Governor Palin: “Who is Running our Country?”

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin today posted this Status Update on Facebook:

Who is running our country? We've got a CIA Director sharing security info with his mistress using an unsecure gmail account. We've got the delusional Susan Rice blaming the death of an ambassador on a Youtube video. We've got Iran firing on one of our drones a week before the election. We've got the White House either ignorant of or covering up all of this. Who is minding the store? Everywhere we look we see the rank incompetence or corruption of the people who are supposedly running our country and our major institutions. Let's hope that responsible reporters at Obama's press conference today ask the right questions Americans deserve answers to.

Here's my question for the president: As our nation's chief executive you claim to be unaware of the most important and tragic situations we're facing; so, as a former chief executive, I'd like to know how long it takes for your staff to tell you things like: "Sir, your CIA Director is under investigation"?

– Sarah Palin  –  Who one day after the 2012 Election was voted the person Republicans consider the leader of their party in the GretaWire Poll.

Rush Limbaugh read this today on his show and said, “Sarah hit the nail right on the head!”

News conference: Obama talks about Petraeus, taxes

2:51PM EST November 14. 2012 - President Obama took questions from reporters Wednesday in his first full-scale news conference since March.

Obama made his first comments on the widening scandal that led to the resignation of CIA Director David Petraeus, plus addressed upcoming negotiations with Congress on taxes and spending cuts.

He also forcefully beat back attacks on U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice coming from GOP Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina for her comments following deadly violence in Libya. Obama said the senators are trying to "besmirch" her reputation.

"If Senator McCain and Senator Graham want to go after someone, they should go after me," Obama said.  Well, I agree with that!!

Highlights from the news conference are below, as USA TODAY's Aamer Madhani is at the White House.

2:25 p.m. ET: That's a wrap, Obama says. But then a question is shouted out and Obama declines to answer it because it was yelled out.

2:22 p.m. ET: Last question is about Syria and whether the United States would arm Syrian rebels. Obama says he was one of the first leaders to say Bashar Assad should go. He says the United States is in close contact with Turkey and other countries. Obama says he was "encouraged" that the Syrian opposition formed an umbrella group. "We consider them a legitimate representation of the aspirations of the Syrian people," Obama says. But, he added, the United States is "not prepared" to recognize the rebels as a "government in exile."

2:21 p.m. ET: Obama notes it might be easier to deal with the fiscal cliff than to find a bipartisan solution on climate change but suddenly seems to have opened the door for discussion on the long-shot carbon tax as part of the fiscal cliff debate.

2:18 p.m. ET: "I am a firm believer that climate change is real," Obama says. He adds that he doesn't know what Republicans or Democrats are prepared to do to solve the issue, but acknowledges it would involve "making some tough political choices." He says he won't go for anything that would have a negative impact on jobs.

2:16 p.m. ET: Next question is about New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's endorsement and what the president plans to do about climate change. "We can't attribute any particular weather event to climate change. What we do know is the temperature around the globe is increasing," he says.

2:14 p.m. ET: Obama says he wants a diplomatic solution to Iran and vows that country will not get a nuclear weapon. "I will try to make a push int he coming months to see ... if we can get this thing resolved. I can't promise that Iran will walk through the door," he says. Obama vows not to be "constrained by diplomatic niceties and protocols."

2:12 p.m. ET: Back to the fiscal cliff. Obama says he can envision the moment (that he wants to avoid) if there is no agreement before tax cuts expire and spending cuts take effect. He calls again for certainty for middle-class families.

2:11 p.m. ET: Obama shares a light moment with Christi Parsons of the Chicago Tribune, who covered his first race for the Illinois state Senate.

2:08 p.m. ET: Obama says he has one mandate and that's to help the middle class. "I don't presume that because I won an election that everybody suddenly agrees with me on everything," he says. "On the other hand I didn't get re-elected just to bask in re-election. I got elected to do work on behalf of American families and small business all across the country."

