We have moved…. again (sorry!)

When we moved from Blogger to WordPress, several unknowns became, well…. known…

For one – you can not use plug-ins in WordPress.com, but you can in a secured blog off of their server….

Plug-in’s are nifty little features that allow us to dazzle and bedazzled some if not all of you each time they are introduced to the blog — such as a twitter update box or even a twitter search box…

Sooooooo we are moving our blog once again…. but we promise this is the last time… this year… for a year… until we have unforseen circumstances… whatever…

Our new location, just click here…

It will take you to http://www.santomoria.com/wethepeopleinGodwetrust

We are trying to make sure the RSS feeds are kept intact…

Thanks for your patience through all this! You guys rock!

What to do with the pits in life… and get yourself motivated

Of the several blogs that I follow, there is one I follow for the motivation it provides — not because I agree with her but I like her spunk. Why would I follow someone I do not necessarily agree with? Her thoughts get me thinking my own thoughts… a principle I have learned from my daily readings of principles in the Bible: when you plant a pit you end up with much more fruit than ditching the pit… Here’s her posting for yesterday (1-September)…

We’ve spent the last 25 years reading management books, trotting out celebrity CEOs on CNBC, and hailing Jack Welch as a genius.

Why don’t we have better leaders?
Why isn’t employee engagement higher?
Why are employees ready to bolt?
You would think work would be better and more meaningful in 2010 than it was in the 1950s and 1960s.

Back then, we had centralized organizations and top-down management styles. People wore suits and worked for money. Passion and meaning? It’s for hippies and beatniks.

Off the cuff, I wonder if something in our collective consciousness broke when our culture began linking work, money, and meaning.

Wasn’t it easier when the boundaries were clearer?

Are we better off now — with debt, consumerism, and a mucked up employee/employer covenant and a free agency employment structure w/o health & welfare benefits — than we were in the 1950s and 1960s?

Hm.

Tell me what you think.

So I did…

Those that read enough history knows it has taught us that when men (and women) rely upon themselves, then everything will eventually fail… Humility, humbleness, willingness to accept correction, willingness to reach when needed and necessary are struggles everyone, especially leaders, struggle with…

Since the early 1960′s, progressive methodologies and viewpoints have been promoted and slowly embraced and accepted because of looking what wasn’t working rather than looking at was and improving upon that… Government involvement in every facet of our lives was foretold by Orwell’s 1984 and we beat that by a decade… and now the government is becoming so big that any form of leadership has been labeled as anything but leadership… all in the effort to stifle leadership to follow the ways of progressives…

Men and women of all cultures and many countries have written and shared many principles… yet none are new… they are not reinvented…. the already exist… in the most bought book, that everyone says we must have… and yet few ever open…

There are some very successful people in our country — and many leaders… the difference between them and those that are not are usually in the book they have chosen to read that others let collect dust…

What I did not comment there, and has just come to thought. is this…

Many try to beat these principles or transcend them but fail to remember that even God Himself cannot disobey these principles — otherwise everything He stands for will fall apart. This is something even our founders have acknowledged in the first principle of our Declaration — “the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them”…

There was also a comment to her post that caught my attention as it was near the mark — I wish he elaborated more…

I think we have more managers in our organizations than leaders. I believe WWII produced many good leaders, as the discipline, courage and commitment to be successful in combat translates into good leadership qualities.

Today I think we have many more managers than leaders. Leadership is motivating others towards change. Many heads of organizations today are not very inspiring or lack the ability to motivate other. Primarily because many are not willing to put forth the amount of effort it takes to be a great leaders, which I think is the biggest problem. Primarily because people are taught management, and not leadership. Great leaders are passionate about their companies.

Some argue leadership cannot be taught, but I disagree. I don’t everyone can be taught to become a great leader, but everyone can be taught to become a better leaders.

To this I left a separate comment…

Trying times bring out the worst and best in people — those that have prepared themselves for coming situations in a way of a fortified good attitude, a discerning justice and solid backbone have been the best leaders during times of strive…

Good attitude, justice and backbone – as compared to any attitude, fairness and appeasement… Creating a win-win situation is good but has its limits when one – or both sides – are focused on being self-serving. Fairness has proven to lack any sense of discerning justice as those that have earned their own ways end up carrying the dead-weight of those that do not…. Appeasement? Is nothing more than failure on the installment plan, eventually everything is worse than what was originally there….

