RANDOM SHOTS - Gun Rights Victory, Obama Adviser Praises Chinese Communism, Michigan Approves Right-To-Work Law, Obama Incites Instead Of Unites, and More!

Michigan Approves Right-To-Work Law

As pro-union protesters gather at Michigan State House, Michigan voted in legislation to give Americans in that state the right-to-work.

I know many of us don't understand what the problem is here. What is wrong with having a right-to-work?

A "right-to-work" law is a statute in the United States that prohibits union security agreements, or agreements between labor unions and employers that govern the extent to which an established union can require employees' membership, payment of union dues, or fees as a condition of employment, either before or after hiring.

"Right-to-work" laws do not, as the short phrase might suggest, aim to provide a general guarantee of employment to people seeking work, but rather are a government regulation of the contractual agreements between employers and labor unions that prevents them from excluding non-union workers.

Right-to-work laws exist in twenty-four U.S. states, mostly in the southern and western United States.

Such laws are allowed under the 1947 federal Taft–Hartley Act. A further distinction is often made within the law between those employed by state and municipal governments and those employed by the private sector with states that are otherwise union shop (i.e., pay union dues or lose the job) having right to work laws in effect for government employees.

So basically, a Right-To-Work law secures the right of employees to decide for themselves whether or not to join or financially support a union. And yes, people should not be forced to belong to a union to have a job.

The Michigan Legislature on Tuesday gave final approval to their "right-to-work" legislation, in the face of raucous protests in the capital and stern warnings from Democratic lawmakers.

Threats of violence from Democrats? You betcha!

"There will be blood, there will be repercussions," State Democratic Rep. Douglas Geiss, speaking on the House floor on Tuesday, warned ahead of the votes.

The final votes on the House side Tuesday deliver a blow to the labor movement in the heart of the U.S. auto industry. The measures ban unions from demanding dues from workers.

One bill dealt with public sector workers, the other with government employees. Both measures cleared the Senate last week, and are expected to be signed by Republican Gov. Rick Snyder as early as Wednesday.

Coinciding with the votes were massive and noisy protests both inside and outside the Capitol from pro-union demonstrators. Thousands descended upon downtown Lansing to rally against the legislation that prohibits requiring nonunion employees to financially support unions at their workplace.

"This is about giving workers the freedom to choose whether their resources go to a union or not -- and I actually don't view this as anti-union," he said. "Indiana's had a strong experience. ... They've seen thousands of jobs come to Indiana. Those jobs could also come to Michigan."

Several high-profile Democrats, though, have gotten involved, with Michigan Democratic Sen. Carl Levin and House Democrats meeting with Snyder on Monday and urging him to veto the bill.

The surprise move by Michigan Republicans last Thursday to approve the anti-union bills touched off a firestorm in the home of the U.S. auto industry.

Following high-profile fights over union privileges in Wisconsin and Indiana, Michigan in an instant became the latest battleground in that struggle.

Though Republicans control the capital and had the votes all along to send the bill to Snyder's desk, opponents are planning to mount a legal challenge.

Given the rapid manner with which the bills moved and the fact some demonstrators were kept out of the chambers, Democrats say they'll challenge under open-meetings laws.

The Detroit Free Press also reports that Democrats could try and challenge a provision that exempts police and firefighters.

However, any attempt to bring the proposal to referendum is complicated by the fact that the bill contained an appropriation -- and under Michigan law, appropriations bills cannot be challenged by popular vote.

In order to bring the "right-to-work" bill to referendum, supporters would have to first prove the appropriation to be somehow invalid or inappropriate.

Opponents could also launch recall campaigns against targeted Republicans in retaliation, as they did in Wisconsin following a vote that cracked down on collective bargaining.

More and more states are looking to improve their economies and become more attractive to businesses and this is seen as one step toward that, so we can only wait and see what happens from here.

Michigan Teachers Abandon 26,000 Children For Union Business!

Earlier in the day, a few school districts closed after hundreds of teachers called out to join the Union protests.

FoxNews.com confirmed that the Warren school district had to close Tuesday after so many teachers called out absent; WDIV in Detroit reported that the Taylor school district had to do the same.

A statement from the Warren system said that by 8 a.m. local time, 750 staff members had called out.

The Michigan Education Association (aka Teachers' Union) has pressed their members to abandon Michigan’s classrooms in order to lobby against Governor Rick Snyder’s right-to-work reforms.

Classes were cancelled today in several Michigan school districts to accommodate the absence of hundreds of teachers, who were prompted by their union to call in "sick" in a sort of "protest" of the right-to-work legislation at the Michigan Capitol.

The result, twenty-six thousand students are out of school today.

The mass exodus of teachers has primarily affected the Detroit metro area. The last thing Detroit children need is an unplanned day out of school. Under the leadership of Democrat, just 7% of the city’s Eighth Graders can read proficiently - and just 4% of the city's Eighth Graders are on their grade level in math.

In other words, the city is being inhabited by the ignorant taught by the incompetent more worried about union business than teaching.
And I agree with one writer who said that none of that matters to the union boss out there who perceives a threat to his power and had the teachers abandon those kids.

As everyone knows, unions across the country are politically powerful agents for the Democrat Party. And yes, that's even more the case in Michigan.

The most recent data available show that the Michigan Education Association spent more than $7 million on political contributions, and that 86% of unions’ political contributions went to Democrats.

Some teachers might take exception to their hard-earned money being used for such partisan political purposes, but that doesn't matter because the unions are going to back Democrats no matter who they run.

Of course, when the right-to-work legislation is implemented, teachers will have the option to control how their paychecks are spent. Imagine that!

Let's all join in and sing, Free At Last! Free At Last!

Union dues range between $600 to $900 per year. Teachers shouldn’t be forced to forgo that money in order to teach. And yes, like it or not, for some teachers who want to teach but don't want to belong to the union - they are being forced to pay a membership that they don't want.

That is at the heart of the question, should someone be forced to join a union, pay a huge "initiation fee" and pay monthly dues and in some cases fight seniority and other union rules, if all they want to do is find a job and go to work?

Establishing a right-to-work law in Michigan will be the beginning of freedom for thousands of teachers and trades across the state.

The unions recognize that when teachers aren’t forced to hand over their paychecks, that their bloated coffers will get a little lighter.

That’s less money the union can use for an overtly political agenda, less money that can go to the plush salaries of union bosses, and a weakened ability to block much needed education reforms in the state.

As such, teachers won’t be the only beneficiaries. Right-to-work legislation will loosen organized labor’s stranglehold on public education generally.

Governor Snyder’s efforts have the support of the workers that will be affected. Over half of Michigan voters support the effort, and 40% of union households are in favor - many of whom are fed up with their union dues going to political candidates that they do not support.

So why is there a problem if someone wants to work but not be forced to join a union? Well, let's face it, organized labor’s bosses see this as such a threat to their entrenched power.

And no, they don't care if children who really need to be in class are in fact sitting at home or on the streets.

Is this something new for the unions? No, these union tactics aren’t new at all.

The educational futures of 5,000 Louisiana children now hang in the balance because the Teachers’ Union there has filed suit against the state’s newly minted voucher program.

The Chicago Teachers’ Union forced schools to shut down this fall for an entire week, in order for education employees to demand an increase to their already extravagant salaries and benefits.  And as everyone knows, Chicago is not exactly a place were kids are doing well either.

Teachers’ unions have tried similar scare tactics recently in Oklahoma, Arizona, and Wisconsin. It's a modern day hostage situation and the unions know it.

They have control of the classroom and what is taught to the kids. Forget the Three Rs of yesteryear, these days they sing praises to Obama and the Democrat Party all while learning the evils of Republicans and others who really want to see them learn something to get ahead in life.

I know that my stance on teachers deciding to walk off the job and calling in "sick" is not popular.

As far as I'm concerned. since we judge people on their action, the teachers who pushed aside their responsibility to educate kids to instead show their support for their union should all be replaced.

They have clearly shown where their priorities really are. And no, it's not with educating children.

Obama Chimes In To Incite Instead Of Unite

President Obama also weighed in Monday, using a speech near Detroit to call out local Republicans.

"These so-called 'right-to-work' laws, they don't have anything to do with economics. They have everything to do with politics," Obama said. "What they're really talking about is they're giving you the right to work for less money."

I don't know if Obama is just ignorant or purposely misleading Americans by his statements. I can't help but wonder if the president understands that his job is to unite Americans and not incite anger and division.

It's really no surprise that Obama failed to mention that real truth behind the law.

The truth of the matter is that "Right-To-Work" laws prohibit mandatory union membership and "initiation fees" while allowing non-union employees to receive the same wages and benefits.

Federal Appeals Court Strikes Down Illinois State Ban On Carrying Concealed Weapons

It's a victory for Americans living in Illinois. Those folks can now have the same rights as other Americans in other states.

They now have the right to carry a concealed weapon and defend themselves if need be.

A Federal Appeals Court on Tuesday struck down Illinois' ban on carrying concealed weapons - the only total concealed-carry ban in the country.

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals gave state lawmakers six months to come up with their own version of the law that legalizes concealed carry.

"We're extremely pleased with the ruling," Illinois State Rifle Association leader Richard Pearson said. "Now that the court has ruled ... we will work as soon as possible with legislators to craft a concealed-carry bill for the state of Illinois."

The 2-1 decision marks a huge win for gun rights advocates who have argued that the ban on concealed weapons violates the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment and what they see as citizens' right to carry guns for self-defense.

A new law could be in place by January, Pearson said. A bill has already been written by Rep. Brandon Phelps that includes background checks, field provisions and other issues.

"Christmas came early for law-abiding gun owners," said Phelps, whose proposed legislation came within three votes of passing in 2011.

"I said on the floor, `A lot of people who voted against this, one of these days, you're going to wish you did, because of all the limitations and the safety precautions we put in this bill, because one of these days, the court's going to rule and you're not going to like the ruling.' Today's the day. The court's pretty much said there's no restrictions," he said.

Judge Richard Posner wrote in the court's majority opinion that the state "had to provide us with more than merely a rational basis for believing that its uniquely sweeping ban is justified by an increase in public safety. It has failed to meet this burden."

He continued: "The theoretical and empirical evidence (which overall is inconclusive) is consistent with concluding that a right to carry firearms in public may promote self-defense."

The appeals court ruling reverses lower court opinions against a lawsuit filed by former corrections officer Michael Moore of Champaign, farmer Charles Hooks of Percy in southeastern Illinois and the Bellevue, Washington-based Second Amendment Foundation.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, who favors strict gun control laws and proposed an assault weapons ban earlier this year that lawmakers defeated, has vowed to again bring legislation that would prohibit the sale or possession of semi-automatic rifles and other guns.

