Friday, April 22, 2011

Big brute union tactics are alive and well. Ask Boeing and South Carolina about NLRB!

Verne Strickland Blogmaster

UNION EXCESSES AND THUGGERY TOOK DOWN DETROIT AND U.S. AUTO INDUSTRY. LET'S TELL THEM TO GET OFF BOEING'S BACK! OBAMA AND NLRB SHOULD KISS OFF.

Posted April 21, 2011 by Bruce McQuain

It is a battle between a business’s best interests and about its fundamental right to make decisions about how it conducts its business and the government’s “right” to interfere and dictate how and where it will do its business.
In what may be the strongest signal yet of the new pro-labor orientation of the National Labor Relations Board under President Obama, the agency filed a complaint Wednesday seeking to force Boeing to bring an airplane production line back to its unionized facilities in Washington State instead of moving the work to a nonunion plant in South Carolina.
One of the reasons the South has thrived while the Rust Belt has, well, rusted, is companies have taken advantage of the “right to work” rules in most Southern states to locate there without fear of work stoppages at every turn.  That would seem to be a fundamental right that any business should enjoy, the right to locate their business where they feel their best interests are served.  What the government is saying is that’s not true – if you have union employees elsewhere.
In its complaint, the labor board said that Boeing’s decision to transfer a second production line for its new 787 Dreamliner passenger plane to South Carolina was motivated by an unlawful desire to retaliate against union workers for their past strikes in Washington and to discourage future strikes. The agency’s acting general counsel, Lafe Solomon, said it was illegal for companies to take actions in retaliation against workers for exercising the right to strike.
First, it’s not “retaliation” if the facts in the story are correct.  Boeing has hired 2,000 more employees – union employees – at the Washington state plant since the decision was made to add a second assembly line and do it in South Carolina.  So A) it’s not taking jobs away and B) the additional jobs since the decision hardly speak of “retaliation” in any sense a rational person would be able to discern.
Second, the “complaint” comes as the plant in South Carolina nears completion and 1,000 workers have been hired there.
So, given those facts, this is a crap statement (that’s technical talk):
In a statement Wednesday, Mr. Solomon said: “A worker’s right to strike is a fundamental right guaranteed by the National Labor Relations Act. We also recognize the rights of employers to make business decisions based on their economic interests, but they must do so within the law.”
This is the usual duplicitous talk you get from this administration – acknowledge the right of the employer to make business decisions based on their economic decisions and then immediately deny what was just acknowledged.  This too is crap”:
“Boeing’s decision to build a 787 assembly line in South Carolina sent a message that Boeing workers would suffer financial harm for exercising their collective bargaining rights,” said the union’s vice president, Rich Michalski.
No, they haven’t sent such a message.  What they’ve said is they have a backlog of orders and can’t afford (business interest) work stoppages every 3 years while unions negotiate a new contract. That is a legitimate concern.  And they want some sort of continuity built into the productions system that accounts for that probability.  No one is denying union workers their “rights” in Washington nor have any union employees been fired because of them – again, since the decision to locate in SC was made, 2,000 additional union employees have been hired there.
What’s is happening here is government has chosen to take sides and is attempting to intimidate Boeing.  The side it has picked – surprise – is the union side.  And it plans to use its power to attempt to force a company into doing something which is not in its best business interests, despite the lip service Solomon gives that “right”.  But there’s no “hostile business climate” here, is there?
Bottom line?
The company also said it had decided to expand in South Carolina in part to protect business continuity and to reduce the damage to its finances and reputation from future work stoppages.
And in a free country, Boeing would have every right to expect to be able to do that without interference.

Bruce McQuain blogs at Questions and Observations (QandO), Blackfive, the Washington Examiner and the Green Room.  Follow him on Twitter: @McQandO

http://hotair.com/greenroom/archives/2011/04/21/nlrb-to-boeing-build-all-your-737s-in-union-state-or-well-sue/

Will Corsi book reveal Obama's 'true' identity? Well I hope so. May I borrow your copy?

Verne Strickland Blogmaster






Wed Apr 20 2011 10:35:52 ET

**Exclusive**

This year's high stakes publishing project quietly went to press this week, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

After years of research and digging by the nation's top private investigators, here it comes:

"WHERE'S THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE? The Case that Barack Obama is not Eligible to be President."

MORE

The street date is a LONG month away, and author Jerome Corsi, the man who torpedoed John Kerry's presidential dreams with SWIFT BOAT, has gone underground and is holding his new findings thisclose.

"It's utterly devastating," reveals a source close to the publisher. "Obama may learn things he didn't even know about himself!"

MORE

Does Corsi definitively declare the location of Obama's birth?

Will the president's attorneys attempt to interfere with the book's distribution? [The publisher vows to vigorously fight any legal action that may be taken.]

Will the book finally -- once and for all -- put an end to the growing controversy?

Or will it just ignite new ones!?

"When Donald Trump said he sent PIs to Hawaii to get to the bottom of all this, he meant this book," declares an insider.

[THE CASE ranked #1,341 on AMAZON's hitparade late Wednesday morning.]

Developing...

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Tempest in a Poo Pot. Wonkette’s Jack Stuef ‘Apologizes’ For Trig Smear. Damage Is Not Undone.


First Wonkette deleted comments, then they deleted Stuef’s byline. Now this:
UPDATE: I regret this post and using the word “retarded” in a reference to Sarah Palin’s child. It’s not nice, and is not necessary, but I take responsibility for writing it. For those who came and are offended by this post: I’m sorry, of course. But I stand by my criticism of Sarah Palin using her child as a political prop.
–Jack Stuef
I appreciate that Stuef realizes how many people his post hurt – not political outrage, but actual hurt from moms and dads of children with special needs, family members of those with special needs, etc., and the children themselves. I have three family members who have special needs and let me tell you, they don’t need someone putting a target on their back and calling them “almost human” in a zealous fit to take shots at a political figure.


