Daily Archives: September 25, 2013

09/25/13

Obama on Obamacare: “We did raise taxes on some things.”

By: Terresa Monroe-Hamilton
Cross-Posted at Right Wing News

Some things?! You’ve got to be kidding me… This is not just a train wreck, it is an absolute horror story for each and every family in America. While the elites have made sure they have exemptions, the rest of us are going to be ground into the dust of poverty. We are about to be literally taxed to death. I feel sick — too bad I won’t be able to see a doctor about that.

Here is a partial list of things to come — from Americans for Tax Reform:

And by “some things,” he means uninsured families, medical devices, workplace flex accounts, small businesses, Health Savings Accounts, savings income…

    Starting in tax year 2013:

  • Obamacare Medical Device Tax: Medical device manufacturers employ 409,000 people in 12,000 plants across the country. Obamacare imposes a new 2.3 percent excise tax on gross sales – even if the company does not earn a profit in a given year. In addition to killing small business jobs and impacting research and development budgets, this will make everything from pacemakers to artificial hips more expensive.
  • Obamacare High Medical Bills Tax: Before Obamacare, Americans facing high medical expenses were allowed a deduction to the extent that those expenses exceeded 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income (AGI). Obamacare now imposes a threshold of 10 percent of AGI. Therefore, Obamacare not only makes it more difficult to claim this deduction, it widens the net of taxable income.
  • Obamacare Flexible Spending Account Tax: The 30 – 35 million Americans who use a pre-tax Flexible Spending Account (FSA) at work to pay for their family’s basic medical needs face a new Obamacare cap of $2,500. This will squeeze $13 billion of tax money from Americans over the next ten years. (Before Obamacare, the accounts were unlimited under federal law, though employers were allowed to set a cap.) Now, a parent looking to sock away extra money to pay for braces will find themselves quickly hitting this new cap, meaning they would have to pony up some or all of the cost with after-tax dollars.
  • Obamacare Super Saver Surtax: A new, 3.8 percent surtax on investment income earned in households making at least $250,000 ($200,000 single).
  • Obamacare Medicare Payroll Tax Increase: First $200,000 ($250,000 Married) Employer/Employee — 1.45%/1.45%, 2.9% self-employed. All Remaining Wages Employer/Employee — 1.45%/2.35%, 3.8% self-employed. And increase of .9%.

    • Starting in tax year 2014:

  • Obamacare Individual Mandate Non-Compliance Tax: Starting in 2014, anyone not buying “qualifying” health insurance – as defined by President Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services — must pay an income surtax to the IRS. The Congressional Budget Office recently estimated that six million American families will be liable for the tax, and as pointed out by the Associated Press: “Most would be in the middle class.”

    • (Delayed by Obama to 2015):

  • Obamacare Employer Mandate Tax: If an employer does not offer health coverage, and at least one employee qualifies for a health tax credit, the employer must pay an additional non-deductible tax of $2,000 for all full-time employees. This provision applies to all employers with 50 or more employees. If any employee actually receives coverage through the exchange, the penalty on the employer for that employee rises to $3,000. If the employer requires a waiting period to enroll in coverage of 30-60 days, there is a $400 tax per employee ($600 if the period is 60 days or longer).
  • Obamacare Tax on Health Insurers: Annual tax on the industry imposed relative to health insurance premiums collected that year. The tax phases in gradually until 2018. Fully imposed on firms with $50 million in profits.

    • Starting in tax year 2018:

  • Obamacare Tax on Union Member and Early Retiree Health Insurance Plans: Obamacare imposes a new 40 percent excise tax on high cost or “Cadillac” health insurance plans, effective in 2018. This tax increase will most directly affect union families and early retirees, who are likely to be covered by such plans. This Obamacare tax will be levied on insurance policies whose premiums exceed $10,200 for an individual and $27,500 for a family. Middle class union members tend to be covered by such plans in states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Higher threshold ($11,500 single/$29,450 family) for early retirees and high-risk professions. CPI +1 percentage point indexed.

This doesn’t include all the massive paperwork and fines that are to come. Buckle up and get ready to experience Obamacare and all its taxes.

09/25/13

More Cats, Less Rats

Blasted Fools

What do cats and legal gun owners have in common? Both are a solution to the problems of rodents – in one form or another.