2:05 p.m. ET: Obama says there is no debate that there needs to be accountability after four Americans were killed at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. And he warns Sens. McCain and Graham again: "When they go after the U.N. ambassador apparently because they think she's an easy target then they've got a problem with me." He says he's not yet determined whether Susan Rice is the best person for the secretary of State job.

2:03 p.m. ET ABC's Jonathan Karl asks about Sen. John McCain's vow to block Susan Rice from the secretary of State job. Obama says Rice has done "exemplary" work and has been professional. "If Sen. McCain and Sen. Graham and others want to go after somebody they should go after me."

Obama says "for them to go after the U.N. ambassador ... and besmirch her reputation is outrageous."

2:02 p.m.ET: "I hope and intend to be an even better president" in a second term, Obama says.

2 p.m. ET: The question is about improving relationships with Congress. "I will examine ways that I can make sure to communicate my desire to work with everybody," Obama says, adding he will not compromise when it comes to helping the middle class. "All of us have responsibilities to see if there are things we can improve on." Obama says Americans don't want to see "a focus on the next election. ...I don't have another election."

1:58 p.m. ET: Is Obama going to sit down with Mitt Romney? Obama says nothing has been scheduled yet. "Everybody needs to catch their breath," he says, adding he hopes it occurs before the end of the year. Obama says there are "certain aspects" to Romney's career that could be helpful, such as his "terrific" job running the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Obama says he's not "prejudging" what Romney wants to do, nor does he have a specific assignment for his rival.

1:56 p.m. ET: Obama says he doesn't want a "vague" solution when it comes to reducing the deficit. "The American people understood what they were getting when they gave me this incredible privilege of being in office for another four years," Obama says as he repeats his call for the wealthy to pay their fair share in taxes.

1:55 p.m. ET: Back to the fiscal cliff. Obama says the problems are "solvable" and that "fair minded people" can come to an agreement. "I don't expect Republicans to simply adopt my budget," he says.

1:54 p.m. ET: Obama says that had he been told sooner about Petraeus then reporters could have been asking him today why he interfered in an ongoing investigation.

1:52 p.m. ET: NBC News goes back to the question: Should the president have known about the Petraeus investigation sooner than he did? "I am withholding judgment with respect to how the entire process surrounding Gen. Petraeus came up," Obama answers. "I have a lot of confidence in the FBI and they have a difficult job."

1:50 p.m. ET: Obama says he wants to move on a comprehensive immigration bill soon after his inauguration. It will include border security measure and should contain serious penalties for companies that hire illegal immigrants. Obama says there should be a "pathway for legal status" for those who are already living in the United States, and that these illegal immigrants should potentially pay a fine. He also said he wants to put into law what he did administratively that allows thousands of young illegal immigrants to stay in the country.

1:48 p.m. ET: The topic now is immigration and what is his vision for a "broad" plan. Obama said it was "encouraging" to see a "significant" increase in Latino voter turnout last week. "You're starting to see a sense of empowerment and civic participation ... that will be good for the country," he said.

1:47 p.m. ET: More on the fiscal cliff. Obama says, "We've got a clear majority of the American people who recognize if we're going to be serious about deficit reduction we have to do it in a balanced way." He says he wants "a big deal" and a "comprehensive deal."

1:43 p.m. ET: Obama says the country cannot afford to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy. "A deal that helps the economy, creates jobs, creates certainty" is what he's looking for. After that, he says, he wants a process to set up reform of the tax code and entitlements such as Social Security. "There's a package to be shaped and I'm confident that the ... goodwill of both parties can make that happen."

1:41 p.m. ET: Obama says he doesn't want to "meddle" in the Petraeus investigation and declines to specify if he should have been notified earlier.

1:40 p.m. ET: "General Petraeus had an extraordinary career. ... By his own assessment he did not meet the standards he felt were necessary as the director of the CIA. ... From my perspective, he has provided this country has provided extraordinary service. My hope right now is that he and his family are amble to move and that this ends up being a single side note on what has otherwise been an extraordinary career."

