If you wanted to see the great movie Atlas Shrugged but you were not in the USA now is your time. Atlas Shrugged is going international. Click on the link below or to the left to demand it in your country and city.
Go see this movie.
http://www.atlasshruggedpart1.com/demand
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
What Do You Think?
Watch these videos and tell me what you think.
Are these a bunch of nuts , bottom line?
Are they a bunch of nuts that have the right in a free America to dance at a tax payer funded memorial?
Or am I missing the point entirely?
You watch and decide?
Are these a bunch of nuts , bottom line?
Are they a bunch of nuts that have the right in a free America to dance at a tax payer funded memorial?
Or am I missing the point entirely?
You watch and decide?
Friday, May 27, 2011
Remembering Memorial Day
Please take the time this weekend to think of the true meaning of Memorial Day and give thanks to those that sacrificed everything for our freedoms.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Gold and Silver, Silver and Gold
Government
Gold & Silver Coins to Be Legal Currency in Utah
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah legislators want to see the dollar regain its former glory, back to the days when one could literally bank on it being “as good as gold.”
To make that point, they’ve turned it around, and made gold as good as cash. Utah became the first state in the country this month to legalize gold and silver coins as currency. The law also will exempt the sale of the coins from state capital gains taxes.
Craig Franco hopes to cash in on it with his Utah Gold and Silver Depository, and he thinks others will soon follow.
The idea is simple: Store your gold and silver coins in a vault, and Franco issues a debit-like card to make purchases backed by your holdings.
He plans to open for business June 1, likely the first of its kind in the country.
“Because we’re dealing with something so forward thinking, I expect a wait-and-see attitude,” Franco said. “Once the depository is executed and transactions can occur, then I think people will move into the marketplace.”
The idea was spawned by Republican state Rep. Brad Galvez, who sponsored the bill largely to serve as a protest against Federal Reserve monetary policy. Galvez says Americans are losing faith in the dollar. If you’re mad about government debt, ditch the cash. Spend your gold and silver, he says.
His idea isn’t to return to the gold standard, when the dollar was backed by gold instead of government goodwill. Instead, he just wanted to create options for consumers.
“We’re too far down the road to go back to the gold standard,” Galvez said. “This will move us toward an alternative currency.”
Earlier this month, Minnesota took a step closer to joining Utah in making gold and silver legal tender. A Republican lawmaker there introduced a bill that sets up a special committee to explore the option. North Carolina, Idaho and at least nine other states also have similar bills drafted.
At the moment, Franco’s idea would generally be the only practical use of the law in Utah, given the legislation doesn’t require merchants to accept the coins, either at face value — $50 for a 1-ounce gold coin — or market value, currently almost $1,500 per ounce. And no one expects people will be walking around town with pockets full of gold and silver.
Matt Zeman, market strategist for Kingsview Financial in Chicago, expects more people will start investing in gold as America’s growing debt and bankruptcies in other countries continue to decrease the value of government-backed money.
“You’ve seen gold replacing these currencies as safety instruments,” Zeman said. “If I don’t feel good about the dollar or other currencies, I’m putting my money in precious metals.”
Some supporters, including the law’s sponsor, seek to push Congress toward removing the tax burdens that discourage use of the coins, such as a federal capital gains tax.
“Making gold and silver coins legal tender sends a strong signal to Congress and the Federal Reserve that their monetary policy is failing,” said Ralph Danker, project director for economics at the Washington, D.C.-based American Principles in Action, which helped shape Utah’s law. “The dollar should be backed by gold and silver, so we have hard money.”
The U.S. and many other countries largely abandoned gold-backed money during World War II because they needed to print more cash to pay for the war. Later, during the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt took steps that essentially prohibited gold and silver as legal currency to prevent hoarding.
In 1971, President Nixon formally abandoned the gold standard.
Fifteen years later, the U.S. Mint began producing the gold and silver American Eagle coins, primarily aimed at investment portfolios and allowing people to trade them at market value but with capital gains taxes on profits.
Utah is now allowing the coins to be used as legal tender while levying no taxes.
Opponents of the law warn such a policy shift nationwide could increase the prospect of inflation and could destabilize international markets by removing the government’s flexibility to quickly adjust currency prices.
“We’d be going backward in financial development,” said Carlos Sanchez, director of Commodities Management for The CPM Group in New York. “What backs currency is confidence in a government’s ability to pay debt, its government system and its economy.”
Larry Hilton, a Utah attorney who helped draft the law, disagrees and says the gold standard would restore faith in American money at a time when spiraling debt is weakening confidence.
“We view this as a dollar-friendly measure,” Hilton said. “It will strengthen the dollar by refocusing policy matters in Washington on what led to the phrase, ‘the dollar is as good as gold.’”
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/gold-silver-coins-to-be-legal-currency-in-utah/
Gold & Silver Coins to Be Legal Currency in Utah
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah legislators want to see the dollar regain its former glory, back to the days when one could literally bank on it being “as good as gold.”
