RANDOM SHOTS - Obama Protected Occupy Protesters, Zimmerman Trial, Harry Reid a Child Molester, and Much More!

FIRST SHOT!

Obama White House Told Authorities Not To Crack Down On "Occupy Protesters"

Sometimes the facts about a given situation are pretty hard to believe. Knowing how much damage and violence the Occupy Protesters did, this new report explains why local authorities were so soft on Occupy Protesters. 

A report that just came out on August 8th says the Obama administration told law enforcement authorities to go easy on Occupy Wall Street protesters, even though they were violating local laws.

This is according to documents obtained by watchdog group Judicial Watch.

Imagine how insane this appears! Small businesses were destroyed. People were attacked and some were found dead. There were rapes, and other sexual assaults in protest camps on federal property.

Police were attacked and hospitalized. Companies lost everything. Blue collar workers were laid off and were horribly effected by the loss of income during the protests.

Insurance companies are still going over claims. It was riot after riot after riot, and now we find out that the Obama White House told local law enforcement to go easy on the very people who did this.

This is amazing. It's like finding out that you have an Executive Branch of Government that wants chaos and strive and turmoil - instead of wanting to maintain the peace and safety of the people.

E-mails from the General Services Administration show that that federal agency, acting on orders from the Obama White House, actually told Federal Law Enforcement authorities in Portland, Oregon, to not to enforce curfews on protesters camped out on federal property.

JudicialWatch.org obtained the emails through a Freedom of Information Act request lodged last year.

In one exchange from Nov. 6, 2011, officials from the Department of Homeland Security and the GSA discuss a group of 11 protesters camped out at the federally-owned Terry Schrunk Plaza.

"We have communicated with the [White House], which has afforded us the discretion to fashion our approach to Occupy issues." - Robert Peck, former GSA official in email

"They have chained themselves to a large drum filled with concrete," reads an email from Department of Homeland Security/National Protection and Programs Directorate Chief of Staff Caitlin Durkovich to GSA Public Buildings Service Commissioner Robert Peck.

"GSA controls the permits and has asked FPS [Federal Protective Services] not to enforce the curfew at park and the prohibition on overnight encampments…Our FPS Commander in Portland says they are standing down and following GSA's request to only intervene if there is a threat to public safety," she added in the email.

Former GSA official Robert Peck - who later resigned amid revelations his agency held lavish junkets at taxpayers' expense - replied, "Caitlin: yes, that is our position; it’s been vetted with our administrator and Michael Robertson, our chief of staff, and we have communicated with the WH [White House], which has afforded us the discretion to fashion our approach to Occupy issues…The arrests last week were carried out despite our request that the protesters be allowed to remain and to camp overnight…"

The arrests Peck referred to were carried out by Portland police in riot gear. Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said the emails show the White House was protecting Occupy Protesters.

"We now have a new GSA scandal - one that involves the Obama White House," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

"These documents clearly show that federal agencies colluded with the Obama White House to allow the Occupy Wall Street protesters to violate the law with impunity. These documents tell us that the GSA and DHS can't be relied upon to protect federal workers or property."

In a written statement sent to Fox News, a spokeswoman for the GSA responded, "The General Services Administration worked closely with the Portland Police Bureau and the Federal Protective Service (FPS) in maintaining the health and safety of the general public, protesters and federal employees during last year's Portland Occupy protests - however FPS and local law enforcement had the best understanding of the situation on the ground in Terry Schrunk Park, and determined the necessary action."

The Occupy Wall Street protest started with University students in lower Manhattan last September of 2011 to protest Capitalism and America. The protester demanded closure of 1,000 American military bases, a bigger Socialist government, and the elimination of all student loans. 

Occupy Portland saw some of the more violent protests of the national movement.

A week before the email exchange, 25 Occupy demonstrators were arrested after they refused to leave Jamison Square in the Pearl District after the park was closed at midnight. The arrests were the conclusion of an intense standoff that lasted until the early hours of the morning.

During the Occupy Portland protests, I remember 3 young men who had explosives on them in their vehicle when they were pulled over for a traffic violation.

The 3 men claimed to be Occupy Portland protesters were arrested in Marion County for possession of explosives.

A Marion County Sheriff's Office deputy at 8:40 a.m. Sunday stopped a gray Subaru Outback that was traveling southbound on Interstate 5, near milepost 245, after he recorded it traveling at 81 mph.

When the deputy made contact with the driver, William Maxwell Patterson, 21, he reportedly smelled the odor of marijuana coming from the car. When he searched the car, the deputy found a bag of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

Inside the car was also Emery Nicholas Luff, 21, and Zachary Salzwedel-Kemp, 20, and all three are from Klamath Falls.

Inside the car, the deputy also found a number of firecrackers and two commercially made mortars inside glass canning jars, designed to be fired into the area during professional pyrotechnic displays. One was found in the floorboard of the vehicle, and the other was allegedly in Luff's jacket.

The deputy also found two gas masks, protective eye goggles and a safety helmet. All three men told the deputy that they had spent the night at the Occupy Portland demonstration, and they brought the mortars and safety equipment to the demonstration in preparation of the expected confrontation between police and protesters that Sunday morning.

Imagine that!

The three had been at the demonstration during the confrontation and had left about an hour before the vehicle was stopped. During that confrontation, a police officer was injured by a firework, but the three men denied being involved in the incident.

When asked about the explosives, the three men told authorities that they knew the canning jar would explode, causing glass shrapnel to fly and injury police officers.

Nice guys huh!

The Marion County Sheriff's Office released this photo of the mortars seized from the vehicle.

All three men were arrested and booked at the Marion County jail. Patterson is charged with unlawful possession of fireworks and possession of a controlled substance. He was released from jail.

Luff is charged with unlawful possession of destructive device, unlawful manufacture of destructive device and unlawful possession of fireworks. He remains in jail and is expected in court at 3 p.m. Monday.

Salzwedel-Kemp is charged with unlawful possession of fireworks and possession of a controlled substance. He was cited and released from jail.

Portland Police Bureau officers were advised about the discovery of the mortars and fireworks and the subsequent arrests. They said that they were going to use it on the Police during the upcoming riots.

Yes, these Occupy Protesters were being protected by the Obama White House! Is that insane or what!

SECOND SHOT!

New Urban Dictionary definition has Harry Reid a Child Molester

The high-stakes political battle between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has taken a new turn, and it’s as ugly as Jerry Sandusky’s future in a prison shower.

The Urban Dictionary, a fast-evolving online lexicon that promotes itself as “the dictionary you wrote,” has added a new definition of Harry Reid that seems calculated to respond to the Nevada senator's recent claims about Mitt Romney's alleged federal income tax "evasion."

"Harry Reid," the dictionary now says, is defined as "[a]n unofficial rap sheet of alleged pederasty and sexual abuse of minors by anonymous sources that may not exist."

The definition emerged, the dictionary notes, "after an explosion of reports surfaced online and on the airwaves, that [Reid] is a serial pederast. The outlets reporting the allegations all protected the anonymity of their sources, and no one knows if the allegations are true, but they’re out there. A spokesperson for Reid declined to deny them."

A Pederast is defined as a man who has sexual relations, especially anal intercourse, with a boy.
It’s unknown who submitted the definition. The Urban Dictionary employs a panel of moderators who approve of reject new definitions, many of which hinge on pop-culture references.

Reid attracted criticism from conservatives after he told The Huffington Post on July 31 that an unnamed Bain Capital investor told him that Romney "didn’t pay any taxes for 10 years."

And speaking August 2 on the floor of the U.S. Senate, Reid doubled down. "The word is out that [Romney] has not paid any taxes for 10 years," Reid declared. "Let him prove he has paid taxes, because he has not."

Well, I guess Harry Reid can prove he not a child molester. And really, it does explain why he's called "Dirty Harry" doesn't it?

Republicans’ complaints have largely centered on the anonymity of Reid’s source, which makes his allegation impossible to prove. The same phenomenon apparently applies to The Urban Dictionary’s anonymous, unsubstantiated claim — which is obviously false — that Reid himself is a “pederast,” or a man who has sexual relations with young boys.

The Internet meme that put the new Reid definition on the map originated within hours of Reid’s initial statement, when conservatives began to use the Twitter hash-tag "#HarryReidisaPederast."

At one point that evening, the hash-tag was the top trending item on Twitter in the United States.

"Some guy told me #HarryReidIsAPederast," read one typical tweet. "Not sure if its true, but I should probably just throw it out there and let the people decide."

"So an unnamed source has told another that #HarryReidIsAPederast," tweeted another user. "Reid is silent. Where’s the front page story @HuffingtonPost?"

The Twitter account managed by Ace of Spades, a conservative blog, now declares that it is "[a]n account to remember the alleged victims of Harry Reid, and those fresh victims inevitably to come."

"If Harry Reid isn’t a pederast, why is everyone saying he is?" that account tweeted August 2nd. "People don’t just make up vicious smears for political advantage."

