Ethics

With the national debt now topping $12 trillion, the White House estimates that the government’s tab for servicing the debt will exceed $700 billion a year in 2019, up from $202 billion this year, even if annual budget deficits shrink drastically. Other forecasters say the figure could be much higher.   In concrete terms, an additional $500 billion a year in interest expense would total more than the combined federal budgets this year for education, energy, homeland security and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is poised for another Saturday night cram down, forcing a Senate cloture vote mere days before his 2,074 page bill was given to Senators. Yet again, Congress will be forced to vote on a bill that none of them have actually read. More importantly, as we pour through the details, it becomes obvious that none of them even believe the plan will do what the bill says.

...a monthly abortion premium will be charged of all enrollees in the government-run health plan.  It’s right there beginning on line 11, page 122, section 1303, under “Actuarial Value of Optional Service Coverage.”  The premium will be paid into a U.S. Treasury account – and these federal funds will be used to pay for the abortion services.

Last Friday, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and five other terrorists would be tried in a civilian court in New York City rather than before a military tribunal. Pressing Holder on this decision at yesterday’s Senate Judiciary Committee Oversight hearing of the U.S. Department of Justice, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) asked: “Can you give me a case in United States history where a (sic) enemy combatant caught on a battlefield was tried in civilian court?”

Holder responded: “I don’t know. I’d have to look at that. I think that, you know, the determination I’ve made…”

VIDEO -- Sen Lindsey Graham (R-SC) asks: "Where would Osama Bin Laden be tried if he were captured tomorrow?

In spite of the fact that Graham's question is hardly unexpected--having been at the root of debate over the handling of GTMO detainees for several years--Obama's Attorney General Eric Holder, whose private law firm represents over a dozen GTMO detainees, again and again fails to come up with a clear answer....

Yesterday at 3:00 p.m. ET, the Treasury Department updated its calculation of the U.S. National Debt to: $12,031,299,186,290.07. That $12 trillion record high comes just eight months after it hit $11 trillion and is only expected to rise faster considering the federal deficit for 2009 was over $1.4 trillion. And what is the leftist majority of Congress going to do tomorrow about these skyrocketing deficits? They are going to pile on the spending faster.

Today, unions are dependent on government, not the private sector, for their livelihood. Therefore, unions like the SEIU have little interest in private sector job growth. Private sector jobs don’t help fund $60.7 million political campaigns. But government jobs do.

Combing through the data on the $18 million Recovery.gov website you’ll find tons of Obama stimulus success stories from across the country. In Minnesota’s 57th Congressional District, 35 jobs have been saved or created using $404,340 in stimulus funds. In New Mexico’s 22nd Congressional District, 25 jobs have been saved or created using $61,000 in stimulus cash. And in Arizona’s fighting 15th Congressional District, 30 jobs have been saved or created with just $761,420 in federal stimulus spending.

But none of the above Congressional Districts actually exist....

A report released Friday by the non-partisan and independent Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency in charge of running Medicare and Medicaid, blows the lid off of every one of Obama’s claims.

"This is potentially very big news for the future of tourism in Hawai‘i. It will bring back a lot of jobs if we’re successful at bringing it about." -- Gov Lingle 

How this would be accomplished:

1.        Use 15 non-classroom days (between Jan. 1, 2010 and June 30, 2011) when teachers are paid but do not teach classes to restore all teaching days lost on Furlough Fridays beginning Jan. 1, 2010.  (For those teachers who work on a 12-month schedule, a comparable adjustment would be made.)

2.        The cost of restoring the remaining 12 days would be achieved by using money out of the Emergency Budget Reserve Fund (Rainy Day Fund).  Estimated cost to Rainy Day Fund would be $50 million.

Many claim American foreign policy acts "create terrorists", but Osama bin-laden points to the importance of words--explaining their value best in an intercepted letter to Taliban chief Mullah Omar:

It is obvious that the media war in this century is one of the strongest methods (of struggle). In fact, its ratio may reach 90% of the total preparation for battles.

But which words?  In Osama bin-Laden's 1998 sit down with ABC's John Miller, his last face-to-face interview with an American journalist, the al Qaeda chief explains...

