It has been more than three months since Kenneth Gladney was viciously attacked by SEIU employees. The assault wasn't an accident, but a deliberate attempt to intimidate and silence tea party activists and town hall protesters. The morning of the Gladney assault, the White House presented to Senate Democrats a 'battle plan' to quell the protests. The White House advised Democrats "punch back twice as hard." Gladney was the first casualty.
The Gladney beating took place at a forum on 'Aging', sponsored by Rep. Russ Carnahan. Carnahan had been caught flat-footed by earlier protests. This time he was more prepared; the day before the forum, Sara Howard took over as his communications director. Ms. Howard is a veteran leftist activist, holding senior positions with SEIU.
SEIU and partisan hacks like Media Matters have tried to spin away the Gladney beating. They would have you believe a 130 lb diabetic, recovering luekemia patient, picked a fight with men almost twice his size. The police report puts an end to that lie.
The police report is unambiguous about what happened on August 6th in St. Louis. The White House, through SEIU, did indeed 'punch back twice as hard.' What is ambiguous, however, is why prosecutors haven't pursued the charges against SEIU. As you will learn, there is a lot to suggest that Bob McCulloch, the St. Louis DA, is trying to cover-up SEIU's crime. Stay tuned as the truth comes out.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2009 00:00 ||
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This kind of thing was way more common in the 1800s it seems. Will it ever go away? Looks like some folks still haven't figured out how the internet works. And they may still get away with it.
Good job, SEIU thugs. Why not run down to the hospital and do this guy again.
Gov.-elect Chris Christie stopped by the Jim Gearhart show on 101.5 FM radio and dropped a bomb: There are no transition funds. He told the morning radio legend: “Interestingly, the state didn’t fund the transition. They didn’t put any money in the budget for a transition so we need to talk about making sure that we get that squared away.” Four years ago there was $250,000 for the Codey transition out of the governor’s office. And $250,000 for Corzine to transition in. Incidentally, a lot less was spent than was budgeted. So, what happened here? Did the big thinkers under the Gold Dome think Corzine was a sure winner so transition funds were not necessary? Did they just forget? Where does the transition money come from in this cash-strapped state? A bake sale? Corzine makes a contribution as a parting gift? Ideas, anyone?
Posted by: Mike ||
11/10/2009 11:28 ||
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The Treasury Department, not the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., should be held responsible for a public relations gaffe last month in which the FDIC closed a Chicago bank just hours after it received an award from Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, according to FDIC spokesman David Barr. Speculation has been that this may be related to Geithner's wishing to push Bair out of her office because she's 'isnÂ’t a team player and is too focused on protecting her agency rather than the financial system as a whole' I for one am truly glad she isn't on Team Geithner, whose only 'financial system' of interest to him excludes the likes of you and me, and includes only the largest and most destructive corporations in human history.
Fannie Mae, the mortgage finance giant, said Monday that it was reviewing whether it would have to write off $5.2 billion in low-income housing tax credits after the Treasury Department rejected its request last week to sell the credits to Goldman Sachs, Bloomberg News reports.
The Treasury determined that an agreement to sell about half of Fannie Mae's credits would have cost taxpayers more than the company would have gained from the deal. Goldman could have used the tax credits to lower its tax bill.
"We are evaluating whether Treasury's decision changes our prior determination that we continue to have the intent and ability to sell or otherwise transfer" the credits, Fannie Mae said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
"While our conservator has directed us to continue to explore options to sell or transfer these investments for value consistent with our mission, we believe this will be difficult given current constraints and market conditions," the company said in its filing.
Fannie Mae said in its third-quarter earnings report on Thursday that it would need to write down the $5.2 billion investment to zero if "we no longer have the intent and ability to sell or otherwise transfer" the low-income housing tax credits, Bloomberg reports.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2009 00:00 ||
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Why are the tax credits not being used on low-income housing as intended in their issuance?
TOKYO, Nov 10 (AFP) Nov 10, 2009
US President Barack Obama is willing to visit the nuclear-bombed cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki while in office but won't go there during a Japan trip this week, he said in an NHK TV interview Tuesday.
