama.
Defense – Despite little support for repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” pro-homosexual problems have already surfaced and are undermining morale and military preparedness.
Taxes – Hillary Clinton has revealed her latent leftist tendencies by advocating a global governance tax on elites of the world, expanding redistribution of wealth internationally.
Israel – I expect that Israel will be attacked by Hamas again in 2012 and the IDF will retaliate by invading and then annexing Gaza based on the concept of defensible borders.
Israel – I expect that Israel will suffer a nuclear attack from Islamist extremists by 2012, and Obama will stand aside and not help defend this longtime ally.
Asia – I expect that North Korea will attack South Korea and attempt to reunite Korea by the 2012, and Obama will be an unwitting accomplice as he abandons this ally in a time of war.

David Coughlin
Hawthorne, NY
www.ReturnToCommonSensesite.com
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Views on the News – 9/29/2012

For those of you fretting over the latest “FoxNews / ABC-CBS-NBC / Wall Street Journal / USAToday / Perth Amboy Times / And Whatnot” poll showing Obama 300 points ahead of Romney in the race for the Presidency, do yourself a big favor – ignore it, and everything like it. Most polls commissioned by news outlets are done not to reflect reality, but to distort it. In the same way Hollywood has discovered it can cheaply fill airtime with so-called “reality shows,” news outlets have found they can fill their pages with polls. Romney’s going to win this election in a romp come November. I’m certain of this because there is a key factor that’s being overlooked this time around — blacks have lost their passion for Obama. Back in 2008, when blacks spoke of Obama, it was like they were describing an encounter with the divine. Obama was “The One” and the “savior of the black man,” as my Aunt Gladys shouted over the telephone to me after learning I was backing McCain. Now what I’m hearing are sentiments more in line with “Give the man a chance” and “He needs more time to turn things around.” Blacks are clearly engaged in excuse-making for a failed deity. When it comes to their waning ardor for Obama, blacks put up a good front, especially around whites, i.e., pollsters. Blacks have discovered Obama for what they suspected he was to begin with: the newest in a long line of black would-be-messiahs/hucksters who were also at first described as charismatic, inspirational, visionary, and eloquent. Black politicians — especially of the liberal Democrat bent – are all doomed to failure because each one believes he’s the second coming of Dr. Martin Luther King. Their shtick is all the same: lofty rhetoric, pretensions of divinity, charm that inspires unquestioning, religious-like devotion (sound familiar?). Let’s face it: for all his greatness, Dr. King would have made a lousy President. Some black pastors are encouraging their congregations not to vote on Election Day, given the choice between the Rock Star in Chief and a Mormon. Polls are largely not picking up on blacks’ massive loss of passion for Obama. No longer motivated by passion, you can expect 2 million fewer blacks to pull the lever for Obama this time around, spelling doom for his re-election prospects.
(“Why Romney is Going to Romp over Obama in November” by The Drive-by Pundit dated September 21, 2012 published by American Thinker at http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/09/why_romney_is_going_to_romp_ove r_obama_in_november.html )

The major polls that are appearing on the daily newscasts, in the newspapers and on the internet have become incredibly important since they are meant to accurately reflect the views of the nation, but these polls today have unfortunately turned into a partisan weapon. Many major organizations have skewed their polls as of late. They do this a couple of subtle ways that most people will not notice unless they bother to do a little digging. By over-sampling Democrat voters and under-sampling both Republicans and Independents, the poll organizations have been able to make it appear as though President Barack Obama has a decisive lead over former Governor Mitt Romney. Thankfully, some people have “unskewed” the polls, showing what looks to be a much different race than what we’ve all been fed by the mainstream media. A look at the unskewed polls shows us a spread of Mitt Romney being nearly 8 full points ahead of President Obama. Unskewed approval ratings shows Obama’s disapproval high than approval in every poll. Polls can be used as a weapon. The result is a de facto means of voter suppression. Those that may be hoping for a Romney victory may see poll after poll with President Obama supposedly in the lead, and believe that it’s not worth voting. This is not the result of some grand liberal media conspiracy. Rather, it is a time honored technique that liberal-leaning groups have used for years. Recently two Gallup polls should have the Obama administration worried. Even though the numbers were slightly lopsided and they were polling registered voters instead of likely voters, the polls showed bad news for President Obama. One poll showed Obama and Romney tied at 47% each, while the other showed Obama’s approval rating back down 46%. The truth becomes clear that Obama does not have an unsurpassable lead, and Romney is not a weak candidate, and Romney will win in November.
(“Obama vs Romney Polls: When You Crunch the Numbers, Romney is Actually Doing Very Well” by Jesse Merkel dated September 25, 2012 published by Town Hall at http://townhall.com/columnists/jessemerkel/2012/09/25/obama_vs_romney_ polls_when_you_crunch_the_numbers_romney_is_actually_doing_very_well )

The mainstream media (MSM) is on its knees in it’s the customary position of worship of Barack Obama, their chosen “one,” and the MSM future is directly linked to his political fortunes. He is the man they told us would halt the rise of the oceans and heal the planet, the man who had game like Lebron, knew more than his advisers, was more brilliant than all brilliance, the smartest man to ever be President, the winner of a Nobel Prize and 2 Grammy awards, who was like Lincoln, then FDR, then JFK, then Reagan, the man who would make America loved and respected the world over, the man who would balance the budget and usher in a new era of racial tolerance, with no white America or black America, one America, the man who would get us out of our cars and break our dependency on foreign oil, who would change the economy into a green energy powerhouse, the man who would solve all the ills of all the world, the man who would change everything. He was new, he was different. He was better than the common man; he was more than us; he was like a god. Three and a half years later, the only thing Barack Obama has improved is his golf game. For the media, when their messiah is 0 for a zillion, what can they do? It’s too late to quit. They are all in. They have to double down. Mitt Romney makes a comment about how 47% of Americans are “dependent” on government handouts, and the media is outraged that he would tell the truth. The rest of America is outraged that the figure is 47%. This is why Americans cannot believe the media message that the President is winning. The press has to pretend, and they will, right up until November 6, when he will lose in a landslide. Strip away the Obama myth, and what are you left with? You are left with a man who is nothing more than an illusion. There never was and never will be a Barack Obama, because he is not real. The man reading from the teleprompter is nothing more than the sum total of the audacious hopes and dreams of delusional progressives, touted endlessly by a submissive press. There was a time when the mainstream media dictated the conversation while hiding behind the veneer of impartiality, and Americans deferred to their wisdom. Despite having always been partial, at least in the past they made some pretense of neutrality. A defeat for Barack is a defeat for them. No longer will they be the exalted press, the arbiter of truth and justice. After the debacle that is Barack Obama, the mainstream media will be seen for what they are: publicity agents for progressivism.
(“The Audacity of These Dopes” by William L. Gensert dated September 21, 2012 published by American Thinker at http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/09/the_audacity_of_these_dopes.htm l )

If President Obama wins his reelection bid and gets his tax increases implemented, we will get the “Obama recession” of 2013. The last recession has been officially over for more than three years, though it certainly doesn’t seem that way to millions of struggling and unemployed Americans; and the country is perilously close to falling back into another. The economy is staggering under the load of Obama’s policies, making it increasingly likely we will soon slip into a double recession. The Federal Reserve Bank is so concerned that it jumped back into the economy with its third quantitative easing (QE3). But the Fed’s efforts to flood the economy with money, $2.3 trillion since 2008, won’t save us from another recession, and may actually exacerbate the problem, if companies and entrepreneurs refuse to invest in new opportunities, equipment and people. There are at least three reasons why an Obama victory will almost surely lead to a recession in 2013:
o Obama’s version of the “Wealth Tax.” Obama wants to impose a number of new taxes on those he considers wealthy—individuals making more than $200,000 and families making more than $250,000.
o The certainty of uncertainty. The uncertainties created by the explosion of regulations, taxes and mandates (e.g., most employers must provide health insurance) will encourage businesses to remain hunkered down and sitting on their cash, unsure what challenges and costs they face when hiring and expanding.
o The government-spending binge. Obama increased government spending from about 20% of GDP under George W. Bush to nearly 25%. To sustain that level of spending the government must dramatically increase the tax burden and/or borrow like a drunken liberal. The President has done both, $5 trillion worth of new debt, and will do a lot more. Both actions suck capital from markets and the private sector that is needed to boost real economic growth.
Obama says he wants to “invest” in the U.S., by which he means confiscating trillions of dollars from the private sector to squander on “investments” the administration thinks are beneficial—especially to his political future. If a President-elect Romney were to make it clear that he would cut government spending immediately, not raise taxes and curb or eliminate the Obama regulation-palooza, companies would begin to invest the trillions of dollars they are currently holding—because that’s what companies do when it makes business sense to do so. While it might not be enough to save us from another recession, it would be minor compared to the economic hit we’ll take if a reelected Obama is able to get his agenda passed.
(“The Coming ‘Obama Recession’ of 2013” by Merrill Matthews dated September 21, 2012 published by Forbes at http://www.forbes.com/sites/merrillmatthews/2012/09/21/the-coming-obam a-recession-of-2013/ )

All the great religions, the ones that have grown over thousands of years, have had periods of violence and war, but all the great religions except Islam have given up war and now practice peace and that’s the big difference. Ninety percent of Muslims today may be peaceful, but they tolerate in their midst an explosive minority who can cite the Koran on violent jihad to convert the whole world. Islam is only 1.4 billion out of 7 billion people on the planet, so the arithmetic, contrary to liberal defeat-mongers, does not favor Islam. It favors tolerance, with the ongoing spread of Christianity (in China, Russia, and Africa), the existence of the State of Israel providing self-defense for the first time in two millennia to the Jews, the worldwide spread of Buddhism Lite (it’s rarely real Buddhism) and Vendantist Hinduism. Liberals are historically ignorant, arrogant, and stupid, and they are happy to surrender and be lied to on behalf of neo-fascism of the nuclear Muslim variety. With suicidal Western policies, the new rise of religio-fascism with nukes could well succeed. Our leftist parties have happily betrayed their countries for money, oil, and power to beat domestic enemies. The fact that politicians in Europe are routinely bought off by Saudi oil billionaires shows how decadent and corrupt they have become. Muslim radicals know perfectly well how corrupt and morally feeble we are. They test us and see it every day. The problem is not that “all religions are violent.” That is sheer, unadulterated historical nonsense. The Jews had a war against the Romans leading to the destruction of Jerusalem in 72 CE. Christians fought the Crusades against Muslim invaders of Europe from the south and east, and Protestants fought Catholics until 400 years ago. The Hindu Bhagavat-Gita is about a warrior’s dilemma: can I kill my cousins in war without losing my spirituality? But all in the remote past, except for Islam. Modern warfare is about secular pseudo-religions. The last two centuries have seen little religious war, and mostly secular mass killings. The whole liberal complaint about religion is two centuries out of date, except in the case of radical warlike Islam, where it is all too timely. The liberal answer to Mohammed is Marx, one reactionary extremist from the Arabian desert of thirteen centuries ago against another one from the Prussian Empire of 1848. Mohammed and Marx both agitated for world-conquering imperialism, and dumbed-down liberals think that the Marxist mass-murdering ideology is “progressive.” Obama represents the third or fourth wave of Marxism, in which the left forges an alliance with the biggest medieval throwback ideology in the world: desert Islam, as propagated by oil-fueled Wahhabi imams; Iranian Islam, which conquered the civilization of Persia and set it back so far that it has never recovered, now run by the Armageddon sect of the Twelvers; and yes, thanks to Barack Hussein Obama, we now have the ur-fascists of the Muslim Ascendancy, the Muslim Brotherhood, in control of Egypt. Obama has not been a naive bystander in this process of massive cultural regression, in which countless millions of women have been locked up in their homes, unable to even walk outside without a male family escort. At every step in the last four years Obama hasn’t hesitated to make everything worse, because Obama is a Leninist — a third-world Marxist, as he tells us with overweening pride in Dreams from My Father. His bio-dad was a Kenyan third-world Socialist, too. Lenin’s famous maxim was that you have to make things worse to make them better by taking over in a crisis and controlling society and Obama is trying to do exactly that.
(“Obama and religious War” by James Lewis dated September 21, 2012 published by American Thinker at http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/09/obama_and_religious_war.html )

As we wind down our presence in Afghanistan, conditions appear not as bad as they were in Vietnam in 1967 or in Iraq in 2007 because the overall level of violence is much lower, and there has been demonstrable progress as a result of President Obama’s surge. Coalition troops have managed to clear the Taliban out of many of their sanctuaries in Helmand and Kandahar Provinces. The buildup of the Afghan security forces, which are now 350,000 strong, is proceeding despite the dangers posed by insider attack. There have even been some scattered successes in improving the delivery of local services in districts that have been major centers of coalition activity, but let’s not kid ourselves. The Taliban (and related groups, such as the even-more-fanatical Haqqani network), are far from defeated. They remain secure in their Pakistan sanctuaries, which a decade’s worth of American efforts have done nothing to dislodge. The Taliban even maintain many sanctuaries within Afghanistan itself, particularly in eastern Afghanistan, where the coalition has never had enough troops to do the kind of “clear, hold, and build” operations that have been conducted in the south. And the state of Afghan governance remains poor, with outrageously corrupt and abusive officials—the greatest recruiting agents the Taliban could possibly have, still in office despite half-hearted American efforts to root them out. The greatest cause for despair is the lack of Presidential leadership. President Obama notoriously refuses to talk about the war, to explain setbacks, and to tell the American people how his plan for victory will work. Instead he talks mainly about how he is “ending the war,” by which he means pulling U.S. troops out, thereby making a bigger war more likely. Obama never granted the generals as many troops as they requested, and he pulled out the surge troops faster than the generals wanted. Obama’s determination to withdraw is plainly evident to Afghans, friend and foe alike, and undercuts the assurances of continuing American commitment contained in the U.S.-Afghan Strategic Partnership Agreement signed earlier this year. The Taliban are obviously expecting, with all U.S. combat troops gone by the end of 2014, that they will be able to make up lost ground. And those Afghans who are allied with the United States are visibly nervous, wondering if they should make accommodations with the Taliban lest they wind up on the losing side. In some ways the current situation—with an uncertain and likely deteriorating situation on the ground accompanied by unconvincing assurances from the top that everything is much better than you think, reminds us of Iraq in 2006. Only a surge of troops and a change of strategy, making victory rather than withdrawal the military objective—saved us from defeat in Iraq. We sympathize with the criticisms that lawmakers are making and agree it is high time for President Obama to reevaluate his strategy and to explain more fully to the American people just what we are doing in Afghanistan and how we are doing it. Bad as the situation is today, we should not ignore the probability that an American pullout could make things far worse. We can’t imagine how America’s security could be improved by a hasty departure from Afghanistan. Our withdrawal would probably plunge the country into civil war. The last time that happened, in the 1990s, the Taliban emerged victorious. There is every reason to expect that, with Pakistan’s support, they would come out on top again. Taliban leaders have promised not to allow their territory to be used as a staging ground for attacks abroad, but there is no more reason to trust them now than in the 1990s. The Taliban have had numerous opportunities to break with al Qaeda and other malign groups and they have consistently refused to do so. The Haqqani network is even more closely linked to the terrorist nexus in Pakistan. If the Taliban do take power in Afghanistan, it is certain to have a corrosive impact on Pakistan’s already fragile stability, raising the nightmare possibility of jihadists getting their hands on nuclear weapons. And, of course, a victory for jihadists over the last remaining superpower, which is how an American pullout from Afghanistan would be perceived in the Middle East, regardless of how it was spun by the White House, would be a big boost for al Qaeda in Iraq and other extremist groups which already have found openings in Libya, Syria, and other countries thrown into turmoil by the Arab Spring. The present path in Afghanistan is discouraging, but hard as it may be to swallow, Republicans, including their Presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, need to avoid the counsels of despair and to push for a robust, long-term American engagement that can stabilize Afghanistan and prevent al Qaeda’s allies from once again taking over.
(“Retreater in Chief” by Max Boot dated October 1, 2012 published by The Weekly Standard at http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/retreater-chief_652886.html )

* There is so much published each week that unless you search for it, you will miss important breaking news. I try to package the best of this information into my “Views on the News” each Saturday morning. Updates have been made this week to the following issue sections:
· Welfare at http://www.returntocommonsensesite.com/Culture/welfare.php

David Coughlin
Hawthorne, NY
www.ReturnToCommonSensesite.com
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Musings on the week ending 9/22/2012

Economy – “The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of misery.” Winston Churchill.
Politics – For all of his shortcomings, weaknesses, and political missteps, Mitt Romney remains orders of magnitude better as President of the United States, than Barack Obama.
Politics – Hopefully Mitt Romney will unveil the details of what he will do differently as President at the debates, providing a reason to vote for him rather than against Obama.
Politics – Mitt Romney now has the opportunity to rephrase his “inelegant” 47% remarks to be about rebuilding this country from one of Dependency into one of free market Opportunity.
Politics – Obama made many promises as a candidate, but as President delivered just the opposite making conditions even worse economically, culturally, and diplomatically.
Politics – Obama has fallen for the trap, claiming America is better off now than four years ago, revealing his partisan view of the nation and a lack of any link to mainstream America.
Politics – The return of the incoherent Occupy Wall Street mob resurrects the amalgam of professional protestors, anarchists without a cause, and diehard anti-American Marxists.
Media – Hopefully one day soon before the election, the Republican party will wake up to the MSM as an opponent and seize the narrative by “starving the beast” into submission.
Media – Newspapers continue to hemorrhage readers with only political ads in the 2012 election to save them, but I expect many newspapers will disappear after the next election.
Politics – I expect that the 2012 Presidential election will be the most racist campaign, with baseless accusations used to distract voter attention from Obama’s record of failure.
Dependence – Making as many people dependent on the government as possible.