1:39 p.m. ET: First question from AP's Ben Feller on national security and the Petraeus scandal. "I have no evidence ... from what I have seen that classified information was disclosed that in any way ... would impact national security." Ed Henry from Fox tried again to ask the President on tough question on Benghazi but again doesn’t get direct answer.

1:37 p.m. ET: Obama says, "We should not hold the middle class hostage while we debate tax cuts for the wealthy." He's urging a deal before the holidays.

1:36 p.m. ET: Obama says he's "open to compromise and open to new ideas." He's pleased that Republicans want to find new revenue. " He notes everyone's taxes will go up if he and Congress cannot reach a deal on tax and spending cuts.

1:35 p.m. ET: Obama opens with a statement about the importance of creating jobs and the need for bipartisanship as he and Congress try to avoid the fiscal cliff. "We face a very clear deadline that requires us to make some big decision on jobs, taxes and deficits," he said. "I believe that both parties can work together."

Retrieved from: http://www.facebook.com/sarahpalin/posts/10151264793653588.  h/t to Us4Palin and USAToday

Related:

Romney Did Not Lose

Barack Obama Voter Fraud 2012

Republicans Seek Watergate-Style Hearings on Benghazi

Petraeus to testify at Benghazi hearing  -  Don’t Expect his Testimony to be Different from What He Gave September 13th

Technorati Tags: Sarah Palin,White House,facebook,Obamaland,Petraeus,CIA,gmail,Palin,CIA Director,Susan Rice,incompetence,Iran,Benghazi,Benghazigate,corruption in Congress,Palin 2016,Sarah Paling in 2016,real leadership,MSM,who is minding the store,who is running the White House,Rush Limbaugh,who is running our country,cover-ups,lies,scandals,complicit media,U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice,Libya,Obama's press conference,John McCain,taxes,Lindsay Graham,manipulation of the public

God Bless the Conservative Father

By Betsy M. Galliher  -  American Thinker

Michelle Obama sent yet another plea last week, imploring the common man to wish her husband a happy Father's Day. That is to say, Mrs. Obama -- who undoubtedly left the note's details to staff as limited as her time is between book tours, lavish travel, and star-studded NYC campaign events -- has again called upon the people who must toil to fuel Mrs. Obama's lavish lifestyle to heap platitudes upon her petulant composite of a husband; and with a campaign donation from what little is left of our after tax dollars nonetheless.

Nothing, and I mean nothing, (okay, many other things) over the last few mind-numbing years of tyrannical fundamental transformation, irks me more than these impertinent and incessant campaign requests -- birthdays, anniversaries, Valentine's, Mother's and Father's Day wishes for our Rulers, at the behest of our Rulers. It would only be more irksome were Anna Wintour -- a natural for the next The Hunger Games Capitol villain --begging our adulations through her nauseatingly elitist brogue.

Mrs. Obama made no mention of the soldier dad away from his family on Father's Day; not the new and nervous dad enthralled with the perfect new life entrusted him; not the hardworking and selfless, law-abiding, taxpaying dad; or the jobless father trying to keep his family afloat in the Obama economy. No, the day belongs to Barack Hussein; the composite father who somehow fits fathering -- what appears to be a bi-annual photo op with his daughters walking hand in hand to church -- in between lavish celebrity-filled campaign events, secret meetings with Marxist friends, lawless fiat, economic ruin, and golf.

If that is the father we are to honor, I'll pass.

Many of us were fortunate to be raised by a responsible, moral, conservative father -- imperfect though he may have been. He scoffed when his children cried, "that's not fair." He taught us work before play, the value of money, self-respect, right and wrong, and the limits of government and the power of personal responsibility -- if not in words, by his example. I am grateful for many blessings, but a conservative father is chief among them.

My own father never organized anyone. He expected people to organize their own lives, and their own communities, free from the obstacle of tyrannical government preferably. He never presumed to rule over another, nor did he expect anyone to tell him how to live his life. He never lectured from stadiums grandiosely flanked by Greek columns, but his words resonated. He never padded a resume, nor embellished, let alone created, his own history. And yet, his history speaks volumes.

