Tuesday, July 20, 2010

MSM plotted to kill Rev. Wright story

As a former journalist, I read things like this and hear of the "Journolist" and see why the public has lost faith in the main stream media and has turned to "new" media for their news: http://dailycaller.com/2010/07/20/documents-show-media-plotting-to-kill-stories-about-rev-jeremiah-wright/

I am eager to head to RightOnLine in Las Vegas this week for networkinng, training and conversations with other bloggers and new media on the Right. www.RightOnLine.com

First, headed to Waco for the "Soured on Spending" tour - Congress is bankrupting America and we our out to reveal just who is mortgaging our children's future. It's hot so we will have a lemonade stand, fans and material letting citizens know how they can get involved. www.afptx.org

-- Peggy Venable

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Liberal Media Blames Public for Obama's Drop in Polls

You may be spoiled if you are concerned about America’s future. No matter that our unemployment rates are sky-high, that the country is $13 trillion in debt, that Congress is overspending and that the government is taking over financial institutions, auto companies, and trash-talking America abroad. As one activist put it, Obama should be mailing taxpayers the KY.

Americans are spoiled.

That’s right. The liberal media has gone off the deep end trying to explain why Obama’s polling numbers are dive bombing. They think you are spoiled…
“Liberal talk radio host Bill Press says President Obama's poll numbers are down because Americans are spoiled, impatient children that want everything solved yesterday.
“After describing to his listeners Tuesday all the fabulous accomplishments this president has made since taking office in January 2009, Press admonished the citizenry for giving the White House resident poor grades for his efforts.
"I think this says more about the American people than it does about President Obama," barked Press


Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2010/07/14/bill-press-obamas-poll-numbers-down-because-americans-are-spoiled-children#ixzz0twM56MA3

Friday, July 16, 2010

Did Texaas anti-Freedom Network Rig the Poll?

The Lone Star Report did a great job pointig out how the poll which appeared in the Houston Chronicle recently was nothing short of rigged. The "findings" claimed that most Texans don't want the elected State Board of Education to set the curriculum.

(It fell short of simply saying parents wanted to slow down in front of the school and let their kids jump out - leaving the teachin' and raisin' to the educrats.)

You will want to read LSR's Andy Hogue's analysis:

http://www.lonestarreport.org/Management/BlogManagement/tabid/62/EntryId/689/Questionable-poll-claims-strong-support-for-circumventing-SBOE.aspx

Sens. KBH, Cornyn Oppose Financial Takeover

AFP-Texas Praises Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn
for Opposing Financial Takeover


In response to yesterday’s vote on the Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill, Americans for Prosperity-Texas Director Peggy Venable issued the following statement:

“We commend Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn for holding firm and opposing the disastrous Obama-Dodd-Frank big bank bailout bill that will cost taxpayers billions.

“This bill will all but guarantee future bailouts. It does nothing about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It takes the choice of ‘credit or debit’ away from consumers. It creates a new federal agency with thousands of bureaucrats that will tie up everyday financial transactions in red tape. It will not prevent another financial crisis, but it will dramatically expand the size, cost, and intrusiveness of the federal government.

“AFP-Texas members appreciate that Senators Hutchison and Cornyn opposed this terrible legislation, and when they struggle against the red tape of the bill’s new federal bureaucracy they will remember that it was the 60 senators who voted for the bill who are responsible.”

Thursday, July 15, 2010

EDUCATION VOUCHERS BENEFIT EDGEWOOD ECONOMY

From 1998 to 2008, the Children's Educational Opportunity Foundation funded tuition vouchers for residents of San Antonio's Edgewood Independent School District that ranged in value from $2,000 to $4,700 per year, depending on the student's grade level and whether the selected school was in the Edgewood district. The vouchers were available to any student in Edgewood whose family chose to participate, regardless of academic ability or income. After 2003-2004, budget limitations forced the foundation to restrict vouchers mostly to continuing students.

Thus, unlike most voucher programs, the Edgewood program did not limit vouchers to a few low-income students in poor performing public schools, and the program was funded long enough to have measurable effects on student performance and the community. This resulted in not only educational gains for both participating and nonparticipating students, but also economic gains for the Edgewood neighborhood, says John D. Merrifield, a professor of economics at the University of Texas at San Antonio and a senior fellow with the National Center for Policy Analysis.

Prior to the voucher program, Edgewood enrollment was declining as students' families moved out or students enrolled in other schools. Property values declined 12.2 percent in the three school years prior to implementation of the voucher program in 1998. This trend was reversed after the voucher program was introduced, says Merrifield:

From 1998-2001 Edgewood's property value rose 16.2 percent.

Compared to five other districts with similar demographics but no voucher program, Edgewood's property value gain from 1998-2001 was second highest.

From 1998-2005, Edgewood's property values rose 54.6 percent -- the highest among the districts compared.

Comparing Edgewood's growth to other similar districts helps control for factors such as inflation.

The number of single-family dwellings in Edgewood grew by 2.1 percent in 1998-2001, 4.9 percent over the 1998-2005 period and 7.4 percent over the decade (1998-2008) during which the voucher program was running; this was second fastest among the comparison districts in all three periods.