"The memories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are etched in the minds of the world, and I would be honoured to have the opportunity to visit those cities at some point during my presidency," Obama said in an exclusive interview.
Wonder if he ever visited the Arizona while he lived in Hawaii?
#2
How many million Japanese were able to survive the war because those bombs forced an end? After seeing the carnage at Iwo and Okinawa I don't think I would have sent landing craft until several years of total blockade and bombardment. Somalians would look fat compared with what I would have had us fight.
#5
I think some people would be surprised to learn how poor a grasp of history Obama's generation and younger have. The lyric is that the USA has been a dominate world force for 200 years. Influential, is some instances yes, but their misconception is that the USA has been a superpower, pulling all the strings. Mention how dominant the IJN was vs. USN in the opening rounds and they simply do not believe it. Many grasp at straws as to the date of Pearl Harbor (not day, year, but sometimes even decade). It works into the narrative that the USA has always been the provoker of wars.
#7
fine with me... as long as the Japanese Premier joins him in a tour of Nanking and Bataan.
Posted by: Greth the Full Bosomed4724 ||
11/10/2009 18:45 Comments ||
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#8
As long as he stops at Manila [then an American territory scheduled for independence before Dec 7, 1941] and review the brutal and criminal Sack of Manila by the Imperial Japanese forces.
#9
Nonsense, P2K. Those actions in Manila were just a natural reaction by the poor Japanese soldiers outraged at what was going to happen to their homeland. I mean, who could blame the poor dears?
The Japanese were just sitting there, peacefully trying to create the Greater Asia Co-prosperity Sphere, when out of nowhere the evil Americans came in an dropped atomic bombs on Japan.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
11/10/2009 21:09 Comments ||
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White House communications director Anita Dunn will step down from her post at the end of the month and Dan Pfeiffer, her deputy, will take over, according to sources familiar with the move.
Dunn, a longtime Democratic media consultant, took over the job on an interim basis earlier this year when Ellen Moran abruptly left the post to take a job at the Commerce Department. Dunn will return to Squier Knapp Dunn, the consulting firm where she is a partner, but will remain as a consultant to the White House on the communications and strategic matters.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
11/10/2009 13:45 Comments ||
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#6
A lack of thorazine would explain a lot of the communications department's behavior....but maybe she just had peanut butter stuck to the roof of her mouth.
Gov. David Paterson told the state Legislature on Nov. 9, 2009, if there aren't immediate cuts made to education and hospitals New York State will be broke before Christmas.
Governor David Paterson called an unusual joint session of the Legislature Monday to implore recalcitrant lawmakers to close the state's huge budget gap before New York runs out of money.
To some lawmakers it's nothing more than a photo op to help Paterson get re-elected. But the governor is dead serious. He said if the Legislature doesn't cut the budget now the state could run out of money by next month. "We're going to run out of cash in four and a half weeks. We are going to run out of money. Unless we do something about it, (it will) threaten generations," Paterson said.
And so began what is turning out to be a tense tug of war between Gov. Paterson and the Legislature.
The governor says $3.2 billion in cuts must be enacted how -- or else. The cuts range from $500 million in agency spending to over $1 billion in already committed in aid to school districts and hospitals. "I will mortgage my political career, but I will not mortgage the fate of the State of New York," Paterson said.
But Senate Democrats, with their tenuous 32-30 hold on the upper house, are terrified to make school and hospital cuts because, they said, the cuts could mean increases in local property taxes. And that could mean suburban Democrats on Long Island, in Westchester and other parts of the state could have trouble getting re-elected next year.
Remember, high property taxes led to the ouster of many suburban Democrats last week, including Westchester County Executive Andy Spano. Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi could also lose once absentee ballots are counted.
"Personally, I do not favor mid-year school cuts," said State Sen. Pedro Espada, D-Bronx.
"Last year, in the midst of this financial crisis, the Senate and the Assembly together with the governor decided to raise spending by $12 billion," added Sen. Andrew Lanza, R-Staten Island.
