I got a call the other night from my Limbaugh baby. His uncle, a retired member of the U.S. Navy, had called him to obtain contact information for me. “John” (not his real name) wanted to point me in the direction of an article he had received from military.com concerning increases in premium rates for active and retired members of the military.

TRICARE, the insurance company through which our military members receive benefits, is slated to increase premiums on the dental plans for 1.9 million members of all branches of our armed forces. The increase is going to take effect on February 1.

From military.com:

The monthly premium for an active duty family member single plan will increase from $12.12 to $12.69 and the monthly family plan premium will increase from $30.29 to $31.72. The National Guard and Reserve monthly sponsor premium will increase from $12.12 to $12.69. The monthly single premium rate for an Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) sponsor plan and the separate IRR single family member plan will increase from $30.29 to $31.72.

One definitely has to ask about the timing of all of this. Legitimate questions have been raised about how Obamacare is going to be paid for, and it appears that this is going to be the start. If ANYONE deserves to have free, outstanding healthcare for life, it is our veterans who served and continue to serve honorably. Instead, they are being hit to help give healthcare to illegals and fund abortions for the feministas (It’s their eucharist).
The increases seem insignificant on the surface, but when you consider that 1.9 million members are enrolled, it adds up to millions of dollars going to pay for Medicaid increases in Nebraska.

Also at issue is the payment to providers within the healthcare legislation that passed the Senate. What’s that you say? They mentioned nothing about cutting provider payments to TRICARE? Technically, you are correct. But it’s complicated.

Remember McCain railing against the cuts to Medicare providers stuffed in the 1000+ pages of the Senate bill? Guess what. TRICARE provider payments flow from Medicare.

From a 2006 article slamming payment cuts in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin:
“….Tricare, the federal health service program, links its payment rates to Medicare, AMA points out.” [emphasis mine--B & G]
So when Medicare is cut, TRICARE is cut. Great way to treat our military personnel for their sacrifices, eh? It makes me sick to see the military treated this way.

When payments to providers are cut, there will be no incentive to accept TRICARE, thus reducing the number of available physicians. Law of supply and demand will then bring the unthinkable: rationing of care. If I’m wrong, I hope someone out there can correct me.

We always sensed that Obama, Pelosi, Reid, and their ilk always had some axe to grind with our military, and now it appears that they’re ready to make our brave soldiers the first casualty in their fight for socialized medicine.

And now on to the next issue…

COLA (Cost of Living Adjustments) for military personnel stationed within the continental United States (CONUS) are set to drop this year. That’s right. While the price of everything is going up in this country, we’re not going to raise payments to our troops stationed here. In fact, as stated above, military members are set to pay more for insurance premiums while not getting a COLA.
From military.com:

CONUS COLA Set to Drop in 2010

Week of January 04, 2010

The Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) rates for locations within the continental United States (CONUS) will drop for almost everyone in 2010. New York, Staten Island, and Detroit are among the few locations set to increase. In addition, Joliet Army Depot and West Point have been added to the list of COLA eligible Military Housing Areas (MHA), while NAVTRACEN [Naval Training Center] Great Lakes, Fitchburg, Mass., Lake Tahoe, Nev., and more than 20 rural areas in California have been taken off the list for 2010. COLA is determined by several cost of living factors for each given MHA. The Consumer Price Index dropped in 2009, meaning the cost of living in most regions of the U.S. dropped, which is reflected in the reduced 2010 CONUS COLA rates. Check out the Military.com COLA Calculator to see how much you may get in 2010.

I’d love to know how they calculated a drop in the cost of living in most of the U.S. because it sounds like fuzzy math. I know that personally, we have seen our electric bill, our taxes, heating oil, and food bill go up. And living in Pennsylvania is cheap compared to a lot of other parts of the country.

Look at the locations of the few areas set to receive COLA’s. New York, Staten Island, and West Point are all in the state of New York, a normally blue state as is Michigan, where Detroit will also see a COLA for military families. But it’s GOT to be a huge co-inky-dink, right? Or maybe it’s my paranoia showing. The Dems are the party of transparency and honesty, right?
While I pray every night for our troops, I’ll be tossing in a few extra ones in light of the way this administration is slated to treat them.

To Obama, Pelosi, Reid, and minions: To treat our military this way and call yourselves patriotic is the epitome of hypocrisy. Because of the sacrifices these brave people make, you have had the freedom you now enjoy that you want to take away from everyone else. None of you have served your country honorably and are a disgrace to everything our military has fought for over past generations. May God have mercy on your souls. Oops…you don’t have any. Never mind.

(Special thanks to “John” for the tip and for serving our country well. We love you and your fellow soldiers out here!!!)

UPDATE: Libertarian Republican is also running this in part. Stop over by clicking on the link below the header!

I’ve also sent the link to Beck, Rush, and Hannity. I hope this gets out for the sake of our soldiers.

Originally posted at The Right Stuff © Denise

 

WesternFront America

Just one month after Nidal Hasan waged jihad on our troops at Fort Hood, the Army base welcomed Dr. Louay Safi last week. Safi was on base to speak to troops about to be deployed to Afghanistan. According to CBN News, the man who is a top official for the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) was dispatched to teach our soldiers about Islam before heading into Afghanistan.

How does this earn the label “radical?” In 2007, ISNA — the group with Safi in a high position — was named an un-indicted co-conspirator in a trial dealing with the funding of terrorism through the Holy Land Foundation (HLF). The HLF had five members convicted of funneling money into Palestine that allegedly wound up in the hands of Hamas.

Also during the trial of the HLF, evidence was provided by the prosecution that showed ISNA is very closely linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, a jihadist group that has paved the way for groups such as al Qaeda and Hamas.