I’ve written numerous columns illustrating the staggering lack of logic and reason within the gun control movement among liberals at large, in the media and within the Democrat party. I found it necessary to return to the topic, because I just got a super-sized example of the impaired judgment and intellectual dishonesty of gunophobes handed to me on a Silver platter by the Governor of Illinois, Pat Quinn. Gov. Pat Quinn says he would consider using state resources to help combat Chicago street violence, but only if city officials want the assistance.

What sort of ‘state resources’ does Pat Quinn contemplate mobilizing? Community organizers? No. What then? The State Police and or the Illinois National Guard. Before I tie the threads together on this in a moment, let’s briefly review the statistics, along with the latest event that brings the Governor to the stage of considering such a move. According to Reuters, Chicago has one of the worst homicide rates in the country and more violent crime than other large cities such as New York and Los Angeles. The city’s police department had been claiming success in stemming the violence with a strategy of flooding 20 high-crime neighborhoods with officers. Homicides in Chicago this year are down 21 percent compared with last year – at 305 compared with 389, according to the Chicago Police Department.

Whenever the topic of ‘gun violence’ is raised by progressives, it is usually in the context of the claim that there are ‘too many guns in this country’ and the simplistic answer is that more restrictions of the availability, access and ownership of guns is the remedy. But what is the precise nature of most of the ‘gun violence’ that liberals cite? Well, Chicago is as good an example of reality as separated from fiction as it gets. Chicago’s gun violence is predominantly gang violence. “If you remove gang-related incidents from the Chicago homicide statistics, the homicide rate involving normal citizens is much lower,” says James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University in Boston.

But progressives are not interested in stepping up enforcement against the very element that is predominantly involved in the violence – gun related or otherwise. They are obsessed with the particular weapons involved in the violence, as if the gang members are merely incidental to the mayhem. As an example, consider this typical narrative from the New York Times, of the origin of Chicago’s problems:

More than a quarter of the firearms seized on the streets here by the Chicago Police Department over the past five years were bought just outside city limits in Cook County suburbs, according to an analysis by the University of Chicago Crime Lab. Others came from stores around Illinois and from other states, like Indiana, less than an hour’s drive away. Since 2008, more than 1,300 of the confiscated guns, the analysis showed, were bought from just one store, Chuck’s Gun Shop in Riverdale, Ill., within a few miles of Chicago’s city limits.

So if Chuck’s Gun Shop and his customers could just be outlawed by legislation, the gang problem in Chicago would be solved. That is the implication at hand here. But perhaps only 20 percent of the weapons traced to street violence in Chicago are accountable to Chuck’s Gun Shop. The Chicago police traced the origins of more than half of the guns seized since 2001 and found that the guns whose origins were identified came from all 50 states and from more than 60% of the nation’s counties.

The false equivalency of the outlawing of legal sales of firearms would infer that vigorously curtailing gun purchases nationwide, would be the solution to Chicago’s problems. But would it? Not if the majority of the violence is perpetrated by gangs. Keep in mind that the only people who are under scrutiny of the strict gun laws in Chicago are those who wish to own a firearm for self protection. They wouldn’t be responsible for the violence statistics. A good example of this is Houston, Texas. Here are some revealing facts about the two cities, Chicago and Houston:

Population:

Chicago – 2.7 million
Houston – 2.2 million

Racial demographics – roughly similar. Houston has 16% more Hispanics and Chicago has 8% more Blacks. Chicago has 5% more Whites.

Concealed Carry Permits:

Chicago – none (Shall not issue state)
Houston – permits available to qualified citizens

Gun Stores:

Chicago – no outlets within city limits according to ordinance
Houston – approximately 1,500 retail venues

Homicides (2012):

Chicago – 506
Houston – 207

No statistics are available for rate of gun ownership in Chicago or Illinois, but we could get an idea by comparing Texas and Illinois’ neighbor, Michigan (for which stats are available). Texas and Michigan have an equal number of violent crimes per 100,000 residents, but Texas has double – 8.1%, the number of homes with a pistol or revolver readily available for a contingency.

