BCRW Bag Ban Forum - Support for repeal grows

On Monday, March 25th, the Benton County Republican Women held a Bag Ban Forum at the Comfort Inn Suites in Corvallis with representatives from local businesses, the Corvallis City Council and Voters for Effective Environmental Policy (VEEP). The audience was welcome to ask questions and express their views on the ban on single use plastic bags and related issues. See story and videos at Corvallis TidBits: Plastic Bag Ban Challenge Closer to Becoming Reality. ✧ Visit Voters for Effective Environmental Policy (VEEP) online: https://sites.google.com/site/veepcv/".

BCRW offers its appreciation to Susan McMahon, owner of Donna Bella Lingerie; Catherine Mater, civic, business leader with sustainability expertise; Wiatt Kettle, Milt Weaver and Bruce Harmon of VEEP and; Corvallis City Councilor Biff Traber of Ward 8.

UPDATE NOTICE: Representatives from Voters for Effective Environmental Policy (VEEP) will be the guest speakers at a special meeting of Benton County AFP on Saturday, April 13th, from 11AM to 1PM at King Tin Restaurant, 1857 NW 9th St., in Corvallis. VEEP is circulating a petition to repeal the bag ban ordinance. Read More......

Senate votes to kill Obamacare medical device tax

The Senate on Thursday voted to repeal a sales tax on medical devices that is part of President Obama’s health-care law, a rare bipartisan attempt to strip away a section of the controversial reforms. ✧ Sens. Orrin Hatch, Utah Republican, and Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota Democrat, led the amendment, which passed on a 79-20 vote during debate over the chamber’s budget plan for the coming fiscal year. Read more at the Washington Times... Read More......

U.S. Carbon Emissions Down Due to Increased Use of Natural Gas

The most underreported recent environmental story has been the dramatic decline in energy-related carbon emissions — nearly back to mid-1990s levels, and falling. ✧ Maybe it’s because that story just doesn’t fit the left’s mantra that traditional energy sources are destroying the environment. Read more at Outside the Beltway... Read More......

Senate Votes to Stop US From Joining UN Arms Trade Treaty

Patriot Update - In the last batch of amendment votes to the budget, the Senate voted on several foreign policy proposals. ✧ Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) introduced an amendment that would prevent the United States from entering into the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty in order to uphold the Second Amendment. His amendment passed on a 53-46 vote. ✧ Republicans have been critical of President Obama’s decision to consider the treaty, although Obama has said he would not vote for anything that would violate the Second Amendment. ✧ The U.N. Arms Trade Treaty would regulate international arms sales. Negotiations end on March 28.

Note: Oregon's U.S. Senators, Merkeley and Wyden, voted against the amendment. Read More......

On government spending, GOP faces a reckoning

(Hat tip: John H. Detweiler) It is not surprising that House Republicans have chosen to embrace sequestration’s arbitrary reductions and promote even harsher cuts to government health and education services. Reducing government’s size has been the central goal of the conservative coalition in Congress for at least a decade. ✧ But the so-called sequester may well be the beginning of the end of the budget wars that have long gripped Washington, because Republicans may soon face an electoral reckoning they cannot overcome. The rising coalition of African Americans, Latinos, Asians, women and young people that helped reelect President Obama does not share the anti-government sentiment of the conservative base. Time is running out for those on the right who are seeking to slash the size of government. Read more at the Washington Post...

Related: Chicks on the Right - This Is Conservatism's Biggest Challenge Read More......

Top Ten Obamacare Horror Stories the Media are Covering Up

John Nolte at Breitbart News writes, "Because the mainstream media lobbied every bit as hard as Obama to win passage of ObamaCare, they are every bit as invested in doing whatever is necessary to see that it is perceived as a success. Unfortunately for Americans who expect truth from their media, this means the media are having to manufacture a false reality that says ObamaCare is, to steal a phrase, 'doing fine.' ✧ In order to manufacture this phony reality, the media must further sell their blackened soul by violating one of their most cherished principals: reporting on how government policy hits America's weakest the hardest. It's just a fact that the worst fallout of ObamaCare is already landing hard on the working class, who are losing work hours, jobs, and their insurance." Read more at Breitbart... Read More......

Why Rand Paul's 13-Hour Filibuster Matters

WASHINGTON EXAMINER by Timothy P. Carney, Senior Political Columnist (via Fox Nation) - What did Rand Paul accomplish last night? ✧ Besides delaying for a day the vote on President Obama’s nominee to head the CIA, John Brennan, did Sen. Rand Paul accomplish anything besides “blowing up Twitter,” as his cohort Ted Cruz put it? He certainly did. How much he accomplished will be determined, but here are some places to look: [Abreviated] ✧ He got the major media talking; he got many Republicans to express objections to extrajudicial drone killings; he made a conservative case for limiting war powers; he made a libertarian outreach to the anti-war Left; he exposed the craven partisanship of the Democrats [with a few exceptions including Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR)] and; he made himself a major Republican figure. Read more at Fox Nation...

Related:
Reason Magazine: 3 Takeaways from Rand Paul's #StandwithRand #Filibuster About Drone Strikes
KETV7: 'We had no plan' Read More......

Is Oregon Writing the Worst Gun Law Evah?

IMPORTANT! The Benton County Republican Women are organizing a campaign to write, call and email the Oregon legislators (all Democrats) responsible for this "Emergency" gun grab bill. Watch for details and please join the effort.

