Is the Tea Party pooped? It must keep making its case
◼ Is the Tea Party pooped? It must keep making its case - Michael Barone at The Washington Examiner
Blame the Tea Party...
◼ Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. coordinates Dem budget attack on GOP - washingtonexaminer
Schumer instructed the group, made up of Sens. Barbara Boxer of California, Tom Carper of Delaware, Ben Cardin of Maryland and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, to tell reporters that the GOP is refusing to negotiate.
He told the group to make sure they label the GOP spending cuts as "extreme."
"I always use extreme, Schumer said. "That is what the caucus instructed me to use."
◼ Budget Talks Sour, Dems Blame Tea Party for Stalemate as Deadline Looms (image source) FOX
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., also took to the floor Tuesday to accuse the Tea Party of scuttling negotiations over a spending package.◼ Schumer: who is “in the box”? - Roger L. Simon
Republicans fired back, preemptively pinning blame on the Democrats for a possible government shutdown while singling out Hoyer and Schumer for their comments Tuesday.
"Senator Schumer is not part of the (budget) negotiations, and he is making up fairy tales trying to derail serious discussions on funding the government and cutting spending, because he believes his party would benefit from a government shutdown," said Mike Steel, spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.
"At this point, the House has passed a bill to fund the government through the end of the year while cutting spending. The Senate has not -- and Senator Schumer's inaccurate rants won't change that," Steel said.
The Tea Party also hit back at Schumer.
"While Chuck Schumer and the Democratic caucus have been busy in a backroom crafting their 'blame the Tea Party' talking points, according to Rasmussen, 69 percent of Americans remain 'angry' or 'very angry' with the government," said Mark Meckler, national coordinator of the Tea Party Patriots.
"Why? It's not that complicated, and it's definitely not because the American public thinks the government isn't spending enough money," he added. "It's because the majority of the American voters sent a clear message to Washington D.C. in November to get their fiscal house in order, and to make the cuts that will put this country on a sustainable path. Clearly people like Chuck Schumer didn't listen."
◼ Chuck Schumer Caught Rehearsing Extreme, Extreme, Extreme Talking Points
The key point is less about the message coordination and more about Schumer scheming to shut the government down, and preparing a rehearsed justification for it, claiming it's the other guys who won't negotiate.◼ Howard Dean: Gov’t Shutdown Would Be the ‘Best Thing in the World’
“If I was head of DNC, I would be quietly rooting for it,” said Dean, speaking on a National Journal Insider’s Conference panel Tuesday morning. “I know who’s going to get blamed – we’ve been down this road before.”Call Your Senator:
“From a partisan point of view, I think it would be the best thing in the world to have a shutdown,” said Dean. He added that as a statesman, he is not rooting for a shutdown because of its harmful effect on the country.
Hart Senate Office Building
Room 112
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: (202) 224-3553
San Francisco: (415) 403-0100 Fax: (415) 956-6701
http://boxer.senate.gov/ (contact via webform)
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. Coordinates Dem Budget Attack on GOP
◼ Schumer Coordinates Dem Budget Attack on GOP
Barbara Boxer (D)
Hart Senate Office Building
Room 112
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: (202) 224-3553
San Francisco: (415) 403-0100 Fax: (415) 956-6701
http://boxer.senate.gov/ (contact via webform)
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., a member of the Democratic Senate leadership, got on a conference call with reporters Tuesday morning without realizing the reporters were already listening in. Schumer thought he was on a private line with four Democratic senators who were to talk with reporters about the current budget stalemate.
Schumer instructed the group, made up of Sens. Barbara Boxer of California, Tom Carper of Delaware, Ben Cardin of Maryland and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, to tell reporters that the GOP is refusing to negotiate.
He told the group to make sure they label the GOP spending cuts as "extreme."
"I always use extreme, Schumer said. "That is what the caucus instructed me to use."
The four senators came on the call after Schumer abruptly went silent and followed Schumer's script closely.