A Google search Wednesday evening turned up more than 482,000 results for the combination of "Harry Reid" and "pederast."

A google search for "Harry Reid pedophile" turns up more than 375,000 results. 

Is Harry Reid a pedophile? The voters have a right to know.

Harry Mason Reid is the senior United States Senator from Nevada, serving since 1987. He is a member of the Democratic Party, he has been the Senate Majority Leader since January 2007, and now voters want to know if he is a pedophile - a child molester?

Reid’s liberal allies have largely supported him in his claim that Romney failed to pay taxes for a full decade - including a super PAC affiliated with the powerful AFL-CIO federation of labor unions. But how are they on this question about Dirty Harry?

Reid and other Democrats have argued that Romney should make public his personal income tax returns for more than the two years he has already released. The move is seen as an attempt to paint the former Massachusetts governor as an out-of-touch wealthy elite.

Harry Reid should make available proof that he has never been charged nor has even been suspected of being a child molester?

Fact-checkers at the Tampa Bay Times’ "PolitiFact" website quickly declared that Reid’s public accusation against Mitt Romney is false, giving it a "Pants on Fire" rating on July 31.

Harry Reid a Child Molester? Maybe! Its sounds as probable as saying Mitt Romney is a Tax Evader.

THIRD SHOT!

Zimmerman Will Seek "Stand Your Ground" Hearing

George Zimmerman will seek to have second-degree murder charges dismissed under Florida's "stand your ground" law in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, his attorney said Thursday.

The hearing, which likely won't take place for several months, will amount to a mini-trial involving much of the evidence collected by prosecutors as well as expert testimony from both sides.

"Most of the arguments, witnesses, experts and evidence that the defense would muster in a criminal trial will be presented in the 'stand your ground' hearing," said the statement posted by Zimmerman attorney Mark O'Mara on Zimmerman's official defense website.

Although the posting did not say so, legal experts say it's likely that Zimmerman himself would testify since he is the sole survivor of the Feb. 26 confrontation.

Under the "stand your ground" law, Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester can dismiss the charges if Zimmerman conclusively shows he fatally shot Martin because he "reasonably believed" he might be killed or suffer "great bodily harm" at the hands of the teenager who was pounding his skull into the concrete sidewalk.

The law also says a person has no duty to retreat in the face of such a threat - which of course in Zimmerman's case would have been hard to do since he was flat on his back after being punched a couple of times and Trayvon was on top of him. 

Janet Johnson, a Jacksonville defense attorney who has represented defendants in other "stand your ground" cases, said Zimmerman has a good chance to win his claim if he can also show he was in a place where he had a legal right to be and that he didn't create the danger.

"Or, if he did, he had abandoned that activity when Mr. Martin 'attacked' him,'" Johnson said in an email. "There's only one side since Trayvon Martin can't testify."

Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, shot Martin after a confrontation in Zimmerman's gated community in the central Florida town of Sanford, where Martin was visiting.

The case drew local and nationwide protests because Zimmerman was accused of being a racist and not arrested for weeks after the shooting.

Zimmerman claims Martin punched him and slammed his head against a sidewalk.

Evidence released by prosecutors, the website statement said, shows "clear support for a strong claim of self-defense."

The statement urged "everyone to be patient during this process and to reserve judgment until the evidence is presented in the 'stand your ground' hearing."

Prosecutors released 76 pages of additional evidence Thursday, mostly consisting of Zimmerman's community college school records. Why did they bother getting his college records? Who knows.

If the prosecution is trying to create a case where they can show Zimmerman had belonged to a racist organization like say the KKK than they might be able to make a case that he was indeed as described "a white man out to kill a black boy."

The problem for the prosecution is that Zimmerman is like Barack Obama, only half white. That tends to be a problem when painting him as a black hating white dude.

Also released, was a grainy photograph that they described as "depicting the killing of a person," presumably Martin.

In a subsequent email, they asked news media to not use the photo, which they said due to its content is exempt from the state's public records law. The extremely dark, poor-quality photo shows a small, unrecognizable shape at the center of the frame.

Martin's parents have contended that Zimmerman singled out their son as he was returning from a convenience store because he was black and that it was Zimmerman's aggression that led to his death.

Zimmerman, who is free on $1 Million bail, faces a possible life prison sentence if convicted of second-degree murder.

If his "stand your ground" claim succeeds, however, the criminal charges would be dismissed and Zimmerman could not be held liable in any civil action such as a wrongful-death lawsuit.

Prosecutors would likely appeal a successful self-defense claim.

A spokeswoman for special prosecutor Angela Corey declined to comment Thursday. Benjamin Crump, attorney for Martin's parents, said in an email he believes the "stand your ground" claim will be denied and that Zimmerman's guilt or innocence will ultimately be decided by a jury.

"Trayvon's parents do not feel that this is a man that feared for his life the night he shot and killed their 'child,' this is a man whose only fear is spending his life in prison," Crump said.

Legal experts have said that Zimmerman's credibility is crucial to his claim and that he undermined his own cause by deceiving the judge about his finances during an April bond hearing.

That "alleged" deception led to perjury charges against Zimmerman's wife, Shellie. She has pleaded not guilty.

Lester remarked that Zimmerman "flaunted the system" by making misleading statements about how much money the couple had raised through online contributions from supporters. The judge, who will also rule on the "stand your ground" claim, revoked Zimmerman's initial $150,000 bond and had him returned to jail.

Lesterlater allowed him to be released on the higher $1 Million figure with additional restrictions.

"His credibility in asserting that he lawfully 'stood his ground' is key and he has been proven to be less than credible in prior dealings with the court," said Johnson, the Jacksonville defense attorney. "The defense will try to limit how much of this comes in."

Anyway you paint it, Zimmerman has the deck stacked against him. It will be interesting to see if he can get a fair trial anywhere.

FOURTH SHOT!

Ousted Bell, California, Police Chief Now Suing For Severance Despite Outrage Over His Huge Prior Salary

The California police chief forced out after revelations about his nearly $500,000 annual salary is now suing his former employer for severance pay.

Now that's cojones! First you rape the city you worked for, then you charge them for what you consider they owe you for the pleasure of your company!

The suit has drawn outrage from the city's new administration, considering former Bell, California, Police Chief Randy Adams used to make $457,000 as a base salary - $770,046 with benefits - in his municipal job.

Plus, believe it or not, the guy is currently raking in a plump pension.

"The filing of this suit looks to be the height of hypocrisy to me," new City Manager Doug Willmore said in a statement. "Randy Adams was a police chief who was making more money per year than the president of the United States. In my opinion, his compensation was outrageous!"

Adams argues in the suit that he never agreed to resign or give up his severance, though city officials had pressured him to do so, according to The Los Angeles Times.

The revelations two years ago about the huge salaries of top Bell officials drew nation attention and nearly bankrupted the small Los Angeles County city.

Eight former Bell officials, including ex-Chief Administrative Officer Robert Rizzo, have been charged with felonies in the case. Adams is not named in that suit - but many question why not since he was part of what went on there.

He now receives more than $22,000 a month. That's right, he makes more than $22,000 a month!

That makes him one of California’s highest paid public pensioners, according to The Times, which broke the latest story.

Willmore also said Adams’ claim will be answered with a counter-claim by the city "that will far exceed anything that he is asking for."

FIFTH SHOT!

Census Data Show Huge Number Of Immigrants On Welfare Rolls

A new study from the Center for Immigration Studies shows that high percentages of legal and illegal immigrants in America are drawing benefits from at least one major form of welfare.

Using U.S. Census Bureau data from 2010 and 2011, the group analyzed the more than 50 million legal and illegal immigrants and their American-born children under 18 years of age. Large numbers, the limited immigration advocacy group found, are struggling in poverty, reliant on welfare and uninsured.

The study found that in 2010, 36 percent of immigrant-headed households receive benefits from at least one welfare program, compared to just 23 percent of households headed by U.S. natives. Among households with children, immigrant welfare households outnumbered non-immigrants by a similarly wide margin: 57 percent to 40 percent.

Welfare enrollment was highest for households headed by immigrants originating in Mexico, with 57 percent participation. Guatemalan immigrants were second, with 55 percent; those from the Dominican Republic were third, with 54 percent participation.

Immigrants with the lowest rate of welfare participation came to the United States from the United Kingdom, with just 6 percent accessing one or more welfare programs, Germany at 10 percent and Canada with 13 percent, according to the report.

The authors noted that compared with households headed by U.S. natives, twice as many headed by immigrants who have lived in the United States for more than 20 years access welfare programs.

Poverty among immigrants and their children, the report added, dwarfs the rate among American natives, by a 23 percent to 13.5 percent margin.

According to the study, immigrants and their children represent one-quarter of American residents in poverty. Their children are one-third of poverty-stricken children in the U.S. overall.

Additionally, immigrants in the U.S. are more likely than native residents to be without health insurance, with 29 percent of immigrants and their children uninsured, compared to 13.8 percent of those who were born in the United States.