An interesting note about the WWII leaders – allies and axis alike… Most of the axis leaders were what we call vegetarians, health nuts, had phobias about germs and even a greater phobia about weaknesses on every level… and they didn’t smoke….

The ally leaders were mostly beef-and-potato eaters, would rather spend a day in conversation with friends, family and/or colleagues (or reading a book) than work out, had good personal hygiene but not obsessed about it… and all smoked cigars…

I say let’s have a great BBQ and picnic this weekend, turn off anything electronic but music into the air (NO videos) and light’em up boys and gals…

To all, make it a safe and enjoyable weekend — with hurricane Earl coming down on the east coast I know this will not be entirely possible, to which I share my original thought in this post…

When you plant a pit you end up with much more fruit than ditching the pit…

The 111th Congress & Obama Are NOT Legitimate Authorities…

Every progressive President, starting with Woodrow Wilson to Obama, have 2 things in common…..

• the country went through civil unrest for having their liberties, their freedoms, their pursuit of happiness either threatened or in some cases, taken away from them… and have been called rebellious for doing so
• they have taken a bad situation in our country and made it worse – Hoover and FDR enabled the Great Depression instead of empowering business to do what it does best: grow the economy (while the rest of the world was recovering, Hoover as well as FDR managed to continue the depression in this country for a decade)
• our school systems have deteriorated from being the best in the world to floating in position 20-something for a couple of decades now from a continuous formation by the progressive movement during the last centry
• Our history is being taught at home and abroad from a progressive’s agenda and viewpoint that has taken over our children’s textbooks — Why do they not talk about the Gettysburg Address? Why do they not talk about the first 100 years of our country? Why do they ignore the fact that the 13 states had at one time an official stand about something the progressives and liberals wish not to talk about? It will not be found in our classes nor in our history books because it involves talking about God and the progressives and liberals are uncomfortable about that. They refuse to recognize there is a power greater than any man, greater than any nation… which is their problem, not ours…

Every administration that limited federal government’s role in the lives of citizens resulted in great economic growth, particular good at this was Calvin Coolidge… too many times people want the government to do something for them — this has resulted in a government that needs to be big, and a government big enough to give you everything is also big enough to take away everything… Our government is already past this point as too many of our citizens rely on our government for food, housing, unemployment, subsidies, and more… Please note — I did NOT say these programs are bad, I DID say these programs have too many people dependent upon these programs when they should actually be empowered to do for themselves…

We have always fought our battles at the source — every time we held back we were attacked: Spanish-American War, Pearl Harbor, 9-11-2001… every time an administration has limited the military in budget and in global roles has give us inept forces that lack any teeth… just like the U.N. attempts to give the impression they are in control with an offending country that does what it damn well pleases as the U.N. is nothing but an oversized building blowing hot air – much like the majority of our current Congress…

We need to fight our enemy on their turf in order to protect the order of our country — otherwise we have given them permission to be here by our lack of corrective and protective actions… We need NOT apologize for any of our actions as our country has left more fruit behind us than the countries we have invaded or occupied… No other nation can make that claim. Any President that apologies for our actions by promoting social justice is not a legitimate authority — he is a warm body occupying the Oval office until someone better comes along and has clean up his mess.

This defines a legitimate authority: A legitimate authority WILL have the backbone and willingness to

• PROTECT our country from future harm
• PROVIDE for a means for our citizens to empower and to help themselves and
• PROMOTE the advances, gains, and benefits that our country has given other countries because we have, when Congress is fully committed to the cause, always left a country is much better condition than when we arrived in it…

The 111th Congress and the Obama administration lacks any definition of a legitimate authority on all 3 levels… Their definition of PROTECT, based upon their own actions, is to allow rogue nations to do what the please and use appeasement to get them to listen — appeasement is failure on the installment plan… Their definition of PROVIDE, based upon their own actions, is to make the government so big and spend so much that they believe the people will become powerless, without character and dependent upon them — instead of empowering the people to do for themselves and build character… Their definitions of PROMOTE is to ignore the benefits we brought to a country and apologize for any shortcomings that have resulted afterwards (which wa a result of the country’s own leadership or lack there of)…. The 111th Congress and Obama have only inflated their own wallets, have stroked their own egos and have totally ignored the majority of We the People, especially those that take a stand that only In God We Trust…

It is 77 days to election day — 11 weeks. The progressives and liberals are fighting for air — wherever they can find it. Does not matter to them that what they say is not legitimate, does not matter to them that their own authority is not legitimate… they are fighting like any dying animal or human would to survive and remain alive… but they have one problem: they have fallen upon their own sword…

It is up to us to drive that sword deeper by educating ourselves to who our candidates are, what they stand for and hold them to the definition of a legitimate authority… education is the strongest sword anyone can hold, even for the inept and illegitimate authorities — the test comes in the definition of a legitimate authority.