My father grew up with strong, Christian, honorable men who served and defended this great nation, knew hard work, God-given liberty, and right and wrong. My father grew up when Sunday was reserved for family and church; before helmets were required to walk to the mailbox; and before putting the playground bully in his place with a discreet right hook was criminal. He knew how to change the oil in his own car, and how to farm and garden before leftists commandeered produce for social change. He watched great men land on the moon, and even greater men returning from war. He understood why soldiers fought those wars, and he was grateful and humbled. He grew up before MTV was around to bash Christians, and glamorize teen pregnancy, victimhood, bad behavior, and hedonistic drunkards from the Jersey Shore. To my knowledge, my father never dealt drugs, ate dog, nor perfectly recited the Islamic call to prayer.

My father's parents were teachers who believed education was rooted in classic academics -- reading, writing, arithmetic, and real history -- not lessons in social justice. My father was a disciplined national championship swimmer. He never received a trophy just for showing up at a swim meet. He put himself through medical school when medicine was still a calling. My dad must have been worried -- even terrified -- but he met every risk and sleepless night without complaint, even as more and more government crept into the practice he once loved and so ethically served. He never missed a day of work, never put himself before any patient, and never removed any tonsils or feet needlessly.

My father never pitied himself, even when he and his wife learned they were unable to have children. I'm sure it must pain them to see how flippantly the abortion industry treats the right to deny so many births if only for their shortcomings of normal, or gender, or for selfish convenience. My father and mother adopted four children and raised them with love and discipline -- warts and all -- managing the rough patches and celebrating the mundane and grand milestones of life alike. My father certainly never criticized or sent operatives to persecute a woman for staying home to raise children, which he knew to be very hard work. And he never saw my brother -- technically, a minority -- as anything less, or more, than another human being.

My father never scratched his cheek with a certain finger in a very public and obscene gesture when speaking of his enemies. Actually, he had no enemies. He never dangled an obscene and insulting sexual innuendo publicly, or otherwise, about his children's mother. He never ridiculed, shamed, or used lewd nicknames for those with whom he disagreed. His inner circle of friends never included thugs, crooked politicians, terrorists, and Marxists. He never once vacationed, dined, entertained, traveled, flew, hired staff, or lived on someone else's dime. Ever. He lived within his means at every stage of his life, managing to help the less fortunate whenever possible. Most importantly, he worshipped God and taught his children to do the same.

His children went to college -- very expensive, privileged colleges -- presumably to learn and prepare for a career. Along the way, one became quite radical in her thinking, perhaps out of some rebellion, or immaturity, or intellectual convenience -- turning her back on God, her nation's great history, denying the reality of human nature and the consequence of behavior; even marching in Washington for a woman's right to deny herself the greatest of all miracles bestowed her by God. And, yet, her father never turned his back to her.

It's humbling to wish real men Happy Father's Day. Conservative men, seemingly so out of fashion among the exposed underbelly of the Obama era Left -- heroic, self-deprecating, mentoring, imperfect dads who put God, family, country, and personal responsibility before their own self-interest and the fallible government of men. Their words and deeds lay a foundation for their children capable of penetrating even the great noise of life.

If only every child were so blessed.

Related:

Dad: Are You Part of “The Great Conversation”?

Happy Father’s Day

Great Book:  Raising a Modern-Day Knight: A Father's Role in Guiding His Son to Authentic Manhood

Technorati Tags: Father's Day,holidays,parents,parenting,conservatives,values,God,family,country,personal responsibility

Who Killed The Kennedys?

Jack Kennedy was shot on my twentieth birthday.

I was a Dartmouth student, getting ready to drive down to Skidmore to celebrate with my girlfriend, when the news ricocheted around the dormitory. I went down to Skidmore anyway, spending the weekend in a Saratoga Springs motel room, watching the TV coverage, including that astonishing moment when Ruby shot Oswald in front of our eyes in living black and white.