The Center for Immigration Studies noted that limited education levels - not a failure to work or difficulties with legal status - is responsible for most of the high immigrant poverty rate. A full 28% of immigrants have not completed high school, compared to just 7% of natives.

LAST SHOT!

Olympian Gabby Douglas May Owe Uncle Sam $$$ for Her Gold Medals

We all know how the government stays up at night thinking of new regulations and ways to tax the American people. Well, this is an interesting angle for the Federal Government to make more money.

Sixteen-year-old Gabrielle Douglas cemented her spot in history last week, as the first black American to win the all-around women’s gold medal in Olympic gymnastics.

But in addition to her new found fame, Douglas is also taking home a hefty tax burden from her wins in London, as are other winning Olympians.

For every gold medal won, Americans for Tax Reform calculated that Olympians would pay close to $9,000 in federal income tax. ATR reports silver medalists pay more than $5,300 per medal won.

Scott Berger, CPA and principal with Kaufman Rossin and Co., said this tax burden comes from the compensation that goes along with the winning medals.

Athletes who become their own brands—think Michael Phelps, Tiger Woods, Venus and Serena Williams—have to pay to play. The checks made out to Uncle Sam, of course.

Here are some tips Berger has for entrepreneurs whose brands are the business:

No. 1: Know what you can write off. Berger said when you, literally, are your own business, you can often write off the expenses you incur while performing your job.

“For example, if I am working as a sole proprietor, making $1,000 for doing a tax return, my expenses would be a deduction against that income,” he said.

No. 2: File tax returns and know your bracket. Berger said younger up-and-coming athletes like U.S. swimmer Missy Franklin, likely never had to file tax returns before. LeBron James, NBA and Team USA basketball player, is already likely in the top tax bracket making millions annually.

“Some of those athletes probably never thought of even filing a tax return before,” he said. “Gabby Douglas is 16, she probably hadn’t even made babysitting money yet at 16 [years-old], so she would probably be in the bottom bracket.”

No. 3: Consult a financial planner. Breakaway stars from the Olympic Games like Franklin and Douglas will likely stand to make a lot more money off endorsements and appearances, Berger said. Retirement planning is something that many small businesses and entrepreneurs overlook, so getting a head start on that is never a bad idea.

“Consider a retirement account to save early and often,” he said. “Even if you can put a few dollars away, just get into the habit of doing that.”

No. 4: Keep track of expenses. Track your revenue and expenses to create a budget, Berger said. With lots of money and deals coming in, tracking the money you make and spend becomes more and more important.

No. 5: Know how to classify your business. Berger said that oftentimes when you are the actual business, the appropriate classification is sole proprietorship. This means you don’t have to formally register yourself as a business, but can do so under your name or a fictitious name to protect your privacy.

"If you don’t have employees, you don’t need a separate tax ID number," he said. "Depending on the type of business you have, you may want to patent or trademark to protect yourself or ideas."

I believe the government would tax a quack if ducks had money! 

Story by Tom Correa

Obama's Joe Soptic says "It all had a happy ending,"

I've been asked to change the title of this article. From "Obama's Joe Soptic" to simply "Joe Soptic."

But I can't see why? Joe is doing commercials for Obama. It's just that simple.   

Obama's Joe Soptic says "It all had a happy ending," but you'd never think that that was the case judging from the Obama Re-Election 2012 Campaign commercial Joe took part in.  

A proxy liberal Political Action Committee of the Obama administration, Priorities USA, has Joe Soptic calling Mitt Romney a murderer, a felon, a no good man who intentionally led his first wife die. 

This is an all time low in politics, even for Democrats!

So a regular looking guy appears on screen, he's sitting down, and almost tearfully tells us a story about how Mitt Romney is responsible for killing his wife.

No kidding. This is real. It is an Obama re-election ad that's being run by a liberal Political Action Committee, a nasty group called Priorities USA headed by a former Obama staffer.

Did I say that the Obama White House is running this ad? Well they say they are not. Priorities USA is supposedly an "independent" group unaffiliated with the Obama White House. But honestly, who fooling who!

It's the Obama re-election committee's standard attack of Mitt Romney. Their Chicago politics and go for the throat philosophy is being played out daily on televisions across the country.

First they tried to attack Romney's religion, but unlike 4 years ago that hasn't taken hold as they had hoped. Then they tried to attack his wealth, but since his opponent is just as wealthy - that fell flat.

They went after his business experience and the businesses he built. They've gone after his tax records, his bank accounts, his stocks, his dog, his family history. In fact, they've even attacked his wife's horse that she used to battle her MS as a source of therapy.

The latest attack tries to say that portray a former steel mill worker by the name of Joe Soptic losing his health care and then his wife to cancer because of Mitt Romney.

Joe Soptic, a former steel mill worker, appears in a new ad that tries to link his first wife’s death with Mitt Romney and Bain Capital’s takeover of the steel plant where he worked.

Of course, today, August 9th, it was reported that Joe Soptic has admitted to getting a 'buy out" when the plant was closed - something that was conveniently left out of his initial story or the liberal attack ad.

But besides the facts of the story, a lot more is not right!

President Barack Obama's re-election campaign washed its hands Wednesday of an independent group's vicious lie that is basically blaming Mitt Romney for the death of a laid-off steelworker's wife from cancer.

The Obama campaign has denied any knowledge of the facts in the case - but it turns out the widower told the same story on an Obama campaign conference call in mid-May.

"We have nothing, no involvement, with any ads that are done by Priorities USA. We don't have any knowledge of the story of the family," Obama campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters aboard Air Force One on Wednesday.

The ad features Joe Soptic, who lost his job and his health benefits after Bain Capital closed the GST Steel plant in Kansas City, Missouri, in 2001.

Soptic later told CNN that his first wife had health insurance through her own employer from that point to 2002 or 2003, when she left that job because of an injury - a detail that undermines the ad's heartbreaking story.

A detail conveniently left out!

"I don't know the facts about when Mr. Soptic's wife got sick, or the facts about his health insurance," deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter told CNN on Wednesday.

But there's a problem. As Politico first reported, Joe Soptic told essentially the same story in a May 14, 2012, conference call hosted by the Obama campaign.

Here's what he said then, according to a partial recording of the call passed along by a Republican official:

"After we lost our jobs, we found out that we were going to lose our health insurance, and that our pensions hadn't been funded like Bain promised they would be. I was lucky to find another job as a custodian in a local school district. They gave me some health insurance, but I couldn't afford to buy it for my wife. A little while later she was diagnosed with lung cancer. I had to put her in a county hospital because she didn't have health care, and when the cancer took her away, all I got was an enormous bill. That put a lot of stress on me: I thought I'd be paying it off until I died myself. That probably wouldn't have happened if Bain kept its promise and I was allowed to keep our health insurance."

"It's upsetting what Mitt Romney and his partners did to us," he added.

Talk about messing with the facts!

The revelation drew an immediate rebuke from Romney campaign spokesman Ryan Williams, who said Obama and his campaign "are willing to say and do anything to hide the president's disappointing record."

"But they're not entitled to repeatedly mislead voters," he said.

Fact: Mitt Romney had left Baine Capital in 1999, Joe Soptic's first wife Ilyona “Ranae” Soptic died in 2006 while Mitt Romney was in fact Governor of Massachusetts.

And there's more!

It's not all about Joe Soptic, or if he's telling the truth or leading us on - it's really about more lies from the Obama re-election Campaign.

The Washington Post describes Joe Soptic, 62, as the "go-to figure for supporters of President Obama," appearing this week in his 2nd campaign ad talking about being laid off from GST a Kansas City, Missouri, steel mill that was taken over by Bain Capital in 1993.

In the ad, released Tuesday by the liberal super PAC Priorities USA and titled "Understands," Joe Soptic makes his most heated claim to date, suggesting a link between his wife’s death five years ago and Mitt Romney by way of the Bain Capital takeover.

The ad has Joe saying "When Mitt Romney and Bain closed the plant, I lost my health care, and my family lost their health care. And a short time after that, my wife became ill ... she passed away in 22 days."

Wow! Tough ad huh? Too bad it's not true!

The truth: Mitt Romney had nothing to do with closing GST, he was already gone when the plant closed a few years later.

As for Joe's first wife Ilyona “Ranae” Soptic, she had health insurance from where she worked - and was covered until she died in 2006.

Joe Soptic did lose his health care after the plant closed even though he was a member of a Union. His union did not provide him with any sort of supplemental health care coverage after the plant closed.

In reality, the GS Technologies (GST) plant that Barack Obama has used to attack Mitt Romney was scheduled to be closed whether or not Mitt Romney and his partners had bought or not.

Baine Capital bought the plant in an effort to keep it alive and not go under. Mitt Romney tried to help turn GST around.

It started in 1993 when Bain Capital had invested in and in fact purchased GS Technologies. GST was a struggling Kansas City steel plant from Armco. Prior to this investment, Armco announced plans to close the Kansas City plant if a buyer could not be found.