Dr. Safi has also worked for a Saudi-funded organization called the International Institute of Islamic Thought. The Islamic think-tank, founded in 1981, espouses this overview on their site.

“The International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) is a private, non-profit, academic, cultural and educational institution, concerned with general issues of Islamic thought and education. The Institute was established in the United States of America in 1981 (1401 AH). It is independent of local politics, party orientations and ideological bias.”

Anyone buying that last line??? Didn’t think so.

In 1995, Safi is heard on an FBI wiretap talking to the convicted terrorist Sami al-Arian. al-Arian, a professor of computer science at the University of South Florida in Tampa, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to aid the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Ol’ Sami boy is also a co-founder of ISNA. Let’s see…who holds a high position within ISNA? Oh yeah. Dr. Safi, the man who spoke at Fort Hood last week.

A spokesman for the Army base told CBN News that “Safi was one of the faculty members during a seminar about Islam for the Army’s 135th expeditionary unit. He said speakers are invited based on learning objectives, audience experience, and availability. The spokesman added that “organizers of the seminar were not aware of Safi’s alleged association, but have had no issues or concerns over his presentations nor has any unit raised any.”

ALLEGED association??? I think not. Seems pretty clear to me.

What the hell were Fort Hood officials thinking? One month after 14 were killed at the Army’s largest base, they’re now inviting the enemy to speak there. It’s a disgrace.
PC has no frickin’ place in our military!!!

Originally posted at The Right Stuff © Denise

 

WesternFront America

In the early morning hours of November 15, Christopher Kernich and two fellow students at Kent State, Ohio, were walking down the street when three men in a car nearly hit the group of students. One student allegedly yelled at the men to “watch what you’re doing.” The men then pulled into a nearby driveway, got out, and assaulted the students. Kernich was beaten so severely that he never regained consciousness. He died Saturday.

Christopher, 23, was a star athlete and a business management major at Kent State. Involved in football, basketball, and baseball, he was a handsome young man who will never get to fulfill his dreams because of three thugs. It’s always sad to hear of such a young life being taken under any circumstances, let alone because these “men” were told to be more careful when driving.

Kernich’s mother, an employee for a contractor working at the U.S. Embassy in Iraq, flew home to be at her son’s side as soon as she heard. From experience, I can tell you that this is every mother’s worse nightmare.

Ronald G. Kelly (photo right), 20, and Adrian A. Barker (photo left), 21, both of Akron, have been charged with felonious assault and could face even more charges in light of Kernich’s death. A third suspect remains at large. Kelly and Barker should be facing federal hate crime charges. Why? Because this heinous act was perpetrated by three black men who beat three whites, killing one.

According to John Peach, chief of police at Kent State, racial comments were not the cause of the beating.

“The windows had tinted glass,” he said. “They didn’t know what race was inside the suspects’ car. Some of these rumors that are taking place are ridiculous.”

Some Web sites and blogs have suggested, in explicit language, that Kernich was at fault in the beating.

“Nobody could have predicted how these suspects acted and why,” Peach said. “It’s inexplicable.”

If the roles had been reversed and a black student was killed by three whites, it would be front and center in the media. Eric Holder and BHO would have the killers convicted in the press. But all reports I’ve read on the incident give no indication of the race of the killers. Is it because they’re black? Murder is murder regardless of skin color. Black or white, these scumbags deserve to never see the light of day again.

Since the recent hate crimes legislation was passed, Holder needs to wield the power he has to throw the book at these guys. Of course, my gut tells me he won’t. He refuses to sentence the members of the New Black Panther Party who were convicted on charges of voter intimidation for their menacing presence at a Philadelphia voting center during the last presidential election, so I have my doubts as to whether he’ll charge Kelly and Barker with a federal hate crime.

BHO and Holder wanted hate crime legislation expanded, so let’s see how willing they are to apply it equally under the law. Maybe they’re just waiting for a white on black killing or too busy reading blogs to determine which of us is guilty of a hate crime.

Anyone who may have information on the third person involved in the killing of Christopher Kernich is asked to contact the Kent State University Police Department at (330) 673.7732.

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Originally posted at The Right Stuff © Denise

 

WesternFront America

While trying to catch up on some blog reading and commenting this morning, I ran across a post over at teresamerica urging people to not donate to the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) due to their willingness to donate to ACORN. I agree wholeheartedly.

Wanting a little more info, I came across an article written by Cliff Kincaid of Accuracy in Media. Donating to ACORN is just the tip of the iceberg.

According to the article, George Soros, an avowed atheist, has been channeling money to certain Catholic groups via his Open Society Institute. The groups receiving funds from Soros have been groups of progressive Catholics who have been on the forefront in the Obamacare debate and the debate on amnesty for illegal aliens.

Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good (CACG) has received at least $200,000 from the Open Society Institute. This group backs Pope Benedict XVI’s mission of using religion to further a socialist agenda.

From their website comes this list of things that is in the latest encyclical by the Pope. Hold on to your lunch, folks.

• “Another important consideration is the common good. To love someone is to desire that person’s good and to take effective steps to secure it. Besides the good of the individual, there is a good that is linked to living in society: the common good.”
• “If we love others with charity, then first of all we are just towards them. Not only is justice not extraneous to charity, not only is it not an alternative or parallel path to charity: justice is inseparable from charity, and intrinsic to it.”
• “The dignity of the individual and the demands of justice require, particularly today, that economic choices do not cause disparities in wealth to increase in an excessive and morally unacceptable manner, and that we continue to prioritize the goal of access to steady employment for everyone.”
• “Economic activity cannot solve all social problems through the simple application of commercial logic. This needs to be directed towards the pursuit of the common good, for which the political community in particular must also take responsibility.”