While this is great news, sadly the poor people in Illinois have to worry about liberal Democrat politicians who see the citizens of that state as being better off unarmed and defenseless.

What this means is that liberals in power in that state will probably try to circumvent the law somehow. Their reasoning is that they rather see their citizens become victims of violence than see the use of a weapon in the act of self-defense be justified.

Chrysler workers canned for drinking and smoking pot on the job get reinstated

Chrysler workers who were fired or suspended two years ago after a MyFoxDetroit investigation found them drinking and and smoking pot during a lunch break are back on the job.

MyFoxDetroit first aired the footage of the Chrysler workers in September 2010. Video showed them in a park during the work day, drinking alcohol from bottles covered in brown paper bags and smoking what appeared to be marijuana.

With the auto giant having recently received a federal taxpayer bailout, and President Obama having visited the plant where the employees worked just months earlier, Chrysler appeared to take a zero-tolerance attitude. The company fired 13 workers, and suspended two.

But MyFoxDetroit reports that following a union-backed arbitration process, the employees were reinstated. This week, they came back to work.

Chrysler said in a statement that it does not support the decision to bring back the workers but would like to move on.

“While the company does not agree with the ultimate decision of the arbitrator, we respect the grievance procedure process as outlined in the collective bargaining agreement and our relationship with the (United Auto Workers union),” the company said, according to MyFoxDetroit.

“Unfortunately, the company was put in a very difficult position because of the way the story was investigated and ultimately revealed to the public. These employees from Jefferson North have been off work for more than two years. The time has come to put this situation behind us and resume our focus on building quality products that will firmly establish Chrysler Group's position in the marketplace."

These union employees can thank their union for their jobs. Any other job would have fired them for such blatant actions.

And just for the record, I worked with some people who I found out later were smoking pot and drinking during their lunch hour. I'm just glad they never got me injured while on the job.

Their are reasons that we as a society should not condone such activities. Besides the fact that they should not be at work drunk or high on pot, they do put the safety of others at risk.

The employees work at the Jefferson North Assembly Plant, which builds Jeep Cherokees.

So yes, if you work with any of these men - be aware that they may get you hurt. And if they do, thank your UAW union bosses who brought these guys back!

Obama administration's business adviser says China’s "state-run communism" works

When this administration first took charge four years ago, I really didn't know what to think about all of the charges in that they were all a bunch of Communist and Socialist.

Over the years, this administration has proven themselves to be a strange group. Obama's policies seem to based more on Karl Marx and Joe Stalin than that of Thomas Jefferson or Abe Lincoln.

And yes, even his advisers are Communist sympathizers.

You think I'm kidding? Well just yesterday, Jeff Immelt who is the chairman of President Barack Obama’s job council has endorsed China’s Communist State, saying “state-run communism may not be your cup of tea, but their government works.”

It reminds me of a horrible quip that I once heard about Adolph Hitler. The ignorant bastard who said it could have been an Obama adviser.

He said, "Hitler might not have been your cup of tea with murdering millions of Jews and all, but more importantly Hitler got those trains to run on time!"

Sad, isn't it? I think so. I think its very sad that someone who is an adviser to the President of the United States would praise a system of government that takes freedom from the people and treats them like cattle.

Jeff Immelt is the dual-hatted chairman of the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, and of General Electric, a huge company with businesses in many domestic and international sectors, including China.

He used a December 10th television interview with Charlie Rose to suggest that China’s type of state-run government has been great for business.

China’s government consists of a Communist dictatorship. That dictatorship overlaps with Chinese-style family networks of nepotism and communist bureaucrats who oversee the nation’s five-year economic development plans.
China’s government is now spending huge amounts of money to build up the country’s infrastructure. I remember Obama talking about infrastructure 5 years ago, but that was all just talk for the cameras.

And yes, while Obama and the Democrat Party as a whole are trying to destroy America's coal industry, China is spending huge amounts of money buying coal-fired and nuclear power plants, and the electricity transmission lines that that power will produce. They are also buying railroads and other equipment — all of which G.E. builds for export.

Chinese politicians and bureaucrats choose which companies, usually through bribes and payoffs and favors and such, so that companies such as G.E. get contracts. This is no different than how things were in the old Soviet Union Communist state.

Comparing the Communist system of government with a dictator to the United States with a president who some say wants to be a dictator is not too unusual these days. I've heard many say that Obama would relish the authority that a Communist Dictator has.

In fact, early in 2011, Obama told a group that it would be so much easier to be the president of China. As one White House official put it, “No one is scrutinizing Hu Jintao’s words in Tahrir Square.”

Technically the "President" of China has a lot of titles. Among them: “Paramount Leader,” “General Secretary of the Communist Party,” and “Chairman of the Central Military Commission.”

Being “president” in China isn’t the same as being President of the United States. It’s a dictatorship, or at the very mildest, the strongest position in an autocratic and thoroughly entrenched and unaccountable political system.

As such, yes, it’s easier to wield power. But why was Obama such an idiot for making the case for enlightened despotism over representative democracy?

Making power easier for government to yield was the exact outcome that our founders feared, which is why they wrote the Constitution and ratified it 222 years ago.

Enlightened despotism is still despotism, and the “enlightened” part depends entirely on whether the analysts fall in or out of favor with the despot.

And since the “president” of China doesn’t give a damn about the freedom and liberty of his own people, no one really gives a damn what he thinks about the freedom and liberty of others. Most see that as a feature of being President of the United States.

Sure, Obama might think it would be easier to be President of China, but he’d have found it impossible to become President of China.

Unlike Americans, who can vote for whomever they choose, the entrenched power structure in Beijing would never have allowed an untested backbencher with no experience in executive management to have come close to the top job.

Obama should be thanking his lucky stars rather than lamenting his fate as he did early last year.

So does it really surprise me that the chairman of General Electric, Jeff Immelt, who is also an adviser to President Obama likes the Communist system where all he has to deal with is a few bureaucrat flunkies to sell his products?

No, it doesn't. It sounds like he's used to dealing with bureaucrats.

Take for example that fact that he is an adviser to Obama, America's head bureaucrat, who has spent tens of billions of taxpayers’ dollars on green-tech energy programs, and his environmental regulations which has also forced companies to buy new generations of energy products manufactured by General Electric and other companies.

Obama's regulations spur sales of GE’s products, such as banking, medical equipment, locomotives and aircraft engines.

Immelt’s two jobs allow him to have the ear of the president while allowing General Electric to have access to federal dollars and help company lobbyists gain access to shaping federal environmental, energy and tax regulations.

For example, GE and its subsidiaries won at least 19 direct contracts or grants worth Billions of taxpayer dollars from the 2009 stimulus package.

Clearly Immelt is not an idiot when it comes to making money for General Electric, as he has the ear of President Obama to help him do so.

Not bad for a man who is not smart enough to know why communism doesn't work if you're subjected to its injustices.

Communism doesn't work because people will not work as hard for the benefit of strangers as they will for themselves or their families.

Remove all the incentive to work hard and progress dies. It's the same with Communism. Why break your back at work? You won't make any more or any less than anyone else.

The guy who makes money is the corrupt bureaucrat, or that guy from General Electric who doesn't have to live under that system of government but admires its proficiency.

TRIVIA  

Christmas is a holiday full of symbolism.

Why did the Three Wise Men bring Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh to baby Jesus?

What is the Meaning of Gold?

The gift of gold to the Christ Child is supposed to have come from Melchior, a king from Arabia, who, legend has it, was one of the Three Wise Men. His contribution is thought to have financed the Holy Family's flight into Egypt.

Gold, as valuable today as it was in Christ's time, symbolizes immortality, divinity, purity, and the kingship of Jesus Christ.

What is the Meaning of Frankincense?

Tradition maintains that Balthasar, one of the Three Wise Men who came from the East to find the Christ Child, presented frankincense to the baby as a gift. By honoring him in this way, Balthasar fulfilled the prophecy that gold and frankincense would be brought from the Gentiles to honor the heavenly king (Isaiah 60 and Psalm 72).

Frankincense is an incense given to the baby Jesus.

Frankincense, a sweet gum resin from the Boswellia tree, is the purest of incense. When burned, it produces white smoke and a sweet smell, symbolizing the prayers and praises of the faithful as well as Christ's sacrifice and the divine name of God.

What is the Meaning of Myrrh?

Caspar, a king from Tarsus and one of the Three Wise Men, is believed to have given myrrh to the Baby Jesus.

Myrrh is known for its medicinal value and was used in ancient times for cleaning wounds and sores, as an analgesic, and for embalming the dead or anointing kings.

Myrrh is actually an aromatic gum resin that oozes from gashes cut in the bark of the commiphora tree. It hardens into teardrop-shaped chunks and is then pounded into powder or mixed to make ointments and perfumes. It is named for its bitter taste and symbolizes the Suffering Savior, the Great Physician, and Christ's human nature.

  Story by Tom Correa

RANDOM SHOTS - ObamaCare Tax To Start January 1st, USDA Says Rural America Less Relevant, California School District Owes $1 Billion In Loans, and More!

Agriculture Secretary to Rural Americans: You're "Less Relevant"

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has some harsh words for Rural Americans: It's "becoming less and less relevant," he says.

A month after an election that Democrats won even as rural parts of the country voted overwhelmingly Republican, the former Democratic governor of Iowa told farm belt leaders this past week that he's frustrated with their internecine squabbles and says they need to be more strategic in picking their political fights.

"It's time for us to have an adult conversation with folks in rural America," Vilsack said in a speech at a forum sponsored by the Farm Journal. "It's time for a different thought process here, in my view."
"Why is it that we don't have a farm bill?" said Vilsack. "It isn't just the differences of policy. It's the fact that rural America with a shrinking population is becoming less and less relevant to the politics of this country, and we had better recognize that and we better begin to reverse it."

OK, so I don't know if Vilsack is just stating his political belief that this administration sees anyone voting Conservative or Republican as their enemy and subsequently doesn't matter?

Or is he calling for Rural Americans to jump on the Democrat bandwagon if they want representation in Washington?

Either way, it sounds as though this jerkweed is saying that rural America is not relevant to the decisions that are going to be made in Washington D.C. - decisions that will effect the lives of most rural Americans like a Farm Bill which touches everything from corn subsidies to organics research to food stamps to rural enterprise development.

So do we have a problem with the Obama administration that goes farther than most in America really understand? Are they neglecting to serve the 49% of the American people who did not vote for them?

Since 60% of rural America voted Republican, does this mean the Obama administration sees no reason to observe the needs of rural America because we did not back him politically?

If that's the case, America should worry.

USDA will allow more meat, grains in school lunches following criticism

The Agriculture Department plans to do away with limits on the amount of meats and grains that students can have in their school lunches, following complaints from parents and lawmakers alike.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack wrote to members of Congress Friday announcing that his department would scrap daily and weekly maximums for the foods.