Does this mean I have more insight than others into the Kennedy assassination? No. But that coincidence did give me an extra frisson when the date “November 22, 1963” was superimposed at the beginning of Episode 7 of the new The Kennedys miniseries.

I spent the last couple of days watching all eight episodes of the series, courtesy of the production company. It was certainly a trip down memory lane. Like so many of my generation, my life had intersected with the Kennedys in the world of political imagination and sometimes even in reality.

I had been in the audience, close enough to shake his hand, for an East L.A. speech of Bobby’s two days before he was shot, the largely Chicano and Mexican crowd yelling “Viva! Viva!” as if the California primary voters were about to elect him dictator, not president.

And then, a few years later, I had a literary agent who, it turned out, was one of the six young women at that Chappaquiddick reunion party for RFK’s campaign the fateful night Ted Kennedy took his chauffeur’s car keys to drive the late Mary Jo Kopechne home himself. The agent never spoke of what happened. (This hugely dramatic incident does not appear in the series, nor is there even a mention of Ted Kennedy. More on this later.)

So what did I think of the miniseries? No one could mistake it for Citizen Kane — television political biopics tend to the humdrum and stilted, as most of us know — but it is nowhere near as bad as the fulminating critics would have us believe. Their major objection seems to be that the series emphasizes the soap opera aspects of the Kennedy lives — Jack’s parade of women that would make Bill Clinton envious, his and Jackie’s amphetamine cocktails from “Dr. Feelgood,” the Mafia connections via Giancana, Sinatra, and Judith Exner, Joe Sr.’s having his troubled daughter (Jack’s younger sister) lobotomized, not to mention the patriarch’s infamous flirtation with the Third Reich, etc.

Well, why not? These things are the stuff of drama (cf. the House of Atreus), not endless discussions of policy. The latter are much better handled in a book. But never mind. When the early drafts of the screenplay leaked out, JFK’s speechwriter, the late Ted Sorenson — among several others — joined a campaign organized by filmmaker Robert Greenwald aimed at preventing the film from being made and attacking it as a right-wing hit piece led by that known conservative attack dog Joel Surnow of 24 fame.

But here’s the surprising thing — and I should put this in bold because it is the linchpin of this article — The Kennedys (made by right-wingers though it may be) is tremendously respectful of JFK as a president. Indeed, the JFK it portrays is arguably one of the best presidents of the post-war period, if not of all time.

In the three key events dramatized in the series — his taking personal blame for the Bay of Pigs fiasco, his steadfastness in supporting racial integration at the University of Mississippi and, of course, his resolute behavior in confrontation with Khrushchev in the Cuban Missile Crisis — the Jack Kennedy of The Kennedys is a superlative and courageous decision maker.

This makes the miniseries — unlike the fuddy-duddy Greenwald site — oddly modern and heroic and pro-JFK.The Kennedys filmmakers have respected their audience and allowed them to reflect on the fascinating question of how someone so lacking in his personal life could achieve so much good in his public life. (Missing from this film is another positive action with a contemporary twist — JFK’s cutting of tax rates to stimulate the economy.)

That question — the relationship of doer and deed — is as old as drama. Shakespeare reveled in it. Nevertheless, as many of you know, the series was rejected by the channel for which it was originally made, the History Channel. It was eventually sold and is now showing on the lesser-known Reelz.

I had assumed the History Channel was to blame in this but, in an interview with Lionel Chetwynd and me, Joel Surnow said the rejection came from a higher corporate source. The History Channel is owned by AETN, A&E Television Networks, which is a joint venture of The Hearst Corporation, Disney-ABC Television Group and NBC Universal.

Some unknown person or persons in the upper reaches of these huge media companies apparently succumbed to pressure and suppressed The Kennedys. This pressure most likely came from the Kennedy family (Caroline?) and friends. The family has been quite successful over the years in their attempts to keep their detractors quiet.

