ExposingReligion Blog

How Deeply christian and Right-Wing is the (KKK) Ku Klux Klan? Pro-christian theocracy, pro-christian nation propaganda, anti-muslim, pro-guns, pro-home-schooling, anti-abortion, morally superior, anti-gay, and anti-Atheist.

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 00:17:18 -0500

History:

The Ku Klux Klan is composed entirely of white, Anglo-saxon, Christian American citizens, both male and female, who believe that their race and religion are superior to those of people of other colors and religions.

http://atheism.about.com/library/glossary/western/bldef_kukluxklan.htm

http://www.history.com/topics/ku-klux-klan

http://archive.adl.org/learn/ext_us/kkk/history.asp?LEARN_SubCat=Extremism_in_America&xpicked=4&item=kkk

http://archive.adl.org/learn/ext_us/kkk/default.asp?LEARN_Cat=Extremism&LEARN_SubCat=Extremism_in_America&xpicked=4&item=kkk

http://civilliberty.about.com/od/historyprofiles/tp/History-Ku-Klux-Klan-KKK.htm

http://kukluxklan.net/kkk-history

http://kukluxklan.net/ku-klux-klan-leaders

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/grant-kkk/

Ku Klux Klan - A Secret History

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLN7PBIdRsM

Inside American Hate ku klux klan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmc92f_4Cpg

[PDF] The Ku Klux Klan: America’s Forgotten Terrorists

http://www.uhv.edu/asa/articles/KKKAmericasForgottenTerrorists.pdf

KKK Praised in Text used in State-Funded Christian Schools

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/06/17/1100746/-KKK-Praised-in-Text-used-in-State-Funded-Christian-Schools

Outrage as Alabama pastor holds ‘all white Christian’ conference

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2169466/Outrage-white-Christian-conference-KKK-welcome-blacks-Jews-Muslims-arent.html#axzz2JzoKs8CU

The Loch Ness Monster Is Real; The KKK Is Good: The Shocking Content of Publicly Paid for Christian School Textbooks

Thousands of Louisiana students will receive state voucher money, transferred from public school funding, to attend private religious schools. What will they learn there?

http://www.alternet.org/story/155926/the_loch_ness_monster_is_real%3B_the_kkk_is_good%3A_the_shocking_content_of_publicly_paid_for_christian_school_textbooks

Lets see what their website says:

Welcome to the Ku Klux Klan: Knights Party

The following is a partial transcript and quotes from their official website but we added pics: http://kkk.bz/?page_id=2896

Membership in The Knights is reserved for white Christians, however, those of other racial backgrounds who support our political platform can be Official Supporters.

We are working very hard to build a movement which can take back America, but we are going to need a lot more support from white Christian America before we can affect sweeping change.

Q. Is the national director really a preacher?

Our national director is Pastor Thomas Robb. He attended seminary in Evergreen, Colorado at the Soldiers of the Cross Bible Institute on scholarship where he received a Bachelor of Theology degree and was ordained a Baptist minister. He received his doctorate through private study. He pastors a church in Harrison, AR and publishes a non-denominational Christian newsletter aside from his duties as national director of The Knights.

His sermons can be watched on Sundays at 11 AM CST. at www.sotctv.com You can watch Rachel Pendergraft’s message on the 4th Sunday of each month. You can view their past messages at www.christianrevivalcenter.net

Q. Why do you think you are so superior to everyone else?

A. God made us all. We simply believe that the United States of America was founded as a white Christian nation. We base this belief on the many writings of our founding fathers as well as the Declaration of Independence. We believe there are those who hate the concepts of Western civilization – Christianity – and wish to turn the United States into a different type of nation than what was originally intended by our ancestors. We think it would be terrible if white Christians ceased to exist and we are working to preserve and promote their interests. We feel the concepts of Christianity benefit all people regardless of color. The fact is we have a right to love our children and our heritage. Even if the white race was but mere cavemen and cavewomen, we still have a right to protect and advance our people.

The entertainment industry which includes movie makers, TV producers, publishing houses, national news agencies, etc. are very liberal in their beliefs and agenda. This same industry also makes fun of Christians in general. Christians are portrayed as uptight, insensitive, narrow minded, dull, boring, bigoted people who never have a good time. If you are a white Christian who believes in the old time gospel of racial separation then you are in for an even bigger slew of hogwash. They will portray you as mean, sinister, revengeful, psychotic, illiterate, and filled with rage toward those who aren’t white. This only helps move the liberal agenda forward.

On the other hand if you have a deep sense of love for your white brothers and sisters and truly desire for them to have a better life, then your efforts to awaken them to the plot to destroy western Christian civilization will be fruitful. God will bless your efforts which are based on love.

The robe and hood is worn for the Christian cross lighting ceremony which is held once a year during the National Klan Congress at headquarters in Harrison, AR.

Let me explain using the term Christian. A Christian is a man or woman who believes in and follows the teachings of Jesus Christ. There are many opinions about what those beliefs are. There are religious systems that have been built up over the centuries which organize Christians into different groups (church denominations) all of whom may or may not believe quite the same. The central theme however is obedience to Jesus Christ and his Word. No church today can claim direct ties to Jesus Christ – Although the ancient church of Britain preceded Rome in the acceptance and national adoption of Christianity.

Today, there are no organizations, clubs, groups, etc. that have direct ties to the first Ku Klux Klan. The Ku Klux Klan could best be thought of as a concept or idea. The Ku Klux Klan was born in America. It pledged to stand for the U.S. Constitution. It demanded the protection and advancement of women and children. And it put Jesus Christ at the forefront of all beliefs. In fact, their beliefs were formed by what they felt to be good and holy and acceptable to God.

We share many beliefs with the Home schooling movement, Border Protection groups, Right to Life groups, Traditional Marriage organizations, American Sovereignty groups, Small business and Agricultural groups, Second Amendment crusades, and those who oppose the international banking cartel.

When you put the word of God first in your private and public affairs healing will come to the nation.

The Ku Klux Klan as an idea, concept, or as the building blocks of a 21st century robust and thriving movement to renew the racial consciousness of the white race – is truly a Godsend.

Q. Why do you burn the cross?

A. Many have been led to believe the Klan burns the cross as an act of desecrating a Christian symbol. Nothing could be further from the truth. The lighted cross is an old symbol used on the hillsides of Scotland. Many churches today use the lighted cross as a symbol. The Methodist church uses the cross with flames at its base sweeping up and around the cross. The Lutheran church uses the symbolism. When the Klan was founded there was not electricity. They could not light up a cross the way we light up a Christmas tree. Fire was used. The fire was used to symbolize the fiery light of Christ – a metaphor often used in the Bible. The Cross obviously is a symbol of Christianity. The Cross lighting ceremony gives honor to Jesus Christ.

These two ideals of the cross lighting ( warning against tyranny and giving honor to the fiery truth of Christ) were combined to create the Ku Klux Klan cross lighting ceremony

Q. Why do you hate Catholics?

A. We do not hate Catholics. The Klan during the twenties did take an anti-Catholic position as did many other Americans. They believed that Catholics held allegiance to the Pope and thus Rome over and above the United States and the President.

Today, we know this is not true. There are Catholic members of The Knights as well as Protestant members of The Knights. Christians, both Catholic and Protestant, are under attack. We must stick together, all of us, and work to protect our children’s future.

Q. What role does religion play in The Knights?

A. We require for our members to profess a belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We do not require that a person belong to any particular denomination. The Knights is not, however, a religious organization. The Knights is a political organization who seeks to one day place Christian men and women into seats of public office.

Q. If the First Amendment states there is to be a separation of church and state, how can The Knights explain their goal of a Christian government?

A. We suggest you read the article Separation of Church and State: A Diabolical Lie. Not just The Knights, but many historians and well known religious leaders and constitutional attorneys all agree that the United States was founded as a Christian nation. The Supreme Court has even ruled that indeed America was founded as a Christian nation.

Also, while we are bringing up this subject we must discuss the Treaty of Tripoli. This is what naysayers like to point to when we say that the United States was founded as a Christian nation. It is the only thing they can point to, but as you will see, they have nothing to base their opinion on.

The 1797 treaty was one of several that America negotiated with Muslim nations in which five Muslim countries were using pirates to attack the property and interests of what they called the “Christian” nations, including America. Not only were their cargoes easy prey but the Barbary Powers were also capturing and enslaving “Christian” seamen.

The anti-American actions began under Washington and several times the U.S. had tried to reach settlements by paying the Muslims huge sums of money. But the Treaty of Tripoli was signed under the presidency of Adams. And both Jefferson and Adams were upset that U.S. merchant sailors were being viewed as wimps by the Muslims. While discussing the Barbary conflict with Jefferson, Adams declared:

The policy of Christendom has made cowards of all their sailors before the standard of Mahomet.

If the treaty was signed by Adams, does this mean that Adams agreed that the United States was not a Christian nation? No. it was Adams who declared:

The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were… . the general principles of Christianity… . I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God; and that those principles of liberty are as unalterable as human nature.

So then why would he sign a treaty that said differently?

Here is the part of the treaty that atheists refer to.

As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion as it has in itself no character of enmity [hatred] against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen [Muslims] and as the said States [America] have never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.

However, I do want to point out that in 1805 under Jefferson, that the treaty was renegotiated and the clause stating that “… the United States is in no sense founded on the Christian religion …” was deleted.

But back to the signing of the treaty and why would a devout Christian such as Adams who had said that the United States was founded on Christianity state otherwise?

The United States was not involved in a Holy War. The founding fathers believed in no entangling alliances with other nations. They looked for an expedite way to handle problems. The Muslim nations felt that my attacking the hated Christians, they would receive special favor from Allah.

To some it would seem that the authors of the treaty were being dishonest. After all, the state constitutions, laws, and writings of the founders clearly prove that Christianity was the prevailing faith of the land and that the common law upon which the laws of the states were founded were based upon Holy Scripture.

However, in dealing with these murderous Muslim nations, the treaty authors were quite clever. The Muslim nations, not understanding that the federal government did not constitute the government in its entirety were led to believe that they would receive no divine reward by plundering U.S. ships and murdering U.S. sailors.

It says what the federal government CAN NOT do! They can’t establish a religion. Why? It is because the states had already established their religion; the Christian religion. No public office holder could be given a religious test – that is be tested according to denominational tenants. And not to interject something else into this discussion, but this is why states can not use state’s rights as an excuse for restricting gun ownership. The Bill of Rights speaks of unalienable rights. If the federal government can’t restrict gun ownership because it is a God given right, than obviously the states can’t restrict it either. There are some rights that are God given and no government whether state or federal can take it away.

The states which formed the United States understood the chaos that came out of Europe’s mandated denominational system. As Noah Webster explained:

The ecclesiastical establishments of Europe which serve to support tyrannical governments are not the Christian religion but abuses and corruptions of it.

Daniel Webster similarly explained that American Christianity was:

Christianity to which the sword and the fagot [burning stake or hot branding iron] are unknown – general tolerant Christianity is the law of the land!

The states would be Christian, but would allow each person to decide for themselves what particular sect they would belong to. And they acknowledged that no one would be forced to be a Christian. This was the idea of the liberty of conscience. This did not, however, mean that the laws would not be based upon Christian principles. What an individual may or may not believe does not interfere with the foundation of a governing body should that body be based upon certain guidelines.

The act stipulated that for a territory to become a State, the “schools and the means of education” in that territory must encourage the “religion, morality, and knowledge” that was “necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind.”

General Eaton was the man who was finally given the duty by President Jefferson to end the attacks upon Christian sailors by the use of military means. Although the Treaty of Tripoli had used some fancy footwork by saying the United States government – as in the federal government – was not based upon Christianity, it did not work. The Muslim nations knew that the United States of America was a Christian nation, no matter what any treaty might say. It was all just semantics and they weren’t buying into it. The Muslims would continue to attack the Christian nation and the U.S. would not take decisive military action.

All of the documentation surrounding the Treaty of Tripoli prove rather than disprove that the United States was a Christian nation and the war was between a Christian nation and Muslim nations.

Klansmen and Klanswomen who have studied and dedicated themselves to the goal of returning political power to white Christian men and women – this is a must for a moral and civilized society.

A strong and healthy white Christian demographic is vital to the happiness and future of America. The protection and advancement of the white race and the rekindling of the traditional Christian faith that our people have professed for generation after generation must be our focal point.

The Knights salutes America and it’s Christian heritage as our ancestors did. We give honor to the brave men and women who fought to make our homeland free.

This is how they have changed people to accept race mixing, homosexuality, euthanasia, abortion, etc. The media doesn’t report public opinion. They change public opinion.

There are a series of exciting and challenging workbooks that educate the young person in the accurate history of America, our beliefs, thinking with a Christian worldview rather than a secular worldview, believing in what the Bible has to say to us, and developing a compassionate response toward his or her white Christian brother or sister.

Q. What is the role of women in The Knights?

A. The role of women is very important to us. They are in the front lines of defense of the family and Christianity. Women are not put into a separate auxiliary.

Christian men AND women must work together to secure a future for our children.

It is a fact that America was founded as a white Christian nation. You may not like it, but it is still true.

However, there is nothing wrong with white Christians working to advance their people either. Those who say there is something wrong with this are promoting a double standard.

Today the black Muslims, unlike the integrationist NAACP, support separation and are opposed to race mixing and homosexuality.

Q. Don’t you think it’s cruel to suggest placing HIV patients in national hospitals?

A. No. It is the only proven way to reduce and virtually halt the spread of AIDS. Those who condemn such avenues of prevention are ignoring the extremely active sex life of homosexuals and lesbians who usually have dozens if not hundreds of different partners a year. They also don’t wish to bring attention to the fact that heterosexual whites aren’t getting HIV at near the rate of non-whites and homosexuals. It seems that white heterosexuals are almost unaffected. Homosexuals don’t want normal people to be aware they have HIV or AIDS because they know how disgusted most people are of their filthy habits.

Q. You speak of white oppression, but aren’t national politicians white?

A. Exactly. As we state many times, We are not a hate group! We have been betrayed by the politicians – namely the Republican and Democratic parties. Of course those who engage in or support interracial or homosexual relationships aren’t being oppressed, but those who do – whether black or white – ARE being oppressed. We believe as shown by the writings of our forefathers that America was founded by white Christians for white Christians. This was their intent and was also proven by the laws of the United States for over two hundred years.

For example:

1. Black people had to post a bond usually for about $5,000 (a lot of money back then) in the Northern states to even live there. And in many counties of the North they weren’t even allowed to be there unless in travel.
2. Non whites were not allowed to vote – voting privileges for non-whites weren’t even considered during the founding of America.
3. A person had to profess a belief in Jesus Christ and the 10 Commandments to even hold any type of public office – from sheriff to President – to governor.
4. Interracial marriage was illegal
5. Homosexuality was illegal

It’s evident to any one with common sense that America was founded as a white Christian nation. This doesn’t mean we support the oppression of non-whites. It doesn’t mean we want to scare or hurt non-whites. It means simply that America was to be governed according to the tenets of Christianity. This would be a benefit to all who lived within her boundaries whether a white citizen or a non white resident.

Yes, if you look at a picture of the House or Senate either nationally or in a particular state, usually the majority of members are white. They are the people who have betrayed us. They are pawns of the special interest groups. They care more about the people of Mexico than the people of the United States. They care more about the rights of a sodomizer than a white Christian child. They care more about pleasing the giant corporations of the world than middle class Americans and their businesses. They care more about not offending homosexuals and integrationists than they do our elderly people. The politicians of today are the messed up kids of the 60′s. They came from the homosexual, race mixing, Communist, anti-law and order, revolution. Some may claim the Republicans aren’t that bad, but not one single Republican leader would proclaim their opposition to race mixing. Some might even seem like good church going people, but they would still refuse to make a stand against the horrible plague of race mixing. There just aren’t any Republicans or Democrats who have their act together. They might be white, but they have betrayed their own people and are traitors. They can’t support the anti-white and anti-Christian special interest groups and be a patriot, too.

We must affect a surge of renewed Christian thought into all levels of public office and appointed office. It is the only sure way to secure the survival of our race, faith, and homeland.

One of them will succeed in uniting all of white Christian America. We believe it will be The Knights. We may point out differences, but we won’t name and slander other groups in the process.

Our Related research:

The Proven to be Secular, Founding and Early Documents of The United States of America. The Evidence that America’s Government was to be Separated From any Influence of any Religion http://tmblr.co/ZFotutY5YRFE

Christian Nationalism, History Revisionism and Reconstructionism - Theocratic Dominionism Gains Influence - Why the Christian Right Distorts History and Why it Matters http://tmblr.co/ZFotutZYZ7lg

Christian Nationalism and Christofascism http://tmblr.co/ZFotutZYpcrq

Christian Reconstructionism, Dominionism, Biblical Capitalism, Theocratic Libertarians, Christian World Domination (Evangelisation), The Lausanne Movement, The Christian Identity Movement, The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) and Seven Mountains Dominionism (7MD) http://tmblr.co/ZTwOHxQvfq9W

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Pass The 28th Amendment - Complete Removal Of The Church From The State

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bible busting counter-apologetics is awesome. take that, apologists!

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 20:54:42 -0500

Have you considered investigating the various "Satanic Abuse" psychotherapy idiots and the damage caused by their dochtrine of "recovered memory"? If the psychotherapists are religious, it is appalling that they allow their personal choice of religious myth to influence how they deal with vulnerable people; if not religious themselves but suckling off the Abrahamic culture to invent another reason for dubious "therapy" that is the height of cynicism.

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 20:54:31 -0500

NO.

Tracking jesus' bible scholars: The 3 Quests for the historical Jesus and Jesus Seminar.

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 20:20:01 -0500

The quest for the historical Jesus is the attempt by scholars to use historical methods to construct a historical portrait of Jesus.

Since the 18th century, scholars have taken part in three separate “quests” for the historical Jesus, attempting to reconstruct various portraits of his life using historical methods.

As originally defined by Albert Schweitzer, the quest began in the 18th century with Hermann Samuel Reimarus, up to William Wrede in the 19th century.

*The first quest uncovered the truth of fraud and myth within the New Testament. These honest historians were replaced by the 2nd and 3rd quests to hide those findings and promote christianity.

First Quest

Although Schweitzer was among the greatest contributors to this quest, he also ended the quest by noting how each scholar’s version of Jesus often seemed to reflect the personal ideals of the scholar, an observation first stated by Johannes Weiss in 1890, and which continues to be observed in Jesus research (as it does in other historical studies) even today.

Hermann Samuel Reimarus (1694–1768) - credited as the father of the Quest for the Historical Jesus. Reimarus composed a treatise rejecting miracles and accusing Bible authors of fraud, but he didn’t publish his findings. Gotthold Lessing published Reimarus’s conclusions in the Wolfenbuettel fragments.

Baron d’Holbach (1723-1789) - “Ecce Homo -The History of Jesus of Nazareth, a Critical Inquiry” (1769), the first Life of Jesus described as a mere historical man, published anonymously in Amsterdam. Translated in English by George Houston, and published in Edinburgh, 1799, London, 1813, for which “blasphemy” Houston was condemned to two years in prison, and New York in 1827.

Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) - a US president who considered Jesus’ ethics superb and miracles ahistorical: Jefferson Bible

David Friedrich Strauss (1808–1874) - asserted that the supernatural elements of the gospels could be treated as myth.

Ernest Renan (1823–1892) - asserted that the biography of Jesus ought to be open to historical investigation just as is the biography of any other man. Ernest Renan was the first of many to portray Jesus simply as a human person.

William Wrede (1859–1906) - wrote on the Messianic Secret theme in the Gospel of Mark. He also wrote a crucial study of the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, which argued for its inauthenticity. William Wrede questioned the historical reliability of Mark.

Martin Dibelius - advocated that form criticism be applied to the New Testament.

Albert Schweitzer stated that the histories of Jesus had reflected the historians’ bias.

Acting on his own conclusion, in 1913 Schweitzer abandoned a brilliant career in theology.

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/schweitzer/

RESULTS

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/schweitzer/chapter20.html

THOSE WHO ARE FOND OF TALKING ABOUT NEGATIVE THEOLOGY CAN FIND their account here. There is nothing more negative than the result of the critical study of the Life of Jesus.

The Jesus of Nazareth who came forward publicly as the Messiah, who preached the ethic of the Kingdom of God, who founded the Kingdom of Heaven upon earth, and died to give His work its final consecration, never had any existence. He is a figure designed by rationalism, endowed with life by liberalism, and clothed by modern theology in an historical garb.

This image has not been destroyed from without, it has fallen to pieces, cleft and disintegrated by the concrete historical problems which came to the surface one after another, and in spite of all the artifice, art, artificiality, and violence which was applied to them, refused to be planed down to fit the design on which the Jesus of the theology of the last hundred and thirty years had been constructed, and were no sooner covered over than they appeared again in a new form. The thoroughgoing sceptical and the thoroughgoing eschatological school have only completed the work of destruction by linking the problems into a system and so making an end of the Divide et impera of modern theology, which undertook to solve each of them separately, that is, in a less difficult form. Henceforth it is no longer permissible to take one problem out of the series and dispose of it by itself, since the weight of the whole hangs upon each.

The Second Quest (also called the New Quest)

It was a brief movement in the 1950s to revive the quest for historical Jesus

Moreover they disputed claims of extreme lateness for the formation of the New Testament and generally accomplished a consensus of approximately year 70 AD, give-or-take a decade or two depending on a specific text.

Hypothesizing about the existence of original source texts became useful for data relevant to the Historical Jesus.

Third quest

It became increasingly clear that the “new quest” was one-sided. Scholars of the new quest had a theological agenda.

The scholars of the third quest have also been accused of mixing apologetics with scholarship.

John Meier has said “…I think a lot of the confusion comes from the fact that people claim they are doing a quest for the historical Jesus when de facto they’re doing theology, albeit a theology that is indeed historically informed.

The Search for the Historical Jesus

http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/james_still/jesus_search.html

~Jesus Seminar

The Jesus Seminar was a group of about 150 critical scholars and laymen founded in 1985 by Robert Funk under the auspices of the Westar Institute. The seminar was active in the 1980s and 1990s, but has since disbanded. The seminar used votes with colored beads to decide their collective view of the historicity of the deeds and sayings of Jesus of Nazareth. They produced new translations of the New Testament and apocrypha to use as textual sources. They published their results in three reports: The Five Gospels (1993), The Acts of Jesus (1998), and The Gospel of Jesus (1999). They also run a series of lectures and workshops in various U.S. cities.

According to the seminar, Jesus was a mortal man born of two human parents, who did not perform nature miracles nor die as a substitute for sinners nor rise bodily from the dead.

The seminar treats the canonical gospels as historical sources that represent Jesus’ actual words and deeds as well as elaborations of the early Christian community and of the gospel authors.

The method and conclusions of the Jesus Seminar have come under harsh criticism by biblical scholars, historians and clergy for a variety of reasons. It is the assertion of such critics that the Fellows of the seminar are not all trained scholars, that their voting technique doesn’t allow for nuance, that they are preoccupied with Q and the Gospel of Thomas but omit material in other sources such as the Gospel of the Hebrews.

Voting History by guessing and wishful thinking:

The Fellows used a “bead system” to vote on the authenticity of about 500 statements and events. The color of the bead represented how sure the Fellow was that a saying or act was or was not authentic.

Red beads – indicated the voter believed Jesus did say the passage quoted, or something very much like the passage. (3 Points)

Pink beads – indicated the voter believed Jesus probably said something like the passage. (2 Points)

Grey beads – indicated the voter believed Jesus did not say the passage, but it contains Jesus’ ideas. (1 Point)

Black beads – indicated the voter believed Jesus did not say the passage—it comes from later admirers or a different tradition. (0 Points)

Like other scholars of the historical Jesus, the Jesus Seminar treats the gospels as fallible historical artifacts, containing both authentic and inauthentic material.

Jesus Seminar

http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/theism/christianity/seminar.html

Robert W. Funk

Marcus Borg

Roy W. Hoover

Karen Armstrong

John Shelby Spong

Stephen J. Patterson

Kathleen E. Corley

Arthur J. Dewey

Robert T. Fortna

Charles W. Hedrick

Lane C. McGaughy

James M. Robinson

http://www.westarinstitute.org/Fellows/list.html

Unmasking the Jesus Seminar

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/markdroberts/series/unmasking-the-jesus-seminar/

The “Jesus Seminar:” Liberal

theologians investigating the life of Jesus

http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_jsem.htm

The Jesus Seminar: A 25 Year Quest for the Irrelevant Jesus

http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2010/10/the-jesus-seminar-a-25-year-quest-for-the-irrelevant-jesus/

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Jesus Birther Movement

http://www.facebook.com/JesusBirtherMovement

Religious Scripture Rating Board (RSRB)

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Replacing the fraudulent-commercial images of je$u$ with truthful ones

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Bible Errors in jesus' Lineage. The Genealogies in Luke and Matthew Contradict Each Other

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 16:04:08 -0500

The Genealogies in Luke and Matthew Contradict Each Other

http://www.rejectionofpascalswager.net/genealogy.html

Errors in the Genealogy of Jesus

http://theatheists.tripod.com/rants/199901.html

http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/genealogy-matthew.html

http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/genealogy-luke.html

New Testament Contradictions

http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/paul_carlson/nt_contradictions.html

1001 bible contradictions (#533-#595)

GENEALOGY - I: ADAM to DAVID

http://www.1001biblecontradictions.com/III1%20-%20Genealogy%20%5B533-564%5D.html

GENEALOGY - II: DAVID to JESUS

http://www.1001biblecontradictions.com/III2%20-%20Genealogy%20%5B565-595%5D.html

“Matthew” Says Jesus’ Grandfather was Jacob. “Luke” Says Jesus’ Grandfather Was Heli

http://www.errancywiki.com/index.php?title=Matthew_1%3A16

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Over 50 years, the catholic church in Spain stole around 300,000 babies from their parents and sold them in a baby trafficking ring. Most mainstream media barely cover the story and the church stays in business

Mon, 24 Dec 2012 01:52:00 -0500

VIDEO: (59:08) For over 50 years, the Catholic church in Spain stole approximately 300,000 babies from their parents and sold them in a baby trafficking ring. This disgusting revelation is detailed in a new BBC documentary titled “Spains Stolen Babies.”

Watch it free:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJJ7Pp_Zvvs

OR at:

http://watchdocumentary.org/watch/spains-stolen-babies-video_b0b324991.html

The Unfathomable, Unimaginable, Boundless, Immeasurable, Inconceivable, Incomprehensible and Infinite Wealth of Roman Catholicism in Spain.

http://tmblr.co/ZTwOHxa2KbbM

VIDEO: Doctor confronted over stolen babies

Dr Vela is confronted with the allegations

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15290580

Short VIDEO: (25:59) Spain Baby Market: Catholic Church’s Baby Trafficking Schemes Exposed [BBC Documentary]

http://vimeo.com/30833227

Spain’s stolen babies and the families who lived a lie

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15335899

‘Spain’s Stolen Babies’: New BBC Documentary Explores Fifty-Year Baby Trafficking Scandal

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/16/spain-stolen-babies-bbc-documentary_n_1014369.html

“I think that my baby was sold”: Re-opening a dark chapter in Spain’s history

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57436742/i-think-that-my-baby-was-sold-re-opening-a-dark-chapter-in-spains-history/

Spanish Nun Maria Gomez Valbuena Charged In Baby-Stealing Operation

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/13/maria-gomez-valbuena_n_1423170.html

Sister María Gómez Valbuena leaves a court in Madrid on April 12, 2012, after refusing to testify on her alleged involvement in a stolen-babies scheme

Spain’s Stolen-Babies Scandal: Empty Graves and a Silent Nun

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2112003,00.html#ixzz1sPMGmdPK

Spain Stolen Babies: Sister Maria Gomez, Spanish Nun, Won’t Speak At Hearing

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/12/spain-stolen-babies-spanish-nun-hearing_n_1420996.html

Spain nun in court over babies ‘stolen’ under Franco

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17692985

Stolen Babies: Confronting Spain’s Dark Past

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2059563,00.html

Spain’s Stolen Babies: An Ugly Past On a Staggering Scale

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/10/spains-stolen-babies-an-ugly-past-on-a-staggering-scale-2/

Spain probes 849 cases of alleged baby trafficking

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20110617/eu-spain-stolen-babies/

Families Of Spain’s ‘Stolen Babies’ Seek Answers — And Reunions

http://www.npr.org/2012/12/14/167053609/families-of-spains-stolen-babies-seek-answers-and-reunions

Spain’s Stolen Babies; Alphas

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2011/oct/18/tv-review-spains-stolen-babies

Spain’s ‘stolen babies’ attempt to blow lid off scandal

People who were given up for adoption without their parents’ permission want to bring authorities who allowed it to task

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/05/spain-stolen-babies-scandal

After 44 years, one of Spain’s stolen babies is reunited with her mother

Manuela Polo never believed her seventh child had died at birth as doctors told her. Now she has proof she was right

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/28/spain-stolen-babies-reunited-mother

Ines Madrigal whose mother says she was given the girl as a gift.

Baby Juan Luis Moreno with the parents who told him they had bought him.

Juan Luis Moreno (center) with his mother and childhood friend Antonio Barroso, another child who was told he had been illegally adopted.

Guillermo Perez Roisinblit holds pictures of his biological parents. He’s one of hundreds of victims of the Argentine military regime’s baby abduction scheme.

