By Sam Foster

Good luck getting this story out in the open MSM. A commission looking into the Obama administration’s handling of the New Black Panther Party scandal has released several preliminary findings. The documents can be summarized:

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights came out in December with a draft of its interim report on the New Black Panthers Party scandal. Earlier today a final report was posted on the commission’s website, and with it, a flurry of rebuttals and separate statements from a number of the commissioners. The import of these statements should not be minimized.

The statements indicate several points: 1) the New Black Panther Party case brought by career Justice Department employees was meritorious on the law and the facts; 2) there is voluminous evidence of the Obama administration’s political interference in the prosecution of the New Black Panther Party case; 3) there is ample evidence that the Obama administration directed Justice Department employees not to bring cases against minority defendants who violated voting rights laws or to enforce a provision requiring that states and localities clean up their voting rolls to prevent fraud; 4) the Justice Department stonewalled efforts to investigate the case; and 5) vice chairman Abigail Thernstrom has, for reasons not entirely clear, ignored the evidence and tried to undermine the commission’s work.

You can read all of the findings here. They are long and detailed, but provide a very distinct and overt effort by the Obama administration to subvert the commission’s investigation. Below is just a taste of what you’ll find:

Pursuant to its investigation, the Commission has held four public hearings, taken several depositions and attempted several others. It has attempted to work cooperatively with DOJ, but has been met with substantial resistance and only contrived cooperation for public affairs purposes. For example, though DOJ has provided thousands of documents unrelated to its decision to drastically reduce the nature and scope of the relief it sought in the NBPP case, it has repeatedly rebuffed Commission requests for key documents. While it provided witness testimony from a high-level official not at the Department during the relevant time period in question, it has directed those of its employees under subpoena with relevant, direct knowledge not to provide testimony to the Commission. It has also attempted to impose unreasonable conditions on the Commission before it will allow the deposition testimony of other Department employees and has raised questionable and sweeping privilege claims.

Regardless of the damning nature of the reports, I highly doubt Republicans will do much in the way of impeachment or calling for Holder’s ousting. The lack of coverage thus far speaks to it. They learned their lesson with Clinton. Instead, I think we are likely to see Republicans trade a DOJ investigation for some tripe or political boondoggle.

Cross Posted at Left Coast Rebel

By Sam Foster

David Axelrod might be waiting until March or April before gearing up Obama’s reelection campaign, but the Students for Daniels PAC are vying to get their choice candidate coverage during this week’s Pro Bowl.

According to the group the ad below is the first one of the 2012 presidential election season and is scheduled to air on KDSM-FOX 17 in Des Moines during the Pro Bowl. They’ve also purchased air time in New Hampshire, and Indiana.

2010 was a noteable year for campaign ads and this first ad does not disappoint.

Mitch Daniels has yet to announce his bid for a presidential run, but he is considered among many pundits, a likely contender. Recent polling has him trailing a pack of contenders, but his numbers have risen as he gets more exposure.

The ad is part of a concerted effort by the group Student Initiative to Draft Daniels.

Below is a portion of the groups press release:

In the State of the Union President Obama made clear that his solution to our nation’s unprecedented deficit spending is to rename it “investment.” Our generation is going to be burdened with the debt that he has created, and smooth talk is little consolation. Like the beautiful blonde in this ad, we’re over him.

It’s time for a no-nonsense man who has the guts to say what the problem is and the will to solve it. It’s time to Draft Daniels.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-TPHzH-gHA

Also available at http://bit.ly/mymanmitch

Cross Posted at Left Coast Rebel

By Sam Foster

This from the “smartest” man in the universe.

Foster was asked by Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., for a simple true or false response on two of the main assertions made by supporters of the law: that it will bring down unsustainable medical costs and will let people keep their current health insurance if they like it.

On the costs issue, “I would say false, more so than true,” Foster responded.

As for people getting to keep their coverage, “not true in all cases.”

