Top Union And Leftist Leaders Vow To Unleash Their Goons On Republicans Opposed To Tax Hikes After Meeting With Obama… The fact that Obama’s proposed tax hikes would crush small business owners apparently not a concern for them. WASHINGTON (AP) — Labor leaders said Tuesday that President Barack Obama remains committed to preserving tax cuts for middle class families and ensuring the wealthy pay more in taxes, outlining plans for a public campaign to pressure Republican lawmakers. The heads of several labor unions and Democratic-leaning interest groups emerged from an hourlong meeting with Obama saying they were united with the president on how to avert the so-called “fiscal cliff” and prevent more financial hardships next year. “We are very, very committed to making sure that the middle class and workers don’t end up paying the tab for a party that we didn’t get to go to and the president is committed to that as well,” said AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka. Labor leaders said they plan to mobilize their members in the coming weeks to press Republicans to support the extension of tax cuts for middle income families. Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union, said labor needs to remain “as engaged as we were in the election throughout the rest of this year to make sure we get the Republican House to say yes to tax cuts for the middle class.” Obama was kicking off a series of meetings this week with labor officials, business executives and congressional leaders aimed at finding consensus on the fiscal cliff. The week will include a tone-setting news conference Wednesday that will give the president the chance to frame his outlook on the year-ending lame duck session. The president views his re-election as an affirmation of his belief that raising taxes on families earning more than $250,000 a year is what voters want. Republican House Speaker John Boehner has expressed a willingness to raise revenues but remains opposed to boosting tax rates, pointing instead to closing tax loopholes, lowering rates and fixing entitlement programs.
The Never Ending Campaign: Obama Says GOP Holding Middle Class “Hostage”… If this jackwad really wanted to come to an agreement he’d be negotiating with Republican leaders, not giving endless campaign-style speeches. Via Washington Examiner: President Obama took to the road Friday to sell his plan to avoid a looming series of tax increases and spending cuts, using a campaign-style event to accuse Republicans of holding the middle class “hostage” during deadlocked negotiations. “It’s unacceptable for a handful of Republicans in Congress to hold middle-class tax cuts hostage,” Obama said at a toy manufacturing plant in a suburb of Philadelphia. “Let’s give families all across American the sense of security they deserve this holiday season.”
New Low: Union Thugs Protest Cancer Research Event In NYC… The scumbag unions at their finest. Via NY Post: Disgruntled union workers put their fight against Cablevision over the fight against cancer at a Times Square protest last night. About 50 members of the Communications Workers of America Local 1109 disrupted a benefit for cancer research at the Hard Rock Cafe, carrying signs and blaring music as attendees streamed in. Cablevision CEO James Dolan, whose rock band performed at the event, told The Post that the workers’ actions are “despicable.” “They think being disruptive for their personal gain is more important than beating pancreatic cancer,” he said. “Their values are twisted. I’m surprised at the depth of their lowness. Everyone who deals with them should take note. It’s shameful.” The union, which is in drawn-out contract talks with Cablevision, labeled Dolan a “Grinch” for stalling negotiations with 280 company technicians and dispatchers in Brooklyn. “He is a greedy person pretending to be philanthropist; he’s Scrooge!” barked Tim Dubnau, an organizer for Communications Workers of America Local 1109. But event attendees said the union members picked the wrong time and place to air their grievances. “I’m a pancreatic-cancer survivor, and it’s unfortunate that they have to protest an event like this,” said Scott Nelson, 59, who lives in Minnesota.
Obama Threatens Boehner: I’ll Use Inaugural Address And State Of The Union Speech To Bash Republicans… Via WSJ: . . .Mr. Obama repeatedly lost patience with the speaker as negotiations faltered. In an Oval Office meeting last week, he told Mr. Boehner that if the sides didn’t reach agreement, he would use his inaugural address and his State of the Union speech to tell the country the Republicans were at fault. At one point, according to notes taken by a participant, Mr. Boehner told the president, “I put $800 billion [in tax revenue] on the table. What do I get for that?” “You get nothing,” the president said. “I get that for free.”