When the Holder of Our Debt Is Also in Trouble, Then What?

There are 4 countries that make up the fastest growing nations in the coming 40 years – Brazil, Russia, India, China — or BRIC for short. The overall wealth of the present leaders like the United States should remain intact — if the Obama administration does something about the hyperinflation we are facing within the next few years. If that happens, then all bets are off and the United States will be in the same boat Germany was in during the 1930’s… a fast, sinking boat at that…

China has just surpassed Japan in its position as a global contender making it the #2 largest global economy in the second quarter of this year. BUT… you need to be doing something to retain that position or even better it to #1, which would be the U.S.

Gordon G. Chang wrote an article this week that explains much of China’s calamity — like construction of 50 million new apartments. What’s wrong with 50 million new apartments? Well, the first thing to remember is China has a one-child policy. There is a whole generation — make that a few generations — that, for the most part, do not have a brother, a sister, an aunt or an uncle, a cousin never mind a kissing cousin… Just parents, grandparents, in-laws and a child… All this means that there are few candidates for the 50 million apartments… How do I know? Well, there are already 64.5 million apartments which have not been used for more than 6 months… mind you this is the country that is holding our debt — which the Fed just authorized to be monetized back into our economy… Sensing a bunch of dominoes ready to tip?

Gordon G. Chang is the author of “The Coming Collapse of China” and writes a weekly column at Forbes.com. I let him explain it from here…

China officially surpassed Japan to become the world’s second largest economy in the second calendar quarter of this year. As measured by gross domestic product, the Chinese economy reached $1.335 trillion. Japan’s, on the other hand, was only $1.286 trillion.

Analysts believe it is only a matter of time before China overtakes the United States to claim the top spot. Some predict that will happen by 2030. Others think it will happen well before then. “This is just the beginning,” UBS’s Wang Tao told The New York Times. “China is still a developing country. So it has a lot of room to grow.”

That’s true, but only as a theoretical matter. China, in reality, has reached high tide, and there are many reasons why it will start falling back.

First, Beijing has produced outsized growth in the current downturn because of a massive stimulus plan. According to my calculations, Beijing poured $1.1 trillion, directly and through the state banks, into its $4.7 trillion economy last year.

That’s more money than China could absorb, and this has led to imbalances and dislocations that will be difficult to unwind. For instance, Beijing has created a massive property bubble. Just a few months ago, there were 64.5 million apartments that showed no electricity usage for six consecutive months, but Chinese developers are now building about 50 million more of them. That is technically creating GDP—but only until the inevitable crash occurs.

Second, Beijing has turned its back on its proven formula for success. President Hu Jintao has abandoned Deng Xiaoping’s policy of “reform and opening up” as he embraces a new economic paradigm of closing the country down. The central government, these days, is renationalizing ownership, restricting opportunities for foreign business, and building up its state-owned “national champions.” And economic reform? There’s not much of it. The best you can say is that Chinese technocrats are tinkering.

Third, China’s economy boomed because of the “demographic dividend,” an extraordinary bulge in its workforce caused by audacious population policies. That will soon become a heavy demographic tax as the number of workers begins to shrink in three to five years and as the country as a whole begins to get smaller, perhaps starting 2025. The years of easy growth are over.

Add in the world’s most degraded environment, staggering corruption, and an increasingly unhappy populace—just to name a few of the other problems—and you can see why China’s economy will stumble soon.

Beijing still retains significant control over the economy, and central technocrats can, through a hundred different techniques, manage outcomes. Yet their cures are worse than the disease. They cannot avoid the inevitable. And by postponing the adjustments that must occur, they are making the final reckoning worse.

Semi-command economies always work—until they do not. When they do not, they fall apart fast.

So look for Japan to once again become the world’s second largest economy. China has too many problems—and far too few good policies—to sustain its upward trajectory.