Hart Senate Office Building
Room 112
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: (202) 224-3553
San Francisco: (415) 403-0100 Fax: (415) 956-6701
http://boxer.senate.gov/ (contact via webform)
PG&E SmartMeter opt-out Option would cost customers hundreds in upfront charges
◼ PG&E offers SmartMeter opt-out plan
Eureka resident Beverly Filip doesn't own a microwave oven, has never used a cell phone and relies solely on Ethernet cables to access the Internet from her home. Soon, Filip might also be able to rid her house of the radiation from her Smart-Meter, installed by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. last year. But if a recent opt-out plan proposed by the utility is approved by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), the decision would nearly double Filip's monthly energy bill and cost her hundreds of dollars in up-front charges. "I think it's ridiculous," Filip said of the plan, which offers existing customers a handful of payment options in order to have a PG&E technician turn off the device's wireless transmitter, which some claim produces harmful side effects.
Under the plan, which the utility submitted to the CPUC last Thursday, customers would be required to pay an up-front charge to have the transmitter shut off along w ith a monthly fee. For customers not enrolled in the CARE discount program, opting out would cost either $270 or $135, with an additional monthly fee of $20 for the lower up-front fee or $14 a month for the higher fee...
TRANSCRIPT: Obama’s Remarks on Libya
◼ Transcript of President Obama’s speech on Libya
Good evening. Tonight, I'd like to update the American people on the international effort that we have led in Libya – what we have done, what we plan to do, and why this matters to us.
Good evening. Tonight, I'd like to update the American people on the international effort that we have led in Libya – what we have done, what we plan to do, and why this matters to us.
Update from Nuclear Energy Institute
UPDATE AS OF 1:30 P.M. EDT, THURSDAY, MARCH 17:
Radiation readings at the Fukushima Daiichi site boundary were measured today at a lower level, between 2 and 3 millirem per hour.
UPDATE AS OF 11:35 A.M. EDT, THURSDAY, MARCH 17:
Fukushima Daiichi
The reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant are in stable condition and are being cooled with seawater, but workers at the plant continue efforts to add cooling water to fuel pools at reactors 3 and 4.
The status of the reactors at the site is as follows:
Radiation readings at the Fukushima Daiichi site boundary were measured today at a lower level, between 2 and 3 millirem per hour.
UPDATE AS OF 11:35 A.M. EDT, THURSDAY, MARCH 17:
Fukushima Daiichi
The reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant are in stable condition and are being cooled with seawater, but workers at the plant continue efforts to add cooling water to fuel pools at reactors 3 and 4.
The status of the reactors at the site is as follows:
Harry Reid: "I Believe The Tea Party Is Short-Lived"
◼ Harry Reid: "I Believe The Tea Party Is Short-Lived"
"I believe the tea party is short-lived. I think you will find even the people that claim they're tea party folks will either be gone as a result of their extreme positions or they will move to the more moderate position -- which is certainly not being a liberal, that is being a conservative. I think with the economy getting better, you will see less and less agitation from the tea party folks," Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) told MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell.
Schedule for presentation of the Resolution Against Smart Meter Deployment
This is the schedule for presentation of the Resolution Against Smart Meter Deployment. We would like to see all HTPP members invited to show up in support. Each presentation will be done during the "Public Comment" section, not as an agenda item.
March 15, 2011 - Humboldt County Board of Supervisors at the Court House at 1:30 P.M.
Presenters will be Sue Pierce and Fred Nelson
March 15, 2011 - Eureka City Council at the City Hall, 6 P.M.
Presenters will be Sue Pierce and Fred Nelson
March 21, 2011 - Fortuna City Council at the City Hall, 6 P.M.
Presenter will be Al Dunnegan
April 7, 2011 - Ferndale City Council at the City Hall, 7 P.M.
Presenters will be Al Dunnegan and Sue Pierce
Gov Scott Walker rescinds WI public sector employee layoff notices
◼ Gov Scott Walker rescinds WI public sector employee layoff notices - Protein Wisdom
Walker’s statement: - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The Legislature helped us save 1,500 middle-class jobs by moving forward this week with the budget repair. The state will now be able to realize $30 million in savings to balance the budget and allow 1,500 state employees to keep their jobs. The reforms contained in this legislation, which require modest health care and pension contributions from all public employees, will help put Wisconsin on a path to fiscal sustainability.
