Daily Archives: February 6, 2010

02/6/10

Obama’s Council of Governors

Hat Tip: Jean Stoner and Nancy Jacques

Below are the Governors that President Obama has appointed to the Council of Governors. Why is there a Governor from Puerto Rico on this list?

A great post on this can be found at Flopping Aces – UPDATED: Connecting the dots on Obama’s Council of Governors

(R – Vermont) – Governor James H. Douglas, Co-Chair, Council of Governors
James H. Douglas was first elected Governor of Vermont in 2002 and is now in his fourth term. He serves as Chair of the National Governors Association and is past president of the Council of State Governments. As Governor of Vermont, Governor Douglas established Vermont’s Homeland Security Advisory Council to assess Vermont’s overall homeland security preparedness, policies, and communications and to advise the governor on strategies to improve the current system. Prior to being elected governor, he was elected State Treasurer and served as president of the National Association of State Treasurers. Governor Douglas has also served as a state legislator and Secretary of State. He graduated from Middlebury College.

(D – Washington) – Governor Chris Gregoire, Co-Chair, Council of Governors
Chris Gregoire is the Governor of the State of Washington. She was first elected in 2005 and re-elected in 2009. She sits on the National Governors Association Executive Committee, Economic Development and Commerce Committee, as well as the Special Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety. From 1993 – 2005, Governor Gregoire was a three-term Washington State Attorney General. She graduated from the University of Washington with a Bachelor of Arts degree in speech and sociology, and received her law degree from Gonzaga University.

(R – Arizona) – Governor Janice K. Brewer, Member, Council of Governors
Janice K. Brewer became the 22nd Governor of Arizona taking the oath of office on January 21, 2009. She serves on the National Governors Association Health and Human Services Committee. Governor Brewer was first elected as the Secretary of State in 2002 and re-elected in 2006. She served as an appointee on the Governor’s Military Task Force dealing with base closure issues. Prior to becoming Secreatry of State she served as Maricopa County Supervisor, and as a member of both houses of the Arizona Legislature.

(R – Puerto Rico) – Governor Luis G. Fortuño, Member, Council of Governors
Luis G. Fortuño is the current governor of Puerto Rico. He was elected in 2008. He sits on the National Governors Association Economic Development and Commerce Committee. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2004. In 1994, he became Puerto Rico’s first secretary of the Department of Economic Development and Commerce. Governor Fortuño earned a bachelor’s degree from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and a law degree from the University of Virginia Law School.

(D – Oklahoma) – Governor Brad Henry, Member, Council of Governors
Brad Henry is currently serving his second term as governor of Oklahoma. Governor Henry is a member of the National Governors Association Education, Early Childhood and Workforce Committee. Originally elected in 2002, Governor Henry was re-elected in 2006. Before his election as governor, he served ten years in the Oklahoma State Senate. Governor Henry attended the University of Oklahoma as a President’s Leadership Scholar and earned a bachelor’s degree in economics He was awarded his law degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Law.

(R – Virginia) – Governor Robert F. McDonnell, Member, Council of Governors
Robert F. McDonnell was elected in 2009, and is the 71st Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Governor McDonnell serves on the National Governors Association Health and Human Services Committee. He began his career in public service as a prosecutor in the Virginia Beach Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office. In November 1991, he was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates. He served 14 years in the Virginia House of Delegates from Virginia Beach. Previously, he served as Attorney General of Virginia. Governor McDonnell served as a medical supply officer in the United States Army for four years and in the U.S. Army Reserve for 16 years, retiring with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. McDonnell attended the University of Notre Dame on a ROTC scholarship, graduating with a BBA in Management. McDonnell received a MSBA from Boston University and a MA/JD from the Regent University School of Law.