You really need to get back to the substantive issue, however, and that is gang activity. This is where we discover the main solution to the ‘gun problem’ of the progressives. The Christian Science Monitor reports:

Chicago is in the midst of its worst period of gun violence in years. Its 513 homicides last year was a four-year high, and last month’s 42 homicides were the most in a January since 2002. Meanwhile, much larger New York had only 414 homicides in 2012 – an all-time low. If it had Chicago’s murder rate, New York would have totaled more than 1,400.

Why is New York’s homicide rate declining, despite all the drama queen antics of Nanny Mike Bloomberg? More effective gang enforcement in New York City, plain and simple. Both cities have restrictive gun laws, and both are subject to the challenge of weapons brought into the city from outside the state. But New York has ramped up its anti-gang program. The hiring of more officers and the concentrated enforcement in gang locales is considered by experts in anti-crime strategy as the game changer. Which means that Bloomberg’s and Rahm Emanuel’s heavy handed gun policies aimed at keeping guns out of the hands of residents that need and are entitled to own them, has nothing to do with the solution to gun crime. Controlling the criminal population does.

Before I get to the beautiful irony of Governor Quinn’s offer to the city of Chicago, allow me to submit an analogy. Recall the Black Plague or Black Death in 14th Century Europe. Millions died from being infected by fleas that carried the Yersinia pestis, a bacteria which epidemiologists suspect traveled in infected rats from China to Italy via Black Sea trading vessels in 1347. A major aggravating factor at this time was the prevailing sentiment towards cats in Europe. The Church fostered superstitious attitudes regarding cats, including that they were the embodiment of witches and associated with evil. For this reason, European society had largely eliminated it’s cat population, the natural preditorial adversary of rats and mice. Now infected rats carrying this disease had free reign to infect humans and the results were – pardon the expression – catastrophic. Things have changed since. The Royal Palace and the Prime Minister’s residence at 10 Downing Street employ cats to police rodents.

Progressives, who like to esteem themselves as rational and better educated than ‘bitter clingers’, exhibit the same degree of superstition and illogical phobia of guns in the hands of law abiding citizens as the medieval residents of Europe held towards cats. That’s what leads to Gun Free Zones and results in innocent people not being able to defend themselves against armed attackers such as in the Navy Yard shootings.

Now, to Governor Quinn. His offer to Chicago? Bring in more guns! That’s right, more guns in the hands of State Police and the Illinois National Guard. Of course, I can psychically predict the argument of a typical Democrat as to why guns in the hands of a Guardsman would be more effective and appropriate than the same guns in the hands of legal gun owners – competence in use. The fact remains, however that a gun used for deterrence of gun crimes by a homeowner does not require the sort of extensive combat proficiency as that of a State Police officer or reservist. But now we know that even a Democrat Governor of a large state, accepts the reality that guns are a tool in responding to gun wielding criminals.

Patrol Supt. Garry McCarthy, Chicago Police Department, remains in opposition to the proposal. “I said no way, no how.” Sounds like a pretty intelligent law enforcement professional. The residents of the ‘Back of the Yards’ district, that just had 13 deaths, due to gang violence, are not too certain of the Governor’s idea either. “We not in Iraq. They might be calling it “Chiraq”. We’re not in Iraq,” said Naphtali Dukes, Back of the Yards resident. Naphtali Dukes said his violence-wracked neighborhood needs jobs more than it needs state cops and soldiers. “Soldiers need to be where soldiers be at, the battlefield.”

Face palm.

09/25/13

Seeing It Clear

Arlene from Israel

No emotional dissonance for me on the situation with the PA/PLO. The emotions I feel are anything but positive, but I am unconflicted.

Deputy Minister of Defense Danny Danon (Likud) has been calling it straight.