While tough budget choices certainly still lie ahead, both state and local units of government will not have to do any mass layoffs or direct service reductions because of the reforms contained in the budget repair bill. Moving forward the hard-working, professional public sector employees who show up to work every day and do an excellent job will help ensure Wisconsin has a business climate that allows the private sector to create 250,000 new jobs.
Jesse Jackson responds: “Keeping jobs at the expense of losing union power is unconscionable, unsustainable, unpalatable, irretrievable....
NPR Executive Ron Schiller Calls Tea Party ‘Racist,’ ‘Xenophobic,’ ‘Scary’
◼ Coburn, DeMint Introduce Bill to Defund NPR, PBS
◼ “I think what we all believe is if we don’t have Muslim voices in our schools, on the air,” Schiller says, “it’s the same thing we faced as a nation when we didn’t have female voices.” - National Public Radio senior executive, Ron Schiller, has been captured on camera savaging conservatives and the Tea Party movement. via The Daily Caller
◼ NPR seeks funding from Sharia backers - washingtontimes
◼ NPR Executive Ron Schiller Calls Tea Party ‘Racist,’ ‘Xenophobic,’ ‘Scary’ - theothermccain
◼ Reason #7,924 to Defund NPR: They’d Be ‘Far Better Off’ - michellemalkin
◼ Shocker: Latest O’Keefe Video Catches (Now Former) NPR Exec Decrying Tea Partiers as Stupid Racists - patterico
◼ NPR, R.I.P. - legalinsurrection
◼ More on NPR and its “neutrality” and “independence” - proteinwisdom
Updated:
◼ NPR CEO Vivian Schiller Resigns - legalinsurrection
◼ All Things Considered, NPR Board Decides it’s Best to ‘Oust’ CEO Vivian Schiller; Updated - Michelle Malkin
...DeMint and Coburn also noted that in 2010, NPR accepted a $1.8 million grant from the Open Society Foundation, backed by liberal financier George Soros, to hire 100 reporters. Additionally, NPR has an endowment of over $200 million, they said in a news release....
◼ “I think what we all believe is if we don’t have Muslim voices in our schools, on the air,” Schiller says, “it’s the same thing we faced as a nation when we didn’t have female voices.” - National Public Radio senior executive, Ron Schiller, has been captured on camera savaging conservatives and the Tea Party movement. via The Daily Caller
◼ NPR seeks funding from Sharia backers - washingtontimes
◼ NPR Executive Ron Schiller Calls Tea Party ‘Racist,’ ‘Xenophobic,’ ‘Scary’ - theothermccain
◼ Reason #7,924 to Defund NPR: They’d Be ‘Far Better Off’ - michellemalkin
◼ Shocker: Latest O’Keefe Video Catches (Now Former) NPR Exec Decrying Tea Partiers as Stupid Racists - patterico
◼ NPR, R.I.P. - legalinsurrection
◼ More on NPR and its “neutrality” and “independence” - proteinwisdom
Updated:
◼ NPR CEO Vivian Schiller Resigns - legalinsurrection
◼ All Things Considered, NPR Board Decides it’s Best to ‘Oust’ CEO Vivian Schiller; Updated - Michelle Malkin
Welfare State: Handouts Make Up One-Third of U.S. Wages
◼ Welfare State: Handouts Make Up One-Third of U.S. Wages
Government payouts—including Social Security, Medicare and unemployment insurance—make up more than a third of total wages and salaries of the U.S. population, a record figure that will only increase if action isn’t taken before the majority of Baby Boomers enter retirement.
Even as the economy has recovered, social welfare benefits make up 35 percent of wages and salaries this year, up from 21 percent in 2000 and 10 percent in 1960, according to TrimTabs Investment Research using Bureau of Economic Analysis data.
“The U.S. economy has become alarmingly dependent on government stimulus,” said Madeline Schnapp, director of Macroeconomic Research at TrimTabs, in a note to clients. “Consumption supported by wages and salaries is a much stronger foundation for economic growth than consumption based on social welfare benefits.”
National Public Radio senior executive, Ron Schiller, has been captured on camera savaging conservatives and the Tea Party movement.