Hot Air, February 23, 2013 by Jazz Shaw - Living in New York, we’re no strangers to really restrictive new gun laws, but you sort of expect that out here. We now have real competition in the race to the bottom, though, if Democratic legislators in Oregon have their way. In fact, if HB 3200 gets passed into law on the 25th, pack up and leave the state if you have any interest in Second Amendment rights. Read more at Hot Air...

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City spending, analytics & setting priorities

John Detweiler has submitted a letter to the editor regarding the City of Corvallis' desire to reopen Fire Station #5. The letter reads:

As I have said many times, there will never be enough money to fund everything. Therefore, we need to set priorities and make choices. Moreover, we need to support those choices with appropriate analytical work.

The City Council is considering reopening fire station five. Yet, the Corvallis Fire Department Response Time Simulation Study, dated April 25, 2012, tells us that we gained an average ten seconds in EMS response time and lost eleven seconds in average fire initial response time when we closed station five - a trivial amount of time. Are we conveniently ignoring this study now?

The Police Department is still trying to justify more officers by saying comparable cities have so many sworn officers per population, therefore Corvallis should have the same number. The underlying assumption being that the demand for service in the comparable cities is equal to that in Corvallis. Nothing is being said about the demand for service in Corvallis that Matrix Consulting Group quantified in 2008. Considering the growth in demand for service because of the OSU expansion, that quantification needs to be updated. Moreover, we need to establish the current relationship between the response time and the number of officers we deploy as I did in 2009 with the Matrix data - see my web site: www.peak.org/~detweij.

Any reduction in, or failure to increase, services will have adverse effects on public safety. But, since we can't afford everything, risk needs to be balanced against costs. That is what good governing is all about.

John H. Detweiler

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Communist Goals (Congressional Record, 1963)

In 1963, a list of 45 Communist Goals was introduced into the Congressional Record. We have posted this list before but thought it a good idea to refer to it again so you can determine if, or how far, these goals have 'progressed' in America. BCRW Resources: 45 Communist Goals (Congressional Record, 1963).

(Hat tip: Susan Newby) Read More......

The Educated Socialism of Obama

We generally do not post advertisements but I am doing so now, not for any financial recommendation, but for the historical and analogous information regarding our economy.  On 2/16/2013, Steve Sjuggerud's DailyWealth, a free email subscription, contained an article by Porter Stansberry, who did an excellent job of describing the perils of the economy and social ills we have been experiencing and are experiencing even more so now under President Obama. --bc

In Wednesday's essay, I laid out the "great lie" that is bankrupting America. ✧ At the heart of this lie – told by so many of our political leaders and believed by so many of my fellow citizens – is a horrifying turn of events. As I mentioned, the drive for freedom and a better life through hard work, saving, and independence has been replaced by a craven need for the illusion of security. ✧ Rather than trying to leave our children in possession of a better world – with more financial security – political leaders around the world now bicker about how to change the rules so that still more debt can be stacked upon their grandchildren. ✧ For an idea on how things will turn out, a few lessons from history are instructive...

The Spanish Empire destroyed itself by "finding" money, rather than by building industries. And the key to its temporary wealth was a single mountain in Bolivia, "Cerro Rico" – the Mountain of Riches.

At least, that's what the Conquistadors named it. In Bolivia, they call it "the mountain that eats people." Thousands of slaves died trying to satisfy Spain's lust for treasure.

In Cerro Rico today, silver is still mined by people making a few dollars a day using pickaxes in dust-filled shafts with no ventilation, no light, and no safety features of any kind. The 10,000 miners who work there every day toil under the constant fear that the entire mountain could collapse on them. After 400 years of unregulated mining, it's like Swiss cheese.

Bolivia's politicians use these conditions to demand more power and implement more socialism. Of course, it's the poverty caused by decades of socialism that actually prevents modern mines from being built.

Last month, Bolivia's current socialist strongman, Evo Morales, published his Ten Commandments Against Capitalism. He starts out broadly with No. 10…

Economic development must not be oriented to the market, to capital and to profit; development must be comprehensive and be oriented to human happiness, harmony and equilibrium with Mother Earth.

Then he gets to the real point…

We must free ourselves from that colonial bond called the External Debt, which serves only to blackmail us, to oblige us to hand over our assets and privatize our natural resources, and to destroy the sovereignty of peoples and states.

The colonial External Debt is the mechanism of exaction and impoverishment that afflicts the developing countries and limits their access to development. We call for canceling this unjust External Debt. No more inequality. No more poverty. It is time to distribute the wealth.

 These aren't just empty words, either. In June 2011, Morales nationalized the Toronto-listed South American Silver exploration firm, promising only compensation "later." Six weeks later, Bolivia decided that the compensation paid to the Canadians would be zero. Nada, zilch, nothing. Apparently, it was time to seize their wealth.

The people of Bolivia cheered this madness. As their reward… Bolivians will continue to work in some of the most dangerous and least-efficient mines in the world. Their real wages will continue to fall. That's because without capital investment, without savings, without property rights… without the responsibilities of capitalism… there will be no increase in wealth.

Bolivia's socialist policies will have the same economic effect as similar activities in Venezuela and Argentina… The black market rate for dollars in Venezuela is three to four times higher than the official exchange rate. In Argentina, the "blue" dollar rate is 50% more than the official rate.

The looming crisis in these countries interests us in two ways… First, because so much of the world's raw materials (including food and hard commodities, like metals) come from countries like these, a return to socialism will undoubtedly cause shortages and price spikes around the world.

But on a more important and deeper level, ask yourself, what's the real difference between Evo Morales and our current American political leaders?