Armco Steel bought the steel plant in 1930, and expanded it in 1945. At its peak in the 1950s, it was one of Kansas City's largest employers with more than 4,500 employees.

It operated as Armco Worldwide Grinding System until it was sold in 1993 to GS Technologies which became GST Steel Company.

The investment – and $170 million in upgrades – kept the Kansas City plant competitive in a tough international market and saved steel workers' jobs for eight years.

In 1999, two years later, Mitt Romney left Bain Capital and the GS Technologies plant was closed because of foreign steel dumping into the U.S. market.

Fact: 31 other steel companies declared bankruptcy during the same period because of labor problems and foreign steel dumping into the United States.

Some folks in Kansas City say that the 1997 strike, called by the Union at the plant, didn't help keep GST afloat. The union plant had a long hard 3 and a half month strike that nearly ruined the company financially.

Some say, thanks to that strike, GST never fully recovered and was forced to close its doors three years later in February 2001. The result was the layoff of the remaining 750 employees.

On Wednesday, Obama advisers distanced themselves from the former steelworker and the most recent ad, saying they were unaware of the details of Soptic’s account about his wife.

"We don’t have any knowledge of the story of the family," spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Air Force One.

But in addition to running its own ad with Soptic, the Obama campaign featured him in a conference call with reporters in May, when he shared his story.

A Conference Call with Obama people, yet they have no knowledge of Joe? What's this all about?

Republicans pounced on the discrepancy. "Still no knowledge, Jen?” a news release from the Republican National Committee taunted after reports of the conference call surfaced.

When Ilyona “Ranae” Soptic died in 2006, Romney was governor of Massachusetts.

Campaigns have long sought regular people to carry their messages to voters, betting that personal stories and plain speaking are more effective than the poll-driven talking points of the candidates and their aides.

Democrats have featured workers such as Soptic, who say they lost their livelihoods because of Romney, to suggest that the Republican’s approach to business gutted companies and communities rather than creating jobs.

Although the ads typically last a minute or so, the lives and stories that inspire them are more complicated.

But why let the facts get in the way of a great story, for example: five years passed between the time Soptic lost his job as a steelworker and his wife’s death, yet the ad seems to compress the timing and suggests a correlation in just weeks.

So who is Joe Soptic?

Joe Soptic, a lifelong Democrat and union member, said he did an Internet search and found Democratic groups to tell his story - they were first reported in local newspapers several years ago.

"This all started back in December [2011]. They wanted to know how our lives have changed since the plant closed and how I felt," he said in an interview Tuesday.

Joe Soptic, who appeared in Obama’s first television ad about Romney’s record at Bain Capital in May, continued, "I think the reason they keep coming back to me is because of everything that has happened in our life since the plant closed."

As a steelworker, Soptic was part of a crew that removed slag debris from underneath furnaces used in the steel making process. His last day on the job came in March 2001, after GS Industries filed for bankruptcy.

Soptic, who was earning $46,000 a year, said, "It took me six months to find a job."

He was hired as a school custodian, making about $15,000 a year.

Joe Soptic sees himself as a sort of spokesman for his Union and his friends, he says, "Everyone is quite proud because the story had to be told."

Priorities USA, the super PAC supporting Obama, contacted him about a week ago to alert him to the latest ad, which was partially shot in his home and at the union hall. In it, he talks about the loss of his first wife of 30 years.

The ad shows Soptic, the father of a grown daughter, a grieving widower and bitter former steelworker struggling to make ends meet.

Yet today, that is only part of his story! Here's the rest of the story!

With his Union pension and salary as a Custodian, Joe Soptic actually makes about $46,000 a year. Which of course is what he made 11 years ago in 2001, when he lost his job at GST.

He also has a new wife - his High School sweetheart from 42 years ago.

"It all had a happy ending," Soptic told The Washington Post.

He declined to comment on whether he thinks Romney is to blame for his first wife’s death, as the ad seems to suggest.

Referring to his former employer, he said, "They made certain promises, and I feel like if they did fulfill those promises, she would have had health insurance."

But is that story true, or is it misleading? 

CNN reported that Ilyona Soptic had health insurance through her employer when her husband lost his job.   But she was not employed, and no longer had coverage years later by the time her end-stage cancer was discovered and diagnosed.

Today Mitt Romney asks where "hope and change" went amid furor over misleading ad

Today, August 9th, Mitt Romney asked where all the "hope and change" has gone as President Obama's supporters pressed ahead with plans to air a misleading TV ad and a top campaign aide was accused of "lying" about her knowledge of its contents.

The Republican presidential candidate, in his most forceful comments to date, suggested Obama's supporters should be "embarrassed" over the super PAC ad that ties him to a woman's death from cancer.

But he wasn't holding out hope that the group would pull it down, after the Democratic operative behind the ad claimed it'll be airing soon in battleground states despite the furor.

"You know, in the past when somebody pointed out that something was inaccurate campaigns either pulled the ad - they were embarrassed," Romney said on Bill Bennett's "Morning in America" radio show. "Today, they just blast ahead."

The Obama campaign has faced mounting criticism over the ad not just from Romney but independent fact-checkers, though the ad was produced by the purportedly independent super PAC Priorities USA.

Further, Obama Deputy Campaign Manager Stephanie Cutter is now being accused by the Romney campaign of lying over what she knew about the man at the center of that ad.

Cutter appeared on CNN Wednesday morning to say, among other things, that "I don't know the facts" about the case of Joe Soptic, the steelworker who appeared in the video.

Cutter said she didn't know when Soptic's wife fell ill, or about his health insurance.

But wait, she's lying!

In May, Cutter herself hosted a conference call in which Joe Soptic detailed his case to reporters.

During the call, as he did in the ad, Soptic explained how his wife fell ill after he lost his job, and how he lost his health insurance. The call took place as Soptic began appearing in other Obama campaign ads, and was featured in a profile on the Obama campaign website.

The Obama campaign has acknowledged that conference call, but has not responded directly to allegations that anyone lied.

Cutter wasn't the only Obama campaign official caught up in the controversy.

"I certainly don't know the specifics of this man's case," campaign adviser Robert Gibbs said on MSNBC.

Campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters "we don't have any knowledge of the story of the family."

Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney claimed he hadn't seen the ad, though it had already gotten heavy media coverage by that point.

Former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu, a top Romney surrogate, told Fox News that while the super PAC is defending the ad's accuracy, "the lie is in the omissions."

The ad did not reveal key details about the timeline of Soptic's case.

• First, Soptic's wife initially had her own health insurance after her husband lost his job.
• Second, Soptic's wife died in 2006, five years after her husband's company, GST, filed for bankruptcy.
• Romney had left Bain Capital in 1999, years before GST went bankrupt.
• Let's not get the facts in the way of an attack by Democrats.

Sununu blasted Obama aides for denying knowledge of the case.

"First of all they craft a despicable ad full of lies," Sununu said. "And then Stephanie Cutter and Robert Gibbs and Jay Carney lie to the press that they didn't know anything that was in that ad."

Bottom Line!

Obama has nothing positive to run on, his record in the White House is as bad as that of Jimmy Carter back in the late 70's during the last Economic Depression in America.

Obama's presidency has been a horrible experiment in what happens when you put a person with absolutely no experience in the White House.

So what does he do? Well, he sure as hell doesn't mention three important facts that his administration wants to forget.

First, Obama has not produced a single budget in his 3 and a half years in office; second, America has seen over 40 straight months of unemployment figures under Obama; third, ObamaCare is already costing Americans more than projected; fourth, his immigration policy may be getting him Latin votes - but it's putting Americans at risk; and lastly, Obama has done nothing to address any of these problems.

Instead of answering policy questions, his campaign is built on attacking Mitt Romney's successful life.

No answers, just more attacks and diversions away from the issues.

Story by Tom Correa

RANDOM SHOTS - The Sikh Temple Massacre, Obama-era-tax increase, Obama Endangering Public Safety, Granny Shots Five, and Much More!

FIRST SHOT!

The Sikh Temple Massacre

Before launching into the facts of the case, let's take a moment or two to remember that these vile individuals who do these sorts of evil acts are not common among us. 

Just as the black teenage who killed a white couple in reprisal for the death of Trayvon Martin does not represent all black Americans; just as the white man who entered an Aurora Colorado theatre intent on killing as many as he could does not represent all white Americans; this new monster does not represent Americans in any way.

This is hatred to a degree that Americans are not usually confronted with. This is hatred more akin to the Fort Hood terrorist than to the Aurora Colorado killer. This was hatred of a race of people for no reason at all.

The killer who dressed like some comic book figure and literally tried to recreate a theatre massacre depicted in a film is insane - but not crazy. He may be insane, as such acts are insane, but he's not crazy. He was thoroughly influenced by Hollywood.

That killer was all too capable of putting together everything that it took to carry out his desire to inflict death on an unsuspected crowd. It was an insane act accomplished by someone who knew exactly what he was doing.