It comes after lawmakers wrote to his department saying kids weren’t getting enough to eat under the rules, and school administrators complained that the regulations were hindering their ability to plan daily meals.

"This flexibility is being provided to allow more time for the development of products that fit within the new standards while granting schools additional weekly menu planning options to help ensure that children receive a wholesome, nutritious meal every day of the week," Vilsack said in a letter to Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D.

The new guidelines, which took effect in September, were intended to address increasing childhood obesity levels. They set limits on calories and salt and phase in whole grains.

Schools must offer at least one vegetable or fruit per meal. The department also dictated how much of certain food groups could be served.

While nutritionists and some parents have praised the new school lunch standards, others, including many conservative lawmakers, refer to them as government overreach.

The rules triggered a burst of news coverage this past fall regarding students who complained they weren’t getting enough food, and created the parody YouTube video “We Are Hungry,” posted by students in Kansas.

Students and teachers from a high school in Kansas created the YouTube video parody protesting the recent lunch restrictions placed on high school menus, USA Today reported.

The video – titled ‘We Are Hungry’ – came out just a week after students from a Wisconsin high school boycotted their school lunch over the changes.

The student video-makers, who attend Wallace County High School, say the portion sizes of their meals have significantly decreased. Callahan Grund, a 16-year-old football player featured in the video, told USA Today that they’ve cut the number of chicken nuggets in half, and the size of pork cutlets are much smaller than last year.

Even the teachers at Wallace County High School jumped on the bandwagon. Brenda Kirkham, an arts and publications teacher, came up with the idea for the video, while Linda O’Connor, an English teacher, wrote the lyrics for the song.

One of their main concerns was the decrease in protein during lunches.

The new rules now set a daily minimum and weekly maximum meat or meat alternate limit – meaning high school students must receive at least two ounces of protein each day, but they can’t have more than 12 ounces each week

The parody is in response to the new federal guidelines funded by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, dictating what is served in school cafeterias during lunch hour. The legislation was promoted by Michelle Obama, and is designed to improve nutrition standards for food served in schools.

Some of the changes include age-aligned calorie restrictions of up to 850 calories, serving more whole grains and less sugar, and only allowing low- or non-fat milk.

Though broader calorie limits are still in place, the rules adjustment will allow school lunch planners to use as many grains and as much meat as they want.

In comments to USDA, many had said grains shouldn't be limited because they are a part of so many meals, and that it was difficult to always find the right size of meat.

Congress to the rescue!

Last year, after USDA first proposed the new guidelines, Congress prohibited the USDA from limiting potatoes and French fries and allowed school lunchrooms to continue counting tomato paste on pizza as a vegetable.

The school lunch rules apply to federally subsidized lunches served to low-income children. Those meals have always been subject to nutritional guidelines because they are partially paid for by the federal government, but the new rules put broader restrictions on what could be served as childhood obesity rates have skyrocketed.

School kids can still buy additional foods in other parts of the lunchroom and the school. Congress two years ago directed USDA to regulate those foods as well, but the department has yet to issue those rules.

Montana Sen. Jon Tester, a Democratic senator among the lawmakers who wrote to USDA about the rules, praised the move.

"Schools need flexibility to make sure kids get the nutrition they need to focus on their studies," he said.

It is a shame when Congress has to write to the Obama's Department of Agriculture to get them to give more food to low-income children who are hungry.

Maybe, just maybe, the First Lady's phobia of obesity is getting a little out of hand?

Maybe Michelle Obama should worry about her own problem with obesity and not take out her problems with being fat out on children who have needs - especially children whose only real substantial meal is the one they get in school.

Obama Equals Job Loss Or Stagnation

So is job loss and stagnation the new norm under President Obama? That is the gist of one report that came out last week.

Friday's "Employment Situation" report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) showed that 5.4 million Americans have dropped out of the labor force since Barack Obama took office.

The labor force declined by 350,000 in November, despite an increase of 191,000 in our working age population.

In case anyone didn't notice, the Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs report was terrible. Unemployment didn't go down in November from 7.9% to 7.7% as the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported, it actually went up.

The true unemployment rate, calculated at the labor force participation rate that existed when George W. Bush left office at 65.8%, increased from 10.7% to 10.8%.

This put the true unemployment rate 1.3 percentage points higher than when Obama's so-called "economic recovery" began, almost 3.5 years ago. But then again, why let facts get in the way of the tale the Obama administration is telling.

Cliff or Not, ObamaCare Taxes To Start Next Month

Even if lawmakers somehow stop the Bush-era tax rates from expiring, taxes are still expected to rise on January 1st.

And yes, you can thank a trio of new fees tied to the federal health care overhaul - aka ObamaCare.

The IRS this past week published rules for some of the first major taxes meant to help pay for the biggest social program in history President Obama’s massive insurance coverage expansion.

Together, they will raise investment and income taxes on top earners and impose a separate -- and controversial -- tax on medical devices.

The bundle of fees has been largely overlooked as lawmakers and the White House bicker over the Bush tax rates, with Republicans demanding they be extended for everyone and Obama insisting rates rise for top earners.

But that same group of earners is already in the cross hairs under the ObamaCare tax rules published this week.

Starting Jan. 1, investment income for individuals earning over $200,000 and households earning over $250,000 will be subject to a new 3.8 percent tax.

Further, regular income above those thresholds will be hit with a .9 percent Medicare surtax. Should the Bush tax rates expire for those workers, those increases will be compounded.

But the rather obscure medical device tax is the one that has stirred the most controversy in Washington and the business community. This week, groups and lawmakers renewed their calls to repeal it as the IRS published its final rules.

"This week, the Internal Revenue Service outlined which medical supplies and technologies will be subject to a tax. Now, everything from latex gloves to pacemakers will become more expensive and in some cases, more scarce," Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., said in a statement.

"The tax on medical devices harms America’s ability to conduct the necessary research and development to maintain our global competitiveness, resulting in the loss of tens of thousands of jobs and fewer groundbreaking innovations in this field. With millions of Americans unemployed, this simply makes no sense."

The Affordable Care Act imposed the 2.3 percent tax on medical devices with the goal of raising nearly $30 billion over the next decade.

Equipment makers, though, argue that the tax ends up being much higher than that since it’s on gross sales. One industry spokesman estimated earlier this year that the impact on actual earnings is more like 15 percent.

Already, some have warned that the tax will stifle growth. Indiana-based Cook Medical earlier this year announced it was scrapping plans to open five new plants because of the tax.

The Republican-controlled House voted over the summer to repeal the tax, but the Democrat-controlled Senate never took it up.

Not surprising, the Obama administration has defended the provision.

According to the Treasury Department, the medical device companies actually stand to benefit from the law.

Though the 2.3 percent tax hits the industry, the department argues that the millions of new health care customers insured as a result of the law will increase the demand in hospitals to order more equipment -- in turn boosting medical device companies' profits.

That’s not how the industry sees it. Stephen J. Ubl, president of the Advanced Medical Technology Association, said this week in response to the IRS rules that the tax could cost thousands of jobs – and is already causing companies to lay off workers and cut back on research and development.

“While Washington talks about a fiscal cliff, this tax could push us off an innovation cliff, costing as many as 43,000 jobs and hurting the ability of medical technology companies to find tomorrow’s treatments and cures. It should be repealed,” he said.

It’s unclear whether any of the ObamaCare taxes could be reduced or delayed as part of a deal to avert the looming fiscal crisis.

So far, negotiations have centered on the Bush tax rates, overall tax reform and entitlement cuts.

When the Obama administration says "everything is on the table" when discussing cuts - the high cost of ObamaCare is not looked at.

The House Republican counter-offer unveiled this past week did not mention the health care taxes.

Meanwhile, the health insurance industry is already raising alarm about an ObamaCare tax on health insurers taking effect in 2014.

America’s Health Insurance Plans says that cost will be passed onto the consumer, leading to another $2,000 in premium costs over the next decade for the average individual purchaser.

ObamaCare to Raise Prices for Pet Health Too

Not only is ObamaCare going to raise health care costs for consumers, but it will do the same for your pets.

A rule published on Friday by the Internal Revenue Service says a 2.3 percent “device tax” will be slapped on certain medical devices veterinarians use as a result of ObamaCare, according to the Heritage Foundation.

Many companies making the devices are expected to raise prices — passing on the costs to pet owners, who already spend more than $12 billion on pet care every year, the foundation said.

While the devices used solely for veterinary purposes will not be taxed, those considered “dual use” — by both human health care operations and veterinary practices — will be taxed.

These “dual-use” devices, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, include examination gloves, sterile catheters, and infusion pumps, the foundation said.

The IRS rule states:

“Section 4191 [of the Internal Revenue Code] limits the definition of a taxable medical device to devices described in section 201(h) of the [Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act] that are intended for humans, but does not provide that the device must be intended exclusively for humans.

Under existing FDA regulations, a device intended for use exclusively in veterinary medicine is not required to be listed as a device with the FDA, whereas a device intended for use in human medicine is required to be listed as a device with the FDA even if the device may also be used in veterinary medicine.”

The device tax is expected to raise costs for consumers.

The Heritage Foundation cites a survey of 181 medical-device manufacturers, 52.5 percent of whom said they planned to “pass along some or all of the increased cost [of the tax] to our consumers.”

Among device makers in North America alone, the percentage was even higher — 58 percent — the foundation said.

California School District Owes $1 Billion In Loans

Poway Unified School District in San Diego, California, owes nearly $1 billion on a $100 million Capital Appreciation Bond.

But wait, they are not alone! This is happening right now to nearly 200 other California School Districts.

Poway's financial situation is no different from that of nearly 200 other California school districts, as some districts are on the hook for 10 to 20 times the amount they initially borrowed.

In fact, the superintendent of the Poway School District, John Collins, recently told San Diego’s PBS affiliate that “Poway has done nothing different than every other district in the state of California.”

Imagine that! Is that the type of mentality that is permeated throughout the California Education system.

The Schoold District administrators have this crazy "Don't blame me, they did it, so I did it," sort of childish irresponsible excuse for their actions.

Yes, that's what these so called administrators are using as their reason for getting into this financial mess. And the question isn't how did they get into that mess, or why would supposedly educated people place themselves in this situation?

No, the question isn't even why do they think that that sort of bullshit fly's when it doesn't?

Fact is, because it is considered a sin to question school spending practices in California, this sort of financial irresponsibility does fly.

It works for administrators because finger pointing your way out of problems works when you are involved in California education.

School Districts who over extend themselves know that the Teachers Union has the most political clout in California. They know School Districts will just be forgiven for their debt because they know that the Democrats have a super-majority in California's capital in Sacramento.

In more cases than not, those Democrats owe their position to unions - especially the Teachers Union.