President Obama and his puppet at the central bank, Federal Reserve Chief Ben Bernanke, are also calling for us to cancel our external debt. They're just saying it in a smarter way, calling it "quantitative easing."

And what's the real difference between what Morales advocates in his Ten Commandments Against Capitalism and what's happened in the U.S. over the past decade? First, President Bush granted free medicine to every retired American. Then, Obama pushed through "free" health care for everyone. In his State of the Union address, he labeled these benefits, plus Social Security payments, "civil rights."

That's pure madness. Rights are something you're born with as a human being. They describe what people can't do to you or take from you.

The government cannot guarantee you any benefit or service without first taking it from someone else. That's why the promise of socialism is merely the promise of plunder. Whether it will benefit you depends on where you stand. However, the nation as a whole cannot become wealthy through the plunder of its own citizens. This one fact explains why Argentina – which was the fifth-wealthiest nation in the world 100 years ago – now ranks 50th.

That's where we're headed. Make no mistake. By 2020, the costs of Social Security and Medicare alone will reach $2.5 trillion a year. That's more than the U.S. federal government collects in all forms of tax ($2.4 trillion) today.

The only things funding these programs are lies and taxes. We've been paying for these programs out of current revenues all along – just like convicted hedge-fund scammer Bernie Madoff used new money to create the illusion of returns for existing clients. There is no way we can afford these obligations without making them far more redistributive and increasing payroll taxes enormously. Obama says "of course" we need more taxes. And he's going to do everything in his power to levy them.

It's time to distribute the wealth, all around the world.

AT THIS POINT THE ARTICLE TURNS INTO A FINANCIAL RECOMMENDATION BUT THE INFORMATION IS STILL WORTHWHILE READING. --bc

The true costs of the world's return to socialism will strike the mining industry first. That's because mining requires immense capital investments over long periods of time. These mines are sitting ducks for politicians, who can tax them or nationalize them easily… all while the public cheers them on…

TAKE NOTE THAT STANSBERRY WRITES, "...THE WORLD'S RETURN TO SOCIALISM WILL STRIKE THE MINING INDUSTRY FIRST." OTHER INDUSTRIES WILL FOLLOW. --bc

But that greatly reduces existing supply and makes new supplies incredibly difficult to procure. In short, you can print money, but you can't print metals. And this explains the price spike in gold and silver over the last four years.

Still, all these precious metals do come from somewhere…

While we don't believe that mining companies are a good investment in the long run, they can be incredibly lucrative as short-term speculations. Politically driven market disruptions make mining stocks soar. That's why gold- and silver-mining companies have also long been thought of as crisis hedges – just like refined metal. And we're about to enter an extended – perhaps decades-long – period of unprecedented, politically caused market disruption.

That's why I'm encouraging my readers to buy precious metals like gold, silver, and platinum. Although these metals have appreciated in value over the past 12 years, they have much further to run.

Good investing,

Porter Stansberry

Further Reading: "The world's markets are beginning to go haywire," Porter wrote Wednesday. "You can see the signs everywhere… And the best way to protect yourself from catastrophe is to benefit from the same policies that are causing it." Get the details here: The Great Lie That Will Bankrupt America.

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Super Bowl Parody Ad

God Didn’t Just Make Farmers. He Made Liberals, Too. Watch This Super Bowl Parody Ad. Read More......

Obama's Most Audacious SOTU Lie

It is difficult to say with certainly which of the many whoppers President Obama told tonight took the most crust to utter, but my money is going on this assertion, made a few minutes into the speech: “Already, the Affordable Care Act is helping to slow the growth of health care costs.” I know “Orwellian” has now become rather hackneyed, but there is simply no other adjective that better describes this statement. It is not merely a lie. It is the precise opposite of the truth. It is just as absurd as “war is peace” or “freedom is slavery.” Read more at American Spectator... Read More......

Dr. Benjamin Carson's Amazing Speech at the National Prayer Breakfast

Dr. Benjamin Carson, Pediatric Neurosurgeon and Division Head at John Hopkins Hospital, gave a speech that has received criticism from the Left for 'inappropriateness' and raves from many on the Right at the Fellowship Foundation's National Prayer Breakfast held at the White House last week. With President and Mrs. Obama looking on, Dr. Carson used bible references, American history, personal experiences, de Tocqueville and a parable to say that America is on the wrong course. Dr. Carson warned of the dangers of Political Correctness and how it stifles the exchange of ideas, understanding, and freedom of speech. He talked about 'fairness' in taxation through a biblical proportional system. He spoke of the importance of education and how destructive and costly today's dumbed-down education is while describing the successes of his Carson Scholars Fund. He spoke about Health Savings Accounts and how they can improve health and the health care system. In Carson's soft spoken manner he delivered the antithesis of Obama's vision for America. The Wall Street Journal wrote about the speech under the title, "Ben Carson for President."

YouTube Video: Dr. Benjamin Carson's Amazing Speech at the National Prayer Breakfast (27:31)
[Added 2/15] Transcript: Dr. Benjamin Carson's Speech

Dr. Ben Carson, with his wife Candy Carson, is the author of "America the Beautiful: Rediscovering What Made This Nation Great" (Jan 24, 2012). In addition, Dr. Carson has co-authored a number of inspiring books including "Take the Risk", "The Big Picture", "Think Big" and "Gifted Hands". Read More......

Pravda: The global crisis and the appropriation of wealth

PRAVDA, 2/12/2013 - Reading articles published by Pravda, are interesting in that they let us know how others see us. "The global crisis and the appropriation of wealth" by Gelio Fregapani (translated from the Portuguese version of Pravda/RU) is such an article. Read it here... Read More......