The Obama Green Energy Scam You May Have Missed Home - by Cardigan - December 28, 2012 - 23:00 America/New_York - 3 Comments Townhall WASHINGTON – Have you seen the latest development in President Obama’s waste-ridden, clean energy program that’s now under federal investigation at the U.S. Treasury Department? Three of the country’s biggest residential solar panel installers — SolarCity, SunRun and Sungevity — have been subpoenaed by Treasury’s Office of Inspector General for their financial records to determine if they had inflated the market value of their costs when they applied for federal reimbursement. The firms have reportedly received more than $500 million in federal grants and tax credits. Officials in two of them, Solar-City and SunRun, have been among some of Obama’s most generous campaign donors. The money these companies tapped into flowed from a $13 billion investment fund in Treasury that came from the president’s economic stimulus program which has poured huge sums of money into clean energy programs across the country. Obama has sunk billions of tax dollars into a scandal-ridden swamp of other energy deals that were crafted and promoted by administration business cronies who also were among his biggest fundraisers. After an exhaustive analysis of thousands of memos, company records and internal e-mails about Obama’s green-technology spending program, the Washington Post concluded that it was “infused with politics” at every level of the decision-making process. Political considerations dominated the White House’s deal-making and all too often overruled warnings that billions of tax dollars would be lost on shaky energy projects that should never have been approved. Take, for example, Sanjay Wagle, a venture capitalist and one of Obama’s fundraisers in 2008. He left his firm in California to work in Obama’s Energy Department on a $40 billion spending program to stimulate the economy by investing in clean technology companies.
Light bulb ban on horizon Home - by Cardigan - December 29, 2012 - 21:00 America/New_York - 12 Comments WA Times The free market operates by offering incentives to consumers to change their behavior. Cutting prices, advertising and developing new products redirect the public’s impulses in a natural, painless way. The government, on the other hand, has no passion or patience for this sort of thing. Words like “must,” “shall,” and “mandate” pepper the texts of laws like Obamacare. The incandescent light-bulb ban, which goes into effect in March, is another case in point. The bulbs aren’t officially banned, just artificially obsolete. As part of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, Congress mandated that light bulbs have 25 percent greater efficiency, phased in starting in 2012 and continuing until 2014. The law also includes a slew of mandates on appliances and energy use in federal buildings. A 310-page masterpiece of micromanagement, the law was promoted heavily by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, San Francisco Democrat, and signed by President George W. Bush. The bill was driven by a consortium of manufacturers that stand to profit from forcing people to buy more expensive bulbs and fixtures, plus the environmental lobby, which likes to pretend government regulations can lower the planet’s temperature. Alarmed at the prospect of being forced by law to purchase expensive, squiggly compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs instead of cheap, warm incandescent bulbs, Americans complained loudly. In the face of a popular revolt, Congress pushed the start date back to October 2012 and defunded enforcement of efficiency standards as part of the 2012 and 2013 appropriations bills. However, seeing the writing on the wall, manufacturers began phasing out incandescents. The last major General Electric factory that made them closed in Winchester, Va., in September 2010, putting 200 people out of work. One hundred-watt bulbs are already gone in some stores.
:?: Hospital fires 8 workers who refused flu shot Home - by Cardigan - January 1, 2013 - 19:00 America/New_York - 11 Comments my FOX DC GOSHEN, Ind. - A northern Indiana hospital has fired eight employees who refused to get flu shots the hospital says are needed to protect patients from the potentially deadly illness. IU Health Goshen Hospital officials told its staff in September that flu shots would no longer be optional for staff, affiliated physicians, volunteers and vendors. Hospital spokeswoman Melanie McDonald tells The Elkhart Truth (http://bit.ly/ZQnzxP ) the new requirements came as a recommendation from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Medical Association and other major health agencies. McDonald says the flu has the highest death rate of any vaccine-preventable disease. She says the hospital would be irresponsible to ignore the fact that patients with compromised immune systems are at a greater risk for illness and death from the flu.
The Scariest Jobs Chart Ever Home - by Claudia - January 4, 2013 - 22:00 America/New_York - 2 Comments by Sam Ro from Business Insider It’s jobs day in America. This morning we learned that the U.S. economy added 155k jobs in December and the unemployment rate ticked up in 7.8 percent. Although the numbers were in line with economists’ expectations, they still reflect a job market that remains incredibly weak almost four years into the economic recovery.