Now we have an insight into exactly what the Pope thinks of socialism. He’s in favor of it. And since this group supports the mission of the Pope, George Soros and his Open Society Institute will continue to fund them. It’s disgusting to see a religion sell out to anyone let alone liberals.

Also receiving money from OSI is the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC), a group who has been on the front lines of having Obamacare cover illegal immigrants. The group was established by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1988 and has received at least $530,000 from the Soros-backed OSI.

While celebrating the passage in the House of Pelosicare, CACG had this to say about the whole debacle.

“As Catholics, we applaud the efforts of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Bart Stupak, and others who helped extend current restrictions on federal funding of abortion to health plans participating in the public [health] exchanges.”

Not so fast, pal. According to Judie Brown of the American Life League, some of the provisions still in Pelosicare allow for federal funding of abortion and other life issues, something the Catholic Church is supposed to be dead-set against. Please read Mr. Kincaid’s article to see for yourself.

The CACG advisory council reads like a who’s who of leftist groups. Some of the groups that are represented on the advisory council: SEIU, AFL-CIO, Georgetown University, and Boston College. No wonder the Catholic Church has been throwing their support behind card check.

The SEIU representative on the advisory council of CACG is a man by the name of Tom Chabolla, assistant to SEIU president Andy Stern. Prior to this gig, Chabolla served as associate director of programs for CCHD, directing money to ACORN to the tune of $7.3 million over the past 10 years.

The Gamaliel Foundation, an interfaith group with a socialist agenda, still continues to receive money from CCHD. They’ve been pushing hard for continued financial support through CCHD and is citing that it is “under attack from those with a partisan agenda to de-fund groups committed to organizing for social justice.” It says: “Many Gamaliel Foundation affiliates rely on funding from CCHD to serve their communities.” Yeah. ACORN’s done a great job of that, eh?

Gamaliel says on its website that “Barack H. Obama, former Gamaliel organizer, is the 44th president of the United States,” and that this makes the organizing community proud. It also has a story about Obama friend and White House adviser Valerie Jarrett speaking to a Gamaliel event in Washington, D.C. of 2,500 activists. Jarrett is the official who said that “we” had recruited communist Van Jones to the White House. Another speaker was Melody Barnes, Obama’s Director of the Domestic Policy Council.

Before coming to the White House, Barnes was the executive vice president for Policy at the Soros-funded Center for American Progress (CAP). Van Jones also worked at CAP before going to the White House. CAP CEO and President John Podesta, who served as President Clinton’s chief of staff, is a major “progressive Catholic” and member of the ACORN advisory council, and served as a professor at Georgetown University.

Interestingly, Tom Chabolla of the SEIU and formerly of the CCHD was on the dinner committee for the 33rd Annual Hubert H. Humphrey Civil Rights Award Dinner, which was held on May 7, 2009 in Washington, D.C. One of the winners was none other than Van Jones.

While appealing for more funds through CCHD, the Gamaliel Foundation received $300,000 from OSI in 2008.

Let them continue to go to Soros for their funding as they seem to be of like minds. They’ll see not another dime from me.

Originally posted at The Right Stuff © Denise

 

WesternFront America

Last night, John Allen Muhammed drew his last breath as he was executed by lethal injection at 9:11 p.m. Muhammed was the mastermind behind the DC sniper attacks that terrorized the Washington metropolitan area in October of 2002. His accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, is serving multiple life sentences without the possibility of parole.

On Monday, the U.S Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty for an Ohio man, Robert Van Hook, who was convicted of killing and mutilating a man he met in a gay bar in 1985. Van Hook’s attorneys had argued that his trial attorneys had failed to do an effective job in Van Hook’s defense. The SCOTUS disagreed and cleared the way for Van Hook’s death sentence to be reinstated.

A decision is pending in another Ohio case that could clear the way for states to once again take charge of the death penalty within their borders. The Ohio Attorney General argued yesterday to have the death sentence upheld for Frank Spisak, a dirtbag who killed three people at Cleveland State University. He showed up to his 1983 trial sporting a Hitler mustache and bragging of his hate for blacks. His new attorneys have argued that the jury instructions were flawed during the sentencing phase of his trial. SCOTUS may not decide this for weeks or months. All of this could potentially pave the way for Hollywood’s most loved murderer, Mumia Abu- Jamal, to finally be put to death. SCOTUS refused to hear Jamal’s appeal in April 2009, and prosecutors in Philadelphia filed a reinstatement appeal that has not yet been heard by the high court. For more on Mumia, you can go to wikipedia or an earlier post I did.

Depending on the outcome of the Spisak case, Pennsylvania could potentially give Daniel Faulkner and his family some closure by citing the Spisak case as precedent. Former Governor Tom Ridge twice signed death warrants for Jamal only to have some liberal court find a reason why Mumia should continue to live off the taxpayer’s money. It’s been 27 years since the original sentence was handed down by a unanimous jury, and Governor Ed Rendell has vowed to sign a death warrant should Jamal’s original sentence be reinstated before he leaves office. In light of the argument before SCOTUS in the Spisak case, a bunch of socialist and liberal sites have become scared that Mumia’s punishment may be around the corner. Personally, his punishment is long overdue. From the Party for Socialism and Liberation’s website:

“The life of African American leader and death-row prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal is in new danger. A pending U.S. Supreme Court ruling on a case in Ohio could set the stage for the reinstatement of Mumia’s death sentence. Mumia’s case is also separately before the U.S. Supreme Court, but presented by Philadelphia prosecutors seeking to have his death sentence reinstated.

Prosecutors and politicians in Pennsylvania and Philadelphia have vengefully sought to execute Mumia for 28 years. He has been on death row since 1983, when he was wrongly convicted of killing Philadelphia policeman Daniel Faulkner on Dec. 9, 1981.