Jack Stuef made Trig Palin a political prop. Period. This post published two days ago and for two days it sat until we got a few emails, wrote about it, raised awareness on Twitter, and watched as citizen media participants held Wonkette accountable and even complained to advertisers. Only then was remorse felt from anyone at Wonkette.

It’s BS for Stuef to piggyback another idiotic potshot onto an attempt at an apology. Get the hell over yourself, Jack Stuef. You don’t need to dig a deeper hole and fashion some halfwit complaint onto what should be a massive mea culpa for the offense caused by your all zeal no knowledge political asshattery.

I’m at the point where Steuff doesn’t deserve the courtesy of kind words. Stand by your “criticism” all you want to, but there’s a time and a place to take a stand so pathetic, and it’s not while you’re apologizing to a child for calling him a “retard” on his birthday.

http://bigjournalism.com/dloesch/2011/04/20/wonkettes-jack-stuef-apologizes-for-trig-smear/

Announcing NCGOP State Convention, coming to Wilmington June 3-5!

Cumberland County Republican Party
SEVENTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT WILL HOST EPIC 2011 NC REPUBLICAN CONVENTION, SETTING STAGE FOR GOP STRENGTH IN 2012 ELECTIONS! MAKE PLANS NOW TO ATTEND AND SUPPORT OUR PARTY AND CANDIDATES.

NCGOPconvention 
2011 NCGOP State Convention Update


Today, the North Carolina Republican Party announced Congressman Mick Mulvaney, member of Congress from South Carolina's Fifth Congressional District, will speak at Saturday's luncheon at the 2011 North Carolina Republican State Convention.

Congressman Mulvaney beat long-time Democratic incumbent John Spratt in 2010 and will share with us why it is paramount to the future of our country for North Carolina Republicans to work to defeat our own Democratic members of Congress in 2012.

Learn more about Congressman Mulvaney at his campaign website www.mulvaneyforcongress.com/

Please visit www.NCGOPConvention.com and sign up today for the "Early Bird Rate" for the Complete Package Deal which entitles you to hear from Congressman Mulvaney and Andrew Brietbart on Saturday, Congressman West on Friday evening and soon to be announced speakers for Saturday night and Sunday morning.

Hotel Update

The Hilton Riverside-Wilmington, the Official Hotel of the 2011 NCGOP State Convention, is sold out! 

To accommodate all those that wish to travel and have not made accommodations yet, the NCGOP has set up a second room block.  Our room block is now available at the Comfort Suites, at 4721 Market Street in Wilmington and rooms are available at a rate of $115 a night and may be reserved by calling 910-793-9300.  Just ask for the "NCGOP" rate.

Go to www.NCGOPConvention.com for more information.

Message from the Chairman

Chairman Hayes filmed the following message, inviting all North Carolinians to come to Wilmington and be a part of the 2011 NCGOP State Convention.  Please share this with your members and on your social networks.


Paid for by the North Carolina Republican Party

Mike McIntyre ducks chance to take a stand (again) -- fails to support any of the budget proposals sent to House.

Verne Strickland Blogmaster
April 21, 2011

NRCC CALLS MIKE OUT ON RUNNING FOR THE TREES WHEN TIME COMES TO TAKE A STAND. THIS IS HOW WE'VE COME TO SEE OUR INTREPID CONGRESSMAN.


As the House of Representatives considered five budget proposals last week, Mike McIntyre didn’t support a single one of them. Worse, House Democrats failed to pass a budget last year, which means McIntyre has not voted for a budget for two straight years – the most basic duty of Congress.

Please consider the following comment from the NRCC as you cover Mike McIntyre’s failure to lead in Congress.
 
“Mike McIntyre has failed the most basic responsibility of governing by failing to even vote for a budget over the last two years, let alone see one passed. While North Carolina families are tightening their belts and living within their means during these tough economic times, McIntyre is unwilling to force his party in Washington to do the same, even in the face of record-setting deficits.” – NRCC Spokeswoman Andrea Bozek

 
Andrea Bozek
Regional Press Secretary
National Republican Congressional Committee
Phone: (202) 479-7070
Cell: (202) 525-9323
E-Mail: abozek@nrcc.org
Twitter: @AndreaBozek

Despite his False Claims, McIntyre Campaign Funded by Washington Liberals, not Main Street

Verne Strickland Blogmaster

April 21, 2011

 Wilmington, NC:  Andy Yates, spokesman for Pantano for Congress, issued the following statement today  in response to Congressman Mike McIntyre’s false claim that his campaign money doesn’t come from Washington special interests and his ultra liberal colleagues, but instead comes from PACs that “represent local farmers, local businesses, local educators, local health care providers, local law enforcement and others who help drive our economy.”

McIntyre made the claim in Patrick Gannon’s article “McIntyre, Pantano at odds over redistricting messages” posted on the Wilmington Star News’ website this morning.



This is Mr. Yates' comment on the McIntyre claim:

“Congressman McIntyre is once again trying to distort the truth and deceive the people of Southeastern North Carolina. McIntyre falsely claims that his support comes from the local community not ultra liberal Washington politicians or special interests groups but when you look at his FEC report the truth is right there in black and white.  McIntyre’s largest contributors include five of the most liberal, left-wing Congressman in Washington (Debbie Wasserman Schultz FL-20, Joe Crowley NY-7, Richard Neal MA-2, Joe Larson CT-1, and Sander Levin MI-12), the DCCC, Wall Street giant JP Morgan Chase, labor unions, and big drugs.”