Credit: Haaretz

And that certainly applies to this particular situation:

“We have to freeze the negotiations until [Abbas]…and the Palestinian leadership condemn the terrorist incidents of the last few days. I told the prime minister that he cannot negotiate with those who support terror.” (Emphasis added.)

http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Israelis-Palestinians-trade-barbs-but-peace-talks-are-not-derailed-326897

That we can not — and should not — negotiate with the Palestinian Authority in its current formulation seems to me a no-brainer.

~~~~~~~~~~

To gain a more complete picture of what the PA leadership is like, consider the following. It is far worse than their refusing to condemn those Palestinian Arabs who committed the terrorist attacks of the last few days (more on this below):

Abbas Zaki, a member of the Fatah Central Committee (Fatah, remember, being the political mainstay of the Palestinian Authority), has charged that what the sniper in Hevron did is the fault of the Israeli government:

“The soldier was not on a picnic in Hebron.”

Darn right he wasn’t. Sgt. Kobi was stationed in Hevron, along with other members of the IDF, to protect the thousands of Jews who came for Sukkot.

And of course, the Palestinian Arabs who were throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails not far from where Kobi was standing were doing so for peaceful reasons.

The core issue here — and the reason for the rioting — is the presence of Jews in large numbers in Hevron.

~~~~~~~~~~

Then there is Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rudaineh, who said that Israel is continuing to “kill Palestinians in Kalandiya, Jenin and Gaza.”

(All quotes are from the JPost article above.)

This is surreal. Not only does the PA leadership lie and misrepresent on a regular basis, they are totally without shame as they turn the truth on its head.

Let us look just very briefly at how Israel is treating the Palestinian Arabs in Gaza:

Since the takeover of Gaza by Hamas, Israel had limited building materials going from Israel to Gaza via crossing points because they are “double use” items — for example, concrete could be used for building schools but could also be used for making bunkers for rockets, metal bars could be used in reinforcing those school buildings or could be melted down for rocket construction.

Most of the building material brought into Gaza was via the tunnels from the Sinai. But now the Sinai connection has been cut off by the Egyptian military. And just one week ago, Israel lifted the restriction on importing building materials into Gaza: Now 350 truckloads of materials will be allowed into Gaza weekly — an increase of 250 truckloads — in order “to increase employment and strengthen the private sector in the Gaza Strip.”

http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-removes-last-significant-ban-on-gaza-import/

What is more, last week Ministry of Defense spokesman Guy Inbar announced that Israel will be selling more water to the PA for use in Gaza. Actually, Israel will be building a pipeline that allows double the current amount of water to be piped from Israel into Gaza.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-17/israel-to-double-supply-of-water-to-thirsty-gaza-strip.html

Reports indicated that Israel made these moves after “consultation with the international community,” which means under duress from the US and the EU. Tony Blair, Quartet envoy, said that these steps would create “a more positive atmosphere.”

These are some more of those “gestures of good will” made in an attempt to generate constructive negotiations.

One could probably make a very good case that we are certifiable for doing this. But if we’re nuts, it’s benignly so, with regard to how we are treating the Palestinian Arabs. Not so benign, perhaps, with regard to how we protect ourselves. We give altogether too much, with no return.