Pravda: Americans never give up your guns

PRAVDA (English), 12/28/2012 by Stanislav Mishin - This article, Americans never give up your guns, and all its links make for uncomfortable, yet valuable reading to garner a peek at America from the perspective of Mr. Mishin and other Russian contributors who value their freedom. The comment sections are interesting as well.

These days, there are few things to admire about the socialist, bankrupt and culturally degenerating USA, but at least so far, one thing remains: the right to bear arms and use [of] deadly force to defend one's self and possessions. Read more at Pravda...

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Oregon Senate Bill 71: Relating to drones; and declaring an emergency

Summary of SB 71 (Current Version): Imposes restrictions on use of drones by private parties and public entities. Creates various crimes for unauthorized use of drones. Punishes by maximum of 20 years' imprisonment, $375,000 fine, or both. ✧ Directs Department of State Police to establish registry of certain drones used by public bodies. ✧ Permits Oregon Department of Aviation to issue licenses for use of drones. ✧ Declares emergency, effective on passage. Read more...

2013 Regular Session
Current: In Senate Committee Read More......

AIM: Racial Bias In Texas [Academia]

The National Association of Scholars (NAS) found the history courses in two flagship universities in Texas—the University of Texas at Austin (UT) and Texas A&M University at College Station(A&M)— to be racially biased, but not in the manner in which the Left understands the term. “We found that all too often the course readings gave strong emphasis to race, class, or gender (RCG) social history, an emphasis so strong that it diminished the attention given to other subjects in American history (such as military, diplomatic, religious, intellectual history),” the NAS concluded. “The result is that these institutions frequently offered students a less-than-comprehensive picture of U.S. history.” Read more at Accuracy In Media (AIM)... Read More......

Commentary Magazine: Hagel’s Credibility Left in Shreds

It’s not clear if administration sources that leaked the story that Chuck Hagel had three practice sessions before a mock committee before his actual Senate confirmation hearing were trying to help or hurt the former senator. Hagel’s performance was so shaky that even some of his liberal supporters like Peter Beinart were lamenting on Twitter about his stumbling and bumbling answers to tough questions. That he flopped so badly after being rehearsed speaks volumes about how bad he was. Read more at Commentary...

Will he be confirmed as Secretary of Defense? Read More......

John Kerry sails in Senate voting

1/29/2012, WASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed President Obama’s nomination of Senator John F. Kerry to be secretary of state on Tuesday, handing the Massachusetts Democrat a redemptive career victory that ensconces him in an elite echelon of national leadership nine years after his failed bid for the presidency. The 94-to-3 vote was the final hurdle for Kerry, whose nomination roared through the Senate after Obama’s first choice of UN Ambassador Susan Rice ­encountered stiff GOP opposition and never got off the ground. Read more at Boston Globe... Read More......

GT: OWEB weighs local conservation grants

Bennett Hall of the Corvallis Gazette-Times reports that, "A state agency will take comments on two grant requests to help fund conservation projects in the Corvallis area at a pair of public hearings this week." [That would be tomorrow, Thursday, January 31st from 10am-Noon at the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library]. The state agency is Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board.

• Benton County is asking for $41,300 for an easement to protect habitat for an endangered butterfly
• The Greenbelt Land Trust is asking for $940,000 to complete the purchase of Bald Hill Farm.

Read more: Corvallis Gazette-Times Read More......

Sunstein: Obama Wants 'Second Bill of Rights'

Mere hours after Breitbart News published an excerpt from an interview with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) in which he speculated that President Barack Obama would "prefer a different kind of constitution," one with a Bill of Rights based on the South African model, former Obama administration regulatory czar Cass Sunstein published an op-ed making a similar argument: that the president wants a "second Bill of Rights" alongside the existing one. Read more at Breitbart... Read More......

'Boomtown' Special Assails D.C. for 'Extracting' Wealth from Taxpayers

BREITBART: BIG GOVERNMENT - In a blockbuster one-hour investigative special that aired on Fox News' "Hannity" on Friday, Peter Schweizer, Steve Bannon, and Sean Hannity exposed how Washington, D.C. has extracted power and money from the United States into a centralized location to become the country's greatest "boomtown," despite not creating anything. ✧ Schweizer, the president of the nonpartisan Government Accountability Institute, highlighted how the permanent political class that relies on lobbying and influence peddling makes more money by "growing the size of government," which leaves no incentive on either side of the aisle to limit government. ✧ As a result, he noted the three richest counties and seven of the top ten wealthiest counties in the nation are in the Washington, D.C. region. The District also consumes the most fine wine in the nation. He asserted the business in Washington is now "not politics" but "money."

Video: Watch Hannity's BoomTown... Read More......

Communist Party USA Cheers Obama’s Gun Grab

CONSERVATIVE BYTE - It should come as no surprise that the Communist Party USA is on board with President Obama’s plan to attack Americans’ right to keep and bear arms as a means to “end gun violence.” A cardinal feature of communist regimes, like all dictatorships, is the prohibition of private ownership of arms, creating a monopoly of force in the hands of the State. ✧ In a January 18 article, People’s World, an official publication of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA), declared that “the ability to live free from the fear or threat of gun violence is a fundamental democratic right — one that far supercedes any so-called personal gun rights allegedly contained in the Second Amendment.” Read more at The New American... Read More......