I know that you didn’t buy the line. Obama was promising to increase coverage, bring down costs, and all while leaving 90% of those currently with insurance unmolested. But, sweeping legislation, as it refers to Obama policies, means taking a perfectly good sector of the economy, smashing it to pieces and then sweeping the aftermath of the policies under the rug of the liberal media.

Polling for repeal of Obamacare is stable among likely voters and it is a clear majority. The earliest poll released just last Monday.

No one bought into the rhetoric in the first place because there just ain’t no rug large enough.

By Sam Foster and cross posted at Left Coast Rebel
Yet another “big” Palin scandal perpetrated by Alaskan progressive bloggers has been debunked, this time by Alaskan authorities:

The Anchorage Police Department blasted the National Enquirer’s recent report that Todd Palin is embroiled in a sex scandal involving an extramarital affair with a massage therapist who belonged to a prostitution ring.

“It was just guilt by innuendo, nothing else,” Lt. Dave Parker told the Daily News on Wednesday. “There’s not one scintilla of evidence that Todd Palin had anything to do with this.”

The Enquirer claimed 36-year-old Shailey Tripp was arrested for maintaining a house of prostitution in March and that cops had confiscated physical evidence that could tie ex-Gov. Sarah Palin’s husband to the alleged affair.

The scandal originated with Alaskan bloggers who despite their longstanding bankruptcy of credibility managed to get the story published at the National Enquirer and other major news networks. As I pointed out at RedState earlier, Alaskan bloggers are responsible for 19 bogus ethics complaints against Palin and several debunked scandals like the Palin Book Ban. Yet despite their well-known lack of credibility, a Palin Deranged media continues to give credence to their unrelenting libels.

The truth above brought to you by NY Daily News, who spared no time in fanning the flames to the original scandal.

By Sam Foster

A conservative blogger has poured through the court documents containing evidence against Kermit Gosnell, the abortion doctor who killed 8 new born babies with a pair of scissors. His review has turned up a document used by the abortion clinic to price out anesthesia for patients being forced to have an abortion.

An “Anesthesia for Surgery” form [Appendix B] presented to patients for their signature – and payment – did not identify or describe the drugs to be administered.

However, it suggested:

It will probably be best to pay the extra money and be more comfortable if some of the following conditions are true for you.

1. The decision to have the procedure is a difficult decision.
2. Medication is usually necessary for your menstrual cramps.
3. Your decision has been forced by your parents or partner.4. Your family members or friends “don’t like pain.”

The document, which is available through Philadelphia’s court records, can be found below:

The investigation into Dr. Snippy exposed untold horrors at the abortion clinic that would have made Dr. Frankenstein blush including unsanitary facilities coverage in animal excrement and a menagerie of broken bottles with fetuses floating in them.

By Sam Foster

The National Enquirer has read it all on the internet, so it must be true.

Political bloggers are digging into incredible claims that the “First Dude” - father of the couple’s five children - cheated on his wife with a female massage therapist who was busted for prostitution!

And what was the Alaskan Progressive Bloggers record on credibility when it comes to Sarah Palin? 19 Bogus Ethics Complaints and Sarah Palin the book burner!  Yeah, these guys are just brimming with shoe leather reporting integrity.

Of course it’s not the truth that matters, it is the charge and that’s why NY Daily News is running with the story regardless of the fact that “Batchild found in cave” is likely to be more reliable.

By Sam Foster

You don’t need to debate global warming alarmists to point out that the “science” of man-made climate change is questionable. 2010 has become the year where media went from “no single weather even can be attributed to climate change” to “all single weather events are the fault of climate change.” Still, all one needs to do is juxtapose the labyrinth of conflicting “scientific theory” behind this draught, that flood, or some snow storm.

Today’s example of blatant climate propaganda comes to us from Reuters, where the head of WMO is trumpeting 2010 as the warmest year on record:

Jarraud said the latest data should convince doubters about the growing evidence for man-made climate change. “If they look at it in an unbiased way, it should convince them, or hopefully a few of them, that the skeptical position is untenable.”