"I'd rather present 96 or 97 percent of a check to school districts, to hospitals than to have them call up and say where's my check? And the state says, sorry, we didn't have any money," said Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan.
The governor has ordered lawmakers into special session Tuesday to close the budget gap. Right now there is no agreement and he could flex his muscles by keeping them here until there is.
Also on the agenda Tuesday are bills to legalize gay marriage, toughen drunk-driving laws, impose a cap on state spending and reform the state's public authorities.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2009 00:00 ||
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Kee-rist, do I have to do all the thinking around here? Raise the taxes on the working people! Sheesh! How hard can that be?
#2
I know! Tax Santa for the work he does in the state of New York on Christmas Eve. That'll provide enough funds to get to Easter then Wash...Rinse...Repeat
Donors have contributed just $3,315 to the Rangel Center at City College since the Harlem congressman became enmeshed in scandal last fall.
The center -- which critics have derided as a "monument to me" -- needs $30 million to renovate a derelict building in Harlem and fulfill its mission to prepare minority students for public-service careers.
But data provided by the college shows Rangel's pet project has amassed just $6.6 million in pledges, and only $650,000 in cash contributions, since fund-raising began in 2005.
The pledges have dried up completely, and the cash donations slowed to a trickle, since September 2008. That's when a congressional ethics committee began a far-reaching probe into the lawmaker's alleged tax dodges, misuse of rent-stabilized apartments, influence-peddling, and soliciting donations for the center on congressional letterhead.
"There have been no additional pledges since that time," said Mary Lou Edmondson, spokeswoman for City College. "Given the general state of the economy, of course, last year was not an easy year for fund-raising."
The center has said in the past it has taken in $12 million in donations.
Edmondson could not immediately explain the discrepancy.
Over the past two years, the center has given scholarships to 80 graduate students over three semesters and paid for 10 research assistantships.
It has arranged for internships for 100 students and held policy forums and career fairs, Edmondson said.
But despite such activity, the Rangel Center has virtually no presence on campus. At its temporary quarters in the dean of social sciences' office on the sixth floor of a student center on Convent Avenue, there are no signs it exists.
On a visit last week, the dean's office was deserted and neither students nor campus police had any idea where the Rangel Center offices were.
The center is eventually to be housed in a vacant limestone mansion owned by the college at Convent Avenue and 141st Street. A city landmark, the mansion was gutted by fire and has been empty for decades.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2009 00:00 ||
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What's the problem? All Charlie has to do is slip in a 30 mil earmark into some must-pass legislation like the Defense appropriations bill, and it's covered. If he does it after everybody has voted on it, who will know?
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
11/10/2009 12:39 Comments ||
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Cue the nanoviolas.
Posted by: Mike ||
11/10/2009 13:38 Comments ||
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The Club for Growth PAC, an anti-tax organization with considerable financial resources, announced on Monday that it is endorsing Marco Rubio in his Florida Republican primary battle with Gov. Charlie Crist for the United States Senate.
The decision isn't that surprising; last week, the conservative group pounced on Mr. Crist's most recent statements that he didn't somehow endorse President Obama's $787 billion stimulus package when he appeared with the president last February and touted the effort. It immediately cut an ad against Mr. Crist, replaying the embrace between Mr. Obama and the governor at a rally.
Mr. Rubio, a longtime state lawmaker and Republican leader in Florida, has attracted the attention of national conservatives in recent months as they search for candidates to energize their base.
In a statement, Chris Chocola, the president of Club for Growth, said:
"Marco Rubio is the real deal, one of the brightest young stars in American politics today, and a proven champion of economic liberty. He is a dynamic spokesman for the principles of limited government and economic freedom, and he will make a fantastic senator."
New polls in the state hint at how hotly contested the seat vacated by Mel Martinez, a Republican, may be. In late October, a survey conducted for The Miami Herald and The St. Petersburg Times showed more independent voters shifting toward Republicans and conservatives, and a majority of those independents holding a negative view of Mr. Crist.