NRO: What Closing the Gun-Show Loophole Won’t Do

National Review, 1/16/2013 (Hat tip: J. Sinclair and John H. Detweiler) - Author, Clayton E. Cramer claims that, "It is an article of faith that closing the “gun-show loophole” would make America a safer place." He adds, "This might seem surprising, and at first glance, it is. Except for one little detail: Criminals appear not to buy guns at gun shows, because guns are expensive. It is so much cheaper to steal guns instead." Cramer presents details on gun theft as related to recent mass murders in the U.S. Read more at NRO...

Mr. Cramer teaches history at the College of Western Idaho. His most recent book is My Brother Ron: A Personal and Social History of the Deinstitutionalization of the Mentally Ill (2012). Read More......

Guns: Oregon Sheriffs refuse to enforce

Corvallis Gazette-Times, - Yesterday, Fox News featured Linn County Sheriff Tim Mueller's refusal to enforce new gun restrictions if they crossed the line regarding the people's 2nd Amendment rights. Today,1/17/2013, the Corvallis Gazette-Times reported, More Oregon sheriffs join resistance to new gun laws. Read More......

Guns: Obama releases 23 Executive Orders

The following is a list provided by the White House of executive actions President Obama plans to take to address gun violence:

1. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system.
2. Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from making information available to the background check system.
3. Improve incentives for states to share information with the background check system.
4. Direct the Attorney General to review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks.
5. Propose rulemaking to give law enforcement the ability to run a full background check on an individual before returning a seized gun.
6. Publish a letter from ATF to federally licensed gun dealers providing guidance on how to run background checks for private sellers.
7. Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign.
8. Review safety standards for gun locks and gun safes (Consumer Product Safety Commission).
9. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations. 
10.  Release a DOJ report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns and make it widely available to law enforcement.
11. Nominate an ATF director.
12. Provide law enforcement, first responders, and school officials with proper training for active shooter situations. 
13. Maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime.
14. Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence.
15. Direct the Attorney General to issue a report on the availability and most effective use of new gun safety technologies and challenge the private sector to develop innovative technologies.
16. Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes.
17. Release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement authorities.
18. Provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers.
19. Develop model emergency response plans for schools, houses of worship and institutions of higher education.
20. Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental health services that Medicaid plans must cover.
21. Finalize regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity requirements within ACA exchanges.
22. Commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations.
23. Launch a national dialogue led by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan on mental health.

(Hat tip: Fox Nation) Read More......

Columbine Student's Father, 12 years later...

Via email, 1/1/2013 (Hat tip: Jane Newton) - I guess our national leaders didn't expect this. On Thursday, Darrell Scott, the father of Rachel Scott, a victim of the Columbine High School shootings in Littleton, Colorado, was invited to address the House Judiciary Committee's subcommittee. What he said to our national leaders during this special session of Congress was painfully truthful. ✧ They were not prepared for what he was to say, nor was it received well. It needs to be heard by every parent, every teacher, every politician, every sociologist, every psychologist, and every so-called expert! These courageous words spoken by Darrell Scott are powerful, penetrating, and deeply personal. There is no doubt that God sent this man as a voice crying in the wilderness.. The following is a portion of the transcript:

"Since the dawn of creation there has been both good &evil in the hearts of men and women. We all contain the seeds of kindness or the seeds of violence. The death of my wonderful daughter, Rachel Joy Scott, and the deaths of that heroic teacher, and the other eleven children who died must not be in vain. Their blood cries out for answers.

"The first recorded act of violence was when Cain slew his brother Abel out in the field. The villain was not the club he used.. Neither was it the NCA, the National Club Association. The true killer was Cain, and the reason for the murder could only be found in Cain's heart.

"In the days that followed the Columbine tragedy, I was amazed at how quickly fingers began to be pointed at groups such as the NRA. I am not a member of the NRA. I am not a hunter. I do not even own a gun. I am not here to represent or defend the NRA - because I don't believe that they are responsible for my daughter's death. Therefore I do not believe that they need to be defended. If I believed they had anything to do with Rachel's murder I would be their strongest opponent

I am here today to declare that Columbine was not just a tragedy -- it was a spiritual event that should be forcing us to look at where the real blame lies! Much of the blame lies here in this room. Much of the blame lies behind the pointing fingers of the accusers themselves. I wrote a poem just four nights ago that expresses my feelings best.

Your laws ignore our deepest needs,
Your words are empty air.
You've stripped away our heritage,
You've outlawed simple prayer.
Now gunshots fill our classrooms,
And precious children die.
You seek for answers everywhere,
And ask the question "Why?"
You regulate restrictive laws,
Through legislative creed.
And yet you fail to understand,
That God is what we need!

"Men and women are three-part beings. We all consist of body, mind, and spirit. When we refuse to acknowledge a third part of our make-up, we create a void that allows evil, prejudice, and hatred to rush in and wreak havoc. Spiritual presences were present within our educational systems for most of our nation's history. Many of our major colleges began as theological seminaries. This is a historical fact. What has happened to us as a nation? We have refused to honor God, and in so doing, we open the doors to hatred and violence. And when something as terrible as Columbine's tragedy occurs -- politicians immediately look for a scapegoat such as the NRA. They immediately seek to pass more restrictive laws that contribute to erode away our personal and private liberties. We do not need more restrictive laws. Eric and Dylan would not have been stopped by metal detectors. No amount of gun laws can stop someone who spends months planning this type of massacre. The real villain lies within our own hearts.

"As my son Craig lay under that table in the school library and saw his two friends murdered before his very eyes, he did not hesitate to pray in school. I defy any law or politician to deny him that right! I challenge every young person in America , and around the world, to realize that on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School prayer was brought back to our schools. Do not let the many prayers offered by those students be in vain. Dare to move into the new millennium with a sacred disregard for legislation that violates your God-given right to communicate with Him. To those of you who would point your finger at the NRA -- I give to you a sincere challenge. Dare to examine your own heart before casting the first stone!