In Mumia’s trial, flagrant violations—false police testimony, coercion of witnesses, judicial and prosecutorial misconduct, exclusion of Black jurors, inadequate defense and pervasive racism—led to his wrongful conviction and death sentence. The overriding issue that allowed these violations is the deeply racist and repressive nature of Philadelphia’s ruling apparatus and collusion by the police, prosecutors and courts.”

Holy crap! That much liberal spewing just made my head hurt.

Another bunch of liberal mush from indybay.org:

“What the Supreme Court will do, however, is far from clear. It will also consider Spisak’s new attorney’s argument that his jury trial lawyers were incompetent in essentially arguing during their trial summation that Spisak was essentially an extreme and horrific nut case who barely understood what he was doing. Should the Supreme Court chose to ignore or side-step Pennsylvania’s Mills arguments and rule only on the issue of ineffective assistance of counsel, the chances of Mumia’s execution recede considerably. The court could also chose to remand the case back to the lower courts to reconsider their previous Mills interpretation in light of the Supreme Court’s possible new instructions on this issue. Second guessing the courts in Mumia’s 28-year legal sojourn has stumped virtually the entire legal community, or at least those who believe that the laws of the land should be implemented without prejudice to the individual concerned. In virtually every instance, however, this has not been the case; an unending series of legal atrocities have been perpetrated against Mumia that expose the criminal “justice” system for the fraud it is in racist and classist America.

Mumia is far from out of danger, especially when his very life, in legal terms, presently hinges on the whims of the Supreme Court, the institution that has already denied his request for a hearing before them on another issue, the systematic and racist exclusion of Black jurors. Such exclusion is explicitly prohibited in the historic 1986 Supreme Court ruling in the case of Batson v. Kentucky. But the court once again ignored its own rulings and even decisions that strengthened Batson claims to hasten Mumia’s demise. In every sense Mumia’s life is on the line as never before. Pennsylvania’s Governor Ed Rendell is pledged to sign what could be the third and final warrant for Mumia’s execution, a warrant that would likely order that his life be taken by lethal injection.”

Remember, folks, that the louder the left screams, the less common sense it makes. To obligate the residents of Pennsylvania and the United States to foot the bill for Mumia Abu-Jamal for over 20 years is criminal in and of itself. Now that the left is whining about how this could be it for Mumia, we can only gather that carrying out the original sentence is the right thing to do.

Does anyone know where I can get an application to push the plunger??

Originally posted at The Right Stuff © Denise

 

WesternFront America

World Net Daily has done an excellent job of outlining Dear Leader’s ties to the corrupt organization known as ACORN. While most of us have always known that he’s been capitulating to their every whim, this article really ties it all together nicely and shows just how far BHO has been willing to let ACORN stick it in.
Click here for the entire article.

1990s: Obama meets ACORN

ACORN, or the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, first noticed Obama when he was organizing on the far south side of the city with the Developing Communities Project. A March 2, 2008, Los Angeles Times article by Letta Tayler and Keith Herbert, titled “Obama Forged Path As Chicago Community Organizer,” explored Obama’s pre-law school days as a community organizer in Chicago and his efforts to build a partnership with Chicago’s “Friends of the Parks.”

“Obama’s task was to help far South Side residents press for improvement,” the Times article explained.

1993: Woods Foundation

In 1993, Obama joined the board of the Woods Foundation, a non-profit foundation which declares its goal to “increase opportunities for less advantaged people and communities by giving money primarily to not-for-profit groups involved in housing, the arts and other areas.” Obama served along with Bill Ayers and remained on the board until 2002.

Pajamas Media reports that during Obama’s time there, ACORN received grants of $45,000 (2000), $30,000 (2001), $45,000 (2001), $30,000 (2002) and $40,000 (2002) from the Woods Fund.

1994: Buycks-Robinson v. Citibank

As WND reported, in 1994, Obama, a graduate of Harvard Law School then fresh from his Project Vote! experience, represented ACORN in the Buycks-Roberson v. Citibank Federal Savings Bank case, in which ACORN pressed for Citibank to make more loans to marginally qualified African-American applicants “in a race neutral way.”

After obtaining a settlement in the Citibank litigation, ACORN used its subsidiary organization ACORN Housing, a nationwide organization with offices in more than 30 U.S. cities, to push the group’s radical agenda to get subprime home buyers mortgages under the most favorable terms possible.

1995: ACORN attorney in Illinois lawsuit

In 1995, Obama was hired as a lawyer for ACORN in a major lawsuit. As a lawyer with civil-rights law firm Davis Miner Barnhill & Galland, he sued the state of Illinois on behalf of ACORN to implement the federal “motor voter” law.

Also in 1995, as WND’s Jerome Corsi reported, Bill Ayers co-founded the Chicago Annenberg Challenge with a $50 million grant program for the Chicago public schools. Ayers selected Obama to be the first chairman of the board of the Annenberg Challenge, a position Obama held for eight years, until 2003, a period during which Ayers remained active with the Challenge.

In his Wall Street Journal article, Stanley Kurtz wrote that the Annenberg project funneled money to through various far-left community organizers, including ACORN.

Obama’s FIght the Smears website claims Obama “never organized with ACORN”

1996: New Party ties

As WND reported, newspaper evidence shows Obama was a member of the New Party, which sought to elect members to public office with the aim of moving the Democratic Party far leftward to ultimately form a new political party with a socialist agenda. While running for the Illinois state Senate in 1996 as a Democrat, Obama actively sought and received the endorsement of the New Party, according to confirmed reports during last year’s presidential campaign.

Barack Obama pictured in New Party publication (Courtesy New Zeal blog)

According to Democratic Socialists of America documents, the New Party worked with ACORN to promote its candidates.