While Mr. Crist has long outpaced Mr. Rubio in fund-raising, the Club's endorsement may be quite the booster shot for campaign funds and supportive advertising. The most recent example of the depth of its financial pockets could be seen in the investment -- around $1 million -- into the special congressional election in upstate New York. Its efforts to elect Douglas Hoffman, the Conservative Party candidate, were unsuccessful, however.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2009 00:00 ||
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After Mayor Michael Bloomberg was nearly unseated by his little-known challenger, the ever-confident billionaire declared it a "great week" and threw a ticker-tape parade.
Granted, the over-the-top celebration was for the Yankees, who had just won the World Series for the first time in Bloomberg's eight years.
But it might as well have been a bash for the 67-year-old mayor, who associates say has not been even slightly humbled by the closer-than-expected finish to his re-election bid Tuesday, and has no qualms about governing the way he pleases.
The associates say that Bloomberg believes that once you win, people expect you to lead whether you got there by 5 points, as he did this year, or 3 points or nearly 20 points, as he did in his first two elections.
"This is New York -- people might not like your attitude, but what New Yorkers will not accept is a mayor who is gazing at his navel and wondering about how he got where he is," said Bill Cunningham, a former Bloomberg adviser. "They expect leadership."
Record-setting spending
The founder of Bloomberg LP, whose fortune is estimated at $17.5 billion, is likely to have poured more than $100 million into his bid for a third term, when all the expenses come in. That's more than 10 times what his Democratic challenger, William Thompson Jr., was able to spend, relying on a mix of donations and public matching funds.
Bloomberg's record-setting spending -- more than any other self-financed bid for office in U.S. history -- only got him a five-point win, a difference of about 50,000 votes. While close re-elections can sometimes cause the winners to second-guess themselves and do some soul-searching about how to go forward, the mayor is not that type.
"I am who I am, I say what I believe," Bloomberg said this week. "My only focus is to try to make this city better."
Bloomberg has never really believed that he needed overwhelming support to get things done. Sometimes that instinct has been right; other times it has bred overconfidence and led to failure.
The Bloomberg administration has had a reputation over the years for doing whatever it wants, sometimes strong-arming legislators and potential opponents to accomplish projects on the mayor's agenda.
The former CEO was first elected in 2001 by just a three-point margin. He set about pursuing a set of aggressive policies, including winning control of the city school system and banning smoking in bars and restaurants. One of his most ambitious dreams -- building a football stadium on Manhattan's West Side with the goal of wooing the 2012 summer Olympics to New York City -- was never realized.
He and his aides raised hackles in Albany when they tried to forge ahead with the football stadium plan without spending enough time courting lawmakers and community groups. State leaders who were unimpressed with the approach ultimately dashed those hopes.
When he tried to impose tolls on vehicles entering Manhattan's most congested areas as a way to get more cars off the streets and raise money for mass transit, councilmembers said he and his aides twisted arms to get the vote to go their way. They prevailed, but the plan died later in the state Legislature.
Councilmembers complained about being forcefully pressured by the administration in a "you're either for us or you're against us" way last year when Bloomberg was seeking to change the city's term-limits law so that he could run a third time. He won that battle, too.
Many of the city's Democratic leaders have said the margin of victory Tuesday should be a wakeup call for Bloomberg to change the way he works.
But this mayor, who built his multibillion-dollar company from the ground up, is not particularly concerned with anyone else's opinion. New Yorkers shouldn't expect much to be different in his third term, except some of the faces around him. Some aides -- many of whom have been with him for his entire eight years -- are expected to leave, and he has also promised a shakeup of some agency heads.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2009 00:00 ||
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Retired Army Lt. Col. Allen West -- a Republican congressional candidate in Florida -- has blunt words:
Our Country has become so paralyzed by political correctness that we have allowed a vile and determined enemy to breach what should be the safest place in America, an Army post.
We have become so politically correct that our media is more concerned about the stress of the shooter, Major Nidal Malik Hasan. The misplaced benevolence intending to portray him as a victim is despicable. The fact that there are some who have now created an entire new classification called; "pre-virtual vicarious Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)" is unconscionable.
This is not a "man caused disaster." It is what it is, an Islamic jihadist attack. . . .