My daughter's death will not be in vain! The young people of this country will not allow that to happen!"

- Darrell Scott

Do what the media did not - - let the nation hear this man's speech. Please send this out to everyone you can.

God Bless Read More......

Correia: An Opinion on Gun Control

This post links to a long article, which is the best dismantling of the usual gun control arguments. The author's background makes him a vital source for information on guns, law (past and present), the Supreme Court rulings regarding the 2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution regarding arms. He maintains that gun rights are not for 'hunting' but rather for 'protection.' One of his recommendations is to take down all "Gun Free Zone" signs. Read more of Larry Correia's recommendations to help prevent future gun violence and massacres such as the recent Massachusetts school shooting. An Opinion on Gun Control. Read More......

Can you pass a US citizenship test?

In order to become a US citizen, immigrants must pass the Naturalization Test. American citizenship bestows the right to vote, improves the likelihood of family members living in other countries to come and live in the US, gives eligibility for federal jobs, and can be a way to demonstrate loyalty to the US. Applicants must get 6 answers out of 10 in an oral exam to pass the test. According to US Citizenship and Immigration services, 92 percent of applicants pass this test.

You must get 58 or more of these test questions correct in order to pass.
Source: Christian Science Monitor Read More......

Gunman dead after killing 20 children, 6 adults at Connecticut elementary school

A man killed his mother at home and then opened fire Friday inside a Connecticut elementary school, massacring 26 people, including 20 young children, as youngsters cowered in their classrooms and trembled helplessly to the sound of gunfire reverberating through the building. ✧ The shooter, who sources identified as Adam Lanza, 20, shot his mother, Nancy Lanza, in the face at their home in Newtown, Conn., then went to nearby Sandy Hook Elementary School where she taught and gunned down her entire class, bringing the death toll to 28, according to sources. ✧ Lanza was found dead inside the school, according to officials. Eighteen of the children and six more adults were dead at the school and two more children died later, according to Connecticut State Police Lt. Paul Vance. Read more at Fox News...

Prayers for the little children and those whose lives were taken today in CT. Prayers also for their families who were forced to deal with unimaginable grief and the most painful loss. So many prayers from our nation. Read More......

EPA says WATER is a pollutant; Virginia AG sues

A heated legal battle between Virginia officials and the Environmental Protection Agency over what EPA critics describe as a land takeover gets its day in federal court Friday. ✧ The EPA, citing an abundance of stormwater runoff, has proposed a plan that Virginia officials say would cost them nearly half a billion dollars -- and could cost homeowners and businesses their private property.

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, a Republican, says what the EPA has proposed is "illegal," and he's not alone in the fight. He's been joined in a lawsuit against the federal agency by the Democratic-controlled Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. ✧ Cuccinelli argues that what the EPA has planned would require state and county officials to "take people's houses, evict them, knock the houses down and plant grass." Read more at Fox News...

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Chaffetz: State Department Hiding Benghazi Survivors

"Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) told Breitbart News on Wednesday that he has been 'thwarted' by the State Department from seeing any Americans who survived the deadly attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi. Many people forget that there were Americans who survived the Benghazi attack, some of whom were badly injured and are still recovering." Read more at Breitbart/Big Peace...

 Rep. Chaffetz is a member of Congress, and Chair of a foreign relations and national security subcommittee. Read More......

Clackamas Town Center shooting: 3 dead, including shooter; 1 seriously injured

A gunman who terrorized the Clackamas Town Center Tuesday afternoon, firing dozens of shots from an automatic weapon and killing two people, has been confirmed dead. A third victim was seriously injured. ✧ Lt. James Rhodes, a sheriff’s office spokesman, said he believed the gunman acted alone. “There was one and only one,” he said at a news conference. Read more at Oregon Live...

 Update due Wednesday AM.

 Prayers to the loved ones of those who lost their lives in this senseless shooting. --bc Read More......

Concerns About Sovereignty Lead Senate Conservatives to Nix U.N. Treaty on Disabled

(12-5-2012, CNSNews.com) – Conservative groups welcomed the U.S. Senate’s failure on Tuesday to ratify a United Nations disabilities treaty, which they view as an infringement of U.S. sovereignty. But Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), a leading proponent, called it “one of the saddest days I’ve seen in almost 28 years in the Senate.” ✧ The Senate voted 61-38 in favor of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), falling five votes short of the required two-thirds majority. ✧ Eight Republicans voted with Democrats for the measure. No Democrats voted against it.

Republicans who voted with the Democrats in favor were Sens. Kelly Ayotte (N.H.), John Barrasso (Wyo.), Scott Brown (Mass.), Susan Collins (Maine), Dick Lugar (Ind.), John McCain (Ariz.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Olympia Snowe (Maine). ✧ Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) did not vote. Read more at CNSNews... Read More......

Michigan: Union Workers Assault Crowder at Anti "Right-to-Work" Protest

12-11-12 - Steven Crowder asks union workers protesting the Michigan Legislature's vote to make Michigan a Right-to-Work state why they oppose "Right-to-Work"? Crowder also tried to stop protestors from tearing down Americans for Prosperity's tent, which had held 60-70 people. Video contains VIOLENCE.

Stephen Crowder is a stand up comedian, a FoxNews Contributor and social/political commentator.