California's State Treasurer Bill Lockyer has determined that nearly 200 school districts in the state have borrowed nearly $3 billion in Capital Appreciation Bonds and are on the hook for a combined $16 billion.

My recommendation: Do not send your kids to California Schools to learn Basics Economics. The folks running California schools don't understand the basic rule that you never borrow more than you can afford to pay back.

Lesson From UK: Tax Hike on Wealthy Lowers Revenue

One side wants to rein in entitlements to deal with the budget deficit. The other side insists that any such moves be accompanied by higher taxes on the wealthy.

That may sound like the ongoing fiscal battle in Washington, but actually describes the situation in Britain.

The difference is that Britain has already raised taxes on the wealthy, with a telling result: The government actually lost revenue.

In the 2009-2010 tax year in Britain, more than 16,000 people reported annual income of more than 1 million pounds (equal to about $1.6 million today). Then in 2010, Prime Minister Gordon Brown, a member of the Labour Party, introduced a new 50 percent top income tax rate for high-income earners. After that, the number of people reporting income of at least 1 million pounds fell to 6,000.

"It is believed that rich Britons moved abroad or took steps to avoid paying the new levy by reducing their taxable incomes," The Telegraph reported.

Harriet Baldwin, a Conservative member of Parliament, said: "Labour's ideological tax hike led to a tax cull of millionaires."

Instead of raising revenue, the tax hike cost the U.K. 7 billion pounds ($11.2 billion) in lost revenue — and that in an economy one-quarter the size of America's.

Now the government of Conservative Party Prime Minister David Cameron has announced that it will lower the top rate from 50 percent to 45 percent, a move the Labour Party officials have called a "tax cut for millionaires."

In ongoing budget talks, Conservatives want to freeze out-of-work benefits, which are set to rise with inflation, while liberals in the government "will only allow the benefits freeze if taxes on the rich are increased," according to The Telegraph.

Democrats in the United States might note that since Cameron's government announced the lower top rate, the number of Britons reporting income of at least 1 million pounds has risen to 10,000.

Americans on Food Stamps hit Historic high in September with 47.7 Million Americans

Americans on Food Stamps, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, reached another historic high in September, according to new data released by the United Stated Department of Agriculture.

The most recent data on SNAP participation were released Friday, and showed that 47,710,324 people were enrolled in the program in September, an increase of 607,559 from the 47,102,765 enrolled in August.

The number of households enrolled in the program also increased from 22,684,463 in August to 22,973,698 in September, an increase of 289,235. The average benefit, according to the new data, was $134.29 per person and $278.89 per household.

Texas, California, and Florida were the states with the most recipients, the Agriculture Department reported.

1 in 6

The new numbers mean that an estimated 1 in every 6 people in America were on food stamps in September.

In the 1970s, 1 out of every 50 Americans was on food stamps. Since 2001, spending on the program has quadrupled and doubled in the last four years.

The benefit is intended to supplement a person’s overall food budget.

US Birth Rate Falls to Record Low

The birth rate in the United States dropped to the lowest level ever recorded last year, led by a significant plunge in births to foreign-born women.

The overall birth rate in 2011 was 63.2 per 1,000 women of prime childbearing age, 15 to 44 years.

That is the lowest rate since at least 1920, the earliest year for which there are reliable numbers, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center.

The overall rate peaked most recently in the Baby Boom years, hitting 122.7 in 1957, nearly double today's rate. The rate sagged but stabilized after that, until falling after 2007, the beginning of the most recent recession.

Overall births per 1,000 women declined 8 percent from 2007 to 2010.

The rate for U.S.-born women dipped 6 percent during that period, and plummeted 15 percent among foreign-born women. The birth rate for Mexican immigrants dropped by 23 percent.

Total births in 2010 were 4 million, including about 3.1 million to U.S.-born women and 930,000 to immigrant women. Preliminary data for 2011 indicate there were 3.95 million total births last year.

"This report does not address the reasons that women had fewer births after 2007, but a previous Pew Research analysis concluded that the recent fertility decline is closely linked to economic distress," Pew reported.

States with the largest economic declines were most likely to experience large fertility declines, Pew found.

The number of children born to the average woman in the United States this year is estimated to be 2.06, according to the CIA World Factbook.

That is lower than France, but higher than almost all other European nations. The lowest rate is in Singapore, 0.78. The highest is in Niger, 7.16.

Other findings from the Pew report:

• Immigrants arriving since 2005 and their descendants will account for 82 percent of U.S. population growth by 2050.
• Teenage mothers accounted for 11 percent of births to U.S.-born women in 2010, compared to 5 percent for foreign-born women.
• Among U.S.-born women, the birth rate per 1,000 white women ages 15 to 44 was 57.3 in 2010; for blacks, 61.3; for Hispanics, 65.4; for Asians, 32.
• Among U.S.-born white women, 30 percent of births were to unmarried women in 2010. The figure among U.S.-born blacks was 78 percent; Hispanics, 58 percent; Asians, 31 percent.

Not very surprising. It has been long estimated that white American low birth rate is one reason why white Americans will be considered a minority soon.

TRIVIA

More than 400,000 jobs in the U.S. auto supply chain have been lost to China since 2000. Another 1.6 million U.S. jobs are at risk unless China's illegal trading practices are curtailed.



Story by Tom Correa

Gunfight at the OK Corral - The Aftermath - Part Two

Virgil and his "wife" Allie moved to Prescott, the territorial capital of Arizona, in October 1877, he was quickly deputized by Yavapai County Sheriff Ed Bowers. It happened after a street fight when Virgil helped several lawmen shoot down two hard cases.

In 1878, Virgil served in Prescott as a village night watchman for a couple of months and then was elected as their constable.

On November 27, 1879, he was appointed a U.S. Deputy Marshal in Arizona Territory. The next month he came to Tombstone.

After the shooting death of the town's marshal, Fred White, in October 1880, Virgil Earp was appointed acting town marshal. He only served until November 12, when he lost a special election to Ben Sippy. After Tombstone achieved city status in January 1881, the incumbent Sippy defeated Virgil Earp in another election.

But on June 6, 1881, Mayor John Clum appointed Virgil to the position of City Marshal after Sippy abandoned his badge and left town in a hurry.

Marshal Earp, who we must remember doubled as Deputy U.S. Marshal, was busy that summer arresting citizens for mostly minor offenses, but when he arrested Frank Stilwell and Pete Spence for stage robbery, bitterness between the so-called Cowboys and the Earp faction grew.

Marshal Earp and his three deputies, his brothers Morgan and Wyatt and Doc Holliday came out on top in the famous shootout that October. Billy Clanton and Tom and Frank McLaury were killed, and Virgil was suspended from his job for a short period.

When Wyatt arrived in Tombstone, his older brother Virgil was already U.S. Deputy Marshal in Arizona. Fact is that Virgil went from Prescott to Tombstone as Deputy United States Marshal.

Virgil Earp lived in Prescott from July 1877 to November 1879, and held several law enforcement jobs there. He was appointed Deputy United States Marshal on November 27, 1879, by the United States Marshal for Arizona, C.P. Dake.

During his lifetime, Virgil farmed, drove a stagecoach, drove a mail route, was a prospector, but was also always involved with law enforcement in one way or another either as a marshal, deputy sheriff, and constable.

He was the City Marshal from June 18, 1881 until Oct. 29, 1881. Three days after the OK Corral gunfight, he and his deputy Morgan and "special deputy" Wyatt resigned their City positions.

During the gunfight at the OK Corral, Virgil Earp was shot in the leg. He was to stay in bed at the Cosmopolitan Hotel for a while.

Three days after Wyatt testified at the Preliminary Hearing, Virgil took the stand, or more precisely, the court came to his bedside in the Cosmopolitan Hotel, where he lay recovering from his gunshot wound.

In his testimony, Virgil recounted his futile efforts to calm down an irate Ike Clanton the night before the shoot-out. He testified that the following morning a man warned him that Clanton had threatened to "kill me on sight."

Another man named "Sills" told him he had overheard the Clantons and McLaurys talking, and one of them had said of the Earps: "We will kill them all!"

Hearing that the Clantons and McLaurys had gathered at the O.K. Corral, he determined to let them be "as long as they stayed in the corral," but disarm and arrest them "if they came on the street."

When they moved out onto Fremont Street, Virgil said, his brothers and the Holliday, who he deputized, made their fateful march behind him to the gunfight.

Virgil testified that Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton "drew their six-shooters and commenced to cock them" as soon as he gave them the order to disarm.

Then, as in most shootings, everything happened quickly with the first two shots. One was from Billy Clanton and the other from Wyatt, both went off in rapid succession, and then the shooting became "general."

After the Preliminary Hearing, Judge Spicer ruled that Chief of Police Virgil Earp and his assistants had every "right and duty" to be armed when they approached "men whom they believed to be armed and contemplating resistance."  

Spicer said that the "tragic results" of the Clantons' and McLaurys' actions were largely their own fault. "I cannot resist the conclusion that the defendants were fully justified in committing these homicides," Spicer concluded. "There being no sufficient cause" to believe the defendants guilty of murder, "I order them to be released."

As might be expected in a town where a feud was taking place, the reaction to Judge Spicer's decision was divided. While the Tombstone Epitaph had nothing but praise for Spicer, the Tombstone Nugget called his decision contemptible.

Angry elements of the Cowboy faction plotted revenge and then carried it out.

Two weeks after Spicer's controversial decision, Pro-Earp Mayor John Clum leaped out of a stagecoach to escape bandits attempting to assassinate him.

Two weeks after that, Virgil Earp was ambushed by several men - probably including Ike Clanton - as he walked home from a saloon at night.

The ambush on Marshal Virgil Earp took place at about 11:30 pm on December 28, 1881.

It is questionable just how many bushwhackers were involved, but it is believed that at least three, maybe even four men, hid in the upper storey of an unfinished building across Allen Street from the Cosmopolitan Hotel and ambushed Virgil from behind as he walked from the Oriental Saloon to his room.


Virgil was hit in the back and left arm by three or four loads of double-barreled buckshot from about 60 feet.

Imagine this if you can, the Crystal Palace Saloon and the Eagle Brewery beyond where Virgil was standing were struck by at least 20 buckshot pellets. Three of which passed through the window, and one about a foot over the heads of some men standing by a faro table.

George Parsons wrote that he heard "four shots in quick succession." Seriously wounded, Virgil staggered into the hotel.

Reports of five or six shotgun blasts were later given, and upwards of twenty buckshot pellets penetrated the Crystal Palace Saloon and the Eagle Brewery behind Virgil's position, breaking windows and narrowly missing patrons.

But just imagine for a moment that the same number of buckshot pellets struck Virgil. And no, he did not fall. He was hit primarily in the back and his left arm.