1997-2004: Illinois state senator

Obama meeting with ACORN leaders as an Illinois Senate candidate

In 1997, Obama became an Illinois state senator. ACORN national board member Toni Foulkes bragged of ACORN’s long-standing relationship with Obama prior to his election in the 2003-2004 issue of Social Policy.

2005: U.S. senator

In 2005, Obama became a U.S. senator.

2007: From Obama’s own mouth …

He was asked, “If elected president of the Unites States, would you agree, in your first 100 days, to meet with the delegation of representatives from these various community organizations that campaigned for community values? Could they count on you in your first 100 days to sit down with them?”

Obama responded, “Yes. But let me even say before I even get inaugurated, during the transition, we’re going to be calling all of you in to help us shape the agenda. We’re going to be having meetings all across the country with community organizations so that you have input into the agenda for the next presidency of the United States of America.”

2008: ACORN endorses Obama

On Feb. 21, 2008, the Acorn Political Action Committee endorsed Obama over Hillary Clinton during the 2008 primaries.

During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama and his running mate, Joe Biden, insisted they had nothing to do with ACORN after the inner-city advocacy group became engulfed in controversy over voter-registration fraud.

But in August 2008, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported that the Obama campaign paid $832,598.29 to ACORN “offshoot” Citizens Services Inc. for “get out the vote” projects from Feb. 25 to May 17.

The newspaper revealed that Obama’s payments to CSI for services were unusual: “For example, CSI received payments of $63,000 and $75,000 for advance work. Excluding the large payments to CSI, the average amount the Obama campaign spent with other organizations was $558.82 per check on more than 1,200 entries classified as advance work.”

(Anita Moncrief, former ACORN insider)

According to the report, Citizens Services Inc. is headquartered at the same address as ACORN’s national headquarters in New Orleans. A 2006 ACORN publication describes Citizen Services Inc. as “ACORN’s campaign services entity.”

2009: Criminal case against ACORN

According to the results of a congressional investigation done in July, ACORN was found to be rife with criminal activity.

A report from the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform states that ACORN “has repeatedly and deliberately engaged in systemic fraud. Both structurally and operationally, ACORN hides behind a paper wall of nonprofit corporate protections to conceal a criminal conspiracy on the part of its directors, to launder federal money in order to pursue a partisan political agenda and to manipulate the American electorate.”

Since 1994, ACORN has received more than $53 million in federal funds, according to the report.

“Under the Obama administration, ACORN stands to receive a whopping $8.5 billion in available stimulus funds. Operationally, ACORN is a shell game played in 120 cities, 43 states and the District of Columbia through a complex structure designed to conceal illegal activities, to use taxpayer and tax-exempt dollars for partisan political purposes, and to distract investigators. Structurally, ACORN is a chess game in which senior management is shielded from accountability by multiple layers of volunteers and compensated employees who serve as pawns to take the fall for every bad act,” the report said.

So there you have it. BHO may be calling ACORN’s recent exposure a travesty, but make no mistake about it. He agrees with and has supported every illegal activity this organization has been a part of.

Birds of a feather…

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Connecting More Dots: SEIU

The other day, I posted a timeline, courtesy of World Net Daily, that showed the relationship between ACORN and the current occupant of the White House. It sparked my interest, so I decided to do some more research online. The corrupt dealings of this administration just keep coming and coming and coming…

Glenn Beck has done a stellar job of reporting the corruption by the organization who receives millions of OUR tax dollars every year. In fact, I feel that Beck should be sharing a Pulitzer Prize with the two undercover filmmakers who videotaped all the crap that has come to light in recent weeks.

Beck has recently called the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), headed by president Andy Stern, the sister organization of ACORN. If they are the sister organization, this is a relationship that is more incestuous than any from the hills of Appalachia.

Recently, the SEIU has made the news by using thug tactics at Tea Party protests across the country. Intimidation and physical force are their weapons of choice.

While we now know about the ties between the Oval Office and ACORN, what about the ties between ACORN and the SEIU?? Let’s take a look.

The Union Label Blog has connected the dots. Keep in mind that while being associated with ACORN, the SEIU has the ear of BHO.

SEIU Locals 100 and 880 share the same address: 1024 Elysian Fields Avenue in New Orleans. Just up the street is the ACORN office at 1016 Elysian Fields Avenue. Wouldn’t be that far to walk, eh?

The unions are to file disclosure statements regarding finances with the Department of Labor. According to Local 880′s 2005 financial filings with the DOL, there’s been some closed-door dealings going on. Loans and payments have been made to ACORN-run organizations.

• A loan receivable from SEIU Local 100, which started the year at $11,500 and ended the year at only $500—a note shows the loan wasn’t repaid in cash, but rather “reduced to in-kind service”
• “Gifts” totaling $151,694 to the L880 Political Action Committee, which is run out of ACORN’s Louisiana office
• Local 880 received $36,425 as a “contractual fee” from the L880 Political Action Committee
• Representational activities included $6,388 in non-itemized payments to the Chief Organizer Fund (Chief Organizer is Rathke’s title for most of his positions) at ACORN’s office and $66,870 in non-itemized payments to Citizens Consulting Inc., ACORN’s multi-use organization
• $177,430 paid to Citizens Consulting for “Accounting and Administrative Support” and non-itemized transactions for “General Overhead”
• $10,102 paid to Citizens Consulting for “Union Administration”

Local 100′s financial filings reveal even more corruption.