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Cover Oregon Gets Federal Nod for Health Insurance Exchange

Yesterday the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) gave Oregon conditional approval for its plan to operate a health insurance exchange – called Cover Oregon – which will help connect thousands of Oregonians to health coverage. Oregon was among the first six states in the nation to receive conditional approval of its “blueprint” application. Read more at Cascade Business News... Read More......

WaPo: Republicans should stand and fight

12/10/2012 by Marc A. Thiessen (Hat tip: John H. Detweiler) - When the 1st Marine Regiment was encircled by communist forces at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, Marine Col. Lewis “Chesty” Puller was said to have declared: “We’re surrounded. Good! Now we can fire in any direction.” ✧ It’s time for congressional Republicans to adopt some of Puller’s courage — and strategy — when it comes to their fiscal stand-off with Barack Obama. Read Thiessen's three part plan... Read More......

Henninger: Obama's Ruinous Course

Daniel Henninger: Where in his career did Barack Obama ever learn the art of the political deal? Nowhere. ✧ Barack Obama says his election victory is a mandate to pursue the policy course he's insisting on in negotiations with Republicans on the fiscal cliff. He wants a tax increase of $1.6 trillion, $50 billion of new and immediate stimulus spending and the end of congressional approval to raise the ceiling on U.S. debt—the debt that a ratings agency downgraded in 2011. Read more at the Wall Street Journal...

Note: Since the House is still in Republican control, Obama did NOT get a mandate. Spread this news whenever you hear the mandate claim! --bc Read More......

Michigan to become 24th 'Right-to-Work' state

By Bryan Preston at The PJ Tatler - Michigan is about to become the 24th right-to-work state in the United States. This afternoon its House passed right-to-work legislation 57-50. The Senate followed suit and passed it 22-16. Gov. Rick Snyder (R) is expected to sign the bills into law, as right-to-work was one of his highest priorities of the legislative session. ✧ President Barack Obama, naturally, opposed the bill, which makes it illegal for unions to skim the paychecks of non-union workers in the state. Otherwise, right-to-work has no effect on collective bargaining rights. The president’s opposition is all about supporting Big Labor’s agenda against the interests of workers.

Hey, Oregon! Listen up!!! --bc Read More......

Boehner removes fiscal conservatives Huelskamp and Amash from House Budget Committee

12/6/2012 - Congressman Tim Huelskamp of Kansas and Congressman Justin Amash of Michigan appeared on Hannity (video) to discuss how they were removed from the House Budget Committee by Republican leadership for sticking to their principles and for attempting to hold Washington to a higher standard of fiscal responsibility. They called for GOP leadership to release the list of votes used to judge members and that ultimately resulted in Huelskamp and Amash being removed from the House Budget Committee. Read More......

Sen. Jim DeMint will leave senate to head Heritage

From Ed Feulner, President of The Heritage Foundation:
"I'm delighted to announce that the Board has elected Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina to take over next April as President of The Heritage Foundation. ✧ Jim, who will resign his Senate seat before then, needs little introduction. He has spent most of his life as an entrepreneur, building and running his own marketing firm. In 1998 he won a seat in the House of Representatives and in 2004 was elected to the Senate. ✧ His conservative credentials are sterling. National Journal recently ranked him as the most conservative member of the Senate. Americans for Tax Reform named him the No. 1 senator for his voting record on tax and spending policies. He is a favorite of the Tea Party, and he has earned a tremendous 99% rating from Heritage Action for America." Read More......

An open letter to Bob Costas and Jason Whitlock from Alexandria

Let us not beat around the bush, you want to sacrifice my life on the altar of your political beliefs. How dare you? Honestly, who do the two of you think you are to demand that my blood be shed so that you may preen about what wonderful people you are? Why, precisely, are you removing the responsibility for Kasandra Perkins’ murder from Jovan Belcher and placing it on an inanimate object? That is what you are doing, after all. Your position is that absent the gun, Jovan Belcher would not have murdered Kasandra Perkins. What utter rot. It’s not as if, to pick something at random, he could have picked up a knife and slit her throat so violently that she was nearly decapitated. Oh no, that would never ever happen. By focusing on the gun, you are choosing to make Jovan Belcher a mere bystander to his own actions. That is horrific. Jovan Belcher murdered Kasandra Perkins. He chose to pull that trigger. He chose to take her life. How dare you attempt to absolve him in even the slightest manner for that crime. He killed her. Not a gun. He did it. No one else. Read more from Alexandra at Doubleplusundead... Read More......

Charen: What the Budget Impasse is Really About

Mona Charen - We are headed for something much worse than the fiscal cliff. ✧ When governments cannot pay their current employees because they’ve gone broke paying pensions to previous employees (among other obligations), you don’t get a “fiscal cliff” or even a bad recession, you get the unraveling of civilization. ✧ That is how Republicans should present the stakes in the budget impasse when speaking to the press. So far, John Boehner has described the president’s proposals as “unserious” and Mitch McConnell has let it be known that he laughed in Tim Geithner’s face. Do either of those responses convince the average voter that something is at stake here beyond Republicans protecting their wealthy friends? Read more at NRO... Read More......

Red Nightmare (1962)

Jack Webb (Dragnet) plays a Rod Serling-like role as he introduces us to Jerry Donovan -- an average guy who shrugs off his inconvenient, civic responsibilities. Jerry "wakes up" in a communist-controlled town, where he's the only American left. This film was produced for the Defense Department by studio mogul Jack L Warner and stars many Warner Brothers stock actors -- including Jack Kelly (Maverick), Robert Conrad (Wild Wild West) and Andrew Duggan. At the time, Jack L. Warner was very staunch anti-Communist, even though he released a pro-Communist feature film, Mission to Moscow, in 1943. Producer: Department of Defense / Warner Brothers
(Hat tip: gerardvanderleun) Read More......