Talk about crackled Chinese pottery… The scary thing is — if you change the country from China to the USA in Gordon’s article, it is difficult to determine the difference…

130 of 131 Survive Jet Crash – and God Gets the Credit…

The proof of arrogance is in claiming credit for yourself for the success of anything…

The proof of humility is in reaching to a legitimate authority in thanks…

Very rarely will you hear a political figure giving God the credit for a situation not being worse than what it was… the governor of the state of San Andes, Columbia did exactly that. This is the news piece from FoxNews… amazingly , the blame stream media did include the governor’s comments… a sign of humility for them? Only if they give credit to God themselves…

BOGOTA, Colombia — A Boeing 737 jetliner with 131 passengers aboard crashed on landing and broke into three pieces at a Colombian island in the Caribbean early Monday. The region’s governor said it was a miracle that only one person died.

Colombian Air Force Col. David Barrero said officials were investigating reports the plane had been hit by lightning before crashing at 1:49 a.m. (3:49 a.m. EDT; 0649 GMT) while landing at San Andres Island, a resort island of 78,000 people about 120 miles (190 kilometers) east of the Nicaraguan coast.

San Andres Gov. Pedro Gallardo said 125 passengers and six crew members had been aboard, but the only person killed was Amar Fernandez de Barreto, 65. At least five people were reported injured.

“It was a miracle and we have to give thanks to God,” the governor said.

Barrero, commander of the Caribbean Air Group, said by telephone from San Andres that “the skill of the pilot kept the plane from colliding with the airport.”

Barrero said the 7,545-foot (2,300-meter) runway had been closed because parts of the plane were still scattered across it.

The Aires jet had left the Colombian capital of Bogota at about midnight.

Police Gen. Orlando Paez said by telephone that a group of police officers who had been waiting at the airport for the plane to take them back to the Colombian mainland aided in rescuing the victims.

A 9-11 Muslim victim: ‘Build somewhere else’

By Neda Bolourchi
Washington Post, Sunday, August 8, 2010

I have no grave site to visit, no place to bring my mother her favorite yellow flowers, no spot where I can hold my weary heart close to her. All I have is Ground Zero.

On the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, I watched as terrorists slammed United Flight 175 into the South Tower of the World Trade Center, 18 minutes after their accomplices on another hijacked plane hit the North Tower. My mother was on the flight. I witnessed her murder on live television. I still cannot fully comprehend those images. In that moment, I died as well. I carry a hole in my heart that will never be filled.

From the first memorial ceremonies I attended at Ground Zero, I have always been moved by the site; it means something to be close to where my mother may be buried, it brings some peace. That is why the prospect of a mosque near Ground Zero — or a church or a synagogue or any religious or nationalistic monument or symbol — troubles me.

I was born in pre-revolutionary Iran. My family led a largely secular existence — I did not attend a religious school, I never wore a headscarf — but for us, as for anyone there, Islam was part of our heritage, our culture, our entire lives. Though I have nothing but contempt for the fanaticism that propelled the terrorists to carry out their murderous attacks on Sept. 11, I still have great respect for the faith. Yet, I worry that the construction of the Cordoba House Islamic cultural center near the World Trade Center site would not promote tolerance or understanding; I fear it would become a symbol of victory for militant Muslims around the world.

When I am asked about the people who murdered my mother, I try to hold back my anger. I try to have a more spiritual perspective. I tell myself that perhaps what happened was meant to happen — that it was my mother’s destiny to perish this way. I try to take solace in the notion that her death has forced a much-needed conversation and reevaluation of the role of religion in the Muslim community, of the duties and obligations that the faith imposes and of its impact on the non-Muslim world.

But a mosque near Ground Zero will not move this conversation forward. There were many mosques in the United States before Sept. 11; their mere existence did not bring cross-cultural understanding. The proposed center in New York may be heralded as a peace offering — may genuinely seek to focus on “promoting integration, tolerance of difference and community cohesion through arts and culture,” as its Web site declares — but I fear that over time, it will cultivate a fundamentalist version of the Muslim faith, embracing those who share such beliefs and hating those who do not.

The Sept. 11 attacks were the product of a hateful ideology that the perpetrators were willing to die for. They believed that all non-Muslims are infidels and that the duty of Muslims is to renounce them. I am not a theologian, but I know that the men who killed my mother carried this message in their hearts and minds. Obedient and dutiful soldiers, they marched toward their promised rewards in heaven with utter disregard for the value of the human beings they killed.

