1st Amendment / Constitution / Fairness Doctrine

Facebook – self appointed arbiter of “free speech” – tells Tea Party no more organizing

In what is an astonishing development, Mark Zuckerberg’s social media sensation, Facebook, has been slowly and quietly clamping down on the use of the site for political purposes. Kellen Giuda, an architect who started the NY Tea Party, has a column today in The Daily Caller to expose the Facebook hypocrisy, and to announce an alternative social medium to replace the FB void after a series of policy and site changes that are designed to limit the scope of use of Facebook related to political purposes.

What makes an American entrepreneur’s blood run cold is the quote from Facebook’s Adam Conner to the Wall Street Journal last month:

Barack Obama / Economy / Military Budget

Defense Sec'y Gates' exit U-turn: warns of downgraded US military under Obama budget cuts

Frank Gaffney at Breitbar’s Big Peace, has been following Robert Gates’ last days as Obama’s Sec’y of Defense. The round of speeches by Gates in the past days has many – including Gaffney – scratching their heads, as he solemnly warns against the ““hollowing out” of the military” in what can only be construed as johnnie come lately criticism for Obama’s plan to cut the defense budget by an additional $400 billion by 2023.

This means the Obama administration and Congress must now decide how much military power the U.S. should give up, how that fits U.S. goals for maintaining global influence, and how to pay for it, Gates said.

“A smaller military, no matter how superb, will be able to go fewer places and be able to do fewer things.”

Congress / Culture of Corruption / Politics

Need a prolific stock broker? Call your Congressional representative

While most of us suspected that Congressional members have an “in” to some easy money, it appears those ties between Congress and Wall Street run deeper and more intimate than most of us feared. A new study, “Abnormal Returns From the Common Stock Investments of Members of the U.S. House of Representatives”, released this week in the Business and Politics journal, (part of the Berkeley Electronic Press) focused on the higher percentages of stock earnings by 300 House members as compared to private investors with no access to non public information. The jaw dropping results revealed abnormally consistent stock successes that, over a period of decades with even a modest market, could net the elite Congressional members millions in portfolio earnings.

Congress / Economy / Politics

The do-nothing Senate… both GOP and Dems reject Ryan/Obama budgets in vote

Well, it seems I need to add the Senate Republicans to the naughty Christmas list…. that’s assuming this admin will allow us to distribute coal and not ban it as an illegal substance. But someone may want to send a physician up to the Senate chamber and find out if any on in there has a pulse… because there doesn’t appear to be a heartbeat when it comes to addressing serious spending cuts and reform of the entitlement programs.

I’m going to have to throw the Democrats a bone here. At least they were up front in their political reasons for dodging the Medicare bullet, telling the nation they have no plans to commit to budget cuts prior to the POTUS election.

Foreign Policy / Israel

DNC chair, Wasserman Schultz, tries to use Netanyahu as political human shield

In an unbelievably tactless act, DNC Chairwoman, Rep Debbie Wasserman-Schultz used a joint delegates meeting between Israeli PM, Benjamin Netanhayu, and the Republican Jewish Coalition and the National Jewish Democratic Council as a human shield for political campaigning in the upcoming Presidential election. With the PM present, Wasserman Schultz point blank asked the RJC to “pledge” they would refrain from using Israel as a campaign issue. Matt Brooks, RJC executive director, likened it to hijacking “these meeting in order to, in front of the prime minister, put a gag order in effect to prevent us from speaking out on Israel.”

Asked about Netanyahu’s reaction, Brooks said Netanyahu was “clearly uncomfortable and at one point said, ‘do you guys want me to leave the room and give you guys some privacy?’”

Economy / Harry Reid / Politics

Dem Congress uses same ol’ playbook – no budget offering from them

When it comes to main street’s kitchen table, the American family can’t hide from a need to tighten the belt because of of budget restrictions. When survival is at stake, a hard look at the check book, weighed against the income and higher expenses of daily living, must happen and spending is triaged for only what is absolutely vital. Such responsibilities are, apparently, above the Democrats in Congress.

Continuing their latest playbook antics of politics, Harry Reid isn’t shy about about the Democrat “run and hide” strategy when it comes to spending, and proclaims to the press it would be “foolish” for the Democrats to propose a budget.

Constitution / Election Fraud / POWER GRAB!

Liberal attempts to abolish Electoral College takes back door route thru State Legislatures

Just as every Christmas brings the same tired argument over nativity scenes, Christmas trees and Santa Claus, every election cycle brings forth a fresh attempt to ignore the Constitutional establishment of the Electoral College, and allow the city centers to run roughshod over rural Americans. The 2012 election is no different, but it does bring a fresh approach to the age old problem of a “popular vote” Presidential election… by having the state legislators pass a law, obligating their EC votes to the national popular vote winners.

Economy

Geithner lays groundwork to blame economy/housing woes on GOP and debt ceiling

With a failing and ailing housing market that Zillow predicts won’t hit bottom until 2012 *at the earliest*…, a US dollar with rapidly declining value driving prices of oil up, as well as every product down line in the transportation chain, this administration’s leadership thru the US economic woes have proven not to steer the nation towards recovery, but instead thrown us into a double dip recession.

With a new POTUS election year looming, this comes as quite the inconvenient talking point. So it comes as no surprise that Geithner decides to play politics with the crises… laying the groundwork for blaming policies that brought us to this point on on the GOPs demands for spending cuts in exchange for raising the debt ceiling.

Economy / Real Estate & Lending

The Housing Recovery That Wasn’t

It’s four months shy of three years since I penned the post, “A Perfect Storm of Housing and Lending Events… the crash of the US housing market and economy. Since then, it’s been stimulus after stimulus spending… albeit all with different names to disguise the same. In the weeks following the Obama inaugural, economist Chris Low was saying the housing market hit bottom, and that 2009 was a year of stabilization and recovery.

It was not to be