To make that point, they’ve turned it around, and made gold as good as cash. Utah became the first state in the country this month to legalize gold and silver coins as currency. The law also will exempt the sale of the coins from state capital gains taxes.
Craig Franco hopes to cash in on it with his Utah Gold and Silver Depository, and he thinks others will soon follow.
The idea is simple: Store your gold and silver coins in a vault, and Franco issues a debit-like card to make purchases backed by your holdings.
He plans to open for business June 1, likely the first of its kind in the country.
“Because we’re dealing with something so forward thinking, I expect a wait-and-see attitude,” Franco said. “Once the depository is executed and transactions can occur, then I think people will move into the marketplace.”
The idea was spawned by Republican state Rep. Brad Galvez, who sponsored the bill largely to serve as a protest against Federal Reserve monetary policy. Galvez says Americans are losing faith in the dollar. If you’re mad about government debt, ditch the cash. Spend your gold and silver, he says.
His idea isn’t to return to the gold standard, when the dollar was backed by gold instead of government goodwill. Instead, he just wanted to create options for consumers.
“We’re too far down the road to go back to the gold standard,” Galvez said. “This will move us toward an alternative currency.”
Earlier this month, Minnesota took a step closer to joining Utah in making gold and silver legal tender. A Republican lawmaker there introduced a bill that sets up a special committee to explore the option. North Carolina, Idaho and at least nine other states also have similar bills drafted.
At the moment, Franco’s idea would generally be the only practical use of the law in Utah, given the legislation doesn’t require merchants to accept the coins, either at face value — $50 for a 1-ounce gold coin — or market value, currently almost $1,500 per ounce. And no one expects people will be walking around town with pockets full of gold and silver.
Matt Zeman, market strategist for Kingsview Financial in Chicago, expects more people will start investing in gold as America’s growing debt and bankruptcies in other countries continue to decrease the value of government-backed money.
“You’ve seen gold replacing these currencies as safety instruments,” Zeman said. “If I don’t feel good about the dollar or other currencies, I’m putting my money in precious metals.”
Some supporters, including the law’s sponsor, seek to push Congress toward removing the tax burdens that discourage use of the coins, such as a federal capital gains tax.
“Making gold and silver coins legal tender sends a strong signal to Congress and the Federal Reserve that their monetary policy is failing,” said Ralph Danker, project director for economics at the Washington, D.C.-based American Principles in Action, which helped shape Utah’s law. “The dollar should be backed by gold and silver, so we have hard money.”
The U.S. and many other countries largely abandoned gold-backed money during World War II because they needed to print more cash to pay for the war. Later, during the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt took steps that essentially prohibited gold and silver as legal currency to prevent hoarding.
In 1971, President Nixon formally abandoned the gold standard.
Fifteen years later, the U.S. Mint began producing the gold and silver American Eagle coins, primarily aimed at investment portfolios and allowing people to trade them at market value but with capital gains taxes on profits.
Utah is now allowing the coins to be used as legal tender while levying no taxes.
Opponents of the law warn such a policy shift nationwide could increase the prospect of inflation and could destabilize international markets by removing the government’s flexibility to quickly adjust currency prices.
“We’d be going backward in financial development,” said Carlos Sanchez, director of Commodities Management for The CPM Group in New York. “What backs currency is confidence in a government’s ability to pay debt, its government system and its economy.”
Larry Hilton, a Utah attorney who helped draft the law, disagrees and says the gold standard would restore faith in American money at a time when spiraling debt is weakening confidence.
“We view this as a dollar-friendly measure,” Hilton said. “It will strengthen the dollar by refocusing policy matters in Washington on what led to the phrase, ‘the dollar is as good as gold.’”
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/gold-silver-coins-to-be-legal-currency-in-utah/
GM Sponsors Chinese Communist Propaganda Film
PICKET: GM sponsors and celebrates soon to be released Chi-Com propaganda film
Kerry Picket
In late 2010, General Motors agreed to sponsor a propaganda film celebrating the 90th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The CCP made film titled (translated to English) “The Birth of a Party” or “The Great Achievement of Founding the Party" is set to premiere all over the Communist nation on June 15 reported China AutoWeb last September. The auto website adds:
"According to an announcement posted on Shanghai GM’s official web site yesterday, whose title reads "joining hands with China Film Group, Cadillac whole-heartedly supports the making of the Birth of a Party..."
The report goes further:
"As the CCP marries totalitarianism with capitalism and fools the people with entertainment, only the "politically correct" or stupid–or those who pretend to be so–can get rich. And GM seems to know this very well. While Audi, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Volvo have all rushed to please China’s rich and powerful through physical enlargement (offering models of extended wheelbases), Cadillac gratifies the party orally, singing praises through a film."
According to the above report, the film will discuss events that led up to the formation of the CCP following the 1917 Russian Revolution. When the movie first went into production GM signed up Cadillac as the “chief business partner” with the Communist Party, stating: “Cadillac whole-heartedly supports the making of the Birth of a Party.”