I know Ground Zero is not mine alone; I must share this sanctuary with tourists, politicians, anyone who chooses to come, whatever their motivations or intentions. But a mosque nearby — even a proposed one — is already transforming the site from a sacred ground for reflection, so desperately needed by the families who lost loved ones, to a battleground for religious and political ideologies. So many people from different nationalities and religions were killed that day. This site should be a neutral place for all to come in peace and remember. I believe my mother would have thought so as well.

The Iranian revolution compelled my family to flee to America when I was 12 years old. Yet, just over two decades later, the militant version of our faith caught up with us on a September morning. I still identify as a Muslim. When you are born into a Muslim family, there is no way around it, no choices available: You are Muslim. I am not ashamed of my faith, but I am ashamed of what is done in its name.

On the day I left Ground Zero shortly after the tragedy, I felt that I was abandoning my mother. It was like being forced to leave the bedside of a loved one who is dying, knowing you will never see her again. But I felt the love and respect of all those around me there, and it reassured me that she was being left in good hands. Since I cannot visit New York as often as I would like, I at least want to know that my mother can rest in peace.

I do not like harboring resentment or anger, but I do not want the death of my mother — my best friend, my hero, my strength, my love — to become even more politicized than it already is. To the supporters of this new Islamic cultural center, I must ask: Build your ideological monument somewhere else, far from my mother’s grave, and let her rest.

Neda Bolourchi lives in Los Angeles.

Virginia Deals a Blow to the Healthcare’s Achilles Heal….

It is almost like no one really noticed — but you can guarantee that every state government was elated… except maybe Massachusetts…

U.S Distrct Judge Henry Hudson declared that it is far from certain that the U.S. government has the authority to enforce the National Health Care on all Americans and penalize those that don’t participate. As a result of his findings, Judge Hudson has refused to block Virgina’s lawsuit as requested by the Federal government. The domino effect of this means the financially strapped states can now put national healthcare on the back-burner until the outcome of this lawsuit. State have been working to set up an infrastructure that would support the operations of a national healthcare system at their own cost — something that has not been made widely known.

What makes the Healthcare legislation vulnerable is the lack of a mechanism called a boilerplate. The boilerplate is used to maintain the bill should one part of the bill be found to be unenforceable then the rest remains intact. Congress removed the boilerplate just before it passed making it vulnerable to completely fail should any part of the bill be found unconstitutional. Modifying the bill at this point will not work as everything in the bill at this point is under court scrutiny — any modification would have had to been completed before Judge Hudson’s decision…

This action supports Missouri’s voters passing legislation to ban any forced healthcare on their residents. Though many say this is just a token act, the Supremacy clause of the federal law cannot be upheld when the mandate from the Federal government is unconstitutional. With Virginia’s challenge now going to court it would be safe to say the 21 states that have the same referendum on their ballots or considering to put it on their ballots will be given serious consideration as well.

The Obama administration is making the mistake of stretching the Interstate Commerce clause, claiming that an individual’s decision NOT to buy insurance is interstate commerce. You may need to read that again — I don’t create Obamalogic, I just report on it…. All I can say is the Peter Principle is in full effect with this administration, everyone has arrived to their point incompetency (and stupidity) all at the same time…. the reason behind this is most, if not all, of those that influence the present are former Weatherman and SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) — the only time there were this many weathermen and SDS members in government were during the protests, now they are trying to liberalize the Constitution to their own liking — whether We the People approve or not…

IMPORTANT TO NOTE: In case you missed it, the financial reform allows the government to scrutinize EVERY financial transaction made within our borders – ALL OF THEM, from big business to consumers. This bill allows ONE PERSON to make all the calls whether to close or keep a business going based upon the opinion of this one person — and some analysts even say whether any one private citizen in particular can have a credit card or not. Because of the number of Czar’s appointed by Obama and the power Obama has given them, the power of the U.S. Congress has basically usurped their own power from themselves and placed it all in the hands of Obama’s ‘henchmen’. Our Congress, by allowing the Healthcare (life) and Financial reform (pursuit of happiness) legislations to pass, has only to pass legislation nationalizing the media (liberty) to completely usurp all their power…

And without life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, we are no longer the great country we once were…

Stuart Varney interviews former NY Lt. Governor Betsy McCaughey on Judge Hudson’s decision: video.foxnews.com

From Karl Rove – Will the GOP Storm the Statehouses?

Expect to see a lot of Republican governors elected in November.

It must have been gloomy for Democrats when the nation’s governors met last month in Boston for their annual summer get-together. The reason: If congressional races look bad for Democrats, the 37 gubernatorial contests are even worse.