I have no way of knowing, but they may have succeeded inside the making of The Kennedys as well as outside. Curiously, “The Lion of the Senate” and youngest son of Joe and Rose Kennedy, Ted Kennedy, is never seen or even mentioned in any of the eight episodes of the miniseries. What is the reason for this extraordinary omission?

The aforementioned Chappaquiddick incident is easily the most extreme case of Kennedy personal malfeasance. Jack may have been a serial adulterer, but he was never involved in death from his dalliances, nor did he leave the scene of a fatal accident. Teddy did and got away with it.

There has been some debate about the extent of his culpability, but how do you dramatize this event in any way without making him look really bad? And how do you tell the story of Ted Kennedy without Chappaquiddick? It becomes an almost comical whitewash. So Teddy is a non-person in The Kennedys, the man who was never there. I don’t know if this was true in earlier drafts, but it is in the series as it is being broadcast.

So whoever really killed The Kennedys is out hiding somewhere in an impenetrable corporate tower. I’m not into conspiracy theories, so I’m not going to pursue it further.

But I will say this. Whoever did this has conflated politics and religion. The Kennedys are not religious icons. They are highly fallible human beings. To show them as they were is the duty of the artist as well as the mission of America, that is freedom of speech. Surnow and company had their speech temporarily eclipsed. That was not good for them, but more than that, it is not good for our country.

Source:  Pajama’s Media

If you are not familiar with the history of the Kennedy’s this miniseries is a good place to start.  There are presidents and leaders, in general, who inspire us to become better and who are are larger than the office they hold.  In modern times, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan fill that place in American history, in spite of their personal flaws.  Even though they were of different parties and different in many ways, Kennedy and Reagan were also the same in many ways that matter!  They were both Irish descended Americans who loved America and the opportunities she gave to their families and to all legal immigrants; they loved the Constitution and knew it was their job to uphold the law and keep America safe; they were excellent inspiring speakers and they were strong in their convictions, ideals and leadership abilities.  They made the tough decisions and then took responsibility for the outcome of their decisions!  They both also had strong wives, Jackie and Nancy, who supported them and filled their roles as First Ladies with style and grace.

The re-writing of history and minimal focus on our true history, both good and bad, is what had made us weaker.

“He who does not learn from history is destined to repeat it!” and America has sadly done a poor job of teaching her children…

Related:

Camelot Fights Back: Who Killed ‘The Kennedy’s’ Miniseries?

–> JFK on Taxes and the Economy <–

–> The Assassination of John F. Kennedy and the Federal Reserve <–

Kennedy United States Notes actually circulated shortly

We Choose to go to the Moon

Resources on the Kennedys:

America's Queen: The Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Grace and Power: The Private World of the Kennedy White House

Four Days in November: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

Jackie, Ethel, Joan : Women of Camelot

The Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy

The Sins of the Father: Joseph P. Kennedy and the Dynasty he Founded

Ted Kennedy: The Dream That Never Died

LBJ: The Mastermind of JFK's Assassination

American Legacy: The Story of John and Caroline Kennedy

JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters

The Kennedy Curse: Why Tragedy Has Haunted America's First Family for 150 Years

A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House

Kennedy vs. Carter: The 1980 Battle for the Democratic Party's Soul

A Nation of Immigrants by JFK

Kevin Costner’s JFK - Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition)

The Kennedys miniseries

Marco Rubio: America Can’t Survive Another Obama Term

Video:  Marco Rubio:  America Can’t Survive Another Obama Term 

Exclusive On Hannity:  Marco Rubio Lays Out What Needs to Be Done to Save America

Why I Won’t Vote to Raise the Debt Limit by Marco Rubio

Below is a write up from Liberty Action Report about Marco and his stand.

Today, ALG ( Americans for Limited Government ) President Bill Wilson praised Senator Marco Rubio for his "courageous stand" against increasing the $14.294 trillion federal debt ceiling

Senator Rubio outlined his conditions for approving any increase in the ceiling, which will be hit between April 15th and May 31st according to U.S. Treasury estimates.