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2009 00:00 ||
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Accused mass murderer Hasan and radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki exchanged 10 to 20 "communications," sources said. Hasan caught the FBI's eye in December 2008 as part of another investigation by the Joint Terrorism Task Force.
#4
Hasan promotion from Captain to Major apparently occurred after he had already begun spouting Jihadic slogans at well attended conferences, after he had 'reached out' to Jihad imans, etc.
Posted by: lord garth ||
11/10/2009 6:48 Comments ||
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Doc, nurses, padres, and lawyers are techies and hold their rank because of their specialty, they are not line officer with similar command authority. I don't ever recall seeing a single doc as a lieutenant. Most are put on the rolls as captains to start. Each of the specialties have a separate promotion board from the line officers. The first real promotion board they face usually involves a review of the individual's Dept of the Army record jacket and any communication directed to the board by the individual or others. Each board member usually has less than 2 minutes to review the record before recommending approval or disapproval. In the case of the initial promotion, unless there is something adverse in the records, the individual will automatically be selected for promotion. Promotion boards are not standing organizations, but are composed of 'random' members sent for temporary duty of anywhere from a week to a month to carry out the function and then returned to their normal duty station. The question is why adverse information was withheld from the record and from the board. Or if it wasn't, why did the board ignore it. It's probably the former than the latter, as the board usually will use any excuse to drop someone from consideration unless the 'directions to the board' would say otherwise. During the period of equal opportunity, boards were 'directed' to relook at records to make sure certain quotas were met.
#6
It is what it is, an Islamic jihadist attack. . . .
And it's a sad day in this country when a young Army wife is overheard to say that she's glad her husband is in war-torn Iraq instead of home with his family.
#8
Excellent summary P2k, and from the detail it appears you have some familiarity with the process and details, but a few questions about your closing comments.
Why do you lean to the withheld info aspect? Couldn't this be a case of the latter - namely, excessive deference to cultural inclusion at this level (i.e. how many Islamic psychiatrists, let alone MDs, are in the military?)
Alternately, if the board didn't have the background, who or what withheld it? Dumb question - isn't this a military intelligence issue, in place of what would be FBI background checks - or does this stage not even get to that level of attention, or does the system just not work - i.e. background checks done but not shared with promotion boards?
Regardless of the POTUS not jumping to conclusions, can we conclude anything other than a lethal failure here, and simply get on with uncovering the ugly causes? If not, hound the cover up.
On withholding information. All military personnel get evaluation reports, usually once a year or upon change of rater unless there are extenuating circumstances. That would be a place for his supervisors to put comments on the performance. However, supervisors are notorious to avoid putting comments in that would be challenged and subject to review because of the nature of the comments. It's [expletive deleted] careerists who want everything to appear OK rather than go through the process of dealing with the truth. One indication of that would be a rehabilitative transfer of the individual. Rather than kicking out a service member for disruptive behavior, one option is to transfer the problem child to another unit to determine whether it was a clash of personalities or a bad apple. It also passes the elimination process on to someone else.* Unfortunately, when you transfer said individual across country, its not like the new commander can waltz over to the old unit and find out what the issues are, but are all too often blindsided when the do-do hits the fan.
As to MI having input to promotion boards, it normally doesn't. The clearing process happens when the person is brought on to the rolls. In depth clearing doesn't occur till the individual requires a higher level security clearance for performance of a specific duty. The shooter probably didn't require anything higher than Secret, which is far less than TS. What MI can do is 'flag' the individual's record which means its pulled and separated from other records. Individuals who are flagged can not have their records submitted before boards and may not be considered for any 'positive' considerations till the flag is resolved. In cases where the individual is cleared, he/she is immediately granted reviews on any boards or selections he/she would have been consider in the absence of the flag [though if it effects pay, he/she has to apply to the Military Board of Corrections for retroactive pay].
Now the question is who had and when did they have information that should have triggered the flag.
* The laws and regulations of decommissioning an officer are challenging. Once you commission the poor creature, the Department is loath to have to decommission it. All appeals and processes on which the decommissioning is based upon must be completed first. Then it literally takes/took the signature of the Secretary to execute.
