Yesterday, Janet Napolitano HHS appeared on CNN defending the 'deer in the headlights' moment of our National Intelligence officer, James Clapper. "To be Fair", he was so busy wheeling and dealing the passage of the START Treaty that he couldn't have possibly known about the round up of terror suspects in London. I mean, after all, you can't expect our National Intelligence Officer to be briefed on issues of terrorism prior to going on National Television, even though the incident occurred just hours prior to his interview. Yet, as FOX News Reports, Napolitano defended Clapper saying:
"Well, let's -- let's be fair. I knew. John Brennan knew. We also knew there was no connect that had been perceived to anything going on in the homeland and that we were in perfect connectivity with our -- our colleagues in Britain."
She went on defending the security of our airports, now that we have full body scanners and physical groping of Nuns and small children, adding"
"that the new technology and the pat-downs were "safer for our traveling public."
Don't you just feel so warm and fuzzy all over knowing our Nations Intelligence and Homeland Security is so on top of everything? Well before you do, there was another incident that was just reported a week before. An Iranian American had boarded on an International Flight out of Houston with a loaded 'Baby' Glock in his briefcase last fall. As ABC reports:
He didn't realize he had forgotten to remove the loaded snub nose "baby" Glock pistol from his computer bag. But TSA officers never noticed as his bag glided along the belt and was x-rayed. When he got to his hotel after the three-hour flight, he was shocked to discover the gun traveled unnoticed from Houston.
ABC then continued to report on other security 'failures':
According to one report, undercover TSA agents testing security at a Newark airport terminal on one day in 2006 found that TSA screeners failed to detect concealed bombs and guns 20 out of 22 times. A 2007 government audit leaked to USA Today revealed that undercover agents were successful slipping simulated explosives and bomb parts through Los Angeles's LAX airport in 50 out of 70 attempts, and at Chicago's O'Hare airport agents made 75 attempts and succeeded in getting through undetected 45 times.
Napolitano wasn't buying any of it. Saying of the report:
"Many of them are very old and out of date and there were all kinds of methodology issues with them. Let's set those aside," she said. "We pick up more contraband with the new procedures and the new machinery."
Apparently, the incident last fall was one of those 'old and out dated' reports and 'To be Fair', Clapper wasn't asked which newspapers he reads, only what his opinion was on a 'Current Event'.
Senator Tom Coburn (R) Oklahoma posted the 'earmarks' here. I wanted to see just how many earmarks our two Senators from Michigan are responsible for. 136 total combined amounting to $281,128,000. That is over one quarter of a billion dollars for my two Senators alone.
Some of my Favorites:
$4,375,000 Innovation Station, East Lansing, MI
$1,300,000 Rivers Edge Roadway Infrastructure and Street-scape Initiative, MI
$24,803,000 Reading is Fundamental authorized under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
$25,646,000 National Writing Project for activities authorized under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
These are only 4 of the 136 earmarks I found. You can scroll the document below for additional Pork that is being thrown into this Omnibus Bill. When this nation is broke, do we really need a National Reading Project when our own Senators and Congressmen can't be bothered to read the crap they are passing?
UPDATE 1: A friend has pointed me to this database that highlights with an interactive previous Porkulus Spending. Between this bill and previous earmarks for FY2011, $7.5 Billion has been or will be earmarked by our Michigan Senators.
Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) also said he was currently trying to read through the bill and would be working to read through the entire measure before it comes up for a vote.
“I’m going to read as much of it as I possibly can,” Levin said. “If I’m lucky, I’ll read all of it, if I have enough time. And I’m working hard to get the time because it’s important that we read these bills.”
WASHINGTON (AP) - Democrats controlling the Senate have abandoned a 1,924-page catchall spending measure that's laced with homestate pet projects known as earmarks and that would have provided another $158 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nevada Democrat Harry Reid gave up on the nearly $1.3 trillion bill after several Republicans who had been thinking of voting for the bill pulled back their support.
It's abundantly clear that our Current Commander and Chief is painfully lacking any knowledge of our Military. In February of this year he honored our Navy 'Corpse-Men' not once, but twice in the same sentence. Today, Politico is reporting that while in Afghanistan Obama omits the Coast Guard during his 'shout out' to those serving there. Even though someone in the crowds yells out 'Coast Guard', Obama appears put off saying "Coast Guard?" "Is that what I heard" and then continues on with his speech as if this particular branch of service is insignificant as far as he is concerned. The relevant portion of this is located at around the 1:12 of the clip below.
Originally, I hadn't gone past the 1:12 mark of his speech. I had honestly thought that ignoring one of our branches of service was bad enough, but it wasn't. Around the 6:24 mark of this video, Obama once again has the audacity to say "America is not defined by our borders". As the Blogging Professor writes,
"A nation without borders is no nation at all - a concept Obama never got:"
On December 2nd, Rep. Gary Peters voted along with his party again, to extend the 'Bush Tax Cuts' to those making under $250k a year. This is not what the Congressman promised back in September. In fact, in a letter to Speaker Pelosi, Peters along with three other Congressmen wrote:
"We urge you to consider legislation to extend all of the income tax cuts," the letter to Pelosi reads. "In recent weeks, we have heard from a diverse spectrum of economists, small business owners, and families who have voiced concerns that raising any taxes right now could negatively impact economic growth. Given the continued fragility of our economy and slow pace of recovery, we share their concerns."
