http://newmediajournal.us/ NewMediaJournal en-us contact@newmediajournal.us Copyright 2011 webZine 2012-05-16T10:00:25+00:00 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/5592 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/5592#When:10:00:25Z Speaker John Boehner said in a speech Tuesday that House Republicans would try to attach a timeline to fast-track a broad tax overhaul to a vote extending the George W. Bush-era tax rates before the November elections. The effort is part of a bid by the Speaker to get started early -- and out in front of Democrats -- on a raft of year-end tax and spending provisions that could await congressional action in a lame-duck session. “Our bill to stop the New Year’s Day tax increase will also establish an expedited process by which Congress would enact real tax reform in 2013,” Boehner (R-OH) said in remarks to a fiscal summit in Washington. “This process would look something like how we handle Trade Promotion Authority, where you put in place a timeline for both houses to act. “The Ways & Means Committee will work out the details,” Boehner said, “but the bottom line is, if we do this right, we will never again have to deal with the uncertainty of expiring tax rates.” Democrats have also pushed for far-reaching tax reform, but they reacted skeptically to Boehner’s remarks on Tuesday. Headline 2012-05-16T10:00:25+00:00 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/5536 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/5536#When:22:07:11Z In 1966, two Columbia University sociologists, Richard Andrew Cloward and Frances Fox Piven, collaborated on a theory to end poverty in the United States. This theory, today, is referred to as the “Cloward-Piven Strategy.” People who are familiar with the likes of Saul Alinsky and William Ayers are familiar with the strategy, as are the full complement of the Progressive Movement. In a nutshell, the underlying principle of the Cloward-Piven Strategy is to so overload the entitlement system – to add so many to the entitlement rolls, that the country’s economic system collapses, unleashing chaos and violence in the streets, thus affecting radical Leftist political change in government. Up until recently this theory has been just that, a theory, and a theory that anarchists and Progressives have salivated over for their want of execution. But today, we are seeing the fruits of the Cloward-Piven Strategy played out to success in Greece and several other financial destitute countries in Europe. Editorials 2012-05-10T22:07:11+00:00 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/5594 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/5594#When:09:59:41Z The Democratic-led Senate on Wednesday is expected to reject all four GOP budget plans, including the contentious House-passed proposal authored by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI). A fifth budget, offered by Republicans and based on President Barack Obama 2013 spending blueprint, also will likely fall short of the 50 votes needed to pass, dealing the White House an embarrassing election-year blow. But Democratic leaders have defiantly refused to lay out their own vision for how to deal with federal debt and spending, arguing that last summer’s debt-ceiling deal essentially serves as an actual budget. While a budget resolution is non-binding, they say, the Budget Control Act was signed into law. But a few centrists in the 53-member Democratic conference expressed frustration with their party’s budget inaction. Government and Politics 2012-05-16T09:59:41+00:00 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/5591 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/5591#When:09:58:56Z The Senate approved legislation today that would reauthorize the Export-Import Bank after rejecting five Republicans amendments, including a proposal to shut down the bank. The bill was approved 78-20 -- with all 20 “no” votes cast by Republicans -- and now goes to President Barack Obama for his signature. The House passed the measure last week 330-93. Passage of the legislation came after the Senate defeated an amendment 12-86 from Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) that after one year of reauthorization would terminate the bank, which is designed to facilitate the purchase of US exports by foreign buyers. While many Republicans back the bill, conservatives see the bank as a form of corporate welfare that comes at a time when the annual deficit has been more than $1 trillion in recent years. Government and Politics 2012-05-16T09:58:56+00:00 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/5596 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/5596#When:09:57:11Z The once red-hot issue of illegal immigration has cooled considerably in recent months, in large part because of studies like one from the Pew Hispanic Center that said the flood of people entering the US from across the Mexican border has slowed, and that the number actually returning to Mexico from the US has increased, reversing a decades-long trend. But federal law enforcement agents on the border are skeptical that the illegal immigrant tide is slowing. And new information from the US financial sector shows that more money is flowing from American cities to Mexico in the form of remittances from immigrants than last year. Federal law enforcement officials security is being compromised as the government seeks to keep a lid on the border as a campaign issue during the presidential election cycle. National and Local 2012-05-16T09:57:11+00:00 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/5595 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/5595#When:09:55:59Z A secretive network of left-wing billionaires and their political