Single-family home prices increased by an average of approximately $6,500; in turn, property tax revenue rose, netting the district an extra $10.6 million.
The Edgewood experiment shows that policymakers can reap significant economic development and educational benefits at no net fiscal cost by implementing school choice programs like universal vouchers, says Merrifield.

Source: John D. Merrifield, "Education Vouchers Benefit Edgewood Economy," National Center for Policy Analysis, Brief Analysis No. 714, July 15, 2010.

For text:

http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba714

Did Obama Lie? Health care tax will hit middle America

Then-candidate Barack Obama said, "No family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase." (September 12, 2008)

One little-known fact about the health care bill that Obama pushed and Congress passed is found in the 2011 W-2 Tax Forms.


Title IX Revenue Provisions—Subtitle A: Revenue Offset
"(Sec. 9002) Requires employers to include in the W-2 form of each employee
the aggregate cost of applicable employer-sponsored group health coverage
that is excludable from the employee's gross income (excluding the value of
contributions to flexible spending arrangements)."


So starting in 2011—next year—the W-2 tax form sent by your employer will be
increased to show the value of whatever health insurance you are provided.
It doesn't matter if you're retired. Your gross income WILL go up by the amount
of insurance your employer paid for. So you’ll be required to pay taxes on a larger
sum of money that you actually received. Take the tax form you just finished for
2009 and see what $15,000.00 or $20,000.00 additional gross income does to
your tax debt. That's what you'll pay next year. For many it puts you into a
much higher bracket. This is how the government is going to buy insurance for
fifteen (15) percent that don't have insurance and it's only part of the tax increases, but it's not really a "tax increase" as such, it a redefinition of your taxable income.

Also, go to Kiplinger's and read about the thirteen (13) tax changes for 2010 that
could affect you.

If this doesen't get to you, then check your pulse. You may be a flatline...

Should you want to verify this, go to http://www.thomas.gov/, enter "HR 3590"
in the search box and look for "CRS Summaries."

Is this a tax increase? Does Obama think we are stupid?

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

"It's the economy, Stupid!"

A new CBS poll has confirmed what any rational, sane adult in America knows. Obama is doing an abysmal job running our country.

Fully 38% say the economy is the number one issue. 54% disapprove of Obama’s handling

Strong disapproval is of Obama is 41%.

“It's not all about Obama; even among people who approve of his job performance, 51 percent are inclined to look for someone new for Congress.”

People want to put the brakes on the Obama agenda.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/2010_Elections/poll-2010-elections-confidence-in-obama-drops/story?id=11146584

Sunday, July 11, 2010

If 9/10 Don't Pay, Who Pays?

Have you ever wondered about that “Hoveround” ad on TV: “9 out of 10 people pay little or nothing for their hoveround.” It is advertised as a “new electric wheelchair” and appears to be to electric wheelchairs what scooters are to the motorcycle. Don’t even Left-eologues (a term I have coined and hope it catches on) get it? Somebody pays – and I’m not in one of those chairs. Hum…I pay taxes. Guess I bought one!

Thursday, July 8, 2010

I didn’t need cold-weather boots in Iraq

Government Spending…
I didn’t need cold-weather boots in Iraq
By James Bernsen

In the case of social welfare spending, some government dollars, in fact, are counter-productive. Most rational people agree on the need for some kind of social safety net, but what we've constructed instead isn't a safety net but a hammock. Government on all levels has been subsidizing indolence for years, and it has only increased.

Read more here: http://www.rrleader.com/main.asp?SectionID=7&SubSectionID=7&ArticleID=25005&TM=34288.11

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

There Obama goes again...cap and trade

I am plagerizing what was written by a North Dakota public utility commissioner - it applies for Texas, too - so here is the Texas version:

As President Ronald Reagan would say, "There they go again."

The Associated Press reported on June 29 that President Obama is
working with several Senators to "quietly draft" a version of Cap and
Trade deemed "utility-only."

They have been trying for 18 months to force a bill to destroy our fossil fuel industry. The people of the United States and North Dakota are against such a bill. This has not stopped the President and his allies.

The worst oil spill in history is wrecking havoc on our country. In true Chicago style, instead of focusing on stopping the leak and cleaning up the mess, it is being used to push another version of Cap and Trade.
This new version of the old bill is aimed directly at Texas.

A "utility-only" version of Cap and Trade means increased costs for refineries and power plants resulting in at least a 25-40 percent increase in utility costs and thousands of lost jobs for our state.

In addition to our strong fossil fuel industries, wind, biofuels, and other renewable energy sources continue to increase and Texas is number one in the country for wind power.

Texas’ balanced approach to energy development should be modeled by Washington, not punished.

It is time the President deliver a realistic policy that leads us towards genuine energy independence, not one that will wipe out our state's economy.

Experts set to tackle offshre drilling safety

With news of tarballs on Texas beaches and the Obama Administration having no plan to clean up the gulf, incompetence is rampant.