Identity crisis: Randy Ryder as a baby being cradled in a Malaga hospital in 1971 by the woman who bought him

Spain’s stolen baby scandal

http://www.ifco.info/node/1003

300,000 babies stolen from their parents - and sold for adoption: Haunting BBC documentary exposes 50-year scandal of baby trafficking by the Catholic church in Spain

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2049647/BBC-documentary-exposes-50-year-scandal-baby-trafficking-Catholic-church-Spain.html

Reunited: Randy Ryder with Manoli Pagador, who believes she may be his real mother

Bought for cash: Journalist Katya Adler with Juan Luis Moreno, who was sold as a baby

‘Wasn’t just one or two children’: Ex-Argentine dictators jailed for baby thefts

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Three key figures from Argentina’s “Dirty War” got hefty jail terms for the systematic theft of babies from political prisoners during the 1976-1983 dictatorship, an Argentine court ruled on Thursday.

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/07/06/12592712-wasnt-just-one-or-two-children-ex-argentine-dictators-jailed-for-baby-thefts?lite

Argentine dictators go on trial for baby thefts

Videla was sentenced to 50 years in prison as the architect of the plan, while Acosta got 30 years and Bignone got 15. The other defendants were also ordered to serve sentences of various lengths.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41833412#.UNf0LeQ812A

Tears flow as Argentina’s ‘stolen babies’ trial comes to an end

http://photoblog.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/07/06/12594291-tears-flow-as-argentinas-stolen-babies-trial-comes-to-an-end?lite

VIDEO: (1 hour, 29 minutes) FULL Documentary - “This World Child Slavery”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H54-oYMkisY

The Word on Women - Stolen Children: Investigating Forced Removal of Babies & Infants

The media coverage of these abductions seems to be predominately focused on the narrative of the abductions and the historical context, not on the issue of women’s rights and human rights violations. Why do you think this is and what is your opinion?

http://www.trust.org/trustlaw/blogs/blog-post-detail.dot?id=7f2a0a11-2860-497f-bc07-3c8d16f52a15

300,000 Kidnapped by the Catholic Church in Spain: Nuns claimed babies died, then sold in adoption

http://www.vaticancrimes.us/2011/10/300000-kidnapped-by-catholic-church-in.html

300,000 Babies Stolen by Nuns and Priests in Spain to Sell for Adoption: Vatican’s Organized Crime

http://www.vaticancrimes.us/2011/10/300000-babies-stolen-by-nuns-and.html

Catholic Church involved in Baby Trafficking in Argentina, then Selling into Adoptions

http://www.vaticancrimes.us/2011/10/catholic-church-involved-in-baby.html

Catholic Church in fresh scandal involving money-spinning baby-trafficking in Spain

http://freethinker.co.uk/2011/10/18/catholic-church-in-fresh-scandal-involving-baby-trafficking-in-francos-spain/

Collection Of Research Blogs Documenting The Thousands Of Children Raped By Thousands Of Religious Leaders Of The World

http://exposingreligionblog.tumblr.com/post/7868894744

Canadian Holocaust - The Genocide of Aboriginal Peoples in Christian-run schools. 52,500 - 90,000 children or 35%-60% of the approximately 150,000 children who were kidnapped and savaged are unaccounted for! (1820-1969)

http://exposingreligionblog.tumblr.com/post/20496834043

7 Research Blogs showing The Modern day christian negative track record and attack on Africa: Genocides, condoms, inquisitions, “kill the gays” bill, corrective rape, conquest, exploitation, conversion tactics, aggression, violence, terrorism, culture destruction, etc

http://exposingreligionblog.tumblr.com/post/19614297406

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The Unfathomable, Unimaginable, Boundless, Immeasurable, Inconceivable, Incomprehensible and Infinite Wealth of Roman Catholicism in Spain.

Mon, 24 Dec 2012 00:49:00 -0500

There are over 37 million baptized, covering about 79% of the total population. There are 70 dioceses and archdioceses. Like the French church, the Spanish church oversees one of the greatest repositories of religious architecture (and art) in the world, including Sagrada Familia church (of Antoni Gaudi) in Barcelona, Granada Cathedral, Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, a popular pilgrim site, Seville Cathedral, Toledo Cathedral, and Cordoba Cathedral-Mosque (officially known as the Cathedral of the Virgin of the Assumption).

Here are a few examples of their wealth from several of their church castles:

The exterior carvings

Interiors:

Over 50 years, the catholic church in Spain stole around 300,000 babies from their parents and sold them in a baby trafficking ring. Most mainstream media barely cover the story and the church stays in business

http://tmblr.co/ZTwOHxa2ZqBJ

Exposing the fraud of religious charities and why nobody should ever donate to them. Find out what your money is supporting and where it goes. See over a dozen research blogs:

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Occupy Religious Industry (ORI) - Organizing Protests

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Christianity IS Intolerance: "love your neighbor as yourself," Has Nothing to do with the Tolerance of ALL People of ALL Kinds, Everywhere; Like Millions of christians Try to Claim.

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 21:37:00 -0500

The New Testament was originally written in 100% Koine Greek.

Neighbor, was translated from the Greek word “plesion,” which also means close and near.

The words plesion nor neighbor mean ALL people of ALL kinds, everywhere; like millions of christians try to claim.

In reality, it simply means close friends and family who share your religion, beliefs and faith.

Hundreds of bible versus prove this fact as well as the recorded history of forced conversions with the spread of christianity by military action and brutal conquest.

Intolerance is part of the foundation of judaism, christianity and islam.

Biblical Intolerance (730 passages)

http://exposingreligionblog.tumblr.com/post/15747937944

Here are 10 examples of this false inclusive myth of christians, from their scriptures; who try to use the word “neighbor” for much more than it is:

The Old Testament:

Leviticus 19:18 “‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.

***Try replacing the word “neighbor” with the term “fellow christians.”

The New Testament:

Mark 12:31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

Matthew 5:43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’

Matthew 19:19 honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Matthew 22:39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

Luke 10:27 He answered: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

James 2:8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.

Romans 13:9-10 The commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Galatians 5:14 The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Imaginary rabbi jesus’ TWO commandments were not original; but were from the jewish Tanakh or what christians called the old testament.

http://exposingreligionblog.tumblr.com/post/19992116798

Evidence: The Bible (Old & New Testament), Qur’an, Hadith and many other Bronze-Age Religious Scriptures are the most Barbaric, Savage, Violent, Repulsive, Disgusting, Immoral, Unethical and Evil Fictions That Men Have Ever Written

http://exposingreligionblog.tumblr.com/post/28536287206

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Was Fictional jesus Created Through Hebephilia Rape, with the Coercion of Consent, Through Intimidation, Power Differentials and Stockholm Syndrome? Was the Religion of christianity Founded on Rape?

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 23:53:00 -0500

First, these facts must be established:

Over a Billion Christians Believe that the holy spirit (aka ghost) is a Person and the Third Person of the “godhead.”

http://tmblr.co/ZTwOHxZaj1FH

To establish character and history:

RAPE In The Bible And Koran

http://exposingreligionblog.tumblr.com/post/11877707481

In the New Testament, Luke 1:26-38

~The angel,Gabriel was sent to inform Mary of god’s decision:

²⁹Mary was greatly troubled at his words

³⁰the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid,

~It seems that Mary could sense danger. Why would she be troubled and afraid of her god’s holy angel The stage of fear and intimidation is set. Mary’s frame of mind is revealed.

³¹You WILL conceive and give birth to a son,

~This is not a question; an order and command. There is no choice and no options for her.

~All jews knew that if they went against yahweh, he killed them.

~Yahweh ruthlessly murders over 25 million people in over 130 OT passages:

http://tmblr.co/ZTwOHxBjvaoc

~Consent is not assumed: It is never acceptable to assume that consent is given. Each one of us is responsible for making sure we have consent in every sexual situation. If you are unsure, it is important to clarify what your partner is feeling about the sexual situation. Consent can never simply be assumed.

³⁵The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you,”

~This sounds pornographic! A ghost will impregnate Mary?

~This sounds like the movie: “The Entity”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sfro7WO8YJg

³⁸“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.”

~Mary says that she is a SLAVE! She has no choice. This is Rape with the Coercion of Consent, Through Intimidation, and Power Differentials.

Rape: A sexual act of power and control that uses physical force, intimidation, coercion, threats and/or injury without the consent of the individual.

Coercion: A tactic used by perpetrators to intimidate, trick, or force someone to have sex with him/her without physical force. Perpetrators use many forms of coercion, threats, and manipulation to rape.

Intimidation: Intimidation is the act in which one individual instills fear in another individual or group. Individuals known to intimidate include: bosses, law enforcement officers, bullies at school or work, and even individuals you may feel are your friends. Sexual assailants often use intimidation to achieve sexual contact or sexual intercourse with their victims.

Power differentials: When one person holds a great deal of power over another person (i.e., boss/employee or professor/student) it is more difficult to be sure that this difference of power is not influencing any sexual interactions between these two people.

The issue involved is power and control. Coercion is a way of forcing someone to do something that s/he clearly does not want to do.

See our detailed information about rape that can be found below:

~Matthew 1:18&20

¹⁸ (Mary & Joseph) …before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.

~”Came together?” More sexual innuendo.

²⁰…angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said…what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

~So the “holy spirit, aka holy ghost” was selected to do the evil deed. This is a decision of the bible writers to make yahweh human and more appealing and relate-able without openly stating that sex was involved. Why would this be needed:“The Holy Spirit will come on you?” Why couldn’t yahweh just “snap his fingers” (like he made the universe) and have Mary impregnated?

Over a Billion Christians Believe that the holy spirit (aka ghost) is a Person and the Third Person of the “godhead.”

http://tmblr.co/ZTwOHxZaj1FH

***So, the christian person, called the holy spirit (aka ghost), raped Mary to give birth to jesus.

See the full text and context of Luke 1:26-38 and Matthew 1:18-24 below:

Luke 1:26-38

New International Version (NIV)

The Birth of Jesus Foretold

²⁶In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,

²⁷to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.

²⁸The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

²⁹Mary was greatly troubled at his words

and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.

³⁰But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid,

Mary; you have found favor with God.

³¹You will conceive and give birth to a son,

and you are to call him Jesus.

³²He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,

³³and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

³⁴“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

³⁵The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you,

and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be calledthe Son of God.

³⁶Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month.

³⁷For no word from God will ever fail.”

³⁸“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.”

Then the angel left her.

Matthew 1:18-24

New International Version (NIV)

Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son

¹⁸This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.

¹⁹Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

²⁰But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

²¹She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,because he will save his people from their sins.”

²²All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:

²³“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”(which means “God with us”).

²⁴When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.

The age of Mary and Joseph

No one really knows for sure. A lot of people just guess or make up random ages. Ask 20 different people and you will get many different answers. A lot of artwork portrays Joseph and Mary as roughly the same age, but this is most likely untrue.

In those days, life expectancy was much shorter due to a variety of reasons (diet, disease, healthcare, hard labour, etc) so girls were married and had children at younger ages than they do today.

It’s likely that Mary was just a teenager, since that was the custom of the day. Joseph’s age is not indicated but circumstantial evidence can lead us to conclude that he was much older.

For example, the word generation is defined as the length of time from a man’s birth to the birth of his first child. In the Bible this averaged out to be about 40 years, suggesting that a man would normally be in his mid to late thirties at the time of his marriage.

Also, a Jewish man had to pay the girl’s father a negotiated “bride price” before taking her, and show that he could provide for her and the family they’d have with a stable income and a suitable house for them to live in. It would normally take years after learning a trade for a man to become financially prepared for marriage.

According to some accounts, Mary was around 12-14 years when she was married to Joseph. It doesn’t appear as if it was her choice. More like she was given to him. Joseph himself was thought to be much more elderly. Some guess he was in his forties, while some Roman Catholics say that he was as old as 90. It is likely that they say this to remove any doubt that Joseph may actually have been the father of Jesus.

Regardless, it is unclear. It seems however that Joesph was a much older man and that Mary was just hitting puberty. So all things considered it seems likely that Joseph would have been much older than Mary.

~Hebephilia

Hebephilia is defined as a primary or exclusive sexual interest in pubescent individuals aged approximately 11–14 years. Hebephilia differs from ephebophilia, which refers to the sexual preference for individuals in later adolescence, and from pedophilia, which refers to the sexual preference for prepubescent children.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebephilia

Consent & Coercion

Consent is when someone agrees, gives permission or says yes to sexual activity with someone else. At the heart of consent is the idea that every person, man or woman, has a right to personal sovereignty – not to be acted upon by someone else in a sexual manner unless he or she gives clear permission to do so. It is the responsibility of the person initiating the sexual activity to get this permission. Absence of clear permission means you can’t touch someone, not that you can.

Coercion is a tactic used by perpetrators to intimidate, trick, or force someone to have sex with him/her without physical force. Perpetrators use many forms of coercion, threats, and manipulation to rape including alcohol and drugs.

Consent vs. Coercion

Consent is when someone agrees, gives permission or says yes to sexual activity with someone else. It is always freely given and both people in a sexual situation must feel that s/he is able to say “yes” or “no” at any point during sexual activity.

Power differentials: When one person holds a great deal of power over another person (i.e., boss/employee or professor/student) it is more difficult to be sure that this difference of power is not influencing any sexual interactions between these two people.

Consent is not assumed: It is never acceptable to assume that consent is given. Each one of us is responsible for making sure we have consent in every sexual situation. If you are unsure, it is important to clarify what your partner is feeling about the sexual situation. Consent can never simply be assumed.

Coercion is a tactic used by perpetrators to intimidate, trick or force someone to have sex with him or her without physical force.

The issue involved is power and control. Coercion is a way of forcing someone to do something that s/he clearly does not want to do. It is a way to control him or her.

Rape:

Rape is a sexual act of power and control that uses physical force, intimidation, coercion, threats and/or injury without the consent of the individual.

Sexual assault is sexual contact that is forced, coerced, or is a direct result of intimidation. Although rape is the most reported form of sexual assault it is not by any means the only action that constitutes sexual assault.

Forced:

1. If an individual forecably touches your genitals, your breasts, or rear end even after you said, “No,” that is sexual assault. 2. The same is true of sexual intercourse or penetration of any form. 3. If you did not give consent, it is sexual assault. 4. If weapons such as guns or knives are used in rape and/or sexual contact. 5. If your attacker has a partner, who aids them in raping you or achieving sexual contact. 6. If you are drugged (date rape drugs) via alcohol or in any other way rendered unconscious prior to rape or any other unwanted sexual contact.

Coercion: If an individual in authority claims he/she will take actions against you unless you allow unwanted sexual contact or sexual intercourse. For instance, a teacher threatens to fail you in their class or give you a bad grade unless you have sexually intercourse with them or allow them to touch you in a sexual manner. Individuals in authority include but not limited to: your boss, your parent(s), teachers, principals, law enforcement officers and doctors.

Intimidation: Intimidation is the act in which one individual instills fear in another individual or group. Individuals known to intimidate include: bosses, law enforcement officiers, bullies at school or work, and even individuals you may feel are your friends. Sexual assailants often use intimidation to achieve sexual contact or sexual intercourse with their victims. Some intimidating threats used by these offenders include but are not limited to:

1. Threatening bodily harm or death of you or persons close to you. 2. Release of personal information or photographs that may harm you mentally or emotionally. 3. Release of false information that may result in job loss or other occurences detromental to your livelihood.

Actions Constituting Sexual Assault Sexual contact without consent is sexual assault. Outside of rape, sexual contact is outlined as touching, fondling, or grazing another person’s genitals or breasts without acquiring consent. Sexual contact is also considered touching, fondling, or grazing any part of another individual’s body with your own genitals or breasts without consent. Consent constitutes a fully functional adult giving approval for sexual contact. Coersion, intimidation, or forcing sexual contact is not consentual and is considered sexual assault.

Who Cannot Consent to Sexual Contact Individuals younger than 16 years of age cannot legally consent to sexual contact. An individual who has sexual contact of any kind with a child under the age of 16, even if they too are under this consent age, are guilty of sexual assault. Individuals considered by law to be adults who have sexual contact with children under 16 will also face statutory rape, child molestation, or other serious charges. By law penetration is not limited to sexual intercourse. Penetration of any kind can constitute sexual assault; it can also constitute rape.

Incapacitated individuals cannot consent to sexual contact. Incapacitated applies to more than individuals with physical or mental disabilities. Individuals, who are rendered unconscious due to alcohol consumption or drug usage are also considered incapacitated. Any individual facilitating any form of sexual contact with incapacitated individuals is guilty of sexual assault.

Sexual assault

Is commonly defined as any sex act against someone’s will, without consent, or when someone is unable to freely give consent. In most sexual assaults, no weapon is used except for force. Force can include the use of verbal, physical or emotional pressure or manipulation, substances, threats, coercion and/or the use of alcohol or other drugs. It is not a sexual act; it is a violent crime. It is also called sexual violence.

Rape is a particular type of sexual assault. The FBI updated the definition of rape in January 2012, and it reads “The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.”

Rape and attempted rape are forms of sexual assault, but sexual assault also includes other completed or attempted attacks involving unwanted sexual contact, such as touching, groping, and other forms of contact.

Force

In most sexual assaults, no weapon is used except for force. Force can include, but is not limited to: the use of verbal, physical or emotional pressure or manipulation, alcohol and drugs, threats, blackmail, intimidation, abuse of power, or coercion. A person can not freely give consent if they are unconscious, impaired by alcohol or drugs, underage, scared, forced, bound/gagged, intimidated, coerced, mentally impaired, beaten, threatened, isolated, and/or physically impaired.

Who experiences sexual violence?

Sexual violence does not discriminate and it is never the victim’s/survivor’s fault.

Sexual violence is often used as a way to hurt, humiliate or gain control over someone else.

These actions may be committed by boyfriends, girlfriends, friends, acquaintances, family, lovers, partners, and strangers. Sexual assault and rape affect people of all ages, races, genders, sexualities, and abilities.The fact that someone has been intimate with a partner in the past does not mean he/she/ze consents to any/all future sexual activity with that partner.

Even though sexual assault is often associated with women, men and children of all ages also experience unwanted sexual contact. People are most at risk between 12-34 years of age, with risk peaking in the late teens.

Many survivors of sexual assault suffer in silence, never reporting it to the police. This happens for many different reasons, including feelings of shame, guilt, or fear of reprisal from their attacker. Many people sexually assaulted as children do not tell anyone or get help until they are adults. Many offenders never go to jail. But sexual assault is an illegal act that is punishable through the criminal justice courts and the University’s Grievance Committee.

Deciding to tell someone about the assault might be hard, but is also can be empowering. If you come forward, you will be believed.

Many people who have unwanted sexual experiences struggle to label them as “sexual assault” or “rape” because of lack of education about these words, their definitions, and the myths and facts about them in our society. While we can give you the official (and legal) definitions and we will believe your story, only you can know what you experienced. A great website which explains sexual assault and rape can be found here.

“Consent means words or actions demonstrating a knowing and voluntary agreement to engage in mutually agreed upon sexual activity. Consent cannot be obtained by force, by ignoring or acting in spite of the objections of another, or by taking advantage of the incapacitation of another. In the case of drugs, alcohol, or other impairing substances, incapacitation is determined by how the person’s decision-making ability is affected and the ability of the person to make informed judgments. The relevant standard for review is whether the person alleged to have engaged in sexual misconduct knew, or a sober, reasonable person in the same position should have known, that the Complainant was incapacitated.”

More commonly, consent is an expressed agreement by both partners to engage in sexual contact of any kind. Consent is not implied if someone does not say “no.” The best way to make sure you are giving and receiving active consent with your partner(s) is to ask before any sexual contact occurs, every time you want sexual contact, and be clear about what you want. If you can’t get a clear answer to your ask for contact, STOP.

“…against someone’s will” implies that one partner said “no” to a sexual act, or gave another verbal or nonverbal indication such as pushing away or looking away, that indicated that such sexual contact was unwanted.

“…without consent” implies that one partner did not agree—in other words did not say “yes” to a sexual act. It is mandatory that, in any sexual situation, both partners must explicitly agree to have sexual contact of any kind. Questions regarding such contact must be asked and answers. If either partner is forced in any way, including the use of verbal, physical, or emotional pressure or manipulation, substances, threats or coercion, consent cannot be given.

“…when someone is unable to freely give consent” implies that an individual has had either the right or the ability to freely give consent taken away by another person or circumstances.

This includes, but is not limited to, situations where someone is…

impaired by alcohol or drugs

passed out

high

scared

intimidated

threatened

forced

coerced

isolated

underage

mentally impaired

bound/gagged

physically impaired

use of a weapon

beaten

…or any other situation where an individual feels that she/he/ze will not have control over the situation or that her/his/hir wishes will not be heard.

By freely giving and getting consent, not only are you respecting your partner, you are following the law and UNC Policy.

If you’d like to read more about sexual assault or rape, please check out these resources:

http://www.doctornerdlove.com/2012/01/coerced-consent-yes-means-no/all/1/

[PDF] Seduction, Rape,and Coercion Sarah Conly - Bowdoin College

https://www.bowdoin.edu/faculty/pdf/Seduction_Rape_and_Coercion.pdf

[PDF] Guidelines Regarding Consent and Coercion as they relate to Sexual Offenses:

http://www.uncp.edu/studentconduct/code/Guidelines%20Regarding%20Consent%20and%20Coercion.pdf

DEFINITIONS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT AND RAPE

http://www.aphroditewounded.org/definitions.html

Stockholm Syndrome

Stockholm syndrome, or capture-bonding, is a psychological phenomenon in which hostages express empathy, sympathy and have positive feelings towards their captors, sometimes to the point of defending them. These feelings are generally considered irrational in light of the danger or risk endured by the victims, who essentially mistake a lack of abuse from their captors for an act of kindness.

The FBI’s Hostage Barricade Database System shows that roughly 27% of victims show evidence of Stockholm Syndrome.

Stockholm syndrome can be seen as a form of traumatic bonding, which does not necessarily require a hostage scenario, but which describes “strong emotional ties that develop between two persons where one person intermittently harasses, beats, threatens, abuses, or intimidates the other.”

One commonly used hypothesis to explain the effect of Stockholm Syndrome is based on Freudian theory. It suggests that the bonding is the individual’s response to trauma in becoming a victim. Identifying with the aggressor is one way that the ego defends itself. When a victim believes the same values as the aggressor, they no longer become a threat.

Battered-person syndrome is an example of activating the capture-bonding psychological mechanism, as are military basic training and fraternity bonding byhazing.

The Orgin of Stockholm Syndrome

In 1973, two men entered the Kreditbanken bank in Stockholm, Sweden, intending to rob it. When police entered the bank, the robbers shot them, and a hostage situation ensued. For six days, the robbers held four people at gunpoint, locked in a bank vault, sometimes strapped with explosives and other times forced to put nooses around their own necks. When the police tried to rescue the hostages, the hostages fought them off, defending their captors and blaming the police. One of the freed hostages set up a fund to cover the hostage-takers’ legal defense fees. Thus “Stockholm syndrome” was born, and psychologists everywhere had a name for this classic captor-prisoner phenomenon.

Symptoms of Stockholm Syndrome

In order for Stockholm syndrome to occur in any given situation, at least three traits must be present:

1. A severely uneven power relationship in which the captor dictates what the prisoner can and cannot do

2. The threat of death or physical injury to the prisoner at the hands of the captor

3. A self-preservation instinct on the part of the prisoner

Included in these traits are the prisoner’s belief (correct or incorrect, it doesn’t matter) that he or she cannot escape, which means that survival must occur within the rules set by the all-powerful captor; and the prisoner’s isolation from people not being held by the captors, which prohibits any outside view of the captors from infringing on the psychological processes that lead to Stockholm syndrome.

The Stockholm Syndrome Process

In the most basic, generalized way, the Stockholm syndrome process as seen in a kidnapping or hostage situation looks something like this:

1. In a traumatic and extraordinarily stressful event, a person finds herself held captive by a man who is threatening to kill her if she disobeys him in any way. She may be abused - physically, sexually and/or verbally - and having trouble thinking straight. According to the captor, escape is not an option. She will end up dead. Her family may end up dead, too. Her only chance at survival is obedience.

2. As time goes on, obedience alone may become less of a sure thing - the captor is under stress as well, and a change in his mood could mean harmful consequences to his prisoner. Figuring out what might set off her captor’s violence so she can avoid those triggers becomes another survival strategy. In this way, she gets to know her captor.

3. A minor act of kindness on the part of the captor, which can include simply not killing the prisoner yet, positions the captor as the prisoner’s savior, as “ultimately good,” to quote young Anne Frank’s famous characterization of the Nazis who ultimately led to her death. In the traumatic, life-threatening circumstances in which the prisoner finds herself, the slightest act of kindness - or the sudden absence of violence - seems a sign of friendship in an otherwise hostile, terrifying world, and the prisoner clings to it for dear life.

4. The captor slowly seems less threatening - more an instrument for survival and protection than one of harm. The prisoner undergoes what some call an act of self-delusion: In order to survive psychologically as well as physically - to lessen the unimaginable stress of the situation - the prisoner comes to truly believe that the captor is her friend, that he will not kill her, that in fact they can help each other “get out of this mess.” The people on the outside trying to rescue her seem less like her allies. They are going to hurt this person who is protecting her from harm. The fact that this person is also the source of that potential harm gets buried in the process of self-delusion.

There are similarities between brainwashing and Stockholm syndrome. The two are actually closely related as effects of abnormal power relationships.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/brainwashing.htm

Agnes of God

A play by John Pielmeier which tells the story of a novice nun who gives birth and insists that the dead child was the result of a virgin conception. A psychiatrist and the mother superior of the convent clash during the resulting investigation. The title is a pun on the Latin phrase Agnus Dei (Lamb of God).

The play was adapted for a movie in 1985, starring Jane Fonda, Anne Bancroft and Meg Tilly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnes_of_God

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYlgM4bPjL0

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Over a Billion Christians Believe that the holy spirit (aka ghost) is a Person and the Third Person of the "godhead."

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 21:44:04 -0500

ExposingReligion views the holy ghost as a fictional pet dove of fictional jesus.

The view that this dove is a person can be very useful.

This information is from christians trying to prove their belief that the holy spirit (aka ghost) is a Person:

The Holy Spirit is the third person in the Trinity.

by Matt Slick

He is fully God. He is eternal, omniscient, omnipresent, has a will, and can speak. He is alive. He is a person. He is not particularly visible in the Bible because His ministry is to bear witness of Jesus (John 15:26).

Some cults like the Jehovah’s Witnesses say that the Holy Spirit is nothing more than a force (Reasoning from the Scriptures, 1985, pp. 406-407). This is false. If the Holy Spirit were merely a force, then He could not speak (Acts 13:2); He could not be grieved (Eph. 4:30); and He would not have a will (1 Cor. 12:11).

The truth is that the Holy Spirit is a person the same as the Father and the Son are within the Trinity.

http://carm.org/holy-spirit

What is a person?

“Any human being considered as a distinct entity or personality; an individual.” Funk and Wagnall’s Dictionary.

And what is personality?

“Distinctive qualities or characteristics of a person….That which constitutes a person; personal existence.” Fund and Wagnall’s Dictionary.

The Personality of the Holy Ghost

A Sermon (No. 4)

Delivered on Sabbath Morning, January 21, 1855, by the REV. C. H. Spurgeon at New Park Street Chapel, Southwark.

“We are so much accustomed to talk about the influence of the Holy Ghost and his sacred operations and graces, that we are apt to forget that the Holy Spirit is truly and actually a person”

http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0004.htm

So does the Bible teach that the Holy Spirit is a Person?

Can the Holy Spirit Think for Itself and Make its Own Decisions?

—The Holy Spirit has a mind (see Romans 8:27).

—The Holy Spirit helped to settle questions during the Church Council at Jerusalem (see Acts 15:28).

—The Holy Spirit dispenses gifts to different individuals according as He wills (see 1 Corinthians 12:8-11).

—The Holy Spirit forbade some from going to preach in certain places (see Acts 16:6-7).

So we can see that the Holy Spirit has a mind, can think for Itself and can make Its own decisions. But can the Holy Spirit act for Itself?

Can the Holy Spirit Act for Itself?

—The Holy Spirit testifies or witnesses of Jesus (see John 15:26).

—The Holy Spirit leads God’s people (see Romans 8:14).

—The Holy Spirit teaches and causes us to remember the truth (John 14:26).

—The Holy Spirit comforts us as does Christ (John 14:16).

—The Holy Spirit strives with us (see Genesis 6:3).

—The Holy Spirit reproves us of sin, righteousness, and judgment (see John 16:8-11).

—The Holy Spirit instructs us (see Nehemiah 9:20).

—The Holy Spirit anointed Jesus and sent Him out to preach the gospel (see Luke 4:18-19); In fact, both the Father and the Holy Spirit sent Jesus (see Isaiah 48:16).

So we can see that the Holy Spirit can act for Itself, and can bear Its own witness. But can the Holy Spirit speak for Itself?

Can the Holy Spirit Speak for Itself?

—The Holy Spirit speaks, guides, hears and shows (John 16:13-15).

—The Holy Spirit speaks, chooses, calls and sends forth (see Acts 13:1-4).

—The Holy Spirit gives messages to prophets and they declare: “Thus saith the Holy Ghost” (see Acts 21:11).