(D – Missouri) – Governor Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon, Member, Council of Governors
Jeremiah W. Nixon was elected as Missouri’s 55th governor in 2008. Governor Nixon serves on the National Governors Association Health and Human Services Committee. He is responsible for operating Missouri’s innovative fusion center, the Missouri Information Analysis Center. Governor Nixon has also served four terms as the state attorney general and was first elected Missouri Attorney General in 1992. Governor Nixon received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Missouri and after practicing law for several years, he was elected to the Missouri State Senate in 1986.

(D – Maryland) – Governor Martin O’Malley, Member, Council of Governors
Martin O’Malley is the Governor of Maryland. He was first elected in 2006. Governor O’Malley sits on the National Governors Association Committee on Education, Early Childhood, and Workforce and co-chairs the National Governors Association Special Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety. He has been a leader in the area of national security, releasing the first comprehensive inventory of any state’s cyber security assets. Before being elected governor, he served as the Mayor of Baltimore City for seven years. He has also served on the Baltimore City Council. Governor O’Malley graduated from Catholic University and received a law degree from the University of Maryland.

(R – Georgia) – Governor Beverly Eaves Perdue, Member, Council of Governors
Beverly Eaves Perdue was elected Governor of North Carolina in 2008. She sits on the National Governors Association Committee on Economic Development and Commerce and Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety, and is a Lead Governor on the National Guard. Governor Perdue has a long history of public service, including her tenure as Lt. Governor from 2000 -2008 as well three years in the North Carolina House of Representatives and nine years in the State Senate. As Lt. Governor she led North Carolina’s response during the 2005 round of the Base Closure and Realignment Commission. Prior to running for office she worked as a public school teacher and as director of geriatric services at a community hospital. Perdue holds a Ph.D. in Education Administration.

(R – South Dakota) – Governor M. Michael Rounds, Member, Council of Governors
M. Michael Rounds was sworn-in as South Dakota’s 31st governor in 2003, and re-elected in 2006. Governor Rounds is Chair of the National Governors Association Health and Human Services Committee. He formerly chaired the Western Governors Association. From 1991 to 2000, he served five terms in the South Dakota State Senate. In 1995, he was chosen by his peers to serve as senate majority leader, a post he held for six years. Governor Rounds graduated from South Dakota State University with a degree in political science.

Though I cannot prove this, as I have tripped over Wikipedia entries – a number seem to have been modified. Governor Brewer’s was one of them – it should be noted that all I found on her was basically conservative in nature except when it came to stimulus funds. The discrepancies have something to do with something labeled the New Progressive Party which I can find little on. I have to wonder if this council is connected somehow on Progressive goals and issues. Here are the historical entries of the Progressive Party that I have found:

Progressive Party (United States, 1912)

Progressive Party (United States, 1948)

Check out the Progressive Party’s Platform… Very interesting and chilling reading. It will change your whole viewpoint on President Theodore Roosevelt.

If anyone finds a common link between these 10, please let me know. Also if you find anything on a New Progressive Party or the actual Progressive Party as it now is, send it to us here at terresa AT noisyroom.net.

02/6/10

Financial News Update – 02/06/10

Food stamps set ever-higher record-32.8 million people

Obama vows to beat ‘blizzard’ of opposition on healthcare

Sticker Shock on U.N. Food Aid

SurvivalBlog:

The Federal Reserve Bought Approximately 80 Percent Of U.S. Treasury Securities Issued In 2009.

20 Reasons Global Debt Time Bomb Explodes Soon

Sprott: Gold to gain 30% in 2010, higher interest rates to hurt US economy

Fears of ‘Lehman-style’ tsunami as crisis hits Spain and Portugal

North Korea’s economic moves bring new misery

The Next Leg Of The Housing Crisis In Five Simple Charts

Stocks Sink in on Economy Jitters; Dow Below 9,900

Companies Boost Productivity and Put Off Hiring

Bond Yields Tumble on Latest European Debt Worries

Stocks, Commodities Plunge as Dollar Gains

Retailers Likely to Close More US Stores

02/6/10

Links To Visit – 02/06/10

The Washington Times – Nuclear missile threats to U.S. mount

Pierre Legrand’s Pink Flamingo Bar – VANDERBILT CHAPL…err IMAM AGREES THAT HOMOSEXUALS SHOULD BE KILLED! TOLERANCE ISLAMIC STYLE!