Economy – “Recession is when a neighbor loses his job; Depression is when you lose yours.” Ronald Reagan.
Debt – Eagan-Jones lowered the US credit rating, based on QE3 issuing additional currency, depressing interest rates, doing little to raise the GDP, and reducing the value of the dollar.
Social Security – A record 8,786,049 people are collecting federal disability insurance payments, meaning there are only 16.2 people working for each person collecting disability.
Education – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reported total student debt has just surpassed $1 trillion and now exceeds total credit card debt, and may be the next bubble.
Crime – There have been at least 50 incidents of racial mob violence since 2009, occurring in cities across the country, in every region, but the DOJ refuses to call them hate crimes.
Debt – I expect that the country’s credit rating will again be downgraded after Congress debt ceiling discussions again fail to find sufficient spending cuts to halt deficit spending.
Deficit – I expect one or more states to declare bankruptcy by 2012 and seek assistance to recover from the bad economic decisions of the past under federal judicial protection.
Housing – I expect that it will take four or more years at the current rate for the backlog of foreclosures to finally clear, before we see any signs of life of a robust housing recovery.
Communism – “How do you tell a communist? Well, it’s someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-communist? It’s someone who understands Marx and Lenin.” Ronald Reagan.
Foreign Policy – Hillary Clinton should resign in disgrace for the national humiliation and loss of honor and respect sinks lower because of naivete, incompetence, and mismanagement.
Defense – The Obama administration, rather than developing defense policy based on meeting threats, begins with ideologically motivated goals and works backward.
GWOT – The September 11, 2012 attacks in the Middle East were just the next phase of the War on Terror that was formally declared to have begun on September 11, 2001 in New York.
GWOT – The September 11th attacks were planned and coordinated well in advance with the low budget film that practically no one has seen, serving as a pretext for rage and riots.
GWOT – Ignore religious crackpots and they go away, but embrace them and they become a pretext for a political agenda exploiting them to blow their impact out of proportion.
GWOT – The question is whether Judaism, Christianity and Islamic religions, cultures, and values can ever live in harmony together without friction, discord, and violence?
Foreign Aid – With the resurgence of al Qaeda across the Islamic nations, the U.S. must re-assess the criteria used to award any foreign aid to avoid the appearance of paying tribute.
Israel – I expect that Israel will be attacked by Hamas again in 2012 and the IDF will retaliate by invading and then annexing Gaza based on the concept of defensible borders.
Israel – I expect that Israel will suffer a nuclear attack from Islamist extremists by 2012, and Obama will stand aside and not help defend this longtime ally.
Asia – I expect that North Korea will attack South Korea and attempt to reunite Korea by the 2012, and Obama will be an unwitting accomplice as he abandons this ally in a time of war.

David Coughlin
Hawthorne, NY
www.ReturnToCommonSensesite.comShare on Facebook

Views on the News – 9/22/2012

President Obama is headed to defeat in November, and it won’t be close, but that won’t stop the Democrat from trying to spin reality to change your opinions. Forget about the polls, and forget about the cadre of delusional Democrats who can’t stop telling us how great and successful the last three and a half years have been. Slick Willy can shill all he likes, but seriously, he’s preaching to the choir, because the only ones believing his shtick are bought and paid for sycophants, crony capitalists, and members of the mainstream media. Americans remembering the hopes and dreams they had for a better world in 2008, and the hopes and dreams they have today for a better tomorrow, are reluctant to tell someone taking a poll that they don’t like Barack Obama. It doesn’t matter how well a case can be made against the man’s disastrous and disgraceful leadership; guilt can often preclude telling a stranger they plan to vote against the black guy, when all opposition to the President is framed as racist. When watching the news or any of the President’s campaign speeches, it is easy to get the message that Barack Obama is way ahead and can’t lose. His successes are portrayed as many and significant, although he needs another term because much still needs to be done. He did his best, and there was nothing more he could have done to improve what was an unprecedented (everything with Barack is unprecedented) decline in economic activity. Usually in mainstream media world, all is well and Americans should pay no attention to the price of gasoline, or the unavailability of financing for mortgages or business investment, or the price of groceries and the dearth of jobs. Yet there are no real accomplishments, which would be bad enough if it stopped there, but in actuality, everything is much worse since many trusted the “one” in 2008 to solve all the ills of the nation and humanity. All he has done during his tenure is torture the economy into submission with poor decisions, bad legislation, overregulation, and threats of onerous taxation. At the Democrat National Convention, John Kerry said Americans should “ask Osama bin Laden if he’s better off now than he was four years ago.” The answer would be “no,” just as it is for most Americans, because Obama is killing us. Bin Laden at least has the luxury of being dead; his job is finished. For us, Obama wants another four years. On November 6, 2012, Americans will flock to the polls to ensure that Barack Obama does not get another term to finish the job he started, and the empty chair will lose in a landslide!
(“The Empty Chair is Losing” by William L. Gensert dated September 14, 2012 published by American Thinker at http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/09/the_empty_chair_is_losing.html  )

The crude idea of perpetual class warfare seems to be the primary foundation of Barack Obama’s re-election campaign, if not his entire Presidency. The President is not just asking the rich to pay their fair share, he is demeaning them and dismissing their accomplishments as well. He is also inciting his audience to join in a mean-spirited attack on the rich as “exploiters.” His Roanoke speech was a perfect reflection of the radical tradition in which Obama was educated from childhood on. In that tradition, those who aspire to material success are regarded as “enemies of the people,” a phrase that crops up very frequently in radical and anarchist writing and that is suggested in Obama’s current populist attacks on the rich. For centuries, leftists have campaigned against those whom they considered class enemies. The tendency to divide society into two distinct and opposed classes is a fundamental tenet of leftist thought, and it is a view that underlies Obama’s entire conception of government. For leftists like Obama, the rich deserve to be attacked not because of what they have done wrong, but because of what they have done right. The rich are enemies of the people for the very reason why they have succeeded while others have failed. Like all Marxists, Obama seeks power on the promise of redistributing wealth from those who have succeeded and redistributing it to those who have failed. This, at least, is the theory. In practice, communists never redistribute wealth to the poor because wealth is destroyed when capital is taken from high achievers. What little that’s left finds its way into the hands of the ruling elite. Obama is not running for office as a communist per se, yet he has employed all of the classic methods of Marxist politicians. He has harped continuously on class inequality while promising to seize and redistribute the wealth of the rich if he is re-elected. He has divided voters along class, ethnic, gender, and ideological lines. He has politicized every crisis from the market collapse of 2008-2009 to the embassy attacks of today. These tactics are familiar within the communist tradition. No one can now be blind as to what Obama is or whence he came. He came out of the communist tradition stretching back to Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. While Obama may not have studied these original sources closely, he was tutored in Marxist ideology by his parents, grandparents, and mentors, including Frank Marshall Davis and Bill Ayers. That tradition has never been democratic in nature. The American left has relied more on manipulation and fraud. Obama’s attempt to position this election as a contest between the rich and everyone else, with Obama as the champion of “everyone else,” is a classic example of Marxist manipulation. Obama shares the left’s contempt for democratic process. The President is campaigning on the basis of class warfare not just to distract attention from his record of failure, but also to avoid discussion of what he would do in his second term. What he plans, as he has repeatedly told donor groups, is “to finish the job.” By that he means the institutionalization of widespread dependency: permanent dependence on government for medical care, education, housing, transportation, energy, and even food. Most Americans do not support the transformation of America into a communist state, but unknowingly many will be voting for just that in November. By appealing to the basest motives of envy and resentment, Obama may succeed in cementing the left’s hold on power and permanently transforming the relationship of Americans to their government. Obama’s re-election would establish a permanent majority dependent on government for their every need, and those who become dependent on government may believe they are secure, but they will live out their lives in poverty and they will only have themselves to blame.
(“Rich Man, Poor Man” by Jeffrey Folk dated September 19, 2012 published by American Thinker at http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/09/rich_man_poor_man.html )

President Obama spent his entire term blaming President Bush for his economic difficulties and other contemporary problems, but his criticism is more myth than factual. These problems include deficit spending, severe economic recession, unemployment, and global contempt for America. This meme is so fiercely repeated that it is rare for Republicans or conservatives to deny that it is at least substantially true. Let’s look at these misconceptions:
· President Bush caused the economic collapse of 2008. This falsehood rests primarily upon a rejection of the Democrats’ role in causing the economic crisis. Clinton used the “affordable housing goals” that Congress had imposed on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to increase the availability of mortgage credit to low-income borrowers. It also loosened the standards under Carter’s Community Reinvestment Act to pull insured depository institutions further into the low-income lending program. Congress is charged with oversight roles regarding government economic activities such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but instead of supervising its own interference in the free market, it heavily subsidized the risky schemes of the GSEs. By the fall of 2008, the decline and collapse of the U.S. and global economy were apparent. The financing of American homes saw the evaporation of 6 trillion dollars in values. As President Obama’s election alongside a Democrat House and Senate became imminent, the economy steepened and accelerated in its decline. The markets did not express a sense of relief upon the election of President Obama in early November 2008. What ensued was an economic panic. It was the most rapid and destructive loss of jobs and capital in U.S. history. Business leaders feared the coming onslaught of regulatory and redistributive fervor of President-Elect Obama and his supporters.
· President Obama helped the United States recover economically from Bush’s bungle. The most decisive component of this argument is the suggestion that President Obama bailed out U.S. car companies and saved the auto industry. In fact, the car bailout was signed into law by President Bush. President Obama brags that he made the tough and politically unpopular decision to extend emergency rescue loans to the American auto industry, saving more than 1 million jobs and preventing the loss of over $96 billion in personal income-and the collapse of manufacturing in the Midwest. The reality is that both GM and Chrysler filed for bankruptcy, but the federal government arbitrated a raw deal for bondholders and a sweat deal for the UAW. The effort to pin the praise for this bailout on Obama and the fiscal blame of the costs of this bailout on Bush is the height of this dangerous intellectual propaganda collusion. The Bush bailouts for both the financial industry and the auto industry required the funds to be paid back. These were temporary emergency funding actions that were paid back by the recipients with interest, and yet the Obama administration counts them as deficit spending actions committed prior to coming to office in January 2009. Yet those temporary emergency funding actions are counted as permanent budget allocations that allow Obama supporters to argue that Obama has increased federal spending less than most presidents. The Obama budget office has switched the payback funds into general operating expenses of the nation that support his general revisions to stimulus that do not require recipients to repay, such as the funds for Solyndra.
The protracted economic malaise and the collusion of our intellectual community to suggest that the problem is intractable leaves the public believing that there are no solutions. Yet the solutions are self-evident. Capitalized recipients of government aid should expect to pay back emergency funding they receive from the government. This is reasonable and empirically proven by the successful policies of President Bush. Moreover, the government should not count the emergency spending as a permanent part of the budget process. This makes slashing almost one trillion dollars from the budget a reasonable expectation.
(“It’s Not Bush’s Fault” by Ben Voth dated September 16, 2012 published by American Thinker at http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/09/its_not_bushs_fault.html )

As the current largest minority voting bloc in America, it would behoove Hispanics to examine how African-Americans, the former largest minority voting bloc, are currently doing economically and socially after such a long history of support for the Democrat Party. African-Americans have been major supporters of the Democrat Party since 1964, when the Civil Rights Act was passed under Democrat President Lyndon Johnson. For almost six decades, the Democratic Party has averaged receiving an astounding 88% of the African-American vote. Here is a list of current economic and social data for African-Americans:
· African-Americans aged 18-34 have the lowest employment rate (54%) since the government started tracking in 1948.
· African-American youth unemployment is 39.3% (ages 16-19) and is nearly double the 20.9% unemployment rate for whites in the same age demographic.
· Total African-American unemployment is 14.1%, while overall national unemployment now stands at 8.1%.
· Two point five million African-Americans are currently looking for work but can’t find a job.
· African-Americans make up 19% of the total unemployed, 23% of those unemployed for more than six months, and 26% of those unemployed for 99 or more weeks.
· The typical unemployment spell lasts roughly seven months (28.4 weeks) for an African-American worker, compared to less than five months (19.2 weeks) for all workers.
· African-Americans are more likely to be unemployed than the overall population across all levels of educational attainment: without a high school diploma was 21.7% vs. 15.0%and with a bachelor’s degree 6.6% vs. 3.3%.
· Since 2007, African-American median household income has declined by 10.1%, the largest decline of all major racial and ethnic groups.
· In 2010, the poverty rate among African-Americans was 27.4%, up from 24.5% at the start of the 2007-2009 recessions.
· 10.7 million African-Americans lived in poverty in 2010, including 4.4 million children, and the poverty rate among African-Americans living in families headed by women was 41.0% in 2010 and 39.1% of African-American children less than 18 years old live in poverty.
Despite these discouraging economic facts and trends regarding the African-American population in America, they continue to support the Democratic Party almost exclusively as a minority voting bloc, voting 95% for Barack Obama in 2008 and supporting Democrat candidates by almost 90% in the 2010 elections. The Hispanic voting bloc’s support for the Democrat Party continues to rise, with 67% of Hispanics voting for Barack Obama in 2008 and 60% supporting Democrats in the 2010 midterm elections. Here are some important government statistics indicating where the Hispanic population currently stands economically and socially in America today:
· Hispanic unemployment is 10.3%.
· Hispanic youth unemployment is 46.5%, well above the black youth rate of 38.9%.
· Hispanic poverty rate is now 26.7%, close to the rate of 27.5% among blacks.
Unfortunately, this economic data indicates that Hispanic-Americans are on virtually the same social and economic path as African-Americans today. Given the above dismal economic and social data for both African- and Hispanic-Americans, the question remains: why would the two largest minority voting blocs in America continue to overwhelmingly support the Democrat Party today, especially when research and studies show that personal and familial economic status is the single largest contributing factor to personal and familial quality of life? Diversion is a highly successful political strategy used by the Democrat Party to continue to receive the majority of African-American support, and it’s the exact same strategy Democrats are using to attract and grow the support of Hispanics. The Democrat Party uses civil rights issues and racism as a diversion to keep African-Americans from looking objectively at the truth of their poor and declining social and economic conditions. With Hispanics, the Democrat Party uses immigration rights, under the guise of civil rights and racism, as a diversion to keep Hispanics from objectively assessing the truth of their poor social and economic status. With regard to the Democrat Party continuing to use civil rights and race issues as a diversion for their political benefit, it’s important for all minorities to understand the following facts: civil rights legislation was passed into law almost fifty years ago, and there are federal laws and numerous well-meaning organizations working today to help monitor and protect minorities from discrimination. There are also federal immigration laws and millions of immigrants living in America who have fully complied with those laws to become naturalized United States citizens. However, there are no laws preventing any legal United States citizen, naturalized or born here, from attending public school or college; utilizing all available public infrastructure and services; working hard to improve his economic status; taking risks to build his own business; speaking out to have his voice heard; belonging to any faith or attending the church of his choice; volunteering and donating funds to help his fellow citizens; getting involved as a public servant to better his community; enlisting in the armed forces to defend his freedom; pursuing life, liberty, and happiness; or even becoming president of the United States. The Democrat Party has successfully used the diversion strategy for its political benefit for many decades, but the facts suggest that this success has been at the expense of Democrats’ most ardent supporters – minorities.
(“Hard Truths for Hispanic and African-American Voters” by Keith Edwards dated September 15, 2012 published by American Thinker at http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/09/hard_truths_for_hispanic_and_af rican-american_voters.html )

Barack Obama’s 2009 speech in Cairo marks the beginning of the administration’s “utterly naïve” foreign policy. The Obama administration’s Middle East policy is collapsing right in front of us. He got behind the Arab Spring and dumped over some dictators and autocrats and other people, some of whom were friendly to us, others who were not. Thereby, they’ve unleashed these new forces, and not all of them are benign. Some of them are noxious.” There’s Islamic fundamentalism, there’s tribalism, and there’s ethno-nationalism. All of these forces are on the move across the Middle East. President Obama’s position is exposed as utterly naïve. They detest and hate the United States. They hate our culture. They hate our policy. They have historic grievances, and they are as anti-American as they can be. What is exploding now has been building up for years and years. There’s a real incompatibility between American culture and the culture of the fundamentalist and the Islamic world. There’s an Islamic revolution underway, a great religious awakening taking place among the poor and the working class and the one thing they have is the Islamic faith, and they’re very militant about it and look at the enemy as the great Satan, and the Americans and the others with their cultural intrusions.
(“Unrest is Obama’s ‘naïve’ Middle East policy ‘collapsing right in front of us’” by Jeff Poor dated September 16, 2012 published by The Daily Caller at http://dailycaller.com/2012/09/15/buchanan-unrest-is-obamas-naive-midd le-east-policy-collapsing-right-in-front-of-us/ )

* There is so much published each week that unless you search for it, you will miss important breaking news. I try to package the best of this information into my “Views on the News” each Saturday morning. Updates have been made this week to the following issue sections:
· Language at http://www.returntocommonsensesite.com/intro/changinglanguage.php
· Homeland Security at http://www.returntocommonsensesite.com/dp/homelandsecurity.php
· Terrorism at http://www.returntocommonsensesite.com/fp/terrorism.php

David Coughlin
Hawthorne, NY
www.ReturnToCommonSensesite.com

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Musings on the week ending 9/15/2012

Leadership – “Leadership is about taking responsibility, not making excuses.” Mitt Romney.
Politics – Now is the time for the Republicans to unleash their marketing effort to demonstrate Obama’s failed promises and policies, and details on what Romney will do differently.
Politics – I see an uncanny parallel to President Jimmy Carter in 1980: disastrous economy, rising energy prices, Middle East mismanagement, and an unrealistic Presidential self-image.
Politics – The Communist Party USA endorsed Barack Obama for President with talking points that highlight the “accomplishments” establishing a socialist workers’ state in America.
Politics – The degree that racism is embraced by mainline Democrat politicians as a political tactic is a national embarrassment and proof that divisiveness is the party’s key to success.
Politics – Obama has asked for four more years to complete his transformation of America into a European socialist state with his SSDD (same “stuff,” different day) policies.
Politics – Historically over the last 32 years, the Democrat party is the party of professional lawyers, with 14 of 18 nominations for President or VP going to members of the bar.
Media – Recent Gallup poll reported that the MSM is paying a high price for its bias and lack of balance, scoring only a 21% confidence level in television or newspaper news objectivity.
Media – The biggest impact of Dinesh D’Souza’s documentary, 2016: Obama’s America is confirmation that TV and print media have failed to perform their political due diligence.
Media – Ignore all the Election Polls until at least mid-October when polling companies finally begin reflecting reality to protect their credibility based on the final election poll numbers.
Media – The faux polls indicating Obama’s supposed lead in the Presidential election is not only inaccurate, but the catalyst to energize the silent majority to make sure to vote him out!
Media – Newspapers continue to hemorrhage readers with only political ads in the 2012 election to save them, but I expect many newspapers will disappear after the next election.
Politics – I expect that the 2012 Presidential election will be the most racist campaign, with baseless accusations used to distract voter attention from Obama’s record of failure.
Economy – “Government is taking 40% of the GDP. And that’s at the state, local and federal level. President Obama has taken government spending at the federal level from 20% to 25%. Look, at some point, you cease being a free economy, and you become a government economy. And we’ve got to stop that.” Mitt Romney.
Economic Recovery – Obama’s economic policies have made this “recovery” (or lack thereof) the worst and longest since the end of World War II (and the Great Depression).