Now to have a spokesman for Abbas accusing us of “killing Palestinians” — as if we routinely go around taking Palestinian Arabs out — is insufferable. Israel should have a Red Line here, in terms of what is tolerated. It is time for Netanyahu to stand up and say: “ENOUGH! You are not a partner for peace and we are withdrawing from negotiations.”

~~~~~~~~~~

I wrote recently about a Hamas prediction that a new intifada was coming. Now hear from Khaled Abu Toameh on this subject, in “A New Intifada?” (emphasis added):

“The resumption of the U.S.-sponsored negotiations has been accompanied by increased calls from Palestinians to launch a new intifada against Israel.

“Calls have been coming not only from Hamas and other extremist groups, but also from Palestinians representing various PLO groups in the West Bank, including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s own Fatah faction.

“Earlier this week, representatives of several Palestinian groups met in Ramallah and launched a public campaign to stop the negotiations and wage an intifada against Israel.

“That the meeting was held a few hundred meters away from Abbas’s headquarters is significant. It shows that opposition to the peace talks is not only coming from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, but also from the largely secular and relatively moderate city of Ramallah.

“A few days earlier, a group of masked men marched in the city calling for a third intifada against Israel. The Palestinian Authority police did not intervene to stop them because, Palestinians say, they were Abbas loyalists from Fatah.

“Calls for a new uprising against Israel are also being issued by senior officials of Fatah in the West Bank. These officials argue that stepping up the ‘popular resistance’ against Israel is possible even as the peace talks continue.

“‘Popular resistance will increase pressure on the Israeli government and draw the world’s attention to the conflict,’ explained a top Fatah official.

“By supporting a new intifada against Israel, Fatah is seeking to send a message to its critics that, despite Abbas’s decision to resume the peace talks with Israel, its members have not abandoned the option of violence as a way of extracting concessions from the Israeli government.

“That is perhaps why Fatah’s armed wing, Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, rushed to claim responsibility for the killing of the two IDF soldiers in Kalkiliya and Hebron.

“After the killing of the soldier in Hebron by a sniper, Fatah published a photo of one of its sharpshooters with the caption, ‘When Fatah says, it does. When Fatah promises, it fulfills.’

“It is worth noting that the Fatah leadership has refrained from distancing itself from the claims of its armed wing.

“Moreover, the Palestinian Authority has stopped short of issuing any form of condemnation for the killing of the soldiers.

“Instead, the Palestinian Authority itself has been involved in a massive campaign of incitement against Israel.

“While some Palestinian Authority officials have come out in public in support of escalating ‘popular resistance’ against Israel, others have been telling Palestinians that ‘extremist Jewish gangs are storming and contaminating the Aqsa Mosque’ — a reference to routine visits by Jews to the Temple Mount.

“These are the kind of statements that prompt young Palestinians to take to the streets and throw stones and petrol bombs at Jewish settlers and IDF soldiers.

“Although Abbas and some of his aides have been telling Israelis, Americans and Europeans that they are opposed to violence and terror attacks against Israel, they continue to incite Palestinians against Israel on a daily basis.”

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3989/new-intifada

~~~~~~~~~~

While Fatah officials think it’s possible to encourage “popular resistance” and continue negotiations at the same time, Israeli officials must make it clear that this is not an option. That Israel has “protested” to the US about continued PA violence and incitement is worthless. ENOUGH!
We need to hold our heads up and respect our national dignity. Not be taken for fools.

~~~~~~~~~~

As to charges by Abu Rudaineh that we are killing Palestinians in places such as Kalandiya, I backup to refer to incidents from last month:

In late August, IDF soldiers from an Artillery Corps battalion and elite border police officers entered the Kalandiya UNRWA refugee camp, located between Jerusalem and Ramallah, at 5 AM, to arrest a security suspect — a member of Tanzim identified as a senior terrorist figure who dealt in weapons. Twice before he had escaped attempts to arrest him.

This time the Israeli security forces gave chase when he bolted from his home, and then found themselves surrounded by some 300 Palestinian Arabs. A riot broke out and the mob began throwing concrete slabs at the soldiers. Non-lethal means of dispersing the rioters was unsuccessful. The mob grew in size and the violence increased: According to an Israeli security source, Israeli forces were being showered with life-threatening objects from rooftops, including washing machines, bathtubs, refrigerators, blocks and carpets set on fire “that landed on jeeps and could have set them ablaze.” Some in the crowd also opened fire on the jeeps.

In the end, the soldiers, feeling that their lives were endangered, opened fire. Three in the rioting mob were killed.

http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Report-2-Palestinians-killed-by-Israeli-security-forces-in-Kalandya-324261

The IDF investigated and found that the soldiers had followed rules of engagement and acted properly.

Abbas called this an “assassination.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Also in late August, a similar incident occurred in the city of Jenin, when Israeli security forces carried out a pre-dawn raid to arrest terror suspects. Here, too, they were set upon by a Palestinian Arab mob that threw rocks and empty bottles. The Israeli forces responded with rubber bullets and tear gas. Ultimately, there was an exchange of gunfire, with the Palestinian Arabs also throwing explosives. One Palestinian Arab was killed.

http://www.jpost.com/Defense/IDF-kills-Palestinian-in-Jenin-during-clashes-323654

~~~~~~~~~~

I reported with pleasure on the announcement by Netanyahu that Jews would now be able to move into Beit Hamachpela. Seems there has now been a backtrack.

A lawyer for a number of Arab families has petitioned the Court to stop Jews from moving in, claiming that there was still a period of time permitted for challenging ownership of the building by Jews. It’s beyond me, folks, as I understood that a court had determined that papers held by the Jews were legitimate.