"I will vote to defeat an increase in the debt limit unless it is the last one we ever authorize and is accompanied by a plan for fundamental tax reform, an overhaul of our regulatory structure, a cut to discretionary spending, a balanced-budget amendment, and reforms to save Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid," wrote Senator Rubio.

Wilson said Rubio's conditions were "reasonable." He explained, "Look, with a national debt that has already soared above $14 trillion that will become larger than the entire economy, soon the debt will become too large to even refinance, let alone ever be repaid." By 2021, the Office of Management and Budget projects the national debt will soar to over $25 trillion.

"If Senate Republicans cannot use their leverage on the debt ceiling vote to achieve significant concessions, including a Balanced Budget Amendment, to turn the Ship of State around now, will assuredly sink into the Abyss in the not-so-distant future," Wilson warned.

Currently, the $14.2 trillion national debt already stands at 95.5 percent of the nation's $14.8 trillion Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Wilson said it was unclear at what percentage of debt-to-GDP that the debt becomes too large to refinance, but that "the warning signs are already there that we cannot even meet our current obligations honestly."

"Right now, we're currently meeting our financing obligations by having the Federal Reserve simply print money to buy debt. Anyone ever heard of the Weimar Republic? How'd that work out for them?" Wilson asked.

The Weimar Republic experienced hyperinflation in 1920's as it attempted to print money to honor its war debts and reparations, destabilizing the country and leading directly to its fall.

Pimco reports that in 2009, 80 percent of treasuries were purchased by the Federal Reserve, and in 2010, it had to buy 70 percent, bringing its current U.S. debt holdings to $1.3 trillion. "The Fed is the largest lender to the U.S. government in the world, more than China or Japan. When the Fed ends QE2 in June, it will likely keep a high water mark of $1.5 trillion in treasuries holdings. That means it will still be buying U.S. debt to aid in refinancing," Wilson explained.

"Republicans need to do a better job of explaining the fiscal catastrophe we face, and what will happen if the debt is allowed to become too large to even refinance," Wilson noted.

"If the GOP cannot articulate what will happen to this country, specifically, if Congress fails to act and the debt soars to over $25 trillion in a decade, it will undercut their case for real fiscal reform," Wilson explained. "Either the debt will become too large to service, or it can continue to grow forever with no danger. If members truly believe that indeed it can get too large, then Senate Republicans' time to act is now."

Wilson concluded, "This is not just about getting an up-or-down vote on a Balanced Budget Amendment. This is about actually making certain that the debt ceiling never needs to be increased again. Senator Rubio's stand is an example all members should emulate. He's trying to save his country before it's too late, and we applaud him for that."

Related:

Despite Tea Party (and others) ‘Screaming in GOP Ears,’  Boehner Signals Compromise on Budget Cuts  -  Contact him today plus your congressperson and tell them time to take a stand!!  “No compromise and No raising the debt ceiling!!

Boehner: ‘Democrats Are Rooting for a Government Shutdown’

Outrage:  Freddie and Fannie Execs Pocketed $35 Million in Taxpayer Money

Ben Stein’s Final Column

For many years Ben Stein has written a biweekly column called 'Monday Night At Morton's.' (Morton's is a famous chain of Steakhouses known to be frequented by movie stars and famous people from around the globe.) Now, Ben is terminating the column to move on to other things in his life. Reading his final column is worth a few minutes of your time.

Ben Stein's Last Column... How Can Someone Who Lives in Insane Luxury Be a Star in Today's World?

As I begin to write this, I 'slug' it, as we writers say, which means I put a heading on top of the document to identify it. This heading is 'eonline FINAL,' and it gives me a shiver to write it. I have been doing this column for so long that I cannot even recall when I started. I loved writing this column so much for so long! I came to believe it would never end.

It worked well for a long time, but gradually, my changing as a person and the world's change have overtaken it On a small scale, Morton's, while better than ever, no longer attracts as many stars as it used to. It still brings in the rich people in droves and definitely some stars. I saw Samuel L. Jackson there a few days ago, and we had a nice visit, and right before that, I saw and had a splendid talk with Warren Beatty in an elevator, in which we agreed that Splendor in the Grass was a super movie. But Morton's is not the star galaxy it once was, though it probably will be again.