Debt – Bernanke’s decision to print more money (QE3) after the first two attempts (QE 1 & 2) had minimal impact on the economy is a crass election ploy to prop up the President.
Debt – Moody’s Investors Service expects to join Standard & Poor’s by lowering the US credit rating, if budget negotiations don’t lead to stabilization and lower in debt to GDP ratio.
TARP – Nearly two years after the introduction of the path-breaking plug-in hybrid, General Motors is still losing as much as $49,000 on each Volt it builds, and can’t sell the ones it builds.
Jobs – Obama caused a massive exodus from the workforce with the Labor Force Participation Rate declining by 2.3%, or 5.6 million Americans giving up the hope of a job.
Environment – Democrats are trying to resuscitate the politically defeated, publicly unpopular, economically damaging carbon tax proposal with no measureable benefits.
Election – Democrats assert “voter fraud does not exist,” but now must explain how Wendy Rosen, Democrat for Congress, voted both in Maryland and Florida in 2006 and 2008.
Homeland Security – An electro-magnetic pulse (EMP) event could make living in the U.S. unsustainable for 70% to 90% of the population, but this is not considered a serious threat.
Religion – When Muslims hear of Mohammed being blasphemed, they kill non-Muslims, but if Christians are offended by Jesus on a crucifix in urine, we are told it is OK, just an art object.
Sex – Liberals are blurring sexual roles and relationships, starting with same-sex marriage, then incest and pedophilia, and finally multiple partners and bestiality – progress or putrification?
Crime – Democrats talk a good game of class warfare, but not a single Wall Street fat cat has been charged with violations of securities laws in connection to the 2008 collapse.
Debt – I expect that the country’s credit rating will again be downgraded after Congress debt ceiling discussions again fail to find sufficient spending cuts to halt deficit spending.
Deficit – I expect one or more states to declare bankruptcy by 2012 and seek assistance to recover from the bad economic decisions of the past under federal judicial protection.
Housing – I expect that it will take four or more years at the current rate for the backlog of foreclosures to finally clear, before we see any signs of life of a robust housing recovery.
America – “The American people are the greatest people in the world. What makes America the greatest nation in the world is the heart of the American people: hardworking, innovative, risk-taking, God- loving, family-oriented American people.” Mitt Romney.
Defense – President Obama, whose most important role is national security, attended less than half of his Presidential Daily Briefings, leaving him dangerously uninformed.
GWOT – Islam wages war in two ways: invasion and infiltration, and their defeat at the Battle of Tours in 732 caused a transition to invasion by immigration to assimilate Europe.
GWOT – Our President wants to declare victory and move on, but Islamic fascists continue their war on the Great Satan until they accomplish their goal of a new expanded caliphate.
Israel – I expect that Israel will be attacked by Hamas again in 2012 and the IDF will retaliate by invading and then annexing Gaza based on the concept of defensible borders.
Israel – I expect that Israel will suffer a nuclear attack from Islamist extremists by 2012, and Obama will stand aside and not help defend this longtime ally.
Asia – I expect that North Korea will attack South Korea and attempt to reunite Korea by the 2012, and Obama will be an unwitting accomplice as he abandons this ally in a time of war.

David Coughlin
Hawthorne, NY
www.ReturnToCommonSensesite.com

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Views on the News – 9/15/2012

Now that both conventions are over, the dimensions of the likely Romney triumph are becoming clear as Obama can’t hide from his record. Both through an analysis of the polling and an examination of the rhetoric, the parameters of the victory are emerging. Start with the polling. It appears that the bulk of the Obama post-convention bounce has been in blue states where his left-oriented convention stirred up the enthusiasm of an already committed group of voters. All pollsters are using 2008 models of voter turnout. The lack of enthusiasm among Obama’s base for his candidacy and their doubts about the economy make this turnout less likely. This election enthusiasm measures suggest that Republican and GOP-leaning independents are 13 points more enthusiastic and following the race more closely than their Democratic counterparts, which should yield a stronger Romney vote. The state of the partisan dialogue shows that only 33% of the voters believe that they are better off than they were four years ago, while close to half do not see the world that way. Gallup measured these two options and voters chose “leave me alone” over “lend me a hand” by 54% to 35%. Over the long haul, these are the questions that will dominate voting intentions. Since both parties are willing to trust its fate to the question of “Are you better off?” means that the Romney message will have a very strong advantage and will probably mark Obama’s demise in this election.
(“Why Mitt Will Win” by Dick Morris dated September 13, 2012 published by The Hill at http://thehill.com/opinion/columnists/dick-morris/248843-why-mitt-will -win )

Barack Obama is very dangerous, the apotheosis of an insidious strain of authoritarianism that destroys freedom from within, and unless stopped he may destroy this country for all future generations. Obama’s Chicago contingent hit upon the ultimate quick-acting fraud – capture the White House by electing an illusion. They conjured up an imaginary Obama invested with virtues never before or since found in the original. The make-believe Obama then starred in an electoral fairy tale scripted by the media and proclaimed a hit by bewitched voters. Thus did it come to pass in the year 2008 that Americans were duped into electing a President quite different from the illusion for which they voted. The real Obama is a steely-eyed autocrat, dedicated to expanding power at the expense of our liberty, still a bit of a Marxist, alternately hostile to or agnostic about capitalism, and intent on transforming America into a government-controlled society composed of obedient automatons. Centuries of American law and civilization will be turned upside down. The sacred will be defiled, the repugnant exalted, the Constitution inverted. Instead of protecting us, it will be used to exploit and enslave us. Our rights to speech, religion, property and privacy will be transformed. They’ll become Obama’s rights to take our property, tell us what to say, how and whether we may exercise our religion, what medical care we may receive and how long we are permitted to live. The Democrat Party spent decades forcing government’s tentacles deep into every nook and cranny of our existence, and all Obama needs to do now is wind the coils tighter. Obama is already bombarding America with deadly deficits, exploding debts and debilitating regulations. The economy is badly wounded. Millions of jobs have been obliterated. There is “Obama money” and make-work for those who collaborate – but hard times for everyone else. That’s the way Obama’s “protection racket” works. He has cruelly targeted the old and sick, threatening them with the emotional and medical horrors of ObamaCare. He has stolen the future from the young who already face a lifetime of high unemployment, high taxes and slow growth, and they will stare in horror, if Obama is re-elected, he will trample underfoot the last vestiges of the American Dream.
(“Obama Is An Autocrat, Not a Democrat” by Ernest S. Christian dated September 11, 2012 published by Investor’s Business Daily at http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials-perspective/091112-625403-oba ma-is-autocrat-not-democrat.htm )

A recent The Hill poll, 54% of likely voters believe President Obama does not deserve another term based on his economic record. With rising gas prices once again punishing working Americans and with fear in the air over unemployment, there is a very good chance that Obama will join Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush as a one-term President. If Obama goes down, so does the liberal movement in America, which has made great strides over the past three and a half years. Consider his Presidential legacy:
· You are racist if you oppose Obama’s liberal political viewpoint;
· The national debt has increased more than $5 trillion in less than four years;
· Successful Americans and prosperous small-business owners are accused of not paying their “fair share” in taxes;
· Nearly half of American households are now receiving government benefits, but if you want to control entitlements, you are anti-poor;
· Almost 50 million folks are receiving food stamps, and a record amount of workers are filing for disability payments;
· Anyone who opposes abortion can be categorized as biased against women;
· Sandra Fluke wants you to pay for female birth control, and also want you to pay for “transgender medical needs;” and
· “Medical marijuana” is openly sold in many cities to people with no maladies whatsoever.
This is liberal nirvana: a big-spending central government dispensing “social justice” and calling many shots in the free marketplace. The economy is moribund, with banks refusing to lend capital for expansion because they fear business failure. Our currency is tottering because the USA has to borrow billions of dollars every day in order to service debt. I believe most Americans are uneasy with the liberal direction even if they are not fully convinced it is at stage three. The USA is on the verge of becoming a combination of Greece and Sweden, where almost anything goes and fiscal responsibility is a joke. If the President wins reelection, this country will continue to undergo a radical social and economic upheaval, but if Obama loses, the liberal movement in America will be dealt a crushing blow.
(“Left Behind” by Bill O’Reilly dated September 8, 2012 published by Town Hall at http://townhall.com/columnists/billoreilly/2012/09/08/left_behind )

Fool me once, shame on you; Fool me twice, shame on me so now we know that Obama cannot be trusted, continuing to trust him is not just naiveté, but delusional. Consider Obama’s usual snake oil that was on display in his convention acceptance speech. No single speech was more filled with demagoguery, division, and deception than the concoction of lies uttered by President Obama. It was truly a masterful act of deception. His 2012 acceptance speech was full of the last three years of math trickery and unfulfilled promises. It is instructive to go back to Obama’s equally vaporous and vacuous promises during his 2008 acceptance speech because he repeated many of them. The financial crisis that occurred in 2008 was the oft-predicted failure of Congress’s housing policies going back to FDR’s era when Fannie Mae and later Freddie Mac were created with the promise that everyone could own a home, but not then, nor now was that ever possible except for the pressures on banks to make bad loans they knew could not be paid. They then sold them to the two government-sponsored agencies who, at the time of the collapse, owned 50% of all home mortgages! The federal government was forced to seize control of both and to pump more money into both. In 2008 he said, “Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working for less.” During the last four years, unemployment has climbed to historic heights with an estimated 23 million Americans worse off than they were when he took office. Obama’s “path” has been 43 months of unemployment at over 8%, but for blacks, Hispanics and the nation’s youth, it is far higher. The 2008 acceptance speech was replete with goals such as achieving in ten years an end to our dependence on oil from the Middle East. That was perhaps the most deceitful promise in the light of the way his administration arbitrarily shut down drilling in the Gulf a Mexico after the BP accident and has thwarted all oil exploration and drilling on federally owned lands and offshore where our nation’s coasts hold billion of barrels of untapped oil and billions of cubic feet of natural gas. Instead, the Obama administration pursued “investments” in the least productive sources of electricity, solar and wind, squandering billions as one solar company after another went bankrupt leaving the taxpayers to pick up the tab. The Obama administration has openly waged a war on coal mining and coal-fired power generation. To promise that cars will go twice as far on a single gallon of gas is to defy the laws of physics. For all his talk about jobs, this President thwarted the building of the Keystone XL pipeline that would have created an estimated 20,000 jobs and who admitted that there were far fewer “shovel ready” jobs than he thought. In the process, billions in so-called stimulus money were wasted. Meanwhile Obama choose to “lead from behind” in Libya to affect the overthrow of Gaddafi. As for the end of the war in Iraq, the withdrawal of troops had been negotiated by the Bush administration before Obama took office. With the exception of the assassination of Osama bin Laden, the Taliban are still active in Afghanistan and will reclaim that nation when NATO forces leave. Obama’s approach to Iran has been an embarrassment and a threat to Israel, the Middle East and the West because he has shown no resolve beyond useless UN “sanctions.” To suggest that taxing a few millionaires will cure the budget deficit is a lie as America borrows more and pays more interest on an hourly basis while the national debt has reached $16 trillion; more than the value of all the goods and services this nation created and provided this year. The U.S. is broke and living off its credit card. In one issue after another, in 2008 Obama skated by them with the oily rhetoric of a snake oil salesman and in 2012 he did the same, essentially offering the same failed policies, often using the same words. He promised a lot of change, along with a lot of hope. The only hope left for most Americans is that the November 6th elections will remove him from office and ensure that both the Senate and House empower Congress to begin the work of real recovery from his failed policies, programs, and promises. He fooled a lot of voters in 2008, aided in no small degree by a worshipful mainstream media, but in 2012, Americans must not be fooled again!
(“No, Don’t Fool America Twice” by Alan Caruba dated September 7, 2012 published by Canada Free Press at http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/49351 )

Back in 2008, during the peak illusory powers of Barack Obama as the post-partisan hopester-and-changer, the media consistently failed to report that the statist beliefs of the Democratic presidential nominee came straight from the socialist playbook. At the same time, though, there was, and is, a feeling that such labeling is taboo. Even after an October surprise of a question from “Joe the Plumber” prompted Candidate Obama to reveal his inner redistributionist, the S-word was verboten. The state is more involved in our economy and lives than ever before, and not just because of ObamaCare, which is a handy moniker for socialized medicine. To be fair, the socialist direction is in no way a new direction for our country, which has, with only occasional pauses, been moving that way since the days of Franklin Roosevelt and his revolutionary socialist program, the New Deal. Even under Ronald Reagan, the federal government grew 3%. Obama’s immediate predecessor, George W. Bush, is aptly described as a “corporate socialist Republican.” Bush’s saving grace for conservatives may be his signature tax cuts, but his political epitaph remains his socialistically twisted rationale for his “stimulus” plan known as TARP. Truth be told, for 80 years the debate in Washington between Democrats and Republicans has turned on how much government should run our lives, not whether government should run our lives in the first place. Lately, that seems to be changing. Democrats believe: “The government is the only thing we all belong to.” Republicans believe: “We don’t belong to the government, the government belongs to us.” For two campaigns that try to avoid the terminology of ideology and philosophy, it doesn’t get any clearer, any more “polarizing,” than this. It divides the two political camps according to their distinguishing ideals: the idealization of state power (Democrats) vs. the idealization of individual rights (Republicans). For Democrats in the 21st century, the answer to everything is the state. The contrast to the Republican message couldn’t be starker. In his “empty chair” monologue, Clint Eastwood put it this way: “We own this country. We own it. Politicians are employees of ours.” Soon, Americans will choose the country’s political fate, which, particularly this time around, is also our own role in the future: subjects or citizens, and the choice couldn’t be clearer.
(“A Vote for Romney is a Vote Against Socialism” by Diana West dated September 7, 2012 published by Town Hall at http://townhall.com/columnists/dianawest/2012/09/07/a_vote_for_romney_ is_a_vote_against_socialism)

There is a new Chicago school of economic and social policy Choom Gang Economic Theory (“CGET” pronounced “See-Get Economics”) that has a heavy reliance on entitlements, a notable lack of emphasis on work, and that rewards stoners. CGET’s apparent goal is to extend adolescence indefinitely, and then mire it in vice. It completes the link between Summer of Love irresponsibility and modern liberal economic theory. Consider the following Obama/Democrat Party initiatives and achievements:
· Ninety-nine weeks of unemployment insurance now provide a cushion, not a safety net.
· A waiver of the work requirements for both cash welfare and food stamps, which waiver further removes the incentive to work.
· Forty-six point seven million Americans are now on food stamps.
· ObamaCare’s slacker mandate requires that parent insurance policies cover health care for extended adolescents up to 26 years of age.
· With the need to work eliminated, food provided, and insurance covered, one certainly can’t be expected to pay birth control.
· There is a growing Democrat movement to legalize marijuana across the land.
CGET has made waste its signature characteristic — waste of both economic resources and human dignity. Consider that our unemployment surged after the February 2009 Obama stimulus, then returned to its very same February 2009 levels — in other words, the non-stimulus was an $800-billion waste. Likewise, after the President dove into the offshore energy business, 19,000 jobs were eliminated and $1.9 billion of economic damage inflicted. As well, his involvement in the renewable energy sector was a spectacular bust, resulting in a waste of $90 billion. CGET is led by President and former pot smoker Barack Obama, a former economist-turned-pop editorialist, and a bevy of opinionated but unqualified Democrat party leaders and sixties retreads. Key tenets of CGET include the abandonment of fortitude, temperance, and hard work. CGET inspires neither industry nor virtue, and it vastly underestimates the potential of young Americans. The Obama-produced “Life of Julia” is depressing. Julia grew up an angry feminist on the dole, but they had hoped for so much more. Since CGET has taken hold, we see strong evidence of sloth, substance abuse, and immodesty — in short, unhappiness. The teen unemployment rate now tops 20%, median weeks unemployed are higher than under any other President, teen alcohol and drug use are at epidemic levels, 41% of nationwide births are to unmarried women, and teen sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise. Obviously, loving and caring parents would never present their adolescents with this litany of temptation — no need to work, food’s on me, insurance and contraception covered, oh and maybe some legal weed — yet the President and his allies are pushing just such an agenda. CGET is dumb, and the fact that this President embraces it confirms recent findings that teen pot use contributes to the breakdown of intelligence later in life, and CGET further lowers the bar.
(“See-Get: Choom Gang Economic Theory” dated September 7, 2012 published by American Thinker at http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/09/see-get_choom_gang_economic_the ory.html )