In fact, an AP article in early May points out, "Chinese TV regulators have reportedly ordered local broadcasters to stay away from spy and crime thrillers as part of a propaganda buildup for the ruling Communist Party's 90th anniversary July 1." Stars of the film are reportedly chauffeured around China in the Cadillac SLS in an effort to promote the movie all over the Communist led country.
The United States government currently owns 33% of the GM company following the auto-bailouts of 2009, and GM CEO Daniel Akerson describes China as the "key to [GM's] success." (h/t The Detroit Bureau)
Presently, GM's business in China is selling more autos in the Asian country than in the United States. The Washington Post noted last week that China was GM's solution to help the car-maker recover from bankruptcy, so the company "is only expected to widen as an increasing number of Chinese grow rich enough to purchase their first car.”
Along with concern over China's ownership of trillions of dollars of U.S. debt, it is truly troubling that an American company financially supported now by the U.S. taxpayer is happily promoting Communist propaganda that glosses over the atrocities of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. What's next for GM? Selling military vehicles for the Chinese to threaten their own people with?
China the key to GM success? Well with moves like this and statements like that I think GM just assured that America will not be the key to their success. I will never buy another GM product of any kind.
Kerry Picket
In late 2010, General Motors agreed to sponsor a propaganda film celebrating the 90th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The CCP made film titled (translated to English) “The Birth of a Party” or “The Great Achievement of Founding the Party" is set to premiere all over the Communist nation on June 15 reported China AutoWeb last September. The auto website adds:
"According to an announcement posted on Shanghai GM’s official web site yesterday, whose title reads "joining hands with China Film Group, Cadillac whole-heartedly supports the making of the Birth of a Party..."
The report goes further:
"As the CCP marries totalitarianism with capitalism and fools the people with entertainment, only the "politically correct" or stupid–or those who pretend to be so–can get rich. And GM seems to know this very well. While Audi, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Volvo have all rushed to please China’s rich and powerful through physical enlargement (offering models of extended wheelbases), Cadillac gratifies the party orally, singing praises through a film."
According to the above report, the film will discuss events that led up to the formation of the CCP following the 1917 Russian Revolution. When the movie first went into production GM signed up Cadillac as the “chief business partner” with the Communist Party, stating: “Cadillac whole-heartedly supports the making of the Birth of a Party.”
In fact, an AP article in early May points out, "Chinese TV regulators have reportedly ordered local broadcasters to stay away from spy and crime thrillers as part of a propaganda buildup for the ruling Communist Party's 90th anniversary July 1." Stars of the film are reportedly chauffeured around China in the Cadillac SLS in an effort to promote the movie all over the Communist led country.
The United States government currently owns 33% of the GM company following the auto-bailouts of 2009, and GM CEO Daniel Akerson describes China as the "key to [GM's] success." (h/t The Detroit Bureau)
Presently, GM's business in China is selling more autos in the Asian country than in the United States. The Washington Post noted last week that China was GM's solution to help the car-maker recover from bankruptcy, so the company "is only expected to widen as an increasing number of Chinese grow rich enough to purchase their first car.”
Along with concern over China's ownership of trillions of dollars of U.S. debt, it is truly troubling that an American company financially supported now by the U.S. taxpayer is happily promoting Communist propaganda that glosses over the atrocities of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. What's next for GM? Selling military vehicles for the Chinese to threaten their own people with?
http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/watercooler/2011/may/17/gm-sponsors-and-celebrates-soon-be-released-chi-co/
China the key to GM success? Well with moves like this and statements like that I think GM just assured that America will not be the key to their success. I will never buy another GM product of any kind.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
The American Jewish
Can it be any more obvious than it is now how the democrat party, for the most part, is anti-Semitic. Yet time after time the Jewish people of America vote for democrates. If I wouldn't be condemning a whole country that I support I would say you get what you deserve.
Today the President of the United States came out in a speech announcing that he backs the Palestinians’ demand that Israel redraw its borders to where they were in 1967.
I believe this could be the beginning of the end for the Jewish state, as do others. Below is Congressman Allen West's remarks about the presidents announcement.
(WASHINGTON) — Congressman Allen West (FL-22) released this statement today:
“Today’s endorsement by President Barack Obama of the creation of a Hamas-led Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 borders, signals the most egregious foreign policy decision his administration has made to date, and could be the beginning of the end as we know it for the Jewish state.
From the moment the modern day state of Israel declared statehood in 1948, to the end of the 1967 Six Day War, Jews were forbidden access to their holiest site, the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City, controlled by Jordan’s Arab army.
The pre-1967 borders endorsed by President Obama would deny millions of the world’s Jews access to their holiest site and force Israel to return the strategically important Golan Heights to Syria, a known state-sponsor of terrorism.
Resorting to the pre-1967 borders would mean a full withdrawal by the Israelis from the West Bank and the Jewish neighborhoods of East Jerusalem. Make no mistake, there has always been a Nation of Israel and Jerusalem has been and must always be recognized as its rightful capital.