Today the State [the Netanyahu administration] told the Court that “no decision has been made to give
possession of the building anyone” and no decision would be made until a review process on the matter was completed. Ouch!

See Aaron Lerner, director of IMRA, on this: http://imra.org.il/story.php3?id=61954. If I learn more in due course that makes any sense, I will report on it.

~~~~~~~~~~

As to Abbas apologizing, I have this to report, also from IMRA:

According to Benny Avni reporting on Israel Radio, in a meeting Abbas had with Jewish leaders in New York on Monday night, he said — addressing the issue of the slain soldiers for the first time:

“I condemn this act and all other acts against civilians.”

Aaron Lerner points out that, if the report, in Hebrew, was correct, then Abbas’s statement contained an internal contradiction — for those murdered were not civilians.

http://imra.org.il/story.php3?id=61953

I would carry this further: A statement to a selective audience of Jewish leaders, made in New York City, does not properly qualify as a condemnation. Such a condemnation would have to be made in this region at a press conference or via press release. Properly, it should be made in Arabic, so that his own people would know that he condemned the murders (which, of course, he does not).

Then, setting up an artificial moral equivalency, he said he expected Israel to condemn the recent killings of Palestinian Arabs by Israeli security forces. Israel should condemn the fact that her soldiers, when faced with slabs of concrete and even washing machines being thrown at them from rooftops, fired at their attackers to protect their lives.

~~~~~~~~~~

I began this post by citing Danny Danon, and I cite him again here, with regard to the statement he made following President Obama’s speech at the UN today:

“If this is the way the wind is blowing at present from Obama, an enormous amount of pressure will be certain to follow.”

Indeed!

And then:

“I’m sure that the Prime Minister will present Israel’s position in the spirit of Jabotinsky’s Iron Wall – a powerful combination of determination and stability will ensure the strength of the State of Israel,”

Let us pray so.

~~~~~~~~~~

Obama’s speech was filled with platitudes and undeserved back-patting. Consider (emphasis added): “Next year, an international coalition will end its war in Afghanistan, having achieved its mission of dismantling the core of al Qaeda that attacked us on 9/11.” Really now? So, as long as al Qaeda has moved on to other places, that’s OK?

I’m going to skip over that part of his talk. His major topics, both of which require a careful look, are Iran and Israeli-Palestinian Arab relations. In the main, I want to table the Iranian topic for now — with intention to pick it up in my next post — and focus on what he says about Israel/negotiations/a Palestinian state. (All emphasis is added.)

Danon’s comment about pressure was surely a response to this:

“We are also determined to resolve a conflict that goes back even further than our differences with Iran, and that is the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis.”

What happened to Obama’s position that “we cannot want it more than the parties themselves do.” Just precisely how do “they” intend to resolve a conflict between other parties? This sets off loud alarms regarding implied coercion.

~~~~~~~~~~

And how does he come to this: “I believe there’s a growing recognition within Israel that the occupation of the West Bank is tearing at the democratic fabric of the Jewish state.”

First, that word, “occupation,” used pointedly, and erroneously, here and elsewhere in his talk. There is no occupation. Just today I had a discussion with a reader regarding my intention to provide further information on Israeli rights. There is no way to do full justice to this here and now, with the length of this posting. But it is coming — and soon.

What Obama calls “the West Bank,” which is Judea and Samaria (Yehuda v’Shomron), represents the ancient heritage of the Jewish people — the core of what we are as a people. How can we “occupy” this? We are talking about Hevron, with the Machpela, which cave our father Avraham purchased. And Shilo, where the Tabernacle rested. And Jerusalem, where two Temples stood. And more and more and more…

~~~~~~~~~~

There is also our historical/legal right in modern times — the San Remo Conference and the Palestinian Mandate, conferred on Britain by the League of Nations, so that a homeland for the Jewish people could be established in all of Palestine (with human rights but not national rights accorded other groups). Legally binding in international law, this has not been superseded.

There is the fact that Israel acquired Judea and Samaria in a defensive war, and that there was no legal sovereignty in that area prior to Israel’s liberation of it. There is UN Security Council Resolution 242, which does not require Israel to return to the ’49 armistice line (i.e., the Green Line).

What is clear here is that Obama adheres, still, to the Palestinian Arab position: that everything beyond the Green Line is part of a “Palestinian state.” And that spells trouble.