The Green Green Graft of Home Home - by BigFurHat - January 6, 2013 - 18:00 America/New_York - 1 Comment Blogroll Sunday – Blog Selected From Right Wing News’ Blogroll Dustin Stockton - “Green” Graft: After Receiving “Green Energy” Stimulus Money, Tesla CEO Buys $17 Million Mansion One of the notable characteristics of the Soviet Union before it fell was the increasingly-noticeable divergence of laws and policies that affected “connected” people versus the lowly, regular Soviet citizens. Before its predictable collapse, high-ranking Party members and their friends enjoyed perks that reached far beyond the masses were afforded. As America dives deeper and deeper into leftist policies, we citizens are bearing witness to more and more Soviet-style corruption that benefits those with friends in high places. Of course, Americans have heard about Solyndra’s $535 million long-con and the plethora of other “failed” ventures that left taxpayers holding the bag as friends of Party leaders received tidy sums and then went belly-up shortly thereafter. However, it seems the grift just keeps right on going…
Obama Sticks It To the Middle Class With New Obamacare Tax on Dental Braces Home - by Cardigan - January 11, 2013 - 21:00 America/New_York - 2 Comments The Gateway Pundit Obama stuck it to the middle class again by taxing braces and limiting the cap on Flexible Spending Accounts. The new Obamacare regulations will affect middle class families making just over $53,000 the most. Americans for Tax Reform reported In 2013, the tax increases in Obamacare will increasingly conspire against kitchen-table family healthcare decisions. As just one example, below are some of the taxes that will impact the purchase of dental braces: Obamacare Medical Device Tax: As of Jan.1, Obamacare imposes a new tax of 2.3 percent on medical device manufacturers, including those who make dental braces. The tax is imposed on gross sales — even if the company does not earn a profit in a given year. While the tax will be paid to the IRS by the manufacturer, the tax will be passed along as a higher cost of the product, ultimately to be borne by the parent buying the braces for their child. With the cost of braces being as high as $7,625 this new tax could raise the cost of these braces by $175. Obamacare Flexible Spending Account Cap: As of Jan. 1, the 30-35 million Americans who use a pre-tax Flexible Spending Account (FSA) at work to pay for their family’s basic medical needs face a new government cap of $2,500. This will squeeze $13 billion of tax money from Americans over the next ten years. (Currently, the accounts are unlimited under federal law, though employers are allowed to set a cap.) A parent looking to sock away extra money to pay for braces would find themselves quickly hitting this new cap, meaning they would have to pony up some or all of the cost with after-tax dollars. Needless to say, this tax will especially impact middle class families. Obamacare “Haircut” to the Medical Itemized Deduction: Faced with higher prices for braces and a reduced ability to pay for them with their FSA, parents might decide to deduct the cost of braces on their tax returns. Unfortunately, Obamacare makes this harder, too.
Dem Thug Rahm Emanuel Threatens Reporter With “Physical Violence”… Typical Chicago Democratic goon. Via Beltway Confidential: Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel allegedly grabbed a reporter by the arm in order to communicate “a threat of physical violence” in the course of an interview that went south during the presidential campaign. “I’ve never experience anything like this in my career from an American public official,” Buzzfeed’s Michael Hastings, author of Panic 2012: The Sublime and Terrifying Inside Story of Barack Obama’s Final Campaign, said on Current TV. “He grabbed me by the arm and wouldn’t let go while his bodyguards approached me. And clearly trying to intimidate me with a threat of physical violence. It was abusive.” Hastings provided Current with audio of the conversation. The interview seems to have gotten out of hand when Emanuel grew angry at Hastings for saying “we’ll see” if Obama was worth reelecting — at least, that’s where the tape Current played begins. “What’d you say to me?” Emanuel asked. But the conversation immediately turned to an issue of whether Emanuel had insulted Hastings and of ground rules for the interview, with Emanuel seeming to oppose being videotaped for the interview.
Obama Crony Awarded Huge Contract To Supply Ill-Equipped Smartphones To Low-Income Job-Seekers… Via Washington Times: A cellphone company whose top executive has close ties to President Obama lobbied for and won a piece of a major new government push to provide Internet service to low-income job-seekers, even though critics say the company’s smartphones are poorly suited to the task of helping those in the program find work. The program’s supporters tout it as a way for the unemployed to learn technical skills, to prepare resumes and to search for jobs, but one of the 14 pilot contracts that the FCC awarded went to Miami-based TracFone Wireless Inc. TracFone CEO F.J. Pollak has been a frequent White House visitor and his wife Abigail has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for both Mr. Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns. And although TracFone had originally lobbied for the program, critics say its contract would not provide recipients with skills-boosting computers and services, but would supply high-end Android phones, ready to play games and browse Facebook but doing little in the way of getting a job. Other companies selected to provide Internet service noted that merely allowing viewers to use apps such as Twitter and run simple Google searches on a small phone screen didn’t meet the spirit of the program’s intent, which included goals of “increasing digital literacy and use of the Internet [to] help bridge the skills gap [and] reduce job search discouragement.” “The small screen, keyboard and perhaps connectivity issues make it harder for smartphone-only users to engage as deeply with the Internet as home broadband users,” wrote John B. Horrigan of the Partnership for Connected Illinois, which will provide DSL hookups and computer hardware for the poor in that state. Rep. Tim Griffin, Arkansas Republican, said the cellphone spectrum is poorly suited to be a user’s primary Internet portal and that any resume tapped out with two fingers on a cellphone screen would be sure to be sloppy.