Dr. George Emory Goodfellow removed 5.5 inches of shattered humerus bone from Virgil's left arm, leaving his arm permanently crippled. While the doctors worked on his arm, Virgil told his wife, Allie, "Never mind, I've got one arm left to hug you with."

Double-barrel shotguns from their dark hiding place across the street at fairly close range. Its no wonder Wyatt was visibly shaken.

Soon after the assassins opened fire on City Police Chief Virgil Earp outside the Oriental Saloon, Virgil's distraught brother Wyatt assumed the worst in that Virgil was dying and immediately telegraphed district U.S. Marshal Crawley P. Dake to let him know what happened and try to get help:

Tombstone, Arizona Territory, December 29, 1881

Virgil Earp was shot by concealed assassins last night. His wounds are fatal. Telegraph me appointment with power to appoint deputies. Local authorities are doing nothing. The lives of other citizens are threatened.

-Wyatt Earp

On learning of Virgil's wounds, which he initially thought were fatal, territorial U.S. Marshal Crawley P. Dake gave Virgil's Deputy U.S. Marshal position to Wyatt. Commenting on the telegram received by Dake from Wyatt Earp, the Weekly Arizona Miner wrote about the repeated threats received by the Earps and others:

"For some time, the Earps, Doc Holiday, Tom Fitch and others who upheld and defended the Earps in their late trial have received, almost daily, anonymous letters, warning them to leave town or suffer death, supposed to have been written by friends of the Clanton and McLowry boys, three of whom the Earps and Holliday killed and little attention was paid to them as they were believed to be idle boasts but the shooting of Virgil Earp last night shows that the men were in earnest."

 ________________________________

The  SPRINGFIELD DAILY REPUBLICAN, Springfield, Mass., December 30, 1881

(Page 5 news) "From The West" includes a report:  

A United States Marshal Shot

"U.S. Deputy Marshal Earp was fired on while crossing Fifth street in Tombstone, Ariz., Wednesday night by three men, armed with shotguns, who escaped in the darkness. Nineteen shots hit Earp. The assault is undoubtedly the outgrowth of a recent fight with cowboys in which Earp was engaged. The gang have since threatened the lives of Marshal Earp and his supporters, and the citizen are greatly excited."

________________________________

Virgil's left side took most of the pellets, and the doctor was forced to remove several inches of shattered bone from his upper left arm.   The assailants were never positively identified, but were usually assumed to be family or confederates of the men who died at the O.K. Corral shootout.

On January 20th, 1882, U.S. Marshal Dake deposited $2,985 into an account in Wyatt's name at Hudson & Company in Tombstone, and authorized Wyatt with federal authority to employ a posse to track down the Cowboys.

One of the prime suspects was Ike Clanton, who wanted revenge after an inquest had cleared the Earp brothers of any wrongdoing at the OK Corral. Those who did the shooting were never conclusively identified, but Frank Stilwell was seen running from the scene of the crime. Later, the suspected shooters were identified as Phin Clanton, Ike Clanton, Johnny Barnes, Johnny Ringo, Hank Swilling, Pete Spence, and Frank Stilwell.

On January 31, Ike and Phin were brought before Judge William H. Stilwell on suspicion of shooting Virgil. The district attorney asked that bail be set at $5,000, but the judge released both men on $1,500 bond, indicating he thought the prosecution's case was weak.

On February 2, 1882, Clanton's attorney brought in seven witnesses who testified that Clanton was in Charleston at the time of Virgil's shooting. Ike was immediately acquitted and released. Yes, even though Ike Clanton's hat was found near the shooting, the evidence was circumstantial, so the men were acquitted.

OK, now as for forming his famous posse. For some reason, most think it was formed later, but in reality, it was formed right after Virgil was bushwhacked. U.S. Marshal Dake deputized Wyatt with federal authority to employ a posse to track down the Cowboys.

Wyatt had learned enough from his older brother Virgil to know that he must choose trustworthy men who would not be intimidated by further threats or acts of violence by the Cowboys. He learned that he needed loyal men with sand. They had to have the resolve that makes some more loyal to a man than to the law. His posse would not only help newly appointed Deputy U.S. Marshal Wyatt Earp enforce the law, but also would act as bodyguards for the Earp brothers, Warren, Morgan, Virgil, and their wives.

Warren Earp was the youngest of the Earp brothers. Though he was not present during the gunfight at the OK Corral, after Virgil was ambush Warren joined Wyatt and Morgan. He would be a part of the Earp posse that sets out to hunt down the outlaws they believed responsible.

Doc Holliday stood by Wyatt and Morgan. Through Wyatt, Doc met Morgan and had become extremely close friends. Some say they were even closer than what is thought to be the relationship between he and Wyatt.

Wyatt had Morgan, Doc, and Warren, but he needed more. He needed gunmen. He needed what were known at the time as man-killers. He needed men known for being no-nonsense men with tough reputations. But yes, he also needed loyal men.

The sum of $5 a day doesn't sound like much today, but that was 5 times what the average man made in the 1880s. For $5 a day, these men were willing to place themselves in extreme danger. And yes, they all had different motivations for riding with Wyatt and Morgan Earp. Some say it was the thought of rewards at the end. Some say it was loyalty and respect for Virgil and the Earp brothers as a whole.  The first of these men was John "Texas Jack" Vermillion. Texas Jack was a carpenter by trade who was said to have hailed from Virginia. No, he wasn't from Texas. Imagine that!

Jack gave his age as 36 years of age in 1881. He had arrived in Tombstone from New Mexico Territory and had proved his worth to the Earps after the June 1881 town fire when he was deputized by Virgil to help keep lot jumpers at bay. Here was a man who could enforce the law in times of trouble. Supposedly, Vermillion apparently wore his hair long. And just for the record, like Longhair Jim Courtright, who had a reputation for long hair, during that time, hair didn't have to go to your collar to be considered "long".

"Texas Jack" was sometimes called "Shoot-Your-Eye-Out Jack."

Recently, some researchers have said that his full name was John Wilson Vermillion, that he had been a sharpshooter with the Virginia Cavalry during the Civil War, and that he was rumored to have been a lawman in Missouri. Sherman W. McMaster, who was 28 years old in 1881, was the most complex and valuable deputy among Earp's group, as he possessed an extensive knowledge of the local terrain and personally knew many of the Cowboys said to be gunning for the Earp family.

Born in Galena, Illinois, to a wealthy family and well educated in Rock Island, Illinois, McMaster saw service with the Texas Rangers in 1878-79. Stationed in El Paso, he tracked renegade Indians, chased horse thieves, and acted as a scout for the 9th Cavalry posted nearby.

McMaster's Texas Ranger Company held outlaw and future Clanton and McLaury confederate "Curly Bill" Brocius prisoner over a five-month period in 1878, and McMaster was later said to have associated with the San Simon Cowboys. To further complicate matters, Sherman was also accused of army mule theft and stage robbery in company with the infamous Cowboy Pony Diehl.

Although these charges were never proved, Wyatt admitted that McMaster had been friendly with the Cowboy element, and he was, therefore, able to make use of his inside knowledge. McMasters spoke fluent Spanish, rode fine horses, and was skilled with a gun. Bat Masterson's brother Thomas called McMasters the fastest man on the draw he had seen. McMasters is thought by some to have been an undercover operative for not only Earp but also Wells Fargo. If that was true, McMasters' open association with the Earp posse ended any hope he had of staying in Arizona, and he may have seen Wyatt's posse as his paid ticket out of the territory.

Some say that the most dangerous man deputized by Wyatt Earp was not Doc Holliday but really was Jack Johnson. Wyatt Earp's biographer, Stuart Lake, who is suspect on most things, referred to him as "Turkey Creek Jack" Johnson. His real name, according to Wyatt, was John William Blount. He was 34 years old in 1881 and had a unique reason for joining the posse. As a native of Missouri who was raised in the lead mining area of Neosho, he became a wanted man and was forced to flee the state in 1877 after he and his brothers were involved in a violent street battle in Webb City, Missouri.

Supposedly, one brother, Bud, killed a man in a quarrel in May 1881 in Tip Top, Arizona Territory, and was sent to Yuma Prison. John Blount, using the alias Jack Johnson, then went to Tombstone to see if Virgil Earp could help get his brother pardoned.

Supposedly, Virgil helped with a petition to the governor, and Bud Blount was eventually freed. As a way to repay his debt, Johnson joined the posse. Johnson was also said to have previously associated with the Cowboys and, therefore, like McMaster, was able to pass on important inside information.

Oregon Charles Smith and Daniel "Tip" Tipton, two gamblers who supplemented their incomes with mining ventures, completed the Earp posse. Supposedly, Smith, a 37-year-old native of Connecticut, had a close and long connection to the Earp family. Charlie was fluent in Spanish, having spent several years in Texas working in saloons.

In Fort Worth, he had been associated with James Earp, the oldest of the Earp boys, as well as saloon owner and future Earp business partner Robert J. Winders. Smith took a hand in at least two Fort Worth gunfights and sustained a serious chest wound in 1878. The following year, Smith came to Tombstone with Winders and immediately became associated with all the Earps.

Tipton, also 37 years old, arrived in Tombstone in March 1881 with a shady reputation earned during the early days of the mining boom in Virginia City, Nevada. Supposedly, Tipton had several tattoos on his hands and forearms. He was a former Civil War sailor who served in the Union Navy. He took up mining and gambling after the war. In 1879, Tipton spent time in the Gunnison district of Colorado before coming to Tombstone at the request of his friend Lou Rickabaugh, a gambling kingpin who needed help during the town's so-called Gamblers War.

Ricka­baugh was a business partner of Wyatt Earp. Tipton was said to have traveled to Tombstone in the company of another Earp ally, Bat Masterson. Though Tipton was still there supporting the Earp faction, both Bat Masterson and Luke Short had left Tombstone by the time of the serious trouble with the Cowboys in October 1881. 

Wyatt Earp's initial prognosis about his wounded brother's condition was wrong. By mid-January 1882, Virgil's condition had improved slightly, and Wyatt and Morgan decided to headquarters the Earp families with Virgil at the Cosmopolitan Hotel for safekeeping. Tombstone was a powder keg, and all knew there was safety in numbers.

On January 17, 1882, Johnny Ringo openly challenges Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday to a shoot-out in the middle of Allen Street. Ringo, the self-appointed spokesman of the Cowboy gang, had a terrible temper, was often depressed, and most likely suicidal. It is said that the confrontation was well witnessed, but like any firsthand account, descriptions vary.

Jack Burrows' account is probably the most accurate. Burrows said that Wyatt began to babble about being a peace officer, and then commenced to lecture Ringo on the silliness of fighting a duel in the street, and suggested Ringo was crazy or drunk and that he should go home and sleep it off. He also said that after Wyatt said what he said, Ringo just turned contemptuously to Doc Holliday, and at that point, a "handkerchief" duel took place.