~~~~~~~~~~

He also has it wrong regarding “growing recognition within Israel” regarding “the occupation” being destructive. He likes to do this — to set what he claims is the “Israeli view” against the view of an Netanyahu administration represented as being obstinate and out of touch. Fact is that more and more Israelis see that a Palestinian state is not in Israel’s best interest.

~~~~~~~~~~

“…the United States remains committed to the belief that the Palestinian people have a right to live with security and dignity in their own sovereign state.”

Aaron Lerner’s comment here: President Obama juxtaposed America’s commitment to Israel’s security with the requirement of Palestinian “dignity.’ Israel has many critical security requirements that the Palestinians assert do not jibe with Palestinian ‘dignity.’

“This raises another interesting question: what of Jewish ‘dignity’? Do we Jews also have the right to ‘dignity’ or is our ‘dignity’ something that can be forfeited?”

~~~~~~~~~~

“So the time is now ripe for the entire international community to get behind the pursuit of peace.”

More loud alarm bells. Translation: folks, come help me apply the pressure.

“Already, Israeli and Palestinian leaders have demonstrated a willingness to take significant political risks.” Give me a break! I’ve amply demonstrated just how willing Abbas is.

~~~~~~~~~~

“All of us must recognize that peace will be a powerful tool to defeat extremists throughout the region…”

This man is a clown! Hamas is waiting, with ill-disguised eagerness, to take over a Palestinian state. The ONLY thing that keeps terrorists at bay now is the conduct of Israeli security forces in Judea and Samaria. Above, I gave two examples of Israeli security raids to capture suspected terrorists. My friends, this goes on nightly. If there is a sovereign Palestinian state (Heaven forbid!) and the IDF cannot move in, those extremists will have a field day.

In Gaza right now, Hamas is the most moderate of the Islamic movements — much worse (including al Qaeda) is present. The same would adhere in a Palestinian state: It would be a headquarters, a training ground for radicalism.

Short-sighted, biased fools in the world, some of whom head governments, refuse to acknowledge that it is Israel that keeps the peace.

~~~~~~~~~~

Lastly for now, this:

“Real breakthroughs on these two issues — Iran’s nuclear program, and Israeli-Palestinian peace — would have a profound and positive impact on the entire Middle East and North Africa.”

How dare he? How dare he juxtapose these two issues, implying that they are of the same import and that each is equally a threat to the Middle East?

The entire speech can be found http://www.timesofisrael.com/full-text-of-obamas-2013-speech-at-un-general-assembly/

09/25/13

Watcher’s Council Nominations – Mr. Cruz Goes To Washington Edition

The Watcher’s Council

Welcome to the Watcher’s Council, a blogging group consisting of some of the most incisive blogs in the ‘sphere and the longest running group of its kind in existence. Every week, the members nominate two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. Then we vote on the best two posts, with the results appearing on Friday. This week’s contest is dedicated to Senator Ted Cruz… for sheer, magnificent courage under fire.

Council News:

This week, Ask Marion, Daphne Anson, The Pirate’s Cove and Right Truth took advantage of my generous offer of link whorage and earned honorable mention status with some great articles.

You can, too! Want to see your work appear on the Watcher’s Council homepage in our weekly contest listing? Didn’t get nominated by a Council member? No worries.

Simply head over to Joshuapundit and post the title and a link to the piece you want considered along with an e-mail address (which won’t be published) in the comments section no later than Monday 6 PM PST in order to be considered for our honorable mention category. Then return the favor by creating a post on your site linking to the Watcher’s Council contest for the week when it comes out Wednesday morning.

Simple, no?

It’s a great way of exposing your best work to Watcher’s Council readers and Council members, while grabbing the increased traffic and notoriety. And how good is that, eh?

So, let’s see what we have this week…

Council Submissions

Honorable Mentions

Non-Council Submissions

Enjoy! And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us Twitter… ’cause we’re cool like that!