operatives descended on the luxurious Biltmore Hotel in Miami over the weekend to discuss strategy for the coming elections. The location of the conference had been kept a closely guarded secret by the members and guests of Democracy Alliance (DA), a collection of ultra-wealthy liberal donors formed in 2005. The conference was attended by the biggest names in liberal politics, including billionaire financier George Soros, who has already pledged at least $2 million to Progressive groups this cycle. The actual amount Soros has contributed may be much higher, according to experts. Attendees roamed the grounds at the 150-acre tropical resort on their way to cocktail gatherings and workshops such as “Occupy the Voting Booth” and “The 1 Percent Rule.” The Fifth Column 2012-05-16T09:55:59+00:00 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/5593 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/5593#When:09:55:49Z The National Labor Relations Board suspended implementation on Tuesday of a rule that would speed up union elections. On Monday, US District Judge James Boasberg struck down the regulation. In his ruling, the judge said the labor board only had two members vote on the final rule in December 2011 when it needed three members to form a quorum. In the wake of the court decision, the agency is temporarily suspending the rule's implementation, which went into effect on April 30. Further, Lafe Solomon, the NLRB's acting general counsel, withdrew guidance he sent to the labor board's regional offices and told those offices to follow the old union election rule instead. The agency is still considering its response to the court ruling. Unions have criticized the decision. In turn, business groups are pleased by the decision. The Fifth Column 2012-05-16T09:55:49+00:00 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/5598 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/5598#When:09:54:27Z Greece's political leaders are to meet to form a caretaker government to steer the country to a second election in just over a month, with its euro membership at stake and its president speaking of "fear that could develop into panic." President Karolos Papoulias was forced to call a new vote after failing to cobble together a coalition government. An election on May 6 saw Leftist opponents of Greece's EU-IMF bailout deprive the parties that ran the country for generations of a majority. Polls suggest the Radical Left Coalition, or Syriza, is poised to win the re-run. That prospect has shaken faith in Greece's ability to remain in the single currency and stay solvent, sending the euro and European shares lower, and raising the bond yields that reflect the risk that other European countries will be hurt. International 2012-05-16T09:54:27+00:00 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/5597 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/5597#When:09:53:38Z This morning's airstrike on Somali pirates by a European Union military helicopter brings the EU more in line with US military methods in the country, but key differences in priorities remain. The raid, launched from one of nine EU Naval Force warships patrolling off the Somali coast, wrecked five pirate attack boats and destroyed fuel supplies and a weapons cache, officials and witnesses said. It follows a strengthening of the EU force’s mandate, approved two months ago, that now allows airstrikes on known pirate “logistics” on the ground, not just at sea. Military commanders with the EU Naval Force, headquartered in Britain, took pains today to stress that the mission was conducted entirely from the air. “At no point did EU Naval Force ‘boots’ go ashore,” the force's press office said in a statement. Islamist Terrorism 2012-05-16T09:53:38+00:00 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/5599 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/5599#When:09:52:47Z North Korea has started work to upgrade its Musudan-ri missile launch site and potentially make the facility capable of firing an intercontinental ballistic missile. Undeterred by the catastrophic failure of what Pyongyang claims was a rocket putting a satellite into orbit in April from its facility at Tongchang-ri, North Korea is now investing in a larger launch pad at its alternative launch site, diplomatic sources said. Officially known as the Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground, Musudan-ri is in the far north-east of the Korean Peninsula and was originally used in the 1990s to test-fire Scud missiles that it built based on Soviet designs. The site underwent a major upgrade in the 1990s and the site was used to launch numerous weapons, including the intermediate-range Taepodong-1 missile. International 2012-05-16T09:52:47+00:00 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/5579 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/5579#When:10:00:18Z President Obama's campaign has released a two-minute ad slamming Mitt Romney for layoffs made at a company controlled by Bain Capital. The ad is built around interviews with former steelworkers at GST Steel, a mill in Kansas City, who were laid off as the company collapsed in the wake of a downturn in the steel market. The ad is certainly gripping and emotional. It is also, however, completely wrong. The company was shut down in 2001. Romney left Bain in 1999, long before the plant closing, to run Winter Olympics. Two years is an eternity in the business world. Blaming Romney for decisions made two years after the left the company is at best disingenuous. However, there was a political power-player serving as a director of Bain at the time of the company's bankruptcy and layoffs -- an Obama bundler. Government and Politics 2012-05-15T10:00:18+00:00 