In short, the Hamas-run Palestinian state envisioned by President Obama would be devastating to Israel and the world’s 13.3 million Jews. It would be a Pavlovian style reward to a declared Islamic terrorist organization, and an unacceptable policy initiative.
America should never negotiate with the Palestinian Authority- which has aligned itself with Hamas. Palestine is a region, not a people or a modern state. Based upon Roman Emperor Hadrian’s declaration in 73 AD, the original Palestinian people are the Jewish people.
It’s time for the American people to stand by our strongest ally, the Jewish State of Israel, and reject this foreign policy blunder of epic proportions.
While the winds of democracy may blow strong in the Middle East, history has demonstrated that gaps in leadership can lead to despotic regimes. I have questions for President Obama: ‘Who will now lead in Egypt?‘ and ’Why should American taxpayers provide foreign aid to a nation where the next chapter in their history may be the emergence of another radical Islamic state?’
President Obama has not stood for Israel or the Jewish people and has made it clear where the United States will stand when Palestine attempts to gain recognition of statehood by the United Nations. The President should focus on the real obstacle to security- the Palestinian leadership and its ultimate goal to eliminate Israel and the Jewish people.”
Pray for the people of Israel and for us as well.
Today the President of the United States came out in a speech announcing that he backs the Palestinians’ demand that Israel redraw its borders to where they were in 1967.
I believe this could be the beginning of the end for the Jewish state, as do others. Below is Congressman Allen West's remarks about the presidents announcement.
(WASHINGTON) — Congressman Allen West (FL-22) released this statement today:
“Today’s endorsement by President Barack Obama of the creation of a Hamas-led Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 borders, signals the most egregious foreign policy decision his administration has made to date, and could be the beginning of the end as we know it for the Jewish state.
From the moment the modern day state of Israel declared statehood in 1948, to the end of the 1967 Six Day War, Jews were forbidden access to their holiest site, the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City, controlled by Jordan’s Arab army.
The pre-1967 borders endorsed by President Obama would deny millions of the world’s Jews access to their holiest site and force Israel to return the strategically important Golan Heights to Syria, a known state-sponsor of terrorism.
Resorting to the pre-1967 borders would mean a full withdrawal by the Israelis from the West Bank and the Jewish neighborhoods of East Jerusalem. Make no mistake, there has always been a Nation of Israel and Jerusalem has been and must always be recognized as its rightful capital.
In short, the Hamas-run Palestinian state envisioned by President Obama would be devastating to Israel and the world’s 13.3 million Jews. It would be a Pavlovian style reward to a declared Islamic terrorist organization, and an unacceptable policy initiative.
America should never negotiate with the Palestinian Authority- which has aligned itself with Hamas. Palestine is a region, not a people or a modern state. Based upon Roman Emperor Hadrian’s declaration in 73 AD, the original Palestinian people are the Jewish people.
It’s time for the American people to stand by our strongest ally, the Jewish State of Israel, and reject this foreign policy blunder of epic proportions.
While the winds of democracy may blow strong in the Middle East, history has demonstrated that gaps in leadership can lead to despotic regimes. I have questions for President Obama: ‘Who will now lead in Egypt?‘ and ’Why should American taxpayers provide foreign aid to a nation where the next chapter in their history may be the emergence of another radical Islamic state?’
President Obama has not stood for Israel or the Jewish people and has made it clear where the United States will stand when Palestine attempts to gain recognition of statehood by the United Nations. The President should focus on the real obstacle to security- the Palestinian leadership and its ultimate goal to eliminate Israel and the Jewish people.”
Pray for the people of Israel and for us as well.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
How Refreshing
Here is a video of Herman Cain talking about segregation and him not liking the term African American.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
The Mad Man's Prophecy Coming True?
Treasury to tap pensions to help fund government
By Zachary A. Goldfarb
The Obama administration will begin to tap federal retiree programs to help fund operations after the government lost its ability Monday to borrow more money from the public, adding urgency to efforts in Washington to fashion a compromise over the debt.
Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner has warned for months that the government would soon hit the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling — a legal limit on how much it can borrow. With that limit reached Monday, Geithner is undertaking special measures in an effort to postpone the day when he will no longer have enough funds to pay all of the government’s bills.
Geithner, who has already suspended a program that helps state and local government manage their finances, will begin to borrow from retirement funds for federal workers. The measure won’t have an impact on retirees because the Treasury is legally required to reimburse the program.
The maneuver buys Geithner only a few months of time. If Congress does not vote by Aug. 2 to raise the debt limit, Geithner says the government is likely to default on some of its obligations, which he says would cause enormous economic harm and the suspension of government services, including the disbursal of Social Security funds.
Many congressional Republicans, however, have been skeptical that breaching the Aug. 2 deadline would be as catastrophic as Geithner suggests. What’s more, Republican leaders are insisting that Congress cut spending by as much as the Obama administration wants to raise the debt limit, without any new taxes. Obama is proposing spending cuts and tax increases to rein in the debt.