A quick survey of the political landscape shows six of the seven Democratic governors running for re-election are polling under 50% and in danger of losing, while all six GOP incumbents seeking re-election are expected to win. In the 24 open gubernatorial contests, Republicans lead in 15 and are tied in three others.

More than half of Americans are likely to have a new chief executive for their state come November. Democrats are burdened by President Barack Obama’s low approval ratings and, in some open races, by widespread public dissatisfaction with the state’s retiring Democratic incumbent.

That’s not to say the GOP has had all smooth sailing. In Colorado, plagiarism charges have crippled Republican frontrunner Scott McInnis. Less dangerously, Florida Republicans are locked in a bitter primary. But these are the exceptions.

The GOP’s edge in statehouse contests could have major ramifications for a long time to come, including next year’s redistricting of the House of Representatives. The more GOP governors, the stronger Republican dominance of the process will be. Eighteen of the 21 states that could add or lose congressional seats have governors’ races this fall. There also will be a lot more Republican legislators after November to help draw redistricting lines for the coming decade.

Republicans are poised to elect a new generation of leaders. After this fall’s election, the GOP could have two Indian-American, two Hispanic, and as many as seven women governors. This would provide powerful evidence of the GOP’s diversity and help refurbish the party’s image.

More importantly, the GOP’s crop of new governors can demonstrate that conservative ideas work. Just as GOP governors helped lay the foundation for the Republican resurgence in 1994 by pursuing far-reaching reform of welfare, education and taxes, so could new policy-minded chief executives reinvigorate the Republican Party’s reputation as the “party of ideas.”

Already, the GOP victors in last year’s gubernatorial contests are providing powerful contrasts to Mr. Obama’s policies. Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell erased his state’s nearly $2 billion deficit without raising taxes. Facing a $13 billion shortfall, a hostile Democratic legislature and more than $7 million in negative ads launched against him by labor unions, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie nonetheless balanced the budget while cutting taxes.

Governors also have far more electoral impact on their states than do distant, often-absent senators and congressmen. Since 1994, Republicans have won 26 Senate seats previously held by Democrats. Twenty of those pickups were in states with an incumbent Republican governor or a GOP gubernatorial candidate who won that same day. Governors matter even more when it comes to picking a president. When George W. Bush won the White House in 2000, there were GOP chief executives in nearly every important battleground, helping move swing states like West Virginia, Tennessee and Arkansas into his column. By comparison, the only major swing-state the GOP controlled in 2008 was Florida.

The GOP wave is so strong right now that Republicans could simultaneously win the governorships in the critical Great Lake battlegrounds of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois. And the GOP is likely to win the governorship in other presidential battlegrounds like Iowa, Nevada, New Mexico and Oregon.

If this comes to pass, it will be no accident. Under the remarkable leadership of the Republican Governors Association chairman, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, and his wunderkind executive director Nick Ayers, the RGA has turned into a political juggernaut.

At the end of June, the RGA had $40 million in cash, even after spending nearly $11 million earlier this year to aid GOP challengers. In Ohio, for example, the RGA spent $2.8 million to blunt a $3 million Democratic effort to trash former Ohio Congressman John Kasich. Mr. Kasich now leads Democrat incumbent Ted Strickland by eight points.

And in Wisconsin, the RGA has helped put Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker ahead of Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett by eight points in the latest Rasmussen poll by outspending the Democrats 3 to 1 on television ads.

Political change comes more powerfully from the bottom up, not from the top down. The election of reform-oriented conservative Republican governors can shake America’s political firmament. It would have profound implications on the GOP’s reputation and the outcome of the 2012 election.

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About Karl Rove

Karl Rove served as Senior Advisor to President George W. Bush from 2000–2007 and Deputy Chief of Staff from 2004–2007. At the White House he oversaw the Offices of Strategic Initiatives, Political Affairs, Public Liaison, and Intergovernmental Affairs and was Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, coordinating the White House policy-making process.

Before Karl became known as “The Architect” of President Bush’s 2000 and 2004 campaigns, he was president of Karl Rove + Company, an Austin-based public affairs firm that worked for Republican candidates, nonpartisan causes, and nonprofit groups. His clients included over 75 Republican U.S. Senate, Congressional and gubernatorial candidates in 24 states, as well as the Moderate Party of Sweden.

Karl writes a weekly op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, is a Newsweek columnist and is the author of the forthcoming book “Courage and Consequence” (Threshold Editions).