So we can see that the Holy Spirit can indeed speak for Itself. Besides this, He can hear, He can guide, show, choose, calls and sends forth others.

Now what other characteristics does the Bible reveal about the Holy Spirit which shows it to be a Person and Being?

—The Holy Spirit has knowledge, and searches all things (see 1 Corinthians 2:10-11).

—The Holy Spirit sanctifies us (see Romans 15:16).

—The Holy Spirit holds communion with us (see 2 Corinthians 13:14); and so does Christ (see 1 Corinthians 1:9).

—The Holy Spirit is the source of regeneration and renewal for salvation (see John 3:5-8; Titus 3:5).

—The Holy Spirit resurrects the faithful from the dead (see Romans 8:11; 1 Peter 3:18).

—The Holy Spirit is the author of the Bible and moved upon the prophets to speak (see 2 Peter 1:21).

—The Holy Spirit is another Comforter other than Christ (see John 14:16).

—The Holy Spirit helps our infirmities (see Romans 8:26).

—The Holy Spirit can be tempted and lied to (see Acts 5:3, 9).

–The Holy Spirit can be blasphemed and sinned against (see Mark 3:28-29; Luke 12:10; Matthew 12:31).

—The Holy Spirit is another Intercessor other than Christ (see Romans 8:26); The Spirit intercedes for us through prayer, while Christ intercedes for us through His precious blood, merits and righteousness.

All of these things show conclusively that according to the bible, the Holy Spirit is indeed a Person and Being,

Knowing the Person of the Holy Spirit

Qualities that a person has…(a force or thing does not)

1) The Holy Spirit has intellect. 1 Corinthians 2:10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

2) The Holy Spirit has knowledge. 1 Corinthians 2:11 even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

3) The Holy Spirit has emotions. Ephesians 4:30 And grieve (lupeo (pronounced loo-peh’-o)); to make sad or sorrowful, heavy of heart) not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

4) The Holy Spirit has his own will and he makes decisions. Acts 16:6 Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia (pronounced froog-ee’-ah) and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia,

5) The Holy Spirit Loves. Romans 15:30 Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me;

Things only a person would do (a force or thing does not)

1) He teaches you things about God and yourself. John 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

2) He tells the truth. John 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

3) He guides. John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

4) He convinces. John 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

5) He prays for you. Romans 8:26-27 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

6) He commands. Acts 13:2 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.

http://www.theholyspirit.com/holyspiritperson.asp

THE HOLY SPIRIT — THIRD PERSON OF THE GODHEAD

http://gospel-herald.com/walper_ann/holy_spirit_egw.htm

Holy Spirit (A.K.A. Holy Ghost) Blasphemy

http://www.facebook.com/NoHolyGhost

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Pol Pot and Mao Zedong were not Atheists.

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 22:55:00 -0500

Pol Pot (19 May 1925 – 15 April 1998), born Saloth Sar Pol Pot.

What about Pol Pot?

Pol Pot never announced or wrote that he was an Atheist.

Truly a monster, having killed some twenty-five percent of the entire population of Cambodia. Pol Pot targeted not just different religions, but education, science and medicine in his quest for total domination. Now, let’s take a head count of atheists who are against education, science and medicine. Thought so…

Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge were composed of Buddhists and Pol Pot was a Theravada Buddhist. He studied at a Buddhist monastery and then at a Catholic school for 8 years.

Pol Pot (1925-1998) tried to erase individuality as he thought that differences create conflicts. With his artificial equality, abolishing private possessions and so erasing natural selection from society he was doomed by Evolution to fail, like all other communists. Pol Pot targeted not just different religions as differences, but education, science and medicine too. Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge were composed of Buddhists and Pol Pot himself was a communist and Theravada Buddhist.

Cambodia’s communism was influenced by Theravada Buddhism and its teaching to renunciation of the material world.

Before Pol Pot came into power, 95% of the population declared themselves Buddhists. According to CIA (1998 census in Cambodia), this number is almost the same and after Pol Pot’s rule (Buddhist 96.4%, Muslim 2.1%, other 1.3%, unspecified 0.2%). Cambodia was and is very religious country.

Pol Pot moved to France to study radio electronics, where he won a scholarship in 1949 to study radio electronics in Paris.

Pol Pot’s Education:

1934 – 1935 Buddhist monastery Wat Botum Vaddei in Phnom Penh

1935 – 1943 Catholic school in Phnom Penh École Miche

1943 – 1947 Collège Preah Sihanouk at Kampong Cham

1947 – 1948 Lycée Sisowath in Phnom Penh

1948 – 1949 Technical school in Phnom Penh

1949 – 1952 École Francaise de radio-électricité

The only evidence that christians use to say that Pol Pot was Atheist is this claimed quote:

Prince Norodom Sihanouk said, “Pol Pot does not believe in God but he thinks that heaven, destiny, wants him to guide Cambodia in the way he thinks it the best for Cambodia, that is to say, the worst. Pol Pot is mad, you know, like Hitler.”

Atheists believe in heaven?

http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/cambodia/thestory.html

~Mao Zedong (also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung) (1893-1976)

While Mao Zedong never announced or specifically wrote that he was an Atheist but in:

The Writings of Mao Zedong, 1949-1976: January 1956-December 1957 By Zedong Mao, Michael Y. M. Kau, John K. Leung (October-december 1957 / 791 page)

We find:

“Atheism must take the place of belief in a God.”

As you will see, he was very conflicted in his theist and secular views.

Although China is a socialist country, Buddhism is protected according to national policy. The late Chairman Mao Zedong said when he received delegations from Peru in 1964 that:

“it is wrong to tell people to be against religion.”

“religious people would oppose us… believing in a certain religion doesn’t mean people don’t oppose imperialism, feudalism and bureaucratic capitalism.”

Chinese political leader, poet and statesman, founder of People’s Republic of China. Mao Zedong’s ideas varied between flexible pragmatism and Utopian visions, exemplified in the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. His literary production contains mainly speeches, essays and poems. Mao published some 40 poems written in classical tradition with political message. Worshiped by millions, Mao is also considered one of the 20th century most brutal dictators. It has been estimated that he was responsible for well over 70 million deaths.

Mao was born into a wealthy administrative family of devout Buddhists, in the village of Shaoshan in the Hunan Province of China. At the age of six he began to work on his parents’ farm. His father, Mao Jen-sheng, was a peasant farmer, who beat his sons regularly.

Mao’s mother, Wen Chi-mei, was a devout Buddhist and became even more devout to encourage Buddha to protect him. Following his mother’s example, Mao also became a practicing Buddhist from an early age, venerating a bronze statue of the Buddha which was in their home, but abandoned this faith in his mid-teenage years.

High positions were open to all through education, which for centuries meant studying Confucian classics. Mao was taught the value systems of Confucianism, one of the dominant moral ideologies in China, but he would later admit that he did not enjoy reading the classical Chinese texts which preached Confucian morals, instead favoring popular novels such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Water Margin. Though Confucianism emphasized submission to authorities and bureaucratic centralization, he became hostile to the philosophy, which he saw as the central ideology of China’s past. Reacting against his Confucian upbringing, aged 11 Mao ran away from home, heading for what he believed was a nearby town, but eventually his father found him and brought him home.

Mao Zedong was afforded the rare luxury for the majority of Chinese at the time to a formal Western and Eastern schooling education at Changsha, capital of the Hunan province.

After graduating from a teacher’s training in Changsha, Mao continued his studies at the University of Beijing, where he worked as an assistant at the library. During this period he discovered Marx, but also began to hate books and all things highly cultivated. Under the influence of Li Dazhao and Chen Duxiu, China’s first major Marxist figures, Mao turned to Marxism.

“Tibetan Buddhism: Sacred traditions have down-to-earth side”

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90776/90882/6610660.html

The following quotes are from: “Behind the bamboo curtain: China, Vietnam, and the world beyond Asia” By Priscilla Mary Roberts. Mao Zedong and Pham Van Dong, Beijing, November 17, 1968

Pham Van Dong: How are you, Chairman Mao?

Mao Zedong: Not very well. I have had a cough for some days. It is time to go to Heaven. It seems that I am summoned to meet the Good God. How is President Ho?

~Taoism and Mao Zedong

Mao’s thought is far away from Marxism or Confucianism but close to Taoism.

Chuang Tzu was one of Mao’s favorite books and Li Po, a Taoist, was his favorite poet. Chuang Tzu’s carefree boundless style was also seen in Mao’s speeches and writings. Li Po’s romantic unconstrained style was also seen in Mao’s poetry.

Yin and Yang are important concepts of Taoism, seeing the opposite complementary forces inside all things and entities which lead everything to change toward its opposite: The weak becomes strong, and the strong becomes weak. That’s what it means in Chapter 40, Tao Te Ching:

That which is converse is the action of Tao;

That which is weak is the use of Tao.

Tao Te Ching is short but elaborates this Yin/Yang principle repeatedly in different verses. By different names such as two point or two side methods or dialectics, this Taoist principle became Mao’s favorite topic and appears everywhere in his works and speeches. This principle of course also applies to Mao himself: Such a glorious revolutionary life and such a super powerful figure ended his days in his isolated bedroom observing the keenly impatient desire of his colleagues to see his death. His voice was so a weak and tiny whisper when he begged, would you please lift your lordly hands and let them go after my death! The Chinese official interpretation says the word “them” in those Mao’s words refers to the rebels who reached high positions through the Cultural Revolution. From the context and circumstances, it is crystal clear that Mao worried about his wife and her friends, the Gang of Four. Did they let them go? No, and they didn’t Fifteen years after Mao’s death, people celebrated again over the death of Mao’s wife who committed suicide in prison.

http://taoism21cen.com/Englishchat/maoandtaoism.html

Mao’s god-like status:

During the Cultural Revolution, Mao elevated himself to god-like status, as though all that was good in China came from Mao. The people granted Mao a god-like status, celebrating his every achievement, remembering every little detail of his life, as well as creating mythical circumstances surrounding his life. Even today, many Chinese people regard Mao as a God-like figure, who led the ailing China onto the path of an independent and powerful nation, whose pictures can expel the evil spirit and bad luck.

Pictures of Chairman Mao used to grace every building in China and school children sang hymns of praise to him every morning. Today, Chinese drivers often hang a picture of Mao from their rearview mirrors. It’s believed to ward off car accidents.

Personality cult of Mao

http://library.thinkquest.org/26469/cultural-revolution/cult.html

Maoism

http://library.thinkquest.org/26469/cultural-revolution/maoism.html

Maoism

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Maoism

The following is from:

http://www.freethoughtpedia.com/wiki/Was_Mao_Zedong_an_atheist%3F

Was Mao Zedong an atheist?

Note: Using the argument that Mao’s belief in God caused him to do these things is WRONG. And one should be highly skeptical regarding Mao’s definition of God and if he even believed in God in the first place. Suffice to say, there is evidence that goes both ways, in terms of justifying a claim that Mao did believe in gods and also that he embraced secular ideals. However, there is absolutely no causal relationship between any atheist position and any antisocial, oppressive activities.

“Letting a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend is the policy for promoting the progress of the arts and the sciences and a flourishing socialist culture in our land.” — Mao Tse-tung, Quotations of Chairman Mao Speech (1966), quoted from Encarta Book of Quotations (1999)

The Poems of Mao Tse-tung

All of the below quotes are taken from: Mao Tse-tung (1893 - 1976) Source: The Poems of Mao Tse-tung, Harper & Row

Winds flap the sail, tortoise and snake are silent, a great plan looms. A bridge will fly over this moat dug by HEAVEN and be a road from north to south. We will make a stone wall against the upper river to the west and hold back steamy clouds and rain of Wu peaks. Over tall chasms will be a calm lake, and if the GODDESS of these mountains is not dead she will marvel at the changed world.^[1]

The GODS on the death of his wife Yang Kai-hui I lost my proud poplar and you your willow As poplar and willow they soar straight up into the ninth heaven and ask the prisoner of the moon, Wu Kang’ what is there. He offers them wine from the cassia tree. The lonely lady on the moon, Chang 0, spreads her vast sleeves and dances for these good SOULS in the unending sky. Down on earth a sudden report of the tiger’s defeat. Tears fly down from a great upturned bowl of rain.^[2]

Saying Good-bye to the GOD of Disease (2) Thousands of willow branches in a spring wind. Six hundred million of China, land of the GODS, and exemplary like the emperors Shun and Yao. A scarlet rain of peach blossoms turned into waves and emerald mountains into bridges. Summits touch the sky. We dig with silver shovels and iron arms shake the earth and the Three Rivers. GOD of plagues, where are you going? We burn paper boats and bright candles to light his way to HEAVEN.^[3]

Saying Good-bye to the GOD of Disease (1) Mauve waters and green mountains are nothing when the great ancient doctor Hua To could not defeat a tiny worm. A thousand villages collapsed, were choked with weeds, men were lost arrows. GHOSTS sang in the doorway of a few desolate houses. Yet now in a day we leap around the earth or explore a thousand Milky Ways. And if the cowherd who lives on a star asks about the GOD of plagues, tell him, happy or sad, the GOD is gone, washed away in the waters.^[4]

Little red book

The below is taken from “Self-Reliance and Arduous Struggle chapter 21”:

There is an ancient Chinese fable called “The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains”. It tells of an old man who lived in northern China long, long ago and was known as the Foolish Old Man of North Mountain. His house faced south and beyond his doorway stood the two great peaks, Taihang and Wangwu, obstructing the way. With great determination, he led his sons in digging up these mountains hoe in hand. Another graybeard, known as the Wise Old Man, saw them and said derisively, “How silly of you to do this! It is quite impossible for you few to dig up these two huge mountains.” The Foolish Old Man replied, “When I die, my sons will carry on; when they die, there will be my grandsons, and then their sons and grandsons, and so on to infinity. High as they are, the mountains cannot grow any higher and with every bit we dig, they will be that much lower. Why can’t we clear them away?” Having refuted the Wise Old Man’s wrong view, he went on digging every day, unshaken in his conviction. This moved GOD, and he sent down two angels, who carried the mountains away on their backs. Today, two big mountains lie like a dead weight on the Chinese people. One is imperialism and the other is feudalism. The Chinese Communist Party has long made up its mind to dig them up. We must persevere and work unceasingly, and we, too, will touch GOD’s heart. Our GOD is none other than the masses of the Chinese people. If they stand up and dig together with us, why can’t these two mountains be cleared away? ^[5]

the Tao of Mao

There is some suggestion that Mao was at least influenced by Taoism: ^[6]

Some of Mao’s quotes also represent a kind of Taoist thinking such as “We should support whatever the enemy opposes and oppose whatever the enemy supports”

References

. The Poems of Mao Tse-tung, Harper & Row June 1956
. The Poems of Mao Tse-tung, Harper & Row May 11, 1957
. The Poems of Mao Tse-tung, Harper & Row July I, 1958
. The Poems of Mao Tse-tung, Harper & Row July 1, 1958
. ”The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains” (June 11, 1945), Selected Works, Vol. III, p. 322.
. http://taoism21cen.com/Englishchat/essay4.html

~Different perspectives:

VIDEO: Sidney Rittenberg: Chairman Mao’s favourite American

His verdict on Mao now? “He was a great historical leader and a great historical criminal - very few have reached this status in both of those aspects.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13974472

Mao Zedong: Hero and Villain

Combine a champion of the poor, a visionary leader, a cult hero, a misguided social engineer, a blind ideologue, and a brutal tyrant. What do you get? Mao Zedong was all of these and more.

Mao Zedong, the communist revolutionary and founder of the People’s Republic of China, is both loved and loathed in the country he helped build. Some speak his name with respect, even reverence, others with bitterness and hatred.

One newspaper proclaimed: “Chairman Mao is the red sun in our hearts.” He was heralded as Great Teacher, Great Leader, Great Supreme Commander, and Great Helmsman. His portrait adorned many public places. His political and social ideas and observations were everywhere, showcased in red letters. In short, Mao was China and China was Mao.

Much of Mao’s thinking is collected in a small red volume known by westerners as the “Little Red Book” or the “Book of Mao.” The book has 427 quotations, divided thematically into 33 chapters.

http://www.minnesota-china.com/education/emgov/mao.htm

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The New Commandments (NC) - Life’s Guide of 45

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 21:17:00 -0500

Some people are upset by the idea of any commandments—including some Atheists. Though their positions are understood, there is reason behind having commandments.

Many people whom are religious, require a replacement for the moral aspect of religion which they perceive. It is a strong reason for people to hang on to religion. Millions of religious people love to claim that non-religious people have no morals. They claim that morals can only come from religion and god. Commandments are especially great for children. A moral framework is important to have in place to debunk religious leaders’ desperate attempts to smear, defame, stereotype, discriminate and vilify the non-religious. Those leaders will intensify their use of shame, guilt and fear to retain their members. Believers in doubt need to see the difference between our positive messages and the religious negative messages of hell-fire and brim-stone.

~Old 10 Commandments (OC)

ONE: ‘You shall have no other gods before Me.‘

TWO: ‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.‘

THREE: ‘You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.‘

FOUR: ‘Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.‘

FIVE: ‘Honor your father and your mother.‘

SIX: ‘You shall not murder.‘

SEVEN: ‘You shall not commit adultery.‘

EIGHT: ‘You shall not steal.‘

NINE: ‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.‘

TEN: ‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.’

The New Commandments (NC) are very different from the Old 10 Commandments (OC). It is impossible so sum up the rules of living in just 10 Commandments and the 613 Jewish Mitzvot are too many to remember. The NC list of 45 has been updated for our day and age. The NC is greatly improved when compared to the OC. This vast improvement can be recognized when comparing the first 10 of the NC to the first 10 of the OC. This is especially true since the first four of the OC were mainly focused on the jealously and insecurity of an imaginary god. Commandment 7 (‘You shall not commit adultery.’) and 10 of the OC are very similar commandments which reduce the actual useful count of the OC to only 5. The NC are free from such hindrances by focusing on truly important things such as the well-being of the individual follower, all people, all life, and our planet.

Only the first 15 of the NC are numbered and sorted into a suggested order of importance. The following 19 are not numbered because they can be arranged in various orders, depending on the individual who decides to follow them. It allows a follower to customize their NC and make them a personal part of themselves.

The NC are not carved in stone, but typed on a computer and stored on hard drives. They are subject to future review, progression, evolution and improvement at anytime.

Additionally, the OC promised death if any commandments were broken; which is always attempted to be covered up. The NC doesn’t dictate any punishments but rely solely on trusting its followers. The NC try to empower and lift up the individual while religion oppresses and controls their people through guilt, shame, and fear.

Everyone who follows the NC are encouraged to add their own personal commandments as they proceed through life.

The New Commandments - Life’s Guide of 45

1. ‘You shall not purposely kill any human being, unless in unavoidable direct defense.’

2. ‘You shall not purposely kill any Vertebrates or Invertebrates, unless in unavoidable direct defense or for food.’

3. ‘You shall never rape anyone.’

4. ‘You shall help and protect children.’

5. ‘You shall recognize your children as your highest life responsibility and priority, above yourself; caring, loving and doing everything to encourage their positive development and maturity of great character.’

6. ‘You shall not lie, cheat, or steal.’

7. ‘You shall believe in yourself.’

8. ‘You shall not be afraid of who you are and never have to hide it.’

9. ‘You shall take pride and respect in your self-worth; taking care of your body and never jeopardize your health.’

10. ‘You shall always strive for cooperation and peace.’

11. ‘You shall love.’

12. ‘You shall respect everyone and everything until they prove undeserving, but be ready and willing to return that respect when re-earned.’

13. ‘You shall not discriminate but accept all people’s differences as an attribute of unique greatness.’

14. ‘You shall recognize that all people are equal and strength lies in unity.’

15. ‘You shall allow freedom for all people.’

‘You shall maintain balance in every aspect of your life.’

‘You shall be honest and work to maintain a strong integrity.’

‘You shall have discipline and maintain honor.’

‘You shall control your anger, arrogance, greed, ego and selfishness.’

‘You shall work hard, with heart and perseverance.’

‘You shall not quit things worth not quitting but quit things not worth doing.’

‘You shall always try your best to improve in all ways.’

‘You shall make education a great priority and always work to expand your power of knowledge.’

‘You shall always try to be strong in mind and heart.’

‘You shall stand up for yourself and others who are wronged or mistreated.’

‘You shall maintain and execute fair, balanced and reasonable justice.’

‘You shall express and communicate your feelings because holding them inside will only hurt yourself and loved ones.’

‘You shall be tolerant but never tolerant of intolerance; recognize humor and not take yourself and everything too seriously.’

‘You shall demonstrate humility, humbleness, consideration, and fairness, especially if you ever obtain power.’

‘You shall take full responsibility for all your words and actions.’

‘You shall respect and protect nature by conserving and not littering or polluting.’

‘You shall help others when you can.’

‘You shall not commit adultery.’

‘You shall avoid people who do bad things.’

Religion:

‘You shall embrace positive change and progression.’

‘You shall not follow anyone or anything blindly; seek truth and ask many questions.’

‘You shall discover answers using common sense, logic, reason, and rationality through the study of nature and science.’

‘You shall be aware of the man-made, blind-faiths; claiming everything without proof and hidden agendas of monetary gain, power and control.’

‘You shall fight to maintain, broaden and strengthen the separation of church from government, courts and education.’

‘You shall live for the life that you know you have and not for the life that ancient men imagined you may have after death.’

Details of the New Commandments:

‘You shall understand that this is a guide of suggestions for living, in which some reasonable exceptions can be made for most.’

‘You shall make this guide personal, adding your own new and thoughtful suggestions, along your journey of life, to leave to loved ones.’

‘You shall make a promise to yourself, to always try your best to follow this guide.’

‘You shall understand that nobody is perfect and everyone makes mistakes, so always be ready to forgive yourself and others.’

‘You shall follow this guide of life, not out of fear of reprisal, but because it will simply make you a great person.’

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Proven and Admitted Romney/Republican Welfare Lies, Smears, Racism and Class Warfare

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 10:55:00 -0500

White People Within Republican States Receive More Welfare and Food-stamps Than the People in Democrat States

http://tmblr.co/ZTwOHxXSIE21

FOR REFERENCE: Text of Obama’s welfare order

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/30/1125800/-FOR-REFERENCE-Text-of-Obama-s-welfare-order

Fact check: Romney’s welfare claims wrong

Welfare reform, which added a work requirement tied to welfare benefits, is often cited as a major bipartisan political success of President Bill Clinton’s second term.

So the idea of the next Democratic president, Barack Obama, taking the work requirement off the table is political dynamite.

Apparently, the Romney campaign believes it is.

A Romney campaign ad titled “Welfare Reform,” which came out earlier in August, says that’s just what Obama did.

“On July 12, President Obama quietly ended the work requirement, gutting welfare reform. One of the most respected newspapers in the country called it ‘nuts,’ ” the ad says.

“Under Obama’s plan, you wouldn’t have to work and you wouldn’t have to train for a job,” the ad continues. “They just send you your welfare check. And welfare to work goes back to being plain old welfare …”

But the Obama campaign calls Romney’s ad “nuts.”

CNN’s Fact-check agrees.

Clinton calls out ‘disappointing’ Romney ad

“Every single person here who’s looked at it says it’s patently false,”Obama said a news conference on Monday.

So where did the notion of a major welfare reform overhaul come from?

Where it didn’t come from is Washington but rather from Utah, Nevada, California, Connecticut and Minnesota.

These states, some with Republican governors, asked the federal government for more flexibility in how they hand out welfare dollars. Their purpose was to spend less time on federal paperwork and more time experimenting with ways to connect welfare recipients with jobs.

The Obama administration cooperated, granting waivers to some states from some of the existing rules.

The waivers gave “those states some flexibility in how they manage their welfare rolls as long as it produced 20% increases in the number of people getting work.”

In some small way, the waivers might change precisely how work is calculated but the essential goal of pushing welfare recipients to work — something both Democrats and Republicans agreed to in the 1990s — remains the same.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/23/politics/fact-check-welfare/index.html

Behind the bogus anti-Obama welfare ads? The Heritage Foundation guy who said poverty’s no big deal

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/09/13/1131361/-Behind-the-bogus-anti-Obama-welfare-ads-The-Heritage-Foundation-guy-who-said-poverty-s-no-big-deal

“Under Obama’s plan (for welfare), you wouldn’t have to work and wouldn’t have to train for a job. They just send you your welfare check.”

Mitt Romney on Monday, August 6th, 2012 in a campaign ad

Mitt Romney says Barack Obama’s plan for welfare reform: “They just send you your check.”

Forget, for a moment, tax cuts and the fiscal cliff. Mitt Romney wants to talk about welfare.

A Romney ad opens with a picture of President Bill Clinton signing the 1996 landmark welfare reform act, which shifted the program from indefinite government assistance to one based on steering people toward employment and self-reliance.

The words “unprecedented success” flash on the screen. Clinton and a bipartisan Congress, a narrator says, “helped end welfare as we know it by requiring work for welfare.”

A leather-gloved laborer wipes sweat from his forehead.

“But on July 12,” the ad continues, “President Obama quietly announced a plan to gut welfare reform by dropping work requirements. Under Obama’s plan, you wouldn’t have to work and wouldn’t have to train for a job. They just send you your welfare check, and ‘welfare to work’ goes back to being plain old welfare.”

The July 12 announcement, made by the the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS, allows states to try different ways of meeting the work requirements of the federal law. Does it really mean “they just send you your welfare check”? We decided to look further.

The HHS memo

Since 1996, welfare has been administered through block grants to states through a program called Temporary Assistance to Needy Families. TANF, as it’s called, limits how long families can get aid and requires recipients to eventually go to work. It also includes stringent reporting requirements for states to show they are successfully moving people off welfare and and into the workforce.

A memo from George Sheldon, the acting assistant secretary at HHS, said the department wanted to give states more flexibility in meeting those requirements. The memo notifies states “of the Secretary’s willingness to exercise her waiver authority … to allow states to test alternative and innovative strategies, policies, and procedures that are designed to improve employment outcomes for needy families.”

The memo outlined, using the jargon of a federal bureaucracy, the kinds of waivers that would be considered. It suggested projects that “improve collaboration with the workforce and/or post-secondary education systems” and “demonstrate strategies for more effectively serving individuals with disabilities,” to give two examples.

What does all that mean?

“If you can do a better job connecting people to work, we would consider waiving certain parts of the performance measures and use alternate measures,” is how Liz Schott, a senior fellow at the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, translated the memo’s point. (The center supports the plan.)

Schott, who studies welfare policy, said TANF sets guidelines for what activities may count toward meeting the law’s work requirements: jobs, job training, internships or school, to name a few. Beyond that, it puts restrictions on how many hours a welfare client may spend at school, or how many consecutive months they can attend before that activity no longer counts toward the work requirement.

The result: “States are running less-effective programs than they might be, because they are so driven by performance measurement as it’s set forth in the federal law,” Schott said.

The waivers, then, would allow for flexibility. For example, someone with a special-needs child might require different work arrangements than are currently allowed. Or a person who needs to improve his or her English skills might need more time to take classes.

“It’s really about the underlying program,” Schott said. “The real starting place is: What’s the most effective program to get this person to work?”

Romney’s assertion

In a memo released along with the ad, the Romney campaign says the change “undermines the very premise of welfare reform. It is an insult to Americans on welfare who are looking for an opportunity to build better lives for themselves. And it is a kick in the gut to the millions of hard-working middle-class taxpayers struggling in today’s economy, working more for less but always preferring self-sufficiency to a government handout.”

Obama, it says, “hopes states will consider approaches that remove work participation rate requirements all together.”

The HHS letter contains no such language. In several places, it says only proposals from states that “improve employment outcomes” will be considered.

It’s important to note, however, that the waivers would not just be a change on paper. Schott said it’s possible that waivers will allow states to get credit under the work requirement for things that don’t count currently.

That possibility has critics of the proposal up in arms. Robert Rector, a welfare expert with the conservative Heritage Foundation, said it could ultimately allow “state bureaucrats” to count activities that aren’t really work.

We should point out that those concerns are at odds with the policy’s stated goal of encouraging employment.

The Romney campaign also contends that HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is not legally allowed to waive the existing work requirements. Rector argues that the part of the law allowing waivers does not cover TANF work provisions.

“Critically, this section, as well as most other TANF requirements, is deliberately not listed… its provisions cannot be waived,” Rector wrote in a July 12 column in the National Review.

We think that’s a noteworthy point, but it’s one that a court will have to settle.

Our ruling

Romney’s ad says, “Under Obama’s plan (for welfare), you wouldn’t have to work and wouldn’t have to train for a job. They just send you your welfare check.”

That’s a drastic distortion of the planned changes to Temporary Assistance to Needy Families. By granting waivers to states, the Obama administration is seeking to make welfare-to-work efforts more successful, not end them. What’s more, the waivers would apply to individually evaluated pilot programs — HHS is not proposing a blanket, national change to welfare law.

The ad tries to connect the dots to reach this zinger: “They just send you your welfare check.” The HHS memo in no way advocates that practice. In fact, it says the new policy is “designed to improve employment outcomes for needy families.”

The ad’s claim is not accurate, and it inflames old resentments about able-bodied adults sitting around collecting public assistance. Pants on Fire!