“And what about McIntyre’s claim of financial support from local law enforcement PACs and local educators?  His first quarter FEC report shows zero contributions from any law enforcement PACs, local or national, and the only support he shows from educators is the national teachers union.  Where are those contributions from local law enforcement groups and local educators?  Did Mike make them up or did his campaign break the law and fail to report them?”

“Why is Mike McIntyre lying to us?  It’s because he knows he can’t legitimately claim to be an ‘independent voice’ who works for us  when he’s being funded by some of the most liberal politicians in Washington, the national teachers union, big drug companies, and Wall Street titan JP Morgan.  Mike needs to come clean and admit that’s where he gets his support.”

“Meanwhile Congressman McIntyre has skipped out on his most basic duty and FAILED to vote for any of the five budget proposals voted on by the House last week.  And McIntyre and the Democratic leadership failed to even bring a budget to the floor for a vote last year.  Either Congressman McIntyre doesn’t want anyone to know where he stands on the federal budget and spending or he doesn’t even think our nation needs a budget. McIntyre should be ashamed of himself for continuing to try to deceive and mislead the people of Southeastern North Carolina.”

####

To view Congressman McIntyre’s FEC reports go to: http://www.fec.gov/finance/disclosure/efile_search.shtml
or to access his first quarter report directly go to:
http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/dcdev/forms/C00306829/723898/sa/ALL

To see the Star News article with Congressman McIntyre’s false and misleading statements go to: http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20110421/ARTICLES/110429950/-1/news?Title=McIntyre-Pantano-at-odds-over-redistricting-messages

GOP's Ilario Pantano: McIntyre aggressively working to influence direction of NC redistricting.

Verne Strickland Blogmaster

CONGRESSMAN DENIES HE IS INTERVENING IN DISTRICT POLITICAL MAPPING, BUT HIS WEBSITE URGES McINTYRE FOLLOWERS TO MAKE SHOW OF FORCE IN HIS BEHALF.

Published: Thursday, April 21, 2011
U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre raised $150,000 in the first quarter of 2011, more than doubling the fundraising efforts of Ilario Pantano, a potential Republican challenger in 2012.
Pantano calls the Democratic incumbent’s early fundraising an attempt to send a message to General Assembly lawmakers redrawing congressional district boundaries this year.
McIntyre, by attempting to show that he has strong local support and that he would be a tough opponent in 2012 regardless of where his new district is drawn, hopes to influence map-drawers to largely leave his district alone and focus on other areas, Pantano suggested.
Pantano also said he believes McIntyre is trying to dissuade potential Democratic primary challengers, who may find it difficult to match McIntyre’s fundraising totals.
“Like a turkey, he’s showing his feathers,” Pantano said. “He’s trying to appear bigger and more formidable than he is.”
McIntyre said how the new maps are drawn is “completely up to the state House and state Senate.” But on his campaign website, McIntyre is urging supporters to contact state lawmakers to encourage them to keep Southeastern North Carolina together in one congressional district. “Do you want your next Congressman to be from Raleigh, Goldsboro, or Charlotte?” he begins his website message.
Lawmakers in Raleigh have just begun the once-a-decade task of redrawing the state’s 13 congressional districts based on 2010 population figures. And it’s unclear whether McIntyre, who lives in Lumberton, and Pantano, who lives in Wilmington, will even run in the same district once the process is complete.

Observers have suggested that McIntyre’s district could be carved up by the General Assembly Republicans who control this year’s redistricting process to give a Republican a better shot of representing the district, which McIntyre has served since 1996.
McIntyre also is asking his supporters to attend scheduled public hearings on state and congressional redistricting. Meetings will be held at 7 p.m. May 5 at Cape Fear Community College’s downtown Wilmington campus and at Brunswick Community College’s Supply campus.
“Please join me in standing up for our homes, our businesses, and our way of life and let’s keep Southeastern North Carolina together – moving forward!” McIntyre says.
Some Republicans have criticized McIntyre, saying he is only trying to protect his job in the U.S. House.
Pantano is also keeping tabs on the redistricting process. He visited the Legislative Building in Raleigh recently, meeting with Sen. Bob Rucho, R-Mecklenburg, chairman of the Senate Redistricting Committee, among other lawmakers. He said he wasn’t lobbying for any specific changes to the 7th Congressional District, which now includes all or part of 10 counties in the southeastern corner of the state.
“I live in Southeastern North Carolina, and whatever the district is that’s drawn around the place I live, I will be eager to represent,” Pantano said.

The Battle for the Bucks

McIntyre raised about $150,000 from January through March, while Pantano’s campaign took in about $60,000, according to reports available at the Federal Election Commission’s website, FEC.gov.
Most of Pantano’s contributions – $53,000 worth – came from individuals. McIntyre received more than $95,000, or 64 percent, of his cash from political action committees.
Pantano pointed out that he raised more campaign cash from individuals than McIntyre, who pulled in more than $41,000 in the first quarter from individual donors.

At the end of March, McIntyre had nearly $151,000 in his war chest, with no debt, according to the FEC. Pantano’s campaign had about $47,000, with $43,000 in debt, most of which carried over from his unsuccessful 2010 campaign against McIntyre.

“We don’t have the Washington special interests to bail us out,” Pantano said. “I didn’t get $100,000 in PAC checks.”

McIntyre said he is grateful to the individual donors and political organizations that have given to him because “they want to make sure Southeastern North Carolina continues to have a strong voice.”

The PACs that have given to him, McIntyre said, “represent local farmers, local businesses, local educators, local health care providers, local law enforcement and others who help drive our economy.”
#######

Case of mistaken identity: Union radicals issue death threats to wrong Koch Brothers.


Verne Strickland Blogmaster   042111
OOPS! INTIMIDATION AIMED AT SMALL IOWA FAMILY BUSINESS INSTEAD OF CONSERVATIVE BILLIONAIRES WHO HAVE FOUGHT UNIONS AND FINANCED TEA PARTY.