This is not to be confused with lawful separation as the result of being passed over a number of times for promotion. Which gets to another issue of passing the bad potato hoping that they have enough time for that to occur rather than take action to execute a separation now.
Rep. Barney Frank said he would oppose a troop increase in Afghanistan because people in his district face greater threats than al Qaeda.
Frank (D-Mass.), the House Financial Services Committee chairman, said that the federal government needs to spend its funds on domestic priorities rather than on foreign wars in light of the nation's record $1.4 trillion budget deficit. Frank said that domestic problems, such as crime and global warming, pose a greater "threat" to citizens in his district than al Qaeda does.
"There are cops in my districts who have been laid off. And there are people in my district who need more protection from criminals than they need from al Qaeda," Frank said during an appearance at Cornell University on Sunday. "That's just a fact of life."
Frank continued that "they need protection [inaudible] from urban areas where there have been foreclosures on the fire department. And they need more protection from bridges falling down when they drive over them. And from pollution in the water, et cetera."
In opposing additional troops be sent to Afghanistan, he also cited the human cost of war.
"I sat in a church where they buried a kid who was killed in a war I voted for. That's a very serious responsibility. A very tough one," he said.
The Obama administration since September has been developing a new strategy in Afghanistan. The administration began the strategic review following a report issued by commanding Gen. Stanley McChrystal that called for the military to deploy 40,000 additional troops to the war-torn nation.
The process has been delayed by several roadblocks, including reports of widespread fraud in the reelection of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
Frank said that if he were the president, he would consider adding more troops in Afghanistan only if the government can pay for it by withdrawing soldiers from Iraq in six months, as opposed to the 18-month process initiated by the military earlier this year.
Regardless, Frank said the eight-year-long war has taken too high a toll on the country.
"We are doing an enormous harm to the quality of life in American society," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2009 00:00 ||
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So Barney, what is the acceptable yearly cull of American lives by islamic supremacists?
Posted by: ed ||
11/10/2009 1:24 Comments ||
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The argument of local versus group interest is one made during the ratification of the Constitution. Why should New Jersey be concerned with the security of the western frontier of Pennsylvania or Virgina? Why should Georgia be concerned with the shipping needs of New England? Those questions were answered by the ratification. Mr. Frank swore an oath to that document that begins "We the People of the United States.." not "We the assembled states...". One day he votes to impose on all Americans a draconian federal medical autocracy and the next day argues that we do not share a 'common defense'. This should lay clear that its never been about justice or truth, its always been about power for the left.
#3
So lets see a big increase in Massachusetts CCP issuances, for starters. And legalize shooting in self-defense without being trapped with no means of fleeing.
#4
Apparently his quality of life hasn't changed. This man has been behind the scenes (no pun intended) for too long manipulating our quality of life.
Posted by: Art ||
11/10/2009 9:55 Comments ||
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Frank said that if he were the president, he would consider adding more troops in Afghanistan only if the government can pay for it by withdrawing soldiers from Iraq in six months, as opposed to the 18-month process initiated by the military earlier this year.
Hey troopers, hows that one make you feel? Safety and mission follow bottom line, but can sign a check for a trillion which went to, well, not really sure.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Fannie Mae, the mortgage finance giant, said Monday that it was reviewing whether it would have to write off $5.2 billion in low-income housing tax credits after the Treasury Department rejected its request last week to sell the credits to Goldman Sachs, Bloomberg News reports.
White House communications director Anita Dunn will step down from her post at the end of the month and Dan Pfeiffer, her deputy, will take over, according to sources familiar with the move.
Gov. David Paterson told the state Legislature on Nov. 9, 2009, if there aren't immediate cuts made to education and hospitals New York State will be broke before Christmas. 
Donors have contributed just $3,315 to the Rangel Center at City College since the Harlem congressman became enmeshed in scandal last fall.
Rep. Barney Frank said he would oppose a troop increase in Afghanistan because people in his district face greater threats than al Qaeda. 