For the past three and a half years, we have had to endure the nonstop whining of Barack Obama and his surrogates telling us over and over that he inherited the financial mess that required him to add trillions of dollars to the national debt, to run trillion-dollar-plus deficits for each year that he’s been in office, but in reality he helped cause this financial crisis. Now he is telling us that he needs another four years and trillions more in money borrowed from China to complete the clean-up of the mess he inherited… and helped cause. The source of the financial crisis precedes Bush by a number of years, and like many landslides, it starts with a small pebble being dropped that starts the whole thing. In 2007-2008, the major financial institutions of Wall Street found themselves holding hundreds of billions of dollars in so-called derivatives – just what are derivatives? In the case of derivatives, the underlying asset is based on a bundle of mortgages that have been accumulated and collateralized as a unit. Each bundle is assumed to be sound in that there are houses backing up each one as a physical asset, as well as a calculable amount of interest income from each mortgage. During the period preceding the financial meltdown, the rate of growth in new home sales accelerated sharply. It all started with President Carter passing of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) in 1977. The CRA was amended in 1989, and again in 1991, and 1992, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2005, 2007, and finally 2008. While much of the CRA is concerned with technical matters, the key component that impacts the housing bubble of 2003-2007 was the relaxation of lending standards that were in turn the result of accusations of “red-lining” certain neighborhoods, a practice deemed to be de facto racial discrimination. In 1995, Barack Obama was the lead attorney in an anti-discrimination lawsuit filed against Citibank for alleged “red-lining” practices which the plaintiffs claimed denied equal access to mortgage loans for African-Americans. Claims of racial discrimination were frequently aimed at banks in the mid-1990s by community activists who, through judicial actions or by producing demonstrations by irate citizens, embarrassed banks into lowering their lending requirements to the point where, in common parlance, banks began issuing “sub-prime” mortgages. In an effort to both protect the financial integrity of local community banks and provide access to enormous amounts of cash for mortgages, Congress instructed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to purchase such mortgages from the original lender, returning the original lender to his original state of liquidity. Fannie and Freddie then offered institutions such as Lehman Brothers and other major Wall Street firms a chance to “bundle” these mortgages and sell derivative securities, with their value basis predicated on such bundles. What everyone in this chain of perhaps well-intentioned decisions overlooked was the impact on housing prices when more and more money was made available to enter the market in search of fewer and fewer houses. The housing market began to overheat, and the price of both new and existing homes started to climb. The sub-prime market allowed people to borrow large sums for their mortgages with little money down, and that is a key factor in what followed. Borrowers were offered adjustable-rate mortgages (ARM) that charged them far lower interest rates for the first few years of their mortgage, to ease their ability to secure the loan in the first place by lowering their monthly payment to be more in line with their actual income. As the rate on ARMs was pushed upward, the mortgage payments for many borrowers rose to a level that they could barely support. Making matters even worse, property taxes for states, counties, municipalities, school districts, and so on were all being adjusted upward to cash in on the (apparently) endless increases in home values that all that cheap mortgage money was causing. Those taxes were added to the already higher basic mortgage payments, and they made the homeowner stretch his or her paycheck even further to cover all these costs. In late 2006-early 2007, prices started to tumble. Homeowners began to find themselves “underwater,” owing more on their mortgages than they could generate from the sale of the property at prevailing market prices. Those who found themselves in this situation faced a binary choice: they could continue to pay the post-adjustment interest rate on their ARM as well as the inflated property taxes that climbed along with rising housing prices or, if they had little or no money invested in their down payment, they could simply walk away and let the bank repossess the property. Since the foreclosed properties often had market values below the mortgage value, the mortgage itself was not actually “worth” its face value. Therefore, the worth of all sub-prime mortgages became suspect, and the value of derivatives based on bundles of those mortgages became questionable. So whom can Obama blame? Some of the most destructive avalanches have begun with the a tiny pebble that unsettles the slope of a mountain, and Obama dropped such a pebble in 1995 when he sued Citibank in Chicago that precipitated the financial mess that he complains about, but actually he helped cause.
(“So Obama Inherited a Mess, Did He? From Whom?” by Jim Yardley dated September 9, 2012 published by American Thinker at http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/09/so_obama_inherited_a_mess_did_h e_from_whom.html )

September 11 is a broken moment in American history, with no closure for it – a loose end dangling in the sky having never accurately and consistently identified the real enemy. What the left never seems to understand is that war doesn’t have to be mutual. No matter what you do or what defeatist foreign policy you adopt, the enemy still gets a vote. The enemies of this country have voted with their bombs and bodies. The left resists calling it a “war,” describing the murder of 3,000 people as a criminal matter. We are at war with the unnamable and when you war with what cannot be named, then you are at war with yourself – your own fears and doubts, your own neighbors and co-workers, and above all else your own country. Every nameless war is a civil war and everyone fights in it without even knowing it. It is a war that can never end because it never really began. It officially does not exist and unofficially cannot be won. We know exactly what we dare not name and that is why we dare not name it for fear that naming it will give it life. “We will never be at war with Islam,” Obama insists, but who is this message really for? We assume that Muslims think like us and they assume that we think like them. We assume that they are not at war with us, because we are not at war with them. They assume that we are at war with them because they are at war with us. Each side projects its assumptions on the other and then reacts to what it would do in the other’s place. “We took the fight to al Qaeda, decimated their leadership, and put them on a path to defeat,” Obama boasted in his address. Al Qaeda is an alignment of Jihadist fighters that can spring up anywhere. Taking out its senior leadership, as the United States has been doing for a decade, is useful, but there is no defeating Al Qaeda without addressing its Islamic goals and alliances. Al Qaeda is not a nation or an isolated movement. Speaking of defeating it is as ridiculous as if the Soviet Union had focused on defeating the Kiwanis or the Elks. Al Qaeda is what happens when enough fighters come together and begin calling themselves Al Qaeda. They could just as easily call themselves something else and do, and when they begin calling themselves something else, as they do in Libya or Nigeria, we begin pretending that they aren’t Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda is not the only enemy; it is one of many groups that declared war on the United States and seeks to establish an Islamic caliphate ruling the entire world and will not stop until that vision is realized.
(“The Still Unnamed Enemy” by Daniel Greenfield dated September 11, 2012 published by Front Page Magazine at http://frontpagemag.com/2012/daniel-greenfield/the-still-unnamed-enemy  / )

* There is so much published each week that unless you search for it, you will miss important breaking news. I try to package the best of this information into my “Views on the News” each Saturday morning. Updates have been made this week to the following issue sections:
· Employment at http://www.returntocommonsensesite.com/dp/employment.php
· United Nations at http://www.returntocommonsensesite.com/fp/unitednations.php

David Coughlin
Hawthorne, NY
www.ReturnToCommonSensesite.com

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Musings on the week ending 9/8/2012

Government – “Folks, this government isn’t too big to fail, it’s too big to succeed.” Sarah Palin.
Politics – Voter Question: “How did that vote for Obama work out for you? Are you better off today than when Barack Obama was elected? Is he making the economy better or worse?
November 2008 August 2012 Change
Federal Spending $2.75T $3.63T +$.88T
National Debt $9.99T $16.01T +$6.02T
Food Stamp Participation (000) 31,800 46,700 +14,900
Labor Force Participation Rate 65.8% 63.5% -2.3%
Employed (000) 144,078 142,101 -1,977
Employment Population Ratio 61.4% 58.3% -3.1%
Unemployed (000) 10,544 12,544 +2,000
Average Weeks Unemployed 18.9 39.2 +20.3
Unemployed – 27+ wks (000) 2,216 5,033 +2,817
Unemployment Rate (U3) 6.8% 8.1% +1.3%
Underemployment Rate (U6) 12.7% 14.7% +2.0%
Average Price/Gallon Gas $2.21 $3.50 +$1.29
Inflation Rate .09% 1.41% +1.32%
Misery Index 6.9 9.5 +2.6
Global Competitiveness Index 1 7 -6
Economic Freedom Ranking 5 10 -5

Politics – Voter Caution: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me! Once a mistake; Twice a fool!
Media – The hit movie “2016” by Dinesh D’Souza revealed more in an hour and a half about Obama’s past and his thinking, than the MSM found in four years as President.
Politics – By mutual agreement Obama is only campaigning and fund-raising for himself, since most Democrats are distancing themselves from him on the campaign trail.
Language – Political correctness is patronizing and condescending as it attacks any critical thinking and logic that does not parrot and conform with the liberal groupthink.
Politics – How can anyone with any common sense vote for the Democrat Presidential ticket with Vice President Joe Biden a breath away from being the President of the United States?
Politics – Diehard “Red-Lipped” Democrats supporters must have permanently stained lips from repeatedly drinking the party-line Kool-aid and never once questioning his leftist ideas.
Politics – Obama and his leftist fellow-travelers, disciples of Saul Alinsky, have brought the Marxist strategy of politics of personal destruction and demagoguery into the mainstream.
Politics – Obama is unable to see reality as he convinced himself that he is bipartisan despite his repeated attacks on Republicans and refusal to accept any Congressional input.
Politics – Democrats are losing their own “War on Women” as women see through the blatant pandering to reveal the only value progressives perceive is their guaranteed vote.
Media – Polls are grossly inaccurate missing the enthusiasm disparity, with independents too buzy or too frustrated to answer pollsters, thus under-reporting Romney support by over 10%.
Media – Newspapers continue to hemorrhage readers with only political ads in the 2012 election to save them, but I expect many newspapers will disappear after the next election.
Politics – I expect that the 2012 Presidential election will be the most racist campaign, with baseless accusations used to distract voter attention from Obama’s record of failure.
Economy – “To paraphrase Hemingway, people go broke slowly and then all at once. We’ve been slowly going broke for years, but now it’s happening all at once as the world’s capital markets are demanding action from us, yet Obama assumes we’ll just go borrow another cup of sugar from some increasingly impatient neighbor. We cannot knock on anyone’s door anymore. And we don’t have any time to wait for Washington to start behaving responsibly. We’ll be Greece before these D.C. politicians’ false promises are over. We must force government to live within its means, just as every business and household does.” Sarah Palin.
Economy – The damaged economy that Obama inherited was caused by policies designed to expand the social engineering goal of home ownership with government guarantees.
Economy – The Obama administration is covering up its ineptitude by claiming this is a “new normal” of high unemployment and spending, increased dependence and slow growth.
Jobs – Next month will mark the 44th straight month of unemployment over 8% for our 44th President, Barack Obama and the worst recovery record since the Great Depression.
TARP – Obama bailed out General Motors, but he will lose over $30 billion on his investment, punish shareholders, bailout the union pensions, and only delay the GM bankruptcy date.
Entitlements – The federal government devotes more attention and resources to the public transfer of money, goods and services to individual citizens than to any other objective.
Abortion – The Democrat Convention platform has changed from abortion should be “safe, legal, and rare” to any time, any reason, and paid for by you federal government.
Poverty – The breakdown of marriage in low-income and working-class communities drive vast majority of unwed childbearing in the U.S. and has the biggest impact on child poverty.
Civil Rights – African-Americans overwhelmingly voted for Obama in 2008 because he was perceived to be black, which defines this voting block as being stereotypically racist.
Regulations – The Constitution required 16 pages, while the convoluted tax code requires 73,608 pages and the federal register needs 82,419 pages for cronies and protected classes.
Debt – The real fiscal cliff that this nation faces is hiding in plain sight, since the economy will be totally upended once interest rates return to normal ranges and debt interest skyrockets.
Debt – I expect that the country’s credit rating will again be downgraded after Congress debt ceiling discussions again fail to find sufficient spending cuts to halt deficit spending.
Deficit – I expect one or more states to declare bankruptcy by 2012 and seek assistance to recover from the bad economic decisions of the past under federal judicial protection.
Housing – I expect that it will take four or more years at the current rate for the backlog of foreclosures to finally clear, before we see any signs of life of a robust housing recovery.
National Security – “He (Barack Obama) can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting, and never use the word ‘victory’ except when he’s talking about his own campaign.” Sarah Palin.
Israel – A Gallup poll showed that 78% of Republicans supported Israel over the Palestinians, whereas only 53% of Democrats agreed, which explains the Democrat platform debacle.
Israel – I expect that Israel will be attacked by Hamas again in 2012 and the IDF will retaliate by invading and then annexing Gaza based on the concept of defensible borders.
Israel – I expect that Israel will suffer a nuclear attack from Islamist extremists by 2012, and Obama will stand aside and not help defend this longtime ally.
Asia – I expect that North Korea will attack South Korea and attempt to reunite Korea by the 2012, and Obama will be an unwitting accomplice as he abandons this ally in a time of war.

David Coughlin
Hawthorne, NY
www.ReturnToCommonSensesite.comShare on Facebook

Views on the News – 9/8/2012

Barack Obama will be a one-term President, and in the end it will not even be close. Obama and the Democrats are launching the final stretch of the 2012 campaign and will be trying to sell a fanciful story of the Obama record that American voters will not buy. It’s the economy, stupid. That rallying cry, first given voice by campaign manager James Carville to campaign workers for Democrat Bill Clinton in 1992 to keep them focused in the race against incumbent President George H.W. Bush, is today the rightful rallying cry for Republican nominee Mitt Romney against Obama. To be sure, Obama inherited a horrible economic mess in January 2009: the housing market had collapsed; major financial institutions were failing, not to mention the auto industry; unemployment and underemployment had skyrocketed; and consumer confidence had plummeted. A few experts warned that further collapse would result in a full-blown depression. So what did the new President do?
· He let Congressional Democrats write a pork-laden $800 billion economic stimulus plan that did a lot to stimulate Big Government across the land but did almost nothing to stimulate the private sector where jobs and economic growth are created.
· He focused his own attention on pushing through a massive overhaul of the health care system, signed into law in March 2010, that will not improve the delivery of health care for sick people, and will still not make health insurance accessible to all who need it, but will make the national health care system even costlier than it is today.
· His spending exploded the federal budget deficit, already at record levels when Obama took office, projected to double and triple into a financial black hole.
It was the economy, stupid, and Obama blew it. Americans want to be inspired to vote for a candidate for President, not frightened into voting against a candidate and in 2012, the inspiration for hope and change does not come from Barack Obama.
(“Selling a story voters won’t buy” dated September 1, 2012 published by San Diego Union-Tribune at http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/sep/01/selling-a-story-voters-wont -buy/ )

Romney employed the soft-touch about Obama’s miserable term in office, lest he offend some of the President’s 2008 voters and independents who are undecided this go-round, but Americans are made of sterner stuff. Establishment Republicans are hung up on the President’s presumed “likeability” among voters, as if the nation were conducting an election for high school class president. Voters may like Obama, but they are quite willing to fire him for cause. Jimmy Carter wasn’t disliked by voters back in 1980; they didn’t think he was up to the job. Ronald Reagan gave voters good reasons, practical and philosophical, to vote for him and against Carter. President Reagan created a substantial mandate for change. The establishment GOP has decided that if Romney provides meaty contrasts with the President and indicts him as not merely a well-meaning incompetent, but a hard-edged ideologue whose errant ideology in large part drives his policy failures, then those independents may take umbrage. What Obama gave voters in 2008 was blarney, Chicago-style, because he campaigned from the center and has governed on the left, the programmatic left. Romney has an obligation to voters to inform them of such. He needs to educate voters that it’s Obama’s worldview and ideas that undergird nearly four years of a torpid economy; that foisted ObamaCare on an unwilling electorate at the price of not reviving the economy; and that has retarded conventional energy development in favor of pie-in-the-sky green energy and to meet the expectations of the primitivist elements among his leftist cohort. Dissecting and indicting the President’s leftist policies would give a President Romney more heft in scuttling much of the left-wing structure that Obama and his minions have erected through a long forty-eight months. The aim for Romney is to go deeper; he needs to raze the left’s foundations in government as best possible. At least a President Romney needs to initiate the process of profound reform, start the ball rolling toward an historic shift away from the liberal era that has dominated the nation since the 1930s. No one’s suggesting that Romney run a one-dimensional campaign; just banging the drum on Obama’s leftism wouldn’t appeal to all voters and most certainly wouldn’t paint the entire picture for voters. But without going after Obama’s liberalism artfully, a critical element will be missing from the picture Romney is creating for voters. Conservative super-PACs and Romney surrogates can go bare-knuckles with the President and his Democrats, over ideology and a range of other things. Obama will hit the campaign trail pounding away at that cruel Mitt Romney, over and over again, knowing that where a lie can’t prevail at first, numbing repetition might just do the trick. Democrats get the value of repetition even in the teeth of initial skepticism. Mitt Romney could lose this election if he doesn’t employ a full complement of tactics and arguments against retaining Obama. Romney needs to drag President Obama onto ground favorable to his candidacy. Americans are instinctively a conservative people. Obama’s liberalism is a liability, not an advantage, unless Romney must frame him as such, so this November, Mitt Romney can finally bury President Obama’s liberalism, not ignore it.
(“Romney Needs to Bury Obama’s Liberalism” by J. Robert Smith dated September 4, 2012 published by American Thinker at http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/09/romney_needs_to_bury_obamas_lib eralism.html)

The MSM’s spinning of the polls is intended to mask the impending Democrat Party loss of the Oval Office and, very likely, the US Senate, as well, in less than seventy days and they are doing everything in their power to hide it from the voters. Most normal folk have already concluded the President is delusional and has a tenuous grasp on reality. The pendulum is swinging from left back to right and that’s a good thing. To be a bit more specific, it was/is Obama’s socialism, his obvious love for Marxism, and his burning desire to “fundamentally transform” this country that has spelled his doom. Here’s the thing: Americans don’t want fundamental change. I think America was willing to give the first black President a chance. The electorate did that in 2008, and many now rue the day. His first two years in office he had control of two branches of the three-branch US government. He blew it by pushing the largest socialist program in the history of the country, socialized medicine aka ObamaCare. In 2010 the electorate deliberately sent a new team of conservatives to Congress with the mission to block, obfuscate, or plainly put, do whatever was necessary to stop Obama and see to it that he could do no more harm to the country until we could get back to the polls in November of 2012 to rid ourselves of the Obama menace to America and to America’s capitalist society. For nearly four years now Americans have had a taste of what a socialist system would look like in America, and if Obama and his fellow socialists had their way, America’s middle class would cease to exist. So, they are turning to Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, the GOP candidates for President and Vice-President, to use their skills at business and economics to stop America’s slow collapse and begin the restoration process so at least SOME of the damage done by Obama can be repaired. It will take many years to right our ship of state and our economy. America is NOT just another country, no matter what the political left says because American exceptionalism is a fact. We Americans ARE different. Most of us hail from families that left Europe generations ago to come to America PRECISELY BECAUSE America was/is different. Opportunity in America was limited only by a man’s ambition and ability. Unfortunately our government is in trouble and it has grown so huge and become so intrusive that IT has now become the primary obstruction in the path to the continued success of individual Americans. Obama’s socialism has no place in America. Obama’s agenda is not to build America up and help her claim the high ground again, but rather to manage America’s decline! “Live free or die” is not just a state motto or a nice sounding slogan. We Americans must reclaim our birthright of freedom in November and get our country restored, set right, and moving upwards again.
(“We’ve Had It With Obama’s Socialism” by J.D. Longstreet by August 31, 2012 published by Canada Free Press at http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/49177 )