   By Dwayne Hicks / Des Moines Register     


A case of mistaken identity has entangled a small family-owned Des Moines company in union protests and led to a death threat.

Angry callers are mistaking Koch Brothers, a Des Moines office supply firm, with the brothers who own Koch Industries, the global energy conglomerate. Billionaires Charles and David Koch have fought Wisconsin unions, financed the tea party and opposed climate change rules.

Dutch Koch, president of the Des Moines company, wants everyone to know he's not one of those Koch brothers, and he's not politically active.

"I initially thought it was humorous to be confused with a multibillionaire," he said, but then a death threat was left on his answering machine. Koch reported the call to the FBI, which he said traced it to a California man.

“I initially thought it was humorous to be confused with a multibillionaire,” he said, but then a death threat was left on his answering machine. Koch reported the call to the FBI, which he said traced it to a California man.
The Koch Brothers employ 65 employees in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids. Brothers George, William and Frank Koch founded the company in 1889 as a spinoff from the Des Moines Register and Leader’s job printing shop.

Koch Industries, based in Wichita, Kan., is the nation’s second-largest private corporation. It employs dozens of lobbyists and finances several conservative causes, including a group that has run TV advertising supporting Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s standoff with public unions. A subsidiary, Flint Hills Resources, owns four ethanol plants in Iowa.

Both surnames are pronounced “coke.”

“From time to time, we’ve been confused with Koch Industries, but it’s always been an innocent misunderstanding,” Dutch Koch said.

Since the start of the year, Koch said he’s received at least 20 emails and 15 calls from confused protesters.

He said the trouble arises when media reports refer to “Koch brothers.” He figures the protesters are doing little research beyond a quick Google search.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Left-Wing blog goes totally tasteless and cruel, loses Huggies, Papa John's, Vanguard accounts.

Verne Strickland Blogmaster: 
 
THIS IS FLAT SICK AND DISGUSTING. POTTY-MOUTH LEFT-WING BLOG DESERVES TO BE DROPPED BY THESE THREE SPONSORS!

Publius Forum on 04.20.11 at 7:23 PM
-By Warner Todd Huston
Note, I was going to ignore this story, but since advertisers are pulling out over it, I felt I'd better write about it.
One of the left's favorite websites is called Wonkeete. It is popular because it has a reputation of being newsie, yet snarky, sort of like a less intelligent version of Comedy Central's Daily Report. Truth be known it is more often than not merely profane as opposed to humorous or droll and for some of its advertisers the profane site has gone too far with its April 18 post making fun of Trig Palin, a child with Down's Syndrome.
Wankette "writer" Jack Stuef decided it would be "fun" to mark Trig Palin's third birthday by posting a "funny" post calling the child "retarded," demeaning Trig's intelligence as America's "great gentleman scholar," Saying that Todd Palin molested his own daughter and that resulted in Trig's birth, saying that the child can't dream because "he's retarded," making fun of Trig's sister, Piper, for loving the boy, and saying that because he has Down's Syndrome, Trig is only "somewhat alive."
That is a lot of hate for a three year old developmentally disabled child, isn't it? Imagine. Leftists think all that hate spewed upon a child is "humor." Sort of tells you where leftists are coming from, doesn't it?
Sadly, this is the sort of "new tone" debate we get from the left. They live in a world where doing rape jokes, attacking babies, and demeaning people with disabilities serves as a legitimate vehicle for political debate.
Naturally, as soon as the web got wind of this disgusting display, the chatter against Wankette started... and rightfully so. The backlash against Wankette has resulted in at least three of its advertisers saying that they will no longer advertise on the Wankette site.
Papa John Pizza, Huggies Diapers, and Vanguard financial services have announced that they will no longer advertise on the site or have at least announced that they are going to look into how to have their ads removed from Wankette.
Sadly, the editor of the profane Wankette is supporting his "writer" but told left-wing blogger Dave Weigel that the "writer" is on probation because of the incident.
Now, I have not linked the site yet. I chose the end of this post to do so. I do not suggest clicking on it and have made screen shots for you to see the post. Look below for the screen shot. But if you simply must see the original, it is HERE.
If you'd like to let this Stuef character know how you feel about his hate toward developmentally disabled infants, here are some ways to contact him...
http://twitter.com/#!/stuef
http://www.facebook.com/stuef
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/jack-stuef/7/264/4b
Lastly, I know that the argument that the left will make. They will say, "Oh, but this is just one site and the right has just as many jerks saying things like this as we do."
To that, I can only say that while it is true that being a jerk is exclusive neither to the left, the right nor the center, the fact is that Wankette is a mainstream, popular left-wind site and the right has no equivalent. Further, when something like this does happen on the right, conservatives make life miserable for them even though they may otherwise be simpatico. On the other hand, the left loves this sort of hate. IF this sort of hate is spewed at their enemies, they revel in it.

China's Ghost Cities and Malls -- Communist Version of Back to the Future.

Verne Strickland Blogmaster

China's Ghost Cities and Malls, is it? What a haunting and ominous title. This Australian documentary film, released via MRC TV (Media Research Center), is every bit as spooky, depressing and shocking as it sounds. In Communist China, huge and modern cities are being built for . . . no one.

As a television documentary producer, I had the extraordinary opportunity in 1979 to visit the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). It was three years after Mao's death, and the country was reeling from revolution, mismanaged resources, and mistreatment of its impoverished, often starting, masses.

China -- a master of facade -- today has a shiny exterior. But its people are still enslaved by a totalitarian government. This story and documentary awed me. Perhaps it will have the same effect on you.

Stephen Gutowski's picture
*Click on underlined name to find Gutowski videos. "China" documentary is on page 2.
 