Romney Claims Waivers He Used To Support Will ‘Gut Welfare Reform’

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/08/07/649621/romney-ad-welfare-reform/

Romney Releases Another False Ad, Revives Claim That Obama ‘Gutted’ Welfare Reform

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/10/31/1114581/romney-revives-false-welfare-ad/

Romney: Obama Gutting Welfare Work Requirements To ‘Shore Up His Base’

In a high profile interview in USA Today, Mitt Romney accused President Obama of gutting the welfare work requirements to “shore up his base.”

The Romney campaign’s attacks on Obama’s welfare policy have come under attack because they are false and seen by some a coded racial appeal. The New York Times’ Tom Edsall writes that “the Romney campaign is clearly determined ‘to make this about’ race, in the tradition of the notorious 1988 Republican Willie Horton ad.”

http://thinkprogress.org/election/2012/08/27/747161/romney-obama-gutting-welfare-work-requirements-to-shore-up-his-base/

GOP Governor Acknowledges That Romney’s Welfare Attack Ads Are False

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/08/29/766141/brownback-romney-ads-fals/

Republican Gov. Brownback admits Romney welfare ads are false

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/29/1125464/-Republican-Gov-Brownback-admits-Romney-welfare-ads-are-nbsp-false

Newt Gingrich: ‘No Proof’ Of Romney Ad’s Welfare Claim

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/08/newt-gingrich-romney-welfare_n_1758461.html

Gingrich Admits There’s ‘No Proof Today’ Of Claims Made In Romney Welfare Reform Ad

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/08/09/662911/gingrich-welfare-no-proof/

Newt Gingrich Admits Romney Welfare Ad is Inaccurate, Distorted

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pzGSIff7QU

Gingrich admits: ‘no proof’ to support welfare smear

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/08/09/13199254-gingrich-admits-no-proof-to-support-welfare-smear?lite

Obama hits back hard with New “Blatant” Ad about Welfare

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/10/1118674/-Obama-hits-back-hard-with-New-Blatant-Ad-about-Welfare

Former President Clinton Blasts Romney’s ‘Disappointing’ New Welfare Claim: ‘That Is Not True’

Mitt Romney spent Tuesday on a media blitz claiming that President Obama is out to “gut welfare reform.” An ad released by the Romney campaign first pointed to President Clinton as having successfully reformed welfare, before excoriating Obama. However, in a statement, Clinton called Romney’s charge against Obama “disappointing” and “not true”:

Governor Romney released an ad today alleging that the Obama administration had weakened the work requirements of the 1996 Welfare Reform Act. That is not true. […]

The recently announced waiver policy was originally requested by the Republican governors of Utah and Nevada to achieve more flexibility in designing programs more likely to work in this challenging environment. The Administration has taken important steps to ensure that the work requirement is retained and that waivers will be granted only if a state can demonstrate that more people will be moved into work under its new approach. The welfare time limits, another important feature of the 1996 act, will not be waived.

The Romney ad is especially disappointing because, as governor of Massachusetts, he requested changes in the welfare reform laws that could have eliminated time limits altogether. We need a bipartisan consensus to continue to help people move from welfare to work even during these hard times, not more misleading campaign ads.

In reality, the Obama administration is simply giving states the ability to experiment with new work programs, along the lines of a reform that Romney himself requested in 2005.

As the directive from the Department of Health and Human Services states, “HHS is encouraging states to consider new, more effective ways to meet the goals of [Temporary Assistance for Needy Families], particularly helping parents successfully prepare for, find, and retain employment.” HHS says it will cancel waivers that do not further TANF’s goals.

CBS’s AdWatch said of Romney’s ad, “It’s a leap to assume that governors and legislators will seek to return to ‘plain old welfare’ and that the Obama administration will give them the go-ahead.” The Romney camp, however, doubled down on its claims, saying in a statement that Obama is erasing “sixteen years of progress…with one stroke of a pen.”

And none of this deals with the inescapable fact that TANF failed to reach a significant number of needy families during the Great Recession, calling into serious question whether the current program is the best way to administer aid to those who need it.

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/08/08/656061/clinton-romney-welfare/

Karl Rove Drops Welfare Whopper To Deflect From “Pants On Fire” Romney Ads

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2012/08/27/karl-rove-drops-welfare-whopper-to-deflect-from/189601

Romney, Son Of Welfare Receiving Mexican Immigrant (VIDEO)

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/09/05/romney_mexican/

Mitt Romney’s Dad was on Welfare

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/09/05/1127998/-Mitt-Romney-s-Dad-was-on-Welfare

RESEARCH: Fox Continues Attacks On Welfare Waiver Provision

http://mediamatters.org/research/2012/08/09/fox-continues-attacks-on-welfare-waiver-provisi/189231

The Obama administration is “unwinding our nation’s welfare-to-work requirements.”

Bob McDonnell on Monday, August 6th, 2012 in an op-ed.

http://www.politifact.com/virginia/statements/2012/aug/13/bob-mcdonnell/bob-mcdonnell-says-obama-unwinding-welfare-work-re/

Despite Fact Checks, Romney Escalates Welfare Work Requirement Charge

http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2012/08/22/159791065/despite-fact-checks-romney-escalates-welfare-work-requirement-charge

RESEARCH: Conservative Media Freak Out Over Improvement To Welfare Reform

http://mediamatters.org/research/2012/07/15/conservative-media-freak-out-over-improvement-t/187141

Fox & Friends Echoes GOP Spin On Welfare Rule, Leaves Out The Facts

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2012/07/17/fox-amp-friends-echoes-gop-spin-on-welfare-rule/187179

Today In Dishonest Fox Charts: Government Aid Edition

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2012/08/09/today-in-dishonest-fox-charts-government-aid-ed/189223

Rick Santorum repeats Romney claim that Obama is ending work requirement in welfare

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/aug/28/rick-santorum/Santorum-Romney-claim-Obama-ending-welfare-work/

Bob McDonnell says Obama is “unwinding” welfare-to-work requirements

Gov. Bob McDonnell is accusing the Obama administration of reversing federal welfare laws that require people who receive public aid to be on a path towards finding a job.

McDonnell has joined a number of Republicans — including presidential nominee Mitt Romney — in criticizing the administration’s announcement in July that states will be allowed to seek waivers from welfare-to-work requirements passed in 1996 under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.

Those reforms tied block welfare grants for states to work requirements and limit the amount of time a person can receive benefits.

“By unwinding our nation’s welfare-to-work requirements, the Obama administration is making a tragic mistake,” McDonnell wrote in an August 6 op-ed that ran in the Richmond Times-Dispatch and is posted on McDonnell’s political website and Romney’s campaign website.

Is Obama “unwinding” those requirements? We checked.

Tucker Martin, a spokesman for the governor, backed McDonnell’s statement by citing editorials that take aim at the administration’s decision. Martin also emailed us an Associated Press article saying the White House has ”quietly opened the door for states to seek major changes in how they meet federal welfare-to-work requirements for some of their poorest residents.”

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced the waiver program on July 12, saying exemptions would be granted to allow states to “test alternative and innovative strategies, policies and procedures that are designed to improve employment outcomes for needy families.”

The directive said ”HHS will only consider approving waivers relating to the work participation requirements that make changes intended to lead to more effective means of meeting the work goals of TANF.” The department said if a test project does not result in improved employment for welfare recipients, the waiver could be revoked.

George Sheldon, an assistant secretary at HHS, said in a July 12 letter to state human services officials that the administration’s move stemmed from a February 28, 2011 presidential memorandum that called on federal agencies to work with state governments to remove regulatory barriers that undermine federal programs.

As a result, Sheldon said HHS held talks with state, local and tribal officials about many issues — including TANF.

“During those consultations, many jurisdictions expressed a strong interest in greater flexibility in TANF and indicated that greater flexibility could be used by states to improve program effectiveness,” Sheldon said. “We also heard concerns that some TANF rules stifle innovation and focus attention on paperwork rather than helping parents find jobs.”

The move caused an uproar among conservatives who argued the change was a bid to sneak around welfare-to-work requirements.

Romney went a step further in a TV ad that started running last week in Virginia and other swing states, saying, under Obama’s plan, “you wouldn’t have to work and wouldn’t have to train for a job. They just send you your welfare check.” Our colleagues at PolitiFact National rated that claim Pants on Fire in an August 7 story.

Politifact noted that through the changes, the administration is hoping to make the welfare-to-work efforts more successful — not end them altogether.

FactCheck.org examined that ad’s claim that the adminstration’s decision would “gut welfare reform by dropping work requirements.” It concluded, “The plan does neither of those things.”

It should be noted that the Republican governors of Utah and Nevada have expressed interest in obtaining waivers from TANF requirements in order to boost employment for welfare recipients.

“Nevada is very interested in working with your staff to explore program waivers that have the potential to encourage more cooperative relationships among state agencies engaged in economic stimulus through job creation, employment skill attainment and gainful employment activities,” Michael Willden, director of Nevada’s Department of Health and Human Services said in an August 2, 2011 letter to HHS.

Mary-Sarah Kinner, a spokeswoman for Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, said that although state officials discussed the possibility of a waiver, the state never requested one and doesn’t intend to.

But Utah officials have asked for a waiver.

“Utah’s goal through all of this is to increase work-related outcomes, and we felt that this waiver would better allow us to achieve that goal,” said Nic Dunn, a spokesman for Utah Gov. Gary Herbert.

A final note: There’s a dispute about whether the administration is allowed to provide these waivers. Although HHS says it can, Republicans maintain the 1996 law doesn’t allow the executive branch to grant waivers to the work rules.

Our Ruling

McDonnell said the Obama administration is ”unwinding” welfare-to-work requirements.

But a new Obama program does not end welfare-to-work mandates. To the contrary, it strengthens the requirements by granting waivers to states seeking to make the work requirements more successful. The waivers would be granted to pilot programs that are individually evaluated; HHS is not proposing a blanket national change to welfare law.

We rate McDonnell’s statement False.

Republicans: Our welfare ad is a lie. And it works. So we’re sticking with it

Mendacious Mitt’s campaign staff thinks it has a winner with the welfare ads it’s been running against President Obama:

“Our most effective ad is our welfare ad,” a top television advertising strategist for Romney, Ashley O’Connor, said at a forum Tuesday hosted by ABCNews and Yahoo! News. “It’s new information.”

The term of art is actually “disinformation,” something black ops technicians became highly skilled at generating during the Cold War.

The disinformation ad says the Obama Administration is offering states waivers that could lighten work requirements for receiving welfare assistance, a provision in the 1996 welfare reform act known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. The Republicans claim Obama is gutting that reform. Fact-checkers have found Team Romney’s claims to be, putting it charitably, baloney.

Romney pollster Neil Newhouse blew off the criticism:

“Fact checkers come to this with their own sets of thoughts and beliefs, and we’re not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact checkers,” he said.

No kidding. As if that hasn’t been the No. 1 priority in Team Romney’s mission statement from the get-go. Facts are gnats. Annoying but inconsequential.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/28/1125066/-Republicans-Our-welfare-ad-is-a-lie-And-it-works-So-we-re-sticking-with-it

Does Obama’s Plan ‘Gut Welfare Reform’?

http://www.factcheck.org/2012/08/does-obamas-plan-gut-welfare-reform/

Fact Check: President Obama ‘Gutted’ Welfare Reform

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/08/fact-check-president-obama-gutted-welfare-reform/

The real strategy behind Romney’s (lying) welfare ads

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-215_162-57499358/the-real-strategy-behind-romneys-lying-welfare-ads/

The welfare lie that Romney and Ryan won’t let die

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/09/06/1128498/-The-welfare-lie-that-Romney-and-Ryan-won-t-let-die

The Republican bill that actually would gut welfare reform

The Congressional Research Service recently found that Obama’s proposed welfare waivers are, in all likelihood, completely legal. But it also concluded that politicians in Washington have proposed gutting the welfare work requirement — just not the politicians you’d think.

A new CRS report indicates that a Republican proposal that just passed the House Education and Workforce committee would undermine the work requirement. The bill is H.R. 4297: Workforce Investment Improvement Act of 2012, and it passed (pdf) the committee on a party-line vote in June, with all Republicans voting for and all Democrats voting against or abstaining. Here’s the CRS report on it:

CRS Memo on GOP WIA bill

The bill allows states to consolidate all state-federal aid programs, such as aid for Women, Infants and Children, food stamps and TANF into a single “Workforce Investment Fund.” But if they do, all the eligibility requirement for those programs fall by the wayside. “Thus, for example, if TANF funds were consolidated into the WIF,” CRS’ David Bradley explains, “TANF program requirements (e.g., work requirements) may no longer apply to that portion of funding because the TANF funding would not exist (i.e., it would be part of the WIF and thus subject to WIF program requirements).” Translation: State governors would be able to eliminate the welfare work requirement entirely by creating a Workforce Investment Fund. That’s a much bigger change than anything the Obama administration has proposed on welfare.

This isn’t unprecedented. The Bush administration pushed for a welfare “superwaiver” that would allow states to waive just about every requirement, including the work requirement. “The superwaiver proposal passed the House three times: in 2002, 2003, and 2005,” CRS’ Gene Falk writes (pdf). “The legislation would have had the effect of allowing TANF work participation standards to be waived.” All three times the proposal was backed by Paul Ryan, John Boehner, Rob Portman and most other Republicans in the House. (The relevant roll call votes are here, here and here.)

Waiving the work requirement may or may not be a good idea. But despite what the Romney-Ryan campaign’s ads say, Paul Ryan is the only person on the national ticket to have supported doing it.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/09/13/the-republican-bill-that-actually-would-gut-welfare-reform/

The Lies Republicans Tell About Obama and Welfare

Betsy Reed on August 30, 2012 - 3:21 PM ET

It’s been well established by now—in outlets from the New York Times to PolitiFact to the Washington Post—that the Romney campaign’s ads accusing President Obama of gutting welfare reform by waiving its work requirement are invented out of whole cloth (and it’s been noted, widely, that this cloth has an insidious racial design). Not only has Obama maintained the deeply flawed TANF program created by President Clinton’s 1996 reform law; it was Republican governors who requested the technical waivers their party now finds so deplorable. While the liberal media droned on about such pesky realities, Rick Santorum gleefully played up the welfare theme at the RNC podium—accusing Obama of fostering dependency and letting laziness reign while undermining hardworking families.

The “Barack Obama, Welfare King” attack line is beyond absurd. It’s downright perverse when you consider how Obama failed, during the crisis of the Great Recession, to fix the “reformed” welfare system bequeathed to him by Clinton. Thanks to its block-grant structure, TANF couldn’t respond to the sudden dire need gripping the country. As the number of unemployed people doubled, TANF caseloads increased just 13 percent; in twenty-two states, caseloads responded very little or not at all to the downturn, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBBP). Poverty rates have spiked to a fifty-year high, with one in five American children now living in poverty, but welfare reaches fewer and fewer of them. In some states, like Georgia, as Peter Goodman vividly documented in the Huffington Post, it’s become next to impossible for desperate families to obtain any relief from the welfare system.

Meanwhile, what little Obama did do to help those suffering most from the recession has been distorted beyond recognition. The president’s 2009 stimulus package, dismissed by Republicans as a big-government boondoggle, contained a provision, in fact, that was directly aimed at helping people on welfare to get jobs—the supposed goal of welfare reform. It’s worth revisiting the story of this initiative, crafted in the spirit of the New Deal’s Works Progress Administration rather than the get-tough work requirements beloved by the GOP—because it’s the story of a government program that was succeeding before Republicans set out to destroy it.

The TANF Emergency Contingency Fund was a small measure tucked into the Recovery Act with little fanfare. But it managed an impressive feat during its year and a half of existence: it placed more than 260,000 low-income parents and youth in paid jobs, at a time of painfully high unemployment, all for the modest price tag of $1.3 billion in federal money, according to a study by the CBBP and the Center on Law and Social Policy. By subsidizing jobs for the poor—actually paying part of their wages—the program helped small businesses, nonprofits and local governments get through the recession, and offered low-income parents the chance to build new skills. The Emergency Fund provided an additional stimulus to local economies by putting money in the pockets of people most likely to spend it immediately. At a most basic level, it gave jobs to people who needed them—and showed how government can help when the market isn’t meeting human needs. States were given lots of flexibility to implement it as they saw fit, and more than thirty eagerly took advantage, including the reddest of the red—South Carolina and Mississippi. Even Governor Haley Barbour was a fan.

It reached its most ambitious scale in Illinois. Put Illinois to Work became the country’s largest subsidized employment program. With an infusion of $200 million in federal funds, it employed over 27,000 people and involved 5,000 businesses over the course of the program. Participants were paid $10 per hour for up to forty hours per week—not a lot, but more than most would have received from unemployment benefits, and far more than a stingy welfare check. (In other states, the subsidized jobs paid less.)

A survey of the Illinois program’s participants taken by the Social Impact Research Center makes for moving reading. Ninety-two percent expressed very high levels of satisfaction. Eighty-two percent said it helped them make ends meet. Seventy-eight percent said it put more money at their disposal than they’d had before. The same number said it had given them new skills and helped them make contacts that would help them in future job searches.

Pundits of left and right like to talk about ladders out of poverty. This really was one.

But House Minority Whip Eric Cantor didn’t like it. In fact, in May 2010 he singled out the program as “the “New Non-Reformed Welfare Program” designed to “promote welfare dependence” because, in addition to the subsidized jobs, the program also offered things like emergency housing assistance and money for back to school supplies.

After receiving 280,000 text messages and online votes on the issue from his ardent Tea Party constituents, solicited through his so-called “YouCut” initiative, Cantor, joined by his GOP colleagues, formally called to abolish the Emergency Fund. Groups like Jobs with Justice staged scattered protests, and Democrats tried to save it, but they couldn’t muster the votes and the ECF was allowed to expire the following September—thereby depriving 100,000 families of their livelihoods at a moment when the recovery was stalling and unemployment was breaking, again, into the double digits.

Aside from a column by the now-retired Bob Herbert in the New York Times and a spot on NPR, the catastrophe that befell these Americans received no national media attention—leaving history to be written, in more ways than one, by Republicans.

Mr. Romney Hits Bottom on Welfare

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/09/opinion/mr-romney-hits-bottom-on-welfare.html?_r=1

Most of the issues dominating the 2012 election make sense. There’s the economy, of course. The budget deficit. Medicare. Obamacare.

But click through the “videos” section of Mitt Romney’s Web site and you’ll see something odd: His campaign is running more ads about welfare than just about any other issue. Of the 12 most recent ads posted, five are about welfare. That’s more than the number dedicated to health care (four) or introducing Paul Ryan (one) or the economy (one).

Romney’s ad warns that, “under Obama’s plan, you wouldn’t have to work and you wouldn’t have to train for a job. They just send you a check and welfare to work goes back to being plain old welfare.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/08/27/race-and-the-2012-election/

House GOP Moves To Block Obama’s Welfare Policy

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/09/house-gop-moves-to-block-obamas-welfare-policy.php

Romney’s False Welfare Attacks Ignore His Own Plans To Gut Programs For The Poor

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/08/20/714821/romney-welfare-gut-poverty-programs/

Paul Ryan’s History On Welfare Undermines Romney’s Attack On Obama

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/08/11/678531/paul-ryan-lowered-wisconsins-welfare-work-requirement-threshold-in-2002/

Mitt Romney’s New Welfare Ad is Breathtakingly Dishonest

http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/mitt-romneys-new-ad-breathtakingly-dishones

The welfare lie makes a furious comeback

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/09/06/13705742-the-welfare-lie-makes-a-furious-comeback?lite

Doubling down on the welfare lie

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/08/13/13259945-doubling-down-on-the-welfare-lie?lite

No, The Welfare State Did Not Cause Europe’s Decline

http://thinkprogress.org/security/2012/11/08/1164771/welfare-state-europe/

Ted Nugent Accuses Obama Of Waging “Liberal Jihad” Against America

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2012/11/16/ted-nugent-accuses-obama-of-waging-liberal-jiha/191433

Mitt Romney, repeating welfare lies, says Obama wants to ‘shore up his base’

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/27/1124726/-Mitt-Romney-repeating-welfare-lies-says-Obama-wants-to-shore-up-his-base

Romney Goes Full Racist: Accuses Obama of Cutting Welfare Work Requirement to “Shore Up Base.”

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/27/1124649/-Romney-Goes-Full-Racist-Accuses-Obama-of-Cutting-Welfare-Work-Requirment-to-Shore-Up-Base

Pat Buchanan: Barack Obama is a Drug Dealer of Welfare

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/09/19/1133716/-Barack-Obama-is-a-drug-dealer-of-welfare

Values Voters Summit: Obama Voters Are Welfare Recipients And Dead Democrats

http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/values-voters-summit-obama-voters-are-welfare-recipients-and-dead-democrats/politics/2012/09/14/49009

Rush Limbaugh Compares People On Welfare To Wild Animals Being Fed (AUDIO)

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/04/05/rush-limbaugh-compares-people-on-welfare-to-wild-animals-being-fed-audio/

VIDEO- Romney: Flexible on welfare & truth. Maddow: “They’d rather change the subject to… how overtly racist their new ad campaign is instead.”

http://thepoliticalcarnival.net/2012/08/08/video-romney-flexible-on-welfare-truth-maddow-theyd-rather-change-the-subject-to-how-overtly-racist-their-new-ad-campaign-is-instead/

Lawrence O’Donnell: Romney’s big lies on Medicare and welfare reform

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlzUpuiqSvo

Rachel Maddow - Reviewing GOP’s false welfare talking point

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwHNdwHExvA

Beneath Welfare Lie Is a Racist Dog Whistle - Rachel Maddow - Air Date 8-7-12

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_234-r0bv7c

Chris Matthews Calls Out GOP: You Are Playing The ‘Race Card’

http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/chris-matthews-gop-priebus-race-card-birther-welfare.php

Republicans Claim Obama Won Re-election Because Blacks And Hispanics Wanted More Handouts

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/11/08/1162831/republicans-claim-obama-won-re-election-because-blacks-and-hispanics-wanted-more-handouts/

Fox Class Warfare: Obama Re-Elected By Welfare Queens

http://crooksandliars.com/news-hound-ellen/fox-class-warfare-obama-re-electe

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White People Within Republican States Receive More Welfare and Food-stamps Than the People in Democrat States

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 08:56:00 -0500

Proven and Admitted Romney/Republican Welfare Lies, Smears, Racism and Class Warfare

http://tmblr.co/ZTwOHxXSeQ0y

Welfare Recipients Are Actually Mostly White And Less Likely Than The Average American To Use Drugs

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/09/13/welfare-white-and-drugless/

Republican-leaning states get more in federal dollars than they pay in taxes.

Bloggers on Thursday, January 26th, 2012 in a graphic circulating on the Internet

‘Red State Socialism’ graphic says GOP-leaning states get lion’s share of federal dollars

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/jan/26/blog-posting/red-state-socialism-graphic-says-gop-leaning-state/

Food Stamp Use is Highest in Red States: The Truth Republicans Do Not Want You to Know

http://www.policymic.com/articles/14007/food-stamp-use-is-highest-in-red-states-the-truth-republicans-do-not-want-you-to-know/438613

Red States Are Welfare Queens

http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-08-18/politics/30039546_1_blue-states-federal-taxes-red-states

Even Critics of Safety Net Increasingly Depend on It http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/12/us/even-critics-of-safety-net-increasingly-depend-on-it.html

Moochers Against Welfare

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/17/opinion/krugman-moochers-against-welfare.html?_r=0

Romney Doesn’t Care About Half of America—The GOP Half! http://www.patheos.com/blogs/faithfuldemocrats/2012/09/romney-doesnt-care-about-half-of-america-the-gop-half/

Republicans Eat their Own: More Red States Uninsured & Recipients of Welfare

http://freakoutnation.com/2011/09/15/republicans-eat-their-own-more-red-states-uninsured-recipients-of-welfare/

Republican-Heavy Counties Eat Up Most Food-Stamp Growth

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said in May that he’d written off votes from 47 percent of Americans who are collecting government aid. Turns out many of them are part of his political base.

Seventy percent of counties with the fastest-growth in food-stamp aid during the last four years voted for the Republican presidential candidate in 2008, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data compiled by Bloomberg. They include Republican strongholds like King County, Texas, which in 2008 backed Republican John McCain by 92.6 percent, his largest share in the nation; and fast-growing Douglas County, Colorado.

That means Romney is counting on votes from areas where lower-income people have become more reliant on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as food stamps. Mark Baisley, who heads Douglas County’s Republican Party, said many recipients will back Romney in hopes he’ll improve the economy.

“Would you rather be sitting at home wishing you had a job and relying upon the kindness of neighbors?” Baisley said in a telephone interview from Colorado, one of the swing states that Romney and President Barack Obama are battling over. “Or would you rather be self-supporting, with a job that sustains your family?”

In a video from a May fundraiser, Romney said “there are 47 percent who are with him,” referring to Obama, “who are dependent on government.” They “believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing.”

Read more at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-05/republican-heavy-counties-eat-up-most-food-stamp-growth.html

States receiving the most federal funding per tax dollar paid:

1. New Mexico: $2.63
2. West Virginia: $2.57
3. Mississippi: $2.47
4. District of Colombia: $2.41
5. Hawaii: $2.38
6. Alabama: $2.03
7. Alaska: $1.93
8. Montana: $1.92
9. South Carolina: $1.92
10. Maine: $1.78

Contrary to popular belief, those who make the most noise noise complaining about Federal spending and the programs said spending support, are in fact the same people who collect those Federal dollars and who coincidentally don’t want to give up the programs. Their states; the RED ones… receive more per dollar, than they give,as a recent New York Times article documents–even as fiscally conservative lawmakers complain about deficit spending–their constituents don’t want to give up the Social Security checks, Medicare benefits, and earned income tax credits that provide a safety net for the struggling middle class.”

The secret is not so secret after all, many Red states are really parasites and gold-diggers when it comes to collecting Federal dollars even though they are the most vociferous about government spending. MotherJones.com posts some wonderful maps that highlight these bloodsucking states who want you to believe that they are really against expanding the government spending that they crow about. Empty vessels really do make the most noise.

MotherJones adds…”Of the 22 states that went to McCain in 2008, 86 percent received more federal spending than they paid in taxes in 2010. In contrast, 55 percent of the states that went to Obama received more federal spending than they paid in taxes. Republican states, on average, received $1.46 in federal spending for every tax dollar paid; Democratic states, on average, received $1.16.”

Candidate Ron Paul has said that he is happy to see natural disaster victims go without federal help, as was done in his days 100 years ago; (when he was alive, this author believes he is in fact a zombie, thereby void of human feelings) something that many conservatives echo…until they are the victims of a Tornado, flood, or hurricane and consequently become the unwilling, kicking and screaming (wink wink) recipients of FEMA assistance.

It is also not a secret that when Republicans are in office; Reagan, Bush Sr., Bush jr…they spend the most and run up the most debt, blowing cash like drunken sailors, sabotaging America’s economy, knowing that when the Democrats hold office, the cry from the Republicans would change to be a deafening one to reduce federal spending. They are nothing but hypocrites and downright liars.

Conservatives have been well known for voting against their own interest and unknown to them, if they are successful in voting-in their conservative political figures, the first programs to be cut or whittled down are the same ones that these conservative states depend on to feed their citizenry. Apparently conservative voters have not yet connected the dots to figure out that Democratic states who are paying more and getting back less are in fact the ones responsible for supporting the real welfare states…the Red states.

In other words the Republican and Conservative citizenry owe their very existence to the Democrats they pretend to hate so much… the Democrats who put food on their Conservative tables and who keep the roof over their Republican heads.

This reminds me of the old saying, ‘Be careful what you wish for’ and I for one would have loved my hard earned taxes to go to some more deserving Blue states. But the good book says we should be charitably to the least of us and their actions do show they are the least of us, especially when it comes to their willingness to hate others in one way or another–for one religious reason or another–and their gullibility and nearsightedness while listening to and believing the lies of their Republican politicians, who tout that a fictitious ‘freedom’ is worth depriving women, immigrants and the downtrodden of the dignity and respect they deserve.

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/09/02/red-states-are-the-real-welfare-states/

Most Red States Take More Money From Washington Than They Put In

Even as Republicans gripe about deficit spending, their states get 30 cents more federal spending per tax dollar than their Democratic neighbors.

This article is from:

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/11/states-federal-taxes-spending-charts-maps

It’s no secret: The federal budget is expanding faster than tax revenues, a trend that’s been fueled by the rapid growth of entitlement programs and exacerbated by the recession. As a recent New York Times article documents, even as fiscally conservative lawmakers complain about deficit spending, their constituents don’t want to give up the Social Security checks, Medicare benefits, and earned income tax credits that provide a safety net for the struggling middle class.

This gap between political perception and fiscal reality is also reflected in the distribution of tax dollars at the state level: Most politically “red” states are financially in the red when it comes to how much money they receive from Washington compared with what their residents pay in taxes.

A look at 2010 Census and IRS data reveals that the 50 states and the District of Columbia, on average, received $1.29 in federal spending for every federal tax dollar they paid. That means that some states are getting a lot more than they put in, and vice versa. The states that contributed more in taxes than they got back in spending were more likely to have voted for Obama in 2008 and were more likely to be largely urban. (There are some clear exceptions: For instance, New Mexico, a rural, Democratic state, gets more federal money per tax dollar than any other state.)

These three interactive maps break down the split between the spenders and lenders. Click on any state for more detailed data, including each state’s per capita ratio of spending received versus taxes paid and where it ranked when the Tax Foundation ran the 2005 numbers.