“Everything should be on the table, except raising taxes,” House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “Because raising taxes will hurt our economy and hurt our ability to create jobs in our country.”
The Obama administration has warned that it is dangerous to make a vote on raising the debt limit contingent on other proposals. But Boehner is demanding that Congress use the debt vote as a way to bring down government spending.
“I’m ready to cut the deal today,” Boehner said. “We don’t have to wait until the 11th hour. But I am not going to walk away from this moment. We have a moment, a window of opportunity to act, because if we don’t act, the markets are going to act for us.”
Geithner’s plan to tap federal retiree programs as a temporary means to avoid a government default comes as the Obama administration has shown growing interest in altering those programs to curb the debt in the long run.
Administration officials have expressed interest in raising the amount that federal employees contribute to their pensions, sources told The Washington Post.
The Republicans have suggested that the civilian workforce contribute more to its retirement in the future, effectively trimming 5 percent from salaries. The administration has not been willing to go that far in talks being led by Vice President Biden.
Treasury secretaries have tapped special programs to avoid default six times since 1985. The most protracted delay in raising the debt limit came in 1995 after congressional Republicans swept to power during the Clinton administration.
But today, the government needs far more money to cover its obligations than in the past, making the special measures less effective than they used to be. The government needs about $125 billion more a month than it takes in each month.
In a letter released last week to Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Geithner wrote that a default would risk a “double-dip” recession.
“Default would not only increase borrowing costs for the federal government, but also for families, businesses and local governments — reducing investment and job creation throughout the economy,” Geithner wrote.
But several prominent congressional Republicans have dismissed the Obama administration’s assertion that the country would face dire consequences if Congress does not vote to raise the federal limit on government borrowing by August. Many of the skeptics are affiliated with the tea party.
In the Senate, freshman Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) has said the Obama administration has been exaggerating the effects of hitting the default mark. He says breaching the limit would cause only a partial government shutdown.
Other freshman Republicans have said that Geithner could raise money to avoid defaulting by selling investments in private companies. The Republican Study Committee, which represents more than 150 lawmakers, sent a letter to Geithner last week pressing for more details about the Aug. 2 deadline.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/treasury-to-tap-pensions-to-help-fund-government/2011/05/15/AF2fqK4G_story.html?hpid=z1
By Zachary A. Goldfarb
The Obama administration will begin to tap federal retiree programs to help fund operations after the government lost its ability Monday to borrow more money from the public, adding urgency to efforts in Washington to fashion a compromise over the debt.
Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner has warned for months that the government would soon hit the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling — a legal limit on how much it can borrow. With that limit reached Monday, Geithner is undertaking special measures in an effort to postpone the day when he will no longer have enough funds to pay all of the government’s bills.
Geithner, who has already suspended a program that helps state and local government manage their finances, will begin to borrow from retirement funds for federal workers. The measure won’t have an impact on retirees because the Treasury is legally required to reimburse the program.
The maneuver buys Geithner only a few months of time. If Congress does not vote by Aug. 2 to raise the debt limit, Geithner says the government is likely to default on some of its obligations, which he says would cause enormous economic harm and the suspension of government services, including the disbursal of Social Security funds.
Many congressional Republicans, however, have been skeptical that breaching the Aug. 2 deadline would be as catastrophic as Geithner suggests. What’s more, Republican leaders are insisting that Congress cut spending by as much as the Obama administration wants to raise the debt limit, without any new taxes. Obama is proposing spending cuts and tax increases to rein in the debt.
“Everything should be on the table, except raising taxes,” House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “Because raising taxes will hurt our economy and hurt our ability to create jobs in our country.”
The Obama administration has warned that it is dangerous to make a vote on raising the debt limit contingent on other proposals. But Boehner is demanding that Congress use the debt vote as a way to bring down government spending.
“I’m ready to cut the deal today,” Boehner said. “We don’t have to wait until the 11th hour. But I am not going to walk away from this moment. We have a moment, a window of opportunity to act, because if we don’t act, the markets are going to act for us.”
Geithner’s plan to tap federal retiree programs as a temporary means to avoid a government default comes as the Obama administration has shown growing interest in altering those programs to curb the debt in the long run.
Administration officials have expressed interest in raising the amount that federal employees contribute to their pensions, sources told The Washington Post.
The Republicans have suggested that the civilian workforce contribute more to its retirement in the future, effectively trimming 5 percent from salaries. The administration has not been willing to go that far in talks being led by Vice President Biden.
Treasury secretaries have tapped special programs to avoid default six times since 1985. The most protracted delay in raising the debt limit came in 1995 after congressional Republicans swept to power during the Clinton administration.
But today, the government needs far more money to cover its obligations than in the past, making the special measures less effective than they used to be. The government needs about $125 billion more a month than it takes in each month.
In a letter released last week to Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Geithner wrote that a default would risk a “double-dip” recession.
“Default would not only increase borrowing costs for the federal government, but also for families, businesses and local governments — reducing investment and job creation throughout the economy,” Geithner wrote.