A city police officer named James Flynn is credited with breaking up an almost deadly encounter as he reportedly ran up and grabbed Ringo from behind and separated the men. On the same day in January, gambler and Earp ally Lou Rickabaugh came to blows with Ben Maynard, a Cowboy associate, but they were separated before weapons could be used.

After spending the first half of January watching out for Cowboys and watching over his injured brother, who had lost the use of his left arm but would survive, Wyatt Earp decided it was time for action. On January 23, 1882, Wyatt and his posse rode out of Tombstone with warrants for Virgil's suspected attackers, who were Ike and Fin Clanton and Pony Diehl.

On the ride, they arrested the fiery Maynard and forced him to lead the way as they descended on the nearby Cowboy hangout of Charleston. The posse went door to door in Charleston but failed to find the Clantons or Diehl. After riding out of town, the men scouted through the countryside, eventually setting up a camp near Tombstone at a place known as Pick-em-up.

At the same time, back in Tombstone, and unknown to Wyatt's posse, the Clanton brothers had surrendered themselves. To make matters worse, on January 30th, a deputy sheriff rode out to Pick-em-up and served his own warrant to Earp posse member Sherman McMaster. He was wanted for "borrowing" two horses from the Contention mine the previous fall. No resistance was offered, and the entire Earp posse returned to Tombstone, where McMaster was bailed, and he and Charlie Smith were booked into the Cosmopolitan Hotel to join the Earp family safety.

Courtroom dramas dominated the Tombstone newspapers throughout February 1882 as both factions sought justice through the legal system. McMaster gave evidence against Ike Clanton during a hearing on the attempted murder of Virgil Earp. Although Ike's hat was found at the scene of the crime, he provided an alibi, and the charges were dismissed due to inconclusive evidence.

On February 9th, Ike Clanton went to the town of Contention and filed new charges against the Earps and Doc Holliday relating to the O.K. Corral shootout, but these charges were later dismissed. 

With tensions close to breaking point on February 15th, Earp deputy Dan Tipton and Cowboy faction's Ben Maynard came close to a gunfight in Tombstone's Alhambra Saloon. Tipton was left with a bloody eye, and both men were fined.  

Two days later, the Earp posse was riding again. Heavily armed, they left Tombstone with warrants for the arrest of Pony Diehl, who was now wanted for a January 1882 stage robbery. That expedition proved fruitless, and Wyatt and his men eventually returned empty-handed.

By March of 1882, it's said that an uneasy quiet fell over Tombstone. It was just the quiet before the storm. The Earp posse had heard talk that the Cowboys were plotting more revenge attacks, but no one knew for sure when, where, or how the attacks would take place.

Some say there was a sort of air of inevitability about further violence taking place. Tipton would later state that members of the Earp faction had been repeatedly warned to be on the lookout for a Cowboy ambush.

Then, on March 18th, it finally came. At about 10:30 p.m., Morgan Earp was playing pool at Campbell and Hatch's Saloon, while Tipton, McMaster, and Wyatt watched. As Morgan turned his back to a rear-door to play a shot on the pool table, gunshots tore through the door windows and slammed into his back.

The bullets shattered his spine and passed through his left kidney, and the wound was pronounced fatal by the doctor who examined him a short time later. His assailants fired from a darkened alley through a window in an outside door. Wyatt was also shot at, but the bullet went high and missed.

On March 20, 1882, The Tombstone Epitaph wrote:

THE DEADLY BULLET 

The Assassin at Last Successful in His Devilish Mission

Morgan Earp Shot Down and Killed While Playing Billiards

"10:00 Saturday night while engaged in playing a game of billiards in Campbell & Hatch's Billiard parlor, on Allen between Fourth and Fifth, Morgan Earp was shot through the body by an unknown assassin. At the time the shot was fired he was playing a game with Bob Hatch, one of the proprietors of the house and was standing with his back to the glass door in the rear of the room that opens out upon the alley that leads straight through the block along the west side of A.D. Otis & Co.'s store to Fremont Street. 

This door is the ordinary glass door with four panes in the top in place of panels. The two lower panes are painted, the upper ones being clear. Anyone standing outside can look over the painted glass and see anything going on in the room just as well as though standing in the open door. 

At the time the shot was fired the deceased must have been standing within ten feet of the door, and the assassin standing near enough to see his position, took aim for about the middle of his person, shooting through the upper portion of the whitened glass. 

The bullet entered the right side of the abdomen, passing through the spinal column, completely shattering it, emerging on the left side, passing the length of the room and lodging in the thigh of Geo. A.B. Berry, who was standing by the stove, inflicting a painful flesh wound. Instantly after the first shot a second was fired through the top of the upper glass which passed across the room and lodged in the wall near the ceiling over the head of Wyatt Earp, who was sitting as a spectator of the game. Morgan fell instantly upon the first fire and lived only about one hour. 

His brother Wyatt, Tipton, and McMasters rushed to the side of the wounded man and tenderly picked him up and moved him some ten feet away near the door of the card room, where Drs. Matthews, Goodfellow and Millar, who were called, examined him and, after a brief consultation, pronounced the wound mortal. He was then moved into the card room and placed on the lounge where in a few brief moments he breathed his last, surrounded by his brothers, Wyatt, Virgil, James, and Warren with the wives of Virgil and James and a few of his most intimate friends. 

Notwithstanding the intensity of his mortal agony, not a word of complaint escaped his lips, and all that were heard, except those whispered into the ear of his brother and known only to him were, "Don't, I can't stand it. This is the last game of pool I'll ever play." The first part of the sentence being wrung from him by an attempt to place him upon his feet.

The funeral cortege started away from the Cosmopolitan hotel about 12:30 yesterday with the fire bell tolling its solemn peals of "Earth to earth, dust to dust."

________________________________

Gunfight at the OK Corral - The Aftermath - Part One

Years later Wyatt told Stuart Lake in his biography that Morgan, before dying, whispered to Wyatt "I can't see a damned thing," a reference to supposed visions of Heaven seen by dying people - which Morgan and Wyatt had discussed on a previous occasion.

To the last, Morgan's behavior was in keeping with what is known of him. He died less than an hour after being shot, while lying on a lounge in an adjoining card room of the billiard parlor - no, not on the billiard table, as some accounts report.

Unlike targeting Virgil Earp because he was the top law enforcement officer in town and the oldest Earp brother in law enforcement, subsequently in charge of the other brothers, I really believe that it didn't matter which Earp was at that back door window at that moment.

I really believe that it could have been either Wyatt or Morgan. For the would-be assassins, what mattered was that an Earp would be the target. If I'm wrong, and they did purposely target Morgan next after Virgil, then that would mean that the Cowboys might have recognized Morgan, who was assistant City Police Chief, as Virgil's successor and next target.

As for Wyatt, Morgan's death sent Wyatt on a three-week rampage in the country around Tombstone, sometimes referred to as the Earp Vendetta Ride, killing anyone Wyatt believed was connected to Morgan's death.

Wyatt believed that former Johnny Behan deputy and accused stage-robber Frank Stilwell fired the shot that hit Morgan, while the shot that missed Wyatt was fired by William Brocius, a.k.a. "Curly Bill". Both Stilwell and Brocius were killed in the vendetta.

After Morgan's death, he was laid out in a blue suit belonging to his friend Doc Holliday. His body was then taken by wagon on the next day (Sunday) by family and friends to the nearest railhead, in Benson.

Morgan's funeral cortege started away from the Cosmopolitan hotel as the fire bell toll its solemn peals of "Earth to earth, dust to dust." From there, accompanied by older brother James Earp, Morgan's body was sent to his family in Colton, California.

On the following day (Monday), Virgil and his wife were accompanied under family guard to Tucson, in a second expedition. The Earp posse, without Texas Jack Vermillion, accompanied Virgil Earp and his family as personal protection while escorting him to Tucson, March 20, 1882. 

Instead, Vermillion joined the Vendetta Posse on March 21, 1882, in Tombstone. A coroner's jury later identified the men suspected of killing Morgan as Cochise County Deputy Frank Stilwell, his friend Pete Spence, and three of Spence's employees — Indian Charlie, Frederick Bode and an unnamed man known to be a "half-breed."

The cowardly assassination of his brother was a turning point for Earp and his posse. Until that time, Wyatt had attempted to rely on the legal system to bring Virgil's assailants to justice.

The law and justice are two different things. Those who did these things deserved what was coming to them. And yes, Wyatt understood the futility of thinking the legal system worked when wanting retribution on those who had crossed the line and became outlaws.

He recognized that the only way to deal with those who tried to assassinate Virgil and those who ruthlessly murdered Morgan was to kill them. The law was about to take a back seat to justice being served. 

The Gunfight At The OK Corral

Gunfight at the OK Corral - The Aftermath - Part One

Tom Correa

RANDOM SHOTS - Oyster Farmer Under Attack, AARP Backsteps, Obama Has MSNBC Advisors, and More!

Oyster Farmer Battles Federal Government's Order To Close Down

It's no secret that family farms are under attack in America.

The Obama administration and the Democrat Left continue their assault on American traditions, institutions and values. Nothing is stopping them from doing as they please no matter how many people are put out of work, no matter how many family farms and businesses are lost, no matter who it hurts.

We have already seen the Obama administration attack the coal industry, scuttle the the Keystone XL Pipeline which could have put hundreds of thousands of Americans to work, and their attempt to kill the energy industry as a whole.

They have tried to ruin small businesses through over regulation and higher taxes and penalties via ObamaCare, attack the middle class through their refusal act on unemployment issues and cost of living and tax and regulation burdens.

They have failed to defend normal marriage, and of course the Obama administration has severely harmed the best medical system in the world with its whole "let's throw the baby out with the bathwater" approach to fixing health care expense.

Instead of working for Americans, working for the people as a whole, the very Federal Government which should work on behalf of the people, actually attacks farmers and ranchers, American agriculture, at every opportunity.

Of course, there are the Environmentalist and Animal Rights crazies. In the last 4 years, the Obama White House has bowed down to Environmentalist and Animal Rights crazies and kowtows to them because of their financial contributions.

The Obama administration is the "Stepin Fetchit" lackey of the Environmentalist movement in America today. Environmentalist attack agriculture, manufacturing, and energy, and the lackey that we know of as the Obama administration just goes along with it.

The constant attacks mainly come from the powerful federal government surrogates such as the Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of the Interior, the Commerce Department, the Department of Transportation, and the FDA to name a few.

And no, no farm is immune from their attacks.

A California family that has operated an oyster farm on the bucolic Northern California coast is fighting back after the federal government moved to kick it off of the National Park Service property where the shellfish have been legally harvested for nearly 80 years.