• $8,098 in overhead paid to Citizens Consulting
• $9,523 paid to the “Peoples Equipment Resource Corp,” which is registered to Rathke at ACORN’s headquarters
• $6,300 to the Elysian Fields Corporation
• Accounts payable records show $73,984 to the Elysian Fields Corporation; $34,241 to Citizens Consulting; $13,795 to the Fifteenth Street Corporation; and $9,072to the 4415 San Jacinto Corporation—all of which are run out of ACORN’s New Orleans headquarters
• Loans payable included its original $11,500 debt to Local 880 and $8,907 to the Association for the Rights of Citizens—a group run by Local 880 and ACORN.48 Loans to these two organizations were reflected as early as 2000, with as much as $47,000 of money from members in Local 880 being used to support its less-successful sibling.

ACORN appears to have been hired by the SEIU to assail Wal-Mart for not unionizing their employees because the SEIU headquarters sent two installments totaling $500,000 to the “Wal-Mart Organizing Project.” The checks were sent to 1016 Elysian Fields Avenue in New Orleans: ACORN’s Big Easy Office.

Kevin Mooney at the Washington Examiner had more information that had been posted at The Other McCain. A 2007 LM-2 (financial disclosure form) shows SEIU Local 880, which is active in Illinois and Minnesota, donated $60,118 to ACORN for “membership services.” Organized labor has kicked it back in the form of gifts and grants to ACORN totaling $2.4 million, the LM-2’s reveal.
When Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA) decided to cut the pay of home health workers by two dollars an hour during the state’s last budget crisis, saving $74 million. These workers are SEIU members. What was the union’s reaction? They pressured the Obama administration to withhold $6.8 billion in stimulus funding in retaliation. In fact, SEIU representatives were invited by Obama to negotiations between federal and state government officials that were held via a conference call. Why is a union being asked to participate in negotiations between government officials when they hold no such position? A SEIU spokeswoman later defended the call as “an example of transparency.” Yeah…right.

How does this tie to the White House other than the ACORN link? Obama appointed Craig Becker, the associate general counsel of Andy Stern’s SEIU, to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Becker is radical on the issue of unions, and his opinions are very well known within the political circle.
Mr. Becker wants to implement his radical unionism on the American capitalist society. In a 1993 Minnesota Law Review article, written when he was a UCLA professor, he explained that traditional notions of democracy should not apply in union elections. He wrote that employers should be barred from attending NLRB hearings about elections, and from challenging election results even amid evidence of union misconduct. He believes elections should be removed from work sites and held on “neutral grounds,” or via mail ballots. Employers should also be barred from “placing observers at the polls to challenge ballots.”

More extraordinary, Mr. Becker advocated a new “body of campaign rules” that would severely limit the ability of employers to argue against unionization. He argued that any meeting a company holds that involves a “captive audience” ought to be grounds for overturning an election. If a company wants to distribute leaflets that oppose the union, for example, Mr. Becker said it must allow union access to its private property to do the same.

With all of this political favortism coming to the surface, how can Dear Leader distance himself from ACORN and SEIU when he is chin-deep in the muck?

Someone’s getting thrown under the bus.

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Originally posted at The Right Stuff © Denise

 

WesternFront America

Obamarx and his minions keep pushing this hideous piece of legislation that isn’t worth the toilet paper it’s written on despite the cries from concerned American citizens. The left is always pointing out the examples of Britain and Canada to support their argument. They may want to rethink that strategy.

The following are stories from Britain and Canada of patients who have lived (and died) under the same system the left wants to implement for us.

To read more stories like these and view the original articles, visit BigGovHealth.

Britain.

Linda O’Boyle

When Linda O’Boyle, 64, was diagnosed with cancer, she decided to pay for additional, private treatment out of pocket, hoping to prolong her life. O’Boyle was told that a medication not provided by NHS would increase her chances of fighting the disease. After deciding to use her savings to pay for these outside medications, NHS withdrew their services, including chemotherapy because current government laws ban a patient from combining public and private healthcare. O’Boyle passed away March 26, 2008.

Katie Hilliard

Katie Hilliard, 24, asked to be given a smear test twice, and was refused because she was “too young.” Katie now has cervical cancer, and it has spread to her lymph nodes and lungs. Doctors have given her 11 months to two years to live.

Debbie Hirsts

Debbie Hirsts, 57, was denied access by the NHS to a drug that would have slowed the progression of her breast cancer. With her oncologist’s support, Debbie decided to raise the $120,000 for the medicine herself. The situation changed in December 2007, when Debbie’s doctor told her the NHS would no longer allow her to subsidize the medication. If Debbie decided to pay for the medicine out-of-pocket, she would then need pay for all of her cancer treatments, which she could not afford, and would no longer receive free health benefits from the NHS.

Mark Cannon

Mark Cannon, 30, died eight and a half weeks after being admitted to the hospital with a broken leg. He was clearly distressed and in pain, but he had to wait three days to see the pain team. His father Allan, from Barton Turf, has been campaigning with Mencap to raise awareness of the ingrained discrimination he claims to have encountered from NHS staff towards his son, who had severe learning difficulties and could manage very little speech.

Alan Francis

Alan Francis, a 68-year-old leukaemia patient, was denied a life-saving bone marrow operation by the Health Commission Wales (HCW). The HCW would have refused to fund the operation, which would have entailed taking the marrow from the donor in Australia and flying it to the

UK.

Lynda Coghill

Lynda Coghill, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at 39. At an appointment after surgery and radiation, she told her oncologist she was still bleeding. He did a quick exam, announced she had a new tumor, and said bluntly: “Your chances are slim to none.” He told her to wait a few weeks for the results of a biopsy, then left to treat a patient down the hall. “I looked at the nurse in sheer disbelief,” Ms. Coghill says. “The doctor had proceeded to tell me, in less than 30 seconds, that I was going to die.” She cried for days, unable to eat or sleep. She and her husband planned her funeral. At last, she contacted the sympathetic nurse from the doctor’s office and persuaded her to call for an “unofficial” biopsy report. The tumor was benign. Eight years later, Ms. Coghill remains angry about having been treated “like a numbered object on an assembly line.”