Email the author at Karl@Rove.com or visit him on the web at Rove.com. Or, you can send a Tweet to @karlrove.

Tax Changes Obama Believes In are here, NOW!

In just six months, the largest tax hikes in the history of America will take effect. They will hit families and small businesses in three great waves on January 1, 2011:

First Wave: Expiration of 2001 and 2003 Tax Relief

In 2001 and 2003, the GOP Congress enacted several tax cuts for investors, small business owners, and families.

These will all expire on January 1, 2011:

Personal income tax rates will rise. The top income tax rate will rise from 35 to 39.6 percent (this is also the rate at which two-thirds of small business profits are taxed). The lowest rate will rise from 10 to 15 percent. All the rates in between will also rise. Itemized deductions and personal exemptions will again phase out, which has the same mathematical effect as higher marginal tax rates. The full list of marginal rate hikes is below:

– The 10% bracket rises to an expanded 15%
– The 25% bracket rises to 28%
– The 28% bracket rises to 31%
– The 33% bracket rises to 36%
– The 35% bracket rises to 39.6%

Higher taxes on marriage and family. The “marriage penalty” (narrower tax brackets for married couples) will return from the first dollar of income. The child tax credit will be cut in half from $1000 to $500 per child. The standard deduction will no longer be doubled for married couples relative to the single level. The dependent care and adoption tax credits will be cut.

The return of the Death Tax. This year, there is no death tax. For those dying on or after January 1 2011, there is a 55 percent top death tax rate on estates over $1 million. A person leaving behind two homes and a retirement account could easily pass along a death tax bill to their loved ones.

Higher tax rates on savers and investors. The capital gains tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 20 percent in 2011. The dividends tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 39.6 percent in 2011. These rates will rise another 3.8 percent in 2013.

Second Wave: Obamacare

There are more than 20 new or higher taxes in Obamacare. Several will first go into effect on January 1, 2011. They include:

The “Medicine Cabinet Tax” Americans will no longer be able to use health savings account (HSA), flexible spending account (FSA), or health reimbursement (HRA) pre-tax dollars to purchase non-prescription, over-the-counter medicines (except insulin).

The “Special Needs Kids Tax” This provision of Obamacare imposes a cap on flexible spending accounts (FSAs) of $2500 (Currently, there is no federal government limit). There is one group of FSA owners for whom this new cap will be particularly cruel and onerous: parents of special needs children. There are thousands of families with special needs children in the United States , and many of them use FSAs to pay for special needs education. Tuition rates at one leading school that teaches special needs children in Washington , D.C. (National Child Research Center) can easily exceed $14,000 per year. Under tax rules, FSA dollars can be used to pay for this type of special needs education.

The HSA Withdrawal Tax Hike. This provision of Obamacare increases the additional tax on non-medical early withdrawals from an HSA from 10 to 20 percent, disadvantaging them relative to IRAs and other tax-advantaged accounts, which remain at 10 percent.

Third Wave: The Alternative Minimum Tax and Employer Tax Hikes

When Americans prepare to file their tax returns in January of 2011, they’ll be in for a nasty surprise—the AMT won’t be held harmless, and many tax relief provisions will have expired. The major items include:

The AMT will ensnare over 28 million families, up from 4 million last year. According to the left-leaning Tax Policy Center, Congress’ failure to index the AMT will lead to an explosion of AMT taxpaying families—rising from 4 million last year to 28.5 million. These families will have to calculate their tax burdens twice, and pay taxes at the higher level. The AMT was created in 1969 to ensnare a handful of taxpayers.

Small business expensing will be slashed and 50% expensing will disappear. Small businesses can normally expense (rather than slowly-deduct, or “depreciate”) equipment purchases up to $250,000. This will be cut all the way down to $25,000. Larger businesses can expense half of their purchases of equipment. In January of 2011, all of it will have to be “depreciated.”

Taxes will be raised on all types of businesses. There are literally scores of tax hikes on business that will take place. The biggest is the loss of the “research and experimentation tax credit,” but there are many, many others. Combining high marginal tax rates with the loss of this tax relief will cost jobs.

Tax Benefits for Education and Teaching Reduced The deduction for tuition and fees will not be available. Tax credits for education will be limited. Teachers will no longer be able to deduct classroom expenses. Coverdell Education Savings Accounts will be cut. Employer-provided educational assistance is curtailed. The student loan interest deduction will be disallowed for hundreds of thousands of families.