Law Blog – States to Feds: Step Off (Hat Tip: Virginia Tenth Amendment Center)

BusinessWeek – Retiree Annuities May Be Promoted by Obama Aides (Hat Tip: Brian B.)

Townhall.com – Sweet Tea for Convention Attendees (Hat Tip: Brian B.)

The New Editor – Why are liberals so condescending?

The Radio Patriot – The World of Sorrows

Gateway Pundit – Massive Protest Breaks Out at National Tea Party Convention – Media Swarms

It was a state-run media’s dream come true.

Four Tea Party counter-protesters showed up this afternoon at the National Tea Party Convention in Nashville.

The mainstream media, of course, swarmed them.

Gateway Pundit – Erick Erickson Has a Change of Heart at National Tea Party Convention (Video)

Gateway Pundit – That Didn’t Take Long… ABC Reporter Attacks National Tea Party Convention Leaders During Press Conference (Video)

NRO – Are We All Keynesians Now? (Hat Tip: Larwyn)

The Jawa Report – American Kidnapped in Iraq by Shia Islamists

Kenneth Timmerman – News from FDI – Exclusive new photos of Imad Mugniyeh

IdahoStatesman.com – RIGHT MESSAGE? (Hat Tip: Carolyn Cooke)

WND – New ‘bill of particulars’ cites Obama failings (Hat Tip: Brian B.)

Pajamas Media – Thank You, Glenn Beck, for Exposing Communism’s Evils (Hat Tip: Jean Stoner)

CNN – Obama’s foreign policy in gridlock: former national security adviser (Hat Tip: Jean Stoner)

Fox News – We Really CAN Throw the Bums Out! (Hat Tip: Nancy Jacques)

Times Online – Bombing exposes Obama’s secret Pakistan war

02/6/10

TARKANIAN APPLAUDS STARBUCKS ON GUNS – ORDERS STARBUCKS “GUN FREEDOM” CARDS

TARKANIAN APPLAUDS STARBUCKS GUN DECISION – ORDERS PERSONALIZED STARBUCKS CARDS FOR CAMPAIGN

CARD TEXT: “DEFEND GUN FREEDOMS” TARK2010.ORG

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 6, 2010
Contact: [email protected]

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Danny Tarkanian applauded Starbucks’ decision to stand up for gun owner’s Constitutional rights and announced his campaign has ordered personalized Starbucks cards with the text “DEFEND GUN FREEDOMS” and his website, “TARK2010.ORG.”

“At a time when the country seems to moving farther and farther away from the Constitution, I am glad to see a company that still respects the law and our country’s traditions,” said Tarkanian.

—
Paid for and authorized by Tarkanian for Senate
840 South Rancho Drive, Suite 4-614
Las Vegas, NV 89106
[email protected]
www.tark2010.org

02/6/10

One of These Is Not Like the Other…

Bernanke warns debt threatens recovery

But Mr. Bernanke adamantly denied that would happen. “The Federal Reserve will not monetize the debt,”he said. “Either cuts in spending or increases in taxes will be necessary to stabilize the fiscal situation.”

Really?

Ponzi Scheme: The Federal Reserve Bought Approximately 80 Percent Of U.S. Treasury Securities Issued In 2009

No, the headline is not a misprint. According to CNBC, the Federal Reserve bought approximately 80 percent of the U.S. Treasury securities issued in 2009. In other words, the Federal Reserve has been gobbling up the massive tsunami of U.S. government debt that has been created over the past year. This is absolutely unprecedented, and it is yet another clear indication that the U.S. financial system is on the verge of a major economic collapse.