The world is constantly changing, and ideas must accordingly be updated, or become anachronisms and a perfect example is the “working class,” a concept that Progressives described a group in a society at a certain stage of industrial development, as in 18th- and 19th-century England and Europe but this construct no longer applies. There were working-class parties, scholars who specialized in studying the working class, politicians who made careers by representing working-class districts, and so forth. However today voters don’t think of themselves as working class, and politicians are unable to update their thinking. They’re easy to recognize, because they write and talk about a world that no longer exists. The easiest places to find them in contemporary America are Hollywood, college campuses, and the Obama administration with its attendant satellites, the dead tree media and the Democrat Party. Their common bond is anger and frustration; frustration because they can’t understand what’s going on, and anger because their remedies for contemporary problems do not come to grips with the essence of the problems. One of the most interesting contemporary developments is that the old liberal establishment is shrinking, both in numbers and in confidence, and their political/ideological opponents are growing. Several smart people have noticed the extraordinary depth of the conservative political team. They have a much clearer vision of the real world, and they accordingly have more realistic political approaches than those on the left, who are trapped in a world that no longer exists. Wisconsin is a perfect example because long considered one of the wackier leftist places in America, it is now the cradle of creative conservatives. The Progressive mission known as the “Wisconsin Idea” is politically and intellectually dead and buried. Wisconsin now votes for Paul Ryan and Scott Walker (and probably Tommy Thompson in a couple of months). If you’re one of those leftists, unable to sort out how the world works nowadays and unable to win an honest debate with your political and intellectual opponents, it makes you very angry, and you lash out at them with a violence that often surprises observers who are less engaged in the political or intellectual wars. The left has died as an intellectual force worth taking seriously. It is reduced to fighting for political power alone, and its weapons are what we recently called “the politics of personal destruction.” It’s the only way they can hope to win. None of us should be surprised when the leftists accuse the righties of pushing old women off of cliffs, or murdering cancer-afflicted employees, or waging war on women, and so forth. They have to destroy their opponents one by one. Once upon a time, the left was able to lay claim to intellectual and moral superiority, and to look at the conservatives with imperious disdain, but not anymore as the Progressive intellectual cupboard is bare.
(“The Death of the Left” by Michael Ledeen dated August 31, 2012 published by PJ Media at http://pjmedia.com/michaelledeen/2012/08/31/the-death-of-the-left/ )

Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney promised “A future where everyone who wants a job can find a job, where no senior fears for the security of their retirement, an America where every parent knows that their child will get an education that leads to a good job and a bright horizon.” He explained that his plan to create 12 million new jobs has five steps:
· “First, by 2020, North America will be energy independent by taking full advantage of our oil and coal and gas and nuclear and renewables.
· Second, we will give our fellow citizens the skills they need for the jobs of today and the careers of tomorrow. When it comes to the school your child will attend, every parent should have a choice, and every child should have a chance.
· Third, we will make trade work for America by forging new trade agreements, and when nations cheat in trade, there will be unmistakable consequences.
· Fourth, to assure every entrepreneur and every job creator that their investments in America will not vanish as have those in Greece, we will cut the deficit and put America on track to a balanced budget.
· Fifth, we will champion small businesses, America’s engine of job growth. That means reducing taxes on business, not raising them; it means simplifying and modernizing the regulations that hurt small business the most; and it means that we must rein in the skyrocketing cost of healthcare by repealing and replacing ObamaCare.”
Romney promised not to raise taxes on the middle class; to protect the sanctity of life and honor the institution of marriage; and he guaranteed America’s first liberty: the freedom of religion. While President Obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans and heal the planet, Romney realistically promises to help the American workers and their families.
(“Romney Proposes ‘Five Step’ Plan” dated August 31, 2012 published by Cybercast News Service at http://cnsnews.com/news/article/romney-proposes-five-step-plan )

This campaign is going to consist of the debate that all Western democratic countries should be engaging in, but which only the United States has the nerve to undertake, and that is can you have free market economics and a democratic socialist welfare system at the same time? The magic redistribution formula in which the wealth produced by the market economy is redistributed by the state from those who produce it to those whom the government believes deserve it, has gone bust. The crash of 2008 exposed a devastating truth that went much deeper than the discovery of a generation of delinquent bankers, or a transitory property bubble. It has become apparent to anyone with a grip on economic reality that free markets simply cannot produce enough wealth to support the sort of universal entitlement programs which the populations of democratic countries have been led to expect. Democratically elected governments can be replaced by puppet austerity regimes which are free to ignore the protests of the populace when they are deprived of their promised entitlements. You can, in other words, decide to debauch the currency which underwrites the market economy, or you can dispense with democracy. Both of these possible solutions are currently being tried in the European Union, whose leaders are reduced to talking sinister gibberish in order to evade the obvious conclusion: the myth of a democratic socialist society funded by capitalism is finished. Romney took the startling step of appointing Congressman Paul Ryan as his running mate, and the earth moved. If Romney was the embodiment of the spirit of a free market, Ryan was its prophet. The message coming out of Tampa was not Tea Party extremism, but just a reassertion of the basic values of American political culture: self-determination, individual aspiration and genuine community, as opposed to belief in the state as the fount of all social virtue. Universal entitlements such as comprehensive Medicare and Social Security are known to be unaffordable in their present form. Ryan suggests a solution for Medicare in the form of a voucher system. Patients could choose from competing health providers, with a ceiling on the cost of procedures and treatments, instead of simply being given blanket no-choice care. Thus, the government would get better value for money, and individuals would have more say in their own treatment. In 2008 many voters of good conscience the need to vote for the first black President, in order to exorcise the nation’s hideous racial history, but having proved that America is no longer a land of bigots, they will not feel it necessary to make that point again. Now that voters will be able to judge Obama as they would any other political leader, the Republican ticket of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan is the only viable option.
(“We should tune in to the Romney and Ryan show” by Janet Daley dated September 1, 2012 published by Telegraph at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/us-politics/9513687/We-shoul d-tune-in-to-the-Romney-and-Ryan-show.html )

The administration’s philosophical approach to defending our national interests, is laid out in a January DOD paper entitled “Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense,” but relies on wishful thinking to accomplish many of its goals. Noting that America must put its “fiscal house” in order, President Obama introduces the paper as America’s solution to a scarcity of resources and growing complexity of challenges. Written with the budget cuts of FY 2013 in mind, the guide lays out a framework for a leaner and more nimble military. The goal, according to the President, is to keep America’s “… Armed Forces the best-trained, best-led, and best-equipped fighting force in history.” The guide to produce a better military for less money is based on these underlying premises:
· The U.S. military will no longer be sized to conduct large-scale, prolonged stability operations – This “adaptable” military will in essence expand the United States’ stabilizing presence by moving smaller and lighter forces from place to place, enabling its allies to better combat these hostile entities;
· Governments rely on American money and equipment as well as training missions as the centerpiece of long-term security – When budget cuts enter the picture, failures in the very forces that allow America to maintain an indirect “stabilizing” presence could result in doubts about America’s commitment to the region;
· The administration’s actions regarding America’s nuclear arsenal emphasize reductions rather than maintaining a strong deterrent – one U.S. goal is to lessen the pressure on America’s conventional armed forces and deter aggression, modernization and minimal cuts to the arsenal would make more sense;
· Europe can be, if not equal to America’s military might, a valuable partner in America’s quest to maintain stability in the world – In light of Europe’s continuing and growing economic difficulties, such assessment would seem an overstatement;
· Pentagon plans to increase America’s presence in the Pacific would indicate that America is taking potential adversaries such as China seriously – However, Defense Secretary Panetta has said defense cuts increase the risk of fielding a smaller force; and
· The DoD will protect its ability to “regenerate capabilities” that might be needed to meet future, unforeseen demands, maintaining intellectual capital and rank structure that could be called upon to expand key elements of the force – The defense industrial base, including factory lines, skilled workers, and strategic metals and minerals; a ready supply of soldiers in an all-volunteer force; a cadre of seasoned officers; and basing rights, prepositioning, and alliances will be difficult to “regenerate” in an emergency.
The impression left by the defense guidance is that the administration believes that it can provide a credible defense at home and abroad while spending less, failing to modernize the nuclear arsenal, and reducing our international footprint. It outsources a variety of foreign responsibilities to overburdened, less capable, or disinterested allies. The administration’s philosophical approach to defending our national interests does not seem to start with the national requirement priorities, but rather with wishful thinking what can be done with this new reduced budget reality.
(“Upcoming U.S. Defense Strategy: Weakness, Trembling, and Passing the Buck” by Kalen Taylor dated September 2, 2012 published by American Thinker at http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/09/upcoming_us_defense_strategy_we akness_trembling_and_passing_the_buck.html )

* There is so much published each week that unless you search for it, you will miss important breaking news. I try to package the best of this information into my “Views on the News” each Saturday morning. Updates have been made this week to the following issue sections:
· Politics at http://www.returntocommonsensesite.com/intro/politics.php
· Education at http://www.returntocommonsensesite.com/Culture/education.php

David Coughlin
Hawthorne, NY
www.ReturnToCommonSensesite.com
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Musings on the week ending 8/25/2012

Government – “If ever time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin.” Samuel Adams.
Politics – Unlike 2008, the Republican ticket has a strong Presidential candidate and like 2008, they added a very strong, TEA Party friendly Vice Presidential candidate to the ticket.
Politics – Considering all the work needed to fix America’s problems and restart the economy, four years as VP followed by four years as President should be enough for Ryan.
Politics – Political conventions are anachronisms, since the candidates are already selected, marketing messages are already set, and campaign strategies have already begun.
Employment Level Part-Time for Economic Reasons – A million more people are working part-time now for economic reasons, compared to when Obama took office.

Politics – Barack Obama in his own words “If I don’t have this done in three years, then there’s going to be a one-term proposition. And I welcome the responsibility.”
Politics – Both parties know entitlements are unsustainable, so Republicans offer reform proposals, but Democrats have no alternatives, only distortions and demagoguery.
Politics – In concert with the Democrat principle that “the end justifies the means,” no half-truth, no exaggeration, and no outright lie is out of bounds as a political campaign tool.
Politics – The far left Occupy Wall Street group finally articulated their true goals which are to overthrow the capitalist system to replace it with a failed communist utopia.
Politics – The former First Lady, Hillary Clinton, reportedly turned down the Vice Presidential role on the 2012 Democrat ticket because she didn’t want to align herself with a sinking ship.
Politics – Today’s Democrats can be mapped across a political spectrum: liberals (idealistic and naïve), leftists (evolutionary and elitist), or Marxists (revolutionary and fascist).
Politics – Today’s Democrats see an alternate reality through an ideological lens interpreting events based on faulty assumptions and drawing weak or false conclusions.
Media – The Obama administration has focused so much on tight message management that they have not conducted an unscripted press conference since early March.
Media – Newspapers continue to hemorrhage readers with only political ads in the 2012 election to save them, but I expect many newspapers will disappear after the next election.
Politics – I expect that the 2012 Presidential election will be the most racist campaign, with baseless accusations used to distract voter attention from Obama’s record of failure.
Democracy – “Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself.” John Adams.
Economy – The CBO predicts the nation will plunge into a deep recession early next year if Congress fails to avert nearly $500 billion in tax hikes and spending cuts set to hit in January.
Deficit – Strangely enough, the budget could be balanced in 10 years, if federal spending could be constrained to grow by less than 2% annually and requiring no tax hikes.
Debt – The present value of the unfunded liabilities of the federal government at the present time is now $222 trillion, which, as a private firm, would be declared hopelessly bankrupt.
Pensions – The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) that guarantees private pension funds is underfunded by $435 billion, and may require its own government bailout.
Healthcare – The Institute of Medicine estimates that only 4% of treatments and tests are backed up by strong scientific evidence; more than half have very weak evidence or none.
Healthcare – The British National Health Service has demonstrated how centrally managed healthcare is government enforced redistribution of mediocre health care.
Housing – Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Administration, provide grease to the housing market and back 90% of home loans ensuring this incestuous relationship.
Environment – After all the evidence is examined, the only thing hypersensitive to carbon dioxide is the climate computer models and their artificial weighting parameters.
Education – Indiana has the largest school voucher system and it is about to double in size as more than 8,000 students have already applied for vouchers to escape poor urban schools.
Civil Rights – The Eric Holder Justice Department has institutionalizing racism by assuming that black people cannot be racist and white people cannot be a victim of racism.
Civil Rights – The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is a left wing legal aid group that demonizes right wing organizations as “hate groups,” which has become a badge of honor.
Taxes – It is estimated that more than 2,000 upper-income Californians are leaving per week to flee high taxes and costly regulations, yet California wants to raise taxes even higher.
Debt – I expect that the country’s credit rating will again be downgraded after Congress debt ceiling discussions again fail to find sufficient spending cuts to halt deficit spending.
Deficit – I expect one or more states to declare bankruptcy by 2012 and seek assistance to recover from the bad economic decisions of the past under federal judicial protection.
Housing – I expect that it will take four or more years at the current rate for the backlog of foreclosures to finally clear, before we see any signs of life of a robust housing recovery.
Freedom – “Freedom is not a gift bestowed upon us by other men, but a right that belongs to us by the laws of God and nature.” Benjamin Franklin.
Defense – The U.S. military has won every war it has been asked to fight in the last 50 years, but then failed every attempt at nation building, since it is not a military mission.
Middle East – As Obama’s legacy is defined as one of retreat, progress in the Global War on Terror is erased and al-Qaeda is once again growing in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Syria.
Israel – I expect that Israel will be attacked by Hamas again in 2012 and the IDF will retaliate by invading and then annexing Gaza based on the concept of defensible borders.
Israel – I expect that Israel will suffer a nuclear attack from Islamist extremists by 2012, and Obama will stand aside and not help defend this longtime ally.
Asia – I expect that North Korea will attack South Korea and attempt to reunite Korea by the 2012, and Obama will be an unwitting accomplice as he abandons this ally in a time of war.

David Coughlin
Hawthorne, NY
www.ReturnToCommonSensesite.com

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Views on the News – 8/25/2012

In the first week since Paul Ryan joined Mitt Romney on the Republican ticket, something subtle yet fundamental has happened to the country, the mantle of leadership has shifted. Barack Obama and Joe Biden (certainly the latter) occupy office but cannot be said to govern in any meaningful way beyond formalities. Obama avoids the media; Biden has been sent back to Delaware; and their vast auxiliary army of super PACs and community organizers is reduced to petty sniping and personal attacks. No one expects any truly new ideas or proposals to come out of the Obama campaign anymore. The honest reflections of the more thoughtful voices on the American left confirm that Romney and Ryan are, in effect, leading the country. In choosing Ryan, what Romney showed above all was courage, or, more precisely, the absence of fear. There was a telling moment, shortly after he was chosen, when Paul Ryan faced reporters on the campaign plane and said simply: “We’re going to win this campaign.” It was not bluster; it was simple self-assurance. There is a long way to go on this campaign trail, and Romney and Ryan will have to fight for every vote, but now they will be tested not as candidates, but as leaders of the nation and that is what they have already won.
(“The Mantle of Leadership has Shifted: Romney, Ryan Govern in All but Name” by Joel B. Pollak dated August 17, 2012 published by Breitbart at http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/08/18/The-Mantle-of-Leade rship-Has-Shifted-Romney-Ryan-Govern-in-All-but-Name-Only )

By any objective standard, Barack Obama’s Presidency must be judged a failure since it is undeniable that the hope for positive change that he inspired has not been fulfilled. Obama promised the American people that he would deliver: 1) a more prosperous future, 2) a more transparent government, 3) a country that would be respected worldwide, 4) a more equitable society and 5) a more united body politic. Not only has he failed to deliver on any of those five promises, but the case is easily made that he has moved the needle in the opposite direction in every one of those areas:
· Obama’s Keynesian economic policies have forestalled the robust economic recovery that normally follows a steep recession, sustaining high unemployment, financial uncertainty and a diminished standard of living.
· His “Chicago-style” of governing is characterized by ramming through major legislative measures without widespread citizen assent, bottling up of America’s energy resources under insurmountable red tape, a bigoted Justice Department, executive orders that violate legislative intent, and recess appointments when Congress is not in recess.
· Obama pursues a warped and cowardly foreign policy that subverts US allies while rewarding its enemies, and meanwhile orchestrates a dangerous drawdown of the country’s military assets.
· Obama’s attempt to redistribute wealth has been partially “successful,” if success is measured by increasing the number of Americans on food stamps.
· Perhaps his greatest failure is his inability or unwillingness to function as the post-partisan, post-racial unifier that he promised to be, but instead pitting rich against poor, business against consumers, citizens against illegal immigrants, religious against secular, and even whites against minorities on occasion.
The harsh assessment above is certainly shared by a great many Americans. Progressives believe that the founding principles of the United States, as enunciated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, were wrong and that America could be converted into a more just, humane, equitable and fairer society if it adjusted its principles to more closely match those of John Dewey, Herbert Croly, Woodrow Wilson and even Karl Marx. However, the progressive victory is not yet complete. Obama is the fulfillment of that vision. Actually, only 20% of the country openly professes allegiance to the progressive program. It is well-known that virtually all of the opinion-molding organs of American society are firmly in the hands of the leftists, including: the media, public schools, academia, legal profession, foundations, seminaries, libraries and, sadly, many major corporations. For the last 30-50 years, the children of America have been subject to a relentless barrage of left-wing propaganda that is strongly reinforced by what their parents see and read on TV, in the movies and in the newspaper. The pernicious efforts of the mainstream media and the education establishment have rendered at least a quarter of the population into mindless robots who serve the progressive cause. Therefore, these robots will favor Obama, despite his manifest failures and despite the fact that their support runs counter to their own self interest. Added to the 20% hardcore liberal population, one obtains Obama’s 45% approval rating. Thus the election is neck and neck and the polls seem stuck on a roughly 45-45 split. That leaves 10% undecided, who historically break nearly unanimously against the incumbent. Thus, it really is 55-45 for Romney, which would match the 10 point spread between Reagan and Carter in 1980, so maybe an election slaughter is in the offing after all and one can only hope.
(“Why Isn’t Romney Slaughtering Obama?” by Ron Lipsman dated August 17, 2012 published by Intellectual Conservative at http://intellectualconservative.com/index.php/why-isn-t-romney-slaught ering )