Yesterday, Gov. Perry announced the formation of the Gulf Project, a coalition that will bring together the state’s most respected energy and environment experts, our top research universities and state officials to help ensure Texas never endures a disaster like the one now occurring in the Gulf of Mexico as a result of the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion. I hope you will all take a moment to visit the governor’s website to learn more about this initiative and spread the word about Gov. Perry’s efforts to improve the way we secure our energy sources while protecting our environment. In the governor’s words, “The Gulf Project will produce the kind of sound science that leads to informed decisions and a new era in which energy exploration is not only safer for the men and women working the rigs but also much safer for the environment.”

Now, let's hope the Gulf State leaders can get together and develop a plan to clean up the mess as they look for ways to continue to drill offshore. We need domestic oil production, energy security and affordable fuel.

NASA's new Lofty Mission: Allah is Final Frontier

NASA -- the National Aeronautics and Space Administration -- has had some lofty missions. (Think mission to the moon.) But now, it appears President Obama has diverted their focus from outter space to feel-good international politics.

In a June 30 interview with al Jazeera, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said that his "perhaps foremost mission" is to "find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science."

What's unclear is what Mr. Bolden believes the United States has to gain by reaching out to a part of the world that has been technologically stagnant for centuries.

http://www.facebook.com/l/dca89K3CevzU7_I2Ic9ThYxPnKQ;www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jul/6/allahs-final-frontier/

Taxpayer funded lobbyists "paid handsomely" but what do they do?

Taxpayers and citizens advocates - take notice! We thought you might like this post by Phil Fountain, referencing the HillCo lobby war:
http://www.empowertexans.com/Issues/lobby_war_greater_transparency


The section is particularly interesting:

...Particularly when many lobbyists are "getting paid handsomely" (a phrase used by Mr. Schwartz) to represent governmental entities, such as cities, counties, school districts, municipal utility districts (or MUDs), etc., yet there is little to show for their work. There's typically not a written legislative agenda regarding specific legislation, and tax-funded lobbyists rarely testify before legislative committees.

Take Fred Hill, for example, he's a former legislator that now represents governmental entities as a lobbyist. During the 2009 legislative session, Mr. Hill appears to have been paid by at least eight North Texas cities, yet never once testified at a public committee hearing.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Mark Levin amplifies voice of AFP

Mark Levin is partnering with Americans for Prosperity.

AFP is partnering with Mark Levin to harness the grassroots Americans who are the voice of liberty and are willing to remind elected officials that November IS coming… www.NovemberIsComing.com.

On a conference call today with key activists, Levin asked "without the grassroots, would DC be listening? Would even one party be listening?"

If elected officials vote for bigger government, if they ignore our constitutional government, and continue to ignore the will of the people, the voters will vote against them in November.

After all, without grassroots Americans rising up and making sure their voices are heard, who would be listening?

Mark Levin is known as a constitutional lawyer and a nationally syndicated broadcaster, but he is, first and foremost, a dog lover (which endears him to me, as I am The Gipper’s Mom.)

You can hear Mark Levin as a spokesman for the November Is Coming effort live streamed 6-9 pm TX time: http://www.marklevinshow.com/sectional.asp?id=32930 (or catch the replay 24/7).

Or listen live on the radio. Here are major radio stations where Levin’s show broadcasts in Texas:
• KBCT FM 94.5 http://www.marklevinshow.com/goout.asp?u=http://www.lonestar94.com/ Waco, TX
• KSTA AM 550 http://www.marklevinshow.com/goout.asp?u=http://www.ktsa.com/\ San Antonio, TX
• KXBT FM 98.9 http://www.marklevinshow.com/goout.asp?u=http://989bigtalker.com/ Austin, TX
• KPNS AM 1350 http://www.marklevinshow.com/goout.asp?u=http://www.perry-pub-broadcasting.com/KPNS/ Duncan, OK
• KWFS AM 129 http://www.marklevinshow.com/goout.asp?u=http://www.newstalk1290.com/ Wichita Falls, TX
• WBAP AM 820 http://www.marklevinshow.com/goout.asp?u=http://www.wbap.com/> Fort Worth, TX
• KPRC AM 950 http://www.marklevinshow.com/goout.asp?u=http://www.950kprc.com/> Houston, TX
• KTRH AM 740 http://www.marklevinshow.com/goout.asp?u=http://www.ktrh.com/> Houston, TX
• KTSM AM 690 http://www.marklevinshow.com/goout.asp?u=http://www.ktsmradio.com/El Paso, TX
• KIXZ AM 940 http://www.marklevinshow.com/goout.asp?u=http://www.newsradio940.com/ Amarillo, TX
• KFYO AM 790 http://www.marklevinshow.com/goout.asp?u=http://www.kfyo.com/ Lubbock, TX
• KZTK FM 99.3 http://www.marklevinshow.com/goout.asp?u=http://www.993talkfm.com/ Noonday, TX

Stay tuned as Mark Levin amplifies the voice of Americans for Prosperity and our freedom-loving members! – Peggy Venable (follow me on Twitter @pvenable or our blog: www.afptx.org)