Today we find the unemployment numbers have climbed from 9.6% to 9.8% and these numbers will certainly rise with the additional tax burdens that Congressman Peters has imposed on our small business owners and he calls himself a Moderate.
Bryon York has an article up this morning in the Washington Examiner that details the ignorance of the Portland Oregon's City Council going back to 2005. The Council, working with the ACLU and angry with the Bush Administrations 'conduct on the war on terror', decided that Political Correctness out weighed the safety of their citizens and banned their law enforcement teams from working with the FBI on any Joint Terrorist Task Force.
Fast forward to 2010 where we have the Towns People gathered for the celebration of Annual Lighting of the Christmas Tree at the Portland's Pioneer Courthouse Square. Meanwhile,Mohamed Osman Mohamud, a Somali-born naturalized U.S. citizen and unknowingly working with undercover FBI agents, had dreams of a jihad dancing in his head.
In the Mohamud case, it appears that Portland's anti-law enforcement stand might actually have influenced Mohamud's decision to undertake an attack in the city. According to the FBI affidavit, the undercover agents asked whether he worried that law enforcement would stop him. "In Portland?" Mohamud replied. "Not really. They don't see it as a place where anything will happen. People say, you know, why, anybody want to do something in Portland, you know, it's on the west coast, it's in Oregon, and Oregon's, like you know, nobody ever thinks about it."
And how does the current Mayor Portland Oregon feel about a Joint Terrorist Task force today?. "[Adams] stressed that he has much more faith in the Obama administration and the leadership of the U.S. Attorney’s office now than he did in 2005." You got that.. It's Bush's Fault.
Read More here at The American Spectator: Portland's Mayor Goes Into Politically Correct Mode
You really got to love our 'Main Stream Media". They must have a dedicated staff solely for the purpose of catching Governor Palin in a verbal gaffe. Sarah was on Glenn Becks Radio show this past week where is had misspoke regarding the 'Korea's'.
From CBS: Sarah Palin Mistakenly Calls N. Korea an "Ally" From ABC: Sarah Palin: 'We Gotta Stand With Our North Korean Allies'
Of Course our ever so lovable Sarah is not one for allowing the "Mainstream Media" to control the offense on the field. She took to her Facebook pages early this morning reminding our friends in the Press that her gaffes seem to make headlines while another political gaffer(s) is barely mentioned.
From her Facebook page: A Thanksgiving Message to All 57 States
Make sure that you read the rest of her entry here. There isn't enough paper in the world nor internet space to cover all of the gaffes that Biden has made and as she points out, even some of our news anchors are not exempt from the gaffe-o-matic meter.
The Detroit News is reporting that Governor-Elect Rick Synder has endorsed Robert Schostak as Chairman of the MIGOP. Amused by the headline of this article "Schostak endorsement rankles GOP right: Donations to Dems by Snyder-backed Schostak worries some in chairman race"
Some party members are concerned about thousands of dollars in campaign donations Schostak has made to Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former Vice President Al Gore, Gov. Jennifer Granholm, U.S. Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, and U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick.
Funny how the Paul Egan of the Detroit News Lansing Bureau forgot to mention another Democrat that Robert Schostak's Family PAC donated to.
I also found it a bit troubling to see that the Finance Chair for the MIGOP also held a fundraiser for Tim Walberg with Rocky Raczkowski's adversary during the Primary, Paul Welday.
The would've, should have, could have's of the November Election is all water under the bridge. But, one has to wonder if Rocky had received nearly as much support that Scholstak provided to Walberg, would have the results been different? Did Schostak have a conflict of interest in the Michigan 9th district race. After all, he did contribute $1,000 to Peters for Congress and that was after the Stimulus Bill and Cap & Tax had already passed through Congress.
The 2012 race will include one of Michigan's Senators. A Senator that Schostak has donated to in the past. Only one question needs to be answered as we head into the the next election season, Where does Schostak's loyalties lie? Hopefully Michigan will find a candidate for MIGOP Chair that will remove all doubt.
UPDATE: It appears that Schostak PAC donated $3150 to Rocky. Thank you Rotti for providing the link. But, (there is always a 'But') what is his justification for the Contribution to Peters?
Congress is dragging their feet on the extension of the "Bush Tax Cuts" which expire on December 31st. What this will cause is a massive tax increase that will cripple the economy further. Per the Wall Street Journal this past July:
For a typical single filer with adjusted gross income of around $40,000 it might be about $400 a year.
For someone on $80,000, about $1,600.
How about married couples filing jointly? They'd get hit with higher tax rates and a lower standard deduction. (It was raised in 2001).
A couple earning $80,000 a year in adjusted gross income might pay about $2,200 extra. A married couple on $160,000 a year: Maybe $5,500 extra.