Canada.

David Malleau

David Malleau, a 44 year-old truck driver suffered a devastating car accident in 2004 that forced doctors at Hamilton General Hospital to remove a fist-sized piece of bone from his skull to relieve pressure on his brain. Once the swelling subsided and he was ready for surgery in March 2005, Malleau was sent home and placed on a waiting list. Three months passed. Then six. He waited at home, a prisoner unable to leave the house for fear something would hit the exposed side of his brain – for him a potentially fatal incident. In the end, it took nearly a year before he could get skull replacement surgery.

Jordan Johanson

Jordan Johanson, 18, died at Rockyview Hospital in late March. He died following a 12-hour wait for surgery on his appendix. Darcy Johanson, the boy’s father, said “Young kids shouldn’t be dying like this. If something can be done to fix it, they should get on with it.”

Lindsay McCreith

Lindsay McCreith, 66, was told he had a brain tumor but that he would have to wait four and a half months to obtain an MRI to rule out the possibility that it was cancerous. Unwilling to risk the progression of what might be cancer, Mr. McCreith obtained an MRI in Buffalo, which revealed the tumor was malignant. Even with this diagnosis in hand, the Ontario system still refused to provide timely treatment, so Mr. McCreith had surgery in Buffalo to remove the cancerous brain tumor in March, 2006. In Ontario, Mr. McCreith would have waited eight months for surgery, according to his family doctor. Eight months is enough time for a cancer to worsen, spread and progress to an irreversible stage. Had Mr. McCreith not paid $26,600 for immediate care, he might be dead today.

Sheila Nunn

Sheila Nunn, a Kitchener woman suffering seizures, was told by her doctor that she urgently needed an MRI scan. She was also told she would have to wait three months to have it done locally. Nunn, who had been suffering blackouts, memory loss, confusion and seizures for two months, decided to take action: She paid $1,100 to have the MRI scan done in Michigan.

Those in support of socialized medicine keep telling us that there’s no rationing of services. Evidently, they’ve never heard the stories of these people who have lived it.

Hey government wonks! Don’t pee on my leg and tell me it’s raining!

Originally posted at The Right Stuff © Denise

 

WesternFront America

We all know about the life of Jesus. God in human form, He came to save mankind from sin and give humanity something much greater to look forward to with no strings attached. The only request made of us mere mortals is to believe and live righteously. No greater gift was ever bestowed on man.

During a moment of reflection on all the wondrous gifts God has given us, I began to wonder. What if Jesus had lived in a world run by the liberals?

From the moment of the Immaculate Conception, Blessed Mother would’ve been besieged by Planned Parenthood with information on her “choices” over her body. “If it’s going to infringe on your career, we have ways of ridding you of that mass of unviable tissue. And you don’t have to tell your husband about it.”

“No room at the inn” would’ve ignited squeals from HUD. The innkeeper would’ve been forced to give the Holy Family his own private quarters after being slapped with a discrimination suit for unfair housing practices. The IRS would then call for an audit of the innkeeper’s books in retaliation.

Giving birth in a stable would’ve caused PETA to get their knickers in a twist. What about the animals who call that stable home? PETA would be filing for an emergency injunction from the SCOTUS preventing Mary from upsetting the natural habitat of the endangered Manger Chinchbug.

Shortly after giving birth, Mary and Joseph would receive information on all the programs they could qualify for. Applications for WIC, food stamps, and medical assistance would be given out by those looking to make another family dependent on the government.

Young Jesus would not have been able to learn the carpentry trade from Joseph without first going through an apprenticeship provided by the carpenter’s union. If Joseph decided to defy union orders and teach his son the trade, you can bet he’d be blackballed by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters.

Jesus would face many issues in gathering his disciples. La Raza, NAACP, and NOW would all have Him under a microscope to ensure a diverse following. Failure to comply would prompt numerous discrimination lawsuits.

In performing His first miracle at the wedding in Cana, Jesus would’ve been approached by representatives from the BATF and Liquor Control Board, both of whom were guests at the ceremony. “Do you have a license to change that water to wine?” MADD would immediately sue Jesus for liability in any deaths that should occur following the reception.

Healing the leper and the blind man would’ve been a major problem. The Bar Association would’ve dragged Christ into court for practicing medicine without a license. Adherence to FDA guidelines would be thoroughly investigated and turned over to the proper authorities.
In his final hours, Jesus would once again face persecution. His last feast with His disciples would have to be approved as culturally-appropriate. No trans fats, no sugar, and no artificial coloring would be allowed to pass through the lips of those partaking in the meal. Wine would only be served if the guests provided proper identification of age. Serving minors alcohol would take priority over the impending death of the true Messiah.

After his betrayal, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, and CBS would all be clamoring for the exclusive first interview with Judas Iscariot, the man who exposed someone as “intolerant” and “non-inclusive” as Jesus. Oliver Stone would appear with Judas on Oprah, Keith Olbermann, and Leno to promote their new movie about the life of the one person who brought down a Savior.

The Sierra Club would be wailing and rending their garments during the preparation for Jesus’ crucifixion. Not because of the fact that the son of God and the son of Man was soon to be put to death, but because trees were cut down. “Couldn’t a more eco-friendly product be used to construct the cross? This is deforestation!”

In the end, Jesus would still be crucified. Tears would flow from those who love Him, and cheering would be heard from those who saw this event as an end to tyranny. I mean, how DARE He ask people to believe only in God the Father?

Upon seeing the rock rolled back at the tomb, Mary Magdelene and Blessed Mother would enter the opening in the hillside to find Jesus’ burial garments and a letter.