Last month, The Washington Post reported that President Barack Obama had asked senior officials for a province-by-province analysis of Afghanistan “to help determine which regions are being managed effectively by local leaders and which require international help.” He supposedly wanted “the clearest possible understanding of what the challenges are to our forces and what is required to meet the challenge.”  But now two weeks later the Associated Press reports that President Obama has rejected all of the options presented by his national security team and is now asking for “revisions to clarify how and when U.S. troops would turn over responsibility to the Afghan government.”

HONOLULU – Governor Linda Lingle today said the selection of Hawai‘i to host the 2011 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders Meeting is an affirmation of Hawai‘i’s strategic role as a leader in the Asia-Pacific region, and will help build a stronger economic foundation for Hawai‘i’s future.  President Barack Obama, who will host the Hawai‘i meeting, announced Hawai‘i’s winning bid today during the APEC Leaders Meeting being held in Singapore.

The recent bill that passed in the House is quite explicit about this. If it becomes law, the state will force everyone to buy health insurance or suffer a penalty.

As recorded by ABC News' Jake Tapper on November 9, President Obama said that penalties are appropriate for people who try to "free ride" the health care system.

"What I think is appropriate is that…if you have the ability to buy insurance, and you choose not to do so, forcing you and me and everybody else to subsidize you…there's nothing wrong with a penalty."

Under the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act, signed into law as part of the Defense Authorization Act October 28 by President Barack Obama, ballots must be mailed to overseas voters--including deployed US military personnel-- at least 45 days before an election.

In reaction to MOVE becoming law, State election officials nationwide are scrambling.  Minnesota Secretary of State Marc Ritchie is asking legislators to move Minnesota's September 14 primary up by at least one month.  Colorado officials are working to move their 2012 primary to the first Tuesday in August...

“Our nation’s veterans have made tremendous sacrifices in defense of our freedoms. The least Senators should do is make the easy sacrifice of eliminating a small amount of wasteful spending to improve veterans’ health care."

Hawaii does a below-average job managing its schools in a way that encourages thoughtful innovation. Ninety-four percent of teachers report that routine duties and paperwork interfere with their teaching, and only 22% of teachers like the way their school is run....Ninety-six percent of principals say that teacher unions or associations are a barrier to the removal of ineffective teachers, 35 percentage points above the national average of 61%.

Leftists in America do not want us to remember Reagan’s role in history. That is why President Barack Obama (the same man who found time to jet to Copenhagen at the drop of a rumor that his presence could win the Olympics for his hometown of Chicago) could not be bothered to attend the 20th anniversary of the wall’s fall last night. Instead, President Obama taped a video message that completely failed to mention Reagan or British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

PHOTOS Left: Sun at peak of warming, 1998.  Right: After 10 years of cooling, 2008.  NASA reports that the absence of sunspots continues today.

The average October, 2009 temperature of 50.8°F was 4.0°F below the 20^th Century average and ranked as the 3^rd coolest based on preliminary data.  If you are surprised by global cooling like this, it means you haven't been paying attention. 

If you are like me, you are deeply disappointed that we lost, by an inch, the vote to stop Nancy Pelosi's trillion dollar takeover of health care in America.  You might even be thinking that the fight is over.  Not true. As Winston Churchill said, “This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps the end of the beginning.”

And, in fact, the narrowness of the House vote tells me the momentum is on our side.

Supporters of radical Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki--whose name has surfaced in connection with the investigation of Major Malik Nidal Hasan--are now championing Hasan's murder of thirteen U.S. military personnel last week at Ft. Hood in Texas.

Following last Tuesday’s election, the last thing Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) wanted to do was allow Members of Congress to go home and talk to their constituents about the $2.6 trillion health care bill she was marshaling through Congress. The centerpiece of Pelosi’s trap and pressure campaign was a Saturday address by President Barack Obama in the Cannon Office Building, where Obama warned Democrats: “Does anybody think that the teabag, anti-government people are going to support them if they bring down health care? All it will do is confuse and dispirit [Democratic voters] and it will encourage the extremists.”

The extremists. That is how the President of the Unites States describes Americans who do not want to see the federal government control over half of all health care spending. 

Wendy Wright, President of Concerned Women for America (CWA) noted that "Although an amendment passed to bar federal funding of abortion, Democrat leaders refused to guarantee that it will be in the final bill. The vote on the amendment may have been a ruse to gain pro-life Democrats vote for the bill."