The Drakes Bay Oyster Company faces closure and its 30 employees will be out of work if the National Park Service reclaims some 1,100 acres of an estuary as part of a plan to create a larger marine wilderness preserve at Point Reyes National Seashore in Marin County. Owner Kevin Lunny said federal officials told him on Thursday — one day before his company's 40-year lease was set to expire — that he had three months to clear out. On Tuesday, he announced he's suing.

"We're not going to walk away," Lunny told reporters during a conference call. "We're fighting for our community."

Lunny said the company currently has roughly 10 million immature oysters worth up to $5 million awaiting harvest.

Lunny has an ally in Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who had tried to get the lease extended for another decade. But even her clout has failed to sway U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.

“I am extremely disappointed that Secretary Salazar chose not to renew the operating permit for the Drakes Bay Oyster Company,” Feinstein said in a statement.

“The National Park Service’s review process has been flawed from the beginning with false and misleading science, which was also used in the Environmental Impact Statement. The secretary’s decision effectively puts this historic California oyster farm out of business. As a result, the farm will be forced to cease operations and 30 Californians will lose their jobs.”

The National Park Service bought the land from Lunny's predecessor in 1972, but granted then-owner Johnson Oyster Company a 40-year lease to continue harvesting oysters.

Salazar said in a department memo that it was made clear at the time of the lease's signing that it would not be renewed, and that the information was conveyed to Lunny in 2004 when he bought the business.

Salazar's move will effectively end the company’s operations within the national park estuary, which includes an onshore oyster processing plant and offshore oyster harvesting on more than 1,000 acres of coastal waters.

“Our family business is not going to sit back and let the government steam roll our community, which has been incredibly supportive of us.”
- Statement on DrakesBayOyster.com

“I’ve taken this matter very seriously,” Salazar said in a statement. “We’ve undertaken a robust public process to review the matter from all sides, and I have personally visited the park to meet with the company and members of the community … I believe it is the right decision for Point Reyes National Seashore and for future generations who will enjoy this treasured landscape.”

Amber Abbasi, an attorney for Cause of Action, which is representing Lunney, said the federal government did not comply with the National Environmental Policy Act and violated the Data Quality Act when determining to deny the renewal. National Park Service employees also provided false and misleading information, she said.

"A permit could have been granted and it was not granted," Abbasi told reporters Tuesday. "And the process by which it was not granted was deficient in many, many respects.”

A motion seeking a preliminary injunction in the case will be filed later this week, she said.

The estuary, according to federal officials, supports one of the largest harbor seal colonies in the state and is within the Point Reyes National Seashore, which attracts more than 2 million visitors annually and provides $85 million in economic activity to the region. Salazar said the displaced workers will get federal job training to find new work.

Salazar also moved to convert the entire area to a federally-protected marine wilderness once the oyster operation has shuttered. The move follows through on a 1976 congressional designation of the expansive estuary locally known as the Estero as a potential marine wilderness area, the only such area on the West Coast of the continental United States.

“Carrying out steps set in motion by the United States Congress over three decades ago, we are taking the final step to recognize this pristine area as wilderness,” said Salazar. “The Estero is one of our nation’s crown jewels, and today we are fulfilling the vision to protect this special place for generations to come.”

What is this catch phrase "pristine area as wilderness" all about? They can apply that catch phrase to just about anywhere that they "feel" should be restricted from humans.

Critics say responsible oyster harvesting poses no threat to the environment, and accuse Salazar of gunning for the commercial fishing industry. Imagine that, people who are calling a spade a spade - and telling people what is really going on.

“At a time when we are struggling to solve our national fiscal problems, throwing 30 more Americans out of work and removing an estimated 40 percent of California's oyster production — which will undoubtedly be replaced by imported oysters — makes no sense,” Rod Moore of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association told Fox News in a statement.

Moore said the National Park Service has a long-standing policy of trying to remove commercial fisheries from within existing or expanded national park boundaries, even while allowing other commercial concessionaires to continue. The service has made similar moves regarding federal parkland in Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park and Everglades National Park in Florida, he said.

Greenpeace Ocean Campaign Director John Hocevar said reclaiming the oyster farm and designating the wider area for federal protection preserves it for both tourism and environmental safety.

But Lunny, whose lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on Monday, said people's livelihoods are being thrown away for no good reason.

“It’s actually hard to believe this decision was made," Lunny said. "The Bay Area was ignored in this decision apparently and this is a public resource … Our family is just the current steward of this farm, it has existed for decades.”

So what happens now? Well, basically David fights Goliath!

DrakesBayOyster.com is accepting contributions to help fight Goliath.

Like the bible story, can Drakes Bay Oyster Company beat the Goliath which we call the Federal Government which we know bows down to Environmental extremist?

Can a small family farm beat the odds and win so that their family's 80 year old business will stay alive and 30 people keep their jobs? 

Since I don't see the Obama administration's Interior Department changing their mind anytime soon, I really believe that this family farm could become another casualty in agriculture that can be directly attributed to the liberal agenda and the Environmental movement - neither of which cares about people.

Small Business Owner Gives Obama a Piece of His Mind

On November 26th, it was reported that some U.S. business owners got a chance to meet with White House advisors and give their own take on the fiscal cliff, tax hikes and more.

Among the small business owners invited to the discussion was Drew Greenblatt, president of Marlin Steel (www.MarlinWire.com ) - a small business in Baltimore, Maryland.

Ahead of the meeting, Greenblatt said he has one thing on his mind.

“We’ve got to increase job creation, fast,” he told FOX Business. “This recession has gone on too long, and now is the time for us to turn it around by creating certainty.”

As for those looming tax increases for those making above $250,000 annually, Greenblatt said he was going to deliver a message that the move would stunt economic growth and hiring.

American factories, he said, are one example of a small business that pays taxes on a personal level of income. Increasing their tax rate will deter potential for economic gains.

“It makes us less competitive against our economic adversaries like Canada and Germany,” Greenblatt said. “Right now, American factories are paying much more in taxes than our German and Canadian rivals. We have to be more competitive - if we are more competitive, we will win more jobs… we will hire more locals.”

And if government spending continues on its current path, he said, it is a road to doom.

“It’s a failed strategy and a failed policy,” he said. “We need to have a very competitive economic environment to have growth surge in our country. Then we will [be able to] pay more money in taxes, because we will all be making more money. If the pie is bigger, it’s easier to grow out of this terrible recession.”

It was unclear at press time if President Obama attended the meeting, but either way I can only hope that President Obama got the message - or that it matters to him.

AARP Lobbies Against Medicare Cuts? Why Now Since They Support ObamaCare?

This is one of those news stories that just reeks of dishonesty.

Dishonesty? Yes, because the AARP who was a huge Obama supporter during the election and through their support behind ObamaCare in 2010 AARP is now putting on a show for its memebers.

The AARP has a potential conflict of interest in its fierce opposition to possible cuts in Medicare, the Washington Post reports.

The influential lobbying group for Americans over 50 has insisted its fighting potential changes for the good of its 38 million members - but the success of its efforts could mean a difference of hundreds of millions of dollars it makes every year in insurance sales.

According to The Washington Post, the AARP gets a 4.95 percent royalty each time one of its members buys Medigap insurance — which supplements Medicare coverage.

Proposed changes in Medicare being discussed in Washington could cut into Medicap and reduce AARP’s huge revenue windfall.

But while AARP is fighting the cuts because they want the money, a Kaiser Family Foundation study reveals that Medigap premiums could fall dramatically under some reform plans in the works right now - and that would mean that seniors could potentially save hundreds of dollars per year.

“There is a potential conflict of interest,” Marilyn Moon, a former senior AARP official who runs the nonprofit American Institutes for Research, told the newspaper.

“Any way you look at changes in Medigap that people are talking about, I think it’s good for beneficiaries, and anybody who is opposing that who claims they are looking out for beneficiaries, you have to wonder why.”

AARP officials insist they are only looking out for their members, but many aren't buying it.

Nationally-syndicated columnist Froma Harrop said she’s unsure why AARP is running ads in which a stern female voice warns, “If Washington tries to cram decisions about the future of these programs into a last-minute budget deal, we’ll all pay the price.”

“The AARP ad was a bit unexpected in that the lobbying group for older Americans supported the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) – Medicare savings and all,’’ Harrop writes. “Why it’s running this ad now is unclear."

Unclear to some, but not all. It may also be an effort to calm its membership who have found out that AARP backed Obama who cut $716 Million from Medicare to fund ObamaCare and now wants to cut their benefits even more.

The vast majority of seniors who belong to AARP are Democrats. I can't help but wonder how they feel about being lied to?

U.S. Senate Unanimously Passes Defense Spending Bill


The U.S. Senate on Tuesday voted 98-0 to approve a wide-ranging defense bill that authorizes $631.4 billion in funding for the U.S. military, the war in Afghanistan and nuclear weapons.

The bill, passed after five days of debate and consideration of hundreds of amendments, must be reconciled with the version passed by the House of Representatives before it can go to President Barack Obama to be signed into law.

There are several key differences between the House and Senate bills, including whether to back continued work by the military on developing biofuels for jets and warships.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin said the key challenge facing the bill's enactment was the short amount of time available for House and Senate negotiators to come up with a compromise version. He said staff discussions had already begun.

The top Republican on the committee, Senator John McCain, said he was confident that the House and Senate would be able to resolve the differences between the two bills.

Both senators said they were pleased that they had been able to shepherd the bill to Senate passage under an open process that allowed debate on amendments without having to deal with any threatened procedural roadblocks known as filibusters.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, has promised to try to change Senate rules when the new congress convenes next month to curb filibusters, which have become commonplace.

The Senate bill includes a new round of Iran sanctions, a permanent ban on transferring detainees from Guantanamo to the United States, and prohibitions on the military detention of U.S. citizens.

A measure included in the bill would require U.S. defense contractors that work on classified programs to notify the government if their computer networks are breached.

The bill also bans funding for a missile defense project funded jointly by the United States, Germany and Italy - the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) that is built by Lockheed Martin Corp and its partners in Italy and Germany.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta had urged lawmakers to include $400.9 million as final funding for the program, which is being discontinued after this year.

The White House threatened to veto the bill over the changes to the Pentagon's proposed budget and the restrictions on transfers of Guantanamo detainees.

The bill includes a provision that would lift the ban on women in the military using their health insurance for abortion care in cases of rape or incest, and another that would require creation of a comprehensive suicide prevention program.

It also includes an overhaul of wartime contracting rules after the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan found the United States had squandered up to $60 billion through waste and fraud on contracts in those countries.

Now let's see if Obama will veto it?  He just might. There's no telling what he will do.

After all, if Obama has any sort of legacy as president, it may be for saying and doing anything to get elected as well as saying one thing but doing another later when he has nothing at stake politically.