Friday, April 15, 2011 - 10:56am 
In case you were confused by all those reports of China's massive growth over the last several years this little documentary from Australian tv will give you an idea of what is going on. Here's a hint. It isn't some huge success worthy of praise and emulation. Sorry Thomas Friedman! (h/t Lee Doren)

In this little documentary we see yet another example of why centralized government control over economies doesn't work. As if we needed yet another example in the first place. The central government demands a certain amount of growth in GDP from the local governments and so they go out and waste money building lots of useless new cities that nobody lives in.

Hey, on paper that looks like awesome and consistent growth. So it must be working, right? Um, no.
This is kind of like the broken window fallacy on steroids. You see in the broken window fallacy replacing destroyed assets is stimulative. Unfortunately for liberal economic theory which is essentially based on the fallacy the only way this could be viewed as true is if you focus only on the seen benefits of replacing assets and not the unseen costs. This is all summed up in this nice little video.

However, at least in the broken window fallacy there is actually a demand for replacing destroyed assets. What the Chinese government is doing here is far worse. They're taking money from the market, filtering it through the government, and completely wasting it on building projects that end in ghost cities.

Think about that for a second. The government of one of the most populace countries in the entire world has managed to create an unmanageable boondoggle involving too much housing when most of their citizens live in squalor. How sad is that?

Perhaps the saddest part of this piece, though, is some of the people impoverished by these absurd programs think they need more government intervention to save them. They can't seem to understand that greater government intervention wont save them from the problems current government intervention has created. It's unnerving really.

Then again are we all that much better here in the US? How many government broken-window-fallacy-on-steroids programs exist in our own country? Frankly, China looks more and more like the society we will end up becoming if we aren't vigilant enough.

http://www.mrctv.org/videos/chinas-ghost-cities-and-malls

Tax Day (April 18) even worse under McIntyre's Democrat plan for job-destroying taxes!


NORTH CAROLINA DEMOCRAT'S NEW TAX HIKE PLAN WOULD BOOST TAXES EVEN HIGHER THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT!

Verne Strickland Blogmaster    042011

Washington — Tax Day (April 18) could get even worse than it already is if Mike McIntyre and his fellow Democrats have their way, since they unveiled new plans to raise job-destroying taxes further last week in a speech made by President Obama. 

To make matters worse, it appears that McIntyre and his Democrat colleagues would actually raise taxes considerably more than President Obama indicated in his speech, which would especially harm small businesses that are the engine of American economic recovery. 

Will Mike McIntyre continue to follow his Democrat leaders down the path of fiscal and economic ruin, or will he change his ways and embrace a pro-growth budget plan that would encourage small business growth for North Carolina families?

“Mike McIntyre and his Democrat colleagues continue to demonstrate that they are completely unwilling to let go of their free-spending policies, even if that means hiking taxes on families and crushing job-creation instead of cutting spending,” said NRCC Communications Director Paul Lindsay.

“Regrettably, it comes as no surprise this Tax Day that McIntyre and his fellow Democrats appear to be raising taxes even more than they led us to believe, particularly burdening small businesses that families in North Carolina are relying on for jobs. Will McIntyre continue to fuel the Democrat spending spree with $2 trillion in new taxes or will he finally learn his lesson and support a pro-growth budget that forces government to live within its means and encourages private-sector job creation?”

President Obama presented the Democrat plan to raise taxes last Wednesday, but the details have since revealed that he intends to actually raise taxes by $2 trillion instead of simply $1 trillion:

“In the case of the new White House proposal, its baseline starts with the assumption that the Bush-era tax cuts for higher earners are allowed to expire after 2012. That puts about $1 trillion in revenues into the White House estimate of future tax revenues right off the bat, even before the $1 trillion in new tax revenues that the president now is proposing to raise.” (John D. McKinnon, “Battle of the Baselines,” The Wall Street Journal’s Washington Wire Blog, 4/15/11)

This also means that the Democrats’ budget plans rely mostly on job-destroying tax increases rather than spending cuts, in contradiction to their talking points:

“So of the 3.4 percentage points of savings, more than half — 1.9 points — comes from taxes. That’s 56 percent, not the one-third or one-quarter that Obama was talking about. And I am assuming that Goldman is using the White House’s rosier economic forecasts when evaluating Obama’s plan.” (James Pethokoukis, “Obama’s new plan may actually rely 60 percent on tax increases,” Reuters’ James Pethokoukis Blog, 4/15/11)

And these types of tax increases directly harm small businesses, forcing layoffs and hampering economic recovery. (Jonathan Karl, “Fact Checking the Tax-Cut Debate,” ABC News, 9/8/10)

McIntyre and his fellow Democrats’ priorities are clear – they will continue to rely on job-destroying tax hikes to fuel their spending spree rather than live within their means and institute true fiscal reform. If McIntyre gets his way, Tax Day will get much worse for families and small businesses throughout North Carolina.

Tags: , , ,

http://networkedblogs.com/gQWH2
http://ncgop7.com/?p=14

GOP congressional candidate Tim Wilkes: Does the NCIT Port Study hold water?

A good business owner prepares before making an investment; the smart investor studies the market, the feasibility of the idea and the need for the product or service and now we hear people say that we should cancel the study for a deep water port in our district.

Our district and our state needs jobs and we owe it to the people that live in the seventh district; at a minimum we need to look into this possibility of new jobs and a possibly helping our area move out of a recession.

In the past we have heard some reasons why we should not build a deep water port but now I would like to give you some good reasons why it should be treated as a serious way to bring jobs, travel and make it lucrative to import and export goods out of North Carolina.

The negative points were that it would be in between a nuclear power plant and an ammo depot and transition point and as such would open us up to a terrorist attack. I would like to suggest to you that we are already a target, any Nuclear power plant, major military base, and plants which attribute to military grade steel or products supporting military gear will be a target. I would not support the port opening until proper security measures were in place and we are prepared to do this right the first time.