2010 was also marked by further melting of Arctic ice — in December its extent was at its lowest on record, the WMO said — and by extreme weather, including Russia’s heatwave and devastating floods in Pakistan.

Rising temperatures, already about 0.8 degree Celsius above pre-industrial times, mean the world will struggle to limit warming to below 2 degrees Celsius, a target agreed by almost 200 nations at U.N. talks last month in Mexico.

Many experts see 2C as a threshold for dangerous climate change, like more heatwaves, droughts, floods and rising seas.

Yet the head of WMO and other “experts” failed to point out that 2010 had a very strong El Nino/La Nina effect; a detail that at least did not go unnoted at NOAA’s recent state of the climate report for 2010. But, when we look over the NOAA report, low and behold we find that El Nino was the driving force behind 2010’s heat wave. So much so that early year temps (when El Nino was at its peak) topped out as the highest on record, tying 1998.

The year began in a moderate-to-stong warm (El Niño) phase. The globally averaged January ocean surface temperature was the second warmest on record, behind 1998—a year that also began with a strong El Niño.

And what about the unusual 2010 weather? Newsweek, which could never be confused as a “skeptical” publication, reported that the supposed man-made weather events of 2010 such as heatwaves and droughts can be attributed to the El Nino and La Nina anomalies. CBS made a very similar report last week.

Every day, the politics behind global warming are becoming more evident and it’s not debate or even counter-argument that is winning the day. It is the proponents who day in and day out, overreach in their modus operandi of fear and expose their sundries of hyperbole.

Cross Posted at Left Coast Rebel

By Sam Foster
Crossposted at Upstate Political Report, Left Coast Rebel

Roughly two weeks ago, Scott Murphy made a pitch during his debate with Chris Gibson that government and small business could be partners in economics growth.  A few days later, Scott Murphy launched his second campaign video touting his small business friendly credentials.  Using small business owners as props for his re-election, the video tried to market the idea that Scott Murphy was a boon for Main Street businesses.  Noticeably missing from the ad was Scott Murphy’s voting record.  Here’s why.

Continuing on his perceived strength in the area of SBA loans, Scott Murphy held a round table meeting with SBA director Karen Mills.  However, many business owners voiced concern over the extreme difficulty and rigors involved in obtaining SBA loans:

While Levitas said the SBA loan process went smoothly for him, others voiced a different concern, citing burdensome paperwork and a slow approval process.

"I think it’s good for the decision makers to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth," said Kent Tarkleson, who owns an indoor recreational golf club named Tark’s, on the city’s west side. Tarkleson said he eventually secured funding for his business project privately, but added that Thursday’s roundtable was an encouraging step forward for decision makers to take steps to make the process more user-friendly.

Unfortunately, small businesses owners will need to get used to the bureaucracy involved in obtaining government funding.  Scott Murphy’s vote on financial reform has all but ensured credit markets will be stalled for years to come.  Andrew Busch, global currency and public policy strategist at BMO Capital Markets gave the following assessment:

However, he added that after full implementation, the bill will reduce bank’s profits, reduce the ability to compete globally and reduce credit to the economy.

“The biggest losers for the drop in credit will be small to medium sized firms which are the drivers of job growth in the United States. Regulation increases the cost of what is being regulated as it simultaneously reduces the supply of what is being regulated.”

Scott Murphy’s marketing may be slick, but in the end businesses know that his voting record is challenge standing in the way of small business.  Regulations like the 1099 requirements in the health care bill Murphy voted for are crippling burdens to small businesses and inhibiting economic recovery.

Sure Murphy was able to help grease the Volkommer’s SBA application, but the real problem is; what is his plan for the thousands of other businesses he’s burdened with his Washington votes?  If you ask him, I’ll guarantee you’ll get a prop instead of an answer.

By Sam Foster
Via Upstate Political Report

This has been the election season for great conservative campaign videos. Dale Peterson pulled no punches as he strut in a video armed with a Winchester, Fiorina’s Demon Sheep, and even a weird, off-beat ad from Republican Mattie Fein; a spin on Young Frankenstein.