Beyond that, a bigger change has happened..? I no longer think Hollywood stars are terribly important. They are uniformly pleasant, friendly people, and they treat me better than I deserve to be treated. But a man or woman who makes a huge wage for memorizing lines and reciting them in front of a camera is no longer my idea of a shining star we should all look up to.

How can a man or woman who makes an eight-figure wage and lives in insane luxury really be a star in today's world, if by a 'star' we mean someone bright and powerful and attractive as a role model? Real stars are not riding around in the backs of limousines or in Porsches or getting trained in yoga or Pilates and eating only raw fruit while they have Vietnamese girls do their nails…

They can be interesting, nice people, but they are not heroes to me any longer. A real star is the soldier of the 4th Infantry Division who poked his head into a hole on a farm near Tikrit , Iraq . He could have been met by a bomb or a hail of AK-47 bullets. Instead, he faced an abject Saddam Hussein and the gratitude of all of the decent people of the world.

A real star is the U.S. Soldier who was sent to disarm a bomb next to a road north of Baghdad . He approached it, and the bomb went off and killed him..

A real star, the kind who haunts my memory night and day, is the U.S. Soldier in Baghdad who saw a little girl playing with a piece of unexploded ordnance on a street near where he was guarding a station. He pushed her aside and threw himself on it just as it exploded. He left a family desolate in California and a little girl alive in Baghdad.

The stars who deserve media attention are not the ones who have lavish weddings on TV but the ones who patrol the streets of Mosul even after two of their buddies were murdered and their bodies battered and stripped for the sin of trying to protect Iraqis from terrorists.

We put couples with incomes of $100 million a year on the covers of our magazines. The noncoms and officers who barely scrape by on military pay but stand on guard in Afghanistan and Iraq and on ships and in submarines and near the Arctic Circle are anonymous as they live and die.

I am no longer comfortable being a part of the system that has such poor values, and I do not want to perpetuate those values by pretending that who is eating at Morton's is a big subject.

There are plenty of other stars in the American firmament... The policemen and women who go off on patrol in South Central and have no idea if they will return alive; the orderlies and paramedics who bring in people who have been in terrible accidents and prepare them for surgery; the teachers and nurses who throw their whole spirits into caring for autistic children; the kind men and women who work in hospices and in cancer wards.

Think of each and every fireman who was running up the stairs at the World Trade Center as the towers began to collapse. Now you have my idea of a real hero.

I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters This is my highest and best use as a human. I can put it another way. Years ago, I realized I could never be as great an actor as Olivier or as good a comic as Steve Martin or Martin Mull or Fred Willard--or as good an economist as Samuelson or Friedman or as good a writer as Fitzgerald. Or even remotely close to any of them.

But, I could be a devoted father to my son, husband to my wife and, above all, a good son to the parents who had done so much for me. This came to be my main task in life. I did it moderately well with my son, pretty well with my wife and well indeed with my parents (with my sister's help). I cared for and paid attention to them in their declining years. I stayed with my father as he got sick, went into extremis and then into a coma and then entered immortality with my sister and me reading him the Psalms.

This was the only point at which my life touched the lives of the soldiers in Iraq or the firefighters in New York . I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters and that it is my duty, in return for the lavish life God has devolved upon me, to help others He has placed in my path. This is my highest and best use as a human Faith is not believing that God can. It is knowing that God will.

By Ben Stein

Related Resources:

• The Real Stars - Book
• Expelled - DVD
• How to Ruin the United States of America... – Book
• Yes, You Can Still Retire Comfortably... – Book

Ask Marion – Knowledge Creates Power

The Death of “Common Sense”

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who Has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape…  He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to come in out of the rain; Why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn't always fair; and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;
I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I'm A Victim

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. ( And some never knew he existed! )

Source:  Anonymous

Posted:  Ask Marion – Knowledge Creates Power