Obama Meets with MSNBC's Al Sharpton and Rachel Maddow to Talk Tax Rates


I know it sounds crazy, but believe it or not, on Tuesday, December 4th, President Obama welcomed MSNBC's ultra-leftists Rachel Maddow and Al Sharpton to the West Wing to discuss tax rates.

This is according to the Weekly Standard which wrote about it following a Huffington Post reporter's tweets.

The Standard quoted the tweets of Post reporter Jennifer Bendery who was at the White House and apparently saw both Maddow and Sharpton entering.

Maddow reportedly joked with the reporter she was there for a "hippie cabal." Later, she wondered if it was an "MSNBC lovefest."

OK, so we found the two people who Obama feels represents the Liberal faction in America.

Does anyone think that Obama will invite say Herman Cain and Laura Ingraham to represent the Conservative faction and say discuss his domestic policy or the effects of ObamaCare?

No, that ain't about to happen. Obama only knows those on the left. He only recognizes those of his same ilk.

For him to invite ultra-left MSNBC types who are Cheer Leaders for all of his policies to talk about tax rates is incredibly silly. It is the equivalent of one KKK member asking another KKK member over for a discussion on race relations. There is no reason for the show. It's all smoke and mirrors.

And yes, I really believe that his actions since the election have shown that he does not recognize the 56 Million Americans who did not vote for him - or what they want.

Clinton-era Tax Team Wants Obama to Increase Taxes on Middle-Class


Some of those who used to be a part of the Clinton administration are now working for Obama.

These bozos believe that Obama should raise taxes on the Middle-Class. They say taxes should be higher and reach deeper into the Middle-Class than the president has proposed to solve a fiscal dilemma.

Taxes should be raised by $1.8 trillion over the next decade and capital gains should be taxed at 28 percent, up from the current 15 percent, according to a report released today by the Center for American Progress, a Washington group with ties to Democrats.

Many deductions would be converted into credits, and taxes would rise by an average of $468 in 2017 for households earning between $100,000 and $250,000 a year, a group that Obama has largely pledged to shield from heavier burdens.

“By reforming our tax system, we do it in a progressive way and we raise the revenue that’s needed to run an effective government,” John Podesta, a co-author who was chief of staff under President Bill Clinton, told reporters on a conference call today.

The plan’s co-authors include Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers, who each served as Treasury secretary for Clinton.

Also listed as co-authors are former Clinton administration members William Daley, who was Commerce secretary, and Evercore Partners Inc. Chairman Roger Altman and Leslie Samuels, who were top officials at the Treasury Department. Daley and Summers also worked in the Obama administration, and Podesta is now chairman of the Center for American Progress. Another co-author is Antonio Weiss, global head of investment banking at Lazard, Ltd.

Their plan adds to the debate between the Obama administration and congressional Republicans over how to avert the so-called fiscal cliff, more than $600 billion in automatic spending cuts and tax increases scheduled to take effect in January.

Lawmakers are trying to prevent a short-term shock to the economy and reach an agreement on long-term deficit reduction.

The proposal calls for a top income tax rate of 39.6 percent, the same as under Clinton and in Obama’s budget.

It would repeal the alternative minimum tax, set the top estate tax rate at 48 percent, and raise corporate taxes by 4 percent while lowering the statutory rate.

It's obvious Democrats don't think Middle-Class America pays enough. Imagine that!

Oh, and just for you folks who say unemployed, retired, or permanently disabled Americans don't pay taxes, here a list of what Americans pay in taxes. The list shows the "hidden" taxes that Americans pay each year.

Granted some states are more taxed than others, some have more "permit" fees which are taxes. But honestly, even a Democrat has to agree after seeing this list that Americans pay a great deal of taxes.

List of taxes paid by Americans:


Accounts Receivable Tax
Accumulated Earnings Tax
Accumulation Distribution of Trusts
Activity Fee (Dumping Permit Fee)
Aircraft Jet Fuel Tax
Aircraft Excise Tax
Alcohol Fuels Tax
Alcoholic Beverage Tax
Alternative Minimum Tax – Amt
Ambulance Services
Ammunition Tax
Annual Custodial Fees (Ira Accounts)

Biodiesel Fuel Tax
Blueberry Tax (Maine)
Brothel licensing fees (NV)
Building Permit Tax

Capital Gains Tax
California Interstate User Diesel Fuel Tax

California Redemption Value (Can and Bottle Tax)
CDL License Tax
Charter Boat Captain License
Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Fee
Cigarette Tax
Cigarette Tax Stamp (Acts) (Distributors)
Compressed Natural Gas Tax
Commercial Activity Tax (OH – for Service Providers)
Corporate Income Tax
Court Fines (Indirect Taxes)
County Property Tax

Disposable Diapers Tax (Wisconsin)
Disposal Fee (Any Landfill Dumping)
Dog License Tax
Duck Hunting Tax Stamp (PA, others)

Electronic Waste Recycling Fee (E-Waste)
Emergency Telephone User Surcharge
Environmental Fee (CA – HazMat Fees)
Estate Tax (Death Tax, to be reinstated)
Excise Taxes

Facility Fee (CA – HazMat Fees)
FDIC tax (insurance premium on bank deposits)
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fiduciary Income Tax (Estates and Trusts)
Fishing License Tax
Flush Tax (MD Tax For Producing Wastewater)
Food License Tax
Fountain Soda Drink Tax (Chicago – 9%)
Franchise Tax
Fresh Fruit (CA, if Purchased From A Vending Machine)
Fuel Gross Receipts Tax (Retail/Distributor)
Fuel Permit Tax
Fur Clothing Tax (MN)

Garbage Tax
Gasoline Tax (475 Cents Per Gallon)
Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax
Generator Fee (Recycled Waste Fee)
Gift Tax
Gross Receipts Tax

Habitat Stamp (Hunting/Fishing in some states)
Hamburger Tax
Hazardous Substances Fees: Generator, Facility, Disposal
Highway Access Fee
Household Employment Taxes
Hunting License Tax

Illegal Drug Possession (No Carolina)
Individual Income Tax
Inheritance Tax
Insect Control Hazardous Materials License
Insurance Premium Tax
Intangible Tax (Leases Of Govt. Owned Real Property)
Integrated Waste Management Fee
Interstate User Diesel Fuel Tax
Inventory Tax
IRA Rollover Tax (a transfer of IRA money)
IRA Early Withdrawal Tax
IRS Interest Charges
IRS Penalties (Tax On Top Of Tax)

Jock Tax (income earned by athletes in some states)

Kerosene, Distillate, & Stove Oil Taxes
Kiddie Tax (Child’s Earned Interest Form 8615)

Land Gains and Real Estate Withholding
Lead Poisoning Prevention Fee (Occupational)
Lease Severance Tax
Library Tax
Liquid Natural Gas Tax
Liquid Petroleum Gas Tax
Liquor Tax
Litigation Tax (TN Imposes Varies With the Offense)
LLC/PLLC Corporate Registration Tax
Local Income Tax
Lodging Taxes
Lump-Sum Distributions
Luxury Taxes

Make-Up Tax (Ohio, applying in a salon is taxable)
Marriage License Tax
Meal Tax
Medicare Tax
Mello-Roos Taxes (Special Taxes and Assessments)
Migratory Waterfowl Stamp (addition to hunting license)
Minnow Dealers License (Retail – For One Shop)
Minnow Dealers License (Distributor – For One+ Shops)
Mobile Home Ad Valorem Taxes
Motor Fuel Tax (For Suppliers)
Motor Vehicle Tax
Music and Dramatic Performing Rights Tax

Nursery Registration (Buying and selling plants)

Occupancy Inspection Fees
Occupation Taxes and Fees (Various Professional Fees)
Oil and Gas Assessment Tax
Oil Spill Response, Prevention, and Administration Fee

Parking Space Taxes
Pass-Through Withholding
Pay-Phone Calls Tax (Indiana)
Percolation Test Fee
Personal Property Tax
Personal Holding Company (undistributed earnings)
Pest Control License
Petroleum Business Tax
Playing Card Tax (Al)
Profit from Illegal Drug Dealing
Property Tax
Property Transfer Tax (DE, ownership transfer between parties)
Prostitution Tax (NV – Prostitute Work Permits)
Poultry Registered Premises License (Sales License)

Rain Water Tax (Runoff after a Storm)
Rat Control Fee (CA)
Real Estate Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
Refrigerator and Freezer Recycling Fees
Regional Transit Taxing Authority (Trains)
Road Usage Tax
Room Tax (Hotel Rooms)

Sales Tax (State)
Sales Tax (County)
Sales Tax (City)
Sales And Use Tax (Sellers Permit)
School Tax
Service Charge Tax
Self Employment Tax
Septic And Drain Field Inspection Fees
Sex Sales Tax (UT, when nude people perform services)
Sewer & Water Tax
Social Security Tax
Special Assessment Tax
State Documentary Stamp Tax on Notes (FL RE Tax)
State Franchise Tax
State Income Tax
State Park Fees
State Unemployment Tax
Straight Vegetable Oil (SVO) Fuel Tax
Stud Fees (Kentucky’s Thoroughbred Sex Tax)

Tangible Personal Property Tax
Tattoo Tax (AR Tax On Tattoos)
Telephone 911 Service Tax (some states)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal Surcharge Taxes
Telephone State Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring Charges Tax
Telephone Universal Access Tax
Telephone Non-Recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State Usage Charge Tax
Telephone Local Usage Charge Tax
Tire Recycling Fee
Tobacco Tax (Cigar, Pipe, Consumer Tax)
Tobacco Tax (Cigar, Pipe, Dealer Tax)
Toll Road Taxes
Toll Bridge Taxes
Toll Tunnel Taxes
Tourism or Concession License Fee
Traffic Fines (Indirect Taxation)
Transportable Treatment Unit Fee (Small Facility)
Trailer Registration Tax
Trout Stamp (Addendum To Fish License)

Use Taxes (On Out-Of-State Purchases)
Utility Taxes
Unemployment Tax
Underground Storage Tank Maintenance Fee
Underpayment of Estimated Tax (Form 2210)
Unreported Tip Income (Social Security and Medicare Tax)

Vehicle License
Vehicle Recovery Tax (CO, to find stolen cars)
Vehicle Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax

Wagering Tax (Tax on Gambling Winnings)
Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO) Fuel Tax
Water Rights Fee
Watercraft Registration Tax
Waterfowl Stamp Tax
Well Permit Tax
Wiring Inspection Fees
Workers Compensation Tax

Accounting and Tax Preparation - the cost to taxpayers is $300 Billion a year.

TRIVIA

Today, farmers use machines to milk more than 100 cows per hour. Before milking machines were invented in 1894, farmers could only milk about 6 cows per hour.
   Story by Tom Correa