In the case of the Fort Hood terrorist attack, it was the actions of a religious zealot acting out his hatred for those his religion says are his enemy.

The monster, who was killed while in the process of taking the lives of so many American Sikhs is no different than a Muslim extremist who uses himself as a suicide bomber. His belief is hate, and hate has a way of stirring the weak minded into violence on others.

As sorry a situation as it is, we can thank God that these scumbags do not represent common Americans. The only represent those who make the news. That's all.

They are only a few minutes on television news, but a lifetime to their victims and their families. They are the scum of the world, and it's a damn shame we even report their names. They are the lowest of character, and though they are few in a nation of over 300 Million - they are an assault on us all. 

For me, there are those times when I'd like to see Western Justice take a hand at dealing with them. I'm not ashamed to say that I'd like to see them suffer somehow, at least in the same agonizing way as the families of the victims will -  slow over a long period of time.

I'd like to see them punished not only with incarceration but with a looming clock that ticks away the minutes until the day that they are marched to a hanging tree. Once there, I'd have hoods placed on their heads and let them wait a while to contemplate their deeds. 

I'd like to see them wait there a long long time. Wait while a noose sits around their necks. Wait, minute after minute for hours, and prop them up if need be, then I'd like to see them hanged til dead.

Call me cruel for thinking the way I do right now! Call me hard as nails if you'd like, but sometimes it’s very personal!

Yes, these killers are making it personal to all of us.

Sure, we may not know anyone who was killed in Aurora Colorado, or in Tucson Arizona, or at this latest massacre in Wisconsin, but they are our neighbors. And yes, a lenient justice system will do nothing to prevent this from happening again.

These people kill without sense of guilt nor sense of sorrow. They don't kill like the Soldier or the Marine in combat. They kill like rabid animals - savages that need to be put down.

Police identify this latest killer as an Army veteran, and his motive has not been identified. No surprise really!

Suspect bought his gun recently, and a former Army buddy says Wade Michael Page, 40, talked about a supposed "racial holy war."  Insane as that sounds, I'm betting that he was ripe for some no good jerkweed to influence.

His family says it is "devastated," in prayer for victims.

Why does all of this sound so familiar these days?

A report out of Oak Creek, Wisconsin, said that an Army veteran who neighbors say played in a far-right punk band was the lone shooter in the rampage at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin that killed six people and wounded four.

Wade Michael Page, 40, was shot to death by police responding to the Sunday morning attack in the Milwaukee suburb of Oak Creek, the community's chief of police told reporters.

Bernard Zapor, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives special agent in the investigation, said Monday that the 9mm semi-automatic handgun with multiple ammunition magazines used by the attacker had been legally purchased.

Wade Michael Page bought the gun on July 28 at the Shooters Shop in West Allis, Wisconsin, and picked it up two days later, according to a law enforcement official. The suspect bought ammunition there and used the shop's range at some point, said the official.

The gunman shot people inside and outside the Sikh house of worship, including a police officer, Oak Creek Police Chief John Edwards said. Another police officer with a rifle then shot the gunman, who died at the scene.

While authorities said Wade Michael Page was the only gunman, they also had been looking for another man spotted at the crime scene Sunday who left before anyone could identify him.
On Monday, the FBI's Paul Bresson said the man being sought had been "located, interviewed and cleared." Oak Creek Police Chief John Edwards said authorities were still in contact with that person.

According to Edwards and the FBI, authorities have received tips that Page might have links to the white supremacist movement, but nothing had been confirmed. "I don't want to use that term (white supremacist) until we want to put it out there for sure," Edwards said Monday night. "That's not something I can take back."

Two neighbors of Page identified him in photos that showed him playing in the far-right punk band "End Apathy," and the nephew of the slain president of the Sikh temple said the attacker had a 9/11 tattoo on his arm.

Teresa Carlson, the FBI special agent in charge of the investigation of Sunday's shooting, said no motive for the attack has been established. The FBI was looking into whether it was domestic terrorism, which is the use of violence for political or social gain, Carlson said.

"We are looking at ties to white supremacist groups," Carlson told a news conference, adding there was no active investigation of Page prior to Sunday's attack.

According to a man who described himself as an old Army buddy of Page's, the attacker talked about "racial holy war" when they served together in the 1990s. Christopher Robillard of Oregon, who said he lost contact with Page more than a decade ago, added that when Page would rant, "it would be about mostly any non-white person."

"He didn't seem like the type of person to go out and hurt people," Robillard said. "He would talk about it all the time, but it was more like he was waiting for the revolution to start."

Page, born on Veterans Day in 1971, joined the Army in 1992 and left the service in 1998, according to Army spokesman George Wright. His service was marked by "patterns of misconduct," though he received an honorable discharge, according to a Pentagon official.

The suspect did have a criminal record, Edwards said. A background check showed Page had separate convictions for DUI in Colorado in 1999 and for criminal mischief in Texas in 1994.

A federal law enforcement official said that investigators interviewed a former girlfriend of Page. The woman said the pair had recently broken up, and she told investigators she had no indication Page planned such an attack. She provided the names of friends and associates of Page, the official said.

The six victims of Sunday's attack were identified by police as five men -- Sita Singh, 41; Ranjit Singh, 49; Satwant Singh Kaleka, 65; Prakash Singh, 39, and Suveg Singh, 84 -- and one woman, 41-year-old Paramjit Kaur.

Two other Sikh victims remained hospitalized in critical condition, while a third was treated and released, Edwards said.

Prayer vigils were held Monday night in the Milwaukee metropolitan area, with another scheduled for Tuesday evening.

The wounded police officer, identified as 51-year-old Lt. Brian Murphy, also was in critical condition, the police chief said. Edwards said that Murphy has a "promising," but long, recovery ahead. The officer suffered 9 gunshot wounds.

Explaining Sikhism One of the dead, Prakash Singh, was a priest who recently immigrated to the United States with his wife and two young children, said Justice Singh Khalsa, a temple member since the 1990s.

Relatives of Kaleka, the president of the temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, said that he was killed fighting the attacker.

"From what we understand, he basically fought to the very end and suffered gunshot wounds while trying to take down the gunman," said Kanwardeep Singh Kaleka, his nephew.

Kaleka said those inside the gurdwara, or Sikh house of worship, described the attacker as a bald white man, dressed in a white T-shirt and black pants and with the 9/11 tattoo on one arm, which "implies to me that there's some level of hate crime there."
While officials try to piece together what prompted the man to go on his shooting spree, America's Sikh community struggled to come to grips with the brutal attack.

A Sikh human rights group said it would give a $10,000 reward to Murphy, the police officer wounded in the attack.

"Our government must take urgent steps to educate the country about the Sikh population and help put an end to these horrific and deadly acts of violence," said a statement by the group, Sikhs for Justice.

Kaleka was horrified to have such violence occur at his place of worship, especially so soon after the 12 killings at a screening of the Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises" in Aurora, Colorado.

"You're talking about Aurora one minute, and the next minute it's you and your family," Kaleka said.

Sunday's attack occurred about 10:30 a.m., when temple members were reading scriptures and cooking food in preparation for the main Sunday service and community lunch. The temple has more than 350 members.

According to witnesses, the gunman started shooting in the parking lot, killing at least one person. He then entered the temple and continued firing, they said. Police spent Sunday night searching the shooter's home in nearby Cudahy, a short distance from the temple.

Political leaders at the national, state and local level offered condolences for the killings and declared solidarity with the Sikh community.

The United States is home to about 700,000 Sikhs, nearly all of Indian origin, according to the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund. The men are easily identifiable by their beards and turbans, a tradition that's lasted for 500 years.
Because of their customary beards and turbans, Sikh men are often confused with Muslims, and they have been the targets of hate crimes since the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

Ignorance has no bounds. It leads some to hate the innocent. It might even lead to a horrible act like this.

SECOND SHOT!

It's really a Obama-Era-Tax-Increase!

House Votes to Extend Tax Cuts for All Through 2013

First Republicans voted down a House Democrat plan to hike taxes, then they passed a bill to extend the tax cuts to everyone for one more year.

Democrats have lost a bid in the Republican-controlled House to increase taxes on everyone including high-income earners and on people who inherit million dollar-plus estates.

The Democratic plan, backed by President Barack Obama, was defeated by Republicans who insisted that a full package of Bush-era tax cuts be renewed when they expire at the end of the year.

Understand the jargon here. "Bush-era tax cuts" were tax cuts for everyone. They were put in place to help Americans have more money in their pockets to stimulate the economy. It worked.

Now the Democrats say they want to end the "Bush-era-tax cuts." In reality that means the Democrats want to have an "Obama-era-tax increase." That's the term that the Democrats do not want to use. No way, no how!

To Democrats, if it looks like a duck and it quacks like a duck - call it anything else but a duck!

Obama-era-tax increase!