Red states were more likely to get a bigger cut of federal spending. Of the 22 states that went to McCain in 2008, 86 percent received more federal spending than they paid in taxes in 2010. In contrast, 55 percent of the states that went to Obama received more federal spending than they paid in taxes. Republican states, on average, received $1.46 in federal spending for every tax dollar paid; Democratic states, on average, received $1.16.

This red-blue split may be partly explained by the difference between urban and rural states. Red states are more likely to be rural, and rural states were more likely to receive more federal spending than they paid in taxes in 2010. Among predominantly rural states, 81 percent received more federal spending than they paid in taxes. In contrast, 44 percent of urban states received more federal spending than they paid in taxes. Rural states, on average, received $1.40 in federal spending for every tax dollar paid; urban states, on average, received $1.10. (Rural states are defined as states whose urban population rate is below the national average of 79 percent.)

Note: Data has been adjusted to be deficit neutral using the method described by the Tax Foundation in its earlier analysis of federal spending versus federal taxes paid.
Sources: IRS (state tax data), Tax Foundation (2005 rank of spending vs. taxes), US Census (federal spending, urban/rural)

Even Critics of Safety Net Increasingly Depend on It

This article is from:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/12/us/even-critics-of-safety-net-increasingly-depend-on-it.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

LINDSTROM, Minn. — Ki Gulbranson owns a logo apparel shop, deals in jewelry on the side and referees youth soccer games. He makes about $39,000 a year and wants you to know that he does not need any help from the federal government.

He says that too many Americans lean on taxpayers rather than living within their means. He supports politicians who promise to cut government spending. In 2010, he printed T-shirts for the Tea Party campaign of a neighbor, Chip Cravaack, who ousted this region’s long-serving Democratic congressman.

Yet this year, as in each of the past three years, Mr. Gulbranson, 57, is counting on a payment of several thousand dollars from the federal government, a subsidy for working families called the earned-income tax credit. He has signed up his three school-age children to eat free breakfast and lunch at federal expense. And Medicare paid for his mother, 88, to have hip surgery twice.

There is little poverty here in Chisago County, northeast of Minneapolis, where cheap housing for commuters is gradually replacing farmland. But Mr. Gulbranson and many other residents who describe themselves as self-sufficient members of the American middle class and as opponents of government largess are drawing more deeply on that government with each passing year.

Dozens of benefits programs provided an average of $6,583 for each man, woman and child in the county in 2009, a 69 percent increase from 2000 after adjusting for inflation. In Chisago, and across the nation, the government now provides almost $1 in benefits for every $4 in other income.

Older people get most of the benefits, primarily through Social Security and Medicare, but aid for the rest of the population has increased about as quickly through programs for the disabled, the unemployed, veterans and children.

The government safety net was created to keep Americans from abject poverty, but the poorest households no longer receive a majority of government benefits. A secondary mission has gradually become primary: maintaining the middle class from childhood through retirement. The share of benefits flowing to the least affluent households, the bottom fifth, has declined from 54 percent in 1979 to 36 percent in 2007, according to a Congressional Budget Office analysis published last year.

And as more middle-class families like the Gulbransons land in the safety net in Chisago and similar communities, anger at the government has increased alongside. Many people say they are angry because the government is wasting money and giving money to people who do not deserve it. But more than that, they say they want to reduce the role of government in their own lives. They are frustrated that they need help, feel guilty for taking it and resent the government for providing it. They say they want less help for themselves; less help in caring for relatives; less assistance when they reach old age.

The expansion of government benefits has become an issue in the presidential campaign. Rick Santorum, who won 57 percent of the vote in Chisago County in the Republican presidential caucuses last week, has warned of “the narcotic of government dependency.” Newt Gingrich has compared the safety net to a spider web. Mitt Romney has said the nation must choose between an “entitlement society” and an “opportunity society.” All the candidates, including Ron Paul, have promised to cut spending and further reduce taxes.

The problem by now is familiar to most. Politicians have expanded the safety net without a commensurate increase in revenues, a primary reason for the government’s annual deficits and mushrooming debt. In 2000, federal and state governments spent about 37 cents on the safety net from every dollar they collected in revenue, according to a New York Times analysis. A decade later, after one Medicare expansion, two recessions and three rounds of tax cuts, spending on the safety net consumed nearly 66 cents of every dollar of revenue.

The recent recession increased dependence on government, and stronger economic growth would reduce demand for programs like unemployment benefits. But the long-term trend is clear. Over the next 25 years, as the population ages and medical costs climb, the budget office projects that benefits programs will grow faster than any other part of government, driving the federal debt to dangerous heights.

Americans are divided about the way forward. Seventy percent of respondents to a recent New York Times poll said the government should raise taxes. Fifty-six percent supported cuts in Medicare and Social Security. Forty-four percent favored both.

***This is a 6 page article which continues here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/12/us/even-critics-of-safety-net-increasingly-depend-on-it.html?pagewanted=2&_r=2

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Overall, Obama Has Done More For Veterans Than Any President In the Past 30 Years.

Thu, 01 Nov 2012 19:28:00 -0400

Republicans and conservatives have spent 4 years spreading the lie that President Obama hasn’t done anything for veterans. They have repeated it 100x per day for all 4 years and spent millions promoting their lies. The thing about records is that they are recorded. So let’s set the record straight.

Quick Overview:

Initiated a new policy to promote federal hiring of military spouses. ref, ref
Improved benefits for veterans. ref, ref, ref, ref
Interagency Task Force on Veterans Small Business Development . ref
Worked to clear the backlog of veterans claims and streamline benefits to those who served. ref
Provided for the expenses of families of to be at Dover AFB when fallen soldiers arrive.ref
Donated 250K of Nobel prize money to Fisher House. ref
Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act of 2009. ref
Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2009. ref
Medal of Honor Commemorative Coin Act of 2009. ref
Promoted a bill to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Women Airforce Service Pilots (“WASP”). ref
Ended media blackout on war casualties; reporting full information. ref , ref, ref , ref
Military Spouses Residency Relief Act. ref
Improved basic housing allowance for military personnel. ref
Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010. ref
Provided minimum essential health care coverage by Veteran’s Affairs. ref
Authorized construction/opening of additional health centers to care for veterans. ref
Korean War Veterans Recognition Act. ref
Blinded Veterans Association. ref
Major Charles R. Soltes, Jr., O.D. Department of Veterans Affairs Blind Rehabilitation Center. ref
Improved access for Veterans to receive PTSD treatment. ref
Green Vet Initiative to promote environmental jobs for veterans. ref

http://obamaachievements.org/list

When Obama took his seat at the start of the 109th Congress (2005–2007), he received assignments on three committees: Foreign Relations, Environment and Public Works, and Veterans’ Affairs.

Obama served on the Veterans’ Affairs committee for 3 years.

~Promises about Veterans on The Obameter

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/subjects/veterans/

Increase the Veterans Administration budget to recruit and retain more mental health professionals

Increase “the VA budget to recruit and retain more mental health professionals.”

» More

Expand Veterans Centers in rural areas

Expand “Vet Centers in rural areas so that veterans and their families can get the care they need where they live.”

» More

Establish standards of care for traumatic brain injury treatment

“Establish standards of care for TBI (traumatic brain injury) treatment, require pre- and post-deployment screenings and improve case management so that service members get the best possible care.”

» More

Fully fund the Veterans Administration

Fully fund “the VA so it has all the resources it needs to serve the veterans who need it, when they need it.”

» More

Assure that the Veterans Administration budget is prepared as ‘must-pass’ legislation

“Obama will meet early in the budgeting process each year with congressional leaders and the nation’s leading Veterans’ Service Organizations (VSOs) to ensure the VA budget is always given ‘must-pass’ status.”

» More

Allow all veterans back into the Veterans Administration

As one of his “first acts” as president, Obama will sign an executive order “ending the unfair ban on healthcare enrollment of certain groups of veterans, including ‘Priority 8’ veterans who often earn modest incomes.” Currently, veterans who have no service-connected disability and make above a certain amount of income are not allowed to enroll in the VA health program.

» More

Make the Veterans Administration a national leader in health reform

“Make the VA a leader of national health care reform. … This includes efforts to improve electronic records interoperability, expand effectiveness research, promote wellness programs, and instill more accountability for performance and quality improvement initiatives.”

» More

Expand the Veterans Administration’s number of “centers of excellence” in specialty care

Expand the number of “centers of excellence for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), PTSD, vision impairment, prosthetics, spinal cord injury, aging, women’s health and other specialized rehabilitative care.”

» More

Reduce the Veterans Benefits Administration claims backlog

“There are currently over 400,000 claims pending within the Veterans Benefits Administration, and over 800,000 claims receipts are expected in 2008 alone. … Obama will hire additional claims workers and convene our nation’s leading veterans groups, employees and managers to develop an updated training and management model that will ensure that VA benefit decisions are rated fairly and consistently, and stem from adequate training and accountability for each claims adjudicator.”

» More

Institute electronic record-keeping for the Veterans Benefits Administration

“As president, Obama will transform the paper benefit claims process to an electronic system that will be interoperable with the VA’s health network as well as military records. This will reduce error rates, improve timeliness, and enhance the overall quality of the claims decisions.”

» More

Expand housing vouchers program for homeless veterans

“Expand proven homeless veteran housing vouchers to assist those already on the streets.”

» More

Launch a supportive services-housing program for veterans to prevent homelessness

“Launch an innovative supportive services-housing program to prevent at-risk veterans and veteran families from falling into homelessness in the first place.”

» More

Dedicate more resources to fight employment discrimination against military reservists

Will put “additional resources into enforcement and investigation in order to crack down on employers who are not following the letter and spirit of the law” in regards to military reservists.

» More

Create a ‘Green Vet Initiative’ to promote environmental jobs for veterans

“Will ensure that more of our veterans can enter the new energy economy. They will create a new ‘Green Vet Initiative’ that will have two missions: first it will offer counseling and job placement to help veterans gain the skills to enter this rapidly growing field; second, it will work with industry partners to create career pathways and educational programs.”

» More

~For a detailed Obama Administration Record for Veterans and Wounded Warriors, please visit:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/veterans_and_wounded_warriors_record_0.pdf

Tammy Duckworth: ‘Barack Obama Will Never Ignore Our Troops’ (DNC SPEECH)

Former Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Tammy Duckworth spoke at the 2012 Democratic National Convention about her family’s history in the armed forces, and about her experiences in the military. She also spoke about the significance of President Obama’s support for policies that benefit veterans.

VIDEO:

http://www.c-span.org/DNC/Events/Tammy-Duckworth-at-the-2012-Democratic-National-Convention/C3797176/

Text:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/04/tammy-duckworth-speech-text_n_1852557.html

“For their service and sacrifice, warm words of thanks from a grateful nation are more than warranted, but they aren’t nearly enough. We also owe our veterans the care they were promised and the benefits that they have earned. We have a sacred trust with those who wear the uniform of the United States of America. It’s a commitment that begins at enlistment, and it must never end. But we know that for too long, we’ve fallen short of meeting that commitment. Too many wounded warriors go without the care that they need. Too many veterans don’t receive the support that they’ve earned. Too many who once wore our nation’s uniform now sleep in our nation’s streets.” -PRESIDENT OBAMA, MARCH 19, 2009

Obama’s Policies Help Secure Jobs For Veterans

http://thinkprogress.org/security/2012/02/03/418833/obama-jobs-veterens/

Obama signs veterans’ aid bill

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2012/08/obama-signs-veterans-aid-bill/1#.UJLslW_A98M

House OKs veterans’ health care, disability bill

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57445125/house-oks-veterans-health-care-disability-bill/

Obama signs bill expanding health services for veterans

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/05/obama-signs-bill-expanding-hea.html

Bill Offering Tax Credits to Business that Hire Veterans

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux6WwRzn9KA

Obama signs new GI Bill for ‘all who serve’

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2009/08/68495996/1#.UJLvBW_A98M

H.R. 1627 Improves VA Loans

New law makes VA loans available to more surviving spouses, disabled vets and single parents, and VA loan limits return to $729,750 to over $1,000,000 for high-cost areas.

On August 6, 2012 President Obama signed The Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act (H.R. 1627). The new law addresses some of the problems veterans have been facing recently including medical conditions caused by contaminated water used by families stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. The signed legislation also makes certain veterans benefits, like VA loans, more readily available.

http://www.military.com/money/va-loans/hr-1627-improves-va-loans.html?ESRC=mrvr.nl

Obama Targets Colleges Preying On Veterans’ GI Bill Benefits

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/26/obama-colleges-veterans-gi-bill_n_1457647.html

Obama Gives Remarks at Ceremony Signing Bill to Improve Veterans’ Health Care

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQ-xyoG7q8U

Obama Veterans Day Speech: President Speaks At Arlington National Cemetery (VIDEO)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/11/obama-veterans-day-speech_n_1088363.html

Obama announces veteran workforce initiatives

President Barack Obama greets guests, including military veterans, after a speech at the Washington Navy Yard, Aug. 5, 2011. Obama discussed a series of administration initiatives to help America’s veterans find employment. (U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley)

http://www.nationalguard.mil/news/archives/2011/08/080811-Obama.aspx

President Obama Signs the Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012

President Barack Obama signs the “Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012,” in the Oval Office, Aug. 6, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

President Barack Obama signs the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Oct. 22, 2009. October 22, 2009. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/On_VA_Advanced_Funding

President Obama: “Hire a Veteran”

President Barack Obama signs the Veterans Opportunity to Work to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 (VOW to Hire Heroes Act), that will provide tax credits to help put veterans back to work. First Lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden attend the ceremony in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building South Court Auditorium, Nov. 21, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/11/21/president-obama-hire-veteran

Watch the Video:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2011/11/21/president-obama-signs-bill-offering-tax-credits-business-hire-vete

President Signs Bill to Expand Veteran Benefits

The President speaks at the signing of a bill that will increase the VA budget, help fund the post 9/11 GI Bill, and dramatically increase funding for veterans health care. October 22, 2009. (Public Domain)

VIDEO:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/president-signs-bill-expand-veteran-benefits

Obama honors Veterans Day in Virginia (Pictures)

http://www.ibtimes.com/obama-honors-veterans-day-virginia-pictures-344201

President Obama Signs Korean War Veterans Recognition Act

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/President-Obama-Signs-Korean-War-Veterans-Recognition-Act/

President Obama Signs Executive Order Supporting Service Members, Veterans, Military Spouses, and Their Families

President Barack Obama signs an Executive Order at Fort Stewart in Georgia, April 27, 2012. The Executive Order will help ensure all of America’s service members, veterans, spouses, and other family members have the information they need to make informed educational decisions and are protected from aggressive and deceptive targeting by educational institutions. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/04/27/president-obama-signs-executive-order-supporting-service-members-veterans-military-s

Improving Health Care for Veterans

President Obama signed the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010 into law. The law includes provisions that help provide support for the caregivers of seriously injured Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, helps improve services for our nation’s 1.8 million women veterans, and helps expand the availability of health care for veterans and services preventing veterans from becoming homeless. These measures and others honor the sacrifices of our men and women who have served this country proudly, the commitment and dedication of the those who care for our wounded service members every day, and our Nation’s sacred responsibility to stand by our troops, our veterans, and their families.

VIDEO:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/05/05/improving-health-care-veterans

~Republican Obstructionism and Sabotage of American Veterans: The GOP Voted Against 7 Bills to Help Veterans

Here’s the Bills in numerical order. In short, the GOP has voted TO NOT SUPPORT THE TROOPS at least 7 times. I think that is sufficient to call the GOP House Hypocrites and Phonies.

Bill’s Blocked By Republican’s Since President Obama Took Office.

David Gregory, John McCain, and the media aren’t covering this story so we have to.

Here’s a concise extraction for easy viewing for those who are INTERESTED IN VETERANS ISSUES and need to know which party supports veterans and which party does not.

DETAILS OF BILLS REJECTED BY REPUBLICANS:

H.R. 1168 — Veterans Retraining Act – This bill would provide for assistance to help veterans who are currently unemployed with their expenses while retraining for the current job market.

H.R. 1171 – Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program Reauthorization – This bill would reauthorize programs in support of homeless veterans, to assist them with job training, counseling, and placement services through the Department of Veterans Affairs through 2014.

H.R. 1172 — Requiring List on VA Website of Organizations Providing Scholarships for Veterans which does nothing more than direct the Department of Veterans Affairs to include information about scholarships for veterans.

This would increase the amount paid by the VA to disabled veterans for necessary home structural improvements from $4,100 to $6,800 for those who are more than 50% disabled, and from $1,200 to $2,000 who are less than 50%, disabled. This means, if a veteran lost the use of his legs in service of his country, the country will pay for the wheelchair ramp so that he can live at home.

By the way, the last time this ceiling was lifted was in 1992. There isn’t even a fiscal reason for being against this bill, as the total cost of this bill, according to CBO estimates, would be a “whopping” $20 million. That’s about a quarter (25 cents) per family of four.

H.R. 1803 — Veterans Business Center Act – This bill would set up a Veterans Business Center program within the Small Business Administration, which would specialize in such programs as grants for service-disabled veterans, help them develop business plans and secure business opportunities. In other words, folks, it would create jobs and offer opportunities those who have fought in defense of our country.

H.R. 2352 – Job Creation Through Entrepreneurship Act – This bill essentially combines a number of other bills that Republicans had blocked in the Senate previously, and adds a few elements. The bill would again establish a Veterans Business Center Program; …. it would establish a Military Entrepreneurs Program;

VOTERS NEED TO SEE THIS LIST to offset the distortions offered by the GOP and the silent media.

This GOP record does not says We Do Not Support the Troops.

Is it any wonder that VETERANS SUPPORT OBAMA in recent polls?

Poll: Veterans Favor Obama Over Romney ‘By As Much As Seven Points’

Guiding Principles

A 21st Century VA The President’s message to those who serve is this:

When you come home to America, America will be there for you. This Administration will ensure that DoD and VA coordinate to provide a seamless transition from active duty to civilian life and help fix the benefit bureaucracy. This Administration will work towards modernizing the way health care is delivered and benefits are administered for our nation’s veterans.

Progress On November 21, 2011 President Obama signed the “VOW to Hire Heroes Act” into law. The Returning Heroes Tax Credit provides businesses that hire unemployed veterans a maximum credit of $5,600 per veteran, and the Wounded Warriors Tax Credit offers businesses that hire veterans with service-connected disabilities a maximum credit of $9,600 per veteran.

On November 7, 2011 President Obama introduced new resources created to help veterans translate their military skills for the civilian workforce. These online tools were designed to aid their search for jobs and make it easier to connect our veterans with companies that want to hire them:

Veteran Gold Card Post-9/11 veterans can download the Veteran Gold Card, which entitles them to enhanced services including six months of personalized case management, assessments and counseling, at the roughly 3,000 One-Stop Career Centers located across the country. This could help serve the more than 200,000 unemployed Post-9/11 veterans. The President directed the Department of Labor to launch this initiative in his August 5, 2011 speech at the Navy Yard.

My Next Move for Veterans: The Department of Labor will launch My Next Move for Veterans, a new online resource that allows veterans to enter their military occupation code and discover civilian occupations for which they are well qualified. The site will also include information about salaries, apprenticeships, and other related education and training programs.

Creating a Veterans Job Bank: The Veterans Job Bank, at National Resource Directory, is an easy to use tool to help veterans find job postings from companies looking to hire them. It already searches over 500,000 job postings and is growing. In a few easy steps, companies can make sure the job postings on their own websites are part of this Veterans Job Bank.

On August 5, 2011 President Obama announced new commitments to servicemembers and veterans that will provide a comprehensive plan to lower veteran unemployment and ensure that servicemembers leave the military career-ready through hiring tax credits, private sector commitments, and reforms that improve the way we prepare, train, and educate servicemembers for life after the military. The commitment to America’s veterans includes:

Returning Heroes and Wounded Warrior Tax Credits: A new Returning Heroes Tax Credit for firms that hire unemployed veterans (maximum credit of $2,400 for every short-term unemployed hire and $4,800 for every long-term unemployed hire) and a Wounded Warriors Tax Credit which will increase the existing tax credit for firms that hire veterans with service-connected disabilities who have been unemployed long-term (maximum credit of $9,600 per veteran) and continue the existing credit for all other veterans with a service-connected disability (maximum credit of $4,800).

A Challenge to the Private Sector to Hire or Train 100,000 Unemployed Veterans or Their Spouses by the End of 2013: The President will challenge businesses to commit to hire or provide training to unemployed veterans or their spouses. Joining Forces will lead this work with businesses and industry.

Presidential Call for a Career-Ready Military: The Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, working closely with other agencies and the President’s economic and domestic policy teams, will lead a new task force to develop reforms to ensure that every member of the service receives the training, education, and credentials they need to transition to the civilian workforce or to pursue higher education. These reforms will include the design of a “reverse bootcamp,” which will extend the transition period to give service members more counseling and guidance and leave them career-ready.

Transition to the Private Sector: The Department of Labor will establish a new initiative to deliver an enhanced career development and job search service package to transitioning veterans at their local One-Stop Career Centers. The Office of Personnel Management will create a “Best Practices” Manual for the private sector to help businesses identify and hire veterans.

Expand Ground Forces to Meet Military Needs and Improve Quality of Life: Increasing end strength in the Army and Marine Corps will help units retrain and re-equip properly between deployments, reduce the strain on military families, and help put an end to stop loss. We also plan to halt end strength reductions in the Air Force and Navy.

Lighten Burdens on Our Brave Troops and Their Families: Those in uniform are not the only ones who serve; military families are a top priority for this Administration. The President has announced plans to raise military pay and continue providing quality child-care, job-training for spouses, and expanded counseling and outreach to families that have known the separation and stress of war. First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden have launched the Joining Forces initiative to mobilize all sectors of society to give our service members and their families the opportunities and support they have earned.

The Recovery Act provided the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) with more than $1.4 billion to improve services to America’s Veterans

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) enabled the VA to improve medical facilities and national cemeteries, provided grants to assist states in acquiring or constructing state nursing homes and extended care facilities, and to modify or alter existing facilities to care for Veterans.

VA dedicated ARRA funds to hire and train 1,500 temporary claims processors to speed benefits delivery to Veterans and pursue needed information technology initiatives for improved benefits and services. Funds were also used to oversee and audit programs, grants, and projects funded under ARRA.

As part of the President’s Recovery plan, VA made one-time payments of $250 to eligible Veterans and survivors to mitigate the effects of the economic downturn.

The President announced the Joint Virtual Lifetime Electronic Initiative. The Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs have worked together to define and build a system that will ultimately contain administrative and medical information from the day an individual enters military service throughout their military career, and into the Veteran phase of life.

VA Healthcare With Secretary Shinseki, the President will make sure the VA provides veterans the best care possible. This means improved care for poly-trauma, vision impairment, prosthetics, spinal cord injury, aging, and women’s health.

Because the nightmares of war don’t always end when our loved ones return home, this Administration will work to meet the mental health needs of our veterans. Untold thousands of servicemen and women and veterans suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or other serious psychological injury. This Administration is determined to address the challenges of caring for those affected by PTSD when they return home.

Because thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have suffered from Traumatic Brain Injury, one of the signature injuries of these wars, this Administration will continue to improve services for cognitive injuries and ensure our veterans receive the on-going care they need. and the President supports advance appropriations for the VA budget so that healthcare for veterans is not hindered by budget delays.

VA Services We all share the shame of well over one hundred thousand veterans going homeless on any given night. This Administration will work on pilot programs with not-for-profit organizations to make sure that veterans at risk of losing their homes have a roof over their heads.

Finally, this Administration recognizes that our veterans deserve something more — an equal chance to reach for the very dream they defend. This Administration is committed to providing the resources to effectively implement the Post-9/11 GI Bill – providing every returning service member with a real chance to afford a college education.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/veterans

*******************************************

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Treason: The Republican Political Domestic Terrorists Taking America Hostage With Extortion

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 15:21:00 -0400

Holding Two Million Jobs Hostage - Republican Sabotage of the American Economy

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/09/08/1129201/-Blocking-the-American-Jobs-Act-and-Two-Million-Jobs-The-Republican-s-Built-That

Republicans Holding Nearly 3 Million Transportation Jobs Hostage For 6,000 Temporary Oil Jobs

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/06/21/504120/republicans-jobs-hostage-keystone/

Are Republicans Guilty Of Treason?

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2011/08/06/are-republicans-guilty-of-treason/

With Deadline Approaching, House GOP Still Holding 1.9 Million Transportation Jobs Hostage

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/06/18/501154/house-gop-transportation-deadline/

Republicans Holding Nearly 3 Million Transportation Jobs Hostage for 6,000 Temporary Oil Jobs

http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/989524/republicans_holding_nearly_3_million_transportation_jobs_hostage_for_6,000_temporary_oil_jobs

Obama: GOP Holding Middle-Class Tax Cuts ‘Hostage’

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/07/obama-gop-holding-middle-class-tax-cuts-hostage-2/

Biden: GOP ‘holding middle-class tax cuts hostage’

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/07/24/biden-gop-holding-middle-class-tax-cuts-hostage/

Republicans Hold FAA Authorization Vote Hostage To Extort Anti-Union Deal

http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/republicans-walk-away-faa-authorizati

New GOP Hostage: End Family Planning or Shut Down the Government

http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/node/15517

Research Article: Republicans Hold Government Hostage to Divisive Social Agenda

http://www.democraticwhip.gov/content/republicans-hold-government-hostage-divisive-social-agenda

Government shutdown avoided with tentative budget deal - $39B in cuts, Planned Parenthood left alone

http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-08/news/29415164_1_government-shutdown-federal-workers-federal-budget

America Held Hostage

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/16/opinion/16krugman.html

Mitch McConnell Vows To Hold Debt Ceiling Hostage In The Future: ‘We’ll Be Doing It All Over’

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/08/01/285025/mcconnell-vows-to-hold-debt-ceiling-hostage-again/

Erickson To GOP: ‘Hold The Debt Ceiling Hostage’

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/06/erickson-to-gop-hold-the-debt-ceiling-hostage.php

Republican Debt Ceiling Tactics Hold National Interest Hostage

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-s-goodman/republican-terrorism-debt_b_908839.html

Mitch McConnell Admits That Republicans Took America Hostage

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2011/08/04/mitch-mcconnell-admits-that-republicans-took-america-hostage/

With Economy as a Hostage, the GOP Presents Extreme Demands

http://www.thenation.com/blog/160142/economy-hostage-gop-presents-extreme-demands#

Republican debt ceiling fight cost taxpayers at least $1.3 billion

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/07/24/1110601/-Republican-debt-ceiling-fight-cost-taxpayers-at-least-1-3-billion

VIDEO - Obama: GOP holding economy ‘hostage’ over tax breaks for wealthy

http://thehill.com/video/administration/236723-obama-tax-debate-holds-americans-economy-hostage

John Boehner Threatens To Take America Hostage In Second Debt Showdown

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/05/15/john-boehner-debt-showdown/

Republicans taking America hostage - like Old West movie

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/05/28/1095051/-Republicans-taking-America-hostage-like-Old-West-movie

Republicans hold America hostage for tea party fringe

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/07/27/999548/-Republicans-hold-America-hostage-for-tea-party-fringe

White House: We won’t let GOP hold economy “hostage” again

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57435660-503544/white-house-we-wont-let-gop-hold-economy-hostage-again/

Standing Up To Republican Hostage-Taking

http://www.aflcio.org/About/Exec-Council/EC-Statements/Standing-Up-To-Republican-Hostage-Taking

Republicans See a Win-Win in Increasing America’s Suffering

http://www.politicususa.com/republicans-win-win-increasing-americas-suffering.html

GOP Again Holds Working America Hostage to its Perverse Ideological Priorities

Though Congress has averted government shutdown, working people and the unemployed are still waiting for help.

http://www.alternet.org/story/153461/gop_again_holds_working_america_hostage_to_its_perverse_ideological_priorities

The Republicans’ extortion politics

http://www.salon.com/2011/04/19/budget_showdown_deficit_limit_robert_reich/

Extortion Politics at Work: Senate GOP Kills Consumer Watchdog Nomination

http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/745518/extortion_politics_at_work%3A_senate_gop_kills_consumer_watchdog_nomination

Krugman: GOP Is Engaging In Political Extortion, Threatening To Kill The Middle Class

http://www.businessinsider.com/krugman-gop-is-engaging-in-political-extortion-threatening-to-kill-the-middle-class-2010-9

Extortion politics: a new form of governing

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2011_07/extortion_politics_a_new_form031209.php

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Obstructionism And Sabotage: 375 Bills Have Been Passed By Democrats and Blocked By Republican Filibusters

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 15:01:00 -0400

Want Proof That The Republican Party Is AGAINST The People?

To those of you who are allegedly pissed off and plan to either not vote at all, or vote for a Republican in four weeks so that you can “stick it to the status quo,” let me ask you a question:

Are you completely fricking nuts?

First of all, if you’re a little disappointed in President Obama and the Democrats right now,you’re simply not paying attention. The problem isn’t that Obama hasn’t been working his ass off to get things done. The simple fact is, the Senate is broken; its rules — especially rules put in place by Republicans — make it possible for the minority to prevent a vote on any bill they don’t want passed.