However, I think Nan Hayworth’s Young Voters for an Orleans Reunion Tour certainly deserves a spot in the finalist category with their recently released music video “Vote with me.”

Nan Hayworth is running to unseat John Hall for NY’s 19th congressional district. For the many of you who don’t remember the 70’s, John Hall was the front man for the band Orleans. The group hit it big with song “Still the one” and “Dance with me.” Young Voters’ video is a spoof on “Dance with me.”

Note to political candidates, snag up young conservatives and get them involved. You won’t be sorry.

Lyrics:

Vote with me
Let’s make John Hall leave Washington DC
And get him out and touring
We are calling
And John Hall’s stalling
Vote with me

The economy
John Hall supports a failed policy
And has prolonged a crisis
Wasteful spending
Is never ending
Vote with me

Let it lift you out of DC
On the road and maybe out to sea
We can take you
We want you to go
Whoawoh

Orleans
That is the band John Hall used to lead
Before he entered Congress
Start the tour
It’s waiting for you
Vote with me

By Sam Foster
Via Capital Confidential
H/T to Upstate Political Report

Time to put my economics hat on and for many of my readers to take a nap.

Jimmy Vielkind, an excellent writer/blogger for the Albany Times Union, seemed a bit flummoxed at Chris Gibson’s statement following last week’s debate (Chris Gibson is running against Democrat incumbent Scott Murphy for NY’s 20^th Congressional District).  I must stress that writer, Jimmy Vielkind, admitted that he was not very familiar with economics.  So, I thought I’d help Mr. Vielkind with his economics history and give him a little advice…Don’t source Wikipedia…please.

During the debate, Chris Gibson provided a narrative on how government intervention prolonged the Great Depression.

During their

“It’s not a good idea. You know what happened in 1929? They raised taxes twice and went from 6.5 percent unemployment to 13 percent unemployment, and then to 25 percent unemployment. That’s the real truth of what happened. All that, by the way, was a year after the crash of the stock market.”

To which Mr. Vielkind questioned Gibson’s narrative in a piece called “The Gibson theory of the Great Depression.”  Confused by Gibson’s “theory” Mr. Vielkind wrote:

I won’t pretend to be an economics authority of any sort (I’ve got a college transcript to prove why not) but my recollection is that most economists focus more on monetary policy, an inflated stock market and other factors as causes for the Great Depression. There’s a good Wikipedia article (comprehensive, well-cited) about this here. It doesn’t include the tax increases as a major contributing factor.

I asked Gibson about this after the debate. Here’s what he said:

“I think that government intervention had a lot to do with exacerbating the situation. You know, there’s some great books if you want to take a look at. “The Forgotten Man” by Amity Shlaes [who also blogs] and actually, Thomas Sowell has got a book on intellectuals in society. These are two wonderful books but take a look at what actually happened, because there needs to be some clarity as far as the history as to what occurred. So I point you to those. I think that exacerbated the situation in that government intervention actually created the situation. You know, it’s not well known.”

A distinction must be made.  Chris Gibson clearly does not make the case that raising taxes caused the Great Depression, but that it “exacerbated” the economic conditions.  Apparently, Chris Gibson is a scholar of economics; instead of relying on the wisdom of Wikipedia, I went to the FED publications and searched through their professional research.  Low and behold, the Richmond FED had a publication called “What Prolonged the Great Depression?” by Matthew Conner, wherein he highlights work by a Minneapolis economist who found that increasing taxes played a significant role in extending the Great Depression.

From his article:

McGrattan discovers that a large fraction of the observed declines in real GDP between 1929 and 1933 is explained by her tax-inclusive model. Additionally, the decline in production hours per capita during this period also can be explained by her model.

In other words, increasing taxes has a negative effect on GDP growth or in a summary of Keynes, contractionary fiscal policy, yes increasing taxes is included, decreases GDP.

Any other economics questions Mr. Vielkind?

Discussion at Memeorandum

Cross posted here