The U.S. House of Representatives voted to extend the Bush-era tax cuts through 2013 for all income levels, defying a veto threat from President Barack Obama.

The 256-171 vote, mostly along party lines, continues a stalemate on tax policy that lawmakers say will last beyond the Nov. 6 election.

Nineteen Democrats voted for the Republican bill, and one Republican was opposed. As usual, the measure won’t advance in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

"The choice Republicans have made is to pass this bill, work toward comprehensive tax reform and create jobs," said Representative Dave Camp, a Michigan Republican and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. "Now is not the time to dig the hole we’re in any deeper."

Obama and congressional Democrats want to let the tax cuts expire, and each side is accusing the other of holding the country hostage to get its way.

A Recession Is Not The Time To Raise Taxes!

What Obama and the Democrats aren't saying is that by letting the Bush-era-tax-cuts expire - Everyone gets a tax increase! Everyone, not just the top earners.

If Congress doesn’t act by the end of the year, tax rates for income, capital gains, dividends and estates will increase for all taxpayers.

The top income tax rate would increase to 39.6 percent from 35 percent, and the top rate on capital gains would rise to 23.8 percent from 15 percent.

The tax increase is part of the $607 Billion so-called fiscal cliff of automatic spending cuts and revenue changes in 2013 that the Congressional Budget Office says would probably cause a recession if left unchanged.

Very Familiar Themes!

In the House debate, lawmakers reprised familiar themes about the potential effects of higher taxes.

Republicans said the Democratic proposal would hurt the economy with a disproportionate effect on business owners who pay taxes on their profits through their individual returns.

“The choice is clear: you either want growth or you want more taxes,” said Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the House majority leader. “You either want to endow the folks who earn the money with the right to keep that money and grow this economy, or you want to tax those people more and let Washington decide how it’s going to allocate that money.”

Democrats said high-income households can afford to pay more to help reduce the federal budget deficit. Over ten years, the Democrats’ plan would generate at least $900 billion more money for the government.

Spending Money

Most of the Republican plan’s benefits would go to millionaires, including rock stars and business executives, said Representative Steve Cohen, a Tennessee Democrat.

“They can afford to pay it,” Cohen said. “They’re not spending their money. We need Americans who spend their money to stimulate the economy.”

The Democrats backing the Republican plan included Larry Kissell of North Carolina, Bill Owens of New York, Gerry Connolly of Virginia and Jim Costa of California. The lone Republican to vote against his party’s plan was Timothy Johnson of Illinois.

Democrats tried to draw attention to the Republicans’ decision not to extend refundable tax credits created in the 2009 economic stimulus law that benefit college students and low-income families. That may include some low-income military families, Democrats said.

Class Warfare On Those Who Create The Jobs!

Representative Sander Levin of Michigan, the top Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee, said, "This debate is not about tax reform. It’s about whether or not we protect the very wealthy at all costs."

Republicans said Congress needs to keep the estate tax from increasing. The Senate bill wouldn’t address the estate tax, a decision Democrats in that chamber made because of divisions within their party.

If Congress doesn’t act, the per-person tax exemption for estates would drop to $1 million in 2013 from this year’s $5.12 million, and the top rate would increase to 55 percent from 35 percent.

“We do not need the politics of envy and divisiveness,” said Representative Blake Farenthold, a Texas Republican. “We need tax reform and this puts us on the path to do it.”

Why Aren't The Republicans In The House Doing Anything?

Lately, I've heard this over and over again. And yes, over and over again I remind folks that Republicans in control of the House of Representatives means that they are only in control of HALF of Congress. The other half, which is the Senate, is controlled by Democrats.

Since taking over the House of Representatives, the Republicans in the House have send no less than 30 Bills on to the other half of Congress - the Senate - for passage. There they die!

Since the Senate is controlled by Democrats who have absolutely no desire to give the Republicans a chance at fixing the economy or see them succeed in power - they scuttle each and every bill that comes to the Senate.

Thanks to Harry Reid and the other Democrats in the Senate, they are determined to ensure that the Republican House is an ineffective body of legislatures. That's all well and good if you're a Democrat and don't want them to do anything.

But hey, don't call them a "Do Nothing Congress" if you won't let them do anything!

By doing what the Democrats are doing, the Democrats in the Senate see themselves as hurting the Republicans when in fact the only people they are hurting is the American people.

THIRD SHOT!

Texas Rep. Ted Poe : Obama Immigration Policy Endangering Public Safety

The Obama administration’s policy of not deporting illegal immigrants arrested for criminal activity “is not working for public safety in the United States,” Texas Rep. Ted Poe tells Newsmax in an exclusive interview.

“That’s a lot of people who are committing crimes that were in our custody – they were unlawfully in the United States,” the Republican member of the House Judiciary Committee said. “They should have been deported originally.

“They were not, and now American people are suffering the consequences, because more crime is being committed by those people who should have been deported.”

Poe, a former judge, was referring to a report the Judiciary Committee issued on Tuesday saying that illegal immigrants released through the Obama administration’s Secure Communities program went on to commit more crimes – including charges of 19 murders, 3 attempted murders and 142 sex crimes.

Overall, the nearly 47,000 illegal immigrants the administration was notified of but did not deport between 2008 and 2011 had a recidivism rate of 16 percent, said the committee’s analysis, conducted with the Congressional Research Service.

They were among the nearly 160,000 immigrants, many of whom were here legally, who came under Secure Communities during the three-year period but who were not eligible for deportation or who the administration decided to release. Those immigrants went on to be charged in nearly 60,000 more crimes, according to the report.

Secure Communities identifies immigrants who run afoul of the law and who the administration decides it wants to deport. Hundreds of thousands have been deported under the program, but 159,286 did not undergo such proceedings during the period under review, the report said.

“That’s about 26,000 crimes committed by people that should have been deported the first time that they were seized by ICE,” Poe said, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “It’s not working, because the proof is in the statistics that crimes are still being committed by those people who are in custody illegally in the United States.

“They’re not deported because some administration bureaucrat gives them a pass,” Poe said.

Meanwhile, Poe has proposed the Preserving American Privacy Act, which would prevent federal, state and local authorities from using drone aircraft to spy on Americans without a warrant. The bill, with 23 co-sponsors, is in the Judiciary Committee.

Similar legislation was proposed in the Senate by Kentucky Republican Rand Paul last month.

The Federal Aviation Administration has estimated that as many as 30,000 drones could be flying over American airspace by 2020, said Poe, who also sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

“It’s important that we make sure that the Fourth Amendment’s constitutional protection of search and seizure and right of privacy are upheld by the government and not infringed upon by government or other citizens on Americans. And we need to do this now.

“Where a warrant’s required to go into someone’s house, a warrant would be required for the use of a drone,” Poe explained. “There are numerous exceptions that law enforcement may use under current law. And, of course, it only applies to surveillance.”

“This legislation will present guidelines to prevent unlawful invasion of privacy by other citizens or by other organizations that are not government law-enforcement agencies.”

Regulating such sophisticated technology should be done by Congress, not the FAA. “Those regulations are somewhat nebulous,” Poe said.

“Congress should make those decisions to make sure that it requires the basic constitutional protection that you cannot infringe on someone’s privacy, such as their backyard, without their consent.”

“It shouldn’t be the bureaucrats deciding where drones are used and not used,” Poe added. “Congress should make that decision in efforts to protect the American people.”

FOURTH SHOT!

Jobless Ranks Rose in 90% of the Cities in America in June

Unemployment rates rose in nearly 90 percent of large U.S. cities in June, partly because many young people graduated from school with no job prospects.

Many of the cities with significant increases in their rates have large universities, where students have begun searching for jobs in recent months. Unlike the national figures, the metro unemployment data isn't seasonally adjusted for such changes.

The Labor Department says unemployment rates rose in 332 large metro areas. They fell in 29 and were unchanged in 11. That's worse than in May, when rates rose in 255 cities.

Nationwide, the unemployment rate was 8.2 percent in June for the second straight month. Employers added only 80,000 jobs, the third straight month of weak gains. The government will issue July's jobs report on Friday.

With this news, comes the news that states like North Dakota have unemployment at an all time low because the oil boom is creating more jobs than there are workers.

In states like North Dakota and Texas, skilled craftsmen are being looked at before College grads. I guess, it goes back to the whole concept that college kids with degrees are not always hired over skilled labor when there is work to be done.

FIFTH SHOT!

CNN Gets Clobbered Again in Ratings Fight

CNN reached another new low last month as the network saw its July ratings down by double digits across the board, TVNewser.com reported.

Compared to July 2011, the network is 20 percent down in total viewers and 23 percent in the key 25-54 demographic. Prime-time numbers sank 23 percent in total Viewers and 26 percent in the 25-54 demographic, TVNewser.com reported.

For their prime-time stars, the numbers are just as bad. Erin Burnett’s 7 pm show is down 21 percent compared the slot’s former occupier John King.

Ultra-liberal Piers Morgan’s show sunk 18 percent and 24 percent among the 25-54 demographic.