"This bill will erode the best health care system in the world. In exchange for insurance, we'll lose access to proper health care. We'll lose health care providers who will leave the profession. CWA will fight to protect Americans from this government orchestrated destruction of America's health care system as it now goes to the Senate."

Federal law enforcement officials say the suspected Fort Hood, Texas, shooter had come to their attention at least six months ago because of Internet postings that discussed suicide bombings and other threats.  The officials say the postings appeared to have been made by Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who was killed during the shooting incident that left least 11 others dead and 31 wounded.

One of the Web postings that authorities reviewed is a blog that equates suicide bombers with a soldier throwing himself on a grenade to save the lives of his comrades.

Last week the Obama administration issued a report purporting to show that the President’s $787 billion economic stimulus plan had saved or created exactly 640,329 jobs. Such a precise number for such a fuzzy concept as jobs “saved or created” immediately raised doubts about the veracity of the report in any honest American’s mind.

And since that report was issued, a once compliant press has filed story after story tearing the credibility of the Obama administration’s job creation claims to shreds.

The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis has found that cap and tax legislation would cost the average family-of-four almost $3,000 per year, cause 2.5 million net job losses by 2035, and a produce a cumulative gross domestic product (GDP) loss of $9.4 trillion between 2012 and 2035.

Last night, elections were held in several states across the nation, and by most independent observations, the results served as a warning to liberals. Whether it was Republican victories in Virginia, New Jersey or even in typical liberal bastions like Westchester County, New York, the post-analysis was framed on what does this mean on Capitol Hill, and more importantly, what does this mean for the conservative movement. However, last night did not represent a new day for conservatives. On Monday, the same could have been said: the state of conservatism is strong.

HONOLULU – Governor Linda Lingle has concluded a successful round of meetings in Beijing as part of the Administration’s ongoing strategic effort to strengthen the state’s long-term economy by promoting Hawai‘i as a visitor destination to China’s growing outbound tourism market, developing export opportunities for Hawai‘i products and services and forming partnerships in clean energy.

“The Republican Party’s overwhelming victory in Virginia and New Jersey is a blow to President Obama and the Democrat Party.  It sends a message that America has had enough of more government spending, higher taxes and bigger government.  The people of this great country are saying no more broken promises and no more change for the sake of change.

"The Hawai'i Democrat Party, who has proven to be ineffective for the people of Hawai'i, should learn from Democrats across the country. These victories prove traditionally Democrat states like Hawai'i can and will vote for Republicans.”

For the leftist base of the Congressional majority, the creation of a government-run health insurance company has been the defining issue of the health care debate. So, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has explained numerous times that: “The thinking on the public option has been that it gives consumers more choices and it helps keep the private sector honest because there’s some competition out there.” But is this true? Would the public have more choices if a government run health insurance company was created?

--REPUBLICAN TAKES VA: 982,095 McDonnell [R] 653,687 Deeds [D]
--NJ: 514,692 Christie [R] 460,120 Corzine [D] 58,825 Daggett [I]

Contending they were treated unfairly, Asmus and Coker have written to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. They are accusing Inouye’s staff of unevenly applying earmark procedures by dispersing federal dollars to an institute honoring the late Massachusetts senator without giving their outfit, Humanitarian Air Logistics, what they consider a fair hearing....

Walt Kaneakua, an Inouye aide who Asmus and Coker say accused them of insulting Inouye by questioning his decision-making process, did not respond to a request for comment....

Ellis thinks one thing is a pretty sure bet: “They are virtually guaranteeing they will never get an earmark from Inouye.’’

The new House health care bill (H.R. 3962) unveiled by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) yesterday clocks in at 1,990 pages and about 400,000 words. As written, the bill purports to cost only $1.05 trillion over the first ten years and is paid for by over $700 billion in tax increases and cuts to Medicare Advantage and Medicare prescription drug payments. But as troubling as those numbers are, the scariest thing about the bill is the solid foundation it lays for a complete government take over of the health care sector of our economy.

HONOLULU – Governor Linda Lingle announced today she will travel to China to build on the State’s strategic efforts to strengthen Hawai‘i’s economic base by tapping China’s growing outbound tourism market as well as developing opportunities and partnerships in clean energy and international trade. 