Did you know, for example, that a total of 375 bills that passed the Democratic-majority House have been blocked by Republicans in the Senate? That’s THREE HUNDRED SEVENTY-FIVE BILLS! You can’t pass a bill if you can’t vote on it, and because of current Senate rules, one anonymous Republican Senator can block a vote if he objects to it, and it takes 60 Senators to undo that. In other words, if you’re frustrated with the status quo, blame Republicans, not Democrats.

In order to cut the crap on this, I have compiled a list of bills that were passed in full by the Democratically controlled House, but which were filibustered by the Republicans in the Senate. Keep in mind, these are all bills Republicans are either against, or have decided to kill for political reasons, in order to keep Democrats from claiming successes in the next election.

Now, think about that a minute. These people are willing to out YOUR life and good fortune on hold, just so they can attempt to score political points and take power again.

Here are just some of the bills they blocked, folks. This should make you sick. At the very least, it should disgust you enough to vote Democratic and make it harder for them to filibuster anything. At the end, I will post a page containing every single bill that falls under this category.

Again; the next time some moron whines about how the Democrats aren’t doing anything, show them this list. Once bills that were PASSED by the Democratic House, and which Republicans in the Senate have blocked from even being voted on. Most of these bills would pass, given the “straight up and down vote” Republicans used to whine about.

375 bills is a long list, so I’m only summarizing important bills that would make the lives of the people better in some way. I have also broken it up into a series of posts. At the end, I will post the full list of filibustered bills on its own page. The end result should be a list you can show your “independent” friends who plan to vote Republican, because they’re “disgusted” with the Democrats. Remember; DEMOCRATS passed these bills in the House, and DEMOCRATS in the Senate would pass these bills in the Senate, if REPUBLICANS weren’t blocking the vote.

Bills To Make Your Life Better — Blocked By Republican Filibusters

Republicans block Bring Jobs Home Act, protecting companies that outsource jobs

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/07/19/1111774/-Republicans-block-Bring-Jobs-Home-Act-protecting-companies-that-outsource-jobs

Senate Republicans Say ‘Don’t Bring Jobs Home’

http://www.aflcio.org/Blog/Political-Action-Legislation/Senate-Republicans-Say-Don-t-Bring-Jobs-Home

Republicans Filibuster Everything, Romney Blames Obama for Not Working With Congress

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-cesca/republicans-filibuster-ev_b_2018663.html

Senate Republicans Block Democrats’ Anti-Outsourcing Plan

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-19/senate-republicans-block-democrats-anti-outsourcing-plan.html

Senate GOP kills small-business tax cut bill

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/07/12/12707246-senate-gop-kills-small-business-tax-cut-bill?lite

GOP Blocks Senate Small-Business Tax Cut Bill

http://www.rollcall.com/news/gop_blocks_senate_small_business_tax_cut_bill-216100-1.html

Paul Ryan took part in their Cynical Do-Nothing Pact

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/25/1124086/-Paul-Ryan-took-part-in-their-Cynical-Do-Nothing-Pact

Thom Hartmann Says Republicans And Fox News Engaging In ‘Treason’

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/thom-hartmann-says-republicans-and-fox-news-engaging-in-treason/

9/11 responders bill defeated by Senate GOP filibuster

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-12-09/politics/senate.9.11.responders_1_senate-gop-filibuster-republican-filibuster-first-responders?_s=PM:POLITICS

Senate GOP blocks 9/11 first responders health plan bill

http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/worker-safety/132907-health-bill-for-911-workers-fails-key-vote

GOP Filibuster Defeats 9/11 Responders Bill in the Senate

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/12/gop_filibuster_defeats_911_res.html

Paul Ryan Voted AGAINST 9/11 First Responders 3X + Romney Failed To “Thank” 9/11 First Responders

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/09/11/1130324/-Paul-Ryan-Voted-AGAINST-9-11-First-Responders-3X-Romney-Failed-To-Thank-9-11-First-Responders

Stewart Spends Last Show Of 2010 ENTIRELY On 9/11 First Responders Bill (VIDEO)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/17/stewart-911-responders-bill_n_798114.html

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-december-16-2010/worst-responders

Senate Republicans kill veterans jobs bill

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/09/19/1133965/-Senate-Republicans-kill-veterans-jobs-bill

Tea-Publicans filibuster the bipartisan Veterans Job Corps bill

http://www.blogforarizona.com/blog/2012/09/tea-publicans-filibuster-the-bipartisan-veterans-job-corps-bill.html

If you’re a voter and you’re pissed off, good. You should be pissed off, because this country is at a crossroads, and your government isn’t doing as much as it should to fix the problems we face.

But the entire government isn’t screwing us, and it won’t do anyone any good to send every single one of them packing. We need to know WHO to get rid of and who to keep.

This list makes it easy, folks. The entire Republican Party needs to go. THEY are the politicians who are blocking every piece of legislation designed to make your life better. THEY are the ones blocking every single bill that might make your life easier.

This post continues a list of bills that were passed by Democrats in Congress, and blocked by ALL of the Republicans in the Senate. Most of these bills had zero Republican votes in the House; a few of them had a handful of votes. A couple of them were even proposed by a Republican in the House. But every single one of these bills is being blocked by every single Republican in the Senate, all of whom are working in lockstep to prevent a vote. Keep in mind, there are enough Democrats willing to vote for these bills, most if not all of these bills could be law right now, if Republicans – ALL of them – weren’t using procedural measures to prevent the vote.

Here Are Some Of The 375 Bills Passed By Dems, Blocked By GOP

In addition to the constant trashing of Obama’s actual record with lies and distortions, I’m also sick to death of claims that Democrats “had no spines” and couldn’t pass anything. Republicans held Congress from 1994-2006 and rigged the filibuster rules. If you’ll remember, they pretended to try to kill the filibuster, and in the process, ended up simplifying the rules, making it easier for a single senator to hold up a bill anonymously, and require 60 votes for cloture, to to release that hold.

Put simply, the SOLUTION to the problem in 2010 would have been to keep the House, and reduce the number of Republicans in the Senate. Instead, we had the Right Wing crying “Democrats can’t get anything done!” and the Left Wing crying, “Democrats can’t get anything done!” THAT is why Democrats lost so badly last year; instead of ofering up an alternate viewpoint, we basically echoed theirs. That’s what drove turnout down, and gave the GOP one of the biggest wins in their history.

Read these and tell me Democrats weren’t trying really hard to make things better. Again; these are bills that were PASSED by the Democratic House, and BLOCKED by 40-41 solid votes in the Senate. Compare these to the complete SHIT the current Republican-led House is producing, and then tell us again how there’s no difference between the two parties.

We really have to stop self-destructing. Democrats ARE much better than Republicans, the previous Democratic House, led by Nancy Pelosi, DID try like hell to make this country better.

Again; this is a partial list:

http://pleasecutthecrap.typepad.com/main/a-small-sampling-of-bills-house-dems-passed-gop-senate-blocked-last-session.html

HR 12 – Paycheck Fairness Act – While the Lily Ledbetter Act was a good start, this bill would have mandated pay fairness and prohibited pay discrimination based on sex. In other words, while Lily’s Bill made it easier for women to sue, this would have created fair workplace system with regard to pay. In other words, Republicans voted in favor of paying women less money for the same job.

H.R. 20 — Melanie Blocker Stokes Mom’s Opportunity to Access Health, Education, Research, and Support for Postpartum Depression Act – This bill would have provided for research into women’s health issues, specifically regarding post-partum health. That kind of reinforces the overall impression Republicans give, that they care a whole lot about the fetus, but couldn’t care less once the baby is born, and they don’t care about women at all.

H.R. 320 — CJ’s Home Protection Act – This bill would have provided for changes in building standards to require manufactured homes to come equipped with a weather alert radio and an alarm during certain weather conditions, like tornadoes. The bill allowed for possible exemptions based on geography on a limited basis, so it wouldn’t “force” anyone to install them where they weren’t needed. In case you think this type of thing is just silly, think again. NOAA weather radio was created in the wake of a “super outbreak” of tornados in April 1974. Within a 16-hour period, 148 tornados touched down, killing 330 people and injuring more than 5,000. Tornado warnings were beuing issued so fast, local radio and television stations couldn’t keep up. As most of us know by now, manufactured housing is more vulnerable during weather related events. Now, NOAA’s weather radio warning system covers 98% of the country, and the installation of what amounts to $20-50 worth of electronic equipment in manufactured homes could end up saving hundreds, if not thousands, of lives. Basically, for the sake of political expediency, Republicans said no to saving lives during bad weather.

H.R. 448 — Elder Abuse Victims Act – This bill would address legal issues regarding the elderly, and establish policies and procedures designed to minimize the negative effects of elder abuse, neglect and exploitation. Is there a segment of the population Republicans DO care about? They don’t care for women, they don’t care for the elderly, and their feigned care for fetuses ends at the birth canal. Perhaps they care about the troops…

H.R. 466 – Wounded Veteran Job Security Act – This bill would actually provide job security for veterans who are receiving medical treatment for injuries suffered while fighting in defense of their country. It would prohibit employers from terminating employees who miss work while receiving treatment for a service-related disability. Guess that answers that question; they don’t care about the troops, either. This isn’t the only bill they have blocked having to do with the troops, either.

H.R. 515 – Radioactive Import Deterrence Act – This one has to make you scratch your head. Basically, this bill would prohibit the issuance of licenses to import of low-level nuclear material and waste to this country. It specifically exempts nuclear waste belonging to the United States, and it allows the president to make exceptions where necessary. Is this an industry Republicans are anxious to establish in this country? Do we really want to become a repository of the entire world’s nuclear waste? How safe would you feel if they opened a nuclear dump right next to the elementary school?

H.R. 549 — National Bombing Prevention Act– Yes, this bill would do exactly what you think it would do, and Republicans have blocked it. This is the language used by the CRS to describe the bill: “Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish within the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Protective Security Coordination Division of the Office of Infrastructure Protection an Office for Bombing Prevention to enhance and coordinate U.S. efforts to deter, detect, prevent, protect against, and respond to terrorist explosive attacks in the United States.” I don’t know about you, but taking whatever measures are necessary to prevent terrorist bombings would seem to me to be pretty important. Their blockage of this bill certainly indicates that they simply don’t really care about this country’s security. (By the way, they have also blocked H.R. 553 – Reducing Over-Classification Act, which is designed to make the Department of Homeland Security more efficient and responsive, which would save taxpayers a lot of money and make us safer over the long haul. Again; why do Republicans not want us to be safer? Next time someone suggests that Republicans want us to be attacked again, you simply have to think twice before dismissing the argument as paranoid delusion, don’t you?

H.R. 577 – Vision Care for Kids Act – Of course, this would provide eyesight screening for children who do not have insurance that covers this, and help provide them with glasses. Seriously, this is, at most, about $250-300 per year , at most, for the children with bad eyesight; how cheap are Republicans? And why do they pretend to care so passionately about the fetus, but have no regard for them once they’re born?

H.R. 626 – Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act – This puts the lie to the concept that Republicans are all about the family. It also demonstrates just how much Republicans want to stick it to Democrats, because to stop this bill is completely irrational. This bill would allow federal employees to substitute any available paid leave for any unpaid leave for “either the: (1) birth of a child; or (2) placement of a child with the employee for either adoption or foster care. Makes available (subject to specified requirements) for any of the 12 weeks of leave an employee is entitled to for such purposes: (1) four administrative weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth or placement involved; and (2) any accumulated annual or sick leave.” In other words, folks, it allows federal money to take money they are already entitled to sooner than perhaps they originally planned. The actual net cost to the federal government would essentially be zero dollars above what they would already pay these employees. Does this sound like a political party that gives a damn about the average American or families? The answer, of course, is no.

H.R. 780 – Student Internet Safety Act – For a political party that’s always railing about the disgusting content available to kids on the Internet, blocking this bill is especially hypocritical. This bill would provide money so that schools to teach children how to protect themselves against online predators, cyberbullying, or unwanted exposure to inappropriate material, as well as to promote parents’ involvement in their child’s Internet usage. Once again, Republicans demonstrate an unwillingness to protect our children. So far, they have denied kids basic vision care, denied their parents their right to take a proper parental leave without going broke, and now, they don’t care to protect them on the Internet.

H.R. 911 — Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act – This bill would actually improve oversight and prevent child abuse in group homes. Once again, they demonstrate their complete disregard for children once they’re out of the womb.

H.R. 985 — Free Flow of Information Act– This bill would provide for a federal shield law for journalists who actually do investigative journalism. So, here’s the question; are Republicans — who are always on about being “strict constructionists” — now against protecting the free press? As a shield law, it doesn’t even provide unqualified immunity, as federal judges could declare certain news stories as having a public interest based confidential sources. Perhaps they don’t care about this law, since it’s unlikely anyone from Fox News will ever come under it.

H.R. 1029 – Alien Smuggling and Terrorism Prevention Act – Yes, another bill that does what its title says it will do, and Republicans blocked it. With all of their phony “tough talk” regarding immigration, this should come as a surprise to pretty much everyone, regardless of your level of racism. The intent of this bill is to crack down on alien smuggling and provide for better border enforcement and stiffer penalties for violators. In other words, it does many of the things Jan Brewer is pissed off about in Arizona. So, what IS the Republican stance on immigration? They’re against going after employers who hire illegal immigrants, and apparently, they’re against stricter laws against those who smuggle people into this country. They’re apparently against anything that might actually work. If you’re in favor of immigration reform and you’re planning to vote Republican, think again.

H.R. 1110 – PHONE Act and H.R. 1258 – The Truth in Caller ID Act– These consumer protection bills would make it a crime for anyone to “spoof” their caller ID record when engaging in any sort of commercial transaction, or in any case in which the intent is to defraud the person on the other end of the line. Two common sense bills that prevent consumers from being ripped off, and Republicans have blocked both of them.

H.R. 1168 — Veterans Retraining Act – This bill would provide for assistance to help veterans who are currently unemployed with their expenses while retraining for the current job market. So, what do Republicans have against the unemployed, and why do they hate the troops?

H.R. 1171 – Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program Reauthorization – Once again, you have to wonder; what do Republicans have against those who have served our country? This bill would reauthorize programs in support of homeless veterans, to assist them with job training, counseling, and placement services through the Department of Veterans Affairs through 2014. Perhaps they think of “troops” the same way they think of “fetuses”; we should “honor” them while they’re fighting unnecessary wars, but forget them the minute they leave the service? They have also blocked H.R. 1172 — Requiring List on VA Website of Organizations Providing Scholarships for Veteranswhich does nothing more than direct the Department of Veterans Affairs to include information about scholarships for veterans. Why do Republicans hate the troops once they come home?

H.R. 1262, Water Quality Investment Act – This bill would not only invest needed funds into improving water quality in areas where it’s needed, but it would also create jobs for those who work in that industry, so this is a double whammy. Apparently, Republicans don’t care if some folks have to drink contaminated water, and they certainly don’t want your tax money going to make your life better, do they?

H.R. 1293 — Disabled Veterans Home Improvement and Structural Alteration Grant Increase Act of 2009 – Here’sanother bill in support of those who have fought for their country, passed by House Democrats and blocked from becoming law by Republicans. Clearly, Republicans hate the troops, because there is no other reason to be against this bill. This would increase the amount paid by the VA to disabled veterans for necessary home structural improvements from $4,100 to $6,800 for those who are more than 50% disabled, and from $1,200 to $2,000 who are less than 50%, disabled. This means, if a veteran lost the use of his legs in service of his country, the country will pay for the wheelchair ramp so that he can live at home. Yet, Republicans, who have been admonishing everyone to love the troops without question, are denying them the ability to do so. By the way, the last time this ceiling was lifted was in 1992. If Republican presidents are going to start unnecessary wars, is it too much to ask to support those who actually put their bodies on the line? There isn’t even a fiscal reason for being against this bill, as the total cost of this bill, according to CBO estimates, would be a “whopping” $20 million. That’s about a quarter (25 cents) per family of four.

H.R. 1319 – Informed P2P User Act – This is an interesting bill for a couple of reasons. First of all, the bill itself is yet another consumer protection measure, designed to protect Internet users from malware that comes from installation of any peer-to-peer program. Frankly, this bill isn’t as crucial as many of the others shown here, in that it doesn’t directly adversely affect the lives of ordinary people. But it does demonstrate that Republicans are filibustering pretty much anything the House throws to them, because this bill was originally written and sponsored by Mary Bono Mack, a Republican.

H.R. 1380 — Josh Miller HEARTS Act – This is another one that should make one wonder, just what are these people for? This bill would provide matching grants to assist local school districts in purchasing defibrillators to have on hand to save lives, should a student, teacher, staffer or visitor have a heart attack. The school district would have to apply, and provide at least 25% of the cost. Why would anyone block something like this? It makes money for the manufacturers of the defibrillators, it creates a few jobs, and in the end, it saves lives. As someone who once watched a kid fall over and die during a PF class when I was in high school, I can tell you, this is a very real issue. And Republicans are playing politics with it.

H.R. 1429, Stop AIDS in Prison Act – Who in their right mind would be against this? This bill would provide testing of all prisoners during intake, provide for annual testing of inmates, testing of pregnant inmates, and provide for AIDS education for inmates. It would also direct prisons to develop policies for dealing with HIV. See, here’s the problem that Republicans never seem able to grasp when it comes to anything to do with crime and prisons; the vast majority of prisoners will one day be released. This should be a no-brainer; we have custody of these people, let’s do our best to make sure they’re less of a danger to everyone else when they get out.

H.R. 1469 – Child Protection Improvements Act – The Republicans once again demonstrate how little they care about children once they’re out of the womb. This is a no-brainer bill designed to enhance and streamline the processes for doing background checks, including identifying criminal histories for those people who are looking for jobs that put them in close proximity to children. In what universe is this not an important bill? Republicans are actually preventing us from putting in place better protections for our children, and to keep pedophiles and child molesters far away from them.

H.R. 1511 – Torture Victims Relief Reauthorization Act – This bill designates appropriations for fiscal years 2010-2011 to assist domestic treatment centers for torture victims, including training of health care providers. Once again, what do Republicans have against helping those who need it.? This is about making sure people who come here as torture victims have a shot at the American Dream, just like the rest of us. That’s the problem with these Republicans; they talk a great game when it comes to claims of providing opportunity, but they simply do not want to do what is necessary to make it happen.

H.R. 1514 – Juvenile Accountability Block Grants Program Reauthorization Act – This bill does exactly what it says. It provides block grants to states to help them pay for juvenile justice. Those Republicans – tough on crime, but not so tough on criminals.

H.R. 1580 – Electronic Waste Research and Development Act – This bill would actually create research programs and grants to develop ways to make electronics more recyclable, to make them from materials that are more environmentally friendly and to create a better system of disposal of electronic equipment. In other words, folks, Republicans are blocking a bill that would make the creation and disposal of electronics, like cell phones, iPods and laptops more environmentally friendly, so that our children might not grow up to a poisonous planet. And lest you think they were simply trying to be “fiscally responsible,” the total cost of this bill would be $84 million (that’s an “m,” not a “b”) over 5 years. It’ll cost your family of four another quarter a year; think you can handle it?

H.R. 1585 — FIT Kids Act – This would develop programs targeted to making our kids healthy, by teaching them healthy eating habits, monitor physical education programs and providing local school systems with grants to help them improve children’s health-related programs. Once again; what do Republicans have against children who are born?

H.R. 1617 – Department of Homeland Security Component Privacy Officer Act – So, this bill would change little to nothing about the Department of Homeland Security, except to create Privacy Officer positions in several areas of the Department, whose duty would be to protect the balance between our need for national security and our right to privacy. In other words, someone would provide oversight to make sure that someone in the government didn’t decide that, say, tapping everyone’s phone and violating their right to privacy was absolutely necessary to keep everyone safe. Do they get that, when we allow our rights to be compromised in order to fight terrorism, the terrorists win. Republicans seem to want the terrorists to win.

H.R. 1622 – Research and Development Programs for Natural Gas Vehicles – This is one that has to make you shake your head, you know? This bill would make yet another alternative fuel more viable, and save us some money, so Republicans have to be against it. It won’t cost a lot of money; about $25 million a year over 6 years. There’s another quarter a year to your family of four, so that we can use our domestic supply of natural gas to wean ourselves from that “foreign oil” Republicans have been whining about for years. Of course, we all know their whines have been a joke, haven’t we?

H.R. 1675 – Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act of 2009 – This bill would strengthen programs that allow the poorest people in society, with serious long-term disabilities to live independently by providing affordable rental housing, as well as adequate voluntary services and support. Currently, there is a chronic shortage of such housing in many areas, and this legislation would create more. In other words, it would create more opportunities for the disabled to be more self-sufficient, which is something Republicans have always claimed they were in favor of.

H.R. 1709 – STEM Education Coordination Act – The acronym STEM refers to Science-Technology-Engineering-Math, and this bill would create a committee under the National Sciences and Technology Council, to create and coordinate education programs and activities designed to enhance those areas of study, and make the United States competitive again. Imagine a country in which we were training our own scientists and engineers, instead of training scientists and engineers for other countries, so that they can kick our asses on the world economic stage? Dare we dream? This type of program is small in scope, but it’s a very good investment, because we need people who are versed in science and math, in order to compete in the world economy. This really shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone, since Republicans have largely been anti-science for at least a decade. Oh – and once more, for those who think there’s a “fiscally responsible” purpose behind blocking this, this measure would cost $2 million per year – or about 2 cents per year for your family of four. They are also blocking H.R. 1736 – The International Science and Technology Cooperation Act, which would establish a committee under the NSTC that would coordinate with international science and technology efforts, with a goal of strengthening “US science and technology enterprise, improve economic and national security, and support US foreign policy goals.” If you need any more proof that Republicans hate science and fear the future, there you go.

H.R. 1722 —Telework Improvements Act – This is another bill that just makes sense, if you have ever experienced traffic in DC. The highways are jammed, the Metro is packed like sardines, and if you want to park at an outlying Metro lot and take the subway into town, you’d better get there about 5 AM, or there will be no parking available. And it all happens between about 7-9 AM and about 5-7 PM. This bill would create a framework whereby government employees could telecommute about 20% of the time during each two-week period, without adversely affecting their productivity. And in this case, government could lead by example; most of us could do a large portion of our jobs at home right now; imagine if you only had to go into the office 2-3 days per week instead of five. Better yet, imagine you’re a business and you could stagger your employees in-office days so that you needed fewer offices? And with 20% less traffic on the road some days… Republicans are against progress, folks; remember that.

H.R. 1727 — Managing Arson Through Criminal History (MATCH) Act – Here is another bill from Republican Mary Bono Mack, which would create a national database of known convicted arsonists and bombers, that police agencies from all over the country could access, and possibly prevent major tragedies from occurring. This is another measure that just seems to make sense. If a known arsonist is in town, police should know it. Yet, Senate Republicans sit on it and prevent it from becoming law. So, when did the Republican Party become “soft on crime”?

H.R. 1741 — Witness Security and Protection Grant Program Act – In yet another example of how soft Republicans really are on crime, this bill would serve to strengthen protections for witnesses for homicides and serious felonies, such as rape. Essentially, it would provide block grants to states and local law enforcement agencies to help them get up to speed regarding best practices to prevent witness intimidation or tampering. This is yet another bill that costs a whopping $20 million per year, so they can’t even hang the “fiscal responsibility” tag on it. Put simply, Democrats want to spend a quarter per year per family of four to increase the likelihood that murderers and rapists get put away in prison, and Republicans are working against that.

H.R. 1796 – Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act – This bill would establish mandatory consumer product safety standards for carbon monoxide detectors, provide grants to states to provide CO detectors for homes with low-income families, as well as buildings housing the elderly or children, and to create a public outreach program to educate people on the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning. Given that carbon monoxide is an invisible gas that causes brain damage and death, and given that CO results in nearly 15,000 emergency room visits and nearly 500 deaths every year, this bill would save lives and health care dollars every year. The total cost of this program is about $13 million over five years, or which means it would cost a family of four less than a nickel per year. Compare that to the cost of a typical emergency room visit, or losing a close friend or relative from something so preventable. .

H.R. 1803 — Veterans Business Center Act – Here’s another head scratcher, to be sure. What would you say to a bill that helps veterans start their own business? It’s about perfect, right? If you don’t think so, I have two words for you; GI Bill. This bill would set up a Veterans Business Center program within the Small Business Administration, which would specialize in such programs as grants for service-disabled veterans, help them develop business plans and secure business opportunities. In other words, folks, it would create jobs and offer opportunities those who have fought in defense of our country. And the Republicans are working against it. You have to wonder; do they hate the troops more, or the unemployed?

That’s only the tip of the proverbial iceberg when it comes to Democrats helping small businesses, and Republicans blocking them. About the time they were passing the very effective stimulus plan, Democrats in the House were passing a huge number of measures designed to help folks start or maintain small businesses. Check out all of these, and remind your small business owning friends that DEMOCRATS passed these bills, and REPUBLICANS are blocking votes on them.

In addition to the measure above, there was also H.R. 1807 – Educating Entrepreneurs through Today’s Technology Act – This bill would direct the Small Business Administration to contract with tech vendors to provide assistance to small businesses to get them up to speed with regard to technology. Essentially, it would help small businesses become stronger by providing free or inexpensive technical assistance to help them compete in the current economy. Republicans working against small businesses; imagine that…

Republicans are also blocking H.R. 1834 – Native American Business Development Enhancement Act, which would create an Office of Native American Affairs within the SBA, which would assist Native Americans in starting small businesses. As a point of reference, unemployment on some Indian reservations is currently running twice the rate as elsewhere.

Republicans are also blocking H.R. 1838 – Amending Small Business Act to modify certain provisions regarding women’s business centers, which would, as it reads, make the SBA more responsive to small businesses that apply for loans and grants at women’s business centers. They are blocking H.R. 1839 – To amend the Small Business Act to improve SCORE, which is the Service Corps of Retired Executives, which provides expertise to small businesses, to make them less likely to fail, and more likely to grow and create jobs. H.R. 1842 – Expanding Entrepreneurship Act is also being held hostage by Senate Republicans. This bill would create and expand small business entrepreneurial development programs, with the specific goal of using them as a catalyst for job creation. And they are blocking H.R. 1845 — Small Business Development Centers Modernization Act, which would give a boost to SBDCs, providing business assistance that is often relied upon by small business owners to expand revenues and create jobs.

Seriously, folks; how many small businesses are hurting right now, and how many of them know that help would be on the way, if not for their Republican buddies holding it up? Once again, folks; ALL of the above bills were pushed through by DEMOCRATS in the House, and BLOCKED by REPUBLICANS in the Senate. I know I’m writing this a lot, but sometimes you have to repeat it to make it stick.

H.R. 1824 — Best Buddies Empowerment for People with Intellectual Disabilities Act – I’m including this one because it’s flat out mean. This bill would increase grant funding for a well-established non-profit called Best Buddies International, an organization with chapters in high schools and college campuses all over the country, that pairs volunteers with intellectually disabled individuals, to increase their ability to function independently. The more intellectually disabled individuals can take care of themselves, and pay their own way in life, the better for all of us, in a variety of ways. In other words, it’s an investment; in the long run, creating more taxpayers means the rest of us pay less. Yet, Republicans are against this.

H.R. 1875 — End the Trade Deficit Act – This bill would establish the Emergency Trade Deficit Commission, which would look at what is causing the enormous trade deficit that is turning our economy to dust, and to consider ways to address it and fix it. Why would Republicans be against fixing the trade deficit? They’re always whining about the federal budget deficit (at least when they’re not in charge); do they not realize that the trade deficit is probably the number one cause of the budget deficit? Buy American, right?

H.R. 1879 — National Guard Employment Protection Act – This bill would grant greater employment and reemployment rights to individuals ordered to full-time National Guard duty by the Department of Defense. Currently, these rights are limited to the first five years only, and as we all now know, sometimes Republican presidents start wars and order National Guard troops to serve beyond their contract. Guess Republican Senators are more keen on protecting such presidents than the actual troops.

H.R. 1933 – A Child Is Missing Alert and Recovery Center Act – This bill would provide coordination and guidance for law enforcement agencies, and pool their resources in order to find missing children more quickly. Once again; if this was for missing fetuses, one would have to think Republicans would be all over it. But it’s children, and they clearly do not care about them.

H.R. 2020 — Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Act of 2009 (I suppose it would have to be “of 2011” by now, huh?)– Why does it feel as if Republicans absolutely fear science and technology? This bill would make sure this country keeps up with the rest of the world when it comes to computers and information technology. That’s all. It provides for extensive coordination of research and development in areas having “the potential for significant contributions to national economic competitiveness and for other societal benefits.” I hate to break it to you folks, but other nations are way ahead of us in many technological areas, and we can’t even figure out what to do about the concept of net neutrality. Think our cell phones are nifty? Go to Japan or Finland. If you think we’re way ahead on web development, it’s because you can only speak English. For eight years, our government sat back and tried to push us back into the dark ages. We either catch up to the rest of the world, or we falter, and fall even farther down the economic ladder. And Republicans are blocking that progress.

H.R. 2093 – Clean Coastal Environment and Public Health Act – This bill would strengthen the Clean Water Act by directing the EPA to develop better standards for monitoring and assessment of coastal waterways. It would provide for better source identification and tracking of pollution sources, and it would increase testing for pathogens. In other words, it would take better care to insure that our beaches and recreational areas are safe for our kids to play in. It would also create a “rapid-testing” method to test for contamination in the case of spills. This bill doesn’t have a lot to do with the BP oil spill, but in the wake of that disaster, one would think that monitoring the health and safety of our waterways would be a little more important. But Republicans don’t care if you and your family are healthy, do they? By the cost of this program? A whopping $40 million, or 50 cents for every family of four in the country.