“Dear Madam: While we send our condolences on the loss of your son, this letter is to inform you that you will receive an invoice within the next ten (10) days for payment of estate taxes. Failure to remit said taxes is a violation of Federal law. — Sincerely, The Internal Revenue Service.”

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Originally posted at The Right Stuff © Denise

 

WesternFront America

I got an email from the United States Justice Foundation via newsmax.com warning of what could be the scariest thing we’ve seen yet: a Constitutional Convention. If this information is true, we may be on the verge of a total takeover.

The only Constitutional Convention ever held was in 1787. The Founding Fathers met to give us a representative republic, as they felt (and rightfully so) that a pure democracy gave too much power to the masses. The Electoral College and checks and balances were put in place to evenly distribute power among the three branches of government and to guard against tyranny by mob rule.

According to Article V of the Constitution, it takes three-quarters of the states to approve any changes to the most precious document written next to the Bible. In those days, it was 9 out of the 13 original colonies. Today, 34 states would have to sign on to convening a Constitutional Convention. Many have the number of states in agreement at 32.

Should a Con Con be called, delegates from each state would be sent to the convention with the purpose of scrapping the Constitution of 1787 and starting over. Imagine the ramifications that would have considering the current occupant of the White House.

The First Amendment: gone. No more free speech for you. It would be touted as necessary to guard against viscious, hateful words coming from those who dare disagree with policy. And freedom of religion? HAH! You will be able to choose only from those religions the government would approve of. We’d all be sitting either in the front pew at Reverend Wright’s church or in a mosque.

The Second Amendment: gone. We couldn’t have an armed citizenry, now, could we? They might use them against those who wish to bring peace and harmony to this land. And how could the law be enforced if officers have to worry about being met with a firearm? No need for self-defense when the only ones with guns are the government, eh?

The Fourth and Fifth Amendments: gone. Your rights against illegal search and seizure and your rights against self-incrimination would cease to exist. They could take what they want when they want, and a warrant would not be required to search your property for whatever reason they deem worthy.

The Tenth Amendment: gone. States would no longer be allowed to declare their sovereignty over those issues not spelled out as Federal Powers in the Constitution. States would only be lines on a map.

Make no mistake about it. If a Con Con were held today, abortion, euthanasia, affirmative action and gay marriage would all become constitutional rights. The left would guarantee it. Also, no need to worry about that pesky 22nd Amendment that limits a president to two terms. It would vanish like cockroaches in the light.

I plan on keeping an eye on this, and I advise everyone else to keep an ear to the ground. Given this administration’s track record, it would not surprise me if this is being considered. Please pray that this never happens. Stay vigilant.

© Denise

Originally posted at The Right Stuff

 

WesternFront America

While watching the nightly Fox News Channel programs cover the healthcare/mob/Pelosi/Hoyer/townhall debate, it dawned on me. There are people like Terri Schindler Schiavo who are icons of the dark side of Obamacare.

Terri Schiavo was the young Florida woman who went into a debilitative state after her heart stopped briefly in 1990. The heart stoppage was caused by a potassium deficiency brought on by a bout with bulimia. Terri’s brain was deprived of oxygen, and she was of limited capabilities from that time.

A long legal battle was waged in the weeks before her death. Her husband, Michael, had insisted that Terri never wanted to live in such a state and petitioned to have her feeding tube removed and water withheld. Her family argued that Terri did respond to environmental stimuli and deserved to live. They begged Michael to sign Terri over to them, but to no avail. On March 18, 2005, Michael Schiavo won the right to remove Terri’s feeding tube. She died 13 days later.

The issue of Terri Schiavo begs the question: What if this had occurred under the present administration? We can almost write the script.

Terri would be labeled an unproductive citizen of society. Government bureaucrats would order her medical care withheld as soon as she was accepted as a resident of the hospice. The euthanasia crowd would physically block her family from trying to save her.

Numerous accountants funded by George Soros would study the cost-effectiveness of Terri’s care down to the last bed sheet used. When their reports were filed, her family’s wishes and willingness to assume all responsibility for her care would matter not. Pro-death supporters would be on hand to verbally assault the family and call them fascists for wanting her to live.

Their cries of “greedy family” would become the battle cry of the left.

The media would be on hand to make sure that all the pro-lifers were painted as a bunch of nuts with swastika tattoos. The SEIU and ACORN would be called upon to rough up those who dared speak out in defense of a brain-damaged woman who was being starved to death. CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, and NBC would have a 24/7 live feed to the White House and Supreme Court to be able to identify those protesting Terri’s demise.

As the end draws near, a call is made to the White House. Obama, never one to let a good crisis go to waste, boards Air Force One and flies directly to Tampa. Surrounded by Secret Service, the faithful left genuflect and lay down palm leaves during his walk to the entrance of the hospice. He steps inside as members of the Black Panthers quickly block the entrance.

Minutes later, the press is called to the entrance of the hospice. They quickly jockey for position in the rush to get first coverage of the events about to unfold. As they wait, prayers and hymns can be heard from the pro-life crowd who had been ordered to stay three blocks away. Suddenly, the doors open.

Obama steps to the podium full of microphones with a look of sadness on his face. He begins to speak.

“Fellow Americans, WE WON!” he says as he breaks into a smile.

The media no longer restrains their glee as Dear Leader raises his hand to the heavens while clutching a copy of the legislation responsible for this whole chain of events.

[UPDATE: I've been told about the story of Barbara Wagner and her dealings with the Oregon health system. It's a microcosm of what the left wants to implement nationwide. Thanks to Clay and Teresa for bringing it up!]

© Denise

Originally posted at The Right Stuff

 

WesternFront America