"Once upon a time..." from Facebook

A post by Bill Sizemore on Facebook generated quite a few comments and has been highly shared. Click the "Read more" and feel free to comment.

Once upon a time I was invited to the White House for a private dinner with the President.

I am a respected businessman, with a factory that produces memory chips for computers and portable electronics.

There was some talk that my industry was being scrutinized by the administration, but I paid it no mind. I live in a FREE country. There's nothing that the government can do to me if I've broken no laws. My wealth was EARNED honestly, and an invitation to dinner with an American President is an honor.

I checked my coat, was greeted by the Chief of Staff, and joined the President in a yellow dining room.

We sat across from each other at a table draped in white linen. The Great Seal was embossed on the china. Uniformed staff served our dinner.

The meal was served, and I was startled when my waiter suddenly reached out, plucked a dinner roll off my plate and began nibbling it as he walked back to the kitchen.

"Sorry 'bout that," said the President. "Andrew is very hungry."

"I don't appreciate..." I began, but as I looked into the calm brown eyes across from me, I felt immediately guilty and petty. It was just a dinner roll. "Of course," I concluded, and reached for my glass.

Before I could, however, another waiter reached forward, took the glass away and swallowed the wine in a single gulp. "And his brother, Eric, is very thirsty," said the President.

I didn't say anything. The President is testing my compassion, I thought. I withheld my comments and decided to play along. I don't want to seem unkind.

My plate was whisked away before I had tasted a bite.

"Eric's children are also quite hungry."

With a lurch, I crashed to the floor. My chair had been pulled out from under me.

I stood, brushing myself off angrily, and watched as it was carried from the room.

And their grandmother can't stand for long."

I excused myself, smiling outwardly, but inside feeling like a fool. Obviously I had been invited to the White House to be sport for some game. I reached for my coat, to find that it had been taken.

I turned back to the President.

"Their grandfather doesn't like the cold."

I wanted to shout, "that was my coat!" But again, I looked at the placid smiling face of my host and decided I was being a poor sport. I spread my hands helplessly and chuckled.

Then I felt my hip pocket and realized my wallet was gone. I excused myself and walked to a phone on an elegant side table.

I learned shortly that my credit cards had been maxed out, my bank accounts emptied, my retirement and equity portfolios had vanished, and my wife had been thrown out of our home.

Apparently, the waiters and their families were moving in. The President hadn't moved or spoken as I learned all this, but finally I lowered the phone into its cradle and turned to face him.

"Andrew's whole family has made bad financial decisions. They haven't planned for retirement and they need a house. They recently defaulted on a subprime mortgage. I told them they could have your home. They need it more than you do."

My hands were shaking. I felt faint I stumbled back to the table and knelt on the floor.

The President cheerfully cut his meat, ate his steak, and drank his wine. I lowered my eyes and stared at the small grey circles on the tablecloth that were water drops.

"By the way," he added, "I have just signed an Executive Order nationalizing your factories.

I'm firing you as head of your business. I'll be operating the firm now for the benefit of all mankind.

There's a whole bunch of Erics and Andrews out there and they can't come to you for jobs groveling like beggars...we need to spread YOUR wealth around..."

I looked up. The President dropped his spoon into the empty ramekin which had been his crème Brule.

He drained the last drops of his wine. As the table was cleared, he lit a cigarette and leaned back in his chair.

He stared at me. I clung to the edge of the table as if it were a ledge and I were a man hanging over an abyss.

I thought of the years behind me, of the life I had lived. The life I had earned with a lifetime of work, risk and struggle.

Why was I punished? How had I allowed it to be taken? What game had I played and lost? I looked across the table and noticed with some surprise that there was no game board between us.

What had I done wrong?

As if answering the unspoken thought, President Obama suddenly cocked his head, locked his empty eyes to mine, and bared a million teeth, chuckling wryly as he folded his hands.

"You should have stopped me at the dinner roll," he said. Read More......

Brent Bozell calls out GOP leadership on Fiscal Cliff

ForAmerica's Brent Bozell writes the Republican Leadership of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate challenging them on putting tax raises on the table.  The question he asks is, "If you now claim a tax increase on small business is the correct course of action, were you lying all along when you claimed this tax increase would decimate the economy?" See full letter at ForAmerica... Read More......

Red State: Only in Washington

By Daniel Horowitz
For those of us who are not schooled in the ways of Washington, here is a glimpse into the duplicity of the “budget savings” as part of the fiscal cliff negotiations.  Read all about it at Red State... Read More......

Rice: Syria is central to holding together the Mideast

By Condoleezza Rice (Secretary of State from 2005 to 2009)

The civil war in Syria may well be the last act in the story of the disintegration of the Middle East as we know it. The opportunity to hold the region together and to rebuild it on a firmer foundation of tolerance, freedom and, eventually, democratic stability is slipping from our grasp. Read more at the Washington Post...

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D'Souza: Sandwiches, Wagons & Politics

On October 8, 2012, the OSU Socratic Club sponsored a debate between Dinesh D'Souza and Michael Shermer. The topic was "Is Christianity Good for American Politics?" This 7 minute video is from the Q&A session following the debate. D'Souza presents fantastic (and humorous) analogies with a Christian viewpoint to explain his opposition to Obamacare and Obama's "fair share" ethos. (Hat tip: Patricia Anderson)

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