H.R. 2134, — Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission Act – This bill would create a Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission, which would evaluate our policies regarding illegal drug supply reduction and interdiction. The commission would emphasize international drug policies and programs directed at countries in the Western Hemisphere. They would essentially report on the condition of the “drug war,” and tell us what’s working, what’s not working, and what needs serious improvement. When it’s finished with its report, the commission goes away within 60 days, so it’s not like it creates another layer to the bureaucracy. The drug war is failing, and failing badly. Apparently, Republicans just don’t care about that, either.

H.R. 2142 – Government Efficiency, Effectiveness, and Performance Improvement Act – Yeah, I know; with all of the bitching they’re always doing about how bad government is, and how incompetent government is, one would think they’d be ecstatic to see a bill designed to make the government more efficient, increase its effectiveness and monitor and improve its performance. The purpose of this bill is to direct agencies to develop long-term strategies and goals, and to come up with plans to meet performance objectives. And every bit of information would be readily available on the Internet and elsewhere, for every citizen to look at and evaluate for themselves. In other words, this bill would make the government more responsive and accountable to everyone. But Republicans are against it. And lest you think they’re against it because they’re worried about the deficit, the total cost of implementing these programs at 17 different agencies would be a total of $150 million over five years, or about 35 cents per year per family of four, according to the CBO.

H.R. 2187 – 21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act – The next time a Republican or Independent voter tells you the GOP got a bad rap for their non-response to Katrina, show them their blockage of this bill. The purpose of this bill is twofold; it would create a program of grants to renovate schools to make them more energy efficient, and to save taxpayers money. The jobs created would help to alleviate economic problems in a number of hard-hit geographical areas. Which brings up the second part of this bill, which would provide a little extra help in rebuilding and modernizing schools in the Gulf Coast region, which is still reeling from the effects of Katrina. (The Democratic House passage of this bill pre-dates the BP oil spill.) Such a bill would create thousands of jobs and make substantial infrastructure improvements to educational institutions all over the country, and will result in significant cost savings over the long haul. But Republicans won’t let it happen.

H.R. 2200 – Transportation Security Administration Authorization Act – So how tough are Republicans on terrorism, reallyy? This bill would not only fully fund the TSA, but it would implement a program to screen baggage for explosives, as well as a program to verify the identity and status of law enforcement officers who fly armed. And Republicans are blocking it.

H.R. 2221 – Data Accountability and Trust Act – This bill would actually create a regulatory structure that would require any business using personal information to establish security policies and procedures to protect that data. It would require information brokers and others to submit those policies and procedures to the FTC for approval, and it would prohibit such businesses from obtaining or disclosing, or soliciting to obtain, personal information by false pretenses. In other words, another step to make sure that eCommerce is safe, which would protect consumers and businesses in every transaction, and create a level playing field for everyone. But Republicans are blocking it.

H.R. 2352 – Job Creation Through Entrepreneurship Act – This bill essentially combines a number of other bills that Republicans had blocked in the Senate previously, and adds a few elements. The bill would again establish a Veterans Business Center Program; it would encourage and enhance Native American entrepreneurship; it would strengthen the Women’s Business Center Program (the bill’s description uses the term “broadening,” which seems unfortunate); it would improve the SCORE programs; it would recommend major enhancements to the SBA’s entrepreneurial development programs; it would modernize and expand the Small Business Development Center Program; it would improve technology to create better distance learning and other educational programs for budding entrepreneurs; it would create a Microenterprise Training Center Program, to encourage and train low-income and unemployed folks to enter the market with a small business; it would establish a Military Entrepreneurs Program; and it would establish a Rural Entrepreneurship Advisory Council. In other words, this bill would encourage just about anyone with an idea to start a small business and hire people, and give them the knowledge they need to do so successfully. If small business is the backbone of the American economy, then why do Republicans object to strengthening the backbone?

H.R. 2454 – American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 – This bill sets up a regulatory framework that would greatly improve our energy situation, which is probably our greatest national security concern for the future – or it should be, anyway. It would improve energy efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and enable the overall transition to a clean energy economy, including provisions for agriculture and forestry related offsets. The provisions include: (1) creating a combined energy efficiency and renewable electricity standard and requiring retail electricity suppliers to meet 20% of their demand through renewable electricity and electricity savings by 2020; (2) setting a goal of, and requiring a strategic plan for, improving overall U.S. energy productivity by at least 2.5% per year by 2012 and maintaining that improvement rate through 2030; and (3) establishing a cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and setting goals for reducing such emissions from covered sources by 83% of 2005 levels by 2050. Oh, now I get it – it’s that damn “cap-and-tax” that gets them! Does anyone actually care about the future of this country? The beauty of cap-and-trade is that the tax would constantly go down over time, as people use less and less energy. If only all taxes worked that way, huh?

H.R. 2510 – Absentee Ballot Track, Receive and Confirm Act – This bill would amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to direct the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to reimburse states for costs incurred in establishing an absentee ballot tracking program for federal elections. Couple that with H.R. 2499 – Puerto Rico Democracy Act, which would allow Puerto Ricans to hold a plebiscite to either confirm their current status as a commonwealth or approve a change in political status, as well as to hold another plebiscite every eight years after that, and you can see that Republicans aren’t big on democracy. Oh, wait; these are all bills they won’t allow to be voted on; I guess that’s apparent, huh?

H.R. 2529 – Neighborhood Preservation Act – This act would authorize any bank to offer a lease/purchase agreement for up to five years to anyone for any property it came into ownership of through foreclosure. This exception to the law would only be allowed for two years, while the current housing mess shakes itself out. Such a move would do a couple of things; it would keep homes occupied, and mitigate the negative effect on home values of having too many empty homes in a neighborhood, and it would create home purchase opportunities that would otherwise not be available. This type of program would do wonders for stabilizing home values, which is key to fixing the housing market once and for all. And your Republican Party won’t even allow a vote on it. Look at the empty homes in your neighborhoods, and put the blame where it belongs; Vote Democratic.

H.R. 2554 – National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers Reform Act – Remember that economic meltdown we had a few years back? I know you do. Well, apparently, Republicans would like you to forget about it. This bill would reinstate a key component of Glass-Steagall that was removed when Republicans rammed through Gramm-Leach-Bliley and made it possible for pretty much anyone in the world to call himself a “broker,” and sell any “financial instrument” he or she wanted to sell, without oversight. This bill would reestablish the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers (NARAB) as a nonprofit corporation to oversee licensing and insurance producer qualification requirements and conditions, although states would retain authority with regard to licensing, supervision, disciplining, and setting of fees, as well as insurance-related consumer protection and unfair trade practices. It also requires anyone applying for a license to undergo a thorough criminal background check, and all members will be required to continue their education as they work. It restores sanity to the insurance and financial services industry, and Republicans are blocking it.

H.R. 2611 – Authorizing the Securing the Cities Initiative of the Department of Homeland Security – Exactly what it says. You know, if Republicans really don’t want another terrorist attack, they sure have a funny way of showing it…

H.R. 2664 – Promoting Transparency in Financial Reporting Act – Again, Republicans would like us to forget the financial meltdown, which was largely the result of massive investment in a number of “financial instruments” that even experts had a difficult time understanding. This bill would work to create standards whereby disclosures for bonds and other instruments have to at least make sense and are written in “plain English.” The bill also includes a reassessment of outdated or arcane accounting standards in favor of principles-based accounting standards (you know, in which $2 + $2 = $4, instead of $6, including sleight of hand) in which everyone up and down the line deals with real, not hypothetical money, and encouraging the use of interactive data. The reason Republicans are against this is because they don’t believe in real investment with real money. Think about it; Every period in which they’ve bragged about the “booming” economy has featured phony money – money that doesn’t actually exist, but which they can put onto paper, as if it was actually real.

H.R. 2693 – Oil Pollution Research and Development Program Reauthorization Act – Once again, this bill was introduced and passed by the Democrats in Congress BEFORE BP’s deep water rig blew up and ruined a large swath of the Gulf of Mexico. But even nearly six months after that, this bill sits and waits to be voted on in the Senate. It would authorize a “comprehensive federal oil spill research program, complete a research assessment on the status of oil spill prevention and response capabilities, and develop a federal oil spill research plan. Directs the Committee to: (1) establish a program for conducting oil pollution research, development, and demonstration; (2) submit to Congress an assessment of the status of oil spill prevention and response capabilities; and (3) establish the priorities for federal oil spill research and development.” Gosh, I can’t think of any reason why we’d need something like that, can you?

H.R. 2749 — Food Safety Enhancement Act – Among other things, this bill would require that all food processing plants not already under the auspices of the Department of Agriculture be registered with the department, and any plant that produces contaminated food loses its registration. In other words, it would make our food supply safer. And Republicans are against it.

H.R. 2868 – Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act of 2009, Drinking Water System Security Act of 2009 and Wastewater Treatment Works Security Act of 2009 – This bill would enhance security at chemical plants, wastewater treatment plants and drinking water facilities, to guard against terrorism. What do Republicans have against national security? I mean, one might get a sense that they actually want an attack while Democrats are in charge.

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The Documented Record Of GOP Political Obstructionism: Unemployment is High by Republican Design as GOP Sabotaged Obama's Job Proposals

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 10:42:00 -0400

PART I: EVIDENCE THAT THERE IS INTENTIONAL OBSTRUCTIONISM

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/27/1121957/-If-you-want-a-better-economy-and-more-jobs-elect-a-Democratic-Congress

Republican Obstructionism is mostly responsible for our economy

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/09/04/1127453/-Republican-Obstructionism-is-mostly-responsible-for-our-economy

The Republicans’ Unprecedented Obstructionism by the Numbers

http://crooksandliars.com/jon-perr/republicans-unprecedented-obstructionism-by-numbers

Why is the Republican Record-Breaking use of the Filibuster — Not a topic of the News?

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/09/16/1132504/-Why-is-the-Republican-Record-Breaking-use-of-the-Filibuster-Not-a-topic-of-the-News

Obstruct and Exploit

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/10/opinion/krugman-obstruct-and-exploit.html

GOP filibusters for secret money

Senate Republicans filibustered a bill that would have shed some light on dark money

http://www.salon.com/2012/07/17/gop_filibusters_for_secret_money/

Obstructionist Republicans Sabotage America - blame Obama - just to gain political control

IS THE AMERICAN PUBLIC GOING TO REWARD BETRAYAL?

The American Jobs Act would have created between 1.3 and 2 million jobs.
The full bill was introduced into the Senate on October 11, 2011

Parts Blocked by Republicans -
● Full Bill - Oct. 11, 2011
● Teachers and First Responders - Oct. 17, 2011
● Infrastructure - Oct. 31, 2011

All three bill failed to receive enough support from Republicans to proceed.
Americans want action on job the the Republicans filibustered all these bills and are trying to blame the results on Obama.

Republicans had a chance to do something about jobs, instead they did nothing because they are more concerned with defeating President Obama that putting Americans back to work. The GOP has been planning for this for a very long time.

█████ ►www.americanjobsact.com

Republicans cheer disappointing jobs numbers

The latest jobs numbers are the worst in a year, and Mitt Romney and the Republicans are cheering against the American worker for their own election prospects. Ed Schultz discusses the latest economic report and the GOP obstruction with Rebuild the Dream president Van Jones.

WATCH THIS: video.msnbc.msn.com/the-ed-show/47653934

► lengths to which Republicans are going, including opposing their own proposals and hurting the U.S. economy, to undermine President Obama.
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/43556754#43556754

► lengths to which Republicans are going, including opposing their own proposals and hurting the U.S. economy, to undermine President Obama.
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/43556754#435 56754

video.msnbc.msn.com/the-ed-show/47790217

Are Republicans intentionally blocking recovery?

Ana Marie Cox, a political correspondent for Guardian US, and David Corn, the Washington Bureau Chief for Mother Jones Magazine, weigh in on the gridlock and its impact on the 2012 election.

video.msnbc.msn.com/the-last-word/47791687

Boehner playing politics instead of working on jobs

Rachel Maddow points out that despite the dramatic protestations of House Speaker John Boehner, the record of House Republicans shows that they’re real priority is playing culture war game with abortion bills, not jobs.

video.msnbc.msn.com/the-rachel-maddow-show/47654672

GOP: Where’s the help on jobs? Obama: Stuck in Congress

The strategy of House GOP leaders to block the President’s job agenda, in the wake of today’s weak job numbers.

video.msnbc.msn.com/martin-bashir/47651040

Poll: Americans Believe GOP sabotaging economy to hurt Obama

A new poll shows 49 percent of Americans say Republicans are intentionally stalling efforts to jumpstart the economy to ensure President Obama is not reelected. Norm Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute, and Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institution talk with Michael Eric Dyson.

video.msnbc.msn.com/the-ed-show/47790217

Disastrous ‘Boehner economy’ avoidable with new public sector jobs

Chris Hayes, host of MSNBC’s “Up with Chris Hayes,” talks with Ezra Klein about why 2012 Republicans are attacking public workers and rejecting the economic answer (public sector jobs) to recession that past Republican presidents and even Mitt Romney believe in.

video.msnbc.msn.com/the-rachel-maddow-show/47 774722

Obama conducts US business on world stage, hectored by Romney lackeys

Rachel Maddow talks with Steve Kornacki, senior writer for Salon, about President Obama’s handling of complex international affairs at the G20 summit while Mitt Romney surrogates take pot shots on behalf of the Republican candidate and Mitt Romney makes mitten shaped pastry’s in Michigan.

video.msnbc.msn.com/the-rachel-maddow-show/47 883318

The Rise Of Cloture: How GOP Filibuster Threats Have Changed The Senate

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/01/the-rise-of-cloture-how-gop-filibuster-threats-have-changed-the-senate.php

Gridlock in Congress? Blame the GOP

Julian Zelizer: Congress is reaching a point where it will no longer be able to function.

Observers are starting to note that both parties are not equally to blame, Zelizer says.

Since 2007, Democrats have had to end Republican filibusters over 360 times, a record.

Zelizer: Republican activists now target any party member who can be tagged as centrist.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/21/opinion/zelizer-congress-polarization/index.html

‘It’s Arithmetic’: The Best Of Bill Clinton’s DNC Speech, In One Infographic

http://thinkprogress.org/election/2012/09/06/808521/its-arithmetic-the-best-of-bill-clintons-dnc-speech-in-one-infographic/

Sept. 7th Was the Unhappy Anniversary: Republicans Have Blocked The American Jobs Act For One Year

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/09/07/812251/republicans-blocked-jobs-act-one-year/

5 Ways Republicans Have Sabotaged Job Growth

ttp://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/07/06/511940/5-ways-republicans-sabotaged-job-growth/

Democrats Call Political Sabotage On GOP, Say They Want To Derail Obama’s Reelection

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/05/21/democrats-call/

Daily Kos: Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan & Kevin McCarthy: Plot To Sabotage US Economy with Frank Luntz

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/06/08/1098434/-Eric-Cantor-Paul-Ryan-Kevin-McCarthy-Plot-To-Sabotage-US-Economy-with-Frank-Luntz

President Obama defies Republican obstruction,uses recess appointment to name consumer watchdog

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/01/04/1051433/-President-Obama-defies-Republican-obstruction,-uses-recess-appointment-to-name-consumer-watchdog?via=blog_1

GOP plot to obstruct- Obama aide in bed with GOP lover: “How do we get a stimulus deal?” Reply: “Baby, there’s no deal!”

http://thepoliticalcarnival.net/2012/08/23/gop-plot-to-obstruct-obama-aide-in-bed-with-gop-lover-how-do-we-get-a-stimulus-deal-reply-baby-theres-no-deal/

VIDEO - Sabotage: The Story Behind The Republican Party’s “Top Political Priority”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8a_msdw9VQ

How Republicans Sabotaged the Recovery

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/07/23/how_republicans_sabotaged_the_recovery

Did Republicans deliberately crash the US economy?

Be it ideology or stratagem, the GOP has blocked pro-growth policy and backed job-killing austerity – all while blaming Obama

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jun/09/did-republicans-deliberately-crash-us-economy

Judson Phillips’ Tea Party Nation is inviting small-business owners to stop hiring

http://www.politicususa.com/en/tea-party-nation-wants-small-business-owners-to-cease-hiring

Mitch McConnell: I Want To Be Senate Majority Leader In Order To Make Obama A One-Term President

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2010/10/25/126242/mcconnell-obama-one-term/

Republican Gridlock & Obstructionism

http://www.obamaftw.com/blog/jobs-and-economic-recovery-2012/gop-republican-jobs-economic-gridlock

The following article is By Benjamin Feinblumin:

http://www.policymic.com/articles/9124/unemployment-is-high-by-republican-design-as-gop-sabotaged-obama-s-job-proposals

What if Obama’s opposition spent two years preparing the perfect script to regain power for themselves? What if all actions were more about denying Obama a second term and less about helping America heal?

What if, the script is playing out as scheduled today?

What decisions were made? What actions were taken by leaders who wrote the script we see on the political theater stage today with regards to jobs numbers? What if the job results we see in America were part of a plan orchestrated over the years to gain more power?

Presidents can be re-elected when unemployment is high if things are headed in the right direction. Today, after 27 months of jobs growth, things are slowing down. Oddly, five months before the election. Was this part of the plan?

Did Republicans sabotage job creating legislation, whose impact would have been felt this year, to deny Obama a second term? Have they begun to pass things now that would trigger growth right after the election?

My intention is to start debate on the quality of our leaders, their actions, and their ideas.

Maybe Obama’s policies were good, maybe bad. Maybe some leaders play politics better than others. Maybe those who play politics better should be in office. Maybe, Romney is a better answer. Maybe Obama has the answers, but has been blocked. On this story and the topics involved what do you think?

While this post is long, I know PolicyMic is filled with deep thinkers. You are the kind of people who would dig into this level of information and debate it. Jobs and politics are complex. This post aims at a longitudinal view through some of that complexity. I wrote as short a post as I was able. Out of patriotism, I believe we should have deep discourse on what is best for jobs in America.

The story: Obama proposed a major jobs measure that would have created nearly two million jobs in an election year. Debate was blocked by filibuster. The jobs bill was broken down into small parts, some consisting only of tax cuts. Only one part, to help veterans find jobs, was passed (a tiny fraction of the overall jobs legislation). In total, Republicans blocked entirely (not even allowing debate on the floor, which would put them on record) 17 jobs measures.

I can’t say whether I really agree with the legislation or not. I disagree with the fact that all debate on the measure was blocked entirely. All jobs measures in total were blocked in entirety. Obama may have been wrong on everything… but… how could we know? It was just… blocked without debate.

All stories have a beginning, middle, and an end…

Watch the story unfold.

Beginning

Republicans state their top political priority is to deny Obama a second term.

Obama is launching the American Jobs Act slated to create about 2,000,000 jobs in an election year.

http://www.americanjobsact.com/

Middle

All debate in both the House and Senate is blocked on the American Jobs Act. Republicans even filibuster debate so that they are not on record for being for or against what is in the measure. A majority of the measure is tax cuts, much is focused on helping small business, they want this to see as little daylight as possible. Debate, equals record and news coverage.

Obama breaks the law into 16 different pieces. Only a tiny snippet to help veterans find jobs is passed. All other elements are blocked entirely, not even allowed to come to the floor.

End

Today, Eric Cantor is running around the news channels talking about Obama’s failed leadership on jobs when Cantor single-handedly blocked debate on the American Jobs Act. Cantor offered no alternative. He couldn’t. Most of the American Jobs Act was tax cuts, which is what his best idea would be.

Mitt Romney is attacking Obama on jobs round the clock. Attacking Obama for things Romney praised at the time and helped to create in the first place.

Video Tells the Story

Watch leaders in their own words as this story unfolds.

Begin with the context.

Economic context: 2010 and Now

Then: Housing was in a depression.

Now: Foreclosures peaked last summer. It takes about three years for one foreclosure to pass through the system. The largest dead weight of the financial crisis is now passing through the system. Housing sales and prices have been rising steadily.

Then: Stimulus spending was working through the system. The job losses at 800,000 per month had turned into gains of a few hundred thousand a month.

Now: Stimulus spending was passed to cover two years, which is now behind us. That support is no longer in the economy while we heal from the deepest crisis since the great depression. We have behind us about 27 months straight of job growth. Around 4,500,000 jobs added to the economy.

Then: Obama sees that one of our largest trading partners, Europe, may fall back into recession and he produces a counter-balance to prevent America from being dragged down too.

Now: Europe is in recession, China’s growth is slowing, America is being dragged down too.

Then: Millions upon millions of jobs were lost before Obama took office. So many, that unemployment became one of the biggest drags on the economy.

Now: Things are healing. Layoffs are in healthy territory for turnover in the economy. Slack is coming out of the jobs market for the underemployed and the unemployed. We all wish it was faster. However, as this was a financial crisis, not a business cycle recession, things tend to take a lot longer.

Then: The main tools for restoring an economy had already been fired. Bush had passed tremendous tax cuts already. Interest rates were at zero percent before the economy collapsed. We had very little bullets left in the gun to help turn the economy around.

What happened then?

Beginning: In 2010 what were the top priorities of our leaders?

Here is Mitch McConnell. As leader of the Republicans in the Senate, McConnell is one of the most powerful Republicans in America. Step back to December 2010.

VIDEO: Mitch McConnell: Top Priority, Make Obama a One Term President

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=W-A09a_gHJc

For Obama to fail… doesn’t that mean that America has to fail? Maybe… fail just a little bit longer… until we can get rid of Obama. Maybe… people need to struggle just enough while Obama is President so we can get him out of office.

If America is doing great: Obama is re-elected. If America is doing poorly he is not.

So, would someone whose top political priority is to deny Obama a second term do things to hurt America? Or, to delay growth?

Here is President Barack Obama. His job is to collect the best ideas and lead America to what he believes would provide the most job growth. What does Obama do?

Obama calls a joint session of Congress to propose the American Jobs Act. The full proposal is here.

http://www.americanjobsact.com/

A majority of the law is tax cuts and support for small business. In other speeches, Obama states that Europe may slide back into recession. To prevent America from being taken with it, during a fragile time in our recovery, we need a counter-balance.

Here is Obama at the joint session of Congress.

VIDEO: President Obama Presents American Jobs Act (Enhanced Version)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=N5f-FwN2ZJs

Whose top priority was jobs? Whose top priority was power?

Here is Obama’s weekly address June 19th, 2010 regarding the overall issue of gridlock.

VIDEO: Obama: GOP Gridlock Strategy Hurting US

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=e92vt42sn1w

Middle: What happened when Obama sent the bill to Congress?

Debate was filibustered by Republicans in both houses. No conversation was allowed.

Obama broke the bill in 16 parts so that Republicans could block segments that were only tax cuts.

Republicans blocked every part except for one to help veterans.

That is a total of 17 jobs bills blocked.

They didn’t say what they disagreed with. I don’t even know if I agree with it. They completely blocked debate.

Filibuster Debate? For what purpose? Would this prevent a public record of Republicans having to explain why they are against all sorts of tax cuts and other measures to help small businesses? Would this minimize the time in the public eye? Would this minimize news coverage… so this is… swept under the rug?

Here is Senator Carl Levin as Senate Republicans filibustered debate.

VIDEO: Senator Levin: How to Break the GOP Filibuster

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Hoip3VF3zGk

Republicans may have better ideas, but where are they? Without debate, or a counter-proposal (Republican bill) there was no debate to reveal what Republicans actually believe. They just say NOPE! And end discussion on all jobs legislation. They assumed Americans would be too busy with their lives to remember.

That is the Senate… but, what happened in the house?

Eric Cantor used the same obstruction, the same filibuster in the house to block debate on the jobs bill. How did Obama respond at the time? Watch this video.

VIDEO: Obama blasts Rep. Cantor for blocking jobs bill

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3HSS8NLpsY&feature=youtu.be

This was a long speech. Here is a slightly longer clip of Obama challenging Eric Cantor: What don’t you agree with? What is wrong? Tell me!

Remember, a member of Congress can pick up the phone and call the President and ask them to adjust legislation.

VIDEO: Obama On GOP’s Refusal to Vote On American Jobs Act

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=T1OSeG1wG3k

Obama took Carl Levin’s advice. 13 months before the elections. Here is Obama in Texas working to dial up public support.

VIDEO: President Obama Speaks on the American Jobs Act Eastfield College, Mesquite, Texas Part 1-4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6whBaoROwRk&feature=plcp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCBRxDlo2V4&feature=plcp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P162vNvCWy8&feature=plcp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_rZQ7rXl8Y&feature=plcp

What were leaders actually doing about jobs?

Want Republican videos? There could have been hundreds to choose from. Every Republican leader could have spoken their views on the floor of Congress for me to post. We could be debating the merits of the Republican ideas vs. the Democrat ideas today… but, there are none from Congress. Debate was filibustered. It was blocked entirely. I can’t even find Republican ideas for creating jobs from that time to be for or against.

What were levels of public support for this jobs legislation?

In September 2011, 45% of Americans favored the Obama plan and 32% opposed.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/149447/americans-favor-obama-jobs-plan.aspx

End: What are these same leaders saying today?

Here is Eric Cantor who blocked all debate on job legislation. Most of the jobs bill was tax cuts. Watch him talking about fear and uncertainty about taxes going up. He is on a business news channel right now with the soul purpose of spreading that fear and uncertainty to business leaders about Obama. That is the mission of his entire speech in this video.

I am a small business owner. Obama has slashed my taxes so many times that for the first time in a decade I got money back from the federal government.

Here is Eric Cantor. Watch him talk about getting “the real stimulus going which is the private sector,” at 4:50. Now go back and look at the tax cuts for small business that he blocked in the American Jobs Act two years ago.

Is he all talk? Did he block what he says is the solution to the problem? Why would he do that?

VIDEO: Republican Eric Cantor: ‘These Jobs Numbers are Pathetic’

http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000093640

Imagine the perfect script. Block all jobs creating legislation. Then bring in your turn around expert to show how to fix America.

I mean it is almost too perfect!

Here is Romney the turn around expert ready to pounce:

He states, “This is a sign that President Obama’s economic policies have failed.”

I state… this is a sign that President Obama’s policy to create jobs has been blocked.

Romney states that unemployment has been above 8% for 40 months.

I state… We’ve had 27 straight months of job growth. Coming off a period where we were losing 800,000 jobs per month. Unemployment peaked at over 10% in the worst recession since the great depression and has been heading forwards all along.

Romney says, “The President has been more focused on historic legislation than jobs.” Well, look at the jobs bill above that Obama was focused on that Republicans blocked. Is it historic to focus on job creation during an economic collapse?

Romney argues that jobs numbers were hit hard by health care reform. Here is Romney praising Obama for copying his health care legislation. Romney makes calls against a single payer, “government run health plan,” which never happened, was never proposed, and never was up for debate.

VIDEO: Romney Praises Obama for Modeling Parts of ObamaCare off of RomneyCare

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=mLtCYlCdo5Q

Romney praised Obama for copying parts of his plan. Obama went further. Obama hired the team Romney used to make his health care law for Massachusetts. Now that team is all angry about Romney’s dishonesty and is making videos for the Obama campaign.

VIDEO: The Anniversary of Romneycare

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WxZK0spa1yI

When business leaders were polled regarding their largest concerns. Top of the list was skyrocketing health care costs, which now eat up 19% of the economy. The highest rate of health care coverage was in Massachusetts where Mitt Romney’s plan was passed. Obama used the states as the laboratory of democracy. He searched for the best solution that had been implemented. As health care reform had barely been touched for decades, there were tons of low hanging fruit solutions that would dramatically reduce costs.

Now watch Romney today. Here comes the pounce. The video headline on CNBC says “Romney on CNBC: It’s Obama’s Fault!”

VIDEO: Obama Has Himself to Blame for Weak Economy: Romney

http://www.cnbc.com/id/47646795/Obama_Has_Himself_to_Blame_for_Weak_Economy_Romney

Romney looks great. He sounds great. Gosh he looks so Presidential.

Sure… but, is he talking about what has really occurred? Or, what he wants people to believe occurred?

If he were to take office… is that when Republicans would pass job boosting legislation?

Is that when Republicans would begin to supply ideas for job creation?

What were the jobs numbers in March?

Jobs were reported as dismal… 120,000 new jobs added.

Layoffs were in a healthy economy territory though.

But, we had the sixth largest drop in underemployment in U.S. history. 441,000 people who were working part time got full time work, or those who were in a job below their skill level (ex. Starbuck’s baristas who have an MBA) moved to full employment.

In March 561,000 jobs worth of slack was removed from the economy.

Find some videos from the news coverage. Coverage was so negative it has scared everyone back into hiding, when in fact it was a great month for jobs.

Maybe we need to scare the confidence and job creation out of the economy until after the election if we want Obama out of office.

Where are jobs numbers today?

Well, the American people are the economy. After hearing for an entire month how things were slowing down… business leaders and Americans pulled back into their safety spot.

We had one of the lowest amounts of job creation in April that we’ve had in the last 27 months… oddly timed 5 months before the election.

What is my feeling on the jobs legislation?

It is less important what is passed. It is more important that America feels like it’s leadership is cooperating to solve problems. It is more important that Americans see progress, feel a tax cut, see construction… than the actual construction itself.