In poll, after poll, after poll, the American people have clearly expressed their preference for prioritizing economic growth over global warming. This is a major problem for those on the left who want to reorganize our entire economy under the guise of cap and trade climate change legislation. Tacitly admitting they have lost this argument, the left has shifted gears and is trying a new tack: global warming is a threat to national security.

Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced that the health care legislation he is drafting will include a government-run health insurance plan, or as many on the left like to call it “the public option.” The new wrinkle that Reid has thrown into the proposal is an “opt out” clause which would require states to pass legislation by 2014 rejecting participation in the federal government run plan. None of the committees in the House or Senate ever even voted on this new opt out scheme. But that does not really matter. Whether it is first implemented through a co-op, or a trigger, or an opt out, the end goal is the same: government-run health care for all Americans.

The event will feature a presentation by national spokesman and former NFL football star, Riki Ellison, Founder and Chairman of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance (MDAA) a non-profit organization which advocates the deployment and development of a missile defense system.  Mr. Ellison has is an expert in the field of missile defense.

Republicans have their best candidate in a decade running for this seat. Djou has been fundraising for this race since early 2008, when it was correctly rumored that Abercrombie would leave his House seat open to run for governor. National Republicans already have taken note of Djou and aired advertisements in the heavily Democratic district.

Since energy is the lifeblood of the American economy, 85 percent of which comes from CO2-emitting fossil fuels, the Waxman-Markey bill’s arbitrary and severe restrictions on the current energy supply and infrastructure will not only have direct impact on consumers’ budgets through higher electric bills and gasoline prices, but also cause unnecessary inefficiencies at virtually every stage of production. CDA estimates that Waxman-Markey legislation would cost the average family-of-four almost $3,000 per year, cause 2.5 million net job losses by 2035, and a produce a cumulative gross domestic product (GDP) loss of $9.4 trillion between 2012 and 2035.

Yesterday the United States Department of the Treasury Special Master of Compensation Kenneth Feinberg announced a wage control scheme for the 175 executives of the seven companies that have received the most funds from the taxpayer funded Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). At first the Obama administration denied any involvement in Feinberg’s decision....

You have to read all the way to page A-25 in today’s New York Times to learn about it, but the Senate took its first floor vote on Obamacare yesterday and the White House lost. Big. The NYT reports: “Democrats lost a big test vote on health care legislation on Wednesday as the Senate blocked action on a bill to increase Medicare payments to doctors at a cost of $247 billion over 10 years. The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, needed 60 votes to proceed. He won only 47. And he could not blame Republicans. A dozen Democrats and one independent crossed party lines and voted with Republicans on the 53 to 47 roll call.”

Having announced his Afghanistan strategy last March, President Obama now seems afraid to make a decision, and unable to provide his commander on the ground with the troops he needs to complete his mission....  It’s time for President Obama to make good on his promise. The White House must stop dithering while America’s armed forces are in danger.

According to the data, 49 States and the District of Columbia have lost jobs since stimulus was enacted.  Only North Dakota has seen net job creation following the February 2009 stimulus.  While President Obama claimed the result of his stimulus bill would be the creation of 3.5 million jobs, the Nation has already lost a total of 2.7 million – a difference of 6.2 million jobs.  Hawaii was projected to gain 15,000 jobs.  Instead the state lost 17,000. 

Politico’s Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei report today:

President Obama is working systematically to marginalize the most powerful forces behind the Republican Party, setting loose top White House officials to undermine conservatives in the media, business and lobbying worlds.

After thousands of Americans attended hundreds of townhalls this summer, after the President of the United States delivered a rare speech to a Joint Session of Congress, after endless coverage of legislative markups in the relevant congressional committees, what if the Senate began actual floor votes on the health care overhaul and the drive-by media refused to cover it? Couldn’t happen? It already is.

In his primetime health care address before a Joint Session of Congress, President Barack Obama promised the American people: “I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits – either now or in the future. Period.” But it is hard work adding $1 trillion in government spending while claiming with a straight face that you are not adding to the deficit. Enter White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel who has just the solution: just strip out $247 billion of the spending in the bill, pass it separately, and voila … your job just got one-fourth easier.

The results are in and Republican Congressional Candidate Charles Djou's cash-on-hand total--a key early measure of political support--beats that of Democrat Ed Case by more than 2-1.  Djou, an outgoing Honolulu City Council member, also beats Senate President Colleen Hanabusa (D-Ko`olina) by more than 40-1.