09/25/13

Can We Even Salvage a Mind Programmed by ‘Progressive’ Psyops? Clizbe & Bezmenov Vids

By: Arlen Williams
Gulag Bound

As Ted Cruz’ filibuster goes on…

"Brainwshing," by Cesarleal

By Cesarleal (own work) via Wikimedia Commons

How can we even begin by now, to communicate to an Obama supporter who should know better, just how horrible is the sabotage that is Obamacare?

Or for that matter, how desperately evil the Obama regime and his collectivist collaborators are, overall?

Watchmen of America and Patriots’ Resistance Network Radio colleagues, Denise and Bobbi, Gulag Bound dissident author, “As Dawn Sees It,” and I agonized over the those questions during last night’s Sovereignty Unbound net-radio program

To truly understand this, we need to perceive the strategy and massiveness of the onslaught of psychological warfare inflicted upon the sovereign American population for decades and decades. That is where ex-CIA agent, Kent Clizbe and his book comes in: Willing Accomplices: How KGB Covert Influence Agents Created Political Correctness, Obama’s Hate-America-First Political Platform, and Destroyed America.

We played audio of Clizbe’s introduction of this critical information and I promised we’d show the video to go along with it:


“Willing Accomplices: Why do Progressives Hate America?“

It goes with Dawn’s recent and excellent, introductory article, “Gramsci & Frankfurt School, Quick & Dirty; Mutating Our Entire Society’s Perception of Reality.”

It also goes with this interview, which the visitor may have already seen (and we all should) of former KGB disinformation agent, Yuri Bezmenov, by one of our nation’s heroes, G. Edward Griffin.

“Yuri Bezmenov: Deception Was My Job (Complete)“

We need divine help. And prayer needs to be just the start of what we must do; more to relate as we go. (And sure, feel free to check out last night’s Sovereignty Unbound, as you iron your shirts. 😉

09/25/13

The ‘Life and Death’ of Obamacare – Ted Cruz Takes a Principled Stand

By: Terresa Monroe-Hamilton
Cross-Posted at Right Wing News

Go, Ted, go… Imagine my pride and love for this man as I got up this morning to find him still speaking — still railing against Obamacare and the Progressives on the Left. On Tammy Bruce, I heard him read “Green Eggs and Ham” from Dr. Seuss to his daughters on the air because he was missing their bedtime.

On Tuesday night, as Senator Ted Cruz (R – TX) continued his quasi-filibuster regarding Obamacare, he began reading the Dr. Seuss classic “Green Eggs and Ham” after reading Bible verses for his two daughters on the floor of the Senate. He said he wanted to read them to bed from the floor of the Senate. He compared the main character’s refusal to eat green eggs and ham to the American public’s refusal of Obamacare.

Cruz eviscerated Obamacare over and over and over… Then he turned his gaze on the Progressive Republicans. We will remember each and every one of you who turned on us.

“If ye love wealth better than liberty,
the tranquility of servitude
better than the animating contest of freedom,
go home from us in peace.
We ask not your counsels or your arms.
Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you.
May your chains set lightly upon you,
and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.” — Samuel Adams

The Washington Times:

In his remarks, he repeatedly took aim at fellow Republicans, urging them to join him in voting against limiting debate on a stopgap spending bill that also defunds Obamacare. Many Republicans said they will vote along with Democrats to proceed with the stopgap bill because as of now it contains the defunding provisions.

Mr. Cruz, though, said it is certain Democrats will be able to strip the defunding provision with a majority vote later in the process, so the only chance to exert influence is early on, when it will take a 60-vote threshold to even proceed with action.

Don’t be fooled… This IS a life and death struggle. The American people know it and what’s more… our leaders know it and don’t give a crap about the American people. Only their power, only their pockets, only their well-being. Ladies and gentlemen… this is not the death of the Tea Party, this is the birth of a revolution. 68% say this is wrong and the rest are ill-informed.

Rates for the young will be high. Men’s rates will jump by 99%, women’s by 62% and it may be much worse than that. Then the new taxes kick in. You think we are in a depression now? Wait till Obamacare takes hold. You ain’t seen nothing yet.

As Ted Cruz goes to Washington and takes a principled stand, America and life as we have always known it, hangs in the balance. Ted Cruz could be our next president in a political earthquake, the likes we have not seen since the ’80s and maybe never. The Left should be very careful what they wish for — they just might get that revolution they so ardently want.