Anderson Cooper’s 10 pm show saw a whopping 34 percent drop in total viewers compared to last July and 36 percent among 25-54 year-olds. His 8 pm “AC 360” show, however, saw a 6 percent uptick among 25-54 year-olds.

Just this week, CNN found itself on the defense again after it played a song called “Stupid Girls” ahead of a segment about Sarah Palin visiting a Texas Chick-fil-A restaurant. The beleaguered network later said the use of the song was unintentional and not meant as a commentary on the former Republican vice presidential candidate.

The new ratings plunge is consistent with CNN’s steep ratings slide of late. Its president, Jim Walton, who presided over the once-dominant cable-news business as it lost viewers to Fox News, will resign after almost a decade in the job, saying the network needs “new thinking.”

CNN’s prime-time viewership has dropped 8 percent to 627,000 on average this season through mid-May, compared with a year earlier, according to Nielsen.

CNN now ranks far behind Fox News, which drew an average prime-time viewership of 1.85 Million viewers in the same period.

Supposedly, in recent years, CNN has tried to find a formula that connected with viewers. But imagine for a moment how silly that sounds?

There isn't some magic formula out there that gets viewers to watch what you have to offer. There isn't some advertising gimmick, or celeb, or news personality that you need to hire to get folks to watch your news.

There is not some big secret as to why no one is watching CNN, NBC, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, and NPR. Their liberal bias stops most Americans from tuning in. It's just that simple.

Americans want the obvious: Be fair, be balance, don't preach, report the news without an agenda, and please don't tell us how to think.

If you still don't get it, then here's a formula for you:

• Cut out the bias, forgo your liberal credentials for the sake of your network, 
• deliver the news straight with no left leanings,
• note your wording and realize that Americans can tell that you're steering a story,
• remember that it's not only what you're saying  - but how you say it,
• trust the American people to be smarter than you think we are,
• and allow us the courtesy of thinking for ourselves.   

SIXTH SHOT!

Democratic Report Blasts For-Profit Colleges

Did you ever read a news story and instantly realized that the subject was a no brainer? Well, a Senate Democrat report that came out on July 30th said that, "For-profit colleges put revenues above education, and charge students high tuition and loan rates that could leave them in debt for years."

OK, first off, I have to admit to not knowing that there were "Not-For-profit colleges"!  I assumed that all colleges and universities worked off the idea of making a profit.

The Senate Democrat report states that "while students are aggressively recruited, they drop out in high numbers without the degree or certificate initially sought."

The report found that 54 percent of students enrolled in 2008-2009 left without a degree or certificate by mid-2010. When two-year associate degree programs were studied, 63 percent left without a degree.

The staff report was issued by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

The report said veterans were among those vulnerable to the tactics by for-profit schools, since these colleges receive the largest share of military educational benefit programs. Eight of the top 10 recipients of GI bill money since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks went to for-profit education companies.

The report said reaching an enrollment quota was found to be the highest priority for recruiters. Publicly traded companies operating these schools had an average profit margin of 19.7 percent. They paid an average of $7.3 million in 2009 to top executives, while the five highest paid leaders of large public universities averaged $1 million and leaders at non-profit colleges averaged $3 million.

Students at for-profit schools faced tuition for bachelor's programs that averaged 20 percent more than for similar programs at flagship public universities. Associated degree programs averaged four times the cost of similar programs at comparable community colleges, and certificate programs averaged four-and-a-half times the cost at comparable community colleges.

"Recruiting materials indicate that at some for-profit colleges, admission representatives were trained to locate and push on the pain in students' lives," the report said.

Once the students were enrolled, 96 percent needed student loans, according to Department of Education information. Fifty-seven percent of bachelor's degree students who graduated from a for-profit college owed $30,000 or more, compared to 25 percent of those earning degrees in the private, nonprofit sector and 12 percent from public colleges.

"Because many students who attend for-profit colleges are unable to get financing through private lending companies, many participate in institutional loan programs operated by for-profit education companies," the report said.

In 2009, seven large for-profit education companies offered institutional loans with interest rates ranging from 11.2 percent to 18 percent. During the same period, the Stafford federal loan rate was 5.6 percent.

In addition to the high loan rates and debt, students leaving private colleges hard a difficult time finding jobs.

The report cited a national study by an education center that found 23 percent of students who attended for-profit schools in 2008-09 were unemployed and seeking work.

So besides the difference in high interest rates for their loans, what are some of the other differences not talked about in the Democrat report?

Well, today’s students have more choices when it comes to planning their education.

From looking at the distance to the school, the classroom learning environment, the attitudes of the faculty, the agenda of the school itself, full-time versus part-time programs, for-profit or non-profit schools have a lot of differences.

For-profit colleges and universities continue to saturate the higher education market mostly because they cut to the heart of the subject matter. They cut time, and if one has the desire to work full time - they seem more accommodating to work around a working student's schedule.

Deciding on for-profit versus non-profit colleges has become increasingly important.

Non-profit schools include state universities and community colleges, which receive a significant portion of their funding from the government. Many private universities are also non-profit institutions.

For-profit schools, however, are subsidiaries of a private company. In addition to educating students, the company’s owner or shareholders expect it to make money.

One example: with more than 455,000 enrolled students and more than 200 locations, the University of Phoenix is the country’s largest private university. Other popular for-profit schools include DeVry University, Kaplan University, and American Public University, to name a few.

Overall, these schools account for about 8 percent of the college student population, which is expected to double by 2015, reports the Chronicle of Higher Education.

For-profit schools with accreditation are considered legitimate, although some have drawn criticism for what some call pushy recruiting practices and questionable degree programs. Students considering a for-profit school should research the program curriculum and its cost.

Ask the school for statistics on job placement after graduation, and always make sure the program fits your needs and personal agenda.

If you have years to spend attending classes, and want to shell out more and more money on raising tuition fees, then a standard college education is something that you might want to look into.

But on the other hand, if you know what you want, are serious about obtaining your degree, and want to cut to the chase and get your degree in what can be half the time, then you may want to look into for-profit educational sources.

Just as a side note, when I decided to go back to school after leaving the Marine Corps, I went to a community college and held a "full load" class schedule while working 60 plus hours a week at a full time job in Security.

I spent two and half years chasing a degree that I could have gotten in half the time at a for-profit school.

For me, I think for-profit schools are geared toward the serious working student. But of course, the Democrat report probably doesn't address that aspect.


SEVENTH SHOT!

Navy Developing 5,600-mph Bullet To Shoot Down Missiles

Never underestimate the Navy!

Besides the Navy's worry about an increasing Chinese Naval expansionist presence in the South China Sea threatening the Philippines and others, Iran's increasing threat in the Gulf, and of course pirates off the Horn of Africa, the U.S. Navy is always busy trying to develop new weapons.

One is an electrically fired, GPS-guided, 5,600-mph bullet that can shoot down missiles fired and approaching one of their warship.

The hypersonic bullet would be used with a cutting-edge cannon known as the Electromagnetic Rail Gun, but the Navy’s Office of Naval Research also wants this guided bullet to be compatible with current naval ship's guns.

The push is part of a program called Hyper Velocity Projectile, in which the Navy is trying to bolster its warships’ capabilities to shoot down missiles and fire munitions at miles-away enemies.

The Navy wants the new 5,600-mph bullets to be 24 inches long and weigh around 20 to 30 pounds and reach more than 30 miles. That's right, 30 miles!

The bullets that will be used by rail guns are expected to reach even 200 miles. Imagine that!

The Navy has spent $240 Million, not half the amount squandered on the bankrupt "green tech" Obama friendly company Solyndra, while trying to develop rail guns. And yes, it works!

Even though this new technology will be able to save the lives of thousands of sailors and Navy ships worth Billions of dollars, the development effort is facing increasing Congressional opposition from Democrats wanting to cut the Defence budget.

The Navy estimates rail guns could be mounted on our warships as early as the 2020s - only 7 years away. Like developing new Kevlar vests for ground troops, if our Navy can figure out how to save lives of our troops by taking out incoming missiles - then let's do it!

LAST SHOT!

FOX News Across America: Granny Stops 5 In Shop Robbery In California

This is a great video of 5 black youths who go on a robbery spree - not expecting a gun toting Granny to kick butt and take names!

http://video.foxnews.com/v/1768422788001/

Story by Tom Correa

Anniversary Road Trip!

Well, as soon as we pulled in, I immediately checked on the horses. My wife went over to check on her cats.

She was worried that they'd starve by the time we got back. I was sure they wouldn't. They were left enough food to last a week, nevertheless three days.

Besides, they are supposed to be mousers. Mousers are supposed to do something for the great accommodations that we have set up for them. They have boxes with pillows and carpets, scratching wood and posts available, fuzzy hanging thingies to mess with, and of course the run of the place.

Their only duty, a must, their part of the arrangement is to hunt mice around the barn and house. Mostly around the barn. Because yes, mice droppings and horse feed don't mix well.