I don’t care who wrote it. It could be the best Republican ideas. It could be the best Democrat ideas. I don’t care.

It is more important that Americans see the two million new jobs added regardless of where they came from because when Americans feel like things are headed in the right direction… when they feel confident… they will take over the job of rebuilding America.

The greatest force for revitalizing the American economy is the American people. I believe that the tax cuts and actions in the American Jobs Act, whether they worked or not, would have at least worked well enough to awaken the American people’s spirits - so Americans would rebuild.

More money flowing through the economy would have created that feeling.

Concerned about deficits? Concerned about debts?

Me too. Obama included in this bill how to pay for it without adding to the deficit.

When tax revenues are at 51 year lows in relation to GDP as they are today, isn’t growing the economy is the best solution for reducing the deficit?

How do you feel knowing that 17 jobs bills were blocked from even having debate in Congress? Is what you witnessed here patriotism? Does this impact who you believe should be leading America?

Nations don’t always recover from economic crises of this magnitude. This is how nations fall. Do you agree or disagree with the actions taken by both sides during the deepest recession since the Great Depression?

Sure jobs numbers are bad today, but they are bad by design? Most of the world wishes they had our economy today as Europe is falling back into recession. In context of a crisis this deep… are the numbers really that bad anyway?

Was America tricked regarding the quality of Obama’s leadership?

What was it when Republicans blocked 17 pieces of jobs legislation?

Was this sabotage? Was this an orchestrated power grab? Was this script writing to set the stage for the 2012 elections? Was growth slowed down for political purposes?

What are they doing now? A new law called, “The JOBS Act,” just passed with complete bi-partisan support, timed so the impact on jobs is after the elections.

I can’t say Romney would be bad. I can’t say Obama would be better. But, this is the story I see as it was written. I can say there are elements I agree with Eric Cantor on and each of the leaders. Of course, they all say some things that are good.

But, what about blocking all jobs legislation, offering no alternative, and then running around America going: WHERE ARE THE JOBS MISTER PRESIDENT?

I finalize with… if not tax cuts… which made up a majority of the American Jobs Act… during that major moment in the crisis… what would have helped jobs? What are the solutions? From all political philosophies… what do you think the best solution is for creating jobs today?

Mitt Romney and his right-wing media have been claiming that Obama has no jobs plan. Even though it isn’t true, they have been saying it 100x per day for years. All of Obama’s plans have been on his website in great detail since before 2008. To counter the lies, Obama has put his plan in a pamphlet to distribute to millions. Maybe after this, the rightwingers will end this lie.

VIDEO:

http://www.zimbio.com/watch/gumB9lKYNaW/Obama+Touts+Jobs+Plan+Colorado/Decision+2012

Read the Plan:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/jobs_act.pdf

Excerpt: Sabotage: How the Republican Party Crippled America’s Economic Recovery

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-altman/sabotage-book_b_1744343.html

Top Democrats Suspect Republicans Try To Sabotage Economy To Hurt Obama

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/19/gop-debt-ceiling_n_1529718.html

Senate Democrats Call Out Republicans for Sabotaging Economic Recovery

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/senate-democrats-call-out-republicans-sabo

Republicans Attempt to Actively Sabotage U.S. Economy to Win Fall Election

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-creamer/republicans-attempt-to-ac_b_1576962.html

The New Jobs Report and Republican Economic Sabotage

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-cesca/the-news-jobs-report-and-_b_1575836.html

Independents and moderates agree: GOP deliberately sabotaging Obama’s jobs policies

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/independents-and-moderates-agree-gop-deliberately-sabotaging-obamas-jobs-policies/2011/11/07/gIQAPMfSvM_blog.html

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Mitt Romney Economics and His Massachusetts Record

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 09:30:00 -0400

Romney Economics:

It didn’t work in Massachusetts, and it won’t work now.

Mitt Romney ran for governor of Massachusetts promising more jobs, less debt, and smaller government. Here’s what Massachusetts got instead:

Jobs: Under Romney’s watch, Massachusetts plummeted from 36th to 47th out of 50 in job creation. Manufacturing jobs fell at twice the national rate—which was the third-worst record in the country. When Romney came into office, the Bay State’s unemployment rate was lower than the national average—but higher than the national average when he left.

Jobs outsourced overseas: Governor Romney failed to protect good jobs in Massachusetts, and actually outsourced state jobs to India.

Declining manufacturing: By the end of Governor Romney’s term, Massachusetts had lost more than 40,000 manufacturing jobs—a rate twice the national average.

Taxes: In just his first year in office, Romney raised fees more than any other governor. In all, he raised taxes and fees by roughly $750 million per year. He raised fees on Massachusetts residents 1,000 times on things like hospitals, nursing homes, vehicles, buying a house, the blind, disabled people, and getting married. When he left office, the tax burden had increased $1,200 per person, yet he demanded a tax break that favored the wealthy—giving 278 of the wealthiest citizens more than $75 million.

Debt and deficit: Romney left behind a $1 billion deficit, making use of what his successor, Gov. Deval Patrick, called “all kinds of patches and plugs” to hide the extent of the shortfall. Massachusetts’ long-term debt went up by more than $2.6 billion under Romney—a 16 percent increase in just four years. On top of that, Massachusetts had the highest per capita debt in the country.

Increased government spending: State spending increased every year while Romney was in office, and he left behind a $1 billion deficit for the next governor.

Size of government: Instead of streamlining government as promised, state spending under Romney increased by 6.5 percent each year. And under Romney, state government jobs grew at six times the rate of private-sector jobs.

Romney Ended Primary $11 Million in Debt. Is This How He’d Manage the U.S. Economy?

Prior to the Republican National Convention Mitt Romney’s campaign had a slight cash flow problem and borrowed $20M to stay afloat.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/09/27/1136979/-Romney-Ended-Primary-11-Million-in-Debt-Is-This-How-He-d-Manage-the-U-S-Economy

Romney campaign $11M in debt

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/politics/120919/romney-campaign-11m-debt

Video: Romney Economics didn’t work then, and won’t work now. (1:27)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZmHiznewM8

http://www.barackobama.com/romney/ma-record?source=primary-nav

Video: Broken Promises: Romney’s Massachusetts Record

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlnaYOv0DZY

Video: Mitt Romney’s fellow Republicans call his record as governor ‘poor’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sB7vuo2piak

Mitt Romney’s Tax And Fee Increases

http://www.americanbridgepac.org/2012/10/wire/wire-president/bridge-briefing-romneys-tax-and-fee-increases/

Romney economics: State by state

A new interactive map on romneyeconomics.com shows how Mitt Romney’s business decisions impacted communities across the country. In Colorado alone:

Denver jobs were lost when SMTC Corporation moved production to Mexico.
Mattress Discounters closed multiple stores in the Denver area, before declaring bankruptcy.
Boulder-based NetLibrary cut jobs, before declaring bankruptcy.
AMF Bowling laid off workers and closed a manufacturing plant.
An Alliance Entertainment distribution center was closed.
A Dynamic Details plant in Colorado Springs was closed.
Stage Stores shuttered clothing stores across the state.

Explore the map to see similar effects in Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Virginia, New Hampshire, Missouri and Florida—then share it with your friends.

Business Leaders Say Romney Raised Taxes in Massachusetts

http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-250_162-3445281.html

Mitt’s no-tax mirage

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/10/11/mitts_no_tax_mirage/

24 Fees Mitt Romney Tried To Raise In Massachusetts

http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/24-fees-mitt-romney-tried-to-raise-in-massachusett

Romney Economics: Raising taxes and fees on the middle class

Mitt Romney said he wouldn’t raise taxes when he ran for governor of Massachusetts, but in office Romney raised or created more than 1,000 taxes and fees.

Romney Economics: Raising taxes and fees on the middle class

Mitt Romney said he wouldn’t raise taxes when he ran for governor of Massachusetts, but in office Romney raised or created more than 1,000 taxes and fees.

Video: Thirty seconds to name all of Gov. Romney’s Massachusetts taxes and fees

http://www.barackobama.com/truth-team/entry/thirty-seconds-to-name-all-of-gov.-romneys-massachusetts-taxes-and-fees

Just some of the fees raised:

Created a $10 fee for a “Certificate of Blindness” issued by the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind. [Source: 2003 Massachusetts Budget]

Increased the fee for milk laboratory certification from $75 to $150. [Source: 2003 MA regulations]

Increased the cremation inspection fee from $50 to $75. [Source: 2003 Massachusetts Session Laws]

Increased the municipal police training committee fee from $2,300 to $2,500. [Source: 2006 Massachusetts budget]

Increased the fee for a mammography facility x-ray machine license from $100 to $300. [Source: 2003 MA regulations]

Download the entire list of fees Romney raised.

Documentary: When Mitt Romney Came To Town — Full, complete version (28:07)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLWnB9FGmWE

At First Debate, Mitt Romney Admits That He Would ‘Absolutely Not’ Support His Own Tax Plan

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/10/04/959181/at-first-debate-mitt-romney-admits-that-he-would-absolutely-not-support-his-own-tax-plan/

Greed and Debt: The True Story of Mitt Romney and Bain Capital

How the GOP presidential candidate and his private equity firm staged an epic wealth grab, destroyed jobs and stuck others with the bill.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/greed-and-debt-the-true-story-of-mitt-romney-and-bain-capital-20120829

President Obama Hits Mitt Romney for ‘Cradle to Grave Tax Hikes, Fees’

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/10/president-obama-hits-mitt-romney-for-cradle-to-grave-tax-hikes-fees/

Governor Romney raised a gas tax in Massachusetts by 400%.

http://www.myfoxboston.com/story/17778286/gas-station-cleanup-money-diverted

For the average person in Massachusetts, that meant an increase of $1,227 in state and local fees and taxes.

Romney’s economic record

AS MITT ROMNEY pursues his bid for the presidency, his record as Massachusetts governor will come under scrutiny, including how the state’s economy performed during his administration.

Our analysis reveals a weak comparative economic performance of the state over the Romney years, one of the worst in the country.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/07/29/romneys_economic_record/

Obama ad: Romney had ‘one of the worst economic records in the country’ (Updated)

http://www.politico.com/blogs/burns-haberman/2012/06/obama-ad-romney-had-one-of-the-worst-economic-records-125162.html

Romney Economics: Bankruptcy and Bailouts at GST Steel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZMndjLIQUFw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSbt0Jser_Y

Faces of Romney economics: Randy Johnson, American Pad & Paper

http://www.barackobama.com/news/entry/faces-of-romney-economics-randy-johnson-american-pad-paper/

Romney Economics: Job Loss and Bankruptcy at Ampad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLatxTzVE4w

Mitt Romney Trickle Up Economics Take From The Poor Give To The Rich

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwkZoeR_-SQ

Great video collection: Mitt Romney, Massachusetts Governor’s Record = 47th In Job Creation | A “SEVERELY” Republican Governor

http://3chicspolitico.com/2012/05/30/mitt-romney-massachusetts-governors-record-47th-in-job-creation-a-severely-republican-governor/

As Governor, Romney Raised Individual Fees And Corporate Taxes By $750 Million. According to The Los Angeles Times, “By Mitt Romney’s account, his record as governor of Massachusetts shows how cutting taxes and public spending spurs economic growth — and serves as a model for shrinking the U.S. government. He says he stood up for conservative principles, guiding the state out of a fiscal crisis by ramming cuts through a recalcitrant Democratic Legislature. Romney takes credit for vetoing more than 800 spending items passed by the Legislature, saying he wiped out unneeded programs, cut taxes 19 times, built up a $2-billion rainy-day fund and balanced the budget four years in a row. All of that, he says, shows he can stop overspending. ‘We can balance our budget and live within our means,’ he recently told supporters in Ohio. But Romney’s telling omits key facts that clash with the agenda of his campaign for president: The Legislature overrode most of Romney’s spending vetoes. State spending rose by 22% on Romney’s watch, nearly double the rate of inflation. Romney increased corporate taxes and state fees by $750 million a year, outstripping his tax cuts.” [The Los Angeles Times, 6/9/12]

During Romney’s Tenure The Massachusetts Tax Burden Increased From 10 Percent To 10.6 Percent Of Per Capita Income. According to the Boston Globe, “Data compiled by The Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan research group in Washington, shows that during Romney’s four years as governor, the state and local tax burden in Massachusetts increased from 10 percent to 10.6 percent of per capita income.” [Boston Globe, 6/29/07]

Factcheck.org: The Massachusetts Tax Burden Increased Under Romney. According to Factcheck.org, “In Massachusetts, the tax burden figure went up under Romney, from 5.93 percent to 6.57 percent.” [Factcheck.org, 10/12/07]

[Data Source: US Census Bureau]

Reality Check: Massachusetts Debt Spiked Under Gov. Romney (CHART)

http://veracitystew.com/2012/05/25/reality-check-massachusetts-debt-spiked-under-gov-romney-chart/

State & Local Tax Burden Increased 6.5 Percent During The Romney Administration.According to The Tax Foundation, a conservative tax research organization, in 2002 (the year before Romney came to power), the state and local tax burden in Massachusetts was 9.3 percent. In 2006, Romney’s last year in office, the state and local tax burden of Massachusetts had increased to 9.9 percent. Thus, under Romney, Bay Staters saw their taxes burden increase by 6.5 percent in real terms. [The Tax Foundation, 2/23/11]

Governor Romney Agreed To Increase Corporate Taxes By $375 Million A Year.According to The Los Angeles Times, “Romney also upset business leaders by agreeing to increase corporate taxes by $375 million a year. His justification was that companies had been exploiting obscure loopholes that needed to be closed. Corporate software that was downloaded from the Internet, for example, would no longer be exempt from the sales tax that applied to identical software when purchased in disc format.” [The Los Angeles Times, 6/9/12]

Romney Justified $375 Million In Fee Increases, Including A Gas Tax, Because Fees Had Not Increased In Decades. According to The Los Angeles Times, “Romney’s $375 million in fee hikes were broader: The state raised the cost of elevator inspections, boat registrations, gun licenses and ice skating at public rinks. Fines for speeding tickets went up. A new fee was imposed on law school graduates for taking the bar exam. The cost of a marriage license jumped from $4 to $50. A tax on gasoline, which the state called a fee, rose from half a cent to 2.5 cents per gallon. All of the hikes were justified, Romney said, because many state fees had not gone up in decades, and they applied only to users of specific services.” [The Los Angeles Times, 6/9/12]

~DEVAL PATRICK AT THE 2012 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION

Deval Patrick, governor of Massachusetts, spoke at the 2012 Democratic National Convention criticizing Mitt Romney’s record as Governor of Massachusetts. He also spoke about the successes of President Obama’s years in office, despite Republican opposition, and about the need for a President that supports public education.

VIDEO: http://www.c-span.org/DNC/Events/Deval-Patrick-at-the-2012-Democratic-National-Convention/C3779983/

Transcript:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/04/deval-patrick-speech-text_n_1852774.html?utm_hp_ref=elections-2012

Romney Raised Fees As Governor By $400 Million And Raised Corporate Tax Revenue By $300 Million. According to the Boston Globe, “Mitt Romney has the fever, theGeorge Herbert Walker Bush no-new-tax fever. Read his lips. No new taxes. But what about new fees? On the presidential campaign trail, Romney brags about a $3 billion budget shortfall he said he closed as governor, without any tax increases. He doesn’t mention the more than $400 million in fees he raised instead. He also raised more than $300 million by closing so-called corporate loopholes, a revenue-raising measure the business community calls a tax increase.” [Boston Globe, 10/11/07]

Romney’s Third Round Of Business Tax Hikes Were Cut In Half After Democrats Balked “Amid Protests From Some Of The State’s Leading Business Groups.”According to the Patriot Ledger, “But Romney’s claim that he balanced the state budget ‘without raising taxes’ needs plenty of caveats. Romney and his revenue chief, Alan LeBovidge, presided over a steady series of what they referred to as measures to close ‘tax loopholes’ for companies. To many of the companies that had to pay more taxes, those loophole closings sure felt like tax increases. The Democrats who run the state Legislature went along with the first two rounds. But they started to balk when Round 3 arrived in 2005 amid protests from some of the state’s leading business groups, forcing the Romney administration to cut the proposed tax changes in half that year.” [Patriot Ledger, 1/26/08]

Romney Raised Fees On Business Advertisements. During the CNN Presidential Debate, in January of 2008 Mitt Romney said “With regards to fees, we raised fees $240 million. Not $730 million. Facts are stubborn things. We audited our fee increase, because, of course, we cared. Now, why did we raise fees $240 million? We had a $3 billion budget shortfall, we decided we were not going to raise taxes, and we found that some fees hadn’t been raised in as many as 20 years. These were not broad-based fees for things like getting your driver’s license or your license plate for your car, but instead something like the cost of a sign on the interstate and how much it was going to cost to publish a McDonald’s or a Burger King sign on the interstate. We went from, like, $200 a sign to $2,000 a sign to raise money for our state in a way that was consistent with the what the market had done over the ensuing years.” [CNN Presidential Debate, 1/30/2008, 15:36]

Romney Signed Measure Forcing Hike In Local Commercial Property Taxes And Property Taxes Went To Their Highest Point In 25 Years.Romney “signed a measure that allowed local officials to raise the commercial property tax rate, which cost business owners $100 million, according to Associated Industries of Massachusetts, the state’s largest business group.” Romney’s cuts to local aid forced Massachusetts property taxes to their highest level in 25 years. [Quincy Patriot Ledger, 12/16/05; Boston Globe, 10/24/05]

Romney’s Spending Cuts To Localities Increased Fees And Made Cities And Towns Have To Use Property Taxes For 53 Percent Of Their Budgets—A 25 Year High.According to the Boston Globe, “The effects of the initial deep spending cuts are still being felt, especially in cities and towns, which absorbed reductions of about $400 million, or 9 percent, in the first 18 months of Romney’s term. Cities and towns now rely on property taxes to pay 53 percent of their budgets, a 25-year high and up from 49 percent before Romney took office, said Geoffrey Beckwith, executive director of the Massachusetts Municipal Association. Many communities cut services and raised fees as a result, he said.” [Boston Globe, 6/29/07]

Romney’s Cuts To Local Aid Made Property Taxes Rise On The Local Level. According to Politifact, “For instance, in 2003, Romney’s first year in office, the governor and the state legislature reduced payments to cities and towns by 5.8 percent. The state increased a myriad of fees by some $218-million — Romney had proposed increasing fees by $400-million. And the state increased corporate income taxes by $174-million, according to the National Association of State Budget Officers. ‘The suggestion that he didn’t raise revenue is not accurate,’ said Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Association, a conservative group. If aid to cities and towns decreases, then property taxes at the local level increase, he said, adding that ‘it is a little bit indirect.’” [Politifact, 9/27/07]

Romney Cut Local Aid Which Forced Cities And Towns To Increase Local Taxes And Fees. According to Factcheck.org, “In addition, Romney cut local aid, a program whereby the state supplied revenue to cities and counties. In 2004, Romney cut nearly 5 percent, or about $230 million, from the local aid budget. The Massachusetts Municipal Association, representing the state’s cities and towns, said Romney’s cut ‘forced communities statewide to cut services and raise local taxes and fees.’ The exact amount of the local tax increases hasn’t been definitively tallied, but to some extent Romney avoided a state tax increase only by forcing increases at the local level.” [Factcheck.org, 5/16/07]

Romney Cuts In Local Aid Led To Local Tax Increases Mainly In The Form Of Property Tax Increases. According to Factcheck.org, “Romney’s cuts in local aid also led indirectly to local tax increases (mainly in the form of property tax increases).” [Factcheck.org, 9/6/07]

Romney Proposed Raising Fees For On The Mentally Challenged. According to the Boston Herald, “The ax also fell on such previously protected areas as the Department of Mental Retardation, where Romney cut $ 4.6 million from residential services, day programs, family support and institutions. The governor also levied new DMR fees, forcing clients to pony up $ 25 a month for transportation and $ 25 a month for day services.” [Boston Herald, 1/31/03]

Romney Proposed An Assessment Fee On Mentally Retarded Citizens. According to BuzzFeed, “Romney proposed a fee on mentally retarded citizens of $100 to pay for an intake assessment at the Department of Mental Retardation. The assessment was previously free. The test was to determine their eligibility for state services. The legislature rejected Romney’s proposed fee.” [BuzzFeed, 6/20/12]

Romney Proposed Charging The Blind For ID to Travel Free on Public Transportation.According to the Boston Globe, “The price of being sight-impaired will be going up. They [the Romney Administration] want to start charging blind people a $15 fee for a travel ID that would allow them to continue riding the T for free. The ID currently costs nothing.” The Globe reported Romney’s tax on these ID cards would generate $14,000. [Boston Globe, 5/25/03]

Romney Tried To Increase Fee For Certificates Of Blindness. According to BuzzFeed, “Romney attempted to impose a $10 fee for a state certificate of blindness and $15 for a photo id card, but the Legislature got rid of the plans.” [BuzzFeed, 6/20/12]

Romney Proposed Hiking Or Creating Nine Fees At The Registries. According to the Springfield Union News, In his FY 2003 budget, Romney proposed “hiking or creating nine fees at the registries. For example, the fee for filing a deed or conveyance would rise from $45 to $100; the fee for obtaining a homestead exemption, which protects the equity in a home from legal judgments, would jump from $10 to $30; the fee for recording a 10-page mortgage would go from $46 to $88; and recording a 10-page trust would skyrocket from $36 to $200. Romney is also proposing a new $5 surcharge for every document recorded at a registry.” [Springfield Union News, 2/8/2003]

Romney Proposed Double And Triple Fees On Common Real Estate Transactions.According to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Romney wanted “to double or triple many common real estate transactions, such as recording mortgages, deeds and homesteads. [They are] also proposing to raise childcare licensing fees by 30 percent and to double fees for birth, death and marriage certificates. The proposals are also soon expected to become law after the Legislature approved them last week.” [Worchester Telegram & Gazette, 2/21/03]

Romney’s Budget Quadrupled Fee For Firearms Identification & License To Carry.According to the Quincy Patriot-Ledger, “Also drawing criticism is quadrupling of fees charged to gun owners this year. Under the budget, fees will rise from $25 to $100 for both a firearms identification card and a license to carry firearms, which are required by state law. ‘In general, the government has failed to meet its obligations and now it’s passing the buck,’ said Michael Yacino, executive director of the Gun Owners Action League, which has opposed the fee increases. ‘It just shows they don’t have any answers.’”[Quincy Patriot-Ledger, 7/9/03]

Romney Doubled Tax On Marriage And Birth Certificates. Accordingto the Boston Globe, “Birth certificates and marriage licenses, which could recently be had for just $6, will now cost double.” [Boston Globe, 1/31/06]

Romney Created New Tax For Individuals Filing Complaints With The Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. According to the Boston Globe, “He vowed not to raise taxes. But Governor Mitt Romney never made any promises about fees. The governor’s proposed 2004 budget new fee on individuals who file complaints with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.”[Boston Globe, 2/28/03]

Romney Proposed Increased Taxes On Tuberculosis Tests. According to the Associated Press, “Among GOP Gov. Mitt Romney’s proposals are a $50 fee for a tuberculosis test. Another would have charged $100 to determine if someone is mentally retarded and eligible for state services, though that measure was dropped in the legislature.” [Associated Press, 7/13/03]

Romney Proposed Fees For Tuberculosis Testing. According to BuzzFeed, “Romney proposed a $50 fee for tuberculosis tests and wanted to charge a $400 fee if the person tested positive.” [BuzzFeed, 6/20/12]

Romney’s Plan Could Raise Taxes on SUV Owners. According to MetroWest Daily News, “Romney’s plan to reduce pollution could also require owners of new SUVs and other gas-guzzlers to pay a higher automobile excise tax.” [MetroWest Daily News, 9/5/02]

Romney Proposed Tax On Open-Space Development.According to the Boston Globe, “In his housing and anti-sprawl plan released on July 1, 2002, Romney proposed adding fees on developers that build in areas where open space is already limited. Romney suggested using the collected fees to fund development in underdeveloped areas.” [Boston Globe, 7/2/02]

Romney’s Housing Plan Included A “Green Space” Fee On Builders. According to the Boston Globe, “Romney on housing? Point 1 of his eight-point plan is to impose a new ‘green space’ fee on builders.” [Boston Globe, 10/6/02]

Romney Had Lengthy List Of Fee Increases While Governor Of Massachusetts.According to BuzzFeed, “Mitt Romney often hits President Obama for calling for tax increases on the wealthiest Americans. But a Democratic source forwards to this rather lengthy list of fees Romney raised in Massachusetts. He was struggling to close a budget gap without raising taxes; but many of which citizens of the state saw them hidden tax increases nonetheless.” [BuzzFeed, 6/20/12]

Romney Proposed Increasing Fees On First Responders. According to BuzzFeed, “Romney proposed a $100 biannual fee on first responders for the ability to flash their vehicles lights. Romney doubled fees for the certification of EMTs from $75 to $150 per person. The cost of certifying an ambulance equipped for basic life support doubled from $200 to $400.” [BuzzFeed, 6/20/12]

Romney Wanted To Increase Fees On Golf Season Passes. According to BuzzFeed, “Romney attempted to raise golf season passes from $50 to $150. Daily golfing fees went from $17 to $22 for 18 holes, and from $15 to $17 for nine holes.” [BuzzFeed, 6/20/12]

Romney Increased Fee For Cremation Inspection. According to BuzzFeed, “Romney increased the fee for a cremation inspection from $50 to $75.” [BuzzFeed, 6/20/12]

Romney Proposed Increasing Fees For Inmate Phone Calls. According to BuzzFeed, “Romney proposed increasing the charge for an inmate to make a phone call from 86 cents to $2.” [BuzzFeed, 6/20/12]

Romney Proposed Increasing Fee For Drivers Permits. According to BuzzFeed, “Romney proposed an increase in the drivers permit fee that would double the cost from $15 to $30.” [BuzzFeed, 6/20/12]

Romney Proposed Increasing Gun License Fees. According to BuzzFeed, “Romney proposed raising the gun licensing fee from $25 to $75. The state legislature increased to $100.” [BuzzFeed, 6/20/12]

Romney Doubled The Fee For Cottage Use In State Parks. According to BuzzFeed, “The Romney administration doubled the fee to use a cottage in a state park from the price originally set in 1989.” [BuzzFeed, 6/20/12]

Romney Increased Group Skating Fees At Some Massachusetts Ice Rinks. According to BuzzFeed, “The Romney administration raised hourly group skating fees at some ice rinks, which went from $15 and $40.” [BuzzFeed, 6/20/12]

Romney Increased Fees For Barber’s Licenses. According to BuzzFeed, “Romney increased the fee for a master barber license application from $38 to $57 and the fee to renew a barber’s license from $45 To $68.” [BuzzFeed, 6/20/12]

Romney Increased Fees For Hairdresser Licenses. According to BuzzFeed, “Romney increased the fee for a hairdresser shop license application from $75 to $113.” [BuzzFeed, 6/20/12]

Romney Increased Fees For Nursing Applications. According to BuzzFeed, “Romney increased the fee for a nursing application from $75 to $100.” [BuzzFeed, 6/20/12]

Romney Increased Fees For Pharmacist Licenses. According to BuzzFeed, “Romney increased the fee for a pharmacist license application from $56 to $75.” [BuzzFeed, 6/20/12]

Romney Increased Fees For Plumbers Licenses. According to BuzzFeed, “Romney increased the fee on a master plumber’s license from $45 to $68.” [BuzzFeed, 6/20/12]

Romney Increase Fees For Psychologists Licenses. According to BuzzFeed, “Romney increased the fee for a psychologist license from $100 to $150 in 2003.” [BuzzFeed, 6/20/12]

Romney Increased Fees For Real Estate Licenses. According to BuzzFeed, “Romney increased the fee to get a real estate salesman license from $18 to $27 and the fee to renew a license from $45 to $68.” [BuzzFeed, 6/20/12]

Romney Increased Fees For Home Inspection Licenses. According to BuzzFeed, “Romney increased the fee for a home inspector license from $225 to $338 and increased the renewal fee from $150 to $225.” [BuzzFeed, 6/20/12]

Romney Increased Fees For Motor Vehicle Repair Shop Licenses. According to BuzzFeed, “Romney increased the fee for a motor vehicle repair shop license from $100-a-year to $450 for a three year license.” [BuzzFeed, 6/20/12]

Romney Increased Fees For Filing For Divorce. According to BuzzFeed, “Romney increased the fee for filing for divorce from $140 to $200.” [BuzzFeed, 6/20/12]

Romney Increased Fees For Changing One’s Name. According to BuzzFeed, “Romney increased the fee to change your name from $70 to $150.” [BuzzFeed, 6/20/12]

Romney Increased Fees For Milk Laboratory Certificates. According to BuzzFeed, “Romney increased the fee for milk laboratory certificate from $75 to $150.” [BuzzFeed, 6/20/12]

Romney Increased Fees For Funeral Directors License Renewal. According to BuzzFeed, “Romney increased the fee to renew a funeral directors license from $56 To $84.” [BuzzFeed, 6/20/12]

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Love you blog, but have you considered placing some of each of your posts after a cut? They're super long and a lot of people just scroll past completely when they see something like that. The last one alone was at least 8 screens long :x

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 00:06:43 -0400

Thanks. I tweak, update, reformat and redo blogs weekly. I have several sub-directories but I like to keep related stuff together. It is more like a library.