But several prominent congressional Republicans have dismissed the Obama administration’s assertion that the country would face dire consequences if Congress does not vote to raise the federal limit on government borrowing by August. Many of the skeptics are affiliated with the tea party.
In the Senate, freshman Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) has said the Obama administration has been exaggerating the effects of hitting the default mark. He says breaching the limit would cause only a partial government shutdown.
Other freshman Republicans have said that Geithner could raise money to avoid defaulting by selling investments in private companies. The Republican Study Committee, which represents more than 150 lawmakers, sent a letter to Geithner last week pressing for more details about the Aug. 2 deadline.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/treasury-to-tap-pensions-to-help-fund-government/2011/05/15/AF2fqK4G_story.html?hpid=z1
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Atlas Shrugged Movie Honor
Atlas Shrugged Honored with Ronald Reagan Great Communicator Award
Movie's message of individual responsibility speaks clearly to Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation.
Culver City, CA (PRWEB) May 10, 2011
The Ronald Reagan Foundation awarded “Atlas Shrugged Part 1” with its inaugural Ronald Reagan Great Communicator Award. Atlas Shrugged Producer Harmon Kaslow accepted the award from Stewart McLaurin, Executive Director of the foundation’s Ronald Reagan Centennial Celebration, at the opening night gala of the 2011 Santa Catalina Film Festival on Catalina Island, Calif., May 6.
“I’m very grateful to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and the Santa Catalina Film Festival for honoring our film with this award,” producer John Aglialoro said. “It reinforces my commitment to getting the story and message of ‘Atlas Shrugged’ to the big screen.”
“The film adaptation of the novel ‘Atlas Shrugged’ highlights the principles of individual responsibility, optimism, and freedom that shaped Ronald Reagan’s personal, professional and political life,” McLaurin said. “I can think of no current film more deserving of the inaugural award as we mark the 100th anniversary of President Reagan’s birth and reflect on the ideals that not only influenced Ronald Reagan but an entire generation.”
The Ronald Reagan Great Communicator Award was created as part of the celebrations of what would have been Reagan’s 100th birthday in 2011. This year’s award marks the 75th anniversary of the start of Reagan’s film and television career, which began on Catalina Island in 1936, when Reagan did a screen test for Warner Brothers while in Southern California to cover Chicago Cubs spring training.
On April 15, 2011, Atlas Shrugged Part 1 was released by Atlas Productions, LLC in the USA and continues to play in more than 200 theaters nationwide.
About Atlas Productions, LLC.
Atlas Productions, LLC. is a motion picture studio founded by John Aglialoro for the purpose of financing and distributing a trilogy of films based on Ayn Rand’s epic novel, "Atlas Shrugged." For more information, visit http://www.atlasshruggedpart1.com/.
About The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation created the award to celebrate the Reagan Centennial and recognize a film that gives voice to a philosophy of individual opportunity, optimism, and pride which President Reagan embraced. For more information, visit http://www.reaganfoundation.org/.
http://www.prweb.com/releases/AtlasShruggedMovie/ReaganAward/prweb8407158.htm
Movie's message of individual responsibility speaks clearly to Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation.
Culver City, CA (PRWEB) May 10, 2011
The Ronald Reagan Foundation awarded “Atlas Shrugged Part 1” with its inaugural Ronald Reagan Great Communicator Award. Atlas Shrugged Producer Harmon Kaslow accepted the award from Stewart McLaurin, Executive Director of the foundation’s Ronald Reagan Centennial Celebration, at the opening night gala of the 2011 Santa Catalina Film Festival on Catalina Island, Calif., May 6.
“I’m very grateful to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and the Santa Catalina Film Festival for honoring our film with this award,” producer John Aglialoro said. “It reinforces my commitment to getting the story and message of ‘Atlas Shrugged’ to the big screen.”
“The film adaptation of the novel ‘Atlas Shrugged’ highlights the principles of individual responsibility, optimism, and freedom that shaped Ronald Reagan’s personal, professional and political life,” McLaurin said. “I can think of no current film more deserving of the inaugural award as we mark the 100th anniversary of President Reagan’s birth and reflect on the ideals that not only influenced Ronald Reagan but an entire generation.”
The Ronald Reagan Great Communicator Award was created as part of the celebrations of what would have been Reagan’s 100th birthday in 2011. This year’s award marks the 75th anniversary of the start of Reagan’s film and television career, which began on Catalina Island in 1936, when Reagan did a screen test for Warner Brothers while in Southern California to cover Chicago Cubs spring training.
On April 15, 2011, Atlas Shrugged Part 1 was released by Atlas Productions, LLC in the USA and continues to play in more than 200 theaters nationwide.
About Atlas Productions, LLC.
Atlas Productions, LLC. is a motion picture studio founded by John Aglialoro for the purpose of financing and distributing a trilogy of films based on Ayn Rand’s epic novel, "Atlas Shrugged." For more information, visit http://www.atlasshruggedpart1.com/.