The mainstream media does not want to admit Obama looks like a loser, one who deserves to lose as badly as Carter did, because his policies have been disastrous, and his executive skills reflect his complete lack of experience running anything bigger than his mouth before entering the Oval Office as President. The American mainstream media (MSM), including most polling organizations, are continuing to present the story that this is a close race, or even Obama’s to lose, because of his sheer personal wonderfulness. The facts on the ground, such as the poor turnout for Obama rallies contrasted with the large and enthusiastic crowds greeting Romney and Ryan, are generally downplayed or completely ignored, while polls which oversample Democrats are pumped out. Once the labels “failure” and “loser” start to attach themselves to Obama, it will become far more difficult for the Democrats to drive turnout among their base voter groups. Even Newsweek has put Obama on their cover with the lead story “Hit the Road, Barack – Why We Need a New President.” Enthusiasm is difficult to manufacture when the stink of failure is wafting through the media air. The Presidential campaign may have finally entered a “news stage” as the MSM is forced to report the unvarnished truth and conservative critiques of Obama must be acknowledged as worthy of attention, if they want to survive.
(“Obama’s MSM shield starts to crumble” by Thomas Lifson dated August 20, 2012 published by American Thinker at http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/08/obamas_msm_shield_starts_t o_crumble.html )

The American success story represents over 250 years of free enterprise based on an ideology of individual freedom with limited government interference, but the American people will face a defining choice between the two ideologies this November. Since his election, Barack Obama has engineered a success story based on implementing Marxist ideology of forced wealth redistribution and central government control which now clearly shows potential to overwhelm private enterprise as we know it. The concept of success as a confluence of preparation and opportunity does not represent some grand new thought, it does lie at the heart of “The American Dream.” Preparation is key, be it from school, parental guidance, self-generated study, or on-the-job training, because it sets one’s mind to recognize an opportunity, and it steels resolve to work toward making the most of that opportunity. The same concept of success applies to Barack Obama and far-left elements of the today’s Democrat Party. The events of the last 44 months are no accident. The state of the current economy does not represent the unintended consequence of a well-intentioned leader “in over his head.” Clearly, the newly elected President Obama had a lifetime of preparation. All he needed for implementing his political policies was the opportunity. That, of course, came with the housing and banking crisis in 2008 as the Presidential election approached. Aided by nearly two years of unstoppable Democrat voting majorities in the House and Senate, Obama and his allies went to work. Following implementation of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), with government purchase of equity interests in several banks, General Motors, and Chrysler, came the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. The so-called “stimulus” bill distributed $840 billion across the country, including direct money transfers and tax credits to low-income individuals, to states to retain public sector employees, and to fund approved “alternate energy” endeavors — many of which have since been lost to bankruptcy. Even more troubling was that ARRA became a major basis of the 2009-2010 federal appropriations spending, setting the “baseline” for continued federal discretionary funding each year. Refusal by the Democrat-controlled Senate to produce any subsequent federal budget has enshrined continuation of “stimulus” spending levels via simple budget resolutions ever since, creating a giant, multi-year slush fund to promote Obama’s agenda, increase welfare spending, and reward supporters. Again, using the opportunity afforded by unstoppable vote majorities in the House and Senate came the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka ObamaCare), a Democrat dream in preparation for decades. Signed into law in March 2010, the legislation offers financial incentives to eventually abandon private-sector insurance in favor of a government-administered single-payer system to control dispensation of health care. The impact of this Obama “success story” leaves much to be desired:
· Unemployment among those looking for work has remained above 8% for longer than any period since the Great Depression.
· 45 million people now receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food stamp benefits.
· The official poverty rate for 2011 will rise above 15.1%, putting poverty at the highest level since 1965 and erasing all gains from the War on Poverty initiated in the 1960s.
· Over 100 million Americans now receive federal welfare.
· The nation has just 1.65 employed persons in the private sector per 1 person on welfare.
These numbers clearly reveal the Obama plan for America. By making no serious effort to grow the private-sector economy in the midst of a serious recession, he seeks to get as many people as possible relying on government welfare to ease the pain. To pay for this redistribution of wealth, he seeks to raise taxes on all successful individuals and businesses. The coming election will be a referendum on clashing worldviews involving the conflict between freedom for individual wealth creation at all economic levels against government-enforced wealth redistribution. The depressed state of the nation’s economy would play a role, to be sure, but only as a means of providing evidence that the Obama view doesn’t work. Meanwhile, Republican candidate Mitt Romney has signaled with his choice of Paul Ryan for a running mate that he intends to defend the free-enterprise model as the solution for the nation’s malaise. The coming debate of clashing ideologies will intensify in the days ahead. The stakes are high. Just days before his election, Obama promised to “transform America,” and it is now clear what he intended. Voters must decide whether they want a return to self-reliance with freedom or accept life as determined by their welfare payments and entitlements – two ideologies locked in defining conflict affecting the nation’s future.
(“The Coming Battle of Ideologies” by John McLaughlin dated August 18, 2012 published by American Thinker at http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/08/the_coming_battle_of_ideologies .html )

The Obama administration claims that the middle class is mounting a comeback yet unemployment continues above 8%, and all signs point to further middle class pain during the Obama recovery. Prices are up – The average American family is spending an extra $40 per month on food under Obama; gas prices have also skyrocketed since 2008: college tuition has jumped 25%; and health care costs continue to rise. Savings are down – Americans are struggling to manage their day-to-day expenses, leading many to abandon the savings that have been an entryway to the middle class, with nearly 1 in 4 Americans have reported no savings. Record-high handouts – Nearly half of all Americans (49.1%) received some form of government assistance, including unemployment, Medicaid, and welfare; food stamp recipients jumped 45% over the past three years. Wealth has vanished – Median income has plummeted since the start of the recession; wages remain stagnant; average wealth fell 40%; and nearly one in three mortgages are now underwater. Joblessness continues – Unemployment has remained above 8% for the past 42 months; people are staying unemployed for longer periods of time; and the average jobless person can expect a nearly 40-week wait in between jobs. Maybe one day soon the Obama administration will admit that their policies have failed and different solutions are needed, and a new (Republican) administration is needed to implement these new policies!
(“Five Ways Obama is Hurting the Middle Class” by Bill McMorris dated August 22, 2012 published by The Washington Free Beacon at http://freebeacon.com/five-ways-obama-is-killing-the-middle-class/ )

* There is so much published each week that unless you search for it, you will miss important breaking news. I try to package the best of this information into my “Views on the News” each Saturday morning. Updates have been made this week to the following issue sections:
· Politics at http://www.returntocommonsensesite.com/intro/politics.php
· Abortion at http://www.returntocommonsensesite.com/Culture/abortion.php
· Agriculture at http://www.returntocommonsensesite.com/dp/agriculture.php
· Energy at http://www.returntocommonsensesite.com/dp/energy.php

David Coughlin
Hawthorne, NY
www.ReturnToCommonSensesite.com
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Musings on the week ending 8/11/2012

Politics – “Mothers all want their sons to grow up to be president, but they don’t want them to become politicians in the process.” John F. Kennedy.
Media – Americans of all political persuasions overwhelmingly hold an unfavorable view of the political media with 76% of women and 80% of men contemptuous of this profession.
Labor Force Participation Rate – Number of Americans with jobs fell by 195,000 in July.

Politics – Americans are not listening as Democrats continue the distraction strategy to lie to divert attention to Romney’s tax returns, rather than the abysmal Obama economic record.
Politics – Obama’s “You didn’t build that” gaffe was his attempt to re-assure life’s losers that their failures are not their fault, so they will stop feeling sorry for themselves.
Politics – In 1989, David Dinkins was elected first black mayor of New York City and in 2008 Barack Obama elected first black President, and both will leave office after one term.
Media – Newspapers continue to hemorrhage readers with only political ads in the 2012 election to save them, but I expect many newspapers will disappear after the next election.
Politics – I expect that the TEA Party members will support Mitt Romney in the November election, delivering a landslide victory to the Republicans to repair the Obama damage!
Politics – I expect that the 2012 Presidential election will be the most racist campaign, with baseless accusations used to distract voter attention from Obama’s record of failure.
Education – “Modern cynics and skeptics… see no harm in paying those to whom they entrust the minds of their children a smaller wage than is paid to those to whom they entrust the care of their plumbing.” John F. Kennedy.
Debt – The real stimulus spending is at least $2.5 trillion since 2008, when you count the 2009 stimulus bill, unemployment insurance extensions, and temporary payroll tax cuts.
Debt – The national debt just passed $16 trillion after Obama, who promised to cut the deficit in half, is responsible for more than $5 trillion of that debt and the deficit has not been cut.
Post Office – The U.S. Postal Service has been losing an average of $42,335,766 per day in fiscal 2012, so talks of drastic reform or privatization have been resuurected.
Pensions – An unintended consequence of the Federal Reserve maintaining low interest rates is underfunded pension plans that assumed investment returns of 8%.
Energy – At least a dozen more Solyndra-like Obama energy brainchildren have gone bankrupt, swallowing taxpayer dollars in their gluttonous paths to failure.
Energy – Big environmental groups argue that they are fully supportive of clean energy, as they delay or kill 140 renewable energy projects across the country.
Education – “Gender equity” targets in higher education in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) institutionalizes discrimination and fixes a non-existent problem.
Environment – Despite information technology advancements, the climate change hoax is based on notoriously inaccurate climate computer models that project apocalypse.
Immigration – Census Data found that 43% of all immigrants remain on welfare 20 years after arriving in the U.S. suggesting that the path to opportunity is broken for immigrants.
Elections – The Obama administration continues its battle to disenfranchise as many military voters as possible in Ohio, with only 5% able to cast an absentee ballot in 2010.
Healthcare – After selling ObamaCare as the cure for the uninsured and spending $1 trillion, the CBO reported that 30 million non-elderly Americans will remain without health insurance.
Welfare – President Obama has created a firestorm by overturning the work requirements of the popular 1996 welfare-reform law, since 83% of adults favor work requirements.
Debt – I expect that the country’s credit rating will again be downgraded after Congress debt ceiling discussions again fail to find sufficient spending cuts to halt deficit spending.
Deficit – I expect one or more states to declare bankruptcy by 2012 and seek assistance to recover from the bad economic decisions of the past under federal judicial protection.
Housing – I expect that it will take four or more years at the current rate for the backlog of foreclosures to finally clear, before we see any signs of life of a robust housing recovery.
Foreign Policy – “Domestic policy can only defeat us; foreign policy can kill us.” John F. Kennedy.
Defense – If Barack Hussein Obama was not a politician there would be no way he would qualify for a national defense security clearance, but instead he hurts our nation’s security.
Defense – The biggest military threat is an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) which would be devastating to the United States, with up to 90% of the population dead or dying.
Israel – I expect that Israel will be attacked by Hamas again in 2012 and the IDF will retaliate by invading and then annexing Gaza based on the concept of defensible borders.
Israel – I expect that Israel will suffer a nuclear attack from Islamist extremists by 2012, and Obama will stand aside and not help defend this longtime ally.
Asia – I expect that North Korea will attack South Korea and attempt to reunite Korea by the 2012, and Obama will be an unwitting accomplice as he abandons this ally in a time of war.

David Coughlin
Hawthorne, NY
www.ReturnToCommonSensesite.com
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Views on the News – 8/11/2012

Historically, 75% of undecided voters ultimately go to the challenger, so Mitt Romney will become the next President of the United States in a landslide. This landslide win for Romney, will be largely due to the failure of the Obama economic policies and repudiation of his attempt to move the country toward European socialism. The country began to rise up and get mad approximately 60 days ago:
· It was first noticed when Wisconsin resoundingly defeated the attempt to recall Governor Scott Walker and they took back their government and told the world they were done with unbalanced budgets, out-of-control state employee pensions and high taxes.
· Next it was the California primary election, where the citizens of San Diego and San Jose said no to out-of-control spending and the unfunded budget-breaking pensions.
· Then, last week, the TEA Party rose up in Texas and seized the state and its Senate race as Texas not only said Republican, it said TEA Party Republican.
· Finally, also last week, Chick-fil-A had thousands of Americans provide its biggest sales day in history as customers said they want their country back.
This country was founded upon Judeo-Christian values of free speech and freedom of religion. A TEA Party revolution launched the Revolutionary War and Americans in the colonies stood up against tyranny and those who attempted to change our beliefs. Obama’s European socialism and his high taxes, high unemployment, high gasoline prices and huge debt are being rejected at each turn. Americans are mad as hell and they are not going to take it anymore, so we see, “Romney in a landslide!”
(“Romney in a landslide” dated August 4, 2012 published by San Diego Union-Tribune at http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/aug/04/romney-in-a-landslide/ )

It’s not like Obama didn’t tell us his plans; it’s not like all the warning signs were not there for all of us to see; so we should not be surprised that he is expanded the scope and reach of the federal government. Barack Obama’s now infamous words, “we are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America” have come true. Remember when he told Joe the Plumber “we just have to spread the wealth around”? America bought it hook line and sinker and now it is becoming crystal clear. Obama’s plan is working and in three and a half years he has taken America in a completely different direction and the results are disastrous. If he isn’t deliberately overwhelming the U.S. economy to create economic crisis, social chaos (class warfare/Occupy Wall Street) and systemic failure, his plan at least is creating the conditions for it. Here are some depressing numbers and facts:
· The unemployment rate is holding steady at over 8%, currently at 8.3.
· There were 45 million people on food stamps in 2011 and that number has expanded in the first half of 2012.
· We now have a 16 trillion dollar national debt.
· Obama passed ObamaCare in the midst of the worst economy in a hundred years.
· Legalize 12 million illegal aliens.
· Redistribute the income.
These points are right out of the playbook of Cloward and Piven. The far left socialists Marxists have been planning this for years and now they are seeing their dreams come to fruition. Not only is our domestic policy being dismantled, but our foreign policy is suffering as well. This administration doesn’t want America to be a leading force in the world. In fact they will do everything in their power to weaken our capabilities and to reach out to enemies who intend to destroy us and our allies. In the middle east, we are seeing countries in chaos. This chaos is being created to build instability in the region. Unease and fear, all of this is in the playbook that is being followed. Israel is tense and has its finger on the trigger pointing at Iran. Syria is crumbling by the day and the Arab Spring has all but turned into a frigid winter. Take heed in Obama’s recent words where he boldly told us the truth. “We tried our plan and it worked” but unfortunately America can’t afford another four years of his plan, so he must fail in November.
(“Obama’s Right: His Plan Worked” by Morgan Brittany dated August 6, 2012 published by Town Hall at http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/morganbrittany/2012/08/06/obama s_right_his_plan_worked )

The TEA Party movement morphed from protest signs to campaign signs, since they quickly understood that real political change would only come through the ballot box. Hearing the call, the TEA Party vacated the town squares and hit the streets where it began organizing for the long-term. It was always a grassroots phenomenon, so no territorial shift was required. Since it enjoyed little, or no, support from established GOP county structures, it didn’t need to ask permission from the local GOP leadership, or accept its judgment as authoritative. Today, the local independence of TEA Party organizations remains, but communication between TEA Party organizations has continued to expand, in scope and sophistication. The absence of central planning is a key to its strength. Decentralization gives it operational flexibility, local ownership of decisions, and continuous learning as concepts are formally, and informally, shared between local organizations – it’s a network. Political gurus like Rove, and spin doctors like Carville, are anachronisms in the TEA Party world. In a broad context, the TEA Party is the reaction , underway both within and without the Republican Party, to the progressive take-over of the Democratic Party. The TEA Party aim is to move the GOP away from the passive stance of politicians like former Republican House Minority Leader Robert Michel, former Senator Bob Dole, and current Senator John McCain. The Republican Party must move toward conservative Republicans who realize that the dogma of the progressive left doesn’t recognize compromise as an option.
(“The Morphing of the Tea Party” by Lee Cary dated August 6, 2012 published by American Thinker at http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/08/the_morphing_of_the_tea_party.h tml )