Monetizing debt

In the United States, and in many other countries, the government does not have the power to issue new currency to pay its bills[citation needed] – it must instead finance the deficit by issuing new bonds and selling them to the public to acquire the necessary money to pay its bills. However, if these bonds do not end up in the hands of the public, the only alternative is for them to be purchased by the central bank. For the bonds not to end up in the public hands the central bank must conduct an open market purchase. This action by the central bank increases the monetary base through the money creation process. This process of financing government spending is called monetizing the debt.[1] Monetizing debt is a two step process where the government issues debt to finance its spending, the central bank purchases the debt from the public and the public is left with high powered money.

02/6/10

George Washington: On Braddock’s Defeat

1755

The French and Indian War, as the Americans called it, was a phase, and perhaps the most important one, of a global conflict (called by some historians the Seven Years’ War, by others the Great War for the Empire) between France and Britain, fought over the issue of which empire would control the future of the North American continent. In the American colonies, the war broke out in the Pennsylvania wilderness on May 28, 1754, when George Washington, aged twenty-two, attacked a small French force at Great Meadows. Washington was forced to surrender on July 3, but this was only a minor skirmish; the war began in earnest the following year, when General Braddock attempted to capture Fort Duquesne, which the French had recently built on the site of what is now Pittsburgh. Braddock’s regulars — Colonel Washington was a member of the general’s staff — had chopped their way westward for over a month through dense forest. On July 9, 1755, they were surprised by a small force (mostly Indians) seven miles from the fort that was their objective. The ensuing fight ended in a complete rout of the British; Braddock was killed, and Dunbar, the new commander, led the survivors — only about 1,500 out of an original 2,500 — back to Philadelphia. Despite Braddock’s crushing defeat, the bravery of the “Virginia blues” was caught up in the postwar myth of the vast superiority of the quick-witted American farmer-soldier over the British regular. In the following letter, written by Washington to his mother on July 18, Washington described the battle, and told her of his near escape from death.

Source: The Writings of George Washington, John C. Fitzpatrick, ed. Vol. 1, Washington, 1931, pp. 150-152.

Honored Madam:

As I doubt not but you have heard of our defeat, and, perhaps, had it represented in a worse light, if possible, than it deserves, I have taken this earliest opportunity to give you some account of the engagement as it happened, within ten miles of the French fort, on Wednesday the 9th instant.

We marched to that place, without any considerable loss, having only now and then a straggler picked up by the French and scouting Indians. When we came there, we were attacked by a party of French and Indians, whose number, I am persuaded, did not exceed three hundred men; while ours consisted of about one thousand three hundred well-armed troops, chiefly regular soldiers, who were struck with such a panic that they behaved with more cowardice than it is possible to conceive. The officers behaved gallantly, in order to encourage their men, for which they suffered greatly, there being near sixty killed and wounded; a large proportion of the number we had.

The Virginia troops showed a good deal of bravery, and were nearly all killed; for I believe, out of three companies that were there, scarcely thirty men are left alive. Captain Peyrouny, and all his officers down to a corporal, were killed. Captain Polson had nearly as hard a fate, for only one of his was left. In short, the dastardly behavior of those they call regulars exposed all others, that were inclined to do their duty, to almost certain death; and, at last, in despite of all the efforts of the officers to the contrary, they ran, as sheep pursued by dogs, and it was impossible to rally them.

The General was wounded, of which he died three days after. Sir Peter Halket was killed in the field, where died many other brave officers. I luckily escaped without a wound, though I had four bullets through my coat, and two horses shot under me. Captains Orme and Morris, two of the aids-de-camp, were wounded early in the engagement, which rendered the duty harder upon me, as I was the only person then left to distribute the General’s orders, which I was scarcely able to do, as I was not half recovered from a violent illness, that had confined me to my bed and a wagon for above ten days. I am still in a weak and feeble condition, which induces me to halt here two or three days in the hope of recovering a little strength, to enable me to proceed homewards; from whence, I fear, I shall not be able to stir till toward September; so that I shall not have the pleasure of seeing you till then, unless it be in Fairfax…

I am, honored Madam, your most dutiful son.

P.S. We had about 300 men killed and as many, and more, wounded.