Maybe that is not enough for you to say Yes! But let us consider the travel industry and cruise lines, the car carriers used to bring in and out vacationers leaving or arriving on a cruise.

The port could act as a closer import/export point for businesses and farmers in NC. Jobs could range from security, dock jobs, travel agencies, transition points, new business opportunities and all the supporting service industries such as engine, hull and component repairs, cleaning services to increase turn around rates and resupply of food staples before heading back out to sea. 

Yes, we owe it to our district, state and its citizens to complete a study for the port and then like a wise business investor weigh the pros and cons and make an informed decision.

Tim Wilkes, Supply NC 
Candidate for U.S. Congress 7th District  

20 April 2011  

Tyler Perry: 'Spike Lee needs to shut the hell up!' Wish I'd said that.

WHY AM I USING THIS? BECAUSE THIS IS A POLITICAL COLUMN, AND MY TAKE ON SPIKE LEE IS THAT HE IS A LIBERAL ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT BIGOT AND POTTY-MOUTH!

Verne Strickland Blogmaster

By Zach Dionne   Apr 20th 2011 01:45PM


tyler perry spike lee feudTyler Perry has blasted fellow director Spike Lee for being such a harsh critic, according to Box Office Magazine.

"I'm so sick of hearing about damn Spike Lee," Perry said during a California press conference on Tuesday. "Spike can go straight to hell! You can print that. I am sick of him talking about me."

Vulture notes that in 2009, Lee made the following incendiary comments about Perry's work: "Each artist should be allowed to pursue their artistic endeavors, but I still think there is a lot of stuff out today that is coonery and buffoonery. I know it's making a lot of money and breaking records, but we can do better ... I see these two ads for these two shows (Perry's 'Meet the Browns' and 'House of Payne'), and I am scratching my head."

"I am sick of him saying, 'this is a coon, this is a buffoon,'" Perry elaborated in his press conference. "I am sick of him talking about black people going to see movies. This is what he said: 'you vote by what you see,' as if black people don't know what they want to see."

According to Perry, Lee has spouted unwanted opinions about Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey and Clint Eastwood. "Spike needs to shut the hell up!" Perry said.

Perry's 'Madea's Big Happy Family' opens nationwide on Friday. Box Office Magazine called the 41-year-old director/producer/actor "one of the most successful [filmmakers] in Hollywood, thanks to a string of hits that engaged African-American and churchgoing audiences like few others have been able to."

In 2009, Forbes ranked Perry as the sixth-highest paid man in Hollywood. Spike Lee, a motion picture staple since the late '80s, is a two-time Academy Award nominee.

Being the butt of high-profile jokes is nothing new for Perry and his body of work, but certain recurring criticisms pushed him to speak out. "They go on to say that people of other ethnic groups or white people don't go see my movies, and that's all a lie," he said on Tuesday.

"I'm standing on stage looking at thousands of people, thousands of faces, with every race represented, and I'm tired of it. I'm tired of just laying down, tired of just being nice and letting them say whatever they want to say however they want to say it without people knowing what the intent really is."

http://www.popeater.com/2011/04/20/tyler-perry-spike-lee-feud/

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Congressman Mike McIntyre says one thing, does another. Same old Mike.

ILARIO PANTANO CALLS MIKE McINTYRE OUT FOR GOING BACK TO HIS 2010 BAG OF TRICKS TO LAUNCH HIS 2012 CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGN.


Verne Strickland Blogmaster   April 19, 2011
Wilmington, NC: Ilario Pantano, conservative Republican candidate for Congress, has issued  the following statement regarding Congressman McIntyre’s  vote in opposition of deficit reduction and his support of Barak Obama’s proposed tax increases:

“In his campaign for re-election last year, Congressman McIntyre told the people of North Carolina that he was a different kind of Democrat – a Democrat they could trust – a Democrat who would stand with North Carolina’s working families.  His recent vote against the budget blueprint for 2012 proved once and for all that his statements were nothing but a sham.”


“When he’s at home in the 7th District Congressman McIntyre likes to talk about cutting spending and promoting fiscal responsibility, but in Washington he votes to continue the status quo of  out of control spending and irresponsibility, Pantano said.  “He’s obviously more concerned about pleasing the special interests and his liberal friends  in Congress that have contributed over $750,000 to his campaign since 2009, than he is in getting serious about cutting spending and reducing the federal deficit. “

“Despite his claims of being an ‘independent voice,’ Congressman McIntyre toed the party line and joined his liberal  colleagues in support of President Obama’s proposed budget  which continues to allow government spending to spiral out of control, raises taxes over $ 1 trillion dollars, and does very little to encourage economic growth or job creation.”

“Congressman Ryan has crafted a balanced budget proposal that protects our seniors, cuts spending by nearly 6 trillion dollars, pays off our debt, and prevents President Obama from raising our taxes. It is the kind of common sense conservative fiscal policy our country needs to grow our economy  and get our deficit under control. “

 ************************************

VS: I caught up with Andy Yates soon after this release hit the streets. Andy is campaign director the Pantano for Congress campaign. I asked him to elaborate on what he sees as the confusing and misleading “McIntyre Factor”.

Yates: It’s the same old Mike McIntyre. Say one thing in the Seventh District and do something else in Washington and hope nobody’s watching. 

VS: So Mike talks a big game, but does his record back in the district match his rhetoric?
Yates: For a guy who brags that he’s looking out for his people back home, he certainly has a disastrous situation to show in Robeson and surrounding counties. I thought it was funny that Mike McIntyre was holding a job fair last week because the best I can tell, for the past sixteen years, the only job he has ever cared about was his own. We’ve had to get to double-digit unemployment before McIntyre even starts to worry about it. The only reason he’s worrying about it now is because it will backlash on him because of the high rates of poverty and joblessness he seems to overlook. 