About The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation created the award to celebrate the Reagan Centennial and recognize a film that gives voice to a philosophy of individual opportunity, optimism, and pride which President Reagan embraced. For more information, visit http://www.reaganfoundation.org/.
http://www.prweb.com/releases/AtlasShruggedMovie/ReaganAward/prweb8407158.htm
Not A Matter Of If, But When
Irish Bombshell: Government Raids PRIVATE Pensions To Pay For Spending
The Irish government plans to institute a tax on private pensions to drive jobs growth, according to its jobs program strategy, delivered today.
Without the ability sell debt due to soaring interest rates, and with severe spending rules in place due to its EU-IMF bailout, Ireland has few ways of spending to stimulate the economy. Today's jobs program includes specific tax increases, including the tax on pensions, aimed at keeping government jobs spending from adding to the national debt.
The tax on private pensions will be 0.6%, and last for four year, according to the report.
From the jobs initiative release:
The various tax reduction and additional expenditure measures which I am announcing today will be funded by way of a temporary levy on funded pension schemes and personal pension plans. I propose that the levy will apply at a rate of 0.6% to the capital value of assets under management in pension funds established in the State.
It will apply for a period of 4 years commencing this year and is intended to raise about €470 million in each of those years. The levy will not apply to pension funds established here and providing services and benefits solely to non-resident employers and members. Further details regarding the proposed application of the levy are set out in the Summary of Initiative Measures.
Ireland's ability to levy further taxes on other parts of the economy is restricted because its economic growth has been inhibited in the wake of a financial crisis that crippled its banking sector and decimated its public finances.
Unwilling to budge on the country's low corporate tax rate, Enda Kenny's Irish government has chosen to target pensioners for funds to grow the economy. Whether it turns out to be an example to other countries seeking alternative ways to raise revenues with aging populations is yet unknown.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/irish-bombshell-government-raids-private-pensions-to-pay-for-jobs-program-2011-5#ixzz1M0JVwv6R
The Irish government plans to institute a tax on private pensions to drive jobs growth, according to its jobs program strategy, delivered today.
Without the ability sell debt due to soaring interest rates, and with severe spending rules in place due to its EU-IMF bailout, Ireland has few ways of spending to stimulate the economy. Today's jobs program includes specific tax increases, including the tax on pensions, aimed at keeping government jobs spending from adding to the national debt.
The tax on private pensions will be 0.6%, and last for four year, according to the report.
From the jobs initiative release:
The various tax reduction and additional expenditure measures which I am announcing today will be funded by way of a temporary levy on funded pension schemes and personal pension plans. I propose that the levy will apply at a rate of 0.6% to the capital value of assets under management in pension funds established in the State.
It will apply for a period of 4 years commencing this year and is intended to raise about €470 million in each of those years. The levy will not apply to pension funds established here and providing services and benefits solely to non-resident employers and members. Further details regarding the proposed application of the levy are set out in the Summary of Initiative Measures.
Ireland's ability to levy further taxes on other parts of the economy is restricted because its economic growth has been inhibited in the wake of a financial crisis that crippled its banking sector and decimated its public finances.
Unwilling to budge on the country's low corporate tax rate, Enda Kenny's Irish government has chosen to target pensioners for funds to grow the economy. Whether it turns out to be an example to other countries seeking alternative ways to raise revenues with aging populations is yet unknown.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/irish-bombshell-government-raids-private-pensions-to-pay-for-jobs-program-2011-5#ixzz1M0JVwv6R
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
A Story That Needs To Be Told
The Students with Bush on 9/11: The Interrupted Reading
By TIM PADGETT Tim Padgett – Wed May 4, 12:15 pm ET
There has rarely been a starker juxtaposition of evil and innocence than the moment President George W. Bush received the news about 9/11 while reading The Pet Goat with second-graders in Sarasota, Fla.
Seven-year-olds can't understand what Islamic terrorism is all about. But they know when an adult's face is telling them something is wrong - and none of the students sitting in Sandra Kay Daniels' class at Emma E. Booker Elementary School that morning can forget the devastating change in Bush's expression when White House chief of staff Andrew Card whispered the terrible news of the al-Qaeda attack. Lazaro Dubrocq's heart started racing because he assumed they were all in trouble - with no less than the Commander in Chief - but he wasn't sure why. "In a heartbeat, he leaned back and he looked flabbergasted, shocked, horrified," recalls Dubrocq, now 17. "I was baffled. I mean, did we read something wrong? Was he mad or disappointed in us?"
Similar fears started running through Mariah Williams' head. "I don't remember the story we were reading - was it about pigs?" says Williams, 16. "But I'll always remember watching his face turn red. He got really serious all of a sudden. But I was clueless. I was just 7. I'm just glad he didn't get up and leave, because then I would have been more scared and confused." Chantal Guerrero, 16, agrees. Even today, she's grateful that Bush regained his composure and stayed with the students until The Pet Goat was finished. "I think the President was trying to keep us from finding out," says Guerrero, "so we all wouldn't freak out."