Former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. Pleads Guilty In Federal Probe Home - by Cardigan - February 8, 2013 - 18:33 America/New_York - 11 Comments ABC CHICAGO — Former Illinois congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. has reached a plea agreement in connection to a federal probe into whether or not the troubled lawmaker misused campaign funds. Earlier this month Jackson pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud, and making false statements, sources close to the investigation told ABC’s Chicago station WLS. Jackson could now face up to five years in jail, a decision that will ultimately be made by a federal judge. The former congressman signed the plea deal on Feb. 1 in the nation’s capital. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C., which has been running this investigation, had no comment when contacted today by ABC News. The plea agreement comes a little over two months after Jackson stepped down from Congress. In his resignation letter to House Speaker John Boehner, Jackson, D-Ill., acknowledged that he had made his “share of mistakes.” “I am aware of the ongoing federal investigation into my activities and I am doing my best to address the situation responsibly, cooperate with the investigators, and accept responsibility for my mistakes, for they are my mistakes and mine alone,” he wrote in the letter. “None of us is immune from our share of shortcomings or human frailties and I pray that I will be remembered for what I did right.”
Rahm Emanuel Understands Inner City Black Youth Because He “Experienced” Racism From Those Who Thought He Was Black Presumptuous isn’t even the word. Via Breitbart: Rahm Emanuel is currently the mayor of one of the murder capitals of the world (Chicago) and his brother, Ari Emanuel, is one of the most powerful agents in the history of Hollywood. When not suntanned (see below), both are wealthy, both are powerful, and both grew up in Chicago, Illinois, in relative upper-middle class to upper-class comfort. With a doctor for a father, both boys were afforded opportunities to go to the best schools and enjoy summers in Israel. Nothing wrong with any of that. Unless, of course, as a middle-aged adult with an eye on a more powerful office, you have your brother spin your biography into something a little more romantic than a childhood of relative privilege. In the new edition of Vanity Fair we learn, courtesy of brother Ezekiel’s upcoming autobiography, that Rahm (who is Jewish) used to be a poor, black child who faced the terrors of racism. No, really: When Rahm was a baby, their mother left him momentarily in the care of two-year-old Ezekiel and a five-year-old cousin before leaving the room. When the boys were children, she sent them off alone to spend summer days on Chicago’s Foster Avenue Beach, which they reached through a tunnel beneath Lake Shore Drive.
I have a friend who knows both of the Emanuel brothers pretty well. He told me years ago that Rahm is the most profane man he has ever been around and a 100% pure bred egomaniac. His brother Ari is the role model for the character of Ari in the HBO show Entourage.
Report: Obama Considering Flood Of New Executive Orders, Will “Rely Heavily” On Executive Actions In Second Term… The Dictator-in-Chief sez: We don’t need no stinkin’ Congress. Via WaPo: President Obama is considering a series of new executive actions aimed at working around a recalcitrant Congress, including policies that could allow struggling homeowners to refinance their mortgages, provide new protections for gays and lesbians, make buildings more energy-efficient and toughen regulations for coal-fired power plants, according to people outside the White House involved in discussions on the issues. One of the first orders is expected this week, when the Obama administration will call for the creation of new standards on what critical private-sector companies should do to protect their computer systems from hackers. The moves underscore Obama’s increasingly aggressive use of executive authority, including 23 administrative actions on gun violence last month and previous orders that delayed deportations of young illegal immigrants and will lower student loan payments. These and other potential actions suggest that Obama is likely to rely heavily on executive powers to set domestic policy in his second term. One White House official said that while the president does not see the actions as substitutes for more substantial legislation, he also wants to move forward on top priorities.
Jesse Jackson Jr. To Plead Guilty To Spending $750K In Campaign Funds On Himself, To Serve Between 46 And 57 Months In Prison… Just to give you an idea how shady this guy is, he bought himself a $43,000 Rolex watch with campaign funds. Via Politico: Former Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) will plead guilty to conspiring with his wife to illegally spend $750,000 in campaign funds on personal expenses, including a $43,000 Rolex watch, fur coats and memorabilia associated with Michael Jackson, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Bruce Lee, according to information obtained by POLITICO. The charges against him may include conspiracy, making false statements, and mail and wire fraud. Prosecutors will recommend a prison sentence of between 46 and 57 months for Jackson Jr., as well as a fine of $10,000 to $100,000, and forfeiture of a yet-to-be-determined portion of the misspent $750,000 in campaign funds. Jackson’s wife, former Chicago Alderman Sandi Jackson, is expected to plead guilty to a tax offense, according to a source close to the investigation. At different times, she has served as her husband’s campaign manager and campaign treasurer. Both Jacksons resigned from office amid the Justice Department’s investigation into their finances.
A lot of effort seems to be going into destroying the Jackson 'brand' during the presidency of Obama.