VS: The 2012 general election is a long way off, but do you see a rematch between Ilario Pantano and Mike McIntyre?

Yates: I do know Ilario is running because he feels the people of Southeastern North Carolina have been misled by somebody who claims to be an independent voice and represent fiscal responsibility, but doesn’t live up to that. I don’t pretend to know what Congressman McIntyre plans to do. He certainly votes like someone who’s going to run.

VS: What kind of scenario would bring them together for another head-to-head battle?

Yates: My crystal ball can’t tell me what district he’s going to be in or whether or not he’s going to run, but it’s clear what Ilario is going to do. He is so disappointed in the poor quality of representation that the conservative people of the District have gotten from Mike McIntyre. He's going to finish the job started in the last election.

VS: How does Mike McIntyre get by with skirting the issues and avoiding responsibility for his own actions and voting record?

Yates: He has taken about $750,000 from liberal members of Congress and special interest groups, and he brings that money back to the Seventh District and uses it to run ads talking about how he’s a conservative and for fiscal responsibility. Then when his liberal buddies fill his campaign fund with money, he votes right along with them regardless of what the conservatives back home may think about it. He's bad news.

info@pantanoforcongress.com


###


Sunday, April 17, 2011

Palin serves up a winner at embattled Madison, Wisconsin, at Tax Day Tea Party. You go girl!

Verne Strickland Blogmaster
April 17, 2011

CAN SARAH PALIN REALLY SEE RUSSIA FROM HER BACK PORCH? NOT IMPORTANT. SHE CAN SEE WASHINGTON FROM HER FRONT PORCH -- WELL ENOUGH TO KNOW WHAT'S WRONG WITH IT. THIS IS AN EXCERPT FROM HER SPEECH TODAY AT THE TAX DAY TEA PARTY IN MADISON, WISCONSIN. WORKS FOR ME.

By Sarah Palin on Sunday, April 17, 2011 at 1:45pm



Madison, you held your ground. Your governor did the rght thing. And you won. Your beautiful state won. And you know what – people still have their jobs because of it! That’s courage. And that’s integrity. And that’s something that’s sorely missing in the Beltway today.

Because let me tell you what isn’t courageous: It’s politicians promising the American voters that, as we drown in $14.5 trillion debt, that they’re going to cut $100 billion out of this year’s budget. But then they cave on that and they reduce it down to $61 billion after they get elected.

Then they get in there and they strike a deal and decide, nah, they will reduce that down to $38 billion. And then after some politics-as-usual and accounting gimmicks, we find out it’s not $38 billion in cuts. You know that $38 billion – we don’t have it; we’re borrowing it.

We borrow from foreign countries to give to foreign countries, and that’s insanity. We find out it’s not even $38 billion; it’s less than $1 billion in real cuts. Folks, that $352 million in real cuts – that’s no more than the federal government is going to spend in the time it takes us to hold this rally today! That is not courage; that’s capitulation!

Now, there’s a lesson here for the Beltway politicos, something they need to understand; the lesson comes from here in Madison. So, our lesson is to the GOP establishment first. And yeah, I’ll take on the GOP establishment. What more can they say about us, you know?

So, to the GOP establishment: if you stand on the platform, if you stand by your pledges, we will stand with you. We will fight with you, GOP. We have your back. Together we will win because America will win!

We didn’t elect you just to re-arrange the deck chairs on a sinking Titanic. We didn’t elect you to just stand back and watch Obama re-distribute those deck chairs. What we need is for you to stand up, GOP, and fight. Maybe I should ask some of the Badger women’s hockey team—those champions—maybe I should ask them if we should be suggesting to GOP leaders they need to learn how to fight like a girl!

And speaking of President Obama, I think we ought to pay tribute to him today at this Tax Day Tea Party because really he’s the inspiration for why we’re here today.

That’s right. The Tea Party Movement wouldn’t exist without Barack Obama.

You see, Candidate Obama didn’t have a record while he was in office; but President Obama certainly has a record, and that’s why we’re here. And hey, media, it’s not inciting violence and it’s not hateful rhetoric to call someone out on their record, so that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to do it to be clear. That’s right: we’re here, we’re clear, get used to it!

Candidate Obama promised to be fiscally responsible. He promised to cut the deficit; but President Obama tripled it!

Candidate Obama promised that fiscal responsibility; but President Obama flushed a trillion dollars down the drain on a useless “stimulus” package and then he bragged about the jobs he “created” in congressional districts that don’t even exist! That’s right; on this, White House, you lie. The only thing that trillion-dollar travesty stimulated was a debt-crisis and a Tea Party!

Now, the left’s irresponsible and radical policies awakened a sleeping America so that we understood finally what it was that we were about to lose. We were about to lose the blessings of liberty and prosperity. They caused the working men and women of this country to get up off their sofas, to come down from the deer stand, get out of the duck blind, and hit the streets, come to the town halls, and finally to the ballot box. And Tea Party Americans won an electoral victory of historic proportions last November. We the people, we rose up and we decisively rejected the left’s big government agenda. We don’t want it. We can’t afford it. And we are unwilling to pay for it.

But what was the president’s reaction to this mandate for fiscal sanity?

Less than 90 days after the election, in his State of the Union address, President Obama told us, nah, the era of big government is here to stay, and we’re going to pay for it whether we want to or not. Instead of reducing spending, they’re going to “Win The Future” by “investing” more of your hard-earned money in some cockamamie harebrained ideas like more solar shingles, more really fast trains – some things that venture capitalists will tell you are non-starters.