Even if that didn't happen, it's apparent that the sharing of that terrifying Tuesday with Bush has affected those students in the decade since - and, they say, it made the news of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's killing by U.S. commandos on May 1 all the more meaningful. Dubrocq, now a junior at Riverview High School in Sarasota, doubts that he would be a student in the rigorous international-baccalaureate program if he hadn't been with the President as one of history's most infamous global events unfolded. "Because of that," he says, "I came to realize as I grew up that the world is a much bigger place and that there are differing opinions about us out there, not all of them good."
Guerrero, today a junior at the Sarasota Military Academy, believes the experience "has since given us all a better understanding of the situation, sort of made us take it all more seriously. At that age, I couldn't understand how anyone could take innocent lives that way. And I still of course can't. But today I can problem-solve it all a lot better, maybe better than other kids because I was kind of part of it." Williams, also a junior at the military academy, says those moments spent with Bush conferred on the kids a sort of historical authority as they grew up. "Today, when we talk about 9/11 in class and you hear kids make mistakes about what happened with the President that day, I can tell them they're wrong," she says, "because I was there."
One thing the students would like to tell Bush's critics - like liberal filmmaker Michael Moore, whose 2004 documentary Fahrenheit 911 disparaged Bush for lingering almost 10 minutes with the students after getting word that two planes had crashed into the World Trade Center - is that they think the President did the right thing. "I think he was trying to keep everybody calm, starting with us," says Guerrero. Dubrocq agrees: "I think he was trying to protect us." Booker Principal Gwendolyn Tose-Rigell, who died in 2007, later insisted, "I don't think anyone could have handled it better. What would it have served if [Bush] had jumped out of his chair and ran out of the room?"
When the children's story was done, Bush left for the school's library, where he discussed the New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania nightmare with aides, reporters and another group of students waiting for him. Back in the classroom, Daniels brought in a television and turned on the first bewildering images of the Twin Towers in flames and smoke. At that point the kids started connecting the dots. "It was pretty scary," says Williams, "and I remember thinking, So that's why the President looked so mad."
Dubrocq got mad himself. "But I had to wait a few years before I could digest what had really happened and why they attacked us," he says. "I of course grew up to have nothing but contempt for Osama bin Laden." Yet he adds the episode "motivated me to get a better handle on the world and to want to help improve the world." It also made Dubrocq, who wants to study international business, more aware of his own multinational roots - he's French and Cuban on his father's side and Spanish and Mexican on his mother's. Not surprisingly, he also wants to learn other languages, like Chinese and, in an echo of his 9/11 memories, perhaps even Arabic.
Williams says she also hated Bin Laden more as she grew up and gained a better appreciation of how fanatics had changed her world on 9/11. "All that just because he wanted to control everybody in the world, control how we think and what we do," she says. Williams doesn't plan to pursue a military career - she wants to be a veterinarian - but the military academy student was impressed by the Navy SEAL raid in Pakistan that killed Bin Laden: "I was shocked - I thought after 10 years they'd never find him. But what the SEALs did, it, like, gives me even more respect for that kind of training."
Guerrero, in fact, may as well be part of that training. She also plans a civilian life - she hopes to study art and musical theater - but she's a Junior ROTC member and part of her school's state champion Raiders team, which competes against other academies in contests like rope bridge races, map navigation and marksmanship. In other words, the same sort of skills the SEAL commandos have to master. She admits to feeling an added rush when she woke up to Monday morning's news: the SEALs operation, she says, "was very, very cool."
More than cool, Guerrero says, it was also "so reassuring, after a whole decade of being scared about these things." Most of all, it "brought back a flood of memories" of their tragic morning with a President - memories that prove kids can carry a lot heavier stuff in those plastic backpacks than adults often realize.
Williams says she also hated Bin Laden more as she grew up and gained a better appreciation of how fanatics had changed her world on 9/11. "All that just because he wanted to control everybody in the world, control how we think and what we do," she says. Williams doesn't plan to pursue a military career - she wants to be a veterinarian - but the military academy student was impressed by the Navy SEAL raid in Pakistan that killed Bin Laden: "I was shocked - I thought after 10 years they'd never find him. But what the SEALs did, it, like, gives me even more respect for that kind of training."
Guerrero, in fact, may as well be part of that training. She also plans a civilian life - she hopes to study art and musical theater - but she's a Junior ROTC member and part of her school's state champion Raiders team, which competes against other academies in contests like rope bridge races, map navigation and marksmanship. In other words, the same sort of skills the SEAL commandos have to master. She admits to feeling an added rush when she woke up to Monday morning's news: the SEALs operation, she says, "was very, very cool."
More than cool, Guerrero says, it was also "so reassuring, after a whole decade of being scared about these things." Most of all, it "brought back a flood of memories" of their tragic morning with a President - memories that prove kids can carry a lot heavier stuff in those plastic backpacks than adults often realize.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20110504/us_time/08599206932700
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