That's for later, right now let's talk about a great trip!

We left on Monday morning, our anniversary. My wife's mom surprised us with the trip to wineries and a stay at a Bed & Breakfast in Geyserville, California, in the absolutely beautiful Alexander Valley Wine Country above Healdsburg in Sonoma County.

It is about three and a half hours Northwest of us. With my slow driving, and a few stops, we got up there in five hours.

And yes, for you who have never heard of Alexander Valley, it is a wonderful beautiful place - and definitely not as crowded as Napa Valley just Southeast of it.

We stayed at the Geyserville Inn, which is a very nice hotel.

When I say very nice, I mean fireplace in the room, with a balcony over looking one of the prettiest valleys in Northern California type of very nice.

The first night there, we broke open a map and plotted out a course to action that would take us to all sorts of different wineries to explore. Yes, this was a wine tasting and fun trip!

The Geyserville Inn and the Hoffman House restaurant next door, are owned by the same people. Both very much high quality for you dollar. The service at the Hoffman House, like the hotel, was just outstanding.

Tuesday morning, our server was a great young gal by the name of Nellie. She is just too sweat. Great attitudes go far with me when I'm traveling, and Nellie has such a friendly attitude that she just makes you feel right at home.

Since I hardly ever drink anymore, I was for all practical purposes the "designated driver" for my wife. OK, so I did figure on trying a few wines, but hopefully not enough to get me pulled over.

There is something else. On trips, I like to meet and talk with people. I like people. White, brown, black, orange, I don't care what color they are. Rich or poor, it just doesn't matter. And no, I don't hold it against folks if they've worked hard and made it good. In fact, I respect them for it.

Like I said, I like people. Blue collar, white collar, no collar, who cares!

I don't care about how much money one has, or what someone drives, or what someone does in life. I don't even care what their politics are. Yes, as shocking as that sounds, it honestly doesn't matter.

Look, we can't all be Conservative and I know that.

Fact is, without liberals we wouldn't have anyone to correct and educate. We wouldn't have anyone to laugh at or marvel at. Without liberals, we won't have so much trouble in the world - but then again when I'm on a trip, I try not to pay them much mind.

To me, when I meet people, I look at how they treat others. I enjoy watching people. I love to see what kind of attitude they have, their disposition, and of course their conduct.

Maybe it's a hold over from my days working in Security, or maybe when I was working in Corrections years ago. To me, conduct and how one holds one's self separates people from being good and friendly regular folks - to being snobs and jerkweeds!

On this trip, I met some really nice people. It seems just about everywhere we went, we met a lot of good folks.

There is a great gal who works up at SBRAGIA Winery in the picturesque Dry Creek Valley right over the hill from Geyserville.

SBRAGIA Winery was our first stop. It sits on the top of a rim overlooking the Dry Creek Valley.

Wow, what a gorgeous view! 

Later I thought, we should have visited there toward the end of our day so that we could have sat out on their deck overlooking the valley. 

Since that was our first stop, Kirby was our first server. And yes, she is a great gal.

She is as friendly as the day is long. She is good natured, what we would have called a "free spirit" back in the '70s.

Yes, she is truly an independent happy sort of gal. She is cute, witty, with an infectious smile, and eyes that sparkle. 

She help start our trip off on a good note. And yes, the wine at SBRAGIA was great as well!  

As I said, since I don't drink very much at all, this was going to be my wife Deanna's wine tasting trip with me as her designated driver.  But at the start, I found that I would have a taste here and there. And here and there, I did indeed have a taste or two or three.

If you think I'm talkative when I'm sober, you really should see when I've been drinking!

My wife and I visited a few wineries. Most really great places. Some wineries had some pretty good wines at some real good prices, and others had some pretty poor wines that were very pricey. And yes, not all of the places had good souls like Kirby serving the public.

Some were truly snobs. The few servers who I saw that I didn't care for seem to be wannabe wine connoisseurs or "oenophiles".  They enjoyed talking over the heads of their guests who wore expressions of bewilderment rather than that of joy.

I have to admit that I really did enjoy watching the looks on some faces as their eyes glazed over with all of the "wine speak."

Friends, talk of balance, complexity, body, bouquet, aroma, are all well and good. But honestly, wine tasting is purely subjective. Fact is, my friends, different wines appeal to different tasters for all sorts of different reasons. 

According to a county booklet that my wife picked up at the Hoffman House, what we were doing by jumping from one winery to the next - it's called "Corkhopping".  And yes, we were!

For my wife, like her mom, she enjoys different wines. The difference between her and her mom is that her mom likes red wines over whites. Me, if I had to pick a wine, I'd pick a dessert wine because I like sweet not bitter. I think it's a hold over from when I was a kid.

Growing up, all of my family lived together. My mom and dad, us six kids, all lived in the same house with my grand-parents and my great-grand-father who was from the Azores in Portugal.

My great-grand-father used to keep a bottle of "table wine" or "red wine" on the kitchen table. I remember it simply tasting good. It was more on the sweet side.

Wine tasting has a lot of great benefits. First, you get out of the house.

In the old days, you could go wine tasting at different vineyards and not cost a dime in the process - now most charge you something between $5 and $10 to sit there and taste what they want to sell you.

OK, here comes the Conservative! When I first realized that we had to pay to sample their ware, I wondered why they charged since the idea was to get us to sample and buy their wine?

Second benefit, you see things that will amaze you. For example, at one winery that we visited, the tasting room manager said that the vines there were said to be over 400 year old with machines like crushers and such going back hundreds of years.

Also, most wineries have absolutely outstanding landscapes. There is no doubt when driving into most of them that they have put a lot of time and effort into making their property look great. Some are simply and yet beautiful while others are obviously manicured and pampered.

At one very nice winery, the VML, they had something most of the others didn't. After you walked into their tasting room, they had a door that lead to a balcony where you could watch them making the wine in the huge stainless steel containers.

This was something that you don't usually see at the wineries - people actually making the wine.

And by the way, I want to say hello to a great couple that my wife and I met there at VML. Jimmy and Abbey are wonderful folks from Los Angeles who were up there on vacation. Jimmy works in the Entertainment Industry - and yes, he is a really nice guy!

I asked them if it would be alright if I put then in this article. At first I wanted to use them to demonstrate the nice folks you meet on one of these trips.

Jimmy and Abbey are wonderful people. They look like they fit each other. I really believe a person would have to work pretty hard to find a more loving couple. I see them happy for many many more years to come!  

Yesterday morning as my wife and I were leaving, we bumped into Jimmy in the hall. He said he had looked up this blog.

Knowing he worked in Hollywood, I asked again if it would be OK to say something about him and his wife in my blog? He said it was OK. But then, well, he said something that made my day.

He said, "I can't wait to tell my friends that I'm going to be in a Conservative Blog!"

Well Jimmy, tell your friends in Hollywood that not all conservatives hate liberals.

In fact, I know many conservatives who don't like liberals - but hate is too strong a word for how they feel about them.

As for me, I don't like what liberal "extremists" are doing to our country. I think uncompromising or fanatical behavior such as following radical political doctrines associated with socialism and communism are detrimental to Americans in the long run.

But, as it's always done in our great nation's history, I believe the ballot box will rectify the situation and move the country away from the far left.  Even the center is better than what we have these days!

Our server at the Hoffman House, yesterday morning, was Danielle.

She is a simply great gal. Like Nellie, she's born and raised in the area. But unlike Nellie, who is still a teenager, Danielle knows where the better wineries are. And yes, she was good enough to pull up a chair and take a look at our picks for the day to see if we were good to go or not.

Daniella is a single mom with a five year old son, she works hard but still has a great attitude toward things. She really ought to be a tour guide in the area because she knows it so well. Like most of us, she is a blue collar worker who knows others who work at the different wineries. And yes, through friends, she has a great handle on the area.

With her help we plotted out our last day of going to the Francis Ford Coppola and then head home. 

And by the way, if you ever get up to Geyserville, a visit to the Francis Ford Coppola Winery is a must see sort of place. If anything else, just for the chance to take a look at his film museum there. 

He has his 5 Oscars, Golden Globes, and other film and directorial awards on display. He has the many of the original props from some of his movies, including Vito Corleone's chair and desk from The Godfather.

There are also other props including the gold phone from Godfather Part II, and the actual Tucker automobile used in the movie Tucker, among a lot of other things.  

On the way home, we decided to go down Hwy 101 and pick up Hwy 12 to visit the town of Sonoma.

It is also a wine town, but much bigger than Geyserville. Hussle and bussle is everywhere!

Besides sitting in the heart of the wine country, the town makes claim to be the birth place of the Republic of California. It is where the Bear Flag Revolt of 1846 took place.

Sure my wife's eyes rolled back! She suspected something was up when I asked if she wanted to take a look at the original Spanish Mission and Barracks still there since 1834.

That's OK, she's might not the history nut that I am -  but we had fun anyway! 

Story by Tom Correa