We’re flat broke, but he thinks these solar shingles and really fast trains will magically save us. So now he’s shouting “all aboard” his bullet train to bankruptcy. "Win The Future"? W.T.F. is about right.

And when Wisconsin’s own Paul Ryan presented a plan for fiscal reform, what was Obama’s response? He demonized the voices of responsibility with class warfare and with fearmongering. And I say personally to our president: Hey, parent to parent, Barack Obama, for shame for you to suggest that the heart of the commonsense conservative movement would do anything to harm our esteemed elders, to harm our children with Down syndrome, to harm those most in need. No, see, in our book, you prioritize appropriately and those who need the help will get the help. The only way we do that is to be wise and prudent and to budget according to the right priorities.

Now, our president isn’t leading, he’s punting on this debt crisis. The only future Barack Obama is trying to win is his own re-election! He’s willing to mortgage your children’s future to ensure his own. And that is not the audacity of hope. That’s cynicism!

Piling more debt onto our children and grandchildren is not courage. No, that’s cowardice!

But did you notice when he gave that polarizing speech last week there was a little gem in the speech. Maybe you missed it. But he spoke about the social contract and the “social compact.” Well, Mr. President, the most basic tenet in that social compact is adhering to the consent of the governed. That would be “We the People.” President Obama, you do not have our consent. You didn’t have it in November. And you certainly don’t have it now. You willfully ignored the will of the American people.

You ignored it when you rammed through Obamacare.

You ignored it when you drove up the debt to $14.5 trillion.

You ignored it when you misrepresented your deficit spending.

You ignored it when you proposed massive tax increases on the middle class and our job creators.

You ignored is when you went to bat for government-funded abortions and yet you threw our brave men and women in uniform under the bus, Mr. Commander in Chief.

You ignored it when you got us into a third war for fuzzy and inconsistent reasons, a third war that we cannot afford.

You ignore it when you apologize for America while you bow and kowtow to our enemies, and you snub our allies like Israel.

And you ignore when you manipulate the U.S. oil supply. You cut off oil development here and then you hypocritically praise foreign countries for their drilling.

And when hardworking families are hit with $4 and $5 a gallon gas and your skyrocketing energy and food prices as you set out to fundamentally transform America, you ignore our concerns and you tell us we just better get used to it.

Well, Mr. President, we’re not going to get used to it. Not now. Not ever. You ignored us in 2010. But you cannot ignore us in 2012.

Mr. President, you and your cohorts threw all the hatred and all the violence you could at these good folks in Madison, Wisconsin. But you lost here.

And Madison, you defended the 2010 electoral mandate. You are heroes, you are patriots, and when the history of this Tea Party Movement is written, what you accomplished here will not be forgotten.

Your historic stand brought down the curtain on the last election. And the 2012 election begins here.

We will take the courage and the integrity that you showed all of America. We will take it and we will win back our country!

God has shed His grace on thee, America. We will not squander what we have.

We will fight for America! And it starts here in Madison, Wisconsin!

It starts here! It starts now! What better place than the state that hosts the Super Bowl champs, to call out the liberal left and let them know: Mr. President, game on!

God bless you, Wisconsin, and God bless America!


VS: And God bless you, Sarah Palin. You go girl!

Why Obama's sacred cow, Head Start, should be dead meat!

Verne Strickland Blogmaster

FALSE START, UPSTART, JUMP START . . . WHAT THE HELL? A BOONDOGGLE BY ANY OTHER NAME IS STILL A BOONDOGGLE!

 By Megan Fox

Posted on April 13 2011 7:00 pm
Megan Fox is a stay-at-home mom, blogger, radio-talk show host and conservative folk-singer. Visit her at www.intolerantfox.com.



Now, if the study had been done on the mothers, I’m sure there would be measurable benefits like less stress, better complexions and nicer looking fingernails, but it’s supposed to be about the kids, right? Typical of the Left when faced with the realities that their ideas are failing, instead of scrapping the bad idea and moving on, they want to throw more money at it.
We’ll increase Head Start funding and quadruple Early Start to include a quarter of a million at-risk children. I will create a Presidential Early Learning Council to coordinate this effort across all levels of government and ensure that we’re providing these children and families with the highest-quality programs.” –Obama, 2007
Obama did indeed get more federal dollars allocated to Head Start in 2009. Truth be told, as difficult as it is to fight against programs that everyone thinks are “for the children,” these are the battles worth fighting so conservatives learn how to communicate with the people and end the practice of using children as human shields on the battlefield of ideas.

Let’s get the kids out of it for once and look at the actual evidence. The HHS study proves Head Start is a useless endeavor. But if that isn’t enough to convince you, maybe the fraud and theft of taxpayer funds at Head Start will.
•Head Start workers at eight centers “actively encouraged” fictitious families to misrepresent their eligibility.
•In at least four cases, applications were “doctored” to exclude income information.
•Workers at seven centers “knowingly disregarded” part of families’ income.
•At two centers, workers falsely wrote on application forms that one parent was unemployed.
It’s no secret why Head Start would want to fill its rolls to the brim. For each child they have enrolled, they get more money. And that’s what it comes down to.

The Left isn’t interested in actually cutting programs that don’t benefit taxpayers because they always benefit somebody. (I’ll give you a hint: it’s not the children.)

The phrase I’m looking for is “slush fund.” Whenever Americans allow more of their money to leave their control and go to Washington, they are taking the risk that it will end up funding useless programs and lining the pockets of unsavory people.

The question is, do you want to be able to pay for preschool? If the answer is yes, then what can the government do to help you do that? The answer is not another billion dollars to fund a failing program but to let you keep more of your money which you will put to good use on your children’s education, thus improving the lives of children (and their parents) everywhere!

http://www.newsrealblog.com/2011/04/13/why-obamas-sacred-cow-head-start-should-be-dead-meat/