If they have children it would be more, as the child tax credit would revert from $1,000 to $500. Ouch.
MLive has a report out today that Five of our Congressional Delegation in the Metro Detroit area are Millionaires. Granted, there is nothing wrong with being a Millionaire. In fact, isn't that the American Dream? But, the average American isn't seeing that dream as they are faced with the uncertainty of what the future has in stored for them. I've listed four of the five Congressional Delegates, since they continue to hold the keys to our economy and are the decision makers on how our incomes will be impacted next year.
Americans have lost patience with the Democrats in Washington and that was proven during the November elections. We heard our President freely quote "There comes a time when you've made too much Money". How much money is too much, Mr. President? Congressman Peters? Congressman Dingell? It's time for Congress to pick up that can instead of kicking it down the road. Our economic engine has just run out of gas.
Did you ever feel that during the past 2 years the Constitutional rights of the American People were slowly being stripped away? If you don't, then you haven't been paying much attention to what is going on around you and what is being dictated to you by elected and non elected officials.
John Pistole, TSA head had a news conference this morning and stated something that just absolutely blew my mind. Forget for a moment that the scanners and bodily searches being performed daily by TSA at your local airport violates your forth amendment while we are reading Miranda Rights to terrorist. We now have a Head of a Government Agency telling us that as a US Citizen you do not have the right to fly.
“I see flying as a privilege. That is public safety issue so the government has a role in providing public safety and we need to do everything we can in partnership with the public to inform them about what their options are,” Pistole said at a breakfast with reporters organized by the Christian Science Monitor. “Passengers have a number of options as you go through screening. Bottom line is if someone decides they don’t want to have screening, they don’t have a right to get on the plane.”
It's bad enough that our Constitutional rights are being violated, but United States Codes are being ignored and violated as well. From 49 U.S.C. § 40103 : US Code - Section 40103: Sovereignty and use of airspace:
(a) Sovereignty and Public Right of Transit. - (1) The United States Government has exclusive sovereignty of airspace of the United States. (2) A citizen of the United States has a public right of transit through the navigable airspace.
Perhaps a review of our Constitution and US Codes are in order for this administration and it's agency's.
“Resistance is futile” the Borg agent told John “Don’t touch my Junk” Tyner of San Diego. “Upon buying your airline ticket, you gave up your rights and you will be assimilated.” American’s every where across this country are being assimilated by the Borg, we call the TSA, in order for them to fly off to visit loved ones across the land.
We’ve all seen little Mandy Simon, a cute little three year old, sobbing and screaming as the Borg operative patted her down for explosives.
We’ve heard the horrendous story of the retired Special Education Teacher humiliated when the Borg Agent broke the seal of his urinary bag and left him to soak in his urine.
A woman surviving Breast Cancer has the Borg searching her prosthetic breasts.
A young girl traveling without her parents is subject to the Borg’s nude screening device and a young boy is strip searched by the Borg as he goes through the security check.
A 14 year old girl that has survived brain and spinal cancer, debilitating nerve pain, and the challenging transition into life with a wheelchair is stopped and grope by the Borg because 'she uses a wheelchair".
Was it not just four years ago that our progressive friends were up in arms over the possibility that our Government was listening in on our phone calls and reading our emails? We had Senator Jay Rockefeller ‘urge’ the intelligence panel to ‘immediately start an investigation of the wiretapping”. They are violating the Law! Dana Milbank in an article back in 2006 wrote “Has President Bush, invoking his “inherent powers” under the Constitution, also authorized warrantless eavesdropping on domestic calls, opening of Americans’ mail and e-mail, and searches of their homes and offices?” Even President Obama campaigned on the promise that “Americans will be able to leave behind the era of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and “wiretaps without warrants.”
So, as far as the left is concerned listening is bad, groping is good. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) calls them ‘Love Pats’. Senator Jay Rockefeller praised the TSA official “I Think You’re Doing A Terrific Job!” President Obama just simply thinks its an “inconvenience”, and what about Dana Milbank of the Washington Post? He was so adamant that our rights need to be protected from the overreaching of Government when it came to wiretapping. Surely he must be livid with these new security measures. Right? Wrong. “This may be the post-post-9/11 era, but Pistole, a career FBI guy, is still interested in the security of the American people. Are Republicans?”
Lest we forget that this latest Borg treatment did not start with the latest terrorist plot with the undie bomber. First it was sharp objects, then shoes and then liquids. In each case the terrorist adapted to the Borg measures of Homeland Security. What is next? Will a Proctologist be assigned to each airport for additional ’security’ measures?
****** Update 1: Is the TSA giving the Borg treatment of Americans a second thought. Even Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when asked if she would submit herself to the Borg said "not if I could avoid it. No. I mean, who would?" I'm not going to put money on the fact that the TSA is going to make any changes any time soon. Update 2: The horror stories keep mounting. Last night I couldn't sleep and came across a story of a young mother's encounter with the Borg. What I read was horrifying as the TSA agents took her son.