The Labor Department summarizes the economic condition “Both the number of unemployed and the unemployment rate have shown little movement thus far in 2012,” and it should be clear that it is time for a change. The latest jobs report should persuade all those who worry about the President’s economic policies but find him likable that enough is enough, and that policy trumps personality when it comes to deciding who should occupy the White House. Job creation remains anemic, the unemployment rate has ticked up to 8.3%, and the labor force participation rate continues to fall as more and more Americans choose the couch over tramping the streets looking for work. The Labor Department sums it up: Both the number of unemployed and the unemployment rate “have shown little movement thus far in 2012.” It should be clear that it is time for a change. The President has gambled the nation’s ability to recover from this recession on policies that include high taxes, more regulation, attacks on businesses and “millionaires and billionaires,” stimulus spending that ends up largely in the pockets of members of public service trade unions and campaign contributors, and huge deficits, gambled and lost. Ideologues, like addicted gamblers, reject experience as a teacher, and when they are gambling with other people’s money, they have little incentive to change, especially if they can count on a winning personality to persuade supporters to overlook the minor matter of oncoming penury. To get our country back on a growth path we have to change course, which means that Mitt Romney has to win. His plans will have to meet two criteria: They must be consistent with the conservative principle that government policy should provide a framework for markets to work, and they must meet some rough standard of fairness, which is much on voters’ minds in this day of increased inequality. Here are a dozen points Romney might consider making:
· Extend the Bush tax cuts for one year.
· Arrange for mortgage forgiveness that will actually increase what banks will retrieve from the mortgage mess, recognize reality on bank books, increase consumer spending, avoid creating even more underwater properties, and give the housing market a boost.
· Impose a moratorium on new regulations not urgently needed to save lives.
· End crony capitalism.
· Break up the big banks.
· End the madness that lets bankers totter off with giant bonuses, paid on profits that later turn out not to have existed.
· Make wealth and success respectable again.
· Treat small businesses as the valuable wealth and job creators that they are.
· Get health care reform right.
· Attack the deficit by combining spending cuts, tax reform, and, if needed, revenue increases that do not stifle incentives to work hard and take risks.
· Move against trading “partners” who live off sales to Americans but restrict access to their own markets.
· Save entitlements.
Romney has a blueprint for change that is consistent with conservative principles that will jumpstart the markets, and voters have a clear choice.
(“Unemploy Obama” by Irwin M. Stelzer dated August 13, 2012 published by The Weekly Standard at http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/unemploy-obama_649300.html )

The causes of this country’s problems are not hard to see, but the solution is easier said than done, which is to return to fiscal responsibility and wean ourselves off all the “freebees.” Americans aren’t obese because evil restauranteers are forcing them to eat fried butter on a stick; we are bulging at the seams because we eat too much and exercise too little. Americans aren’t trapped in upside down mortgages because evil bankers waylaid us and forced us to sign up for a house that was too big and cost too much; we’re living in homes we can’t afford because we wanted them and thought we deserved them even though we didn’t have an income that could support them. Americans aren’t buried in personal debt because credit card companies mailed us credit cards; we carry an average of $14,517 household debt because we wanted what we wanted when we wanted it and couldn’t wait until we could pay for it. America isn’t drowning in national debt because we did anything more difficult to understand than electing people who bought our votes with entitlements we didn’t need and couldn’t afford. The problem isn’t that we don’t know the answers, but instead it’s that we don’t want to face up to the fact that the free ride has to stop if we’re going to get off before we land in Athens. That’s the problem: a dysfunctional government made up of kleptomaniacs writing phony checks on the future and a population addicted to easy money and unfunded entitlements. The solution is so simple; we as a people must kick the entitlement habit. Like any addiction our national addiction to freebees has debilitated us. It has made us dependent on the outside stimulus. Where once families and churches took care of the needy we have been taught for generations that Uncle Sugar will do it, so we have let Uncle Sugar do it. Ever since the government bureaucrats have stepped between the givers and the receivers, welfare hasn’t been well and it isn’t fair. Many of us know people who need help who are denied and people who should be helping themselves who are riding in their Cadillacs to spend their food stamps. After more than 15 trillion dollars and four decades of a war on poverty the percentage of Americans below the poverty line is higher than it was when we started. There are more people on food stamps, more on disability and more that have just dropped out of the work force than ever before, and the only answer Washington seems to have is we haven’t spent enough yet. This is a call for austerity and this will cause major dislocations. When drug addicts quit taking the poison their bodies have come to crave they get sick, but in time, drug addicts recover and once again become normal people able to stand on their own without the chemical prop of a debilitating drug. In time if we as a nation will kick the habit of cheap money and government handouts we will once again learn to stand on our own two feet, hold our head up high, and proudly say, “This is America, the land of the free and the home of the brave.” If we don’t, the sun will set on the American dream as we devour ourselves in an orgy of hedonism and self-gratification. The election is coming fast and people will have the courage to vote for a return to fiscal responsibility before we face the coming collapse of the world we have known.
(“Is the Inertia Greater Than the Momentum?” by Robert R. Owens dated August 2, 2012 published by Canada Free Press at http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/48525 )

The lack of jobs in Barack Obama’s economy and an exploding $15 trillion debt are two of the voters’ top concerns this year, but a third issue has shot to the top tier of the public’s priorities, even though it draws relatively little attention in the news, and that is government corruption and Americans are angry about it. The Gallup poll found “reducing federal government corruption” came in second, between “creating jobs” and cutting the budget deficit. This has a lot to do with one of the nation’s costliest political corruption scandals in recent times: The President’s boondoggle-plagued, green energy spending program to develop alternative energy resources. An 18-month congressional investigation into Obama’s $40 billion give-away program shows that it has been a colossal failure, riddled with embarrassing bankruptcies, favored treatment for Obama’s rich cronies and campaign contributors, and political lobbying pressure to approve bad business deals that should have been rejected. An investigation by The Washington Post concluded that Obama’s guaranteed loans, tax credits and grant programs to well-connected supporters was “infused with politics” at virtually every level of the approval process. Obama risks hard earned tax dollars on shaky, often politically-driven energy deals that in many cases were given thumbs down by government auditors whose advice was often overridden by politically-powerful deal-makers at the highest levels of government. The lengthening list of bad business deals Obama and his advisers pushed, promoted and approved has tarred Obama’s green technology program:
· A $535 million federal loan guarantee to the Solyndra solar panel corporation that Obama made the flagship of his efforts to mount a new government-backed industry in alternative energy was based on a restructured contract was written that left taxpayers on the hook to pay off the failed half billion loan. Solyndra went into bankruptcy last summer, as many of its critics warned, 1,100 employees lost their jobs, and the plant was shuttered and chained shut.
· Then there was ECOtality, a firm that was given $126 million to install 14,000 electric car chargers which has since suffered $45 million in losses and told the government that “We may not achieve profitability…in the future.”
· Abound Solar received a $400 million loan guarantee to manufacture photovoltaic panels, but ended up stopping production, laying off 180 workers and filing for bankruptcy proceedings.
· Nevada Geothermal Power won a $98.5 million loan guarantee from Obama, but has since fallen into “financial turmoil” and “material uncertainties exist which cast significant doubt upon the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.”
· Ener1: After a $118 million stimulus package deal from the administration, the manufacturer of lithium-ion for electric cars filed for bankruptcy last year.
· Amonix, a solar panel firm in North Las Vegas, gave 700 workers pink slips, after receiving a $6 million tax credit and $15.6 million federal grant.
Obama made preposterous claims that these and other green energy projects would create millions of new jobs in the years to come, comparing it to President Kennedy’s space program to put men on the moon. The Republican House Energy Committee passed the “No More Solyndras Act” to begin phasing out the loan program for green energy projects, but don’t hold your breath for any similar action in the Democratic-run Senate.
(“Would You Want Obama Investing Your Money?” by Donald Lambro dated August 3, 2012 published by Town Hall at http://townhall.com/columnists/donaldlambro/2012/08/03/would_you_want_ obama_investing_your_money )

Romney pointed out the huge disparity between GDP per capita in Israel compared with the Palestinian Authority, and suggested that a difference in “culture” might be partially responsible for the disparity. The Palestinians were predictably upset, and much of the media said Romney had committed a damaging gaffe. Yet, considered apart from concerns over offending Middle Eastern sensibilities, Romney’s remarks are not only accurate, they reflect a much larger truth that matters not just in the Middle East but in this upcoming election. Limitations on Palestinian property rights, continued Israeli control over land and water, and restrictions on both imports and exports have harmed Palestinian economic development. By some estimates, as much as 60% of Palestinian territory is off limits to economic development, so Romney should have taken this into account. This however does not explain why Jordan and Egypt also are dramatically lower also. Israel can hardly be blamed for a lack of economic growth in those countries. In fact, no Arab nation without substantial oil wealth has a GDP per capita greater than half that of Israel. Perhaps Romney could have used a better term than “culture” to describe the combination of attitudes toward markets, the role of government, the welfare state, inequality, and institutions that underpin a nation’s economy, but nit-picking about terminology shouldn’t eclipse the larger truth: If a nation hopes to prosper, it must foster a culture conducive to prosperity. Israel itself had to change in order to spur economic growth, abandoning the old socialist solidarity of the kibbutz for a political culture that encourages entrepreneurship, investment, and risk-taking. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cut taxes, reduced government spending, reformed pensions, and begun privatizing state-owned companies, including El Al, parts of its electric company, and its major banks. The result has been the transformation of Israel into a hub for technological entrepreneurship. The Palestinian Authority has not undertaken similar reforms and government spending continues to consume an inordinate amount of GDP. Taxes, while widely evaded, are high. Both foreign investment and domestic business remain subject to a byzantine regulatory regime. The Authority’s old-fashioned pay-as-you-go public pension program is accumulating enormous future liabilities. Crony capitalism is the norm rather than the exception. The Palestinian Authority’s economic growth has been nearly nonexistent. Don’t call what Romney said a gaffe when he was right, because political and economic culture really does matter.
(“Yes, Culture Does Matter” by Michael D. Tanner dated August 1, 2012 published by CATO Institute at http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/yes-culture-does-matter )

* There is so much published each week that unless you search for it, you will miss important breaking news. I try to package the best of this information into my “Views on the News” each Saturday morning. No updates this week on the issue sections.

David Coughlin
Hawthorne, NY
www.ReturnToCommonSensesite.com
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Musings on the week ending 8/4/2012

Leadership – “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” Peter Drucker.
Politics – The success of the TEA Party movement is a rediscovery of our core conservative values and our common sense, something missing from our Republican elites.
Politics – The best Vice President candidate that Mitt Romney could select would be Newt Gingrich, bringing Congressional experience and core conservative principles to the ticket.
Politics – This will be a strange election: Neither candidate will offer explicit plans, so Obama is campaigning as the anti-Romney, while Romney is campaigning as the anti-Obama.
Politics – Romney began the long overdue task of rebuilding allied relationships with longtime friends who were abandoned and betrayed by our reckless, feckless, subversive President.
Politics – Voter Question: “How did that vote for Obama work out for you? Are you better off today than when Barack Obama was elected? Is he making the economy better or worse?
November 2008 July 2012 Change
Federal Spending $2.75T $3.63T +$.88T
National Debt $9.99T $15.83T +$5.84T
Food Stamp Participation (000) 31,800 46,600 +14,800
Labor Force Participation Rate 65.8% 63.7% -2.1%
Employed (000) 144,078 142,220 -1,858
Employment Population Ratio 61.4% 58.4% -3.0%
Unemployed (000) 10,544 12,794 +2,250
Average Weeks Unemployed 18.9 38.8 +19.9
Unemployed – 27+ wks (000) 2,216 5,185 +2,969
Unemployment Rate (U3) 6.8% 8.3% +1.5%
Underemployment Rate (U6) 12.7% 15.0% +2.3%
Average Price/Gallon Gas $2.21 $3.60 +$1.39
Inflation Rate .09% 1.66% +1.57%
Misery Index 6.9 10.0 +3.1
Economic Freedom Ranking 5 10 -5

Politics – Voter Caution: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me! Once a mistake; Twice a fool!
Politics – The old says, “If you can’t win on the facts, argue the law; if you can’t win on the law, call your opponent names” describes the Democrat campaign strategy exactly.
Politics – Unsure how many more royal vacations are in store for her, Michelle Obama is representing the U.S. at the London Olympics, at enormous cost for her entourage.
Politics – It has become very obvious to American voters that the source of all racism talk and actions are from the mouths and minds of the Democrat “post racial” re-election team.
Media – The MSM has adopted the marketing technique of manufacturing gaffes out of politically incorrect truths to persuade naïve voters of Romney’s political incompetence.
Media – Newspapers continue to hemorrhage readers with only political ads in the 2012 election to save them, but I expect many newspapers will disappear after the next election.
Politics – I expect that the TEA Party members will support Mitt Romney in the November election, delivering a landslide victory to the Republicans to repair the Obama damage!
Politics – I expect that the 2012 Presidential election will be the most racist campaign, with baseless accusations used to distract voter attention from Obama’s record of failure.
Leadership – “Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.” Peter Drucker.
Economy – The “Great Recession” ended three years ago, but the Obama “Not So Great Recovery” has stalled and crawled into the record books as the worst recovery in U.S. history.
Jobs – Fewer Americans are working today than in the year 2000, despite our population growing by 31 million and our labor force growing by 11.4 million since then.
Debt – Federal bankruptcy judges have allowed cities to claw-back over-sized benefit packages as part of bankruptcy settlements, so a flood of city bankruptcies are coming.
General Motors – GM Financial gave 93% of their auto loans to customers with FICO scores below the subprime threshold, and is known as the welfare office for people with bad credit.
Post Office – The United States Post Office is set to default for the first time in the 237-year history, failing to make a $5.5 billion payment for Future retiree health benefits.
Taxes – Conservatives believe that you pay minimal taxes for a limited government, while liberals believe income belongs to the government and they decide how much you keep.
Energy – Obama insists that “greenhouse gas”, primarily CO2, had to be reduced to offset global warming, but there is NO global warming and CO2 plays NO role in climate change.
Energy – The administration refuses to increase the amount of federal land open to oil and gas drilling, but is happy to unlock public lands for non-economical alternative energy use.
Health Care – 90% of British National Health Service Trusts ration health care, forcing nearly two thirds of Britons earning more than $78,700 a year to buy private health insurance.
Health Care – Senate Democrats blocked an ObamaCare repeal vote for the third time, despite the Republican controlled House passing the 3rd bill declaring its support for repeal.
Abortion – Whether to have sex is a choice with pregnancy as a potential consequence of that choice, but the President’s view is that pregnancy is a disease that needs to be treated.
Debt – I expect that the country’s credit rating will again be downgraded after Congress debt ceiling discussions again fail to find sufficient spending cuts to halt deficit spending.
Deficit – I expect one or more states to declare bankruptcy by 2012 and seek assistance to recover from the bad economic decisions of the past under federal judicial protection.
Housing – I expect that it will take four or more years at the current rate for the backlog of foreclosures to finally clear, before we see any signs of life of a robust housing recovery.
Leadership – “Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.” Colin Powell.
GWOT – President Obama brags about killing Osama bin Laden, but it is revealed that he dithered for months, postponing three times, worrying about the political ramifications.
Israel – Muslims hate the existence of Israel, populated by despised dhimmi, as a humiliation for the people who consider themselves “best of nations” destined to rule the world.
Ecuador – Ecuador’s president Rafael Correa is preening to replace his cancer-stricken Venezuelan counterpart, Hugo Chávez, as the leader of Latin America’s lawless left.
Israel – I expect that Israel will be attacked by Hamas again in 2012 and the IDF will retaliate by invading and then annexing Gaza based on the concept of defensible borders.
Israel – I expect that Israel will suffer a nuclear attack from Islamist extremists by 2012, and Obama will stand aside and not help defend this longtime ally.
Asia – I expect that North Korea will attack South Korea and attempt to reunite Korea by the 2012, and Obama will be an unwitting accomplice as he abandons this ally in a time of war.

David Coughlin
Hawthorne, NY
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Views on the News – 8/4/2012

In the course of four short years, President Obama has transformed from “The Messiah” into “The Pariah,” because voters aren’t buying his distractions anymore. It started with the failed stimulus that promised to buy our way out of the recession, the multipliers from which barely registered a tick upwards for the economy. This infusion of dollars will harm the economy for a decade or more as the nation must find a way to pay back those dollars plus interest. In healthcare, a bold initiative long coveted by progressives for the last 100 years and an initiative Obama couldn’t wait to tackle, even though majority of Americans were already satisfied with their existing healthcare. The President somehow found wisdom in pushing through his healthcare agenda during a time of recession and high unemployment – as a result, earmarking one-sixth of the entire economy. America’s poverty rate has increased under Obama and food stamp recipients are at an all-time high. Those should be enough to sink any President with an overall record like Obama’s. In this election, Romney holds the clear advantage and, barring a campaign implosion, is likely to beat President Obama in November. President Obama spent over $40 million on negative campaign ads for June and most of July. The polls, meanwhile, stayed the same, demonstrating that Obama’s attempt at a breakout through the malaise failed. The point is clear that voters just are not buying it anymore. According to a new Gallup/USA Today poll, voters gave Romney overwhelming support in “managing the economy, reducing the federal budget deficit and creating jobs.” By a margin of more than 2-1, or 63% to 29%, the surveyed believed Romney possessed the right kind of experience to deal with current economic problems. President Obama’s actual record is there on the surface, in plain sight. As a result, most voters have accepted reality that no matter how “likable” Obama is, he has failed. On Election Day, voters will be given a choice that offers an alternative to four more years of Obama and that scenario is no longer acceptable.
(“Voters Aren’t Buying Obama’s Distractions” by Jason Bradley dated July 28, 2012 published by Breitbart at http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/07/28/Voters-Arent-Buying -Obamas-Distractions )