Charitable Contributions from IRAs no longer allowed. Under current law, a retired person with an IRA can contribute up to $100,000 per year directly to a charity from their IRA. This contribution also counts toward an annual “required minimum distribution.” This ability will no longer be there.
PDF Version Read more: http://www.atr.org/six-months-untilbr-largest-tax-hikes-a5171##ixzz0sY8waPq1

Now: your insurance is INCOME on your W2’s

One of the surprises we’ll find come next year, is what follows – – a little “surprise” that 99% of us had no idea was included in the “new and improved” healthcare legislation .

Starting in 2011, (next year folks), your W-2 tax form sent by your employer will be increased to show the value of whatever health insurance you are given by the company. It does not matter if that’s a private concern or governmental body of some sort. If you’re retired? So what; your gross will go up by the amount of insurance you get.

You will be required to pay taxes on a large sum of money that you have never seen. Take your tax form you just finished and see what $15,000 or $20,000 additional gross does to your tax debt. That’s what you’ll pay next year. For many, it also puts you into a new higher bracket so it’s even worse.

This is how the government is going to buy insurance for the 15% that don’t have insurance and it’s only part of the tax increases.

Not believing this??? Here is a research of the summaries…..

On page 25 of 29: TITLE IX REVENUE PROVISIONS – SUBTITLE A: REVENUE OFFSET PROVISIONS – (sec. 9001, as modified by sec. 10901) Sec.9002 “requires employers to include in the W-2 form of each employee the aggregate cost of applicable employer sponsored group health coverage that is excludable from the employees gross income.”

Joan Pryde is the senior tax editor for the Kiplinger letters. Go to Kiplingers and read about 13 tax changes that could affect you. Number 3 is what is above.

U.S. Congress Moves a Step Forward To Eradicate “Libel Tourism”

 

By Lisa Piraneo, Director of Government Relations
Act! for America

Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed a modified version of H.R. 2765, the “Securing the Protection of our Enduring and Established Constitutional Heritage Act,” (aka the “SPEECH Act”) originally introduced by Representative Steve Cohen (TN), and recently passed in the U.S. Senate. It will now be sent to the White House for the President’s signature, at which time it will become law.

H.R. 2765 deters individuals from bringing a libel or defamation suit against an American in a country that has less protective free speech laws. This increasing practice is not used to pursue legitimate claims of defamation and libel, but to silence journalists, publishers, authors as well as anyone else who seeks to exercise their First Amendment right of Free Speech. It is referred to as “libel tourism” or “lawfare” and it is being used successfully to silenced authors and journalists, like Rachel Ehrenfeld, who write about issues critical to our national security.

As Representative Peter King recently stated, “We cannot change other countries’ (libel) laws, nor would we want to. We must respect their laws, as they ought to respect ours. However, we cannot allow foreign citizens to exploit these courts to endanger Americans’ First Amendment protected speech; especially, when the subject matter is of such grave importance as terrorism and those who finance it.”

ACT! for America has a history of aggressively and successfully working to defeat libel tourism and to protect every American’s constitutional right to Free Speech. We have supported and helped pass similar legislation at the state level in New York (“Rachel’s Law”), as well as similar legislation in Florida, Illinois, Utah, Tennessee, Maryland and California. It was time for the U.S. Congress to address libel tourism protection at a national level as well.

ACT! for America is supportive of H.R. 2765’s provisions—namely banning enforcement of foreign libel judgments, and allowing authors to request exoneration in court. However, we endorsed, The Free Speech Protection Act introduced in the House as H.R. 1304, by Rep. Peter King, and in the Senate as S. 449, by Sen. Arlen Specter, as we feel it is stronger legislation. The proposals were on our list of “High Priority Legislation” in the current session of Congress and we actively supported them.

The Free Speech Protection Act contains not only provisions included in H.R. 2765—namely banning the enforcement of foreign libel judgments—but it goes a step further: The legislation would also allow American authors and journalists to sue those foreign plaintiffs here in the United States—something that we feel will be a strong and successful deterrent to libel tourism litigation.

The bottom line: Legislation that codifies any of our constitutional rights is critically important, and passage of H.R. 2765 can certainly be categorized as a “score” for us on the constitutional scoreboard. We remain hopeful, however, that stronger legislation, such as the King/Specter Free Speech Protection Act, will be addressed and ultimately passed into law during the next session of Congress. Doing so will ensure that the harassment of libel tourism will finally be significantly diminished, if not eliminated altogether.