◼ On the tapes, Schiller wastes little time before attacking conservatives. The Republican Party, Schiller says, has been “hijacked by this group.” The man posing as Malik finishes the sentence by adding, “the radical, racist, Islamaphobic, Tea Party people.” Schiller agrees and intensifies the criticism, saying that the Tea Party people aren’t “just Islamaphobic, but really xenophobic, I mean basically they are, they believe in sort of white, middle-America gun-toting. I mean, it’s scary. They’re seriously racist, racist people.” - dailycaller
◼ NPR seeks funding from Sharia backers - washingtontimes
It's time Americans rediscover our Constitution
◼ Suddenly the Constitution is newsworthy.
The House of Representatives recently read it aloud for the first time ever, it's been called obscure beyond understanding, termed a document of racist oppression, invoked by the Tea Party, and proposed as the basis for new legislation.
One survey found that Americans believe overwhelmingly that the Constitution is important, but they demonstrate an alarming lack of knowledge of the document: Only about one out of three could identify the branches of the federal government, and just 6 percent knew all the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment....
The House of Representatives recently read it aloud for the first time ever, it's been called obscure beyond understanding, termed a document of racist oppression, invoked by the Tea Party, and proposed as the basis for new legislation.
One survey found that Americans believe overwhelmingly that the Constitution is important, but they demonstrate an alarming lack of knowledge of the document: Only about one out of three could identify the branches of the federal government, and just 6 percent knew all the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment....
Majority of American students flunk civics test
◼ “Nobody got above a D+” - Barbara Hollingsworth at The Washington Examiner
A groundbreaking multi-year survey of 28,000 students attending 85 U.S. colleges and universities by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (www.isi.org) found that American institutions of higher learning are not providing students even basic instruction on American history, economics and government -- probably not even enough for them to make informed decisions at the ballot box.
Even Ivy Leaguers could not pass a multiple-choice test on America’s foundational principles. Students at Harvard scored highest nationwide, but only managed an average score of 69 percent on the 60-question test – compared to 54 percent on average for seniors and 51 percent for college freshmen.
“Nobody got above a D+,” political scientist Richard Brake, co-chair of ISI’s Civic Literacy (or more accurately, Illiteracy) Board, told The Examiner. “Less than half knew about federalism, judicial review, the Declaration of Independence, the Gettysburg Address, and NATO. And this was a multiple-choice test, with the answers staring them right in the face....”
“Our study clearly shows that college has absolutely zero positive influence. The Number One factor that encourages them to do more than vote is civic self education,” Dr. Brake said. “The better they did on our test, the more likely that they said ‘yes’ to writing letters to the editor, contributing to a political candidate, or volunteering.”
But Dr. Brake says he’s encouraged by Tea Party members, who have made it a point to read the U.S. Constitution. “I think it’s a great thing that Tea Party members are making it a priority to educate themselves. You can’t read the Constitution with all its ‘Congress shall nots…’ without coming to the conclusion that the Constitution limits government.”
A groundbreaking multi-year survey of 28,000 students attending 85 U.S. colleges and universities by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (www.isi.org) found that American institutions of higher learning are not providing students even basic instruction on American history, economics and government -- probably not even enough for them to make informed decisions at the ballot box.
Even Ivy Leaguers could not pass a multiple-choice test on America’s foundational principles. Students at Harvard scored highest nationwide, but only managed an average score of 69 percent on the 60-question test – compared to 54 percent on average for seniors and 51 percent for college freshmen.
“Nobody got above a D+,” political scientist Richard Brake, co-chair of ISI’s Civic Literacy (or more accurately, Illiteracy) Board, told The Examiner. “Less than half knew about federalism, judicial review, the Declaration of Independence, the Gettysburg Address, and NATO. And this was a multiple-choice test, with the answers staring them right in the face....”
“Our study clearly shows that college has absolutely zero positive influence. The Number One factor that encourages them to do more than vote is civic self education,” Dr. Brake said. “The better they did on our test, the more likely that they said ‘yes’ to writing letters to the editor, contributing to a political candidate, or volunteering.”
But Dr. Brake says he’s encouraged by Tea Party members, who have made it a point to read the U.S. Constitution. “I think it’s a great thing that Tea Party members are making it a priority to educate themselves. You can’t read the Constitution with all its ‘Congress shall nots…’ without coming to the conclusion that the Constitution limits government.”
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