Democrats have invested a great deal in the Obama brand, but his image has begun to erode as he speaks without a script and away from his ever-present tele-prompter . One cannot help noticing the struggle between Barack Obama’s natural instincts and the serene and benevolent persona he projects to the world. Beneath the visage of a cosmetically populist, post-racial, post-partisan reformer who wants to “perfect” America and to have “millionaires and billionaires” “pay their fair share” is just another condescending, self-important, sarcastic, academic liberal Democrat, who believes in false consciousness and in scholastic theories that success in life can be attributed to birth or luck or community but not to individual effort and grit. Obama may be talented at self-fashioning, but he cannot maintain his public face constantly because his mask keeps slipping and the real Obama emerges. He lets loose in the self-consciously ironic and pretentiously omniscient argot of the American ruling class, lecturing audiences in what he treat as the new catechism. The reaction to these gaffes is always the same, sparking justified criticism. The activity is convulsive and furious because David Axelrod and David Plouffe understand that an unplugged Obama will damage his brand. He is not actually likable at all. He is liable to wreck years of hard work and mythmaking the moment he goes off script and tries to talk without his teleprompter. The “Obamian Slips” inadvertently disclose his inner self, and undermine the Axelrod message of hope and change and unity:
· On July 23, 2007, at the Democrat primary debate, then-senator Obama made his ludicrous and unrehearsed pledge to meet personally with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba, and North Korea in the first year of his administration.
· On January 5, 2008, Obama insulted Hillary Clinton by sneering she was “likable enough.”
· On April 6, 2008, he said at a San Francisco fundraiser that “it’s not surprising that he wasn’t winning the votes of working-class whites in the Democrat Party” because… they cling to their guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment.”
· On August 22, 2009, Obama remarked that the Cambridge police had acted “stupidly” by arresting a disorderly Harvard professor.
· In February 2010 at the health-care summit, Obama could not hide his contempt when Obama dismissed McCain by sniping that “The election’s over,” as though the four-term senator had no legitimate grounds for opposition.
· On the June 13, 2011 meeting of the President’s jobs council, Obama confessed “Shovel ready was not as shovel-ready as we expected.”
· On March 26, 2012, Obama confided to Russian Dmitri Medvedev that a second term would give him “more flexibility” to negotiate away America’s missile defenses, nuclear arsenal, and interest in democracy and human rights.
· At a June 8, 2012 press conference, he said “The private sector is doing fine” to explain away the anemic private sector job creation, minimal GDP growth, stagnant wages and incomes, weakening manufacturing, record-low yields on U.S. Treasuries, and the longest sustained period of over 8% unemployment since the Great Depression.
· On July 13, 2012, Obama said “If you’ve got a business—you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.”
Since 2007, Obama has tried to maintain a façade of positivity, nationalism, and mainstream goodwill, even as he harbors ideas, attitudes, and reflexes peculiar to a highly educated and overly compensated legal, corporate, and cultural elite. The foundation of his appeal is eroding. Obama’s favorability ratings are down. Democrat enthusiasm is down. The only one to blame for demolishing his dazzling countenance is Obama himself, and the more he speaks away from the tele-prompter the clearer the image becomes.
(“Wreck-It Barack” by Matthew Continetti dated July 27, 2012 published by The Washington Free Beacon at http://freebeacon.com/wreck-it-barack/ )

The social experiment that was Barack Obama’s election and Presidency is over, because he has failed at just about everything he has attempted. Most Democrats voted for Obama in 2008, but none at this point is inclined to vote for him in 2012 because they view him as an abject failure across the board and have decided to put the welfare of their families and themselves before the empty rhetoric of the Obama campaign before it’s too late. The majority of journalists lean left politically, but not one believes Obama is going to win re-election. Mitt Romney may be a weak candidate, but they are still convinced that he will comfortably defeat Obama on November 6th. These liberal and jaded journalists privately admit that Obama has been exposed for what he is: an overhyped, self-invented candidate with no real-world experience who has been frozen into inaction by the enormity of the office he holds. Obama has no domestic policy to speak of. He has no foreign policy to speak of. He has no jobs program to speak of. His signature health care plan is driving doctors out of the field, crippling small businesses and putting thousands of Americans out of work. The Obama of 2012 has nothing positive to run on. He knows it; he knows his election and Presidency were social engineering gone wrong. He knows that he has run out of all options but one: Go negative on Mitt Romney 24/7 and hope a heretofore compromised mainstream media will once again unethically act as his surrogate. In 2008, Obama was an unformed piece of pottery clay molded into shape by his own false rhetoric combined with a media narrative that sought to canonize him in anticipation of having his face carved into Mount Rushmore. Today, in 2012, Barack Obama stands on his own, an unqualified man who did not have the gifts to grow into the presidency, and the social experiment that was Barack Obama’s election and Presidency is coming to its natural and expected conclusion.
(“Barack Obama ’s Runs On Empty and Toward Defeat” by Douglas MacKinnon dated August 3, 2012 published by Investor’s Business Daily at http://news.investors.com/article/620954/201208031733/barack-obama-hea ds-for-a-loss-in-november.htm )

The U.S. economy grew at a slothful 1.5% in the second quarter and way below the level needed to create new jobs as workers and small businesses are losing hope. Despite our $16 trillion in debt and a bloated federal deficit of $1.2 trillion, Obama and the Democrats keep telling us that we need more spending and intervention in the economy for it to reach “escape velocity,” as if the economy were a rocket ship or something. The economy needs to grow 3% or more just to sop up the 130,000 new workforce entrants each month – accomplished only twice since 2008. Today, our economy is roughly $13.56 trillion in size, adjusting for inflation. If we had grown at just the median 15.1% rate, our economy would be $15.34 trillion in size – a $1.78 trillion difference. The failure of Keynesian stimulus and Obama’s socialist meddling in our economy is clear. The President’s class warfare economic rhetoric and policies are pushing the country perilously close to a double-dip recession. Unemployment has remained above 8% for 42 straight months. The total number of unemployed, officially 13 million, is really closer to 28 million when you count discouraged workers and those who can find only part-time work. Yet, Obama continues to slam the door on the entrepreneurs who create small businesses and 80% of all new jobs and rather than help them, Obama and the Democrats threaten to hike their taxes. Small business is in crisis, but help isn’t on the way with 300 new regulations pending, each with a job-killing annual cost topping $100 million. Small businesses today spend more than $10,000 per worker on regulatory costs, and it’s only getting worse. Meanwhile, Obama’s planned tax hikes will hit 1.2 million small businesses and kill 710,000 jobs. No matter how the White House spins it, the latest disappointing GDP report shows Americans continue to lose ground under Obama, with the election only three months away!
(“Americans Lose Ground Under Obama’s Failed Policies” dated July 27, 2012 published by Investor’s Business Daily at http://news.investors.com/article/620162/201207271900/americans-are-lo sing-ground-under-obama-polices.htm )

We are currently in the most anemic economic recovery in the memory of most Americans with declining consumer sentiment and business concerns over policy uncertainty weighing on the minds of all of us and we must fix our economy’s growth and jobs machine. We must have vastly different policies aimed at stopping runaway federal spending and debt, reforming our tax code and entitlement programs, and scaling back costly regulations. Those policies cannot be found in the President’s proposals, but they are the core of Governor Romney’s plan for economic recovery and renewal. In response to the recession, the Obama administration chose to emphasize costly, short-term fixes, ineffective stimulus programs, myriad housing programs that went nowhere, and a rush to invest in “green” companies. As a consequence, uncertainty over policy, particularly over tax and regulatory policy, slowed the recovery and limited job creation. The Romney economic plan would change the direction of policy to increase GDP and job creation now and going forward. The governor’s plan puts growth and recovery first, and it stands on four main pillars:
· Stop runaway federal spending and debt – reduce federal spending as a share of GDP to 20% by 2016.
· Reform the nation’s tax code to increase growth and job creation – reduce individual marginal income rates by 20%, reduce corporate income tax rate to 25%, and maintain low tax rates on dividends and capital gains.
· Reform entitlement programs to ensure their viability – reduce growth in Social Security and Medicare benefits for more affluent seniors, give more choice in Medicare programs and benefits to improve value in health-care spending, and block grant the Medicaid program to states to enable experimentation.
· Make growth and cost-benefit analysis important features of regulation – remove regulatory impediments to energy production and innovation, repeal and replace the Dodd–Frank legislation, and repeal and replace ObamaCare.
In contrast to the sclerosis and joblessness of the past three years, the Romney plan offers an economic U-turn in ideas and choices. When bolstered by sound trade, education, energy and monetary policy, the Romney reform program is expected speed up the current recovery, enabling the private sector to create 200,000 to 300,000 jobs per month, or about 12 million new jobs in a Romney first term, and millions more after that due to the plan’s long-run growth effects.
(“The Romney Plan for Economic Recovery” by Glenn Hubbard dated August 1, 2012 published by The Wall Street Journal at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443687504577562842656362 660.html )

Disability payments from Social Security have evolved into a lifeline and an economic trap for millions of unemployed Americans threatening the program with insolvency in just four short years. Created decades ago to help those unable to work because of severe health problems, the $128 billion program stops many from sliding into total poverty and inflicting further damage on the economy. More Americans qualified for disability than found jobs over the past three months, and since 2000, the number of beneficiaries rose by 73%, even though the workforce rose by less than 10%. Of the 8.7 million beneficiaries, federal officials claim the vast majority, with some estimates as high as 99%, will never rejoin the workforce and remain dependent on the federal government. Jobless Americans over the age of 50 with little savings increasingly apply for disability as their 99-weeks of unemployment runs out. SSDI continues until the beneficiary is old enough to collect Social Security. Both the Obama administration and Congressional Republicans say that they are weighing reforms to salvage the finances of the disability system before the politics of the issue harden along partisan lines. Guidelines for those suffering from mental disorders and muscle pain, about 67% of all beneficiaries, were last updated in 1985, shortly after Congress liberalized the screening process. The GAO indicated that the government could narrow the health eligibility standards for receiving disability. Stricter criteria would limit enrollment and reduce the costs. The growing number of people on disability and other federal benefits, combined with weak economic growth, raises serious doubts about the sustainability of the American economy.
(“Disability Benefits Program is Going Broke” by Josh Boak dated July 27, 2012 published by The Fiscal Times at http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2012/07/27/Disability-Benefit-P rogram-Is-Going-Broke.aspx#page1 )

No one has any idea what the Middle East will look like next year, much less in five years, so all we have to guide our foreign policy is a set of constants. Amid this daily chaos in the Middle East, there are a handful of constants that can guide U.S. foreign policy:
· Arab governments, whether they take the form of one-man authoritarianism, monarchy, or theocracy, will remain anti-Israel. The region’s unrepentant embrace of anti-Semitism, resentment over the economic power and success of Israel, and longstanding anger at the establishment of a Jewish state in the heart of the Arab Middle East trump all ephemeral changes in government.
· The Arab Middle East will remain anti-American. American aid; generous U.S. immigration policies for Muslims and Arabs; loud support for democratic movements; the removal of Saddam Hussein and Moammar Qaddafi; past help to the Iraqis, Kuwaitis, Egyptians, Palestinians, and Jordanians; prior efforts to protect Muslims in Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Somalia — all that earns little, if any, goodwill.
· Oil, one way or another, will still affect all strategic thinking. Over the next decade, the huge new reserves of oil and natural gas found in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico will, if fully exploited, revolutionize the fossil-fuel supplies of North America.
· Nuclear proliferation may become immune to international scrutiny. There is simply too much turmoil in the Middle East for the international community to monitor and control the spread of nuclear weapons.
· We will have not a single ally in any effort to influence Middle East change. Attempts to curry favor in Russia, China, Turkey, and the United Nations have all failed.
We should restore close relations with an Israel that is becoming wealthier and stronger all the time, and is the only consistently pro-American, democratic nation in the entire region. The Obama administration has demonstrated that any hint of daylight between the U.S. and Israel does not win over the Arab world, but only persuades it that Israel is more vulnerable. The wisest course will be to depersonalize our Middle East policy and simply state that the U.S., to the extent that it weighs in on the turmoil, supports constitutional government (rather than plebiscites): To the degree that a society is transparent, respects human rights, and remains consensual, we support it; to the degree that it does not, we are more likely to oppose it. The U.S. must fast-track energy exploration, especially via the leasing of resource-rich federal land, the completion of the Keystone pipeline, and drilling in well-established oil-rich areas offshore and in Alaska. If North America does become energy independent, the entire continent will be both richer and safer. Now is not the time to cut our strategic arsenal or to prune back missile defense. The danger is not the loss of our own nuclear deterrence, but any sign that the U.S. feels somehow that its arsenal is redundant. We should worry not just that Egypt or a Gulf state might go nuclear in response to Iran, but that a half-dozen nations might. America’s message to the Middle East must be that an attack on the U.S. or its interests would not only be futile but would ensure an overwhelmingly destructive response. All that should remain constant is American support for a pro-Western, free-market, and constitutional Arab world, an inseparable alliance with Israel, an end to importation of Middle Eastern energy, and an America with clear military dominance.
(“The Muddle East” by Victor Davis Hanson dated July 31, 2012 published by National Review Online at http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/312699/muddle-east-victor-davis -hanson )

* There is so much published each week that unless you search for it, you will miss important breaking news. I try to package the best of this information into my “Views on the News” each Saturday morning. Updates have been made this week to the following issue sections:
· Language at http://www.returntocommonsensesite.com/intro/changinglanguage.php

David Coughlin
Hawthorne, NY
www.ReturnToCommonSensesite.com
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Musings on the week ending 7/28/2012

Government – “We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force.” Ayn Rand.
Politics – The TEA Party with its allegiance to the Constitution and the founding principles, is holding politicians accountable once elected to deliver what they promised.
Politics – Romney should be praised for aggressively responding to Democrat attack ads, but he must now offer a better alternative and how he would do things better as President.
Politics – Conservative’s goal is to enable independence from government to pursue happiness, while liberal’s goal is to increase government dependence and comfort level.
Politics – Romney should campaign on the “climate change” hoax as the latest incarnation of the global governance strategy with its redistribution of wealth between nations.
Politics – Voter Question: “How did that vote for Obama work out for you? Are you better off today than when Barack Obama was elected? Is he making the economy better or worse?
Politics – Obama’s unleashed his partisan smear team to uncover dirt on Mitt Romney, but it came up empty, with the only result a decrease in Obama’s personal favorability rating.
Politics – It is only fitting that Hollywood celebrities are hosting so many Obama fund-raisers, since moviemakers deal in fantasy, make-believe, and rewriting history for dramatic effect.
Politics – Obama has done nothing to improve the way of life among blacks as a whole, and statistics show life has actually regressed for African-Americans under Obama.
Media – How long can this charade go on, with story after story lamenting the erosion of key Obama voting groups, which directly refutes the national polls showing Obama in the lead?
Politics – I expect that the TEA Party members will support Mitt Romney in the November election, delivering a landslide victory to the Republicans to repair the Obama damage!
Media – Newspapers continue to hemorrhage readers with only political ads in the 2012 election to save them, but I expect many newspapers will disappear after the next election.
Politics – I expect that the 2012 Presidential election will be the most racist campaign, with baseless accusations used to distract voter attention from Obama’s record of failure.
Government – “Government ‘help’ to business is just as disastrous as government persecution… the only way a government can be of service to national prosperity is by keeping its hands off.” Ayn Rand.
Debt – Total national assets ($91.3 trillion) that, if sold at some national auction, would not be enough to cover the total funded and unfunded liabilities (approaching $120 trillion).
Debt – In California the bankruptcy dominoes are starting to fall, first the city of Vallejo, then Stockton, then Mammoth Lakes, and now San Bernadino, and soon possibly Compton.
Jobs – It is no coincidence that the jump in workers on disability happens at the same time that their unemployment benefits expire, begging the question if disabled or just addicted.
TARP – GM still owes $27 billion on the nearly $50 billion it received from the auto bailout and Ally Bank (GMAC) owes $14.7 billion of the $17.2 billion taxpayer-funded bailout it received.
Energy – The drought in the Corn Belt is going to result in higher food prices, because ethanol burns up 40% of the U.S. corn crop, so Obama should suspend these impractical mandates.
Housing – Since foreclosures hitting blacks and Latinos hardest, the administration refusing to learn from past mistakes, issued new minority-friendly mortgage underwriting guidelines.
Health Care – Despite universal coverage being its prime justification, the latest CBO study reveals that ObamaCare, after spending $1.2 trillion, will leave 30 million without coverage.
Health Care – President George W. Bush deserves credit for his initiative to combat AIDS in Africa, saving two million people with anti-retroviral drugs to keep the virus in check.
Taxes – Internet sales taxes could be justified, if they were part of a conversion from income taxes to a consumption-based Fair Tax system, but is just another tax increase otherwise.
Taxes – Bush tax cuts, implemented in 2003, resulted in steady job growth until housing crash.
Economy – I expect the next President to inherit another recession (or continuation of the current recession) due to the stagnant economy and the effect of choking regulation.
Debt – I expect that the country’s credit rating will again be downgraded after Congress debt ceiling discussions again fail to find sufficient spending cuts to halt deficit spending.
Deficit – I expect one or more states to declare bankruptcy by 2012 and seek assistance to recover from the bad economic decisions of the past under federal judicial protection.
Housing – I expect that it will take four or more years at the current rate for the backlog of foreclosures to finally clear, before we see any signs of life of a robust housing recovery.
Government – “Every movement that seeks to enslave a country, every dictatorship or potential dictatorship; needs some minority group as a scapegoat which it can blame for the nation’s troubles and use as a justification of its own demands for dictatorial powers. In Soviet Russia, the scapegoat was the bourgeoisie; in Nazi Germany, it was the Jewish people; in America, it is the businessmen.” Ayn Rand.
Foreign Policy – Michelle Bachmann is right to question Juma Abedin’s views and motivation, so she does not become the next Alger Hiss infiltrating and corrupting policy making.
GWOT – There are 44 conflicts around the world between Muslims and non-Muslims, regardless of nationality, language, passport, or region of the world they live in.
Iraq – President Obama argues that he “responsibly” ended the war in Iraq, but he seems blinded to the re-emergence of al Qaeda in Iraq as an active Islamist terrorist organization.
Syria – The dictatorship has reminded the world that it possess weapons of mass destruction (chemical weapons and the remnant so Iraq WMDs) and Hezbollah lurks in the shadows .
United Nations – The Global Commission on HIV and the Law recommends decriminalizing private and consensual sexual behaviors, including same-sex acts and voluntary sex work.
Israel – I expect that Israel will be attacked by Hamas again in 2012 and the IDF will retaliate by invading and then annexing Gaza based on the concept of defensible borders.
Israel – I expect that Israel will suffer a nuclear attack from Islamist extremists by 2012, and Obama will stand aside and not help defend this longtime ally.
Asia – I expect that North Korea will attack South Korea and attempt to reunite Korea by the 2012, and Obama will be an unwitting accomplice as he abandons this ally in a time of war.

David Coughlin
Hawthorne, NY
www.ReturnToCommonSensesite.com

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