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/5580 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/5580#When:09:59:26Z Revelations from a new unauthorized biography of President Obama called “The Amateur,” continue to trickle out. The latest involves White House adviser Valerie Jarrett. According to the book, written by former New York Times Magazine editor Edward Klein, many of Obama’s most liberal and costly political mistakes stemmed from Jarrett’s advice. Jarrett reportedly hatched the idea of Obama flying to Copenhagen to “make a dramatic presentation to the International Olympic Committee” for Chicago’s Olympic bid -- and also encouraged Obama’s visit to “the Bay area solar company Solyndra” -- despite the protestations of Lawrence Summers (who in 2009 warned against the loan guarantee) and others. Klein implies Jarrett’s pro-Solyndra position was a result of her “Chicago connections.” Government and Politics 2012-05-15T09:59:26+00:00 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/5587 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/5587#When:09:00:55Z Let's think about whether all acts of Congress deserve our respect and obedience. Suppose Congress enacted a law -- and the Supreme Court ruled it constitutional -- requiring American families to attend church services at least three times a month. Should we obey such a law? Suppose Congress, acting under the Constitution's commerce clause, enacted a law requiring motorists to get eight hours of sleep before driving on interstate highways. Its justification might be that drowsy motorists risk highway accidents and accidents affect interstate commerce. Suppose you were a jury member during the 1850s and a free person were on trial for assisting a runaway slave, in clear violation of the Fugitive Slave Act. Would you vote to convict and punish? A moral person would find each one of those laws either morally repugnant or to be a clear violation of our Constitution. You say, "Williams, you're wrong this time. In 1859, in Ableman v. Booth, the US Supreme Court ruled the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 constitutional." That court decision, as well as some others in our past, makes my case. Analysis 2012-05-16T09:00:55+00:00 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/5588 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/5588#When:08:59:57Z The Rasmussen Tracking Poll recently had Romney up 50 to 42 over Obama. At this early juncture, such polls mean nothing -- except as diagnostic indices of why perhaps both candidates go up and down in popularity. So why has Barack Obama plunged in the polls these last few days? The Republican slugfest is over. The media cannot headline any longer the daily conservative suicide. Barack Obama’s job report came out at 8.1% unemployment -- but, more importantly, with information that a smaller percentage of adult Americans are working than ever before, and fewer in absolute numbers than nearly four years ago when Obama took office. So someone must be asking, “What then was the lost $5 trillion for?” Note, in this regard, the 5.4% unemployment rate that won George Bush the slur of a “jobless recovery” in 2004. Analysis 2012-05-16T08:59:57+00:00 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/5589 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/5589#When:08:58:56Z Last week Obama's re-election team released a television ad in a variety of battleground states listing the president's "accomplishments." A shameless knockoff of Ronald Reagan's famous "morning in America" spot, this preposterous piece of propaganda begins with the administration's standard complaint about the economic crisis Obama "inherited" and goes on to claim that he somehow saved the country because, "He believed in us. Fought for us." What he really believes about us, however, is better illustrated by what is missing from the ad. It contains no mention whatsoever of Obamacare, the health care "reform" law that Obama and his supporters have, until the beginning of the current election cycle, referred to as a "historic" piece of legislation and his "most important domestic achievement." Such a glaring omission suggests the president and his advisors believe the voters are too dumb to remember that he and his congressional accomplices wasted a year cobbling together their unconstitutional health care boondoggle while unemployment raged out of control. Analysis 2012-05-16T08:58:56+00:00 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/5590 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/5590#When:08:57:56Z The Basque regional government in northern Spain is drafting a controversial new Law on Religious Institutions, which states that mosques and prayer rooms with a capacity of fewer than 300 people will no longer require prior local government approval. The draft law is generating considerable opposition from elected officials of all political stripes, who fear the new measure will encourage the proliferation of mosques throughout the Basque region. The mayor of the Basque capital Vitoria-Gasteiz, Javier Maroto, said in an interview that the practical effect of the new law will be that "any fruit and vegetable shop can be converted into a mosque and there will be nothing we can do about it." He has promised to fight the new law, which he believes will encourage "mosques to spring up like mushrooms." The debate comes as a new survey shows that one in four Basques reject the idea of having a mosque in their neighborhood, and according to a new survey commissioned by the Basque regional government in northern Spain, one in five do not want a Muslim as a neighbor. Analysis 2012-05-16T08:57:56+00:00 http://www.newmediajournal.us/mobile/nmjradio.htm